If you are like many Americans – middle-class, middle-aged males not unlike myself – and watched your first NBA games this season on Christmas, then you probably think the Chicago Bulls are just fine. If you have watched at any other time this season, then you know otherwise. On Christmas, the Bulls played perhaps their best game of the season. They went into Loud City without injured emotional leader Joakim Noah and never trailed against the Thunder, leaving with a convincing 105-96
In all likelihood, Luke Walton will be spending All-Star Weekend on vacation in two months. This would be a travesty, and it is time for someone to tell NBA commissioner Adam Silver to prevent a miscarriage of recognition. I will take on the job. As most of you know, the honor of coaching each conference’s All-Star team goes to the coach whose team has the league’s best record prior to the break. Last year, that job fell to Steve Kerr, who was
During a playing career that spanned 11 seasons, Luke Walton played in 564 games but started only 138 times. The man is obviously accustomed to coming off the bench. So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by his success with the Warriors, whose 26-1 record entering Wednesday night’s games is a reflection of the near-perfect basketball they have been playing. Walton has been the absolute perfect sub for Steve Kerr, who has yet to coach a game this season while recovering from back
If you’ve noticed that this year’s rookie class is being talked about and praised around the league and in the media, there’s good reason for that. This year’s top five picks— Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns, the Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell, Philadelphia’s Jahlil Okafor, New York’s Kristaps Porzingis and Orlando’s Mario Hezonja— are making a larger early impact than any top-five group in at least a half decade. A detailed statistical analysis of top five picks over the last five years shows that over the first two
HOUSTON — Dwight Howard wore a T-shirt depicting characters from the movie Step Brothers after Saturday night’s big win over the Los Angeles Clippers. When asked about it in the Rockets’ locker room at Toyota Center, Houston’s star center responded with his usual mix of jovial humor and brutal honesty: “This is Step Brothers,” Howard told the media while laughing. “Me and James [Harden].” In that movie, of course, stars Will Farrell and John C. Reilly often bicker before being forced to put aside their individual
Can we now stop pretending that Anthony Davis is the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain? Can we now stop with the hyperbolic declarations that Davis is going to own the NBA in two years or that Davis is going to make the New Orleans Pelicans a perennial title contender? Can we now stop calling Davis a top-five player? Top-five players elevate teams by themselves. Top-five players assure their teams of 50 wins and playoff berths, regardless of circumstances. Top-five players don’t say, “We
BROOKLYN – Several teams in the NBA cellar had representatives on hand to watch Kentucky’s Skal Labissiere and Jamal Murray at the CBS Sports Classic. Suffice to say it was Murray whose stock rose the most despite Kentucky’s loss to Ohio State. 76ers GM Sam Hinkie, Pelicans GM Dell Demps and other NBA personnel were on hand at Barclays Center for the event. Murray lit the scoreboard up like Times Square on New Year’s with 33 points. Murray was efficient from the
Dwight Howard called me a liar Tuesday night. He is mistaken. I wrote that Howard is very unhappy in Houston, and I stand by that report 100 percent. For the reasons why he is unhappy, and my best guess as to where he will finish the season (Miami), click over and give a read to my column. But back to the liar part. Howard was interviewed in Sacramento after the Rockets lost to the Kings, and the man asking the questions was Jonathan Feigen,