(Readers: This post originally ran April 18, shortly after I cast my NBA award ballot. It is relevant today because I was the only voter to put LeBron James on the Second Team, behind Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin.-CS) Wow, you sure can catch a lot of grief when you tell folks you voted LeBron James to 2nd Team All-NBA. I put that word out on Twitter at midweek, and I have been fending off venom ever since. Hey folks: Here’s the
It’s a good thing NBA media members voted for Gregg Popovich as Coach of the Year. Because if the San Antonio Spurs win the championship, we won’t want to look back at the voting 20 years from now and wonder how the man who pulled off perhaps the greatest single-season coaching job in league history didn’t win the award. I didn’t believe Popovich was the Coach of the Year. I thought the award should have gone to Jeff Hornacek of Phoenix, who
I have always pondered the challenge of being an NBA coach, so here’s my attempt at coming up with three different key strategies for both coaches and teams to implement if they are going to win the championship. I personally feel that San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich is not only the premier coach in the game today, I actually believe he is one of the greatest leaders of any sport in the history of our country. On the other side you have Miami’s
When the NBA Finals tip off Thursday night, each team will have one member of the All-NBA Teams announced Wednesday. The Miami Heat will have forward LeBron James, who was joined on the All-NBA First Team by forward Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City, center Joakim Noah and guards James Harden of Houston and Chris Paul of the LA Clippers. Durant, the NBA MVP, was the lone unanimous choice with 125 votes. James came up one vote shy. The San Antonio Spurs will
Lance Stephenson is a free agent enigma and a polarizing topic amongst league executives. Stephenson, a tantalizing talent who led the league in triple-doubles (5), showed signs of immaturity during the playoffs with his antics toward LeBron James, leaving several executives split on his free agency value. The general consensus is Stephenson could command a yearly salary ranging from the $5.3 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception to as high as $10 million. The mid-level exception indicates concern over Stephenson’s maturity level, while the $10
The San Antonio Spurs have made their way into the NBA finals thanks to a sensational victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The game, held on Saturday, May 31st, saw the Spurs winning 112-107 in overtime, setting up a rematch for the Spurs and Miami Heat in the finals. One person who could not have seen this coming, apart from shocked bettors, was Kevin Durant. While there is some solace for the gamblers who can have their bet online reviewed in detail,
The 2014 NBA Finals are set to commence on Thursday, June 5 with the San Antonio Spurs playing host to the Miami Heat. It will be a rematch of the 2013 Finals, when Ray Allen’s clutch shooting helped the Heat win the NBA championship in seven games. Unfortunately, one question threatens to damage the quality of Game 1: will Tony Parker be available to play? For the second straight year, Parker enters the NBA Finals with a leg-related injury that could impact both
When it comes to end-of-the-season awards, someone will always feel under-appreciated or even robbed, depending on who you ask. The results for the NBA All-Defensive Teams were announced on Monday, and there were plenty around the league who questioned some of the names that failed to make the list. Those in Houston will wonder how Dwight Howard failed to make the list, while Los Angeles Clippers fans will scratch their heads about the exclusion of DeAndre Jordan, who trailed Roy Hibbert by