Over the last 35 years, the Los Angeles Lakers have been the gold standard for success, not just in the NBA, but across the Big Four sports in America. That’s the big picture. Little picture? The Lakers last season set a new standard for futility: 55 losses, more than any other team in franchise history. Nearly from start to finish, the 2013-14 campaign was a disaster of injuries and ire, much of it directed at owner and basketball operations head Jim
The NBA has been considering, or at least entertaining the idea of finding ways for the regular season to be shorter in some way to help prevent its valuable players from being too worn out. So in Sunday’s upcoming preseason contest between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets, the league will try out a 44-minute game for the first time ever just as a simple sample to evaluate. Here are the details, from ESPN: The contest will be four minutes shorter than
Cleveland Cavaliers superstar and four-time league MVP LeBron James recently made waves when asked about the impact that the NBA’s new television rights deal will have on future collective bargaining (CBA) negotiations. He took a very strong stance. The whole thing that went on with the last negotiation process was the owners was telling us that they were losing money. There’s no way they can sit in front of us and tell us that right now.” SheridanHoops managing editor Chris Bernucca detailed
News broke last week regarding Nick Young of the Los Angeles Lakers going down with a thumb injury in practice. An MRI revealed that he completely tore the radial collateral ligament in his right thumb on Friday and is expected to miss six to eight weeks. Young, or “Swaggy P”, apparently injured his thumb when he was guarding Kobe Bryant in practice. The Lakers are hoping for a more definitive return date after he undergoes surgery, which was scheduled for today.
Lakers players make sure their feet hit the line while running suicide sprints. The Los Angeles Lakers have opened training camp and held their first practice under new head coach Byron Scott on Tuesday. Scott’s approach is markedly different from that of previous coach Mike D’Antoni. Scott is more disciplined and structured, and so, it seems, are his practices. Big difference in coaching style, D’Antoni kept it light, breezy & fun – Scott is establishing discipline, hard work &
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
In a summer marred by racial controversy, the NBA community has managed to keep its focus on the usual topics of conversation. Few debates have captured the imagination of the masses as much as the oldest question in the book: Who is the best player of all-time? The answers have varied, but not as much as people may think. From Kevin Durant to Brandon Jennings, multiple big-name players have made the claim that Kobe Bryant is the greatest of all time. Some have
As a veteran of the game, Kobe Bryant has seen his fair share of players adapt over the years. It’s easy to see how he’s picked up on traits from his peers and also rivals in his quest to becoming the great player that he is today. Having recently turned 36 years old, and coming off a season where he was limited to just six games, Bryant would be wise to take measures to revamp his style of play. [Read more…]