Kevin Durant quit. Paul George broke his leg. So what do we have here? The darkest days for USA Basketball since 2004 (Athens Olympics, which opened with a 19-point loss to Puerto Rico)? Here is the news story on Durant quitting. Yes, quitting. This is shameful, in my opinion. No national team anchor has ever done this. The fact that it comes at the same moment that Durant is leaving Nike and finishing details of an unbelievably lucrative $325 million sneaker and apparel deal with
Nearly a full month has passed since LeBron James made the decision to leave Miami and return home to Cleveland. Since we’re now aware that the Kevin Love trade will be finalized later this month, here are five ways Love will aide the Cavaliers in their quest to become the Eastern Conference’s elite team. Now if only he would take his strengths to Team USA to save them after Kevin Durant dropped out of the World Cup: [Read more…]
In the two-plus decades since the 1992 Olympics, the Dream Team has been celebrated and romanticized. References to it are wistful and reverential. The Dream Team represents perfection. In the basketball world, it was the greatest. How easily we forget that the basketball power structure in the United States thought the idea of having NBA players in the Olympics was repulsive. At the 1989 vote in Munich to allow NBA players in the Olympics, the U.S. organization (later USA Basketball), which
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant made news today when he announced that he was withdrawing from Team USA. The United States basketball team has been preparing for the 2014 FIBA World Cup, and Durant was expected to be the veteran leader amongst the team this year. [Read more…]
When it comes to figuring out who deserves to make it to the prestigious Basketball Hall of Fame, the first thing to do is to understand the necessary criteria . Unfortunately, trying to figure out the criteria for that is like trying to understand what it takes to make it to the All-Star Game or winning a Defensive Player of the Year award – everyone has a general idea, but there is no handbook explaining what you need to do to achieve
Thursdays on Twitter are typically when everyone posts pictures from something from their past. The trend is called “Throwback Thursday” or “#TBT.” NBA athletes are not excluded from participation, as many often post old photographs, sometimes from their childhood, high school or college. Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love, who is said to be joining the Cleveland Cavaliers as soon as Andrew Wiggins is eligible to be traded on August 23rd, posted a photo from his high school days. Just prior to the big
In a stunning development, Kevin Durant withdrew from Team USA today, explaining he could not accommodate his “responsibilities to the team from both a time and energy standpoint.” The news came as Durant was switching his athletic apparel and sneaker affiliation from Nike to UnderArmour. USA Basketball issued a news release in which Durant explained: “This was an extremely difficult decision as I take great pride in representing our country. I know that I owe it to my USA Basketball teammates
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves have reached an agreement in principle that would send All-Star forward Kevin Love to the Cavs, according to a report from Yahoo! Sports. According to the report, the Timberwolves receive Andrew Wiggins, the top pick in this year’s draft; Anthony Bennett, the top pick in last year’s draft who struggled as a rookie; and a 2015 protected first-round pick. Love joins LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, forming arguably the best trio in the NBA