national-basketball-association Page 16 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

If Daryl Morey hires Mike D’Antoni, he’s not serious about winning a title in Philly
Philadelphia 76ers head honcho Daryl Morey has some big decisions ahead of him this offseason. After another disappointing second-round exit in the postseason, the Sixers parted ways with former head coach Doc Rivers after three years. In three years, Rivers couldn’t help the Sixers advance any furt...

This cast of the Lake Show is as triggering as it is good
I’m finding it increasingly difficult to cope with America’s ongoing nightmare. No, not COVID, though I did just go to a wedding and got the “Hey, heads up, it was a super spreader” text today. That said, I’d let an infected cough in my mouth right now if it meant a Los Angeles Lakers playoff exit a...

Denver defense nearly spoils Nuggets' greatest offensive performance in franchise history
What will always jump out most on the screen when watching the 2022-23 Denver Nuggets is their offense. Through three quarters against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, it looked like they reached the level of special that Keanu Reeves reached in The Matrix when he s...

Boston and Miami battle to see who's the Beast in the East
In a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat are set to square off for the third time in four years to crown the Beast in the East. While the Celtics remain the No. 2 seed, the Heat have been forced to defy the odds of returning to the ECF as the No. 8 see...

James Harden won the standoff with Doc Rivers
Doc Rivers came, he saw, and he squandered another opportunity to add to his ring count with a generational superstar at his disposal. Less than 48 hours after the Philadelphia 76ers came out punchdrunk in Game 7 against the Boston Celtics, Sixers brass launched Doc Rivers into the sun, possibly inc...
![WNBA sends strong message with Becky Hammon suspension [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/e0fcb4b06f9f1bf146858cced61c23ea.jpg)
WNBA sends strong message with Becky Hammon suspension [Update]
It makes sense now that Becky Hammon, head coach of the Las Vegas Aces, sought permission from her bosses to interview for a head coaching position with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. Less than a calendar year removed from the confetti, champagne, and parade of bringing the Aces franchise its first WNBA...

LeBron James vs. Nikola Jokić, and the other Lakers-Nuggets Western Conference Finals storylines
We did not get Kevin Durant vs. Stephen Curry in the Western Conference Finals. Instead, the participants in the series are the best teams in the conference — the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers....

Make Bob Myers galaxy brain his way out of this one
The Golden State Warriors are no longer lightyears ahead of their NBA brethren. Following a second-round exit, the Dubs face a lot of the same issues that bring down over-extended contenders. There are bad contracts, big contracts, and aging stars who aren’t what they once were. Klay Thompson is set...

Can Denver avoid the choke when it counts most in the Western Conference Finals?
The NBA is down to its final four as this year’s conference finals have brought about Déjà vu, although this isn’t an illusion of the mind. Less than three years ago, we saw the same teams representing the NBA’s Eastern and Western Finals. In the west, we’ve got the Lakers and Nuggets in a rematch f...

The NBA Playoffs have earlier start times from here on out — God is good
In 2015, I was in Los Angeles for the annual Online News Association Conference. It meant that as a Michigan native, I was up at 9:00 am PST to watch the Wolverines obliterate BYU 31-0 in a college football game that had a noon kickoff on East Coast time. That was also the day that I understood the ...

The final Brick for Vic stock report: NBA Draft Lottery edition
Stand on your head for one night because this is when everything gets flipped upside down so the NBA bottom feeders can plant the flag on a summit. Tuesday’s NBA Draft lottery is an especially important inflection point in NBA history. There won’t be any wavering over who will be the top pick in nex...

The NBA's young stars balled out in the second round of the playoffs
The boisterous people of Sacramento were not a part of the second round, but the basketball as a whole was no less exciting. As predicted, the Miami Heat and New York Knicks matchup was late 1990s NBA without the fights, but the 2020s NBA was at its best in the other series....

Tennessee Titans' draft pick Tyjae Spears is missing an ACL: Report
A running back missing an ACL, that is how a Division I football player can average 7.3 yards per touch, score 21 touchdowns as a senior, and fall to the third round. AAC 2023 Player of the Year Tyjae Spears wasn’t even the first player selected out of his conference. Rashee Rice was drafted with th...

For the Sixers, it’s never sunny in Philadelphia: 'The Process,' 10 years on
On a Tuesday afternoon in May of 2013, the Philadelphia 76ers officially entrusted their organization’s rebuild with a Stanford-educated egghead who had a bold vision for the future....

Joel Embiid is right
Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić are starkly different people. Yes, they are MVP centers who were not raised in America, but the similarities largely stop there. One player is from Africa and the other is from Europe. One player is the most physically dominant in the NBA, the other combines size, court ...

Joel Embiid’s play in Game 7 said more than all the pressers in the world
There isn’t really anything Joel Embiid could have said after his Game 7 beer belch that would have made up for it. He could have laid out all the mea culpas in the world, and Sixers fans are going to be pretty sharp-eyed and tongued (pardon for making you think about Philadelphian tongues) come nex...

Jeremy Lin ponders retirement after nasty concussion
Throughout Asia, Jeremy Lin has achieved rock-star status, and is still putting up platinum numbers against a lower level of competition than what he faced in the NBA. This season in Taiwan’s first fully professional basketball league, Lin has posted eye-popping averages of 26.3 points, 8.5 rebounds...

We're all for the Miami Heat dunking on Stephen A. Smith
Longtime ESPN on-air personality Stephen A. Smith has made no secrets about where his NBA loyalties lie, and it’s in The Big Apple with the Knicks. And New York’s season ended Friday night with a Game 6 loss to the Heat. Of course, Smith took the loss personally, but that didn’t stop Miami from reco...

The idea of Kevin Durant was always better than the real Kevin Durant
Whenever someone talks about Kevin Durant, they bring up what he is capable of doing a lot more than they bring up what he actually does. I could retire if I had a dollar for every time Stephen A. Smith has said “6-foot-11, can pull up from 30.” But he doesn’t actually get the job done very often....

Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics avoided the longest summer possible just in time
No one eats their young quite like Boston. Only Tom Brady and David Ortiz seemed to have gotten out of there alive. No matter what you do, if The Hub feels like you didn’t deliver when it counts they’ll not only send you out of town but they’ll make sure the road is paved with manure as well. Ask an...