The last 12 months represent by far the least amount of basketball Kevin Durant has played in his eight-year NBA career. In a sadly ironic twist, it also represents a time when he has had more intrigue swirling around him than ever before. In the last year, Durant has won NBA MVP and given a moving acceptance speech; quit as the new face of Team USA; created a bidding war between apparel companies in the mid nine figures; become the beacon of
I have 1,000 stories about coach Mike Krzyzewski, one for each of his 1,000 wins, but I promise to only tell a few of them. I was a Division 1 coach for 18 years and won 200 games, and winning 1,000 games at the highest level of college basketball is an accomplishment that can only be summed up as unthinkable, unimaginable and something coaches, including myself, can only dream of. I have always felt that the best coaches are the ones who can
Since the beginning of the FIBA tournament, all the experts and their mothers expected Team USA to meet their match against Spain for the gold in the final game. Just one problem: Spain will no longer play for the gold after a shocking 65-52 loss to France on Wednesday. Despite a valiant effort from Pau Gasol, who had 17 points and eight rebounds, the rest of his team struggled mightily against France’s tough defense, anchored by center Rudy Gobert and his game-high 13 rebounds.
We asked this question in our last edition of the Rookie Rankings: Can a player from a 65-loss team win Rookie of the Year? The answer: One already has. In the 1999-2000 season, the Chicago Bulls were continuing their rebuilding following the second retirement of Michael Jordan and went 17-65. One of their few bright spots was a young power forward named Elton Brand, who averaged 20.1 points and 10.1 rebounds and shared Rookie of the Year honors with Houston’s Steve Francis. But
In Elton Brand’s 14 NBA seasons, the two-time All Star has played alongside some of the league’s most respected point guards. From Sam Cassell to pre-injury Shaun Livingston to Andre Miller to Jrue Holiday, Brand has grown accustomed to excellence from his floor generals. So when Brand signed with Atlanta over the summer and was told to check out the highlight reel for his new teammate, a 19-year-old who had been nicknamed “Baby Rondo,” he was understandably skeptical of the moniker. “People
Ever since reports surfaced that Metta World Peace would be amnestied by the Los Angeles Lakers, his name has been tied to one team that has shown the greatest interest in attaining the forward: the New York Knicks. Although World Peace expressed interest in the idea of playing overseas in China for a while, he received an offer worth staying for from the Knicks and has agreed to join them on Monday. ESPN has details: [Read more…]
Hello and welcome to the Evening News. As free agency continues, we’ll keep you updated every night. What’s happening today? [Read more…]
Brandon Jennings When Monday morning rolls around and the NBA free agency period continues, the biggest winner over the weekend will not be Metta World Peace and it will not be Jeff Teague. Brandon Jennings is now the man with much of the power. Over the weekend, it was reported that the Atlanta Hawks decided to match the four-year, $32 million offer sheet that Teague signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. As a result, Teague will remain a Hawk for