Skid Row, downtown Los Angeles Meanwhile, along the old, deserted, weed-infested, beer bottle-strewn route into the setting sun…. Welcome to L.A., backwater of the West, with the road to the Finals now running through towns in Oklahoma and Texas, far from the glitter of Staples Center. Wait, you’re not talking about the Lakers and Clippers, home of four starting West All-Stars, are you? OK, backwater might be a bit much, but stay tuned. Whatever it is, it bears less and less
Nearly 20 percent of the NBA is comprised of international players, including some of the game’s biggest stars. But when it comes to international jersey sales, American players still dominate. On the first list of the top 15 international jersey sales released Thursday by the NBA, the top 10 spots went to American players, with tried-and-true veteran Kobe Bryant holding the No. 1 slot. The list was based on sales at adidas locations outside the United States during the 2011-12 season. Following Bryant
LeBron, the re-canonization…. I know, they never used to do such a thing as re-canonizations. But then, they didn’t used to do un-canonizations, either. These days, you don’t have to perform miracles to be put on a pedestal, the world’s second-favorite trick, even if it just hauled you off your pedestal, which is, of course, the world’s favorite trick. If one crummy NBA title was all LeBron James needed, what was the big deal? He figured to bag one soon enough, as runaway choice
Last week, we showed you a snippet of Phil Jackson’s interview with HBO Real Sports, where he claimed he would never have accepted the coaching job of the New York Knicks due to their clumsiness. Since then, plenty more of the Zen Master’s thoughts on some of the most relevant matters have popped up, from why he ultimately left the Los Angeles Lakers and what he really wanted from Kobe Bryant. Jim Buss and Phil Jackson had a philosophical difference: Asked if Jim
If you’re looking for an illustration of why Celtics-Lakers is the best rivalry in the NBA – and perhaps the most enduring of any in the four major pro sports – then read the piece below. Before each game throughout the NBA Finals, we have been encapsulizing the top five Game 1s, Game 2s, etc. As the Thunder and Heat steel themselves for what should be a pretty intense Game 4 tonight, we offer you our top five Game 4 showdowns in
I will be the first one to admit I’m late to the party on Kevin Durant. I drink coffee, not Red Bull. My headphones are Sennheiser, not Beats or SkullCandy. I didn’t have a Twitter account until nine months ago. I still don’t have a Smartphone. So when some new phenomenon permeates basketball’s pop culture, I’m not exactly at the front of the line. In fact, I didn’t even attend the parties for Harold Miner, Derrick Coleman, Glenn Robinson, Joe Smith, Damon
How good is Kevin Durant? Will he soon surpass LeBron James as the best player in the league? The answer to that question could be determined at the conclusion of the NBA Finals. In the meantime, see what Bryant thinks of the lanky forward, what adjustments the Heat will have to make, and some free agent updates in today’s news. Kevin Durant has become one of the most, if not the most elite player in the league today. Kobe Bryant was
In any seven-game series, the biggest adjustments by coaches are usually made between Games 1 and 2. Those adjustments – and a sense of urgency – have contributed to some of the best Game 2 showdowns in recent NBA Finals history. As we will do throughout the Finals, we have compiled a list of the five best Game 2’s since 1984, when David Stern became commissioner (and the playoffs went to a 16-team format). In all five games listed below, the team that