It wasn’t that long ago when Golden State Warriors fans booed team owner Joe Lacob at Oracle Arena — at a Chris Mullin jersey retirement ceremony, no less. Lacob had failed to deliver on some bold promises at that point, and – coupled with the trade of local favorite Monta Ellis – he made for a convenient target at the time.’ A lot has changed in the Bay Area in the three years since, as anyone at Game 5 of the
If you ask any Clevelander what the defining moment was of the 2007 postseason, a vast majority will recall what remains one of the signature greatest moments of LeBron James’ career — the time he scored 29 of the Cavs’ final 30 points of their Game 5 double-overtime victory over Detroit at the Palace of Auburn Hills. It is a great memory, one that remains vivid in my mind because I was at that game, sitting along the baseline, and was
SAN ANTONIO — Before we get to the elephant in the room, it would be unfair to the San Antonio Spurs to not acknowledge their accomplishment and give you a little snapshot of what it was like in their locker room after they became NBA champions Sunday night. The champagne being served and sprayed was Dom Perignon, 2003. I’m told it tastes OK, but I don’t do champagne that costs more than my car. There was not a ton of Dom.
It took the San Antonio Spurs just five games to find redemption against the Miami Heat. After suffering an improbable, heartbreaking and well-documented defeat in the 2013 Finals, the Spurs returned with a vengeance, bludgeoning the Heat 4-1 to claim the 2014 title. The Spurs capped off the series with an exclamation point: three straight blowout victories, finishing with a 104-87 victory of the Heat in San Antonio Sunday night. [Read more…]
To fill the time between now and what could be the last game of the 2013-14 NBA season, we bring you another edition of the Three-Man Weave. This time, we examine possible NBA Finals MVP candidates – none of whom are among San Antonio’s “Big Three” – and what Miami can do to get back into the series. 1. Who is the NBA Finals MVP thus far? [Read more…]
MIAMI — We’re four games into the 2014 NBA Finals and the most consistent player on the floor hasn’t even broken double figures yet. His name is Boris Diaw, and the tremendous impact he has had on this series is still reverberating around South Beach and the rest of America as the San Antonio Spurs followed their 19-point Game 3 victory with an equally impressive 107-86 victory in Game 4 over the Miami Heat, who have been forced to the brink of elimination
Dwyane Wade is going to the Hall of Fame. Long before LeBron James took his talents to South Beach, Wade had won a title with the Miami Heat, virtually by himself. He is a multiple NBA champion, perennial All-Star and Olympic gold medalist. He even won a scoring title. Wade is an icon in Miami. And that is a problem for the Heat. Because over the last couple of years, it has become evident that Wade is no longer a superstar. And he
MIAMI — The proverbial “Next step.” When a young player scores a career-high 29 points on 10-for-13 shooting in a 111-92 win in Game 3 in a tied NBA Finals, takes that “Next step,” it’s a big deal (especially in the social media centric world we live in today). Normally he’ll shower, get dressed and head to the podium to answer questions from the media. That was not the case on Tuesday evening. Stone faced and serious, Kawhi Leonard headed toward the throng of media