MIAMI – LeBron James has completed the rarely seen transition from national villain to national darling. For the first time in two years, there’s no over-the-top hatred for James to start the season. There’s no venom or vitriol. It’s been an amazing transition to watch. Kobe Bryant made a similar change/comeback a few years ago. LeBron’s might have been bigger. “Quicker,” Dwyane Wade said with a smile. “But I don’t know about bigger. You can go with quicker comeback.” OK, he’s got a
When the Oklahoma City Thunder traded James Harden on Saturday night, they revealed to everyone that they are a team far more concerned with the bottom line than the top of the heap. Probably a bit ahead of schedule, the Thunder reached the NBA Finals last season. As we have said before, they were a questionable foul call away from opening a 2-0 lead on the mighty Miami Heat that would have cultivated the doubt and derision that has swirled around
(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) Honestly, it’s nearly impossible to list just five reasons to feel positive about the NBA champion Miami Heat. The “Big Three” could take up three spots by themselves, and the fact that
Perhaps, after his playing career is over, San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili might have a future in filmmaking. Ginobili tweeted out a link to a simple, yet very cool time lapse video that he made after leaving American Airlines Arena in Miami following the Spurs preseason game against the Heat.
Here are this morning’s top NBA news stories: “Lawson, Nuggets nearing an extension?” by Yannis Koutroupis from HoopsWorld “For the Nets’ Joe Johnson, No more Iso-Joe,” by Howard Beck from the New York Times “Marcin Gortat aims to prove more than a Steve Nash creation,” by Michael Schwartz from Valley of the Suns “Andray Blatche of Brooklyn Nets wears No. 0 as a reminder of troubled stint with Washington Wizards,” by Zach Braziller from the New York Post “Presence of coach Mike Brown helped allure Antawn Jamison to L.A.,”
Even for hoops addicts, watching NBA preseason games presents a challenge. The baseball playoffs are under way, the college football and NFL seasons are in full swing, and there is this small matter of a presidential election. There is no subscription package for the preseason. League Pass takes a pass until the regular season starts later this month. So the only way you can watch games right now is on NBA TV, which isn’t part of the basic package of a number
There is news out there from my buddy and old cohort Marc Stein that Dwyane Wade’s deal with Li-Ning will pay him $10 million annually for 10 years, plus significant equity in the company. That is some serious cheddar. In case you missed it, we filed a story two days ago about Wade’s deal, noting that Li-Ning does not sell its products in U.S. retail stores … at least not yet. Wade is currently in China now, where many of his teammates
In what comes as no surprise at all, the defending champion Miami Heat and the loaded Los Angeles Lakers are favored to reach the NBA Finals. Gaming site Bovada.lv released its odds for winning the championship and has the Heat at 11-5 and the Lakers slightly higher at 5-2. Miami has reached the Finals each of the last two years, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games last season. Los Angeles has not reached the conference finals since it last won
