The most incredible effort from a single player I’ve seen in person came on January 14, 2002 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. I bought tickets at the last moment and invited a friend for a night neither of us could have expected. I had already seen plenty of games in which Kobe Bryant scored at will,…
On November 9, 2015, the Minnesota Timberwolves surprised the Hawks at Philips Arena by pulling off a 117-107 victory. They did it mostly with young talent, including rookie Karl-Anthony Towns and second year player Zach LaVine. However, another player in his second season had the best game of all: shooting guard Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins had…
Sixers fans are quietly optimistic these days, which is not something you would expect after a 10-win season. Nonetheless, there are several good reasons to expect improvement in Philadelphia, including the arrival of Croatian forward Dario Saric. Saric distinguished himself at the recent Olympics, leading Croatia to a fifth place finish overall. He was the…
Before free agency of 2016, these were the best value players and the biggest drains on team payroll The Underpaid: 5 Excellent Value Contracts for the 2016-17 Season Isaiah Thomas: Thomas is a one-man show at times, and he’s coming off his finest season. The four-year deal he signed in a 2014 sign-and-trade transaction now looks…
Although looking shaky at times in Olympic play, Team USA has once again reigned supreme after a dominant effort against Serbia in the gold medal game. Serbia had a chance to tie its pool play game with the United States on August 12 but saw Bogdan Bogdanovic miss the mark on his three-point attempt at…
Andrew Bogut didn’t pull any punches. Naturally, reporters flocked to the captain of Team Australia prior to their matchup with the United States on August 10. He said of the Americans: “If you put a million dollars on it, you probably get a dollar back if you bet on them.” At the same time, Bogut…
This year’s Summer League leader in total points scored was a little surprising. No, he wasn’t a top 2016 draft pick such as Jaylen Brown or a young returning starter like D’Angelo Russell. Instead, Cleveland role player Jordan McRae appeared in seven games and scored 170 points for a cool 24.3 per contest. While it’s…
After the Clippers’ latest playoff exit to Portland in which Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were lost due to injury, it’s hard to fault their front office for considering a roster shakeup. The organization appears to be exploring trade possibilities for Griffin which could involve the Bulls, Celtics, Raptors, or another team. In some ways,…
The Overpaid: 5 Poor Value Contracts Timofey Mozgov (Lakers, $64 million, 4 years. High: $17 million, 2019-20) I’ll always remember Mozgov as the guy Blake Griffin dunked on in 2010, mostly because I was inside Staples Center at the time. The Russian center has improved since then, but not enough to justify $64 million over 4…
On Saturday night in Las Vegas, the top two picks of the 2016 Draft squared off in a Summer League preview of the league’s future. The Lakers would defeat the Sixers 70-69 on a D’Angelo Russell buzzer-beater, but the main attractions were Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram. ESPN cameras were following Simmons constantly, to the…