Be it a fine or a suspension, we knew something big and bad was coming from commissioner David Stern. He had no choice but to do something significant after apologizing to the fans for what Gregg Popovich did and promising “substantial sanctions” against the San Antonio Spurs just before the start of their contest against the Miami Heat on Thursday. There were no suspensions of any kind, but Stern hit the Spurs organization with a hefty fine of $250,000 on Friday. Here
Last season, several key players were lost due to the dreadful tear of an ACL, clouding the future of each player that suffered the injury. The first major player that went down due to the devastating knee injury was Ricky Rubio of the Timberwolves during a game against the Lakers. Minnesota was well on pace to fight for a playoff spot, but everything unraveled once Rubio was lost – the team went 5-20 without the sensational point guard. This season, the Timberwolves
When the Oklahoma City Thunder traded James Harden on Saturday night, they revealed to everyone that they are a team far more concerned with the bottom line than the top of the heap. Probably a bit ahead of schedule, the Thunder reached the NBA Finals last season. As we have said before, they were a questionable foul call away from opening a 2-0 lead on the mighty Miami Heat that would have cultivated the doubt and derision that has swirled around
(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) In the wake of the Carmelo Anthony trade and the departures of Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith – the ending of the “Thuggets” era – Denver Nuggets vice president of basketball operations
When Deron Williams was first traded to the New Jersey Nets two seasons ago, he really didn’t have a whole lot of nice things to say about the situation. The team had no direction and Williams had no interest in being part of a rebuilding project, but fast forward to this preseason and the tone has completely changed. He is more than content with the teammates he now has, and seems to carry a certain level of pride about being
If you saw the box score of the Rockets-Spurs preseason game on Sunday, you may have noticed an ugly stat line from Mr. Linsanity – the electrifying point guard that shocked the basketball world last season. Lin managed to hit just one-of-10 shots with one assist while committing two turnovers in 25 minutes of play against the stifling defense of San Antonio. Lin’s biggest issue so far in the preseason appears to be the status of the knee he had surgery
How good can LeBron James become now that all the pressure in the world is off his back to win his first championship? How much better does he want to be? Can he really improve much more than what he has already shown in the first nine seasons of his illustrious career? Well, he is apparently working to master the sky hook shot made famous by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to add to his post game, which indicates that his game could
We all realize at this point that the Los Angeles Lakers have assembled a team to do some special things this season. There is an incredible amount of talent on the team from Steve Nash’s play-making abilities, Dwight Howard’s defensive presence, Kobe Bryant’s scoring prowess to Metta World Peace’s renewed focus. Then there is Pau Gasol, whose ability to be an all-around player for the team could be the x-factor to help carry the Lakers over the top. See why