Mitch Kupchak shouldn’t be playing hardball. In his desire to trade Pau Gasol, the GM of the Los Angeles Lakers should not have insisted on receiving Dion Waiters or a first-round pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nobody has overpaid for a rental since Ernie Grunfeld sent Ray Allen to Seattle for Gary Payton — and that was a long time ago. Kupchak should have lowered his demands to match the team’s expectations. The Lakers are done for this season and should be
After a shaky start, in large part due to injuries knocking out key players for extended time, the Golden State Warriors won their fifth game in a row Sunday night with a 108-104 overtime victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers — the NBA’s longest current win streak. [Read more…]
First off, play this video. It is my Christmas present to y’all, and you are guaranteed to laugh at least once while going through this column. And never forget: Laughter kills the blues. You may end up shaking your head, too, because it is an extremely subjective thing to be ranking so many top-tier players who are currently having top-tier seasons. I’ve been saying through the first third of the season that this is a four-man race this NBA season, and the
After his team’s second win in three nights in the city of New York, John Wall was dressed impeccably in the visitors’ locker room, down to his $1,100 Red Bottom shoes, which elicited gawks and compliments from players and onlookers alike. But one thing was missing to complete his look: his gray bow tie. Unable to get help from teammates, Wall said the final piece to his outfit would have to wait. Wall seems to be as dedicated to his performance
There comes a time each day when I need to take a break from basketball. On Tuesday night, there was no better time than after watching the battle between Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, an absolute thriller of a game that ended with Lillard sinking his eighth 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to improve the Portland Trail Blazers to an NBA-best 22-4. So I shut down the telly, reached the for latest issue of Time Magazine, and learned that Pope
If you know me or follow me on twitter, you know that I follow the Golden State Warriors more closely than any other team in the league. No player intrigues me the way Stephen Curry does (can you blame me?), and the belief that this team may be good enough to come out of the West became a reality when the team acquired Andrew Bogut two seasons ago. They were half way there to prove this point last season, and
It was one of those nights for Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night against the Dallas Mavericks: turnovers, turnovers, and turnovers. Curry has been one of the best point guards in the league this season – arguably just behind Chris Paul as the very best in the league. He is third in the league in assists with 8.9 and leads all point guards in scoring with 23.6 points. Ironically, his biggest issue thus far has been his
Kobe Bryant has officially made his return to the Los Angeles Lakers, and it didn’t go unnoticed around the league. Very few players can command this type of attention from their piers. The anticipation was coming from every corner of the league. [Read more…]