On Wednesday night, Draymond Green recorded his fourth triple-double of the season and didn’t play a minute in the fourth quarter. That is significant, because for the last decade, LeBron James has defined the point forward position. But now Green is redefining it. We aren’t quite ready to call him the best small forward in the NBA, much less the best small forward in the Western Conference. LeBron and Kevin Durant are going to be hard to knock off those mantles. But
There is a reason why I always wait until the 82nd game of the season is in the books before deciding on my postseason awards choices. Three words: What’s the hurry? This is a lesson I learned way back in 1999 when I was covering a late regular-season game at the Alamodome during the lockout-shortened 50-game season. There were still three of four games left, and I was sitting alongside a veteran reporter from USA Today and asked him which way he
It’s that time of year again. After all of the laughs, other-worldly performances, and misguided declarations that someone was dead, we’ve arrived at the end of the season. It’s time to pick a winner for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. As always, I told myself I wasn’t going to cry. As always, I lied to myself. (Sniffle) We saw a lot of improvement in the NBA this season. The Atlanta Hawks went from Eastern Conference Playoff Team With a Losing Record™ to The Spurs
I write this column every year two days before the regular season ends, and I usually get right to the point. But this year I am going to start a little differently. So let me get one item off my chest and out of the way: Michele Roberts is way off base. The new executive director of the NBA Players Association tried to reinvent the wheel this week when it was reported that she is instituting the Players Choice Awards, which will
Jimmy Butler shaved his head and wore No. 45 in his return with the Bulls last week. (We think). Last time we were all together in this space, I announced that Jimmy Butler was dead. That was evidently erroneous and inaccurate reporting. I apologize for that. I was just trying to honor a veteran. I know now that Jimmy is not dead. In fact, he only missed 11 games for the Chicago Bulls, then returned triumphantly last week against the
My Great Grandma used to have a small plaque that she hung on the wall in her kitchen that, like many things about her, I’ve never forgotten. “Ve get too soon oldt, undt too late schmart,” it read, though I’m not sure why it was in half-English, half-German. She’s not even German. I think she hung it there to explain things like this NBA season. Gram always did love basketball. OK, maybe not. But she did say her spirit animal was a bluebird, and
Welcome back to another edition of “As the Most Improved Player Rankings Turn.” In this episode, old favorite Jimmy Butler has returned to the top after a stern challenge from Warriors guard Klay Thompson, who was coming in all hot after a 37-point quarter made him look as irresistible as 1999 Kelly Ripa. But there’s a new harlot in town ready to grab everyone’s attention. Miami’s Hassan Whiteside. Ohhhhh yeahhhhhh. [Read more…]
So apparently Klay Thompson is a SheridanHoops reader. How else do you explain his NBA record-setting 37-point quarter, one in which he dropped nine threes, hit all 13 of his shots and generally looked like a cross between Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Steph Curry and a member of the Monstars? It’s pretty obvious. Klay was upset about being ranked fifth in last week’s edition of the Most Improved Player Rankings, and it showed. “Yeah, I was cheesed off,” Thompson didn’t say after torching the Kings for