Over the summer, Carmelo Anthony had the chance to put himself in position to be a part of one of the top contending teams in the league. He was a free agent, and the Chicago Bulls believed the small forward was the perfect offensive force to complete their team compromised of mostly defensively-dominant players. Of course, Anthony decided to be loyal (the extra $20-plus million probably helped) and remained with the rebuilding New York Knicks. Unfortunately, he got to see on Wednesday
The NBA has done a lot to make basketball a popular sport around the world. New Commissioner Adam Silver has followed the same plan as his predecessor David Stern. Although the global games first began in 1978 and into 1979, there was a five year gap until Stern entered as the Commissioner. NBA teams were matched against teams from inside and outside the league almost every year throughout his tenure, and there’s been at least one global game played since
By this point, David Blatt’s journey – from the suburbs of Boston to Princeton to Israel, followed by a Magellanesque coaching journey around Europe, a Euroleague title with Maccabi Tel Aviv and finally landing a head coaching job in the NBA with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers – is well documented. But what Blatt has learned along the way and what he brings to the professional game is more than worth chronicling. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Blatt’s former team, just completed its
CLEVELAND — Walking out of Quicken Loans Arena Sunday night, I had a chance to catch several fragments of conversation. “That place was nuts,” said one man. “I can’t wait for the season,” said a middle-aged woman. Most of the time, though, all I could catch was a name. “LeBron James.” “LeBron James.” “LeBron James.” It couldn’t have been more obvious who the fans came out to see. And, unlike most preseason games, this wasn’t just the diehards (or if it was, there are suddenly a lot
There are probably a list of reasons that could have been used to question why LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he has assured us that the coach wasn’t one of them. Now that the pre-season has officially begun and James has finally started competing with Cleveland again, we are able to see how well he meshes with this roster under rookie NBA coach, David Blatt. [Read more…]
Nice how things change so drastically and so quickly in the NBA. In the season preview that I wrote about the Cleveland Cavaliers one year ago, the five things to watch included Andrew Bynum, Anthony Bennett and Mike Brown’s defensive schemes. Obviously, things have changed dramatically as the Cavs head into the 2014-15 season. With a mere 952 words in Sports Illustrated back in July after Chris Sheridan broke the story two days earlier, LeBron James single-handedly changed the direction – and
Friday brought about the first media days for a few NBA teams. The Miami Heat, New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers were among the teams meeting the media before the start of training camp. The Heat are the defending Eastern Conference champions but are retooling. The Knicks are beginning the Phil Jackson era. The Spurs are trying to defend their NBA title. But no team got as much attention Friday as the Cavaliers. [Read more…]
The most intriguing team in the NBA this season is unquestionably the Cleveland Cavaliers. And the secocnd-most intriguing team in the NBA this season may be the Chicago Bulls. This summer, the Cavaliers remade themselves from a laughingstock to a legitimate contender with the additions of LeBron James and Kevin Love. Meanwhile, the Bulls are hoping the return of Derrick Rose and the addition of Pau Gasol puts them in the championship chase as well. And both teams play in the Central Division,