Hard to get a feel yet whether there is a palpable sense of panic over Kevin Durant’s foot injury, or whether everyone is drinking Sam Presti’s Kool-Aid and expecting the reigning MVP back sometime around Dec. 1 — the best-case scenario laid out by the Thunder when the news of the injury broke Sunday. If Durant only misses the first four to five weeks of the season, OKC will be OK. The Thunder are already established as an elite Western Conference
NBA MVP Kevin Durant is out indefinitely with a foot fracture. The Oklahoma City Thunder announced Sunday in a news release that their superstar forward has a Jones fracture in his right foot and that the typical course of action is surgery that requires six to eight weeks of recovery. However, the release also said that Durant and the team had yet to decide on a specific course of action and cannot yet provide a timetable. Here’s what Thunder GM Sam Presti had
Many believed the Heat’s loss to the Spurs in the NBA Finals was when LeBron James first began to seriously consider leaving Miami. As it turns out, the wheels may have already been put in motion. Mike Miller, who followed James this offseason to the Cleveland Cavaliers, told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer this week that James initially began questioning the Heat’s brass when they used the amnesty provision on Miller in July 2013, sparing owner Micky Arison millions in salary and luxury-tax fees
HOUSTON — Is James Harden capable of being Kevin Durant 2.0 when it comes to post-FIBA growth? Many credited FIBA international play in 2010 with aiding Durant’s evolution into an NBA superstar. Now, fresh off a gold medal in Spain with the U.S. national team, Durant’s former teammate and good friend Harden is hoping to see a similar transformation of his own as he embarks on his third season as a franchise cornerstone, a Big Two alongside Dwight Howard for the Houston Rockets. The theme for
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — He gets asked the question once per day, on average. “How long, Phil? How long will it take?” Phil Jackson never answers in specifics. At least that is how he made it sound Friday as he was asked that very same question yet again as the New York Knicks prepared to open their 2014-15 training camp. “How long?” When will the championship drought that began in 1973-74 come to an end? When will the reconstruction be complete? When will the
Coming into the 2014-15 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder figure to continue to be one of the league’s true title contenders. What’s different? A big free agent signing, the continued development of young talent, and finally a change in the starting lineup. Should everything work out, this could be the strongest Thunder team ever. Hovering over this potential perfect storm is a world of doubt. The Thunder have remained contenders for three or four years now but still have little hardware
Russell Westbrook personifies the story of his generation in the NBA. He is probably the most polarizing player in the league. Here we will try to layout the arguments of his loyal supporters, who believe he is one of the top 10 players in the NBA, as well as the reasoning of his naysayers, who believe he is far too out of control to play point guard. Once we do that, we will debunk both. Then, with a clean slate, we will
A couple of weeks ago, we had Chris Paul atop our list of NBA point guards. No surprise there. Although he plays a position that is very deep in talent, Paul is a fantastic leader with an inhuman competitive streak. He ranks annually among the leaders in assists and steals. And believe it or not, he’s still on the right side of 30, at least until next year’s playoffs. But Paul is atop another of our lists list as well – NBA