In the span of a few weeks this past fall, the Milwaukee Bucks traded for perennial All-Star point guard Damian Lillard and signed two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to a three-year contract extension, establishing themselves as the betting favorite for the 2024 NBA. championship and possibly beyond. Nothing has gone right for the Bucks since then,… Read More »
It was early March 2023, and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s broad smile filled a box during a video call. The two-time MVP had joined us from Milwaukee’s practice facility, relaxed and contemplative as he rocked back and forth in a chair in the conference room, answering questions ranging from his secret pre-draft visit to Atlanta a decade… Read More »
In the midst of “the most difficult transition of my life,” Damian Lillard continues to face his biggest on-court challenge yet. The 33-year-old veteran will be held responsible for the outcome of this Milwaukee Bucks season, for better or worse, whether he deserves it or not. That’s what happens when a front office trades a… Read More »
Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell celebrates after making a three-point shot while scoring a season-high 44 points against the Bucks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press) D’Angelo Russell walked back to the court where an hour earlier he had just finished his best basketball game as a Laker. He grinned… Read More »
Each week during the 2023-2024 NBA season, we’ll dive deeper into some of the league’s biggest storylines in an effort to determine whether the trends going forward will be more based on fact or fiction. [Last week: Is the NBA All-Star Game fixable?] This week’s topic: In the NBA scoring era, 40,000 points are not… Read More »
To understand why Jacque Vaughn was fired as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets on Monday morning, start by considering how and why Vaughn climbed into the front seat on Brooklyn’s bench in November 2022. Barring a stroke of luck, in a business that offers little happiness to the few, Vaughn’s path always seemed to… Read More »
INDIANAPOLIS – One day, LeBron James will announce his impending retirement from the NBA, and there will be a world tour – whatever he’s trying to suggest in the meantime – and then he’ll be gone. Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant probably won’t be far behind either. But in the wake of James, the league… Read More »
After the highest-scoring All-Star Game in league history, the NBA’s signature seasonal event once again feels at a crossroads as efforts to make Sunday’s final event more competitive failed. The East defeated the West 211-186 in Indianapolis, a game that simultaneously stoked fears that there is too much offense in the current product and that… Read More »
INDIANAPOLIS — “My mentality is to come out and just be myself.” That was Portland Trail Blazers rookie Scoot Henderson, hours before the NBA’s Rising Stars Challenge. He came out, hooped and scored 10 points in a 40-35 loss to open the evening’s four-team mini-tournament. It was a microcosm of what was a quiet rookie… Read More »
Stephen Curry will take on Sabrina Ionescu on the court this All-Star Weekend for the first-ever three-point battle between the NBA and WNBA. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) It’s time for the 73rd NBA All-Star Weekend, as Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James once again face off as the captains of Teams East and West, respectively, in… Read More »