NBA commissioner David Stern has been behind, and orchestrated, much of the drama that has filled the NBA over the last several decades. Most recently we have seen his fingerprints all over the bizarre Chris Paul veto, the NBA lockout, the Tim Donaghy scandal and implementing the dress code. But now, much like a Vince McMahon WWE storyline, Stern’s role in the show has taken a twist. [Read more…]
When you think about what Tracy McGrady used to be and what he is now, it’s generally considered a sad thing. McGrady, who many believed to be an equal to Kobe Bryant (or better, depending on who you ask) in his prime, just finished the previous season as a bench-warmer with the San Antonio Spurs at the age of 34. It just doesn’t sound quite right, does it? No one envisioned the superstar’s career to wind down in such an anticlimactic way, but
The 2013 NBA offseason began with news of two greats choosing to hang up their sneakers—Jason Kidd and Grant Hill. Two months into the summer, another marquee player is walking away from the league. Tracy McGrady has announced on ESPN’s First Take that he will be retiring from the NBA. [Read more…]
This summer, the Brooklyn Nets transformed themselves from pretenders to contenders. However, the transformation came at a steep price. Owner Mikhail Prokhorov has the NBA’s only nine-figure team payroll, which translates to an $87 million luxury tax bill. (He can afford it. He is the NBA’s George Steinbrenner). Nets GM Billy King also mortgaged the future by trading first-round draft picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018 with the right to swap first-round picks in 2017 as part of a trade with Boston
The New York Knicks were stuck in neutral while other Eastern Conference teams improved mightily this offseason. Are they still No. 2 as they were last regular season? Probably not. After a disappointing loss to Indiana in the Eastern Conference semifinals that denied them a shot at the NBA champion Miami Heat, the Knicks essentially replaced Chris Copeland, Jason Kidd and Steve Novak with Metta World Peace, Beno Udrih and Andrea Bargnani. The team also re-signed J.R. Smith, Pablo Prigioni and Kenyon
One of the worst things a rebuilding team can do is completely miss on a first-round pick. With the Celtics now definitely rebuilding, it might be time to question whether they did just that when they took Fab Melo, who was just traded to the Grizzlies for Donte Greene. Of course, it’s not like the Celtics will be set back for years by missing on that pick: they took Jared Sullinger one pick before Melo and Kelly Olynyk this year,
The majority of offseason moves this summer have been completed, and the general landscape of the NBA has settled as everyone prepares for the new season to start. For the most part, the traditional powers remain — Miami, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Chicago — while a few franchises will look to make the leap into elite contention — Indiana, Houston, Golden State, Brooklyn, New York, Los Angeles (Clippers). Once upon a time, the Dallas Mavericks were a part of this class. [Read
BROOKLYN — Two significant things about today’s Brooklyn Nets news conference — what was said, and what wasn’t said. First, the latter: The word “Knicks” was not mentioned one single time. It would have been like being at a wine-tasting, and uttering the word “Thunderbird.” No bigger sign of disrespect than treating an adversary as though it does not exist. Because in the new world of the Nets, the only other team that merits mention, the only other team that is in