This past week, NBA TV released excerpts of an extended interview with LeBron James (airing in its entirety Monday night) in which Steve Smith asked “The King” to name his Mount Rushmore of basketball. James offered a quartet of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson. But it’s really an unfair question, because in addition to those four players, there are at least three more – centers Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell – who are in the
Only three coaches in NBA history have done what Erik Spoelstra is attempting to do in Miami. One is dead. One is approaching 100 while in assisted living in Minnesota. The third is off the grid somewhere, presumably in Montana. The Heat are trying to become only the fourth franchise in NBA history to win three consecutive titles. The Lakers were the last to turn the trick, winning three in a row from 2000-2002. They were coached by Phil Jackson, who also
Martin Luther King Day is more than a day of celebration and reflection for the NBA, which probably has done more positive things for race relations than any other sport in the Civil Rights Era. It also has become the unofficial midway point of the season. By the completion of Monday’s action, more than half of the league’s 30 teams will have played half their games. With that in mind, we present our midseason awards with this reminder from the bookie of hopeless
Something is wrong with Stephen Curry’s shot this season. When the Golden State Warriors guard shoots, it’s almost never considered a bad shot. The reason behind that logic is simple: it’s not considered a bad shot if you make it. In past years, Curry almost always made shots that would be considered a bad shot if anyone else took it, like this one, for example. This season, however, Curry has simply been off his shooting game. For the first time in his
Is this how things are going to be for the Brooklyn Nets without their starting center? In the first game since losing Brook Lopez to a season-ending foot injury, the Nets got ripped by the Indiana Pacers and suffered an embarrassing 103-86 loss at home. To be fair, they did lose to the best team in the league (at least from a record perspective). The Pacers are ranked No. 1 in defensive rating and allow a league best 89.4 points. That’s
In his stated effort to upstage Knicks owner James Dolan, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has become him. Like Dolan, Prokhorov desperately wants an NBA championship. Like Dolan, he has pursued that desperation with financial abandon, giving his GM an open checkbook. Like Dolan, he has overspent on overvalued big names. Like Dolan, he has mortgaged his team’s future by giving away multiple draft picks. And like Dolan, he appears headed down the abyss. In two months, the Nets have gone from contenders with
Sunday only has three games on the schedule, nothing earth-shattering but there’s a few good matchups to watch. [Read more…]
The San Antonio Spurs are resting both Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili for Thursday night’s nationally televised road game vs. the Golden State Warriors, initially putting themselves at risk of another six-figure fine from the NBA. A release from Spurs media relations Thursday afternoon – titled an “injury report” – said both players were being held out of the game on TNT due to rest. It made no mention of injuries to either player. The release also said guard Tony Parker would