In Elton Brand’s 14 NBA seasons, the two-time All Star has played alongside some of the league’s most respected point guards. From Sam Cassell to pre-injury Shaun Livingston to Andre Miller to Jrue Holiday, Brand has grown accustomed to excellence from his floor generals. So when Brand signed with Atlanta over the summer and was told to check out the highlight reel for his new teammate, a 19-year-old who had been nicknamed “Baby Rondo,” he was understandably skeptical of the moniker. “People
Before last season began, I wrote a piece predicting 5 players who will have breakout seasons, 5 players who will get traded, and 5 players who will have the biggest impact on the title picture. I whiffed so badly on the players who will be traded and the players that will impact the title picture, that I’m not even going to try again. However, I was 2 for 5 on my five breakout players (Ty Lawson and Paul George), which would win me
It’s prediction time, and as I have always liked to say: Predictions are like armpits: Everyone has them, and all of them stink. Take it from a guy who picked Spurs in 7 last season. Yes, that one missed – but find me a guy who predicted that Gregg Popovich would have an extreme bout of cranial flatulence with the championship within his grasp at the end of Game 6, and then I’ll drop the armpit line. I still can’t get
The start of training camp is always a special time. Every team is undefeated and optimism fills the air. Players have been working out all summer with the anticipation of getting on with it. Many teams schedule special getaway experiences for team bonding and focus time. Two-a-day practices are hard enough without having to go home and deal with the kids and the house. Pat Riley used to take the Lakers to Hawaii for training camp to get away from it
With training camps underway, teams are getting their first look at players making their way from Europe to begin their NBA journey. Over the last two decades, the talent pool for basketball has rapidly expanded worldwide, and teams are constantly scouring the globe to find the next hidden gem. Just who are these newest international men of mystery, and what can they bring to their respective squads? Here is a look at the top European players who are set to make their
With NBA training camps now open, every team will be using October to try to answer questions about their rosters. But for teams with injured stars, the questions have greater significance. Like, how long can the Lakers stay afloat without Kobe Bryant? Is Danny Granger going to come off the bench for the Pacers? Are the Warriors really a better team without David Lee? No less than nine current or former All-Stars will start the 2013-14 season with doubt swirling around them because they
BROOKLYN — The Nets’ blockbuster move to acquire Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry stole headlines, but it says here the bench unit will be the steal of the summer at the season’s conclusion. Garnett is the team’s elder statesman, ranking sixth all-time with 47,801 minutes played over 19 seasons. Paul Pierce, Garnett’s counterpart, will be 36 when the season starts. However, Brooklyn boasts the league’s only bench unit with four double-digit scorers and one double-digit rebounder from last season. [Read
(Readers: This column originally ran during the NBA Finals. It is especially pertinent now that the NBA is switching back to 2-2-1-1-1.-CS) The most important playoff series in NBA scheduling history — the one that changed the NBA Finals from a 2-2-1-1-1 format to the current 2-3-2 — began easily enough. The leisurely pace of the first four games would get lost in the frenzy of the last three, but travel was not an issue the first 11 days of the 1984