There were two pieces of bad news coming out of Loud City this weekend. And there was a disproportionate reaction to the wrong one. There was far too much hand-wringing to the news that Russell Westbrook will be joining fellow Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on his broken right hand. The Thunder are going to survive November without Durant and Westbrook. They have 14 games between now and Dec. 1, the projected earliest return for
On first blush, next summer’s free agent market seemed a bit fallow. The biggest names among 2015 unrestricted free agents have been out there for some time – Marc Gasol, Rajon Rondo, DeAndre Jordan, Paul Millsap and Tyson Chandler. A nice collection of players, sure, but nothing like the star power of the potential 2016 free agency market. Greg Monroe joined the fray when he accepted his qualifying offer from the Detroit Pistons. And there are likely opt-outs coming from Goran Dragic,
One of the common complaints about the NBA – and a somewhat legitimate one at that – is that there are only a half-dozen teams or so that can truly win the championship. Think about it: Who do you have winning it all this season? Chances are it’s one of the “Fab Five” – Cleveland, Chicago, San Antonio, Oklahoma City or the Los Angeles Clippers. And you’re not off base, either. One of those teams is my pick – our staff’s
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said at a news conference in New York on Monday that the league’s new nine-year TV deal with ESPN and Turner “will have a profound effect” on the salary cap. By any measure, the new deal is a doozy. In years, it is the longest ever signed by the league, one year longer than the current deal. In money, it is $24 billion total and an average of $2.67 billion per season, nearly triple the $925 million
Today was media day for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and understandably everyone was crowding around LeBron James. They asked him the patently obvious questions. What’s it like to be back where it all started? How much do you know about new coach David Blatt? Can the Cavaliers win the NBA championship and finally end Cleveland’s 50-year sports title drought? Here’s a question they might have wanted to ask: Hey, LeBron, which fourth star would you like to add to the roster next summer?
The most intriguing team in the NBA this season is unquestionably the Cleveland Cavaliers. And the secocnd-most intriguing team in the NBA this season may be the Chicago Bulls. This summer, the Cavaliers remade themselves from a laughingstock to a legitimate contender with the additions of LeBron James and Kevin Love. Meanwhile, the Bulls are hoping the return of Derrick Rose and the addition of Pau Gasol puts them in the championship chase as well. And both teams play in the Central Division,
A couple of weeks ago, we had Chris Paul atop our list of NBA point guards. No surprise there. Although he plays a position that is very deep in talent, Paul is a fantastic leader with an inhuman competitive streak. He ranks annually among the leaders in assists and steals. And believe it or not, he’s still on the right side of 30, at least until next year’s playoffs. But Paul is atop another of our lists list as well – NBA
So how does it feel, Spain? How does it feel to come up woefully short of expectations? How does it feel to be embarrassed by an inexplicable loss on your home floor in front of your blindly supportive fan base? How does it feel to be relegated to classification games while visitors vie for the international championship you believed was rightfully yours? Yeah, it wasn’t supposed to go down this way. Your march through the 2014 World Cup wasn’t supposed to be