In today’s NBA, you won’t wake up one day and find yourself winning championships. The 2008 Boston Celtics were an anomaly, and their three main cogs each endured years of heartache and growing pains before they became champions. That’s why the rise of the Oklahoma City Thunder has been interesting to witness. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are in just the fifth and fourth years of their respective careers, yet for the second consecutive season they find themselves poised to battle for the
Amarillo Slim at the 1974 World Series of Poker
MIAMI – Order was restored to AmericanAirlines Arena Tuesday, both on and off the court. Well, order was restored after Miami Heat security and the Miami police handled the potential streaker. Apparently, there might be a $10,000 connection to hip-hop artist Rick Ross, who issued the 10k challenge to anyone bold enough to streak across the court wearing only MMG (Maybach Music Group) T-shirt. Making this streaker story even more bizarre is that supposedly the man was, well, rotund. Plump. Husky. OK,
SAN ANTONIO — In the jumble of head-scratching, mystifying plays that have turned Gregg Popovich’s white hair a lighter shade of pale, Manu’s Ginobili’s most famous one doesn’t stick out. In his formative years, Ginobili provided Popovich with many teaching moments, but the outcome of the discussions was sometimes more maddening than the flamboyant approach Ginobili found so inviting. “He would make passes that were unnecessary in certain situations and he could do it in a more efficient manner,” Popovich said. “I
Linsanity has continued into the offseason as New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin was one of the 13 players chosen for the USA Select Team that train against Team USA in advance of the Olympics. The players were revealed Monday by USA Basketball. The baker’s dozen includes point guards and top overall picks Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers and John Wall of the Washington Wizards. Lin, whose rise from obscurity to stardom earlier this season transcended basketball, missed the playoffs while
Blake Griffin now has plenty of time to tell Hugo: “Play funk.” About six weeks to be precise. That’s the next time Griffin will be back to work, when he and teammate Chris Paul arrive in Las Vegas for Team USA training camp. (And guess what: They have to get ready to play Tony Parker (France) and Manu Ginobili (Argentina) again, this time in the first round of the London Olympics.) Griffin and Paul played well Sunday night in their last playoff
If you are a fan of either of the Los Angeles teams, you might have had some trouble sleeping through Saturday night. If you predicted that the Clippers (me) or the Lakers (Sheridan) would move past the second round, you probably wish to have those predictions back, as both teams are now on the verge of being eliminated from of the Western Conference semifinals. Before discussing how each team blew their respective chances, it’s time to acknowledge and pay respects to one cold-blooded lanky
Did the Boston Celtics take the bait? After the Celtics easily handled the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 3, reclaiming home-court advantage and the upper hand in their series with a convincing win, Sixers coach Doug Collins tried to plant a seed of overconfidence in Gang Green. “I think they are looking at that other series a little bit,” Collins said. “I think they see Chris Bosh being out (for Miami). They see a tremendous opportunity for themselves.” Whether Boston did or didn’t, it