OneManFastBreak.net lists the second- and third-year players who will make the jump from above-average player to budding superstar. KEVIN DURANT, Oklahoma City Thunder, Forward Mark this down: Kevin Durant will be in the 2009 All-Star Game in Dallas, and he won’t be playing on All-Star Saturday Night. He’ll be playing in the big game on … [Read more…]
Doc Rivers recently sat down with the Real Training Camp crew for NBA TV and gave his state-of-the-Celtics address. He talked about the health of his All-Star forward Kevin Garnett, the addition of forward-center Rasheed Wallace and his expectations for this upcoming season. On the health of KG: “He looks great. He’s got shin problems … [Read more…]
Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas is reportedly dropping his “Hibachi” and “Agent Zero” monikers and vows to focus on just playing basketball, something he has not been able to do the past two seasons. In the past two seasons, Arenas has appeared in just 15 games, two in 2008-09 and 13 in 2007-08, all … [Read more…]
Through the first 29 games last season, the Boston Celtics were on a phenomenal 27-2 run and seemed poised to challenge the 1996 Chicago Bulls’ record of 72-10 mark. But something happened to the Celtics’ bullet train that derailed their championship aspirations and date with history. On Dec. 25, 2008, the Celtics lost to the … [Read more…]
They’ve all heard the unflattering monikers thrown at the direction of the Los Angeles Clippers over the years: Losers, cursed, hard-luck, also-ran, deadbeat and dud. Ron Harper’s infamous “jail” reference to the franchise still resonates in the basketball community. But Blake Grifin, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton and Rasual Butler are having none of that. They … [Read more…]
It was a Thursday afternoon in El Segundo, Calif. The Southern California weather was very accommodating and the players practicing at the Toyota Center had a certain bounce to their step. The Los Angeles Lakers opened training camp this week and based on the sounds and images during a practice session, everything suggests that the … [Read more…]
We all know perennial NBA powers Lakers, Celtics, Cavaliers and Spurs will be playing deep into May, and even maybe through June. Each team has been there before and it would take a major injury to derail their title chances (see Manu Ginobili and Spurs). But what about those teams that enjoyed playoff success last … [Read more…]
Here are the juiciest stories worth keeping an eye on for this upcoming season: Artest, LO-Dashian and the Lakers Ron-Ron said that he’ll be on his best behavior when the real season begins. However, I think the Truwarier is talking about off the court stuff. As far as on the court, his game is about … [Read more…]
Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia’s richest man, is on the verge of becoming the first European majority owner in the NBA as he recently put a bid to buy 80% of the New Jersey Nets, according to published reports. Prokhorov, 43, said he will also fund nearly half of a project to build a new arena in … [Read more…]
There is no doubt that Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki are the two best players in Europe. But who is better? After leading Spain to a gold medal in the 2009 European Championships, you can make a strong case for Gasol as the best non-American player in the world. Led by Gasol, named the “best … [Read more…]