The two aging giants came together at center court, a herd of national TV cameras surrounding them like those crazy, suicidal fish that swim alongside sharks and somehow get away with it. (Nature is weird, man). They embraced, in that bro-hug type of way players do, and shared a few words of mutual respect before going their separate ways, Kobe Bryant toward the ruthlessly dimming twilight of his career and LeBron James out of the visitor’s locker room at Staples Center,
No matter whom you like in the race for NBA Rookie of the Year, one thing is certain: Both Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis will be watching the playoffs on TV. That’s no dig at either player. It is usually what happens to high draft picks during their first couple of seasons. You have to go back to Derrick Rose in 2008 to find a top overall pick who reached the playoffs in his rookie season. In fact, among the last 40
Dearly Beloved: As we gather together once more in this special column space, we can’t help but daydream about the beautiful matrimony between man and award. It’s wedding season (I don’t know if that’s true or not), so we thought it would be interesting to explore some of the similarities between “sixth men” and best men. It’s not just because they both have the word “man” in them. OK, maybe it is. But still, there are a lot of similarities. [Read more…]
What’s left to say about Stephen Curry following what was arguably the most remarkable week of the most remarkable season we’ve ever seen from the most remarkable shooter in the history of the NBA? Yes, some folks have run out of superlatives. But not everyone. As we publish on the afternoon of Super Tuesday and await the outcome of 11 presidential primary contests, it is worth noting that Donald J. Trump is saying that Curry has already made America Great Again. OK,
I’ve been watching a lot of Donald Trump speeches lately (not by choice), so like our possible future president, I’m just going to come right out and say something stupid off the top of my head: I don’t think Stephen Curry is real. I think he’s an Old Spice commercial, tricking all of us into thinking he’s actually doing the things he’s doing on the court. Think about it for a second. It’s brilliant product placement, really. The man is cashing 40-foot shots on a routine basis. He’s
It’s funny how people get so caught up in the chase for history. Every time people see me, they start asking: “Are they going to do it?” “Is it going to happen?” “Who would win if they played today?” Of course, you know what I’m talking about. It involves winning, a Curry and something that hasn’t been done since the mid-1990s. But I mean, it’s almost getting boring now. Everybody knows that Denver Nuggets guard Will Barton can make history by becoming the first player from
Ah, the All-Star break. It’s like spring break for ballers, except it’s too damn cold unless you do what the non-All-Stars do and head to the tropics while the NBA takes a week-long break that really isn’t a break – not with the trade deadline coming Thursday. Imagine you were a college student and you were spending several days drinking Natty Lights, watching wet T-shirt contests, throwing up and using your best “Feel the Bern” lines to piss off Gloria Steinem
Allen Iverson once said he would rather retire than come off the bench. So, I guess he’s not reading this column. And while that certainly hurts (I loved you, A.I.), it’s not going to stop me from practicing my craft here. We talkin’ ’bout practice. PRAC—TICE. Something that you do to get better. Ah, forget it. It takes a special type of player to adapt to coming off the bench. Several guys, who we threw under the bus—er—uh, mentioned in our Most Improved Player Rankings