When the final buzzer sounded on the Toronto Raptors last season, the team was left deflated on its home court after a crushing last-second Game 7 loss. It was an ending to a season that no one – not pundits, not fans, maybe not even management – could have predicted. After 18 games and a 6-12 record, it appeared as though the Raptors were destined for yet another forgettable season, lodged firmly in the bottom third of the NBA. Instead, after
BARCELONA — If the gold medal match was being played Sunday, Team USA would not beat Spain. It wouldn’t even be close. But the gold medal game is not this Sunday. It is next Sunday. And a lot can change in a week. So the burden is on coach Mike Krzyzewski: Figure out who is going to give you the best chance to beat the host nation, start shortening up the rotation, and hope that in one week you can achieve what it
The newest craze to hit social media everywhere — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube — is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. What is the Ice Bucket Challenge? Well, assuming you haven’t heard of it yet, it is a choice, whereby someone either donates $100 to the ALS Association or they accept the challenge and dump a bucket of ice water on their head. Many people are opting to do both, making a donation and taking the proverbial plunge. The purpose of the challenge is
So far there has been one worthy suggestion for Team USA’s most fitting new nickname: “The Unknowns.” By the end of this week, perhaps something else will be more fitting, like the “C-Deem Team.” I was the guy four years ago who dubbed the 2010 World Championship team the “B-Deem” team as it traveled to Turkey, learned of how hard it would be to not lean on Kevin Durant, and got out of Istanbul with the gold medal by trouncing the
Friday was a big day for the Sacramento Kings. As many prepared for the 2014 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction, including 14-year veteran Mitch Richmond who played seven seasons with in Sactown, Kings forward Rudy Guy was accepting an invitation to join Team USA in Chicago. Should he make the final cut, Gay would help to fill the huge void now felt with the recent losses of Paul George (injury) and Kevin Durant (withdrawal). Gay was a member of the 2010
We are still more than a month away from free agency, and everything seems so placid now. LeBron James? Looks primed for a three-peat. Carmelo Anthony? He wouldn’t leave New York, would he? He’ll be happy to take less than the max, as Phil Jackson has said he’ll need to do. He will be the backbone of the Knicks’ renaissance, right? No chance those two guys end up in Cleveland or Chicago. No chance, right? Well, five weeks out, and nobody can
Thursday afternoon the NBA unveiled the 2013-14 NBA All-Rookie Team, celebrating this past season’s top young athletes. One name you will not see on the the team is the Cleveland Cavaliers’ No.1 overall draft pick Anthony Bennett, who only played in 52 games, averaging 4.2 points and three rebounds in just 12.8 minutes per game. He is just the fifth top overall draft pick to miss the All-Rookie team in 26 years. There were quite a few young rookies deserving of the
