Nothing matters in this division, or in the entire NBA for that matter, until June. That’s when we’ll have our answer: Were the Miami Heat good enough to three-peat? That is the first question on people’s minds as we head into the upcoming season, and it brings to mind the following question: If the Heat don’t three-peat, will the Big Three go their separate ways? LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all have opt-outs in their contracts, and all are a
This could be the league’s toughest division from a 1-2 standpoint, as outlined in our August Power Rankings. Adding Luis Scola, not to mention Chris Copeland, for the price of next to nothing amounted to balance-tipping moves by Indiana Pacers executives Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird. Remember, these guys took the Miami Heat to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals – and they did it with Tyler Hansbrough and Gerald Green as two primary options off the bench. Throw that
This summer included a war of words between the Knicks’ hot-shooting, weed-smoking(?) Sixth Man of the Year, J.R. Smith, and a new rival from across the river, Paul Pierce, who will be wearing a color other than green for the first time in his career. Can’t wait until Kevin Garnett and Metta World Peace get in on the trash talk, because both are better spoken than their aforementioned counterparts. The signing of a Russian (Andrei Kirilenko) by a Russian (Mikhail Prokhorov)
The NBA has released its 2013 preseason schedule, a 116-game slate, which tips off Saturday, Oct. 5, in Istanbul when the Oklahoma City Thunder take on Turkish basketball club Fenerbahce Ulker at Ulker Sports Arena, and concludes Friday, Oct. 25. The 2013-14 NBA Global Games preseason slate includes eight NBA teams playing eight preseason games in eight cities. In addition to Oklahoma City’s game in Istanbul, there will be contests in Beijing and Shanghai, China; Bilbao, Spain; Manchester, England; Manila, Philippines;
Strange things happen in international basketball. If there is one rule of thumb concerning FIBA tournaments, that is it. And as of last night, we have a new regional champion that absolutely no one would have picked to win the Tournament of the Americas. Mexico. Yes, Mexico. They can’t seem to get their act together in soccer, but in basketball they took home the gold medal by defeating Puerto Rico 91-89 to qualify for the World Cup (formerly known as the World Championship)
Andrew Wiggins will not be taking his talents to Spain next summer. Unless … Well, first things first. Canada, which should have a team that can compete for a medal (maybe even gold?) by the time the Tokyo Olympics roll around in 2020 (Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Kelly Olynyk, Andrew Nicholson, Cory Joseph; Tristan Thompson, all in their primes) failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup by losing 73-67 to Luis Scola (28 points) and Argentina on Sunday at the FIBA-Americas Tournament
They had the best point guard in Europe, Marcelinho Huertas, who once dropped 11 dimes on Team USA with U.S. president Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, and Vice President Joe Biden in attendance. But they were missing all of their big guys, including NBA players Nene, Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter, and the result was worse than anyone could have imagined. With a loss to Jamaica on Tuesday on the final day of the first round of the FIBA-Tournament of the Americas,
By now you have probably heard that Lamar Odom was arrested for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Here is a link to the arrest report released by the LAPD.