In a bout over five years in the making, Floyd Mayweather got a huge unanimous decision win over Manny Pacquiao. Seemingly everyone in the world was watching the fight, which, of course, meant most of the NBA was tuned in as well. Here’s what some players had to say:
Don’t wanna see anything other than #MayweatherPacquiao in my timeline..
— Patrick Patterson (@pdpatt) May 3, 2015
32-11 in the last 2 rounds punches landed floyd over paq what are yall talking about — Michael Carter-Willi (@MCW1) May 3, 2015
Anybody else TV messing up?
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) May 3, 2015
swing swing swing and a misssss *repeat* — Kendall Marshall (@KButter5) May 3, 2015
Unless Pac knocks down Floyd at least once, he ain’t winning this fight. Boxing won’t let Floyd lose in the cards. #MannyvsMayweather
— Patrick Patterson (@pdpatt) May 3, 2015
It’s GETTIN REAL…. — DeMarre Carroll (@DeMarreCarroll1) May 3, 2015
Well I think we know now.. Good night people
— Bismack Biyombo (@bismackbiyombo0) May 3, 2015
U won’t caught me slipping with 10 sec left I’m get up outta there lmao — Marcus Thornton (@OfficialMT23) May 3, 2015
Expected more. Floyd too long and quick.
— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) May 3, 2015
Like I said all judges had Floyd… Lol everyone should just listen — Michael Carter-Willi (@MCW1) May 3, 2015
#MoneyMayweather again!! #undefeated
— Reggie Jackson (@Reggie_Jackson) May 3, 2015
If you don’t know, now you know…..and probably should have asked somebody #TMT — Tobias Harris (@tobias31) May 3, 2015
timeline so quiet.
— Kendall Marshall (@KButter5) May 3, 2015
Yall salty pacman couldn’t get it done just give Mayweather his props respect greatness — Jabari Brown (@Bari_BrownIDF) May 3, 2015
48-0 #TBE @FloydMayweather #TMT
— Isaiah Thomas (@Isaiah_Thomas) May 3, 2015
This boxing match was more of a sparring session than a fight. Would of been more of a fight 5 years ago. I’m just saying ☕️ — Jason Richardson (@jrich23) May 3, 2015
I was entertained! It was a classic Mayweather fight…dude just doesn’t get hit. I like PacMan tho…he has heart!
— Anthony Tolliver (@ATolliver44) May 3, 2015
When u lost but that direct deposit is gone be so real! pic.twitter.com/WZ3RQ4hIhX — Jordan Hamilton (@J_Goin_HAM) May 3, 2015
There was also a pretty good basketball game today:
… and as always, I’ve got the latest news from around the NBA:
MAGIC WAITING ON THIBODEAU
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel has the story:
Almost two and a half weeks have elapsed since the regular season ended, and yet, by all accounts, the Magic haven’t interviewed anyone for the job.
Why the wait?
Magic officials will not answer that question. And, with the exception of Hennigan acknowledging that the team will interview interim coach James Borrego for the job, team executives have consistently declined to answer questions about potential candidates. Team officials think revealing the identities of possible interview targets would do the franchise no good.
But many league observers think there are valid reasons for the seemingly slow pace of the Magic’s coaching search.
The theory mentioned most often revolves around current Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. The league observers speculate that the Magic want to see whether the Bulls and Thibodeau will part ways after the Bulls conclude their playoff run.
In mid-April, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Magic officials are strongly inclined to hire someone with extensive NBA head-coaching experience.
Thibodeau, 57, meets that criterion. In five seasons, his Bulls teams have amassed a 255-139 regular-season record and will enter their upcoming second-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 21-24 postseason record.
In NBA.com’s 2014-15 preseason survey of league general managers, 93 percent of league GMs picked Thibodeau as the head coach with the best defensive schemes. The San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich was the runaway selection as the league’s best head coach, and only two others received a mention: the Brooklyn Nets’ Lionel Hollins and Thibodeau.
League observers caution that Thibodeau’s hire by the Magic would not be a given even if Thibodeau becomes a coaching free agent.
JOHNSON: ‘DON’T SEE (NETS) COMING BACK AS THE SAME TEAM’
Remarkably candid from the team’s highest-paid player.
This quote from Joe Johnson sums up everything pic.twitter.com/iQ4o5vGicb
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) May 2, 2015
BLAZERS PREPARE FOR BUSY OFFSEASON
Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune looks atwhat things are going to be like for a team that sees several of its top players hit free agency:
Aldridge will command a maximum contract, either from Portland or another of a variety of suitors. Once the All-Star power forward reaches a decision, the dominoes will fall with the other free agents as Olshey puts together his roster for October training camp.
“When you have a franchise player who is unrestricted, that will dictate a great deal of what we do this summer,” Olshey says. “We have a good enough sample size now to make a decision going forward about what the best direction for the organization is going to be.”
While Olshey didn’t say it, it is expected the Blazers will pursue Matthews and Lopez as well as Aldridge. Olshey understands both players will receive offers on the free-agent market.
“Some of the best free agents on the market happen to be our guys,” Olshey says.
“Keeping this group together and building off of it is what the goal has always been. “This (collective-bargaining agreement) is favorable for teams that want to retain their players. It gives us a homecourt advantage in doing so. That’s what we hope to accomplish.”
He said the club will have contingency plans in place in case any or all of the Blazers’ free agents land elsewhere.
“Not every decision that is going to made (by the Blazers in free agency) is in our hands,” the third-year Portland GM says. “All of our unrestricted guys have value. They’ll be pursued by multiple teams. All we can hope is they embrace what we’ve done with them the last three years, and they value us as much as we value them.
“We have contingencies in place for every potential outcome across the board — not just with our free agents, but for where we go with the draft or trades.”