This summer, when your favorite team’s owner or GM tells you a certain player is financially out of reach, here’s how you know he is lying. His lips are moving. NBA business is booming, folks. And not just for the so-called big markets. Take a quick look at the conference finals, which feature four teams from middle to small markets collecting millions for every home playoff game. Take a look at the Sacramento Kings, who were just sold for a record $525 million
The conference finals should be set. If not for Indiana’s horrid Thursday night performance against the Knicks, San Antonio’s Game 6 victory over Golden State would have ended the NBA’s second round. How did the Spurs end up taking the final game of what looked like an incredibly tight and engaging series? Knicks are lucky to still be alive Let’s not sugarcoat this: The Knicks are lucky to be in the playoffs right now, and are only still alive because the Pacers
Nothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm. And for Paul Pierce, leader of the “old man’s pick-up game,” that adage will define his career as one of the greatest Boston Celtics in its storied history. This is not to begin mourning the death of his Celtics life, but to understand what it all meant if reports today from Greg Dickerson are true. [Read more…]
Well, we have one series tied at 2-2, and if the basketball gods smile on us we are on our way to four Game 7s. We can’t all be that lucky, can we? But we can hope. (Note to self: Powerball reminder). But if we are going to get to four Game 7s, we are going to need to see some improvement from at least one player on each trailing team (plus the Warriors, who are tied 2-2 but are at
The Golden State Warriors have had three different leading scorers in its four games this round against San Antonio, which bodes well for the team not only in this series but in the future as well. With Stephen Curry hobbled by an injured ankle that nearly kept him out of the game altogether, it was the team’s balance that gave Golden State a pivotal Game 4 victory. It was Jarrett Jack’s turn to lead the charge, with 24 points on 9-of-16
Every remaining NBA team is banged up right now. It’s a fact of the playoffs that they are a of endurance as much as skill. Since the start of the first round, the Thunder have lost Russell Westbrook and the Warriors have lost David Lee for effectively the remainder of the playoffs. The Knicks and Spurs have a number of nagging injuries. [Read more…]
As the second round of the NBA playoffs surges into the weekend — with every series tied 1-1 for the first time in league history — all eyes are on the Golden State Warriors. Klay Thompson’s Game 2 brilliance — 34 points on 8-for-9 shooting from 3-point range — evened up Golden State’s series with San Antonio heading into Friday night’s Game 3 at “the Roaracle,” but it has been Stephen Curry and Mark Jackson who have turned this organization into
Mark Jackson is the coach of the Golden State Warriors. If you ask him, though, he will probably tell you that he is, first and foremost, a pastor. Generally speaking, Jackson is a good man. He respects all of his players and treats them as equals. He would never speak ill towards any of them and never utters a curse word – not easy to do when you’re involved with the game of basketball. [Read more…]