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2024 NBA Western Conference Predictions: Denver Nuggets No. 1 Seed, Dallas Mavericks Regress
These are our official 2024 NBA Western Conference predictions, with the Denver Nuggets finishing as the top seed, and several teams, including the Mavericks, regressing....
This week in the NBA & WNBA March 09, 2024
Need any more evidence that Gilbert Arenas’ bellyaching about Europeans and foreigners ruining basketball with their sweet outside strokes is all hot air? I’ll give you one: Josh Giddey. Now that his legal woes appear to be in the rearview mirror, the whispers about his liabilities in the Oklahoma C...
Latest problem with Josh Giddey; Dame Lillard finally steps up; Dalton Knecht and Reed Sheppard on verge of history
Need any more evidence that Gilbert Arenas’ bellyaching about Europeans and foreigners ruining basketball with their sweet outside strokes is all hot air? I’ll give you one: Josh Giddey. Now that his legal woes appear to be in the rearview mirror, the whispers about his liabilities in the Oklahoma C...
If you can’t trust Anthony Edwards, you can’t trust the Timberwolves
I’m not anti-analytics, because data matters, but there’s no way to factor in things like your best player missing tipoff because he was a late arrival, or a coach pulling his second-best player when he’s on pace for a 70 burger. The Minnesota Timberwolves are a very good basketball team, by record,...
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...
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...
Will the real Zion Williamson please stand up?
Zion Williamson’s tantalizing game made him a household name after one season at Duke where he established a new NCAA record for 2-point field goal percentage. Up until this juncture in his career, Williamson has been a gas-guzzling, flying tank in a league stacked with electric convertibles. As a r...
The Minnesota Timberwolves are the NBA’s best redemption story
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ bounce back from their 2023 nadir has been the NBA’s most remarkable redemption story. The Association may have discontinued its Comeback Player of the Year award, but the Twin Cities’ finest would deserve consideration if that were not the case. Before October, the outlo...
NBA coaches should be forced to participate in All-Star festivities, too
The NBA wanting a buy-in from its stars is an understandable expectation. However, coaches are rarely a part of the All-Star festivities aside from the Eastern and Western Conference coaches. Everyone except for gym rat Tom Thibodeau is on vacation unwinding from the daily rigors of an 82-game grind...
NHL 'tough guys' are always cheapshot artists; The cause of increased scoring revealed
For a sport that really loves to tout how tough its players are, hockey players don’t seem to have much tolerance for anything that makes them feel bad in the slightest. At least on the ice. Morgan Rielly of Toronto was just the latest to wet himself when an opponent reminded him just a little too m...
Lakers-Celtics said a lot about both teams — little of it good
The Los Angeles Lakers earned their most impressive win of the season Thursday night, while the Boston Celtics arguably ceded their worst loss. With LeBron James and Anthony Davis sidelined with injuries, Austin Reaves and Co. handed a fully staffed C’s team their third home defeat of the season, 11...
Islanders lose way with Patrick Roy; Sex assault charges rock WJC; Why is Corey Perry with the Oilers?
The hammer may be coming down on members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team faster than we thought. Over the past couple of days, two players — Carter Hart of the Flyers and Dillon Dube of the Flames — had taken indefinite leaves of absence from their teams. - Sam Fels Read More...
What do the Edmonton Oilers want with Corey Perry?
The Edmonton Oilers have been the NHL’s hottest team for a good long while now. They’ve won 13 in a row, and since that woeful 2-9-1 start, they’ve gone 24-6-0, which over a full season would be a 131-point pace. They’ve vaulted themselves out of the Motel For Men where the Sharks live, that they sp...
The Lakers would be crazy not to trade for Zach LaVine
The word from ESPN insiders is that there is no chance Zach LaVine will be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. There have been issues with him and the Chicago Bulls dating back to early last season. Last week on NBA Today, Brian Windhorst said that if the Bulls could trade LaVine in a moment’s notice...
Question Luka Dončić all you want — just be OK with the eventual ‘I told you so’
Despite the risk of hyperbole devolving into hot take, I’ll say it: Year 6 Luka Dončić looks a lot like 1988-89 Michael Jordan, or 2007-08 LeBron James. I’m not saying he’s better than either of the GOATs. It’s simply impossible to watch what he’s doing, how he’s still improving, and think any other...
Kevin Durant is reportedly <i>not</i> frustrated with the state of the Phoenix Suns, according to Kevin Durant
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Christmas Day that members of the Suns organization believed that Durant had grown frustrated with the team and their current roster amid injuries to Bradley Beal and Devin Booker. According to Wojnarowski, Phoenix “has got to change soon” in order to right the ...
It took more than a quarter of the NBA season, but it looks like Phoenix's Big 3 will finally suit up together
There was a lot of excitement surrounding what was supposed to be the debut of the new Phoenix Suns “Big Three” of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. TNT’s Reggie Miller was so geared up for it that he had to be notified live on air that Durant had been ruled out of the Suns’ matchup again...
The Clippers are starting to gel, but P.J. Tucker wasn’t wrong
NBA journeyman P.J. Tucker had some interesting comments about the Los Angeles Clippers earlier this week about there not being enough basketballs to fulfill the team’s needs. Of course, he’s referring to his Clippers recently adding James Harden to a roster that already included Paul George, Kawhi ...
Anthony Edwards is salty about being called an All-Star
The next time you’re out and about and happen to run into Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, don’t dare refer to him as an All-Star. Even though he is indeed a one-time All-Star “selection,” he won’t acknowledge this fact. He doesn’t count it since he wasn’t a first-choice selection to the...
The best fan-hosted NBA podcasts
With trust in the mainstream media dwindling daily, it’s no wonder corporate sports journalism is also losing ground. Partisanship and traffic-driven agendas have diluted the public’s trust in NBA talking heads. As anyone with a microphone and laptop can start a podcast, a DIY community of fan-drive...