nbafinals Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Who is the best point guard in the NBA?
What is a point guard in today’s NBA? The role and term has evolved so much from the 1990s when the position was defined by midrange scoring, playmaking and limited athleticism. Today’s concept of a point guard runs the whole gamut, across all five positions, where a center in Denver is the best pas...

Say what you want about the NBA, it still values its titans
For all the misguided complaints about the melodrama that can be the NBA at times, or the claims that its “wokeness” will be its ruin, or how the league beats itself up over load management or whatever else, it still offers something that none of the other three non-NFL leagues can. And that’s regul...

It's make or break for the Los Angeles Clippers
Curses run deep. They fester in bloodlines, foundations and scorched Earth and are lamented in prose, lyric and declaration. From Shakespeare to Dostoevsky, curses are a part of the canon of human creativity. After the Boston Red Sox broke theirs in 2004 and LeBron James brought a championship to Cl...

Turns out America loves the Denver Nuggets
Most of the state of Colorado can’t watch the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets. However, the rest of America is enjoying the show. NBA insider/analyst Ethan Strauss dove into some viewership data for a recent post on his substack....

Victor Wembanyama finally got a win against Chet Holmgren
Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren play for teams that occupy two very different places in the Western Conference standings. The San Antonio Spurs are going to be in the running for a second-consecutive No. 1 overall pick. The Oklahoma City Thunder are a game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for t...

Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade let the No. 3 keep them from teaming up in Miami
When an opportunity comes along in life, sometimes you just throw caution to the wind and go for it. That’s what Chris Paul should have done when he was approached about becoming part of the Heatles in Miami, alongside LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. It never came to pass, though, and all because Paul...

Monty Williams is absolutely right about bad officials missing obvious calls
Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams was furious following Monday night’s 113-111 loss to the Knicks. The officiating crew for the game missed a blatant foul with 8.6 seconds remaining in the game following a Pistons steal while Detroit led by one. The missed call was so bad that the most novic...

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...

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...

Steph Curry won’t stop hogging Dame Lillard’s limelight
Damian Lillard cannot catch a break when Steph Curry is in the building hogging all the limelight. Lillard has to have developed either a chip on his shoulder or an inferiority complex, after adding another notch to his Hall of Fame belt by being crowned 3-point contest champ for a second consecutiv...

Here are some of the athletes who could never get away with what Travis Kelce did to Andy Reid at the Super Bowl
Sports evict emotions, it’s why we love them. And if you’ve ever been on a team, like a real team that was actually good and won something of importance, you understand that things can get heated in the huddle, in the locker room, or at practice. Competition and the will to win aren’t passive traits...

Warriors unsuccessfully tried to pair LeBron and Steph Curry
A dreary deadline almost saw a seismic transfer of power in the West, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne reported that the Golden State Warriors unsuccessfully tried to trade with the Los Angeles Lakers to acquire LeBron James. ...

The longest championship droughts in NBA history
With teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Philadelphia 76ers among the best teams in the league the season, we could see some of the longest current NBA championship droughts snap in 2024. To honor the potential for history, here are the longest active title droughts. ...

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...

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...

The Bucks may not have a plan, but they aren't afraid to throw money at a problem
At least Milwaukee Bucks fans can say that the Haslems aren’t penny-pinchers. Jimmy and Dee bought their way into the NBA last spring when they purchased former franchise co-owner Marc Lasry’s share. Since then, two Bucks head coaches have been fired and their most recent hire is one of the most wel...

The Heat got better <i>and</i> saved money by trading Kyle Lowry
One of the greatest charge-drawers the world has ever seen is no longer with the Miami Heat. Kyle Lowry will be creating turnovers by hitting the deck somewhere else for the rest of the season. The Heat have traded him to the Charlotte Hornets, along with a 2027 protected first-round pick, and recei...

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...

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown need a two-man game
The best duo in the NBA put on a show against the best team in the East on Friday night. Denver’s 102-100 win over Boston snapped the Celtics’ perfect mark at TD Garden this season, and 27-game home-winning streak overall. Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray combined for 69 points, 20 rebounds and 14 assi...

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, here are some of the best HBCU athletes to make it in the pros
We’ve already highlighted some of the famous Black celebrities who are HBCU alumni, but what about the athletes?...