Can we now stop pretending that Anthony Davis is the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain? Can we now stop with the hyperbolic declarations that Davis is going to own the NBA in two years or that Davis is going to make the New Orleans Pelicans a perennial title contender? Can we now stop calling Davis a top-five player? Top-five players elevate teams by themselves. Top-five players assure their teams of 50 wins and playoff berths, regardless of circumstances. Top-five players don’t say, “We
When you think of Jeremy Evans, you immediately think of the high-flyer on the Utah Jazz who won the dunk contest some years ago in impressive fashion. What you don’t think of is Evans (now on the Dallas Mavericks) the talented artist, but it turns out his ability to make art is about as impressive as his ability to dunk, as we learned on Thursday night: I was asked if I still could draw, I had to find out. I drew this on my iPad case.
Generations of fans know the Utah Jazz as a model of stability. They were raised on Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone, coach Jerry Sloan and super significant owner Larry H. Miller, the rock of the franchise. Miller kept the team together, mended issues with coaches and players and even took financial risks to purchase the team. When Miller died in 2009, the franchise slowly lost all the stability he imparted to it as the sole owner. It truly fell apart
LeBron James came into the weekend with the hype he’s built through the monstrous 60 percent, 30-point tear that he’d been on for nearly seven straight games. Kevin Durant dropped (another) 30-spot: It was his third straight 30-point All-Star game. Kobe Bryant made an timely, game-sealing block with the West up 134-126 and under 2:40 seconds to play in the game. Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade each played a well-rounded game. [Read more…]
The Slam Dunk contest mostly turned out to be a snooze fest of sorts. Saturday night actually kicked off with a promising reverse dunk off the side of the backboard from former champion Gerald Green, but took a dive from there, as the contestants repeatedly failed to convert their attempts on the first couple of tries. Green was surprisingly the biggest culprit, as the high-flyer ultimately failed to covert his double-dunk attempt in the allowed time. [Read more…]
With just two games remaining on the NBA schedule before All-Star Weekend — Heat/Thunder, Clippers/Lakers tonight on TNT — most of the league has shifted its focus towards this weekends festivities in Houston. Today’s case study, Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets, who will be a participant in Saturday nights featured event, the Slam Dunk Contest. [Read more…]
