Victor Wembanyama Joins 5x5 Club
The exclusive 5x5 Club includes players who had at least five points, at least five rebounds, at least five assists, at least five steals, and at least five blocked shots in the same game. I mentioned the 5x5 Club in my article about Pro Basketball's Greatest Ball Hawks, noting--based on the information available at that time (September 2007)--that Hakeem Olajuwon accomplished this feat six times, Andrei Kirilenko did it three times, and three other players did it once each (Vlade Divac, Jamaal Tinsley and Marcus Camby). It must be emphasized that the ABA officially began tracking steals and blocked shots in the 1972-73 season, and the NBA followed suit in 1973-74, so we do not know how many 5x5 games Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and other great players accumulated before steals and blocked shots became official statistics; also, even for the years during which steals and blocked shots were officially tracked the game by game data prior to the mid-1980s is not complete. After I wrote my article, I have uncovered more information about the 5x5 Club, and though this data is without question incomplete here is a list of known 5x5 games courtesy of Stathead via The Sporting News:
Read more »Labels: Andrei Kirilenko, David Robinson, George Gervin, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jamaal Tinsley, Julius Erving, Victor Wembanyama
posted by David Friedman @ 11:18 PM
Maxey Comes to Life in Fourth Quarter as 76ers Hold off Cavaliers, 104-97
The Philadelphia 76ers had lost six straight home games before defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight, 104-97. Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers in scoring (24 points) and assists (five), and Cameron Payne added 16 points in just 20 minutes off of the bench. Jarret Allen had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, and Darius Garland contributed 20 points plus a game-high nine assists. The 76ers outrebounded the Cavaliers 51-43, and their bench players outscored the Cavaliers' bench players, 34-20; combine those numbers with the Cavaliers' dismal three point shooting (8-27, .296), and that was too much for Cleveland to overcome.
Each team was without their best player: the 76ers' Joel Embiid has now missed 10 straight games as he recovers from knee surgery, while the Cavaliers' Donovan Mitchell sat
out his second straight game due to an illness.
Hubie Brown handled the ESPN color commentary. His previous ESPN/ABC game was almost a month ago when the New York Knicks routed the Miami Heat. As usual, Brown's pregame analysis was right on point, as he highlighted the key contributions that Allen and Garland made as the Cavaliers went 18-3 since January 3 to vault to second place in the Eastern Conference; those players were Cleveland's best players tonight, albeit in a losing effort. Brown mentioned that Maxey is attempting 20 shots per game but he is averaging nearly 26 ppg. In this game, Maxey was not as efficient as usual--he shot just 9-22 (.409) from the field--but he took over in the fourth quarter with 15 points on 5-9 field goal shooting.
As the Cavaliers took the lead early in the first quarter, Brown noted that the Cavaliers are fourth in the NBA in point differential, which he called a key statistic (and which Brown has long recognized as a key statistic). Brown praised the Cavaliers' depth while sounding a cautionary note about the impact of Mitchell's absence: "The Cavaliers are 10 deep and they can withstand injuries, but Mitchell is different because he is your closer." Brown said that even though the Cavaliers had a successful regular season last year, the organization was not satisfied and decided to become a "beep beep" team that pushes the pace.
The 76ers were ahead 40-38 midway through the second quarter, with their bench players providing 21 of their 40 points. The 76ers led 53-50 at halftime, with their bench outscoring Cleveland's 25-7. The 76ers rank near the bottom of the league in bench scoring, so this
output is unusual and proved to be a major factor in the game's outcome. Brown pointed out that the 76ers held the Cavaliers to nine three point field goals attempted in the first half, which is a low number for a Cleveland team that averages nearly 37 three point field goal attempts per game.
Both teams shot poorly in the third quarter as the 76ers outscored the Cavaliers, 21-20. In the fourth quarter, Maxey did what an All-Star is supposed to do: take over. In his postgame interview with ESPN's Monica McNutt, Maxey admitted that he was tired after playing 40 minutes in yesterday's 110-96 loss to the New York Knicks, and he said that he told his teammates throughout the game to just keep the game close because if they did then he would have something special in the fourth quarter. What Maxey did versus the Cavaliers highlights the difference between being a player who is capable of scoring 25 points in a given game, and being a player who averages 25 points per game for a season; NBA players are very talented and even many of the ones who do not get a lot of minutes or shot attempts on a regular basis can score 25 points in a game if provided with sufficient minutes and shot attempts--but very few players can log heavy minutes over the course of an 82 game season and consistently produce 25 points per game despite being the focal point of their team's offense and the opposing team's defense.
Trading James Harden to the L.A. Clippers not only bolstered the 76ers' depth while providing the team with additional draft picks, but it also unlocked Maxey's game; in each of the past two playoff runs, Maxey both outscored and outshot Harden, but Maxey's opportunities were limited because of the way that Harden often monopolized the ball. There is no evidence that Maxey will shrink in the playoffs as the second option behind Embiid the way that Harden has spent the better part of a decade shrinking, culminating in last year's game seven debacle versus Boston during which Harden had nine points, five turnovers and three field goals made (a player who has more turnovers than field goals made should be credited with a "Harden"). The Clippers have looked good so far this season, but James Harden in April and May is a different player than James Harden in January and February, as Clippers' fans will soon see firsthand.
The only thing that Maxey cannot do is help Embiid stay healthy and avoid disappearing in the playoffs--Harden's massive flops the past two years helped obscure the reality that Embiid is hardly "Mr. Clutch" in the postseason--but Maxey looks like he is developing into a player who can be a perennial All-Star.
Labels: Cleveland Cavaliers, Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Hubie Brown, Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers, Tyrese Maxey
posted by David Friedman @ 11:25 PM
The 2024 NBA All-Star Game Descends to New Lows as Any Pretense of Defense is Abandoned
The 2023 NBA All-Star Game may have been not only the worst NBA All-Star Game ever, but possibly the worst basketball game ever played by high level players--until the 2024 NBA All-Star Game sunk to a new low: the teams launched 168 three point shots while attempting just five free throws as the Eastern Conference All-Stars routed the Western Conference All-Stars, 211-186. That is not competitive basketball, and it is unrecognizable compared to what the All-Star Game used to be: in 1994, the East beat the West 127-118 in a game featuring a combined 60 free throw attempts but just 30 three point field goal attempts; there was no shortage of highlight plays/moments but the most important thing is that the players competed.
During the wonderful 2024 NBA Legends Brunch, Larry Bird praised today's players and made a request: "The one thing I would really like to see is they play hard in tonight's
All-Star Game. I think it's very important when you have the best
players in the world together you've got to compete and you've got to
play hard."
Instead, the players disrespected themselves, the sport, and the legends who built the game that provides them with the opportunity to receive generational wealth. No one is expecting the All-Star Game to resemble game seven of the NBA
Finals, but the refusal of the modern players to even pretend to want to
compete is sad. This speaks to a larger societal issue:
people demand to be highly paid and highly praised, but then balk at the
notion that they have any responsibility to anyone or anything other
than their own desires. LeBron James said that the best thing about the
2024 All-Star Game is that no one got hurt. While no one wants to see
anyone get hurt at any time, injury is one of the risks of competition,
and NBA players are blessed with guaranteed contracts ensuring that they
get paid even if they get hurt. James' comment exposes the mentality of
the modern player: get the "bag" (the big, guaranteed contract) and then prioritize yourself above your teammates,
your franchise, and even the league that enables you to receive
generational wealth.
Instead of playing hard all of the time during the regular season, or even just being available to play at all, many players whine about the new rule implemented this season requiring them to participate in at least 65 regular season games to be eligible for awards such as the MVP and the All-NBA Team. I have a simple, direct response to the players who are complaining about being expected to show up to work: the players should give up the right to have guaranteed contracts in exchange for taking their chances on winning awards as part-time workers.
The 2024 All-Stars put forth so little effort and demonstrated so little pride in their craft that I am tempted to just cut and paste what I wrote in my recap of last year's travesty. My personal pride--a quality absent from Sunday's pathetic exhibition of highly paid professional putting forth minimal effort to do their jobs--prohibits me from doing that, but I would say that my passionate summary of last year's debacle applies to this year's travesty as well:
Kids are watching this trash and thinking that this is how basketball
is supposed to be played: uncontested dunks followed up by half court
shots.
Anyone who wants to put "advanced basketball
statistics"--with their emphasis on dunks and three pointers, and their
abhorrence of the mid-range game--on trial for destroying the game that
many of us know and love should just submit the 2023 All-Star Game
telecast as Exhibit #1 and then move for summary judgment. "Advanced
basketball statistics" have played a major role in destroying
competition--think "load management," the ostracism of post play and the
midrange game, and the overemphasis on dunks and three pointers to the
exclusion of other shot types--while also taking the fun out of the
game. Competition is fun. Running up and down the court without playing
defense is not competition, and it is not fun to watch. There is a place
and value for using various basketball statistics in an intelligent
way, but the "stat gurus" have been given way too much power and way too
much influence. Watch a tape of any All-Star Game from the 1980s or any
NBA Finals from the 1980s, and judge for yourself if the game was
better and more fun to watch then or now.
The league should be
embarrassed as a whole, and each player should be embarrassed. Sport is
about competition, not exhibition. If the NBA is unwilling or unable to
restore the All-Star Game to what it can and should be, at a minimum
the NBA's official records should distinguish between statistics posted
when the All-Star Game mattered and statistics posted when the All-Star
Game became a farce, a sham, and a travesty.
Since 2022, the All-Star Game MVP has been named in honor of Kobe Bryant, but much like Bryant derisively noted that the Lakers do not hang banners for anything other than NBA titles (he would be appalled by the Lakers hanging a banner for winning the inaugural NBA Cup) one suspects that he would not be pleased by having his name on a trophy connected with the pathetic, noncompetitive joke that the NBA All-Star Game has become. Bryant competed hard in the NBA All-Star Game and he tied Bob Pettit's record by winning four All-Star Game MVPs because Bryant took the game seriously.
Damian Lillard received the 2024 All-Star Game MVP. Almost every shot that Lillard took--23 of his 26 field goal
attempts--was a three pointer. He shot well--14-26 overall, 11-23 from
three point range--but nobody played any defense. Lillard
won the Three Point Contest on All-Star Saturday Night, becoming the
first back to back Three Point Contest champion since Jason Kapono
(2007-08). Lillard joins Michael Jordan, who won the Slam Dunk Contest
and All-Star Game MVP in 1988, as the only players to win an All-Star
Saturday Night event and the All-Star Game MVP in the same year.
Lillard is a fitting All-Star Game MVP for a sport that is now dominated
by a perverse set of values dictated by a distorted view of "advanced
basketball statistics." Lillard is "efficient," but he showcases his
individual talents in a way that has little influence on winning
competitive basketball games. He has a 4-8 playoff series record, and
the Milwaukee Bucks trading Jrue Holiday for him has transformed the
Boston Celtics--who subsequently acquired Holiday from Portland--into a
juggernaut while sending the Bucks spiraling from championship contender
to a team struggling to find its identity. Lillard
has above average shooting and passing skills, but it is ridiculous
that he was selected to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team while deserving players--including Chris Bosh, Adrian Dantley, Alex English, Artis Gilmore, Dwight Howard, Bernard King, and Tracy McGrady--did not receive that honor.
A kidney stone sent me to the emergency room on Sunday night, and that is the reason that I finished this article later than usual. I could make various jokes about the All-Star Game being so bad that it literally made me sick to my stomach, but the reality is that I am fine now and the All-Star Game is (or should be) on its deathbed. We hear so much about how great Commissioner Adam Silver is, but it appears that he is praised because he tends to let the players do whatever they want, in contrast to his predecessor David Stern, who viewed himself as a caretaker of the sport as a whole.
Considering how little today's best players care about putting even
forth minimal effort, the NBA should get rid of not just the
All-Star Game but even the concept of being an All-Star: retain All-Star
Saturday Night (it could be renamed something else, like NBA Showcase
Saturday) and of course retain the Legends Brunch, but the All-Star Game
serves no purpose, and being selected as an All-Star in today's NBA has
no meaning. Only the awards given after the season matter, so let the
players grumble about having to play at least 65 out of 82 games--oh,
the suffering!--to be eligible to win those awards.
Here is the challenge to Silver: fix the All-Star Game, or have the intestinal fortitude to not only get rid of it but to publicly say that he is getting rid of it because the players do not take it seriously enough to deserve to have it and to receive the bonuses associated with being selected for it.
Recent NBA All-Star Game Recaps:
The 2023 NBA All-Star Game May Have Been the Worst Basketball Game Ever (2023)
"The 2023 NBA All-Star Game was not only the worst NBA All-Star Game
ever, but it may have been the worst basketball game ever 'contested'--and I use that word with hesitation--by high level players.
Denver Nuggets Coach Michael Malone, who coached Team LeBron, made this
statement after Team Giannis prevailed 184-175: 'It's an honor to be
here, and it's an honor to be a part of a great
weekend with great players, but it's the worst basketball game ever
played.' Malone also admitted that he has no idea how to fix the game.
The
NBA All-Star Game began its horrific slide to irrelevance several years
ago (see game recaps appended to this article for more details), but
yesterday the league's showcase midseason event descended to a nadir
from which there may be no recovery.
At its best, NBA basketball
is about the world's greatest athletes competing at a high level at both
ends of the court while working together to help their team win. At its
worst--and its worst was on full display last night--NBA basketball is
about players flaunting their individual skills without any connection
to team success while their 'opponents' step aside and watch instead of
competing on defense. The 2023 NBA All-Star Game was such an abomination
that it is difficult to decide which moment was the worst."
NBA Formally Honors the 75th Anniversary Team, Stephen Curry Wins the All-Star Game MVP (2022)
"How much has the All-Star Game devolved from an actual competition
featuring the league's best players to an exhibition of players
demonstrating individual skills devoid of competition or team play? Free
throws are a quick way to gauge physicality/defense. The 2022 All-Star
Game included eight fouls, four of which were called in the fourth
quarter, and Team LeBron shot 2-2 from the free throw line while Team
Durant shot 7-7 from the free throw line. This season, NBA teams average
a little over 21 free throw attempts per game, so it is obvious that
the All-Star Game featured few fouls, few free throws, very little
physicality, and token defense compared to a normal NBA game.
All-Star
Games used to be played much differently. In the first NBA All-Star
Game, the East beat the West 98-93 in overtime in 1954 with the East
shooting 36 of 44 from the free throw line and the West shooting 17-26
from the free throw line. In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain set an All-Star
single game scoring record (42 points) that stood for 55 years.
Chamberlain shot 8-16 from the free throw line, and his East squad shot
24-43 from the free throw line. The West, which won 150-130, shot 36-51
from the free throw line. Chamberlain's scoring record took place during
a competitive game, and the record stood until long after NBA All-Star
Games ceased to be competitive; his record is so exceptional that even
in an era during which it is much easier to score in All-Star Games only
two players have surpassed the standard that he set--and Curry did so
by making a bunch of uncontested three pointers.
For most of
All-Star Game history, players from both sides played hard, played
defense, and committed a normal amount of fouls. Things began to change
in 2007, when the victorious West only attempted nine free throws and
the East only attempted 13 free throws, a big decline from 24 and 28
respectively in the 2006 All-Star Game. The 2008 All-Star Game was more
of the same. Matters improved a bit during the next several All-Star
Games, but in 2014 the East attempted nine free throws and the West
attempted 12 free throws. Since 2014, single digit free throw attempts
per team have been the norm rather than the exception--and on the rare
occasion that a team has attempted more than 10 free throws most of
those free throw attempts have happened in the fourth quarter, when the
new scoring rules inspire (or shame) the All-Stars into playing some
defense."
Giannis Antetokounmpo Wins All-Star MVP With Perfect Shooting, Leads Team LeBron to 170-150 Win Over Team Durant (2021)
"Giannis Antetokounmpo did not have the first perfect shooting
performance in NBA All-Star Game history--Hal Greer shot 8-8 from the
field en route to scoring 21 points and winning the 1968 NBA All-Star
Game MVP--but he set the NBA All-Star Game record for most field goals
without a miss (16), and he captured his first All-Star Game MVP by
scoring a game-high 35 points as his Team LeBron routed Team Durant,
170-150. Antetokounmpo played just 19 minutes, so he scored nearly two
points per minute. Most of Antetokounmpo's shots were lightly
contested--if not uncontested--dunks, but he also shot 3-3 from three
point range. Each team shot 3-5 from the free throw line as both teams
spent most of the game not even pretending to care about defense.
Perhaps the league and/or the players think that the fans want to see
uncontested dunks and wide open three pointers, but I think/hope that
true basketball fans want to see competition. A contested dunk is a
great play; an uncontested dunk is just performance art."
Kawhi
Leonard Leads Team LeBron to 157-155 Win over Team Giannis as New
Format Results in Exciting Fourth Quarter Competition (2020)
"After
three quarters, it seemed that the new NBA All-Star Game format had not
inspired many players from either team to even pretend to play at a
fraction of their full capabilities. Fortunately, the fourth quarter--a
race to 157 points based on adding 24 points (in honor of Kobe Bryant)
to the 133-124 lead enjoyed by Team Giannis over Team LeBron at the end
of the third quarter--featured high level play as both teams looked
fully engaged: Team Giannis' Kyle Lowry seemed to try to take a charge
on every defensive possession, players from both teams contested almost
every shot, and the level of physicality ramped up to top notch regular
season levels, if not even first round playoff levels.
It is mystifying that most NBA players seem to need external motivation
to play their best in the All-Star Game, but with a substantial portion
of the weekend's festivities dedicated to the memory of
Bryant--including naming the All-Star MVP award for him--it would have
been a travesty for the players to just sleepwalk through the entire
proceedings. Kawhi Leonard is a pioneer of the less than commendable
load management scourge, but at least he always plays hard when he is on
the court. Leonard scored a game-high 30 points on 11-18 field goal
shooting (including 8-14 from three point range), grabbed seven
rebounds, dished for four assists, and received the first Kobe Bryant
All-Star Game MVP Award as his Team LeBron won, 157-155."
Kevin Durant Wins his Second All-Star MVP as Team LeBron Overcomes 20 Point Deficit to Defeat Team Giannis, 178-164 (2019)
"The All-Star Game sunk to such depths a few years ago that there were
even whispers that it might be discontinued. Instead, the league changed
the format from East versus West to a format in which the top two
vote-getters conduct a draft consisting of a pool of other All-Stars
selected by fans, coaches and media members. LeBron James faced off
against Giannis Antetokounmpo in this year's All-Star draft. Popular
consensus was that James, whose draft strategy seemed to be focused on
acquiring every major player who will be a free agent soon, got the
better of Antetokounmpo--but it did not look like that initially, as
Team Giannis led 53-37 after the first quarter and 95-82 at halftime.
Antetokounmpo scored a game-high 38 points on 17-23 field
goal shooting, including 10 dunks. He also had 11 rebounds and five
assists. He set the tone in the first quarter with 16 points.
Antetokounmpo's
Milwaukee teammate/All-Star teammate Khris Middleton added 20 points on
7-13 field goal
shooting, including 6-10 from three point range. Middleton scored 12
first quarter points.
To coin--or repeat--a phrase, it seemed like Team LeBron was in 'chill
mode' during the first half, but in the second half they exerted at
least some defensive effort and they rained down a barrage of three
pointers. Team LeBron outscored Team Giannis 96-69 in the second half
while shooting 22-49 from three point range. The teams combined to
attempt 167 three pointers during the game, compared to 108 two pointers
attempted.
Kevin Durant earned MVP honors by scoring 31 points on 10-15 field goal
shooting (including 6-9 from three point range) while also contributing
seven rebounds. He had 11 points on 4-4 field goal shooting in the
fourth quarter. Durant's Golden State teammate Klay Thompson finished
second on Team LeBron with 20 points on 7-16 field goal shooting (6-12
from three point range) and he had eight rebounds and four assists as
well."
LeBron James Earns Third All-Star Game MVP as Team LeBron Outlasts Team Stephen, 148-145 (2018):
"LeBron James scored a game-high 29 points on 12-17 field goal shooting,
grabbed a game-high tying 10 rebounds and dished eight assists as Team
LeBron defeated Team Stephen 148-145 in the first year of the NBA's new All-Star selection format;
instead of the traditional matchup featuring the Eastern Conference
facing the Western Conference, a team of All-Stars picked by LeBron
James faced a team of All-Stars picked by Stephen Curry. The NBA tweaked
the All-Star Game in the wake of several subpar All-Star Games,
culminating in last year's farce.
Before the 2018 All-Star Game, James already held the NBA All-Star Game
career scoring record (314 points) and yesterday he surpassed Julius
Erving (321 points) to set the record for most points scored in ABA and
NBA All-Star Games combined. Bob Pettit (1956, 58, 59, 62) and Kobe
Bryant (2002, 2007, 2009, 2011) share the record with four All-Star Game
MVPs each, while James joined Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and
Shaquille O'Neal as three-time winners; James previously earned the
All-Star Game MVP in 2006 and 2008."
The NBA All-Star Game Has Become a Farce (2017):
"The Western Conference's 192-182 victory over the Eastern Conference is
without question the worst NBA All-Star Game that I have ever watched.
Other than the MLB All-Star Game that ended in a tie (and many NFL Pro
Bowls of recent vintage) it may be the worst major professional league
All-Star Game ever. When the reigning two-time regular season MVP
literally lies down on the court instead of attempting to play defense,
you know that the event has jumped the shark."
Labels: lack of pride, NBA All-Star Game, sham, travesty
posted by David Friedman @ 12:36 PM
The 2024 NBA Legends Brunch Honors Tamika Catchings, Jalen Rose, Reggie Miller, and Larry Bird While Also Featuring ABA Panel Discussion
The NBA Legends Brunch is the highlight of NBA All-Star Weekend. I covered this event six times as a credentialed journalist (2005-10), and I watch it every year on TV when I am not able to attend. TNT's Ernie Johnson is a wonderful host/master of ceremonies, and you can tell that he genuinely enjoys his role.
Retired NBA player Harvey Catchings presented the Pioneer Award to his daughter, Tamika Catchings, who starred for the WNBA's Indiana Fever. Harvey recalled that Tamika had an insatiable love for basketball right from the start; when the whole family went to the gym together, Tamika did not want to leave, imploring her father, "Daddy, can we play one more game?" Harvey said that he never let Tamika win, because he knew that the world can be harsh and that she faced challenges because of her hearing issue and her speech impediment. He told her that she has to set the standard for herself, and that if she does that then she can become one of the greatest basketball players ever.
After receiving the award from her father, Tamika began her speech by remembering when her father first brought her to the NBA Legends Brunch and she wondered why she had to sit next to old people, but she grew to understand that this was a blessing. She said that she could have never imagined standing on the NBA Legends Brunch stage as a Legend, let alone as the Pioneer Award winner. Tamika modeled her game after players that her father played with or against--including Julius Erving, Larry Bird, and Bob Lanier--but her favorite player of all-time (other than her father, she hastened to note!) is Alonzo Mourning. Her father told her that to be a great player you have to be great at more than one thing, and Tamika felt that Mourning's game embodied that.
Read more »Labels: ABA, Artis Gilmore, Bob Costas, Darnell Hillman, Indiana Pacers, Jalen Rose, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, Spencer Haywood, Tamika Catchings
posted by David Friedman @ 11:07 AM
Mac McClung Wins Second Consecutive NBA Slam Dunk Contest
Mac McClung stole the show in the 2023 Slam Dunk Contest, and he defended his title in 2024, prevailing over a field including three-time NBA All-Star Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., and fellow G-Leaguer Jacob Toppin (brother of Obi Toppin, who won the 2022 Slam Dunk Contest after finishing second to Anfernee Simons in 2021). McClung is the first repeat Slam Dunk Contest winner since Zach LaVine in 2015-16. Other repeat winners include Michael Jordan (1987-88), Jason Richardson (2002-03), and Nate Robinson (2009-10). Robinson is the only three-time champion (he also won in 2006), while Dominique Wilkins (1985, 1990) and Harold Miner (1993, 1995) each won two non-consecutive Slam Dunk titles.
McClung had not played in an NBA regular season game prior to last
year's Slam Dunk Contest, and he has still only played in four NBA
regular season games (none this season). It has been a long time since the Slam Dunk Contest consistently attracted All-Star players, and those days seemingly are gone forever; the top players either don't want to bother with the event, or else they fear that not winning would somehow hurt their endorsement portfolio. It is sad that the best players don't want to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest, but this is just symptomatic of the larger problems of load management, tanking, and a generally lax attitude toward competition (which has completely infected the All-Star Game itself, turning a once prestigious showcase into a pathetic farce).
Read more »Labels: Jacob Toppin, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Jaylen Brown, Julius Erving, Mac McClung, Slam Dunk Contest
posted by David Friedman @ 12:43 AM
