Some of the most iconic basketball moments in history involve guys playing through injuries. Willis Reed in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals. Michael Jordan’s flu game in 1997. Rajon Rondo dislocating his elbow in 2011, then coming back seven minutes later to play point guard one-handed. It’s absolutely not something anyone should ever expect a player to do, but it’s still hard not to admire the commitment of those who do play through their injuries. If LaMarcus Aldridge can go
There are several schools of thought on rebuilding in the NBA. There’s the Sixers’ style, adding “assets” and losing a ton of games as a not-altogether-undesirable byproduct of getting your young players experience, the Knicks’ and Lakers’ style of losing until you’re free of bad contracts, and then there’s the tightrope-walking act of getting better without ever going through a protracted rebuild, like the Suns have done. As difficult as it is (the Suns, the best success story, didn’t even
Very few bad teams have ever gotten as much attention as this year’s Lakers team has. Then again, very few bad teams have ever been the Lakers. The arguments over whether Kobe Bryant should shoot as much as he does have gotten so fierce that they’ve been the impetus for a Twitter user driving all the way to Temecula on Christmas to fight another Twitter user (who never showed). Needless to say, there’s been criticism of both Kobe and coach Byron Scott since
Josh Smith is one of those players whose praise is always qualified. You know how it goes: “He’s unbelievably talented, but…”, “He’s a matchup problem at both ends, but…”, “He’s a phenomenal finisher at the rim, but…”. The “but” is always the same: he’s not a good outside shooter, and he takes way too many outside shots. There’s one word that comes up more than any other these days when people talk about how the NBA’s best teams win: efficiency. Teams can win
I’ve got to say, it’s a little surreal that Rajon Rondo isn’t a Celtic any more. Not so much because he’d been there forever, though that’s certainly part of it. It’s more that in the time I’ve been doing this blog thing here (coming up on three years), Rondo’s been the player I’ve seen the most rumors about where nothing ever really happened. Until, of course, this week. Public perception of this trade seems pretty consistent: Brandan Wright is pretty good, Jae Crowder
What, exactly, constitutes a fire sale? That’s the question this Billy King quote raises (via Tim Bontemps of the New York Post): Nets general manager Billy King knows his team isn’t playing up to expectations, but he isn’t ready to pull the plug. “My job is to listen to people and to make calls and to make calls back,” King said before the Nets’ 88-70 victory over the 76ers on Friday night at Barclays Center. “Does that mean we’re having a fire sale? Absolutely
Remember when Greg Monroe signed his qualifying offer to stay with the Pistons for one year? Did anyone really think that was going to turn out well? The Pistons’ frontcourt is still ridiculously clogged, and now Monroe’s going to leave next summer, possibly for nothing. Any chance of him being coaxed into staying by a great season seems impossibly remote at this point. Shams Charania of RealGM has more on the Monroe conundrum:Over a dozen teams should have the necessary cap space to
The Sixers are a top-five League Pass option right now. Until they win a game, they’re practically must-see, just for the historical importance of it all. And then even after they win, any time they’re close is worth flipping over to, because a loss to the Sixers will have more impact on a team’s playoff chances than a win over anybody. That said, it’s got to be a bad time to be a loyal Sixer fan right now, considering both the current