Yeah, baby. We waited all summer for this night to arrive, and the fun doesn’t end until the middle of June … at which time the fun begins anew with the strongest draft class since 2003 and the most star-studded free agent market since 2010. In the meantime, can the Miami Heat “three-peat?” Who is their strongest challenger — Brooklyn? Indiana? Chicago? And how will again Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett be different this season — other than having “Brooklyn” or “Boston” written across
I know a guy who used to work for the Houston Rockets back in the 1990s, when Hakeem Olajuwon was leading the team to back to-back titles and the team played at The Summit — a rickety bandbox that has been converted into a church in the years since the team moved to the Toyota Center. The guy tells a great story about a different era in the NBA, when money flowed as though it was wine at a toga party.
We are officially one week out from the start of the NBA regular season, and while team and season previews continue to fly in, there is an abundance of real news (and rumors) happening now. Let’s take a look around the league at the most pressing stories. We’re heading out to Denver for the story of the day, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports in his season preview that he has been informed that the Nuggets have been shopping their electric forward, Kenneth
While the preseason is largely about players avoiding injuries so that they can suit up for the regular season, there are always the select few that are working to recover from injuries. Nobody has entered the preseason with high expectations for Andrew Bynum — newly acquired by the Cleveland Cavaliers — in his recovery from chronic knee injuries. After all, it’s been how long now since we’ve seen him play? [Read more…]
BROOKLYN – LeBron James doesn’t like losing. Not one bit. His Miami Heat just barely put up 60 points against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night in an 86-62 defeat at the Barclays Center. Was he mad? Nope, he was patient. “We’re just trying to get better and not waste an opportunity to get better,” James said. “We don’t have all our guys playing, but when guys were in the game, they played, worked hard.” Miami didn’t really work so hard rebounding the basketball
BROOKLYN– Brad Stevens is new to the NBA, and the Boston Celtics have had to grow familiar with his brand of coaching over the course of training camp and the preseason. With just about two weeks before the start of the season – and a new era for the franchise – the Celtics seem pleased with the progress the team is making under Stevens’ early stewardship. If general manager Danny Ainge’s plan for the franchise is for the rookie coach to grow
In today’s news, ESPN revealed some surprising news about how they project Kobe Bryant to fare in the upcoming season, the Knicks admitted Amar’e Stoudemire would be on a stricter minutes count this season, and Gerald Wallace talked to the media about his departure from Brooklyn. [Read more…]
Marko Jaric’s run at a return to the NBA has come to an end. Shortly after the Brooklyn Nets’ preseason victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, general manager Billy King announced that the team would waive the 35-year-old guard. While the stay was brief, Jaric still appreciated the opportunity and handled the news with class: @markojaric: Thanks to the Brooklyn Nets organization for everything but I am just to much out of shape. Good luck!!! — Marko Jaric (@markojaric) October 16, 2013 Jaric