Back when his team was under .500 and LeBron James was or was not on strike, I sent a text to David Blatt letting him know that I was hearing rumblings that certain members of the Cleveland media had an intense dislike for him, asking him where he was getting his p.r. advice. He wrote back tersely, the implied message being: Don’t text me anymore. I do not believe you. Well, then this Brian Windhorst column came out saying that folks around
Every team wants a player in the NBA All-Star Game. Just this week, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban complained that the voting system is “absolutely, positively broken” and lobbied for the NBA to provide additional roster spots for reserves who may have been overlooked by the fans. His reasoning was that leading vote-getter Stephen Curry received a mere 1.5 million votes, which is a miniscule total when you consider the global, electronic balloting process. As he often does, Cuban made some good
One of the biggest knocks against the NBA is that when the season starts, there are only five or six teams that can truly win the championship, making the regular season and the early playoff rounds interminably tedious. Not this season. As we reach the midway point – 18 teams have played at least 41 games, another nine have played 40 – there are no less than a dozen teams with legitimate title aspirations, including a handful that haven’t been in the
Sunday marked a tragic day in the sports world. Longtime ESPN anchor Stuart Scott passed away in the morning hours of January 4, 2015 after a long battle with cancer at the age of 49. The news is devastating to all those in the sports industry, including athletes, fans and viewers of ESPN. He brought something to the network and sports reporting that changed the game, and will continue to do so. [Read more…]
He proved that boundaries could be broken, that dreams do come true, and that no battle was ever too big to fight. He was a fighter, he never stopped fighting. He was as cool as the other side of the pillow. [Read more…]
While many GMs were working the phones this week, Knicks president Phil Jackson was using a different, more contemporary form of communication: Twitter. On Thursday, Donnie Nelson and Danny Ainge swung a five-player trade that sent Rajon Rondo to Dallas and draft picks to Boston. On Friday, Daryl Morey, Flip Saunders and Sam Hinkie worked a three-team deal that landed Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved in Houston and draft picks in Minnesota and Philadelphia. But not Jackson, and not the Knicks. Jackson doesn’t
The hottest team in the Eastern Conference doesn’t have a three-headed monster like the Cleveland Cavaliers. It doesn’t have a scrutinized superstar returning from injury like the Chicago Bulls or a rapper sitting courtside at every home game like the Toronto Raptors. Heck, it doesn’t even have a national TV appearance, even though it plays in TNT’s backyard. But the Atlanta Hawks have won nine of their last 10 games, flying well under the radar toward the top of the conference. The Hawks
Sports journalist Bryan Burwell, who wrote for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and occasionally made appearances on ESPN’s The Sports Reporters and worked as on-air talent for CBS Sports 920 in St. Louis, passed away early Thursday after enduring a brief battle with cancer. He was 59. Burwell was well-respected and well-liked in the industry. His colleague and fellow sportswriter at the Post-Dispatch, Bernie Miklasz, wrote a touching tribute about him. Here is an emotionally evocative excerpt: Until the end of his life,