Tonight is Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and the buzz is palpable. Can the Heat draw on last year’s disappointment as motivation? Is the stage too big and bright for the youth of the Thunder? Which team will get its vaunted transition game going? And if it is a one-possession game in the final minute, will LeBron James again become a shrinking violet or impose his newly indomitable will? We all want to see a competitive series with no shortage of spectacular
Hang tight, folks. There is just one more day left until the best games of the season arrive. Until then, see all the thoughts of the players heading into Game 1 of the NBA Finals, along with other news, including the tragic situation of veteran referee Greg Willard, Metta World Peace’s new role in a movie and much more. All the superstars going into the NBA Finals shared their thoughts today about the matchups. Here are some notable ones: LeBron James downplayed this
OKLAHOMA CITY — There is an age-old truism pertaining to the NBA Finals that pertains to the question of old age. Young teams rarely, and we mean very rarely, win NBA championships. If the Oklahoma City Thunder somehow manage to emerge from the NBA Finals victorious, they’d be the first team with such a young nucleus to win the title since the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977 — a topic that our Hall of Fame columnist, Mark Heisler, addressed in his column
Michael Heisley, who moved the Grizzlies from Vancouver to Memphis over 10 years ago, is selling the team to a group owned by communications technology executive Robert J. Pera. The team announced the sale agreement Monday in a news release that did not disclose financial terms, although ESPN.com reported the price to be $350 million. The sale is pending the approval of the NBA Board of Governors, antitrust clearance and other conditions. Heisley, 75, bought the Grizzlies in 2000, when the franchise
// Watch the above video for my reasoning. And by the way, I am the only person on the SheridanHoops staff to pick Thunder in 5. For all of our staff’s picks, click here. (Disclaimer: The prediction business is a tricky one. I had Heat in 7 last round, but I also had Spurs in 5.) And back in the day when I was with ESPN, I was the only guy who said there was only a 10 percent chance that LeBron
The Conference Finals for both the East and the West had something in common this season: Each had a 36-year-old future hall of fame center (or power forward) in Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, trying desperately to help their respective teams reach the promised land of the NBA Finals. Both players had their moments, as you will see in the videos below. (via FocusedFolks20) (via Hennessy1764) Facing teams represented by the brightest superstars of today in LeBron James and Kevin Durant, Garnett and Duncan fell just short of making
The 12 referees who work the NBA Finals will wear No. 57 on their jerseys as a show of recognition to colleague Greg Willard, who has pancreatic cancer. A 24-year veteran, Willard is one of the NBA’s top officials, having worked the last two NBA Finals, the pinnacle of officiating. He was still working in the early rounds of this postseason before pulling out with an undisclosed illness. The gesture was arranged by the National Basketball Referees Association with the NBA’s cooperation. “Greg’s
