By now, the Golden State Warriors should be accustomed to the scrutiny produced by their championship last season and their pursuit of 73 victories this season. Everything they do is magnified, which was evident again on Sunday. Their bizarre loss to the woeful Los Angeles Lakers generated great debate throughout the sports world. On ABC, it was announced that no NBA team with 55 victories had ever lost to a team with 51 losses. So that is the biggest regular season upset
TORONTO– Carmelo Anthony is sick and tired of losing with the Knicks, but not yet tired enough to do something about it. Or so he says. New York stands at 23-32 at the All-Star break, 12th in the Eastern Conference. Unless the Knicks’ fortunes change rather dramatically over the final 27 games of the regular season, Anthony will miss the playoffs for the third consecutive season. “It’s tough,” Anthony told a horde of reporters in the basement of the Sheraton in downtown
“I’ve been through worse.” That four-word answer from Carmelo Anthony about his no-trade clause, sticking with the New York Knicks and continuing to trust team president Phil Jackson, perfectly describes the current state of both player and franchise. Of course, it had nothing to do with the question he was asked rather directly — “Would you consider waiving your no-trade clause? — but ‘Melo’s instant tangent was revealing nonetheless. Anthony, the 31-year-old All-Star forward with a sore, surgically repaired left knee, can waive his
Less than 48 hours and one unrelated storybook ending separated the two scenes involving Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson. One was warm and fuzzy, perhaps only because the aging warrior was no longer a threat. The second was sad and unpromising, with the evidence suggesting the aging warrior is no longer a threat. On Saturday night, the Spurs celebrated the career of Bryant, who was visiting San Antonio for the final time as a player. It was touching tribute to an
There is one way — and only one way — for Phil Jackson’s reign of error with the New York Knicks to take a turn for the better. It is time to trade Carmelo Anthony. Period. The Knicks haven’t won with Melo. They aren’t going to win with Melo. They need to turn their one desirable veteran asset into the tools that will enable a viable rebuilding effort centered around Kristaps Porzingis. And they have to make peace with the fact that
This is the time of year when we give out our midseason awards. But before we get to the drudgery of Sixth Man Award and Most Valuable Player, let’s start the festivities with a special award for individual achievement that goes to Rashad Vaughn. Vaughn is a shooting guard for the Milwaukee Bucks and the second-youngest player in the NBA. He is one of the dozens of rookies who have made virtually no impact in their first season. He is averaging 2.5 points
During a playing career that spanned 11 seasons, Luke Walton played in 564 games but started only 138 times. The man is obviously accustomed to coming off the bench. So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by his success with the Warriors, whose 26-1 record entering Wednesday night’s games is a reflection of the near-perfect basketball they have been playing. Walton has been the absolute perfect sub for Steve Kerr, who has yet to coach a game this season while recovering from back
Inevitably, the Golden State Warriors are going to lose a game. Probably more than one game. Perfection is impossible in the NBA, despite what we’ve seen from Stephen Curry and Co. over the first four weeks of the season. The numbers associated with Golden State’s season-opening winning streak are mind-boggling – even more so when we start comparing them to the numbers put up by the Chicago Bulls during the 1995-96 season, when they won an NBA-record 72 games. Golden State is