Luka Page 2 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Buddy Hield is the type of player who could tilt the odds in a contender’s favor
If there’s any NBA trading block resident who deserves to transition to a contender this season, it’s not James Harden or Damian Lillard, it’s newcomer Buddy Hield. At least Dame Time has advanced to the brink of a Conference Finals. Hield has never even sailed the postseason waters. His 548 games p...
The NBA can try all it wants, player rest is impossible to stop
Remember when the Dallas Mavericks concluded an embarrassing 2022-23 season by not dressing Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić instead of attempting to qualify for the Play-in Tournament? The Mavericks were fined $750,000, and I think that the NBA reached a breaking point in its never-ending saga of star-...
Dillon Brooks and Luka Dončić take NBA antics international
NBA players can’t help themselves sometimes, even while playing under international rules. Canada played Slovenia in a FIBA World Cup matchup Wednesday morning, with the Canadians coming out on top, 100-89. Multiple NBA players headlined this game — mainly for Team Canada — but once Luka Dončić (Slo...
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has taken quite a star turn during the FIBA World Championships
It was a long shot for Jordan to qualify for the second round at the 2023 FIBA World Championships. They are 0-3 through three games and were throttled by USA, 110-62. However, through the defeats a player bloomed. The leading scorer in the FIBA World Cup is, unsurprisingly, Luka Dončić at 30 points...
Try telling Kyrie Irving that ANTA is a significant step down from Nike
Kyrie Irving held a significant place in shoe culture up until he ran his mouth and got his Nike deal revoked. The mercurial point guard (pretty sure he single-handedly turned that phrase a cliche) consistently had the most popular sneaker at the company despite his on-again, off-again relationship ...
Here we go already with the Wemby MVP talk
Hyperbole often rules the day in sports media in the social media age. Everyone is almost subconsciously attempting to go viral during every waking moment. Enter former NBA player and current TNT analyst Kenny Smith. While calling a summer league game this week, Victor Wembanyama’s name came up in t...
It’s the summer of Grant!
The NBA Playoffs were not nearly as kind to Grant Williams in 2023 as 2022. However, the summer has been his oyster, specifically this month. He spent Independence Day weekend at the event of the summer — Michael Rubin’s White Party. A couple of days after mingling with A-Listers, the Boston Celtics...
First-round NBA Draft grades on a pass/fail system
If you’re like most underachievers and procrastinators, the letter grade doesn’t matter as long as you pass. I’ve lived most of my life by the mantra that “C’s are for degrees” and look where it’s gotten me: Writing about sports for living, and passing judgment upon others without retaliation....
Victor Wembanyama’s French Cup pursuit is a preview of future NBA Finals marquees
Victor Wembanyama is rail-thin, but with hefty expectations on his shoulders across two continents simultaneously. It’s a testament to Wemby’s precocious readiness that he hasn’t wilted under the pressure already. During the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat’s NBA Finals pillow fight, Wembanyama is hoop...
Is Nikola Jokic the NBA's best European player ever?
Nikola Jokić is on a mission. Of course, he’s on a mission to win an NBA title, but he’s also out to prove the doubters wrong. The Denver Nuggets are two games away from their first NBA championship after taking Game 3 on the road in Miami, 109-94. Jokić posted another 30-point, 20-rebound triple-do...
Lionel Messi retirement tour is coming to the US, not Saudi Arabia
Labeling MLS as a “retirement league” has been unnecessarily callous for a few seasons now. It is much more than that, and has become more of a selling league, i.e. a league that is mostly interested in developing young players to sell off for big profits to Europe to then be reinvested and start th...
Dallas Mavericks interested in guy who wants to eliminate halftime
ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy has been on fire lately, making waves everywhere. The former New York Knicks head coach made news last week for his stance on removing free throws from NBA games along with getting rid of halftime altogether. Well, Van Gundy is back in the headlines this week, but this ti...
LeBron James to the Mavs will only happen in Kyrie Irving’s delusional dreams
Kyrie Irving may have finally lost his ever-loving mind. Rumors of a reunion between Irving and LeBron James have been tossed around like cornhole sacks over the past few months. But that scenario usually involves “Kai” heading west to join James and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles. It was reported Mon...
Anthony Bennett and the NBA Lottery's biggest draft busts of the last decade
Every day, fans of Aleksej “Poku” Pokusevski, Josh Green, or James Wiseman swear next year is the year their favorite players are not the bums the rest of the NBA thinks they are. I went through the last decade, from 2013-2023, and highlighted the 10 players who are on track to be the biggest busts ...
Epic upsets, stellar QBs, and the most notable sports moments of the first half of 2023
Take a deep breath before I reveal a stunning fact, it’s almost June. Some of you were just pulling out the trusty snow blower and now it’s swimsuit season — I hope your diet went better than mine....
Life after greatness: What happens when a sport loses its GOAT?
There’s no denying that GOATs are great for a sport when they’re still active. Michael Jordan, Tony Hawk, and other best-to-ever-do-its pushed their sports to popularity not seen since, but led to fans coming down off a trip so perfect that they were left fiending for the next fix of greatness perso...
Black magic is no match for perfection
It’s impossible to be neutral on Manchester City. If you support a club that has to compete with them in England or in Europe, it’s likely they are a symbol of all that’s wrong with the modern game, given their state ownership, and bottomless financial resources. If you don’t belong to one of those ...
Real Madrid and Manchester City trapped each other, or so they’d have you believe
When you’ve been as dominant in the Champions League as Real Madrid have for the past decade, or as dominant in the Premier League as Manchester City have, you can convince everyone that whatever you do is part of the plan, part of a higher genius we can’t quite understand. It must be, otherwise, ho...
Real Madrid enter the next Galactico Era with the capture of Jude Bellingham
“The best players in the world must play for Real Madrid.”...
Finding the NBA playoff X factors
The NBA playoffs are where superstars can add to — or subtract from — their legacies. They may come up clutch, or absolutely choke under the spotlight. The same goes for coaches. But there are always subplots around certain youngsters, role players, and unknowns who can make a name for themselves. T...