Pre-Christmas week brought a foreshadowing of what was coming, as an e-mail from columnist and NBA Encylopedia author Jan Hubbard (who lives in Dallas) included a notation that he was in Los Angeles, where the locals are still infatuated with Kobe Bryant to an extreme degree — or so it seemed to an outsider and objective observer, as Hubbard was. Christmas then brought the news that Bryant is running away with the lead in All-Star balloting, which is always a popularity
There are no NBA games this evening, but daily fantasy contests at DraftKings are now open for the Christmas Day slate, including the $1M Holiday Classic. Top score earns $100,000 cash for a $20 buy-in. [Read more…]
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
As expected, it was impossible to run up a huge score at DraftKings on Tuesday. Congratulations to “Syracuse Slappers” on winning $50,000 for three bucks, with only 311.5 FPTS, which is rarely good enough for top spot. [Read more…]
Can we now stop pretending that Anthony Davis is the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain? Can we now stop with the hyperbolic declarations that Davis is going to own the NBA in two years or that Davis is going to make the New Orleans Pelicans a perennial title contender? Can we now stop calling Davis a top-five player? Top-five players elevate teams by themselves. Top-five players assure their teams of 50 wins and playoff berths, regardless of circumstances. Top-five players don’t say, “We
On Wednesday night, Draymond Green recorded his fourth triple-double of the season and didn’t play a minute in the fourth quarter. That is significant, because for the last decade, LeBron James has defined the point forward position. But now Green is redefining it. We aren’t quite ready to call him the best small forward in the NBA, much less the best small forward in the Western Conference. LeBron and Kevin Durant are going to be hard to knock off those mantles. But
Last Saturday, Milwaukee caught the exhausted Warriors at the end of a 7-game road trip and snapped their historic 24-game win streak. Some of their players may have over-celebrated, drawing a rebuke from Klay Thompson $7000, who spoke for all his teammates when he reminded the Bucks of this rematch. [Read more…]
It was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it? But if you saw how tired the Golden State Warriors were at the end of their double-overtime victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night, you had to know they’d be gassed the following night in Milwaukee. That they were, not to mention hobbled with Klay Thompson playing on a bad ankle and Harrison Barnes missing another game. And like all good things, the streak came to an end. Tonight they will no doubt