Basketball Page 904 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
CJ and Dame have been fun, but if the Blazers want to salvage this season it’s time to say bye to McCollum
It’s far from all CJ McCollum’s fault the Portland Trail Blazers are struggling, and currently the 10th seed in the Western Conference with an 11-14 record. His field goal and free throw percentages are down, but he’s still averaging 20.6 points per game and shooting nearly 40 percent from the 3-poi...
The Dallas Mavericks are struggling and Luka Dončić deserves some of the blame
For the second straight year, this pipe dream of Luka Dončić being NBA MVP seems to be going up in flames already. Dallas started the season well, but now they’re a game under .500 (11-12) and have lost eight of their last 10 games. It’s not so much Luka’s statistical production, although his shooti...
Russell Westbrook is tired of hearing about his alleged phone call to Kawhi Leonard in the summer of 2019
The Lakers’ Russell Westbrook-LeBron James experiment hasn’t exactly worked out how everyone in Los Angeles had hoped coming into the season. But if Westbrook had been able to persuade Kawhi Leonard to bring him along on his way to LA a couple of years ago, Westbrook would have been a Clipper and no...
These Bulls are so much goddamn fun
I won’t lie to you, dear reader. Things are pretty bleak around here in Chicago, sports-wise. And actually beyond sports-wise, but I’m not qualified to discuss those things, really. Our center, the Bears, are an elaborate prank played on all of us by a trickster god, or at least they’d better be. Fi...
Rockets are stuck in a staring contest with John Wall and there’s no end in sight
If you want to know who has the sweetest gig in America right now, look no further than John Wall of the Houston Rockets. Wall isn’t rehabbing an injury for the first time in years, he’s supposed to be 100 percent healthy, yet he has not suited up for one of Houston’s first 23 games this season....
Neil Olshey firing is only going to prolong the wait for your Dame dream trade
Let’s try an exercise. Something happens to the Portland Trail Blazers franchise, and they don’t immediately try to trade Damian Lillard. It’s to the point that I wouldn’t be shocked if media outlets have a pre-written template for Blazers stories....
Hey, remember Maryland? They used to be good and stuff
Mark Turgeon’s ouster at Maryland, just eight games into the season, is a good reminder of how quickly a college program can stumble into irrelevance, as well as the outsized influence of football in conference realignment....
Phoenix Suns’ solstice coming in part due to steadiness of coaching
On Nov. 4, ESPN published a report detailing the racist and misogynistic culture created by Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver within the organization, which had reached a point where one former executive was quoted as saying “there’s literally nothing you could tell me about him from a misogynistic o...
Down-and-backs never hurt anybody
In high school, I skipped my ninth-grade team and started on JV. It’s still – top to bottom – the most talented team I’ve ever played on. We were even better than the varsity team. But, in one game we were just going through the motions. At halftime, our coach made us do cardio in the locker room – ...
No, Chet Holmgren isn’t too skinny to be great
Gonzaga freshman Chet Holmgren was the top high school recruit in his class and is the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. As such, he’s subject to a lot of scrutiny....
Jordan is better than LeBron… eyes closed
It’s funny how much weight we give anecdotal evidence in arguments. Did LeBron ever eat a tainted pizza and win a title the day after? How many playoff buzzer-beaters does Curry have? Michael never beat a 73-win team in The Finals....
After another setback for Zion, the New Orleans Pelicans had better know what they’re doing
Today was supposed to be the big day for New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson. A fractured foot has kept him off the court for this entire season as the Pelicans have sputtered to a 6-18 start. Williamson was cleared on Friday to participate in full team activities, and The Athletic’s Shams ...
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...