The Los Angeles Lakers fans and everyone else along the way were absolutely shocked very early on Monday morning, when Mike Bresnahan of Los Angeles Times reported that Mike D’Antoni – not Phil Jackson – would become the next head coach of Kobe Bryant and company. So what exactly happened? It was reported over the weekend that the Zen master and the Lakers met to discuss the coach’s possible return to the team after the firing of Mike Brown. The fact that
ATLANTA — James Harden is warming up to this whole ‘foundational player’ thing. The Rockets’ new $80 million man spoiled Atlanta’s home opener by dropping a career-high 45 points on the Hawks in Houston’s 109-102 win on Friday night. Not a bad encore to his 37-point Rocket debut on Halloween. Working those mammoth stat lines into wins should be even more encouraging to Kevin McHale, Daryl Morey and everyone else (outside of Oklahoma City) who had a hand in making Harden so
Happy Halloween everyone. As the NBA has its second night of games, opening night for most teams—including the practically rebuilt Houston Rockets, the rest of America embarks on the age-old tradition of wearing costumes and stockpiling candy. Hopefully your costume—if you’re wearing one—is up to snuff. In a retrospective tweet, Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin seems to think that he had the best costume as a kid.
There are a number of noteworthy players that are on the verge of becoming a restricted free agent by season’s end, including guards Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans and others. Why? Because their respective teams have yet to decide whether they are worth the long-term investment. James Harden was also among the boat of players looking to receive a contract extension, but we all know how that ended up (he is preparing to suit up for the
Fans of the Thunder, Rockets and the NBA were stunned with Saturday night’s news that James Harden was traded to Houston for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and draft picks. Among those stunned was Harden. “It happened pretty fast,” Harden said. “I was at dinner and (Oklahoma City general manager) Sam Presti called me and said I was traded to the Rockets and I was kind of in shock.” It extended to Kevin Durant, who took to Twitter with a simple, “Wow.” During Monday’s news
It has been a couple of days now since the Thunder traded away a big part of their future in James Harden, but that hardly stopped anyone from still buzzing about it all. Who won the trade? Did the Thunder give up on their chance to contend after making it to the Finals last season over money? What does it mean for the Rockets, who suddenly look a whole lot more interesting? Our columnist Chris Bernucca was far from thrilled with the
Have you ever read the book “When the Game Was Ours”? It’s about the rise, rivalry and friendship of two of the finest players in the history of the NBA in Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, and how their love and passion for the game of basketball helped shape the NBA into what it is today. What you also find out in the book is the role of one David Stern, who wasn’t always hated and booed at every basketball event he
