Basketball Page 851 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Brandon Miller and Alabama just don’t get it
In the age of social media, we see people misbehaving and exhibiting an egregious lack of self-awareness every day. Alabama men’s basketball standout Brandon Miller is the latest athlete to show the world just how tone-deaf one person can be. During Saturday’s pregame introduction against Arkansas, ...

Darvin Ham says Lakers' goal is playoffs — but the team faces a post-All-Star break gaunlet
The Los Angeles Lakers are entering a critical time in their schedule after the All-Star break. With just 23 games remaining in the regular season, the Lakers are five games under .500 (27-32) and have a seven-game stretch where they’ll play all Western Conference foes, starting with the Golden Stat...

JJ Redick is taking the path less interesting
I never thought I’d say, “You know what, maybe J.J. Redick doesn’t suck,” but he’s surprisingly insightful in his post-playing career gig at ESPN. The former Blue Devil understands how the current iteration of the game is played as well as any analyst for the network and takes a refreshing approach ...

The last thing Alabama should be concerned about right now is basketball
Alabama hoops star Brandon Miller hit the game-winning shot against South Carolina in Columbia last night, amidst chants of “Lock him up! Lock him up!” raining down from the rafters. The chant referred to Miller’s presence when 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris was allegedly shot and killed by a longti...

The NBA has a ratings problem — Exhibit A: The All-Star Game
There was a time during the midst of 2020 in which Adam Silver and the NBA owned the world. The combination of an amazing All-Star Game in Chicago with a new dramatic ending, the sad and tragic death of Kobe Bryant, and the league’s decision to shut things down — becoming the first warning that this...

ESPN’s top draft analyst is mocking mock drafts by anointing Bronny James as a future top-10 pick
There’s no high school basketball LeaguePass — yet. Aside from the Bronny James hypebeast machine, the top prospects in the upcoming draft are previewed to the general public through the diligent scouting done by professional analysts or scouts who scour camps, national showcases, and high school gy...

If Chris Paul, Suns can’t win a championship with Kevin Durant, it’s time to drop the 'Point God' moniker
Once the Phoenix Suns pulled off the blockbuster trade of the year for Kevin Durant, many pundits began to pencil them in as the Western Conference representative in the NBA Finals. Looking at their core of Devin Booker, Chris Paul, DeAndre Ayton, plus Durant, it’s easy to see why they’d be catapult...

Nate McMillan was a <i>Major Payne</i> to Trae Young, so who should be the Hawks' next coach?
Nearly two years to the day the Atlanta Hawks fired Lloyd Pierce, his replacement Nate McMillan met the same fate. We knew his coaching position was terminal two months ago when an argument between McMillan and Young spilled out into the public sphere. And while Young’s poor relationship with McMcMi...

Alabama’s Nate Oats can’t defend Brandon Miller
Alabama’s men’s basketball program thought it had left its ties to the January murder of Jamea Jonae Harris in the past when it dismissed Darius Miles. It might’ve for about a month, until Tuesday, when a Tuscaloosa Police Department detective testified that the Crimson Tide’s best player, Brandon M...

Meyers Leonard took the steps Kyrie Irving hasn't
At first, without thinking, rage is the appropriate response to seeing Meyers Leonard’s re-entry back into the NBA, as it was reported on Tuesday he’ll sign a 10-day contract with the Milwaukee Bucks after being out of the league for nearly two years after uttering an antisemitic slur on a video-gam...

Which former Los Angeles Lakers guard is going to hurt their new team the most?
The Los Angeles Lakers’ first half of the 2022-23 season was so putrid, they spent it trying to offload their backcourt. In the end, there were takers for Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley. It wasn’t the teams that traded for Russ and Pat Bev at the deadline though as each guard was promptly bo...

The top five landing spots for post-buyout Russell Westbrook
Do we still have to take Russell Westbrook seriously? I mean, if you can’t play with LeBron James or Kevin Durant, who can you fit next to? Whichever franchise signs him next will be his fifth in six years (unless he ruins it back with the Wizards), and we’re firmly in “This guy might be out of the ...

This is the best idea to solve the NBA’s midseason lull
After throwing slop at a wall like everybody else trying to figure out the best route for the NBA regular season and All-Star break to matter, I have the ultimate solution. There is no better idea, and even though it won’t happen, the potential to overwhelm the news cycle is so alluring that Adam Si...

When it comes to trades, Kyrie Irving can’t have it both ways
The player-empowerment era has created more avenues for athletes to flex their own team-building ability, but Kyrie Irving’s Saturday media availability during All-Star Weekend touched on an issue he’s extremely familiar with — trade requests. Irving’s response to inquiries about the topic illustrat...

‘Ambassador’ Karl Malone, bumbling Knicks, and more forgettable moments from All-Star Saturday Night
All-Star Saturday has always had cookout vibes, and McClung earned another invite for next year. But someone had to bring the unseasoned cole slaw. Karl Malone’s presence as an ambassador and a judge who got entirely too many nods from the NBA and the broadcast made things way too awkward. Malone — ...

Adam Silver unveils the future of NBA streaming — and it's absolutely stupid
NBA All-Star Weekend kicked off yesterday with commissioner Adam Silver unveiling several features soon to become part of the future live game streaming experience. The annual Tech Summit always offers a solid glimpse into the future, and fans were abuzz wondering what technical marvels would be com...

The 2023 basketball HOF finalists have a legacy worthy of the honor
The list of finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is a snapshot of an era. Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade headline the class, having met twice in the NBA Finals, splitting the titles between them. Gregg Popovich, Tony Parker, and Becky Hammon are forever San Antonio Spurs. And t...
