Masai Ujiri pulled off another coup by landing Serge Ibaka as a way to fix the Raptors horrible front court. Ibaka gives the Raptors credibility in the midrange. He scores. He rebounds. He is a ball mover. Now can the Raptors keep the ball out of the backcourt to allow Ibaka to do what he…
The NBA has cultivated a lot of passionate fans and a lot of fans who, frankly, don’t care enough to come in person to cheer their team. So they stay home and watch it on t.v. And then, you have Wizard fans. Their team is good. They have an All-Star in John Wall. And still…
Jimmy Butler’s tirade against his teammates caused Rajon Rondo to fight back on social media and the question looms: is this leadership? Butler’s animus was accompanied by Dwyane Wade who also went on a teammate rant. This much is apparent. The Chicago Bulls will live and die on the performance, leadership and exploits of Jimmy…
LeBron James was right. The Cavs need an additional playmaker. But they also need a big man who can do something about the grown man game of DeMarcus Cousins who, frankly, did whatever he wanted to do against Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson. Cousins nearly had a triple double, coming up one assist short as…
LeBron James isn’t happy with the way things are going in 2017 and calling out everyone including the GM was predictable as James frustration at losing to the Pelicans had him foaming at the mouth, as it should. The Pelicans aren’t even in the playoff hunt in the West, they have a losing record, they…
The Houston Rockets are the most improved team in the NBA, winning 73% of their games, up a whopping 23%. In the off-season, they added Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon and then turned the offense over to Mike D’Antoni who has revolutionized James Harden. The Rockets are a legitimate contender to knock off the Golden…
Last season, in early February, pre-game, Derrick Rose was dribbling the ball with his left hand and then with his right. When he stopped for a moment, interrupting his ritual, he picked the ball up. He looked over his shoulder for a good minute, staring at something in the distance. There were fans filing in,…
(first in a series, The Failed Men of the NBA) Because NBA careers can plunge into the raging river of hell, Robert Swift was here. Mired in the trap of addiction- heroin, meth, cocaine, alcohol- seduced by trouble and poverty, a thousand miles away from a career that saved him until that career threw him…
After signing his max deal the summer of 2015, Kawhi Leonard, perhaps the quietest great player in the NBA, shocked just about everyone when he admitted his individual goals for the season were becoming an All-Star and winning the Most Valuable Player award. The timing of his declaration, early July, felt somewhat awkward and uncharacteristically…
On June 14th 2009, the world was a beautiful place for Miami born Trevor Ariza. On that warm night in Orlando, Ariza’s defense in the second quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals was partly responsible for a 16-0 Lakers run. The run changed a deficit into a halftime ten point lead from which…