basketball Page 59 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Don’t expect this UNC team to make a run to the finals
After losing in the national championship game in April, the AP preseason No. 1, UNC, has lost three in a row early in the season....
I’m tired of tanking being the only answer
It’s a tired discussion, I’ll admit at the top. And maybe it’s my official entrance into the “Old Man Yelling At Cloud” club. Do I get a robe? A pipe? Some sort of plaque? Perhaps younger generations of sports fans just accept that once a team is declared a non-contender, it’s time for them to strip...
Organizer of disastrous Las Vegas Invitational was twice accused of sexual misconduct by players
The organizer of a women’s basketball tournament so shoddy it drew comparisons to the Fyre Festival is a former Division I coach with a history of sexual abuse allegations, according to public records....
Steve Ballmer has got to be sick thinking about how good his Clippers could be
Coming into the season, the Los Angeles Clippers were viewed as one of the favorites to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. That pick was contingent on a healthy Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The supporting cast that owner Steve Ballmer has assembled around his dynamic star duo is g...
Bring the NBA to Mexico City
The first time I ever went to Mexico, my dad brought us to visit our grandparents, who were alive and living in San Benito, a Texas border town. In the early 90s, we crossed over to buy inexpensive medicine and trinkets from vendors. We had grown up poor, mostly living in trailer parks and spare roo...
A Las Vegas women’s college basketball tournament provided a court, and almost nothing else
Apparently, Ja Rule was called for advice on how to set up a college basketball tournament, because just like Fyre Fest, this Thanksgiving tournament was not all what it was advertised to be. ...
Welcome to the pressure cooker, Matt Rhule
It’ll be interesting to see if the day ever comes when the hiring of a new coach at Nebraska is met with a cavalier attitude. “Well, shit, why not him?” is only uttered when the university names a men’s basketball coach. ...
Come home, Kevin Durant
The NBA’s greatest epics have been built around a meteoric star crash landing in a small market, galvanizing the city around their greatness in hopes of delivering glory. Think LeBron James in Cleveland, Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas, Tim Duncan in San Antonio, Isiah Thomas in Detroit, Hakeem Olajuwon in ...
5 surprising NBA rookies you need to know about
As Paolo Banchero begins to run away with the Rookie of the Year award, there are still hidden gems and surprise showings by first-year players selected outside the top 10. We have highlighted which ones have been the biggest surprises thus far and project comps for their young career....
Tom Thibodeau, Tony Soprano, and the New York Knicks
Almost a year ago, I contemplated the soul of Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, searching for answers to his most pressing coaching quandaries. Humans are prone to making connections, comparing and contrasting, to make sense of the chaos around us. In the world of the NBA, Thibodeau shares much of th...
Sports franchises approach every contract negotiation like its Black Friday
You may be looking for a new television or Macbook today and on Cyber Monday, but general managers in professional sports are looking for those types of deals 365 1/4 days a year. Money ain’t a thing for the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, but the other pro sports franchises in America hav...
Patrick Beverley is an insufferable jackass
Has there ever been a more irrelevant player to make more headlines than Patrick Beverley? The 11-year guard was up to the only tricks he knows again Tuesday night, getting ejected for having his teammate’s back by violently pushing Deandre Ayton from behind....
Is there closure for Ben Simmons in Philly?
Maybe one day Philadelphia sports fans will forgive Ben Simmons for not taking the court at all for the 76ers last season, not shooting in four consecutive fourth quarters, and the play in which he passed the ball to the only Sixer who was arguably a worse shooter than him instead of dunking on Trae...
Luka Dončić can’t do it all himself
The Dallas Mavericks’ struggles this season are well-documented and likely won’t be put to rest anytime soon. Their All-World leader, Luka Dončić, is off to another hot start, but that’s only translated into a 9-7 record, and the team barely keeping their heads above water. While Dončić is playing a...
Here’s how the Sacramento Kings became the NBA’s team of redemption
Kings Nation has been through the wringer for the past 16 years. The Sacramento Kings may be poised to end their postseason drought and the path forward is illuminated in a unique way by an unusual group. During the offseason, owner Vivek Ranadivé had the brightest full-color laser equipment in the ...
Looks like Ben Simmons may have found his mojo ahead of first game back in Philly
So, Ben Simmons can still ball out when he wants to. ...
Only one player can save this season for the Lakers, that player is Anthony Davis
There is a reason that the Los Angeles Lakers have so little draft capital. ...
Jaylen Brown confusing Black Hebrew Israelites for Omega Psi Phi is a bigger issue than he realizes
There’s an old African-American proverb that perfectly describes Jaylen Brown, it goes like this: “You all in the Kool-Aid and you don’t even know what flavor it is.”...
Kyrie Irving’s apology tour comes to a close, but he still has a few kinks to work out
In Brooklyn’s precarious position, scandal is a pitfall and Kyrie Irving has supplied it in abundance. Mics and social media are as much of an occupational hazard for Irving as soft tissue and ligament injuries are for his peers. In that regard, the Nets All-NBA point guard can be a walking OSHA vio...
Zach LaVine is grumbling — and so are Bulls fans
The contemporary NBA has conditioned basketball fans to seek out unhappy All-Stars like lions stalk the most vulnerable wildebeest. The Chicago Bulls dropped to 6-10 on the season after a one-point home loss to a Paolo Banchero-less Orlando Magic on Friday, and Zach LaVine set off some alerts....