The NBA season is only 10 days old, but there’s been a lot to take in and observe. The “Big Three” in Cleveland have a big three losses against one just one narrow win. The Sacramento Kings didn’t get the memo about returning to the lottery. The Los Angeles Lakers are finding out that winless and glamorous usually are mutually exclusive. The New York Knicks look like a different team from game to game. Here are five things I’ve learned so far
There were two pieces of bad news coming out of Loud City this weekend. And there was a disproportionate reaction to the wrong one. There was far too much hand-wringing to the news that Russell Westbrook will be joining fellow Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on his broken right hand. The Thunder are going to survive November without Durant and Westbrook. They have 14 games between now and Dec. 1, the projected earliest return for
This past week, NBA TV released excerpts of an extended interview with LeBron James (airing in its entirety Monday night) in which Steve Smith asked “The King” to name his Mount Rushmore of basketball. James offered a quartet of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson. But it’s really an unfair question, because in addition to those four players, there are at least three more – centers Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell – who are in the
Kevin Durant is a great player. He deserves a great owner. Durant may not know it yet, but he is becoming this generation’s Jerry West: a fantastic talent and class act whose career was marked by finishing second. In 14 seasons, West twice finished second in scoring (also winning once). He never won an MVP award, finishing third once and second a record four times. And he lost the NBA Finals seven times before finally winning in his 13th season. In six seasons,
We’re entering Year Six of Thundermania here in Oklahoma City, and the level of expectation surrounding the team is as high as it has ever been. But with that expectation comes a certain degree of uncertainty. After all the years of hearing about how the Thunder were an organization based around a true “team” concept, fans are now coming to accept that the Thunder are a two-headed horse. There’s simply no way that this team could hoist a championship banner without a
With the NBA Draft over, evaluations of the decisions were made from general managers, owners, players, writers and even fans. See our exclusive sights and sounds of the Draft here, and check who said what, along with today’s biggest news below: Mo Williams has cleared the path to complete the Lamar Odom deal, and he was never in the way, reported by Ramona Shelburne: “Los Angeles Clippers guard Mo Williams has officially picked up his option for next season, clearing the way
In the NBA draft, teams often default to selecting the “best player available.” They do that assuming the player will develop as projected and become an asset that allows for flexibility. However, sometimes those “best players” end up languishing behind an established veteran and never live up to expectations. It comes down to a simple truism: Players who land in the right situations often have the best chance to succeed. For example, the New York Knicks needed an explosive athlete who could defend
The 2012 NBA Draft has the potential to be both very strong at the top and deep because several elite players chose to remain in college this season because of the NBA lockout, and were joined by a number of impact freshmen. The lottery figures to be rich with bigs – scorers, shot-blockers and rebounders. Here is a look at the Top 10 Americans who could be available, including seven power forwards or centers: 1. Anthony Davis, PF, 6-10, 220, Kentucky The consensus No. 1