There have been a lot of good stories in the league this season: the great play of the No. 1 pick Karl-Anthony Towns, the continued excellence of the Atlanta Hawks, the rebirth of Celtic Cool in Boston, the return to full health of Paul George, an unexpected playoff run in Portland, the triple-double frenzy of Russell Westbrook, the can’t-take-your-eyes-off-them Cleveland Cavaliers, and on and on.
And there have been stranger ones: Kobe’s Farewell Tour, turning a franchise inside-out, the Philadelphia 76ers gradually saying goodbye to The Process, whatever happened between Derek Fisher and Matt Barnes, the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards imploding and missing the playoffs, George Karl, DeMarcus Cousins, Vivek Ranadive and Bob and Ted and Carol and Alice and everybody else involved in the soap opera in Sacramento, and on and on.
But there were only two great stories in the league this season: the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. And at the end of the day, it was Golden State, the defending champions, who told the tale of the regular season in historic fashion.
Even as their coach lay low, not able to coach them the first half of the season, the Warriors came out with a singular motivation: to lay fallow any notion that they were “lucky” to win the title last year. By winning their first 24 games, the Warriors made clear their intentions not just to defend their title, but to leave a marker as one of the greatest teams ever to play. And this morning, they’re on the verge of doing just that.
With a win Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Warriors will set the all-time regular season win mark, at 73-9. Nine losses. In a season. That’s unpossible. (Yeah, I made that word up.) By way of comparison, the 76ers have had separate losing streaks this season of 18, 12, 13 and 12 games.
The Warriors have done more than win. They’ve won with joy and passion, excitement and defense. I saw the Bulls win 72 games. I was at win No. 70 in 1995-96, on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks, a win which broke what was then the all-time mark (the 69-13 Los Angeles Lakers of 1971-72, who also won 33 straight games). I didn’t think I’d live to see anyone equal 72, much less break it.
Yet, here we are.
So when assessing who should get individual awards this season, it’s hard not to notice the league has tilted. There are the Warriors, over here, and just about everyone else way over there. (The Spurs, trying to deny the gravity of age, are still in the middle, their hands on the rope, coach Gregg Popovich yelling into a megaphone to not give an inch, not one inch.) It has made many of this year’s selections, especially starting at the top, much easier than normal.
Let’s put it this way: I won’t have to defend my James Harden vote this year.
And yet, I still feel compelled to say/write, as I do every year: this is my ballot, not yours. The picks I made below only have to make sense to me, not you. When and if you get to make selections, you’re free to use whatever criteria you deem relevant. But it won’t be relevant for me. So, please, don’t waste your bandwidth sending me some kind of Pythagorean formula that “proves” Markel Brown is better than Kevin Durant. It won’t change my mind.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
The Winner: Stephen Curry, Warriors
The Runner-Up: Kawhi Leonard, Spurs
The Others: Russell Westbrook, Thunder; LeBron James, Cavaliers; Kevin Durant, Thunder
Easy call, and I will frankly be stunned if it is not unanimous. Curry is so much better than he was last season, when he won his first Kia MVP, in so many ways on the floor. Forget the otherworldly accuracy from distance for a minute. Curry has become a multi-purpose destroyer of defensive worlds. He is not the fastest guy with the ball, but no one is quicker. There is a difference. The ability to change direction and angles is what made Steve Nash great. Curry has that same level of athletic ability.
His ballhandling, occasionally raggedy in his first four seasons, became sublime this year, the result of next-level offseason drills and work with his personal trainer, Brandon Payne. (Rarely noted: how strong Curry has become; the core strength and leg strength allow him to take all manner of contact and keep firing, and to run all day.) He can create space in a phone booth (kids! Ask your grandparents what a phone booth is), giving him that half-second he needs to get off his shot. If defenses crowd him, he now finishes with either hand, in traffic, while off-balance, through contact — whatever you throw at him, he beats it.
Per NBA.com/Stats, among players who have driven to the basket six or more times per game this season, Curry leads the league in shooting percentage, making 56.0 percent of those drives. He leads the league in points per game scored on pull-up jumpers (10.5). He’s always moving, always available. And, as we all see, no one in the history of this game has shot the ball so consistently from so far away. It’s been a transcendent season for Curry and the Warriors, who play hard and with joy, rarely are rattled, have brought casual fans into the NBA tent and are on the verge of having the greatest regular season ever.
I accept the notion from those who say Draymond Green is just as vital, if not more so, than Curry to the Warriors’ success. But Curry is, clearly, more valuable. He tilts the floor, puts unbearable pressure on opponents, then cracks their will in two — night after night after night.
In most any other year, Leonard would get more votes and consideration for MVP; there isn’t a better two-way player in the game today. His development and leadership (like Curry, he doesn’t say it, he does it on the floor) have centered the Spurs and accelerated the team’s transition and rebuild, leading to a breathtaking season. San Antonio is now well poised to enter the post-Duncan era, with Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge re-opening the championship window for another five or six years.
Leonard is now the focal point of the Spurs’ offense, consistently capable of scoring off a simple screen, one-dribble pullup, in transition, on the corner three — he’s got ’em all in his tool bag. And those monster hands of his allow him easy access to offensive rebounds and putbacks in the paint. Career highs this season in points, rebounds and assists have followed, along with a top-10 PER. Yet Leonard’s calling card remains the manner in which he slowly and consistently strangles the opponent’s top scorers.
Look at this compilation of Leonard’s defensive versatility. He guards the likes Chris Paul, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Rudy Gay, LeBron James, and on and on — in space, in the post, fighting through screens. He never gives in, he never gives up. It is a clinic in how physical ability, intelligence, intensive study and pride can combine to make up a man who is the best, without peer, at what he does.
Westbrook has brought his blunt-force karma to the floor almost every night this season in Oklahoma City, a cocktail of talent and hubris and will. Part of the thrill in watching him pile up triple doubles is part of what makes the Thunder so compelling — he does it, seemingly, in a vacuum, its own set piece. And it’s led him to the brink of posting the most triple-doubles in a season in nearly three decades. Westbrook is tied with Magic Johnson’s mark of 17 triple-doubles set in 1988-89, and trails Johnson’s 18 in 1981-82.
It hasn’t come at the expense of quality. Westbrook is shooting a career best in Effective Field Goal Percentage this season at .490 (to be fair, it’s the result of his being better shooting two-pointers this season, breaking 50 percent on twos for the first time in his career. He’s still not very good behind the arc, shooting just 30 percent on 3-pointers, pretty much his norm the last few seasons).
Whatever issues the Thunder may have in finishing games this season are worth a separate and worthwhile discussion. But Westbrook has excelled much of the season and deserves accolades — this isn’t a contract year push.
James continues to fill up the box and be durable. Back problems have caused him to miss more games this season for scheduled rest than for injury, even as he passed the 38,000-minute mark for his career. Other than an alarming dropoff in 3-pointers this season (he’s shooting a ghastly 29.3 percent, the worst since his rookie season), he’s looked pretty much the same as he has his whole career.
The Cavs have had some stumbles, to be sure, this season, but they’re nonetheless going to have a better record than last season and be the top seed in the Eastern Conference — and the inside route to The Finals. There is no question we take James’s greatness for granted — (ital)another 55-60 wins? Bor-rring.(endital)
Just consider this: if and when Cleveland wins its 12th playoff game, James would be heading to his sixth straight Finals, tying Hall of Famer Satch Sanders. Only six other players — like Sanders, all Celtics — have been in more consecutive Finals: Bill Russell (10), Sam Jones and Tom Heinsohn (9), K.C. Jones and Frank Ramsey (8) and Bob Cousy (7). That’s big-time company for James to keep.
Durant has answered all the questions about his health this season, coming back from foot surgeries that held him to 27 games last year. The scoring and efficiency are as potent as ever, and KD has also gotten it done on the glass, posting a career-best 8.3 rebounds per game. He’s second in the league to Curry in Player Efficiency Rating (28.1) and Player Impact Estimate (19.3). As for his future, his June will have a major impact on his July, if you know what I’m saying.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
The Winner: Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves
The Runner-Up: Kristaps Porzingis, Knicks
The Others: Jahlil Okafor, 76ers; Emmanuel Mudiay, Nuggets; Justise Winslow, Heat
Another wire job, this one by Towns, head and shoulders above all other first-year players this season — although it should be noted that this was an unusually potent group of first-year players. Guys like Myles Turner (Pacers), Josh Richardson (Heat), Larry Nance, Jr. (Lakers), Jonathan Simmons and Boban Marjanovic (Spurs) and Devin Booker (Suns) all were solid contributors to teams both good and bad. And while D’Angelo Russell made a huge error in judgment off the floor in surreptitiously taping teammate Nick Young about private issues during a conversation (the conversation subsequently being uploaded for public consumption), he flashed more than once on it, giving Laker fans at least some hope for the future.
But Towns was the best this season, by far. He leads all rookies in points (18.3) and rebounds (10.5) per game, is second in blocks (1.7) and second in field goal percentage, just scratching the surface of his potential.
He already has a veteran’s feel for things and rarely looked rushed with the ball in his hands. His presence took the light and heat off of Andrew Wiggins, who seems to prefer it that way. That alone makes Towns worth his weight in gold and future max salary for Minnesota, which has the best one-two punch of young players in the league going forward.
Porzingis tailed off noticeably as the season went on and the Knicks wore down, but at better than 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds (second only to Towns among rookies) per outing, Porzingis more than exceeded the low expectations of Knicks fans, who predictably booed his selection on 2015’s Draft night. He wasn’t quite the shooter his supporters predicted he’d be coming over from Sevilla in Spain’s ACB League, but with time and added strength, you can expect him to improve his shooting numbers across the board.
Okafor made news off the floor for all the wrong reasons, getting pulled over by Delaware police for excessive speeding over the Ben Franklin Bridge in October, and getting in a fight with a fan in Boston outside a club in November. The 76ers suspended him for two games in December, and he’s been trouble-free since, finishing the season averaging 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds.
Mudiay was among the bright spots in Denver’s rebuilding season, leading all rookies in assists, and averaging more dimes per game than the likes of Tony Parker or Kemba Walker. He will have to improve his shooting, to be sure. Only six of the 39 rookies who, like Mudiay, played 30 or more games this season shot worse than his 36.1 percent.
Winslow and Richardson contributed immediately upon arrival in Miami, with Winslow giving the Heat major minutes after injuries decimated Miami’s depth, and Richardson hitting at a ridiculous clip on threes, shooting 48.2 percent in a little less than 21 minutes per night.
SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
The Winner: Enes Kanter, Thunder
The Runner-Up: Andre Iguodala, Warriors
The Others: Jamal Crawford, Clippers; Jrue Holiday, Pelicans; Will Barton, Nuggets; Shaun Livingston, Warriors; Dennis Schroder, Hawks; Evan Turner, Celtics; Jeremy Lin, Hornets; Mirza Teletovic, Suns
There are a lot of good candidates for the award this season, but Kanter’s offensive punch off the bench for Oklahoma City has been remarkable and worthy of the honor.
The Thunder designed its bench this season to run through Kanter, in the first year of his four-year, $70 million deal, and he has delivered: 12.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 57.7 percent shooting (including a True Shooting Percentage of .625 and an Effective Field Goal Percentage of .582), an offensive rating at 109.5 and a top-10 PER — all in less than 21 minutes per game.
Per NBA.com/Stats, Kanter’s 23 double-doubles and his Player Impact Estimate of 16.0 are the highest among reserves who’ve appeared in 60 or more games this season.
The knock on Kanter has always, and correctly, been that he’s a defensive sieve. Well, he still isn’t any great shakes individually at that end, with a defensive rating of 107.1, and he’s not on any of the Thunder’s best defensive five-man units, which are all manned at center by Steven Adams. But given the expectations were so low to begin with, I can’t downgrade Kanter for not exceeding them. Depends on what you want from your sixth man, I guess; I prefer scoring.
But you could give this to Iguodala and I wouldn’t argue, as he is a prominent presence on Golden State’s “Lineup of Death” that finishes games, along with Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes and Green at center. Iguodala leads all bench players with 60 or more appearances this season in pace (the number of possessions per 48 minutes), at 102.4, and in offensive rating (113.8). His defensive rating of 99.4 is 14th among such bench players.
Numbers aside, the Warriors are just tougher at both ends of the floor when Iguodala is playing, capable of getting multiple stops and scoring in transition. He’s the tipping point defensively and with he, Thompson and Green, Golden State is nearly impregnable in the halfcourt. He’s just coming off a sprained ankle, but he’s played more than enough games this season to meet anyone’s criteria (and, indeed, the only criteria for Kia Sixth Man according to the league is coming off the bench in more games than you start).
Crawford, one of just four players (Kevin McHale, Ricky Pierce, Detlef Schrempf) to win the award twice, is as lethal as ever, adding five more four-point plays to give him 47 for his career, the most ever. At 36, he is still unguardable, still able to get his shot off any time, against any defender. His offensive rating in the last five minutes this season is a ridiculous 126.1, best among all bench players with 20 or more appearances in games down the stretch.
The Pelicans opted to bring Holiday off the bench for the bulk of the season as he was on a minutes restriction while recovering from an ankle injury. He led all reserves this season in scoring 17.0 per game and assists (6.4), but since he’s supposed to start, it’s hard to think of him as a true sixth man.
Denver’s Barton set a career best this season at 14.4 points a game. Livingston has been sensational for the Warriors, giving Golden State mismatches almost every game when he comes in, hitting the baseline turnaround over smaller points easily, hitting 55 percent from the floor. Schroder, Turner and Lin have all been outstanding for their respective playoff teams. With 171 3-pointers and counting this season, Teletovic has set the record for threes in one year by a bench player (originally set by Chuck Person in 1994-95, who made 164).
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
The Winner: Stephen Curry, Warriors
The Runner-Up: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
The Others: Kemba Walker, Hornets; Jae Crowder, Celtics; C.J. McCollum, Blazers
Normally I think voters who double up on awards are trying to be cutesy, looking to show they can see deeper into the game than the rest of us. But people touting Curry for Kia MIP this year have a point. He is, demonstrably, a better basketball player this season than last, and as he was the MVP last season, by definition that has to be a significant improvement.
As stated above, it starts with an improved handle, which makes Curry even more dangerous from more spots on the floor. He does so much more now than just spot up behind the arc. When you watch the Warriors, just watch how much Curry moves during a game, and how many layups he gets — or drives that lead to open threes for teammates. Per NBA.com/Stats, among players who drive at least twice a game (defined as a touch starting 20 feet from the basket, and ending 10 feet or less from the basket, not including fast breaks), only Kevin Durant shot a higher percentage — 55.8 percent — than Curry’s 55.4 percent. Last season, he shot 53.8 percent on such shots.
This helps explain how Curry has taken more shots this season than last, yet is shooting a higher percentage.
But I shouldn’t bury the lead, either. Curry’s become, somehow, even more accurate on long shots, shooting a career-best 45.2 percent on 3-pointers. That included, according to basketball-reference.com, a field goal percentage of .529 — that’s 52.9 percent — on shots between 28 and 43 feet this season — 43 feet being about a step or two inside the midcourt line. And it’s not like he’s taken a handful of such shots this year; he’s 45 of 85.
Walker shot 30 percent on 3-pointers last season and couldn’t make any defender come out from under a screen. He worked on it all summer and with Charlotte’s shooting and ballhandling coaches once camp began to become more consistent. This year he’s shooting almost 38 percent on 3-pointers, and that’s opened up the floor for him. His improved handles allow him to finish through traffic for the playoff-bound Hornets.
The Bucks, in need after Michael Carter-Williams went down for the season, gave Antetokounmpo the ball earlier than planned and started him down the road of playing point guard. And Jason Kidd has said they’re not turning back next year, even assuming Carter-Williams returns to health. “The Greek Freak” has been that nice with the ball in his hands, with five triple-doubles since he’s taken over at the point. That’s the potential of a 6-foot-11 kid with Antetokounmpo’s wing span and stride having the rock every night.
But he’s also gotten much better at other things, too. Despite playing just less than four more minutes a night than last season, Antetokounmpo is shooting a higher percentage this year, both overall and on threes, averages almost one rebound more than last year (7.6 to 6.7) and is dishing out, as noted above, way more assists.
Crowder was already good during his two-plus seasons in Dallas, but he’s become even better in Boston, earning more minutes with improved two-way play. Before suffering a sprained ankle early in March, he had solidified himself as a full-time starter that coach Brad Stevens felt comfortable giving the ball to in key situations. Scoring better than 14 points a game in 31 minutes, Crowder became credible for a full season behind the arc (34 percent), while also becoming a much better playmaker and creator.
McCollum flashed last year when Wesley Matthews’ torn Achilles’ forced him into the lineup in the postseason. But he’s jumped a couple of levels this season, averaging almost 21 a game and dramatically raising his shooting and playmaking all over the floor as a strong second option in Portland to Damian Lillard. I acknowledge that my previous knowledge of McCollum as he dominated the Patriot League (and my beloved American University Eagles) for Lehigh may color my view of how “improved” he is. I always thought he was going to be a very good pro if he got in the right situation and played with teammates that could complement his game. He has.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The Winner: Kawhi Leonard, Spurs
The Runner-Up: DeAndre Jordan, Clippers
The Others: Paul Millsap, Hawks; Hassan Whiteside, Heat; Draymond Green, Warriors; Tim Duncan, Spurs
In the small-ball era, versatility is king, and no one gets more heaped on his plate, while also being asked to carry the offensive load at the other end, as Leonard, who’s top 10 in offensive AND defensive rating (per NBA.com/Stats). Jordan is the only other player who can make that claim, which is why he’s second on the DPOY ballot. But he doesn’t have to cover as much ground at either end as Leonard, which is why the owner of Kawhi Island gets the nod here.
How good has Millsap been defensively this season? Try top 15 in the league in steals (12th), blocks (10th), defensive rating (sixth) and defensive Win Shares (first). Throw in a top 20 in rebounds per game (9.0, 18th in NBA), and you have a multi-skilled big who can handle switches, screens and isos without a problem, yet still get back to the rim to handle the defensive glass. The same goes for Green, who can bang with LaMarcus Aldridge one possession and handle Tony Parker in space on the next.
Whiteside hasn’t started much for the Heat of late, but that shouldn’t be held against him. He’s a better fit with the Heat’s 3-pointer-happy second unit — which funnels everything to him in the paint better than the slower, Chris Bosh-less starters. No matter when he appears, Whiteside remains a defensive terror as you can almost see the hesitation from drivers before they even get in the paint. Yet he still swats indiscriminately, at a league-best 3.7 blocks per game, with nearly a dozen rebounds as well. It’s impressive to see someone who can still impact the paint these days as well as Whiteside, who’s due for a monster payday as the premier big man free agent available this summer.
Duncan has teamed with Aldridge to make San Antonio’s paint as tight as ever, finishing second to Whiteside in defensive rating. Watching a man who’ll turn 40 at the end of the month still have a meaningful contribution to make to a championship contending team is remarkable, and a tribute to the pride and intelligence of the soon-to-be Hall of Famer.
COACH OF THE YEAR
The Winner: Steve Kerr, Warriors
The Runner-Up: Dwane Casey, Raptors
The Others: Terry Stotts, Blazers; Gregg Popovich, Spurs; Brad Stevens, Celtics, Steve Clifford, Hornets
I wanted to vote for Casey, who restored the defense-first identity of the Raptors after their second-half and playoff immolation last year — and did so with Toronto’s big free agent signing and defensive catalyst DeMarre Carroll sidelined most of the regular season. But, you can’t overthink this. Kerr’s team is on the verge of the greatest regular season in NBA history. And, no, I’m not at all swayed by the fact that he wasn’t on the bench for the first half of the season recovering from complications from two offseason back surgeries. You can make an argument that Luke Walton, who was interim coach while Kerr mended, should officially get credit for those first 43 games, and I wouldn’t quibble with it; in fact, I’d agree with you. But the NBA’s current rules give Kerr those wins, so if he’s got a 71-9 record this morning, he’s Coach of the Year. Period.
ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM
G: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
G: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
F: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
F: Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
C: DeAndre Jordan, Los Angeles Clippers
Leonard has to be rewarded for his two-way excellence, so he gets the nod over Durant at forward alongside James. Jordan is second in the Association in blocks and rebounds, and is shooting 70 percent — 70 percent! That would only be the third-best shooting percentage in league history — behind himself (71 percent last season) and Wilt Chamberlain (73 percent in 1972-73).
ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM
G: Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers
G: Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
F: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
F: Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
C: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks
Paul was sensational during Blake Griffin’s absence. Thompson lets his play (22 points, 42 percent on 3-pointers) do most of his talking. Green is the heart of a 70-plus win team, capable of triple-doubles, elite passing, shutdown defense and emotional leadership — all in the same game. Horford is Atlanta’s glue, battling bigger fives most every night but still bringing it at both ends.
ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM
G: Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
G: Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors
F: Paul Millsap, Atlanta Hawks
F: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
C: Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
Lillard deserves some love after leading the Blazers to an unexpected playoff berth. He’s been sensational. Lowry got off the deck after the Raptors got swept last year in the first round, remade his body and led Toronto to its best regular season ever. Davis was battered most of the season for the disappointing Pelicans, but if there’s one guy from a losing squad who deserves recognition for his game, it’s him, ahead of DeMarcus Cousins.
TOP O’ THE WORLD, MA!
(previous rank in brackets; last week’s record in parenthesis)
1) Golden State [1] (3-1): His.Toh.Ree.
2) San Antonio [2] (1-3): Warriors’ win at AT&T Center Sunday night ends the Spurs’ 33-game regular season win streak over the Warriors in San Antonio, dating back to Feb. 14, 1997.
3) L.A. Clippers [5] (4-0): Historically, the franchises are not comparable, of course. But the Clippers have now won 11 straight games against the Lakers after their 22-point victory last week. The win streak dates back to the 2013-14 season-opener on Oct. 29, 2013.
4) Cleveland [3] (1-2): Does anyone have any doubt that Tristan Thompson will get the lion’s share of center minutes in the playoffs ahead of Timofey Mozgov — or that Channing Frye won’t be on the floor a lot in the postseason?
5) Toronto [6] (3-1): DeMarre Carroll in the playoffs? ¯_(?)_/¯
6) Oklahoma City [4] (1-2): Despite strong play to end the regular season, Clips still can’t catch OKC for third place in the west, by virtue of the Thunder’s 3-1 season series lead.
7) Atlanta [9] (3-0): The Hawks’ current streak of nine straight seasons making the playoffs is topped only by the Spurs, who have made the postseason 19 consecutive seasons.
8) Boston [7] (2-1): Danny Ainge says on local radio in Boston that the Celtics aren’t yet a championship-caliber team, causing great rending of garments among some in Beantown. But, he’s right.
9) Miami [8] (3-1): The Heat looks locked in and ready to be a very tough out in the playoffs. As in six or seven games in a conference finals kind of tough out.
10) Charlotte [10] (2-2): Hornets blow a chance to win out and finish as high as fourth (with some help) with an uninspired loss Sunday in Washington to the non-playoff Wizards.
11) Memphis [11] (1-2): Surprised the Grizz didn’t hold onto guard Briante Weber, who was quickly scarfed up and signed to a multi-year deal by the Heat last week after Memphis let him go in favor of veteran Jordan Farmar.
12) Indiana [12] (2-1): After being in a horrendous shooting slump for weeks, C.J. Miles is coming back to life at the right time for the Pacers: 13.7 points, 49 percent shooting, 46.9 percent (30 of 64) on 3-pointers his last 10 games.
13) Detroit [13] (2-1): Well, this is a pretty cool feature for Pistons fans.
14) Portland [14] (2-1): Al-Faroqu Aminu might well be the best bang-for-the-buck free agent signing of the offseason.
15) Utah [15] (1-2): Yes, I would love to see a Stifle Tower-Draymond Green matchup at some point during a potential Warriors-Jazz first-round series. Yes, I would.
Golden State (3-1): The Warriors tied the Bulls’ 72 regular season win record with one game to go, and ended the Spurs’ 39-game win streak at home without a loss Sunday. We’ll forgive them the brain cramp at home last Tuesday against Minnesota.
TEAM OF THE WEAK
Brooklyn (0-3): Hillary vs. Bernie is a much better contest in New York than the Nets vs. anybody.
NOBODY ASKED ME, BUT …
Will a mid-range jump shooter who started the season in Shandong, China, save the 3-point happy Houston Rockets?
The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part…
Their silence said it all.
“I sat at home all summer with no phone call,” Michael Beasley said.
Thirty NBA teams signed veteran free agents, or rookies, or journeymen last offseason, and all 30 of them thought they could do better than Beasley, the second pick in the 2008 Draft. That included the Miami Heat, which was Beasley’s home last year, his third stint in South Florida.
Beasley knew most of the blame was his, his lack of development over the years in Miami and Minnesota and Phoenix the result of too much partying and not enough studying, the damage to his reputation — lowlighted by at least three arrests for marijuana possession since ’08, driving violations, a $25 million lawsuit (since dismissed) for false imprisonment — almost all at his own hand.
Even though he’s been clean drug-wise since 2013, the history still sat on him like a weight.
“I honestly thought the NBA, that chapter in my life was done,” Beasley said a few days ago. “…You go through stages. You get depressed. You get angry. You break stuff. You cry. You’re angry again. You get optimistic. You cry again. Last summer was probably the longest summer of my life. All I could do was pray, wake up, put one foot in front of the other and take it day by day.”
But, after spending the winter putting up huge numbers in Shandong, an eastern province on the China coast, playing for the Shandong Golden Stars of the Chinese Basketball Association, Beasley was signed by the desperate Rockets in early March as they searched for someone who could score in their desperate drive for the playoffs.
And, so far, the marriage of convenience has worked. Through 18 games, Beasley had been a godsend for Houston, averaging 13.4 points and 5.1 rebounds off the bench in 18.9 minutes a night. He’s stabilized the Rockets’ bench and given them a secondary ballhandler who plays well off of James Harden.
It is an unusual pairing. Under General Manager Daryl Morey, the Rockets’ embrace of the 3-pointer as their jump shot of choice has been clear. The worst shot in civilization in the 713 is a 20-footer, or any shot just inside the three-point arc.
But the in-between game is where Beasley shines. Per NBA.com/Stats, only 108 of Beasley’s 196 shots since joining the Rockets — 55.5 percent — have come either in the paint/non-restricted area, or on mid-range shots. He’s only taken nine 3-pointers, or .04 percent of his shots.
By contrast, Rockets starting small forward Trevor Ariza had taken 839 shots, only 122 of his shots — 14.5 percent — were on those paint/non-restricted area or mid-range jumpers, while 488, or 58.4 percent, were 3-pointers.
But the Rockets have needed Beasley to be Beasley.
“He’s perfect for our team,” Rockets guard Patrick Beverley said. “The type of offense we run — open offense, shoot quick, stuff like that — he can put the ball in the basket with the best of them. So it works perfect for us coming off the bench, help with our bench scoring. He’s athletic and he helps us with our rebounding, also, so we don’t have to put a lot of pressure on Dwight (Howard) to get every rebound. It works. It really works.”
Beverley has known Beasley since they played together on the U.S. team in the FIBA Under-19 World Championships in Serbia in 2007 (a motley crew that also included a young Stephen Curry and DeAndre Jordan, and won the silver medal).
“We kept in touch,” Beverley said. “Our kids are friends with each other. He’s always been a great friend. Our families know each other. When he came back, I was excited. I know the kind of things he can do, the things he’s capable of. I’m just glad he was able to get a second chance, because you don’t get a lot of second chances, not in this league.”
Beasley is way past his second chance. That probably came with the Wolves, who acquired him from Miami in 2010 for two second-rounders. Then came the Suns, who signed him in 2012, and hoped he’d be a big piece of their future. Then came Miami again, sandwiching signings between a one-month stint in Memphis in 2014 that didn’t get out of training camp when Beasley got a more lucrative offer to play in Shanghai with the CBA’s Shanghai Sharks.
Beasley was, by all accounts, clean in Miami last year. But he still blew defensive assignments and lacked attention to detail, and the Heat didn’t make any effort to bring him back. So it was back to China — this time, to Shandong.
Fortunately for Beasley, the Golden Stars had NBA veteran Pooh Jeter, who’d been in Shandong for four years, on the roster.
“Just knowing everybody in the city, I just made sure Mike and I was taken care of, with the housing, with our food, with the chefs … they cook us whatever we need,” Jeter said by phone last week. ” … I made sure in our city that we’re good. Just doing our traveling through the season, knowing where all the best restaurants are. When Mike was in Shanghai last year, he didn’t go out or nothing. He didn’t know where to go. So, (it was) just me taking him under my wing, showing him China, really. And he loved it. Loved it.”
Beasley and Jeter worked out in Los Angeles last summer before the CBA season began, and were together almost every day in China.
“Pooh became my best friend,” Beasley said. “He can tell you more than anybody — I was just an emotional roller coaster. Once I signed, we spent maybe six weeks before the season together, then the whole preseason together, then every day. That’s literally. Whether we was mad, or happy, or whether he ignored me to the end of the world, we talked. He helped me get through a lot of my personal problems. I love Pooh. Pooh is one of my best friends. Family, really.”
Said Jeter: “we talked about life, from Jesus, to talking about love, to talking about our families, everything. I believed, I was really happy to be there for him in the moment of need. And he was there for me. That’s my brother now, really. This is really my brother, from being with him every single day and just enjoying the moment. I would tell him, just enjoy today. Who cares about tomorrow? Let’s just enjoy right now.”
Jeter had grown to love China — he turned down an offer from Tony Parker’s ASVEL team to play in France last year — and he thought Beasley could excel in Shandong.
“Even in the beginning, it was ‘dang, I’m back here,'” Jeter said of Beasley’s mindset. “It took some time … once he was comfortable, the season starts in November. And in the first game, he had 48 points. Then we would look at an NBA game, and he would get sad. But I think once December hit, he started being comfortable, and he just started being Mike.”
Later in November, Beasley scored 49 in a game. He scored 63 in the CBA All-Star Game in January, breaking the record 59 he’d scored the year before. At the end of the Chinese season in February, Beasley was named the CBA’s foreign MVP.
“Being it was my second year in China, I was ready for the physicality of the game,” Beasley said. “I was ready for the different tactics that they would use to try and stop us. It was fun, though. I played with a great guy in Pooh. My coaches was fun. The whole team was fun. They made it easy. They made it real easy for me.”
The Rockets have pretty good intel in China, obviously, with Yao Ming owning and running the Sharks, and more than a decade’s worth of relationships with coaches and management throughout the country. So as Houston’s season continued to carom out of control, the firing of Kevin McHale 11 games into the season having had next to no impact, the Rockets’ bench was in need of overhaul.
Even though Jeter has been in China the last few years (he played 62 games for the Kings in 2010-11), he keeps up with the NBA through his friendships and his shoe store in California, Laced — where Russell Westbrook recently came through. He believed that Beasley could excel back in the NBA.
“I knew, with rotation players from the NBA that come to China, they don’t come back,” Jeter said. “I knew with him, just preparing him, we had to stay ready for that moment, and when he got that call from Houston, it was go time. People look at it as a surprise, and I’m like, this ain’t no surprise. We worked out every chance we got, and in the games, it was basically practice, just him working on his game. So when he came to Houston and was scoring all them points and doing that, that’s not a surprise once you prepare for it.”
Other NBA teams, as well as the Israeli power Maccabi Tel Aviv, came after him. But Beasley only had eyes for an NBA reunion.
“For me, the (Israeli) season was just too long,” Beasley said. “I couldn’t be away from my kids, I couldn’t be away from home for 10 months at a time. I would have loved to have played for them. They won the championship not too long ago, they have NBA coaches (former Rockets and Raptors center Zan Tabak is head coach), they have a great program, amazing city and country. But like I said, my kids are too young for me to be away from them for so long.”
Beasley had gone through agents like changing socks over the years, but his latest representative is Excel’s Jeff Schwartz, one of the biggest and most powerful in the game — and an example of how desperate Beasley was to make this comeback stick. Schwartz not only got his client a deal with the Rockets last month, he got him a multi-year contract, giving Beasley an NBA home for next season.
“We’ve known Mike many years and he’s a good person,” Schwartz texted Monday morning. “He just needed to decide what was important to him. Last summer, Javon Phillips, an agent in my office, and I talked with him, and it became clear that he was taking ownership and responsibility for his career. Once he showed that it was an easy decision.”
The fit was immediate. Normally, coming to a team this late in the season dictates a limited role for the newcomer. But the Rockets didn’t bring Beasley over to defer. They needed him to be aggressive and shoot early and often. Even if it’s not a three.
“That’s another example of everybody just letting me play my game,” Beasley said. “James, J.B. (Bickerstaff, the interim coach), they put me in the right positions — really, my sweet spots, where I can be most effective. Really, I just came into it optimistically. I came into it with an open mind. I was just going to play hard and see what happened.”
Beasley has scored in double figures in 12 of his first 17 games for the Rockets, including 30 against the Hawks, 21 in a big win over the Raptors and 17 in a come-from-behind win at Cleveland. He helps both of the Rockets’ stars, Harden and Howard, in different ways — Harden by being a secondary ballhandler, with whom he’s already developed good chemistry (“we’re left-handed,” Beasley said. “I say that jokingly, but I also mean it. I understand his game, he understands mine”) and Howard by getting on the glass.
“Beas has been playing very well, scoring the basketball, just his energy,” Harden said. “We’ve kind of figured out playing off of him. When you’re talented, you can play anywhere.”
Houston is a game behind the Utah Jazz for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with two games to go. It’s not a position the Rockets expected or wanted. But they have no one to blame for their current lot but themselves. Beasley probably understands that feeling better than anyone. One last time, his talent is giving him a chance.
“I don’t want to be cocky or overconfident,” Beasley said. “But everybody has a niche. That’s my niche. I can put the ball in the bucket.”
… AND NOBODY ASKED YOU, EITHER
Revisionist Hinkiery. From Sean Biggins:
What are the chances that in three or four years the Sixers are contenders and we have to look back and give Sam Hinkie credit and acknowledge that ownership just didn’t give it enough time to play out?
I must admit, Sean, I’ve gone back and forth on what I wanted to say about the two-plus years that Hinkie ran the 76ers — a stint which ended with his sudden resignation on Wednesday. I neither blindly trusted “the Process” (Hinkie’s shorthand for the perpetual roster and Draft pick churn in which he engaged, and his supporters championed) nor thought Hinkie was in over his head, a charlatan and know-nothing dilettante.
Hinkie is, as they supposedly say in Boston, wicked smart. He never lied to anyone about what he was planning on doing once empowered by Sixers ownership — he was going to buy low, and lower, and lower, caring little about chemistry or communication until he could put two or three difference-making talents on the roster. And while no one knows if Joel Embiid or Dario Saric is that kind of player, at least the 76ers will get to find out, starting next season — in addition to having as many as three Lottery picks, along with massive cap room. That it will be Bryan and Jerry Colangelo who will likely be the beneficiaries of all the groundwork Hinkie lay is unfair. (So is poverty. The latter is much more permanent.) Fans in Philly received no discounts for the tickets they bought for a sub-NBA product the last three seasons. It was high time they got more for what they were paying. Winning matters. Fans will tolerate a team that’s losing as long as they think they’re trying to win. When it’s obvious that doesn’t matter, even in the short term, it’s hard to get anyone to buy in.
Hinkie will work again, whether in charge of the day to day building of a roster or in a senior management role. (It is hard to believe he’ll ever commit his thoughts to anyone in such a manner again as in the 13-page manifesto he sent Sixers ownership in announcing his resignation — which was leaked in five seconds or so to ESPN. Hinkie could not possibly believe that wasn’t going to happen.) And the 76ers will finally return to the NBA Living under the capable management of Bryan Colangelo, a two-time Executive of the Year.
Not the Point I’d Like to Make. From Vincent Chau:
Recently I read about your comment on Mark Cuban’s suggestion on promoting the mid-range game by extending the 3-point line. My understanding for the English language is not strong enough to decipher whether you were being sarcastic or not. However, in my opinion, what Mr. Cuban suggested was just a knee-jerk reaction to what the league, and in particular what Golden States have been doing the last couple of years with tremendous success, and I seriously doubt that he would have said the same thing if Dirk Nowitzki was still in his prime, or Chandler Parsons could hit the 3s like the Splash Brothers.
If you really want to promote the mid-range game, I have an alternative solution for you. Just change the rule and make any close range (restricted area) basket a one-point basket. The reason the 3s have flourished relative to the mid-to-long-2s has been purely mathematical, with the two-pointers having similar probabilities of going in (around 40 percent), the 3s have a higher expected resulting point per shot (1.2 for the 3s vs 0.8 for the long 2s). Mr. Cuban’s idea was to try to shorten the gap by lowering the probability of the 3-point shot. My idea is that if the restricted-area basket became a 1-pointer, which lowers its expected point per shot to around 0.5 for the 50 percent shot, then the mid-to-long 2s would become much more valuable, at the expense of all the physical low post players.
I love the game as it is, with all the exciting around-the-rim finishes and thrilling 3s, and I would be very sad if either of the above suggestions became a reality. I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this.
Well, that is an alternative, Vincent. I don’t agree with it, though. Adopting that rule would basically eliminate all post play in the game — and by extension, most big men. If you think teams are downsizing now, what do you think would happen when any shot in the paint was only worth a point? There would be even more three-pointers taken than there are now; how could you not try for three times as many points as you’d get for a layup? You’d basically have the old International Basketball Association, which was for players only 6-foot-4 and under. (It didn’t last.)
Is there no one to even challenge me? From Leo San Pedro:
I have no Twitter and I couldn’t find your FB page (I didn’t really looked for it), but you called it:
The Celtics did wind up beating GSW in their home court. You must have a crystal ball or something.
Thank you for noticing that I’m a savant when it comes to picking upsets, Leo.
Love, you Denver! City by the Bay! From Lavardo Braynen:
Buddy Hield is from Eight Mile Rock, Bahamas not Eight Mile Rock, Jamaica.
Thank you for noticing that I’m still a moron when it comes to geography, Lavardo.
Send your questions, comments, criticisms and cups of sugar for when the neighbors run low and come a-knockin’ to daldridgetnt@gmail.com. If your e-mail is sufficiently funny, thought-provoking, well-written or snarky, we just might publish it!
MVP WATCH
(last week’s averages in parentheses)
1) Stephen Curry (25.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 9.3 apg, .432 FG, 1.000 FT): After making four 3-pointers in San Antonio Sunday night, Curry has 392 made 3-pointers this season with one game remaining, at home Wednesday against Memphis. Curry has made eight 3-pointers in a game — which would give him 400 (!) this season — 15 times this year. Just sayin’.
2) Kawhi Leonard (20.3 ppg, 8 rpg, 2.3 apg, .417 FG, .792 FT): Has more than lived up to the max deal and the faith the organization has shown in him. Solid, solid guy.
3) Russell Westbrook (18.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 11 apg, .458 FG, .800 FT): Good to know that even with Russ, there are some limits to his sartorial choices.
4) LeBron James (25 ppg, 6 rpg, 6 apg, .769 FG, .833 FT): I’m not sure how anyone would confuse James with Dwyane Wade, but there you go.
5) Kevin Durant (28.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 8 apg, .442 FG, .923): Former teammate Kendrick Perkins says he has talked with Durant about potential teams he (Durant) will visit when he becomes a free agent this summer, joking — supposedly — that Durant had him sign a confidentiality agreement to keep quiet.
I’M FEELIN’….
1) A Hall of Fame class led by Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal is one that’s going to be must-see TV on NBA TV in September. Congrats to the Answer, the Diesel, Yao Ming, Sheryl Swoopes, Tom Izzo, John McClendon, Darell Garretson, Zelmo Beaty, Jerry Reinsdorf and Cumberland Posey for their selections to the Hall.
2) The Timberwolves are finishing the season the way they started, with meaningful road wins — including at Golden State and at Portland. It’s just those 60-70 games in the middle that Minnesota has to work on next year.
3) Looking forward to seeing Kobe’s last home game Wednesday. Wherever you fall on the Bryant spectrum — love him, hate him, somewhere in between — he’s been one of the greatest players and winners in league history. Respect must, and should, be paid, and I’m sure the crowd at Staples Center will oblige.
4) You can’t execute a last-second play better than Villanova did against North Carolina. And the Wildcats won’t have a moment that’s more meaningful. Congrats to them on their national championship — which will stand alongside the one they got in 1985 over mighty Georgetown.
NOT FEELIN’ …
1) The last thing Jerry Sloan would want is for anyone to feel sorry for him, because self-pity was one of the things he couldn’t stand in a player. So we won’t feel sorry for him, even after his disclosure last week that he is suffering from a form of Parkinson’s Disease, along with Lewy Body Dementia. But he will remain in my thoughts and prayers, because he was one of the most honest and real guys I’ve ever dealt with. He was a no-nonsense coach who accepted no excuses from his Jazz players for more than two decades.
2) If Phil Jackson is serious about giving Kurt Rambis a long-term deal instead of scanning the whole landscape of potential head coaches, then the Knicks have to get serious about trying to trade Carmelo Anthony this summer.
3) Many congrats to Danny Willett for his improbable Masters championship, built with his own great golf — with a seemingly impossible collapse by Jordan Spieth. The back nine on Sunday at Augusta remains riveting. But I, curmudgeon, still missed watching Tiger Woods, and hope he can return to play meaningful golf again someday.
4) As the presidential primary season continues, and I am inundated by tweets from supporters and haters from all over the political spectrum, some friendly reminders: a) Your candidate is not perfect, nor without fault; b) your candidate’s opponent(s) is/are not the devil incarnate, and c) self-righteousness is not becoming in a surrogate. Thanks.
BY THE NUMBERS
1,388 — Career games Tim Duncan has played with the Spurs, one short of tying Reggie Miller for second place on the league’s all-time list of games played by a player with one team. Duncan and Miller trail Utah’s Hall of Famer, John Stockton, who played all 1,504 of his career games with the Jazz.
1,343 — Games that Kobe Bryant played before scoring 35 points in 27 minutes or less, as he did for the first time in his career Sunday against the Rockets.
1,184 — Total games, including playoffs, that the Kings played in 28 years at Sleep Train Arena (nee ARCO Arena) in Sacramento. The Kings played their last game at Sleep Train Saturday, getting a last-second win over the Thunder. They move into the Golden1 Center downtown next season. Sleep Train was an old barn, but the fans made it into one of the league’s best and loudest buildings with their full-throated, cowbell-enhanced din. It will be missed.
Q & A: ANDRE DRUMMOND
Andre Drummond was happy — very happy — last week. His school, the University of Connecticut, was securing a fourth straight national championship, its dynasty under Geno Auriemma continuing unabated.
The discussion this evening centered on the relative greatness of UConn’s latest legendary talent, Breanna Stewart, compared with the Maya Moores and Diana Taurasis and Rebecca Lobos that had come before. It was not the time to mention that Stewart finished her college career shooting 79.7 percent from the line, or that Moore shot .798 in college, or Taurasi .819.
It’s never really a good time to talk free throws with Drummond, the Achilles’ heel to what is otherwise an emerging, dominant game as one of the few true centers left in the league. Drummond made his first All-Star team this season, leads the NBA in rebounds per game (14.8), averages 16.3 points a game on 52.2 percent shooting and boasts the league’s sixth-best defensive rating (98) — all of which has helped lead Detroit to its first playoff berth since 2009.
He was one of Joe Dumars’ last Draft picks as the Pistons’ GM, taken ninth overall in 2012. At 22, Drummond is the team’s longest-tenured player, the indispensable man for coach and team president Stan Van Gundy, whose plans all are centered on getting Drummond signed to an extension this summer, the hub around which Reggie Jackson, Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will spin in the near future. Yet Drummond’s Kryptonite is in plain view — boxing his free throws. It’s been that way since college, when Drummond shot 29.5 percent in his one season at Storrs. (Yes. He’s actually better now.)
This year, he’s shooting just 35.6 percent (207 of 582) from the line, forcing Van Gundy to take him out of recent games down the stretch as opponents resorted to Hack-A strategy. It’s unfortunate, because Drummond is an affable, likeable kid who should be showcased in the upcoming playoffs as one of the league’s up and coming young stars. But that shot … awaits, the crucible of Drummond’s development.
Me: What is it like for you to finally be playing meaningful games this time of year?
Andre Drummond: I didn’t even know what it was like to play a TNT game! I didn’t know we played at 8 o’clock today … it’s the whole transition of things changing for us, and us building a team up. We’re playing in meaningful games and our playoff push, it’s been fun for me. I’ve really enjoyed it. Our guys have enjoyed the process as well. There’s a few guys who’ve been in the playoffs so they know what it takes. For the guys that haven’t, it’s a journey for us. So we’re excited for what’s to come.
Me: Does it feel different? Is there a different texture to it?
AD: Everything is just, it’s so uptight now. You’ve got to take every single play at a time, every practice at a time. You can’t look forward, because you start putting too much pressure on yourself, you start to feel it. So for us, we just take it game by game, practice by practice, take it step by step.
Me: How much has Tobias helped since he came here?
AD: Tobias has been great. He’s versatile. You can play him anywhere on the floor. He’s been a big help for me, too, spacing the block out. You don’t have to run him in the block as much because he can shoot the three as well. He’s a great defender as well, too. He’s been a great addition for us.
Me: Does he help you get to the offensive glass unimpeded as well?
AD: The four has to go out and guard him. It’s just me and the five, or whoever decides to come down. But most of the time it’s just me and the five battling for the rebound.
Me: At the start of the season, the thought was that you all would go as far as you and Reggie could take the team. How has that relationship developed over the year?
AD: You know, getting Reggie last season at the trade deadline, I didn’t know what to expect. He came off the bench for OKC. I didn’t know what he’d be like as a starter. When he came I spoke him, told him these are the different things that I’m going to need from a point guard. He embraced it. And he’s been playing great for us. He’s building, and we’re working together.
Me: But every relationship has its ups and downs. So how did you handle the down periods, while not getting too excited about the up periods?
AD: We all have learned throughout our careers that there are ups and downs in the NBA. Through 82 games, you’re not going to have a perfect season. You’re not going to be at the top of your game all the time. There’s going to be times when you lose a few. For us, we’re at a point in our season when we are playing meaningful games, and if we lose one we can’t get down on ourselves; we have to pick back up and try to win the next one. We just have a different focus now. It’s really exciting.
Me: What happened since that game in Washington in early March, where you guys got blown out? You look different since then.
AD: Yeah, we didn’t take that game too well. It sucked. That was not a fun game to be a part of. It was embarrassing. We took that to heart. We tried to make sure that didn’t happen again.
Me: So what changed?
AD: We’re here to win basketball games, and we all have one common goal. That type of game is unacceptable for us. We can’t let that happen again.
Me: This is a team that’s going to be together for a while. Has there been any types of things happening off the floor — bonding-type outings or dinners?
AD: I took it upon myself to start doing a lot of team bonding events. I felt like in my years of being here, it wasn’t a thing that we really did. I would watch other friends that play for other teams and ask them what kind of stuff they did, and they were always with each other. So it’s like, well, obviously that would make sense, that you guys know each other if you’re always with each other. For me over the summer, I took the time out to do the UFC Training Camp, and we all had a lot of fun out there. Before the season we did a little bonding thing as well, and throughout the year, on different road trips, we do different things as well. You start building chemistry. You start building a real team.
Me: Who is the guy that nobody would know is a real leader on this team?
AD: Marcus (Morris).
Me: How so?
AD: He’s the silent assassin (laughs). He doesn’t say much, and when he does say something, everybody listens to what he has to say. He leads by example. He leads by his play.
Me: Has Coach Van Gundy talked to you about why he takes you out of games down the stretch? Do you understand it?
AD: Well, Stan knows what he’s doing. He has a very high IQ for the game, and he knows when certain things are going to happen, so he tries to beat it before it happens. For me, it’s something that I have to deal with.
Me: I have been clear that I hate the whole concept of Hack-A. But I wanted to ask you, because people on Twitter always come back at me with the same thing — ‘just work on your free throws.’ So, how many free throws do you shoot a day in practice?
AD: Only if you knew. I mean, countless hours. Sometimes I get off the plane and go right to the gym and shoot, all hours of the night. So, it’s not like I don’t work at it. It’s a work in progress.
Me: Does that frustrate you?
AD: For me, no. It used to. About a year or two ago, it used to upset me. People would foul me all the time. But now, it’s just like they’re starting to respect my game, and they’re trying to figure out a way to stop me from getting momentum. They say I have to figure out how to make it from the free throw line. Once I figure that out, it’s going to be a problem…it’s going to come. I’m not worried.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
— LeBron James (@KingJames), Thursday, 11:22 p.m., as he live-Tweeted. He continued with Tweets praising Karl Malone’s jumper, and comparing John Stockton with Chris Paul. (That’s a good comparison, by the way.)
THEY SAID IT
“If you would’ve said something about lasagna at that point, I would’ve kept saying ‘Lasagna.’ I was already on edge. I was already mad.”
— Allen Iverson, at last week’s press conference announcing his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, recalling his famous ‘practice’ rant in 2002.
“It was hard when they left. I don’t think I really understood it yet. It was kind of like, ‘OK the Sonics are leaving.’ After that first year of them being gone, I think it sunk in for a lot of people. Everybody was like, ‘Damn, man, the Sonics are gone.’ And everybody’s still pissed about it now.”
— Celtics guard Avery Bradley, to the Boston Globe, on the impact of the Sonics’ move from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008 on Seattle natives such as himself and teammate Isaiah Thomas.
“I was answering the question. The question was would I change the way I get on people? Do I need to air people out more? Most of that is directed at the perception that I hadn’t gotten on people as much was because of the comment that was made after the NY game. It wasn’t a shot at Jimmy.”
— Bulls Coach Fred Hoiberg, dispelling Twitter rumors that he was criticizing his All-Star guard, Jimmy Butler. Before Saturday’s game with the Cavs, Hoiberg was asked if he’d be less patient next season with repeated mistakes, “maybe to the point of being louder and more direct?” Hoiberg answered that original question by saying the Bulls got off to a good start, and then “some things happened. I think most of that comes from the one comment that was made after the New York game by Jimmy.” Many interpreted the word “that” in Hoiberg’s comment as referring to the Bulls’ bad stretch after the good start, when he claimed it referred to the perception he wasn’t being hard enough on his players.
Longtime NBA reporter and columnist David Aldridge is an analyst for TNT. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
