Mitch Kupchak shouldn’t be playing hardball. In his desire to trade Pau Gasol, the GM of the Los Angeles Lakers should not have insisted on receiving Dion Waiters or a first-round pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nobody has overpaid for a rental since Ernie Grunfeld sent Ray Allen to Seattle for Gary Payton — and that was a long time ago. Kupchak should have lowered his demands to match the team’s expectations. The Lakers are done for this season and should be
As 2014 begins, more sad news has hit Hollywood and fans of a hit 90s TV show. For those who may not have heard already, actor James Avery, famous for his portrayal of Uncle Phil from the popular show, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air—died Wednesday morning. According to reports, he passed away after undergoing complications from open heart surgery. The first to publicly confirm the news this morning was Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Avery’s onscreen son Carlton Banks. [Read more…]
Four years ago, when the Los Angeles Lakers were winning their second NBA championship in as many years behind the big bodied, long armed and incredible skill of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum (oh, and that Kobe guy), would it have ever crossed your mind to see the two Laker bigs as the centerpiece of a midseason trade? For each other? [Read more…]
2013 has not been pleasant in terms of all the injuries accumulated in the NBA. Whether it’s Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant, Marc Gasol, Quincy Pondexter or J.J. Redick, players around the league have missed significant time already due to injuries. Add Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks to that list, who received the worst news possible regarding the injury he suffered last week. Find details on him and much more below. HORFORD OUT FOR THE YEAR: Horford suffered a tear of his pectoral
With the prospect of a dazzling draft class looming in 2014, the word “tanking” has been as much a part of the NBA lexicon as flopping or fouling. Teams with little to no hope of making the playoffs – let alone doing anything there if they did – should just pack it in now and wait for the lottery in May and the draft in June. That’s where the real bonanza lies this season. Tanking has always been part of the NBA,
Is this how things are going to be for the Brooklyn Nets without their starting center? In the first game since losing Brook Lopez to a season-ending foot injury, the Nets got ripped by the Indiana Pacers and suffered an embarrassing 103-86 loss at home. To be fair, they did lose to the best team in the league (at least from a record perspective). The Pacers are ranked No. 1 in defensive rating and allow a league best 89.4 points. That’s
Is it too early to say whether we have another lottery bust on our hands? It has been well-documented what’s going on in Cleveland with Anthony Bennett, the top overall pick in the 2013 draft who has been absolutely awful this season. This week, we saw the debut of Otto Porter, the No. 3 overall pick of the Washington Wizards. And while Porter is returning from an injury and has only played two games, the early returns don’t look promising. [Read more…]
Earlier tonight, I managed to catch a good deal of the Warriors-Kings game. It was a tough one to pick a rooting interest in: the Warriors have been “my team” since my family left Toronto in 1999 (for Baltimore, and I’m not going to root for a team from DC), but Greivis Vasquez is my favorite basketball player by a pretty wide distance, and I’ve grown accustomed to always rooting for Greivis’ team. Also, their new coach has a great