If you are Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander or GM Daryl Morey, how much more rope are you giving Royce White? Apparently, not much more. The Rockets are now fining White for every day he is not with the team or does not attend therapy sessions arranged by the team, according to the Houston Chronicle. By all accounts, White is an immensely talented 21-year-old rookie power forward. (I don’t watch much college basketball, so I’ve never seen him play.) He also has
Sheridan Hoops staff predictions, continued. In this installment, we make our predictions for Rookie of the Year. At the bottom of the page, you can click over to our choices for Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man, Most Improved Player, and Executive of the Year. We also made picks for East champ, West champ and NBA champion. Your comments are welcome in the comments section. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR HARRISON BARNES, GOLDEN STATE Chris Sheridan, Editor-in-Chief DAMIAN LILLARD, PORTLAND Mark
First of all, props to Kyrie Irving for winning Rookie of the Year. When he and Anderson Varejao were playing together, the Cavs were one of the best watches on League Pass. There was never any doubt Irving was going to win it, and the best debate was over who was most worthy of 2nd place. I cast my 2nd place vote for Kenneth “Manimal” Faried of Denver, but the second-place winner was Ricky Rubio — who also provided a helluva a
I always use “valuable” as the operative word when voting for the Most Valuable Player, and that is the reason why I have cast my ballot this season for Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers. It came down to a decision between Paul and LeBron James, and as impressed as I have been with LeBron’s focus, determination and across-the-board improvement in every statistical category except assists, I do not see him as a valuable closer when he is paired with
We’re gonna go out on a limb and say the artist formerly known as Ron Artest won’t be repeating as winner of the Citizenship Award. But what of the NBA’s other season-ending awards? Our winners are below, replete with the customary snotty remarks. EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR: Indiana’s Larry Bird turned the Pacers into a borderline elite team, with offseason additions David West and George Hill and in-season addition Leandro Barbosa, adding needed playoff experience. He also preserved his cap room for this
Anyone have a problem with all five of Kentucky’s starters declaring for the draft? I don’t. And if you do, you need to join all of us in the 21st century. The decisions by UK freshmen Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague and sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb to leave school early and enter the NBA may seem somewhat striking. Among purists, fuddy-duddies and others trying to stand in front of the tidal wave of progress, there was some sense that the
Cleveland Cavaliers rookie guard Kyrie Irving, the likely Rookie of the Year, will miss a week to 10 days – and maybe the rest of the season – with an aggravated shoulder injury, the team announced Wednesday. Irving suffered a sprained and bruised shoulder Friday vs. Milwaukee and sat out Saturday’s loss to New York. He returned to action Tuesday vs. San Antonio and had 13 points and five assists but took another shot to the shoulder. On Wednesday, Irving did not travel
I have been an MVP voter for the past six years, and it remains to be seen whether my departure from the mainstream media will impact my chances of casting a vote for the seventh straight season (When I was the NBA writer at the Associated Press for 10 years prior to my six at ESPN, we were not permitted to vote — the same rule writers at the New York Times have to follow). The guy who sends out the