Basketball Page 854 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

These are not your daddy’s showtime Lakers
As one of the cornerstone franchises in the NBA, it’s a rarity to see a Los Angeles Lakers game bumped from a scheduled National television slot the day before that game. But that’s what’s happened to the Lakers-Clippers matchup that was set to tip-off Friday night on ESPN. Instead, we get the remat...

Wait, I thought the NBA was lowering the age for draft eligibility?
The G League celebrated its 20th season of competition this season but is only on its second of genuine interest to NBA fans. Instead of the occasional player who makes the leap from AAA to a rotation player or a raw draft pick trying to hone their skills, there wasn’t too much to get amped about un...

Tampering so egregious the NBA couldn’t ignore it
It appears that the going rate for tampering punishments in the NBA is a second round draft pick. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the NBA has concluded its tampering investigations into the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat for sign and trades during the 2021 offseason. Both teams were punish...

Everybody hates Harden
Some people have the innate ability to make people dislike them no matter how great they are at whatever it is they do. James Harden is one of those personalities in the NBA. Harden isn’t necessarily a bad guy, but for some reason, many fans and even other players don’t really jive with him. ...

Michael Porter Jr. is the latest NBA player that believes in science when they need surgery, but not when it comes to vaccines
Injuries and Michael Porter Jr. go together like Urban Meyer and scandals. This is why it’s so odd that the uber-talented 23-year-old that’s about to have his third back surgery is an anti-vaxxer....

Enough with Steph Curry
I’m done with the Steph Curry talk. No more! Moratorium on all things Golden State. There’s not a take to be had. He’s underrated, he’s overrated, he’s the most influential player since Bill Russell, he’s hated, he’s not hated. I don’t care. He’s oversaturated....

Blake Griffin was blindsided by his benching, and the end could be closer than he’d imagined
Former No. 1 overall pick and slam dunk champion Blake Griffin received a rude awakening recently when he was not only benched by head coach Steve Nash but removed from the Nets’ rotation altogether. LaMarcus Aldridge certainly appears to have more left in the tank than Griffin, so being replaced by...

Freedom’s just another word for a loser
I’m not big on catchphrases, sayings, or, in general, life advice that before Twitter and Instagram would’ve been an AIM Away Message or a bumper sticker. However, I do have a saying I use sometimes that I believe Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter should take to heart: Check your privilege at the do...

L.A. didn’t work out, LaVar Ball has sights set on his sons taking over Chicago
Everybody knows LaVar Ball is a character who’s never short on words, but he’s also someone whose words you should be taken with a grain of salt at times. Ball’s latest plan is to have all three sons reunite in Chicago as Bulls....

Are the Knicks already regretting Kemba Walker?
Sometimes in life, you just need to admit that you were wrong and not continue attempting to fit a square peg in a round hole. The New York Knicks may be coming to this realization already regarding their big offseason acquisition, hometown favorite Kemba Walker. Today, Knicks head coach Tom Thibode...

It happened again, back surgery for Michael Porter Jr.
Denver Nuggets’ forward Michael Porter Jr. is going under the knife... again. His agent told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Porter will have to undergo surgery on his lower back and will miss an “indefinite” period of time — the same time frame the Nuggets gave when they announced he was out of the ...

Devin Booker is staking his claim for the crown of best shooting guard in the NBA and he’s got a damn good argument
Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker is following in the footsteps of his mentor, Kobe Bryant, staking his claim as the best at his position in the NBA. Like Bryant, it’s taken Booker a few years to scale that mountain of elite two-guards, but I think we can say he has arrived at the peak....

The Timberwolves are on a roll and if you don’t believe us, check the standings
The Minnesota Timberwolves are on the rise. It’s possible to play a thrilling late November NBA game in the middle of an exciting College Football rivalry Saturday, and the Timberwolves played a double overtime thriller against the Philadelphia 76ers. It was center Joel Embiid’s return to the lineup...

Scottie Pippen writes a book and all of a sudden he’s judging everyone’s greatness
Ever since Scottie Pippen’s memoir, Unguarded, was announced months ago, and excerpts were leaked of him taking wide-open shots at Michael Jordan, it feels like the onslaught against the GOAT has been unwavering. Now Pippen has taken aim at another recognized GOAT in seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom...

Welcome to the Paolo Banchero Show
To call Friday night’s matchup between Duke and Gonzaga a “game” would be doing a disservice to what really happened in Las Vegas at an hour that no sporting event should ever be starting. Despite my moral qualms with a 10:30 EST tip-off, I stayed up to watch the game that was more than a game — it ...

What in the name of Sam Cassell is with these Big Balls Dance fines?
At least the NBA is consistent?...

Can a man change? A Tom Thibodeau story
Everything about Tony Soprano — who he is, and who he will be — is foretold in his confession to his therapist in the series pilot....

The worst NBA Draft in decades
Not sure the machinations of the NBA lottery is what the British envisioned for a free-market enterprise when they parked their ships on native soil. We know they brought guns, germs, and steel to the shores of New America, but they also brought games of chance....

Why is it still so hard to find coverage of women’s sports?
Sedona Prince started it this year with an uncomfortable truth. The Oregon basketball player, famous for a TikTok video earlier this year that pointed out the discrepancy between the workout palace provided at the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and the meager triangle of dumbbells for the women, h...

J.J. Redick knows first hand what Isaiah Stewart experienced from that LeBron hit
LeBron James returns to the court on Wednesday after serving the first suspension of his career. The Los Angeles Lakers forward drew blood on Sunday while boxing out Detroit Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart. What some thought at first was an elbow, really turned out to be a fist that James sent into S...