When I cast my Coach of the Year vote for George Karl, I had no idea so many others would do the same. More than half the voters made the same choice. The final individual award given out by the NBA was announced this morning, and Karl was the Coach of the Year in a runaway. with Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat second and Mike Woodson of the Knicks third. [Read more…]
It may be playoff season for 16 teams right now – well, 13 now that three teams have been eliminated – but it’s the offseason for other teams around the league, as they try to figure out the best course of action for next season. [Related: NBA players react to wild Game 6 between Warriors and Nuggets] The biggest news come in the way of hiring and firing of management positions, and we start with the biggest surprise – the hiring of Phil
Game 5 at the Pepsi Center between the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors proved to be quite the chippy one. Unexpectedly down 3-1 in the series and facing elimination, Denver needed to do anything it could to stay alive. Part of its tactic was to try to get in the head of Stephen Curry by playing him more physically, which appeared to help throw the point guard’s game off – he managed to score just 15 points on seven-of-19
NBA players always seem to question what the media knows when the voting for awards don’t go a certain way. That was again the case when it was determined that Marc Gasol won the Defensive Player of the Year award this season. Manu Ginobili, who has had the privilege of playing alongside the great defense of Tim Duncan all his career, clearly did not appreciate his big man getting snubbed for the award after having yet another impacting presence on the
Hey, how about those road teams in the playoffs, hunh? It was a lost weekend that would have made Ray Milland proud. I spent huge chunks of Saturday and Sunday at an AAU tournament and missed several games. When I finally got home and turned on the TV, I wished I was back at the AAU tournament. If you didn’t watch the NBA playoffs this weekend, you didn’t miss much. All eight road teams lost Game 1, the first time that has happened
Because you can only put two forwards on the All-NBA First Team, and as I explained at length in my column detailing my ballot choices, I have Carmelo Anthony 2nd on my MVP ballot. And since that other forward spot on First Team All-NBA is being occupied by LeBron James, who should be a unanimous MVP pick, there’s only so much room at the inn. As I say in this interview with CineSport’s Noah Coslov: “Kevin Durant isn’t second-team anything.” [Read
I always wait until the final day of the season to make up my mind on my official NBA ballot choices. Why? Because during the lockout-shortened NBA season in 1999, I was in San Antonio covering a forgettable game at the Alamodome when I spoke with a veteran writer for a national publication who had already submitted his ballot after only 44 of the 50 games had been played. I asked him, and I asked myself … “What’s the rush?” I was working at
Shane Battier of the Miami Heat and coach George Karl of the Denver Nuggets have been selected as the 2013 winners of the Magic Johnson Award and the Rudy Tomjanovich Award, respectively, which recognize excellence on the court with cooperation with the media and fans, the Pro Basketball Writers Association announced on Tuesday. [Read more…]