luka Page 2 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Joel Embiid's absence in Philadelphia has created a black hole
DNP Lord Joel Embiid is the poltergeist still haunting the MVP race and Philadelphia’s title aspirations. When Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic or Shai Gilgeou-Alexander are eventually crowned, Embiid’s name will hang over the successor. Before the Philly center was jettisoned from the MVP race, he was lap...
Here's why Jayson Tatum has struggled to distinguish himself in the MVP mosaic
Since entering the league, Jayson Tatum has been the leading active stakeholder in carrying Kobe Bryant’s influence into a new decade. In nature, the Green Mamba is a less aggressive, nontoxic breed, compared to the eponymous viper Kobe built his persona around, which is an apt description for the d...
5 increasingly unhinged solutions to the NBA All-Star Game
As the NBA has observed its golden era of efficiency proliferate from more streamlined offenses to load management run amok, elements of the league have fallen by the wayside. Marquee hoopers play fewer minutes, fewer games and now they barely expend energy or cross halfcourt during All-Star Weekend...
The NBA All-Star Game has never been better!
Welcome to Deadspin’s The Sports Nihilist, where all is for naught, and we are but accidental jolts of electrified meat stuck to the surface of a rock in an indifferent universe....
Who is Mr. Franchise for each NBA team in the 21st century?
Michael Jordan will always be synonymous with the Chicago Bulls. Same thing for Magic Johnson with the Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Bird with the Boston Celtics. But since the turn of the 21st Century, some teams have gone a decade without a face of the franchise (think the Detroit Pistons and Orlan...
It appears as if Kyle Kuzma has lost his mind
Kyle Kuzma has been seduced by the power of being the No. 1 option on an NBA team. As the leading scorer for the Washington Wizards, he’s the closest thing to a star in the market. In the NBA, merely averaging 20 points per game makes you a star in the eyes of many. Ultimately, the goal is to win ga...
NBA trade deadline winners & losers; Doc Rivers already starting to lose Bucks players; Jalen Brunson the best PG in the league?
So, now that we’ve had a couple of weeks to digest things and get all the Doc Rivers 3-1 lead jokes out of our systems, it’s time to get down to business. Now that Milwaukee has played a few games and had some time with their new head coach, it’s painfully clear that this catastrophe is the definiti...
The Dallas Mavericks did not just go all-in for PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford
The NBA trade deadline was unsurprisingly mundane except for one team: the Dallas Mavericks. Sitting at 29-23, good for eighth in the West, GM Nico Harrison jettisoned Richaun Holmes, Seth Curry, Grant Williams and draft picks in two separate trades for PJ Washington from the Charlotte Hornets, and ...
The NBA trade deadline was a bit of a dud, but here's a look at who won and who flopped horribly
After last year’s insane trade deadline, which featured Kevin Durant being dealt to the Phoenix Suns, this year brought a bunch of smaller, shrewd moves that moved teams into contention. We have tracked the trades and broken them down by time-tested winners and losers rubric to track how the day wen...
It's time for the Mavericks to fire Jason Kidd and Nico Harrison
No team in recent memory has failed to build around a generational superstar more than the Dallas Mavericks have with Luka Dončić. We are not talking about Anthony Davis in New Orleans. Dončić is a consistent top-five MVP candidate and First-Team All-NBA every season, one of a handful of players of ...
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP heist is nearly complete
Joel Embiid’s departure from the MVP race while he undergoes minor surgery to repair a displaced flap in his meniscus has created a vacancy. His coronation has now become a vastly different two-man heat. With due respect to Luka Doncic’s gaudy numbers, he’ll be a long shot as long as the Dallas Mave...
Jalen Brunson is the best point guard in the NBA
At his introductory press conference on Sept. 22, 2022, Jalen Brunson sat at a podium, decked out in a crisp number 11 New York Knick jersey, and said the following, “I’m not a savior in any way, shape, or form. I just want to be able to contribute to the team.”...
The case for — and against — Joel Embiid for MVP
Joel Embiid, the world’s best regular-season player, is closing in on his second consecutive MVP if he remains upright. When active, Embiid is a force of nature, bending defenses to his whim and simultaneously wielding an unduly influence over Philadelphia’s defense....
Draymond Green nearing end of Warriors' stint?; Why Joel Embiid's 70 points isn' that great; League just can't quit Doc Rivers
Years of incidents both on and off the basketball court have finally caught up with Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green. It was announced Tuesday that Green would not be part of Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Green’s suspension history played a role in the decision according to...
Luka Doncic does what players never do: Apologize to heckler
During an appearance on TNT’s NBA Tip-Off, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic apologized for getting a heckler thrown out of Wednesday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns....
Milwaukee Bucks should trade Doc Rivers for Jrue Holiday
The NBA has done a spectacular job with Rivalry Week. Sam Presti vs. his mentors in Oklahoma City took a backseat to Chet Holmgren vs. Victor Wembanyama. That clash felt like a future NBA Finals showdown. Devin Booker and Luka Doncic exchanged their usual vitriol and potshots at one another. However...
Magic's return and the NBA All-Star Game's most memorable moments
The 2024 NBA All-Star Game tips off in Indianapolis in just a few weeks, with starters being named tonight. Whoever makes it, they’ll have some big shoes to fill. The All-Star Game is full of some of the most iconic moments in NBA history. Here are some of the performances that make the weekend so s...
This about sums up the Penguins season
Hockey can be infuriating. In no other sport can you do mostly everything right, but a little chinks in the armor can have an outsized effect if they’re spaced out correctly. Go 0-fer on the power play, or don’t get a save at the right time, or give up the wrong odd-man rush in the gimmick of overti...
Luka Doncic and each NBA team's leading single-game scorer
Update: Luka Doncic is the latest NBA star to drop 70+ points this season. It topped his Dallas Mavericks single-game record of 60, set in 2022. ...
The NBA 'superstar' landscape has shifted
There is no greater conduit for NBA hyperbole than the conversation around “superstars.” To have a rational, substantive debate, there must first be basic groundwork for what constitutes superstar status. First, the bad news: former Finals MVPs Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kawhi Leona...