In Part 1 and Part 2, we covered players who were injured last year but are expected to be healthy to start the season. Now we will cover the players who are not expected to be healthy to start the year. [Read more…]
In his essay in Sports Illustrated last summer, LeBron James famously wrote, “I’m not promising a championship. I know how hard that is to deliver. We’re not ready right now. No way.” His prediction turned out to be correct – the Cleveland Cavaliers did not win the championship. Objectively, 2014-15 was still the best season in the history of the franchise. They made it to the NBA Finals for just the second time, won a Finals game for the first time,
What would it take for Kobe Bryant to win the 2015-2016 NBA MVP award? As we handicap the MVP race for the 2015-2016 season, we’ll take a look at last season’s top five finishers— Stephen Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and LeBron James— along with Kevin Durant. But a question many Angelenos and basketball fans around the world have is what kind of numbers would Bryant have to put up in his age-37 season to take home the crown? To
It pays to be patient. That is the financial lesson of the NBA’s offseason, which saw the biggest pay raises go to players who turned down contract extensions and gambled on themselves. Among the top 11 pay increases this summer, five went to players who felt like they were being lowballed by their teams — and proved it when they cashed in with bigger deals as restricted free agents this summer. Chicago’s Jimmy Butler, Orlando’s Tobias Harris, Detroit’s Reggie Jackson, Oklahoma City’s Enes
“Obviously you can see in the tone of my voice I’m a little bit worried.” That’s what Kyrie Irving said about his knee injury to a group of reporters just after Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and his suspicion became a worst-case scenario on Friday when the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that the point guard would miss the remainder of the games after an MRI revealed a fractured left kneecap. More from NBA.com: [Read more…]
The sun came up the East today in Cleveland, but the gloom did not burn off like the morning fog. No Friday has ever felt like the one the poor folks in Cleveland had to endure. After being one shot away from a Game 1 victory, after watching Kyrie Irving do a little of everything — nothing bigger than his block of Stephen Curry’s layup attempt with 25 seconds left in regulation — after getting almost nothing from their bench yet
You don’t need to look at the MRI on Kyrie Irving’s knee to know the Cleveland Cavaliers are in trouble. Just look at the boxscore. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Irving was better than anyone could have imagined. Bothered by a nagging sore left knee since Cleveland’s first-round series win over Boston, Irving clearly benefited from the eight-day layoff following the conference finals and rediscovered his All-Star form. Irving collected 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists in nearly 44 minutes,
After a one-week wait, the NBA Finals are here. But that’s nowhere near as long as these teams have been waiting for a championship. For the Golden State Warriors, it has been 40 years since Rick Barry led them to what many believe is the greatest upset in NBA Finals history, a four-game sweep of the Washington Bullets in 1975. For the Cleveland Cavaliers, it has been, well, forever. The Cavaliers entered the NBA in 1970 and didn’t even make the Finals