I always wait until the final game of the NBA season is in the books before handing in my postseason awards ballot, and the reason is twofold: If the deadline is not until Thursday afternoon, what’s the hurry? (This is how journalists work when it comes to deadlines. Most of us, anyway.) The second is because you always want to wait and see if something happens on the final night of the season to change either your ballot or your
There is a reason why I always wait until the 82nd game of the season is in the books before deciding on my postseason awards choices. Three words: What’s the hurry? This is a lesson I learned way back in 1999 when I was covering a late regular-season game at the Alamodome during the lockout-shortened 50-game season. There were still three of four games left, and I was sitting alongside a veteran reporter from USA Today and asked him which way he
Thursday afternoon the NBA unveiled the 2013-14 NBA All-Rookie Team, celebrating this past season’s top young athletes. One name you will not see on the the team is the Cleveland Cavaliers’ No.1 overall draft pick Anthony Bennett, who only played in 52 games, averaging 4.2 points and three rebounds in just 12.8 minutes per game. He is just the fifth top overall draft pick to miss the All-Rookie team in 26 years. There were quite a few young rookies deserving of the
With the NBA still buzzing from Tuesday’s draft lottery and the anticipation of next month’s loaded draft, it is only fitting that we offer good riddance to one of the worst draft classes in recent memory. Among the 14 lottery picks of the 2013 draft, a staggering eight did not make the NBA All-Rookie Teams announced Thursday. They were top pick Anthony Bennett, No. 3 Otto Porter, No. 5 Alex Len, No. 6 Nerlens Noel, No. 7 Ben McLemore, No. 8
The NBA announced the All-Rookie Team on Tuesday. Sheridan Hoops announced it on April 11. We ran a weekly Rookie Rankings this season, and while the Rookie of the Year was decided sometime before the All-Star break, it remained to be seen who would join Portland’s Damian Lillard among the NBA’s top five rookies. [Read more…]