Wall is playing his first year with the Clippers after joining the team as a free agent. He’s currently out after suffering an abdominal injury, but when he’s healthy, the five-time All-Star is averaging 11.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game on 40.8 percent shooting from the field and 30.3 percent from beyond the arc.

The Clippers (23-22) have legitimate title aspirations, with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George leading the way. Wall was expected to come in and compete for the starting point guard role and has settled in as a strong sixth man who can start in spots. The Clippers have dealt with Leonard’s load management and are still building their chemistry as a team.

Adding frontcourt depth behind Ivica Zubac and Moses Brown could help the Clippers gain some ground in the Western Conference playoff standings. The trade deadline is Feb. 9, and it’ll be interesting to see what moves the Clippers will make their team better.

The Clippers are set to host the Philadelphia 76ers tonight.

The post REPORT: Clippers are Discussing a John Wall Trade for Frontcourt Depth appeared first on SLAM.

The two sides have yet to come up with an agreement, but negotiations may have to pick up soon now that another team has entered the frame. The Lakers’ neighbors, the Los Angeles Clippers, have been rumored to be interested in acquiring Turner as well, according to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus.

Clippers big man Moses Brown is the only pure big man after Ivica Zubac on the Clippers’ roster, but head coach Ty Lue has only gone to him for eight games this season. Instead, Marcus Morris has been the go-to backup center for Zubac so far.

With no depth at the center position and not having the services of Kawhi Leonard for most of the early campaign, Los Angeles has still managed to hold on to a record of 8-6, which is good enough for the seventh seed in the Western Conference. The team’s early woes are starting to show that losing Isaiah Hartenstein in the offseason was huge.

Adding Turner to the mix will work wonders for the Clippers. The Pacers’ big man is averaging 17.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks a game. The move would immediately make this Los Angeles team one of the best defenses in the league when healthy, with Turner playing alongside the likes of Leonard and Paul George. Only time will tell if they are willing to pull the trigger on the pursuit.

Los Angeles will be in action tonight as they take on the Dallas Mavericks at 8:30 P.M.

The post REPORT: Clippers Interested in Trading for Myles Turner appeared first on SLAM.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but for now, here are seven takeaways from last night’s action.

Revenge SZN: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are looking even better

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been a nightmare for teams on both sides of the ball for a few years now. They have three ECF trips under their belt and a recent appearance in the NBA Finals — they’re not supposed to still be getting better. After showing up to opening night rockin’ some pretty eye-catching fits, Brown and Tatum dropped a combined 70 points (dropping 35 points apiece) and solidified the dub over Philly.

Both were attacking from every part of the floor. Having two dynamic players like Brown and Tatum gives the Celtics a good chance to get back to the Finals and maybe even win it this time. 

Ring Night: The Warriors may be poised to make another championship run

On ring night, the Warriors look good. Damn good. Stephen Curry is still just as good as he’s always been, and the Warriors’ weapons all kept them afloat and out of reach. The Dubs had their trademark explosive third quarter, and signature contributions from Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Curry, and Andrew Wiggins on offense guided them to a win. Draymond Green and Kevon Looney anchored a strong defensive performance. Their young core (Moses Moody, James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga) came in off the bench and provided valuable minutes. Sheesh, the Warriors are deep. 

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The Beard drops a 30-piece on Opening Night

James Harden has been a picture of perfect health for the majority of his NBA career, but during his tenure with the Nets, and leading into his tenure with the Sixers, Harden was dealing with a nagging hamstring injury that sapped away a lot of his explosiveness and his ability to change speeds that made him so difficult to contain during his days in Houston. Houston Harden showed up in Boston last night for Philadelphia.

He finished the game with 35 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists on 64.2 percent shooting from the field and 12/12 shooting from the line. Some may say vintage Harden; we say he’s back. 

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LeBron James speaks on Lakers’ Shooting Troubles:

The Los Angeles Lakers Big 3 finished with 77 of 109 points as the remainder of the team struggled to score all game with their limited spacing. Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis also shot a combined 4-16 from three, while the Lakers as a whole shot 10-40. After the game, The King was quick to recognize this deficiency in the Lakers’ offense, citing a lack of “lasers.”

Moving forward, the Lakers need better shooting performances if they do not want to repeat their fate from last season. 

Honoring No. 7: Jaylen Brown Speaks on Bill Russell’s Legacy

The legendary Bill Russell, and 11-time NBA Champion (twice as a head coach of the Celtics), passed away this past summer. The Boston Celtics legend had his No. 6 retired around the League, and every team is wearing a “6” patch on their jersey to honor him. The Celtics took each step, however, intent on honoring their greatest player. Jaylen Brown took a few moments to commemorate Bill Russell before the game, honoring him as a player, a father, a leader, and a man. 

Coaching Debuts of Mazzulla and Ham:

Darvin Ham and Joe Mazzulla both made their head coaching debuts on opening night. Mazzulla won his first game, and Ham lost his. Mazzulla is an interim head coach, for now, following Ime Udoka’s season-long suspension by the Boston Celtics.

Near the end of their contest against the Celtics, Stan Van Gundy joked that Mazzulla now has the best winning percentage in NBA history. This is true and looks to remain true, at least through his next game. Ham, on the other hand, has the tall task of coaching a veteran Lakers team back to promise. There are some positive takeaways to be had from the team’s performance but look for tweaks in the next few games as they look to find their footing. 

FREE BG 

October 18th marked the beginning of the NBA season, but it was also Britney Griner’s 32nd birthday. Stephen Curry took some time to bring awareness to her wrongful incarceration in Russia during his direct address to the fans in attendance as well as the fans watching on TV at home. The fight for Griner’s freedom continues to be a major point of emphasis as the season begins. 

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The post 7 Takeaways From Opening Night appeared first on SLAM.

So far we have seen the Knicks land, Jalen Brunson, on a massive four-year deal, and Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns have re-signed to their teams on supermax deals. Zach LaVine and Bradley Beal will remain with the Bulls and Wizards respectively after signing max deals. Young All-Stars like Ja Morant, Darius Garland, and Zion Williamson have also signed max extensions with their teams.

The Warriors will also look to be putting a different bench mob on the court this coming season after they let Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., and Juan Toscano-Anderson walk away in free agency. The decision seems to imply that the Warriors will invest 100 percent into their win-and-develop model as they keep their championship core intact while empowering Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman, and Moses Moody.

Dallas Mavericks forward Maxi Kleber is finalizing a three-year, $33 million contract extension, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Kleber was entering the final year of his deal, now under contract through 2025-26.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 8, 2022

Montrezl Harrell is headed to Philly after a tumultuous offseason where he dealt with some legal troubles surrounding marijuana trafficking that was later reduced to misdemeanor possession in a Madison County (KY) courthouse. The charge will be expunged from his record in 12 months if Harrell doesn’t get in any more legal trouble.

James Harden recruited Harrell due to their relationship as teammates on the Rockets. Harrell is expected to bring some toughness and grit to a Philly team that needed a backup big man behind two-time MVP runner-up Joel Embiid.

ESPN Sources: Free agent C Montrezl Harrell is signing two-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, including a player option. Harrell brings more toughness to a team searching for it this offseason. He was Sixth Man of the Year with Doc Rivers/Sam Cassell in 2019-2020 w/ Clippers.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 6, 2022

Sources: The Toronto Raptors signed Thaddeus Young to a two-year, $17 million extension, which includes player incentive bonuses and a $1 million partial guarantee for the 2023-24 season, @hoopshype has learned.

— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) July 5, 2022

Gary Harris’ two-year extension with the Orlando Magic is flat $13M each season. The second season is fully non-guaranteed, a league source told @spotrac.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 5, 2022

Sumner is fully recovered from a torn left Achilles that cost him the entire 2021-2022 season. He had been coming off his best NBA season with the Pacers prior to the injury, and now he’ll join the Nets’ backcourt rotation. https://t.co/5HfzZmkDZN

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2022

Free agent TJ Warren has agreed to a deal with the Brooklyn Nets, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 5, 2022

Free agent center Gorgui Dieng has agreed to a one-year deal with the San Antonio Spurs, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 5, 2022

Cole Swider signed a two-year Two-Way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, a league source tells @spotrac.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 4, 2022

Free agent center Serge Ibaka has agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 4, 2022

The Brooklyn Nets signed Wake Forest Alondes Williams to a 2-way deal.

— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) July 4, 2022

Dragic is signing a one-year, $2.9M deal with the Bulls, sources said. https://t.co/f6VK9np1cf

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 3, 2022

Free agent Josh Okogie has agreed to a one-year deal with the Phoenix Suns, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 3, 2022

New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson has agreed on a five-year, $193 million designated maximum rookie extension that could earn him as much as $231 million, CAA Sports’ Co-Head of Basketball Austin Brown tells ESPN. pic.twitter.com/z4lnVLD1GM

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2022

Restricted free agent Cody Martin has agreed to a four-year, $32 million deal to return to the Charlotte Hornets, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2022

Free agent G Eugene Omoruyi has agreed to a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder, his agent Mike George of @OneLegacySports tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2022

Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star guard Darius Garland has agreed on a five-year, $193M maximum designated rookie contract extension that could be worth as much as $231M, @KlutchSports CEO Rich Paul tells ESPN. It is the largest deal in franchise history.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2022

Free agent guard Damion Lee has agreed to a one-year deal with the Phoenix Suns, source tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2022

Free agent Donte DiVincenzo has agreed to a two-year, $9.3M deal with the Golden State Warriors, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Free agent guard Raul Neto is signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2022

Free agent center Kevon Looney has agreed to a three-year, $25.5M deal to return to Golden State, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Free agent forward Derrick Jones Jr. has agreed to a two-year, $6.6 million deal to return to the Chicago Bulls, with player option in second season, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2022

Free agent center Robin Lopez has agreed to a one-year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Free agent F/C Drew Eubanks is returning to the Portland Trail Blazers on a one-year deal, his agent James Dunleavy of @excelbasketball tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

John Wall officially agrees with the Clippers on a two-year deal for the taxpayer midlevel. https://t.co/5yCuV4cePg

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) July 1, 2022

Free agent C Jusuf Nurkic has agreed on a new four-year, $70 million deal to stay with the Portland Trail Blazers, @KlutchSports CEO Rich Paul tells ESPN. pic.twitter.com/6vmHrdOZI3

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

NBA All-Star Zach LaVine has agreed to a five-year, $215.2 million maximum contract to return to the Chicago Bulls, with a player option in Year 5, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2022

The defending champs lose another valuable two-way star after Otto Porter Jr. signed with the Raptors on a two-year deal that has a player option.

Free agent Otto Porter Jr. — vital member of Golden State Warriors championship team — reached an agreement with the Toronto Raptors on a two-year deal with a player option, league sources tell @YahooSports. https://t.co/ck81fptKZh

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 1, 2022

Free agent G Theo Pinson is returning to the Dallas Mavericks on a one-year deal, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Free agent Aaron Holiday has agreed to a one-year deal with the Atlanta Hawks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2022

Free agent center Mitchell Robinson has agreed on a new four-year, $60 million contract to stay with the New York Knicks, his agents Thad Foucher and Joe Smith of @Wassbasketball tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/dnKtVQmln9

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Bruce Brown has agreed to a 2-year, $13M+ deal with the Denver Nuggets, sources tell ESPN.

— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) July 1, 2022

#Pistons to re-sign Marvin Bagley III, add Kevin Knox as free-agent frenzy begins: https://t.co/WVHahAmeKR

— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard) July 1, 2022

Ricky Rubio played an integral part in the Cavs’ resurgence to the playoff scene last season before suffering a season-ending torn ACL in December. Rubio was traded to the Pacers near the trade deadline but the Cavs and Rubio were mutually interested in bringing back the former lottery pick point guard.

Free agent guard Ricky Rubio is nearing a deal on a return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Zion Williamson, the 2021 All-Star phenom, has locked in on signing a max extension deal with the Pelicans. Williamson missed all of the 2021-2022 season while he recovered from foot surgery. The deal keeps Williamson in New Orleans through 2027-28.

Williamson said after the season ended, “I couldn’t sign it fast enough.” Indeed, the All-Star locks in commitment to New Orleans.

The deal is expected to include protections that both sides were sorting through overnight and will finalize, sources said. https://t.co/n0hyRwRk9e

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2022

The Golden State Warriors lose one of their best and most versatile defenders after Gary Payton II decided to head towards playing for the Portland Trail Blazers on a three-year deal. Payton led the League in steals per 36 minutes.

Warriors were unwilling to meet that high of a price tag (and resulting tax spike) for Gary Payton II and have now lost their defensive ace off the bench to the Blazers. He led the NBA in steals per 36 minutes last season. https://t.co/iaY6xmUrG7

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) July 1, 2022

Free agent center Andre Drummond is finalizing a deal with the Chicago Bulls, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2022

Free agent Kevin Knox has agreed to a two-year, $6 million deal with the Detroit Pistons, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2022

Free agent Kevin Knox has agreed to a two-year, $6 million deal with the Detroit Pistons, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2022

Free agent JaVale McGee has agreed to a three-year, $20.1 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks, with player option for third season, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Ja Morant is locked in with the Grizzlies after his agent told Woj that he signed a five-year max extension to lead Memphis as its lead guard for the foreseeable future.

Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant has agreed on a five-year, $193M designated rookie maximum extension that could become worth $231M, his agent Jim Tanner of @_TandemSE tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Karl Anthony-Towns has reportedly agreed to a four-year super max extension per his agent. KAT’s contract will begin during the 2024-2025 season.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns has agreed on a four-year, $224M super max extension, his agent Jessica Holtz of @CAA_Basketball tells ESPN. Deal begins with the 2024-25 season and delivers Towns’ total contract value to six years and $295M.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Jalen Brunson has reportedly agreed to the four-year deal that the Knicks offered him. Woj reported that the near-max deal includes a player option on its final season.

Free agent guard Jalen Brunson has agreed to a four-year, $104 million deal with the New York Knicks, his agents Aaron Mintz and Sam Rose of @CAA_Basketball tell ESPN. The deal includes a player option on the final season.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

The Wizards have added three veteran guards to join Bradley Beal in recent days — Will Barton, Monte Morris and now Delon Wright leaves the Hawks for Washington. https://t.co/4YFMxR2o7Z

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Kyle Anderson has agreed to a two-year, $18M deal to join the Timberwolves, his agents Thad Foucher and Joe Smith of @wassbasketball tell ESPN. https://t.co/fWzhFhVfkx

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Orlando Magic guard Gary Harris has agreed on a two-year, $26 million contract extension, his agents Austin Brown and Aaron Mintz of @CAA_Basketball tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Anthony Gill is signing a two year-deal with the Washington Wizards, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

Restricted free agent C Nic Claxton has agreed on a two-year, $20 million deal to return to the Brooklyn Nets, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

Free agent Troy Brown Jr. has agreed to a minimum deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Lonnie Walker IV is signing a one-year, $6.5M deal with the Lakers, sources said. https://t.co/7xBnStLWfo

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Rockets restricted free agent Jae’Sean Tate has agreed to a three-year, $22.1 million deal to return to Houston, his agents E.J. Kusnyer and Jordan Cornish of @beyond_am tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Free agent center Dewayne Dedmon has agreed to a two-year, $9 million deal to return to the Miami Heat, agents Mike Silverman and Brandon Grier of @steinbergsports tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Free agent Davon Reed has agreed to a two-year deal to return to the Denver Nuggets, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Free agent guard Jevon Carter has agreed to a two-year deal to return to Milwaukee, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Free agent Wesley Matthews has agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Free agent G Trevelin Queen has agreed a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

Free agent F Nic Batum has agreed to a two-year deal to return to the Los Angeles Clippers, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

Free agent G Lu Dort has agreed to a five-year, $87.5M deal to stay with the Oklahoma City Thunder, his agent Thad Foucher of Wasserman tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

Chris Boucher is returning to the Toronto Raptors on a three-year, $35.25M deal, his agent Sam Permut of @RocNationSports tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

Jones’ agent, Austin Brown of @CAA_Basketball, tells ESPN the second year is a player option.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

Amir Coffey has agreed to a three-year, $11M deal with the Clippers, his agents Bill Duffy and Marlon Harrison of @BDA_Sports and WME Sports tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

Free agent G Tyus Jones is returning to the Memphis Grizzlies on a two-year, $30M deal, his agent Kevin Bradbury of @REP1Basketball tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

Free agent Danuel House has agreed to a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Free agent Bobby Portis has agreed to a four-year, $49 million deal to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Deal includes a player option in Year 4.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Free agent PJ Tucker is finalizing a three-year, $33.2 million fully guaranteed deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, his agent Andre Buck (@andrebuck14) told @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Free agent Victor Oladipo has agreed to a one-year, $11 million deal to return to the Miami Heat, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein has agreed to a two-year, $16 million-plus deal with the New York Knicks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Fully guaranteed deal for Hartenstein.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Free agent center DeAndre Jordan has agreed to a deal with the Denver Nuggets, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Sources: Malik Monk is signing a two-year, $19M deal to join the Kings. https://t.co/spgbvRZspx

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns have reportedly finalized a four-year supermax extension that he will likely sign sometime next week. Shams Charania reports that he will be the cover athlete for NBA 2K23.

The Phoenix Suns and All-NBA guard Devin Booker are finalizing a four-year, $214 million supermax contract extension that he’s set to sign as soon as next week, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

Booker will also be the cover athlete for NBA 2K23, per sources.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Nikola Jokic has reportedly signed the richest deal in NBA history after signing a supermax contract extension with the Nuggets on Thursday.

Two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has agreed to a five-year, $264 million supermax contract extension with the Denver Nuggets, the richest deal in NBA history, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Fifth season (2027-28) will be a player option at $60M.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Bradley Beal will stay in the Nation’s Capital after he reportedly signed a five-year max deal.

All-Star guard Bradley Beal has agreed to a five-year, $251 million maximum contract to stay with the Washington Wizards, his agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons has agreed on a four-year, $100 million contract extension, his agent Bill Duffy of @BDA_Sports + WME Sports tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

The Spurs are pulling the qualifying offer on Lonnie Walker IV, making him an unrestricted free agent, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Expect a strong market for Walker immediately.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

Jalen Brunson is headed to New York after Shams Charania reported that he intends on signing a four-year deal with the franchise.

Free agent Jalen Brunson intends to sign a four-year, near $110M deal with the New York Knicks in free agency, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The Mavericks never received chance to make offer, sources said.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022

According to Alex Schiffer of The Athletic, P.J. Tucker will be pursued by Atlanta, Minnesota, Brooklyn, Chicago. and Philadelphia during the free agency period of the NBA offseason. Furthermore, Schiffer reports that Tucker is unlikely to return to South Beach.

Multiple teams — including Atlanta, Minnesota, Brooklyn, Chicago and Philadelphia — are expected to compete for PJ Tucker in free agency. All are expected to offer the full mid-level/TPMLE exception. He is unlikely to return to Miami, per sources.

— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) June 30, 2022

Trent Forrest will be an unrestricted free agent after the Jazz decided not to extend a qualifying offer to the point guard out of Florida State.

The Utah Jazz will not extend a qualifying offer to point guard Trent Forrest, making him an unrestricted free agent, League Sources tell The Athletic. There is interest in working something out during free agency. Forrest was a member of the rotation this past season

— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) June 30, 2022

Per Marcus Thompson of The Athletic, Juan Toscano-Anderson will be an unrestricted free agent once the free agency period of the NBA offseason begins on Thursday. The 29-year-old became the first Mexican-American to win an NBA title after the Warriors won the 2022 NBA Finals.

“I got a championship with my hometown team,” JTA told Thompson during a phone interview Wednesday night.

“I’m stamped in the Town. I’m stamped in my country. That shit can’t nobody take from me. You’ve got to give a little to get a little. And I gave up playing time to, you know, become a legend. I’m a legend in the Town. I’m a legend in Mexico. And I’m not saying that myself. It’s showing, know what I mean?”

Juan Toscano-Anderson is at peace with leaving the Warriors.

“I’m stamped in the Town. I’m stamped in my country. That shit can’t nobody take from me.”

It’s time for the next chapter of his storybook journey.https://t.co/m94B7ILm2u pic.twitter.com/5OxoGWXG6P

— Marcus Thompson II (@ThompsonScribe) June 30, 2022

According to Tim Reynolds, the Heat does not have a meeting scheduled with restricted free agent Jalen Brunson on Thursday.

The Heat are not planning to meet with Jalen Brunson today, and they did not have such a meeting scheduled, per league source.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 30, 2022

The Cavs are reportedly expected to match offers given to restricted free agent Collin Sexton. Multiple reports say Sexton wants a “starting guard” extension. The Alabama product is coming off a season-ending torn meniscus.

Cavs Expected To Match Outside Offers For Collin Sexton – Hoops Wire https://t.co/9k5zuRmUAd

— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) June 30, 2022

The Jazz won’t extend a qualifying offer to forward Eric Paschall, sources tell @Tjonesonthenba.

He will become an unrestricted free agent.https://t.co/fcOCtqEmMN pic.twitter.com/ok07Xpx9Dr

— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) June 30, 2022

Kemba Walker and the Pistons have reportedly agreed to a contract buyout. Walker will be a free agent after he clears waivers. Walker last played for the Knicks last season before he was traded to the Pistons as New York clears space to sign fellow free agent Jalen Brunson.

Four-time All-Star guard Kemba Walker and the Detroit Pistons are finalizing a contract buyout, sources tell ESPN. Once Walker clears waivers, he’ll join free agency.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022

Per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, the Heat have guaranteed the contracts of Max Strus, Gabe Stevenson, and Omer Yurtseven as of Thursday morning.

Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Omer Yurtseven are still on the Heat’s roster this morning, which means their full $1.8 million salaries for next season are now guaranteed. This was seen as a formality. Carry on.

— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) June 30, 2022

The Sacramento Kings are exercising the option on PF/C Chimezie Metu for the 2022-2023 season, sources tell ESPN. Metu averaged 8.9 points and 5.6 rebounds in 21 minutes a game for the Kings last season.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2022

Patty Mills will be exploring his options on the free-agent market after declining to sign his player option with the Nets on Wednesday afternoon.

Brooklyn Nets guard Patty Mills declined his $6.2M option and will become a free agent, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2022

The Kings won’t be offering a qualifying offer to Donte DiVencenzo, making him an unrestricted free agent.

The Sacramento Kings are declining to offer Donte DiVencenzo a qualifying offer, which will make him an unrestricted free agent, sources tell ESPN. There will be significant interest in DiVencenzo on the open market.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2022

Lu Dort will be a restricted free agent after the OKC Thunder decided to not sign Durt’s team option for the 2022-23 season, per Shams Charania.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are declining the $1.9 million team option on froward Lu Dort for 2022-23 season, which makes him a restricted free agent and allows sides to negotiate a new deal in free agency, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2022

James Harden will hit the free-agent market for the first time in his career but he is likely to re-sign with the 76ers.

ESPN Sources: 76ers star James Harden has declined his $47.3M option and become a free agent. He keeps real the possibility of negotiating a new deal that would deliver the Sixers roster-building flexibility in free agency – including use of the full $10.5M exception.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2022

Bobby Portis told the Bucks that he’ll decline his player option and will instead become a free agent.

Portis has early bird rights in Milwaukee.

The maximum that he can sign for is 4 years/$49M.

The contract has to be for a minimum of 2 seasons and cannot include an option in year 2. https://t.co/Nu5KC9G8D9

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) June 29, 2022

Bradley Beal has made his long-awaited decision and will become a free agent for the first time in his career after declining his player option.

Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal has declined his $36.4M option and become a free agent, his agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN. Beal is eligible to sign a 5-year max to return to Wizards – or sign elsewhere on a 4-year deal.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2022

Jae-Sean Tate will be a restricted free agent after the ROckets declined his team option for the 2022-23 season. Shams Charania reports that Houston and Tate are mutually interested in signing a new deal once free agency begins on Thursday.

The Houston Rockets have declined forward Jae’Sean Tate’s $1.8 million team option for next season, making him a restricted free agent, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Rockets and Tate have mutual interest in discussing new deal in free agency beginning Thursday night.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2022

The Cavaliers have reportedly elected to not offer Moses Brown a qualifying offer to Moses Brown, per Michael Scott of the Hoopshype. The decision allows Brown to enter the free-agent market as an unrestricted free agent.

Sources: The Cleveland Cavaliers won’t tender a qualifying offer to center Moses Brown, @hoopshype has learned. The 7-foot-1, 22-year-old center will become an unrestricted free agent. Brown could be an intriguing development option for NBA teams around the league.

— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) June 28, 2022

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Taurean Prince and the Timberwolves have reportedly agreed to a two-year contract extension.

Minnesota Timberwolves F Taurean Prince has agreed on a two-year, $16 million contract extension, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2022

Ivica Zubac and his reps have reportedly agreed to a three-year extension with the Clippers, per Woj. The Clippers declining to sign his team option led to the agreement with Zubac.

Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac has agreed on a three-year, $33 million extension, his agents Jeff Schwartz and Mike Lindeman of @excelbasketball tell ESPN. The Clippers declined his $7.5M team option for 2022-2023, clearing the way for Zubac’s new deal.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 28, 2022

Tony Bradley is reportedly opting into his player option and will remain with the Bulls next season, per Woj.

Chicago Bulls center Tony Bradley is exercising his $2M player option for next season, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 28, 2022

The post 2022 NBA Free Agency Tracker appeared first on SLAM.

If the Mavericks simply just released Burke it would be a costly move considering he is owed more than $6 million this season and next season—yet, Dallas is “expected” to continue exploring trade scenarios.

Trey Burke revived his career last season in the bubble, helping Dallas take two games from the heavily-favored Los Angeles Clippers in the 2019-20 playoffs. He averaged 6.6 points and 1.3 assists last season.

Burke has recently shared his opinion regarding the vaccine—last week, he discussed his views to the media after a recent practice.

Burke in a follow-up explains what his decision-making process will entail in terms of deciding whether to get vaccinated. Jason Kidd has said Mavs are working toward 100% vaccination. pic.twitter.com/W0PhxGHLRa

— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) September 29, 2021

The post Dallas Mavericks Explored Trade Options For Trey Burke This Offseason appeared first on SLAM.

Walker will subsequently sign a contract with the New York Knicks as a free agent.

These past three seasons have been a roller coaster for star guard Walker, who went from the face of the Charlotte Hornets to a vital piece of the Boston Celtics future to a Celtics castaway in a relatively short period of time.

Upon being acquired by the Thunder, it was always presumed his time with the rebuilding franchise would be short-lived due to his age (31-years-old) and his desire to play for a contender.

The Knicks, having reached the postseason for the first time in seven seasons thanks to a 41-31 record in 2020-21, are seen as one of the league’s up-and-coming teams. Despite a disappointing showing against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, that remains the case.

Adding a point guard of Walker’s caliber has long been seen as one of the Knicks’ main priorities and, though injuries and shifting roles have led to uncharacteristically substandard performances by Kemba, he’ll play a vital role for New York going forward.

The four-time All-Star averaged 19.3 points and 4.9 assists per game last season, while shooting 42.0 percent from the field and 36.0 percent from 3-point range.

He was due $73.6 million over the next two seasons.

The post Kemba Walker Finalizing Contract Buyout with Thunder, Will Sign with Knicks appeared first on SLAM.

First it was supplanting former president of basketball operations Danny Ainge with Brad Stevens after the former stepped down in June. Stevens would then hire 43-year-old former NBA forward Ime Udoka to succeed him as head coach.

Soon thereafter, the decision was made to trade All-Star point guard Kemba Walker and the 16th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for big men Al Horford and Moses Brown.

After an uneventful draft night that saw them make only one selection (45th overall pick Juhann Begarin), Boston’s efforts to right the ship continued on Friday as they shipped out veteran center Tristan Thompson in a three-team trade that resulted in their acquisitions of point guard Kris Dunn and forward-center Bruno Fernando (in addition to a 2023 second-round pick and $9.2 million trade exception).

Following the move, the Celtics acquired shooting guard Josh Richardson from the Dallas Mavericks, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

Richardson, 28-years-old, was once regarded as one of the league’s better 3-and-D wings but has been off of his game during his stints with the Mavs and Philadelphia 76ers.

That said, Richardson still is a consistent tertiary scorer who put up 12.1 points per game last season while playing high-level defense thanks to his combination of athleticism, versatility, gritty play and instincts.

His addition to the Celtics underscores the team’s desire to improve defensively over the offseason after falling out of the top-10 in both defensive rating and opponent’s points per game for the first time since 2016-17, a primary reason why Boston recorded the second-fewest wins (36) of Stevens’ coaching tenure in the 2020-21 season.

[Editor update: The Celtics have traded center Moses Brown to the Mavericks to complete the deal for Richardson, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.]

The post Celtics Reportedly Acquire Josh Richardson from Mavericks appeared first on SLAM.

It’s a move that looks like it will benefit all parties as Atlanta receives a solid backup guard in Wright who averages 10.2 points, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game last season while shooting .372 percent from 3-point range.

Although the Hawks selected talented point guard Sharife Cooper in the 2021 NBA Draft, having Wright onboard not only prevents Atlanta to work the rookie point guard in a rotation before he’s ready and being over-reliant on the elite Trae Young because they lack enough production from their backup point guard.

In return, the Hawks only had to surrender Dunn, who missed all but four games last season due to injury. At 27-years-old, the former fifth overall pick has not lived up to his billing out of Providence but a return to the New England area and playing for a competitive team that prides itself of defense (Dunn’s specialty) may see him providing valuable minutes for the re-tooling Celtics.

If nothing else, Dunn is great value as depth. The same could be said for Fernando, a skilled big man whose role was frequently diminished in Atlanta due to the arrivals of Clint Capela and the sixth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Onyeka Okongwu.

As for the Kings, having a blue-collar worker on the court like Thompson will fit the mold of their offseason thus far after they selected Davion Mitchell and Neemias Queta in Thursday’s draft.

While it lessens the likelihood that shot-blocking big man Richaun Holmes is re-signed, another benefit of adding Thompson is the latter’s prowess at creating screen assists, which will be quite beneficial to Sacramento’s projected three-guard starting lineup.

Thompson, who would likely prefer playing on a bonafide playoff contender, could also eventually be re-routed by the Kings. Though it appeared that the big man had found a home in Boston, the Celtics at least appear to be all-in on Robert “Time Lord” Williams III, as well as recently acquired bigs Al Horford and Moses Brown.

The post Hawks, Kings, Celtics Reportedly Agree to Three-Team Trade appeared first on SLAM.

With the Detroit Pistons opening things up with the top pick, Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham became the face of the 2021 class. From there, it was a night full of trades and surprises as many teams made moves to positively impact their rosters.

While the first three picks fell as expected, the way the remainder of the draft played out was something nobody would have expected.

First Round

1. Pistons: Cade Cunningham

2. Rockets: Jalen Green

3. Cavaliers: Evan Mobley

4. Raptors: Scottie Barnes

5. Magic: Jalen Suggs

6. Thunder: Josh Giddey

7. Warriors: Jonathan Kuminga

8. Magic: Franz Wagner

9. Kings: Davion Mitchell

10. Grizzlies: Ziaire Williams (via Pelicans)

11. Hornets: James Bouknight

12. Spurs: Joshua Primo

13. Pacers: Chris Duarte

14. Warriors: Moses Moody

15. Wizards: Corey Kispert

16. Rockets: Alperen Sengun (via Thunder)

17. Pelicans: Trey Murphy (via Grizzlies)

18. Thunder: Tre Mann

19. Hornets: Kai Jones (via Knicks)

20. Hawks: Jalen Johnson

21. Knicks: Keon Johnson (reportedly traded to Clippers)

22. Pacers: Isaiah Jackson (via Wizards)

23. Rockets: Usman Garuba

24. Rockets: Josh Christopher

25. Knicks: Quentin Grimes (via Clippers)

26. Nuggets: Nah’Shon Hyland

27. Nets: Cameron Thomas

28. 76ers: Jaden Springer

29. Nets: Day’Ron Sharpe (via Suns)

30. Grizzlies: Santi Aldama (via Jazz)

Second Round

31. Wizards: Isaiah Todd (via Pacers)

32. Thunder: Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (via Knicks)

33. Clippers: Jason Preston (via Magic)

34. Knicks: Rokas Jokubaitis (via Thunder)

35. Pelicans: Herbert Jones

36. Knicks: Miles McBride (via Thunder)

37. Hornets: JT Thor (via Pistons)

38. Bulls: Ayo Dosunmu

39. Kings: Neemias Queta

40. Jazz: Jared Butler (via Grizzlies)

41. Spurs: Joe Wieskamp

42. Pistons: Isaiah Livers

43. Blazers: Greg Brown (via Pelicans)

44. Nets: Kessler Edwards

45. Celtics:Juhann Begarin

46. Raptors :Dalano Banton

47. Raptors: David Johnson

48. Hawks: Sharife Cooper

49. Nets: Marcus Zegarowski

50. 76ers: Filip Petrusev

51. Pelicans: BJ Boston (via Grizzlies)

52. Pistons Luka Garza

53. 76ers: Charles Bassey

54. Bucks: Sandro Mamukelashvili (via Pacers)

55. Thunder: Aaron Wiggins

56. Hornets: Scottie Lewis

57. Pistons: Balsa Koprivica (via Hornets)

58. Knicks: Jericho Sims

59. Nets: RaiQuan Gray

60. Bucks: Georgios Kalaitzakis(via Pacers)

The post 2021 NBA Draft: Recap of Picks 1-60 appeared first on SLAM.

There are a lot of mock drafts out there, but it’s never too late to hit you with a new perspective. Members of the SLAM Fam were assigned a team to pick for, and here are the results and explanations for who they’ve selected.

We’d also like to extend our condolences to the family and loved ones of Terrence Clarke, who tragically passed away in April. Tonight would have been a special moment for him. Rest in Peace.

2021 FIRST ROUND

1. DETROIT PISTONS: Jalen Green (6-6 G, G League Ignite)

Jalen Green is a really, really, really good basketball player. He’s so good that it doesn’t look like he’s trying, for real, for real. But that’s foolish. Underneath the air that he occupies on his ever-elevating jump shots and on his albatross-like soaring dunks is a foundation of respect for the game and what it takes to be a really, really, really great basketball player. He’s a student of high-level basketball, rapidly consuming both mental and physical knowledge. That desire has separated him from his peers and will separate him from the League at some point. His computational capacity moves so swiftly that it doesn’t look like he’s trying, for real, for real. But that’s foolish. He is. And he is numero uno. — Max Resetar 

2. HOUSTON ROCKETS – Cade Cunningham (6-8 G, Oklahoma State)

Whether you’re interested in basketball players versus hoopers, or players with understated skill versus “a bag,” Cade Cunningham is the player for you.

At 6’8” and 220 pounds, Cunningham is a dynamic point-forward prospect that any team could realistically slot into their starting lineup at the 1, 2, or 3, and that’s perfect for a Rockets team with a veteran point guard on a rebuilding team (John Wall), a promising backcourt talent without a true position (Kevin Porter Jr.) and small forwards that are specialists, not polished two-way playmakers with an arsenal of scoring moves (including a stepback game that’s eerily reminiscent of the sensational Luka Doncic) that’s buoyed by his footwork, balance, body control, and ball-handling abilities. — Quenton Albertie

3. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS – Evan Mobley (7-0 C, University of Southern California)

Can’t count out Jalen Suggs here, especially if the Cavs end up moving Collin Sexton—which is a rumor that some reporters have been kicking around. All signs, though, point to Evan Mobley getting the call here. ESPN draft insider Chard Ford said this a couple of days ago: “I had a scout tell me the other night that Mobley is Chris Bosh on offense and Anthony Davis on defense. That’s an NBA superstar. That’s crazy.” If this forecast is accurate, the Cavs would be crazy not to take him.  — Franklyn Calle

4. TORONTO RAPTORS – Jalen Suggs (6-5 G, Gonzaga)

With Kyle Lowry’s likely departure ending an era he defined with professionalism, leadership, and grit, the Raptors can draft someone to continue that high standard. Suggs chose Gonzaga for the accountability and hard coaching, so he’ll embrace a similar situation in Ontario. A rotation of Fred Van Vleet, Suggs, and Malachi Flynn flexes versatility and hustle, while Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Chris Boucher uphold defensive tradition. Toronto won’t rely on Jalen’s on-court abilities immediately, but his leadership should convey from day one. In high school, Jalen was required to carry in two sports. He delivered state championships. At Gonzaga, he needed to be a do-it-all superstar. He delivered an unforgettable run. I don’t know what expectations are in Toronto, but I bet he’ll deliver. — Thilo Latrell Widder

5. ORLANDO MAGIC – Scottie Barnes (6-9 F, Florida State)

Now that the sexy picks are off the board, Scottie Barnes has the best potential that is not in the NBA Draft spotlight. Barnes made himself a top-five prospect dominating the pre-draft process. Teams were impressed with his incredible physical profile, wingspan, a strong bulky frame combined with a quickness.

He’s the perfect player to help set the defensive tone for Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley’s culture. However, his offensive game is limited due to his stiff shooting mechanics and confidence at times. Best case scenario, if he can combine his high energy, versatile defense with a reliable jumper, Scottie Barnes could have All-Star potential. Worst case, he could be a very capable All-NBA defender.  — Ronald Agers

6. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER – James Bouknight (6-5 G, Connecticut)

While the Thunder are looking to do everything they can to move into the top-five, Bouknight is still a great pick if they’re unable to. One of the most dominant scorers in this class, Oklahoma City would instantly have one of the most intriguing young backcourts in the league with him and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. His assist and turnover numbers are certainly something to worry about, but Bouknight essentially had to carry the offense in college. At the next level, with more spacing and talent, he could look like a completely different player. While he hasn’t been a dominant defender to this point, he’s got the tools to develop into a solid perimeter defender. — Nick Crain

7. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS – Jonathan Kuminga (6-8 F, G League Ignite)

Jonathan Kuminga is tuff. That’s all that needs to be said. – Theus McBee

8. ORLANDO MAGIC: Kai Jones (6-11 F, Texas)

Since Jonathan Kuminga was snatched up, Orlando will use their second lottery pick on Kai Jones, a raw athlete that fits the mold of a rim running, lob-catching threat. The Magic will continue their defensive theme in the lottery by drafting a player who shows potential with mobile defense with the ability to switch multiple positions. Offensively, he is a project with inconsistent shooting mechanics and no reliable post moves. Assuming Orlando drafts him at the 8th spot, they will need to have patience with him. They’ve done it before with another Texas Longhorn, Mo Bamba. If the Magic passes on Jones, look for a drop near the 20th selection. — Ronald Agers

9. SACRAMENTO KINGS: Franz Wagner (6-9 G/F, Michigan)

The needs of the Sacramento Kings this offseason are clear, they need help on the defensive end. Statistically, Sacramento had the worst defense in the NBA last year, clocking in with a defensive rating of 117.2, dead last in the league. Franz Wagner, a sophomore out of the University of Michigan, is a 6-foot-9 wing who showed the ability to defend multiple positions both on and off-ball at a high level in his two years with the Wolverines. Wagner’s versatile defensive abilities, along with improved jump shooting and playmaking on offense in his sophomore year, make him a great fit for the Kings at ninth overall. — Zach Dupont

10. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: Josh Giddey (6-8 G, Adelaide 36ers (NBL)

 Josh Giddey’s game speaks itself, but if we are gonna dive into what makes him such a standout, our editorial intern, Jared, described him best: He’s a gifted passer who thrives in transition with an advanced ability to find the descending big man in pick and roll scenarios. Armed with a bounty of knowledge and experience from mentors, a year playing professionally and a playmaking bag rivaled by the League’s top guards, Josh Giddey is ready for what he’s been waiting for. 

Giddey is already a pro who dominated in the NBL and finished the season with 13 double-doubles, and three triple-doubles. His playmaking ability will only add to the Grizzlies’ roster offensively, especially when he’s alongside a bucket like Ja. – Deyscha “Sway” Smith

11. WASHINGTON WIZARDS: Alperen Sengun (6’9 C, Besiktas (Turkey))

Traded to Washington for the No. 15 pick and Thomas Bryant

Beal. Westbrook. Hachimura. Bertans. Avdija. The core of an exciting playoff team is here, so moving up in the draft makes sense for Washington to grab Turkish big man Alperen Sengun. The MVP of the Turkish Super League last season–who just turned 19 on Sunday–averaged 19.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in under 30 minutes per game. Last season’s emergence of Daniel Gafford made us feel comfortable moving Thomas Bryant and his expiring contract to clear some cap space since both Alex Len and Robin Lopez are also free agents. Sengun, who models his game after reigning MVP Nikola Jokić and MVP runner-up Joel Embiid, should be ready to contribute right away. – Aron Phillips

12. SAN ANTONIO SPURS: Davion Mitchell (6-2 G,  Baylor)

Mitchell is quite possibly the most capable player in the draft to step in and be a major contributor to whichever team drafts him. The Spurs selecting him at 12 is a fantastic fit for an organization known to garner the most out of their young draft talent. Mitchell’s size at 6’3 and age of 23 by the time the 2021 season tips off doesn’t necessarily scream lottery material, yet when you turn on the tape of Mitchell in this past year’s Final Four, those concerns seem to evaporate. — Josh Frohlinger

13. INDIANA PACERS: Corey Kispert (6-7 SG, Gonzaga)

Standing at 6-7 this wing is a walking bucket. I’m talking about a three-point sniper deemed one of the best all-around shooters in the draft. Once he’s hot this kid poses as a true threat from downtown. He may very well be the missing piece that Naptown needs. — Charlie Desadier

14. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: Josh Christopher (6-5 G, Arizona State)

With Klay Thompson back in the mix this coming season, the Warriors are gearing up for yet another championship run. With two lottery picks in this draft, the Warriors have the ability to take a bit more of a gamble at 14 as opposed to 7; and that’s what they do snagging Arizona State’s Christopher higher than most mock boards have projected. As a 6’5 shooter with confidence and elite athleticism, Christopher already displays an NBA-ready frame with suburb transition finishing.

15. CHARLOTTE HORNETS (via Washington): Quentin Grimes (6-6 G, Houston)

Just one game away from the 8-seed a year ago, Charlotte is on the cusp of being a regular playoff contender. I tried to keep the team young while also adding guys who can contribute on day one. We moved back a few picks and added Thomas Bryant via the Wizards, who will fight for the starting center job should Cody Zeller take his talents elsewhere. After moving down to 15, adding Quentin Grimes was an easy choice. The Houston shooting guard is uber-efficient as a scorer and showed he can run an offense while at the NBA Combine. He’s a perfect fit to replace Devonte Graham in the Hornets’ guard rotation feat. LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier, and can play alongside either, or on his own. — Ian Pierno

16. OKC THUNDER: Moses Moody (6-6 G, Arkansas)

There’s a real chance that Moody is taken in the top ten on Thursday, so the Thunder getting him at sixteen would be a pleasant surprise. Although OKC is looking to package No. 16 and No. 18 to move up and grab another lottery pick, they certainly wouldn’t be upset with a lottery talent like Moody falling to them here. While he may not have the ceiling of others in this class, his floor feels high. At a minimum, he projects to be a solid 3-and-D player at the next level. With a long frame and smooth stroke, Moody is a safe pick for a team that’s looking for a solid NBA player. — Nick Crain 

17. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: Cam Thomas (6-4 G, LSU)

An instant-offense bucket-getter who, when he’s hot, cannot be left open under any circumstance. In other words, the perfect guy to stretch the floor alongside Zion Williamson. Done deal. — Adam Figman

18. OKC THUNDER: Jalen Johnson (6-9 G/F, Duke)

If it weren’t for his off-the-court issues, we could be talking about Johnson going just outside the top five of this draft. One of the most gifted prospects in this class, he’s an absolute force in transition. Johnson has the build of the perfect modern NBA forward and can do a little bit of everything. With their third pick in the top-20, OKC has the ability to take a gamble here, with Johnson being one of the highest risks in the draft but having the potential to be the biggest steal at the same time. — Nick Crain

19. NEW YORK KNICKS: Keon Johnson (6-5 G, Tennessee)

There’s no need to mince words. Keon Johnson is explosive. Watching him is almost akin to watching a bull in a china shop; he drives into the paint with the fury of a battering ram, unconcerned, and largely unbothered, by the less-athletic defender in front of him. The Knicks at No. 19 are a perfect landing spot for Johnson; while he still needs to address some major mechanical issues in his game—including tightening up his shot-motion and handle—his developmental upside will be cultivated and fostered by Tom Thibodeau and a potential rotation of him, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett long term could end up putting the League on notice. — Jackson Wald

20. ATLANTA HAWKS: Sharife Cooper (6-1 G, Auburn)

Rife is Trae 2.0. Put these two together and you got the new Mobb Deep. Both are small guards, but ready to make any play turn into a highlight reel. Sharife’s short college season left an imprint around the country of his game not slowing down due to all the allegations he faced his freshman year. The Hawks had an incredible season/playoff run making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. Adding Cooper can only elevate their motion offense and create even more three-point possessions. In all honesty, Cooper’s a dawg, and I wish the Knicks were getting him next pick! — Nick Torres

21. NYK: Chris Duarte (6-6 G, Oregon)

Duarte is a proven commodity; he is a plus-defender, a reliable three-pointer shooter (he shot 42 percent last season at Oregon), and someone who will fit seamlessly in the Knicks’ new age grit-and-grind culture. Duarte has arguably the safety floor of any prospect selected after pick twenty. Also, as we saw with Mikal Bridges and Jae Crowder in the NBA Finals, it never hurts to have a solid core of 3-and-D wings. — Jackson Wald

22. LOS ANGELES LAKERS: Tre Mann (6-5 PG, Florida)

You know those players that make you feel like you’re getting punched in the gut every time they make a three against you? Tre’Shaun Mann is one of them. All you have to do is turn on the tape for a couple of minutes and you’ll see not many people in the world possess his combination of size, athleticism, and scoring creativity. It may or may not happen right away, but when Tre gets comfortable in the League he’s going to be one of the most dynamic guards. — Christian Quezada 

*We’re breaking a few rules here and adding another name to this list, too.

BJ Boston (6-7 F, Kentucky)

Say what you want about his performance last season at Kentucky, but BJ Boston says he’s improved his game “tremendously” since his college days. Word is he even recently had a “great” pre-draft workout with the Lakers and dominated their “Mentality Drill.” 

Anyone who has been following BJ’s trajectory will tell you that he’s been ready for the bright lights since the start. He knows how to navigate a spotlight, and how to power through negativity while focusing on his game and the things only he can control. If the Lakers don’t draft Mann, then it sounds like BJ could fit in on a star-studded roster led by the King.  — Sway

23. HOUSTON ROCKETS: Usman Garuba (6-8 PF, Real Madrid (Spain))

After selecting Cunningham second overall, the Rockets’ focus now shifts to their center position. Enter Usman Garuba, a Nigerian-Spanish big man with extensive experience in international competition and a few awards in his trophy case to boot.

At 6’8” and 230 pounds (with a 7’3” wingspan), Garuba is already a high-energy defensive force thanks to an exceptional feel of how to disrupt passing lanes and shot attempts, as well as enough agility and fluidity to guard out on the perimeter or in space. Combined with his abilities as a passer and potential as an outside threat, there are many who see him in the Draymond Green mold.

With a bevy of offensive talents, players willing and capable of thriving without the ball in their hands (and who can be a defensive menace in the same breath) are invaluable. — Quenton Albertie

24. ROCKETS: Josh Primo (6-6 G, Alabama)

The Rockets, all-in on their rebuild, select another of the 2021 NBA Draft’s youngest players: 18-year-old Josh Primo, a one-and-done at the University of Alabama.

Primo’s most NBA-ready skill at this point is his outside shooting, as he knocked down 38.1 percent of his 3-point attempts at Alabama with his 3-point attempts amounting to 57.9 percent of his overall shot attempts. With that said, not only does Primo’s selection fit the Rockets’ current timeline but it addresses the team’s mediocre outside shooting as well.

Due to his youth and need to develop his other guard skills, Primo may not get minutes early on, at least outside of the G League. But he’ll grow alongside Houston’s vibrant young core until his number is called, and likely hit at least one three by the time he leaves the game, no matter how small the role. — Quenton Albertie

25. LA CLIPPERS: Jared Butler (6-3 G, Baylor)

LA is known for helping young guards develop into immediate NBA talent (just look at what Terance Mann was able to do in the playoffs this year)  and Jared Butler is next up for the Clippers. A smooth, consistent guard for the national champion Baylor Bulldogs, Butler’s veteran mindset and consistent shooting will likely make him an immediate rotation staple on the Clippers. — Camille Buxeda

26. DENVER NUGGETS: Ayo Dosunmu (6-5 G, Illinois)

Ayo Dosunmu was, for the large majority of last year’s college basketball season, the best player on the best team in the nation. Dosunmu is an all-around ballplayer; need him to lock down the opponent’s best player? He’s on it. Need him to get you some buckets? He’ll drop twenty-plus. He’ll face a pretty serious adjustment coming into the league, where he will likely never be the main ball-handler or facilitator, but Ayo has the experience and drive to make it in the league for a long time. — Saheem Anthony

27. BROOKLYN NETS: Jaden Springer (6-4 SG, Tennessee)

After declining his player option, Spencer Dinwiddie and the Brooklyn Nets will most likely be parting ways this offseason, which leaves the Nets with a major need for defensive prowess and playmaking. While he needs to fine-tune his shot creation abilities, Tennessee’s Jaden Springer is a great grab for the Nets at 27. Springer could serve as the next young developmental guard in the rotation amidst a roster that has a plethora of shot creation abilities. An energizer on both ends of the floor, Springer averaged 12.5 points a game in his lone season with the Volunteers and is a tenacious on-ball defender. He’s a perfect fit alongside the likes of Bruce Brown for Steve Nash’s small-ball lineup that lacked the ability to effectively defend ball screens and switches this past season. — Jared Ebanks

28. PHILADELPHIA SIXERS: Ziaire Williams (6-8 F, Stanford)

Although Williams had a somewhat underwhelming freshman year at Stanford, he’s still the same Ziaire. Looking past the pressure of being an incoming Top 10 player in the country, Williams showed flashes of high-level scoring mixed with impressive athleticism. Going to the cup more could do him wonders and he simply has too much potential to slip past the first round. At a lengthy 6’8 185, he fits the modern-day NBA’s positionless basketball scheme to a tee. His shooting needs to improve if he wants to get big minutes, but Williams can definitely lighten the scoring load off the bench for Philly in the 2021-22 season. — Caleb Gagne

29. PHOENIX SUNS: Isaiah Jackson (6-10, F, Kentucky)

Although there were hints of returning to Kentucky, Jackson is taking his talents to the NBA. Jackson is an all-around hooper who can get it done on both ends of the floor. He averaged 2.6 blocks per game and was selected to the SEC All-Defense team. Jackson is a versatile player who can do it all for a big man. His playmaking ability stood out as he is able to put the ball on the floor and advance the ball. The Suns could use a player to develop behind star center Deandre Ayton, giving them the bench support they can use in the frontcourt. — Kobe Blackwell

30. UTAH JAZZ: Kessler Edwards (6-8 F, Pepperdine)

Did I just take someone out of Pepperdine in the first round? It’s a hard sell considering just two Waves —Doug Christie and the oft underrated Dennis Johnson— have had a five or more year career in the NBA. How’s that for trivia? I believe Kessler Edwards could become the third. The Jazz could trade out to dump contracts, but after a failed move with Charlotte, I decided to examine team needs. Joe Ingles is getting older and slipping on defense and the loss to the Clippers exposed Utah’s need for perimeter stoppers. Edwards shot 38% from deep on 119 attempts and with a nearly 7-foot wingspan and strong fundamentals, he’s a prototypical 3-and-D wing. — Thilo Latrell Widder

The post SLAM’s Official 2021 NBA Mock Draft appeared first on SLAM.

The first move in order to catapult the Celtics into contention was the head-turning trade that sent four-time All-Star Kemba Walker to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Stevens, orchestrating the trade with longtime friend and Thunder general manager Sam Presti, opted to move Walker and the 16th overall pick the upcoming draft for a package of Al Horford, Moses Brown, and a second-round pick.

𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋

Welcome home, @Al_Horford pic.twitter.com/2h9QaGT9Qw

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 18, 2021

In the presser, Stevens cited the contract disparity between Horford and Walker (Horford is making around $26.5 million on average a year over the next two years, whereas Walker is making closer to $35 million), Horford’s veteran presence and Horford’s knowledge of the Celtics’ ethos and regime as catalysts for the trade.

“The opportunity to add Al, who makes significantly less money but is a really good player who has corporate knowledge of this environment, that’s really excited to be back in Boston and has a good feel for not only playing with our guys but also has made them better … his impact on others and his ability to lift others is one of his great strengths,” Stevens said of Horford.

“To have the ability to get that in return and gain financial flexibility moving forward, the cost, right, was a person that you really really like and one first-round pick,” he continued.

However, trading Walker was not an easy decision for Stevens, who coached him for two years before transitioning to the front office.

“The most challenging part is being in that seat and having to make that call and ultimately say, ‘Yeah, we’re going to do that,’ when you’re talking about a guy like Kemba,” Stevens said. “Again, coached him for two years, have nothing but great things to say about him and really good teammate, really good player, really good person, easy to be around every day. I think that’s what made it the most difficult part of it, obviously.”

Nonetheless, Stevens has shown early on that regardless of players and picks he may need to move, that he’s steadfast in his belief that Boston needs to find players that complement their pair excellent wings: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

“The ability to make our wings better is going to be a huge part of the people that will be around them,” Stevens said.

The post Brad Stevens Discusses Kemba Walker, Celtics’ Future in First Press Conference as GM appeared first on SLAM.

According to ESPN’s Adrian’s Wojnarowski, the Celtics have agreed to trade Kemba Walker, the 16th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and a 2025 second-round draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Al Horford, Moses Brown and a 2023 second-round pick.

Walker, a four-time All-Star who’ll be heading into his 11th season in the NBA in 2021-22, has had a trying time in Boston.

Despite both he and the Celtics’ obvious desires to succeed together, Walker’s on the court production has been substandard when compared to the eye-opening performances he put up with the Charlotte Hornets in recent seasons.

Add on top of that an uncharacteristic stroke of misfortune in regards to injuries (Walker’s missed 56 games since joining the Celtics), and one can say that moving on from the promising partnership is best for both parties.

That said, the Thunder in rebuild mode, as they continue to stockpile picks. Interestingly enough, many of the prospects projected to go in the range of the 16th overall pick play in the backcourt.

The 31-year-old veteran may desire to explore his options—whether it be a trade, an eventual buyout, or playing out the remainder of the season before making a decision on his 2022-23 player option—with Oklahoma City, as Wojnarowski notes Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Al Horford had.

While uncharacteristically streaky, Walker still averaged 18.6 points and 4.9 assists per game while playing next to a pair of volume-scoring wings in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. He could turn a season with nice numbers on an intriguing team into a longer-term deal, should he stay with the Thunder.

Meanwhile, Boston’s decision to trade Walker signals a strong inclination to bring back guard Evan Fournier, who they acquired at the trade deadline from the Orlando Magic. After reclaiming his starting role, Fournier played quite well for the Celtics, including a postseason performance that saw him averaging 15.4 points and 1.2 steals per game while shooting .433 percent form 3-point range.

Their acquisitions of Horford and Brown also have significant implications, as Tristan Thompson (who they signed in the 2020 offseason) could lose his starting role to either of the two.

Horford, who played for Boston from the 2016-17 to 2018-19 season, became a fan and organizational favorite in his time there. On the court, his versatile skillset—primarily his combination of floor-spacing and playmaking—could open up an offense that struggled with ball-movement last season.

The 7’2″ Brown could provide the second unit with a strong interior presence on the interior for the Celtics after averaging 8.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 21.4 points per game for the Thunder last season (with 32 starts), opening the door for a potential Thompson trade.

The post Celtics Trade Kemba Walker, 16th Pick to Thunder for Al Horford, Moses Brown appeared first on SLAM.

This season, Brown has played in 16 games (including five starts) with the Thunder and is currently averaging 8.3 points on 61.9 percent shooting, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 17.5 minutes. He was also named to both the All-NBA G League First Team and the NBA G League All-Defensive Team after starting all 14 games for the Oklahoma City Blue, where he averaged 18.5 points on 54.9 percent shooting, 13.9 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in 26.4 minutes per contest during the 2020-21 season.

The 21-year old played only one year at UCLA before declaring for the NBA Draft in 2019. Despite not getting selected, he signed as a two-way player for the Portland Trail Blazers before signing a two-way contract with the Thunder on Dec. 9, 2020.

During his lone season on the Thunder, Brown has been showcasing his offensive potential and the talent he has that will add to OKC’s roster. After replacing Al Horford for his first career start against the Memphis Grizzlies on March 14th, he dropped a career-high 20 points and 16 rebounds against the Chicago Bulls—marking his first career double-double. He also finished with five blocks, making him just the second player in team history to record 20+ points, 15+ rebounds, and 5+ blocks in a game.

Brown’s signing is yet another example of OKC’s commitment to developing young talent for their future. The team recently brought in 23-year old center Tony Bradley after trading Austin Rivers.

The post Oklahoma City Thunder Sign Moses Brown to Multi-Year Contract appeared first on SLAM.

While they already led the league in future draft capital coming into the offseason, they only added more draft picks to their stash over the past few weeks. Headlined by a deal that shipped Chris Paul to Phoenix, Oklahoma City has pulled the trigger on a string of deals that has resulted almost the entirety of their roster being turned over. In fact, upcoming third-year player Hamidou Diallo is now the longest-tenured member of the Thunder.

Thunder Roster Additions

Biggest Acquisitions

• Al Horford: Although they are looking to rebuild, every team needs a veteran in the locker room to create the right culture and be a leader to the younger players. Horford will be excellent in this role, while also being a potential asset to flip down the road.
• Aleksej Pokusevski: Oklahoma City had been linked to Pokusevski for weeks leading up to the 2020 NBA Draft. They ultimately traded up to acquire him to add to their young core. While he is still 18 years old and extremely raw, Pokusevski has an extremely high ceiling and could end up being an excellent player in a few years when the Thunder are entering another window of contention.

Thunder Roster Subtractions

Biggest Losses

• Chris Paul: When it comes to the impact on winning, Paul’s void will be impossible to fill. Although he played just one season in Oklahoma City, his mentorship will be felt for years as he expedited the development of guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Darius Bazley, and Lu Dort.
• Steven Adams: While he’s never been the best player on any Thunder roster throughout the years, Adams has been the heart and soul of the team. For the fanbase and the Thunder culture, this is no question the biggest loss of the offseason. He was the last remaining player of the previous eras of Thunder basketball as Oklahoma City officially enters their rebuild.

All NBA Team Offseason Summaries

The post Oklahoma City Thunder: Offseason Summary 2020 appeared first on SLAM.

Over the past few weeks, Portland has been making some of the most impressive offseason moves. Putting an emphasis on adding wing defenders, their new-look roster looks to be improved in comparison to last season.

Trail Blazers Roster Additions

Biggest Acquisitions

• Robert Covington: Long wings who can defend at a high level and shoot a respectile clip from beyond the arc are becoming extremely valuable in the NBA. Covington is one of the better two-way wings in the league at this point, which is why teams have been willing to give up assets to acquire him over the past few seasons. He will instantly improve Portland’s defense as well as give them more space on offense with his ability to stretch the floor.
• Harry Giles: Still just 22 years old, Giles is younger than some of the guys who were drafted just a few weeks ago. Although he has a history of injuries and hasn’t been great to this point in his career, he might have been the most attractive free agent when it came to age and untapped potential.

Trail Blazers Roster Subtractions

Biggest Losses

• Hassan Whiteside: Whiteside had a great year with the Trai Blazers last season, pulling down the most total rebounds and scoring the third-most total points on the season. With Jusuf Nurkic healthy once again, Whiteside did become less valuable late in the season. However, his ability to stuff the stat sheet will be missed.
• Trevor Ariza: While Ariza didn’t have the best year of his career in Portland, he was still one of their more important pieces last season. Now in the final years of his career at age 35, Covington will look to play a similar role, while also having the ability to be even more productive than Ariza was.

All NBA Team Offseason Summaries

The post Portland Trail Blazers: Offseason Summary 2020 appeared first on SLAM.

In addition to a summary for each of the 30 teams (accessible in the link grid below), we’ve also tiered the top NBA free agents league-wide and published a general comparison of all teams’ cap space. Follow @SLAMnewswire on Twitter for constant offseason updates as we head into free agency.

Projected Roster Players

Projected Free Agents

Dead Money

2020 NBA Draft Picks

Exceptions Available

• Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception – $9,258,000
• Bi-Annual Exception – $3,623,000

Key Offseason Decisions

• Will Portland bring back Trevor Ariza or waive him for just $1.8M? Ariza’s absence was felt when the Trail Blazers needed a bigger 3&D forward. He’s a nice fit alongside Portland’s stars because Ariza doesn’t need the ball, but can knock down shots. The Blazers aren’t so tight to the tax this year, so expect him to be back.
• Is Zach Collins worthy of an extension? Portland would love to get Collins locked up on a team-friendly deal. But it would have to be very team-friendly for it to be worth it for them. Expect Collins to bet on himself and then hit a better restricted market in 2021.

Projected Team Salary

$156,602,865

For the first time in a while, the Trail Blazers aren’t dancing around the luxury tax line. They could even have some cap space, if they chose to clear their books of all their non-guaranteed salaries. As it stands though, Portland will probably stay over. With the ability to use the full Non-Taxpayer MLE, and maybe even the Bi-Annual Exception too, the Blazers should be able to rebuild their depth. (@KeithSmithNBA)

Cap Space Forecast

-$47,462,865 (20^th out of 30). $25,291,417 under the Luxury Tax.

Team Salary Cap Outlooks

The post Portland Trail Blazers: Salary Cap Space 2020 appeared first on SLAM.

We’ve listed the entire roster with comparisons to last year’s launch rating below. We’ve also identified some general NBA 2K21 ratings trends for the league as a whole.

Blazers NBA 2K21 Ratings

View the NBA 2K21 player ratings for other teams below.

The post Portland Trail Blazers: NBA 2K21 Ratings appeared first on SLAM.

Also included in the team-by-team breakdowns are all partial/non-guaranteed players for the 2020-21 season, essentially expanding the list to include any individual that could plausibly hit free agency this summer.

Related: CBA Explained – Different types of NBA free agency

Denver Nuggets

Minnesota Timberwolves

Oklahoma City Thunder

Portland Trail Blazers

Utah Jazz

The post 2020 NBA Free Agents – Northwest Division appeared first on SLAM.

The 23-year-old exited the team’s Saturday night game and is now facing swelling issues in his left knee. An MRI on the area came back inconclusive.S

Labissiere is the latest in a long line of injured bigs on the roster so the club will need to get creative with their frontcourt while Labissiere – a pleasant surprise in and of himself – recovers.

Labissiere has averaged 5.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for Portland this season in just over 17 minutes of action and his presence down low has helped the franchise cope with losses to other bigs like Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins.

In Labissiere’s absence, the club could turn more heavily to rotation pieces like Nassir Little and Anthony Tolliver, even two-way center Moses Brown.

The post Knee Swelling Sidelines Skal Labissiere appeared first on SLAM.

Below is a list of the contract types the Portland Trail Blazers have heading into training camp. This resource will be updated as players are signed and waived. Check back often to see if your team’s roster configuration has changed.

Portland Trail Blazers

For a complete list of all the NBA teams and links to each team’s roster breakdown, check out our 2019 NBA Training Camp Index. Follow the curators of this database, Chris Crouse and Austin Kent, on Twitter.

More NBA Training Camp Rosters

The post Portland Trail Blazers Roster Count: 2019 Training Camp appeared first on SLAM.

Brown went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft but signed on with the Houston Rockets’ summer league team. He only saw brief action in one summer league game in Las Vegas.

While the Blazers can’t offer the biggest incentive of an exhibit 10 deal since they don’t have a G League squad, Bobby Marks of ESPN notes that they can still offer one, since that attachment would also allow them to convert the deal into a two-way pact.

The Blazers have just 14 players, which means they could bring aboard one additional player when rosters condense at the start of the season, but perhaps more likely is them extending a two-way contract offer if they’re impressed with the raw center.

Portland has one additional two-way slot remaining, the other already occupied by Jaylen Hoard.

The post Blazers Sign Moses Brown To Training Camp Deal appeared first on SLAM.

Late last month, the league revealed a list of 89 NCAA players who withdrew their name from the early entrant pool after getting a feel for their draft stock throughout the month of May. By withdrawing prior to that initial NCAA deadline on May 29, those players retained NCAA eligibility.

As outlined in the press release with the confirmed entrants, an additional 47 international players withdrew before Monday’s NBA deadline. In neither batch of withdrawals were there any notable surprises.

All told, of the 233 players that initially declared as early entry candidates in April, 145 of them have opted out of the process.

Related: Romeo Langford, Nassir Little and Tyler Herro are the latest to receive NBA Draft green room invites

The List
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
RJ Barrett
Tyus Battle
Darius Bazley
Bol Bol
Marques Bolden
Jordan Bone
Ky Bowman
Ignas Brazdeikis
Oshae Brissett
Armoni Brooks
Charlie Brown Jr.
Moses Brown
Brandon Clarke
Nicolas Claxton
Amir Coffey
Tyler Cook
Jarrett Culver
Aubrey Dawkins
Luguentz Dort
Jason Draggs
Carsen Edwards
Bruno Fernando
Daniel Gafford
Darius Garland
Kyle Guy
Rui Hachimura
Jaylen Hands
Jared Harper
Jaxson Hayes
Dewan Hernandez
Tyler Herro
Amir Hinton
Jaylen Hoard
Daulton Hommes
Talen Horton-Tucker
De’Andre Hunter
Ty Jerome
Keldon Johnson
Mfiondu Kabengele
Louis King
V.J. King
Sagaba Konate
Martin Krampelj
Romeo Langford
Cameron Lard
Dedric Lawson
Jalen Lecque
Jacob Ledoux
Nassir Little
Trevor Manuel
Charles Matthews
Jalen McDaniels
Ja Morant
Zach Norvell Jr.
Jaylen Nowell
Chuma Okeke
KZ Okpala
Miye Oni
Lamar Peters
Shamorie Ponds
Jordan Poole
Jontay Porter
Kevin Porter Jr.
Brandon Randolph
Cam Reddish
Isaiah Reese
Naz Reid
Austin Robinson
Isaiah Roby
Ayinde Russell
Samir Sehic
Simisola Shittu
Justin Simon
D’Marcus Simonds
Jalen Sykes
Rayjon Tucker
Nick Ward
PJ Washington Jr.
Tremont Waters
Coby White
Lindell Wigginton
Kris Wilkes
Grant Williams
Zion Williamson
Kenny Wooten

Goga Bitadze
Yago Dos Santos
Sekou Doumbouya
Matas Jogela
Marcos Louzada Silva
William McDowell-White
Adam Mokoka
Joshua Obiesie
David Okeke
Luka Samanic
Deividas Sirvydis
Yovel Zoosman

The post After Withdrawals, 98 Early Entry Draft Candidates Remain appeared first on SLAM.

He’s played well enough to earn himself two spots at All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. He’ll be part of Friday night’s Rising Stars Game and then he’ll be soaring in Saturday night’s Dunk Contest.

It’s been a quick rise for the 13th pick in the 2017 Draft. After spending two seasons at Louisville, the Westchester, NY native wasn’t a household name going into the Draft.

“I worked out this past summer with Paul George and Chris Paul and they were really the ones who convinced me to keep my name in the draft,” Mitchell told us this past summer. “We had talks and they said, Look, you’re good enough. Just go out there and show it. [The NBA] was a thought, but I didn’t think it would happen this fast. It’s crazy to me that I’m here now.”

We caught up with Spida to talk about the ROY race, All-Star weekend and more.

SLAM: Are you hearing all the buzz you’ve generated in the Rookie of the Year race?

Donovan Mitchell: It’s hard not to, to be honest. As much as I try not to. It’s kind of crazy to think about all these guys saying that about me. It’s definitely an honor. The one thing people don’t understand is I wouldn’t even be in this position if it wasn’t for the organizaition and my teammates. I’m a rookie coming in and some teams, the guys wouldn’t allow that. But my teammates have been accepting. Even times where maybe I am shooting too much, they encourage me to keep shooting, even if I keep missing. I’m not really too worried about the Rookie of the Year race. I’d rather make the playoffs.

SLAM: Do you have relationships with the other guys in this year’s Rising Stars Game?

DM: Yeah, I’m friends with a lot of the guys in my rookie class, and pretty much everyone on my team I’ve had relationships with. I’m pretty close with John Collins. Kyle, Lonzo, Dennis. All those guys. I’m excited to play with them. Even Jamal Murray on the opposite side.

SLAM: The reasoning for that question is because you’re probably gonna be trying to go get buckets, even though you know these dudes, right?

DM: Oh yeah, this is not just a game to me. It’s not just All-Star Weekend. Hopefully everybody has the same competitive spirit that I always have. I’m going to approach it the way I approach every basketball game. I’m trying to win.

SLAM: And you’re bringing that same mentality to the Dunk Contest? Any preview you can give of what you’ve got planned? 

DM: I can’t really give away all my ideas but I do have things I’ve worked on. I actually just finished working out. I’m excited to go out there and do what I’ve been doing since I was in high school.

SLAM: Who are some of the players that have you given inspiration as a dunker?

DM: I used to watch Aaron Gordon a lot. He’s a two-foot dunker. Zach LaVine, Gerald Green. James White, Terrico White. A lot of two-foot dunkers.

SLAM: As a dunker, how ridiculous was Gerald Green dunking without sneakers back in 2008?

DM: Well as a basketball player, it’s really dangerous. So the fact that he went out and tried it, the fact that he went between the legs is even crazier. As a dunker it was like, Wow. Shoes give you a few inches. And it was off the vert, too, which shows you how much bounce he really has.

SLAM: So you’re gonna be keeping your kicks on during the Contest?

DM: [laughs] Yeah. 100 percent.

SLAM: You’re a tri-state guy, having gone to high school in Connecticut and having connections in New York and New Jersey. Why do you think the tri-state area is producing such serious talent right now?

DM: I think [Isaiah Washington] kinda started his own, with Jelly Fam. Jahvon [Quinerly] and all those guys. They’re a talented group. I think the way they marketed themselves allowed the world to see how talented the New York, New Jersey area really is. It was tough because my years in high school—that feels like forever ago—guys were going to prep school. They were going away. These guys have stayed local, stayed true to home. I think that’s been the biggest thing. They’ve put New York City, New Jersey, the tri-state area back on the map. New York City has been the mecca of basketball. It’s great to see the young guys going out there doing their thing. 

The post Donovan Mitchell on Rookie of the Year Race, the Dunk Contest and More appeared first on SLAM.

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With over a dozen Flo40 prospects from the 2018 and 2019 classes, several players on the rise, and a few sensational sophomores bound to be ranked in the initial 2020 Flo40, the showcase at Springfield College in Springfield, MA, from Jan. 11-15 is the best place to watch the top players battle on the big stage before the next level.

WATCH LIVE ON FLOHOOPS

And in an event stacked with talent, here are the top three individual matchups on FloHoops to keep an eye on this weekend:

No. 13 Naz Reid (Roselle Catholic | NJ) vs. No. 15 Emmitt Williams (Oak Ridge | FL)

When: Saturday, Jan. 13, 4:30 PM ET

The combined ferocity of dunks these two hyper-athletic 2018 prospects can throw down alone makes this game intriguing, but the fact they are the headlining stars for two FloHoops Top 25 teams makes it that much sweeter and puts more on the line. Th 6-foot-10 Reid, a LSU signee, certainly owns the size advantage over the uncommitted, 6-foot-7 Williams in this one, but nobody can deny the relentless motor of Williams, especially on the glass. It will be a tough task for both to contain one another and has the potential to be a powerful, jaw-dropping showdown.

No. 1 R.J. Barrett (Montverde Academy | FL) vs. Talen Horton-Tucker (Simeon | IL)

When: Saturday, Jan. 13, 6 PM ET

What happens when the best prep player in the world clashes with a physical wing who always goes down hill and isn’t intimidated by any opponent? This matchup will provide the answer. By now, everyone knows just how good Barrett is, how dominant the 6-foot-7 wing can be as a scorer, and how he performs on the big stage. That is well documented. The difference is the Duke-bound prospect likely hasn’t faced anyone like Horton-Tucker yet this season. What the Iowa State signee doesn’t have in height, he has in strength, and is easily one of the highest rising players in the country for 2018 with his play this season. This contest will not be for the weak, and the opening minutes between these two will set the tone for big things to come.

No. 11 Moses Brown (Archbishop Molloy | NY) vs. Hunter Dickinson (DeMatha Catholic | MD)

When: Sunday, Jan. 14, 2:15 PM ET

Finding a true center duel is somewhat rare in today’s game, yet this one is a no-brainer. The contrast in styles is as interesting as the length of these two prospects. Brown, a 7-foot-1 senior, is agile for his size, runs the floor well, and uses his 7-foot-4 wingspan to alter shots at the rim, while Dickinson, a 6-foot-11 sophomore, does most of his damage down on the block with an array of post moves and nice, left-handed touch. Will Brown try to wear down Dickinson by getting out on the break, or will Dickinson simply out grind Brown? Something has to give here, and with so much other talent on the floor, it could be this matchup which decides the outcome.

The post Top Matchups To Watch At The 2018 Hoophall Classic appeared first on SLAM.

This season the Stanners have two five-star recruits in its starting line-up. Moses Brown, a top-20 prospect in the Class of 2018, and Cole Anthony, a top-5 recruit in the Class of 2019, are one of the best duos in all of high school basketball.

Brown, a 7-1 center, has a plethora of top collegiate programs vying for his services. Meanwhile, Anthony, a 6-1 junior and son of former NBA player and current TV analyst Greg Anthony, is ranked as the No. 1 PG in the Class of 2020.

Molloy will be partaking in the upcoming City of Palms Classic next week in Fort Myers, FL. Their first game is against University School (FL) on Tuesday, December 19 at 7pm.

FloHoops will be live streaming all games. To catch Cole, Moses and Molloy, as well as other top recruits, be sure to go here next week.

The post Cole Anthony & Moses Brown Are The Best Duo In HS Basketball appeared first on SLAM.

Among the top prospects that will be participating in this year’s showcase are RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson, Bol Bol, Cameron Reddish, Immanuel Quickley, Moses Brown and Cole Anthony.

See below for the complete schedule.

The post 2018 Hoophall Classic Schedule Announced appeared first on SLAM.

Aside from Jamaica, the list of countries that are slated to partake include Trinidad, Canada and the United States. While all players arrive on the 16th, when they will partake in a variety of community and social events, the action on the hardwood starts on Friday, August 18. The itinerary aims to balance competition, entertainment and culture immersion.

An event that originated with four teams has grown to over 12 squads and hundreds of visitors from across the world. Featured players for the 2017 Caribbean Hoopfest include Brandon Jacobs and Loseni Kamara. The Queens native duo will be entering college this on full scholarships, with Kamar attending The University of Idaho and Jacobs attending Pace University.

Caribbean Hoopfest founder Donald Francois had a vision of bringing corporate resources to an underserved region. And so while uniting the global community he partnered with ADIDAS, the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second largest in the world.

RISING STARS, a non-profit organization is also assisting with the Caribbean Hoopfest initiative. The organization is dedicated to building communities and creating more balanced individuals, which directly align with the goals and mission of the Caribbean Hoopfet–to assist in the development of life skills through basketball.

Both organizations recognized Francois’ vision and ever since have supported the idea of uniting the global community by “Bringing the Worlds Together” to teach, educate and converge the youth.

This unique event focuses on strengthening morale amongst the athletes, as well as their families, local business owners, community leaders and vendors, whom have all been impacted by the annual showcase.

“Our goal has always been to promote growth and culture and this is our best way to do it,” says Francois.

Robin’s Nest Children’s Home, an orphanage in Jamaica, recently partnered with the Hoopfest outreach program. Proceeds from numerous fundraisers will be presented to Danielle Stryka, the Director of Robin’s Nest.

Francois is also the boy’s freshman basketball assistant coach at Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood, Queens.

At Molloy, he’s coached and mentored current Division I prospects Cole Anthony, Moses Brown and Khalid Moore. In addition to his wide range of community projects, he is also the Director of TEAM NYC, an emerging AAU boys travel organization founded in 2012.

In Francois own words, the “commitment is not limited to basketball; It’s a commitment for life.”

The post 2017 Caribbean Hoopfest Slated for August 16-21 in Montego Bay, Jamaica appeared first on SLAM.

Also participating in the camp were 21 college basketball players from some of the top D1 programs in the country. The college participants also partook in skill work during the morning sessions, and played 5-on-5 games in front NBA personnel.

Scores of college coaches, scouts, and media outlets were on hand to observe the talent. Here are a few of the high school players that stood out:

Devon Dotson, 6-2 PG, Team Charlotte/Providence Day School (NC), 2018

Dotson was without question the best player at the camp. Throughout the week, he played with tremendous poise and maturity. He routinely blew past defenders when attacking the basket, and also displayed incredible body control when finishing at the rim. When he wasn’t scoring, he masterfully found open teammates when the defense collapsed. He was an absolute terror on the defensive end, demonstrating good lateral quickness against opposing ball handlers. Dotson, who is hearing from schools in the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, and PAC 12, was easily the most college-ready guard at the camp.

Cashius McNeilly, 6-4 G, Canada Elite/Blacksburg HS (VA), 2020

After guiding the Canadian National Team to a silver medal in the FIBA Americas U16 Championship, McNeilly showed no signs of slowing down in Philly. Blessed with great size, McNeilly displayed the capability to facilitate or create shots for himself and his teammates. He also finished his strong drives to the hoop through contact. McNeilly has the athleticism and wingspan to be a disruptive force on the defensive end. He will need to spend some time in the weight room in order to prepare himself for high school ball in the States this season. When it’s all said and done, McNeilly will be coveted by some of the nation’s high major programs.

Scottie Lewis, 6-5 WG, Team Rio/ Ranney School (NJ), 2019

There may not be a more explosive two-way player in the 2019 class. Aside from his impressive aerial assaults on the rim, Lewis has always been known for his defensive prowess. While that continued, Lewis made a concerted effort to be more aggressive on offense. On opening night of the camp, he showed the ability to score on all three levels while finishing with 11 points and hitting the game winning three-pointer. Lewis has offers from a slew of schools in high major conferences.

Jaden Springer, 6-4 SG, BMAZE Elite/Rocky River High School (NC), 2020

They don’t make 14 year olds like they used to. No need to adjust your eyes or wipe your glass lenses, the previous sentence was correct. Jaden Springer is only 14 years old but doesn’t play like one. Aside from his stature, the freshman stud boasts remarkable athleticism that allows him to play above the rim. He scored the majority of his points in transition—converting several layups after absorbing contact. Jaden will be a major contributor for his team this season.

Anfernee Simons, 6-4 G, Team Breakdown/Edgewater (FL), 2018

Simons may be the most explosive scorer on the Under Armour circuit. He possesses an innate ability to find his shot in almost any situation on the court. Throughout the camp, he demonstrated the capability to manipulate his defender off of ball screens, and shoot consistently from long range. If he continues to improve his strength, Simons will be an impact player by the time he arrives at Louisville. The Cardinals are getting an absolute stud.

Moses Brown, 7-1 C, New Heights/Archbishop Molloy (NY), 2018

Regarded as the number one center in the 2018 class, Brown used his size and strength to score in the post. Brown also showed sensational agility in the open court by snagging rebounds and pushing the ball to start the break. On the defensive end, he has natural ability to change and block shots due to his formidable size. If Brown continues to hone his offensive package, his game will go to another stratosphere. It’s no coincidence that Brown has garnered the attention of every high major program in the country.

(Photo credit: Kelly Kline / Under Armour)

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More below from Under Armour: 

The following high school basketball players have been selected to participate this year:

• Aaron Wiggins – Greensboro, NC
• Anfernee Simons – Altamonte Springs, FL
• Bol Bol – Santa Ana, CA
• Bryan Antoine – Tinton Falls, NJ
• Cameron Reddish – Norristown, PA
• Cassius Stanley – Los Angeles, CA
• Chol Marial – Cheshire, CT
• Chris Herren Jr. – Portsmouth, RI
• Darius Garland – Brentwood, TN
• Devon Dotson – Charlotte, NC
• Elijah Weaver – Cocoa, FL
• Jahvon Quinerly – Hackensack, NJ
• Jeremiah Robinson-Earl – Kansas City, KS
• Joey Baker – Fayetteville, NC
• Jontay Porter – Columbia, MO
• Josh Green – Phoenix, AZ
• Keldon Johnson – South Hill, VA
• Moses Brown – Queens, NY
• Nazreon Reid – Asbury Park, NJ
• Prentiss Hubb – Upper Marlboro, MD
• Scottie Lewis – Hazlet, NJ
• Shareef O’Neal – Los Angeles, CA
• Silvio DeSousa – Bradenton, FL

New to the camp this year is Dallas Mavericks guard, Seth Curry. Coming off of the 2017 Stephen Curry Asia Tour together, Seth will work alongside Stephen and offer players curriculum and on-court instruction. NBA skills coach Brandon Payne will guide the players as Lead Skills Trainer alongside professional basketball trainer Rob McClanaghan, in addition to basketball commentator and former college basketball coach Fran Fraschilla as Lead Coach, and Under Armour brand ambassador and longtime ESPN basketball analyst Jay Bilas as Lead Big Man Coach.

SC30 Select Camp is built on the foundation of arming players with the fundamentals essential to guard play by highlighting the importance of balancing growth on and off the court. The program features basketball training and competition, including four on-court sessions, four film sessions.

The post Roster for 2017 Stephen Curry Select Camp Announced appeared first on SLAM.

Just 15 miles east, a lanky, 7-foot teenager is putting up shots on a concrete playground in Hollis, Queens. His goal is to one day be in the same spot as those other guys who today are just a few subway stops away.

But on this sunny summer Thursday, Moses Brown, a rising senior at Archbishop Molloy HS, is just another inner-city kid keeping the dream alive while watching from afar with his father by his side.

The duo has been inseparable ever since Moses’ dad, Malcolm, got sole custody when his son was only 9 years old. As a single parent, Malcolm has experienced his share of challenges. And with Moses emerging into a top-10 national recruit in the Class of 2018, sacrifices have become inevitable.

“After I got custody, someone illegally stole the house that we lived in,” recalls Malcolm. “We moved to The Bronx, where the living conditions weren’t the best. Me being a carpenter, I did the best I could do. I hooked it up with Sheetrock and painted it, so that when the ACS people came, they would see that Moses had a decent place to stay.”

But as Moses grew older, Malcolm realized that he needed a better home setting to raise his son in. So he took out his annuity money, packed their bags and moved into an old home that his father once had in Queens. Things were finally looking up. Housing was no longer an issue and Malcom’s mother was staying with them to help out with Moses, who by his freshman year of high school had emerged into a promising prospect.

But then life threw another curve ball at them last year. On September 23, 2016, Malcolm’s mother passed away. Soon after he was faced with a tough predicament: How to go about taking care of Moses alone moving forward. He decided to quit his job in order to look out after Moses full-time.

“Cooking, cleaning, washing—I’m just making sure he’s 100 percent right when he steps out that door,” says Malcolm. “It’s been hard and we’ve had to sacrifice a lot.”

“He’s always there and drives me everywhere,” adds Moses, who runs with New Heights on the AAU circuit.

Regarded as the top senior prospect in the Big Apple, Brown faces lofty expectations. He’s showcased some impressive mobility at his size to go along with his physical impact in the paint, and his high ceiling still hasn’t even been scratched yet—it’s the ultimate potential and continuous progress that have skyrocketed him up the rankings.

“Nothing has really changed as far as my mindset,” says the 7-1 center of his national emergence. “Just gotta keep working because at the end of the day, being a top-10 player in high school is not really going to matter at the next level.”

If Moses maintains that same mentality and his skillset continues cruising in the same direction, it could only be a matter of time before he finds himself 15 miles west on a Thursday morning in June, knowing that housing conditions will be the least of his worries moving forward.

—

Franklyn Calle is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @FrankieC7.

Portraits by Ricky Rhodes. 

The post Grateful appeared first on SLAM.

It’s probably the weirdest trend on the internet. (Wait—there’s no way that’s true.) But it is very strange. Initially it took place in message boards and website comment sections, and now you see it on Instagram and Facebook—anytime a major account posts literally anything, the race to drop a “first!” in the comments is on. Often just a “1” will suffice. Because it’s quicker, you know? Easier to be first.

Looking back to last year, I think it’s safe to say that SLAM was relatively “first” with our coverage of the Ball family—we initially introduced Lonzo, LiAngelo, LaMelo and LaVar to the world at large in SLAM 201 with a feature, the family’s first true national press following the brothers’ undefeated 2015-16 season at Chino Hills (CA) HS. Then in the fall, Zo started crushing at UCLA and highlight mixtapes floated around of Gelo and Melo beating up on opponents at will, and as the hype spread, we released a video that provided a look at how the family spent their 2016 Christmas together in Cali. LaVar was undeniably the star of that show, which I believe set the tone for all the coverage that has followed in the months since. And Lord knows that has been a lot of coverage.

For us, being first isn’t important for the sake of just being able to say that we were first (which is, I’m guessing, the only real motivation of those internet commenters), but because we want to be a reliable source for those curious about the direction of both the game and culture of basketball. In that sense, I feel comfortable saying our coverage of the Ball family has been a win. Whether you love every aspect of their movement or hate seeing LaVar’s face on your TV screen on a seemingly daily basis, you can’t argue with the fact that they matter. A lot. Lonzo is the new face of the L.A. Lakers, the younger two brothers are very much on the come-up, and regardless of your interest in copping BBB gear, it does appear that the family’s brand might be laying a blueprint for top NBA prospects to take an independent route in the industry, if those prospects so desire.

With the Ball family—and their potential influence on the years to come—serving as inspiration, we decided to devote an entire issue to the future of basketball and the culture that surrounds it. So along with an essay from LaVar himself on how the family rose to prominence and why they aren’t going anywhere, we’ve got a whole bunch of stories in this issue about where the sport goes from here. That includes pieces on young hoops studs like Lauri Markkanen, Dennis Smith Jr, Frank Nkitilina, Moses Brown, all of the Philadelphia 76ers, Tiffany Mitchell, plus some crazy new Nike technology, virtual reality, the NBA’s push into India and a former NBA player you might remember by the name of Mike Bibby, who’s helping shape the future by passing on his extensive knowledge to high school athletes.

Hopefully you can enjoy all of the issue’s content and get a little glimpse of what the basketball space will look like down the road. We’ll let you form your own opinions, but through our lens, it ain’t terrible.

RELATED:
COVER STORY: LaVar Ball Writes About His Family’s Movement
Can All Three Ball Brothers Wind up on the Lakers?

—

Adam Figman is the Editor-in-Chief of SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @afigman.

Portraits by Atiba Jefferson; photo of Lonzo/LiAngelo via Getty

The post Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball Cover SLAM 211 appeared first on SLAM.

These are the two words Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray uses to describe his teammate Kenneth Faried to a group of people standing around the baseline as they watch two teams scrimmage. The term “OD,” an acronym for over-doing, is probably not the first time someone has used it when talking about Faried.

It’s a Wednesday morning at Sports Academy, a performance facility in Thousand Oaks, CA, and adidas is hosting its annual Nations Training Camp. The camp, which will be held for two days, is a temporary home for some of the best high school players in the nation.

Players are broken up by position and participate in skills development sessions for two hours all throughout five regulation-sized basketball courts. Some of the guards in attendance are working on various dribbling combos with Drew Hanlen, founder and CEO of Pure Sweat, a skills development company that works with an array of NBA clients from Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid and Bradley Beal.

“My goal is to show them that there’s still a lot of room for growth,” says Hanlen on his objective when he works with grassroots athletes. “If they want to play at the highest level in the NBA, there’s a lot of little nuances they’re going to have to pay more attention to.”

Faried and Murray are two of the Three Stripes’ athletes who are getting work in with the young bucks. In the middle court, Faried decides to step on for a half-court scrimmage. As the ball makes its way around the perimeter, the defense is scrambling and Faried sees an opening as he drives to the cup from the top of the key. Once he puts the ball on the floor, everyone in the gym knows he’s going straight to the basket.

As he rises up, some players in the paint attempt to stop this freight train coming at them with no mercy, but it’s too late. Faried is trying to put anyone in the vicinity of the rim on a poster. But he gets fouled and misses the dunk. There’s a sigh of relief from the defense as they realize none of them got baptized. Onlookers on the baseline look around with that Did you just see this shit? look.

The next time Faried’s team is on offense, the play starts with a high ball screen. The Manimal, a nickname Faried earned because of his intensity on the court, sprints from the paint to set the screen. No one on defense calls out the pick, and Jules Bernard, a 6-5 small forward from Windward (CA) HS, is a victim of a vicious screen that leaves him grabbing his side as he tries to get back into the play.

And here’s @KennethFaried35 setting NBA screens on one of the campers. (HS kids: call out the screen.) #ThePath pic.twitter.com/HTCo15YDTx

— Drew Ruiz (@DrewRuiz90) June 28, 2017

“It’s good to experience because in high school, I’m normally the more stronger player in the nation as a guard, so knowing that that’s what an NBA screen feels like it tells me I need to get stronger,” says Bernard. “Right now, I still have room to grow—strength-wise—and it shows me more I have to grow to be an NBA-caliber player.”

Summertime is an important period for players looking to take their game to the next level. Highly touted athletes trade in personal time with friends and family vacations for two-a-days and AAU tournaments in different cities every weekend. And events like adidas Nations—with NBA athletes, coaches and trainers on-hand—serves as an assessment for what aspects of their game need improvement.

For Moses Brown, a 7-1 center from Archbishop Molloy (NY) HS, who’s ranked No. 6 on ESPN’s Top 100 in 2018, these two days are vital as he looks to be regarded as an all-around player at a time where the traditional center is a thing of the past.

“You get to see the physicality that’s at the highest level when you’re playing against those guys,” says Brown, “You can tell the difference between your skill-set and theirs and how much stronger they are.”

Bernard also makes sure to soak up as much knowledge as he prepares for his senior year.

“The little details they use—footwork, stuff like that, that make them great players,” he says.

For now, these kids are still students of the game, but Faried knows he’ll be suiting up with and/or against some of these same faces in a couple of years.

“These are going to be the kids that are going to replace me in the League and hopefully be All-Stars or superstars and everything else in the League,” says Faried. “So I just get a glimpse at our future and some of these kids are going to be my future teammates.”

—

Drew Ruiz is a contributor to SLAM. Follow him @DrewRuiz90. Photo courtesy of adidas

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The full schedule of the Under Armour Association league is as follows:

• April 21-23: UAA I, New York City*
• April 28-30: UAA II, Indianapolis*
• May 27-28: UAA III, Los Angeles
• July 12-15: UAA Finals, Atlanta*

* Denotes live Division I recruiting event

 

Pre-season highlights include:

• Two-time defending champion Sports U, featuring Nazreon Reid and Jahvon Quinerly
• New Heights NYC, with Moses Brown and Sid Wilson
• Team Rio, featuring Bryan Antoine and Scottie Lewis
• Team Charlotte, coached by veteran professional player Jeff McInnis, will feature Devon Dotson and Aaron Wiggins
• Earl Watson Elite 16U, featuring Nico Mannion and Josh Green
• Undefeated 15U champions KC Run GMC return with their entire team to the 16U division, including Jeremiah Robinson and Zach Harvey

The post Under Armour Announces Dates & Sites for 2017 UA Association Grassroots Circuit appeared first on SLAM.

Russell Westbrook and James Harden have owned the MVP conversation all year. At the college level, mock drafts have freshmen sensations like Washington’s Markelle Fultz, UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox and NC State’s Dennis Smith Jr pegged among the top seven picks in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Of course, all the names mentioned above resemble a distinct evolution of the game over the past few years. The common thread? Every player mentioned is a point guard.

Not only has the League shifted to a guard-dominated game—with PG emerging as the most competitive position in the Association—but the upcoming NBA draft, expected to be one of the deepest in history, will be top-heavy with highly touted freshmen point guards leading the way. Add up the college players noted above, and four of the first seven picks in the 2017 NBA Draft could be PGs. That would be unprecedented.

The top three scorers in the NBA right now are all PGs, too, with the Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas sandwiched between Westbrook and Harden. Harden wasn’t even a point guard until this season, yet nonetheless is the League’s assist leader with 11.2 per game. Likewise, 6-11 Giannis Antetokounmpo is now a PG, and he leads the Milwaukee Bucks in just about every major statistical category, assists included.

The top pick in the 2016 Draft, 6-10 Ben Simmons, drew hype because of his court vision and playmaking abilities. Sixers head coach Brett Brown publicly stated last December that the team plans to make him the starting point guard when he makes his pro debut after fracturing his right foot last October.

Whether in the body of a player standing 5-9 or 6-11, point guard play has gone through a transformation right before our own eyes over the last few years. Which brings us to bigger, overarching questions: Why is almost every great player, regardless of height, looking to run point? Why is the game, at every level, filled with star lead guards? Are we witnessing some sort of golden era for the PG position?

https://youtu.be/HVO2ICmCa_4

“I think before we used to get so caught up into positions,” says Jay Williams, current college basketball analyst for ESPN and a former star PG at Duke who was selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. “You heard a lot of GMs and scouts try to categorize you and tell you, ‘No, you fit into this box.’ But I think as the game evolved into positionless basketball, you now have guys who have the ability to do so many other things than what the prototypical style of a PG was 15 or 20 years ago.”

Positionless basketball: A phenomenon that has taken the League by storm and subsequently has trickled down to college and high school ball, too. It’s enabled players who weren’t traditionally “allowed” to bring the ball up to now do so and make plays.

“Guards are a lot more of combo guards now,” says Williams of where he thinks this trend stems from. “There’s not a lot of prototypical point guards. There’s been an evolution of the point guard position and you’ve seen that with the likes of Derrick Rose, John Wall, Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas—all these guards are able to score prolific-like numbers but are considered PGs. That’s where our game is trending.”

All of which is to say that the qualifications of the position have been modified. It isn’t just about being able to dish out great assists anymore. Today’s starring PGs are also expected to drop 35 or 40 points every so often.

Even guys currently in the League have taken notice. Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard says his position has experienced a shift even in just the five years since he’s been in the League.

“Now you see a lot of scoring point guards. They score points and make plays and rebound the ball—do so many things well and I think it’s kind of the golden age of point guards,” says the Oakland native. “When I got in the League, it was heading in that direction but it wasn’t quite there. But I think now, every night that you go out there, you gotta put your best foot forward or you can get embarrassed. To win, you need a point guard that can score, that can dominate a game. If you don’t have that, you don’t have much of a chance at winning.”

Fultz (who has already declared for the NBA Draft) is a dynamic offensive player who can score from anywhere on the floor in a smooth, effortless manner. And while his scoring prowess tops the list of his strengths, the 6-4 guard can do much more than just put up points in bunches. This season, on more than one occasion, the Maryland native came close to becoming the first UW player to ever post a triple-double.

Ball, the oldest of the now world-famous Ball Brothers out of Chino Hills, CA, has drawn comparisons to legends like Magic Johnson and Jason Kidd. The 6-6 freshman literally averaged a triple-double his senior year of high school: 23.9 points, 11.3 rebounds and 11.5 assists per game, leading Chino Hills HS to a perfect 35-0 season and the top spot in the national rankings. He’s helped turn the UCLA program around this season, earning a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament after going 6-12 in the Pac-12 last year.

Smith Jr is arguably the most explosive prospect in the college ranks. After missing his senior year of HS with an ACL tear, the 6-3 Fayetteville, NC, native has bounced back stronger than ever. Aside from making SportsCenter’s top plays periodically thanks to his high-flying finishes, Smith Jr became the first ACC player ever to put up two triple-doubles against league opponents in their entire career. And he did it all in a one-month span.

Fox has drawn comparisons to fellow UK great John Wall, mainly because of his lightning speed and agility. The freshman became only the second Wildcat ever to post a triple-double in the program’s rich history, when he finished with a 19-10-10 line against Arizona State in December. You’ll see him get busy this weekend as March Madness kicks off for 2-seeded Kentucky.

NBA veteran Jamal Crawford is among the current players aware of the PGs slated to enter the NBA in June and he’s quite excited for what they’ll bring to the L.

“These young guys coming up, the League is going to be in great hands,” says the Seattle native, who worked out with Fultz last summer in Emerald City. “With guys like this coming in, who really appreciate and respect the opportunity and take full advantage of it.”

Sonny Vaccaro, the legendary sports marketing executive referred to as the godfather of grassroots ball—and who is best known for having signed Michael Jordan to his first sneaker deal with Nike—has witnessed this evolution into positionless basketball up close.

“When basketball started, what did you do? Inside, out. You guarded the big man. You had to sign the big man. You had to draft the big man,” says Vaccaro. “One of the biggest mistakes ever made was going for the big men and not getting Michael [Jordan]. In today’s game, Kevin Garnett would have been a 1. Kobe [Bryant] would have been a 1. Tracy [McGrady] would have been a 1. The mindset back then wasn’t ready to make them 1s yet.”

In Williams’ opinion, the globalization of the game has also opened doors for today’s contemporary style of PG.

“We have a lot of European influence and one thing about European basketball is that from a skill-level, they’re still better than us,” says Williams. “And so you’re starting to see a lot more younger players do this: Regardless of what their size is when they’re young, they’re working on the ballhandling and offensive skill set in order to be a more complete basketball player.”

There’s also no denying that the athleticism and explosiveness of young players has hit unseen levels, ultimately allowing guys of different physical builds to play out of their traditional positions and still hold their own. That versatility was on full display at this year’s All-Star festivities, when for the second year in a row a big man won the Skills Challenge, which has historically been a contest designed for point guards. (The Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis won this year’s; Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns won in 2016.)

“It’s a scary place where our game is at—in a good way,” says Williams. “I think our game is at a place where we have the best athletes in the history of the sport. We’re seeing things we’ve never seen before. The athleticism is at an all-time high and now the skill set has started to catch up.”

But considering the amount of love point guards are getting these days and that so many wings and big men are making the transition into the 1 slot, could it be that there are also business reasons behind the trend of everyone suddenly wanting to play point? Because having the ball in your hands and being the team’s playmaker does increase one’s marketability off the court, right?

“I don’t think you can consciously say that, but yes, it does,” says Vaccaro, who is more qualified than anyone to speak on the matter. “Just look at the big men in the league today. There are about four or five traditional big men today that are just great and stand above all of them, but none of them have the Shaq-type sneaker endorsement. Shaq was an anomaly in that he was a personality. Giannis is going to get signed for a nice dollar. Now you got a foreign big guy that’s going to make a lot of money because he has that guard skill.”

Vaccaro says it’s vital for players to be able to relate to the average fan in order to sell sneakers. That personal connection is the hook.

“At first, it used to be the ‘We’re all like him’ narrative, meaning we can identify with him by being 5-10 or 6-feet tall,” says Vaccaro. “That was Jordan’s strength at the beginning. He could look like us. None of us could identify with Moses [Malone] or Wilt [Chamberlain]. So Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the greatest ever, had a little shoe thing. But that didn’t fit then and it doesn’t fit now. The grand slam right now is to be the point guard who’s not a point guard—but he is a point guard.”

At the moment, Stephen Curry is the face of Under Armour, Harden of adidas and Westbrook of Jordan Brand, while Kyrie is rising up the Nike ranks. All “point guards.” In the end, Vaccaro believes there’s an emotional connection that players must offer to ultimately allow them to become the face of major sneaker brands. And no other position offers that opportunity better than PG.

“We all like to root for the little guy,” says Vaccaro. “Russell’s attempt at doing what Oscar [Robertson] did [by averaging a triple-double] is an unbelievable thing because you’re putting the physical equations of everything. The game has changed—it’s so open now. It’s not 18 passes and then throw it to the post guy to dunk it. That game is over. This league is a point guard league. Even the big guys want to play point guard. They’re no longer your daddy’s point guards. Now they’re the show.”

Franklyn Calle is an Assistant Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @FrankieC7.

Photos via Getty Images

The post Straight to the Point appeared first on SLAM.

Once a prideful city that seemingly produced top prospects on a regular basis, specifically at the guard positions, New York City became the subject of ‘what went wrong?’ articles in recent years as the number of top prospects it put out drastically decreased. Historically known for producing some of the grittiest and most talented hoopers, all of a sudden calling it the “Mecca of Basketball” seemed like an outdated term that more accurately referred to the an era from the previous century, particularly the ’60s through ’90s, when Bernard King, Nate “Tiny” Archibald, Connie Hawkins, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, among a long list of other accomplished ballers, put the Empire State in a lane of its own. The city was quite simply no longer producing the same batches of prospects, with the same kind of buzz at the same rate it once did.

But then 2016 happened.

SLAM readers may have noticed that NYC prospects have been profiled a lot more often in recent months than in years past. This past spring, Arizona freshman Rawle Alkins made a statement by heading off to college as a top-25 recruit after being unranked just two years earlier. NYC has two of their own ranked in the top-10 nationally for the Class of 2017 in Mohamed Bamba and Hamidou Diallo. Then there’s Jose Alvarado, who will be following in the footsteps of Kenny Anderson and Stephon Marbury, as the next city point guard that makes the move to Georgia Tech from NYC for college.

And it doesn’t stop with this class. The junior class features Moses Brown, a 6-10 center at Archbishop Molloy in Queens, who is ranked top-20 in the Class of 2018. And then there’s Cole Anthony, son of former NBAer Greg Anthony, who is ranked top-20 in the Class of 2019.

Yet, no one this year had the same impact culturally the way Minnesota-bound Isaiah Washington did. The 6-1 PG out of Harlem, famously known as Jellyfam Dimes, started a movement of his own, as he explains in the video above, when he and a group of local basketball players decided to form their own basketball fraternity—with a specific initiation process and requirements, a consistent hashtag and an impeccable social media strategy, that would school any MBA candidate on marketing and brand visibility.

The Jelly Fam movement, which Washington says actually started in 8th grade with friend Ja’Quaye James, currently a high school junior at Teaneck High in New Jersey, picked up steam as the AAU season went from spring to summer in 2016. Playing with the New Heights AAU program in the Under Armour Association grassroots circuit, he quickly became one of the premier prospects this summer as the weekend sessions went from New York to Indiana to Los Angeles and then on to Georgia. He finished top-3 in assists in the league with 5.1 dimes while averaging 12.9 ppg in a summer that saw him go from unranked to now being listed nationally as high as in the 60s.

But what made him a star in the NYC community wasn’t necessarily his performance at national tournaments. It was his constant appearances at Dyckman, Rucker, Kingdome and similar local playgrounds in summer tourneys throughout the city. It was similar to how it all started for playground legends of past generations, like Pee Wee Kirkland and Rafer “Skip to my Lou” Alston.

The crafty handles off the dribble, the smooth finish at the rim, it was these moves caught on tape that made their way through the social media sphere—and with “Jellyfam” clearly visible in his Twitter and Instagram handle, the hoops community began to take notice. Along with Washington’s growing notoriety was the growth in Jelly Fam members. Top-40 junior prospect Jahvon Quinerly, a 6-1 PG at Hudson Catholic in Jersey City, NJ, joined the movement. Washington’s former teammate at St. Raymond HS in the Bronx, Sidney Wilson, a 6-7 wing with offers from Indiana, Louisville, UConn and UNLV, among many others, is also Jelly Fam certified. Leondre Washington, a 6-foot guard at Roselle (NJ) Catholic, with offers from a few mid-major programs also gained membership.

In total, today there are now eight elite members of the exclusive Jelly Fam society spread across three states—all highly touted recruits with enough cumulative social media followers to spread the movement even further, constantly using the #jellyfam hashtag in postings and in shout outs.

How do you become eligible to join the crew? One must do three finger-rolls on someone in one game in order to earn an invitation. And of course, one of the members of Jelly Fam has to be in attendance or there has to be footage of it.

Scroll through social media and you’ll find an array of users (not official members of Jelly Fam but admirers and supporters alike) using the Jelly Fam name in their handles or in hashtags. The movement has even transcended the digital world and infiltrated the game of basketball itself.

Kids at every level are now looking to finish at the rim with a finger roll more than ever before, some even opting to do so over throwing down a dunk. The crowd at the Elite 24 Game in Brooklyn, for example, would go more nuts after a simple finger-roll from Washington than after a rim-rattling jam.

There’s Jelly Fam t-shirts now. Kyrie Irving, just yesterday, revealed a Jelly Fam-inspired Nike shoe. Once a cult-like following seems to have transformed into a basketball cultural phenomenon.

“I just gotta keep up the reputation that New York has of bringing out great guards,” says Washington of the expectations that have come from his newfound fame and the rise of what he refers to as a “basketball social group.”

“We just want to be role models to the kids and put them in the right path.”

—

The post 2016: The Year NYC Basketball Was Resuscitated appeared first on SLAM.

Now over 30 years later, the AF 1 is still one of the most famous silhouettes ever. And Nike hasn’t stopped working. They’re still giving the League’s top talent the best technology they have. They’re set to release the Special Field Air Force 1 this weekend, the newest AF 1 that incorporates premium full grain leather, rip stop ballistic nylon and new, interwoven and adjustable ankle straps.

Four colorways of the SF AF 1s are dropping at 10 EST on the SNKRS app, costing $200 for men and $185 for women.

Photos courtesy of Nike

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At the time of the concept’s inception, Michael Jordan was more ideology than star. The idea of what he had the ability to become exceeded what he actually was. David Falk oversold his client to the one non-NBA company that had Jordan’s future in its hands. Nike was brilliant enough to have signed Jordan but had no idea how deep the audacity of thought ran through Falk and Jordan about what they felt they deserved.

The Blazer was George Gervin’s shoe. It was worn by so many other stars, but it was directly associated with Iceman because of the iconic image of him sitting on a throne of ice. The Legend was a shoe making rounds on damn near every playground while also being the “black power” shoe that Georgetown wore while showing the sports world what new defiance looked like. And the Air Force 1 was the Air Force 1. Too epic in stature for just one athlete to lay claim.

That left space for the new kid to claim something that didn’t exist. A kid who, if given the chance, could do more for his game and the company he signed his shoe deal with than John McEnroe had done for them in tennis, than Gervin and Moses Malone had done for them in basketball, than Steve Prefontaine, Bill Bowerman and Blue Ribbon Sports had done for them in track.

Falk’s idea was not only for that kid named Jordan to have his own shoe, but to have his name on it. Claimed. Etched in leather. For Jordan to have his own logo and be separated from every other athlete on Nike’s roster. Branded. For the kid, who in the early pre-rookie season hype had lofted himself into the “pass the brown paper bag, that boy got some Elgin Baylor/Connie Hawkins/Julius Erving/David Thompson in him” conversations, to have his own signature line before the term “signature line” was even invented.

At the least, it was one of the most ambitious moves in the history of the game. The arrogance of it all. But Falk knew what he had and Jordan knew what he had inside of him. All that was left was proof. And for Jordan, that part came easy.

David Letterman (holding an original Air Jordan 1 in his hand): “Is this the shoe that the NBA wouldn’t let you wear? Now why wouldn’t they let you wear it? Just because it’s ugly, for starters, doesn’t…”

Jordan: “Yeah, I agree with you they are ugly.”

“Now wait a minute, didn’t you help design these?”

“The shoe, not the coloring. I didn’t have anything to do with the coloring.”

“Well, what’s wrong with the coloring? What rule did we violate here?”

“Well, it doesn’t have any white in it.”

“Well, neither does the NBA.”

https://youtu.be/t7vxRSn_qqc

* * *

The Black Toe. That was the first Air Jordan I that Money wore. But it wasn’t the sneaker that caused the ban. The shoe that caused Russ Granik’s office to draft a letter to then-Nike VP Rob Strasser four months after Jordan broke the shoe “color barrier” was the Nike Air Ship. But understand, Nike first, foremost and always is a marketing company. And there was no better way to introduce a new shoe/new concept/new ideology to the marketplace than to “redirect” the story to make it about a future campaign as opposed to a history lesson of an unmarketable past. Nike was not about to put the Air Ship on the shelves. Nike was about to try to sell a shoe with Jordan’s name on it to millions. It needed a narrative. An anti-establishment narrative that one shoe had, but another didn’t. That’s not lying; that’s genius marketing.

The shoe was introduced to us hanging over his shoulders. Pick-up game style on the Chicago greytop. No wings—the original originals didn’t have a Jordan “basketball with wings” logo on the side ankle panel. Just a name. His, preceded by Air.

From there, shit got really, really real. He started doing things in that shoe we’d never seen before. It’s not like he was winning chips like Magic or erasing basketball stereotypes like Bird, but what Jordan began to do once those Jordan Is were officially on his feet was literally the beginning of him making a damn shoe almost as important as he was.

The original shot that would eventually be the silhouette for the logo happened in that shoe. Rookie of the Year, in that shoe. Broken foot, in that shoe. Working out underwater as part of rehab, in that shoe. Sixty-three on the Celtics, in that shoe. Haters gonna hate by freezing a brotha out in the All-Star Game, in that shoe. Winning the Dunk Contest in baby gold rope chains, in that shoe. The famous blacked-out “Banned” campaign, in that shoe. The creation of Mars Blackmon, in that shoe. The last game in the Garden, in that shoe. The beginning of the GOAT, in that shoe.

As “ugly” as the shoe was, it was beautiful. On the court it was so distinctive it made Jordan that much more identifiable while he was playing. As kids who were the same age as Mike who had to sneak into Chicago Stadium to see him and had to watch him from the 500 Level where the cops weren’t looking, we’d ID him by his shoes first. Or watching his games on some fish-eyed 17-inch screen TV that had aluminum foil on the tips of non-functional antennas, we’d find him by looking for the shoes first. Don’t believe? Peep an old Bulls YouTube clip. Can’t distinguish Mike from anyone else? Can’t immediately find him? Look down. Check that 1985 NBA All-Star Game where everyone was wearing like-minded unis and he looked like everyone else in the game. Just look for the shoes. The Is stood out like Becky with the Good Hair at Roscoe’s in Oakland. Them AJ Is could easily be credited with the modern day invention of color blocking.

Especially when he wore the ones with the “white in it.”

Nike history should be broken down no different from our own. Biblical. BC/AD. Theirs: PT/OT.

The Jordan I legacy as a single shoe holds weight mainly because it is the first Pre-Tinker shoe. Only two exist. Once Tinker created the Jordan III, life in this shoe game would change forever.

The official name: Air Jordan I. Status: OG. Year: 1985 PT.

The storytelling of the shoe over the years is what is unparalleled and unmatched by anything else in the game. Both the releases and re-releases of the shoe that tell new stories and relive others. From the Laneys that never happened to the Shattered Backboards that did. To the 25 lasered autographed ones that exist to the rarified “Lance Mountain” SBs to being the next bespoke sneak cooked up in NikeLab’s 21 Mercer NYC location. To being the cover shoe for one of the greatest sneaker books ever produced, Intercity’s Art and Sole. An honor no other shoe can claim.

By design and status, it lends itself to art in ways no other shoes can or have. But unlike, say, the Air Force 1 or New Balance 574 or Nike SB Dunk or a pair of adidas Stan Smiths, most artists are scared to touch the Jordan I, to use it as canvas to create something different. Either they treat it as “sacred” or say it’s designed “perfectly as is.” Not even the Jordan III gets that “off-limits” respect. (But the Jordan XI kinda does, too, if we’re being totally honest.)

The ban gave the Jordan I a foundation. A moral center. But to this day (despite the reminder on the sole of the new Jordan XXXI), it doesn’t define the total meaning and significance of the shoe. Much the same way Muhammad Ali being banned from boxing wasn’t the full definition of him, just an integral part in the life of who he was, the same holds true with the Jordan I.

As the years have gone by, the place it holds in culture has risen to a space only few sneaks ever reach. The Converse Chuck Taylor, the AF1, the adidas Superstar and Pro Model (the Stan Smith has recently entered into that exclusive club) may be the only others. It is Mount Rushmore material—more specifically, the Jordan I is Lincoln. One of the very, very few that has both relevance and reverence 30 years after it was born—while never once losing stature or having society second-guess or question its significance.

The Jordan I is one of the few shoes since man and woman began wearing shoes where the statement, “It’s better to have four rubber wheels than two rubber heels” does not apply.

As I wrote in the book Sole Provider: It was about…something beyond basketball.

Scoop Jackson is a SLAM legend. Follow him on Twitter @iamscoopjackson.

—

The Jordan I “Banned” colorway returns to retail on Saturday, September 3 for $160. Images via Jordan Brand.

The post Only One appeared first on SLAM.

For those that can’t make it out to the prestigious game, you can catch it live on ESPNU on Saturday night, August 20 at 7:30 p.m.

After breaking down the first 10 games in the event’s history earlier this week, here’s a player-by-player breakdown of the kids partaking in the 11th installment of the Under Armour Elite 24 game:

TEAM CLUTCH

Jalek Felton
6-3, SG, Gray Collegiate (West Columbia, SC), Senior
Nephew of NBA guard Raymond Felton, Jalek returns to the Elite 24 for a third consecutive year. This summer he led the 17U UA Association travel circuit in steals (2.5), finished fourth in assists (5.0) and sixth in scoring (19.0).

Jahvon Quinerly
6-0, PG, Hudson Catholic (Jersey City, NJ) Junior
One of two Hudson Catholic hoopers and one of three UAA SportsU 16U players invited, Quinerly led his AAU squad in scoring (14.8) during regular season, while finishing second in assists. He’s a top-40 national prospect in the 2018 class.

Devon Dotson
6-2, PG, Providence Day (Charlotte, NC), Class of 2018
After helping lead Team Charlotte to a 11-1 regular season record in the UA Association, Dotson averaged 22.3 points in the Finals session, falling a win short of reaching the championship game for a second consecutive year.

Josh Anderson
6-5, SF, Madison Prep (Baton Rouge, LA), Senior
Despite breaking his wrist early in the season, Anderson was still able to fight his way past it and lead Madison Prep to the Class 2A state title after averaging 18.1 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds last season.

MJ Walker
6-5, SG, Jonesboro (GA) High, Senior
A two-sport standout athlete who has accumulated offers in both football and basketball, he was the UA Association’s regular season leading scorer with 20.7 points per game. Walker has also led Jonesboro to three consecutive state title game appearances.

Gerald Liddell
6-6, SF, Steele (Cibolo, TX), Junior
As only a sophomore last season, Liddell was named TABC 5A first-team All-State after averaging a team-high 17.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He is one of 14 rising juniors participating in this year Elite 24 festivities.

Sidney Wilson
6-7, SF, Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, NH), Junior
In UA Association this summer, Wilson, a Bronx native, averaged 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks – top-8 in the league in all categories. He reclassified to the 2018 class this summer and transferred to New Hampshire’s Brewster Academy.

Nick Richards
6-11, C, The Patrick School (Elizabeth, NJ), Senior
A native of Jamaica who has only been playing organized basketball for about three years, Richards has exploded in the American prep hoops scene over the last couple of years for his ability to crash the boards and finish.

Austin Wiley
6-10, PF, Spain Park (Birmingham, AL), Senior
An Auburn-commit, Wiley, who’s mother Vickie Orr hooped collegiately at Auburn and was part of the 1992 bronze-winning Barcelona Olympic team, averaged 27.1 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game last season as a junior.

Bol Bol
6-11, PF, Bishop Miege (Mission, KS), Junior
Son of the late Munute Bol, a 7-7 former NBA shot-blocking machine and renowned humanitarian activist, this rising junior, who was born in South Sudan, has emerged as a major prospect much due to his inside-outside versatility.

Kevin Knox
6-8, SF, Tampa (FL) Catholic, Senior
The son of two former Florida State athletes (dad was a wide receiver for the 1996 national championship team and a 6th round NFL draft pick; mom played volleyball), Knox has been a top ranked prospect in basketball and football.
(Photo: IG @Tampa_Catholic, Michael Groff)

Isaiah Washington
6-1, PG, St. Raymond HS, (Bronx, NY), Senior
A local Internet sensation thanks to his dazzling ball-handling skills and finishes, Washington hooped for the NYC-based New Heights in the UA Association this summer, averaging 13.6 points, and a team-high and league’s third-best 5.2 assists.

TEAM DRIVE 

Nickeil Alexander-Walker
6-5, SG, Hamilton Heights Christian (Chattanooga, TN), Senior
A Toronto native who committed to Virginia Tech in May, Alexander-Walker led the UA Association travel circuit in free throws made this summer, while also leading Canada Elite in scoring with 15.2 ppg.

Louis King
6-7, SF, Hudson Catholic (Jersey City, NJ), Junior
One of three players from the UA Association’s SportsU 16U team slated to play in the prestigious game, King, finished top-3 in scoring, rebounds, assists and steals for the Garden State-based squad this summer.

Trevon Duval
6-3, PG, Advanced Prep (Dallas, TX), Senior
A top-5 national prospect, Duval, who hails from Delaware, finished fifth in assists (4.9) during the UA Association travel circuit this summer, while tied for second in steals (2.0), ultimately leading his WE-R1 squad to the 17U title.

Zion Williamson
6-7, SF, Spartanburg (SC) Day School, Junior
Fresh off a state title and winning MVP accolades at the 2016 NBPA Top 100 Camp in June, Williamson has showed out in a big way this summer and made his case in the Class of 2018 rankings.

Hamidou Diallo
6-5, SG, Putnam (CT) Science Academy, Senior
Diallo, a Queens, NY, native and returning E24 participant, is regarded as arguably the most explosive guard in the nation and a top-10 prospect. After two seasons at local John Bowne HS, he transferred to Putnam Science in CT in 2014.

Khavon Moore
6-8, SF, Westside High (Macon GA), Junior
Hooping in the UA Association’s 16U group with the Atlanta Xpress this summer, Moore led the team in scoring with 16.5 points per game, finishing top-6 in the entire league. He is one of two players representing the Peach State.

Nazreon Reid
6-9, PF, Roselle (NJ) Catholic, Junior
Reid, one of multiple Garden State natives, hooped with the SportsU 16U team in the UA Association this summer, where he was the team’s second leading scorer (11.8) and its top rebounder (8.8), which was third best in the league.

Javonte Smart
6-3, PG, Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, LA), Junior
As a sophomore last season, Smart earned the Gatorade Louisiana Boys Player of the Year award after leading Scotlandville to a 34-3 record and the Louisiana Class 5A championship game, averaging 22.4 ppg, 7.2 apg and 6.9 rpg.

Moses Brown
6-11, C, Archbishop Molloy (Queens, NY), Junior
A rising junior at famed NYC Catholic school Archbishop Molloy, which has produced the likes of Kenny Smith, Kenny Anderson, and Russ Smith, Brown hooped with the New Heights 17U squad this summer, where here averaged 7.5 points and 5.9 rebounds.

Silvio de Sousa
6-9, PF, Montverde (FL) Academy, Junior
A native of Angola, De Sousa came to America in early 2015 and has attended national powerhouse Montverde since his arrival, where he’s emerged into one of the top prospects in the Class of 2018.

Jaylen Hoard
6-8, SF, Wesleyan Christian (High Point, NC), Junior
Slated to make his American HS debut this fall, Hoard hails from France, where he’s attended school up until this year. His father hooped at Murray State. Hoard averaged 22.4 points and 5.7 rebounds at the FIBA U17 World Championships.

Miles Norris
6-9, PF, Mater Dei (San Diego, CA), Junior
Despite only being a sophomore last season, Norris averaged team-highs of 14.8 points and 10.6 rebounds en route to a 20-8 record. He’s started every game he’s played in his first two years.

Photos courtesy of Kelly Kline/Under Armour

The post 2016 Under Armour Elite 24 Preview appeared first on SLAM.

Peep the rosters below and stay tuned for much more about this year’s Elite 24 from Under Armour and SLAM!

Team Drive

Trevon Duval 2017 Guard New Castle, DE

Javonte Smart 2018 Guard Baton Rouge, LA

Hamidou Diallo 2017 Guard Queens, NY

Nickeil Alexander-Walker 2017 Guard Toronto, ON

Louis King 2018 Forward Columbus, NJ

Khavon Moore 2018 Forward Macon, GA

Jaylen Hoard 2018 Forward Carnon, France

Nazreon Reid 2018 Forward Neptune, NJ

Silvio De Souza 2018 Forward Luonda, Angola

Zion Williamson 2018 Forward Spartanburg, SC

Brandon McCoy 2017 Center San Diego, CA

Moses Brown 2018 Center Queens, NY

Team Clutch

Jalek Felton 2017 Guard Mullins, SC

Jahvon Quinerly 2018 Guard Hackensack, NJ

Devon Dotson 2018 Guard Matthews, NC

Josh Anderson 2017 Guard Baton Rouge, LA

MJ Walker 2017 Guard Riverdale, GA

Billy Preston 2017 Forward Los Angeles, CA

Gerald Liddell 2018 Forward Cibolo, TX

Kevin Knox 2017 Forward Riverview, FL

Sid Wilson 2018 Forward Bronx, NY

Nick Richards 2017 Forward Brooklyn, NY

Austin Wiley 2017 Center Hoover, AL

Bol Bol 2018 Center Olathe, KS

Related:

WATCH: Top-5 Recruit Trevon Duval’s Summer Mixtape
WATCH: Trevon Duval, Jalek Felton And Mor Showed Out at ’16 Under Armour Association
WATCH: Bol Bol’s Summer ’16 Highlights
WATCH: 2017 F Billy Preston Mixtape
WATCH: 2017 G Hamidou Diallo Mixtape

The post Under Armour Announces 2016 Elite 24 Rosters appeared first on SLAM.

Points Per Game
Lionel “LJ” Figueroa 26.0
Kris Wilkes 23.5
Nathaniel Pierre-Louis 22.0
Myles Cale 22.0
Trevon Duval 19.5

Rebounds Per Game
Bourama Sibide 12.5
Ruot Monyyong 10.2
Josip Vrankic 9.5
Ira Lee 8.2
Cameron Krutwig 8.2

Assists Per Game
Cameron Mack 7.8
Paul Scruggs 6.0
Isaiah Washington 6.0
Prentiss Hubb 5.8
Jacob Gilyard 4.8

Steals Per Game
Lionel “LJ” Figueroa 2.5
Jalek Felton 2.2
David Nickleberry 2.2

Blocks Per Game
Ruot Monyyong 3.2
Bourama Sidibe 2.8
Nate Watson 2.2
Emmanuel Dowuona 2.2
Christopher Sodom 2.0
Moses Brown 2.0

The post Under Armour Association NYC Session (PHOTOS) appeared first on SLAM.

But that was the ABA for you. Always go big. You finally won a title? Why not issue a million-dollar challenge to the best of the best? A seven-game series for a seven-figure payout. There’s a sweet symmetry to it.

“We would have killed them,” says Dan Issel, a Colonel for five years.

If that was the case, then Brown was safe. Even though his Colonels were sagging financially, along with the rest of the ABA, the product on court was still stronger than Kentucky center Artis Gilmore, a sequoia of a man. Issel, Gilmore and Louie Dampier comprised the nucleus, and all three are in the Hall of Fame. It’s not at all crazy to think they would have dispatched the ’75 Warriors, who weren’t exactly the ’95-96 Bulls.

“We won [the finals] in five games, and [playing Golden State] would have been another five-game series,” Issel says.

We never found out how the teams would have fared against each other, because it made no sense for the NBA to agree to such a meeting. When you are big brother, you don’t give the kid a shot at your title.

As it turns out, that 1975 championship season was just about the last moment of glory for the franchise, one of the original ABA teams and certainly one of the two or three most stable. One season later, the league merged with the NBA, sending four teams (San Antonio, Indiana, Denver and the Nets) to the big time, while Kentucky joined St. Louis and Virginia—not to mention Utah and San Diego, which died early in the ’75-76 season—to the graveyard. ABA players were distributed to NBA teams like assets, and all that was left were red, white and blue memories.

“We were all in it together,” Issel says. “You might take a swing at a guy during the course of a game, but you might go and have dinner with him later on.”

The Colonels were a steady force in the ABA, and Issel, Gilmore and Dampier was as potent as any trio, no matter the league. Playing in Louisville’s Freedom Hall and capitalizing on the state’s affection for the University of Kentucky, the Colonels built a fan base and were rocks on a landscape that was always shifting. Sure, they had classic ABA moments, like when they used a female jockey (briefly) during a game and hired a pediatrician to be the team doctor, but everybody in the league did crazy stuff. The ABA began its existence in ’67 with 11 teams, and only four made it to ’76 in their same cities. Kentucky was one of them.

“I thought the team was first class in every way,” says Darel Carrier, who teamed with Dampier for five seasons. “We stayed in the best motels and ate well. You’d hear stories of roofs leaking and other things, but I didn’t see that.

“We had some really good basketball players.”

***

The idea was to get more women to Colonels games; that’s why Brown installed an all-female “board of directors.” It was ceremonial, of course; he ran the team. But by appearing friendly, he hoped to increase attendance. His wife Ellie was the chairman, and one day during the ’74-75 season, she and her fellow board members opened practice, but only to women. Issel estimates 300 people were in the stands when Hubie Brown, then a first-year coach, convened the workout.

Today, people know Brown as a TV analyst who breaks games into bite-sized portions that are easily digestible by viewers. When he stormed up and down the sidelines running teams, he was as caustic as could be, with a direct approach that included liberal doses of profanity. When he noticed the audience wasn’t taking interest in the proceedings, he stopped everything and issued a stern warning.

“I wasn’t excited about you being here,” Issel remembers him saying. “If you can’t be quiet and pay attention, you can get the fuck out of here.”

That did it. “Not another word was spoken,” Issel says.

Brown’s arrival was the final ingredient in the Colonels’ championship quest. They had the players but lacked the kind of leadership provided by Brown, one of the first coaches to pay attention to advanced statistics and apply them during games. He later called the Colonels the best he ever coached.

“When it came to coaching games, Hubie was the best I ever played for,” Issel says.

It wasn’t always that way. Not that the Colonels were mismanaged. No team, no matter how talented, could have enjoyed the success Kentucky did with people on the bench who didn’t know what they were doing. After stumbling in the Eastern semifinals their first two years, the Colonels reached the conference championship round in 1970. The next year, new GM Mike Storen hired UK legend Frank Ramsey, who helped the Wildcats win the 1951 national title and had generally been accorded deity status in his home state. Though somewhat reluctant to assume the reins, he did so to help the struggling Colonels, although some wondered if it was a good idea.

Kentucky only went 32-35 under Ramsey, who took over 17 games into the season. But once the playoffs started, things changed. The Colonels dumped Florida and Virginia to reach the finals with Utah, which had won 58 games during the regular season, 14 more than Kentucky had. The series went the distance, but Utah prevailed. That was it for Ramsey, who resigned after the season. It didn’t matter. Gilmore was on his way.

The Jacksonville University standout was technically a territorial property of the Floridians, based in Miami. The ABA, in an attempt to help attendance, encouraged teams to sign players who attended college close by. That’s how UK stars Dampier and Issel, not to mention Carrier, a Western Kentucky standout, ended up with the Colonels. Since the Floridians were one year away from extinction and were giving off the aroma of road kill, the idea of sending Gilmore to the franchise was ludicrous. The league held a meeting at which teams presented sealed bids for Gilmore. Storen pledged $3 million, a ridiculous figure for either league, but one that scared off other GMs. Kentucky got Gilmore and signed him to a 10-year deal worth $1.5 million, even though it was announced at $2.7 million. The numbers didn’t matter. What was important was that Gilmore was a Colonel.

“He was unbelievable,” Issel says. “His thighs (27 inches around) were almost as big as his waist.”

The arrival of Gilmore cannot be understated for both the Colonels and the ABA. He would have easily been the top pick in the NBA Draft, ahead of Austin Carr and Sidney Wicks. Though he played just two years at Jacksonville, he averaged 24.3 ppg and 22.7 rpg and led the nation in rebounding twice. He helped the Dolphins to the 1970 NCAA Championship game, where they fell, 80-69, to UCLA.

Standing 7-2 but looking far more imposing with a five-inch Afro, Gilmore was something of a mythical figure by the time he reached the NBA in ’76. He led the ABA in rebounding four of his five seasons and averaged 5.0 bpg as a rookie. With Gilmore protecting the rim, Kentucky could push way out on the men they were covering, secure in the fact that if they were beaten, A-Train was there.

“Defense was an area I placed emphasis on,” Gilmore says. “I prided myself on making a contribution.”

The ’71-72 Colonels won an ABA-record 68 games but somehow lost in the Eastern semis to the Nets in six. They reached the finals in ’73 but lost to Indiana in seven. It seemed ridiculous that a team with so much talent couldn’t win a championship. The Colonels certainly had offense. Issel scored 25 or more each of his first four seasons. “Dan was a special, unique player,” Gilmore says. “He was able to stretch the floor and knock down shots from the perimeter. He could also put the ball on the floor.” Gilmore was a regular 20-plus ppg sccorer, while also providing defense and rebounding.

Then there was Dampier. The Kentucky product was instrumental in Issel’s desire to join the Colonels, thanks to their friendship at UK when Dampier was a senior and Issel a freshman. Barely 6-0 and a lean 170 pounds, Dampier wasn’t going to overwhelm anyone. Give him six inches, however, and he could squeeze off a shot anywhere. The all-time ABA leader in points scored, three-pointers made, assists and games, Dampier is one of the most underrated players in history, simply because the bulk of his career came in a league that received little national attention.

“The second time I coached the Nuggets, I talked him into being one of my assistant coaches,” says Issel, who presented Dampier at his 2015 Hall induction. “Even at 60, he was the best shooter in the gym. Not only was he accurate, he could get his shot away so quickly. He couldn’t jump, but when he came off a pick, if he had a sliver of daylight, it was going in. And Darel Carrier was a close second in terms of shooting.”

Carrier came to the Colonels from the AAU ranks, where he played for the Phillips 66 team, which gave its players 20 gallons of gas for every three-pointer. “I told Louie I never had to pay for gas,” the marksman says. “But I split it with my teammates.” Carrier spent five years with the Colonels, leaving after the ’71-72 season for Memphis, before a torn Achilles ended his career.

The ABA’s end came in 1976, but Kentucky’s demise started a year earlier when owner John Brown decided to jettison a prime asset to save money. “It was either me or Artis,” Issel says. “Someone told him Artis was going to have a longer career than I would, so I was sold to the Baltimore Claws.” The Claws never paid up, so Brown shipped Issel to Denver, where he played 10 more seasons.

In 1976, the Colonels lost a semifinal series to Issel and the Nuggets, who went on to drop a memorable finals to Dr. J’s New York Nets. That was it for the ABA. Denver, San Antonio, Indiana and the Nets paid the $3 million fee to join the NBA. Brown declined. Gilmore was drafted by the Bulls; Dampier went to the Spurs.

Issel has a picture from the day Gilmore was inducted into the Hall, with Issel, Moses Malone, Erving, George Gervin and David Thompson, all ABA alums.

“There was a camaraderie that didn’t exist across teams in the NBA,” Issel says.

Kentucky was a big part of it.

—

Images via Getty

The post Salute appeared first on SLAM.

The first quote I tagged from young Mr. James was that he wanted “to be a global icon like Muhammad Ali.” The second was that he dreamed of being “the richest athlete in the history of the world.”

I thought about this and wrote critically that while those were two great goals, they did not necessarily go great together. They were contradictory, I believed, because Ali was a global icon precisely because of what he sacrificed, not for what he earned.

I thought my thesis was a slam-dunk, an easy bucket. If the sports world had proven anything, I wrote, it was that you couldn’t be Ali AND Jordan. You had to choose one path or the other. Man or Brand.

In retrospect, I still don’t think this is wrong, but I also wasn’t right. I did not foresee that The King would have the power to shape the world and make his own rules. That’s why he is the only person on the SLAM Top 50 list who demands an assessment beyond the court: because hoops has just been a means to one of the most unique careers in the history of sports.

LeBron probably won’t end up the wealthiest athlete who ever lived and he will almost certainly never experience the level of sacrifice and pain Ali endured, but he is the only athlete who not only belongs on the Ali list and the Jordan list, but has created a new list all his own.

On the Jordan front, LeBron has the sneakers, the friendships with Warren Buffet and is effectively a Fortune 500 company with legs. When you fly into Cleveland’s airport, it is immediately apparent that you have entered a LeBron-based economy.

His face is everywhere. His gear is everywhere. He is one with his city like no athlete in the United States. He also wields a power worthy of such omnipresence. If Bill Russell was the first player/coach when LeBron is our first player/CEO. Decisions from his Comic Sans owner and his at times comically inept coach get cleared at his desk.

And then in the tradition of Muhammad Ali, LeBron has also used this hyper exalted platform to be a thoughtful and outspoken critic of police violence and has lent his support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

This started before the movement had a name, when LeBron and Dwyane Wade organized the Miami Heat to wear hoodies for Trayvon Martin and in protest of the state’s lack of desire to arrest Trayvon’s killer (no, I don’t write that disgusting person’s name).

LeBron’s support of Black Lives Matter has a powerful ripple effect: It brings the struggle to masses of people. It encourages those in the streets. And perhaps most importantly of all, it immediately provides political cover to any player who wants to use their NBA platform to speak out for this cause. If you don’t punish LeBron, then you cannot go after Jarrett Jack.

He has also recently had words about being fed up with gun violence, the alleged third rail of US politics, and has given massive sums of money to his hometown of Akron to make sure that the next generation has places to play.

I don’t think anybody outside of LeBron saw that he would be able to chart this kind of path. Hell, I think in many respects he didn’t know. James is a master of improvisation, analyzing the present with the same otherworldly situational awareness he brings to the court.

His instincts to speak out about Trayvon, Donald Sterling, and the death of Eric Garner at the hands of the Staten Island police, are as sharp as his call to David Blatt that with the game on the line, they should just give him the damn ball.

If there is one moment that defines the man LeBron has become it was before Game 3 of the 2015 NBA Finals, when the King took a moment to be humble. With the world watching, James lowered his head and bowed before the only Cleveland sports figure who has ever held a similar stature, 79-year-old NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown.

That moment encapsulates the genius of 2015 LeBron James. He showed respect for an elder. He showed respect to Cleveland. And he showed respect to one of most controversial figures in the history of sports and politics. And then once the ball went up, he was, in the words of the late, great Moses Malone, “All about that action.”

Jim Brown told me after the fact that he had no idea LeBron even knew he was in the building. That’s the improvisational genius on display. That’s LeBron James. And that’s why until further notice, he owns this spot at the top of the list.

RELATED: ANTHONY DAVIS IS THE NO. 2 PLAYER IN THE 2015 SLAM TOP 50

Rankings are based on expected contribution in 2015-16—to players’ team, the NBA and the game.

The post SLAM Top 50: LeBron James, No. 1 appeared first on SLAM.

St. Anthony, coached by the legendary Bob Hurley, has remained unbeaten while playing in the Shooting Touch Showcase in past years. This year, St. John’s Prep will be looking to bring the Friars streak to a halt. Being that this will be the showcase’s last year, it might be the last time for local basketball fans to catch the renowned New Jersey program playing in the Boston area in a long time.

All proceeds of the event will go to the Shooting Touch’s new G3 program, which focuses on increasing basketball participation for girls in the City of Boston.

Below is the complete schedule and match-ups for this weekend’s event. Check out the Shooting Touch website, Twitter and Facebook feed for more information about the showcase and the organization’s overall mission.

December 27th, Day 1

3:45pm Catholic Central (NY) VS Franklin (MA)

5:30pm Moses Brown School (RI) VS Christian Brothers Academy (NJ)

7:15pm St. Anthony (NJ) VS St. John’s Prep (MA)

December 28th, Day 2

5:30pm Brighton (MA) VS Christian Brothers Academy (NJ)

7:15pm St. Anthony’s (NJ) VS Central Catholic (NY)

The post 2014 Shooting Touch Shootout Slated for this Weekend in Boston appeared first on SLAM.

The only reason Kyrie Andrew Irving is in the top 10 of the SLAM Top 50 is that he’s young—extremely young for such a pedestal. Since bouncing on Coach K after 11 unnecessary games at Duke, the Australia-born, New Jersey-raised point has written himself a storybook beginning to his professional career.

Since Dan Gilbert made him 2011’s No. 1 NBA Draft pick, Irving’s purpose has been to bomb over the LeBron James era in big crimson letters. Breaking his rookie season only to properly introduce himself to the masses during All-Star Weekend, he snatched the Rising Stars Challenge MVP with 9 assists and an unimpeded 34 points (12-13 FG, 8-8 3PT). Shortly thereafter, he locked-up the ROY with first-season averages of 18, 5 and 4.

That math would be trumped the very next season (22, 6 and 4), but not before seizing All-Star Weekend once again to remind the world that he’s not solely the future of the Cavs, but the entire League—Friday, 32 points in the Rising Stars Challenge; Saturday, winning his first Three-Point Contest; Sunday, an impressive 15, 5 and 4 in his first All-Star Game.

It kind of sucks to admit, but the only reason Kyrie Irving is not in the top five of SLAM Top 50 is that he’s too young. Most of the men to be listed ahead of him have accomplished some of his aforementioned benchmarks, yet haven’t cleaned the board like he has in their first two seasons. More importantly, unlike Irving, they’ve all reached their profession’s un-promised land: the Playoffs.

Spring is when the NBA’s best become the best. Last March, Irving became legal enough to sip his daddy’s yac. His age must have some of the upcoming eight players pretty concerned—the younger the All-Star, the more harrowing KI must appear. On purely skill-level, the NBA junior is on par or better than 95 percent of the League; even the Five Percenters have felt the new religion that he is.

In case you haven’t noticed, Cleveland’s premo PG has zero respect for elders wearing Jerry West’s silhouette; even less for peers in his generation. He’s taken Kevin Durant to the brink and ended games in Russell Westbrook’s eye; made Rajon Rondo look as old as Paul Pierce (and PP look Doc Rivers’ age); and Madison Square Garden look like his house (youngest person ever to drop 40 in MSG; second youngest was Michael Jordan back in ’85). There wasn’t much difference between his effectiveness at 2012’s All-Star-stocked pre-Olympic training camp and his age group’s 2013 USA Basketball Showcase. Same Sin City. Same Godly game.

Watching Irving shred defenses is like spectating an assassin at work wearing Batman’s belt—he murders opponents with imagination and variety. From a surface level, you’ll see Irving stacking points with golden handles and boundless range. A tighter view offers the nuances to the killer’s repertoire. Physically, his footwork is comparable to Chris Brown’s; he’s not the fastest, but possesses tricky gears of quickness that offsets every defender on the floor. Mentally, he has a merciless, almost psychotic, will to score. He seeks out trouble like some sort of point guardian angel. When everyone in the stadium thinks the play has exhausted, Rod Strickland’s Godson finds another step toward the rack or swivel for a fade-away. Whistle blows—and one. There’s a reason why many hoop heads didn’t diagnose Irving insane for challenging Black Mamba to a $50,000, one-on-one contest: No one man can stop that much force.

Assessing how Irving scores is one study in amazing, but breaking down where on-court he does the most and least damage is another head trip. That he’s one of the A’s finest finishers and relishes contact as much as he does the long ball are truths. It’s why he produces the least between 5-14 feet from the rim. Imagine when he decides to not only challenge D-Rose for best finger-roll, but teardrop as well. Let’s not even talk about KI’s new commitment to defense—man-to-man defense. That’s just an awaiting nightmare for guards come November. The steals average of 1.3 he sleepwalked through his first two seasons will most likely remain his lowest for the next half decade, at least.

Weighing the little that Irving doesn’t do on the court to the a lot that he hasn’t accomplished yet has the Cavaliers quite excited for tomorrow. They’ve expressed this by producing their finest offseason since drafting Prince James. They realize that once again an MVP is in their house, and refused to repeat the same mistake by only accessorizing his greatness.

Over the summer, the Cavs made Irving the nucleus to his first competitive team: there’s Earl Clark, an excellent role player who has the skill set to be more; a gritty Dion Waiters who will shoot better; Jarrett Jack, a purple-hearted back-up; and some bigs who are young, talented and, well…pretty big. Irving can now prioritize passing to his teammates. He’ll finally be able to evolve into an All-Star point guard instead of just an All-Star guard (and finally surpass a 6 apg average). His success this season, though, will rest on the arthritis of Andrew Bynum. If the two can become the 1-2 punch of Gilbert’s wet dream, then number 2 will enter his first postseason.

Everyone in Cleveland is ready for a return to the Playoffs. From the fans to ownership down to their second No. 1 Draft pick in the last two years, Anthony Bennett, they all can smell it. They’re all aware that Irving’s role in this pilgrimage to the un-promised land will be no less than that of Moses. It’s why no matter what city Irving traveled to last summer, his new and old teammates accepted his challenge to grab a flight, follow their leader and practice like they didn’t know the ledge.

See, what the new and improved Cavs are really ready for is their fans to forget that James flat-left them. And only one caliber of player can help fade the memory of an organization’s first MVP: their next MVP.

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Rankings are based on expected contribution in ’13-14—to players’ team, the League and the game.

The post Top 50: Kyrie Irving, no. 9 appeared first on SLAM.

by Adam Figman / @afigman

This past Saturday in the Toyota Center, immediately before an entertaining night of dribbling, shooting and dunking, NBA commissioner David Stern addressed reporters and spoke on a variety of pressing news items, with an important one standing well above the rest: the issue of whether the Sacramento Kings will soon be moving north to Seattle. As the press conference took place, a man both emotionally and financially invested in the matter sat with a reporter at a restaurant just a short walk from the downtown Houston arena and talked about, well, a lot—highlights of his playing career, his current business endeavors, the re-release of his signature kicks and plenty more.

Nowadays, Shawn Kemp resides in Seattle and runs a restaurant situated a few blocks away from Key Arena, a building fans once packed to watch the high-flying Kemp and his SuperSonics take on the likes of Jordan’s Bulls, Stockton/Malone’s Jazz, Ewing’s Knicks, Barkley’s Suns and a host of other popular squads during the early-to-mid 90s. With the Reebok Kamikaze II Mids—the sneaker Kemp wore during the ’96 All-Star Game—in stores once again, the 6-10 former power forward sipped a frozen strawberry margarita and expounded on both the past and the present.

(Also: On Page 2, check out a Q+A with Pacers swingman Gerald Green, who slipped on the Kamikazes for the 2013 Dunk Contest, and on Page 3 read our interview with Kings guard Isaiah Thomas, who rocked those same sneaks during the 2013 Rising Stars Challenge.)

SLAM: So let’s start with the Kamikaze II re-release.

Shawn Kemp: Yeah. It’s been good for me. I think it’s good for Reebok. The relationship has always been good. Good people to work with. Good athletes to work with from the start. We started off in the 90s doing the Above the Rim campaign, so ever since then it’s been great quality. We’ve been working with a lot of guys, from Dennis Rodman to Dominique Wilkins to Shaq. The relationship has been good.

SLAM: How’d you initially wind up with Reebok?

SK: Initially I came into the League wearing Nikes, and you find out very quickly…I always wanted to appeal to the streets, appeal to younger people. So that was really my reason to go from Nike to Reebok. Reebok kind of gave me the edge a little bit with having street credibility. That means a lot. I’m from the streets, so you want that. You want that relationship with younger people.

SLAM: Was the Kamikaze your first Reebok sneaker?

SK: Nah, I came into Reebok doing the Above the Rim campaign, so I did a lot of Above the Rim stuff. The Kamikaze 1 was my first [signature] shoe with Reebok. It’s funny—I just got done playing a basketball game and I actually wore the Kamikaze 1s today. It’s different.

SLAM: It’s cool that you still wear them.

SK: Yeah, you gotta. Who you are is who you are. So you want to stick with it and make it grow.

SLAM: When you were little were you a big sneakerhead?

SK: Absolutely, I was definitely a shoe kid. We looked at it in a different fashion back then—we didn’t look at it like it was just… now shoes are so much money. They cost more. Guys are making $300 pairs of shoes, which is OK, but everyone can’t afford $300 pairs of shoes. The one good thing about working with Reebok back in the day—my shoe now is 100 bucks. One good thing is we had one of the lowest [priced] signature shoes at the time, during my playing career. That’s what made me smile. I was able to talk to kids and let them know I wasn’t in it for financial reasons—I was in it for quality.

SLAM: Did you have a say in the Kamikaze’s design?

SK: Absolutely. The way that we did it is I had sign of approval, but I had such a good relationship with Reebok, they always showed me the designs early on. We agreed to everything step by step. That’s why it worked so well back then, and it still works together now, because we put time in it. I didn’t accept the first shoe, and they went back and really got creative with it.

SLAM: What was wrong with the first one?

SK: The first design wasn’t as crazy and didn’t have as many designs, and—

SLAM: You wanted to stand out.

SK: Exactly. I really did, man. So I told them to go back because the shoe was too basic [laughs]. I told Reebok the shoe was way too basic, and they came back and they showed me the Kamikaze 1 less than a month later, and I was like, [points] that’s the one right there.

SLAM: What was the reaction like when you first wore it?

SK: My teammates were like, “Are you serious? They already know who you are, but are you seriously going to wear those?” But they grew on them. After I played one game in it, they were loving it. They were asking for a pair.

SLAM: It looks like a shoe designed specifically for a big dunker.

SK: It does, but I think that with the style of basketball that I play, where I was all over the court, it fit my style very well. Just to be different out there. And I think as a player in a team sport, you look to be creative, and you look to be different. The way you feel is how you play. If you feel good and you’re shoes are good, I think it helps your game.

SLAM: Before I came here I went on YouTube and watched the Top 10 Shawn Kemp Dunks of All-Time. You have a favorite?

SK: No, I don’t have a favorite, but I wanna tell you this, man: I enjoyed it. I really did. And I don’t mean this in any bad way possible, but I just enjoy dunking on big guys. So anybody that was my size or taller than me—especially guys that were much taller than me—I started melting at the mouth when I saw them. If I could see somebody was bigger than me, it was just like… it was personal. I had to do it [laughs].

SLAM: I always wondered if guys occasionally plan ahead for which opponents they’re going to dunk on.

SK: It’s always during the game, during the course of the game. But I will admit to this, man: there were a few games when I did some signature dunks, when before the game I knew I was gonna do them. One would be the Lister Blister. [Points with his index fingers.] Yeah, with the fingers.

SLAM: You knew you were gonna do the pointing?

SK: Well they were trying to be really physical in that game with me, like throwing me on the ground. They didn’t want me to get any dunks or anything, trying to frustrate me. So one of the things you do when they start to frustrate you is you attack them and do something different. It kind of shocks them. The first one was the Rattling Gatling.

SLAM: I actually saw Chris Gatling at a party the other night. I was going to tell him that I’d be interviewing you today and see if he wanted to comment on that dunk, but thought better of it.

SK: [Laughs] Yeah, the Rattling Gatling, that was the one that opened it up. And then that’s when I was able to do the Lister Blister.

SLAM: To this day I can’t think of one other instance where a guy slapped hands with a dude who just dunked on him.

SK: Well you’d probably be suspended these days if you try it.

SLAM: It is easier to get suspended now, but still, that was a sign of sportsmanship.

SK: It is. I always wanted to [dunk on people] in such a way where I made my statement, but didn’t cross the line of embarrassing a guy or disrespecting him. I wanted to do it during the course of the game, and make it friendly, but necessary.

SLAM: Well, you got pretty close to that line with the Lister Blister.

SK: Yeah. All those guys—any of the guys that were on All-Star, I would just choose them.

SLAM: Has anyone you dunked on ever held a grudge? I imagine Alton Lister would…

SK: His wife didn’t like when I did it. She told me afterward she didn’t appreciate it.

SLAM: What did she say?

SK: “It was a contract year for him. This was the Playoffs. He played in Seattle with you guys a year ago. Why would you do that to him in a contract year?!” But hey, man, it’s all for the love of the game. But I don’t hold any grudges with any players, and I don’t think any players [do with me]. Like I said, I always tried to do in such a fashion that I didn’t disrespect them. It was all for fun. The things I did were definitely for fun. I only pointed at Lister. But with some of the other guys I did some things—it was all for fun.

SLAM: Any other favorite dunks?

SK: Yeah, I mean…the Michael Jordan one, I love that one. Oh my God, with the tongue sticking out right above his head? That’s forever. So that was great. The first year I got with Reebok it went so well, the second year that I came back with Reebok, they just asked me to dunk on everyone.

SLAM: They asked you to?

SK: Yeah, they were like, “Look, don’t even pick out teams, just go ahead and dunk on everybody.”

SLAM: That’s a tough request.

SK: Yeah, but it went well. I was very fortunate just to be able to come out with the energy to do that for so long. That’s what it’s about. You have to push yourself to be creative. I think some guys these days, they don’t put enough of themselves into the game. And also, the biggest difference is this: I played with a smile on my face. The difference with these guys today is they play with a tough, macho face, and it’s tough for the fans to recognize that. So if you’re able to play with a smile on your face, it goes a long way.

SLAM: You were in a couple of Dunk Contests, but never won one.

SK: I never went into the Dunk Contest to win—that was not my goal. It was to make a statement. It was a statement on fashion with the shoes, and it was a statement of who could dunk the ball the hardest. So I knew the little guys were gonna be a little bit more crafty, but I just wanted everyone in the arena to know I could dunk the basketball the hardest. That’s the reason why I went into the Dunk Contest.

SLAM: A lot of people have said Blake Griffin is like the new Shawn Kemp.

SK: Yeah. I’ve watched some of his plays, and it’s definitely—if there’s been any other player since I’ve played, and when I watch him play he definitely reminds me of myself. Not as much power, but definitely has the athleticism [laughs]. Not enough! He’s a little slower, but he’s a great player.

SLAM: Did you ever feel boxed in as a dunker, like people thought you could only dunk and weren’t a good all-around player?

SK: It works for you and it works against you. At first it really did work for me, but what it did do was when I heard those things about just being a dunker, it made me go into the gym. My and my assistant coach Tim Grgurich, sometimes we would stay in the gym just working on my jumpshot, working on my 15-footer. And I think every year you come back in the NBA, you need to bring something different, at least for those first seven-to-eight years. That’s the good thing about having a shoe deal and being with a shoe company that supports you, you have that inner feeling that somebody’s supporting you. It made my game so much easier when I was able to shoot the basketball. Now I just have fun—now it’s just shooting for fun. I don’t do a whole of dunking anymore, but I love to shoot the basketball.

SLAM: You regularly play pick-up at local gyms?

SK: Yeah I play with everyday guys, man. I prefer to play with guys off the street, because that’s kind of where you learn it from.

SLAM: People get surprised to see you?

SK: Yeah. They’re surprised when me and my wife play on the same team. That’s more surprising for them.

SLAM: She can play?

SK: She can play, man! It’s tough to play with her because when we’re losing she makes me put in all the work. She doesn’t mind yelling at me, getting on me [laughs]. She’s like, ‘You better do something!’ I always go into the game and I try to be a team player. And then at the end I’m just like, Man, I’m ready to put some shots down. You gotta make a statement. So at the end I have to let them know that I can really do it, especially if we’re losing. If we’re losing I gotta shoot the ball every time.

SLAM: You must’ve been pretty psyched to hear about the progress made to bring the SuperSonics back.

SK: Yeah man, I’m excited. We’ve been pushing for it.

SLAM: Have you been part of the movement at all?

SK: I have been part of the movement. I own a restaurant right around the corner from where the Sonics used to play at Key Arena, so now they’re gonna get at least two years there, and then they’re gonna move to a different part of town to a new arena. [Potentially, but nothing’s set just yet.—Ed.] It’s gonna be fun. If you look across the NBA, guys like Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jamal Crawford, Martell Webster, Spencer Hawes—they might not be All-Stars, but they’re true NBA players. We’ve got a lot of guys from Seattle that truly came up.

SLAM: Why’d you decide to live in Seattle after you retired?

SK: Well my family’s from Seattle, my wife’s from Seattle, and I had bought into a restaurant years ago and I chose to go back to Seattle to run the day-to-day operations on it, to make sure it was successful after the Sonics left. We had to do a whole remodel, a whole change of things. I started doing a lot of radio work. It just kind of fit in with what we were doing. We’ve been working with the community there for so long; we run a college summer league there where college and NBA players can come and play. I always say I’m living a dream, man. I had a chance to do a lot of things when I was young as far as coming into the NBA and working with people there and also with Reebok, and I live my dream now by going out and doing things with the people in [the Seattle] area. It puts a smile on people’s faces, not just mine, so it works both ways.

Hit Page 2 for our Q+A with Pacers swingman Gerald Green and Page 3 for our Q+A with Kings guard Isaiah Thomas.

The post A Kamikaze Attack appeared first on SLAM.

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by Alan Paul / @AlPaul

No player in any sport has ever defined his league quite the way Julius Erving did for the ABA. Dr. J was the ABA. His presence alone probably kept the league afloat for the last two years of its existence and definitely played a huge role in the NBA’s decision to merge with the ABA in 1976, absorbing four of their rival’s strongest squads, including Doc’s New York Nets.

It was a reflection of not only how great Doc was, but how different, special and dominant he was. Great players come along every year, but true difference makers are much more rare, appearing a few times in each generation. They become milestones and you can measure basketball in terms of their arrival, dividing the sport into pre and post-eras.

Julius Winfield Erving II was one of those players. He changed the way the game is played, forever leaving behind the old floor-bound chess match for a new paradigm that was more athletic and graceful—a mid-air ballet punctuated by violent dunks.

Even while Doc ushered in the modern era of hoops, he was also one of the last creatures of the past epoch. In today’s hype-filled world where the best players risk overexposure before they turn 18, it’s hard to imagine that Dr. J was actually underexposed. His fiercest, most creative, wild and athletic play—the stuff that really revolutionized basketball, merging the playground and the arena into one streamlined game—took place in the final years of the teetering American Basketball Association. The league lacked TV deals and played many games before small crowds in rickety arenas far off the beaten path. Tales of exploits spread the old fashioned way—by word of mouth, with true believers screaming out his praises. Word moved through the hoops world that a new heir to Elgin Baylor and Connie Hawkins was taking skywalking to new heights.

A Long Island native, Doc was not highly recruited out of Roosevelt HS and he enrolled at the University of Massachusetts in 1968. He averaged 26.3 ppg and 20.2 rpg in two varsity seasons before leaving to join the ABA’s Virginia Squires. Doc had a eureka moment in his very first game, when he drove to the rim and was challenged by the Kentucky Colonels’ 7-2 Artis Gilmore and 6-9 Dan Issel.

“I went in between both of them and just hung there and waited for them to come down. Then I dunked on them so hard I fell on my back,” Erving once told the Boston Globe. “Just doing that made me confident to go after anyone, anytime, anywhere, without any fear.” And so he did.

As a rookie, Doc went for 27 ppg and 15 rpg and was Second Team All-League. At the end of that season, eager to get some more shine, Erving decided to switch to the NBA. He signed with the Atlanta Hawks, only to have the case taken to court, where a judge ruled he remained Squires’ property.

Rather than pouting, Doc returned to the ABA and led the league with 31.9 ppg, while still playing in relative obscurity, his exploits visible only to the lucky few who made it to a game. His visibility received a boost after the season when the Squires traded him to the Nets. There he averaged 27.4 ppg, led the team to a title and was named both regular season and playoff MVP. Still, his profile was relatively low; the Nets were at the bottom of the New York sports totem pole and they didn’t sell out a single regular season game.

The entire ABA was on shaky legs by then, but crowds would fill arenas to see Doc play and his open court theatrics could turn even the most rabid bunch against the home team. When he was coaching the Kentucky Colonels, Hubie Brown feared such turncoat cheering so much that all payers were ordered to foul Erving if he got into the open court—even if he were 20 feet from the basket. Those who failed to do so and allowed a dunk were fined $50.

“Historically…the only other player in the same class [as Doc] is Michael Jordan,” broadcaster Steve Jones, an opponent of Erving’s in the ABA said in the book Loose Balls, a history of the ABA. Jones noted that Jordan’s jumper was better than Erving’s. But, he added, “Julius played higher above the rim and he was a far better rebounder than Michael.”

The post The Good Doctor appeared first on SLAM.

He was running mates with Julius Erving and tore down a few a backboards in his day, but Darryl Dawkins hasn’t had his fill of the dunk life. Chocolate Thunder strives to continue educating us on the artistry and evolution of the slam dunk. “Some of the stuff where the guys are putting the ball between their legs and spinning and some of the timing, where they’re catching it off the bounce is just unbelievable,” Dawkins says. “I was known as a power dunker—someone who wanted to dunk one somebody! Doc could glide to points he wanted to glide. He’d be at thirty thousand feet and you’d be lifting off and losing altitude fast. But some of these guys today can flat out go!”

During All-Star weekend in Orlando, Dawkins, LeBron James and singer J. Cole (who will also perform prior to the event) will serve as judges for the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown, a contest featuring amateur dunkers from across the land competing for a $10,000 prize. The event will be streamed live on NBA.com and will feature four finalists:

·         Zach Jones, 6’0” a.k.a. “Jonesy” – Emerging from Dayton, OH, Jones, 24, has been dunking for six years and won the semifinal competition in Washington D.C.

·         Kenny Dobbs, 6’3” a.k.a. “K. Dobbs” – We featured the 26-year-old Dobbs career in the dunk game last summer.  Hailing from Phoenix, Ariz., Dobbs is an 11-year dunking veteran who won the semifinal competition in Los Angeles. He was also a finalist at last year’s Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown finals at NBA All-Star 2011.

·         Michael Stewart, 6’1” a.k.a. “Airdogg” – Stewart, 28, comes out of the City of Angels and brings an impressive 15 years of dunking experience to the Showdown. He solidified his spot in the Showdown through the online competition by uploading his dunk clip to NBA.com/dunk.

·         Kendall Boyd-Hill, 6’1” a.k.a. “Kasper” – From St. Louis, MO, Boyd-Hill, 21, has been dunking since he was 14 years old and is the winner from Denver.

Video content for all of the finalists is available at www.nba.com/dunk and via YouTube.

SLAM: Have you enjoyed being involved with the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown?

Darryl Dawkins: It’s been unbelievable. We went to eight different cities and selected the winners there. And the guys who couldn’t get there were able to put their dunks online at NBA.com. Ten thousand dollars is a big prize to be fighting for. Anyone who don’t want $10,000 in today’s economy needs to have their head examined. [laughs]

But it’s been fun going to the cities and rubbing elbows with these dunkers. And it’s been a real pleasure—I will continue to do this as long as it’s going. It’s unbelievable some of the stuff they do. They are hype! It’s their last chance to make the big dance and they really get involved. They bring it all out. In a slam dunk competition, you don’t always wait to pull out your best dunk last because you may not end up getting there. You better come out the door funking for Jamaica. Believe me.

SLAM: Are you allowed to have a favorite in this contest?

DD: I’m not. You know why? I want to keep my brain the way it is—free. I like the way it is right now. You’re going to see some stuff you haven’t seen before.

SLAM: You had a very interesting career in the NBA, entering the league straight out of high school in 1975.

DD: It wasn’t very popular then. Moses Malone had done it before me but he went to the ABA first. I was the first guy to go from high school to the NBA and that usually kills people if it’s a question in trivial pursuit. I still own that title along with the most fouls in one season. I’m known for that. For me, the most difficult thing was being away from my family, all of my brothers and sisters. I had to grow up quick. I had to learn how to drive in the snow—I had never even seen snow. World Free was the guy who taught me how to drive in the snow in Philadelphia. We had good guys on the team in Doug Collins, Harvey Catchings, Clyde Lee, Leroy Ellis, Mad Dog Carter—people hardly talk about these players. These guys walked me through it. Not to mention another influential lady named Zelda Spoelstra who grabbed me by the arm and told me, ‘Hey, this is the way it goes.’

SLAM: Did she work for the organization?

DD: She worked for the NBA. She is a fantastic lady. Fantastic!

SLAM: Did you ever consider going to college or were you set on going straight to the NBA?

DD: I did consider going to college. I had a teacher named Julie Brown who prepared me to go to college. I was leaning towards Florida State or Kentucky. Really, it was those two schools. But my dream was to play NBA basketball. My mother and my pastor at that time said, ‘Hey, if you want to try this, we are behind you 100 percent.’ It just worked out for me. I was blessed.

SLAM: You’ve always had such a great personality—someone that is always smiling, has nicknames for his dunks and drops incredible quotes. What were you like as a kid?

DD: I always had a very wild imagination and it has never left me. It is still here. Anybody whose mother calls herself “The Great Harriet” and father was named “The Fantastic Frankie” had to have some imagination. And I was one of 11 kids. I always had a good time playing the game. I believed in entertaining people.

SLAM: Many talk about how great Clyde Frazier’s style was. Do you feel like you’re underrated in that department?

DD: Man, I’m waaaaaay underrated. You know why? Because big guys wear black, blue and gray—that’s the only colors they make. Me, I wear anything from pink to leopard. Growing up, they would tell me they don’t have it in my size, you won’t look good in it and you can’t wear it. I swore to myself if I ever made some money, I would wear whatever I’d want to wear and whatever color. I enjoy it, man. At All-Star, you wear something that nobody would ever wear. I’ve had people come up to me and tell me they couldn’t pull it off, ‘but you can big fella.’ Not only do you gotta wear it, you gotta talk the talk and walk the walk. Some people are going to come up to you and say, ‘Man what you got on! I wouldn’t ever wear that.’ Then you have others that might say, ‘I’m feeling you big boy! I’m feeling you!’ And that’s all you need, that one person to feel you and you keep doing your thing. If somebody got the same thing on that I got on, I’m going home to change it because ain’t nobody wearing what I’m wearing.

SLAM: What does your closet look like?

DD: My closet looks like a bag of skittles. I like to be able to get through my closet with the light off. [laughs]

SLAM: Who are some of the players in the NBA that you enjoy watching today?

DD: I enjoy watching all the young players. Naturally, I enjoy watching Kobe and LeBron and these guys. I also enjoy watching guys like Durant and Westbrook and Derrick Rose. They come out and put it out each night. I enjoy the games. I’m one of those guys that will try to watch four games at one time. Because I like action and I like to see it going on. Basketball is the biggest thing in my life. I do believe in God but I love basketball so much, man. My pastor told me once, ‘I’ve got to preach fast today because the game is on at two o’clock.’ I remember saying, ‘How can you say that?’ And now I find myself being more and more like that. The game makes me feel good.

SLAM: Many NBA fans that grew up watching the game in the 70s and 80s have such great respect for The Doc and really enjoyed what he brought to the game. What can you tell me about him?

DD: Doc lived by example. A lot of guys do a lot of jaw-jacking, gum-bamming, lip-smacking. Doc lived by example. I remember when we were in Philadelphia and he was just getting his groove together, he had just come over to us. He was out-running and out-jumping everyone back then. After practices, he would go out and run around the track. I remember specifically coming over to him one day and saying, ‘Doc, what you running around the track for?’ He said, ‘Man, I’m about four pounds too heavy.” And me, my plate itself would weigh four pounds! Doc could glide further than anybody and was one of the greatest leaders. He didn’t do a lot of talking. It was like, ‘you do what you see me doing and you’ll be doing the right thing.’ I still love Doc to this very day, man.

SLAM: Thank you so much for the time Darryl. It was so much fun speaking with you.

DD: It was my pleasure. I’ll be looking for ya.

The Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown takes place at NBA All-Star Jam Session at the Orange County Convention Center on Friday, Feb. 24, at 4:30 p.m. EST streamed live on NBA.com. Additionally, Sprite is encouraging fans to tune in to Sprite.com immediately following the competition for a big announcement about a new Sprite program featuring several NBA players. For more information visit NBA.com/dunk.

The post Q+A: Darryl Dawkins appeared first on SLAM.

by Alan Paul

Some guys just have to keep proving themselves. Take Dan Issel. The University of Kentucky’s all-time leading scorer, the 6-9 Issel averaged 33.9 ppg and 13.2 rpg his senior year to lead the Wildcats to a 27-2 record and the top of the regular-season polls. Still, NBA scouts considered his future shaky, dubbing him too short to be a center and too slow to be a forward. So when the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels offered him mad dollars to stay in the bluegrass state, Issel was more than happy to take the money.

Utilizing an ability to drive to the hoop and an accurate long-range jumper, Issel took the upstart league by storm, averaging 29.9 ppg and 13.2 rpg his rookie year of ’70-’71. Over the next five years, he averaged 25.6 ppg and 10.9 rpg and played a key role on the Colonels’ 75 championship squad—a team equal to any of its NBA contemporaries. Still, Issel’s doubters remained when the league folded in ’76 and his new team, the Denver Nuggets, was absorbed by the NBA.

Playing for Doug Moe’s run-and-stun squads, Issel picked up right where he had left off, averaging 20.4 ppg and 7.9 rpg in a nine-year NBA career. When he retired in ’85, Issel’s combined ABA-NBA points totaled 27, 482, fourth highest at that point. He still ranks sixth, behind only Wilt, Kareem, Michael, Dr. J and Moses Malone, and just ahead of Oscar Robertson, John Havlicek and Dominique Wilkins. Issel may not have been as much fun to watch, but there was definitely a certain beauty to watching a man nicknamed “Horse” galloping around the court, flashing a toothless grin as he drained jumpers or scrapped for boards.

“He was a terrific pro center,” Moe said when Issel announced his retirement. “It’s true that he couldn’t jump, block shots or intimidate, but what he had done will rank him among the basketball greats.”

Issel’s stature was secured in ’93 when he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. This off-season, he was named the Nuggets general manager. It’s a huge job, but keep your eyes open: no one’s made much money betting against Issel yet.

SLAM: You once said that anyone who saw you play in 10th grade would be shocked to find out you where in the Hall of Fame.

Issel: Yeah, that’s true. To say I was a late bloomer would be a major understatement. I never played early, and I really wasn’t good in high school until my senior year. When I was a freshman, I couldn’t make the freshman/sophomore team, and when I was a sophomore I couldn’t make the varsity. It wasn’t until very late in my high school career that it looked like I was going to be anything but a very ordinary player.

SLAM: Coming out of college, a lot of scouts questioned whether you could ever play in the NBA, yet you retired as the fourth leading scorer in professional basketball history. What didn’t the scouts see?

Issel: They weren’t sure what my position would be; I was undersized for a center, and there were questions about my quickness to play forward. At the time, they didn’t discriminate between power forwards and small forwards; you just had a center, two forwards and two guards.

I have to say that going to the ABA to start my career was certainly a big benefit. It gave me a chance to get my feet wet, and there weren’t a lot of great centers in the ABA. The Pacers’ Mel Daniels could have played for any team in professional basketball, as could have Artis Gilmore. But it wasn’t consistent throughout the league, which helped me develop, and by the time the merger took place, I had enough experience to play center pretty well.

SLAM: What did you do to compensate for your lack of size?

Issel: I was always able to shoot the 18-foot jump shot and draw people who just weren’t comfortable playing away from the basket out of the paint, and make them run around.

SLAM: And what did you do on the defensive end against guys three-to-six inches taller than you?

Issel: I always tried to be pretty well educated about what each player liked to do—to know what their favorite moves were, then try to take it away from them. I wanted to make them beat me with something else. So, for instance, against Kareem I would try to take away the sky hook, so that he had to take it stepping away from the basket rather than stepping to it. I don’t know how successful I was with him or anyone else, but at least it was often a stand-off.

SLAM: Who was your toughest opponent?

Issel: No question about it: Moses Malone. I relied on going outside and shooting the jump shot, or drawing my man out and driving to the hoop, but Moses always had not only size on me but quickness as well. That part of his game was really overlooked, but Moses was scary quick. That’s why he was such a great offensive rebounder.

SLAM: Your first year in the ABA you played center and averaged almost 30 points and 13 rebounds. Then Artis Gilmore arrived, and you slid over to forward and formed a very tough frontcourt. What was it like playing with a center as dominating as Artis?

Issel: It was great, especially on the defensive end of the floor—because he would erase an awful lot of defensive mistakes back there. Actually, for most of the years we both played center with our back to the basket, because most of the coaches used us in a high/low post setup. But in ’75, the year we won the championship, Hubie Brown was the coach, and he asked me to play strictly forward. We opened up the middle of the floor for Artis, and my numbers reflect that; the scoring was definitely down. But we won the championship, so it was hard to argue with Hubie’s thinking.

SLAM: Do you think that the quality of play in the ABA has been underrated?

Issel: Well, I don’t know about that. Actually, the farther we get away from it, the more credit the ABA seems to be getting. But certainly some people have laughed it off unfairly. The other day I heard someone compare the ABA’s relationship to the NBA to the Canadian Football League and the NFL today. I just laughed at them and said, “Obviously you weren’t there to see what was going on.” No one who saw the games could possibly say that. I would put our ’75 Kentucky Colonels championship team up against any professional basketball team of that era. Some of those early 70’s Pacer teams were also as good as any basketball team anywhere. I know that, and the people that where there playing know it.

SLAM: In fact, didn’t you guys challenge the NBA-champion Warriors to a series in 75?

Issel: Yeah. Our owner, John Y. Brown, issued a challenge to play Golden State with Rick Barry and Clifford Ray. Of course, they weren’t going to play us, because they had nothing to gain, but you’ll never convince me we wouldn’t have beaten them in a seven-game series.

SLAM: Did you guys have a sense that having stuff like bikini-clad ball girls was detrimental to the reputation of the league?

Issel: I don’t think anybody really cared. We were just hoping that enough people would show up so the paychecks would cash the next week.

SLAM: You and Dr. J entered the Hall of Fame together in ’93, as the first inductees to have started your careers in the ABA. Somebody at that time said that his afro at its height was higher than your vertical jump.

Issel: [Laughs] That’s a good line. I hadn’t heard that, but that’s probably the truth. His afro was awesome. When he came into the ABA, he had more hair than I had ever seen. It was a real honor going into the Hall of Fame with Julius. I was proud of myself, of him and of the ABA, really.

SLAM: It’s fun to joke about your not being able to jump, but you were a damm good rebounder. Is leaping ability overrated in its importance for rebounding?

Issel: Well, yeah, I think it is, actually. I’ve always advocated that position is a lot more important than how high you jump. And I think that that can be said about scoring, too. I mean, Julius would jump up and dunk the ball with his elbow, whereas I would pick it up off the floor and lay it in the basket. Now, he was a lot more entertaining and captivating to watch than me, but they both counted two points.

SLAM: But you didn’t just score garbage points. You had a sweet J. As you mentioned, you were one of the first centers to go outside and shoot the jumper.

Issel: Yeah and it was mostly out of necessity. I was a pretty good outside shooter going into college, but I really developed it at Kentucky. Adolph Rupp would begin each practice with a half-hour of shooting. And it wasn’t taking a shot and talking with your buddy, and walking back out and taking another shot, like shooting practice is today. First of all, there was no talking whatsoever, and secondly, you shot the ball and you ran got the rebound and dribbled it back out and took another shot. As a center, shooting nothing but lay-ups and hook shots for an hour every day got a little boring, so I started working on the outside jump-shot, and that’s where I really developed it. Once I got to the pros, I developed it even more, out of necessity.

The post Original Old School: A Man Called Horse appeared first on SLAM.

by Scoop Jackson

It started before he was born, but he was born because of it. For it. His life would come to end it. Close it. Still, for those who weren’t there to witness it, he remains a simple footnote that, at the time, was bigger than life itself.

“Andrew who?”—a young’n on the basketball court on the corner of West Fourth and the Avenue of the Americas. The Cage, NYC. March ‘99.

I first heard about Andrew Toney in ‘79. I was a sophomore in high school, and a friend from Louisiana whom I played against in a few tournaments swore that there were ball players in “the dirty” (even though back then we just called the South “country”). While I was riding the Mark Aguirre/Isiah Thomas bandwagon, my mellow (that’s what we called cats back then) kept telling me about this dude at SW Louisiana State who could hoop the both of them. I thought he was on drugs. But I listened. Because, ya know, you never know…

In ‘80 the Philadelphia 76ers needed help. Even though the previous year they had made it past Boston in the Conference Finals and then lost to the Lakers in six in the Finals, they needed someone to help Julius. Erving’s 27 ppg were 13 points higher than the 14.7 and 13.8 Darryl Dawkins and Doug Collins were bringing to the table as the teams second and third leading scorers, respectively. Plus, Larry Bird had gotten one year of professional basketball under his waistband, and everyone in Philly knew the Celtics were going to come for the crown. That next year, the Celtics beat the Sixers by one (91-90) in the seventh game of the Easter Conference Finals. Despite the fact that Boston went on to win the NBA title, the rivalry between the 76ers and the Celtics just shifted greenwards. Illadelphia couldn’t have that. Once again, Philly needed some help.

They had a rookie on that ‘80-81 team that, surprise, dropped 35 points in a game that season, the only Sixer outside of Doc to top 30 all year. So coach Billy Cunningham knew, as he repeated that one point over and over in his head during the off-season, that he had an answer. That someone on his roster was capable of giving him that one extra basket. He knew. It was just a matter of making the player know it too.

This is where Andrew Toney comes into the story. Over the first 30 years of the NBA, the Celtics and the Sixers had built an intense rivalry that The Sporting News once deemed “the greatest in the history of sports.” Chamberlain vs. Russell. Hal Greer vs. Bob Cousy. Ed Macauley vs. Joe Fulks before them. In the 80’s, Erving and Bird were thrust into the forefront. But it was Toney—the kid from “the Magic,” Birmingham, AL, whom my mellow had told me was the shiznit while Toney was schoolin’ cats in the SWAC—who was born to put an end to the Boston massacres. To eliminate Celtic pride: his calling, his mission, his purpose. Philly needed someone to beat Boston. Someone to give them that one extra point. An assassin. Andrew Toney was No. 22 with a bullet.

Smell the net burn of leather. Sniff. His shot was straight, literally. Quick and stiff. No movement. It was so mechanically correct, it looked almost deranged. But, it went in. Often. In the projects and playgrounds it looked beautiful. But to the professionals, still, something was wrong. At least, by sight. “When I first got a good look at it,” then-Southwest Louisiana State University coach Bobby Paschal said, “it gave me a pause. But I figured it was too late to change it.”

Andrew Toney used to come off picks with eyes wide shut. Erect. Sanitary socks pulled up to just below his knees, signature Converse Dr. J’s tied tightly, wristbands. He spent the first two years of his career learning, coming off of the bench to replace Collins, Maurice Cheeks or Lionel Hollins. His assignment: introduce the world to the term “instant offense.” Before Andrew Toney came along, it had no name, just effects. He gave the rim-clipper an identity, a platform. His internal challenge was beyond hitting jumpers—he would try to score without disturbing the net.

Yet, still, others yearned for something perfect. The end results, not enough. “Most players shoot the ball over their head, but Andrew shoots it from in front of his face,” Cunningham told the Philadelphia Inquirer in ‘81. “Frankly, that concerned us.” To which Toney replied, “They can say what they want, but I’m never going to change my shot. I learned it in the schoolyard. The ball goes in enough, don’t it?”

Andrew Toney entered the NBA misunderstood. He was a quiet young man from down south, who, because of his confidence, was often mistaken for “sullen.” He had that gift that not many basketball players today have of putting the ball in the basket from 10-10-321 distance. He had the distinction of being, when the left SWL, the 13th all-time leading scorer in NCAA history. That alone proved the 6-3 Toney was on some Jerry Rice shit (who attended the SWAC’s Mississippi Valley State and set a few records of his own).

Showing that he was Philly’s answer to Boston’s jinx before the Sixers even realized it, Toney dropped 32 points against the Pacers making then-Indy coach Jack McKinney claim Toney was “the best rookie I’ve ever seen.” To give Boston early insight, he averaged almost 20 ppg in his first playoff series against the team by which is career would be judged.

As his second season in the NBA began to seep in, Toney got more comfortable in his role as “the hired gun.” The Sixers wanted him to shoot, wanted him to be the next Freddie Brown or the first Vinnie Johnson. He dropped a 46-point game for ‘em early on, just to keep other teams in the league honest. Philly was getting psyched for Boston; they wanted the crown back. They started calling Toney “the Boston Strangler.”

The legend of Andrew Toney began around 11 p.m. on Friday, May 21, ‘82. The Sixers had just lost to Boston in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals 88-75. They had blown a 3-1 lead in the series, and now had to do the impossible: beat Boston, Game 7. Do or die. Win or go home. As they entered the Boston Garden that Sunday, five white men appeared in white sheets. on the back of the sheets were the names Havlicek, Russell, Nelson, Sanders and Jones, the “ghosts of Celtics past” who always used to eliminate the Sixers “bakndaday.” “That’s when I got scared,” Julius Erving said at the time. “I thought it was the Klan.”

But Toney wasn’t scared. Never. He knew what was on the line—he was born for this. Midway through the first quarter, ML Carr slapped Toney in the face while trying to blcok his shot. Toney was 7 for 31 in games 5 and 6 and needed the extra incentive. When his shot dropped in, Toney just looked at Carr, almost as if to say “thank you.” From then on, Toney was unconscious. He continued to drop more. Not just on Carr, but on Danny Ainge (who would later become Toney’s personal rival) and Bird, too. That awkward, erect jump shot was unstoppable. He had 16 by halftime, 34 by game’s end. That “one point” the Sixers were looking for, Toney delivered on this day. Bird just sat on the court at the end. Dazed but not confused. He knew the Sixers had found the answer. And this time, he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

The post Original Old School: The Boston Strangler appeared first on SLAM.

I’m writing this in Amsterdam. And it’s raining, which is a surprisingly apt metaphor for how I feel about Kevin Love: Amsterdam—awesome; rain—his ranking is probably too high. (Cue everybody at once: Jake is in Amsterdam and he thinks Kevin Love at No. 16 is too high! How high? Too high! How high? Redman!)

Now. About Love.

Kevin Love’s personality seems to be universally beloved in NBA circles and his stats (20 & 15) impress like once-discreet Scar-Jo snapshots.

Put simply, Kevin Love is really well-liked by human beings. If you are a human being and you do not like Kevin Love, you’re probably a big jerkface.

Love takes basketball seriously and works tirelessly to get better, but doesn’t take himself all that seriously. So the adulation—his Twitter page bio says “Spread Love”—comes.

There are Jose Cuervo beach volleyball competitions, where the Illsbury Doughboy (as SLAMonline named him) transforms into his alter ego, SPF Pasty.

There are Entourage cameos with elves, erm, actors. (How Scott Caan could call Kevin Love a “UCLA legend” during one of those cameos was kind of head scratching, because Love only stayed in school for a year, but I suppose if you’ve never lost at pin-the-outlet-pass-on-the-donkey, you qualify.)

And there are Right Guard ads, dubbed “Love in the Shower,” where he’s showering in some random couple’s bathroom. Bizarre, but it works because he’s Kevin Love.

And there is this, from yesterday.

All of this and his gaudy, record-setting stats are why he’s listed as the 16th best player in the League on this list. Because he grabs rebounds as if he’s listening to the chorus of Biggie’s “Another”…

I have the quotes right here, from the Knicks broadcast team of Mike Crispino and Walt Clyde Frazier, that show how easy it is to love Love on a night when he makes history. This night launched him into another stratosphere of notoriety.

From a project I was working on last year:

Kevin Love has six points and nine rebounds at the half.

“Would you call that a Love tap?” Crispino asks Frazier when Love keeps a play alive with a rebound.

“Love hurts,” Clyde responds.

Love is snaring every rebound in sight. “Previously Love, bounding and astounding, Darko, swooping to the hoop,” Clyde says in his trademark rhyme. Clyde says Love is playing like a “man possessed.”

“Love has been maulin’ and appalin’ ’em,” Clyde says of Love’s eight boards in the quarter. That gives him 17 overall. On Love’s 18th rebound, Clyde says it’s “like the ball is gravitating to him…”

Love misses a shot but grabs the board and gets fouled. “Perpetual motion,” Clyde says. According to the Hall-of-Fame point guard, the man at the helm when the New York Knicks last won a championship, the difference in the game is the “hustle and muscle” of the Timberwolves, “especially Love.”

The fourth quarter begins and Amar’e Stoudemire returns, having battled foul trouble. “Let’s see if he can put some chillin’ on Love’s thrillin’,” Clyde says. Wilson Chandler misses a dunk. Love grabs the rebound. He gets fed underneath and dunks, following a possession that he kept alive with a tip. Clyde employs one of his trademark lyrical devices: “huffing and stuffing.” This renders Love, quite literally, The Big Bad Wolf. Love ties the game on an open baseline jumper and then corrals a franchise-record 27th (!) rebound with over ten minutes remaining in the quarter.

Love misses a straightaway three. “That would’ve brought the house down,” Crispino says, no pun intended to Clyde’s Big Bad Wolf “Huffing and Stuffing” analogy from just a moment ago. When Love finishes a putback in traffic, Clyde says “the guy’s not jumping, he just has exquisite timing.” This is followed by Crispino calling Love ‘Superman’ and Clyde doing his best Judd Appatow film impression with: “we Love you, man!” He calls it, “resounding rebounding.”

When Wolves point guard Sebastian Telfair fires up an airball, Love sticks another putback, which gives him 31 boards. Crispino says Love is doing a great imitation of Wes Unseld (ironically, Love’s Godfather), the late Maurice Lucas, and Bull Russell. Clyde co-signs.

“No one has knocked him on his derriere” Crispino says, referencing what the Knicks will see when they study this game on film. Meanwhile, the Wolves have turned a 21-point deficit into a 12-point lead, and Love is the first player to notch 30-30 since Moses Malone in 1982. “Holy Moses!” Clyde says. Love checks out with 31 and 31, having played 40 minutes. He receives a standing ovation. “Bounding and astounding, resounding rebounding, huffing and stuffing,” Clyde says.

“Again, Love is hard to handle” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni says, before noting that the Knicks missed Ronny Turiaf’s presence. It’s the first 30/30 game of my lifetime. I actually researched when Malone’s 30-30 game took place and that was five months before I was conceived.

In the Timberwolves locker room, SLAM’s Myles Brown tells Love that Ryan Jones says what’s up. “Tell him I said ‘fuck you’,” Love responds. “Best shoutout EVAR,” Ryan tweets.

There’s that personality we were talking about.

Coming close to properly valuing Kevin Love the basketball player may prove difficult until he finds himself on a halfway decent team. Then the stats and the actual impact of his overall play can blend into a “performance soup” that helps fans and accuracy alike delight in spoonfuls of perspective-laden…whatever, this sentence sucks, you get the point.

In a league with personality and aesthetic borders that some players and reporters don’t cross, Love walks back and forth, easily communicating with all. It’s a skill, a gift maybe. Years of learning the game and the game within the game from his father while also tearing up the AAU circuit has put him in an excellent position to be a basketball ambassador of sorts for years to come. Expect to see him on TNT with Ernie, CWebb and GP in 12-15 years.

So…the co-leader of a 17-win team. An All-Star participant with awesome numbers and some impressive fundamentals, but a player with plenty of room for growth, one that shouldn’t be near his prime.

The list says 16. I say closer to the record-setting digit, 31. We might have to meet somewhere in the middle, where many of the rebounds are.

Notes
• Rankings are based solely on projected ’11-12 performance.
• Contributors to this list include: Maurice Bobb, Shannon Booher, David Cassilo, Bryan Crawford, Sandy Dover, Adam Figman, Jon Jaques, Eldon Khorshidi, Ryne Nelson, Doobie Okon, Ben Osborne, Quinn Peterson, Dave Schnur, Abe Schwadron, Dan Shapiro, Irv Soonachan, Todd Spehr, Tzvi Twersky, Yaron Weitzman, DeMarco Williams and Ben York.
• Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.

The post Top 50: Kevin Love, no. 16 appeared first on SLAM.

Shoni Schimmel streaks down the left side of the court, her long brown ponytail bouncing in the air behind her. At full speed, she uses her right hand to wrap the ball behind her back and through her legs, before gently laying it off the backboard with her left. Her defenders, now a few steps behind her, never stood a chance.

Schimmel is from the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon. Situated a few miles outside of Pendleton and just north of the Blue Mountains; Umatilla is home to around three thousand Native Americans. For Shoni, it is also her proving ground. She plays ‘rez ball,’ a ferocious, attacking style of basketball, fueled by passion, creativity and relentless aggressiveness. It is this flare and fearlessness that has resulted in many declaring Schimmel the second coming of Pistol Pete Maravich. A comparison that, while initially seeming improbable, is startlingly accurate.

With her junior year approaching, Shoni’s mother, Ceci, (they are left to right in photo) was offered a coaching position at Portland’s Franklin high school. Seeing this as an opportunity to chase a dream and battle against generations of oppression and bigotry, Shoni and her family leave the reservation and embark on a battle that tests their strength, spirit and tenacity.

Eight-time Emmy award winner and long-time friend of SLAM’s, Jonathan Hock (learn more about him at hockfilms.com) documents the journey in Off the Rez and caught up with SLAM this past week.

SLAM: You’ve done work in baseball, football and wrestling, but the majority of your work has been focused on basketball, why is your passion so strong for the sport?

Jonathan Hock: Basketball players aren’t hidden behind helmets like football players, or are a mile away from you on the field like baseball players. It’s a sport where a player’s passion is so close at hand, and when the stakes for are so high for the player and her family, as they are for Shoni or as they were for Sebastian and his family in Through the Fire, that other sports can’t match it.

SLAM: How did you first hear about Shoni?

JH: Nelson Hernandez, who became a producer on the film, was a graduate of Lincoln High School and a fan of Through the Fire. He was out west running a Native American youth organization, and with basketball as big in Indian Country as it is in the hood, he was very plugged into the incredible talent in the Native American community. In the aftermath of the terrible killings at the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota, Nelson was organizing a youth conference there and got in touch with me to ask if he could show “Through the Fire” at the conference as an inspiration to the kids. A couple of years later, Nelson told me that he had found the next Through the Fire story on a reservation in Oregon. I flew out to meet Shoni and her family, and found the same love and passion in them—and the same kind of incredible basketball genius in the high school player—as we found in Coney Island.

SLAM: The film captures the struggles faced by the family and the tenacity and courage it takes to pack up and move in hopes of achieving a goal – where does that courage stem from?

JH: Shoni clearly draws courage from her mom, Ceci Moses. Ceci is has a strong, clear-headed awareness of how history and society are aligned against her people, in obvious ways and in more subtle ways that people from the “outside world” don’t really notice. But Ceci does not back down when she confronts adversity—sometimes it seems like she’s trying to undo 400 years of oppression every game—and I don’t think Shoni knows how to back down either.”

SLAM: Did you see similarities in the social and economic challenges faced by Shoni and her family in comparison to the issues faced by Sebastian Telfair and his family in Through the Fire?

JH: I think our society as a whole is set up in a way to keep the people oppressed on the reservation and in the inner city ghettos. Geographically, psychologically, economically, the system that we operate under is set up to keep those people there while the people with the resources and the power keep what they have. In recent decades, people in the hood have been able to break out of the invisible walls that enclose the ghettos, though the odds against them are still huge. On the reservation, the invisible wall that separates them from the outside world is even more impenetrable. So to try to break out of the psychological and economic confines of the reservation is so difficult, especially if you want to do it on your own terms, without compromising who you are or what you represent. That’s what Shoni’s family was trying to do, and it was very inspiring to watch.

SLAM: When you first approached Shoni and her family, were they receptive to the idea or did it take some convincing?

JH: They were receptive to the idea of spreading a good message for their people,but there was some level of distrust that had to be overcome. Here’s a white guy from the east coast and I’m not sure it was easy for them to trust me. Historically, they certainly had every justification to be suspicious. But as a filmmaker I believe you try to let your empathy for the subject guide you—you don’t impose some pre-ordained ideology or let some political agenda box you into your story. We were open to their truth, and after a while they came to understand that on some level, I think, and we were able to break through.

SLAM: Was that initial distrust the biggest obstacle you faced in making this film?

JH: I think so. You need your subject to trust you when your sitting in their living room or kitchen or locker room with a camera.

SLAM: How important is basketball for the youth on the reservations?

JH: On the rez, they talk about basketball as a way to battle for their tribe’s dignity. To take your best five and travel to another reservation or take on some team from the outside, that’s a tremendous source of pride for them. And it makes the game matter so much.

SLAM: Why did you want to tell this story?

JH: Partly, I wanted to shine a light on the forgotten hood. The reservation is just another manifestation of the hood in America, only it exists so far out of the light of the mainstream that people don’t know about it. I didn’t know much about it, but I was curious, and I found a family that believed in something and was trying to accomplish something I could relate to. So I just stayed with it and now, two and a half years later, we have the movie.

SLAM: Are you still in contact with Shoni?

JH: Oh yeah, we went down to see her at Louisville and shoot a little this season, and I speak with her dad Rick regularly. You don’t put the cameras down and just move on. I actually was just exchanging text messages with Jamel Thomas, Sebastian’s brother, this morning, and we stopped filming Through the Fire in 2004. You develop a relationship when you work with people and when you respect them and they respect you, the relationship doesn’t end the day you stop production.

SLAM: Because of the intimate nature of making a documentary, do you find you have to try and emotionally remove yourself from the process?

JH: The opposite actually. Don’t be afraid to let your emotions be present when you shoot. Steve Sabol, my mentor at NFL Films, taught me not to be afraid to feel deeply for your subject. Follow your heart when you shoot, not your head, and you’ll get at a deeper truth.

Off the Rez is a richly layered film, one that captures the emotional toll of an athlete carrying the hopes of a community while also being part of a family struggling to make ends meet. The film offers a glimpse into the realities of being a member of an often overlooked minority and touches on universal themes of equality and subjugation, while also providing an inside perspective to the realities of being one of the best high school basketball players in America.

Off the Rez will be debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival tomorrow, April 26th and premiering on TLC Saturday May 14 at 9 p.m. EDT.

The post New Movie: Off the Rez appeared first on SLAM.

by Alan Paul

As the first guy to go directly from high school to professional basketball, way back in ’74, Moses Malone would be a legendary, landmark figure even if he’d been a failure. Fact is, though, he was one of the greatest big men ever, and he remains the greatest straight-to-pros player ever, at least until Kobe or KG proves otherwise.

Malone was a three-time MVP, a 12-time All-Star and a member of the NBA’s 50 Greatest. In the heart of his career, he amassed an amazing 11 straight seasons averaging better than 20 and 10-including his 31 and 15 run with the Rockets in ’81-82. Counting his two years in the ABA, Moses scored 29,580 points in 21 seasons. He grabbed 17,834 boards, less than only Wilt and Bill Russell. He’s also top five in free throws made and attempted, and in minutes and games played. Still, he’s been somewhat overlooked, perhaps because he wasn’t a larger than life character like Wilt or Shaq, an iconic cultural figure like Kareem or the core of a dynasty like Russell. He also spent little time currying the favor of reporters, seemingly happy to let his game speak for itself, content in his blue-collar image.

“I came up in a small town ghetto and I never did think I’d be a celebrity or famous athlete,” says Malone, retired since ’95 and now living in Houston. “I was just loving to play the game of basketball. And I worked hard at everything I did.”

Malone’s Petersburg (VA) High won 50 straight games and two state titles. He was arguably the most highly recruited basketball player ever and eventually signed with Maryland, only to jump right to the ABA’s Utah Stars. At the time, the NBA prohibited high school students from entering, but the struggling ABA had no such issues. The 6-10, 210-pound manchild averaged 17.2 rpg and 13 rpg in two years in the league before passing through the Buffalo Braves and landing in Houston. He elevated from great to superstar in his fifth pro season, ’78-79, when he put up 24.8 ppg and 17.6 rpg and won his first MVP. By then, he had put on at least 20 pounds and would eventually top 250, though almost until the end of his career, he maintained the quickness and agility that allowed him to be such a dominant rebounder.

Big Mo secured his place in history in ’82-83, when he was traded to Philly and finally led Dr. J to the promised land of a title. That team demolished the League, going 65-17 and only losing one game in the playoffs, and Malone was the MVP of both the regular season and the Finals.

Malone’s final years as a journeyman center did nothing to diminish a great career, one that he says included inventing the alley-oop with John Lucas.

SLAM: You hold the record for offensive rebounds in a season. What was the key to your success there?

MM: To be a great offensive rebounder, you have to think like a defensive rebounder and battle for position while also being in the flow of your offense. And then it’s just being determined. You got to work hard whatever you’re doing and try to be number one and take pride in what you’re doing. You want to be the best at your spot, then you got to work hard, man. A lot of guys don’t work as hard as it gonna take.

SLAM: When did you first start realizing you had the potential to become a great basketball player?

MM: Pretty fast. I had God-given talent. No one taught me this game. I taught myself and I did it because I loved the game. I wasn’t playing for no big money. I was playing for orange juice. I started playing ball when I was 13. Before that, I just wanted to play football and baseball, but I kept growing so I figured it was time for basketball. Then I was on the playground all night. I ain’t never go to parties or nothing. I’d get out of school at three and be out there playing until one in the morning with one streetlight. For real.

SLAM: Is it true that kids on the playground wouldn’t let you play unless you agreed not to enter the lane?

MM: Oh yeah. When I was 15, they changed the playground rules because I was dominating everything and blocking everything that came my way. I had a lot of skills and I played strong, which goes to my friend Babyhead. He was about four years older and he was always picking me for his team and he was always on me to be hard at all times. Every time I went to the hole, he wanted me to dunk. He’d go, “Young fella, I picked you because you’re the best. I know you’re just 15, but you come to play. And you have to bring it every game.”

In high school, my coach had this philosophy, too. There were always two guys checking me at least-sometimes three out of five. I would get real frustrated but he always told me it would make me better in the long run and it really did. I had to get around two guys to score or get a rebound every game my last two years in high school. It made me stronger and tougher.

SLAM: You were the first to go directly from high school to pro ball. Did you ever think it would become so commonplace?

MM: No. They might as well just shut down college ball now [laughs]. Now guys become first-round picks and make all the millions without really proving themselves. Are they gonna go all the way down to elementary school looking for kids who can jump high? The real question is this: Do you have it in your head or heart to be great? To work hard enough to be what you can be? That’s hard to see, but I think the problem is that these so-called scouts don’t know what they’re looking at. When I came out of high school, I was getting 38 points, 16 rebounds and 10 or 12 blocks a game. If they put my numbers up there next to LeBron James, I was doing more damage. Maybe I could have gotten a billion-dollar shoe contract [laughs]. But I don’t fault none of these kids. They got to say yes. If you don’t take it, I’ll put these size-16 shoes in your butt my own self [laughs].

SLAM: What’s the hardest adjustment in going pro so young?

MM: I always was confident, but I had guys looking out for me and that’s real important. Got to have that, not just people looking for a gravy train. Then you’re in trouble, because you’re not man enough to understand what’s going on. I had my agent up in Washington DC, who’s still with me, and my teammates took me under their wings, especially Ron Boone, Gerald Govan, Wali Jones and Roger Brown. They brought me up just like I was their son and they really taught me how to grow to be a man in life and how to prepare yourself for every game. Ron Boone was like a father to me. He saw I needed guidance and he gave it to me, helped me mature as a person. He took me home and his wife cooked me many meals, made me feel comfortable. I’d talk to them about everything in life. One thing for anyone coming in, but especially the kids, you can’t be afraid. You’ve got to be determined that you want to be the best, but you don’t have to talk about it. You see someone talking about how great they are, they ain’t great. When I played, I never talked about what I was gonna do. I just did it.

SLAM: Maybe that’s why you’ve been underrated.

MM: Well, someone’s been misrepresenting me I guess. Because I’m the only high school player who ever got three MVPs, 21 years and the Hall of Fame. I’m everything they thought I shouldn’t have been and wouldn’t be.

SLAM: Who guarded you the toughest?

MM: Artis Gilmore. But then there was Kareem, Bill Walton, Robert Parish, Dave Cowens and even Swen Nater, who no one remembers. Every center in the League played me tough. There was never an easy night so you had to prepare every game, figure out their strong points and weak points and try to take advantage of whatever you could. And you knew they were doing the same thing for you.

SLAM: Almost every team had a good to great center. Where have they all gone?

MM: They all retired now [laughs]. They really only got two or three real centers in the League now: Shaq, Mourning, and now Yao Ming. You can’t be a real center unless you want to play around the basket and bang. Now you got 7-foot guys who want to finesse. Hmmph. They don’t want to put on no hardhats and go to work. I don’t care what people say-it takes a big man to know how to post up and it takes you a good guard to open it up for them. Look how the Spurs won. They had Duncan and Robinson and then one little guy every game: Kerr, Parker, someone. Without that little guy, everyone’s gonna collapse on the big man, but without the big man, that little guy ain’t getting clean looks. Only team I saw win with two small guys was the Bulls with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

SLAM: You set a record by playing 1,212 games without fouling out, yet you were a physical player. How’d you do that?

MM: I was good to the referees [laughs]. I knew them all. They got to call the game and you have to respect them. They make some bad calls, but never embarrass the referee. They got to do the work so once they make a call, let it be.

SLAM: You came to Philly and Dr. J finally got his ring.

MM: That was Dr. J’s team. I was just another piece of the puzzle. It was a great team before I got there. They had Doc, Andrew Toney, one of the best shooters ever, Maurice Cheeks, a great point guard, Bobby Jones coming off the bench as one of the best defenders in the League. And lots of role players like Clint Richardson and Marc Iavaroni.

SLAM: Right-but they were a great team that hadn’t won a title before you got there.

MM: Yeah, yeah. They needed me, but I needed them, too. Doc was one of the greatest players ever, no doubt, and I always thank him for giving me the opportunity to win a championship.

SLAM: At the start of the playoffs, you said you’d win it in “Fo’, fo’, fo’.” Doc said you didn’t mean you’d sweep every series-you were just saying that’s how many wins you needed.

MM: No, no. I wanted a sweep. Three sweeps, actually, and we almost got them. We did fo’, five, fo’. I wanted to start summer early and fo’, fo’, fo’ sounded good to me. I knew with the players we had that we were going to win and I didn’t see no reason to play extra games.

SLAM: You also had some great teams in Houston, going to the Finals once and playing with some great, underrated players. Let’s talk about them, beginning with Calvin Murphy.

MM: Murphy was probably the best pro shooter I played with. Toney’s the only other one in his league. That gave me room to operate, and also Murphy was a tough little guy. Oh yeah!

SLAM: Rick Barry.

MM: Rick Barry could shoot the three and keep you open, too, and also make some great passes. He was determined to win, always came with the focus on victory.

SLAM: John Lucas.

MM: John was a good penetrating guard who’d always go where the action was going. He’ll make you play. Luke wanted to win and he was a very exciting guy. And I’ll tell you something, him and me were the first guys to come up with the alley-oop. We invented that. See, everyone played me real hard up top to keep me from getting the ball, so Luke started tossing it over them so I could leap up and grab it and just put it through. When we first did it, the other teams would scream that it was goaltending, because they thought Luke was shooting. Now it’s become a regular play, but no one knew what it was when we started.

SLAM: You were traded to Philly after winning your second MVP. How could anyone trade a guy who just averaged 31 and 15?

MM: Simple: I was a restricted free agent and they didn’t want to pay the money. Now they’re paying everybody, but it came down to dollars and cents. Hey, I got traded from the Sixers eventually, too. Everybody can get traded, man.

The post Original Old School: First and Foremost appeared first on SLAM.

by Quin Godwin

Artis Gilmore. The A-Train. An MVP who remains MIA. He always let his work on the court do the talking, so he never really got his.

Over his 17-year career, Artis stacked up over 20,000 points, 15,000 rees. Only Wilt, Kareem, Elvin Hayes, Moses and Artis have done that. Of the four eligible for the Hall of Fame, three were first-ballot selections. Moses is a lock. No. 53 is the odd man out.

He wasn’t Jabbar. No movie cameos. No L.A. Laker “Showtime” runs. Just 20-20s every night out. A locomotive. Hard years spent in San Antone and Chi, a working man in working towns.

No, he wasn’t Jabbar. No skyhook, no finesse. Hell, finesse wasm’t in his vocabulary. He was raw strength. In the ’70s, he picked up 225-pound, All-Pro Steeler linebacker Jack Ham with one hand. Before Fletch, he was 7-2 ½, 7-9 with the ‘fro. Big muttonchops and a bad-ass goatee. Seven feet of Dolomite, 240 pounds of intimidation, Gilmore was cut from the cloth of Wilt. A 32-inch waist, 27-inch things. The NBA’s all-time leader in field-goal percentage (.599), Artis took it to the rack, and he took it strong. No one stepped in front of the A-Train. Gilmore was an 11-time All-Star. He was the ABA’s MVP and Rookie of the Year in ’72, and the MVP of the ’75 ABA Finals. Artis Gilmore was the NBA’s first pick in the ABA dispersal draft – not Moses. Those in the know…knew. The A-Train was legit.

SLAM: 24,041 points, 16,330 rebounds. Why aren’t you in the Hall of Fame?

ARTIS GILMORE: I guess there’s a reason for it. I don’t know it. It’s been four years now. Obviously, votes are cast, and I can’t do anything further. I refuse to agonize over it. I think some individuals are more visible than others. I always kept out of the limelight, but look at [Bill] Walton [6,000 points. 4,000 rees]; he’s done an amazing job of marketing himself: NBC, the Olympics, the Reebok commercials with Wilt, Jabbar and Bill [Russell]. It reminds me of a song Gladys Knight used to sing, “It Should’ve Been Me” – well, it should’ve. But, I’m not one to be bitter; I did a lot on the court, and I prefer to leave it there. A lot of records I set, still have yet to be broken. At [Jacksonville U], I averaged 20-20 for my career and led us to the Final Four. I’d like to think I’d get in on merit alone.

SLAM: Rick Barry mentioned the taint of playing in the ABA. You, along with Dr. J, were the ABA. Do you think it’s had an affect on your image?

AG: Without a doubt. We [ABAers] were submerged by the NBA. In NBA cities, like Chicago and Detroit, the NBA had a vice grip on the press. They didn’t even run ABA box scores, except for in New York, due to the Nets. Now, if a guy in Yugoslavia wants to watch the CBA on TV, he can, via a satellite service. In the ’70s with just three networks, we were lucky to get any TV time at all. I think our first year, CBS came in and did three playoff games. Now, stations are itching for stuff.

It was like the ABA was a virus. No one wanted to get near us. Guys like me, James Silas and Dan [Issel] weren’t household names like a Jabbar or Wilt. Even after going to Chicago, I was referred to as Ernie Gilmore in a news story. Even NBA players themselves, I felt, held some resentment towards us. I think they thought of the ABA as double-A ball or something. It was a joke. There was no doubt, after the merger in ’76, as to our talent. And, in time, I think the NBA guys acknowledged it.

SLAM: Weren’t you even ID’d at a nightclub in Chicago?

AG: It wasn’t so much that I was ID’d. I think I showed them a few IDs, but they still wouldn’t let me and Mickey Johnson into the club. It was a racial situation. I don’t think they realized that I was Artis Gilmore of the Chicago Bulls – I was just a black guy. Mickey was taking me out on the town, showing me the city, and we just ended up on Rush Street. It was the night I had signed with the Bulls after the merger. I didn’t make a fuss about it, but somehow the press got wind of it. I was a sent a letter of apology by the club, but the milk was split. But no, I wasn’t even recognized in the city I’d just signed to play in.

SLAM: Do you think winning an NBA title would’ve earned your more respect?

AG: Yes. But basketball is a game of five, not one. I didn’t get Magic to play with in Chicago. I didn’t get Oscar, Silk, Worthy. It’s tough to win without a supporting cast. In ’75 in the ABA, when I did have it with Dan [Issel], I won. In Chicago, it was a joke.

To give you an idea of how it was – and this is not meant as a slap in the face – Mickey Johnson was a walk-on who stuck. Wilbur Holland we got off waivers; we gave him a shot because we were in dire straits with our guards. He stuck. And me and those two were our yearly offerings for the All-Star game. So it was a tough situation to win games. A title? I don’t think so.

SLAM: In ’76, at the ABA’s first and only slam dunk contest, David Thompson said you tried to rip the rim off. Did you?

AG: I didn’t know what I was doing. I was the first to dunk in the first dunk contest. So I went with what I knew best. Power. See, I had great leaping ability for a guy my size, and I got way up. By the time I went to dunk, my entire arm was down in the rim. I was just trying to get the fans into it. I also did a two-ball dunk, with a ball in each hand, and a reverse one-hand jam.

But, a dunk contest is a showcase for the 6-3, 6-4 guys. Seven-footers don’t belong in it. In ’86, at my last All-Star event, Spud Webb won it over Wilkins, and I still say ‘Nique won it. Crowds love the underdog, the short guy. I still think the craziest, most breathtaking dunker I’ve ever seen was a big guy: Larry Nance. He revolutionized my 2-ball dunk, doing it in a delay motion. It was a ballet with umphhh!

SLAM: How ’bout Dr. J? You came into the ABA together in ’71 and the NBA together in ’76. Was there anyone like him?

AG: Are you kidding? Julius was Mr. Entertainment. Mr. ABA. Mr. NBA. No doubt. If he was lacing ’em up, there was going to be a show. He was worth any price of admission. Any dunk? Ouch!

See, most guys come in straight with a dunk. So, as a center, I could gauge it. I was great at timing a dunk and blocking it. But Julius, he was able to move the basketball in mid-air, change directions and get to the basket – chest-to-chest with me – and dunk it. No one else did it. Julius, he did it a lot.

The thing with him was that, if he did dunk it, fans went psycho. Sixers fans. Our fans. Kids. Old ladies. Why not? He was the Doctor. It got so ridiculous that [Colonels coach] Hubie Brown had a $50-Dr. J rule. If Julius was fast-breaking in the open court, we were to lay a foul. Don’t hurt him, just don’t let him dunk, or its $50. In the ’70s, in Louisville, it was an awful lot of money.

SLAM: Was blocking shots your signature?

AG: It was like this – guys thought they could bring the ball in and score, and I thought that I could stop them. I felt a great sense of confidence in the paint on defense; it was my comfort zone. I took a great deal of pride in swatting a guy’s shot out of the sky. I felt I could block anything.

Anything, that is, except Jabbar’s skyhook. With Jabbar it was a different set of rules. He’d get the ball in rhythm, go to the skyhook, and it was money. So the one thing that I felt I did really well was distort his rhythm and not let him get into it. I’d frustrate him. But block the skyhook? I never did, in 12 years in the NBA. I wasn’t alone.

SLAM: Do you remember anyone ever blocking a shot of yours?

AG: There weren’t many. But the sole time I went to war against Wilt in an ABA-NBA All-Star game, he did it. Hubie told me, “Artis, he’s going to go for it. Wilt loves blocks. I thought, yeah, yeah. Then, whack! He got it. I thought I did a good job of getting up off the floor, but he got it.

SLAM: What was Maurice Lucas [6-9, 215] thinking when he got into it with you?

AG: I was getting sick of his bodying me in the paint, and I got hot. I took a swing at him, missed, and then continued after him, chasing him on the floor and eventually backing him into a corner on the court. The next thing I knew, I was coming to after being KO’ed. I don’t know if I ran into a right or a left, but it sent me to my knees. I was out for a while. I heard that he closed his eyes and took a wild swing at my chin. Well, it was on target. I don’t think too many guys messed with Maurice after that.

SLAM: Was Jabbar the greatest big man you ever played against?

AG: It’s weird. Emotion plays a big part in basketball, so, on any given night, there were guys who would just play tough – Bill Walton, Bob Lanier, Dave Cowens. But on a night-in, night-out basis, Jabbar was the greatest. The skyhook. If it was all he’d had to go to, it’d have been enough. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Jabbar, in the blocks, was like a torture chamber.

Cowens was tough too. You knew you were going to be in a dogfight with him. He was a good perimeter shooter, so it forced the opposing center to come out. Then, once you came out, he just juked by you and took it to the basket. It made it a 48-minute grind. He had an 18-foot jumpshot, and if you let him take it, he’d kill you with it. He worked at it to really make it a part of his game.

SLAM: As a kid from Chipley, FL, did you ever imagine you’d play 17 years in the pros and sign a $4.5 million dollar contract?

AG: Not in my wildest dreams. My main objective was to graduate from school, which I did, and be an example to my younger brothers and sisters. Later, as I was setting records at JU, I began to think, “Hey, I got a shot at the pros,” but the league didn’t have as many teams back then and the pressure wasn’t as great as it is now. So, no, it wasn’t a pervading thought of mine.

As a kid, when my feet grew beyond size 13, the last size the stores carried, I had to go barefoot. To earn money, I’d pick watermelons for $5 a day, so $4.5 million wasn’t even within my realm of thinking. This is why I’m not bitter over the lack of recognition of the Hall of Fame, because God’s blessed me so much already.

SLAM: About those Nike TV commercials with Chris Webber that were shot in the barber shop in San Antonio. How did Ice [George Gervin] get all those lines, and you not get any?

AG: Neither one of us were written into the script. Ice just had a way of drawing the spotlight to him. That’s just Ice.

The post Original Old School: Unhappy Gilmore appeared first on SLAM.

The NBA Finals are finally here! After 80 games and more than a month of Playoffs, 28 teams have fallen by the wayside. Only Los Angeles and Boston remain standing. Last year’s champs against the team that kept the trophy from them the year before. Does it get any better than this?

So I thought, why not add to the fun with a different kind of trivia quiz featuring some of NBA’s best? Over the years, some of basketball’s top players have attempted to parlay their success on the court in to a film career.

Think you know all there is to know about these court legends? Then take this test. How many superstars can you match to their characters and movies?

THE CHARACTERS

1. Elijah Abel — sidekick to Porter Rockwell, the fastest Mormon gunslinger in the West.

2. Hacker Fletcher — a thick-glassed, computer hacking nerd who shortens his prison stay by hacking for the police.

3. Moses Guthrie — a showboating basketballer who goes from losing to winning after an astrologer convinces him to only play with teammates who share his same zodiac sign.

4. Harry — a college basketball scout pursuing a talented high schooler who ends up romantically pursing the boy’s mom.

5. Himself — an NBA superstar recruited by Bugs Bunny to participate in an intergalactic basketball game and save the Looney Tunes characters from the clutches of a scheming alien.

6. Kazaam — a genial genie who rewards a shy young boy with three wishes after the lad releases him from a boom box.

7. Butch McRae — a Chicago sharpshooter being pursued by a college coach who’ll do anything to ensure a winning basketball season for his school.

8. Roger Murdock — the ace co-pilot of a commercial airliner who bears an uncanny likeness to a famous NBA superstar.

9. Desmond Rhodes — an A-student lured in to participating in a cheating scheme after tanking during a big exam.

10. Jesus Shuttleworth — a top high school basketballer being pressured by his convict dad to accept a deal to play for a college that can keep the old man out of prison.

11. Yaz — a flamboyant, tough as nails arms dealer who forms an unlikely alliance with an ex-CIA operative to apprehend an evil terrorist.

12. Max Zamphirescu — a 7-7, soft-spoken Romanian lured to Hollywood and stardom by a fast-talking theatrical agent.

NBA THESPIANS

Ray Allen

Julius Erving

Rick Fox

Penny Hardaway

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Michael Jordan

Karl Malone

Darius Miles

Gheorghe Muresan

Shaquille O’Neal

Dennis Rodman

John Salley

THE FILMS

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979)

Airplane (1980)

Rockwell (1994)

Blue Chips (1994)

Bad Boys (1995)

Space Jam (1996)

Kazaam (1996)

Double Team (1997)

My Giant (1998)

He’s Got Game (1998)

The Perfect Score (2004)

Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns (2008)

How many players and movies did you match correctly? Check the next page to find out…

The post Quiz: The NBA on the Silver Screen appeared first on SLAM.

by Vincent Thomas /@vincecathomas

I left my hometown of Buffalo, NY, in ’97, and have spent the past 11 years on a nomadic quest up and down the East Coast. At every stop, I hate telling new acquaintances that I’m a Lakers fan. It’s truly a loathsome task, always inviting a smirk and some kind of smarmy tripe about bandwagons. It usually goes something like this:

RUBE: “So, Vince, you’re from Buffalo. Well, then you must love your Bills.”
Me: “Oh, no doubt.”
RUBE: “Sabres, too, huh?”
Me: “Nah, I don’t do hockey.”
RUBE: “Who does? What about hoops? Knicks fan, right?”
Me: “Actually, I’m a die-hard Lakers fan.”
RUBE: “Are you kidding me?! What’s your favorite OutKast song, ‘Hey Ya’?!”

That’s when I have to go through a lengthy explanation about my first sports memory being the ’85 Finals and my Pops’ zealous support for L.A. in the face of what he considered a racially charged love-fest between America and the Celtics. And as an unabashed Buffalo homer, I have to make it abundantly clear that the Buffalo Braves left me, not the other way around. Had I grown up with a hometown team to root for, maybe Adrian Dantley, Bob McAdoo, Randy Smith or even Moses Malone would have been my childhood idol, not Magic Johnson. But, of course, the Braves ghosted on Buff in ’78, less than a year before I was born and only eight seasons after they arrived. Other than the fact that hockey sucks, the Braves void is probably why I’m so apathetic toward the Sabres. “Screw the Sabres. I want my Braves.” That’s how I’ve felt all my life. It’s like getting a candy bar when you wanted an ice cream cone. You’re like, “Get that Nutrageous outta my face! I want my Cold Stone!”

In all likelihood, a good portion of you have no idea that the city of Buffalo ever housed an NBA squad. But we did. The Braves arrived in Buffalo in ’70, moved to San Diego in ’78, and then moved up the left coast to become the Los Angeles Clippers. I know, right? When I told a friend of mine the premise of this piece, he quipped, “Could be worse—they could have stayed and played like the Clippers.” Touche, but you won’t find too many Buffalonians or former Braves viewing things through that lens of good humor. Braves owner Paul Snyder—a man some blame for the exodus—is right there with them.

“I loved the Braves. The city of Buffalo loved the Braves. It’s terrible how things happened,” is how he expresses his regret. Snyder is the man who sold the team to John Y. Brown, who almost immediately packed the organization’s bags and booked.

I talked to many of the Braves former greats as well as Braves coaching icon Dr. Jack Ramsay, and although they have fond memories of their time in Buffalo, they all look at how the team was dismantled and exiled as one of the great tragedies in League history.

“Man, every time I run into any of the guys, even as middle-aged men, that’s the first thing we talk about,” is what Bob McAdoo, the greatest Brave of them all, tells me. “It hurt. They never gave us time.”

At the beginning of the ’76-77 season, the Braves—following three straight winning seasons that ended in the Eastern Conference Semis—had three future HOF studs (McAdoo, Dantley and Malone) and another All-Star (Smith) playing in what had become a basketball city. But Malone lasted just two games and McAdoo 20 before both shipped somewhere else to win rings. They weren’t traded as much as they were sold. Dr. Jack had left before the season began, missing the circus’ intro. Dantley was gone the year after. Only Smith was left in ’78 to witness the franchise’s sordid demise and exit.

About six months later, I was born in a city scorned by the NBA, with resentment and despondency replacing what had been a healthy hoops fandom.

You feel me, Seattle?

*****

The pre-Braves years in the Buffalo area weren’t exactly basketball-dormant. We had Calvin Murphy balling at Niagara University from ’67-70 and, during those same years, Bob Lanier was on his All-American grind at St. Bonaventure and future Braves-great Randy Smith was holding it down at Buffalo State. Buffalo would come to be known as a hockey town and, later, a Bills town; but it has long been a haven for hoops heads, just like its big brother city downstate to the east. So when the Braves arrived in ’70, they capitalized on a thirsty fan base in a sports-crazed city.

“Aw man, it was wild. Them fans in Buffalo, they were crazy. They loved the Braves,” is how newly elected Hall of Famer and short-time Brave Adrian Dantley remembers his Rookie of the Year campaign. “It was so loud. We had a great thing going for that short period.”

Paul Snyder rose to prominence in the Buffalo business community as owner of Freezer Queen, a local company that made frozen dinners. Snyder told me that he wasn’t, and still isn’t, an NBA fan; he bought the Braves from the NBA as a businessman. But once he bought them, he was committed, interested and involved. You might call him a precursor to the hands-on owner, a paradigm for the Mark Cubans of the League. Snyder hired Dolph Schayes as the team’s first coach, kept him through the first season and then, after a blowout loss to Seattle in the season-opener, abruptly canned Schayes. Johnny McCarthy was up next. He was kicked to the curb at season’s end. Enter Dr. Jack.

“He wanted to do everything,” recalls Dr. Jack. “He was a contentious guy. He had a reputation of going into the locker room and chewing everybody out. But I told him that I can’t take the job unless he agreed to stay outta the locker room and let me coach.”

And he did…at least for a couple years. After a rocky first year, the Braves settled in to a groove in the ’73-74 season.

“That’s when we knew that we had something,” says Smith. “McAdoo and I would sit on the bench during our first season together and say, ‘Man, I can play better than that guy.’ So when we got our chance, we took off.”

Let’s pause here and render due praise to McAdoo, one of the greatest and most unique talents in the history of the League. He was a 6-9, 210-pound center with the range of Gilbert Arenas. He also dominated the glass like Dwight Howard. In his second season, he averaged 30 and 15, then 35 and 14, then 31 and 12. He was a better Dirk Nowitzki before Dirk existed. In part because the Los Angeles Clippers treat the Braves years like they never happened—no banners or retired jerseys—the great Bob McAdoo is probably the most under-appreciated star of his or any other generation.

McAdoo teamed with Randy Smith—a precursor to Latrell Sprewell, stylistically—and players like Ken Charles, Ernie DiGregorio (’73-74 Rookie of the Year), Jim McMillian, Gar Heard, Bob Kauffman, John Shumate and Lee Winfield and went after it. The Braves weren’t quite Goliath League monsters—that kinda stuff was still Boston, New York, Chicago and Washington territory. But Ramsay took the Braves personnel and fashioned a fleet so quick and relentless that they’d run you right out of the downtown Buffalo Memorial Auditorium—or your house, for that matter. They were like today’s G-State Warriors.

“They called us thoroughbreds,” remembers McAdoo, the perfect center for that type of squad. “Randy was the single fastest player the League had ever seen. Ernie had the passing. We were a show.”

Buff took notice. The Aud was almost always packed, and if the Lakers or Bullets were in town, it was a madhouse. When the division-rival/bully Celtics came through, it was sheer mania. That’s how it’s done in Buffalo. Buffalonians are obsessed with their food and sports, so you have a lot of fat people walking around in jerseys looking for a game to watch and a team to root for while drinking heavy beer and eating hot wings. It’s a wonderful thing, actually. Except, trouble always lurked.

“He (Snyder) always resented that the Sabres were the prime tenants in the Aud and got all the Sunday games,” recalls Milt Northrop, former Braves beat reporter for the Buffalo News. “And then Canisius [College] had first option on Saturday.”

To hear Snyder tell it, that’s what murdered pro basketball in Buffalo: Sabres Sundays and Canisius Saturdays. Snyder claims the NBA gave him five years to secure regular weekend play dates—prime days for home games—to share in League proceeds. It never happened. The Sabres reached an agreement with the Aud first and Canisius had a prior relationship. The Braves were stuck playing Fridays and Tuesdays, competing against—get this—“high school dates,” or so Snyder claims.

“I didn’t want to own the team outside of Buffalo,” says Snyder. So, in ’76, he looked for a buyer. He found Brown, a former owner of the Kentucky Colonials of the ABA. “Only after I made the deal did I start moving players.”

They made a deal, all right. It stipulated that if Brown sold the contract of any Braves player, the money would go to Snyder and the purchase price would be reduced. The fire-sale commenced and Brown got it for cheap. The team that remained was mostly a roster full of castaways and scrubs. Buffalo knew what was going on—Brown was kidnapping the Braves.

“The team was disintegrating before their eyes,” says Dr. Jack, who watched from afar. “It’s very rare that a city will support an organization that is making no effort to win.”

The outrage we see in Seattle wasn’t there in Buffalo. The stay was too brief and the final years were too disrespectful. There was an air of “good riddance.”

*****

Growing up, my crew and I were a splintered bunch of NBA addicts, which sucked. If you’ll allow me a sweeping generalization for one moment, I’ll contend that the NBA is the No. 1 League in most urban hoods. We like our football, and a couple guys baseball, but most young black dudes are NBA cats. Well, us Gen X Buffalo dudes didn’t get the chance to galvanize around the Braves.

I was a Lakers fan, my boy was a Knicks fan, my other boy was a Pistons fans, another dude was a Bulls fan, and on and on. (No one was a Boston fan.) Not to mention that in just a few short years, the Braves were largely erased from the public consciousness. Oh, there was some old-head reminiscing at Randy Smith’s annual Summer League and you’d get a McAdoo mention every blue moon, but the city was scarred because things went down so ugly and unseemly. First you have a compelling, exciting, burgeoning franchise; next thing you know, Moses is in the ’83 NBA Finals wearing a Sixers jersey, playing McAdoo in a Lakers jersey. It beat us down.

If you drop into a bar on Chippewa or Hertel or Elmwood these days, chances are you’ll have to personally request that one of the televisions gets switched to an NBA game. You’ll see a Dominick Hasek or Thurman Thomas jersey on the wall, but no McAdoo or Smith throwbacks. For a cat like me, that’s depressing.

Can I get an amen, Seattle?

Vincent Thomas is a columnist and feature writer for SLAM, a contributing commentator for ESPN and writes the weekly “From The Floor” column for NBA.com. You can email him your feedback at vincethomas79@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @vincecathomas.

The post Original Old School: When The Buffalo Roamed appeared first on SLAM.

by Alan Paul

When James Worthy announced his retirement in 1994 after 12 years and three rings with the Lakers, his longtime teammate Magic Johnson called him “one of the top 10 players in playoff history.” It was hard to argue: By then, “Big Games James” had earned an MVP Award from the ’88 Finals to go with his Most Outstanding Player award from the ’82 NCAA Final Four. On the Showtime Lakers, Worthy was generally the third-billed star behind Magic and Kareem, but he always rose to the occasion and often became the man when the chips were down. His career playoff average of 21.1 ppg far surpassed his regular season 17.6, and Worthy had his first career triple-double in Game 7 of the ’88 Finals, driving a sword through the Pistons’ heart with 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists.

“I really think that you should be better in the playoffs,” confirms Worthy, who now works as an anchor on the Lakers’ pre- and postgame TV shows. “You’re not traveling as much, and you’re focused on one team and often one player at a time.”

A 6-9 small forward who scored countless points in transition, often finishing the Lakers’ vaunted fast breaks with his trademark swooping, one-handed jams, Worthy played for the NBA title seven times. “James was the X factor on those Laker teams,” former Celtics center Robert Parish told a crowd at the Basketball Hall of Fame when he and Worthy were inducted together in September. “As good as Magic and Kareem were, I always felt James made the difference.”

Worthy is now trying to make a difference in another way, helping raise money for the Boys & Girls Club in his hometown of Gastonia, NC. He has long been active with the organization, and he filmed a segment of Wheel of Fortune for the long-running game show’s NBA Week (set to air in mid-November) to benefit the charity. Before spinning the wheel, he sat backstage sipping coffee and discussing his career.

SLAM: You’ve finally been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and you were named to the NBA’s 50 Greatest team, so you’ve gotten your personal accolades—but it wasn’t always clear that would happen. Did it ever bother you that Magic and Kareem overshadowed you?
JAMES WORTHY: No, no, no. I wouldn’t trade my experience with the Lakers for anything. I would never swap my three rings for a scoring title or MVP award. I might have scored a few more points a game somewhere else, but so what?

SLAM: You were in the rare position of being a college All-American and No. 1 Draft pick, and yet you ended up with the defending NBA champs, who had won two titles in three years and had a great player at your position—Jamaal Wilkes. Was it easy to fit in?
JW: It was. The infrastructure was tremendous, because so many of us came from these legendary, disciplined college programs and had the team concepts ingrained in us. I was coming from North Carolina, where we had just won a national championship, Kareem and Jamaal came from John Wooden, and Pat Riley came from Adolph Rupp. So it wasn’t like you had to teach anyone about locker room stability or unselfish play and proper spacing. Coming out of school so highly regarded, a part of you certainly wants to play more minutes. I didn’t even start and that was hard at times, but learning the game from Kurt Rambis and Jamaal was a blessing in disguise. Most first picks have tremendous pressure to score tons and turn a team around, but I escaped that. I knew that eventually I was going to play, but I was happy to sit there and observe guys like Jamaal, Michael Cooper, Norm Nixon and Bob McAdoo.

SLAM: A lot of people forget how important McAdoo and Nixon were to the Lakers’ success in the early ’80s.
JW: Right. Because most people remember ’87 and ’88, but McAdoo was nearly MVP of the [’82] Sixers series, when he was huge off the bench. We don’t forget what an important part of the team’s success he was. And Norm was a blast to play with. I only played with him my rookie year, when I missed the Finals because I broke my leg, but our fast break was really unstoppable with him. He and Magic were both point guards, and teams had no idea who to focus on. Norm was a jet and he would get it and go.

SLAM: Did you as players feel the Lakers/Celtics rivalry as intensely as the fans and media did?
JW: I think so. It was always being conjured up and it went all the way back to the ’60s and early ’70s, when the Celtics always beat the Lakers. We felt like we were out to avenge West, Baylor and Wilt. It was very intense. There were a lot of angles and CBS made sure everyone knew them all—you had East Coast/West Coast, blue collar/Showtime, Bird/Magic. It got whipped up to where the players hated each other on the court—but only on the court, because that intensity was fed by mutual respect. We both knew that the other was the best and beating them was the only way to prove yourself.

SLAM: The Pistons had a long, hard-fought struggle to finally make the Finals in ’88. Could you feel their desperation and hunger on the court?
JW: Definitely. While we didn’t have the same built-up rivalry with them that we did with the Celtics, anyone the Pistons played became a rival because they were so tough and physical. They should have made it to us in ’87 but they lost a game and series they should have won to Boston, so by ’88, they were desperate and overdue. You could see that they had been clawing and how badly they wanted to win.

SLAM: When you played the Pistons in ’88, you were matched up with Adrian Dantley. How was he to guard?
JW: He was a master in the paint, creating havoc with his wide body and incredible footwork fundamentals. He knew how to bump and use step-back moves to get you where you couldn’t defend him. He was just 6-4 so you’d think you can have your way down low, but he had a lot of physics in the paint. He broke the game down to a science and could draw a foul anytime he wanted. He would find you and make you foul him, then fall down—and he got the calls because the refs saw this little guy posting up giants. He averaged 12 or 13 free throws a game.

SLAM: And then he was replaced by Mark Aguirre…
JW: …who was a very similar player, and also unstoppable when he got on a roll. Mark lacked the same scientific approach, but he had a perimeter game that extended to the three-point line and was more of a playmaker. He’d put the ball between his legs, head fake you, make you wonder if he was going to pull up.

SLAM: Playing against the Celtics, you were often matched up against Bird—but not always. How was it to guard McHale?
JW: He guarded me a lot, but I could not guard him. He was too long and tough in the post. He’s 6-11 but he plays 7-3 with those long arms. I had my hands full enough with Larry or the other guy that I got sometimes—DJ [Dennis Johnson], who was really admired and respected by all players. Dennis was a great point guard and very smart defender and he made great contributions to the success of his teams in Seattle and Phoenix, as well as Boston. Getting matched up with a true guard like DJ or Joe Dumars was a nightmare for me. Against Detroit, we’d try to take Magic away from having to guard Joe and it would sometimes fall to me. He was a perimeter player, a playmaker and a driver. Endless trouble. But every night was tough, man. You had to guard Larry on a Monday night and Julius on Tuesday. Then it’s a day off and you got to see Bernard King. Are you kidding me?

SLAM: Ah, Bernard King!
JW: He was probably the most feared forward I ever came up against. He was just an endless worker. He was reckless abandon under control and you could not outwork him. Not only was he talented with an extremely unorthodox shot, but also he would beat you down. He was a miniature-sized Moses Malone or Shaq, just physically punishing to defend. And you could not guard Bernard King tightly because he just wouldn’t allow you to be on him like that.

SLAM: Who was the toughest guy for you to score on?
JW: Rodman was the toughest guy who ever guarded me, by far. He had quick feet, and he was always getting into position.

SLAM: Dean Smith has said that you were one of only three UNC guys that he knew, when you entered school, was going to be a great pro. I don’t suspect he ever shared that with you.
JW: That is something that he would never share, which is the beauty of how Dean Smith teaches young men. The first time that he ever mentioned anything like that to me was about a month after we won the title my junior season. I had to declare if I was going pro and he told me I was ready, that he had done research and I was going to be a top pick, so it was a great opportunity for my family and me.

SLAM: Michael Jordan was not one of the three Dean mentioned. How quickly did you realize he was unique?
JW: I knew right away. As a freshman, Michael was raw and not that fundamentally sound. But even though he didn’t really understand the game, his mentality was incredible. Whether he was playing basketball or backgammon in the dorm, the guy was striving for something. I was the best guy on the team, but I could sense this guy coming. He wanted to be the best. But while I knew he was going to be a good NBA player, I had no idea that he would blossom and become what he did. He was a late bloomer and he kept getting better and better. Most guys plateau at some point and raise their games in increments, but he kept making leaps every year.

SLAM: You guys are forever linked by your roles in the final moments of the ’82 title game against Georgetown, which ended when Fred Brown threw the ball right to you. Were you surprised?
JW: Oh, yes. I was so far out of defensive position that I was behind him and I guess he thought I was on his team when I came running up. Playing in the Dome with such loud noise, I didn’t know what was going on. I thought there was a timeout and he was being cute and tossing me the ball, but once I realized it was real, I was shocked. To this day, every time I see the game I am shocked when he throws me the ball.

SLAM: You’ve been active raising money for the Gastonia Boys and Girls Club. Was it important to you as a kid?
JW: Yes, which is why I have tried to help in any way I can. I grew up there, because both my parents were working two and three jobs to put my older brothers through North Carolina Central. I didn’t want them to have to do that for me, and at the Boys Club I heard about athletic scholarships for the first time, which is why I decided to focus on basketball. I wanted to take advantage of my height, so I quit football and baseball and played basketball all the time. Then in eighth grade I went to Dean Smith’s camp and really got into the sport and became passionate about it. I was inspired by playing against the best kids in the state and seeing guys like Walter Davis and Phil Ford. I wanted to be like them.

The post Original Old School: Fast Breakin’ appeared first on SLAM.

Twenty years ago this week, Loyola Marymount ended a fairy-tale NCAA Tournament run getting dropped by eventual champs UNLV 131-101. In fact, forget fairy-tale, that makes you think about the tired Cinderella cliche attached the tournament. LMU’s run was deeper than that — it was “triumph of the human spirit” cliche stuff.

I mean, seriously: Your team leader collapses and dies during a game and, as an 11th seed, you advance to the Elite 8 just weeks later. That’s such an iconic story I don’t even want Hollywood getting its hand on it. Just leave it as.

At some point, UNLV’s championship and the cultural impact of that team will fade. America will probably always remember the LMU story, though. In case we needed a little prodding, however, I talked to the principal members and visited the campus to write a piece commemorating the team’s 20th anniversary. What you read below appears in this month’s issue of SLAM on newsstands now…

A little over two decades ago, in early February, the Loyola Marymount Lions traveled from their home in Los Angeles to Baton Rouge, LA, for a rare late-season, non-conference game against a collegiate giant. No, really— LSU was gigantic. The hosts’ Shaquille O’Neal and Stanley Roberts were massive 7-footers, more imposing even than the Alonzo Mourning/Dikembe Mutombo duo at Georgetown. LMU’s center was the 6-7 Hank Gathers who, the previous season, lead the nation in scoring and rebounding. This particular season, however, Hank “The Bank” ceded his scoring title to his teammate and fellow Philadelphian Bo Kimble. They marched into the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to take on Goliath. Well, while LSU had giants, LMU had The System.

That’s right, The System. It was simple, really. You know how Mike D’Antoni’s Phoenix squad was marked by the “seven seconds or less” philosophy? LMU’s mantra was even more ambitious (and crazy). Paul Westhead—who had won an NBA championship as the Lakers head coach in 1980—wanted his LMU squad to shoot the rock in less than four seconds. Four! “Sometimes we’d get it up in two seconds,” he recalls. “There was no such thing as a bad shot.”

LMU averaged 122 ppg that season, which is downright preposterous. Think about it this way: No NBA teams come close to averaging 122 ppg and their games are eight minutes longer. Even crazier, back in ‘90, NCAA games still used a 45-second shot clock. The System was a bizarre product of a mad scientist. Up and down, up and down. They trapped you as soon as the ball was taken out and then flew down the court after a rebound. No matter what an opposing team tried to do, they got sucked into LMU’s vortex of chaos. Hank Hersch, writing for Sports Illustrated, said LMU games resembled “fourth-grade recess.” And it often worked.

Halfway into the LSU game, Tiger forward Vernell Singleton’s chest was heaving and he looked over to coach Dale Brown with a sheepish, helpless grimace asking to be subbed out of the game. The Lions ended up losing to LSU, 148-141…in regulation. For context, Syracuse’s six-overtime win over UConn last March was 127-117. The Loyola/LSU game was so remarkable for its pace and energy that Brown actually got on the PA system after the game and told the crowd they just witnessed one of the greatest games ever played in Louisiana.

LSU wasn’t used to games like that, but they were regular occurrences for LMU. Over the course of two seasons, The System started getting LMU notoriety; the L.A. Times actually assigned Alan Drooz to cover them full-time.

Jamie Sanchez, now the Lions tennis coach, oversaw the team’s ticket requests back then. He says everywhere they went, people were lining up to see this team put Doug Moe’s Denver Nuggets to shame.

That ‘90 LMU season, however, will always be most remembered for its emotional dichotomy. The university—a small Jesuit school of less than 4,000 students,
sitting on the beautiful bluffs of Marina Del Ray in Los Angeles county—experienced perhaps college basketball’s greatest tragedy, only to follow it up with one of the most memorable and euphoric Cinderella runs in NCAA Tournament history.

*****

LMU was never an athletic powerhouse. But when Westhead came in ‘85, he brought NBA Championship pedigree and, more importantly, Philadelphia ties from his days at LaSalle. This helped him land Gathers and Kimble when they looked to transfer from USC.

“Once we got Hank and Bo, I knew we had the athletes for The System,” says Westhead, who is now in his first year as head women’s coach at the University of Oregon (and yes, still pushing his team to score 100-plus points).

“I loved it,” says Kimble. “We were all able to just unload our games. There were tremendous opportunities under Westhead. You do all your work in practice and then, on game day, he let the horses run out of the stable. Most coaches are too arrogant to give up that control.”

With Kimble filling it up, guard Jeff Fryer shooting the lights out, point guards Tony Walker and Terrell Lowery pushing the pace and Tom Peabody (aka The Human Bruise) playing like Crash Bandicoot, LMU had all the necessary ingredients for success—except size. That’s where Gathers came in. Even when he was giving up several inches and a couple dozen pounds to his opponents, you didn’t know it. Kimble says it best: “They might have been bigger than Hank, but every shot we missed he was gonna get the rebound and, on the other end, he was gonna get their misses and then beat his guy down the court.”

Gathers was LMU’s ex-factor—winning matchups he should have lost—and spiritual leader. He was the Lions’ biggest personality, literally the big man on campus.

But then came March 4, 1990.

****

LMU was playing Portland in the West Coast Conference Tournament. They were up 23-13 when Gathers caught an alley-oop from Lowery and dunked it with force. As he ran up the court, though, he collapsed. It was an odd scene. This hulking, sculpted young man— after just completing basketball’s signature play for athletic prowess—crumbling to the ground and going into convulsions.

Gathers, who used to call himself the “Strongest Man in America,” was pronounced dead just hours later. An autopsy found he suffered from a heart-muscle disorder, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

It was a huge national story, of course: Potential Lottery pick dies on the court. SI, ESPN, 60 Minutes—the campus was like a newsroom. It was also like a zombieland. The entire student body and administration were in a haze of grief and disbelief. “Hank was so central to campus life,” remembers Sanchez. “Everybody knew Hank. Everybody liked Hank. Everybody loved Hank. His death was so sudden and so tragic that we all didn’t know how to move on.”

Days after Gathers’ death, the West Coast Conference gave LMU their automatic NCAA Tournament invite, the first in school history, as an 11th seed. Westhead says he and his staff weren’t sure whether the team was emotionally fit to play in the Tournament. “I thought that maybe it was too much, too soon,” he remembers.

Fryer, enjoying a career season as a senior, said playing in the Tournament was the best thing for the squad. “It allowed us, for a moment, to take our minds off Hank and the tragedy of his death,” he says.

Once they decided to play, it was on.

Talk about Cinderellas. There have been some great runs throughout Tournament history—Valparaiso, George Mason, etc.—but nothing like LMU’s run. For a small school like LMU to advance as far as they did, all while scoring in torrents and just weeks after losing its leader and best player, is on a whole other level of remarkable.

Even though New Mexico State was their first win (111-92), the Lions introduction, their “we’re here now” statement came in the second round against defending champion Michigan. The Wolverines boasted Rumeal Robinson, Loy Vaught, Sean Higgins, Terry Mills, Eric Riley—they all played in the NBA. Even though the game was held a few miles away from campus at Long Beach Arena and the crowd was decidedly pro-LMU, nobody really gave the Lions a chance. But midway through the first half, it was clear the Wolverines were not prepared for a game this emotional and frenetic.

When Kimble went to the line for the first time, he did exactly what he’d done a few days prior against New Mexico State—he shot the free throw left-handed. It was his way of honoring his dead homeboy. (Even though Gathers was right-handed, he’d briefly attempted shooting his free throws left-handed to improve from the charity stripe.)

“We all wore the [uniform] patch,” recalls Kimble. “And some of the younger guys were doing things like writing Hank’s name and number on their sneakers. But the pain I was feeling…I just didn’t wanna do that. That would have been, to use one of Hank’s words, ‘corny.’ I had so much respect for Hank as a person and player and one thing I always appreciated about him was how hard he worked on his free throws. So I figured there was no better way to honor him than to shoot the first free throw of every game with my left hand. I wanted to make it, but I didn’t care. That was my own selfish moment. It was an inner thing. A time for me to stop and pause and acknowledge Hank. The ball could have flew over the backboard or it could have been an air-ball that just went two feet and I wouldn’t have cared.”

Kimble made all three of his left-handed free throws and it always made the crowd go wild. After he hit his free throws against Michigan, Lowery followed up with a steal and a slick finger-roll over Robinson. After the bucket, he got up in the All-American’s chest and started woofing. (“Yeah, boy! Yeah, boy!”) Robinson didn’t say a word in return. Instead, coach Steve Fisher called a timeout and Robinson and the rest of his squad sulked back to the huddle, down 44-30—with seven minutes left in the first half!—already seemingly defeated.

Quinn Buckner and Greg Gumble called the game for CBS. Buckner spent most of the game laughing and chuckling in disbelief at the insane pace and LMU’s “bombs away” mentality. Kimble played the whole game with a knowing smirk on his face. He knew when a team played them for the first time, the pace would catch them off guard. Westhead ran his practices at the same 1,000 mph pace as the games, so his squad was ready. Their opponents? Not so much.

“I never wanna be in that shape again,” jokes Kimble. “When you get into that kinda shape, you can almost be on cruise control. If Paul said, We’re gonna run 50 miles, I wouldn’t be happy, but I was in shape where I could lace up my sneakers and do it. And I could also guarantee that, by halftime, the other team felt they’d played the whole game.”

The Lions led 65-58 at the half, but they literally ran Michigan out of the gym in second half. At one point, after Fryer (on his way to 41 points) hit one of his 11 treys, a whole section in the arena did the “We’re not worthy” bow from Wayne’s World. LMU ended up winning 149-115, breaking a Tournament scoring record. It was inspired ball. In his post-game interview, Fryer evoked Gathers. “Hank is on our side,” he said. “We’re an emotional hurricane and nothing’s gonna stand in our way.”

Kimble made the cover of SI the following week, with the caption “For You, Hank.” They had the nation’s full attention. Fryer and Kimble even went on The Arsenio Hall Show.

The Cinderella run continued in the Sweet 16 where they met a Robert Horry-led Alabama squad. Following the Michigan game, Westhead had said, “On the bus ride here I instructed our guys to play bombs away…the players are free to let it go. I feel sorry for whoever we play next.” But legendary Bama coach Wimp Sanderson wasn’t going to fall victim to The System like New Mexico State and Michigan, so he and the Tide played the ugliest game of stall-ball you’ll ever see. They flipped it on LMU and ended up dictating the pace of the whole game. LMU could usually score 100 points with their collective eyes closed, but, somehow, Bama managed to keep the score low. Still, LMU won 62-60, which was like a halftime score for them. After the game, forward Per Stumer said the pace was so slow that “it was like learning to walk again.”

In the Elite 8, LMU met UNLV. The two squads had opened up their seasons against each other, with the Runnin’ Rebels winning 102-91. UNLV was one of the few squads that had the horses—and then some—to keep up with LMU. Stacey Augmon and Larry Johnson were All-Americans. Anderson Hunt could bomb away from deep all day. David Butler and Moses Scurry were beasts down low. Greg Anthony ran the show. They were too much, ending LMU’s Cinderella run 131-101. It was Westhead, though, who put the loss in proper perspective.

“Today was the way the last three should have been, proof that the last three were unexplainable,” Westhead said after the game. “They were examples of the human spirit rising above occasions. But we’re not angels and we can’t always rise above. I’m not devastated. When we entered this Tournament, I made the decision this wasn’t for winning or losing, but to play hard for Hank. We were playing basketball on another level. It wasn’t on the level of wins and losses.”

****

LMU’s campus still has some markings of that memorable squad. There’s a banner in the gym that reads “Hank’s House” and both
Gathers’ and Kimble’s faces can be seen on murals and pictures around campus. There was also a Homecoming event honoring that team in January. But for that squad to be the school’s most successful team, there’s not too much commemoration, probably because even though that was a very happy time, ecstatic even, there was also a lot of sadness associated with ‘90. Kimble said he saw footage of his left-handed free throw recently and got teary-eyed. “It was a total reminder of the joy and the sadness of that season,” he says.

Fryer says it was a confusing time. “I didn’t know whether to mourn or celebrate,” he says.

This much is known, though: LMU’s ’90 season remains one of the most dramatic and compelling four months for any team in any sport.

“For us as a team, a school and a community to go from being so low and experiencing just an unthinkable tragedy to then being so high, almost delirious, it was only right,” says Sanchez. “The only way to balance out all that sorrow was to just ride the wave with the team. It was like they were being helped by a higher power.”

Vincent Thomas is a columnist and feature writer for SLAM, a contributing commentator for ESPN and writes the weekly “From The Floor” column for NBA.com. You can email him your feedback at vincethomas79@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @vincecathomas.

The post Pride of the Lions appeared first on SLAM.

By Sam Rubenstein

Admit it, you woke up this morning and went to slamonline expecting to see a Sam Rubenstein post about a high school girls’ championship basketball game. You always get what you want, don’t you?

Long time no Rubenstein, I know. When you last heard from me, I was at a Knicks-Nets game (ugh) with Tzvi and Russ, and my day job was that of a substitute teacher. A small amount of time has passed, which has felt like a thousand infinities, as I am now like a real NYC public high school teacher and stuff. I once wrote a column comparing teaching to coaching an NBA team, and felt that I was at the Rick Adelman level, where the players/students like me and things go well enough, then we have horrific flameouts where I stand there with my hands on my head and my mouth open looking like an 18 wheeler just ran over my cute little puppy.

I’m trying to reach that Phil Jackson level of speaking metaphysical nonsense, recommending randomly insane books or movies, riding on the coattails of a great player/student, and being able to point to my 10 rings and cool X hat.

Um… I’m not quite there yet.

For today, I’m just a basketball fan at a championship game. It’s the Murray Bergtraum Lady Blazers vs. the John F. Kennedy Lady Knights.

Oh, and I teach at a school on the Kennedy campus (Bronx School of Law and Finance), and specifically there are two girls on the Kennedy team that are my students. Guard Candus Brown, and manager Collett Powell. So I might be a little biased here.

Candus is in my film study class, where I showed the students More Than a Game, the documentary about LeBron’s high school team and the circumstances around them. She followed up by asking me for recommendations on some good Michael Jordan movies, so I hit her with the 1-2 combo of Come Fly With Me and Jordan to the Max. Obviously I am the greatest teacher she will ever have.

Collett is in my filmmaking class, and she is a gifted singer. I accidentally got her in trouble the other day when she couldn’t leave my class to go to practice. But we were having major breakthroughs in our world of filmmaking! Mr. Rubenstein is the king of executive producers. More on that project when the time comes. From the nypost liveblog of the game: 10:55 a.m. — Sitting next to esteemed Kennedy manager Collett Powell, who should be singing the National Anthem in a few minutes, but will not be. Knights coach O’Neil Glenn told me she brought the house down when they went up to Amsterdam, N.Y., over the holidays.

Walking into the building yesterday, I did not know that my school was up against a national powerhouse, in the quintessential David vs. Goliath showdown. As it turns out, the Lady Blazers are like UCONN in the city. They were going for their 12^th straight PSAL city title. My school was an underdog to put it extremely kindly.

Later on in the evening, the Nets would come here to play the Knicks. You could say I’m at the best basketball game of the day at MSG. Okay, that’s not fair to the H.S. Boys championship game that followed the girls. (And now that the Knicks game has ended, it’s not fair to the Nets either.)

Floor level seats, baseline. The game opens with a travel by Shaquaya Daniels of Kennedy. All she did was the Dwyane Wade dribble where you gain about 15 feet of floor space with each carry/palming. I guess they call that here.

The game has four 8-minute quarters, and after a sluggish start, Daniels gets to the rack, Deaisia Acklin hits an open baseline jumper and we are up 4-0.

Cori Coleman of Bergtram floats in a Tony Parker teardrop, and Kennedy responds with some inspired play on the big stage by Sarah Vann, a mohawked machine of a player, who cleans up a miss from #10, and backs it up by taking a charge on the other end.

Bergtram goes to their pick-n-pop game, and we’re tied at 6 with 3:17 to go in the first quarter. Janelle Linton goes to work, unstoppable at her height in the post, but not the most unstoppable player on her team. We’ll get to that.

Celeb sighting: Pee Wee Kirkland is here.

Sarah Vann with a beautiful pump fake to get her girl off her feet, then drives for the lay-up. They don’t play music during the game, so you can hear the squeaks of the sneaks, the coaches yelling, the parents screaming at their daughters. Final score after 1, 13-10.

The Number 23

Jordan

LeBron

Doris Ortega

Honorable mention #23 Jack Shephard, last seen losing his mind and shattering mirrors at the lighthouse, starting to recognize his destiny is with Jacob.

Back to Doris Ortega: she gets the ball and goes into triple threat position, and it’s over. Heading into this game, Bergtraum’s record over her four years there is 99-2. My first introduction to Ortega was when she grabbed a rebound, turned the other way and nearly pulled off a Derrick Rose-esque body twisting layup in traffic. She doesn’t, so the next time down she just knocks down a jumper the easy way.

A woman behind me complains that the Kennedy Shaquaya Daniels is too busy showing off her handle, driving around all crazy, and not running the offense. I don’t feel bad about writing this down because she was screaming it at her right at her, and she seemed to be Shaquaya’s mom.

One of the most impressive Kennedy Lady Knights is Danissa Smith, playing with a leg brace on what I was told was an injured knee. She spots up for 3, and she’s a cold blooded sniper like me in Modern Warfare 2. After a Bergtraum miss, she puts up another one that rims out, and there was a traveling call somehow involved. If that thing went down, it would have been 23-22 Kennedy heading into halftime and all hell would have broken loose.

The first half ends with a mini war under the boards, which Kennedy survives, and are down 22-20 heading into halftime. Do we have a live dog?

They don’t think it’s a damn show, they think it’s a damn fight!

They believe! This is just like the USA hockey team after the Zack Parise miracle on ice!

And that was as good as it got.

3rd quarter, Ortega corner three, Ortega fed inside for the layup.

Daniels over-dribbles, loses it inside, but Danissa Smith digs it out, dribbles back to the line and sticks a deep two. Heart!

HOWEVA… Shukurah Washington on Bergtraum. If you can call a young lady a beast in a complimentary way, I am doing it. Nine boards in the first half, now dominating the glass by herself, getting easy put-backs. She would finish with 10 and 19. BEAST! Someone near me makes the Moses Malone comparison.

A Kennedy highlight comes when Chelsea Custodio does the layup on one end, take a charge on the other thing. Love it!

But much like a supermarket that doesn’t sell Tostito’s or Paul Newman brand salsa, it’s too much Ortega.

(Yes I know, that was horrible. They have real salsa availability issues in my neighborhood. What’s the deal with those weird desert pepper salsas? Why is Amy’s so expensive? Who is Glen Muir?)

Ortega inside, Ortega outside, it’s 44-27. The last championship game I went to was Celtics-Lakers, and that game was a victory lap coronation. So is this.

The fourth quarter is a formality, and if they were NBA professionals I would call it garbage time, but none of these young ladies are garbage. My student Candus Brown gets a few minutes, I go down to talk to Collett, but she doesn’t hear my desperate screams, just like in class!).

Final score 58-37.

Ortega scores 19 as she takes home MVP honors, and Washington has 10 and 19. Dynasty! Both are seniors and go out on top as they should.

The post An Invincible Dynasty Continues at MSG appeared first on SLAM.

by Scoop Jackson

TWO FOR 13. JERRY STACKHOUSE JUST LOST HIS BID FOR MVP. No disrespect to Jordan, Pippen, Kemp or Hardaway, but Stackhouse had things on lockdown until this game. Until he met me.

“You know you jinxed me?” Stackhouse looks deep into my eyes as I give him a pound after his player-of-the-year losing performance. “How you figure?” I respond. “You know how most people get that Sports Illustrated jinx after they’ve been on the cover? Yeah, well you jinxed me before the issue even came out!” Damn. Another brotha’s career on my dome. First Latrell and Timmy fall off, Robert Horry ain’t the same, Kenny Anderson gets traded and now Stack. Damn. Damn. Damn.

Jealous ones envy. In a world where basketball means everything to everybody, Jerry Stackhouse is the future. When Magic can’t come back (again) at 38, and the league can’t afford Jordan at 35, Jerry Stackhouse will be there in Philly, trying to resurrect what Dr. J, Moses and Barkley left behind. Alone to win dunk contests against Grant Hill and lead the league in scoring. Alone to keep that filthy-rich UNC legacy alive. Alone to keep the future of hoopology at a higher cradle-rockin’, under-the-back-board-glidin’, cuff-reverse, non-Spike-Lee-pluggin’ level. You’ll find Stackhouse. Alone. In the future.

DirecTV. Stackhouse has a direct link to the future. “I love it,” he says as he regretfully (and all too often) pays more attention to ball on the tube than his girl. “That’s all I do. Everybody else hangs and does this and that, but I’m on the couch watchin’ some game.”

I nod only because I know how it is to be so in love with the game of basketball that sometimes you can’t-just can’t-get away from it. The b-ball game resembles the crack game, sometimes. No junkies, just millions hooked. “It doesn’t matter who’s playing, it’s just me and that remote…you know what I’m say’n’? So many games, so little time.”

The love for this game, his game, runs deep. A rookie in a league notorious for implementing apathy in young minds that somehow forget that passion has as much to do with getting them into the league as skills, Jerry Stackhouse remains the variance. His NC-19 upbringing made it virtually impossible for him to be anything less than the man everybody felt (and still feel in some parts) was in position to replace Michael Jordan as the spiritual center of Dean Smith basketball and beyond.

When asked how it feels, now that he’s a pro, to see a little kid walking around with his jersey on, Stack reminds me that he experienced that moment in high school. Excuse me?!? Carolina, always on some other shit.

“I downplay everything when it comes to the Michael Jordan comparisons,” Stackhouse says as we watch people walk by us, stop, glance and not say anything, because they know but they really don’t know, you know? “I’m not going to lie and say that it doesn’t help, because it does. It helps my confidence. I mean, being mentioned in the same breath as Jordan is a compliment.” He laughs, then rolls. “But it doesn’t help when I have to play against him, though. With both of us being from the eastern part of the state and both of us being almost the same size, doing the same things-well sort of [laugh]-with the basketball, being creative, and both going to North Carolina, the comparisons are automatically going to be there. It’s just coincidence. But just like I said, I kinda downplay it, because every year there’s a Micheal Jordan coming into the league. It just so happens that I was the lucky one this year.”

His humbleness is eerie. He’s been lucky like this all his life. For a young man to go through life in the shadow of God and come up Jesus is unyielding. No other new jack in the game had to carry the weight Stack Fila’d into the league with. Joe Smith, Antonio McDyess, Rasheed and Damon never had the life-long legacy of #23 on their backs. None grew up in Jordan’s omnipresent shadow, in his hometown, waiting for the day to finally prove their worth as men, as ball players. It all has meaning. Every now and then a star has to go through this path. The eerie feeling of being a mirror image, a clone, of someone larger, greater than you. From hometown to college to the NBA.

Destiny? Never. Just the bad luck timing of growing up in the same hood as another brotha who left his mark on the world. Alonzo Mourning has carried the weight of Patrick Ewing from Virginia to G’Town to Pat Riley. Catch the pattern, the similarities. Stephon Marbury’s got the same drama clonin’ Kenny Anderson from Nueve York to G’Tech to leaving school early and turning down $40 million contracts. It’s the routine.

Now while Ewing and Chibbs are no joke, honestly…they ain’t Jordan. Nobody is. Not even Stackhouse. In reality, it’s unfair to place this burden of deliverance on a 20-year-old. So what you win the McDonald’s H.S. All-American Game MVP, jus’ like Mike. So what you get drafted No. 3, jus’ like Mike. So what you’re stuck on a team that needs you almost as much as they need a new mayor, jus’ like Mike. So what you’ll be Rookie of the Year, jus’ like Mike. So what you’re going to win a few championships rings, retire, come back and win another before it’s all over, jus’ like Mike. So what you got Vernon Maxwell on your squad and Mike had Quinten Dailey… you have to believe that history simply repeats itself, that Carolina blue means something more, that Jordan doesn’t score 48 points on you the first time you meet.

Twenty-nine points, 8 assists, 5 steals. Jerry Stackhouse just played himself into Grant Hill’s zone. Days after Philly owner Harold Katz loosened the radio-talk-show-driven noose from around 76ers coach John Lucas’ neck, Stack plays like the man everyone expects him to be-every night. No jinx. The Sixers are having one of “those” seasons, and Jerry Stackhouse is the only bright spot in a tunnel so dark Eric Lindros could suit up. He shoots, he scores. But “the House” continues to grow and the house continues to get built. At the All-Star break, the Sixers were strugglin’ to get 10 wins and waiting for Derrick Coleman to exhale. Stack can’t get with this losing thing, but he understands the nature. It’s naughty. Poverty has no paradise.

“I still haven’t adapted to losing,” Stackhouse says in all sincerity, without feeling totally responsible but knowing that he could be the difference in a couple of W’s. “This is tough for me. But I know the things I have to do. I know that I have to stay focused on the long range goals of this team. You know? After each game I ask myself, ‘What did I learn? Did I get better from last game to this game? How can I get better from this game to the next game?’ Don’t get me wrong, I hate losing, but it does give you time to concentrate on getting your game together so that when things do start to come together-I’ll be ready. Because I do know this: Losing makes winning that much more gratifying.”

Thirty-two and oh. In University Park, Illinois youngster Dudy Smith dusts me one-on-one. After every basket he drops the word “STACKHOUSE!” At 18 years old, he can do this to me because, hell, I ain’t 18 anymore. On the sidelines his boys give him dap, whispering, “Stack ’em up. Stack ’em up.”

“Why Stack?” I ask.

“Because in a few years he’s going to be the best ball player in the game,” he snaps. Smoove.

“Then why me?” I ask ignorantly. “Why the shut-out?”

He looks down at my shoes and says, “‘Cause you ain’t wearing Filas.”

Before I put the hex on Stack, I asked him about being the best. I told him about young Dudy and how he represents those who know #42 is going to run the NBA one day. In his eyes I could see his reaction was going to be different than his words. Diplomacy. Although he knows he has the package, the total package, he downplays, realizing, too, that I am not wearing Filas.

“I think right now my game is locked. I mean, it’s either go to the basket or shoot a three. I have to develop that in-between game and not always challenge the defense. But I don’t want to do that at the expense of the team. I have to work on that in practice, in the off-season. I just want to work. Get my game to the point where my shot is so repetitious that it feels good every time. I know nobody’s really at that point, but there are guys who are a lot closer to that point than me and I think that’s somewhere I need to be.”

Stack slows, reconstructs, then continues. “Grant [Hill] and I talk about that all the time. How we are able to do some of the things now that we did when we were in college, but at the same time how we still have things to work on to improve our games. Like Clyde Drexler. He’s the best player I’ve played against so far. I mean not only just talent-wise, but he still does a lot for the little things. And man, he has those legs! I hope when I’m at that point in my career I have those legs. Plus he has the overall attitude and the way he’s always with his teammates…that’s special. Things like that make you a better ball player.” Filas or not.

At 6-6, 218, Stackhouse has the luxury of playing anywhere from the two to the four on a nightly basis. His game is a classic combination of Elgin Baylor grace, Roger Brown tenacity and Sam Cassell fearlessness. The difference between his sophomore year at UNC and his rookie year in Philly are small. The numbers (20 points, 6 boards, 4 assists and one or two steals) are the same, and he still brings the spectacular for the highlight reel on the regular. Outside of playing in Jordan’s shadow, he’s also playing for the same organization Julius Erving made famous.

“I think about that sometimes,” Stack says. “Even though I’m only going to play in the Spectrum one year [the Sixers are moving to a new joint next season], I tell myself sometimes, ‘Man, Doc played here.'”

More legacy to carry, more weight for a brotha. Stack handles it. If you chronicle his life, his career, it seems like he was meant to be here. Meant to follow this pattern, these legends. The poise in the way he carries himself makes it seem as if he’s more of a man, more of an adult, than many veterans in the league, let alone a supposed-to-be college junior. His ties with the Tar Heels and Coach Smith run deep. Everybody’s does. At lunch, while reading an old issue of SLAM, the first thing he noticed was that UNC wasn’t ranked as one of our top-20 teams.

“What’s up with that?” he asks. I shrug…then hit him with the quick response, “Maybe ’cause you ain’t there bra’h.”

He gives me that “yeah, right” look. “I’m going to always have ties with the university. My house is in Chapel Hill, so I’ll be there this summer. Plus Rasheed [Wallace of the Washington Bullets] and I have to catch up, and Rick Fox [another UNC alum, check the Boston Celtics] started this organization called Carolina Pros that I’m going to help and be a part of.”

The question of his place in Carolina history comes up. He can’t downplay this. I ask him would he start if UNC alumni played UCLA alumni in an all-everybody, all-out All-Star game. He thought for a minute: Jordan, Walter Davis, James Worthy, Bobby Jones, Billy Cunningham, Sam Perkins, Phil Ford, J.R. Reid, Hubert Davis, Al Wood, Wallace and Fox, and even Donald Williams. That minute turns into two, three, then he comes with it.

“Yeah, if I wasn’t a freshman.” He laughs, knowing that his answer may be questioned. “I would hope so. Numbers-wise I think I’d be considered top five, but you never know. That’s one of the reasons I came out early, because there are no guarantees, even at Carolina.”

Hoop dreams. Jerry Stackhouse walks around with a 8mm camcorder. He watches basketball games on it-his basketball games. Never wanting Bobby Phills to have another career game against him, he watches film every day to see where he can do better. Never wanting to make the same mistake thrice. and even if it wasn’t him on the film, he’d watch. Only MJ 32 has more love, is more addicted. As Stack stands outside the team bus, talking to whomever on the cellular, he tells the person on the other line to hold on. Then he yells, “Yo Kevin, get away from him! He’s bad luck!” Kevin Garnett looks at me, looks at Jerry, looks back at me and then screams back, “You mean him?!?”

“Yeah, look what he did for me tonight!”

Kevin pauses. As he leans down to give me a hug, it hits him. “Oh, hell naw! Yo, get the hell away from me! I can’t afford to go out like that!” Damn.

I haven’t seen Stack since then, and he hasn’t had a bad game since then, either. I guess you can’t stop the future from scoring 30, grabbing 11 boards and doing a 360 dunk in traffic. Jus’ can’t stop Jerry Stackhouse from being the next Michael Jordan. It’s reality, and you can’t stop reality from being real. He’s the future. The future of why the NBA’s “I Love This Game” marketing scheme will still mean something in the year 2000. The authorized Air apparent. And if you don’t believe me, go ask young Dudy.

The post The Future appeared first on SLAM.

For certain active players yet to play in an All-Star Game, there is always a chance they’ll be selected in upcoming seasons (players like David Lee, Josh Smith, Chris Kaman, Andre Iguodala, Monta Ellis, Al Jefferson…). This is a story, however, about players who were unjustly left out for the duration of their career, and will never have the opportunity to play because they have long since retired.

We cannot rewrite history, but we can retroactively honor those players who deserved to be part of the spectacle that is the All-Star Game. Here’s my all-time list of the best retired players who never made an All-Star game appearance: Drazen Petrovic, Eddie Johnson (not to be confused with a player of the same name who was a two time All-Star for the Atlanta Hawks in the beginning of ’80s), Derek Harper, Byron Scott, Rod Strickland, Ron Harper, Cedric Maxwell, Purvis Short, Phil Ford, Orlando Woolridge, Sam Perkins, Toni Kukoc. Regarding active players most egregiously snubbed by All-Star selection throughout their professional careers, four names stand out to me: Marcus Camby, Andre Miller, Mike Bibby and Lamar Odom.

In considering all the aforementioned players, I have to mention first my countryman, the late Drazen Petrovic, who left us too soon at the age of 28. Drazen was particularly deserving of playing in the 1993 All-Star game, hosted in Salt Lake City. He was at the peak of his powers that season, averaging 23.4 ppg while also shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 49.6 percent from the three-point line (best in the League) at the time the All-Star reserves were announced. Petrovic was the only player not to be selected to the All-Star game amongst the NBA’s top 15 scorers in 1993. Why? Some strange circumstances conspired together. Firstly, though there are usually at least five guards on each team, in 1993, besides the two guards elected by the fans — Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas – the NBA coaches picked only two backups, namely Detroit’s Joe Dumars and Cleveland’s Mark Price. If the normal five guards had been picked, Petrovic likely would have made the team.

“I really thought I deserved to be on, the same way Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson had a good shot. I think a team like Cleveland, they have three guys on the team and New Jersey doesn’t have any, that is not correct,” said Petrovic to the New York Times. Later in the interview, when asked if New Jersey’s history of futility worked against the team’s candidates for the All-Star game, Petrovic said, “I think so. We’ve been losing for six years and people say, ‘Aww, who is that? The New Jersey Nets?’ Politics was a big key because Cleveland, we beat them twice this year. But that’s life.”

I continue to be perplexed that Cleveland — a team they had twice beaten at that point — ended up with three players on the All-Star team that year. At the moment when All-Star reserves were announced, Cleveland had 25 wins and 18 losses while the Nets’ record stood at 25 wins and 19 losses. Almost identical records, yet the Cavs had three players in the All-Star Game (Mark Price, Brad Daugherty and Larry Nance) and the Nets zero. That makes absolutely no sense. Sadly, 1993 would be Drazen’s last year in the NBA, just as he was maturing into a dynamic scorer. Indeed, at season’s end, Petrovic was recognized with 3rd Team All-NBA honors. Sadly, however, on June 7 1993 he was tragically killed in a car accident. He had just completed his fourth season in the NBA.

“I never in my life saw anyone who wanted to succeed in the NBA more than Drazen,” said current Celtics GM Danny Ainge, who was a teammate of Petrovic’s with the Portland Trail Blazers. That’s why Drazen’s omission from the 1993 All-Star was truly so difficult to take, because of all the hard work he had put in.

Beyond Nowitzki’s consistent position amongst the Western Conference’s All-Stars, it has remained difficult for Europeans striving for All-Star recognition. Vlade Divac played only one All-Star Game, fortunately chosen as a late sub by commissioner David Stern when Shaquille O’Neal backed out due to injury in 2001. Other European greats weren’t so lucky, particularly Arvydas Sabonis and Toni Kukoc, two of the best players in European basketball history. Unfortunately, age and injuries limited Lithuanian basketball icon Arvydas Sabonis once he joined the Portland Trail Blazers in ’95-96. If the NBA had been privileged enough to see the real Sabonis before the injuries, he would have made several All-Star appearances. Even with the knee injuries that sapped Sabonis of his bounce and mobility, he still had a solid NBA career. We can only imagine how his career would have diverged had Soviet authorities allowed him to play in the NBA before 1989 (and had he not opted to play in Spain for six seasons prior to joining the Blazers). Nevertheless, his legacy is on strong footing at home, where any Lithuanian basketball fan will say Sabonis is the best in their nation’s history despite Zydrunas Ilgauskas having two All-Star game appearances.

Toni Kukoc is another European very deserving of making at least one All-Star Game. Despite the Bulls incredible success in 1996, only Jordan and Pippen represented the team in the All-Star game. In comparison, the 2010 Celtics will have three players in Dallas this week, including Kevin Garnett, whose play this season clearly does not merit his place on the team. In fact, there have even been times when certain teams even had four All-Stars in the same year, including ’52-53 Boston Celtics (Don Barksdale, Ed Macauley, Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman), ’61-62 L.A. Lakers (Elgin Baylor, Frank Selvy, Jerry West, Rudy LaRusso), ’61-62 Boston Celtics (Tom Heinsohn, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones), ’74-75 Boston Celtics (John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Jo Jo White, Paul Silas), ’82-83 Philadelphia 76ers (Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney), ’97-98 L.A. Lakers (Kobe Bryant, Eddie Jones, Shaquille O’Neal, Nick Van Exel), and ’05-06 Detroit Pistons (Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace).

Hell, even the Bulls had three All-Stars in 1994, while Jordan was off chasing fly balls (Pippen, Horace Grant, BJ Armstrong). But when 1996 came around, despite the Bulls becoming the only team in NBA history to win over 70 games (72-10), only Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen played in the All-Star Game. Where’s Dennis Rodman and possibly Toni Kukoc? Though perhaps Kukoc was not quite up to All-Star standards in ’96, he definitely was during Pippen’s injury plagued ’98 season.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have to say Boston Celtics point guard KC Jones, who never made the All-Star team, certainly didn’t deserve his Hall of Fame selection. Jones won eight championships with the Celtics and he was a fantastic defender and leader. That said, if he never made an All-Star team, he didn’t deserve to be elected in the Hall of Fame. Furthermore, why should he be an All-Star if his career average is meager 7.4 points per game and 4.3 assists? His best season was ’65-66 when he averaged 8.6 points and 6.3 assists, and that was while playing in an era when the Celtics were averaging over 110 points a game, often even 120 points. Sorry, KC: no All-Star Game, no Hall of Fame.

Every year it seems the same old story repeats itself. There is always a worthy player who deserves to play but is not voted in by the fans or selected by the coaches. This year that is the case with Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks, David Lee of the New York Knicks and Chris Kaman of the Los Angeles Clippers. In today’s NBA, with 30 teams playing, there is simply more players deserving of an All-Star selection then there are places on the team. There will always be players with All-Star stats who don’t make the cut. Unfortunately, that’s become the norm in the NBA and no one pays attention to it.

COMPLETE ALL-STAR PLAYERS’ LIST BY TEAMS

Annotation: All-Star appearances from 1951 until 2010.
Bold: Still playing for team
CAPITALIZED: Active player

1. BOSTON CELTICS 131 (125)
24 All-Stars in 64 years of the club’s existence
13 Bob Cousy (1951-1963)
John Havlicek (1966-1978)
12 Bill Russell (1958-1969)
(10) Larry Bird (1980-1988, 1990, 1991, 1992; DNP 1991, 1992)
9 Robert Parish (1981-1987, 1990, 1991)
8 Bill Sharman (1953-1960)
PAUL PIERCE (2002-2006, 2008, 2009, 2010)
7 Jo Jo White (1971-1977)
(6) Dave Cowens (1972-1978; DNP 1977)
Kevin McHale (1984, 1986-1991)
6 Ed Macauley (1951-1956)
(5) Tom Heinsohn (1957, 1961-1965; DNP 1965)
5 Sam Jones (1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968)
3 Nate Archibald (1980, 1981, 1982)
Antoine Walker (1998, 2002, 2003)
(2) KEVIN GARNETT (2008, 2009, 2010; DNP 2008)
RAY ALLEN (2008, 2009)
1 Don Barksdale (1953)
Bailey Howell (1967)
Paul Silas (1975)
Dennis Johnson (1985)
Danny Ainge (1988)
Reggie Lewis (1992)
RAJON RONDO (2010)

2. LOS ANGELES LAKERS 127 (119)
28 All-Stars in 62 years of the club’s existence
14 (12) Jerry West (1961-1974; DNP 1969, 1974)
13 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1976, 1977, 1979-1989)
12 (11) Magic Johnson (1980, 1982-1992; DNP 1989)
KOBE BRYANT (1998, 2000-2010)
11 Elgin Baylor (1959-1965, 1967-1970)
7 James Worthy (1986-1992)
(4) SHAQUILLE O’NEAL (1997, 1998, 2000-2004; DNP 1997, 2001, 2002)
6 Vern Mikkelsen (1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957)
4 George Mikan (1951-1954)
Jim Pollard (1951, 1952, 1954, 1955)
Slater Martin (1953-1956)
Dick Garmaker (1957-1960)
Wilt Chamberlain (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973)
Gail Goodrich (1972-1975)
3 (2) Rudy LaRusso (1962, 1963, 1966; DNP 1962)
2 Larry Foust (1958, 1959)
Rod Hundley (1960, 1961)
Jamaal Wilkes (1981, 1983)
Eddie Jones (1997, 1998)
PAU GASOL (2009, 2010)
1 Clyde Lovellette (1956)
Frank Selvy (1962)
Darrall Imhoff (1967)
Archie Clark (1968)
Norm Nixon (1982)
A.C. Green (1990)
(0) Cedric Ceballos (1995 – DNP)
Nick Van Exel (1998)

3. DETROIT PISTONS 101 (99)
31 All-Stars in 62 years of the club’s existence
12 (11) Isiah Thomas (1982-1993; DNP 1991)
7 Bob Lanier (1972-1975, 1977, 1978, 1979)
6 (5) Larry Foust (1951-1956; DNP 1952)
Dave Bing (1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975)
Joe Dumars (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997)
5 George Yardley (1955.-1959.)
Gene Shue (1958.-1962.)
GRANT HILL (1995.-1998., 2000.)
4 Bailey Howell (1961.-1964.)
Bill Laimbeer (1983., 1984., 1985., 1987.)
BEN WALLACE (2003.-2006.)
3 Andy Phillip (1953., 1954., 1955.)
Dave DeBusschere (1966., 1967., 1968.)
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS (2006., 2007., 2008.)
RICHARD HAMILTON (2006., 2007., 2008.)
2 Mel Hutchins (1956., 1957.)
Dick McGuire (1958., 1959.)
Walter Dukes (1960., 1961.)
Don Ohl (1963., 1964.)
Jimmy Walker (1970., 1972.)
Kelly Tripucka (1982., 1984.)
Dennis Rodman (1990., 1992.)
JERRY STACKHOUSE (2000., 2001.)
RASHEED WALLACE (2006., 2008.)
1 Fred Schaus (1951.)
Frank Brian (1952.)
Chuck Noble (1960.)
Terry Dischinger (1965.)
Eddie Miles (1966.)
Curtis Rowe (1976.)
ALLEN IVERSON (2009.)

4. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS 98 (93)
28 All-Stars in 61 years of the club’s existence
12 (11) Dolph Schayes (1951.-1962.; DNP 1952.)
11 Julius Erving (1977.-1987.)
10 Hal Greer (1961.-1970.)
8 ALLEN IVERSON (2000.-2006., 2010.)
6 (5) Larry Costello (1958.-1962., 1965.; DNP 1962.)
Charles Barkley (1987.-1992.)
4 Billy Cunningham (1969., 1970., 1971., 1972.)
(3) Doug Collins (1976., 1977., 1978., 1979.; DNP 1979.)
Maurice Cheeks (1983., 1986., 1987., 1988.)
(3) Moses Malone (1983., 1984., 1985., 1986.; DNP 1984.)
3 Paul Seymour (1953., 1954., 1955.)
Red Kerr (1956., 1959., 1963.)
Chet Walker (1964., 1966., 1967.)
Wilt Chamberlain (1966., 1967., 1968.)
2 George McGinnis (1976., 1977.)
Bobby Jones (1981., 1982.)
Andrew Toney (1983., 1984.)
1 Red Rocha (1952.)
Billy Gabor (1953.)
George Yardley (1960.)
Lee Shaffer (1963.)
Luke Jackson (1965.)
John Block (1973.)
Steve Mix (1975.)
Hersey Hawkins (1991.)
Dana Barros (1995.)
(0) THEO RATLIFF (2001. – DNP)
Dikembe Mutombo (2002.)

5. NEW YORK KNICKS 86 (83)
28 All-Stars in 64 years of the club’s existence
11 (9) Patrick Ewing (1986., 1988.-1997.; DNP 1986., 1997.)
7 Harry Gallatin (1951.-1957.)
Willis Reed (1965.-1971.)
Walt Frazier (1970.-1976.)
6 Richie Guerin (1958.-1963.)
5 Dick McGuire (1951., 1952., 1954., 1955., 1956.)
(4) Carl Braun (1953.-1957.; DNP 1956.)
Dave DeBusschere (1970.-1974.)
4 Willie Naulls (1958., 1960., 1961., 1962.)
3 Johnny Green (1962., 1963., 1965.)
Michael Ray Richardson (1980., 1981., 1982.)
2 Ken Sears (1958., 1959.)
Tom Gola (1963., 1964.)
Earl Monroe (1975., 1977.)
Bob McAdoo (1977., 1978.)
Bernard King (1984., 1985.)
Allan Houston (2000., 2001.)
1 Vince Boryla (1951.)
Max Zaslofsky (1952.)
Nat Clifton (1957.)
Len Chappell (1964.)
Dick Barnett (1968.)
Bill Bradley (1973.)
Bill Cartwright (1980.)
Mark Jackson (1989.)
Charles Oakley (1994.)
John Starks (1994.)
Latrell Sprewell (2001.)

6. ATLANTA HAWKS 82 (78)
31 All-Stars in 61 years of the club’s existence
11 Bob Pettit (1955.-1965.)
9 (8) Dominique Wilkins (1986.-1994.; DNP 1992.)
6 Lou Hudson (1969.-1974.)
5 (4) Cliff Hagan (1958.-1962.; DNP 1958.)
Lenny Wilkens (1963., 1964., 1965., 1967., 1968.)
4 Dikembe Mutombo (1997., 1998., 2000., 2001.)
JOE JOHNSON (2007., 2008., 2009., 2010.)
3 Slater Martin (1957., 1958., 1959.)
Bill Bridges (1967., 1968., 1970.)
(1) Dan Roundfield (1980., 1981., 1982.; DNP 1981., 1982.)
2 Dike Eddleman (1951., 1952.)
Mel Hutchins (1953., 1954.)
Clyde Lovellette (1960., 1961.)
Zelmo Beaty (1966., 1968.)
Joe Caldwell (1969., 1970.)
John Drew (1976., 1980.)
Pete Maravich (1973., 1974.)
Eddie Johnson (1980., 1981.)
1 Frank Brian (1951.)
Don Sunderlage (1954.)
Frank Selvy (1955.)
Bob Harrison (1956.)
Ed Macauley (1957.)
Doc Rivers (1988.)
Moses Malone (1989.)
Kevin Willis (1992.)
Mookie Blaylock (1994.)
Christian Laettner (1997.)
Steve Smith (1998.)
Shareef Abdur-Rahim (2002.)
AL HORFORD (2010.)

7. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 77 (71)
26 All-Stars in 64 years of the club’s existence
10 (9) Paul Arizin (1951., 1952., 1955.-1962.; DNP 1960.)
8 (7) Rick Barry (1966., 1967., 1973.-1978.; DNP 1973.)
7 (5) Nate Thurmond (1965.-1968., 1970., 1973., 1974.; DNP 1968., 1970.)
6 Neil Johnston (1953.-1958.)
Wilt Chamberlain (1960.-1965.)
5 (4) Chris Mullin (1989.-1993.; DNP 1993.)
3 Guy Rodgers (1963., 1964., 1966.)
(2) Tom Gola (1960., 1961., 1962.; DNP 1962.)
Jeff Mullins (1969., 1970., 1971.)
Tim Hardaway (1991., 1992., 1993.)
Latrell Sprewell (1994., 1995., 1997.)
2 Joe Fulks (1951., 1952.)
Andy Phillip (1951., 1952.)
Jack George (1956., 1957.)
Rudy LaRusso (1968., 1969.)
Phil Smith (1976., 1977.)
1 Woody Sauldsberry (1959.)
Tom Meschery (1963.)
Jim King (1968.)
Clyde Lee (1968.)
Jerry Lucas (1971.)
Cazzie Russell (1972.)
Jamaal Wilkes (1976.)
Bernard King (1982.)
Joe Barry Carroll (1987.)
Sleepy Floyd (1987.)

8. SACRAMENTO KINGS 73 (69)
22 All-Stars in 62 years of the club’s existence
10 Oscar Robertson (1961.-1970.)
6 Jack Twyman (1957.-1960., 1962., 1963.)
Jerry Lucas (1964.-1969.)
(5) Mitch Richmond (1993.-1998.; DNP 1993.)
5 Bobby Wanzer (1952.-1956.)
(4) Wayne Embry (1961.-1965.; DNP 1963.)
4 Bob Davies (1951.-1954.)
(3) Arnie Risen (1952.-1955.; DNP 1955.)
(3) Chris Webber (2000.-2003.; DNP 2003.)
3 Maurice Stokes (1956., 1957., 1958.)
Tom Van Arsdale (1970., 1971., 1972.)
Nate Archibald (1973., 1975., 1976.)
Otis Birdsong (1979., 1980., 1981.)
PEJA STOJAKOVIC (2002., 2003., 2004.)
1 Jack Coleman (1955.)
Richie Regan (1957.)
Adrian Smith (1966.)
Johnny Green (1971.)
Sam Lacey (1975.)
Scott Wedman (1976.)
Vlade Divac (2001.)
BRAD MILLER (2004.)

9. PHOENIX SUNS 61 (59)
23 All-Stars in 42 years of the club’s existence
6 Walter Davis (1978., 1979., 1980., 1981., 1984., 1987.)
5 (4) STEVE NASH (2005.-2008., 2010.; DNP 2007.)
AMAR’E STOUDEMIRE (2005., 2007., 2008., 2009., 2010.)
4 Connie Hawkins (1970.-1973.)
Paul Westphal (1977.-1980.)
(3) Charles Barkley (1993., 1994., 1995., 1996.; DNP 1994.)
SHAWN MARION (2003., 2005., 2006., 2007.)
3 Dick Van Arsdale (1969., 1970., 1971.)
Charlie Scott (1973., 1974., 1975.)
Tom Chambers (1989., 1990., 1991.)
Kevin Johnson (1990., 1991., 1994.)
Dan Majerle (1992., 1993., 1995.)
JASON KIDD (1998., 2000., 2001.)
2 Dennis Johnson (1981., 1982.)
1 Gail Goodrich (1969.)
Paul Silas (1972.)
Alvan Adams (1976.)
Truck Robinson (1981.)
Maurice Lucas (1983.)
Larry Nance (1985.)
Jeff Hornacek (1992.)
Stephon Marbury (2003.)
SHAQUILLE O’NEAL (2009.)

10. WASHINGTON WIZARDS 55 (54)
24 All-Stars in 49 years of the club’s existence
8 Elvin Hayes (1973.-1980.)
5 Gus Johnson (1965., 1968., 1969., 1970., 1971.)
Wes Unseld (1969., 1971., 1972., 1973., 1975.)
4 Walt Bellamy (1962., 1963., 1964., 1965.)
3 Don Ohl (1965., 1966., 1967.)
Phil Chenier (1974., 1975., 1977.)
GILBERT ARENAS (2005., 2006., 2007.)
2 Terry Dischinger (1963., 1964.)
Earl Monroe (1969., 1971.)
Jeff Malone (1986., 1987.)
Moses Malone (1987., 1988.)
Michael Jordan (2002., 2003.)
ANTAWN JAMISON (2005., 2008.)
(1) CARON BUTLER (2007., 2008.; DNP 2008.)
1 Bailey Howell (1966.)
Archie Clark (1972.)
Jack Marin (1972.)
Dave Bing (1976.)
Bob Dandridge (1979.)
Jeff Ruland (1984.)
Bernard King (1991.)
Michael Adams (1992.)
JUWAN HOWARD (1996.)
Chris Webber (1997.)

11. HOUSTON ROCKETS 51 (47)
14 All-Stars in 43 years of the club’s existence
12 Hakeem Olajuwon (1985.-1990., 1992.-1997.)
7 (6) YAO MING (2003.-2009.; DNP 2007.)
5 Rudy Tomjanovich (1974.-1977., 1979.)
Moses Malone (1978.-1982.)
4 Elvin Hayes (1969.-1972.)
(3) Ralph Sampson (1984.-1987.; DNP 1987.)
3 Steve Francis (2002., 2003., 2004.)
TRACY McGRADY (2005., 2006., 2007.)
2 Don Kojis (1968., 1969.)
(1) Clyde Drexler (1996., 1997.; DNP 1997.)
1 Jack Marin (1973.)
Calvin Murphy (1979.)
Otis Thorpe (1992.)
(0) Charles Barkley (1997. – DNP)

12. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER 50
21 All-Stars in 43 years of the club’s existence
9 Gary Payton (1994.-1998., 2000.-2003.)
7 Jack Sikma (1979.-1985.)
5 Shawn Kemp (1993.-1997.)
4 Spencer Haywood (1972.-1975.)
RAY ALLEN (2004.-2007.)
3 Lenny Wilkens (1969., 1970., 1971.)
2 Dennis Johnson (1979., 1980.)
Gus Williams (1982., 1983.)
Detlef Schrempf (1995., 1997.)
1 Walt Hazzard (1968.)
Bob Rule (1970.)
Fred Brown (1976.)
Paul Westphal (1981.)
Lonnie Shelton (1982.)
David Thompson (1983.)
Tom Chambers (1987.)
Xavier McDaniel (1988.)
Dale Ellis (1989.)
Vin Baker (1998.)
RASHARD LEWIS (2005.)
KEVIN DURANT (2010.)

13. SAN ANTONIO SPURS 44
9 All-Stars in 34 years of the club’s existence
12 TIM DUNCAN (1998., 2000.-2010.)
10 David Robinson (1990.-1996., 1998., 2000., 2001.)
9 George Gervin (1977.-1985.)
3 Alvin Robertson (1986., 1987., 1988.)
TONY PARKER (2006., 2007., 2009.)
2 Larry Kenon (1978., 1979.)
Artis Gilmore (1983., 1986.)
Sean Elliott (1993., 1996.)
1 MANU GINOBILI (2005.)

14. CHICAGO BULLS 42 (41)
13 All-Stars in 44 years of the club’s existence
12 (11) Michael Jordan (1985.-1993., 1996., 1997., 1998.; DNP 1986.)
7 Scottie Pippen (1990., 1992.-1997.)
4 Chet Walker (1970., 1971., 1973., 1974.)
Artis Gilmore (1978., 1979., 1981., 1982.)
3 Bob Love (1971., 1972., 1973.)
Norm Van Lier (1974., 1976., 1977.)
2 Jerry Sloan (1967., 1969.)
Reggie Theus (1981., 1983.)
1 Guy Rodgers (1967.)
Bob Boozer (1968.)
B.J. Armstrong (1994.)
Horace Grant (1994.)
DERRICK ROSE (2010.)

15. UTAH JAZZ 41 (37)
11 All-Stars in 36 years of the club’s existence
14 (12) Karl Malone (1988.-1998., 2000., 2001., 2002.; DNP 1990., 2002.)
10 John Stockton (1989.-1997., 2000.)
6 Adrian Dantley (1980., 1981., 1982., 1984., 1985., 1986.)
3 (2) Pete Maravich (1977., 1978., 1979.; DNP 1978.)
2 (1) CARLOS BOOZER (2007., 2008.; DNP 2007.)
1 Truck Robinson (1978.)
Rickey Green (1984.)
Mark Eaton (1989.)
ANDREI KIRILENKO (2004.)
MEHMET OKUR (2007.)
DERON WILLIAMS (2010.)

16. MILWAUKEE BUCKS 39 (38)
17 All-Stars in 42 years of the club’s existence
6 (5) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1970.-1975.; DNP 1973.)
5 Sidney Moncrief (1982.-1986.)
4 Marques Johnson (1979., 1980., 1981., 1983.)
3 Bob Dandridge (1973., 1975., 1976.)
Vin Baker (1995., 1996., 1997.)
RAY ALLEN (2000., 2001., 2002.)
2 Oscar Robertson (1971., 1972.)
Brian Winters (1976., 1978.)
Terry Cummings (1985., 1989.)
Glenn Robinson (2000., 2001.)
1 Jon McGlocklin (1969.)
Flynn Robinson (1970.)
Jim Price (1975.)
Bob Lanier (1982.)
Ricky Pierce (1991.)
Alvin Robertson (1991.)
MICHAEL REDD (2004.)

17.PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS 34 (32)
14 All-Stars in 40 years of the club’s existence
8 Clyde Drexler (1986., 1988.-1994.)
4 Sidney Wicks (1972., 1973., 1974., 1975.)
3 Maurice Lucas (1977., 1978., 1979.)
BRANDON ROY (2008., 2009., DNP 2010.)
2 Geoff Petrie (1971., 1974.)
(1) Bill Walton (1977., 1978.; DNP 1977.)
Jim Paxson (1983., 1984.)
Kevin Duckworth (1989., 1991.)
Terry Porter (1991., 1993.)
RASHEED WALLACE (2000., 2001.)
1 Lionel Hollins (1978.)
Kermit Washington (1980.)
(0) Steve Johnson (1988. – DNP)
Clifford Robinson (1994.)

18. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS 31
15 All-Stars in 40 years of the club’s existence
6 LeBRON JAMES (2005.-2010.)
5 Brad Daugherty (1988., 1989., 1991., 1992., 1993.)
4 Mark Price (1989., 1992., 1993., 1994.)
2 John Johnson (1971., 1972.)
Larry Nance (1989., 1993.)
Terrell Brandon (1996., 1997.)
ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS (2003, 2005)
1 Butch Beard (1972)
Lenny Wilkens (1973)
Austin Carr (1974)
Campy Russell (1979)
Mike Mitchell (1981)
Tyrone Hill (1995)
Shawn Kemp (1998)
MO WILLIAMS (2009)

19. DENVER NUGGETS 31 (30)
13 All-Stars in 34 years of the club’s existence
8 Alex English (1982-1989)
3 David Thompson (1977, 1978, 1979)
Dikembe Mutombo (1992, 1995, 1996)
CARMELO ANTHONY (2007, 2008, 2010)
2 Bobby Jones (1977, 1978)
Kiki Vandeweghe (1983, 1984)
Fat Lever (1988, 1990)
(1) ALLEN IVERSON (2007, 2008; DNP 2007)
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS (2009, 2010)
1 Dan Issel (1977)
George McGinnis (1979)
Calvin Natt (1985)
ANTONIO McDYESS (2001)

20. DALLAS MAVERICKS 24
9 All-Stars in 30 years of the club’s existence
9 DIRK NOWITZKI (2002-2010)
4 Rolando Blackman (1985, 1986, 1987, 1990)
3 Mark Aguirre (1984, 1987, 1988)
2 MICHAEL FINLEY (2000, 2001)
STEVE NASH (2002, 2003)
1 James Donaldson (1988)
JASON KIDD (1996)
Chris Gatling (1997)
JOSH HOWARD (2007)

21. ORLANDO MAGIC 20 (19)
7 All-Stars in 21 years of the club’s existence
4 SHAQUILLE O’NEAL (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996)
Penny Hardaway (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)
TRACY McGRADY (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
DWIGHT HOWARD (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
2 (1) GRANT HILL (2001, 2005; DNP 2001)
1 RASHARD LEWIS (2009)
(0) JAMEER NELSON (2009 – DNP)

22. NEW JERSEY NETS 19 (18)
11 All-Stars in 34 years of the club’s existence
5 (4) JASON KIDD (2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008; DNP 2007)
3 Buck Williams (1982, 1983, 1986)
VINCE CARTER (2005, 2006, 2007)
1 Otis Birdsong (1984)
Michael Ray Richardson (1985)
Kenny Anderson (1994)
Derrick Coleman (1994)
Jayson Williams (1998)
Stephon Marbury (2001)
KENYON MARTIN (2004)
DEVIN HARRIS (2009)

23. INDIANA PACERS 19 (18)
10 All-Stars in 34 years of the club’s existence
6 (5) JERMAINE O’NEAL (2002-2007; DNP 2006)
5 Reggie Miller (1990, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000)
1 Billy Knight (1977)
Don Buse (1977)
Detlef Schrempf (1993)
Rik Smits (1998)
Dale Davis (2000)
BRAD MILLER (2003)
RON ARTEST (2004)
DANNY GRANGER (2009)

24. NEW ORLEANS HORNETS 17 (15)
9 All-Stars in 22 years of the club’s existence
3 Glen Rice (1996, 1997, 1998)
(2) CHRIS PAUL (2008, 2009, 2010; DNP 2010)
2 Larry Johnson (1993, 1995)
(1) Alonzo Mourning (1994, 1995; DNP 1994)
BARON DAVIS (2002, 2004)
DAVID WEST (2008, 2009)
1 Eddie Jones (2000)
Jamal Mashburn (2003)
JAMAAL MAGLOIRE (2004)

25. MIAMI HEAT 17 (15)
5 All-Stars in 22 years of the club’s existence
6 DWYANE WADE (2005-2010)
5 (3) Alonzo Mourning (1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002; DNP 1997, 2001)
3 SHAQUILLE O’NEAL (2005, 2006, 2007)
2 Tim Hardaway (1997, 1998)
1 Anthony Mason (2001)

26. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 16
9 All-Stars in 40 years of the club’s existence
3 Bob Kauffman (1971, 1972, 1973)
Bob McAdoo (1974, 1975, 1976)
2 Randy Smith (1976, 1978)
Danny Manning (1993, 1994)
ELTON BRAND (2002, 2006)
1 World B. Free (1980)
Norm Nixon (1985)
Marques Johnson (1986)
CHRIS KAMAN (2010)

27. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES 13
4 All-Stars in 21 years of the club’s existence
10 KEVIN GARNETT (1997, 1998, 2000-2007)
1 Tom Gugliotta (1997)
Wally Szczerbiak (2002)
Sam Cassell (2004)

28. TORONTO RAPTORS 11 (9)
3 All-Stars in 15 years of the club’s existence
5 (4) VINCE CARTER (2000-2004; DNP 2002)
(4) CHRIS BOSH (2006-2010; DNP 2009)
1 Antonio Davis (2001)

29. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 2
2 All-Stars in 15 years of the club’s existence
1 PAU GASOL (2006)
ZACH RANDOLPH (2010)

30. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS 1
1 All-Star in 6 years of the club’s existence
1 GERALD WALLACE (2010)

31. INDIANAPOLIS OLYMPIANS* 5
4 All-Stars in 4 years of the club’s existence
2 Leo Barnhorst (1952, 1953)
1 Ralph Beard (1951)
Alex Groza (1951)
Paul Walther (1952)
* TEAM FOLDED IN 1953 (AFTER FOURTH SEASON)

32. BALTIMORE BULLETS* 4 (3)
3 All-Stars in nearly 8 years of the club’s existence
2 (1) Fred Scolari (1952, 1953; DNP 1953)
1 Red Rocha (1951)
Ray Felix (1954)
* TEAM DISBANDED NOVEMBER 27 1954 (AFTER 14 GAMES IN EIGHTH SEASON)

The post The Best to Never Be an All-Star appeared first on SLAM.

By Scoop Jackson

Kanye’s prayer is bumping outside the Bradley Center. A black Lincoln LS, its THX-certified audio system on 8, pulls up to the players-only parking lot. A black left gator steps out, followed by a long black sable. Around the man’s neck, a cross. 58 Van Cleef & Arpel diamonds, set in David Yurman platinum. Those are 6.22 carats. Total weight? Only God knows.

The man has a bible resting on the passenger’s seat. The book is open. Leviticus 5. The book of Moses.

And if a soul sin, and hear the voice swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it, if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.

The man is refused entree into the lot. He exchanges words with the man guarding the gate. He turns to get back into his whip. He reads the gatekeeper his last rites: “Fuck you, nigger.” Jesus walks with him.

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and a righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek Thy face.
Psalm 24:4-6

His face is a smile. At all times. In his mind, he’s supposed to be here. In ours, he’s not. But we, the world outside of Michael Redd, don’t know he. Or He. All we know is that from outta nowhere this cat bust onto the scene in the Year of LeBron and became—officially, it says here—one of the 15 best players in the world. He sits at his locker, towel wrapped around his waist, at peace, in the peaceful days before the season of his passion is about to begin. Unaffected by the pressure this basketball season is about to put on him. His Milwaukee Bucks, at 41-41, were arguably the biggest surprise team in the League last year. And although those two rookies, Terry Porter and TJ Ford, must be given partial due for this ascension, the pressure is all on Redd to prove that last season—both for him and the team as a whole—was real. Unfluke. The success or failure of a once-proud franchise riding on the power of his left hand.

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shall have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and have good courage; be not afraid, neither be dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou go.
-Joshua 1:8-9

He breathes and adjusts the towel. Points his left hand to God after every big shot.

His name has been etched on concrete and stained glass all across the country ever since USA basketball passed away in Athens. His name said from all mouths, all creeds, colors and class. “If Michael Redd was on the squad,” they say. “All they needed was a shooter, and Michael Redd was available. Why didn’t they…” Yes, Garnett and both O’Neals were also mentioned, but he, in most minds, was the answer. He woulda saveth us. Michael Redd, son of a Columbus, Ohio, preacher man. A son of God.

Of the Olympics, he says he watched the games, but only as a fan. He never placed himself in the situation to save. “You know what?” he asks. “When I hear that, I’m humbled, but I don’t know if I would have been the difference. [Defenses] would have honed in on me. They’re not dumb. So for me to get open would not have been easy. I’ll put it this way: that team was good enough to win the gold. Point blank.”

In other words, saving USA basketball wasn’t part of his plan.

As a proud PK, and one of the relatively few professional athletes who unapologetically puts God first in his life—one Dwight Howard must use as a role model if he is to become the new “message center of God’s word in the NBA,” as it’s been written, and one who admits he must “not be too preachy” to his teammates because a lot of the guys are not real spiritual—Michael Redd sees past all the superficiality, fights the temptations of superstar-ism, and never, never gets basketball as a religion twisted. “You have to understand,” he says, “I look at basketball totally different than everybody else. I love what I do, I love playing basketball, but it is not who I am. It’s not everything to me. I value my faith more than basketball. My family, my loved ones. See, I can go 2 for 15 one night and still come home with a smile on my face because of my faith.”

But this “game” is faith. Some people worship this game. People find so much joy in watching this game, playing this game. Even when they have 2-for-15 nights, they never lose faith in this game. People have sacrificed going to church in place of this game; some people have revolved their entire lives around this game. To them, this game is a religious experience.

I tell him this. This is my sermon.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he replies. “I would call it the greatest sport ever invented. I’ll call it a phenomenon. I’ll call it special. But I wouldn’t call it a religion.”

But be ye doers of the world, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the world, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
-James 1:22-24

The hearers must hear. Both him and Him. All praises due to those who do. And for the first time in his life on this grand stage, a man who 18 months ago was runner-up to Bobby Jackson as the Sixth Man of the Year, a man who just broke into the starting lineup full-time at the beginning of last season and finished 10th in the League in scoring (21.7 per), must lead. And by example more than performance.

It is said that God never puts on us more than we can handle. Michael Redd, a man who shares the same name as the greatest ballplayer of all time and the name of the sea Moses parted, has an omnipresent cloud encompassing him. Pressure fills this cloud, but he does not notice. His faith, realize, will not allow it.

“Can you handle all this heat?” I ask him as he walks into his home, smile never fading. “Can you handle the pressure about to be put on you to re-prove last year?

“Pressure,” he says making me understand he. And He. “There is no pressure.”

He breathes. Stretches. Shakes.

“There’s much more difficult things in life than basketball.” Overstand the path he really walks on and who He walks with. “Pressure,” he professes, “is your mother surviving cancer.”

There is a sanctuary inside his house. Half bedroom, half prayer room. And when he closes the door, you hear nothing, not even his beautifully silent shot. No distractions. Peaceful. Serene. Brown and red. A light brown suede chaise rests in the corner. It represents him: laid back like his personality, smooth like his game.

This has nothing to do with basketball. Not really. It has nothing to do with religion. It really has nothing to do with God. What it—Michael Redd’s life captured in this room—has to do with is faith. Blind faith. Unconditional faith. Internal faith. For leaders come not in just different forms but in times of need. As much as Michael Redd may have been sent here to save the Milwaukee Bucks franchise and possibly save the 2008 Olympic Team and even NBA basketball internationally, he has also been sent here to save the men who can’t get into players-only parking lots.

Before each game, he lays his hands on the ball. Rubs them across David Stern and Spalding. And prays. And while most players ask the Lord for 30, not to get embarrassed by Tracy McGrady (who has found ministry through Redd), or a victory so they can maintain home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, Michael Redd prays for health. And nothing more than that.

“When I grab the ball before every game,” he says, “I pray that nobody gets hurt.”

“Nothing else?” I ask him.

“Nothing else.”

This is how he gets down.

“This is what you don’t get,” he says. “I’d rather be known as a man of God than a great basketball player. Some people hear that and are like, ‘Huh?’ But this is truly what I believe. My integrity is more important than getting 30 a night, more important than getting League MVP. See, a man of faith is not a hypocrite. A lot of people say they love God but they do things contrary to what they say. I’ve seen it. I don’t want to be that type of person. My purpose is not basketball. My real purpose is to help change lives.”

There is a sound of silence. He is on the basketball court now, surrounded by sin and noise. When the ball leaves his left hand, the sound is almost softer than silence. And it’s strange. Less than a handful of others have ever been able to create this silence. And they were chosen. Shhh. There it goes again. Jesus was never loud. Neither was Chris Mullin.

As I watch Michael Redd prepare to meet his fate, the genesis of the ’04-05 season, I look around at the people whose eyes and hearts are following him. Following his lead. They watch his shot float through the air, ascend toward heaven, fall down toward to hell. Two years ago, these same people followed another silent shot, hoping His right hand would take them to the promised land. Their faith is about to be tested. Once more. And in the lost souls of the people of Milwaukee, it’s evident that Michael Redd has not made them believe in Jesus any less for what he did for them, but at least he’s helped them forget about Ray Allen.

I repent. As I leave, I see a familiar car parked across the street from where Michael parks to spread his word. Tags read: REV 1. I walk past. Hear a voice.

“Who won?” the voice asked.

“The Bucks,” I said. “By three.”

“Praise God,” the man shouted.

The car door opened. Sable.

“What were you doing at the game?” he asked.

“Doing a story on Michael Redd,” I replied.

“That’s a good brotha there, good brotha,” he paused. “He’s what we need. More of these brothas in the League should be like him.”

“Strong faith,” I say.

“Amen, young brotha. Amen,” he says back.

As I shake the man’s hand to leave, I notice him glance across the street. Giving one final look at the parking lot and the attendants that wouldn’t allow him entrance. As he lets go of my right hand with his, he holds up a middle finger to them with his left.

Praise the Lord.

The post The Power of Belief appeared first on SLAM.

ATLANTA — Yes we can…or maybe we can’t. I’m here in the ATL for what looks to be Game 8 of LeBron’s epic romp through the 2009 postseason. Game 3 was ridiculous — the Hawks kept it close for three quarters, and then LeBron sprinted away with it. The Hawks seemed shellshocked after Game Three, but tonight they were pretty loose in the locker room pregame, cracking jokes and spending most of the time making fun of Hawks sideline reporter James “Big Country” Verrett’s military-inspired ensemble. (Josh Smith told him he should dress like me. Ha!)

How prepared have the Cavs been? Well, they didn’t even practice yesterday — they had media availability at their hotel yesterday. And I’m sure they had a meeting where they just talked about making sure to get the ball to whoever Mike Bibby is guarding.

We’re about to tip-off here. Bron just nailed an over-the-head shot from halfcourt. So I guess he’s ready. Let’s do this!

• National Anthem is performed by The Zac Brown Band, who look like the cast of “The Hangover” — I think Zach Galifianakis (sp?) is singing baritone.

FIRST QUARTER
• Hawks have their starting lineup intact for only the second time in the playoffs — Joe, Bibby, Horford, Smoove and Marvin Williams. Marv was particularly upset after Game 3 and seemed to want his chance at defending LeBron. Be careful what you wish for, my friend.

• Refs tonight are Ron Garretson, Scott Foster and James Capers…about the most anonymous crew the NBA could send.

• FWIW, Mike Brown told me pregame that his 12-year-old reads a lot of Ranger Rick.

• Cleveland opens with an airball from Delonte West that Varejao grabs and kicks to Mo Williams for a 3. Bibby misses a jumper, and James Capers calls LeBron for a walk. Bron responds with back to back dunks, putting Cleveland ahead 7-2. Josh Smith hits a jumper (!) to make it 7-4. Bibby’s getting his pocket picked like a tourist in Times Square, and West gets a dunk. Josh gets a runner goaltended by Varejao and Bron hits a three. 12-6, Cleveland.

• Varejao wpes a Smoove jumper and Joe gets his first basket of the night. Marv misses another jumper then gets a dunk. 12-10, Clevalnd, 6:29 to go. Hawks are active on defense, getting their hands on a lot of passes, but Cleveland’s getting lots of loose balls. Time out, Cleveland up 13-10 with 5:27 to go. LeBron with 7, Josh with 6.

• Out of the TO the Cavs try the same alley-oop play for Bron they ran in Game 3 and Marv read it and knocked it away. On the other end the Hawks run a play for Smoove along the baseline, and he gets fouled by Varejao. Good, good. 13-12, Cavs.

• Bron misses a jumper over Marv, Horfor rebounds and Bibby fires up an airball. Ilgauskas pump fakes like a robot and it works. Joe scores on the other end. Flip Murray and Mo Evans in for ATL, Sasha Pavlovic in for Cleveland. Mo Evans misses a three but Smoove gets the rebound (over Varejao’s back) and puts it in to give ATL the lead, 16-15.

• Za! Za! Pachuuuuuulia! is in. Joe misses a gimme off a screen and Flip grabs the board and drives to the rim for a foul. Timeout, Hawks up 16-15 with 2:56 to go.

• BTW, saw Star Trek last night and thought it was dope. I never even watched the TV show, but if you have even a vague knowledge of the characters the movie’s pretty great.

• Flip to the line and he hits both, Atlanta up 18-15.

• Hawks double Bron and leave Joe Smith open for the three, which he misses. Zaza misses a layup, Flip gets a steal and Zaza gets a dunk. Wawaweewa!

• Hawks up 20-15, and Delonte West tries to go one on one against Josh Smith. Joe Smith holds Zaza going for the rebound, and Zaza goes to the line. Hits both. Hawks up 22-15. Bron drives and misses a layup, and Flip misses a three on the other end.

• Boobie Gibson in the game for a nip of PT.

• Bron misses a three over Marv. Cavs are doing a lot of standing around on offense and going one-on-one. Mario West checks in, as does the corpse of Ben Wallace. Mario immediately strips LeBron on a drive. Joe holds for the last shot of the quarter, almost turns it over, gets it back and misses a jumper.

• And that’s it for the first quarter: Hawks lead 22-15. This is the Hawks’ biggest lead of the series, according to my statistician John Hollinger, sitting next to me.

SECOND QUARTER
• Joe misses a jumper to start the second. He’s gotta go 48 tonight, methinks.

• Wally Sexyback dives on the floor for a loose ball and calls a timeout. With both hands. So he wasn’t holding the ball, was he? Whatever. Timeout, Cleveland. They make it a full timeout, which seems strange 36 seconds into the second quarter.

• I wish the Hawks timekeeper could somehow end the game right now.

• Delonte West nails a three out of the TO. 22-18, Hawks. Joe misses over a double-team. Here we go! Ben Wallace to the line! First shot is all rim. Second shot is…all rim.

• Marv drives on Sexyback, who bodies him out of the paint and Marv misses the runner. Zaza gets the rebound and kind of flops his way to the foul line. Good…good. that’s 6 and 2 for Zaza in 5 minutes.

• Delonte West drives and hits. Hawks miss. Sexyback gets free and Flip gives a foul. Mo Evans in for Marv. Joe Smith gets free on the baseline for two. Zaza misses a 16-footer. Hawks lead 24-22.

• Cleveland finds Sexyback inside with Bibby posted and Sexyback scores easily. Mo Williams collides with Josh Smith and the foul goes on Mo.Bibby shoots an airball. Wally Sexyback drives, takes 7 steps and dunks. Cavs go ahead 26-24, and Mike Woodson calls for a timeout with 7:25 to go. The Hawks don’t have a field goal this quarter.

• This arena is full but the crowd is pretty quiet, like they don’t want to piss LeBron off. I can’t blame ’em. Hawks come back with Smoove, Bibby, Horford, Evans and Flip. Cavs have Bron, Joe Smith, West, Sexyback and the corpse of Ben Wallace.

• Horfrod shoots an airball wide open from 15. Cleveland turns it over and Flip drives on LeBron, gets knocked down (no call) and scores. On the other end, LeBron gets bumped as he’s shooting and misses the shot, and Scott foster calls the foul about 6 seconds later, when Bibby is pushing the ball the other way. It was a foul, but call it when it happens, please. Bron makes 1 of 2.

• Z checks in and hits a baseline J. Flip tries to take Sexyback again and misses a second jumper. Z misses a long jumper, ATL pushes in transition and Joe hits a midrange J. Cavs up 29-28.

• Wally Sexyback drives, gets caught in the air, falls out of bounds and then picks up a T. Mo Williams, please check in for Mr. Sexyback.

• LeBron drives in and Horford fouls him. Marvin checks in for Flip, who’s not playing well tonight. Bron hits both and Cleveland leads 31-28.

• Josh drives, pump fakes and Ronnie Garretson calls a foul on LeBron, who can’t believe it. Josh nails both free throws — he’s shooting FTs  way better in the Playoffs than in the regular season (he shot like 58 pct).

• Marv drives and gets fouled. Makes both. Hawks go ahead 32-31 with 3:52 to go.

• Bron drives and misses a lay-up. Three different Hawks guarded him on that play. Cleveland gets the ball back, works it around finds Z wide open for a dunk. And you know he had to be wide open if he dunked. Joe Johnson works inside and dishes to Smoove for a layup. Bron gets an open layup, and Horford airballs another 15 footer. Timeout on the floor with 2:24 to go, timeout with the score Cleveland 35, Atlanta 34.

• Hey, A-Town Dancers, I like the Mr. Collipark dance routine.

• Hawks are 12-13 from the free throw line thus far. Josh with 14 and 5, and Bron with 12 and 2.

• Out of the timeout the Cavs turn it over, and then, for some reason, Delonte West gives a foul on Josh Smith in the open court. smoove to the line…good, good. Hawks up 36-35.

• While Mo Williams dribbles out front, Mike Bibby draws one of his patented fouls while setting a pick. Josh Smith celebrates it with a brick from 17 feet.

• Bron comes back and the Cavs find Z alone in the corner, where he nails the three. He’s deadly out there, but when he’s in the Cavs run an almost completely perimeter offense.

• Joe Johnson bulls into the lane and hits a runner. Bron comes back and the ball is loose and LeBron appears to run about three steps out of bounds. He gets the ball back and fidns Z inside and Bibby fouls him. Josh Smith picks up a T for pointing out to Scott Foster that players aren’t allowed to run out of bounds. Sexyback misses the T, and then Z misses both FTs.

• Halftime, Cavs up 40-38. Hawks are 14-15 from the line and Cleveland’s 6-13. Mike Bibby? Zero points, zero assists.

THIRD QUARTER
• Second half starts with Horford picking up an offensive foul and then Bron nailing a long two. They trade misses, then Joe hits Horford for a brick along the baseline. Al and Bibby are a combined 0-7. The Hawks bench is a combined 2-10. Except for Josh and Joe, the Hawks are 3-23.

• Bron backs up to halfcourt, Z sets a pick, and Bron zooms to the basket for a dunk. Yeesh. Cavs up 45-38 with 8:03 to go in the third.

• Kiss cam! Ends with Ben Wallace and Darnell Jackson. They do not kiss.

• Out of the TO the Cavs run the same play, but reversed, and Bron hits Mo Williams int he corner for a three.

• Flip Murray finally scores and the Hawks cut it to 48-40.

• Ilgauskas runs a little Moses Malone and tips it to himself a dozen times before scoring.

• Joe Johnson gets inside and scores, and one. Hawks cut it to 52-46.

• Bron comes off a Z screen and Z flattens Marvin. that foul is offensive, Zydrunis Ilgauskas. Josh Smith scores on the other end, then grabs a defensive rebound and gets fouled by Mo Williams. The crowd is finally getting into the game and the Hawks bench guys are all standing.

• Joe Johnson with a floater, Hawks cut it to 52-50 with 4:27 to go in the third. They’re hanging around…just like they did in Game 3.

• Some guy from “Meet The Browns” comes out on the floor during the timeout and dances with Harry the Hawk, and the crowd seems to love it. I’m completely flabbergasted.

• Out of the TO, LeBron misses a long two. Joe isos on Sexyback and either got fouled or shot an airball from 2 feet. delonte West drives and gets his shot smacked off the glass but a foul is called. Hawks get a miss and Cavs miss but Varejao grabs his 8th board. Zaza then misses back to back layups, and as the Cavs run down on offense Varejao picks up a T. Flip hits the FT.

• Bron hits West for a reverse, then Zaza tips a ball in and gets a delay of game warning.

• Bron then drives in for an open layup and Zaza literally fouls the headband off him. Good foul, as Bron misses the first, makes the second. Cleveland up 56-53. Flip misses a three at the shot clock buzzer. Bron then hits Sexyback, who is open because Mo Evans is busy yelling at Josh Smith, for a two. The refs review it and a bunch of cops come over to keep the players away from the refs, which is strange. Would they arrest a player if he refused to go back to the huddle?

• OK, Hawks ball with 1:09 left in the 3rd and Hawks down 58-53. Josh drives and draws a foul on Joe Smith. Smoove makes 1 of 2.

• Bron drives and gets his shot swatted by Josh Smith, and Scott Foster whistles another late call for a foul on Zaza. bron makes 1 of 2.

• Hawks swing the ball around and hit Josh on the baseline, he drives and picks up a foul on Sexyback. Josh misses the first…makes the second.

• Cavs up 59-55 with 26 seconds left. Bron isos on Joe, switches to Flip, then calmly drains a three over him. Flip hits a runner at the end of the third. So after three, Cleveland leads 62-57. Bibby played just 3 minutes that quarter, and the Hawks managed to keep it close. Hollinger points out that he, myself and Hawks.com editor Micah Hart have combined for as many points as Horford, Bibby and Mo Evans.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Bron dives to the rim and misses a layup and Smoove comes right back for a layup. then the Hawks force a 24 sec violation. Marv drives and his shot gets smothered by Joe Smith. Bron finds West in the corner and he drives and dunks on Marvin Williams. He was ugly. I mean, that was ugly.Then Joe comes right back and draws and and one against the Corpse of Ben Wallace. 64-62, Cleveland.

• Joe misses a three, Mo Williams misses a three, and Josh Smith gets his pocket picked at midcourt. West hits a driving layup and makes it 66-62.

• Mike Bibby checks back in with 8:54 to go. He’s been on the bench most of this half, I’m assuming, because he’s such a defensive liability. It’s nice that Mike Woodson finally recognized this, though it’s a little concerning that it took Woody 93 games to figure this out.

• Out of the TO, Smoove misses a layup and them Mo Williams gets an offensive foul. Flip Murray then misses a shot from the wing and the Hawks force another 24 second violation on Cleveland (thanks to an airball from Bron). Josh misses a jumper on the baseline (the whole arena shouted No!) and Mo Williams walks. 66-62, Cleveland. Flip misses another runner.

• 6:56 to go in the game. Delonte West finds LeBron open for a three. (Well, Bibby was supposed to have him but he lost him.) bibby has now played 25 minutes with 0 points, 0 assists and 3 fouls. 6:24 left int he game and Cleveland leads 69-62.

• On Twitter just now Shawn Marion just wrote “Man its amazing how cavs run a pick and roll everytime down the floor and atlanta just iso’s.” Thanks, Shawn. Rub it in, why don’t you.

• The stands are on their feet. Out of the timeout, Joe drives into a double-team and turns it over. Awesome. Nice play, Woody.

• Z gets fouled, to the line. Miss and make. Cleveland’s 11-23 from the line.

• The Hawks finally score but Mo Williams fouls Bibby away from the ball. And then Bibby drains a three. Huge shot. 70-65. Cleveland.

• Z misses a jumper and Smoove rebounds. Flip goes inside to Zaza, who draws the foul. Two shots…miss and make. 70-66, Cleveland, 5:00 to go.

• Delonte West drains a three with Flip Murray in his face. Cleveland’s 8-15 from three. Flip Murray drives and misses. Seriously, we’re running plays for Flip Murray with the game on the line.

• Bron misses a three over Bibby, and then Bibby misses a three, then Flip misses a three, then Joe misses a three. Sigh. hawks are 2-11 on three tonight. Cleveland is 8-16.

• Hawks force another 24 second violation on Cleveland. A Let’s go hawks! chant starts. Smoove hits a baseline J. 73-68, Cleveland. Mo Williams nails a three from the corner. LeBron runs over Zaza on a pick and gets his second foul! This is the first game of the Playoffs that LeBron’s had two fouls.

• Timeout, Cavs up 76-68 with 2:35 to go.

• Out of the timeout, Josh drives and gets hacked by Varejao. Josh makes the first and Cleveland calls a timeout. Odd.

• Out of the timeout, Josh makes the second. He’s 10-12 form the line tonight which is remarkable. Hawks pick up fullcourt and immediately force a steal from West. He fouls Flip Murray, which sends him to the line. Flip makes the first…and teh second. 76-72, Cavs. 2:14 to go.

• Bron catches left wing, drives into the lane, gets fouled by Zaza and makes the shot. To the line…good. 79-72. Two minutes to go.

• Bron picks up his third foul and sends Joe Johnson to the line. Man, Cleveland is keeping Atlanta in this. Joe makes the first…and second. 79-74.

• Bron catches left wing, drives, misses but gets it back. He drives again, misses and Z gets it. Then, with 1:01 left, Joe picks up a foul. Bron inbounds, gets it back, draws the double and hits Mo Williams for an open three. 82-74, 52 seconds left. And the fans head for the exits.

• Joe misses a three. West hits two free throws to make it 84-74 with 34 seconds left. It’s o-vah. Cleveland wins it in four, 84-74.

• I’m heading for the locker room. More on the Hawks and Cavs tomorrow from back in the Dome.

The post Links: Cavs/Hawks Game 4 Live Blog appeared first on SLAM.

Daskalakus Athletic Center? No…Isn’t it mandatory for Big 5 teams to play all “derby” games at the Palestra? Khalid, can I get a ruling? Wait….one, two, three…

Oh, Drexel is not officially “Big Five,” eh? I was hoping to get some shots of the ancient basketball hardwood that is one of the oldest, in-use gymnasiums in the country. Bob Valvano is explaining this very question I’ve been pondering, but I can’t hear him as my daughter is loudly rambling, while holding her Halloween pumpkin, which now only consists of Tootsie Rolls and bad suckers.

8:05 — The ball is tipped! Penn’s coach Glen Miller spent a couple years at Brown following my illustrious tenure on College Hill. Penn was always the best team in the league when I was in college; it wasn’t even close. Matt Maloney and Jerome Allen were a year ahead of me and they didn’t lose conference games.

8:08 — Damn I wish this game was at the Palestra. Drexel is getting the better part of the early action. Philly does have the best cluster of college basketball teams in the country (Big Five of Penn, LaSalle, Villanova, Temple, and St. Joseph’s). What might be the “not even close” second? (L.A. has UCLA, USC, and Pepperdine. Boston has BC, Harvard, and BU. Cincinnati has Xavier and UC? See what I mean?)

8:10 — OK, here is the deal. I was somewhat “in”famous with the students at Penn during the mid-90’s. For some reason (I’ll submit my pre-game finger rolls, long flowing locks tucked into colored headbands, progression onto the bench as a coach for my senior year) I was adopted and saw these “dorks” (weren’t we all?) twice a year, as the bulk of the group traveled. I’ll finish this story later today, but there are a few dozen individuals probably working in finance or a hospital somewhere that I could introduce myself to them as “Rambis,” and I would be instantly recognized.

8:14 — I was thinking last night about what it would be like to play “late,” but now today has me wondering about playing at 10 a.m.

8:15 — John Saunders has gone to calling Penn’s Jack Eggleston, “Eggy” and it is bothering me. Unfortunately, that was a term used in my childhood to describe a certain type of aromatic flatulence. (Sorry, I was one of four boys.) Good flow and effort early and we get a pleasantly predictable close game. Actually, there is an Eggleston and a dude named, Egge, as well. Oh well…..

8:28 — Drexel makes a two small runs and now leads by ten, spurred largely by some uncharacteristically sloppy play by Penn. For the record, current Temple Head Fran Dunphy was the coach at Penn while I played.

8:30 — I have to drop my daughter off at my parents’ house for the next few hours while I handle my “other” job. I may try and leave a bit before the end of the half and get there for the majority of the second half. This may be it for a few. Drexel up ten with just fewer than eight left.

8:45 — Got my crew ready to roll and with 1:30 left, the game is still at 10. Gonna pick this up in 30 minutes when I get to my parents’ house.

9:24 — Fourteen minutes left and Drexel up 14.

9:26 — In just the few college games I have seen this year, the new three-point line seems to push guys even farther back, almost daring dudes. I hope it makes players drive more and gun less.

9:27 — I can see the Quaker fans and are again reminded of my past with them. Their fans just loved/hated me for some reason. I was called Laettner by many schools for obvious reasons, but Penn thought I more resembled the bespectacled (which they didn’t know I actually was) Laker garbage man and current assistant coach. My senior year in college, I suffered awful back spasms and decided to become an undergraduate assistant, as a coaching career was a definite possibility. By then, I had shaved all of my locks off, and instead of feathering in finger rolls from ten feet during warm-ups, I was patrolling the lay-up line with in a coat, tie, and serious sneer.

“Where’s Rambis? Where’s Rambis?” A few of them inquire aloud, courtside at a packed Palestra.

Then a stare down ensued.

“Is that you, Rambis!?!?”

T’was Rambis.

9:36 — I just realized that Drexel’s coach is former UMass head, Bruiser Flint. The name Egge is still making me a little uncomfortable.

9:47 — Drexel just can’t put the Quakers away. Six points with just over six left. This Tyler Bernardini guy from Penn is starting to find some space. This kid can score the basketball and put up 30 against UNC the other day.

9:54 — Five point game with three left, as Drexel continues to allow Penn to hang around and Penn can’t take advantage of opportunities to even the score.

10:02 — Bernardini misses the second of two big free throws. 1:20 left and a four-point Dragon lead.

10:04 — Sloppy Drexel gets lucky. Four seconds left on shot clock. What?!!?!? They are getting another 35? No possession ever changed.

10:07 — Penn just can’t get defensive rebounds and look to be done, down five with 25 ticks left, and the Dragons on the line. Bernardini fouls out for Penn.

10:15 — The computer was in my bag and then Penn (Egge) hit a three, Drexel missed one of two free throws. Zack Rosen proceeds to force up a three-pointer down three with three seconds left and somehow draws a foul. Timeout, young kid has to make all three to give Penn a chance.

10:16 — Misses first one. Game over. Makes second, 66-64. Great miss! Penn forward Brennan Votel gets the rebound and has a little runner to tie the game, but alas, no luck.

Game. Much better than the two I watched last night.

I have to “pay the bills” and run around town doing my “other” job. I will be missing an average women’s game (Iowa v. Kansas) and Liberty v. UNC-Asheville sans Kenny George. My coverage will continue around the 2 p.m. MST hour as my boys from the Big 12, the Baylor Bears will be in action against Centenary.

2:13 — I am probably most excited to see freshman Anthony Jones play for Baylor. Like I mentioned in my Big 12 preview, this is a team to consider come March. Curtis Jerrells is a man’s man.

2:19 — This is already getting a bit out of control. Baylor is deep and leading 19-5. They have two stud freshmen in Jones and Quincy Acy. Jones just checked in and he is long, but also a bit lost. On defense he could dominate both with length and height, but he is standing up straight way too much (I had experience with being told this very thing.)

2:28 — Centenary just let Curtis Jerrells go coast to coast. I am pretty sure the Gentlemen coaching staff scouted no. 0.

2:31 — The announcers just ran down the list of all the crap that has gone down with the Baylor program over the past few years. One player shot and murdered a teammate to go along with NCAA recruiting sanctions from a despicable cover-up by then Head Coach Dave Bliss just went down, five years ago. If you could believe, this team (with no history) is now poised for a long tourney run. One of the most amazing stories in years, truthfully. SMU football had fewer issues with their death penalty situation in the 80s and they have never recovered. Scott Drew has turned this basketball wasteland into a powerhouse, able to now pull some of the state’s top players. Bears still lead 28-10 with seven left.

2:38 — Gonna have to leave again, but should be back up for the majority of the second half of play. Curtis Jerrells has led Baylor is scoring all three of his years in Waco.

3:26 — I have always been most impressed with Baylor’s backcourt grouping of Jerrells, LaceDarius Dunn, and Henry Dugat, but the Bears’ frontcourt might be even more talented. Kevin Rogers is a wonder at his size and the freshman tandem of Jones and Acy are kind of ridiculous. The other bigs are nice, tall, and serviceable for the minimal minutes they will eventually play. I know this is Centenary (holla, Chief!) but I really like Baylor this year. I’m gonna peep their schedule and find some big games. Bears up by 31.

3:31 — In addition to the half dozen or so of ranked teams in the Big 12, Baylor’s schedule is decent. Although none of these teams should be favorites in their conference. There are games against teams from the Big East, SEC, and the Pac-10, but Jan. 27 in Waco against the ‘Horns looms large.

Syracuse is coming up against Richmond! Didn’t the Spiders beat the Orange in a tournament a long time ago? Or was it Indiana that was victimized? Lots of players I am interested in seeing. I have seen Blake Griffin and Steph Curry a gillion times, but I am interested to see Oklahoma freshmen guard, Willie Warren.

3:36 — Baylor is doubling up Centenary, 66-33, 10 left. I am going to not watch basketball for a minute.

4:07 — Paul Harris wets a deep three early in the Orange’s game. If he can shoot like that he is a guaranteed first-rounder. I totally plan on watching this game, but choose to just have it on and spend some family time/make/eat/dinner. The game was obviously closer than most thought and Jonny Flynn and Eric Devendorf played huge and were impressive from start to finish.

I will make my focus on the last two games of the night, both on ESPN2. First, will be Oklahoma and Davidson and later, Arizona and UAB. Four hours of evening hoops starting at 7:30 p.m. MST and running until basically midnight. I collect myself, brew some coffee and scoop out a wee bowl of chocolate chip Dreyer’s. Here we go. Keep in mind, that there very possibly might be look-ins into the Denver Nuggets/Milwaukee Bucks game.

7:36 — Blake Griffin always impresses me just on first glance. He is bigger than most think.

7:38 — Max Paulus Goessling scores for Davidson, then stars in another episode of Saved by the Bell. Slater is suspended for this game for having Jesse do his homework for him.

7:41 — Steph Curry is having trouble getting going. Willie Warren is having no such problem, nailing a 3, giving the Sooners an 11-7 advantage at the first break. Andrew Lovedale, that is that dude’s name–another of the classic Davidson guys from the past couple tournaments.

7:45 — Oklahoma guard, Austin Johnson is getting wrung through the ringer trying to chase Curry around the court, now that he is off the ball, playing two-guard, again. Steph getting warm; Willie answers with another 3 of his own, 17-14 OU.

7:48 — Blake is letting his guards get involved and is not pressing the issue, too much.

7:49 — Willie another three! Aggrey, looks like your boy is starting to get his feet underneath him.

7:50 — Steph has no concern for the new moved-back three-point line. Under 12 break, 21-17 Oklahoma.

7:57 — Willie is taking things seriously, taking the ball hard to the rack. The Sooners are starting to play for keeps, making a few shots in a row. Blake’s shot underneath pushes the lead to 27-19.

7:59 — I get to see the T-Mobile commercial with the Raconteurs’ song for the 50th time in the last 24 hours; rivaled only by the excessive viewings of the new EA College hoops game.

“Whoa! Slow it down, Cinderella…..”

8:01 — Willie scores another to get to 12 in just the first 11 minutes. The kid is surely not bashful. It’s time to pull the reigns in a bit, though, and feed the big man.

8:03 — This just in… Steph can shoot. Another three to get him to 16 and cuts the deficit to 27-31. This game is starting to get fast and a bit out of control but with a good intensity and sense of urgency.

8:08 — Willie pump fakes and drives but turns over the ball on a nice look to Taylor Griffin. Nice idea, young buck. On the other side, Steph is strapped with his third foul trying to split a quadruple-team. Seventeen points for Dell’s progeny.

8:09 — Fellow Oklahoma freshmen, Ray Willis kid has looked lost and out of control in his first half minutes.

8:13 — Five minutes left in half and Blake Griffin has nine rebounds. Willie with a smooth runner off of the glass for his 13th and 14th points; I am a fan. Griffin snags his 10th board of the night.

8:18: The game slows down a bit with Curry off the floor and the rest of the players playing heavy first half minutes. With just over two left, the Sooners have a six-point lead.

8:25 — Oklahoma up 38-34 at the intermission. Good game, great pace. Should be a good second half.

8:52 — Came back to the game a bit late, as I discovered another college game on Fox, which featured a team that I profiled for the upcoming edition of SLAM. (Hint: West Coast team, filthy deep and loaded.)

8:53 — The Sooners came out quick, to go up 12. Steph quiets Norman crowd temporarily with bucket.

8:54 — Looks like there will be no Nugget updates, as I am now downstairs in my office and things look more than under control down at the Pepsi Center. The under 16 timeout has the Sooners up 12. The winner of this game will take on the winner of the next one (AZ vs. UAB) at the NIT Final Four at Madison Square Garden. I was talking earlier today with my good friend Allen Hopkins of ESPN and he will be calling those games over the Thanksgiving holiday, featuring Purdue, Boston College, and the winners of tonight’s games.

8:58 — Blake is starting to find some space around the hoop- another double-double for the Okie City native.

8:59 — Whoa! Blake just banged one down off a nice half-court dish, then finishes with a fast-break dunk (three straight buckets) Blake suddenly with 16 and his team suddenly up 18! Wow! 20 and 20 should be well within his reach.

9:01 — Blake is 24-30 from the field this year (that’s 80 percent) and has about 55 boards between the three games. Another shot of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Jeff Green taking in the game down the road from their new digs up in Oklahoma City. The Thunder really need the top pick in the draft so they can nab their hometown boy.

9:04 — Despite a 21-point lead, this game is not over due to Mr. Curry. A couple Davidson threes puts the difference suddenly at just 12 with 12 left. Again, this game is not over. Curry had 30 in the second half against Gonzaga in last year’s first round (a game they trailed badly at one point.)

9:11 — A bucket underneath, a steal and a long Curry 3 and it is suddenly just a seven-point lead for Oklahoma. The team wisely puts the ball in Blake’s hands and he draws a foul. Fran Fraschilla has been comparing him to Amare Stoudemire all night, but I see more Karl Malone. Griffin makes both to pump lead back to nine.

9:13 — Zack Morris fouls out of the game after a mini-tantrum on the floor.  Kelly consoles him from behind the bench.

9:16 — Willie must be in foul trouble. I was wondering why he had been missing this second half.

9:17 — One of Blake’s biggest weaknesses last year was his free throw shooting. To wit: 6-6 tonight. And he just drew another foul. Remember, Karl Malone.

9:24 — Tony Crocker just nailed a baseline three to put the lead at 14 with just under seven left.

9:26 — Blake Griffin is single-handedly fouling out the entire Wildcat roster. Currently 10-10 at line, aaahhhhh! Jinxed, missing his first before his second makes it a 15-point separation.

9:33 — I think that George Karl let his second unit play the entire fourth quarter to hang on for a win. No starter played more than 27 minutes; seven players in double figures. Cheik Samb time! The Nuggets win again.

9:35 — 20/20 night indeed for Mr. Blake Griffin. Still in the balance at 10 points, no seven with 2:36 left. They need to move this 3-point line back.

ARIZONA AND ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM COMING NEXT!

9:38 — Coach’s son hits a 3 and it is now just six with 1:30. Curry absolutely bricks a wide-open 3, but they regain possession. 59 seconds, Davidson’s rock, down six. Curry nails a corner 3 with half the Oklahoma National Guard draped on him to get to 42 (Career high- a game where he was constantly referred to as having an “off” night) and only three points now stands between the teams.

9:41 — Blake grabs a long offensive board to make fouling necessary. Back to five points. I just heard my second Paul Silas (the player) reference today. Holla Big Paul.

9:43 — Steph is at the line and I can hear the Sooner fans chanting, “One Man Team! One Man Team!” That is crazy….. He can and will be able to get his shot off on any NBA guard. That is just a fact, deal with it, haters.

9:44 — Cade Davis hits some free throws and the win is topped with a Blake Griffin run away dunk (that doesn’t count.) 82-78, Sooner win.

Great game. Steph 44. Blake 25 and 21.

9:52 — I return and see my boy, Chase Budinger nail two straight long bombs then Robert Vaden from UAB hit a long bucket and the score is knotted at 12. I think I am going to like this game. Vaden is a guy that will be drafted this upcoming spring.

9:56 — I can’t really name the support players for Arizona this year. Budinger hits a smooth fade-away to get to double-figures. His high release, height, and two-footed leaping ability will make him tough to guard even on the next level.

10:01 — UAB gets out to a four-point lead halfway through the first 20 minutes.

10:05 — Vaden is starting to put the Blazers on his back. Hitting pull-ups and deep threes on the way to a five-point lead at the under eight.

10:11 — Shots of Arizona Wildcat assistant Mike Dunlap make me kinda sick. He should be the head with a nice long contract. Dude can coach, teach, lead, recruit, win, win, win… He’s gonna make some school really lucky.

10:12 — Nic Wise has a nice fast-paced mid-range game, popping that 16-footer with ease. UAB just seems to always find a way to score and are the owners of a seven-point lead.

10:14 — Jordan Hill is giving the Wildcats some great life on the boards and in the trenches. But, UAB’s Barrios nails a three, keeping the lead at six at the under four.

UAB is senior-laden, won 23 games last year, and play Memphis twice a year, so they obviously are not fazed by playing in a big-time gym against a national power.

10:23 — Two more threes for UAB and the Blazers are up double figures with a 41-31 lead in Tucson.

Second half

10:42 — UAB CAN’T MISS THREES.

10:47 — Both teams are extremely hot from the perimeter and the Blazers have an 11-point lead.

Andrew Toney’s son is on this team? Dope! I wonder if Moses has a kid that plays in Conference-USA?

10:56 — I am doing too much editing while watching the game. Air Bud nails a three and the lead is down to just eight. The Wildcats Head Coach Russ Pennell does not look authentic. He just looks out of place. UAB Head Mike Davis looks real. His stares and rants are the real McCoy.

11:00 — Robert Vaden’s name should be highlighted with a link to my scouting webpage. Arizona is starting the sneak back into this game as the Blazers are on the back end of the “dying by the sword” portion of all this 3-point shooting. At the under 12, it is a 7-point game.

11:06 — Budinger has not touched the ball in a few possessions and it looks like Hill is the only inside player that Arizona has. They could really use a solid, lunch-pail power forward, or someone like Juwan McClellan.

11:09 — Air Bud nails his fourth three of the game. I am waiting for him to bang on someone.

11:10 — UAB hits another three and another, UAB still by 10.

11:17: The game is at just six points as Hill snares his 20th rebound. Vaden promptly nails another 3.

11:19 — Budinger takes over for a few seconds (26 points at this point) and the under-four timeout comes with just five points separating the teams. This game is getting good.

11:30 — Arizona makes it a three-point game with a minute left!

A stop and a missed Wise three leads to a tied-up jump ball. If Dickie V was doing this game, he would be going berserk.

“OOOHHHH, throw it up! I hate this rule. Let the kids decide the game!”

11:32 — 43 seconds, UAB up 3. AZ with a foul to give; makes a quick one. Seven second differential does not interest the new coach and they foul immediately, again.

11:33 — Front end missed by Lawrence Kinnard. With 30 seconds left, a foul is called on UAB. One of two, then a scramble and a Kyle Fogg put-back ties the game. As a young freshmen, Fogg then wrongfully fouls UAB point guard, Aaron Johnson. 27 seconds remain.

11:36 — Johnson misses the front end of the one-and-one. AZ calls timeout with 17 left and a chance to win.

11:39 — What the hell just happened? Arizona couldn’t have lost this game in regulation but it looks like they will. What the hell did this new Arizona coach NOT tell his players during the end of this game? Nic Wise missed a pull-up 16-footer (with five ticks left) which was rebounded by UAB guard Paul Delaney III. Sophomore Jamelle Horne (who had played admirably all night) inexplicably dove at Delaney and an intentional foul was called with less than a second left. Oh my god. That should never happen ever in a season at this level, let alone twice, let alone twice in a matter of seconds. I’ll spare everyone my “If Mike Dunlap was the coach” speech.

Whew. I’m tired. I love basketball. I love college basketball. So happy it’s finally here!

Check Cub Buenning’s scouting website for weekly player reports. Many players highlighted in Cub Scouts are thoroughly covered on the site.

The post I’m Cramping! I’m Cramping! appeared first on SLAM.

Here you go…

EXCERPTS FROM HEAVEN IS A PLAYGROUND

by Rick Telander

-MAY-

Coming around the corner of Foster and Nostrand at dusk, I see a ten-foot fence and the vague movements of people. Men sit on car hoods and trunks, gesturing, passing brown paper bags, laughing. Stains on the sidewalk sparkle dully like tiny oil slicks in a gray ocean. Garbage clogs the gutters. At the main entrance to Foster Park, I step quickly to the side to dodge a pack of young boys doing wheelies through the gate. When I came out of the subway, I had asked directions from an elderly lady with a massive bosom like a bushel of leaves, and while she spoke I had involuntarily calculated the racial mix around me—ten percent white, ten percent Latin, eighty percent black. Now, as I walk into the park I am greeted by a lull in the noise, pulling back like musicians fading out to display the rhythm section at work: a million basketballs whack-whacking on pavement.

“Come on now, let’s be serious,’’ says Eddie. “We down twenty-four, twenty-one.’’

The ball is returned and the contest starts again. Laughter fades. Everything is in earnest, and yet I am blind; I cannot follow the game with my ears. Rodney Parker shouts but does not exist. Quietly, on an inbounds play, I walk off the court.

“Hey, hold it,’’ says Lloyd. “Where’s that white dude we had?’’

“Yeah, we only got four men.’’ Someone counts. “Where’d he go, Rod?’’ The players look around.

“He went to get some water, I think. He’s not used to this shit, he’s quitting. Just get another man.’’

“Come on, little brother,’’ says the tall player called “Muse’’ or “Music’’ to one of the hangers-on. “Put the weight to this dude and keep him outta the sky.’’

From thirty feet away on the bench, I can barely see the occasional sparkle of medallions as they catch the street lights along Foster Avenue. I’m exhausted and relish the chance to wipe my face with my shirt and rub my sore knees. I can hear the players’ voices, and it sounds to me like they’ll go all night.

*

While watching Danny Odums warm up before a Hoboken, New Jersey, tournament, Rodney Parker noticed a teammate of his—bowlegged, bony, shifty-eyed, perhaps 6’5’’, with as much arrogance and razzle-dazzle as Danny had shyness. During layups the youth floated to the basket, grinning at the crowd, and threw down stuff shot after stuff shot. Occasionally he whirled in midair and flipped in delicate jump shots or launched soft bombs from deep in the corners.

They called him “the Fly,’’ a spectator said, or just “Fly.’’ His last name was Williams and he was from Brownsville in Brooklyn. “He’s got an attitude as bad as a killer,’’ the man added. Rodney was blinded to all else except the sheer overpowering talent he saw in the boy’s every move, every gesture.

“I want the Fly,’’ he said to himself.

At the park the benches are lined early with the local ballplayers. The season is young and there is enthusiasm for all that summer will bring—the warmth of the sun and the late-night dancing in the street, the ice cream trucks, the girls in halter tops, the beaches, the arguments and beer drinking and marijuana, the competition on the courts.

EARLY JUNE

Behind Albert King kids jump into the fence and hang there upside down like bats. A ball gets stuck on one of the rims and the young players yell for help. “That’s how you learn to jump,’’ hollers an older player, turning unconcerned, as the boys, none of them five feet tall, leap again and again pitifully short of the rim.

*

The fat ex-coach named Manny Goldstein walks up to Fly and greets him sarcastically. Almost immediately the two are arguing in loud voices.

“He says we got money at Peay!’’ screams Fly. “Tell him, Danny, we got nothing. Going to the coach for cash was like asking Jesus Christ to summon the Devil out of hell!’’

“Nobody plays fair and wins,’’ says Goldstein, turning as red as his shorts.

“Bullshit, we win. I wouldn’t go near your campus.’’

“Fly, you’re stupid. Admit it, they’re using you and you’re using them.’’

“I ain’t using nobody,’’ Fly shouts. On the benches a few of the players get up and move away.

“They’re using you. They’re using your ability,’’ yells the visitor.

“So what! I’m using the coach’s ability. Man, where’s your head at!’’

“Think they care about you? Fuck, no! And you say you’re going back to school—you should just take the money and run.’’

Fly raises his hand and waves at the man in disgust.

The argument at an impasse, Goldstein, who one day will help bring down the University of New Mexico’s basketball program, along with disgraced head coach Norm Ellenberger, spouts to anyone who will listen.

“You have to cheat to win, to get to the Final Four. Give me a satchel full of money and I’ll get the best players in the country.’’

People drift away and the man is left without an audience. Corruption, the players all know, is one thing; in the ghetto it’s just another way of getting by. But yelling about it is something else.
*

In his apartment Rodney reads a letter from the coach at Guilford College asking if Danny Odums would like to finish his two years there if he is declared ineligible in the Ohio Valley Conference. “As I recall, Danny was an extremely nice guy who had good grades and who would fit in well…’’

MID-JUNE

“I had a friend,’’ Doodie tells me in his most serious tone, “and he was growing just like King. Thing is he been drinking wine since he’s thirteen. Dollar-nine wine, too. His guts is all erosion and he can’t sky no more on account.’’

As a fixture in Foster Park I’m beginning to blend in. I’m no longer a stranger; boys expect me to be around. They think I play basketball funny but that, as I tell them, is only because I happen to play “white,’’ the way I’ve learned.
*

“Don’t be scared,’’ says Lloyd. “Man, that first time you gots to overcome. The dunk is something, `specially for a little man.’’

There is an atmosphere of ritual surrounding 5’8’’ Cameron’s attempts to dunk this night, as though Cameron is in the company of braves, with Lloyd a chief watching from the perimeter.

Carefully removing his shirt and folding it into a square which he places on the sideline, Lloyd palms the ball and looks at the basket ten yards away. He puts the ball down and reaches into his pockets, pulling out an Afro pick, some change, and a dollar bill. He places these things on top of his neatly folded shirt and then picks up the ball. He rolls his shoulders two or three times and starts loping toward the basket. When he is close enough, his skinny legs uncoil and he sails into the night air, cradling the ball in the crook of his elbow before casually smashing it through the hoop.

He slowly returns to the front of the line. A player hands him the ball again. This time Lloyd runs in a little faster. While in midair he waves the ball around his head like a bolo before dunking. Again, he returns.

On his third approach he cocks his arm like a pitcher in his windup and throws a strike straight through the rim at the pavement.

For his final attempt Lloyd walks back and extra ten paces and blows on his hands. He grasps the ball in front of him and takes an all-out sprint at the basket. He cuts sharply through the row of silent boys like a halfback turning upfield and then, nearly ten feet from the hoop, flings himself into the air. As he floats slowly to the rim he rubs the ball on the back of his neck like a man with an itch under his collar and then slams it through the rim so hard it caroms wildly off to another court.

Lloyd walks silently back to the sideline. He picks up his comb and change and puts them in his pocket. He picks up his shirt and puts it on, buttoning it as carefully as he removed it.
*

LATE JUNE

The day starts out dreary and overcast, but not until bolts of lightning start flashing and the rain gushes down is it certain there will be no ball today at Foster Park.

Underneath the awning of Ray’s Luncheonette on Nostrand, Lloyd Hill stands staring at the swollen gutters and streets oily as licorice. He shuffles in place and sings to himself, “…diamond in the back, sun roof top, digging the scene with the gangster lean, oo-wee…’’ The decrepit three-story house where he lives with his mother, nine brothers and sisters and assorted in-laws is only three blocks away, but he would get drenched trying to run there now.

“You know, Rick,’’ he says as a bus squishes past, “I wouldn’t mind having me a nice Cadillac or Bonneville to drive home in. With a TV antenna in the back and gangster white walls.’’ He nods to himself. “Long as I didn’t have to work to death to get it.’’

Another thing Lloyd fantasizes about is a college education, actually playing on a university basketball team with uniforms and cheerleaders and locker rooms and fans. The collegiate experience is immensely confused in his mind, being a composite jumble gleaned from what he has seen on TV, what players have told him, and what he envisions words like “campus,’’ “fraternities,’’ “liberal arts,’’ and “philosophy’’ to mean. But he knows it is a valuable thing; that its meaning may be hidden too deep for his understanding, but that without it he is just another “dumb chump.’’

*
Herman the Helicopter, aged thirty now, sits in the bleachers and watches the games silently here at the Rucker. He is rock-solid at 6’4’’, with a bear, huge arms, and coal black skin. Like a stone, his body seems deeply at rest, as though movement would take the work of levers and sledges. His face is expressionless, as blank as an aquarium drained of water.

Ever since a childhood attack of meningitis he has had hearing only in his right ear, but until the pavement ruined his knees, that seemed to be his only infirmity. His game was built around his muscle and an almost superhuman leaping ability.

In games at old Rucker Park on 155th and 8th near Yankee Stadium. Herman used to outjump all the pros, being able to dunk the ball easily in one step from the free-throw line. Many people claim to have seen the Helicopter block shots a yard above the rim, a move that would put his feet nearly five feet off the ground.

*

Earl Manigault at a slender 6’2’’ had a game more spectacular than Herman’s, if not as physically overpowering. At eighteen he had such control on a basketball court that observers said only one other New York youth showed as much promise, a giant by the name of Lew Alcindor.

Earl, as vocal as Herman was reticent, became a favorite of young boys who followed him in parks wherever he played. Because they couldn’t pronounce Manigault, they changed his name to “Nanny-goat’’ and then just “Goat,’’ which he still goes by today. Though he could dazzle any crowd with his speed and moves, nothing tore people up as much as when he leaped, dunked the ball, caught it in the other hand, and dunked it again, all in the same floating vault. The Goat was becoming a legend in Harlem, but at the same time he was drifting into the world of drugs. One reason was that he did not appreciate the real worth of his skills.

“It all came so natural,’’ he says. “I men, an you dig that one night I had a dream about stuffing the ball and then the next day I went out to the park at 129th and Seventh and jammed behind my head, two-handed. I was only fourteen and 5’9’’ at the time. On the courts it weren’t nobody but the Goat; I didn’t have anybody to push me here or there. I didn’t care.’’

*

As I sit in what has become my favorite spot under the maple tree, watching the patterns around me, I suddenly hear my name being called. Doodie and Martin are standing almost in front of me, but my eyes have been focused beyond and, like the leaves on the tree, their bodies haven’t registered.

“Rick, we see you out here every day, writing and listening,’’ Martn continues, “and we—Doodie, myself and some of the others—well, we wondered if you’d like to be our coach.’’

I look at the boys and allow their features to sharpen. Doodie’s mouth is half-open and his arms hang limp at his sides. Martin’s arms are folded on his chest. Proud and intelligent, he once refused a soul handshake I had awkwardly extended, saying some things must be reserved for brothers.

“What?’’ I say.

“A coach,’’ answers Martin.

“A coach?’’ I ask.

Martin looks to Doodie as though perhaps none of this is coming through.

“A coach,’’ he says again.

“Of what?’’

Martin shakes his head. “Whew, and I thought colored people were dumb. Rick, take a guess.’’

“You want me to be the coach of a basketball team?’’

They both shake their heads. Doodie’s mouth clicks shut on the downward swing.

“What basketball team?’’ I ask.

Doodie takes a small step forward and points at his bony chest. “Ours,’’ he says.

EARLY JULY

Back at Foster Park, late in the evening, the players are cooling off, resting on the hoods and trunks of several cars. Mario has gone home, having gotten sick from playing all day in the heat.
When Rodney comes out for an evening stroll, Calvin Franks, so desperate for a future, approaches him, grabbing his T-shirt, touching him, imploring him with pathetic seriousness to get him into school. “One more time, Rod. One more chance to get on my feet.’’

MID-JULY

The Subway Stars are having their problems. Organized with great expectations, they have so far reaped nothing but frustration.

On Sunday they waited eagerly for the arrival of the Flatbush Flyers. I kept them busy shooting lay-ups and chattering for nearly an hour and a half. But the team didn’t arrive. Drawing Pontiac Carr to one side, I asked my manager what he thought the problem was.

“I don’t know, Coach. Want me to find out?’’

I told him I did. He hopped on a bike and pedaled furiously out of the park. Thirty minutes later he returned , sweating and bedraggled.

“I saw one of the guys. He said two of their players had to go to New Jersey and another of `em’s sick. They ain’t coming.’’

The Subway Stars began moping, then acting surly and ridiculing one another. I tried to tell them to relax, that it wasn’t that important. But as usual my half-hearted advice went unheeded. The boys became sullen and wandered off in various directions.

LATE JULY

“Scoring is the thing with Fly,’’ says Jocko Jackson, who grew up in Brownsville with him. “Making points. He gets upset, real upset when he doesn’t score. ‘’

Knowing this, Jackson frequently bends his own game to soothe his friend. “I do things to keep him happy. I’ll tell him over and over that he could take his man if he wanted to, even if he isn’t. He likes that.’’

As Fly’s Moorish American League team begins to warm up for its game in this Washington gym against a Maryland team that includes young high school graduate Moses Malone and Indiana Pacer rookie Len Elmore, a change comes over Fly. Through his arrogance has seeped a cold earnestness. He is serious, preparing for something more than a game. Unsmilingly he sinks one jump shot after another, displaying over the unmistakable playground gyrations a classic form, hands high, eyes riveted on the rim.

Coaches who feel that Fly is indifferent to the game itself misunderstood his actions. “I love basketball,’’ Fly has said again and again. “It’s my life.’’
*

The Subway Stars, unable to figure out the swirling air currents or the bounce of the unfamiliar Manhattan rims, quickly fell behind before crumbling completely and being swept away. From the park crowd came a din of humiliating catcalls. “Subway assholes!’’ they chanted. “Go play on the D train!’’

Attempting to regroup, the team stood in a cluster, yelling at each other. Lloyd Hill, who had come along as assistant coach, tried to calm them down while I went over to the other team and asked hesitantly if they’d like to play another game.

“Hell, yes,’’ said a tall red-haired kid. “We’ll send you back to Brooklyn in baggies if you want.’’

MID-AUGUST

“Listen,’’ says Rodney on the phone. “I need junior colleges or something for three players. Can you help?’’

“Are they good kids?’’ asks the man, an acquaintance on the periphery of college hoops who once did promotional work for a high school all-star game. “Not on drugs and all that?’’

“Don’t worry about them.’’

“I’ll see what I can locate. What are their names?

“Eddie Campbell, Calvin Franks, and Lloyd Hill. Oh, yeah, the last guy doesn’t have his diploma.’’

“Hell, a 12-year old can pass the equivalency. I’ll check around.’’
LATE AUGUST

Yesterday Mario and Derrick Melvin became the first of the Foster Park players to leave for college. Their departure is a solid indication that summer is ending, and, to the many hopefuls in Foster Park, that it is getting desperately late.

EARLY SEPTEMBER

Today Lloyd Hill played in his first game at the park in nearly two weeks. He seems to have little of his usual pep, depression obviously riding him like a stone. Most of the college players have gone, and Lloyd’s dream of following in their footsteps is returning to its old place in the dust and the tattered fabric in the back of his mind. He has not passed his equivalency exam. Indeed, he has not taken it.

“What’s Rodney doing?’’ he asked a group of boys during a break. Nobody knew.

MID-SEPTEMBER

The park is virtually deserted. High school started yesterday, and even the slick dudes and the dropouts have vanished, having relocated to pool halls and street corners where the action will continue regardless of class schedules.

The first tints of yellow have come to the big maple tree above the main bench. In the bright sun the change is almost imperceptible, but the leaves make a drier clattering sound in the breeze, and someone who could remember the moist ripple of June would notice.

*

It’s dark and the music plays softly from my box. One by one the Subway Stars come over to me to shake my hand; we do the shake, clasp, squeeze soul grip that they taught me. Some of the boys are too bashful to say much. Doodie shakes my hand with great formality. Pontiac Carr spins and slaps five.

Martin and I shake like two businessmen, and I tell him I hope the Subway Stars will keep going, even though I won’t be around.

“We’re together,’’ he says. “Count on it.’’

*

In his apartment that looks out over the park like a watchtower over a parade ground Rodney has decided to bring out his old shoe shine box and polish his pal Winston’s shoes.

“I was good this summer, wasn’t I, Winnie?’’ he says as he throws the brush from hand to hand with the same razzle-dazzle that earned him many a tip as a youth in East New York.

“Naw, you didn’t do nothing.’’

Rodney isn’t listening, and after he snaps the final sparkle on Winston’s toe, he stands up and puts away his antique box.

“I mean, there’s so much basketball,’’ he says coming back and gazing at the TV. “So many kids. It’s like there’s no end. You know what I mean? Like it’s all beginning, just one big beginning.’’

END

The post Heaven Can’t Wait appeared first on SLAM.

Most who know me personally know I’m a Sixers fan. You know of the Doc blood and Moses/Wilt/Toney/Cheeks love that runs deep, deep, deep but I’ve learned this year to be ease back and report on the game objectively…

Yeah right. Who am I foolin’? Not after this game. This was foul.

The Sixers were robbed last night and I’m still wondering why. I say so as a basketball fan, not a Sixers fan.

The Sixers played flat. It’s as simple as that. In fact, they’ve played flat for at least 5 games now. They were down by 12 in the fourth, but on fan appreciation night, you could sense a loyal fan presence that would help them get back in the game.

Louis Williams is beginning to show the game of basketball what it already knew..he is the truth. The Sixers would be very smart in resigning Lou come July because he just has it. That “it” is the threat of super stardom glimpses even though he’s still a kid in the game. He runs off points like Iverson did for so many years here and it’s going to be nice to see his game ascend to what we are all beginning to see.. Lou scored 21 points in a little over 22 minutes and his bucket with 5.1 seemed to be the game winner.

Anthony Gilbert and I watched those last fateful seconds from right outside the tunnel. We were talking about David Aldridge retiring from the Philly Inquirer and how it would affect the town during the time out. DA being there for the last home game of the season added to the already crazy playoff atmosphere. Every person in attendance was standing. It seemed like one of those memorable moments you reminisce on later.

Until…

LeBron drove the lane and promptly gets rejected by Samuel Dalembert. Devin Brown gets the rim but misses the put back. The crowd goes crazy–this would have been an emotional win to possibly face Orlando in the first round.

Some of the Sixers celebrate and run into the locker room like kids who just smashed a neighborhood window.
Occasionally, I’ve done some mini recaps for 100.3 The Beat with on of their on air DJ’s Izzo. We taped about 25 seconds when I looked on the court to see the teams still around.

Oh oh, scratch that recording Izz…

“Why what happened?”

This crowd is about to snap they just called a foul?

Yes they did, but it appeared to be after the buzzer according to the replays. You can definitely see referee Greg Willard’s hand go up after the buzzer sounds and then he rightfully motions the game is over.

Here’s his interpretation of the final and damning call:

“At the end of periods, you can review field-goal attempts and fouls that occur prior to the end of the period.”
“The foul was called, and the question is, whether or not it occurs prior to the red light.”

Later he says zeros on the clock…

“You see the contact (their was). We’re not looking at when the hand went up, when the signal went up. We’re looking at when contact occurs, and that’s what we reset the game clock to.”

“You don’t have the sound on there to listen to a whistle. So you’re looking for actual contact when the contact occurs.”

“I have a foul on the baseline.”

They then made a decision to review…

“It’s an automatic process. Anytime we have a play at the end of the period, that’s reviewable, which is field goals and fouls, we go over and review them regardless. It’s not a matter of whether somebody waved it off.”

“Once we conference together and realize that we had a foul and it may have occurred prior to the end of the period, we’re mandated to go over and review it.

What he saw…

“There’s contact on the play by Dalembert.” and they put 2 tenths on the clock.

“The rule is set for that very purpose so that any reviewable situation–field goals or fouls at the end of the priod can be reviewed to make sure that it either occurred before or after the end of the period–before zeros are on the clock.”

“The foul may have occurred after the zeros, in which case the foul would have been wiped off.”

“Zeros is what we’re looking for.”

After that Brown hit the two free throws he was awarded for the win.

Did you get all that? Did Willard forget he was in Philly?

Beers rained down, sodas, basketballs–from the upper level. I was shocked someone didn’t get hurt. Fans screamed anything and everything as the refs left the court. Iguodala’s image almost morphed into Barkley’s as he gave it to Willard. Andre Miller was so mad–I’ve never seen so much emotion out of him–he asked for the ball and promptly kicked it as hard and high as he possibly could as if the refs wore orange. The ball bounced around the score board and it seemed like forever to come down.

I couldn’t blame him. Could you?

Cleveland 91, Philadelphia 90.

This team was shocked. Mo Cheeks was livid. I asked him about the Sixers’ morale after such a tough loss:
On the final call: “Whatever they called, that’s what it is. For them to call that at that particular time, it’s a decision that Wednesday night we still having a shot of getting to the six seed. So it’s a big play. We have to live with every call they make. That’s how it goes. It was a heckuva game though. For us, we got back into the game. We looked like we were just going through it. Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young ..Sam…everybody played well. That’s how we’ve been playing all year. The officials have a tough job. They made a split decision and unfortunately, it didn’t go our way. We have to live with it and try to get ready for them Bad Boys (Detroit).”

On getting back into the game and then losing: “That’s our game. We do have some young guys who are looking for something. We’re always looking for something. I think we’ve found it though. We didn’t necessarily find it in a win, but we’ve found it. We were going uphill then all of the sudden we were back to the way we were before. I told them at halftime that it didn’t have to necessarily come by a win. We come here to play for a win, but we have to find our way again. When we got down twelve, we found our way. Everybody and even the bench was into the game. That’s the way we have to play. We can’t let teams come in here and make shots and lay the ball up. We have to play with some life. Certainly our crowd gave us some life by hanging in there when we were down by twelve, but that’s the way we have to play.

MT: Talking to your team just now, what was their morale?

MC: C’mon you have to be disappointed. We come in the locker room. We’re pretty happy about winning the game–coming back and winning that game–and the switch of emotions from winning and losing? You have to give Devin Brown credit for stepping up and making two foul shots (chuckles). C’mon he made two foul shots like the whole Philadelphia was about to come down on him. That’s pretty big for him. The emotions of the game from being a winner to loser, that’s pretty tough to do.

Andre Iguodala’s jumper was off and if that happens teams can take away his driving ability and thats when it’s hard for this team to score. Miller had a typical game during this run–scoring 26–but the other Dre was deservedly not feeling this loss–especially the way it went down. He and the press was having this conversation because I think we all were still in shock at the turn of events.

MT: Could Willard have been waving it off because the clock ran out?

AI: I have no clue what that guy was thinking. You gotta ask him.

MT: Dre what is your role on the team as you perceive it to help the younger players move on from what could be defined as a devastating loss?

AI: Just try to make them understand how important each minute is on the court. You have to understand how mentally prepared you have to be on the court. It’s not all about being fast or athletic.

MT: If anything, what the heck could you possibly take from this loss that’s positive?

AI: Out of tonight? Uh….(pauses)…we have to play the same way. We played well enough to win the game. That’s basically it. We need to reinforce that.

Lou Williams: When you get into the playoffs, everybody has an opportunity to beat anybody. Golden State showed that last year. We’re not a bad basketball team. We’re not lacking confidence, so let’s go. Jump it up. I’ve never experienced anything like that and neither have some of the other players.

Anthony Gilbert hit up Lou and asked him how he was going to prepare for the next level even though he’s never been in the playoffs: “I’m just like you then. It’s still basketball. That’s how I look at it. It’s still basketball. They just put a title on it and that’s it. It’s playoff basketball. I haven’t experienced playoff basketball, so I’m just going to go out there and play my game.

MT: Lou what do you take out of this game?

LW: Play hard. We’ve…been…warned. Forget all about watching the milestones, just play hard.

MT: Does a game like this old age ya? Does it give you some experience going into the playoffs as opposed to getting a win?

LW: I think how we played tonight in the fourth quarter is the type of intensity we need to play with. If we come out there from the jump ball, I think we’ll be in a good position.

Devin Brown had to hit the free throws to get the win and he calmly did so. Here’s what Devin gave to me after the game: “The ball was swung to me and I was wide open, but in that situation you don’t want to settle. I was going to make them play on the ball. Did not get the foul but the ball went in. Next time down Bron is making a move and I’m trying to circle just to see if I could get anything. It just so happened that the ball was reflected my way and I got the foul call.”

MT: When you were at the line for the winning free throws, what was going through your head?

DB: All I was focused on was getting the first one in the air without being short. A lot of times when you are waiting like that, the foul shot may be short. Once I made the first one, the second was a rhythm shot. It really wasn’t any pressure on me because you make it good–but if you miss it at least we have O.T.

MT: How difficult of a job do the refs have? Especially being in Philly making a call like that?

DB: I mean…especially here. In a situation like that, where they are fighting for seeding. We’re fighting as well, either was they were going to be criticized. When they step up and make the right call, you give them credit. They reviewed it–which is what they were supposed to do–and made the right call.

MT: Going into the playoffs, was this the type of win you needed to help galvanize the team?

DB: Oh yeah. It definitely helps. It does so much. They know we’re ready. We know what our goal is. We’ve known it since the stat of the year. A win like this will keep some of the critics away for a little bit but we are definitely ready to go.

LeBron scored 27 in the win. He also threw down this vicious dunk that made the entire press row feel as though we were dirty. Dre Iguodala tried to get out of the poster to no avail, but at least he put his head down. That dunk was straight up African! Sick dunk and it seemed like Bron Bron was sniffin’ the rim he was so high–he took off outside the dots. The last two National League MVP winners–Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard were in attendance. They sat under the visitors basket and saw first hand how ridiculous James’ dunk was. The look on Howard’s face was priceless. I thought his eyes were gonna bug out of his head. Think Robin Harris. I spoke with LeBron and Ryan in the locker room and Ryan seemed to almost scold Bron Bron for putting him in the precarious position of giving the dunk it’s proper respect in the City of Brotherly Love.

LeBron on the final play: “I haven’t been part of anything like that in awhile. I’ve never seen something like that happen before. They didn’t review it right away. They called a foul, but they said the foul occurred after the clock went off and we said it didn’t. Check the replay, it didn’t.

MT: What does this win do for you? Does it give you everything you need for the first round of the playoffs?

LBJ: “Oh it doesn’t matter, we are playing the Wizards. We don’t need no extra focus or motivation.
I knew how important this game was. Philly was making a playoff push and we wanted to lock up home court. I was really focused and motivated on tonight’s game to get a win.

On Boston and Detroit getting all the pub: “It don’t matter. It doesn’t matter how many games Boston or Detroit have won in the regular season. Look at the Dallas Mavericks last year. They had the best record in the league and lost in the first round. It might matter for some teams but you are 0-0 when the playoffs start. We had twelve wins last year–looking for sixteen.

MT: Do you look to make history every time you step on the court?

LBJ: Nah, I’m just trying to get a win. If history comes by doing that, then it’s a great thing as an individual. I really put a lot of passion into my game.

So if it happens, it happens.

The Cavs sewed up home court advantage in the first round with the win and the Sixers fell to 7th in the East with the loss. They now have a date with the 2nd seeded Detroit Pistons. Yeah they’ve beaten the Pistons twice this year, but this will be a brand new challenge.

As far as the Cavs playing the Wizards in the first round, will Gilbert go off in historic fashion or pull out a wet pea shooter against the squad they’ve played the last two years in the playoffs and lost both times?

I spoke to Cavs head coach Mike Brown before the game. He’s caught his fair share of wreck these last two seasons in particular so I wanted to see where his head was entering the playoffs.

MT: Mike, you are going into the playoffs this year with everyone having heightened expectations of your squad. What are you learning personally?

Mike Brown: I’m learning the difference between this year and last year. We want to compete for the title every single year. We’re a playoff team and if we play the right way we just a good a chance as anybody else. I’ve learned a lot this year because of the different circumstances–injuries, trades this late in the season, hold outs. For me there was a lot of individual growth, but I think there was some growth in our team because of the different circumstances.

The post Live from the scene of the crime in Philly appeared first on SLAM.

val·u·a·ble [val-yoo-uh-buhl]–adjective

1. having considerable monetary worth; costing
or bringing a high price: a valuable painting; a valuable crop.
2. having qualities worthy of respect, admiration,
or esteem: a valuable friend.
3. of considerable use, service, or importance:
a valuable player.
4. apparently not Jerry West. (But he got the logo, so it’s all good.)

*And if you don’t know, now you know.

It didn’t come to me in a dream and alas, I have no analogies. Crazy, right? No academy awards, no presidential elections, no beauty pageants, no monster truck rallies, none of that sh*t. All I have are the facts and because of them, I’m wide awake and hopping mad. The NBA MVP has lost much of it’s significance in recent years due to questionable voting results, but this year I sincerely hoped that since the Suns had set and Dirk had been properly chastised that the public-and the press-would be more responsible in casting their vote. But apparently the insanity continues, as people pay absolutely no regard to history. Or the present, for that matter. It’s 2 AM, I’m wide awake and hopping mad. Because of Chris F*cking Paul.

It’s been a fantastic year highlighted by four compelling candidates, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett. Each player has dominated a portion of this season, but as the schedule draws to a close several pundits have found themselves incredulously gazing at the Hornets record alongside Paul’s production and wonder how CP3 could not be MVP. I sat between two of them during a recent Wolves game who did everything short of have me escorted from the building for even questioning it. I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to go ahead and call bullsh*t on this one. As compelling as these four candidates have been, in my not so humble opinion only two of them are actually worthy.

[Insert dismissive cries of “Hater!” here]

LeBron James has had a spectacular year. But his team didn’t. He’s consistently approaching that elusive triple double average, but it’s only been in an effort to keep his team afloat as they’ve found themselves adrift in a shallow Eastern Conference. Honestly, I think that last years Finals was a fluke and that those raised expectations have unfairly skewed the perspective on Cleveland’s performance this year. Regardless, Bron’s chances aren’t hurt just because the Cavs wont win 50 games, it’s how they’ve regressed. And just as the previous years Finals appearance-fluke or not-would’ve bolstered his case had the team even come close to defending their Conference position, (the same happened for Dirk in the previous year…) it will cost him as they falter down the stretch.

He delivered with big stats (30.2, 7.9 & 7.3) that didn’t translate into wins. His increased scoring and assists didn’t result in any significant increases for the team, in fact Cleveland is scoring almost exactly the same amount of points per game as they did last year (96.9). More importantly, their much vaunted defense is allowing almost five more points per game (92.9 to 97.2, which actually gives them a negative point differential on the year) and they’ve slipped significantly in offensive and defensive rankings. (from 105.5-8th & 101.3-4th to 106.2-19th & 106.6-11th) Who did they lose that would explain this? Anderson Varejao? Things turning on the loss of such a seemingly inconsequential player would run contrary to the faction who insist that Bron carries a gang of ne’er do wells. But it’s either that or that this team was simply not ready to defend their crown, even after a midseason trade that was supposed to make them stronger. Which is somewhat reflective of the King’s leadership, no? If not, it certainly doesn’t show how he “makes his teammates better”. Regardless, fair or not, he who takes the credit must also shoulder the blame. Maybe that’s what “Chosen One” means.

Oh, and call me picky if you’d like but I still can’t help but notice that if Bron suits up for the remaining five games (which may not be likely considering his back spasms) he still will have played in two less games this year due to the six games he sat out with that mysterious sprain. On his non-shooting hand. Whether he should’ve played or not, those games may cost the team home court advantage as they hover only 1.5 games above the reinvigorated Wizards. Actually, they’re only two games in front of the streaking 76ers who sit in sixth place and these things matter since Cleveland has lost six of their last ten and ten of their last twenty games heading into the postseason. If their unimpressive record was eclipsed by strong play as the playoffs began, Bron would have more of a case. They haven’t and he doesn’t.

Which brings us back to Chris Paul and the surprising Hornets who still sit atop the Western Conference. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed. He deserves a hearty thanks, a pat on the back, a hug, a Kit Kat, a Vogue cover, anything but an MVP trophy. Why? First of all, like LeBron, Paul is upheld by his advocates as a player who ‘carries’ a sub par roster. My problem is that many of those same advocates also want to point at New Orleans record and call them the ‘best’ team in the West. It can’t be both. If it’s a sub par roster, then they’re not the best team and if they are the best team, then the roster isn’t sub par. But let’s take a closer look.

Paul is averaging four more points per game (17.3 to 21.5) on three more shots (13.6 to 16.5) and is shooting the ball considerably better (43.7% to 49.1% and 35.0% to 37.2% from three) while adding almost three more assists per game to his totals (8.9 to 11.5). The team has also made noteworthy improvements, shooting better from the field (44.5% to 46.6%), from three (36.2% to 39.3%-on 250+ more attempts. And counting…) and from the line (74% to 77%) in addition to an assist total that has already been surpassed (+125) with two games left on the schedule. These stats, along with New Orleans 16 game improvement in the win column have prompted many to declare Paul as the catalyst for change instead of acknowledging the return of David West (52 games in ’07) and Peja Stojakovic (13 games in ’07).

West (20.3 & 8.9) is a physical PF in the paint who can also run the floor, board, defend and step outside the paint to make the open jumper. Stojakovic (45.0% on 6.7 3PA) is one of the games greatest shooters of all time and a three time All Star. Granted, they are not two of the first names anyone would call out in a fantasy draft, but they are the perfect compliments for a point guard. No one would argue CP3’s ability to utilize his teammates, but too many are declaring that Paul has ‘carried’ or ‘made’ these players instead of acknowledging how they’ve made the game easier for him. I had the chance to speak with Coach Byron Scott about this on Wednesday.

SLAM: You played with an iconic PG in Magic and coached another one in Kidd, how is Paul different?

Scott: Well I think he has a little bit of those guys in him. Magic was obviously very unique at 6’9″, the way he could run a team, his passion for the game, his leadership. Chris has a lot of those qualities, as far as his leadership and Magic could take over a game at any time. I think Chris has that ability. Jason Kidd, the way he could push the ball and find guys in the open court so and the passes he could make to certain people that you just didn’t think would be made, Chris has that ability. So he has a little bit of both of those guys in him, but I still think that he’s more like Isiah than anyone I’ve seen in a long time.

SLAM: It’s obvious that Chris makes the people around him better, but going back to the injuries that you mentioned before, how has the return of Peja and David West for a full season made him better?

Scott: Well David ended up missing thirty games last year, obviously that hurt us big time, but Peja missing almost a whole entire season was a killer. So having him back and healthy, and playing the way he’s capable of playing, which was a slow process cause he still had to get back to being comfortable out there on the basketball court and probably took about a month to a month and a half. But having him now has been fantastic. You don’t sometimes realize how much you’ll miss a guy until he’s gone and not having him last year was a big blow to our team.

SLAM: Do you think that can be directly attributed to Chris’ rise in FG% and assists? He’s certainly worked on his game, but that has to spread the floor and make things easier for him.

Scott: It does and when you have a guy out there who can make threes on a consistent basis like Peja, your assists are gonna go up. We do a good job of letting spreading the floor and letting Chris try to attack people and when they (the defense) sag in, he finds the open guy. All they’ve gotta do is make shots and if they do that, it’s gonna be a pretty good night.

Then I had an opportunity to catch up with the candidate himself.

SLAM: There’s no real set criteria for the award, what do you think it means to be an MVP?

Paul: It’s exactly what it says, most valuable player on a team and which team couldn’t do without that player. You know, not necessarily the best player in the league but if-I’ll pop you in your mouth if you keep talkin’ (That was for Bonzi, not me. These guys are hilarious. I’d tell you more, but this is already long enough.)

SLAM: There’s a lot of talk about an MVP making his teammates better. What do you think it means to make your teammates better and how do you do that on this team?

Paul: I don’t think it’s always necessarily about scoring, it’s about your teammates having that confidence in you and when you go out there on the court you give your teammates more confidence.

SLAM: Byron Scott has mentioned that the teams backgrounds and the way you guys were raised by your respective families has made you easier to coach and by effect made this a better team. How do you think your background has affected you as a ballplayer?

Paul: I think it has a lot. It’s made me a lot more thankful for my teammates and the relationship that we have and we realize that we’re not just teammates, we’re a family and we go out there and play for each other every night.

SLAM: You’ve also been very open with your faith. How does that affect your approach to the game?

Paul: It helps me to respect the game and also understand that I’ve been truly blessed. I definitely understand that this can be taken away from me in the blink of an eye. God has blessed me with the opportunity to play the game that I love, take care of my family….words can’t even describe it. I’m riding so high right now I don’t even wanna come down.

SLAM: So God makes point guards?

Paul: Oh yeah, God makes everything. God makes all of this possible.

SLAM: What do think you still need to improve on?

Paul: Everything. Defense, shooting, I want to cut down my turnovers if possible.

SLAM: There’s been a lot of people rallying around Byron for Coach of the Year and yourself for MVP, but there isn’t as much talk about the team going into the playoffs. Do you think that you guys can be a top seed and still be an underdog?

Paul: I think so, but all that matters right now is what everyone in our locker room thinks. We haven’t been in the playoffs the past two seasons, I’m the only person in our starting five who hasn’t played in a playoff game, but if that’s the way we’ve gotta approach it, I’m comfortable with that.

SLAM: The Saints rallied around the city back when they made it to the NFC Championship and now you guys are enjoying a similar run. What does it mean to you to be able to do that for New Orleans?

Paul: It means a lot. It’s our first full season back in New Orleans and we’ve had opportunities to get back out in the community and show the fans how much we appreciate them and that’s had a lot to do with our success.

SLAM: What’s the most important thing you think you’ve done for the community?

Paul: Just giving the city a little more hope. We go out there every night, on the road or at home with New Orleans on our chest.

SLAM: People readily acknowledge how you make your teammates better, but how has the return of David West and Peja Stojakovic made the game easier for you?

Paul: Well D.West is an All Star. I think we compliment each other really well and he’s easily one of the best power forwards in the league. And Peja, he’s been one of the best shooters to ever play in the NBA and I think that the style of play we have right now compliments him. He really makes the game easier for me. Both of those guys.

SLAM: If you could cast a vote for MVP and couldn’t vote for yourself, who would you vote for?

Paul: David West.

The New Orleans Hornets have had an exceptional year and Chris Paul is undoubtedly the primary reason for that. But it’s only been one year and contrary to popular belief, the MVP is not a one year award. A closer look at the awards recipients will reveal as much. The voting process and varying criteria suggested for the award are far from perfect, but one aspect has pretty much held firm over the past 52 years: there’s a line. A player first has to establish himself as a worthy candidate and then disprove his detractors before receiving an MVP.

While there have been controversial winners recently, much more often than not, the victor has proven himself beyond a shadow of doubt because he has been denied in past votes and returned the following season to answer all questions concerning his candidacy. It’s a process established by the greatest players in NBA history. 14 times (Garnett ’03, Duncan ’01, K.Malone ’98, Jordan ’97, D.Robinson ’94, Olajuwon ’93, Jordan ’87, Bird ’83, Erving ’80, Walton ’77, McAdoo ’74, Abdul-Jabbar ’73, Reed ’69, Russell ’60) a player has finished second in the voting before moving on to capture the award the next year. 8 other times (Nowitzki ’06, Jordan ’90, M.Johnson ’88, M.Johnson ’86, Abdul-Jabbar ’70, Russell ’64, O.Robertson ’63, Cousy ’56) third place went on to receive their just due. And 5 times (Petit 4th in ’58, Chamberlain 5th in ’65, Abdul-Jabbar 5th in ’75, Abdul-Jabbar 4th in ’79, M.Malone 4th in ’81) a player has been in the top 5 the year before winning the MVP. That’s 27 out of 52 times a top 5 player has had to bolster his case, be it through personal or team improvement before getting the nod. Every other time was a repeat or the winner has been 6th or lower on the previous ballot.