My ballot will be e-mailed to NBA headquarters late at night one week from today, and I will then publish all of my picks for postseason awards — as is my standard practice. But not every one of the 126 voters makes his/her selections public. At least that is the way it has been in the past. But this year, transparency rules. The Pro Basketball Writers Association and the NBA media relations office have come to an agreement under which all of
This is not David Stern’s NBA anymore. The old commissioner is out of sight and out of mind, but his successor has been keeping a relatively low profile. Sooner or later, Adam Silver is going to put his imprint on the NBA … it is just a matter of when. [Read more…]
Life can be tricky. Sometimes, you are judged by your successes. Other times, you are judged by your failures. Which brings us to the San Antonio Spurs, who are sitting at 60 victories with a little over a week left in the 2013-14 regular season, practically assured of having homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. But when you play word association with the Spurs, what comes to mind first: Their 19-game winning streak that ended last week, or their 0-4 record this season
We already published one column this week analyzing the Spurs’ winning streak and how they aren’t cruising, they are gliding. Since then, they have had a pair of quality victories over the Indiana Pacers and the Golden State Warriors, winning by large margins each time. With the streak at 19 heading into Thursday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, we should expect another blowout, right? After all, only two games during the streak have been decided by 8 points or
Let’s see … the sky was gray this morning … again. The temperature was in the 30s … again. The forecast calls for more chilly weather … again. Kevin Durant is going to be No. 1 on this list … again. What is going to make today different? These are the things you ponder while getting the kids ready for school — plus the thought of what the heck was the local school board thinking when they decided that school would begin
NEW YORK – The Spurs’ 17-game winning streak brought an added bonus Monday. Tim Duncan was named Player of the Week — this coming despite Kevin Durant averaging 32.5 points on .597 shooting. It was the 22nd time Duncan has won the award. The Orlando Magic’s Nikola Vucevic and the San Antonio Spurs’ Duncan were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 24, through Sunday, March 30. Vucevic led the Magic to a 2-1 week, which
How about those Indiana Pacers? For five straight games they have been held below 90 points — and in four of those games they were sub-80. Their last two victories have been quality wins against the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls, but they have lost five of six overall and are now tied in the loss column with LeBron James’ team. All in all, it is fair to call them something close to a mess as they head into Monday
The first journalist to make the move from print to online-only was Mike Monroe. He was ahead of his time. Few remember Monroe’s stint as the national columnist for Fox Sports, and even fewer probably remember the circumstances of his departure — it came out of nowhere, the folks at Fox believing it was a bad idea to have an online national columnist — a decision that was patently absurd in hindsight, but a decision that Fox has never rectified. Shortly after his