Sometimes the best way to evaluate the Most Valuable Player is to watch him ride solo for a while. Yes, stats count. So does his performance in close games, his output against the better teams, his showdowns with fellow candidates and his overall leadership. However, a true indicator can be how the player performs when he has to go it alone. This season, we have all marveled at Kevin Durant. The perennial MVP candidate has been truly spectacular. But what has elevated
The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the unluckiest teams in the league in terms of having to deal with an endless number of critical injuries, particularly to their list of point guards. It’s one thing to miss your starting point guard. It’s another to then lose your backup point guard and your third string point guard. That’s precisely what happened to these Lakers, with Steve Nash, Steve Blake and Jordan Farmar all going down with significant injuries. They became
Adam Silver is in a tough spot. Silver became the NBA’s fifth commissioner on Saturday. He follows David Stern, whose 30 years as the league’s top executive likely will be unmatched by anyone in any sport. Silver begins his term without facing a major problem that needs immediate fixing or a hot-button issue that requires immediate attention. With TV contracts running through 2016, labor peace assured until at least 2017 and most of the top stars in their 20s, the NBA is
There could only be one reason for a single game NBA schedule on a Sunday in February: the Super Bowl. So, like every other American and plenty around the world, NBA players were more than happy to spend a rare day off watching the biggest event of the year. The Seattle Seahawks absolutely thumped the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the most lopsided Super Bowl in league history. Peyton Manning threw for only 280 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in his second
BROOKLYN – Kevin Durant treated the league like a game of NBA 2K14 on a nightly basis in January. Durant is a 7-footer with the handle of a guard, the shooting ability of a sniper, the leaping ability of a kangaroo and the rebounding ability of a power forward. Basically, he’s the player we all created from scratch in a video game as kids with the ratings boosted as high as possible. Recently, Durant added “Slim Reaper” to his list of nicknames
Kevin Durant or LeBron James? That has been the question many have been asking since Durant’s incredible scoring run in the month of January. Prior to Oklahoma City Thunder’s matchup against Miami Heat on Wednesday, the forward had scored at least 30 points or more in 11 consecutive games, going 8-3 in that span – all without All-Star guard Russell Westbrook. For Durant, this stuff matters. He openly admit last season that being second to LeBron James in everything was not something
Back from Vegas, I took in the Lakers-Knicks game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday and listened to a dejected Pau Gasol lament a lack of effort and espouse his frustrations over a lost Lakers season. You can be damn well sure he is looking forward to the trade deadline, waiting to find out if he’ll play a single meaningful basketball game before summer arrives. But once summer does arrive, the big Spaniard is going to have a lot left in the
Hi hoops fans, Jake Henson here. Long time reader but first time blogger for Sheridan Hoops, so go easy on me just this one time. As usual, there was plenty happening around the league in the past 24 hours. Let’s get straight into today’s blog and do a quick catch-up on the National Basketball Association. Rondo’s road back Almost 12 months to the day, Rajon Rondo unknowingly suffered a torn right ACL against the Atlanta Hawks (January 25th 2013). At the time Rondo