The last 12 months represent by far the least amount of basketball Kevin Durant has played in his eight-year NBA career. In a sadly ironic twist, it also represents a time when he has had more intrigue swirling around him than ever before. In the last year, Durant has won NBA MVP and given a moving acceptance speech; quit as the new face of Team USA; created a bidding war between apparel companies in the mid nine figures; become the beacon of
Monday night represented the second time in four games that Miami big man Hassan Whiteside found himself ejected from a game for an unnecessary cheap shot. On Tuesday, the NBA added to his troubles with a one-game suspension without pay for an “elbow to the back of Kelly Olynyk’s neck”. With Whiteside only playing 22 minutes, the Heat (28-35) lost a game that was, on paper, a very winnable home matchup against the Celtics (26-36). And because of that, the Heat now
There was a lot of shade in the Valley of the Sun this week. It all started with Goran Dragic, who is far from blameless in this mess. But because the Phoenix Suns sent Dragic packing in a trade, president Lon Babby and GM Ryan McDonough got to write the epilogue and spin it in intelligence-insulting fashion. Dragic is an unrestricted free agent this summer. At 28, it’s his first and last chance at a max contract. And while the idea of
After last week’s loss in Atlanta, Memphis Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger – whose team has the fifth-best record in the NBA – lamented his roster’s shortcomings. “We have to get another playmaker on the floor,” Joerger said. “We’re going to have to start playing multiple point guards (at the same time). We’ve got to be able to get inside of defenses.” It doesn’t matter that the Grizzlies have been at or near the top of the league for most of the season.
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
Kevin Durant rolled in on a scooter and spoke with Oklahoma City media on Tuesday for the first time since his surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his right foot, reiterating that he wouldn’t rush his return to the court. [Read more…]
For the second straight year, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s playoff push has been derailed by a season-ending injury. Last year it was All-Star guard Russell Westbrook, who went down in the first round with a knee injury as a result of a collision with Houston guard Patrick Beverley. This year it is forward Serge Ibaka, who suffered a left calf injury in the third quarter of Thursday’s clincher over the Los Angeles Clippers. Ibaka underwent an MRI on Friday that confirmed a left
Phil Jackson won’t be awful as president of the New York Knicks. He certainly won’t be as bad as Isiah Thomas was in running the club. And he will almost certainly be better than David Kahn, Bryan Colangelo, Joe Dumars, Otis Smith and Geoff Petrie have been in recent years. But Phil Jackson isn’t Isiah Thomas, or David Kahn, or Bryan Colangelo. He’s Phil Jackson, with a reputation of all things basketball that he touches turning to gold. And that’s exactly what