This column is supposed to be about improvement, so let’s start it off by declaring that Saturday night’s Slam Dunk Contest was without a doubt the most un-improved thing in the history of All-Star Weekend. Seriously, what the hell happened there? After Paul George, John Wall and Damian Lillard – three bona fide stars in the league – actually decided that being considered one of the world’s best dunkers wasn’t beneath them, the league chucked a Snuggie into the Atlantic Ocean and
This past week, NBA TV released excerpts of an extended interview with LeBron James (airing in its entirety Monday night) in which Steve Smith asked “The King” to name his Mount Rushmore of basketball. James offered a quartet of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson. But it’s really an unfair question, because in addition to those four players, there are at least three more – centers Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell – who are in the
The annual Rising Stars Challenge on Friday between chosen rookies and sophomores was pretty much what most expected it to be: An offensive showcase with not a whole lot of defense being played (although the Plumlee brothers may disagree). Playing in front of his home crowd in New Orleans, Anthony Davis was expected to make some serious noise in this game. However, it was the unlikely shootout that broke out between Dion Waiters and Tim Hardaway Jr. in the second half
We’re nearing the All-Star break, and that means it’s just past halftime in the race for NBA Most Improved Player. So far this season, we’ve discussed Eminem, Seinfeld, the genetic connection between twins, existentialism, John Lennon, Mars Blackmon, and un-seeing the Eastern Conference standings. It’s been a great time, and I think we’ve all learned a lot. I know I have. But now, like middle school gym class, it’s time to separate the men from the boys. So let’s take a look at each candidate,
Welcome to the real season. Now that the Super Bowl is over and the NFL finally fades into the background of the American sports scene, many casual sports fans turn their attention to the NBA, as if the only sport that existed from Mondays to Saturdays in January was Herm Edwards and Ron Jaworski yelling hyperbolic nonsense at each other. Football’s bloated specter can be overbearing at times, especially with The Worldwide Leader making Daily Mail stories out of day-to-day NFL occurrences.
Adam Silver is in a tough spot. Silver became the NBA’s fifth commissioner on Saturday. He follows David Stern, whose 30 years as the league’s top executive likely will be unmatched by anyone in any sport. Silver begins his term without facing a major problem that needs immediate fixing or a hot-button issue that requires immediate attention. With TV contracts running through 2016, labor peace assured until at least 2017 and most of the top stars in their 20s, the NBA is
It was a performance the entire league was talking about. The prolific scoring forward was going off, just knocking down jump shot after jump shot, rarely subjecting the ball to even the slightest graze of the rim. He had 20, then 30, then 40, and there was still plenty of time left in the fourth quarter. He was at NBA Jam levels of On Fire, replete with the flaming basketball and the echoed enthusiasm of the announcers. It was the type of game that
Of the pool of 28 Team USA players announced earlier today, three have made verbal commitments to play this summer at the World Cup (formerly called the World Championship) in Spain. They are Kevin Durant, Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge. Additionally, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul will definitely NOT play in Spain … although all three should be considered locks to play at the 2016 Rio Olympics. (James and Anthony will become the first American players to appear in