I’ve never been huge on the All-Star Game. Sure, the novelty is great. I mean, all the stars are there. But that wears off pretty quickly, and then I remember that what I really like about basketball is seeing players stand out above the rest, and that doesn’t usually happen in an all-star environment. I also like defense sometimes. Speaking of players standing out above the rest, if you haven’t seen John Wall’s dunk from last night, go do that right
This past week, NBA TV released excerpts of an extended interview with LeBron James (airing in its entirety Monday night) in which Steve Smith asked “The King” to name his Mount Rushmore of basketball. James offered a quartet of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson. But it’s really an unfair question, because in addition to those four players, there are at least three more – centers Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell – who are in the
NEW ORLEANS — What happened to the “love of the game” qualification in choosing a replacement for Billy Hunter? David White of the Screen Actors Guild is one of the candidates who was interviewed by the NBA players’ union’s search committee here at All-Star Weekend, and he is reportedly the frontrunner for the job. Again, I must ask: Are the players being played? I can’t see where Job Qualification No. 1 is being addressed. [Read more…]
All-Star Saturday is one of my favorite days of the NBA season, because it’s the best chance we get to see players just having fun. More than just about any other sports league on the planet, the NBA likes to show off its players’ charisma, flair, and general ability to entertain. And it’s working. Just ask every company that uses an NBA player in their advertising. Any of the twenty or so of them. I rounded up some NBA players’ reactions
Every event at All-Star Saturday had its moments. First there was Chris Bosh nailing both his halfcourt shots in the Shooting Stars challenge, and proved once again (as if his Parks and Rec spot wasn’t enough) that he’s one of the league’s most natural entertainers. Then Damian Lillard, who I can’t believe was a rookie a year ago, won the Skills Challenge with Trey Burke by just one-tenth of a second. Perhaps more impressive was Burke, whose major knock coming out of
Some time this June, the NBA will crown a champion for the 2013-14 season. The odds tell us that the champion will have done little to nothing the previous February at the trading deadline. NBA enthusiasts, zealots and, yes, writers obsess and go into circuit overload in the third week of February – this coming week, in case you weren’t paying attention. But if history is any guide, the chances are remote that a team will make a trade which it
Engrave today’s date in your head, as tonight’s slam dunk competition could be worth remembering. NBA All-Star 2014 marks only the second time that the Sprite Slam Dunk competition will feature three All-Star Game participants. In recent years, fans have become accustom to doing a web search on half of the players in the competition. In the year 2000, Vince Carter rocked the rims and probably had the best dunk contest of all-time. In 2003 we saw Jason Richardson score perfect fifties. A
While correspondents Danny Schayes and Jackie Taylor go about their business in NOLA, some numbers for you to peruse in preparation for tomorrow night’s All-Star game and tonight’s All-Star Saturday events: [Read more…]