Hoop dreams come in all shapes and sizes. And halfway around the world, some dreams are just beginning — the dream of making it back to the NBA. This weekend, the Chinese Basketball Association concludes its regular season as teams gear up for the playoffs. For many Americans playing in China, the dream is humble yet significant – to compete for an NBA roster spot. No matter how you look at it, getting back to the NBA is always a long shot.
I said I’d be back on Tuesday, but I’m popping in to announce a special giveaway, courtesy of DraftStreet. If you like free money, enter this contest and take your shot at a share of $10,000. The top 411 spots get paid and the winner gets $1,000 in cold hard cash. All you have to do is pick a team of six All-Star Game players that score the most total DraftStreet points. The standard NBA format we’ve grown accustomed to is
The annual Rising Stars Challenge on Friday between chosen rookies and sophomores was pretty much what most expected it to be: An offensive showcase with not a whole lot of defense being played (although the Plumlee brothers may disagree). Playing in front of his home crowd in New Orleans, Anthony Davis was expected to make some serious noise in this game. However, it was the unlikely shootout that broke out between Dion Waiters and Tim Hardaway Jr. in the second half
With all eyes on NBA All-Star weekend, thanks in large part to the marketing vision of David Stern, the league takes this focused opportunity to make several announcements. One of which is who will be elected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. [Read more…]
Two days removed from a last-second Wednesday night loss to the Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli, like many other NBA athletes, decided to use the All-Star break to travel. His flight, however, may have had some unnecessary stress due to the pilot’s lack of tact. Some time prior to takeoff, the pilot addressed the passengers over the intercom and revealed some rather unsettling news while expressing his expectation to arrive at their destination faster than the time that they
Before the season, championship expectations were attached to both the Knicks and the Nets. The Knicks were coming off the team’s first season with at least 50 or more wins and a trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals since the 1999-2000 campaign, when Jeff Van Gundy patrolled the sidelines, Patrick Ewing wrapped up his final season in New York and Allan Houston was in the prime of his career. The Nets were coming off their first trip to the playoffs in six years
When the Milwaukee Bucks signed Larry Sanders to a four-year, $44 million contract extension last summer, it looked like a pretty good move. Sanders showed throughout the 2012-13 season that he could be a highly impactful defensive player. He was just 24 years old (now 25), and the money was in line with other defense-first centers such as Tyson Chandler and JaVale McGee. And nothing has gone right since. [Read more…]
I spoke with James Johnson at Atlanta Hawks media day back in October when he was just another former first-round pick trying to convince another team – his fourth, to be exact – that he was good enough for another shot. [Read more…]