This year’s draft was supposed to be the rebirth of the Los Angeles Lakers brand. After Minnesota took Karl-Anthony Towns the Lakers were poised to land arguably the best center in the draft in Duke center Jahlil Okafor. It was a marriage made in basketball heaven, right? The Lakers and a dominant center. You couldn’t … [Read more…]
The Golden State Warriors may have made small ball trendy, but the NBA is still a big man’s league. Go big or go home. That’s the TNT slogan in the NBA playoffs. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers could be the big winners in the 2015 NBA draft as both teams should walk away … [Read more…]
When the Golden State Warriors were trailing 2-1 in the 2015 NBA Finals and all the momentum seemingly on the side of the Cleveland Cavaliers, first-year head coach Steve Kerr went to his go-to guy to stop the bleeding. And that’s exactly what do-it-all forward Andre Iguodala did. Iguodala scored 22 points, made eight of his … [Read more…]
You can analyze or overanalyze basketball games with all types of fancy analytics and metrics, but teams that win championships follow two basic formulas: score easy baskets and don’t give up easy baskets. Basically, to speak in the language so millennials can understand, you want to score in the paint and protect the paint (if … [Read more…]
The mood in Cleveland has gone from bad to worse in 24 hours after news broke that All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving is done for the rest of the NBA Finals after an MRI exam revealed a fracture in his left kneecap. The injury normally requires a three- to four-month recovery time, so don’t expect … [Read more…]
LeBron James won’t guarantee an NBA championship in Cleveland this year, but he did make one proclamation. “I guarantee that we will play our asses off,” he said about the Cavaliers’ showdown with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. James and his Cavaliers have been playing their butts off this postseason, especially on … [Read more…]
It’s difficult to quantify the debacle that just occurred in the 2015 Western Conference semifinals when the team that fell apart has very little history to begin with. The Clippers were one win away (or one quarter away) from reaching their first conference finals only to watch it all go up in a cloud of … [Read more…]
No athlete in the world has taken a beating publicly from fans, the sports media and other professional athletes for not being clutch more than LeBron James. For years ESPN talking head Skip Bayless has mercilessly mocked LeBron for not having the “clutch gene” or being afraid of driving to the hoop because he doesn’t want … [Read more…]
Ask any basketball reporter and they will tell you their two greatest fears are being denied a free pregame meal and interviewing Gregg Popovich. Popovich is undeniably one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. He helped build a model franchise in San Antonio, and he’ll likely find himself in the Naismith Basketball Hall of … [Read more…]
For almost two decades, the San Antonio Spurs have accumulated an impressive collection of rings, bronze hardware and gold trophies. Between future Hall-of-Famers Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, and head coach Gregg Popovich, the Spurs have combined for 18 NBA championship rings, three most valuable player awards, three Coach of the Year awards … [Read more…]