20. Jason Richardson

Don’t let those epic dunk contests—and they were definitely epic—in the early 2000s distract you from the bigger picture: Jason Richardson was an all-around hooper who had an incredibly productive 13-year NBA career. The Michigan native was the fifth overall pick in the 2001 Draft and made an immediate impact for the Warriors, posting 14.4 ppg as a rookie. For the next nine seasons, his scoring average never dipped below 15 and rose as high as 23.2 in 2005-06. Perhaps the most telling stat about J-Rich? Of the 857 games he appeared in, he started 842 of them.

19. Richard Jefferson

Kids, listen up: Before Richard Jefferson was on TV talking about the game, the man could flat out ball. The versatile forward out of Arizona played for eight teams over a 17-year NBA career. He was a key piece of a notable New Jersey Nets squad that reached the Finals twice, falling short to the Lakers in 2002 and the Spurs in 2003. RJ would finally get his ring as a veteran in 2016, coming off the bench for the Cavaliers when they overcame a 3-1 deficit to topple the Warriors.

18. Lamar Odom

A 6-10 point forward from Queens, NY, Lamar Odom’s game was extremely unique and made him extremely difficult to contain. He could handle the ball, initiate fastbreaks and orchestrate the offense. He had outstanding court vision and knew how to make plays for his teammates. As he once told SLAM, “Since New York City basketball is mainly a guard’s game, I learned how to be a guard.” He could control the post, isolate on the wing and work off the ball. That versatile skill set led L.O. to become a 2x NBA Champion and the 2011 Sixth Man of the Year. From 1999-2011, he averaged 14.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4 assists. 

17. Rajon Rondo

Shortly after 4x All-Star and 2x Champion Rajon Rondo, who ranks 15^th on the NBA’s all-time assist list, made his retirement official back in April, LeBron James said this about his former teammate: “One of the best players I ever played with. Obviously, his IQ was out of this world. I was very lucky to get to team up with him…’Do always talked about if he ever teamed up with me, he knew we could win a championship. And we did that.” When you earn praise like that from one of the greatest to ever do it, nothing else needs to be said. Rondo returned to camp as a participant in the Top 100 coaching program, paying it forward to the next generation of basketball greats. 

16. Joe Johnson

It didn’t matter what uniform he was wearing or what arena he was hooping in or who was guarding him, you could always count on Iso Joe to take over in crunch time. The man had ice in his veins. During his 18 years in the League, Johnson hit an absurd amount of clutch shots and game-winners. His best years were spent with the Hawks, but the talented guard also got buckets for the Suns and Nets. He scored over 20,000 points for his career, made seven All-Star teams and delivered countless unforgettable moments.

15. LaMarcus Aldridge 

He was one of the top high school prospects in the nation, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year while at Texas, the second overall pick in 2006 and a 7x NBA All-Star. And still, LaMarcus Aldridge’s career tends to be underrated. From 2008-20, the big man averaged 20.2 points and 8.6 rebounds. During that stretch, when LMA caught it on the low post, it was game over. He was a maestro in the mid-range, and his touch around the basket was always money. Just ask Trail Blazers’ and Spurs’ fans about Aldridge—they’ll have a lot of fond memories of watching this dude ball.

14. Jermaine O’Neal

A superstar at Eau Claire High School in Columbia, SC, O’Neal jumped straight to the NBA in 1996, drafted with the 17^th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers. It would take several years and a trade to the Indiana Pacers for J.O. to unlock his full potential in the League, but when he finally did, the big man was a serious problem. He won the Most Improved Player award in 2001-02 and appeared in six straight All-Star Games from 2002-07. Overall, he spent 18 seasons in the NBA with seven different franchises, but that run with the Pacers was definitely the most memorable. And in a full circle moment, his son, Jermaine O’Neal Jr., is attending this year’s camp. 

13. Trae Young

A lot of crazy crossovers and nutmegs and lobs and deep threes come to mind when you think of Trae Young, and rightfully so. But the image that stands out the most? The Atlanta Hawks guard at Madison Square Garden, holding a finger to his lips after silencing the crowd with a game-winning floater during a first-round playoff matchup against the Knicks in 2021. Shhhh. That moment perfectly captured Young: a fiery, fearless, trash-talking competitor with the ridiculous talent to back it up. There’s a reason they call him Ice Trae.

12. Jaylen Brown

Here’s how Kemba Walker described Jaylen Brown to SLAM back in 2020, when the two were teammates: “He’s a guy who’s worked extremely hard at his game. He can do it all. He can score, he can pass, he can rebound, he can shoot. He’s fearless. He’s a competitor.” Brown was Georgia’s Mr. Basketball in 2015 and played one season at the University of California, Berkeley, before being drafted third overall by the Boston Celtics in 2016. The athletic forward has blossomed into a star for the Cs, helping them contend in the Eastern Conference year after year after year. Since attending Top 100, Brown has stayed involved with the NBPA, becoming one of the youngest players elected to the NBPA Executive Committee in 2019.

11. DeMar DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan’s journey has brought him from the West Coast (Compton and Los Angeles) to the North (Toronto) to the South (San Antonio) to the Midwest (Chicago). Along the way, he’s been a McDonald’s All-American, a Pac-10 Tournament MVP, a lottery pick in 2009 and a 6x NBA All-Star. He spent the first nine years of his NBA career in The 6, where he became the Raptors’ all-time leading scorer and reached the playoffs five times. He’s had more standout moments since, including averaging a career-high 27.9 points with the Bulls in 2021-22. Salute to a real one.

Action photo via Getty Images.

The post NBPA Top 100 Camp Top 30 Players: 20-11 appeared first on SLAM.

NBA Academy Africa, an elite basketball training center in Saly, Senegal, had been founded in 2017, roughly a year before one of its coaches, Joe Touomou, began recruiting Chomche. At first, the answer was no. Chomche’s parents had been reluctant to let him play basketball in the first place, so this was out of the question. “My parents didn’t want me to do any activities except school because my family values education a lot,” Chomche tells SLAM. In order to join the local team, he had struck a deal with them: Chomche could play, but if his grades suffered at all, he would have to quit.

So far, Chomche had not slipped up. But this was a much bigger ask. Basketball was new to the Chomche family. None of Ulrich’s 16 siblings played, instead gravitating to soccer, by far the most popular sport in Cameroon. Ulrich grew up helping out on the family farm—not dreaming of a future in the NBA. 

Initially rejected, Touomou returned to Cameroon to meet with Chomche’s parents again. He outlined just how much the Academy could benefit Ulrich, both on and off the court. Not only would he work with topnotch coaches to improve as a basketball player—he would also receive a first-rate education and have the chance to travel the world with his new classmates. This time, Touomou was able to convince them.

Not long after, the kid from Bafang arrived at the impressive campus in Saly. Everything had changed in a blink. Chomche was shy, quiet and surrounded by strangers, many of whom he struggled to communicate with. Courses were taught in English—a language that the French-speaking Chomche didn’t know. He was set up with a tutor, while also adjusting to a strict new basketball regimen. At his size with his agility, Chomche certainly had the tools to become a dominant big man. But he was still learning the basics of the game. 

“When Ulrich came, he did not know basketball,” says Franck Traore, Head of Basketball Operations for NBA Africa. “He could move [well], we evaluated him properly, and the coaching staff at the Academy obviously worked with him every day. We believed in him.”

Chomche’s team back in Bafang had practiced just a few times per week; at the Academy, he was practicing multiple times per day. He trained with experienced basketball minds like Touomou, who played four seasons at Georgetown University (1995-99), served as an international scout for the Indiana Pacers and is a longtime camp director at Basketball Without Borders Africa (where he coached NBA stars Joel Embiid and Pascal Siakam). 

“What really [made Chomche] take off was the mentorship piece,” Traore explains. “He needed that. As soon as we had that in place, his mindset shifted. He believed in himself—that he could do it. And his game took off.”

From the beginning, Chomche displayed an incredible work ethic. His current schedule at the Academy sees him report to the gym around 5:30 am every day for an individual workout, followed by a team practice and an hour of weightlifting—all before morning classes start at 10:00 am. For a while, Chomche was also taking night classes (after a second team practice from 5:30-7:30 pm) so that he could graduate early (which he did).

“What I like about the Academy is that they don’t only teach you how to play basketball, they teach you how to be a man, too,” Chomche says.

Every time he took the floor—whether it was in practice, a global exhibition game, the Basketball Africa League, or a premier scouting event—Chomche looked less lost and more confident. Less clumsy and more polished. Over the past five years, he has matured from a complete novice into one of the most promising international prospects. 

Last week, Chomche, who now stands 6-11 with a 7-4 wingspan, officially entered his name in the 2024 NBA Draft. He is expected to become the first NBA Academy Africa graduate to be picked. Given the rise of basketball across the continent, there will be many more to come. Chomche’s close friend Khaman Maluach, a 7-2 center from South Sudan headed to Duke in the fall, is projected to be a top-three pick in 2025. The two proudly represented the Academy in the recent Nike Hoop Summit, an annual high school showcase held in Portland, OR.

“It’s a good thing that I have my brother with me because every time we practice in the Academy, we say we are preparing for a war,” Chomche says of Maluach. “Every time we practice, we are competing. And I’m very grateful to have him with me because he helps push me every time.”

Together they have been a dynamic duo for the Academy, often carrying the team. In December, they led their squad to two impressive victories at the G League Winter Showcase, starring in front of hundreds of NBA executives and scouts. Chomche flashed what makes him such a special prospect: mainly, his defensive versatility. He possesses both the athleticism to protect the rim and the mobility to switch onto guards on the perimeter. At the 2022 Basketball Without Borders camp in Cairo, Egypt, Chomche won the Defensive MVP award.

“His biggest strength is defense,” Traore says. “First of all, his size and length—you cannot teach that. He was born with it. It’s a gift. Great rebounder. Great shot blocker. The timing is exceptional. And his lateral movement, being able to defend, that’s already a gift for him. I think that’s half the battle for him. He’s adding a nice three-pointer. He can shoot from the corner and make them consistently. During the games, when we need it, he’s able to make those shots.”

Chomche is still developing his offensive game and will need time to adapt to the NBA. He’s just 18 years old—the youngest player eligible for the 2024 Draft. Training at the Academy over the next few months, Chomche is focused on improving his ball-handling, shooting and finishing around the basket. He has shown signs of being able to spread the floor—during Basketball Africa League qualifiers in November, he shot 38 percent from behind the arc (8/21), while also averaging 13 points, 9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks.

Marshall Cho, who coached Chomche at the Nike Hoop Summit, says the Cameroonian center has “some of the most elite feet for a guy that size.” Cho points to Chomche’s help defense and screen-setting as evidence. “Those are two things that he can do that don’t require shooting,” Cho stresses. “So all the criticism of his touch around the rim or whatever it may be—that he’s raw—he has a base that the League needs right now. Beyond that, if you’ve seen him shoot the three, he can actually really shoot it. He has that in him.”

Above all else, Chomche is “a winner,” says Traore. He does the little things and always finds a way to make an impact, even if it doesn’t show up in the box score. “I would be surprised if Ulrich went his entire career in the NBA without a championship,” Traore continues. “Having some of the best coaches in the world work with him every day, Ulrich will be a starter in the NBA for over a decade. That’s who he is.”

Regardless of what the future holds, Chomche is already one of the Academy’s best success stories. How far he’s come since joining the program is validation that the initiative is working—that leaving Bafang was definitely worth it.

“He comes from a very humble background,” adds Traore. “He’s representing his family very, very well.”

Photos via Getty Images.

The post The Remarkable Journey of NBA Academy Africa Star and 2024 Draft Prospect Ulrich Chomche appeared first on SLAM.

At this exact moment in time, there are “a million things” running through his head. He can’t really focus, so instead, he dials in on the game ahead. Having just come off an injury that cost him 10 games, he goes out and drops 26 in a 1-point loss. When his on-court obligations are done and he has a moment to himself, he thinks back to what he heard hours prior. He’s an All-Star. 

“I had to kind of take a step back after the game and really breathe and sit in the moment and really appreciate how far I’ve come. [It was] definitely a special moment for me and my family,” he tells SLAM over the phone.

SLAM Presents All-Star Vol 4: Tyrese Haliburton is available now!

For an Oshkosh, WI, kid who was a three-star recruit in high school to become an NBA All-Star seems otherworldly. But this is Tyrese Haliburton we’re talking about. His game has always been deemed unconventional. His Midwest charm has him come off as more of a homie than a celebrity—not just to fans, but to the media, too. When you combine exceptional talent with an unmatched work ethic and an ever-present smile, it’s no surprise that good things come his way. Really, really good things, even when, at times, things have seemed out of his control, like the midseason trade that sent him to Indiana in the first place, or even injuries. Today, he’s a walking double-double machine, one of the most fun players to watch in the L and beloved in the Hoosier State and beyond. 

I think the city of Indianapolis has been yearning for a guy that they can relate to and help lead the organization.

– Tyrese Haliburton

For Haliburton, Indiana isn’t just where he plays—it’s home. He’s embracing the city and the people and often takes old teammates or friends who are in town to his go-to spot, Savor, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant in Carmel. “I think people see me as, like, one of them,” he says. “I think that people can see that I can relate to the way that they grew up and the weather they grew up in and all that stuff. And then I think, like, [people say] ‘Midwest nice’ is a real thing and who I am as a person.”

And just as he’s shown Indy love, the city has shown him love right back. When we talked to Caitlin Cooper, an Indiana native and one of the brightest basketball minds in the game, who also runs a blog called “Basketball, She Wrote,” she admitted that Hoosiers haven’t always been the most excited to cheer on their hometown team…until now. 

“I can only speak to my experience, but basketball means a lot to Indiana,” she told us last summer. “But I wouldn’t say that NBA basketball has always meant a lot to Indiana. When I was growing up—I grew up watching the NBA because that’s what my dad watched—you would always say that’s where the best basketball players in the world play. That’s where I want to learn from. So that’s what we watched. [But] I didn’t know any other Pacer fans. And now I can tell you that you’re starting to sense a shift—I’ve talked to people who would have never talked to me about the Pacers before, and they’re like, I gotta get on the ground floor [of] this. They’re building something special and that Tyrese Haliburton is a really entertaining guy to watch.”

Haliburton feels it, too.

“I think the city of Indianapolis has been yearning for a guy that they can relate to and help lead the organization,” he says. “So I think that’s just been a really natural fit for me, [it’s] why I fit so well.”

Haliburton is playing even better than he was last season; he’s currently averaging 21.8 points and 11.7 assists per game, both career highs. His goal, as he emphasized in the cover story of SLAM 245, has always been to win, especially now. Accolades aside, he’s playing for something bigger than himself: “I think that for me, individually, I’ve accomplished what most people want to in their careers. I’ve gotten a big contract. I’ve been an All Star. I’ve done a lot for myself individually—more than I ever thought was possible. And so, now it’s about team success and wanting to win.”

And yet, the awards keep piling on. At press time, his name is sitting at the top of the All-Star voting returns for guards in the East, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect as Indianapolis hosts the All-Star Game for the first time since 1985. The city is hyped, and so is its franchise star, who will be suiting up in the game yet again.  

“I think you always hear people say, It’s not just basketball in Indiana. Like, it’s really a lifestyle, you know?” Haliburton says. “I think that’s what people are excited about: you see the court in the airport, how cool that is? That’s just a microcosm of how excited the city is. The cool part is that I think people who aren’t from Indy or [have] never been to Indy don’t understand how capable Indiana is of running large events. 

“Indiana has hosted Super Bowls, Final Fours. It’s more than capable. So, that’s the exciting part, too. I’m excited to see the city have success and people get out a little bit more in the city than they’re used to.” He also adds: “I’m really excited for the younger generation here, I think that’ll be cool for them to see.” 

When we put Tyrese on the cover of SLAM 245, the cover read “No Ceilings,” and now, looking back, it seems almost like a prophecy. Here he is, a star player reaching new heights yet again, putting on for a city that’s about to host the biggest weekend in basketball. We can only imagine how much he’ll be smiling come All-Star Sunday, when he hears his name called yet again. 

COP YOUR ALL-STAR VOL. 4 COVER TEES

Photos via Getty Images. Portrait by Marcus Stevens.

The post Tyrese Haliburton Reflects on NBA All-Star and What the Game Truly Means to Indy appeared first on SLAM.

Haliburton’s music education began in the passenger seat of his dad’s (John) car. Growing up, friends and family would make CDs for John filled with his favorite hits, like Akon’s “Locked Up,” which Haliburton can recite word for word. “The first song and the last song were always the same, so if he had a song that was his song at the time, he would play it 24/7,” Tyrese tells SLAM. “I listened to a lot of old school music, and I think the love for that comes from being in the car with my dad growing up.”

When he was 8, surrounded by the influence of his older brother and his friends, Haliburton was put onto Drake and J. Cole, both of whom were in the midst of their early mixtape days. Well before the Grammy award-winning artists reached their prime and stood at the pinnacle of the rap game, Haliburton was bopping his head to their earliest hits.

For first-time All-Star, SLAM cover star and music guru Tyrese Haliburton, he’s officially stamped the NBA with a new pace of play, relative to the groundbreaking release of Drake’s 2011 Take Care. But sitting inside of a vehicle with the music blasting hasn’t been the young point guard’s primary listening experience as of late, instead opting for the recently released Bose Ultra Open Earbuds.

As his daily routine revolves around traveling, practices, shootarounds and training sessions, Haliburton’s taste in music has shifted from playing his favorites on the aux in the car to the superior quality of Bose’s latest innovation that comfortably wraps around his ears.

“I’ve always wanted to wear earbuds when I’m working out or when I’m shooting, but I’m always scared they’re gonna fall out,” Haliburton says. “I like that they hook around your ear, that allows them to stay in your ear. You still get the sound, but that way whoever I’m shooting with, I can hear what they’re saying and still be locked in and listening to music at the same time.”

Earlier this season, Haliburton was able to put the earbuds to the test during his pre-game routine. He immediately noticed how comfortably they fit while refusing to shake loose from his ears despite running through a number of step-backs, spin moves and pick & roll scenarios. Up until that point, he had steered away from rocking earbuds on the court with trainers and coaches running him through drills. Now, he has a product he can trust.

“I like to know what’s around me, my surroundings and things like that,” Haliburton tells SLAM. “When I’m with my teammates and I’ve got my earbuds in, I still want to be able to hear what people are talking about.”

Launched on February 15, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds lay down another bridge for the vast connections between the game and fashion. Featuring an innovative, cuff-shaped design that boasts soft edges and a luminous finish, the white earbuds have become a staple in Haliburton’s daily life.

“I like that they’re unique in the way that they look and they’re not how everything else looks; I think that’s what makes them cool for me,” Haliburton says.

Music means memories for Tyrese. Every song, album and lyric holds an impression in his mind, attaching core memories to each one. Drake’s 2016 project “Views” transports him back to his high school days at Oshkosh North; “Come Thru” off Nothing Was the Same transcends all options. But don’t get it twisted. Tyrese grew up on the classics, too.

“It’s a mix of plenty of things,” Haliburton says with a wide grin, reminiscing on those childhood drives with his dad. He begins listing off the names of legends; Erykah Badu, John B., Usher, Mario, Mary J, Keisha Cole. And then the King of Pop comes up. “I’m a big Michael Jackson guy. I throw that on sometimes, too. I think music has a really good way of taking us back to a time.”

Don’t take our word for it though…If you’re planning on being in Indianapolis for All-Star Weekend, make sure to keep an eye out on our social channels for SLAM’s upcoming scavenger hunt where you could get the chance to try out the Ultra Open Earbuds for yourself.

The post Tyrese Haliburton Opens Up About His Passion for Music and Training with the New Bose Ultra Open Earbuds appeared first on SLAM.

We compiled a group of individuals (programming note: 30 entries, not 30 people total) who mean something special to SLAM and to our audience. Read the full list here and order your copy of SLAM 248, where this list was originally published, here.

Well, this is awkward. I was asked to write about Reggie Miller’s evolving relationship with SLAM, I’m assuming, because it started very poorly—and specifically because of me. And I just now realized that the 2024 NBA All-Star Game will be in Indianapolis. Given that fact, and the intervening years, I had a thought: let Reggie (the greatest-ever Pacers player) bask in his Hall of Fame-ness and enjoy the festivities without any childishness or negativity.

All these years later, it no longer hurts to give Reggie his flowers for his exemplary career, and we can now accept the fact that he is universally considered one of the greatest long-range shooters in NBA history. Over 25,000 points (including 2,560 three-pointers) in 18 seasons, two Gold medals. One of the greats.

It’s called growing up, people.

SLAM, during what I like to call “The Profanity Era” (issues 3-38), is linked to Miller more than any other player not named Iverson. But the way we treated them couldn’t be in starker contrast. Iverson could do no wrong in our eyes, while the magazine relentlessly targeted Miller. Why? Because we needed a foil. If we were looking to mix things up in the sports media world (lol), antagonizing a perennial All-Star was the most efficient way to do so. 

And Reggie was the best player on the Pacers and the Pacers routinely clobbered the Knicks, while Miller preened, pouted and flopped. He was like the annoying progeny of Mick Jagger and a professional wrestler, enjoying himself so thoroughly while riling the crowd. It was infuriating to us. 

And so we (OK, me) pounced on him and began a campaign of poking Miller with a stick. We (OK, I) said all kinds of things about him to try and get a rise from him. He never responded to me directly but, looking back, his annual teabagging of the Knicks in the playoffs was probably enough of an answer.

During his career, Reggie Miller made an enemy of every NBA fan in every city other than his own. He wore that hatred like Superman’s cape. It intrigued him, amused him, and then it fueled him. The hostility, however, was far, far worse in Madison Square Garden than in any other arena. When Miller played the Knicks, he was extra arrogant and spiteful and scornful and miserably clutch. The 25-point fourth quarter. The 8 points in nine seconds. The choke sign.

Those hijinks went on for years—way longer than our “Glen Rice’s wife” campaign or whatever other idiocy we cooked up—and culminated with SLAM publishing Miller’s high school prom photo—which he attended with his sister Cheryl, who was an unreal basketball player in her own right. That I considered it to be a “gotcha” moment shows that we were completely losing the plot.

Many issues after we’d begun our crusade, we were exhausted, frankly, and pumped the brakes. Not long after, Miller appeared on the cover of SLAM 33, sneering in victory. On the magazine’s spine we put the about-face into context, printing, “Hell Freezes Over.”

Once we crossed that rubicon, it was much easier to accept/swallow the fact that Miller was a clutch big-game player and, thanks in large part to his relationship with SLAM, the greatest and most willing villain in basketball history. It also became significantly less complicated to include his name in a conversation without relentlessly denigrating him and must have been freeing to the subsequent editorial staffs. Thankfully, grudges do not transfer well.

A few years ago, long after Reggie retired and began earning big bucks as a very capable color commentator, SLAM asked me to interview him—a first, as it turned out—in an attempt to settle our differences. We were both up for it.

Over the course of an hour, Reggie and I talked about his storied career, his relationship to SLAM and to opposing fans, and how players today would have a much harder time coping with our level of vitriol. I apologized for publishing the prom photo—a stunt that he accurately described as “crazy”—and then we talked extensively about how SLAM’s unrelenting public hatred of his persona had actually helped him. 

As it turned out, Reggie was likable, and we both blamed my dubious behavior on my misspent youth and a complete lack of journalistic training or, really, morals. As Russ Bengtson would say, “cool, cool.” 

He also credited me for burying my own hatchet and offering him the cover, which is great except for one thing: six months after the Reggie Miller cover was published, I ran away from SLAM, never to return. 

Photo by Clay Patrick Mcbride. Featured image via Getty Images.

The post THE 30 PLAYERS WHO DEFINED SLAM’S 30 YEARS: Reggie Miller appeared first on SLAM.

The question is a rhetorical one. Many people—the media, casual basketball fans, diehard Pacers/Thunder/Clippers fans—know of him as just an NBA superstar.

He’s an eight-time All-Star, won Most Improved in 2013 and has made All-NBA, All-Defensive and All-Rookie Teams throughout his 13 years in the League so far. Long before that, he was known for being the highest draft pick in Fresno State history when he was selected in the first round back in 2010. Then, in 2014, he decided to switch things up by changing his jersey number from No. 24 to No. 13, which also inspired a new nickname: PG-13. He bought all his old jerseys and donated them to his high school. 

“The whole thing behind PG-13 is just coming into my own,” he told Vigilant Sports back then. “I feel like I’m at that stage where I’m ready to embrace everything that comes with being one of the young stars in this League. Everyone knows PG-13 is related to television, so the whole thing is being able to enjoy the show and being fun to watch.”

In Indiana, PG turned heads. By his third season, he’d emerged as the Pacers’ go-to option, and helped lead them to the Eastern Conference Finals in back-to-back seasons from 2012-14. After seven years in Indy and multiple occasions where he battled through injury—including a compound fracture in his leg, which he suffered during the offseason in 2014 that caused him to miss a majority of the upcoming regular season—he was traded to the OKC Thunder in 2017. He tried to redefine himself again, this time as “Playoff P,” a nickname which he gave himself that season, right before the Thunder played the Jazz in the first round. When asked about guarding then-rookie Donovan Mitchell, he clarified to ESPN that “Playoff P” is “a fun guy to watch. It’s an out-of-body person where I just lock in and put myself in a different zone.” 

Then, in 2020, Game 7 against the Nuggets happened. Playoff P only scored 10 points on 25 percent shooting and went scoreless in the fourth. The internet ruthlessly decided “Pandemic P” was a more fitting title for the star’s performance at the time. Since then, George has missed extensive time due to injury, including the end of the 2022-23 regular season because of a knee injury.

But that was then, and this is now. At 33 years old, George has seen the highs and the lows of being a professional athlete—the injuries, the losses and the wins. While the opinions of others can help shift and shape narratives, what matters most is how athletes view themselves. And that’s what we went out to California in late-August to find out: Who exactly is Paul George? 

“I think I’m a pretty funny person, but I’m also a very introverted person,” George tells us. “I kind of keep to myself and I think that’s why people don’t, or haven’t learned much about me through my time through the NBA. But I’m actually a pretty fun, outgoing person. Love to laugh, love to joke. And, I mean, I’m not sure if that will surprise many people but for the people that don’t really know me, it can be surprising. At least that’s what it seems when we read comments [saying], He’s actually funny. He’s actually a good dude. So, I think the more I just show [my] personality and show who I am, [the] more people have just gravitated toward it.”

Paul George Covers SLAM 246. Get your copy now.

The man himself is sitting in a well-lit lounge at the Proactive Sports Performance, wearing his L.A. Clippers uniform. He was just training and working out in the weight room moments prior—the lounge that we’re in right now is on the second floor and looks out onto the training facility and court. Down below, we’ve got an entire photo shoot set up, which is where we’ll shoot George for his third SLAM cover. 

But first, interview time. Initially, PG’s demeanor is more low-key as the cameras start rolling. He’s not overly energetic or giving monotone answers, with “honestly” being one of the first words he uses when asked how his summer has been going. It’s a good sign that, hopefully, he’ll keep it real for the rest of the conversation. After all, he’s done countless interviews and magazine covers, including with us, before, and has been asked plenty of questions about his career, getting to that championship-level, playing alongside Kawhi Leonard…

If you listen—really, actually listen—to what he has to say, you’ll start to understand that there’s a lot more to Paul George. He’s introverted, yes, but he has also been discovering another side of himself. He’s creative, and pretty introspective and honest: while the next generation of standouts—Brandon Miller, Kiyan Anthony—consider him their GOAT, his own measurement of success comes down to one tangible thing: winning a championship.

When he mentioned on his Twitch livestream recently that he fully intends to be on his “bully shit” this upcoming season, that wasn’t a threat. It was a promise.

Here, Paul George elaborates more on what we can expect from him this season, his approach to his offseason training and how he’s discovered his voice—and himself—on the court, in the podcast studio and everywhere in between.

SLAM: How are you doing? How has the summer been and what have you been up to aside from training?

PAUL GEORGE: Good. Honestly, [it’s] summertime, being a father, it’s mostly family time. When the season’s done, kids are out of school. [It’s a] great opportunity to kind of just be at home with the family, be with my wife, my kids. But that’s about it. Apart from that I’m training and, you know, I’m taking my usual summer trips to Europe and vacation. But outside of that, [I’m] putting one foot forward and getting ready for the next season.

SLAM: Where in Europe did you visit?

PG: I was out in Serbia, where my wife is from. I was in Montenegro and Greece.

SLAM: What’s it like to be home and able to fully focus on the fam? Can you describe how you go about transitioning from the season into summer?

PG: It’s great having the kids home full-time, keeping them active [and] being able to take them to their camps, take them to their practices, their hobbies. It’s just great to be a little bit more hands-on and you really find what their interests are once you’re with them for longer periods. 

So it’s been fun—it’s been fun since the season has been done to rekindle that. You get so riled up and caught up with how the season is going that you tend to lose out on stuff, just being on the road and traveling so much. So that’s really the great part about having those summers.

SLAM: You’ve mentioned they’re pretty creative—were you the same way as a kid  growing up?

PG: Yeah, I was. I think that’s why the bond between my oldest and myself is so strong, because I was the same way. My imagination was very strong. I can draw, create, color—you name it. If I can think of it, I could draw it. So I was pretty good. I wasn’t the greatest at drawing, not a portraits person, but I could draw pretty good as a kid. I see a lot of me [in] her.

SLAM: That’s fire. In terms of your offseason workouts and training, did you start getting into it immediately after the season ended? 

PG: I took, like, two weeks off just because I was rehabbing. When the season ended, [I had] a nasty leg injury. And when the season was over, there was no point obviously for me to be in the best shape possible. So I took two weeks off to kind of get away from basketball, get away from the facility, get away from training. I thought that just helped me approach when I went back to training a lot better. It helped my mental, it helped my focus and that’s about the norm for me at this point in my career—take about two weeks away, go travel, just get out, get away and then I’ll come back and go hit it hard again.

SLAM: Has that been your approach in the past? To take time away? 

PG: Yeah, I would say probably the last couple years. Before then I used to, when the season was done, I [would] be right back in the gym the next day. But now as I’ve gotten older, I kind of enjoy splitting the two—being in season-mode and then being in offseason-mode. The younger me didn’t have a family or kids, so the older me kind of knows to separate that, enjoy family time and get after it when I’m ready.

SLAM: Looking back, how would you describe your younger self, especially when you first came into the League.

PG: My younger self was just hungry. He was passionate, he had just the warrior mentality. And fearless. I still have some of those qualities, but it’s definitely stronger as a youngin’ coming into the League. Now I would say my older self is a little bit more focused, knowing what I want and how to approach it, how to get there. Now it’s just [about] trying to stay healthy. That’s the biggest key. 

But yeah, that’s the separation between myself—where I’m at now and the younger me. I just had that passion to want to be the best and destroy any and everything in front of me.

SLAM: What have you been focusing on specifically this offseason in your training? What are your goals going into next season?

PG: Just focusing on the mentality. For me, it’s just the mentality. I work extremely hard on improving and getting better, but for me, it’s just the mentality—going back to having that 22, 23-year-old mentality at 33 of, every time I’m on the floor, I’m there to dominate and just be the best player on the floor at all times. So that’s the mentality I’m going into it [with]. That’s how I’m approaching this summer. At the end of the day, I love where I’ll finish because if I have that mentality, I know I’m giving it everything I have, and I can live with those results.

SLAM: Is that what you meant when you said on that Twitch livestream that you’re going to be on your “bully shit” this season?

PG: One hundred percent. One hundred percent. That’s exactly what I meant. I gotta hold myself accountable to that… Every night I’m on the floor, I’m there to dominate. Whether it’s [being] more physical, or going right at whoever I gotta go at, you’re gonna feel me. I’m having that approach of every time I’m on the floor, I’m there to dominate and destroy you.

SLAM: When you said that on your livestream, what pushed you to that point? Did you feel like it was something that needed to be said? Was that something that was going through your head already?

PG: Yeah, I mean, it was just a lot of unnecessary talk going around the League of, you know, guys feeling themselves and directing comments toward me that haven’t done anything as well. You know, this is the last couple years of my career, so it’s all about legacy for me as well. And that’s just my approach—I got to finish strong and go back to loving the game and loving to dominate. And again, that’s just how I got to approach it. [If] I come up short, that’s on me. But that’s how I gotta approach it.

SLAM: You used the words “go back to loving the game and loving to dominate.” Was there a time when you didn’t necessarily feel that way?

PG: Just through injuries, you doubt yourself. At times, you doubt what you’re able to do. But at this point—I had a fluke injury to end the rest of my season last year—but up until that point, I was starting to get stronger, I was starting to feel better, problems that I was having midseason were starting to go away. And that was the best I was feeling. And so, I was coming into my stride, ready to get back into that. But for a stretch, I didn’t feel [like] myself just because injuries and stuff was aching and popping up. But I feel like I’ve been starting to address that every summer, little by little, to where I’m in a great place right now.

SLAM: What does Paul George being on his “bully shit” look like?

PG: Honestly [laughs]…I can’t tell you what that looks like. I’ve been a pretty consistent scorer, been a high-level player for many years. But for me, it’s just getting to a level of consistency. And, again, not backing down and destroying whatever I have to [to] get to where I need to get to. So I think it’ll be noticeable by the way I play this year.

SLAM: Do you feel like there was a time or I guess a defining moment during your career where you really felt like you were really on your “bully shit”? 

PG: I had that approach of guarding everyone tough, of trying to be the number one option and score on the best player every night while shutting the best player down every night. You know, I just had a mean mentality when I was younger. And that was just how I approached the game. I think I fell away a little bit from that mentality. And so again, all of it is just trying to be back, centered [and] to where I was when I came into this League.

SLAM: When you were referring to guys in the League, or in general, having things to say about you, what was running through your head? 

PG: I mean, everybody has their right to say what they want to say. Everyone at this point in time has an opinion. That doesn’t bother me, but the way you go about it, and the way you approach it, I’m gonna have to have something to say about the way things are handled at some point. And that’s just where it’s gotten, so, you know, it’s just about having—I don’t go off of what I’ve done, who I’ve been in the League. To me, I view it as: if I’ve won or if I haven’t won. And I haven’t won. People tell me all the time, Don’t doubt yourself, don’t this, don’t that. I don’t. I know what I’ve accomplished. I know what I’ve done in this League. I know whose ass I’ve busted in this League, who I’ve put what numbers on in this League. That don’t mean nothing if I haven’t won a championship. Yeah, it’d be a great résumé when it’s all said and done. That’s cool. But for me, I measure myself in the success I’ve had in the League—if I get a championship, that’s what it’s all about. So, yeah, the regular stats are cool and all, but I got a bigger goal of winning [and] establishing myself as a champion.  

SLAM: Have you always had that standard of success? 

PG: Yeah, I mean, coming into the League, early on, the first couple of years [it was about] establishing myself and just getting better and wanting to be an All-Star, wanting to be on that superstar level, wanting to carry a team and wanting to be the best defender on the floor. That was kind of [my] individual goals. But once you make it to that point, take it a step further, now that has to mean something. Being the best player, being the best defender, being on a good team—like that all has to start to equate to something. Now I’m at a point where every year I’m training, and that’s the goal—to get a championship. And so if I come up short, like, nothing else matters that year. At this point, I failed the year, I failed the season, if I didn’t win a championship. 

SLAM: Let’s get into your podcast. To start, do you feel like this is one of the first times you’ve really been outspoken in terms of sharing your own opinion, talking to other athletes and analysts? 

PG: Yeah, I think so. Because, you know, for the longest [time], as a young guy, you want to say the right stuff, you want to protect the organization, you want to protect teammates, you want to protect yourself, image, brand, all of that good stuff, right? But you lose sight of like, Am I really answering this the way I want to answer it? Am I really getting off the thought or the idea that I really want to say? And sometimes after interviews, I’m like, you know, Fuck, I should have said what I really wanted to say. Or, I should have told them what really happened or how it really went. Or, how I really felt.  Now, with my podcast, I can do that. And I think that’s just the beauty in it. 

SLAM: On that note, what’s it like doing the interviewing after having been interviewed so many times? Do you feel like you have a different perspective of what goes into it? 

PG: Yeah, what I found doing it is [that it’s] very therapeutic, because a lot of stories that I’ve told, or a lot of stories that we’ve talked about, were things I held on to and haven’t really [gotten] that out. Whether it’s been good moments, bad moments, fun times, bad times, it’s just been therapeutic to express certain stories. For example, the conversation with DeMar [DeRozan] that we had about playing each other in high school, I have always felt how I felt leading up to that moment playing him in high school, but it was great to hear how he felt leading up to that moment playing me in high school. So conversations like that were great to kind of reflect back on and share that moment and share that story with somebody that I’m pretty good friends with, but we’ve never talked about that. And so it was just great to go back [down] memory lane and pick up on things that we’ve been through and experiences. Because otherwise, you hold on to certain stuff and [are] weirded out by how to share or reflect on some things.

SLAM: What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned about yourself, now that you’ve gotten into podcasting? 

PG: That I’m not just good at basketball. [laughs]. Nah, I mean, I knew whatever I put my time into I can be successful in. That’s what kind of person I am: if I lock in on something, I work extremely hard to be good at it. And being in the podcast space is another notch to reassure that. It’s just been fun. It’s honestly been fun. I never in a million years would have thought that I would be interviewing other players, talking about stories, being in front of a camera as much as I am, especially at this point in my career. So, you know, it’s just been a great roller coaster. And I’m just enjoying the ride at this point.

SLAM: Did you always feel that way—that you’re really only viewed as Paul George the basketball player?

PG: Not necessarily, but I do think people didn’t know much about me. I felt I was—everyone thought a certain way, based off of moments I’ve had in basketball, moments on the court, off the court. And that’s the only thing that they can pinpoint on me. But actually watching me in a podcast setting, getting to talk, getting to laugh, making jokes. I think people see me in a different light. And that’s what I appreciate, that they can separate [it, like], Oh he’s totally different. I thought he was way different. I had this perspective of him, [but] he’s actually a cool dude. He’s actually funny. He’s actually this, that. Which I am. I’m just as normal as anybody else. 

There’s definitely an appreciation there for fans for allowing [themselves] to re-introduce themselves to who Paul George is.

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Deyscha “Sway” Smith is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow her on Instagram/X, @deyschasmith and Tik Tok @deyscha.

Portraits by Atiba Jefferson. Action photos via Getty Images.

The post Paul George Unfiltered: Clippers Star Talks Training, Perception Around the NBA and Destroying the Competition appeared first on SLAM.

Important reminder: there was women’s basketball before the WNBA, and there were players who helped elevate the game the whole time. The W has helped take the sport to a whole new level, and for that we are all thankful—and excited to see what’s next. But women were hooping way before David Stern and his gang got involved.

As the authors Pamela Grundy and Susan Shackelford detail in their 2005 book, Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women’s Basketball, women have been playing the sport since 1892. If we at WSLAM are allowed to use this platform to encourage further research on this topic, we’ve got it for you. Read the aforementioned book, and visit the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, TN. Completing these “assignments” will give you a sense of just how wide this sport’s reach has been and just how many memorable players have influenced
the game’s history. 

For the time being though, we really wanted to concentrate on five players from the pre-W era who we feel every fan of women’s basketball must know about. Some of the players we considered—that we can perhaps cover in the future or that you can simply look up—include Molly Bolin, Joan Crawford, Denise Curry, Anne Donovan, Hortencia Marcari, Pearl Moore, Uljana Semjonova, Theresa Shank-Grentz and Ora Washington. There were also folks who, whether you think of them as pre-W or not, did play in the W era, such as Nancy Lieberman, Katrina McClain and Lynette Woodard.

In the meantime, consider this a Cliffs Notes of sorts. This is an all-WSLAM, pre-WNBA team that would have lost exactly zero games and consists of players that we promise would have been in editions of SLAM/WSLAM had we existed back then.

All fans of the sport should know every single person listed, all members of the inaugural class of inductees into the aforementioned Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. Class is in session.

Cheryl Miller: The GOAT

It is not sacrilege to say that women’s basketball was not a big part of the zeitgeist when many old-school SLAM staffers—or the mag itself—were growing up. But Cheryl Miller? She seemed to float above the sexism and noise to just be known as a baller. A 6-2 small forward who could score from anywhere on the floor, Miller was a four-time Parade All-American during an outrageous high school career in Riverside, CA, that once saw her put up 105 points in a game her senior year. Miller basically repeated her high school exploits at the college level, staying close to home to star at USC where she again received All-American honors all four years. She led the Trojans to national championships in ’83 and ’84 and posted career numbers that border on the absurd.

Over a four-year, 128-game college career, Miller averaged 23.6 points, 12 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 3.6 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. There was nothing she couldn’t do on the court, and she did it all with a flair and grace that transcended the sport. In the summer of ’84, Miller was the star of the US Olympic team that won Gold right at home in L.A. She hurt her knee soon after college, or else she surely would have made it as a pro with some combination of men’s teams, overseas women’s outfits or hanging on til ’97 and playing the first few years of the W like some of her contemporaries. And yes—her brother is Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, an all-time great in his own right. But don’t get it twisted—Cheryl was the far better player.

Carol Blazejowski The Blaze

A 5-10 shooter with the perfect nickname for a quick scorer, Blazejowski was a late-blooming baller from New Jersey who didn’t get serious about the game until she was a senior at Cranford High School. The Blaze moved just up the Parkway for college, becoming a three-time All-American at Montclair State from 1976-78. Playing before there was a three-point line, Blazejowski nonetheless scored a nation’s best 33.5 ppg in ’76-77 (including a Madison Square Garden-record 52 points in a March win over Queens College) and 38.6 ppg in ’77-78 (including topping 40 in her last three collegiate contests.)

Her hoop options after college were AAU and international play, and she excelled at the latter, winning gold at the ’79 World University Games and FIBA World Championships, where she led Team USA in scoring. She would have been a star on the ’80 Olympic team, but the US boycotted that summer’s Games in Moscow. Blazejowski signed a reported three-year, $150,000 deal with the New Jersey Gems of the short-lived WBL but the league did not last. Fittingly for a woman who set MSG on fire with her performance as a college player, Blaze returned to the Garden as vice president and general manager of the Liberty in ’97 and worked for the W’s flagship franchise through 2010.

Lusia Harris-Stewart: The Queen

A product of the deep South, Harris was one of 11 children born to the sharecropper Willie Harris. All of them hooped, but the 6-3 Lusia had a special gift. A classic big who piled up points and rebounds, Harris attended (barely) integrated Delta State University where she played for legendary coach Margaret Wade (whose name is on the annual Wade Trophy, awarded to the best women’s college player). Harris helped make Delta State the preeminent power of the AIAW, which was the biggest platform for women’s college sports in the ’70s. The only Black player on her team, Harris led Delta State to AIAW championships in ’75, ’76 and ’77 and finished her college career with per-game averages of 25.9 points and 14.4 rebounds. She was also the leading scorer for Team USA at the 1976 Olympics.

Harris achieved notoriety when the NBA’s New Orleans Jazz chose her in the seventh round of the Draft, but she declined the chance to try out for them and was largely out of the sport’s spotlight after that, living a quiet life as a married mother in Mississippi. Lusia’s story got a well-deserved injection of attention with the release of the 2021 documentary, The Queen of Basketball. Directed by Ben Proudfoot with Stephen Curry and Shaquille O’Neal listed as executive producers, the film won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) just months after Harris-Stewart passed away at the age of 66. Needless to say, the film is a must-watch for readers of this issue.   

Ann Meyers Drysdale: The Athlete

Born into a sports-loving family in Southern California, the 5-9 Meyers’ high school career(s) alone is the stuff of legend: she lettered in seven different sports and won 13 (!) different MVP awards. Meyers then attended UCLA from 1974-78, where she became the first woman to ever receive a four-year athletic scholarship. UCLA more than got its money’s worth from the deal as Meyers was a star the whole time she was in Westwood. She was a four-time All-American and concluded her college career by leading the Bruins to the ’78 AIAW championship. Meyers also hit the podium for Team USA repeatedly in the late-’70s. After college she became the first-ever pick in the WBL and was co-MVP of the fledgling league in ’79-80. Shortly thereafter, she signed a contract with the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and had a legit tryout with them.

When her playing career ended, she pivoted into a ground-breaking, lengthy and extremely successful career as a broadcaster for the likes of the Pacers, Phoenix Suns, WNBA and the Olympics. As for the Drysdale part of her last name? That came when she married former Los Angeles Dodger pitching great Don Drysdale in ’86. When Meyers was voted into the Hoop Hall in ’93, they became the first married couple ever with both parties in their respective Hall of Fames.

Nera White: The Pioneer

Pre-WNBA can still feel like near-modern history when the players in question can still be seen on TV broadcasts and around the sport. But the women’s game has people who built it even before hooping in college was a realistic option. The greatest of the game’s true building blocks from the playing side of things has got to be Nera White. A native of Tennessee who played primarily for Nashville Business College’s AAU team, the 6-1 White was an AAU All-American 15 years in a row (1955-69) and won the AAU Tournament’s MVP award 10 times. As the Basketball Hall of Fame puts it in her bio, White was “quite simply faster, quicker and stronger than most women of that generation.”

Women’s basketball was not an Olympic sport until 1976, but the FIBA women’s World Championship has been around since 1953. White made her mark on that tourney in 1957 in Brazil, when the US faced the Soviet Union for the first time in a major competition. The Americans won the title game over the Soviets, 51-48, wrapping up MVP honors for White, who averaged a team-high 14.1 ppg for the event. White’s performance earned her the unofficial title of best female player in the world, which she could stake a claim to for years after.

Photos via Getty Images.

WSLAM 3 features cover stars A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young.

The post The Hall of Famers Who Helped Pave the Way Long Before the WNBA—from Cheryl Miller to Nera White appeared first on SLAM.

In our cover story, Haliburton opens up about his journey thus far and how he “loves” proving all the doubters wrong. Still, the 23-year-old doesn’t take himself too seriously. Basketball, he says, is a “child’s game,” and brings him back to memories of having a ball in his crib and playing video games. That’s the joy behind Haliburton’s ever-apparent smile when he’s out there on the hardwood.

“When I’m playing basketball, it’s just fun,” he told SLAM. “It’s like I’m a kid again, you know? And that’s what I love about it. This isn’t a job for me. This is a passion of mine and something I really love to do.”

Read the full story here.

To get to know the All-Star more, we sat down with Haliburton and surprised him with items from his past for the latest episode of “Bag Talk.” Check it out below.

The post Get to Know Tyrese Haliburton: Pacers Star on High School Musical, Steve Urkel and MORE appeared first on SLAM.

Then there’s the obvious: he’s into the moment and what we have in store for him at the shoot. A duffle bag full of mystery items to film an episode of “Bag Talk,” an oversized Pacers throwback jersey with a pair of Timberlands and more. Inside the gym, music is blasting through the speakers—it’s a mix of old school Drake and Disney Channel throwbacks like High School Musical (Tyrese, a huge HSM fan, can sing every word). His longtime girlfriend, Jade, and agency rep are here with us, too, and encourage him to just be himself while the camera snaps away.

Once he sits down to talk about his All-Star performance this season, that smile appears again. Actually, it’s more of a smirk now. Maybe he knows something that we don’t?

A few days from now, the news will drop that Haliburton is signing a five-year max extension worth $260 million, making him the face of the franchise.

“I’ve battled and clawed and fought my way to get to where I’m at,” he says. “Now criticism and all that stuff means nothing to me because when I was a kid, nobody would have cared enough to even give me criticism. So the fact that I get it now is pretty cool. I just love proving people wrong. I don’t know, I love negativity. I love seeing negativity on Twitter. I love hearing people say negative comments about my game. It always interests me. It could be somebody with, like, no followers, I just want to prove them wrong.”

SLAM 245 featuring the Indiana Pacers All-Star is out now. Shop here.

This is the same Tyrese Haliburton who was a three-star prospect in high school and, in his words, was expected to redshirt as a freshman at Iowa State. He went from there to becoming a lottery pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. After a mid-season trade last year sent him from Sacramento to Indiana, he’s now an All-Star and was the team’s leading scorer this past season.

While other people might not have seen the vision, Haliburton has always been in his own lane. It stems from his childhood. In elementary school, his guidance counselors would tell him to pick a career path that seemed more “realistic” when he would mention that he wanted to be in the NBA. For the sake of moving things forward, Haliburton would pick something else, but really, he was always thinking a step ahead about how to make it to the League. There’s even a video of a young Tyrese on the internet, rapping to Drake’s “The Motto.” In it, he sings, “How ya feel, how ya feel? 25, sitting on 25 mill.” Even little Tyrese knew what was up.

And like the flow Drake and Weezy carry in that song, Haliburton’s rise happened pretty quickly. In college, he thought he’d have a “good four-year career” at Iowa State but ended playing two seasons. There’s always been doubters, too, even when it comes to his shot-making ability, which he says has been critiqued since he was young. “It’s always just kind of been that way, but I’m just gonna be who I am at the end of the day. It’s helped me get here, so I must be doing something right.”

Now, in the city of Indianapolis, home to the Indy 500, Haliburton is bringing that same energy and speed to the Pacers’ offense. That’s just how he was taught to play the game—pushing the tempo, getting up and down at a rapid rate. “I feel like it’s contagious as well—good energy, and pace and all that stuff,” he says. “When we’re playing fast-paced like we do, I think everybody just falls in line.”

While the team showed flashes of promise this season, collectively and individually—Haliburton averaged 20.7 points and 10.4 points (both career highs), and big man Myles Turner hit new career marks with 18 points and 7.5 boards—there’s still room for improvement. Winning is Haliburton’s main priority right now.

“I haven’t had a winning season in, like, four years dating back to college, so that’s just where I want to get to,” he says, later adding: “There’s obviously a lot more for me to accomplish personally, but I want to win. I want to be playing on the biggest stage, and that’s the playoffs.”

Haliburton doesn’t hesitate to keep it real about how last season went. The Pacers finished with a 35-47 record, ranked 11th in the East, and he found it “frustrating” to have to deal with injuries knowing that his team needed him.

“I felt like if I’m healthy, the situation for us changes a little bit last year,” he says. “But you can’t control everything. You can only put so much energy into what you can’t control. I think the best advice I’ve ever received is just control what you can.”

He’s constantly thinking about what’s next, too, and what he can do better individually and as a leader on the team. “I’m obviously already thinking [about] next year,” he says. “Like, what do I have to do for us to get to where we want to be?”

This summer is all about getting stronger so that he can protect himself from injuries and be able to last throughout the season. He’s been lifting 4-5 times a week and sharpening his skills on the court with Hanlen, who noticed a major shift in his mindset over the years. “I would say mentality, just being more aggressive and more confident, and feeling like he is that guy that can lead a franchise.”

Then there’s his approach to the game. Hanlen first got connected to Haliburton, who was playing on the Kings at the time, through his agent, Dave Spahn. Back in January of 2022, the team was set to play Philadelphia, and Hanlen happened to be already be in town to work with Sixers’ superstar Joel Embiid when he agreed to meet Haliburton for dinner the night before at Del Friscos. The conversation quickly turned into Hanlen “pressing” his potential client on what he wanted to achieve. He’d ask him, How many times are you going to be an All-Star? How many times will you make All-NBA First Team?

“I’m just giving [Haliburton] a bunch of these gut-punching questions,” Hanlen recalls now. “Then I said, you know what? The biggest thing is you’re not gonna be able to do any of this stuff if you keep attempting—I think he was attempting like 11 shots a game at the time or something like that. I was like, it’s just not possible. The math ain’t math-ing.”

Then Hanlen offered Haliburton a challenge: “You wore number 14 in high school, so that’s the number. If you wanna work with me this summer, you have to shoot 14 field goal attempts tomorrow night against the Sixers. Otherwise, I’m not working with you.”

The next night, on January 29, Haliburton went out and scored a career-high 38 points on 11-19 field goal attempts. Not only had he accepted Hanlen’s challenge, but he had dominated. The two have worked together ever since and talk after every game. From Hanlen’s perspective, Haliburton has grown in every aspect of the word: from improving his footwork to his shot creation and being a more “dynamic scorer.” Last summer, Haliburton gained 12 pounds, he says, and has become stronger and able to play through more contact. But in terms of Haliburton’s unconventional playing style, Hanlen also just lets him rock.

“You don’t break things that aren’t broken,” he says, later adding: “We always try to just strengthen his strengths and we try to attack his weaknesses. There’s nothing that can hold him back from reaching the heights that we think he can get to [and] there’s no reason to take away the uniqueness and the creativity that allows him to be unconventional, but also so dynamic as a player.”

The 23-year-old doesn’t take himself too seriously, either. Basketball, he says, is a “child’s game,” and brings him back to memories of having a ball in his crib and playing video games. That’s the joy behind Haliburton’s ever-apparent smile when he’s out there on the hardwood. “When I’m playing basketball, it’s just fun,” he says. “It’s like I’m a kid again, you know? And that’s what I love about it. This isn’t a job for me. This is a passion of mine and something I really love to do.”

Playing against All-Stars like Darius Garland, who was drafted a year before him in 2019, is his idea of fun. “We’re good friends,” he says. “I think that’s important. We just really enjoy competing against each other. I see that being a thing for both of us moving forward.”

He’s also a fan of the WNBA and tunes in to as many games as he can, including a recent match-up between the Las Vegas Aces and the Indiana Fever. Haliburton, who live-tweeted his reaction to Chelsea Gray’s elite behind-the-back pass, was taking notes, too. “I wouldn’t even think to try something like that. I mean, maybe I would in the moment, but just on TV it looked crazy. I couldn’t believe that she did that.”

“I’m trying everything [she did],” he admits later. “CC [Gray] in the caption.”

It’s that energy that’s got Pacers fans excited. Even Indiana’s own Caitlin Cooper, who runs the Basketball, She Wrote blog on Patreon and once wrote about the team for Indy Cornrows, has noticed it around the city. The team had its first two sell-out games since February 8, 2020, according to the Indy Star. “I can tell you that you’re starting to sense a shift,” says Cooper. “I’ve talked to people who would have never talked to me about the Pacers before and they’re like, I gotta get on the ground floor of this. They’re building something special and that Tyrese Haliburton is a really entertaining guy to watch.”

The way Haliburton has shown love to Indiana is a sign of a promising future ahead. He’s invested in the city, hosting youth basketball camps and even going as far as to promote Cooper’s work and wear her t-shirt, “JUMP PASSES ARE GOOD NOW,” in the tunnel this year.

“I think that the best thing about Tyrese Haliburton—having him as your franchise player—was just, from the Pacers’ perspective, they’ve talked about the fact that there are murals painted on buildings of Reggie Miller and that they think that Tyrese can get to that level at some point,” says Cooper. “And the way that he’s embraced the city and what he means as a franchise star, you can believe that [they’re] going to get there.”

According to Hanlen, even his other clients have noticed that something is brewing in Indiana, with Tyrese at the forefront of it. “I work with a lot of other NBA players. Anytime somebody signs with the Pacers, the first thing that all my clients say is, Oh, Ty’s gonna get ’em paid. Ty’s gonna get ’em paid. He’s gonna make ’em look so much better than that player really is just because Ty makes the game so much easier for everybody around him. When you ask, what is his ceiling? I mean, he’s a guy that I think will be one of, if not the best point guards for the next, next decade and a guy that I think can be a floor general for a championship caliber team.”

Spahn, says they set goals before every season—last year, it was for Haliburton to average 20 and 10 and be an All-Star, which he did. Going into next season, they’re ready for him to amp it up and be All-NBA. “I don’t think there is a limit right now, I think he’s gonna be the best point guard in the League one day,” Spahn says. “And I think he’s gonna be the best point guard in the League for a long time. I think he’s that level of player and person.”

What’s most important is that Haliburton sees it within himself, too. While the accolades and accomplishments continue to pile up—the week after our shoot, it was announced that he’ll join the 2023 USA men’s national team for the FIBA World Cup this summer—Haliburton knows that in order to get the Pacers where they want to be, they’re going to have to work for it. Proving people wrong ain’t nothing new for him, but right now, Pacers fans are expecting bigger and better things. He’s on a mission to prove ’em right.

“I always say, There’s no secret to success. All the most successful people in the world, they just usually work harder than everybody else,” Haliburton says. “I just want to be the best that I can and squeeze every bit of God given ability that I have [out]. Squeeze it all out before I’m done playing.”

SLAM 245 GOLD MEDAL EDITIONS + COVER TEES OUT NOW!

The post Inside the Rise of Tyrese Haliburton and His Mission to Lead the Pacers Back on Track appeared first on SLAM.

The 6-7 forward was the obvious choice for this month’s “G League Player to Watch”—not just because of his absurd individual production, but because he led the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on an impressive run to sneak into the playoffs.

First, a brief history lesson. Rio Grande Valley (RGV) has been the most successful franchise in the history of the NBA’s official minor league, reaching six finals and claiming four championships since 2010. Last season, an RGV squad led by MVP Trevelin Queen cruised to the title, going undefeated in the playoffs. The Vipers also won it all in 2019 with a roster that included Gary Payton II and Isaiah Hartenstein.

This year…it wasn’t looking good. Heading into March—the last month of the regular season—RGV had a 10-12 record. The team had dropped four of its previous five, including an embarrassing 26-point loss to the South Bay Lakers at home. If the Vipers wanted to keep their streak of six straight playoff appearances (excluding the season canceled due to COVID) alive, then they had to turn things around right away.

OK, back to Days. An undrafted rookie out of LSU, he signed a Two-Way contract with the Houston Rockets back in October. The 23-year-old is an extremely versatile forward, capable of filling multiple positions with his size, strength and mobility. He has spent most of this season with the Vipers and proven to be a reliable 3-and-D player. At the beginning of March, he stepped up big time…

27 points, 7 rebounds vs. Oklahoma City

33 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals vs. Birmingham

26 points, 10 rebounds vs. Greensboro

28 points, 11 rebounds vs. Iowa

32 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals vs. Iowa

22 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals vs. Memphis

The Vipers won all six of those games to climb back into the playoff picture, and after splitting their next four, they locked up the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. Days posted 25.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game across that stretch, shooting 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. He barely turned the ball over—just seven times in 10 games—despite averaging 38.6 minutes (the fifth highest mark in the league). Less than 72 hours after the Vipers clinched their playoff spot, he was named G League Player of the Month for March.

The Vipers upset the 2-seed Lakers in the Conference quarterfinals with guard Jalen Lecque sealing the deal with this tough game-winning lay-up. And Days? He delivered, of course: 21 points (on 7/13 shooting), 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. 

You can catch Days and the Vipers in the G League Finals as they face off against the Delaware Blue Coats. Tune in now through April 9 on ESPNU and ESPNews.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Luka Garza, Forward, Iowa Wolves: 30.5 points, 10 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.3 blocks, 68 FG%, 46 3P% (4 GP)

Carlik Jones, Guard, Windy City Bulls: 26.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6 assists, 2.3 steals, 46 FG%, 35 3P%

Jahmi’us Ramsey, Guard, Oklahoma City Blue: 26 points, 4.4 rebounds, 58 FG%, 38 3P%

Lester Quinones, Guard, Santa Cruz Warriors: 24.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 46 FG%

Jack White, Forward, Grand Rapids Gold: 23.3 points, 10.8 rebounds, 55 FG%, 38 3P%

Trevelin Queen, Guard, Fort Wayne Mad Ants: 23.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.1 steals, 50 FG%

Mfiondu Kabengele, Forward, Maine Celtics: 21.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, 61 FG%, 41 3P%

Zavier Simpson, Guard, Lakeland Magic: 17.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 1.7 steals, 50 FG%, 43 3P%

REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS

Eastern Conference: Long Island Nets (23-9)

Western Conference: Stockton Kings (25-7)

Scoring Champ: Carlik Jones (26.1)

Assists Champ: Jacob Gilyard (9.7)

Rebounds Champ: Jayce Johnson (13.5)

Blocks Champ: Jay Huff (3.1)

Steals Champ: Jaden Springer (2.3)

3PT Champ: Mychal Mulder (129)

MARCH CALL-UPS

Luka Samanic, Forward, Maine Celtics to Utah Jazz

Xavier Sneed, Forward, Greensboro Swarm to Charlotte Hornets

Jay Scrubb, Guard, Lakeland Magic to Orlando Magic

Lester Quinones, Guard, Santa Cruz Warriors to Golden State Warriors (twice this month)

Trevor Keels, Guard, Westchester Knicks to New York Knicks

Lindell Wiggington, Guard, Wisconsin Herd to Milwaukee Bucks

Jamaree Bouyea, Guard, Sioux Falls Skyforce to Washington Wizards

Jared Butler, Guard, Grand Rapids Gold to Oklahoma City Thunder

Sam Merrill, Guard, Cleveland Charge to Cleveland Cavaliers

Jay Huff, Center, South Bay Lakers to Washington Wizards

Xavier Moon, Guard, Ontario Clippers to Los Angeles Clippers

More below:

Willie Cauley-Stein, Center, Rio Grande Valley Vipers to Houston Rockets

Kobi Simmons, Guard, Greensboro Swarm to Charlotte Hornets

Gabe York, Guard, Fort Wayne Mad Ants to Indiana Pacers

Skylar Mays, Guard, Mexico City Capitanes to Portland Trail Blazers

Shaquille Harrison, Guard, South Bay Lakers to Portland Trail Blazers

Jeenathan Williams, Guard, Salt Lake City Stars to Portland Trail Blazers

Justin Minaya, Forward, Mexico City Capitanes to Portland Trail Blazers

Photos via Getty Images.

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February 9th 2003. How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days was the number one movie in the world. “All I Have” by Jennifer Lopez featuring LL Cool J was sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100. Kobe Bryant was on the cover of SLAM 66 wearing a jet black Lakers jersey with his three Larry O’Brien trophies. It was a cloudy night in Georgia but even then there were 24 extra stars in the Atlanta sky. On that night at Philips Arena, the NBA hosted its 52nd Annual NBA All-Star Game. 

It was a time before TikTok, NFTs, and NBA Twitter. It’s now 2023 and at times it feels like we’re living in some twisted up future, but at least the game of basketball is still good. 

By the time you’re reading this, the League will be getting ready to host the 72nd Annual All-Star Game in Salt Lake City and if we’re lucky, it’ll be a classic much like Atlanta’s game 20 years prior. Generally speaking, ‘03 is a year strongly etched into the memory of all within the culture. Baggy pants, bulky kicks, triple-layered headwear, spinning rims, Playstation 2… could it have all been so simple then? 

The 2003 NBA All-Star Game was one of the most stacked events of all time, both in star power and personality. Society was reaching a breaking point when individuality, charisma, and style were placed on a similar level as skill. The Western Conference All-Stars included Steve Francis, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and Yao Ming as starters, with Shaquille O’neal, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Gary Payton, Stephon Marbury, and Peja Stojakovic coming off the bench. The West was helmed by then-Sacramento Kings head coach, Rick Adelman. Peja was an injury replacement for his teammate Chris Webber.

The Eastern Conference All-Stars included Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan, Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O’Neal, and Ben Wallace as starters, with Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Brad Miller, Jamal Mashburn, Antoine Walker, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas coming off the bench. Isiah Thomas, who coached the Indiana Pacers at the time, led the charge for the East.  

There are a lot of things you may have forgotten about the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. So, allow us to remind you. 

First off, the jerseys. It marked the first time since the ‘90s that the NBA designed and deployed All-Star Game jerseys. In the previous five years, players just wore their own jersey from their respective teams (All-Star Weekend in 1999 was canceled due to the lockout). And the jerseys were fresh as hell. The retro design recalled some of the late ‘80s All-Star Game jerseys, swapping out the short shorts for a baggier option. 

The main focus entering All-Star weekend was Michael Jordan, who was preparing to retire for a third and final time. He was a starter and an All-Star for the 14th time in his career, an accomplishment that didn’t come without its fair share of controversy. Allen Iverson and Vince Carter were both near at the peak of their popularity in 2003 and were voted as the starting backcourt for the Eastern Conference by the fans. Carter had missed a big chunk of games that season as a result of injury and there was a ton of pressure on him to give up his starting spot to Jordan. He resisted the notion for quite some time but he eventually relented and gave up his starting spot to his elder UNC alum just before gametime. The scrutiny turned ugly after a while, and the Atlanta crowd even booed Carter when he was being introduced before the game. 

For the record, Jordan was perfectly fine with coming off the bench. When asked about it during the game, Jordan said, “Vince surprised me. I told him as I told the rest of the players, I started 13 times, I didn’t need to start [a] 14th time. You know, they were adamant about getting me to start. Vince actually came to me right before we went out and said that he would love for me to take his spot. He’s very respectful. I think he took some undue punishment, all during this week about him being very honorable to the fans, and even at the end, when he gave it up, I really didn’t want him to back down from what he actually stood for and I’ve supported him in that sense. But he wanted me to take his spot and I thought it was very gracious of him and very respectful.”

Problem solved, Jordan started. 

Another wrinkle out of the gate was Jordan’s coach for the game, Isiah Thomas, who is arguably Jordan’s biggest rival and definitely his most prevalent foil. If Jordan had a nemesis, it was Zeke (or Jerry Krause). But Thomas had coached the Pacers to the best record in the East by the break, so he was his coach for the night. Infamously, there is a conspiracy that Isiah Thomas led a charge to freeze Jordan out of his first All-Star Game in 1985. Jordan was a rookie and finished the game with seven points on 22.2 percent shooting in a 140-129 loss. And now 18 years, two retirements, and 13 All-Star appearances later, Michael Jordan was the elder statesman in the All-Star Game, with Yao Ming as the lone rookie to participate in the game. 

Jordan, however, was aggressive but wasn’t hot right out of the gates. He started the game 0-7. He began the game only 10 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most points in the All-Star game’s  history and the Atlanta crowd was hungry for him to break the record (a record that’s been snapped by the late-Kobe Bryant and LeBron James since then). Each missed attempt by Jordan was followed by hushed sighs of resignation by the crowd but the voracious outbreak when he finally made a jumper was well worth the wait. 

The first quarter was a relatively competitive defensive performance for both sides, the first quarter ended with the East leading 23-18 off the strength of a 13-0 run. Jordan never really got any hotter from the field, but he eventually broke the record and finished with 20 points on 9-27 (33.3 percent) shooting. 

The pace and level of play picked up considerably but the defensive effort faltered in the second quarter when the reserves checked in. The signature playground style of all-star ball had infiltrated every corner of the game and it was fun as hell. A sequence of lobs from Brad Miller to Vince Carter followed by Stephon Marbury to Shawn Marion early in the second quarter was especially electrifying. Shortly afterwards, Dirk Nowitzki went on a mini-heater in two minutes and scored all nine of his points for the night. All-Star games are interesting in that way. Basketball is improvisational like jazz and these are the best artists in the world. You never know when a player might go off onto a solo and strut his shit. 

Rick Adelman decided to indulge every hoops fan everywhere and played a lineup of Francis-Garnett-Duncan-Shaq-Yao. If any lineup with four seven-footers could work in a real game, I feel like this would be the one. Great mix of shooting, passing, mobility, length, and defense. They went on an 8-2 run in just over two minutes to secure a 55-52 lead heading into halftime. 

Halftime was a show in itself. The NBA had orchestrated a tribute for Michael Jordan that involved Mariah Carey coming out and singing in two different Jordan jerseys. She sang “Boy (I Need You)” while wearing a mini-dress styled to look like Jordan’s Bulls jersey. While they played a montage of Jordan highlights, Seinfeld clips, Gatorade commercials, SNL monologues, and Spike Lee poetics, Mariah Carey changed into a floor-length dress designed after Jordan’s Wizards jersey.

Mariah Carey gave chilling renditions of “My Saving Grace” and “Hero” at the center of a stage placed on the court. Jordan was moved to tears during the performance and Mariah Carey introduced Jordan to the crowd for an opportunity to address them. It took the standing ovation over a minute to calm down enough for Jordan to even get any real words out. When he could finally speak, he tearfully thanked the fans, his family, and expressed his gratitude for being able to pass the game along to the next generation. Much of the next generation was sharing the floor with him in this game and they’d determine how it would end. 

 If basketball is jazz, Tracy McGrady’s third quarter was like Miles Davis at his peak. He was cashing jumpers from all over the court and making daring forays to the cup, it was very clear why he was arguably the best scorer in the world at that moment. Iverson got it going as well with the pass-first Jason Kidd by his side in the backcourt to start the half rather than Michael Jordan. For the West, Kevin Garnett continued his impressive play on both ends of the floor. He hardly missed anything and remained a conduit of unbridled energy. Kobe got it going as well after pretty much sleepwalking through the first half.  

In the third, Shaq was throwing Jordan’s layup back to the three-point line. The crowd booed Shaq for hampering their hero but the East largely controlled the third quarter, eking out a 93-86 lead heading into the final frame. 

As usual the fourth quarter was more competitive than the rest of the game. Shaq dominated the reserve minutes but most of the Eastern Conference starters remained on the floor, even at the beginning of the quarter. Both of the Boston Celtics young guys, Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker, complained about the lack of playing time they received in the game. Zydrunas Ilgauskas of the Cleveland Cavaliers did not publicly complain but he only played four minutes. Isiah Thomas met all complaints with a closed ear, “it’s my team” he commented.   

Michael Jordan is one of the clutchest players in NBA history, if not the most clutch. He had won games, and championships, with his elite shot making ability with the game on the line. With 10.1 seconds left and the game tied at 120 a piece, and a young Shawn Marion on him with overtime looming, Jordan posted up in complete isolation. He took a few dribbles in the midpost, then turned over his shoulder and shot his patented turnaround jumper. He missed. The crowd sighed as it clanged off the rim. Overtime, the sixth instance this happened in All-Star game history. 

And then it’d eventually go into double overtime—the first time in NBA All-Star game history. 

Isiah Thomas must have felt guilty about the lack of minutes allocated to his bench players (along with the starters probably being exhausted with the extra basketball time on this night) because he put in a few guys who hadn’t seen many minutes down the stretch to start double OT. The West quickly jumped out to a lead and never relinquished it again. Garnett dominated against the smaller East lineup, finishing with 37 points on 70.8 percent shooting. The West held on to win the game 155-145 despite Iverson’s best efforts. 

The game came to a close with the usual procession of handshakes, hugs, and high-fives, as the players rushed to get off to a night on the Atlanta streets. Peace to mankind, it was a beautiful time to be alive. 

Photos via Getty Images.

The post Here’s a Look Back at the 2003 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta  appeared first on SLAM.

Pacers say that Tyrese Haliburton sprained his left elbow and absorbed a mild left knee bruise and will be reevaluated in two weeks. Team is also awaiting additional opinion on the results of the scans.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 12, 2023

Haliburton suffered the injury late in the third quarter when he lost his right shoe, fell awkwardly, and hurt his left knee and elbow on the play.

“He’ll get looked at tomorrow closely,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said, per ESPN. “He’s walking out of Madison Square Garden on crutches, so I would guess his availability on Friday will be in question, and probably Saturday, too, but who knows.

“One of the great things about Tyrese is he has been banged up the last year and a half that he’s been with us, and he always wants to play. He always wants to play, and it’s something that’s really helped our culture as a team. So we’ll hope for the best. We’re surely not going to put him in harm’s way.”

Haliburton posted 15 points and seven assists before he left the game for good; on the season, Haliburton is averaging 20.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 10.2 dimes per game on 48.0 percent shooting from the floor and 39.9 percent from beyond the arc.

The post Tyrese Haliburton Will Miss the Next Two Weeks Due to a Sprained Elbow and Knee Bruise appeared first on SLAM.

The Pacers are reportedly intent on trading Turner if a new extension can’t be negotiated before the trade deadline comes in February. As of Thursday, Turner is averaging a career-high 17.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game on 55.2 percent shooting from the field and 37.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Turner has been involved in numerous trade rumors over the last few seasons, including last season when he was linked to trade rumors linking him to the Clippers and the Lakers. The Clippers could utilize Turner’s two-way dominance, and he would be a welcomed addition to a veteran-laden team.

The Pacers (23-19) are seventh in the Eastern Conference and could undoubtedly use Turner, and signing him to a long-term extension would help them make a run to the playoffs.

The post REPORT: Knicks, Clippers, and Raptors Interested in Acquiring Myles Turner appeared first on SLAM.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Indiana and Turner have opened up extension talks. However, Matt Moore of Action Network reported that if no deal can be negotiated, the Pacers might pull the trigger and move on from the eighth-year veteran.

Turner is averaging 16.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game on 55.6 percent shooting from the field and 39.8 percent from beyond the arc. He’s been the subject of trade rumors for a couple of seasons despite being one of the top defensive big men in the League while blocking 2.3 shots per game for his career.

Over his last five appearances, Turner has put up 19.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game and is knocking down 62.3 percent of his shots.

The Pacers (21-18) are seventh in the Eastern Conference, squarely in the play-in tournament, and hold the tiebreaker over the New York Knicks. Indiana had won six of its last eight games and was on a four-game winning streak before the Philadelphia 76ers snapped it on Wednesday.

The post REPORT: Indiana Expected to Trade Myles Turner At the Deadline appeared first on SLAM.

On Wednesday, Myers shared that Curry was evaluated New Year’s Weekend and that the two-time MVP didn’t suffer any “setbacks or anything like that.” Myers believes Curry can return by Golden States’ upcoming road trip, which begins Jan. 13 against the San Antonio Spurs.

“He’s going to get evaluated this weekend, and he’s working out on the court,” Myers told 95.7 The Game. “The two-week mark to evaluate him was this weekend, but there’s been no, at this point, setbacks or anything like that. So that would be — what, the first road game is on Friday; I think it’s San Antonio.

That would be a hope. I mean, that will be what we’ll be shooting for — He’s been, not contact, but out there doing all this stuff, and he looks like the same guy. He’s got a sleeve on his shoulder and his arm, but that would be the plan. We’ve got to see what he looks like this weekend.”

Curry suffered a left shoulder subluxation on Dec. 14 when the Warriors took on the Indiana Pacers. The injury knocked him out of Golden State’s last nine games. The Warriors have been able to go 6-3 without the only unanimous MVP in NBA history and are riding a five-game win streak capped by Klay Thompson’s season-high 54-point outing against the Toronto Raptors.

The post Bob Myers Reveals Stephen Curry Could Return as Soon as Next Week Against San Antonio appeared first on SLAM.

 The five-time All-Star showed he’s another step closer to reaching those peak performances after dropping 54 points on 21-39 shooting from the field, 10-21 from the three-point line, leading the Warriors to a 143-141 double-overtime against the Hawks.

“It’s a huge accomplishment for me,” Thompson said per ESPN. “There were some hard days for me when I didn’t know that this would be possible in real-time. I am just going to embrace the heck out of it.”

Klay in the Warriors 2-OT win!

54 PTS
7 REB
10 threes pic.twitter.com/CdOB2SqCaT

— NBA (@NBA) January 3, 2023

The 54-point outing was his biggest scoring out since his career-best 60-point performance in three quarters on Dec. 5, 2016, against the Indiana Pacers. It was Thompson’s fourth career 50-point game and his seventh with at least 10 3s

“He just made shot after shot and play after play. He was incredible,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said.

After a prime-time performance like that, Thompson’s confidence will likely be at an all-time high. It’s the type of performance that can also set up some great things in 2023. Great news for a team looking to reverse their fortunes and make a run for a higher seed in the playoffs. However, teammate Draymond Green doesn’t want Thompson to not place too much pressure on himself.

“You don’t have to be the same Klay that you once were before,” Green said. “When you understand that, and you buy into that, then you become the Klay you were before.”

“When you’re as competitive as he is when you’re as good as he is, it’s tough sometimes,” Green said. “For two years, everybody is doubting you. That same fire toward that doubt is what made you, Klay Thompson — you don’t just lose that. That is embedded in you. It’s good to see him settle down. He’s not chasing it anymore, and it’s falling right in his lap. When you are that good, that’s usually what happens.”

Fourth career 50-point game.
Klay Thompson balled out last night.

» https://t.co/ocDF2EHeJH pic.twitter.com/anzqUguZj1

— VoteDraymond4AllStar (@warriors) January 3, 2023

Thompson says he’s in a place now than at the start of the season. The 32-year-old sharpshooter told reporters that wanting to prove everyone wrong was a disservice to himself, and now he has to remind himself that playing for the Warriors “is a dream” and that he’s shifted his mindset to “having fun and playing hard.”

“I have to remind myself daily that [playing for the Warriors] is literally the dream. What matters most is having fun and playing hard. All the numbers, all the big nights will come as long as I do those two things.”

The Warriors and Klay Thompson will play the Pistons on Wednesday.

The post Steve Kerr Calls Klay Thompson ‘Incredible’ After 54-Point Performance appeared first on SLAM.

The 26-year-old has solidified himself as one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, and he is having his best scoring season to date during this 2022-23 campaign. Turner is averaging 16.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks on an efficient 54.1 percent from the field. Amongst centers in the League, his accuracy from downtown is remarkable at 41.7 percent from three. The highest right now for the center position this year.

Despite being mentioned in some trade rumors in the past several months, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Pacers want to continue having Turner in Indiana. He can stretch the floor and defend at a high level: The quintessential modern-day big man that’s hard to find.

His experience of having already played eight seasons in the NBA increases Turner’s value. With Indiana’s promising young core of Tyrese Haliburton and rookie Bennedict Mathurin making their mark this season, Turner can help take this team to the next level. If negotiations break down, the 26-year-old can become a free agent when the season ends.

The Pacers (16-16) are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference, with the same record as the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks (16-16) and the seventh-seeded Miami Heat (16-16). Indiana will look to change that when they play their next game versus the Heat on Friday.

The post REPORT: Myles Turner and Indiana Open Up Contract Extension Talks appeared first on SLAM.

Golden State's Steph Curry is expected to miss "a few weeks" with his left shoulder injury, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 15, 2022

Stephen Curry will undergo MRI testing on his left shoulder while Golden State is in Philidelphia on Thursday. Curry injured his left shoulder during Golden State’s 125-119 loss against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.

The two-time MVP suffered the injury late in the third quarter after attempting to strip the ball from Pacers center Jalen Smith who was going up for a layup deep in the paint. Chef Curry immediately grabbed his shoulder and held it as he went down the court. The injury seemed worrisome, and the Warriors subsequently called a timeout so Curry could be examined in the locker room by Dubs head trainer Rick Celebrini.

Curry was ruled out of playing just moments later and was seen with ice wrapped around his ailing left shoulder postgame.

“I checked in with [Curry] briefly but haven’t had a chance to go into detail,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said per ESPN. “Steph is always a guy with a great outlook on life, so he’s in good spirits.”

Curry will get an MRI tomorrow, Kerr says. Kerr checked in with Curry briefly postgame, said he was in good spirits.

— Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) December 15, 2022

When he suffered the injury, Curry was primed to guide the Warriors to a dramatic finish after scoring 38 points on 1–19 shooting from the floor, knocking down five triples, and was 11-11 from the free-throw line through the first 34 minutes of the game. He scored half of Golden States’ first-half points, 27, and nearly half of the Warriors’ total points (80) when he went down with a shoulder injury.

“He was just stunning,” Kerr said. “He put us on his shoulders in the minutes he was out there. Generating so much offense, getting to the line, getting the ball to other people. He was brilliant.

Beast Mode

: @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/5kWkbsG7oB

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) December 15, 2022

The Warriors are 67-133 all-time without Curry in the lineup. Golden State may struggle without the greatest shooter of all time during a season where they’ve struggled to combine their youth movement with their veteran core led by Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and the rest of their “foundational six.”

The post REPORT: Stephen Curry Expected to Miss ‘A Few Weeks’ Due to Shoulder Injury appeared first on SLAM.

However, the two threes that Thompson hit moved him into some very elite NBA company. Coming off a recent game where he had just moved up to 13th in the NBA’s all-time made three-pointers list, Thompson is also the 13th NBA player ever to make 2,000 career three-pointers.

Thompson now joins Stephen Curry, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, James Harden, Kyle Korver, Vince Carter, Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford, Damian Lillard, LeBron James, Kyle Lowry, and Paul Pierce as the only NBA players ever to accomplish such a milestone.

Becoming a part of such an elite group of sharpshooters must feel great to Thompson after battling his way back to form after suffering an Achilles injury in 2020 after just returning from an ACL injury in 2019.

This 2023 season has been sort of a “revenge tour” for Thompson, as he has trying to block out the noise and prove to the doubters that he’s still got it. Admittedly Thompson has come out and said that comments about his game “slipping” have hurt, but he knows that he can’t please everybody.

While it is a great career moment for Thompson, he and the Warriors look to get back on the winning track Thursday against the Indiana Pacers.

The post Klay Thompson Becomes the 13th NBA Player to Knock Down 2K Threes appeared first on SLAM.

During that three-game stretch, Ball averaged 19.3 points per game on 41.5 percent shooting from the field and 7.0 assists. Before rolling his ankle that game, Ball was also having his best game of the season thus far. He scored 26 points shooting 10-17 from the field, dished out six assists, and recorded two steals.

However, after missing the team’s last 11 games, the Hornets have upgraded Ball’s status from Out to Questionable for their matchup Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons in a report via NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski. The Hornets are also hopeful that Ball could return to the lineup in this matchup, too, as he will warm up with the team come game time and see how he feels.

This is excellent news for a Charlotte Hornets (7-20) team sitting in 14th place in the Eastern Conference standings. Hopefully, if Ball can return tonight, his energetic play style can help spark a Hornets victory.

The post REPORT: Hornets Upgrade LaMelo Ball to Questionable For Wednesday Return appeared first on SLAM.

The 10-year veteran had a breakthrough in Indiana when he joined in 2017, where he earned All-NBA and All-Defensive Team honors and the Most Improved Player Award.

Victor Oladipo back in Indy pic.twitter.com/F4v9CX5A0M

— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) December 12, 2022

Injuries stopped that momentum and put a pause on Oladipo achieving a higher level of stardom, but Oladipo remains hopeful of returning to his All-Star form.

“The way you build your character and who you are as a person is how you handle those moments. And I’ve always been an optimist,” Oladipo said. “Even though what happened to me was catastrophic, it doesn’t mean that I can’t still be happy, and I can’t still come back from it and be my best self.”

Oladipo hasn’t returned to the production he would have hoped for. When he was traded from Indiana to the Houston Rockets, he played a total of 20 games before being shipped again in March of 2021 to the Heat, where thus far, in three seasons, he’s only played 16 games.

Oladipo averaged 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.9 steals in his four years as the Pacers superstar. He became a fan favorite in Indiana during his first year with the team as he led them to the fifth seed of the East while going toe-to-toe in a seven-game playoff series with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Sound up! Welcome back, @VicOladipo pic.twitter.com/95yPHz2A3G

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 7, 2022

Oladipo’s run with the Pacers was a glimpse of true blossom and an emphasis on why he was selected second overall in his draft. Nothing can take away his moment Monday night, and Oladipo hopes the air in the building refreshes his game as the elite two-way player he once was.

“It definitely brings some nostalgia, you know, just walking into the building,” Oladipo said. “But I’m focused on the good energy. And I let the bad energy go a long time ago, in terms of my injury and everything.”

The post Victor Oladipo Set to Play in Indiana For the Time Since He Left in 2021 appeared first on SLAM.

The coolest MFer in the NBA scored 28 points on 8-16 from three, reaching 13,000 career points and catapulting himself into the No. 13 spot on the all-time made 3-pointers list. Thompson passed Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki with a total of 1,989 threes. 

“Grew up loving both those guys, especially Dirk because he’s a shooter and JK, just as a baller, Bay legend,” Thompson told reporters per Yahoo. “So yeah, it means a lot to me. I don’t take that for granted. Two of the all-time greats right there, so that means a lot to me.”

After missing consecutive seasons with a torn Achilles and ACL, the Golden State guard has been vocal about how his appreciation of the game has grown. Fellow Splash Bro and all-time made three-pointer king Stephen Curry echoed Thompson and expressed his hope that more people stop to appreciate the milestone.

Rather than taking Thompson’s shooting for granted and calling this moment just “a matter of time,” Curry wants fans to understand that “just being able to play these games after what he’s been through is amazing and something that you shouldn’t just gloss over,” Curry hopes Thompson continues to climb up the list.

“There will be a lot of respect for him as a shooter, him as a clutch guy, to knock it down no matter where he’s at. He set a high standard for what shooting the basketball is in today’s game.”

Let’s enjoy and appreciate Thompson’s milestone with a few clips of shooting beauty:

The post Lucky 13’s: Klay Thompson Climbs Up All-Time Made Three-Pointers List in Warriors Loss appeared first on SLAM.

Everything is going right for this Sacramento team, and this is something that the franchise has been lacking for 16 long years.

Kings head coach Mike Brown has been the missing leader this organization needed; De’Aaron Fox is quietly making a case for himself as an All-Star this year, Domantas Sabonis has settled in well into this Kings offense since arriving from the Indiana Pacers, Kevin Huerter is shooting lights out, and the rookie Keegan Murray is emerging as a promising young talent. 

On Sunday, when Sacramento defeated the Chicago Bulls 110-101 to win their third consecutive game, seven players for the Kings impressively ended the game, scoring in double-digits. Malik Monk led the way with 20 points. Following the victory, Monk told NBC Sports that the Kings are legit this year.

“We’re legit, man. We’re legit, because [Kings coach] Mike [Brown] is going to push us so hard that we can’t not be legit,” Monk told NBC Sports California’s Kyle Draper and Kenny Thomas on “Kings Postgame Live.” “There’s a lot of stuff that goes into it. We’re a young team and a lot of guys that need to get to the playoffs. A lot of us haven’t been there yet, and we all want the same goal.

Sacramento will look to keep up their winning ways against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

The post Malik Monk: the Kings Are ‘Legit’ Playoff Contenders This Season appeared first on SLAM.

The Blazers had gone 2-8 in their last 10 games before their matchup with the Jazz, and it was mainly due to the seven games absence of their franchise cornerstone, Damian Lillard.

On Sunday against the Pacers, the six-time All-NBA selection returned to the starting lineup to deliver a 21-point performance off five made three-pointers, to go along with five assists. Lillard’s return had his team clicking on all cylinders to mount a 16-point marginal triumph, and it left head coach Chauncey Billups impressed with No. 0’s performance after not playing since Nov. 19.

“He played well,” Billups said, per OregonLive. “He was pretty crisp for having sat out a lot of time. I know he was antsy to get back out there.”

Welcome back, @Dame_Lillard #RipCity pic.twitter.com/Gu5Cd7Xb4j

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) December 5, 2022

The Blazers are now 8-4 with Lillard on the floor, but in their 12 games without him, the team has kept their competitive spirits high behind Anfernee Simmons and Jerami Grant.

On Saturday’s event, Simmons erupted for 45 points (15-25 from the field) and knocked down seven treys with two blocks at the defensive end. Grant didn’t hold back either, dropping 33 points and five assists. In a recent matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers, the duo combined for 69 points, and their best collaboration was at The Garden against the New York Knicks, both going over 38+ points.

With the return of their starting point guard, Simmons and Grant’s production was going to take a slight dip, but that didn’t stop Lillard from encouraging his teammates to get their buckets.

“Coming into the game, I’m telling Ant and Jerami, Be aggressive,” Lillard said. “Don’t let me stop you from being aggressive because I’m going to have the ball in my hands. I’m going to find opportunities to do what I do.”

Best plays from PDX. #RipCity pic.twitter.com/AJB2fCG8lc

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) December 5, 2022

Grant acknowledges Lillard’s impact on the floor and said having their superstar back in the lineup “changes the whole flow of how” the Trail Blazers play.

“He changes the whole flow of how we play when he comes back,” said Grant. “We move the ball a lot more. The ball is moving around a lot. Getting a lot of open shots. It makes the game easier when he is with us.”

After a 10-4 start to the new season, the Trail Blazers have been set back due to a few injuries. However, the group has slowly bounced back due to their playstyle of playing collectively and trusting their top players to get the job done. Portland’s stock continues thanks to Simmons, Grant, and Lillard raising their ceiling and taking it upon themselves to make sure the Blazers climb up the playoff rankings.

The post Jerami Grant: Damian Lillard’s Return ‘Changes the Whole Flow of How’ Portland Plays appeared first on SLAM.

A lot of it is wishful thinking and outside perspective, hoping Turner’s deft shooting and interior defense would be a perfect fit for turning the Lakers season around, but mainly, it’s just noise. Noise that Turner isn’t paying attention to anymore. 

“Nothing changes,” Turner told The Athletic after Sunday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. ”Just go out there and focus on getting wins for this team. That’s just where my focus lies. You can’t pay attention to outside noise — doesn’t change anything, bro. All I can do is go out there and play my game.”

The Pacers won a nailbiter against the Lakers on Monday night at the buzzer due to a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Andrew Nembhard. It was Indiana’s 12th win of the season; only six teams have more wins than them at this point of the year. 

Turner is having one of the best seasons of his career. He is back at his natural position, a center, after last season’s trade of Domantas Sabonis, and he’s reaping the rewards. Despite Turner publicly stating how he could help a center-needy team like the Clippers on Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast earlier this season, the Pacers are off to a better start than the Clippers and Lakers.

He’s blocking shots, rebounding well, and making shots at a sizzling clip. He’s averaged 2.6 blocks per game, 18.0 points, and 8.5 rebounds, and he’s making 1.5 threes per game. Turner is shooting 54.4 percent from the field, 39.7 percent from three, and 82.9 percent from the free throw line.

“Just win games, bro,” Turner said between the loss to the Clippers and the win over the Lakers. “That’s really all I want to hang my hat on, is winning games, being a part of winning games. That’s the most important thing for me right now. Just help this franchise out, so what I can do.”

The Pacers are set to play the Kings on the road Wednesday night.

The post Myles Turner: ‘Nothing Changes’ Despite All the Trade Rumors Around Him appeared first on SLAM.

Haynes reported on Lillard’s injury timetable while Portland took on the Los Angeles Clippers on national TV. The Trail Blazers lost that game, 118-112, dropping their record to 11-10, good for seventh in the Western Conference. Lillard has been missing in action since he aggravated his troublesome calf on Nov. 19.

Dame Time first injured his calf on Oct. 27 while warming up to play against the Miami Heat. The muscle tightened up so much that it forced the six-time All-Star to leave the game for good in the third quarter.

Lillard is averaging 26.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game on 42.2 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. When he returns, the Weber State product will look to make up for lost time by helping Portland advance up the standings going into December.

The post REPORT: Portland Expects Damian Lillard to Return By Dec. 4 appeared first on SLAM.

The 25-year-old center posted a historic stat line against the Indiana Pacers after recording 31 points off 14-17 shooting and 29 rebounds, a League-best result for attacking the board this season. The Croatian also had three blocks on Sunday, and his execution defensively with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in and out of the starting lineup has inspired him to make his case as an elite defensive team candidate.

“Making the NBA All-Defensive team is something I’m really working towards,” Zubac said to AllClippers. “It’s one of my goals coming into the season, just being as best defensively as I can be— I want to show people that I’m capable of that, and for sure, that’s one of my goals.”

STATEMENT MADE pic.twitter.com/x7CxYlLkTu

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 28, 2022

As the last pick of the 2016 NBA draft, Zubac was doubted by scouts for what he contributes to the floor defensively. Now manning the middle for the Clippers, the team currently ranks second in defensive rating, while he ranks sixth in blocks and gives up the League-lowest field goal percentage when players try to challenge him at the rim.

Not bad for the Mr. Irrelevant of the 2016 draft. Zubac kept those notes, stating the previous doubters have opened up his motivation towards making the Clippers defense hold a fierce personality.

“Coming into the League, that was always one of the questions about me on the defensive end of the floor,” Zubac said. “Just proving people wrong and proving to myself that I can contribute to defense really means a lot to me. Helping my team be one of the best defenses in the league. It’s something we pride ourselves on here.”

.@ivicazubac came up clutch, scoring 14 of his 31 points in the first quarter.

@awscloud CourtVision Mascot Mode pic.twitter.com/cnqxNgja2T

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 28, 2022

Though this may just be a breakout week for Zubac, it’s pretty impressive to see the big man lead his team to the fifth-best record in the high-powered Western Conference, primarily through his defense and lack of two superstar wings. His specialty at that end may not be as enticing as a Rudy Gobert swat to the fifth stands or the vocal and scrappy difference-making of a Draymond Green, but Zubac has earned the ‘defensive anchor’ title in the Clippers locker room.

The post Ivica Zubac: ‘Making the NBA All-Defensive Team’ is His Season Goal appeared first on SLAM.

The Hornets star was putting the finishing touches to his best game of the season after scoring a season-high 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and six assists. Ball was forced to go to the locker room before the Hornets ruled him out for the rest of the game and now, more than likely, the next couple of games. It was only his third game back since returning to the court.

Losing the 21-year-old again will only add to Charlotte’s early-season injury woes. Gordan Hayward has missed the last eight games due to a shoulder injury, Dennis Smith Jr. has missed the previous three games because of an ankle sprain, and Cody Martin, who only played for one minute the entire season, is out for four weeks after getting knee surgery.

After losing to the Pacers, Kelly Oubre sounded off on how the team copes with these injuries. The 26-year-old is averaging 18.2 points for the season.

“It’s very tough, but we have to be professionals about it,” said Oubre, per ESPN. “It’s the game of basketball, and those things happen. But people who are suited up and who are healthy enough to go out there, we have to go pick up that slack.”

PJ Washington also chimed in on things, reiterating that the Hornets have to find ways to win games. Charlotte is only 4-12 on the season, which is good for 14th in the Eastern Conference.

“We all know at some point everybody’s going to get back out there, and we can’t wait for it,” Washington said. “But right now, the problem is we’re losing games, so we’ve got to figure it out and start getting some wins.”

The Hornets will aim to turn things around on Friday when they play the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7:30 P.M.

The post Kelly Oubre and PJ Washington Reflect on Hornet’s Early Season Injury Woes 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.

“I really don’t care at all,” Herro said, per the Sun Sentinel. “Maybe if it ended in a loss, but we won — I’m just going to play my game, and if they call a travel, they call a travel.”

The League announced the missed call a day after the game, as Herro picked up his dribble off a pump fake and changed his pivot in the motion of the three-point shot.

We only needed 2, a Herro came to the rescue with 3

Money Play // @FTX_Official pic.twitter.com/jK8EGUzk99

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) November 3, 2022

That kind of moment has defined Herro’s season thus far. Herro is second on the Heat in scoring, averaging 18.6 points a game to go along with career highs in both rebounds (6.6) and field goal percentage (47.8).

Unwilling to give up a third loss in their last four games, Coach Erik Spoelstra spoke on the call and how sometimes officiating hasn’t gone their way.

“They’re just really tough calls at the end of games,” said Spoelstra. “We’ve been on both sides of it. So I can understand the frustration on their side of it — The game can be decided in so many different ways and not just a whistle at the end of a game.”

Kings Coach Mike Brown was upset the travel wasn’t called but credited his group for putting up a fight to last season’s number one seed in the East.

“I would not be doing my job if I didn’t come up here and protect my guys,” said Brown. “To pump fake on a sidestep, a sidestep or hop, and then one-two and a shot and not make that call, to me, it’s just unbelievable. It’s not why we lost the game, although I don’t think we got a fair whistle.”

Criticizing officiating is a tale as old as sports itself. The scrutiny around the missed call has unforeseen consequences that may not be understood until the season starts to matter in April.

The post Tyler Herro Reacts to NBA’s Call On His Game-Winner Against the Kings appeared first on SLAM.

The Nets are 1-5 as of Monday, losing four straight to the Grizzlies, Bucks, Mavericks, and Pacers. Brooklyn’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks came in overtime after Ben Simmons forced a turnover and dished the ball to Kevin Durant, who subsequently took off from below the free-throw line to tie the game up with a few ticks left in regulation. The Nets ultimately lost after the Mavericks outscored them 17-13.

“That had some good players and have been playing together for a while so they had some camaraderie that we’re trying to get and six games into the season, our best basketball is ahead of us for sure.”

— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) October 31, 2022

When Morris was asked about Brooklyn’s slow start, the former Kansas Jayhawk was dismissive and said that “things aren’t bad.

“We lost a basketball game. I think that we have to realize that six games into the season with a brand new team — Indiana was a bad loss because they just really out-played us, but the games before that we against some good teams —”

Morris also went on to talk about how their prior losses came against teams that have built more chemistry and equity amongst their teammates.

“That had some good players and have been playing together for a while, so they had some camaraderie that we’re trying to get, and six games into the season, our best basketball is ahead of us for sure.”

What is holding Brooklyn back is the circumstances surrounding why the Nets haven’t played together. Durant and Kyrie Irving have played 50 games together after becoming teammates in 2019 due to injuries and Brooklyn deciding not to play Irving while he was unvaccinated against COVID-19. There still waiting for Seth Curry to come back. Joe Harris is acclimating after missing most of last season while healing from a surgically repaired ankle.

The Nets will have a chance to break their losing streak when they host the Pacers on Monday.

The post Markieff Morris Dismisses Brooklyn’s Slow Start: ‘Best Basketball is Ahead of Us for Sure’ appeared first on SLAM.

Over the past couple of seasons, Turner has been linked to multiple trade reports and rumors. However, he has yet actually to be acquired by another team. These trade rumors have happened so often and been so persistent that Turner has become ‘numb‘ to them.

“If I’m the Lakers, I take a very hard look at this with the position that you’re in. I know what I can provide for a team. My leadership, my shot blocking, my three-point ability, and just my ability to make plays out there on the floor.”

Turner is entering the last year of his contract with the Pacers, and in his time there thus far, he has been a dominant force. Since coming into the League in 2015, Turner has averaged 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game throughout his eight-year career. Turner is also shooting a career 48.8 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from beyond the arc.

The Lakers could use a defensive presence like Turner right now, as they rank 26th in overall defensive rankings this season. It is still very early in the season, but the Lakers just secured their first win of the season, bringing their overall record to 1-5.

This could be a win-win move for the Pacers and Lakers if a deal were to be done. There’s still a long season ahead, and if the Lakers do get it turned around, it’s unlikely they’ll give up such high picks. Only time will tell what is to come for both Turner and the Lakers, but it is definitely a situation to keep an eye on.

The post Myles Turner Speaks on What He Could Possibly Bring to Lakers if He’s Traded appeared first on SLAM.

Since getting drafted by the Sacramento Kings in 2017 as the fifth pick, the franchise has not made the playoffs. This year, Fox wants to be at the forefront of getting them there. The Kings reshaped their roster for the second half of last season when they acquired two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, and Justin Holiday from the Indiana Pacers.

Sacramento traded Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson in return.

On Draymond Green’s podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” Fox admitted that the trade shocked him. As the primary point guard for the franchise, the 24-year-old felt that the trade sent an important message to him from the organization.

“For me, it’s like yo, they believe in me,” said Fox. “But two, it’s like motherf*****, we just traded somebody who could be a franchise point guard either here or somewhere else. So, you better get on your s***; you better start winning.“

The King guard is fresh off scoring 33 points in a 108-115 defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers and understands that there will be added pressure for him in this campaign.

“Does it add pressure? Yeah, a little bit,” said Fox. But, at the end of the day, I’ve been trying to get us in the playoffs for years, so it’s a little added pressure. It ain’t hurt anybody.”

Fortunately for Sacramento, they acquired Malik Monk after a solid season with the Los Angeles Lakers during the offseason. He averaged a career-high 13.8 points on 47.3 percent shooting from the field.

The move reunites Fox and Monk for the first time backcourt pair played together at Kentucky before making it to the NBA. The question is, will these moves by the Kings in the past year pay off and earn them a trip to the playoffs?

Sacramento will suit up on Saturday to play the Los Angeles Clippers in hopes of the team’s first win of the season.

The post De’Aaron Fox on the Kings Trading Tyrese Haliburton: ‘They Believe in Me’ appeared first on SLAM.

As you can see below, based on the average list price on the secondary market, the Golden State Warriors are once again the most expensive team for the 2022-23 season. At $611 the Warriors are the only team with an average list price of over $600 heading into the 2022-23 season. The Los Angeles Lakers ($518) are the only other team with an average price of $500 or more, and rank second on the list. The New York Knicks ($346), Boston Celtics ($303), and Phoenix Suns ($285) round out the top five.

Least Expensive Teams:

On the other side of the spectrum, the Indiana Pacers are this year’s least expensive team with an average list price of $138. Four other teams have average prices under $160; the Oklahoma City Thunder ($148), Detroit Pistons ($153), San Antonio Spurs ($157), and Houston Rockets ($159). Below you can see the rest of the least expensive teams heading into the 2022-23 season. 

Biggest Year Over Year Price Changes:

In terms of teams that have seen the biggest price jump since last season, the Memphis Grizzlies (+111%) top the list. They’re the only team in the NBA whose ticket prices have more than doubled since the start of last season. The Trail Blazers (+56%), Mavericks (+56%), Magic (+55%) and Pistons (+50%) round out the top 5. 

Where and How to Buy 2022-23 NBA Tickets

Primary market NBA tickets are available for most teams via Ticketmaster.  Some teams offer their primary market tickets via other sites like Seatgeek or AXS. Most teams sell out quickly.

On the secondary market, TicketIQ has Fee-Free NBA tickets which also include a Refund Guarantee. Our Refund Guarantee states that if an event is canceled or deemed unfit for fans to attend, TicketIQ will refund ticket buyers in as soon as 15 days. That means that you can buy from TicketIQ worry-free. Customers on TicketIQ save between 15%-25% compared to other secondary market ticketing sites.  

The post 2022-23 NBA Tickets: Warriors and Lakers Remain the Most Expensive appeared first on SLAM.

The root of the problem stems from injury and his COVID-19 vaccination status as the world opened back up from lockdown. In his three campaigns for the Nets, Irving has averaged 27.1 points per game, 6.0 assists per game, and 4.7 rebounds per game, but he’s only played 103 out of a possible 246 games. 

After tense deliberation with Nets management this summer, Irving opted into the final year of his contract and is set to possibly play his last season in Brooklyn. Due to Irving’s mysterious nature and unpredictable availability, rumors have been building for quite some time that Irving is prepared to retire after this upcoming season.

However, Irving put those rumors to rest on Monday after ESPN’s Mark Friedell asked how much longer he’d like to play. 

“I’m never going to stop playing. You hear me? Get that — I am never going to stop playing. This is not even a debate. It’s not a consideration,” Irving said. 

Irving will be an unrestricted free agent after this season and is free to play wherever he wants, but it appears retirement is not an option, at least not for the foreseeable future. Irving and KD are looking to improve on a disappointing 2021-2022 season, and that’s where Irving’s focus will remain, not with his post-playing career.

The Brooklyn Nets season begins on October 19 at 7:30 PM against the New Orleans Pelicans.   

Photo via Getty Images.

The post Kyrie Irving Refutes All Retirement Rumors: ‘I’m Never Going to Stop Playing’ appeared first on SLAM.

Since he’s arrived in Beantown, the 29-year-old point guard has made it clear that he’s ready to sacrifice any individual desires to help push the Celtics over their final hump. The last time Brogdon tasted anything close to championship gold was when Milwaukee made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019. Since then, Brogdon has made it to the playoff once as a member of the Pacers, losing in the first round of the 2020 bubble playoffs.

One thing that Brogdon believes about these Celtics is that he can mesh well because of his cool and collected personality.

“These guys are locked in,” said Brogdon per NBCSports. “They know what they want. There’s one goal in mind, and guys are just focused. When the guys are in the gym, there’s not a lot of joking; there’s not a lot of laughing. It’s a lot of what my vibe is — I’m all about business when I step in the gym. I consider myself between the lines as soon as I enter the facility every day. So I enjoy the vibe of that; it’s a very workmanship approach. Guys are focused.”

Brogdon’s former college coach, Tony Bennett, believes that his desire to succeed will allow his former point guard to thrive in Boston.

Bennett believes that Boston “will reinvigorate him.” He also cited that Brogdon’s tough-mindedness and defensive pride will help him “fill in with the right pieces,” and he is capable of taking over games and will do “what’s required to win.”

“The thing that I sold Malcolm on, way back when recruiting him — don’t take a backseat. No backseats. He just wanted a chance to go against the best,” said Bennett. “He wanted to compete against the Carolinas and the Dukes, and — obviously, you’ve got a Duke guy [Jayson Tatum] on your team — but that’s what drove him. And now that he’s tasted that and he’s been successful, that still hasn’t changed. He’s very competitive, and he will not back down. And he loves that.

“When you see him matching up on the LeBrons or different guys, he takes great pride in getting a stop, being tough-minded. And I think this will reinvigorate him. I think you’re gonna see him just fill in the right pieces and then, at times, be able to take over games in his way. But just do what’s required to win.  And that’s what I think Celtics fans appreciate over the years and will appreciate in him.”

According to Al Horford, Boston acquiring the 50-40-90 club member invigorated the Celtics’ returning core.

This makes sense when you realize the Celtics acquired Brogdon at a relatively low cost after letting go of a protected 2023 first-round pick and a collection of bench players. Indiana’s commitment to tanking was Boston’s ultimate gain as they acquired a dynamic point guard that can space the floor and move the ball with the best of them.

“Bringing a guy like Malcolm in just makes us that much better,”  Horford said. “I believe that we have a chance to be where we want to be — but I’m really excited about the upside of our group.”

Brogdon is also confident that he can be the missing piece to the Celtics title hopes, specifically saying that he believes “what I bring to the team, this is something that the team is missing in some ways.

“I do. I think I can help them,” Brogdon said with his usual steely demeanor. “I think what I bring to the team, this is something that the team is missing in some ways. But I think I can definitely help.”

Brogdon will have a chance to prove that theory when the Celtics play the 7ers for their season-opener on Oct. 89.

The post Malcolm Brogdon Believes He Can ‘Definitely Help’ Boston Reach Finals appeared first on SLAM.

The Suns brought back Ayton by matching his agreement on a massive contract with the Indiana Pacers this past summer. The deal made him the third highest-paid center at 30 million dollars, behind Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid. The Suns were hesitant to extend their 2018 first-overall pick last summer because they reportedly believed they could get a similar player at a better price.

Although the Suns and Ayton agreed on a massive deal, Ayton seemed aloof to the teams’ commitment to him. When reporters asked him about the deal, he said, “I’m here,” When he was asked if he was happy in Phoenix, Ayton added, “I’m alright.” Ayton also revealed that he hasn’t spoken with Coach Monty Williams since he was benched in Game 7 of their semifinal series against the Dallas Mavericks for “internal reasons.”

“I haven’t spoken to Monty,” Ayton said definitively. “I haven’t spoken to him at all. Ever since the game.”

When Ayton was asked what he would say to Williams, he said the following.

“I can show him better than I could tell him,” Ayton said.

Asked if he’s happy here in Phoenix, DA said “Yeah, I’m all right.”

Asked what he’d want to say to Monty, he replied, “I can show him better than I can tell him.”

— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) September 27, 2022

When Williams was asked about what the apparently disgruntled Ayton said, the reigning Coach of the Year said he hasn’t spoken to a lot of guys over the summer.

“As I said earlier this summer, they needed a break from me, the gym,” Williams said. “Unless you are in the gym, like every day I’ve had interactions with everybody but talking to guys about deep stuff, there’s a number of guys I haven’t talked to. I think when you’ve been around our group as much as we have the last three years with (the) first year, the bubble, condensed seasons, I felt like guys needed a break; even when guys were in the gym, I wouldn’t come downstairs just cause I wanted them to get a break from me.”

“I haven’t talked to a lot of guys.”

Monty Williams addressing Deandre Ayton saying the two haven’t talked since Game 7. #Suns pic.twitter.com/hDSFVuRAiK

— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) September 27, 2022

In the 58 games he played last season, Ayon averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game on 63.4 percent shooting from the field.

Ayton and Williams will have a chance to hash out any problems they have as training camp rolls along. Their harmony will help determine the success of the franchise this season.

The post DeAndre Ayton Reveals He and Coach Monty Williams Haven’t Spoken Since Game 7 appeared first on SLAM.

On Tuesday, Mike Scotto of Hoopshype reported that Indiana was prepared to offer Myles Turner and Buddy Hield for Westbrook, Talen Horton-Tucker, and two first-round picks. The Pacers were also willing to take on Daniel Theis’ contract. Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johson were traded to the Utah Jazz last week for Patrick Beverley, who addresses the defensive and long-range shooting concerns many had about the Lakers.

However, according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, Utah seems to be a “more likely” landing spot for Westbrook. During a recent podcast appearance, Buha reported that Indiana is offering up Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.

“As far as Westbrook’s trade market, I’ve heard Indiana and Utah are the two most likely destinations,” Buha said. “I think Utah is, from what I’ve been told, more likely than Indiana. There are several permutations there with Indiana where it could be Myles Turner and Buddy Hield together or one of the two.”

Although acquiring Hield and Turner would further alleviate the Lakers’ immediate need for shooting and versatile defenders, trade negotiations were reportedly described as “dead” earlier this summer, per Bob Kravitz. With training camp coming up, LA and Indiana could re-engage in trade talks. Hield averaged 15.6 points per game on 40.6 percent shooting from the field and 36.6 percent from beyond the arc.

His ability to stretch the court and Turner’s shooting capabilities (33.3 percent shooting) could help Westbrook regain his efficiency at the rim and make his job easier as he surveys the hardwood for dunkers or shooters. Last season, Westbrook was the scapegoat for the Lakers’ failure to make the playoffs after averaging 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game while shooting 44.4 percent from the field 29.8 from long-distance.

That said, Utah is headed for a rebuild after trading Rudy Gobert and making it clear that they are willing to part ways with All-Star guard Donovan Mithell this off-season. If Mitchell is traded, Utah will likely have draft capital and players that could be used to sweeten up the pot in a three-team deal packaged around Westbrook and Mitchell.

The Lakers are reportedly keen on helping to resurrect Westbrook’s career despite the swirling trade rumors. Newly hired Coach Darvin Ham told reporters he has a “wholehearted plan” to bring the best out of Brodie, while Westbrook reportedly had a phone call with LeBron James and Anthony Davis to smooth over their commitment to playing with each other on the Lakers.

The Lakers hope the hiring of Ham and the signing of younger, more athletic talent will help them return to the playoffs after a disastrous 2021-22 campaign full of injuries and drama surrounding their Big 3.

The post REPORT: Utah and Indiana Emerge as Trade Partners for Russell Westbrook appeared first on SLAM.

It’s not just an opinion your favorite hooper or an NBA fan has. Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy had some major praise for the Brooklyn Nets star.

“I will go on record and say this,” Handy said. “He is probably the most skilled player to ever play. Offensively, probably the most skilled player to ever put on basketball shoes.”

“He’s the most skilled player to ever put on basketball shoes”

– Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy on Kyrie Irving pic.twitter.com/7kYivjBGjP

— ⁶ (@JP3Visualz) August 17, 2022

Irving is known as perhaps the best “iso” scorer of his generation. Irving’s has the kind of skill level and talent that your favorite hooper would want to have. The handle, the shot-making ability, and the swag come straight out of NBA 2k. Over his 11-year career, Irving has become a seven-time All-Star, a three-time All-NBA selection, the 2012 Rookie of the Year, and a 2014 All-Star game MVP, and reached the pinnacle of playoff success after hitting a clutch stepback jumper over Stephen Curry to help the Cavaliers win their first title in 2016.

Irving has become a lightning rod for controversy since demanding a trade out of Cleveland. Fans have frequently given him a hard time for some of his takes about NBA media or joking about the Earth being flat. But there’s no denying his talent. Irving averaged 27.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game on 46.9 percent shooting from the field and 41.9 percent from beyond the arc.

The 2022-23 season might end up being the most consequential of Irving’s career. The former No. 1 overall pick opted into the final season of his contract after his reps and Brooklyn couldn’t agree to an extension. The offseason debacle began after Irving decided to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19. The Nets were prepared to force Irving to sit for the season because of that decision.

The front office reversed course in December as the NBA dealt with a League-wide virus outbreak. Irving was only able to play road games until New York City lifted its vaccine mandate. The lack of a deal seemingly lead to close friend and teammate Kevin Durant requesting a trade. Irving reportedly wants to play in Brooklyn regardless of Durant’s presence on the team.

Some fans may not agree with Handy’s take, but Irving has arguably the best handles in the NBA and is an elite shooter from all areas on the floor. He would be a terrific addition for the Lakers if they were to work out a deal for him this offseason.

The post Lakers Assistant Coach Phil Handy Calls Kyrie Irving ‘the Most Skilled Player to Ever Play’ appeared first on SLAM.

Sources: NBA’s 2022-23 Opening Night, Oct. 18 on TNT:

– 76ers at Celtics
– And as previously reported: Lakers at Warriors

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 16, 2022

Shams Charania of The Athletic leaked the opening day and Christmas Day contests over the weekend. Some other key dates include the All-Star weekend that’ll be contested from February 17-19. The regular season will end on April 9, the Play-In tournament will take place from April 11-14, and the playoffs will start a day later on April 15.

The most noteworthy game will most likely be between the Grizzlies and the Warriors. The Warriors beat the Grizzlies on their way to winning their fourth championship since 2015. The two Western Conference foes have formed a fierce rivalry over the last two years after a pair of intense and physical playoff games and their recent second-round playoff series.

Sources: NBA’s 2022 Christmas Day schedule:

Bucks at Celtics
76ers at Knicks
Suns at Nuggets
Lakers at Mavericks
Grizzlies at Warriors

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 14, 2022

The 2022-23 season will see the Warriors attempt to defend an NBA title for the first time in eight years. With their foundational core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green returning and their future stars like Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole all returning, the Dubs will be loaded.

The Boston Celtics will look to run it back and return to the NBA Finals after losing to the Warriors in six games. There will be some exciting storylines coming out of Beantown as Boston looks to integrate Malcolm Brogdon into the lineup. It’ll also be interesting if the front office continues to pursue a Kevin Durant trade. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will also return as perhaps the top wing-duo in the League.

Don’t count out the Bucks, Heat, and 76ers either. The Heat are always a threat, the Bucks lost after suffering injuries at the most inopportune time, and the 76ers will have an entire season of James Harden x Joel Embiid to work with.

Another question that needs answers will be can the Phoenix Suns continue their dominant stretch and improve upon their 64-18 record from last year. Getting better after being the top seed in the playoffs is difficult, but Phoenix brings back their entire team and is still headlined by Devin Booker and Chris Paul.

It’ll be fun to see how Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz will fare after Jalen Brunson and Rudy Gobert left for New York and Utah, respectively. The Minnesota Timberwolves are throwing it back to yesteryear with a twin tower lineup featuring Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. Not to mention how much better the Grizzlies will be after earning the second-best record in the NBA last season.

Last but not least, how will the LA teams play? The Lakers are coming off a tumultuous season but added a new head coach in Darvin Ham, who’s been trusted to improve a roster that still boasts LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis. The Clippers are perhaps a more significant title threat with the return of Kawhi Leonard and the addition of former All-Star point guard John Wall to the lineup.

Below are the team schedules for each team by division and conference. The Eastern Conference is first followed by the West.

Team Schedules

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

Boston Celtics

Brooklyn Nets

New York Knicks

Philadelphia 76ers

Toronto Raptors

Central

Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

Detroit Pistons

Indiana Pacers

Milwaukee Bucks

Southeast

Atlanta Hawks

Charlotte Hornets

Miami Heat

Orlando Magic

Washington Wizards

Western Conference

Southwest

Dallas Mavericks

Houston Rockets

Memphis Grizzlies

New Orleans Pelicans

San Antonio Spurs

Northwest

Denver Nuggets

Minnesota Timberwolves

Portland Trail Blazers

Oklahoma City Thunder

Utah Jazz

Pacific

Golden State Warriors

Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers

Phoenix Suns

Sacramento Kings

The post NBA Releases 2022-23 Regular-Season Schedule appeared first on SLAM.

As soon as the Suns received the four-year, $133M offer sheet, the franchise matched it. Deandre Ayton returns to Phoenix and can't be traded without his consent for a full year. https://t.co/dBXGN3qbCK

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 15, 2022

Deandre Ayton has reportedly signed a four-year max offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers, according to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

RFA center Deandre Ayton has agreed to a four-year, $133M maximum offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers, his agents Nima Namakian (Innovate Sports) and Bill Duffy (BDA Sports + WME Sports) tell ESPN. The Phoenix Suns have 48 hours to match the largest offer sheet in NBA history.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 14, 2022

Ayton’s agent, Nima Namakian, negotiated the largest offer sheet in League history for Ayton to head to Indiana. Free agency talks between Ayton’s reps and the Suns’ front office have been up and down after multiple reports said that Phoenix thought they could find another center that offered what Ayton could do on the court. Phoenix reportedly sent him a qualifying offer on the eve of free agency.

Last summer, the two parties couldn’t agree on a deal to keep Ayton on Phoenix. Since then, GM James Jones publicly stated he was confident that Phoenix could bring Ayton back to the fold. Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic subsequently reported that multiple teams were interested in acquiring Ayton before Indiana emerged as the favorite to sign him in May.

Woj further reported that Phoenix seemed unlikely to want to send Ayton to Indiana via sign-and-trade but is likely to match the offer that the Pacers extended. The Suns have 48 hours before deciding on matching the largest offer sheet in NBA history. If they do, Phoenix could trade Ayton as soon as January 15.

So far, Suns haven’t shown an interest in negotiating a sign-and-trade on Ayton with the Pacers, but the expectation remains that Phoenix will match the record-$133M offer sheet once it’s signed, sources tell ESPN. Suns could trade Ayton as soon as Jan. 15 once sheet is matched.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 14, 2022

Ayton averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game on 63.4 percent shooting from the field.

The post REPORT: Deandre Ayton Signs Max Offer Sheet With Pacers appeared first on SLAM.

In an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up” Windhorst said the Pacers are “very close” to either offering Ayton a contract or executing a sign-and-trade and could sign Ayton as soon as Monday. 

The Pacers had to officially trade two-way point guard Malcolm Brogdon to Boston to create enough cap space for Ayton. Windhorst says that since the Brogdon trade is “on the verge” of being approved, the Pacers now can offer Ayton a max contract or negotiate a sign-and-trade with the Suns.

Pacers center Myles Turner, who’s been at the center of trade talks throughout multiple offseasons, would likely be a trade piece if Indiana were to pull off a sign-and-trade for Ayton. On June 28, Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said that the team was not actively shopping Turner, but Windhorst’s reporting suggests otherwise.

Windhorst appeared on “Get Up” last Thursday to say that the Pacers were looking into sign-and-trades “potentially involving” Turner. 

Ayton posts career averages of 16.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game on 59.9 percent shooting from the field. In his last two seasons with Phoenix, the former Arizona Wildcat helped the Suns reach the NBA Finals in 2021 and set a franchise record for wins in 2022. Since Ayton is a restricted free agent, the Suns can match any offer the Pacers send Ayton’s way if they wish to retain the former No. 1 overall pick.

The post REPORT: Pacers “Very Close” to Acquiring Deandre Ayton appeared first on SLAM.

Nets general manager Sean Marks made the moves as Booklyn’s future is uncertain in light of Kyrie Irving’s decision to opt into his player option, only to have Kevin Durant make a trade request three days later. 

Warren, who missed most of the past two seasons with a stress fracture in his left foot, averaged 19.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game on 53.6 percent shooting during the 2019-20 season. A standout in the 2020 NBA Bubble, Warren notably scored a career-high 53 points on 20-for-29 shooting in a win over the 76ers. He averaged 31 points in six games in the Orlando bubble and is a career 15.5-point per game scorer.

The 28-year-old is entering his eighth NBA season after stints in Indiana and Phoenix and will play for Brooklyn on a one-year deal.

The Nets reportedly signed another ex-Pacer in Sumner. The 26-year-old missed all last season with a torn left Achilles tendon but has since fully recovered and is expected to be a part of the Nets’ backcourt rotation. Sumner averaged career-highs in points per game (7.5), assists per game (1.8), and three-point percentage (39.8) in 53 games during the 2020-21 season.

Warren could be a replacement if Durant were to be traded to another team, while Sumner provides the Nets with backcourt depth in the scenario Irving also leaves Brooklyn.

The post REPORT: Nets Sign TJ Warren and Edmond Sumner appeared first on SLAM.

The Celtics are sending Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith and a 2023 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/etqmr9l0l7

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Brogden averaged 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game last season.

Celtics are also including Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts and Juwan Morgan in the trade, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022

Brogdon will provide the Celtics with a sure-handed playmaker and shooter when he arrives in Beantown. The 2017 Rookie of the Year has never averaged more than 2.4 turnovers per game and only coughs the ball up 1.8 times per game for his career. Brogdon has also dished out 5.9 dimes per game over the last two seasons and passed a career-high 7.1 assists per game during the 2019-20 season.

Brogdon is also a solid scorer that can provide some spacing as a career 37.6 percent shooter from beyond the arc.

The former Virginia product will likely come off the bench behind Marcus Smart.

The post REPORT: Celtics Trade For Playmaking Point Guard Malcolm Brogdon appeared first on SLAM.

At 26-years-old, Turner is entering the last year of his four-year, $72 million contract and is extension eligible until June 2023. One of the game’s premier defenders, he is a two-time NBA block champion with a career average of 2.3 blocks per game.

But as of late, Turner’s struggled with injuries and has failed to play in more than 47 games in the last two seasons. He would have led the league in blocks in 2021-22 if he had met the 58-game minimum, but a left foot injury limited him to just 42 games.

The Pacers cleaned house at last season’s trade deadline when they sent a package including All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento in exchange for Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson (who later agreed to a buyout with the Pacers and joined the Chicago Bulls). During the draft, the Pacers selected Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin in the hopes of providing a scoring punch.

With Turner surrounded by what could be a strong group of playmakers and scorers, the Pacers have decided to keep the big man in Indiana, at least for the time being.

The post Pacers Say They Are Not Actively Shopping Myles Turner appeared first on SLAM.

Blazers out on Deandre Ayton, with sights set on other deals, including OG Anunoby. Pacers now may be in mix with Suns. https://t.co/822t9d9Ji1

— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) June 16, 2022

The Portland Trail Blazers are reportedly out on Ayton and will instead be in the mix to acquire OG Anunoby. So with the subtraction of the Blazers comes the addition of the Pacers into the mix to talk with the Pacers.

Deandre Ayton addresses contract talks, saying he's "disappointed" a deal hasn't gotten done and he wants to be respected like his peers as ESPN reported last week contract talks were stalled over getting rookie max extension. #Suns pic.twitter.com/XVtj06fojN

— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) October 12, 2021

The “most realistic landing spots” to land Ayton’s services outside Phoenix are Atlanta, Detroit, and Toronto. The three Eastern Conference franchise opportunities can propose enticing sign-and-trade to the Suns front office. According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, Indiana could offer a sign-and-trade of Ayton for Myles Turner. The two big men share the same representation.

Ayton finished the season averaging 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game on 59.9 percent shooting from the field.

The post REPORT: Hawks, Pistons, and Raptors Emerge As Biggest Threats to Land Deandre Ayton appeared first on SLAM.

Oladipo is on the verge of free agency and could draw legitimate outside suitors after playing well in 15 playoff appearances. The former Indiana Hoosier is also headed towards the first offseason where he could have an offseason where he can work on his game and conditioning for the first time in years after he’s worked his way back from rehabbing a few quadriceps procedures, most recently going under the knife in May 2021.

“He’s going into the summer physically able to work at his craft,” Spoelstra said. “He’ll get back to the player that people were accustomed to seeing.”

That player is the one who is the 2018 Most Improved Player. The one who averaged over 20 points per game for the Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets. After Oladipo showed, he’s still got some motion in him during Miami’s playoff run, and he’s likely to garner a better deal than the League-minimum deal he signed last year.

According to Ira Winderham of the South Floria Sun-Sentinel, the New York Knicks could be looking to sign the 2018 Most Improved Player of the year. The 2022 free agency market beings July 1, and Miami owns Oladipos Bird Right, which means the Heat can match a contract worth $20 million-plus this summer.

“So we’ll see where that goes,” Heat President Pat Riley said this week, “because Vic’s obviously a free agent, and we have his Bird Rights, and we’ll definitely be talking to his agent.”

Miami must ask themselves whether Oladipo would be worth that kind of money after showing enough playoff flashes of brilliance. With Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, and Tyler Herro already in tow, it could be challenging for Heat president Pat Riley to rationalize that decision. Herro is entrenched after bouncing back from a tough sophomore season and winning the 2022 Sixth Man of the Year. Lowry is 36-years-old but is still as cerebral as ever at point guard.

If Miami is to keep Oladipo, they could use him as a combo guard off the bench. He’s impressed Riley and Spoelstra with his hard work since coming back from being cleared for court work in January. He’s already got fans rooting for him within the organization, like assistant coach Chis Quinn, who has reminded Spoelstra just how unique Oladipo’s play has been after playing just 60 games over the last three years.

“Coach Quinn showed me — look, I’m aware of this, I’m fully aware because I’ve been with him for a full year — but that stat, in the last three years, how many games that he had missed, and then how many regular-season games he’s played in the last three years,” Spoelstra said, with that total at 60 over the three years, compared to a standard 82-game regular season. “For him to do what he did in this playoff run is really unheard of.”

The two-time All-Star has played 12 games in Miami since Houston traded him to South Beach in 2021. He averaged 12.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game during that time.

During the Heat’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals, Oladipo averaged 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.1 dimes per game, scoring 23 points twice against Atlanta (Game 2) and Boston (Game 4).

“There’s a great story in watching him work, watching him come back, and then watching him get into games,” Riley said of Oladipo’s progression this past season. “It wasn’t easy at the beginning. When he had 21 in Toronto, then 40 in Orlando, and you started to see some of the things he could do again, like you saw in the past.”

“And then in the playoffs, I thought he had some great moments for us. He was the kind of player that I felt as the series began to grow, and all of them began to grow and became more competitive defensively, that you do need players that can break down a defense on their own or with their quickness and slashing can create their own shots.”

The post Miami Mulling Re-Signing Victor Oladipo This Summer appeared first on SLAM.

10. 2012-13 Miami Heat

Coach: Erik Spoelstra

Record: 66-16

Roster: Ray Allen, Chris Andersen, Joel Anthony, Shane Battier, Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Josh Harrellson, Terrel Harris, Udonis Haslem, Juwan Howard, LeBron James, James Jones, Rashard Lewis, Mike Miller, Dexter Pittman, Jarvis Varnado, Dwyane Wade

After LeBron James made his famous announcement that he had decided to play for Miami, he sat on a stage with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade and talked about how many championships the trio would win with the Heat. “Not two. Not three…” And so on.

Well, after two years in South Beach, James had one title, not two. Nobody was restless, but there was clearly an expectation that after winning it all in 2012, Miami was about to start rolling.

The Big Three was on hand to try for a repeat, but the Heat had also added sharpshooter Ray Allen, who, though 37, provided some needed long-range production and finished the season making 41.9 percent of his three-point attempts. The formula worked. Miami rampaged to 66 wins, 12 better than any other Eastern Conference team.

James once again was the biggest star, leading the team in points, rebounds and assists. But Wade and Bosh were big every night, too. And while Allen was past the days when he could dominate with his long-range shooting, he was an undeniable weapon, as was do-everything forward Shane Battier, who actually shot a higher percentage from behind the arc than Allen did.

The regular season presented few hurdles for the Heat, and neither did the first two rounds of the playoffs. Miami swept Milwaukee in the first round and dusted away Chicago in five after that. But things got interesting in the Eastern Finals, when Indiana—led by Paul George and Roy Hibbert—extended the Heat to seven games in a series so heavy on defense that only one time did a team hit triple figures. In the finale, James scored 32, and Miami routed the Pacers, 99-76, to earn a Finals meeting with San Antonio.

The Eastern Finals series was great, but the Heat-Spurs showdown was even more dramatic. After five games, the Spurs held a 3-2 series lead, and it looked as if Pop’s bunch would close things out in the sixth contest. With 28.2 seconds left, the Spurs led, 94-89, but an Allen three-pointer with 5.2 left forced overtime, and the Heat ultimately prevailed. Game 7 was similarly dramatic. With San Antonio trailing by 2, Duncan missed a pair of shots close to the hoop, and the Heat held on to take the title. Though Miami wouldn’t win seven, as James had insinuated, the Heat had put up back-to-back banners, and that was still pretty darn good.

Get your copy of SLAM Presents TOP 75 NBA Teams Of All Time

Photos via Getty Images.

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Heading into the regular season, Irving was among a minority of players unwilling to comply with vaccine mandates before the season. The unpopular decision led Marks and owner Joe Tsai to eventually decide that Irving would be barred from playing or practicing with the Nets until he was “eligible to be a full participant.”

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Irving’s decision also led the Nets’ front office to decide they didn’t want to sign Irving to an extension if Irving opted out of his current deal. A sudden reversal from his past comments that he wanted to re-sign Irving and James Harden long-term heading into the 2021-22 regular season.

“That’s something that we’ve been discussing, and we’ll continue to debrief on and discuss throughout this offseason … we haven’t had any of those discussions yet,” Marks said. “We’re looking for guys that want to come in here and be part of something bigger than themselves, play selfless, play team basketball, and be available. That goes not only for Kyrie but everybody here.”

Via the @BKGlueGuys, @ShamsCharania confirms Kyrie will not be offered an extension:

“He was willing to sacrifice, at the end of the day, 16 million dollars in salary this upcoming year and 186 million dollars, as far as an extension, that he will not be offered now.”

— Alec Sturm (@Alec_Sturm) October 13, 2021

Marks and Tsai were adamant about the issue until the NBA experienced an outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. With the Nets besieged by the virus, Marks and Tsai relented and controversially decided that Irving would be allowed to play as a part-time player, making his season debut in January against the Pacers.

It wasn’t until February that Irving’s stance was vindicated when New York City mayor Eric Adams lifted city vaccine mandates, allowing unvaccinated employees of private companies to work within indoor settings.

The Nets ultimately dealt Harden to the 76ers for Ben Simmons at the deadline and ended the regular season as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Nets won their play-in tournament game against the Cavaliers and earned the seventh seed, but as aforementioned, lost to the Celtics in four games.

The disappointing end to the season didn’t stop Irving from expressing his wishes to remain in Brooklyn beyond 2023. During his exit interviews, Irving told reporters he didn’t plan on going anywhere and that he wanted to be involved long-term in building the team with Marks, Tsai, and longtime friend Kevin Durant.

"I don't really plan on going anywhere…. when I say I'm here with Kev [Durant] I think that it really entails us managing this franchise together alongside Joe [Tsai] and Sean [Marks]… we're cornerstones here but we have Ben, we have a few other guys…"

-Kyrie Irving on FA pic.twitter.com/ulk86MzHTK

— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) April 26, 2022

Since those remarks, it has been widely reported that Marks hasn’t decided on re-signing Irving to an extension should Irving opt out of the final year of his contract. On Wednesday, Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News reported that Marks and Irving haven’t met since the Nets lost Game 4 to the Nets. Marks’ reluctance is based on Irving’s vaccination status and injury history.

“I look forward to [it],” Marks told YES Network last week via the New York Post’s Brian Lewis. “We have not had a conversation yet. So I look forward to getting in a room with him and Joe and his team, and we will. We’ll see what it looks like for Kyrie moving forward here and what he needs from us and so forth.”

“So, again, it wouldn’t be right for me to comment on what hypothetical could happen because we don’t know. We haven’t had those conversations with Kyrie yet. But when they do, we’ll see if it’s the right fit for both sides.”

Winfield also reported that Marks hasn’t spoken with Durant either.

Irving has until June 29 to decide on his player option worth $36.5 million. He is eligible for up to a five-year, $248 million extension.

The post Nets and Kyrie Irving ‘Have Not Had a Conversation Yet’ On Free Agency appeared first on SLAM.

We know there will probably be some disgruntled fans out there, but we’ve come up with a list that we’re standing by. Here’s our top 66-75 best teams of all time:

75. 1997-98 Indiana Pacers

Coach: Larry Bird

Record: 58-24

Roster: Travis Best, Etdrick Bohannon, Austin Croshere, Antonio Davis, Dale Davis, Fred Hoiberg, Mark Jackson, Derrick McKey, Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Mark Pope, Jalen Rose, Rik Smits, Mark West

Yes, the ’97-98 Pacers lost a seven-game Eastern Conference Finals series to the Bulls, but this was an extremely strong team. Indy was the next-to-last partner in Chicago’s “Last Dance,” but the Pacers won 58 games—second best in the East—and boasted a deep lineup led by the trio of sharpshooter Reggie Miller, 7-4 tower Rik Smits and do-everything forward Chris Mullin. The loss was disappointing, but the Pacers had plenty to be proud of.

74. 1994-95 Orlando Magic

Coach: Brian Hill

Record: 57-25

Roster: Nick Anderson, Darrell Armstrong, Anthony Avent, Anthony Bowie, Horace Grant, Geert Hammink, Penny Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal, Tree Rollins, Donald Royal, Dennis Scott, Brian Shaw, Brooks Thompson, Keith Tower, Jeff Turner

In just their sixth year of existence, the Magic reached the Finals, thanks to the dynamic pairing of Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway. Orlando posted the East’s best record and then outlasted the Pacers to win the conference. Shaq was unstoppable inside, and Hardaway dazzled all over. Add in Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott’s long-range shooting and Horace Grant’s steady interior game, and the Magic were quite strong, even if Houston did sweep them in the Finals.

73. 1986-87 Boston Celtics

Coach: KC Jones

Record: 59-23

Roster: Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, Rick Carlisle, Darren Daye, Conner Henry, Dennis Johnson, Greg Kite, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Fred Roberts, Jerry Sichting, David Thirdkill, Andre Turner, Sam Vincent, Bill Walton, Scott Wedman

A year after domination, the Celtics returned to the Finals once again, but lost to the Showtime Lakers in six. The usual cast was back for the conference title winners. Larry Bird was practically infallible, and Kevin McHale and Robert Parish plundered inside. Dennis Johnson ran the show, while Danny Ainge irritated everybody but Celtics fans. But Boston lacked a strong bench, and that’s why the ’86-87 edition was very good, but not a champion.

72. 2011-12 Oklahoma City Thunder

Coach: Scott Brooks

Record: 47-19

Roster: Cole Aldrich, Nick Collison, Daequan Cook, Kevin Durant, Derek Fisher, James Harden, Lazar Hayward, Serge Ibaka, Royal Ivey, Reggie Jackson, Eric Maynor, Nazr Mohammed, Kendrick Perkins, Ryan Reid, Thabo Sefolosha, Russell Westbrook

This was it. This was the last time the Thunder’s Big Three would be together, and Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden almost got it all done. The Thunder won the West and made it to the Finals. They even won the first game against Miami before dropping four straight. Durant, Westbrook and Harden combined for 70 ppg in the series but couldn’t finish the journey and hoist a trophy.

71. 1992-93 Phoenix Suns

Coach: Paul Westphal

Record: 62-20

Roster: Danny Ainge, Charles Barkley, Cedric Ceballos, Tom Chambers, Richard Dumas, Frank Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Tim Kempton, Negele Knight, Dan Majerle, Oliver Miller, Jerrod Mustaf, Kurt Rambis, Alex Stivrins, Mark West

The Suns had reached the Finals before, in 1976, but fell to Boston. This time would be different, even if they were facing the Bulls. Phoenix had the NBA’s best record, the League’s best offense and Charles Barkley, acquired from Philly in a blockbuster. The Suns were deep and fast and fun. But when they lost Game 4 of the Finals to Chicago to fall behind 3-1, you knew it was over. And it was.

70. 1988-89 Los Angeles Lakers

Coach: Pat Riley

Record: 57-25

Roster: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tony Campbell, Michael Cooper, AC Green, Magic Johnson, Jeff Lamp, Mark McNamara, David Rivers, Byron Scott, Mychal Thompson, Orlando Woolridge, James Worthy

There would be one more last gasp for Showtime, but this really felt like the end of an era. Sure, the Lakers won the Pacific, put up the most wins in the conference and reached the Finals after posting a perfect 11-0 playoff record. But the usual suspects—Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, etc.—were beat up by the same Detroit Bad Boys they had defeated a year earlier.

69. 2018-19 Toronto Raptors

Coach Nick Nurse

Record: 58-24

Roster: OG Anunoby, Chris Boucher, Lorenzo Brown, Marc Gasol, Danny Green, Serge Ibaka, Kawhi Leonard, Jeremy Lin, Kyle Lowry, Jordan Loyd, Patrick McCaw, Jodie Meeks, CJ Miles, Malcolm Miller, Greg Monroe, Eric Moreland, Norman Powell, Malachi Richardson, Pascal Siakam, Jonas Valanciunas, Fred VanVleet, Delon Wright

In Canada for just one year, Kawhi Leonard proved his absolute greatness. The Raptors had been good, but they weren’t championship good. No way. Then Leonard averaged 26.6. He hit a quadruple-doink jumper to beat the Sixers in the Eastern Semis. And Kyle Lowry brought the toughness, while Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam bumped and banged inside. The Trophy had never been north of the border, but Leonard made sure it got there.

68. 1961-62 Boston Celtics

Coach: Red Auerbach

Record: 60-20

Roster: Carl Braun, Al Butler, Bob Cousy, Gene Guarilia, Tom Heinsohn, KC Jones, Sam Jones, Jim Loscutoff, Gary Phillips, Frank Ramsey, Bill Russell, Tom Sanders

Bill Russell didn’t lead the NBA in points, rebounds or assists, but he earned his third MVP award for leading the Celtics to a League-best 60 regular-season wins and his (and Boston’s) fifth title. It was arguably his best statistical season—a career-best 18.9 ppg, along with 23.6 rpg—and he upped those averages to 22.9 points and 27 boards in the Finals to lift Boston from a 3-2 deficit to a 4-3 victory over the Lakers.

67. 1980-81 Philadelphia 76ers

Coach: Billy Cunningham

Record: 62-20

Roster: Maurice Cheeks, Doug Collins, Earl Cureton, Monti Davis, Darryl Dawkins, Julius Erving, Lionel Hollins, Ollie Johnson, Bobby Jones, Caldwell Jones, Steve Mix, Clint Richardson, Andrew Toney

It’s easy to forget how close the early ’80s Sixers came to dynasty status. There were Finals losses to L.A. in ’80 and ’82, and of course, before their eventual revenge in ’83. But the ’80-81 squad, led by Dr. J in his only NBA MVP season, was right there: They matched Boston’s 62 regular-season wins and took a 3-1 lead on the Celtics in the ECF before an epic Larry Bird-led comeback carried the Cs to the Finals.

66. 1984-85 Boston Celtics

Coach: KC Jones

Record: 63-19

Roster: Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, Quinn Buckner, Rick Carlisle, ML Carr, Carlos Clark, Dennis Johnson, Greg Kite, Cedric Maxwell, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Scott Wedman, Ray Williams

The ninth Celtics-Lakers Finals matchup would be the first from which Boston did not emerge victorious. You could almost call it an upset. Larry Bird claimed his second straight MVP award, and the Cs won a League-best 63 games, then cruised through the Eastern Conference playoff bracket before stomping the Lakers by 34 in Game 1. Kevin McHale averaged 26 points and 10.7 rebounds for the series, but Boston couldn’t slow the Kareem-Magic-Worthy trio and fell 4-2 to L.A.

Get your copy of SLAM Presents TOP 75 NBA Teams Of All Time

Photos via Getty Images.

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That’s how I learned about the Hall of Famer English, and even though I was a kid in the ’80s, he and the Nuggets were overlooked by adults back then, too. Just ask an NBA fan of any age this question: Who scored the most points in the 1980s? Even if they know Michael Jordan’s career started too late and that Magic Johnson was too pass-first, they have a host of household names to offer up. Moses Malone. Larry Bird. Dominique Wilkins. George Gervin. All-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The 6-7, 190-pound English outscored all of ’em. English used his elite mid-range game, willingness to run the floor and all-around efficiency to score 21,018 points in the decade (Moses was second at 19,082). 

The above would be interesting to SLAM readers at any point in the magazine’s history and to be sure, Alan Paul did a piece on English for SLAM 21 back in 1997 that pointed this out. Sadly, the scope of the eight-time All-Star’s achievements and the lack of credit they’re given have renewed relevance in the wake of the NBA selecting a mostly glorious 75th Anniversary team that did not include English. 

Besides being wowed by Nuggets box scores in the paper and enjoying the occasional game on TV against my local Knicks or Nets, my love for English was enhanced by the fact that my late grandfather recognized him on a plane once and asked for his autograph. I still treasure the little scrap of paper that says “Best Wishes Ben Alexander English.” 

Speaking on the phone from his native Columbia, SC, the University of South Carolina legend and current member of the school’s Board of Trustees chuckles at my autograph memory (“We were certainly flying commercial back then!”) and proves to be a charming and engrossing subject. 

SLAM: You played for the Bucks and Pacers before you went to Denver. What’s the short version of what happened at your first two stops? It looks like you were putting up numbers from the very beginning of your career. I would have thought Nellie [longtime Bucks’ coach Don Nelson-Ed.] would love you? 

ALEX ENGLISH: I got drafted by the Bucks in the second round. Wayne Embry was the GM and Nellie was an assistant coach. I had a make-good contract, which meant I had to make the team to get the contract. I signed for $55,000 with a $10,000 bonus if I made the team. That was a lot of money back then! I made the team and had a decent rookie year. I mostly played behind Bob Dandridge. The next year they traded Dandridge to the Bullets but drafted Kent Benson, Marques Johnson and Ernie Grunfeld. [Johnson and Grunfeld] played my position. I was the sixth man [English averaged 9.6 ppg in just 18.9 mpg.—Ed]. Nellie was the head coach by then and we made the playoffs. The NBA standard contract was getting ready to change. I was a restricted free agent—I could go anywhere I wanted but my current team could match. At midnight on the first day of free agency, [Pacers’ coach and GM] Slick Leonard signed me to a three-year deal: $135,000, $155,000, $175,000. I signed that contract. The Bucks had the opportunity to match and I’d have to stay. Wayne says Don said it was too much for me. So they let me walk. I had a good year and a half in Indiana but then they had the chance to bring George McGinnis back home so Slick Leonard traded me to Denver for him. 

SLAM: That trade was during your fourth season. In year five of your career, Doug Moe becomes the Nuggets’ head coach. In my mind, that’s when your career started.

AE: Well, I was putting up good numbers in Indiana, that’s why the Nuggets wanted to trade for me. I was [an] all-around [player]: rebounded, blocked shots, passed the ball. Averaging about 16 points a game, maybe 8 or 9 rebounds. But, yes, what happened in Denver was Doug Moe. He was the best at up-tempo offense. 

SLAM: You guys were the highest-scoring team in the NBA in the ’80-81 season even though Donnie Walsh started the year as the head coach and Moe was an assistant. In Coach Moe’s first full season, ’81-82, the Nuggets averaged 126.5 ppg! Still the most in NBA history.

AE: It was Doug’s system. We played at a breakneck pace, and people couldn’t keep up with us. Once we got in shape, we were unstoppable. We had Dan Issel and we got Kiki Vandeweghe, too. They talked about us being a “high-powered offense.” It was just natural to us. That was what we did. One thing we knew was that other teams feared us. Teams knew they had to be ready to roll as soon as they got to the arena to play us. 

SLAM: Was playing on those teams so much fun?

AE: Fun doesn’t even begin to describe it. I couldn’t wait to play every single night. It was almost like a dance. Like making ballet. That was my art. Every night was a different game, so we were making different art every night. I miss it so much. 

SLAM: Do you have a favorite memory as a Nugget?

AE: Wow, there were so many wonderful moments. That was a good squad with good people. I miss that camaraderie. We did things as a team—parties, cookouts, all that stuff. That’s the thing I miss about being in that setting. And it showed on the floor. We all accepted our roles. If we didn’t do what was expected, we felt bad about it. My team relied on me to get 26 points a night, pass the ball, block a few shots, get 6 or 7 rebounds. TR Dunn knew we depended on him to lock up Clyde Drexler and Michael Jordan as best he could. Fat Lever knew we were expecting near a triple-double. Bill Hanzlik was gonna play defense and frustrate the other team. And Coach Moe was there the whole time. He gave us the tools and leeway we needed.

SLAM: You rarely missed a game and led the NBA in scoring for the ’80s. You were still left off the 50 Greatest list in ’96 but were elected to the Hall of Fame in ’97, which was the first year you were eligible. The NBA had a chance to make include you with the 75th Anniversary team this season, but you were left off again. How did that make you feel?

AE: I felt slighted. It’s been like that throughout my career. Look at the record in my Nuggets’ career. All those playoff appearances. Reached the Western Conference finals. I was an all-pro three years [English was second-team All-NBA in ’82, ’83 and ’86.-Ed]. The scoring. And then they don’t tend to look at the other things. I’m the all-time Nuggets leader in points and assists. I blocked shots. Got steals. To see how I was treated…I rarely watch NBA games anymore because I’m so disappointed to not be in that group. When I look at who they chose, not to slight anyone, but I know what I did. To be slighted like that, it soured my taste for the League.

SLAM: After an amazing decade in Denver and one season in Dallas, you retired from the NBA and spent a season playing for Napoli in the Italian league.

AE: I’m a world traveler and I always wanted to live in another country. Unfortunately, I played for a team in Naples that wasn’t what it could have been, but I still wouldn’t change that experience for the world. Eating the food, meeting the people there.

SLAM: You had a stint as President of the NBA Players Association while you played and after your season in Italy, you returned to the States and worked for the PA, right?

AE: Yes, I’d planned on working for the NBPA and I did that under Charles Grantham. A lot of stuff they have in place, I put there. The player programs, AIDS education, money management and degree completion, rookie transition program. Those are programs I put in place that are still there now. The high school camp the PA runs, we put that together. I wanted the PA to get a connection to the players before they get to the NBA. The guys who are still running it—Tim McCormick and Purvis Short—those were my guys. I’m proud of all that work.

SLAM: After you left the PA, you did some work with the NBA and then transitioned into coaching.

AE: Yes. I found out the NBA was going to do a developmental league and wanted to put a team in Charleston, SC. I petitioned for that job and got it. I moved to Charleston as the head coach of the Lowgators. We were the subject of the first sports reality show [Down Low, Life in the D League, from ESPN. Google it!-Ed]. It was revolutionary. My team lost in the championship. After that first year, the Hawks asked me to be an assistant coach. Then I coached with the Sixers and Toronto.

SLAM: Let’s talk about all your connections to the women’s game, from the WNBA to South Carolina to the fact that your daughter, Jade-Li, is now leading the women’s basketball division at Klutch Sports.

AE: I was in New York when Ange-Marie Hancock put the template for the WNBA together years ago. You look at how much it’s grown…last year’s WNBA Finals was so exciting. 

Overall, the game is so pure. It’s like [how] it used to be with men. There’s the mid-range game, post-ups, an emphasis on getting position. The women look for three-point shots but it’s not the total game. Fortunately, for me, I’ve gotten to see some of the best right here at South Carolina. A’ja Wilson. Aliyah Boston. All the other women who have been here. We have the greatest women’s coach there is in Dawn Staley. I’m just a big supporter. We’ve got two top-10 high schoolers right here in this city and the fan support here is off the charts. That’s from watching Dawn. One of the girls [HS senior Ashlyn Watkins-Ed.] is signed with Dawn. The other is in the 11th grade—Milaysia Fulwiley—and I’m telling you, she is a game changer. Like the same way Magic changed the game. Hopefully she signs here, too.

Ben Osborne is a former SLAM Ed. and is now Head of Content for Just Women’s Sports.

Photos via Getty Images.

The post Alex English Opens About His Prolific Career and Supporting Women’s Hoops in South Carolina appeared first on SLAM.

After Atlanta outscored the Hornets 42-24 in the third quarter, the game was never in doubt. But unlike Charlotte’s play-in tournament blowout last year to the Indiana Pacers, some actions from Hornets forward Miles Bridges have the attention of the League office.

The Michigan State product was ejected in the fourth quarter after receiving double technical fouls for arguing a non-call at one end of the floor and then charging toward an official after a personal foul and goaltending call on the other.

Miles Bridges was ejected after arguing this goaltend call. pic.twitter.com/ijvc7SxlNF

— ESPN (@espn) April 14, 2022

After the ejection and being restrained by teammates, Bridges was seen throwing his mouthpiece into the stands at a heckling Hawks fan waving goodbye. Instead of hitting that fan, it hit a 16-year-old girl in the face.

Miles Bridges appears to throw his mouthpiece at a fan after getting ejected pic.twitter.com/IBznSPtxWR

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 14, 2022

To Bridges’ credit, he took immediate responsibility for his outburst after the game, even tweeting a video of the incident with the caption, “Somebody get me in contact with the young lady. That’s unacceptable.”

Somebody get me in contact with the young lady. That’s unacceptable. https://t.co/MlLZjMgcBF

— Miles Bridges (@MilesBridges) April 14, 2022

Bridges tried to explain his actions after the game via CBSSports.com.

“I let my temper get the best of me. That was definitely the wrong thing to do by throwing my mouthpiece,” Bridges said after the game. “I was aiming for the guy that was screaming at me, and it hit the little girl, so that’s definitely unacceptable on my part, and I take full responsibility, and I’m ready for any consequences that the NBA may give me.

“That’s on me. That’s out of character for me. … I was definitely wrong, a lot of emotions. Hopefully, I can get in contact with the little girl and sincerely apologize to her and do something nice for her.”

Bridges will likely face disciplinary action from the NBA, which puts a damper on a breakout season that made him a top candidate for Most Improved Player this season. He finished the game with 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

The post Miles Bridges Apologizes To Fan For Throwing Mouthpiece After Ejection appeared first on SLAM.

The Lakers will reportedly relieve Frank Vogel of his head coaching duties on Monday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Frank Vogel has coached his final game for the Lakers, a decision that’s expected to be shared with him as soon as Monday, sources tell ESPN. Lakers’ search expected to be lengthy and expansive with no clear initial frontrunner.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 11, 2022

The happy feelings Vogel and the Lakers brought to LA after winning a championship in 2020 were quickly gone after the Lakers concluded a disappointing 33-49 season on Sunday with a 146-141 overtime win against the Nuggets. The Lakers were eliminated from the play-in tournament by the Suns last week,

According to Woj, the Lakers’ final decision is expected to be shared with Vogel as soon as Monday. During his postgame presser on Sunday, Vogel said he wasn’t told about his future with the Lakers.

“I haven’t been told s—, and I’m going to enjoy tonight’s game, celebrate what these young guys did in terms of scratching and clawing and getting back in this game and getting a W, and we’ll deal with tomorrow, tomorrow,” Vogel said, per ESPN.

Most of the Lakers’ struggles can be attributed to porous defense, injuries, and the lack of continuity that comes with all the Lakers’ injuries throughout the season. Because of that lack of continuity, the Lakeshow finished the season in the bottom 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Their Big 3 of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook only played 21 games together, going 11-10 in those games.

Thank you, Coach. pic.twitter.com/8eb4Ia9ZqI

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 11, 2022

Additionally, the Lakers were the only team not to have a single five-person lineup play 100 minutes together, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Vogel built the Lakers into a defensive juggernaut through his first two seasons in LA, guiding the team to the best and third-best defensive rating in the 2020-2021 and 2019-2020 seasons, respectively.

Los Angeles lost 18 of 24 games following the All-Star break, worse than only the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, and Indiana Pacers.

The post Lakers Announce Dismissal of Frank Vogel as Coach appeared first on SLAM.

Harden finished the game with 13 points shooting 3-for-12 from the floor. In the fourth quarter, he only had four points on 1-for-4 shooting. In addition, he added 15 assists and four rebounds.

This is the second straight game where the Sixers’ offense has not been efficient in the second half. Harden told the Sixers reporter Ky Carlin that the lack of spacing hurts his ability to attack the basket.

“Our spacing, It’s been like that the last few days. We just gotta watch film and just talk about it and make sure we’re in our spots.” Harden said. “I think our spacing helps us with not turning the basketball over and getting quality shots, possession by possession, that’s very, very important in the postseason.”

The Sixers will close out the season at home this weekend and will host the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons. On April 16, they will begin their championship quest in the first round of the playoffs and will most likely meet the Raptors again.

The post James Harden On Reason He’s Not Attacking the Rim: ‘Our Spacing, We Gotta Watch Film and Talk’ appeared first on SLAM.

Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner — out since mid-January with a left foot stress reaction — will miss the rest of the season, sources tell ESPN. Turner has made good progress in his recovery, but the Pacers have only seven games left and will miss the playoffs.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 28, 2022

The Pacers only have seven games left in the season. Since they’re lottery-bound, Indiana won’t rush Turner back despite the Texas Longhorn product reportedly making good progress in his recovery.

Turner finished the season averaging 12.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game in 42 games and 50.9 percent shooting from the field, and 33.3 percent shooting from three-point territory.

The Pacers (25-50) are 13th in the East, heading into the final stretch of the regular season, and will face the Raptors on Monday.

The post REPORT: Myles Turner Out For the Rest of the Season appeared first on SLAM.

In the three games Memphis has played since Morant went down, Bane has averaged around 25.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game while shooting a ridiculous 60.8 percent from downtown on 7.6 triples attempted per game. This shooting prowess is nothing new, as he’s 10th in the League in three-pointers made this season with 209.

He’s scored 20+ in eight of the last 10 games and shows no signs of slowing down. Bane’s per-game scoring average has doubled in his sophomore year, improving from 9.2 points per game in his rookie year to 18.2 points per game this season.

Fresh off of a playoff-clinching victory over the Indiana Pacers off the back of Bane’s 30 points, the Grizzlies will defend FedExForum against the Milwaukee Bucks tomorrow at 8 PM EST.

The post Desmond Bane and the Grizzlies Flourishing in the Absence of Ja Morant appeared first on SLAM.

According to The Athletics’ Shams Charania, Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant will be out for at least two weeks with a knee injury.

The injury news comes at the worst time for the Grizzlies, who only have eight games left to play this season after their 133-103 win against the Indiana Pacers tonight. Currently, Memphis is in second place in the conference with a record of 50-23, just two games ahead of the Golden State Warriors.

If Morant is out for the expected timeline, he will return three games before the start of the NBA Playoffs.

Morant is a vital piece of the Grizzlies and is having his best season in the NBA thus far. Morant was averaging an eye-popping 27.6 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game this year and earned his first NBA All-Star Game nod as a result.

Despite Morant’s outstanding season and his importance to the Grizzlies, they have gotten along just fine without him this season, going 16-2 in games without Morant this season.

On Saturday, Memphis will have a chance to improve that record without Morant when they host the Milwaukee Bucks (45-27).

The post Ja Morant Out For Next Two Weeks With Knee Injury appeared first on SLAM.

Although Indiana Pacers guard TJ Warren has recovered from consecutive stress fractures in his left foot and returned to full basketball activities, he will sit out team’s final 12 games and prepare for the 2022-2023 season, sources told ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 17, 2022

“After thoughtful conversation with T.J. and his representatives, it has been determined that the most beneficial course of action at this point is to allow him to focus on the 2022-23 season,” President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard said.

While only playing four games during the 2020-21 campaign, the former 14th overall pick in the 2014 draft has remained sidelined for the entirety of this season despite fully recovering from the stress fractures.

Wojnarowski reports that conversations between Warren’s representatives and the team led to the understanding that returning to a Pacers roster that will miss the playoffs makes little sense – sitting at 13th in the Eastern Conference standings – opting to prepare for the 2022-23 season.

Warren’s sample size with the Pacers is small, averaging 19.8 points while shooting 40.3 percent from deep in the 2019-20 campaign, however, the return of a sharpshooting guard next to recently acquired second-year guard Tyrese Haliburton could provide for a shakeup in Indiana and the Eastern Conference.

The post Pacers Announce T.J. Warren Will Miss Remainder of the Season appeared first on SLAM.

On the positive side, when he wasn’t stuck on the bench, Jackson was clearly having an impact. A big impact, especially for a 20-year-old still adjusting to the NBA. The versatile forward was considered a project heading into the 2021 Draft, where he was selected with the No. 22 overall pick and immediately traded to the Pacers. At 6-10, with an absurd 7-5 wingspan and elite athleticism, his potential was glaring. But Jackson hadn’t put up huge numbers in his one season at Kentucky—averaging 8.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks—and was expected to need time to develop, particularly on offense.

Still, the Pacers liked his ability to protect the rim on one end (Jackson led the entire SEC in blocks per game) and attack it relentlessly on the other (he was an obvious lob threat that could pair well with Indiana’s many playmakers). He logged just 50 total minutes through October, November and December before his role started to grow. Two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols at the end of January, leading Jackson to receive his first start on Jan. 31, in a home game against the Clippers. The rook was ready for the moment (despite finding out that afternoon, when he showed up to the arena), putting up a career-high 26 points (including four dunks and a three), 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and, most importantly, 0 fouls. His performance helped the Pacers secure a 122-116 win, snapping a four-game losing streak. 

“When a guy like him starts getting consistent minutes, when he hasn’t been playing much all year, he’s excited, he’s hyped up and the game is fast,” head coach Rick Carlisle reflected afterwards. “NBA players do things to make you react. Just the reminders for him over the last several days [were]: stay on your feet, be the second guy off the ground—because with as quickly as you jump, you’ll still be able to get up and contest or block the shot—and play without fouls because we need you on the floor. And, man oh man, he did such a great job in every area tonight. When we talked in the Draft—picked him at 22—about the need for athleticism and a rim threat, this is what we were talking about. Caris [LeVert] threw him some lobs. Justin Holiday threw him one. Two, three other guys got into the fray. And this is a dimension that this team has not had, so it was really great to see.”

Asked about his heightened role, Jackson told reporters: “It’s helped me a lot. Just getting the experience—that real game experience—has helped me a lot. I think today I took a step forward in my progress, as far as staying down [on defense] and not really [making mistakes]. I made a couple mistakes, but I’m a rookie, so I’m going to make those mistakes, but I’m trying to build off those mistakes as well. I think today was a big step forward in my progress—staying down on defense and just improving my game overall.”

With Sabonis now in Sacramento (along with Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb, the big man was dealt to the Kings in exchange for Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson at the deadline), and Indiana looking toward the future, Jackson’s role has only expanded. He is now a fixture in the starting lineup, building chemistry alongside the new backcourt duo of Haliburton and Malcolm Brogdon. Since the All-Star break, Jackson is averaging 11.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game, shooting 67 percent from the field. At this point, the evidence is clear: as long as he can stay on the floor. Jackson is—and will continue to be—a real difference-maker.

The post SLAM x Panini Rookie Spotlight: Isaiah Jackson appeared first on SLAM.

#HOUvsMIA UPDATE: Victor Oladipo, Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin will all warm up with the intent to play in tonight’s game vs the Rockets.

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 7, 2022

After three years of dealing with surgeries and rehabs due to some troubling leg injuries, Victor Oladipo’s play status has been upgraded to questionable, heading into the Heats game against the Rockets on Monday.

With the Heat saying he’s questionable to play, that means there’s a coin flips chance of the two-time All-Star will make his season debut on Monday. Oladipo last played competitive basketball last year on April 8. Since then, he’s undergone a second surgery on his quadriceps tendon. He first suffered the injury in January 2019 while he played for the Pacers.

“He has great fortitude,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said per ESPN. “That’s the toughest thing for a professional athlete is to get injured, and most of your time is away from the team. Probably, when you talk about mental health, that is the most challenging thing for an athlete.

“You don’t necessarily always feel like you’re a part of it. You have doubts; you don’t know what it’s going to look like on the other side when you do get healthy; you’re not sure if all the work is really mattering. That’s a tough place for an athlete.”

With the Indiana product back in the lineup, the Heat have another layer of depth to rely on with 17 games left on the schedule. For his career, Oladipo has averaged 17.5 points per game, 19.5 with the Heat, Rockets, and Pacers before going down with his knee injury.

Oladipo has missed 89 games since last season, including the Heat’s playoff run. Since his initial surgery three years ago, he’s made 56 appearances, missing 201 games within that same timeframe.

“He looks great,” Heat forward Jimmy Butler said. “He’s been working for, whew, a long time, countless amounts of hours, rehab, in the gym, in the weight room. And I’m excited for him to get back.”

Oladipo has ramped up his rehab with the Heat’s G League affiliate in Sioux Falls in anticipation of his return.

“Through this entire process, I’ve really respected and admired how Vic is able to keep his positive spirit,” Spoelstra said. “It really is a unique quality. I love that quality about him.”

The post Heat Announce Victor Oladipo Will Warm Up Against Rockets With ‘Intent’ to Play appeared first on SLAM.

The 7-foot-2 forward can make an impact both in the paint and on the perimeter. He’s also shown flashes of being a dominant defender at points in his career as well. 

On Sunday night, Porzingis made his debut as a member of the Wizards and had a productive performance. In a big win over the Indiana Pacers, he finished with 25 points, five rebounds and two blocks. 

While the Wizards likely won’t make the playoffs this season with Bradley Beal out for the year, Porzingis could emerge as a legitimate complimentary piece alongside him. Moving forward, Washington could end up being very happy the Porzingis trade was made. 

The post Kristaps Porzingis Shines in Washington Wizards Debut appeared first on SLAM.

The Orlando Magic guard was starting to have a breakout 2020-21 campaign that was derailed by a left ACL injury. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft was averaging career bests in points (14.3) and assists (6.1) in the seven games that season. 

Now, after over a year of recovery, he’s set to make his return on Monday night against the Indiana Pacers. 

“I’m just blessed just to be able to, one, be where I am today after going through an injury like this and being able to fight and just be back on the court with my brothers and friends,” said Fultz during his appearance on the Orlando Magic Pod Squad. “So, one, I’m just blessed and I’m thankful for the process and the journey that I’ve been through. I’m very excited just to get out there with my teammates and go out there and compete.”

The Magic are still rebuilding, but have a ton of young talent. Getting Fultz back is just another step in the right direction, as the 23-year-old could still be a franchise cornerstone. 

“I feel a lot stronger this time around,” Fultz says. “This injury has helped me work on a lot of things. This is probably the best my body has felt in a long time. I’m talking about full body. I can feel my muscles. I can identify certain things in my body. Just all around, core, conditioning, I think this is probably the best I’ve felt coming back and being able to play basketball.”

If he’s able to come back and play at the level he was before the injury, Orlando will be getting a starting caliber guard moving forward. There’s a reason Fultz was the top overall pick in his class. 

The post Former No. 1 Pick Markelle Fultz Set to Make Return Monday Night appeared first on SLAM.

On Thursday, Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes reported that Cavs guard Caris LeVert would be out up to two weeks with a right foot sprain.

LeVert is a very recent acquisition for the Cavaliers, making his way to Cleveland at the NBA trade deadline two weeks ago from the Indiana Pacers. To acquire LeVert, the Cavs had to send the injured Ricky Rubio, a 2022 first-round pick and two second-round draft picks.

Since coming to Cleveland, LeVert has played just four games but has an average of 13.3 points and 3.8 assists per game. LeVert is capable of much more, and with more time, Cavs fans may soon watch the LeVert, who was averaging 18.7 points and 4.4 assists per game with the Pacers, emerge.

The Cavaliers (35-24) are fifth in the East and are 3.5 games back of the first-place Chicago Bulls.

If LeVert is out for two weeks, he could miss up to seven games for the Cavaliers, including matchups against teams at the top of the East in the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat, and a rematch with his former team, the Pacers.

The post REPORT: Caris LeVert Out Up to Two Weeks With Foot Injury appeared first on SLAM.

According to The Athletics Shams Charania, the Celtics have signed both Kelan Martin and Malik Fitts to 10-day contracts.

Charania notes that both Martin and Fitts have spent time with other organizations earlier this season. Fitts played seven games for the Utah Jazz, and Martin played 27 for the Indiana Pacers before both found their way to free agency.

Martin is the more experienced of the two new additions, with Martin currently in his third NBA season since going undrafted out of Butler University in 2018. Martin spent a season following the draft playing for MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg in the Basketball Bundesliga in Germany before coming back stateside in 2019.

Since returning to the United States, Martin has played in 93 career games with the Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging 5.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 13.6 minutes per game over three seasons.

Fitts has had comparatively minimal experience since joining the NBA out of St. Mary’s College in 2020. Fitts has played a total of 10 games in the League over the past two years with the Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers, putting up a total of nine points and 13 rebounds over 46 minutes.

In seven games with the Agua Caliente Clippers in the G League, Fitts has been productive this season, averaging 15.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game.

The duo will join a Celtics team fighting to move into the top half of the Eastern Conference, currently sitting sixth overall in the conference with a record of 34-26, but just 4.5 games back of the first-place Miami Heat and 2.0 games back of the third-place Philadelphia 76ers.

The post REPORT: Celtics Sign Kelan Martin and Malik Fitts to 10-Day Contracts appeared first on SLAM.

One notable buyout player is Tristan Thompson, who was released from the Indiana Pacers and will be signing a new deal with the Chicago Bulls.

Although the deal was announced by Pacers coach Rick Carlisle late last week, the Bulls made the deal official in a press release on Saturday. To make room for Thompson, the Bulls subsequently released Alfonzo McKinnie.

While he isn’t necessarily a starting caliber big anymore, Thompson has 11 years of NBA experience. He’s a force in the paint, standing at 6-foot-9 and 254 pounds.

On his career, Thompson has averaged 9.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest. This season, he has spent time with the Pacers and Sacramento Kings, producing 6.3 points and 5.3 boards in 34 contests. As the Bulls look to make a deep playoff run, Thompson’s experience could be key as he’s been to the NBA Playoffs five times, logging 83 games (70 starts) of action.

The post Bulls Officially Sign Tristan Thompson, Release Alfonzo McKinnie appeared first on SLAM.

Haliburton joined ESPN’s “The Jump” on Thursday to discuss the trade, and he admitted he was left shocked by the move, enough to the point where he said at first he thought it “was a joke.”

Haliburton was part of a trade deadline deal between the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers that sent Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson to the Pacers in exchange for Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday, and a 2023 second-round pick.

Thompson has since been released by the Pacers and will sign with the Chicago Bulls.

While Haliburton was shocked by the trade, initial returns have been positive. Through his first four games, Haliburton is averaging 20.8 points, 11.0 assists and 2.3 steals per game compared to his averages of 14.3 points, 7.4 assists, and 1.7 steals per game while with the Kings.

Haliburton also managed to snag his first win in a Pacers jersey on Wednesday night, dropping 21 points, 14 assists, and five rebounds in a 113-108 win over the Washington Wizards.

The Pacers are currently 13th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 20-40.

The post Tyrese Haliburton Says He Thought Trade to Pacers Was ‘A Joke’ appeared first on SLAM.

For the 19-year-old Kuminga, a chance is given to showcase his skills against the League’s brightest young stars. Kuminga is averaging 7.9 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14.3 minutes of run per game on the season.

Kuminga put many on notice in the Dubs’ weekend game against the Los Angeles Lakers, recording 18 points, nine rebounds, and one block in 25 minutes. However, what was most impressive is that he was given the dreaded task of guarding LeBron James — and he held his own. The King shot 33.3% percent from the field, the lowest field goal percentage he’s shot in a game this season when playing 35+ minutes.

Kuminga’s performance left teammate Klay Thompson impressed, per NBCSports.

“He just guarded LeBron James for however many minutes, gave us 18 on 11 shots, and almost a double-double — how many more 19-year-olds or 20-year-olds are doing that?”

Kuminga will look to continue his strong rookie campaign by delivering an outstanding performance in the Rising Star game this coming weekend.

The post Jonathan Kuminga Replacing Chris Duarte in the NBA Rising Stars game appeared first on SLAM.

Full trade: Indiana sends Caris LeVert and a 2022 second-round pick via Miami to Cleveland for Ricky Rubio, lottery-protected 2022 first-round pick, 2022 second-round pick via Houston and a 2027 second-round pick via Utah, per sources.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2022

LeVert scored 22 points, including some huge baskets down the stretch to help his new team rally against his old team for a 120-113 comeback victory on Friday night. LeVert received a standing ovation from the Pacers fans during pregame introductions. The Pacers also honored the 27-year-old guard with a special highlight package during the first timeout.

Pacers President Kevin Pritchard spoke with ESPN about Caris LeVert before the game how he struggled with his decision to trade LeVert about one week prior.

“He was one of the hardest people I’ve ever had to trade,” Pritchard said. “He is a special person, and I want to thank Caris. He’s probably going to go score 50 tonight.”

Caris LeVert (22 PTS) with a HUGE clutch bucket for the @cavs late in the 4th!

Watch Now on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/oz9UCQxdQa pic.twitter.com/TTs3NXTxum

— NBA (@NBA) February 12, 2022

With the win, Cleveland notched their fifth straight (35-21) to stay in contention for the Eastern Conference’s top seed behind the Miami Heat. After the game, LeVert couldn’t hide his excitement after playing with his new teammates.

It didn’t take @CarisLeVert long to realize that this is a special, resilient, fun @cavs team, and he can’t wait for what lies ahead.#LetEmKnow | @SerenaWinters pic.twitter.com/JmKq1klZaA

— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) February 12, 2022

The post Caris LeVert Helps Cleveland Cavaliers Burn His Old Indy Team After Trade appeared first on SLAM.

TRADES:

The Lakers and Knicks didn’t make any moves according to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers will reportedly be focusing on the buyout market.

No deal for the Lakers, source tells ESPN. THey’ll focus on the buyout market.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022

Houston is trading Daniel Theis to the Celtics for Dennis Schroder, Bruno Fernando, and Enis Freedom. Freedom has been waived by the Rockets.

Boston is sending guard Dennis Schroder to the Rockets in the deal, source tells ESPN. https://t.co/4RFdjoULq3

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022

The Wizards are trading Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie to the Mavericks for Kristaps Porzingis.

The Wizards will send Davis Bertans in deal too, source tells ESPN. Mavericks send a second-round pick to Wizards. https://t.co/RJdybUd0Lw

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022

The Wizards are flipping Montrezl Harrell for Charlotte’s Vernon Carey and Ish Smith.

Charlotte is acquiring Washington center Montrezl Harrell for Vernon Carey and Ish Smith, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022

The Pacers are reportedly working on a deal to send Torrey Craig to the Suns for Jalen Smith.

The Celtics will acquire Derrick White from the Spurs.

Romeo Langford and Josh Richardson are included in the deal to the Spurs.

The Celtics are trading PJ Dozier and Bol Bol to the Magic for a future second-round pick.

The Celtics are trading PJ Dozier and Bol Bol, a future second and cash to the Magic for a future second-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Dozier and Bol are both out for the season. Cost-savings for Boston.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022

The Spurs are working on a trade for Goran Dragic and are expected to buy out his contract. The Mavericks, Bucks, Bulls, and Clippers are reportedly interested in the Dragons services. Thad Young, Drew Eubanks, and a 2022 second-round pick are headed to the Raptors.

The Raptors are trading Dragic and protected 2022 first-round picks to the Spurs for Thad Young, Drew Eubanks and a 2022 second-round pick via Pistons, sources tell ESPN. Pick is protected 1-14 in 2022; 1-13 in 2023 and would turn into two seconds beyond that. https://t.co/SN0sFyVurm

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022

The Bucks have traded Rodney Hood and Semi Ojele to the Clippers, Serge Ibaka to the Bucks, Donte DiVencenco to the Kings and Marvin Bagley is headed to the Pistons on Thursday according to Woj.

ESPN Sources:
Full trade participants:
Kings: Donte DiVincenzo, Trey Lyles and Josh Jackson.
Bucks: Serge Ibaka, two future second-round picks, cash.
Clippers: Rodney Hood, Semi Ojele.
Pistons: Marvin Bagley Jr.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Utah Jazz is receiving Nickeil Alexander-Walker and the Juancho Hernangomez of the Spurs in a three-way deal. Spurs receive Tomas Satoransky and a second-round pick, and the Blazers get Joe Ingles, Elijah Hughes, and a second-round selection.

The Utah Jazz are acquiring guard Portland’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker and the Spurs’ Juancho Hernangomez in a three-way deal, sources tell ESPN. The Spurs gets guard Tomas Satoransky and a second-round pick, and the Blazers get Joe Ingles, Elijah Hughes and a second-round pick.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2022

The Pacers are sending Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, and Justin Holiday to the Kings for Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson. 

Jeremy Lamb AND Justin Holiday. https://t.co/0GbRwKcRBP

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2022

The Pelicans receive CJ McCollum, Larry Nance, and Tony Snell in a trade with the Blazers. Portland gets Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Didi Louzada, and a protected first-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. 

Full trade, per sources:
Blazers: Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Walker-Alexander, Didi Louzada, 2022 protected first-round pick, two second-round picks.
Pelicans: CJ McCollum, Larry Nance, Tony Snell.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2022

The Pacers trade Caris LeVert and a 2022 second-round pick from Miami to Cleveland for Ricky Rubio, a lottery-protected 2022 first-round pick, 2022 second-round pick from Houston, and a 2027 second-round pick from Utah.

Full trade: Indiana sends Caris LeVert and a 2022 second-round pick via Miami to Cleveland for Ricky Rubio, lottery-protected 2022 first-round pick, 2022 second-round pick via Houston and a 2027 second-round pick via Utah, per sources.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2022

The Clippers and the Blazers agreed to a trade last week. The Clippers move Eric Bledsoe, Justice Winslow, Keon Johnson, and a future second-round pick to the Trail Blazers for Norman Powell and Robert Covington. 

The Clippers are trading Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson and future second-round pick to the Trail Blazers for Norman Powell and Robert Covington, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 4, 2022

RUMORS:

REPORT: James Harden is pushing for a trade to Philadelphia by ‘screaming in every way he possibly can,’ to get out of Brooklyn.

James Harden is pushing for a trade and is ‘screaming in every way he possibly can’ to get out of Brooklyn, per @WindhorstESPN. https://t.co/D7l2VI9IZq pic.twitter.com/GcFCoivKjF

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 9, 2022

REPORT: Philadelphia refuses to include Maxey in any deal, causing Brooklyn to counter with an asking price of Simmons, Curry, Thybulle, and Drummond. Philadelphia is hesitant to have Curry, though Mills would reportedly end up in Philadelphia.

Update: Sixers have refused to include Tyrese Maxey in any deal with Brooklyn. Nets have countered with an asking price of Simmons, Curry, Thybulle, and Drummond. Sixers are hesitant to include Curry. Any deal would likely send Patty Mills to Philly aside from Harden.

— Jason Dumas (@JDumasReports) February 9, 2022

Brooklyn needs to see Curry in the deal alongside Simmons for them to be willing to move Harden.

This is from Sunday night’s BS Podcast and nothing has changed — Brooklyn wants Seth in any Harden deal. (And Embiid loves playing with Curry.) pic.twitter.com/sTD2vyY1co

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) February 9, 2022

Teams around the League think a deal between Philadelphia and Brooklyn is close to being done and that it would open the ‘floodgates’ if the agreement were to be done before tomorrow’s deadline.

It sounds like rival teams think a deal between Brooklyn and Philadelphia may be getting close. One team told me “They’ve kind of put other talks on hold. If that deal finally happens, then the floodgates will open around the league for a lot more to happen.”

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) February 9, 2022

Philadelphia has talked to Oklahoma City about Tobias Harris, though it may be a ploy to put more pressure on Brooklyn to trade Harden before tomorrow’s deadline.

Now arrives another stretch of uncertainty, with the trade deadline approaching Thursday afternoon and sources telling The Inquirer that the Sixers have explored trading Tobias Harris. https://t.co/Kv6MEFjDDh

— The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) February 9, 2022

Buddy Hield may not end up in Indiana after claims of Pacers opening to flipping him to another team before the Thursday deadline.

Small trade note: As of now — and everything can change in the next 26 hours — the Indiana Pacers do not plan to trade Buddy Hield despite some interest from other teams, sources tell ESPN.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) February 9, 2022

Detroit is listening to offers for Jerami Grant but may wait until the offseason to move him. Detroit wants two first-rounders in exchange for Grant, and the Portland Trail Blazers have shown the most interest. 

Pistons Listening To Offers On Jerami Grant, Could Wait Until Offseason For Trade https://t.co/nImk0qLAHF

— RealGM (@RealGM) February 9, 2022

The post LIVE: NBA Trade Deadline Tracker appeared first on SLAM.

“We are very excited to add a dynamic young player of this caliber and experience,” Cavs GM Koby Altman said in a statement on Monday. “Caris LeVert fits uniquely into our culture, and his Ohio roots brings an immediate connection to our community. We look forward to seeing what type of impact he can make on this roster. We also want to send our best wishes to Ricky Rubio and his family. Ricky has been the consummate professional, and his leadership both on and off the court was invaluable, and we respect everything he brought to this franchise.”

OFFICIAL: #Cavs acquire F Caris LeVert.

DETAILS: https://t.co/AvCpnTb3av pic.twitter.com/28cLLHjmvl

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) February 7, 2022

LeVert will reportedly take on the off-guard spot opposite All-Star point guard Darius Garland who has been hampered by a sore lower back as of late. The acquisition of LeVert adds scoring punch to a lineup that is missing Collin Sexton since he went down for the season with a knee injury in February.

“He and Garland in the backcourt is really dynamic,” Carlisle said. “These guys have improved a great deal today.”

LeVert has been in trade rumors since December when the Pacers were rumored to be looking to trade former All-Star Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, and LeVert to help speed up their rebuilding process. When the Cavs and Pacers agreed to the exchange, it was about 90 minutes before tipoff of their game against each other on Sunday. Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle confirmed the news pregame with assembled media.

News of the trade was delayed so Carlisle could notify LeVert was headed down the hall.

With the Cavs (33-21) squarely in the driver’s seat as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, LeVert can help raise the ceiling of a team that has blasted away any preseason expectations many around the League had for them. Cleveland still has time to make one more move as well. The NBA’s trade deadline isn’t until Thursday.

LeVert signed a three-year, $52 million contract with Brooklyn in 2020. Since re-signing with Brooklyn, he’s been moved to Indiana and now Cleveland. The 27-year-old guard averaged 18.7 points and 4.4 assists for the disappointing Pacers (19-36). The Cavaliers will return to action on Wednesday when they play the Spurs at home.

The post Cleveland Cavaliers Trade Ricky Rubio For Caris LeVert appeared first on SLAM.

Westbrook struggled throughout the game, only scoring five points on 1-for-10 shooting with six assists and four turnovers in 29 minutes. Westbrook’s fourth quarter production of zero points, missing his only field goal attempt and going 0-for-2 from the free-throw line. He spent the first six minutes and 30 seconds of the final quarter and all of overtime on the bench.

The Brodie seemingly took the benching in stride, stating the win was more important.

Russell Westbrook spoke after being benched in OT vs. the Knicks: pic.twitter.com/W0bb9zi9MR

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 6, 2022

“That [fourth quarter] stretch was part of it,” Vogel said to explain his decision-making via ESPN. “I think obviously Russ was having a tough night on both sides of the ball, and Bron was really going. So I knew the ball was going to be in Bron’s hands, and I felt like we were going to get more from a defensive perspective and off-ball action with Talen, so–you just make tough decisions in the spirit of whatever the team needs to win a game.”

When the Lakers lost to the Pacers, the mood around the Lakers was more mellow, so much so that Westbrook had to appear on Wojnarowski’s podcast to clear the air before LA played the Magic.

On his fourth-quarter benching, Los Angeles Lakers star Russell Westbrook tells ESPN: “Surprised, yes. I was disappointed I didn’t go back in, but I’m more disappointed that we lost the damn game.” Story: https://t.co/KFD0RSu00G

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 21, 2022

The game against New York was just the 17th game Westbrook has played with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the lineup this season. The Lakers are 10-7 in those games.

The post Los Angeles Lakers’ Russell Westbrook Speaks Out On Overtime Benching appeared first on SLAM.

Giddey talked about his relationship with LeVert when he initially met him in 2018 at a Basketball Without Borders camp in India.

LeVert was Giddey’s coach for the camp, and he said he recalls that LeVert “was really big on believing in me.”

Giddey has since made a name for himself in the basketball world, getting drafted sixth overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2021 NBA Draft after a stellar rookie season with the Adelaide 36ers in the NBL. Giddey has had a solid start to his NBA career, too, putting up 11.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game.

In 2018 LeVert was entering his third season in the NBA with the Brooklyn Nets and is now in his sixth season since being drafted out of the University of Michigan. Over his career, LeVert has averaged 14.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game.

The duo played each other for the first time in the NBA on Friday night. The Pacers won the game 113-110 in overtime, with LeVert scoring 10 points and grabbing seven rebounds, while Giddey had a double-double scoring 15 points and snatching 10 rebounds to go along with five assists.

The post Josh Giddey Discusses Relationship With Caris LeVert: ‘He Believed A Lot in Me’ appeared first on SLAM.

However, it seems as though the Lakers have changed their tune on moving Westbrook. According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the Lakers are not looking to trade Westbrook and are now focusing on winning with him on the roster.

“It’s not like [Westbrook’s] a tradable player where if it’s not working out, you just move on; everybody in the NBA knows that,” one team source said. “So it’s got to work. This is the only option. There is no Plan B for this season.”

The Lakers, and Westbrook, are not having the season they would have liked coming into the year.

Westbrook averages 18.6 points – the lowest mark of his career since his second season – and 7.7 assists per game while shooting a pedestrian 43.8 percent from the field and 29.3 percent from three. Westbrook’s poor play even resulted in him being benched by Frank Vogel for the final minutes of the Lakers 111-104 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

The Lakers are currently on the fringes of a playoff spot, sitting eighth in the Western Conference with a record of 24-24, and while Westbrook’s play has left something to be desired, Los Angeles is dealing with several issues that have resulted in the suboptimal record.

Star forward Anthony Davis has missed nearly half the season for the Lakers recovering from a knee injury, but he returned to action for the first time in over a month on Tuesday night in a 106-96 win against the Brooklyn nets.

LeBron James has also missed a noticeable portion of the season due to both health and safety protocols and a brief injury stint.

Vogel, like Westbrook, has also come under scrutiny this season for the Lakers’ performance, and like Westbrook, Shelburne reports that Vogel will remain with the team for the rest of the season. Shelburne reports that the decision is due to a lack of confidence that changing coaches would lead to a “dramatically different result.”

The post REPORT: Lakers No Longer Looking to Trade Russell Westbrook appeared first on SLAM.

Stephenson’s initial 10-day, which he signed on January 11, expired this morning, prompting the organization to use Stephenson’s final 10-day before being faced with the decision of signing him for the remainder of the season or letting him walk.

Like numerous other former NBA veterans looking to get back into the League, Stephenson has signed multiple 10-days – becoming the first player to sign a fourth 10 day- first signing with the Atlanta Hawks. After appearing in six games for the Hawks, Born Ready then signed his first of three 10-days with the Pacers on the first of the new year.

Typically, a player is restricted in signing more than two 10-day contracts with a single team. However, due to the COVID-19-related hardship exemption, that restriction only applies to standard-10-day agreements. Stephenson is now on his second such deal.

In 11 games played for the team that originally drafted him back in 2010, Stephenson averages 9.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field in 19.5 minutes a game.

Beat the game clock, bust out the air guitar

Lance Stephenson drains the triple on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/L8Rrlv9ZoR pic.twitter.com/Ib1kCKv8VR

— NBA (@NBA) January 15, 2022

It didn’t take long for the Brooklyn-native to fall back into his groove while rocking the yellow and navy blue; in his third game back in Indiana, Stephenson dropped 30 points, five dimes, and a few air guitars in the Pacers’ 129-121 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. In the Pacers’ next game, Stephenson was back to firing from all cylinders against the Utah Jazz, scoring 16 points while dishing out 14 assists in the Pacers’ win three days later.

Through Stephenson’s fourth 10-day, the organization has provided more flexibility as his contract will expire a week before the February 10 trade deadline.

The post Pacers Sign Lance Stephenson to Final 10-Day Contract appeared first on SLAM.

Malcolm Brogdon (sore right Achilles) will be shutdown for at least 10 days to rehab his injury, according to head coach Rick Carlisle.

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) January 23, 2022

The last time Brogdon saw any action was against the Los Angeles Lakers last week when he contributed 19 points, six assists, and four rebounds in 26 minutes in a Pacers win.

The Lakers game is one of only two games Brogden has been able to play in the past month, along with the January 12 game against the Boston Celtics when he played only 17 minutes. A stint in the NBA’s health and safety protocols kept him out of the lineup as well.

Brogdon’s upcoming absence is just the latest of a long list of injury problems to key players for the Pacers. Indiana is missing Domantas Sabonis who is out due to an ankle injury suffered in the Lakers game last week, Myles Turner (stress fracture in foot), T.J. McConnell (hand surgery) and T.J. Warren, who has yet to suit up because of a broken foot.

Brogdon is averaging 18.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 28 games. The Pacers (17-30) are on the road toplay the Pelicans (17-28) on Monday

The post REPORT: Indiana Pacers Sit Malcolm Brogdon For 10 Days Of Rehab appeared first on SLAM.

Storylines started appearing from his leaving the arena and not making himself available to the media to the Lakers front office, giving Frank Vogel the green light to bench him.

The Lakers point guard sat down in Orlando with League insider Adrian Wojnarowski for an interview, stating that even though he was disappointed with being benched Wednesday, he remains focused on doing what’s best for the team to win.

Westbrook tells ESPN: “I have accepted everything that has been asked of me and tried to do it to the best of my ability.”

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 21, 2022

Westbrook also wanted to provide insight into the rumors that he left the locker room without meeting with reporters when both Westbrook and team officials requested that he skip the interview session. He also asked Lakers Nation for patience and a chance to show what he and the Los Angeles Lakers can do when Anthony Davis returns from his MCL injury in his left knee.

Russ made it directly clear to ESPN that he is still committed to the process of doing whatever the Lakers need to do to be successful this season.

“We obviously haven’t been fully healthy, but I’m committed to making this thing work. The communication is there with everybody in the organization to make this thing work, to make this team we all want it to be in the future.”

“Everybody is trying to figure out what to do and how to do it. I try to put my head down and do the best that I can do for our team, and whatever is asked of me, I try to do it to the best of my ability. That’s all I’ve been trying to do since I got here.”

Lakers Coach Frank Vogel has backed Westbrook throughout this period and said as much via NBA.com.

“I feel good about what we’re doing with our team and don’t feel good always about the results,” Vogel said Wednesday. “But I believe in what we can do this year, and so (I’m) steadfastly remaining focused on the task at hand.”

Russell Westbrook and the Lakers (22-23) are on the road to take on the Orlando Magic (8-38) Friday night.

The post Russell Westbrook On Benching: ‘Whatever Is Asked of Me I Try to Do It to the Best of My Ability’ appeared first on SLAM.

The King is now just 93 assists away from becoming the first 30,000/10,000/10,000 player in NBA history.

Not normal to be doing this on year 19…(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/mK3doPAhEi

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) January 20, 2022

With just 4:11 remaining in the fourth, James chased after a missed three by Torrey Craig to notch the landmark board. In 37 minutes of action, the four-time MVP dropped 30 points, 12 boards, and five dimes alongside two steals, becoming the 42nd player in the League’s history to reach 10,000 rebounds, joining fellow teammates Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan as the only active players to reach the milestone.

After their fourth loss in five games, James and the Lakers will look to find their groove once again against the Orlando Magic on Friday.

The post LeBron James Notches Another Career Milestone, First Player to Record 30,000/10,000/9,000 appeared first on SLAM.

Long before the Lakers’ 111-104 loss to the Pacers, Vogel and his staff were reportedly given assurances that the franchise would support him “in taking a hard line while coaching the star.” ESPN says that the Lakers’ message can be described as “You got to do what you got to do.”

Vogel decided to test that power in the final 3 minutes, 52 seconds of the fourth quarter against Indiana. Westbrook was 5-for-17 from the field when Vogel benched Westbrook for Malik Monk, with L.A. trailing 101-94. Westbrook’s defensive effort was also crucial in the benching after Caris LeVert blew by Westbrook for a layup early in the final frame of the game.

“Playing the guys that I thought were going to win the game,” Vogel said when asked about his decision to bench Westbook.

As reported by multiple outlets, Vogel’s job security as Lakers head coach has been in jeopardy due to the Lakers’ tough start to the season. At 22-23, the Lakers have underperformed despite acquiring multiple Hall-Of-Famers, most notably trading for Westbrook in a blockbuster draft-day trade.

Westbrook reportedly left Crypto.com Arena before speaking to reporters. On the season, Westbrook is averaging 18.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game on 43.3 percent shooting from the field. He is currently the all-time leader in triple-doubles and averaged a triple-double in four seasons. He sports a 142-51 record when he records the feat as well.

“It’s frustrating. I can tell you that,” Carmelo Anthony said in defense of Westbrook per ESPN. “It’s frustrating as a player who’s trying to make it right, trying to do things right. This is new for him. This is a new situation. This is a new environment. We got to help him through it. I mean, that’s the only thing we can do, is make sure his mental is right. That’s the only thing I care about. I don’t care about any basketball stuff when it comes to Russ.

“As long as his mental is right, then I’m good.”

The post REPORT: Lakers Front Office Gave Coach Frank Vogel Greenlight to Bench Russell Westbrook appeared first on SLAM.

According to The Athletic, the Kings will remain active in trade conversations but have informed teams in the trade market that are intent on building their franchise around Fox and Tyrese Haliburton. The Kings reportedly informed Fox and his representation that they do not want to trade him and want to center the team around him and Haliburton as well.

The Athletic further reports that a deal for Domantas Sabonis will not happen. It remains to be seen how the Kings decision will impact their ability to trade for Ben Simmons.

According to Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee, the Sacrament Kings are shopping De’Aaron Fox in trade talks for Indiana Pacers All-Star Domantas Sabonis and Ben Simmons ahead of the NBA’s trade deadline in February,

Fox was reportedly off the table in trade discussions during the offseason, but the Kings (18-28) are 11th in the Western Conference and have reversed course as they fight for a spot in the play-in tournament.

The Kings were also rumored to have been involved in trade talks with the Philadelphia 7ers for Simmons during the offseason, but negotiations stalled since the Kings didn’t want to give up Fox. That has reportedly changed, per Anderson, The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported on The Athletic NBA Show podcast that he sees Sabonis and Simmons as the KIngs’ two biggest priorities ahead of the trade deadline.

The Kings rewarded Fox with a five-year contract extension after the 24-year-old point guard averaged a career-high 25.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game last season while shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from deep. The front-office brass reportedly had lofty expectations of Fox, expecting the Kentucky product to match or exceed those numbers during the 2021-2022 season.

Through 42 games, Fox is putting 20.9 points, 5.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds on 45.7 percent shooting from the field, and a career-worse 25.3 percent from downtown.

For Sabonis, his name has been involved in trade talks since December. The Pacers are 15-29, 13th in the East, and are reportedly looking to rebuild and move Sabonis, Caris LeVert, and Myles Turner. The two-time All-Star has put up solid numbers, averaging 18.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.0 steal per game on top of shooting 57.3 percent from the floor.

Exchanging Fox for Sabonis or Simmons could reverse the fortunes of the Kings who have toiled through two decades of perennial futility. Sacramento hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2005-06, the longest active drought in the League by 10 years. Trading Sabonis, LeVert, and Turner will only accelerate the Pacers’ reported intent to rebuild.

The post REPORT: Kings Intend On Keeping De’Aaron Fox and Building Around Him and Tyrese Haliburton appeared first on SLAM.

According to ESPN, he is expected to be sidelined beyond the Feb. 10 NBA trade deadline.

Pacers center Myles Turner is expected to be sidelined beyond the February 10 NBA trade deadline, sources tell ESPN. Team says he will be re-examined in two weeks, but teams interested in trading for Turner will have to do due diligence on injury as they weigh offers.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 18, 2022

Turner was held out of the Pacers Monday 139-133 loss to the Clippers after Coach Rick Carlisle said that Turner was dealing with a sore left foot on Sunday. The two-time block leader is still traveling with the team as it embarks on a five-game Western Conference road trip.

Since December, Turner has been involved in trade rumors, is on public record saying he wants a more prominent role than what he’s been provided with, believing that the Pacers see him as a role player.

“It’s clear that I’m not valued as anything more than a glorified role player here, and I want something more, more opportunity,” Turner told The Athletic in December. “I’m trying really hard to make the role that I’m given here work and find a way to maximize it. I’ve been trying to the past two, three seasons. But it’s clear to me that, just numbers-wise, I’m not valued as more than a rotational role player, and I hold myself in a higher regard than that.”

As of Tuesday, Turner is averaging 12.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game this season. He’s shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the three-point line.

On Wednesday, Indiana (15-29) will face the Los Angeles Lakers (22-22).

The post Pacers Announce Myles Turner Out For Two-Weeks After Suffering Foot Injury appeared first on SLAM.

According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, the Pacers’ Caris LeVert has drawn the eye of two NBA teams, but the asking price may be too high.

“Caris LeVert has known suitors in Cleveland and New York, but so far Indiana has requested multiple first-round picks for the 27-year-old guard as well, sources said.”

LeVert is in his seventh season in the NBA and his second with the Pacers, joining via trade from the Brooklyn Nets last season.

Over his career, LeVert has averaged 14.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game, but those numbers have taken a jump since joining Indiana. LeVert has posted 19.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game through 64 games since becoming a Pacers.

While LeVert could be on the move, Fischer reports that center Myles Turner still looks to be the most likely candidate to find himself traded before the deadline, with a laundry list of teams interested including “Dallas, Minnesota, New York, Sacramento, Charlotte, and Portland.”

Fischer reports in the same article that Indiana has put in calls for several players themselves. The Pacers seem to be looking for help on the wing, with Fischer reporting interest in acquiring Torrey Craig, Justin Holiday, or Jeremy Lamb.

The NBA trade deadline is now less than a month away, taking place on Thursday, Feb. 10.

The post REPORT: Pacers Caris LeVert ‘Has Known Suitors’ Ahead of Trade Deadline appeared first on SLAM.

According to NBA reporter Marc Stein, the Pacers announced their intentions to keep Lance through the end of the season.

The Pacers are expected to keep Lance Stephenson for the rest of the season, league sources say, thanks to his very strong play in this third Indiana stint that has won admiration from Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.

Stephenson has one day left on his initial Indiana hardship deal.

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 9, 2022

Anyone that saw Stephenson’s last two games saw this decision from the Pacers’ front office coming. They waived Kelan Martin to open a roster spot for the 6-5 guard the team drafted 40th overall in the 2010 NBA Draft.

First, he stole the show when Kyrie Irving’s made his return to the Brooklyn Nets roster by scoring an NBA-record 20 points off the bench in the first quarter on his way to a 30 point performance last Wednesday.

20 points.
8-9 shooting.
4-5 from deep.

In one quarter.

Lance. Stephenson. pic.twitter.com/kaNyZvlniZ

— NBA (@NBA) January 6, 2022

Then he followed it up by dishing a career-high 14 assists to go with 16 points, six rebounds, and four steals in the Pacers’ 125-113 win over the Utah Jazz on Saturday. His playmaking sparked his teammate Domontas Sabonis to a 42 point and six rebound night on 18-22 shooting.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?@StephensonLance @Dsabonis11 #NBAAllStar | #GoldBlooded pic.twitter.com/ak54pyLdvQ

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) January 9, 2022

After the Nets game, Stephenson expressed his feelings about being back in an Indiana uniform via the Indy Star.

“As soon as I put that jersey on, I feel like I just get my powers,” Stephenson said after scoring 30 points, just three points shy of his career-high, against the Nets on Wednesday. “I don’t know what it is. Every time I put that jersey on, I just feel comfortable, and when you playing in front of people that’s happy for you to play and egging you on, it just makes the game more easier.”

This is Stephenson’s third stint with the franchise. On Monday, the Pacers (15-25) return to action against the Celtics (19-21).

The post REPORT: Indiana Pacers Sign Lance Stephenson For the Rest Of Season appeared first on SLAM.

On Thursday, the NBA released its first returns on All-Star fan voting, and there are a few surprises sprinkled throughout.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry leads the way in voting, who has accumulated nearly 2.6 million votes, almost around 200,000 more than the second-place vote-getter, Kevin Durant. A familiar face rounds out the position leaders in LeBron James, the top vote-getter among forwards in the Western Conference and an unusual but deserved face in DeMar DeRozan, the top vote-getter among guards in the Eastern Conference.

DeRozan’s lead and now expected All-Star appearance is much deserved, as he is having a career year for the Chicago Bulls, averaging 26.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game.

Other players to accumulate over one million votes thus far include Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Paul George. Andrew Wiggins just missed out at 933,355 votes.

Every year, a few unexpected names pop up and receive hundreds of thousands of votes, and this year is no different. Klay Thompson has yet to play a game this season for the Warriors, but he is still the fourth-highest vote-getter among Western Conference guards. Kyrie Irving is sixth amongst guards in the East, despite just making his season debut on Wednesday.

Derrick Rose is averaging just 12.0 points per game for the New York Knicks coming off the bench and has received nearly double the votes of Darius Garland and Fred VanVleet. Two other vets coming off the bench received a hefty number of votes: LaMarcus Aldridge and Carmelo Anthony, who have started a combined 13 games between them.

If you want your favorite player to be further up the list, you still have some time! NBA All-Star fan voting doesn’t close until Saturday, January 22, and the full rosters will be announced in full on February 3.

The NBA All-Star game will take place in Cleveland at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday, February 20.

The post Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant Lead NBA All-Star Fan Vote Returns appeared first on SLAM.

Irving was out early pregame getting up shots in his red and white Kyrie 3s. In the game, he decided to sport the “Mamba Mentality” Kyrie 3s, which were inspired by Kobe Bryant’s previous Bruce Lee theme and featured a split “Kyrobe” logo on the tongue.

First look at Kyrie. NJ’s own is back. (: @darenscarberry) pic.twitter.com/6uTwZ18N8z

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) January 5, 2022

After going scoreless in the first quarter, missing his first three shots, Uncle Drew started to warm up in the second quarter knocking down three straight shots, sinking two free throws, scoring Brooklyn’s first eight points. In the first 17 minutes, Irving’s stat line stood at eight points, two rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Kyrie Irving drops in his first bucket of the season!

Nets, Pacers on League Pass:https://t.co/oz9UCQxdQa pic.twitter.com/Z0CVPHr4Dt

— NBA (@NBA) January 6, 2022

After sitting much of the third quarter, Irving made a positive impact again, sparking an 8-0 Brooklyn run to end the third quarter with two buckets, including a buzzer-beater to cut the Pacers lead to single digits going into the final quarter.

Then, when he returned to the game with 8:39 left, Kyrie Irving went off, scoring ten points to seal the Nets’ comeback from a 19-point deficit to win 129-121. Irving’s performance helped the Nets outscore the Pacers 69-48 in the second half.

#13 #11 pic.twitter.com/fVna2VF6rk

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 6, 2022

In 32 minutes, Irving finished with 22 points (on 9-17 shooting from the field), three rebounds, four assists, and played active defense, registering three steals on the night. The story of the game is how long Irving will take to knock off the rust and get acclimated to his role on the team. There’s also the question of whether he makes the All-Star game or not; he will provide an All-Star-type buzz in every arena he travels to for the rest of the season.

“Just a lot of gratitude just to be present tonight with everyone,” Irving said per ESPN. “Just go out there and have fun doing what we love to do. It was a not-so-good first half for us, and we came in the locker room, and we knew that in order to build this identity that we want to have later in the season, we got to start now.”

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The post Kyrie Irving Makes His NBA Return Against the Indiana Pacers appeared first on SLAM.

On Tuesday night against the Indiana Pacers, Barrett was back on top of his game, finishing with 32 points and eight rebounds in New York’s 104-94 win at home. His 30+ point performance broke the franchise record for the most career 30 points games by a Knick 21-years-old and under previously held by former Knicks lottery pick Kristaps Porzingis.

RJ Barrett got his 4th career 30-point game.

That is the most by any Knicks player at age 21 or younger in franchise history, breaking a tie with Kristaps Porzingis. pic.twitter.com/NKTIKpeuDg

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 5, 2022

Barret’s exploits earned him praise from Knicks fans within Madison Square Garden. Per the New York Post, Barrett enjoyed the chants stating that hearing fans chanting your name is fun. As for his performance, Barret was just as simple with his analysis stating his high-point total was thanks to his aggressiveness.

“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Barrett said. “When you get in the paint, you either finish or kick out if the defense collapses.”

Barrett started the game on fire, scoring career highs in one quarter (19) and a half (24) to keep the Knicks close at halftime. His performance was impressive to Tom Thibodeau via the New York Post. His spurt powered a 16-0 run to give New York an early lead.

“The big thing is for RJ; it was incredible for him to start the game,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “With both guys, it’s them attacking the rim. The game will tell you what to do. If we settle for shots, it’s going to cause problems. If we’re attacking the rim, it makes us different.”

“RJ BARRETT ERUPTING IN HERE IN THE FIRST QUARTER.”

He’s got 17 points and counting. pic.twitter.com/ROGXfIuOCr

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 5, 2022

Over the last three games, Barrett’s play is starting to trend upward with averages of 25.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. The third-year forward has a chance to continue his hot scoring streak Thursday against the Boston Celtics.

The post RJ Barrett Breaks Knicks Scoring Record Held By Kristaps Porzingis appeared first on SLAM.

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving is expected to make his season debut Wednesday on the road against the Indiana Pacers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. After missing the Nets’ first 35 games of the season, Irving has targeted Wednesday for his return.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 3, 2022

Reports that the Nets were willing to bring Irving back first came out mid-December. The development surprised many around the League and media since the Nets front office was seemingly adamant that Irving would not play unless he were vaccinated and eligible to be a full participant.

However, the Nets were hit hard by health and safety protocols, even losing Kevin Durant, James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Paul Milsap for some time while they were in protocols. As a result, the Nets have now decided to bring back Irving as a part-time player, allowing him to play road games and practice with the team.

The Nets (23-11) are only one game behind the Bulls (24-10) for first place in the Eastern Conference. The Nets are close to full health and will be even more dangerous once Irving returns and Joe Harris, who is still recovering from ankle surgery.

The post REPORT: Kyrie Irving Set to Make Season Debut on Wednesday appeared first on SLAM.

Although he’s no longer in his prime, Stephenson was a solid player for the Pacers during the two previous stints he spent with the team. He began his career in Indiana, then had a second run with the team starting in the 2016-17 season.

Now, Stephenson is once again a Pacer for the third time. While there’s a good chance this is only temporary, he’ll be a quality veteran for the struggling franchise. Before signing this deal with Indiana, Stephenson was on a 10-day deal with the Atlanta Hawks where he got limited action.

In his first game with the Pacers on Sunday night, Stephenson was a legitimate contributor. In a close loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, he posted six points, three assists and one rebound in just 13 minutes of action.

It’s unclear what Stephenson’s future is in Indiana, but for now it’s great to see him back with his former team. With depleted rosters across the league, teams have looked very different over the past several weeks.

The post Lance Stephenson is a Pacer Once Again appeared first on SLAM.

On Tuesday, Marc Stein reported that Lance Stephenson had signed a 10-day hardship contract with the Atlanta Hawks.

Stephenson is getting the chance with the Hawks as part of the NBA’s new hardship contract program, allowing teams struggling with COVID-19 outbreaks to sign short-term replacement players to continue playing games.

It’s been over two years since Stephenson last suited up for an NBA team, playing 68 games with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2018-19 season and averaging 7.2 points per game in the process.

However, Stephenson is an NBA vet, having played 508 career games with seven different NBA teams. Most will remember Stephenson for his six seasons spent with the Indiana Pacers, where he averaged 9.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game.

If Stephenson suites up for the Hawks during his 10-day contract, that will make Atlanta the eighth different franchise he’s played for in his career.

The Hawks have been hurt hard by the league’s health and safety protocols, with Trae Young, Clint Capela, and Danilo Gallinari all currently unavailable.

The post REPORT: Lance Stephenson Signs 10-Day Contract With Hawks appeared first on SLAM.

Update: On Tuesday, League commissioner Adam Silver announced in an interview with Malika Andrews that the NBA would not be pausing the season for the second season since the 2019-2020 season. Silver also said that the Omricon is ‘beyond dominate’ while constituting 90 percent of positive tests.

REPORT: Per League insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA, and the players union have reached an agreement to lessen the quarantine period for COVID-positive players. Players that tested positive for COVID-19 can clear protocols after five days if their “CT values” are above 30.

If a team has three positive results, two replacement signings are required. For four or more positive tests, three replacement players will be required. Two-way players will reportedly also have no limit to the number of games they can appear in as well. If a team has 13 players available for a game they do not have to sign any players to a hardship exemption.

A game will only be postponed if a team doesn’t have at least eight players available to play. A tactic the NBA frequently utilized last year when officials postponed 31 games. The League has decided to postpone nine games in total.

Below is the list of players and coaches currently in the League’s health and safety protocols.

Atlanta Hawks (three players, head coach)

• Chris Clemons
• Gorgui Dieng
• Cameron Oliver
• Nate McMillan

Boston Celtics (one player) 

• Payton Pritchard

Charlotte Hornets (one player)

• Vernon Carey Jr.

Chicago Bulls (one player)

• Alex Caruso

Dallas Mavericks (two players, head coach)

• Jason Kidd
• Boban Marjanovic
• Kristaps Porzingis

Denver Nuggets (one player)

• Petr Cornelie

Detroit Pistons (one player)

• Frank Jackson

Houston Rockets (one players)

• Usman Garuba

Indiana Pacers (six players)

• Justin Anderson
• Goga Bitadze
• Torrey Craig
• Isaiah Jackson
• Caris LeVert
• TJ Warren

LA Clippers (three players)

• Luke Kennard
• Xavier Moon
• Ivica Zubac

Memphis Grizzlies (three players, head coach)

• Taylor Jenkins
• John Konchar
• De’Anthony Melton
• Xavier Tillman

Miami Heat (three players)

• Marcus Garrett
• Udonis Haslem
• Gabe Vincent

Milwaukee Bucks (four players, head coach)

• Grayson Allen
• Mike Budenholzer
• Pat Connaughton
• George Hill
• Jrue Holiday

New Orleans Pelicans (one player)

• Tomas Satorasnky

Oklahoma City Thunder (one player, head coach)

• Isaiah Roby
• Mark Daigneault

Orlando Magic (one player)

• Robin Lopez

Philadelphia 76ers (three players)

• Tyrese Maxey
• Paul Reed
• Jaden Springer

Phoenix Suns (two players)

• Abdel Nader
• Landry Shamet

Portland Trail Blazers

• Norman Powell

Sacramento Kings (one player)

• Richaun Holmes
• Chimezie Metu

San Antonio Spurs (five players)

• Keldon Johnson
• Doug McDermott
• Devin Vassell
• Derrick White
• Thaddeus Young

Toronto Raptors (one player)

• Yuta Watanabe

Utah Jazz (two players)

• Rudy Gobert
• Joe Ingless

Washington Wizards (four players)

• Anthony Gill
• Tremont Waters
• Brad Wanamaker

The post NBA Health and Safety Protocol Tracker appeared first on SLAM.

“Who was I to say that?” Young ponders today. “I should’ve gone down there, done my job and gotten better. But life is about moving on. I’m here now. I learn from my mistakes and try to be better for it.”

“Here,” of course, is the G League. More specifically, it is a gym at Birmingham Southern College, a Division III school where the Birmingham Squadron—a newly established G League franchise affiliated with the Pelicans—practice. So Joe Young is in the exact place that he did not want to be six years ago. Only now, he is thrilled to be there. 

He is highly engaged every day at practice, ensuring the focus level remains high, and giving fiery speeches when it doesn’t. He frequently speaks up in film sessions and tries to mentor the younger players. He has organized and paid for multiple team dinners, including one at Ruth’s Chris at the onset of training camp, and another at Benihana on a road trip to Frisco, TX. 

Young vows that he is a new person, with a new perspective and a completely new approach to his career. And he is embracing this latest stop on his journey—one he is confident leads back to where it all began, six years ago. 

The Indiana Pacers selected Young, a sharpshooting guard and the son of former NBA player Michael Young, with the 43rd pick in the 2015 Draft. As a senior at Oregon, he had been named Pac-12 Player of the Year and led his team to a 26-10 record. His scoring ability was undeniable—after transferring from Houston, Young had registered the highest point total over two seasons (1,388) in Oregon history. He immediately signed a multi-year deal with Indiana—three years guaranteed, including a team option on a fourth.

He played sparingly in his rookie season. That’s when the Pacers first sent him down to the G League, and Young requested never to go back. Over the ensuing two years, his role would stay relatively the same. He provided the occasional spark off the bench, but never really got enough consistent minutes to assert himself. Still, he was surprised when the team declined his fourth year option. Summer League rosters were already set by the time he found out. NBA opportunities were limited. Young looked around and saw nowhere to go—nowhere in America, anyway; so he hopped on a plane bound for the other side of the world.

When he arrived in Nanjing—the capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province—in 2018, Young did not intend to stay long. This was never a part of the plan, of course; it would merely be a minor detour. But life gradually became comfortable. Young adjusted to the culture. He developed a routine. He earned a good salary. And with ample playing time (over 41 minutes per game) and the ultimate green light, he absolutely dominated on the court. Young averaged 36.1 points, 5.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds in his debut season for the Nanjing Tongxi Monkey Kings; and after no NBA deal presented itself, he re-signed with the organization for the 2019-20 campaign.

Year two brought more of the same. Young continued to torch defenses on a nightly basis. He dropped 74 points in one game—the third highest scoring output in Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) history—and averaged 56.8 points over a stretch of five. He was named an All-Star and eventually won the scoring title. Yet, once the season ended, the ongoing pandemic made an NBA comeback even more difficult. Ultimately, he decided that the best move was to stay in the CBA and accept a lucrative offer from the Beijing Royal Fighters (one-year, $3.1 million), where he would be coached by basketball legend Stephon Marbury. 

Throughout his time in China, Young did a lot of reflecting. The distance and separation allowed him to analyze things through a more honest lens. He would just sit and contemplate what he should have done differently, often jotting notes down on a piece of paper. For all the work he put in during his three years with the Pacers (like famously sleeping on the floor of the practice facility), I could have gone harder, he thought. But mainly, in his eyes, it was the “little things” that needed to be fixed, like his attitude toward the G League and his disposition on the bench after being subbed out of games.

“It was my maturity,” he tells SLAM. “I knew that I was good enough to play on the court, but did I have the mindset and the mentality to cheer my teammates on, like they would do for me if I was out there? I didn’t have it. I would be over there mad. Like, what am I mad for? I was young. If I could get that back, I would change the narrative to how I act now. I would just act like how I am [as] a father to my kids. I gotta be a father. I can’t be childish. I gotta make sure I show them how to live life, how to respect life, how to respect yourself, and how to become successful at a high level.”

Young’s sole year with the Royal Fighters provided further validation that the NBA was well within reach. Coach Marbury challenged him to do whatever it took to get back, stressing—in many emotional, tear-filled conversations—that Young belonged there—not here. The message was received clearly. Following the season, Young pledged to pursue all the necessary steps, no matter the circumstances, to realize his NBA dream again.

Thus, at the age of 29, he left another three-million-dollar contract on the table and entered the G League draft instead. “If you know you belong somewhere, and you know what it takes to get there, you gotta do the things that you don’t want to do to get there,” Young says. “I knew that I would have to take a big pay cut. I felt like, no biggie. I can sacrifice that to get to where I want.”

Birmingham was ecstatic to see him still available deep into the first round. Given his track record, Young had been at the very, very top of their draft board. The front office was able to negotiate a last-second trade, moving up to the 21st pick to select him. Since then, it has been a non-stop whirlwind of training camp, practice, 5:45 am workouts (“The Breakfast Club,” as Young calls it), road trips and games. He has put up solid numbers (15.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals); but he also understands that it is those “little things,” the things he sometimes neglected before, that will land him back on an NBA roster: being a good teammate, leading on and off the court, maintaining a positive attitude and rigorous work ethic.

“I would say that Joe Young’s engagement, humbleness and excitedness to be here has been amazing,” Squadron head coach Ryan Pannone says. “Obviously, he’s got the most NBA experience on our team, but he’s been a great leader for us with that experience because, [like] a lot of players, there are some things he can look back on in his career—and I think all of us can look back on our career—and say, I wish I would have done this differently at 22, 23 years old. And he’s been imparting that knowledge on our players, and that’s been huge for us.”

“He’s been real important [for me and our team],” says 23-year-old guard John Petty Jr. “He looks at me like I’m his rookie. He said it’s like Paul George [was for him] when he came in the League—he was Paul George’s rookie [in Indiana]. It’s just good being around him, just seeing stuff like, every morning, he gets up at 5:45 to get a workout in. Seeing that type of stuff makes you want to do it.”

Young is trying hard to set an example—never mind that it’s in the G League, in a small, dimly lit gym at Birmingham Southern College. 

“Let’s get better! Let’s get better!” he hollers between drills. “Dial in! Dial in!” Being in that gym might feel like a long way from his days as a Pacer, but Young is right there, right on the doorstep of where he wants to be—where he knows he should be.

“We will get back,” Young tells me, flashing a big smile. “We’re going to be back in the NBA.”

Photo credit Birmingham Squadron.

The post Joe Young is on a Mission to Get Back in the NBA appeared first on SLAM.

Carlisle will miss multiple games as former Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce will step in as interim coach in his absence.

Pierce was named an assistant coach with the Pacers this summer after serving as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, leading them through the rebuilding process for two and a half seasons. Before coming to Atlanta, Pierce spent five years with the Philadelphia 76ers as an assistant.

Most recently, Pierce assisted Gregg Popovich en route to the USA’s gold medal run in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. His first test at the helm of the Pacers will be tonight when Indiana faces off against the Dallas Mavericks (12-12).

The post Lloyd Pierce to Serve as Interim Head Coach After Rick Carlisle Tests Positive for COVID-19 appeared first on SLAM.

In an interview with The Atheltic’s Jared Weiss, Turner indicated he was unhappy with his current situation with the Indiana Pacers.

“It’s clear that I’m not valued as anything more than a glorified role player here, and I want something more, more opportunity,” Turner told The Athletic Tuesday. “I’m trying really hard to make the role that I’m given here work and find a way to maximize it. I’ve been trying to the past two, three seasons. But it’s clear to me that, just numbers-wise, I’m not valued as more than a rotational role player, and I hold myself in a higher regard than that.”

During much of his seven-year tenure with the Pacers, Turner has been in and out of trade rumors. However, despite being unhappy with his role, Turner has put up big numbers, averaging 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game over his career. He has also led the League in blocks per game in two seasons.

The Pacers haven’t had the success they would like to start the season. They’re currently 13th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 11-16. Despite this, Turner has played well, averaging 12.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and an NBA-best 2.8 blocks per game.

Turner isn’t the only Pacer recently involved in trade rumors, with Domantas Sabonis and Caris LeVert being named as others potentially in the mix.

The post Myles Turner on Current Role With Pacers: ‘I Want Something More’ appeared first on SLAM.

Rick Carlisle had positive result on rapid test after last night’s win over Knicks, sources told ESPN. He took a PCR test today to confirm, but that result is not expected until Friday.

Pacers host Mavs on Friday, the first time Carlisle was scheduled to coach vs. his old team. https://t.co/Ibb31hMOS4

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 9, 2021

McMahon further reported that Carlisle took a PCR test Thursday but results aren’t expected until Friday. Indiana faces the Mavericks on Friday, it could be Carlisle’s first game against his former team. If the PCR test comes back positive, League insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that assistant coach Lloyd Piece will fill in against Dallas.

On Thursday morning, the Pacers and Raptors announced that they had canceled their scheduled practice due to health and safety protocols, citing “an abundance of caution.” The Raptors have no player or staff member in protocols as of yet. They both played and won against the Wizards earlier this week, the Raptors doing so on Sunday, and the Pacers on Monday.

The post REPORT: Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle Enters Health and Safety Protocol appeared first on SLAM.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Pacers point guard T.J. McConnell will be out for “several months” after having surgery on his right hand to repair torn ligaments.

McConnell suffered the injury in the Pacers 114-110 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Dec. 1 and has not played in either of the Pacers’ games since.

According to further reporting from ESPN, McConnell will be in a cast for 10-12 weeks, and he will be re-evaluated after that period.

McConnell’s injury is a tough blow to a Pacers team already struggling this season, currently 10-16 good for 13th in the Eastern Conference standings and fourth in the Central Division.

McConnell is averaging 8.4 points, and 4.8 assists on 24.2 minutes per game this season, primarily doing so off the bench for Indiana. Throughout his career, McConnell has played in 478 games averaging 6.8 points and 5.0 assists per game. He is in the first year of a four-year $35.2 million deal signed in the offseason.

The post REPORT: T.J. McConnell Out ‘Multiple Months’ After Surgery on Hand appeared first on SLAM.

According to reports, the Pacers have been receptive to trade talks centered around potentially moving Caris LeVert, Domantas Sabonis, or Myles Turner. All three have received interest from rival teams, in particular Sabonis and Turner, who have garnered frequent calls about their availability over the past several seasons.

However, newly hired Coach Rick Carlisle wants to keep the two big men together and have them around to help grow with the current roster. Sabonis is regarded as the Pacers’ best player and through 26 games this season, the 25-year-old is averaging 17.8 points, 12 rebounds, and 4.1 assists. Sabonis’ scoring is at its lowest since the 2018-2019 season, but he remains a valuable asset for the franchise.

It’s unclear to rival teams how quickly the Pacers will begin to make moves, but teams around the League expect the franchise to be patient with its trade prospects and decide on the best offers they can negotiate.

Since Malcolm Brogden is coming off a freshly signed two-year extension, keeping him around until 2025, he is ineligible to be traded during the 2021-2022 season. NBA bubble star TJ Warren has yet to play this season, battling a persistent foot injury that has only allowed him to play four games since last season. Warren reportedly told the front office that he wished to remain with the team.

The Athletic further details that Chris Duarte and Isaiah Jackson are primed to gain more playing time if Sabonis and Turner are moved. The 13th and 22nd overall picks respectively in the 2021 NBA Draft. Thus far in his rookie year, Duarte has shown to be a dependable two-way favorite of Carlilse, averaging 13.1 points, 4.1 boards, and 2.0 dimes a game.

The Pacers, led by owner Herb Simon, are a team that’s avoided going into a rebuild and have always attempted to put the best they can on the floor, even if that means being a bottom two playoff seed or losing in the first round of playoffs. With the Pacers dead last in fan attendance, the Pacers might be asking themselves, how much worse can it get?

The post REPORT: Pacers Open To Trading Domantas Sabonis, Caris LeVert, Or Myles Turner appeared first on SLAM.

With that in mind, Indiana is missing one of its best scorers in T.J. Warren, who hasn’t played yet this season due to a left foot fracture. 

Over the weekend, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle gave an update on Warren, saying he had a foot scan recently that showed “continued healing.”

Carlisle would go on to say that Warren won’t be back on the floor in game action until 2022, ruling him out for a return this month. 

“He’s not gonna have another scan until the later stage of the month or early January, so he will not play in December,” said Carlisle. “There’s a chance that he could get the go-ahead to keep escalating the workload, but for now it’s just about (how) he’s clearly out of the boot, starting to do things more actively.”

Warren played in just four games last season with this foot injury. The last time he played significant minutes was in the 2019-20 season, when he averaged 19.8 points per game while knocking down 40.3% of his 3-point attempts. 

While there’s no guarantee he comes back this dynamic as a scorer, the 28-year-old will certainly be a huge lift for the Indiana offense. 

Warren is set to become a free agent following this season, which means a high level of production upon his return will be important. 

The post Pacers Forward T.J. Warren Out Until 2022 appeared first on SLAM.

Gobert and Myles Turner got into it pic.twitter.com/M9Rkb6IwYz

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 12, 2021

It all started when Pacers center Myles Turner shoved Rudy Gobert in the back after a missed layup while screaming an expletive. Gobert responded by trying to drag him to the floor. Then the two started wrestling before being separated.

After the game, Turner blamed the scuffle on Gobert, knocking him down on a previous play via NBA.com.

“I had to stand up for myself in that situation,” Turner said. “I don’t think I did anything wrong. But that’s not for me to decide. We’ll talk to the League and see what happens from there.”

Rudy Gobert has his reflection on the incident via The Salt Lake Tribune.

“Guys need to stop acting like they’re going to do more and [just] play basketball,” Gobert said.

“And if they do want to do more, let’s do it outside the court and without security, and then we’ll figure it out. But on the court, ain’t nobody going to do s—. Let’s stop acting like we’re about that life. Most guys are not.

Donovan Mitchell, who yelled at the Pacers bench before getting ejected finished with 26 points, five rebounds, and four dimes, blamed the referees for allowing too much physical play early to build up frustrations on both sides.

“That whole thing could have been avoided — just draw the line early, as opposed to letting it build-up for the whole game,” Mitchell said.

The League has made no announcements of fines or suspensions yet.

The post Rudy Gobert and Myles Turner Reflect On Scuffle That Lead to 4 Ejections appeared first on SLAM.

After the game, point guard Malcolm Brogdon had high praise for his star center’s often overlooked defensive efforts.

“We’ve got the best defensive player in the League on our team. I hope people saw that tonight,” Brogdon said.

“We got the best defensive player in the league on our team…Myles shows that every night. He gets no recognition year after year, but hopefully this year he’ll get defensive player of the year.”@MalcolmBrogdon7

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) November 12, 2021

Turner’s three blocks Thursday also signaled for a new accolade to be added to his bag, moving into fifth place all-time in Pacers history for blocks with 908, 337 boards behind Pacers legend Jermaine O’Neal.

“I’m still climbing. I still got a ways to go. Fifth is cool, but I think Jermaine O’Neal is No. 1, and he knows I’m on his ass,” Turner said according to James Boyd of the Indy Star.

With a 5-8 record, the Pacers and Turner will look to grab a win against the Philadelphia 76ers (8-5) Saturday.

The post Myles Turner Moves Into Fifth All-Time For Blocks with Indiana Pacers appeared first on SLAM.

For starters, he is 24 years old. That makes him the oldest player in the 2021 class. In fact, when the Pacers drafted him with the 13th overall pick back in July, he became the oldest player selected in the first round since 2002. But with age comes experience, composure, confidence and toughness—all of which Indiana’s staff identified in Duarte right away.

“We wanted the best player available at 13,” head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters shortly after the draft. “[Duarte’s] maturity—when you watch him play, he plays like a pro. He plays at his pace. He has a great feel for change of pace. He never plays in a hurry. A lot of the young kids in college, when you see them play, there’s kind of a franticness at times to the college game. This kid plays the game at a different tempo.”

“All the coaches we’ve talked to both at Oregon and that have played against him and coached against him rave about his toughness, his ability to shoot the ball,” added general manager Chad Buchanan. “Our league today is about shooting and guys being able to create their own shot, create their own space. He’s got a beautiful NBA stroke and I think it’s going to translate from day one.”

It has. With TJ Warren still sidelined by a foot injury, Duarte was inserted into the starting lineup immediately, and has been able to provide a crucial scoring spark. His skill set is extremely advanced and, as Buchanan alluded to, a perfect fit for the modern NBA. Duarte shoots it at a high clip from behind the arc and attacks the rims effectively, using his 6-6 frame and soft touch to finish inside. He can create for himself with a smooth handle or spot up to space the floor when one of Indiana’s other playmakers, like Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert or Domantas Sabonis, is orchestrating the offense. Just look at the array of ways Duarte was able to score in his first NBA game, when he set a Pacers rookie debut record with 27 points on 9/15 shooting. (Also note the poise and change of pace that both Carlisle and Buchanan referenced. Duarte never seems rushed or out of control, even with the clock winding down. He plays at his speed.)

As of this writing, Duarte is averaging 14.8 points (third among rookies) on 43% shooting from the field and 40% from three. He’s attempting and hitting about the same number of catch-and-shoot threes as pull-up threes off the dribble. He recently joined Reggie Miller as the only players in Pacers franchise history to score 10 or more points in their first nine career games. On defense, Duarte competes with a lot of energy and uses his quick hands to be disruptive (he averaged almost two steals per game at Oregon last season). He also takes advantage of his size and length to help Sabonis and Myles Turner clean up the glass. Of the Pacers who have appeared in more than half the games this season, Duarte currently has the best plus-minus on the team.

Of course, Duarte’s age is what deterred a lot of NBA scouts and executives this past summer. Organizations tend to target younger—albeit less polished—prospects in the draft, betting on their future growth and development. Front offices are often more fixated on “what if” than “what is”—a fact that, as Duarte admitted in an interview with NBA.com, once got to his head a little bit. “I got mad one time,” he said, referencing a pre-draft camp. “I was like, ‘OK guys, everybody keeps talking about this age thing. The age, the age. You’re old, Chris.’ I got mad and said, ‘Hey man, I don’t want to hear nothing about my age anymore. If you want to win games, get me. If you want to win in four years, go ahead and draft a 19-year-old kid. Then you can develop him and make him a superstar in three, four or five years. But you don’t know if he’s going to be a superstar—you don’t know, who knows?’”

It’s true—who really knows? Some gambles are safer than others, but with rookies, you rarely know beyond any doubt. Duarte might be closer to his ceiling than most rooks; but when the draft took place a few months ago, he was also much closer to a “sure thing.” Indiana felt very, very confident that they knew exactly what they were getting in the guard from Oregon. And they’ve gotten it so far.

After his historic NBA debut, Duarte was asked whether his early success had impressed even him, given how rare it is for rookies to thrive from day one. “I always play around, telling some of my teammates that I’m not a rookie,” he responded with a laugh.

Well, certainly not your typical one.

The post SLAM x Panini Rookie Spotlight: Chris Duarte appeared first on SLAM.

While speaking on The HoosHype Podcast with Michael Scotto, Turner said that being in trade rumors isn’t a concern for him anymore and shouldn’t be for others either.

“You’ve got to go out there and take control of your own destiny. If you get traded, so be it. Go out there and kill it. If you stay with your organization, come out and show them why they paid you,” Turner said. “You can make it an ego thing, but this is a business at the end of the day. The organization is going to do what’s best for the organization. They’re not inclined to care about your feelings in a sense.

“Now that I see myself in these rumors all the time, it’s just like another day for me. It’s like, ‘Oh, what else is new?'” Turner said.

Turner has made himself a wanted commodity in his seven NBA seasons. Thus far, Turner has accumulated career averages of 12.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.

Turner has been a difference-maker on defense for years, having led the League in blocks per game twice. He is currently leading the lead in blocks per game this season with 3.2 per game.

Despite strong play from Turner, the Pacers have been underwhelming to start the season, sitting at 13th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 4-8.

The post Myles Turner Discusses Mindset When Involved in Trade Rumors appeared first on SLAM.