By now, the Golden State Warriors should be accustomed to the scrutiny produced by their championship last season and their pursuit of 73 victories this season. Everything they do is magnified, which was evident again on Sunday. Their bizarre loss to the woeful Los Angeles Lakers generated great debate throughout the sports world. On ABC, it was announced that no NBA team with 55 victories had ever lost to a team with 51 losses. So that is the biggest regular season upset
In all likelihood, Luke Walton will be spending All-Star Weekend on vacation in two months. This would be a travesty, and it is time for someone to tell NBA commissioner Adam Silver to prevent a miscarriage of recognition. I will take on the job. As most of you know, the honor of coaching each conference’s All-Star team goes to the coach whose team has the league’s best record prior to the break. Last year, that job fell to Steve Kerr, who was
Former Los Angeles Laker Samaki Walker won an NBA title with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and Phil Jackson in 2001-2002 and played with Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Dwyane Wade over the course of his 10-year career. He was my guest on this week’s NBA Press Break podcast, where co-host Max Kirshblum and I discussed all things Phil and the Knicks, Kobe and the Lakers and which current superstars could have survived in the rougher NBA of 15-20 years
The conference finals should be fantastic. We can all agree on that. But what are fans in New York and Los Angeles looking forward to most? The Draft Lottery on Tuesday night as the lead-in to Game 1 of the Western Conference matchup between Golden State and Houston. First, let me get one thing out of the way: I do not believe the lottery is fixed. But I do believe the 1985 lottery may have been fixed in order to land the
With about two minutes remaining in Saturday night’s Game 7 between the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers and still no clear indication regarding which team was moving on and which team was going home, Tim Duncan gave himself a break from the magnitude of the moment and offered some candid perspective. The All-Star forward and face of one of the handful of NBA dynasties approached Doc Rivers, who was in his 12th Game 7 as a coach. With one
Each time the Rockets play the Thunder, four names immediately come to mind: Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin, Steven Adams and Mitch McGary. With all draft picks now liquidated, those players make up the return Oklahoma City received for James Harden in October 2012. Martin left the Thunder in free agency after one season off the bench, and the others all score fewer than eight points per game. That’s it. Lamb, who was supposedly the trade’s crown jewel as the No. 12 pick in 2012, isn’t
Shame on Jim Dolan for the tone of his e-mail to a 73-year-old fan. Shame on Adam Silver for not penalizing Dolan for his disturbing diatribe. And shame on David Stern for wighing in and supporting Dolan/Silver, saying what Dolan did was undeserving of any kind of punishment. The NBA – where the customer is always disposable. To me, what is most galling about the Dolan e-mail controversy is that Silver described Dolan as the “consummate New Yorker.” AYFKM? Any New Yorker who
NEW YORK – The Knicks should put the “tank” in tanking to give the organization its best chance to land one of the most heralded center prospects in recent memory – Duke’s Jahlil Okafor. The Knicks put on a full court press with Carmelo Anthony, team president Phil Jackson, general manager Steve Mills and Allan Houston all on hand at Madison Square Garden to watch Okafor in action. “I like him,” Anthony said. “I think he’s got a great feel for the