the-nba Page 39 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The NBA has a ratings problem — Exhibit A: The All-Star Game

There was a time during the midst of 2020 in which Adam Silver and the NBA owned the world. The combination of an amazing All-Star Game in Chicago with a new dramatic ending, the sad and tragic death of Kobe Bryant, and the league’s decision to shut things down — becoming the first warning that this...

ESPN’s top draft analyst is mocking mock drafts by anointing Bronny James as a future top-10 pick

There’s no high school basketball LeaguePass — yet. Aside from the Bronny James hypebeast machine, the top prospects in the upcoming draft are previewed to the general public through the diligent scouting done by professional analysts or scouts who scour camps, national showcases, and high school gy...

These are the most obnoxious fan bases in sports (and pop culture)

The easiest way to protect yourself from outside criticism is to critique others. Negativity begets negativity, and I don’t even know where this is going because I’m here to tell you about insufferable fan bases....

If Chris Paul, Suns can’t win a championship with Kevin Durant, it’s time to drop the 'Point God' moniker

Once the Phoenix Suns pulled off the blockbuster trade of the year for Kevin Durant, many pundits began to pencil them in as the Western Conference representative in the NBA Finals. Looking at their core of Devin Booker, Chris Paul, DeAndre Ayton, plus Durant, it’s easy to see why they’d be catapult...

Nate McMillan was a <i>Major Payne</i> to Trae Young, so who should be the Hawks' next coach?

Nearly two years to the day the Atlanta Hawks fired Lloyd Pierce, his replacement Nate McMillan met the same fate. We knew his coaching position was terminal two months ago when an argument between McMillan and Young spilled out into the public sphere. And while Young’s poor relationship with McMcMi...

Meyers Leonard took the steps Kyrie Irving hasn't

At first, without thinking, rage is the appropriate response to seeing Meyers Leonard’s re-entry back into the NBA, as it was reported on Tuesday he’ll sign a 10-day contract with the Milwaukee Bucks after being out of the league for nearly two years after uttering an antisemitic slur on a video-gam...

This is the best idea to solve the NBA’s midseason lull

After throwing slop at a wall like everybody else trying to figure out the best route for the NBA regular season and All-Star break to matter, I have the ultimate solution. There is no better idea, and even though it won’t happen, the potential to overwhelm the news cycle is so alluring that Adam Si...

When it comes to trades, Kyrie Irving can’t have it both ways

The player-empowerment era has created more avenues for athletes to flex their own team-building ability, but Kyrie Irving’s Saturday media availability during All-Star Weekend touched on an issue he’s extremely familiar with — trade requests. Irving’s response to inquiries about the topic illustrat...

‘Ambassador’ Karl Malone, bumbling Knicks, and more forgettable moments from All-Star Saturday Night

All-Star Saturday has always had cookout vibes, and McClung earned another invite for next year. But someone had to bring the unseasoned cole slaw. Karl Malone’s presence as an ambassador and a judge who got entirely too many nods from the NBA and the broadcast made things way too awkward. Malone — ...

Adam Silver unveils the future of NBA streaming — and it's absolutely stupid

NBA All-Star Weekend kicked off yesterday with commissioner Adam Silver unveiling several features soon to become part of the future live game streaming experience. The annual Tech Summit always offers a solid glimpse into the future, and fans were abuzz wondering what technical marvels would be com...

The 2023 basketball HOF finalists have a legacy worthy of the honor

The list of finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is a snapshot of an era. Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade headline the class, having met twice in the NBA Finals, splitting the titles between them. Gregg Popovich, Tony Parker, and Becky Hammon are forever San Antonio Spurs. And t...

I’d rather get in a ring with Greg Hardy than play pickup with D.K. Metcalf

Albert Pujols and D.K. Metcalf aren’t in the same universe athletically at this point in their lives. Yet, they shared a basketball court Friday as part of the NBA Celebrity Game, and I gotta say, it is startling that one of the greatest baseball players of this century — coming off a 24-home run sw...

Ime Udoka, who? Joe Mazzulla is coaching in the NBA All-Star Game

When Joe Mazzulla was announced as the Boston Celtics interim head coach in September, many had no idea who the 34-year-old was. But, I did. Back in 2008, his 13 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists performance in 31 minutes off the bench sent my Duke Blue Devils home in the second round of the NC...

2023 NBA Anti-All-Stars: The dregs of the East

The NBA All-Star Game is an honor bestowed upon the most distinguished hoopers every season. Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re doing here. Their time will come. However, the NBA’s worst rotation players deserve to receive their dead flowers too. Stare into this dark void with me and commemorate t...

Nuggets’ All-Star power outage is either disrespect from the league or a playoff omen

Nikola Jokić’s season has been one for the ages. The Denver Nuggets are first in the West, first in offensive efficiency, Jokić is a god according to almost every analytics metric as well as the runaway favorite to become the first MVP in three consecutive seasons since Larry Bird ran the table betw...

The 2023 NBA <i>anti</i>-All-Star team draft

2023 NBA Anti-All-Stars: The dregs of the West

The NBA All-Star Game is an honor bestowed upon the most distinguished hoopers every season. Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re doing here. Their time will come. However, the NBA’s worst rotation players deserve to receive their dead flowers too. Stare into this dark void with me and commemorate t...

The NBA asked us to watch basketball that made load management a priority

At least the NBA, unlike some of its sporting league counterparts, keeps its CBA negotiations mostly under wraps. They’re going on right now, as both owners and players have the option of opting out of the current agreement by March 31, which would end the deal on June 30. One of the things to leak ...

Give me 'Roundball Rock' or give me death

Professional sports leagues are the big winners of the streaming wars because live sports seem to be the only thing that still moves the ratings needle. As long as the production value remains intact, the “boom-goes-the-dynamite” guy isn’t announcing, and the stream actually streams, I could care le...

And now for the NHL trade deadline, which is much more boring than the NBA's [Updated]

The NBA can shift its entire axis in a trade deadline — like Brooklyn shipping Kyrie Irving to Dallas and Kevin Durant to Phoenix — or in free agency. The NFL is starting to put more jazz into both its deadline and offseason. MLB could if any owner wanted to actually spend money outside of Queens. T...