20 Second Timeout

LeBron James is the First Player to Participate in 23 NBA Seasons

LeBron James is entering uncharted territory by participating in his 23rd NBA season, breaking the record of 22 seasons set by Vince Carter. Last season, James played at an unprecedented level considering his age (40 years old) and experience (22 NBA seasons), averaging 24.4 ppg, 8.2 apg (sixth in the league), and 7.8 rpg. He made the All-NBA Second Team, and he finished sixth in regular season MVP voting. James' L.A. Lakers finished third in the Western Conference regular season standings before being upset 4-1 by the sixth seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.

James missed the first 14 games of the 2025-26 season because of sciatica, and he has now played two games, both versus the woeful Utah Jazz. 

In his first game of the season, James scored 11 points on 4-7 field goal shooting while passing for a game-high 12 assists and grabbing three rebounds as the L.A. Lakers defeated the 5-9 Jazz, 140-126. He had a +1 plus/minus number while every other Lakers' starter had a plus/minus number of at least +10. Luka Doncic scored a game-high 37 points on 11-22 field goal shooting while dishing 10 assists with a +10 plus/minus number in 34 minutes. Austin Reaves had 26 points on 7-11 field goal shooting, one assist, and a +10 plus/minus number in 33 minutes. 

In his second game of the season, James had 17 points on 8-17 field goal shooting, eight rebounds, and six assists as the Lakers defeated the 5-11 Utah Jazz, 108-106. James had a team-worst -14 plus/minus number in 34 minutes. Doncic scored a game-high 33 points, grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, and passed for a game-high tying eight assists in 40 minutes while sporting a gaudy game-high + 33 plus/minus number. Reaves had 22 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and a -1 plus/minus number.

This is clearly a small sample size of games from which no definitive conclusions should be drawn. It is worth noting that in his last game prior to this season, James had a team-worst -14 plus/minus number as the Timberwolves eliminated the Lakers, 103-96. James had five points on 2-7 field goal shooting in the fourth quarter of that game. 

For most of his career, James has been the focal point for his team and he has dominated the ball while other players--even future Hall of Famers--sublimated their games and accepted having reduced touches. That formula is not in the best interest of the 2025-26 Lakers, because Doncic is a future Hall of Famer who is just entering his prime. Doncic is in the best shape of his life, and he has been shattering records with his quick start to this season. Doncic should be the Lakers' primary scorer and primary ballhandler/decision maker. Reaves is well-suited to being a secondary scorer/secondary playmaker. 

Where does that leave James? Based on James' age, health, and current skill set level, he should be the third option. Reducing James' offensive load not only diversifies the Lakers' attack by enabling Doncic and Reaves to shine, but it also gives James the opportunity to be more impactful defensively. Offense is not a problem for the Lakers, but they need to play better defense, and if James wants too add to his championship ring collection then he will focus on elevating the Lakers' defense both by example and by mentoring the team's younger players. Older players tend to be injury-prone, and tend to not be as engaged or effective defensively. The Lakers need for James to be healthy and to be a net positive defensively; reducing his offensive workload is the best way to keep James healthy and to help him have enough energy to be effective defensively. James has carefully crafted a reputation for being unselfish while having a high basketball IQ; the unselfish, smart way for him to play now is let Doncic and Reaves cook offensively while shoring up the Lakers' defense.

Labels: Austin Reaves, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Utah Jazz

posted by David Friedman @ 3:09 AM

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NBA Wags a Stern Finger at Draymond Green for Confronting a Fan During a Game

The NBA has reportedly issued a "warning" to Draymond Green after Green went chest to chest with a courtside fan in New Orleans on Sunday as Green's Golden State Warriors defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 124-106. The fan had been chanting "Angel Reese" at Green after Green missed several shots. Reese is a WNBA player who is notorious for seemingly padding her rebound totals by collecting her own missed shots. Green finished with eight points on 3-13 field goal shooting, 10 rebounds (including four offensive rebounds), six assists, and five turnovers; in the first quarter, Green scored 0 points on 0-7 field goal shooting, and he had four offensive rebounds (all of which were from his own missed layups or attempted tip in shots). The fan's chanting may have been annoying to Green, but it was not vulgar, and it pertained to the action on the court, as opposed to being a random or offensive insult. Fans have a right to cheer or boo, and to heckle as long as the heckling is not vulgar/offensive and not interfering with other fans being able to watch the game.

It is not clear what Green thought that he could accomplish by approaching the fan, who did not back away and did not seem intimidated by Green; it is also not clear what the NBA thinks that it can accomplish by issuing an unofficial warning to Green, who has a long history of violent misconduct despite being fined and suspended multiple times; if forcing Green to miss games and lose money did not straighten him out, a verbal warning is unlikely to have much impact.

Green has quite a rap sheet demonstrating his immaturity and his lack of emotional control. In the 2016 playoffs, Green kicked Steven Adams in the groin, and Green was suspended for game five of the NBA Finals after striking LeBron James in the groin in game four. Green consistently gets away with running roughshod over referees with incessant (and often vulgar) complaining/whining, he viciously punched then-teammate Jordan Poole in 2022, he stomped on Domantas Sabonis twice while Sabonis was down on the floor during a 2023 playoff game, he choked Rudy Gobert during a 2023 regular season game, and he slugged Jusuf Nurkic in the face during a 2023 regular season game. 

Green specializes in attacking players who are (1) not standing up or are in an otherwise compromised position and (2) are either smaller than he is or are clearly not going to fight back. Green had a chance to confront Ron Artest/Metta World Peace several years ago and somehow managed to not attempt a chokehold, groin kick, or punch--because Green is a bully who knows better than to pick a fight with someone who is crazier or tougher than he is. There may not be that many players left in the NBA who are willing to fight at the cost of being fined/suspended, but Green knows very well who they are and he gives them a wide berth. However, people like Green who think that they know who to mess with only have to make one mistake to end up in a precarious situation in which either they get injured or they injure someone else--and Green is fortunate that the players he has struck, kicked, and choked did not end up with serious injuries. What if Poole had suffered brain damage or Gobert had suffered a broken neck? There are many people in prison because the people who they hit in the face or who they choked suffered serious or even fatal injuries.

Green also has an outsized belief not only regarding his worth/power, but the worth/power of athletes in general vis a vis the owners who employ them (and the fans who ultimately pay their salaries by purchasing tickets and merchandise). After the NBA suspended Green for choking Gobert, I lamented Green's anger control issues and inflated sense of entitlement: 

Green is the poster child for athletes who are paid far more than they could ever earn doing anything else, and who have developed a sense of entitlement without a corresponding sense of responsibility regarding their conduct. If Green did not have the NBA to protect him, there is a strong possibility that he would be in jail--or dead--as a consequence of his inability to control his anger. Sadly, neither of those possibilities can be ruled out if he does not seek help. Gobert referred to Green as a "clown" and I can understand why he feels that way, but this is no laughing matter: Green needs help both to protect others and to protect himself, because his behavior goes well beyond just being a physical player. In the sense that Green is overrated, Gobert is correct: without the injured Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson around to carry the load, the Warriors went 15-50 in 2019-20 as Green averaged 8.0 ppg on .389 field goal shooting while looking very much like a role player and very little like the Hall of Famer he is purported to be. Green seems to get very angry when his limitations as a player are pointed out, but that does not change the reality that he is a limited player whose specific talents can be helpful for a team already stacked with talent but don't make much impact on winning otherwise. 

In December 2023, I warned that the NBA is taking a risk by not sufficiently disciplining Green for his out of control violent behavior:

If the NBA keeps protecting Green from the natural consequences of his actions, Green is going to eventually do something so egregious that the NBA will no longer be able to protect him because the judicial system will be compelled to intervene. Draymond Green is a 6-6, 230 walking time bomb that is going to explode in the league's face if Commissioner Silver does not take strong action--and if time bomb Green explodes, the league is not going to be able to successfully argue in court that the explosion was not foreseeable given Green's track record of violent behavior. 

Green has some basketball skills, but he is not as good as he thinks he is. Green should not be compared to Hall of Famers Dennis Rodman or Ben Wallace. Rodman won seven straight rebounding titles, and would have been a dominant rebounder regardless of who his teammates were. Wallace won two rebounding titles and one shot blocking title, and he ranked in the top 10 in the league in those categories seven times each overall. Neither Rodman nor Wallace could have been the best player on a championship team, but both were statistically dominant players. In contrast, Green has only led the NBA in a statistical category once (steals per game in 2016-17), he has never ranked in the top ten in rebounds per game or blocked shots per game, and he is heavily dependent on being surrounded by great players who do most of the work, as I noted last year when I assessed Green's legacy:

Green is going to ride his triple single career averages (8.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.6 apg) all the way to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame because he was lucky enough to play alongside Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala. Is "lucky" a fair adjective? What would Green's career have looked like without those guys? Glad you asked: in the 2019-20 season, Iguodala and Durant were gone (Green played a role in chasing Durant away, but that is another story), Thompson missed the whole season due to injury, and Curry played in just five games due to injury. Green showed the world who he really is as a player, averaging 8.0 ppg on .389 field goal shooting along with 6.2 rpg and 6.2 apg for a 15-50 team. So, yes, "lucky" seems about right.  

Green will be 36 years old soon, and his pedestrian numbers so far this season (7.9 ppg on .391 field goal shooting, 5.8 rpg) indicate that his playing days will be over soon. Green's retirement will be a mixed blessing: the good news is that we will no longer have to watch him deliver cheap shots to opposing players and we will no longer have to listen to his self-serving excuses for his lack of emotional self-control; the bad news is that he likely will be paid millions of dollars per year to be a commentator for one of the NBA's media partners, turning that media partner's pregame show into a mess almost as unwatchable as any pregame show featuring "Screamin' A" Smith. Green is supposed to have a high basketball IQ, but that has not been evident thus far when he has been a TV commentator; to cite just one example, when he participated in TNT's coverage of the 2024 Western Conference Finals he was more interested in bashing Gobert than in providing intelligent analysis, as I pointed out in my game two recap:

An intelligent, unbiased commentator would talk about the final possession of the game when Dallas gave up an open three pointer to Naz Reid even though Reid was the hottest three point shooter in the game. Reid's shot barely missed, but just as it could be argued that Minnesota should not have given up a three pointer to Doncic with a two point lead it could also be argued that Dallas should not have given up an open shot to Reid, one of the few Minnesota players who shot well in this game.

Instead, Green focused his attention on Gobert, sounding like a little kid on the playground teasing another kid as opposed to sounding like an intelligent, unbiased commentator analyzing what happened. It is valid to question why Minnesota left Gobert in the game for the last defensive possession instead of going small, switching everything, and forcing Dallas to shoot a two point shot--but it is silly to act as if Gobert is personally responsible for Doncic hitting the kind of shot that he has hit many times before against many other players.  

Gobert has one of the best plus/minus numbers overall during the 2024 playoffs, and the Timberwolves have outscored the Mavericks during his minutes this series while being outscored when Gobert is out of the game. I would not be surprised if "Screamin' A" Smith acted as if an entire 48 minute NBA game can be boiled down to one shot, but intelligent commentators understand that the last play is not necessarily what decided the outcome. Here, the Timberwolves enjoyed a 16 point third quarter lead before their offense fell apart; are we supposed to pretend like all of those empty offensive possessions had nothing to do with the final result?

Green is either an idiot or a buffoon: he either does not know what he is talking about, or he does not care how foolish he sounds. It is interesting that Kenny Smith was the only person on the TNT set who was willing to even tentatively challenge Green's nonsense both before and after the game. Smith noted that the Timberwolves have outscored the Mavericks during Gobert's minutes, and Smith emphasized that Doncic could have made that last shot over anyone, not just Gobert. Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal did not contradict Green, but they correctly focused on Towns' shortcomings and they made the valid point that if the Timberwolves are going to play big then their big men must play with force in the paint. The Timberwolves' problem is that they are not attacking the paint offensively--and that problem must be fixed by Edwards and Towns. The problem is not drop coverage or Rudy Gobert or any other nonsense spewed by Green. If Green keeps lying about Gobert it would be great if someone had the guts to tell the truth about Green, and his triple single exploits on .389 field goal shooting for the 15-50 Warriors during the 2019-20 season when Green did not have Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, or Andre Iguodala to do the heavy lifting. I'll double down on what I said before: Green will be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame primarily because he was lucky enough to play alongside those four players. 

It is also worth mentioning that Green went 0-3 versus Minnesota this season, and 1-2 last season (Golden State beat Minnesota once in 2022-23 when Green did not play, an example of addition by subtraction). If Green is so smart, maybe he should use that big brain to figure out how to do better than 1-5 versus the player and team that he keeps mocking.

The NBA and TNT should have been embarrassed to put Green on the air in the first place after his numerous violent incidents, and they should be even more embarrassed by how he is doing his part-time job. When David Stern was the NBA's Commissioner, he took the consistent position that it was important to promote the game and uplift the players. How does it promote the game to uplift a violent and petty person like Green to a position of prominence so that Green can mock the league's Defensive Player of the Year? If Gobert is as bad as Green suggests, then either the league is trash, or the media members who do the voting are idiots; neither scenario is a good look for the league. 

The NBA under Commissioner Adam Silver has coddled Green for too long, and no one should be surprised when Green does something so egregious that the NBA will not be able to protect Green from legal consequences. What if Green had hit the New Orleans fan like he hit Poole? Green would be in jail, and he, the Warriors, and the NBA would likely be facing a multi-million dollar lawsuit. It is easy to retort that Green did not hit the fan because Green knows what boundaries he cannot cross, but Green has crossed multiple boundaries already, so relying on him to exercise good judgment is quite a gamble, even for a league that does not mind being in bed with legalized gambling operations.

Labels: Adam Silver, Domantas Sabonis, Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors, Jordan Poole, Jusuf Nurkic, NBA, New Orleans Pelicans, Rudy Gobert

posted by David Friedman @ 12:05 PM

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Kevin Mackey Had a Keen Eye for Basketball Talent

Kevin Mackey, who epitomized the phrase "basketball lifer," passed away on Tuesday at the age of 79. He made his mark at the high school, college, and professional levels as a coach, and as a scout with a keen eye for basketball talent. Mackey had a self-induced downfall at the height of his coaching career, and then he bounced back to finish his basketball career at the NBA level by working as a scout for the Indiana Pacers. He was inducted in the American Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024. 

I told Mackey's story in detail in my January 2007 Basketball Times article titled Catching Up With...Kevin Mackey, but it is worth retelling the highlights here so that younger fans can appreciate the impact that he had on the game as a whole and on many specific players who he coached or scouted. 

Mackey led Don Bosco Technical High School (Boston) to the 1976 Massachusetts state title plus three consecutive Class A Catholic championships before serving as an assistant coach at Boston College from 1977-83. Mackey earned a reputation as a top recruiter, and several of the players who he brought to Boston College later played in the NBA, including Michael Adams, John Bagley, John Garris and Jay Murphy. One of his top prospects was future NBA player Manute Bol, who Mackey attempted to bring to Cleveland State. 

Mackey served as Cleveland State's head coach from 1983-90, posting a 142-69 record with back to back Mid-Continent Conference regular season titles (1985-86) and two NIT appearances. His teams employed a "run and stun" full court pressure defense adapted from what he learned while coaching under Tom Davis at Boston College. Some of these concepts were later borrowed by well-known coaches such as Rick Pitino and Jerry Tarkanian. The highlight for Mackey at Cleveland State was the team's Cinderella run in the 1986 NCAA Tournament, when the Vikings upset the Bobby Knight-coached 3rd seeded Indiana Hoosiers and then beat 6th seeded St. Joseph's before losing 71-70 to Navy (featuring Hall of Fame center David Robinson) in the Sweet 16. That was the first time a 14th seeded team reached the Sweet 16. Cleveland State used the proceeds from that NCAA Tournament run to build what is now known as the Wolstein Center, and in 1990 the school signed Mackey to a two year $300,000 contract. Unfortunately, midnight struck for Mackey and the Cinderella Vikings when Mackey was caught driving under the influence after leaving a Cleveland crackhouse. 

Mackey admitted that he had been an alcoholic for many years, and that he began using cocaine shortly after the 1986 NCAA Tournament. He immediately went into drug rehabilitation, requesting that Cleveland State grant him a leave of absence to complete the 60 day program. The school president stated "I fired Kevin Mackey, but really he fired himself." Mackey completed the drug rehab program run by John Lucas--a former number one overall draft pick whose NBA playing career was ruined because of his drug addiction--and then Lucas helped him get a job coaching minor league basketball. Mackey spent 13 years coaching in a veritable alphabet soup of leagues in addition to coaching in Argentina, Canada and Korea. He won four championships, including three straight USBL titles. During that time, he coached 35 players who later played in the NBA, including Darrell Armstrong, Michael Curry and Adrian Griffin, who played on the Dallas Mavericks team that made it to the 2006 NBA Finals.

After Larry Bird became president of the Indiana Pacers, Mackey was the first person he hired. Mackey worked for the Pacers as a scout for 18 years before retiring in 2021. Mackey was gracious enough to provide a lot of time for me as my primary source for "A Scout's-Eye View of the Game," which is still one of my favorite articles that I have written. I had long wanted to have the opportunity to learn about--and share with my readers--how elite basketball talent evaluators analyze the strengths and weaknesses of players; the insights that Mackey provided nearly 20 years ago are still relevant today. I will never forget Mackey's concise, colorful descriptions of players he scouted, including one who "has hands like feet" and another who he dismissed as "JAG" (just another guy). Although intelligent use of statistics is part of talent evaluation, the value of the educated eye should not be minimized--and Mackey's basketball eye was as educated as anyone's.

In 2007, Mackey shared with me his all-time NBA team:

1st Team

Center: Wilt Chamberlain
Power Forward: Bill Russell
Small Forward: Larry Bird
Guard: Magic Johnson
Guard: Michael Jordan

2nd Team

Center: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Power Forward: Shaquille O'Neal
Small Forward: Julius Erving
Guard: Jerry West
Guard: Oscar Robertson 

It may look odd at first to see Russell and O'Neal listed as power forwards, but in today's era of "positionless basketball"--or in any era, for that matter--such a squad would be formidable. Mackey said that if he could expand the roster to 11 then he would include Elgin Baylor. Mackey selected Red Auerbach as his coach, with Phil Jackson as the assistant coach (back in the day, teams did not have an armada of assistant coaches). 

Speaking with Mackey and watching games alongside him is one of the highlights of my basketball writing career. We were kindred spirits because of our mutual love of basketball; we connected despite our differences in age and life experiences.

Mackey lived a life with no regrets; after I asked him if he thought about what he might have accomplished had he been able to coach longer at Cleveland State, Mackey replied, "I think that regret can be a cancer. I'd rather do a good job with today. We had a great run—it was too short--at Cleveland State and that was a great, wonderful part of my career. College-age coaching was a wonderful opportunity and we had terrific success." However, he admitted that he missed coaching and that if he ever had an opportunity to coach again then he would take it. 

That opportunity never presented itself, so I am picturing Kevin Mackey in basketball heaven now, coaching the "run and stun" and recruiting players who do not have "hands like feet."

Labels: Boston College, Cleveland State, Indiana Pacers, Kevin Mackey

posted by David Friedman @ 3:17 AM

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Remembering Michael Ray Richardson, Who Excelled at Both Ends of the Court

Four-time NBA All-Star Michael Ray Richardson* passed away today at the age of 70, not long after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He led the NBA in assists (10.1 apg) in just his second season (1980), and he led the league in steals three times (1980, 1983, 1985). Richardson was not a great outside shooter, but his size and quickness made him very difficult to stop when he drove to the hoop, and trapping him was ineffective because of his superior skills as a ballhandler and passer. He was also a tenacious defender who made the All-Defensive First Team in 1980 and 1981. Richardson was often called "Sugar" or "Sugar Ray," and there is no doubt that he had a sweet game.

Despite his skills and accomplishments, Richardson will forever be remembered for being banned for life by the NBA in 1986 for drug use, and for his brutally honest comment about the New York Knicks' prospects during a rough stretch: "The ship be sinking" Richardson said, adding "The sky's the limit" after he was asked how far it could go.

The Knicks selected Richardson fourth overall in the 1978 NBA Draft after he averaged 24.2 ppg and 6.9 apg as a senior at Montana. He averaged 6.5 ppg and 3.0 apg in limited playing time as a rookie before blossoming into one of the league's top point guards in his second season, averaging 15.3 ppg and 6.6 rpg along with leading the league in assists (10.1 apg) and steals (3.2 spg). In 1980-81, the Knicks went 50-32 and reached the playoffs for the first time since 1978 as Richardson contributed 16.4 ppg, 7.9 apg (fourth in the league) 6.9 rpg, and 2.9 spg (second in the league). The Knicks slumped to 33-49 in 1981-82, prompting Richardson's famous assessment of their dismal prospects. Richardson averaged 17.9 ppg, 7.0 apg (10th in the league), 6.9 rpg, and 2.6 spg (third in the league) that season while playing in all 82 games. 

On October 22, 1982, the Knicks shipped Richardson and a 1984 fifth round draft pick to Golden State for Bernard King, who later became one of the most beloved players in Knicks' history. Richardson played just 33 games for Golden State before the Warriors traded him to the New Jersey Nets for Sleepy Floyd and Mickey Johnson.

Drug addiction and stints in drug rehabilitation limited Richardson to 48 regular season games in 1983-84, but when the playoffs rolled around he was in peak form; perhaps the highlight of Richardson's career is when he led the Nets to a shocking first round upset of the defending champion Philadelphia 76ers, a powerful squad featuring Hall of Famers Moses Malone, Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, and Bobby Jones. After the Nets stunned the 76ers 116-101 in Philadelphia in game one, 76ers coach Billy Cunningham declared, "There is not really a lot I can say. They outplayed us in every phase of the game." Cunningham lamented his team's defensive breakdowns: "Michael Ray Richardson was doing things to us that we don't let Magic Johnson do." The Nets won game two 116-102 as Richardson scored a game-high 32 points, passed for a game-high nine assists, grabbed seven rebounds and swiped four steals. He shot 12-23 from the field, including 3-7 from three point range. The 76ers rallied to win games three and four in New Jersey to set up an elimination game in Philadelphia (first round series were best of five at that time). Richardson scored a game-high 24 points and had six rebounds, six assists, and a game-high six steals as the Nets won, 101-98. Richardson averaged 20.6 ppg, 8.6 apg, 5.2 rpg, and 4.2 spg during the series while shooting .494 from the field in 42.4 mpg; that was a tremendous performance, but it was the only playoff series that Richardson won during his NBA career. Richardson's numbers slipped to 13.7 ppg, 6.0 apg, and 4.7 rpg in the second round as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Nets, 4-2. 

In 1985, Richardson made the All-Star team for the first time since 1982, averaging 20.1 ppg, 8.2 apg (sixth in the league), 5.6 rpg, and 3.0 spg (first in the league). The Nets slipped from 45-37 to 42-40, but still made the playoffs. The Detroit Pistons swept the Nets 3-0. Richardson averaged 18.3 ppg, 11.3 apg, and 6.0 rpg in that series.

Richardson, who played all 82 games in three of his eight seasons and who played at least 3000 minutes in four seasons, appeared in just 47 games in the 1985-86 season before being suspended by the team for his ongoing drug abuse problem. NBA Commissioner David Stern later banned Richardson for life for repeated violations of the league's drug abuse policies.  

After being banned from the NBA, Richardson cleaned up his life, and he played in European professional leagues until he was 46. He later thanked David Stern for saving his life. After Richardson finished playing, he coached the Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry (formerly the Oklahoma City Cavalry) to two CBA titles and one Premier Basketball League title.

I met Richardson at the 2009 NBA Legends Brunch, and I told him that as a kid I rooted for the 76ers but respected how well he played in that 1984 playoff series. Richardson's career averages of 14.8 ppg, 7.0 apg (31st in ABA/NBA history), 5.5 rpg, and 2.6 spg (second in ABA/NBA history behind only Alvin Robertson) provide just a fleeting glimpse of the impact that he had at the height of his powers; at his best, he attacked the paint to score and facilitate, he played intense defense, and he rebounded like a forward. He was not a great outside shooter and he could be turnover prone, but he was a sight to behold when he drove to the hoop and when he hounded opposing players defensively. George Gervin, Isiah Thomas, and other players from that era speak in glowing terms about how well Richardson defended them.

It is unfortunate that Richardson's drug abuse shortened his NBA career, but it is great that he straightened himself out and had a productive life after his NBA playing days ended. 

* For decades, his first name was spelled "Micheal" in official sources, but in his 2024 autobiography Banned his first name is spelled "Michael." I have used both spellings in the labels for this post so that it will be easier to find for anyone searching online, but in the text I used "Michael."

Labels: Golden State Warriors, Michael Ray Richardson, Micheal Ray Richardson, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks

posted by David Friedman @ 4:53 PM

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Lenny Wilkens' Remarkable Legacy as Player, Player-Coach, and Coach

Lenny Wilkens, the only person who earned recognition as both one of the NBA's 50 greatest players and one of the NBA's 10 greatest coaches, passed away yesterday at the age of 88. He coached the Seattle SuperSonics to the 1979 NBA title, and he ranks third all-time on the NBA's regular season wins list with 1332, trailing only Gregg Popovich (1390) and Don Nelson (1335). Wilkens became the all-time wins leader in 1994 after he surpassed Red Auerbach, who had held the record (938) since the 1960s. Wilkens was the NBA's all-time wins leader from 1994-2010, when Nelson broke his record. Wilkens won the NBA's Coach of the Year award in 1994, and he finished in the top five in seven other seasons (1971-72, 1978-80, 1989, 1992). He led five different franchises to at least one playoff appearance (Seattle, Cleveland, Atlanta, Toronto, New York), winning at least 50 games in a season nine times with three different teams (Seattle, Cleveland, Atlanta).

Wilkens' coaching career was so long and successful that it is easy to forget how great he was as a player. He excelled at Providence, twice leading the Friars to the NIT during an era when the NIT was much more prestigious than it is now. Wilkens won the 1960 NIT MVP even though Providence lost to Bradley in the championship game. The St. Louis Hawks selected him sixth overall in the 1960 NBA Draft. As a rookie, Wilkens ranked fourth on the team in scoring (11.7 ppg) and fifth in assists (2.8 apg) as the Hawks reached the NBA Finals for the second year in a row and third time in four seasons. The Celtics defeated the Hawks 4-1 to claim their third straight NBA title en route to winning a record eight consecutive NBA championships and 11 championships in Bill Russell's 13 season career.

Wilkens averaged 18.2 ppg and 5.8 apg in his second season, but military service limited him to playing in just 20 games. In 1962-63, his third NBA season, Wilkens earned the first of three straight All-Star selections. Wilkens also made the All-Star team as a Hawk in 1967 and 1968, when he finished second in regular season MVP voting behind Wilt Chamberlain despite not making the All-NBA Team, which featured Oscar Robertson and Dave Bing on the First Team with Jerry West and Hal Greer earning Second Team honors.

On October 12, 1968, the Hawks traded Wilkens to Seattle for Walt Hazzard. Wilkens made the All-Star team in each of his first three seasons with Seattle while ranking second in the league in assists in 1969 (674; league rankings were then determined by totals and not averages, but he also ranked second with 8.2 apg). He led the league in assists in 1970 (683, with a 9.1 apg average that was nearly a full assist per game ahead of Walt Frazier). Wilkens ranked second in assists in 1971 (9.2 apg), the first season when rankings were determined by averages and not totals. He won the 1971 NBA All-Star Game MVP after scoring a game-high 21 points on 8-11 field goal shooting while leading the Western Conference to a 108-107 win over the Eastern Conference back when the All-Star Game was competitive. Wilkens ranked second in the league in assists in 1972 with a career-high 9.6 apg.

Wilkens began his coaching career by serving as Seattle's player-coach from 1970-72. The SuperSonics, a 1967-68 expansion team, won 30 games before acquiring Wilkens, and then won 36, 38, and 47 games during his three seasons as player-coach. Prior to the 1972-73 season, Seattle traded Wilkens and Barry Clemens to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Butch Beard. Seattle plummeted to 26 wins after Tom Nissalke and then Bucky Buckwalter replaced Wilkens as coach.

In his first season with Cleveland, Wilkens earned his ninth and final All-Star selection while averaging 20.5 ppg (the third best scoring average of his career) and 8.4 apg (again ranking second in the league). He also served as a great mentor for Austin Carr, who told me, "Lenny was very instrumental in me becoming a better guard. I was more of a shooting machine when I was in college. I had to learn how to conserve my energy because I had to play a lot of minutes. At the same time, I had to learn how to get the other four guys involved, because I was so used to everything coming to me. Lenny taught me a lot about how to make passes. I had a problem making backdoor passes and Lenny taught me how to do that and when to do it--little things like if I am going to pass the ball but don't quite have the angle, always pass the ball at the guy's head or at his ear, because he has to react to that. That gives you just enough time to get the pass through. I learned those kinds of little things from Lenny that really helped me throughout the rest of my career. Once I started having injuries, I had to start using my mind to stay successful because I lost a step. Once you lose a step in this game, you are in trouble."

Portland acquired Wilkens' rights prior to the 1974-75 season, and he finished his playing career as a player-coach for one year in Portland, averaging 6.5 ppg and 3.6 apg while guiding the squad to a 38-44 record, the best in the franchise's five year history up to that point. Rookie Bill Walton, who would later lead Portland to the 1977 NBA title, played in just 35 games. The 37 year old Wilkens retired as a player and spent one more year as Portland's coach, leading the Trail Blazers to a 37-45 record in 1975-76.

Seattle started the 1977-78 season 5-17 before hiring Wilkens to replace Coach Bob Hopkins. Wilkens led Seattle to a 42-18 record the rest of the way, and the SuperSonics reached the NBA Finals for the first time before losing 4-3 to the Washington Bullets in the NBA Finals. In 1978-79, Wilkens led Seattle to the best record in the Western Conference (52-30) and the second best overall record, trailing only the defending champion Bullets (54-28). In the first NBA Finals rematch since L.A.-New York in 1973, the SuperSonics defeated the Bullets 4-1. Dennis Johnson won the 1979 NBA Finals MVP, while Gus Williams scored a series-high 29.0 ppg on .500 field goal shooting. Williams scored at least 30 points in three of the five Finals games, including a series-high 36 in Seattle's 114-112 game four win.

Jack Sikma played a key role for those strong Seattle teams. I interviewed Wilkens during the 2008 NBA All-Star weekend, and he described Sikma's impact: "Jack never shied away. He stepped up. That is why we drafted him. We felt that he was a guy who could contribute and who would be consistent and when I took over as the coach of the Sonics I started him. He had been coming off of the bench. He made free throws at crucial times and was always in the game. When you have success early in your career it makes you that much more confident."

Paul Silas, who had previously been a key player for Boston's championship teams in 1974 and 1976, provided defense, rebounding, and veteran savvy for Seattle. Wilkens told me how important Silas was for young Sikma's development: "Paul was aggressive and he could play. Any time that I thought that another veteran team was trying to take advantage of Jack, I'd insert Paul. He was a wise veteran; he knew what to do and how to do it. That helped give Jack a reprieve, a chance to catch his breath before he had to go back in the game. In practice, Paul would go against Jack. I would match them up because I wanted Jack to learn from one of the best. Paul was huge in that respect."

Wilkens coached Seattle until the end of the 1984-85 season, and then he moved back to Cleveland, where he had enjoyed success as a player late in his career. Wilkens coached the Cavaliers from 1986-1993, highlighted by 57 win seasons in 1988-89 and 1991-92. In the latter season, the Cavaliers reached the Eastern Conference Finals for just the second time in franchise history before falling 4-2 to the Chicago Bulls, who then won the second of their sixth NBA titles in the 1990s. Brad Daugherty made the All-Star team five times with Wilkens coaching him in Cleveland, and Mark Price earned three All-Star selections plus three All-NBA Team selections during those years (Price earned his final All-Star selection and final All-NBA Team selection in 1993-94 after Mike Fratello replaced Wilkens).

Wilkens coached the Atlanta Hawks to a 57-25 record in 1993-94, tied with the New York Knicks for first in the Eastern Conference and tied with the 1986-87 Hawks for the best regular season record in franchise history; that mark stood until the 2014-15 Hawks went 60-22. Wilkens led the Hawks to the second round of the playoffs four times in seven years after the Hawks advanced that far just three times in the previous 13 seasons.

Wilkens' coaching career concluded with two playoff appearances in three seasons in Toronto, and one playoff berth in two seasons in New York.

In addition to his NBA coaching career, Wilkens was an assistant coach for Chuck Daly with the legendary Olympic gold medal winning 1992 Dream Team, and he was the head coach for Team USA’s 1996 gold medal winning squad.

Wilkens is one of five people inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player (1989) and as a coach (1998); the others on this special list are John Wooden (1960, 1973), Bill Sharman (1976, 2004), Tommy Heinsohn (1986, 2015), and Bill Russell (1975, 2021). Other honors that Wilkens received include being inducted in the FIBA Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, the College Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Providence Hall of Fame. He also appears on the Cleveland Cavaliers' Wall of Honor.

After hearing that Wilkens passed away, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said, "I ended up following [Wilkens] as president [of the National Basketball Coaches Association]. He did a lot of things to further the profession; the pension, benefits, coaching salaries rose significantly during his time. He was a great representative to the league office, advocating for coaches and the things that coaches experience that a lot of people didn't know about. Lenny was a great communicator with things like that. The thing that I'll always remember, he was such a great gentleman, and such an eloquent human being, along with being a super competitive coach. He is still way up there in all-time victories. Very, very special man. He'll be missed, but he'll be remembered." 

There have been greater players than Wilkens, and greater coaches, but no one matches Wilkens' combined resumes as both an elite player and an elite coach. As Carlisle noted, Wilkens had a very positive impact on the sport because of the effective way that he communicated with players, fellow coaches, and the league office. 

Labels: Atlanta Hawks, Brad Daugherty, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dennis Johnson, Gus Williams, Jack Sikma, Lenny Wilkens, Mark Price, Paul Silas, Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Supersonics, St. Louis Hawks

posted by David Friedman @ 2:36 PM

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Russell Westbrook Extends His Career Triple Double Record While Setting Career Rebounding Record for Guards

On Wednesday night, Russell Westbrook extended his NBA career triple double record by notching his 205th regular season triple double as his Sacramento Kings defeated the Golden State Warriors, 121-116. Westbrook scored 23 points on 9-13 field goal shooting while grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds and dishing for a game-high 10 assists. Westbrook's new teammate Malik Monk is thrilled by Westbrook's contributions, particularly since Westbrook became a starter for the Kings: "We needed it bad. Especially in the starting unit. I feel like for the last few years, we've been starting games pretty bad. With him going to the starting unit, it brings more oomph, more energy." 

Westbrook now has 8734 career regular season rebounds, surpassing Jason Kidd (8725) to become the top rebounding guard in ABA/NBA history. Westbrook ranks 71st overall in career regular season rebounds, ahead of many Hall of Fame centers/power forwards, including Spencer Haywood, Willis Reed, Chris Webber, and Bob McAdoo. Contrary to what Westbrook's critics assert, his rebounds are not "stolen."

This season, Westbrook--who will turn 37 on November 12--is averaging 15.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 5.6 apg, and 1.4 spg with shooting splits of .468/.432/.727 while starting four out of eight games. Westbrook signed a non-guaranteed veteran minimum one year deal for $3.6 million to join the Kings. Per HoopsHype, Westbrook's 2025 contract is tied for 299th in the NBA. 

Regardless of what Dave "Vampire" McMenamin and other media members say to trash Westbrook's reputation, no rational person believes that Westbrook deserves to be among the lowest paid NBA players--but it is fascinating to see how perception becomes reality, and how media-driven narratives may affect a player's market value. I am not surprised at how poorly many media members treat Westbrook, because in 2014 I predicted that Westbrook would inherit Kobe Bryant's mantle as both the NBA's best guard and a "vastly underrated superstar." Westbrook is no longer a superstar, but he was the NBA's best guard and a vastly underrated superstar during his prime, and his contributions are consistently belittled to this day.

Westbrook plays hard, which should be a given for professional athletes but is often not the case. He teamed with Kevin Durant to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to the 2012 NBA Finals, and to Western Conference Finals appearances in three other seasons. After Durant fled the Thunder to join the stacked Golden State Warriors in 2016, Westbrook did not pout and he did not demand a trade; he led the Thunder to three straight playoff appearances before being traded to Houston in 2019. Westbrook should get a special award for averaging a triple double while leading the Washington "Wheeze-hards" to the 2021 playoffs, the team's only postseason appearance between 2018 and 2025.

Some players seem to be in the NBA just for the money and the fame, but Westbrook seems to love not just playing basketball but competing as hard as he can for as long as he can.

Labels: Golden State Warriors, Russell Westbrook, Sacramento Kings

posted by David Friedman @ 5:06 PM

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How Significant is the NBA Cup?

The third annual NBA Cup began with eight games on Friday October 31, and will continue until a champion is crowned on Tuesday December 16. The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the 2024 NBA Cup, and the L.A. Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers 123-109 to win the inaugural NBA Cup in 2023. Most of this year's NBA Cup games will be played on Friday nights. All NBA Cup games also count in the regular season standings except for the championship game, which paradoxically is not classified as a regular season game or as a playoff game.

In a two year sample size, winning the NBA Cup has not correlated with winning the the NBA title. Milwaukee lost to Indiana in the first round of the 2025 playoffs, and the Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 playoffs. The losers of the NBA Cup championship game have fared better in the NBA playoffs than the winners, with Oklahoma City capturing the 2025 NBA title and Indiana reaching the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals a year before losing to Oklahoma City in the 2025 NBA Finals.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver openly dreamed for many years about creating an in-season tournament modeled after the in-season tournaments that already exist in other sports leagues around the world. He believes that such an in-season tournament heightens fan interest and lessens the incentive to tank--and he no doubt also believes that an in-season tournament provides revenue generating opportunities for the league.

There is little doubt that the league is using the NBA Cup to create revenue generating opportunities through sponsorships and through promotion by the league's media partners, but the other supposed advantages of the NBA Cup are difficult to quantify. There is not a direct, obvious way to measure the extent to which fan interest is impacted by the NBA Cup; did fans attend a particular game because it was an NBA Cup game or because they like one of the teams or because that game happened when they had enough time or money to go to a game? 

The race to the bottom that happened in both 2023 and 2024--and will almost certainly happen this season as well--belies the notion that the NBA Cup curbs tanking; it made no sense to assume that--even if every team cared a lot about winning the NBA Cup--the existence of an in-season tournament would have an impact on teams happily losing for most of the season.

It will be interesting to see how the NBA Cup is viewed in 10 years. The Lakers raised a banner to commemorate their 2023 NBA Cup title, and the Bucks raised a banner in honor of their 2024 NBA Cup title, but it is difficult to imagine legendary players of the past such as Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant putting much stock in a banner celebrating anything other than an NBA title. How important can the NBA Cup championship game be if the statistics are not counted as either part of the regular season or the playoffs? The NBA Cup championship game is essentially an exhibition game for which the players are richly rewarded, as each member of the winning team receives more than $500,000.

Great players are evaluated based in large part on NBA championships, NBA MVPs, All-NBA selections, and overall individual statistics. Will NBA Cups eventually considered to be an important--or even relevant--part of a great player's resume? That seems doubtful.

Labels: Adam Silver, Indiana Pacers, L.A. Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA Cup, Oklahoma City Thunder

posted by David Friedman @ 12:13 AM

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Early Season Notes About Some High Profile Teams

It is way too early to make any definitive--or even preliminary--conclusions about the just-started NBA season, but here are a few observations about what we have seen so far, starting with last season's "Final Four" teams and then looking at several other teams that receive a lot of attention.

Oklahoma City Thunder: The Thunder started the season 4-0 without the injured Jalen Williams, who made the All-NBA Third Team and the All-Star team last season. Their margin for error and their victory margins are much smaller than last season; the Thunder currently have a point differential of 7.7 ppg, which is very good by normal standards but just pedestrian compared to the all-time single season record that they set last season (12.9 ppg). The Thunder are scoring 121.0 ppg, just above the 120.5 ppg that they averaged last season, but four games is a small sample size and two of the Thunder's four games went to double overtime. In their two regulation length wins, they scored 117 points and 101 points.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is carrying an even bigger load than he did last season when he won the scoring title, the regular season MVP, the Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals MVP, and the NBA Finals MVP; he joined Michael Jordan as the only players in the last 50 years to total at least 120 points in the first three games of a season, and he is the only player to accomplish this feat while shooting at least .500 from the field. Gilgeous-Alexander is also just the third player to score at least 20 points in at least 75 straight games, with his streak only trailing one streak by Oscar Robertson (79) and two streaks by Wilt Chamberlain (96 and 126).

Indiana Pacers: This will be a challenging season for the Pacers, who are without both injured All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton and long-time starting center Myles Turner, who signed with the Milwaukee Bucks last summer. The Pacers started 0-3, competing hard in a double overtime loss to the Thunder in the season opener before being blown out by Memphis (128-103) and losing a close game to Minnesota (114-110). It should be noted that Minnesota's best player, Anthony Edwards, played only three minutes in that game.

Last season, Haliburton led a high octane offense that ranked seventh in the league in scoring; through three games, the Pacers rank 20th in scoring, and an alarming 28th in points allowed.  

The Pacers are well-coached by Rick Carlisle, and their identity is to play hard, but they have lost too much talent to be a playoff team this season. They are relying heavily on Pascal Siakam, who is doing all that he can to keep the team afloat (26.0 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 6.0 apg). Bennedict Mathurin averaged 31.0 ppg in two games, but he suffered a toe injury in the second game and sat out the Pacers' third game. It is uncertain when he will return to action.

New York Knicks: The Knicks opened the season by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 119-111, and then they defeated the depleted Boston Celtics before losing to the Miami Heat, who are missing injured All-Star guard Tyler Herro. The Knicks are averaging 110.3 ppg and rank second in the league with 46.3 three point field goal attempts per game; last season, the Knicks scored 115.8 ppg and averaged 34.1 three point field goal attempts per game (27th in the league). 

The Knicks replaced coach Tom Thibodeau with Mike Brown. Although the Knicks are scoring a bit less so far this season, their offense appears to be running at a faster pace and definitely involves more three point shooting. Last season, the Knicks reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000, so this season is NBA Finals or bust for the Knicks.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Minnesota started 2-1, but two-time All-NBA Second Team selection Anthony Edwards played just three minutes in the third game (a 114-110 win versus Indiana) before suffering a hamstring injury that will keep him out of action for at least a week. Last night, the Timberwolves sans Edwards fell to the Denver Nuggets, 127-114. The Timberwolves started 6-6 last season and recovered to earn the sixth seed before advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive year. Julius Randle is averaging 25.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and 5.3 apg. The Timberwolves cannot reasonably expect to reach the Western Conference Finals again from the sixth seed, so it is important for them to win some games while Edwards is out, and then pick up the pace after he returns.

Cleveland Cavaliers: After losing 119-111 to the New York Knicks in the season opener for both teams, the Cavaliers reeled off three straight wins, capped by a 116-95 dismantling of the Detroit Pistons last night. The Pistons, tapped by some commentators as a potential Eastern Conference contender, fell to 2-2 and trailed by as much as 35 points before the contest entered what Marv Albert would call "extensive garbage time."

Donovan Mitchell has been fantastic through four games, averaging 31.3 ppg while shooting .564 from the field. Four other Cavaliers are each averaging at least 13.5 ppg, picking up the slack for injured All-Star guard Darius Garland and injured three point specialist Max Strus. 

The Cavaliers have proven that they are an excellent regular season team--finishing first in the Eastern Conference last season with a 64-18 record after starting 15-0--but, like the Knicks, their season will be deemed successful based solely on making a deep playoff run. The Cavaliers have not advanced past the second round since LeBron James led them to the 2018 NBA Finals. 

Boston Celtics: Like the Indiana Pacers, the Boston Celtics face an uphill climb this season due to an injured star player and a depleted roster. Jayson Tatum is expected to miss the entire season, and key players Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet are now playing for other teams. Tatum is one of the NBA's five best players, and one of the underrated aspects of his greatness is defense, particularly defensive rebounding. During their 1-3 start, the Celtics rank 17th in rebounding and 19th in defensive rebounding. Last season, the Celtics ranked eighth in rebounding and seventh in defensive rebounding, with Tatum leading the team in both categories by wide margins. 

The Celtics also miss Tatum's scoring and his shot creation; so far this season, the Celtics rank 23rd in field goal percentage, 25th in three point field goal percentage, and 10th in three point field goals made; last season, the Celtics ranked 19th, 10th, and first respectively in those categories, with Tatum being the primary scorer and primary facilitator.

Golden State Warriors: It feels like the Warriors are living on borrowed time with an aging, injury-prone roster, but so far they are 3-1, including an overtime victory versus a Denver team that looks like a championship contender. Casual fans and uninformed commentators tend to focus on Golden State's offense and specifically Stephen Curry's three point shooting, but the Warriors' championship teams were excellent defensively; their most recent title-winning team in 2022 ranked second in defensive field goal percentage and third in points allowed. The Warriors currently rank 24th in points allowed and 28th in defensive field goal percentage, and if they continue at that pace on defense then they are unlikely to be a contending team regardless of how many three pointers Curry makes. 

Curry is leading the league in free throw percentage (he is perfect in 22 attempts), three point field goals made (20) and three point field goals attempted (44) while averaging 29.0 ppg. He has not averaged 29.0 ppg since the 2022-23 season, so it will be interesting to see if he can score at that level for a full season as a soon to be 38 year old. Jimmy Butler is averaging 21.5 ppg--which would be his highest scoring average since 2022-23--and he said that he plans to have a higher free throw percentage than Curry this season. Butler's free throw percentage so far (.881) is a career-high but would be the second worst free throw percentage of Curry's career! 

Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokic has led the Denver Nuggets to a championship and two Western Conference Finals appearances even though he has yet to play with a current All-Star; that streak of non-All-Star teammates may end this season if Jamal Murray (30.3 ppg) and Aaron Gordon (25.3 ppg) remain healthy and productive. Jokic just joined Oscar Robertson (1960-61) and Russell Westbrook (2020-21) on the list of players who had a triple double in each of the first three games of a season; last night, Jokic had 25 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists in what Peacock's Grant Hill called a "quiet" performance as the Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 127-114. "Quiet" for Jokic would be a career-best loud thunderstorm for most NBA players.  

Denver went 0-4 versus Minnesota last season after losing 4-3 to the Timberwolves in the second round of the 2024 playoffs, but a major caveat about yesterday's game is that--as noted above--Anthony Edwards did not play due to a hamstring injury that is expected to sideline him for two weeks. 

An overtime loss to the Warriors followed by wins against the Phoenix Suns and the Timberwolves sans Edwards is a small sample size, but the Nuggets should be encouraged not only by the health/productivity of Murray and Gordon but also by the solid contributions made by newly acquired players Tim Hardaway Jr., Cameron Johnson, Jonas Valanciunas, and Bruce Brown. Throughout Jokic's career, the Nuggets have tended to get destroyed when he is out of the game, so if the rebuilt bench can even just tread water while Jokic rests then Jokic, Murray, and Gordon will be fresher and deadlier than ever. 

L.A. Lakers: The Lakers started the season without LeBron James, who will miss at least a few more weeks due to sciatica, and now they will be without Luka Doncic for at least a week due to a finger injury and a lower leg contusion. Doncic scored 43 points and then 49 points in the Lakers' first two games, setting a franchise record for most points by a player in the first two games of a season--but the Lakers went 1-1 in those games. Doncic is the only Laker other than Kobe Bryant to have at least 45 points, at least 10 rebounds, at least five assists, and at least five three point field goals made in the same regular season game. 

The Lakers are now 1-1 without Doncic. They beat the Sacramento Kings 127-120 as Austin Reaves erupted for a career-high 51 points along with 11 rebounds and nine assists, and last night they lost 122-108 to Portland with Reaves scoring a game-high 41 points and committing a game-high eight turnovers. 

Other than the health of their top two players, the key question for the Lakers is if they can consistently play good defense. They rank 14th in both points allowed and defensive field goal percentage. It is far from certain that having James and Doncic for all four games would have helped in either of those categories, as James is no longer a consistently good defensive player and Doncic is consistently a subpar defensive player. 

The Lakers cannot go very far just based on offense alone; in their 128-110 victory over Minnesota, the Lakers shot .592 (45-76) from the field, powered by Doncic shooting 14-23 (.609). That kind of shooting is great, but unsustainable. 

Deandre Ayton is averaging 15.8 ppg and 9.3 rpg while shooting .600 from the field, and the Lakers will need for him to continue to be productive.

The funny thing about any team featuring LeBron James is that James' media buddies will always promote the narrative that James does not have enough help. If James played with prime Kobe Bryant, prime Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, prime Magic Johnson, prime Elgin Baylor, and prime Jerry West, there is no doubt that Chris Haynes would report, "Sources tell me that Bryant shoots too much, Kareem only shoots skyhooks and his presence in the paint prevents LeBron from driving to the hoop, Magic's ball dominance prevents LeBron from doing what he does best, the Lakers would be better if Baylor stood in the corner to shoot three pointers, and West hurts the team because he can only dribble with his right hand." Dave McMenamin would add, "Anonymous players told me that Kareem is a 'vampire' who sucks the life out of the locker room, no one wants to play with Kobe, Magic smiles too much, Baylor is a ball hog, and West should let LeBron be the primary ballhandler." Brian Windhorst would conclude, "Ever since I followed LeBron around when he was in high school, LeBron has been a pass-first player who is a great leader. On this Lakers team, he is not able to pass or lead because Magic and West have taken those roles, and sources tell me that LeBron is not happy about this."

The current Lakers have two perimeter players beside James who can score 50 points or get 10 assists in a game, they have a center who rebounds, rolls to the hoop, and takes high percentage shots, and they have several solid role players, but after they once again fail to advance past the first round we will hear about how it is everyone's fault except LeBron's. The LeBron James era in L.A. has featured one "bubble" championship, one other Western Conference Finals appearance, three first round losses, and two seasons of missing the playoffs. James had an MVP-caliber/first ballot Hall of Fame player (Anthony Davis or Luka Doncic) in his prime next to him for all but one of those seasons. For the record, Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to back to back titles in 2009 and 2010 without a single teammate who made the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. 

San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs and Thunder are the NBA's only 4-0 teams. Victor Wembanyama has posted MVP-level numbers: 31.0 ppg (seventh in the league), 13.8 rpg (fourth), 4.8 bpg (first), and .603 field goal percentage. The most encouraging number may be the number that decreased the most: he is attempting 2.8 three point field goals per game after attempting 8.8 three point field goals per game last season. Wembanyama looks bigger, stronger, and much more focused on attacking the paint. Accurate three point shooting is an important weapon for players and for teams, but championships are won on defense and in the paint, and Wembanyama is making strong contributions in those important areas.

The Spurs are unlikely to be a championship contender this season, but Wembanyama is showing signs of being the kind of player who can be the best player on a legit contender. He is receiving solid support from the team's other young players, including Stephon Castle (18.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 4.8 apg), Devin Vassell (16.8 ppg), rookie Dylan Harper (14.8 ppg, 4.8 apg), and Keldon Johnson (12.0 ppg on .643 field goal shooting).  

The Spurs rank first in points allowed and second in defensive field goal percentage. They could win at least 50 games if they can maintain those rankings for the entire season.

Labels: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers, L.A. Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs

posted by David Friedman @ 3:49 PM

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Chauncey Billups, Damon Jones, and Terry Rozier Arrested as Part of a Wide-Ranging, Two-Pronged Federal Illegal Gambling Investigation

Three people with NBA connections--Hall of Fame player/Portland coach Chauncey Billups, former player Damon Jones, and current player Terry Rozier--have been arrested by the FBI in connection with a widespread, years-long, two-pronged probe into illegal gambling that allegedly involved multiple Mafia families, including Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese. The NBA placed Billups and Rozier on leave. Tiago Splitter will be Portland's coach until further notice. Billups, Jones, Rozier, and the other people who have been arrested and charged are innocent until proven guilty, but it is important to understand what is being alleged and the wider implications if the allegations are true.

One prong of the allegations is that the Mafia paid Billups and Jones to act as "face cards" to lure wealthy individuals to high-stakes poker games that were rigged with elaborate, sophisticated technology. This allegation does not appear to have a wider implication for the NBA; if Billups and Jones are guilty, then their NBA careers are over and they will face legal consequences, but their alleged activities had no connection to the NBA beyond the fact that being associated with the NBA made Billups and Jones wealthy enough and well known enough to be useful for the Mafia.

The second prong of the allegations is that the Mafia paid Jones and Rozier to provide insider information for use on wagering. The second prong is connected with the Jontay Porter matter. The NBA banned Jontay Porter for life in 2024 after he pleaded guilty to prematurely leaving two NBA games so that "under" prop bets would win. Porter is the first NBA player banned for violating gambling rules since Jack Molinas, who the NBA banned for his role in the infamous point shaving scandal that almost destroyed college basketball. Molinas was selected to play in the 1954 NBA All-Star Game, but was replaced by Andy Phillip and Molinas never played again in the NBA. 

In 2007, former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to two felony charges pertaining to wire fraud and transmitting wagers related to games that he officiated. Despite widespread speculation, in depth investigations by both the federal government and the NBA produced no evidence that Donaghy point shaved or fixed games. In my recap of the Donaghy scandal, I warned about the dangers of legalized gambling: 

...the advent of widespread, legalized betting on NBA games opens up the potential for a large number of problems; as the ESPN writer noted, citing some research done on this issue, the more money that is added to this situation the greater the likelihood for wrongdoing and scandal. Just look at the recent Anthony Davis melodrama; is he going to play, is he not going to play, is he going to play hard, is the team going to play him in the fourth quarter--there are numerous ways for one or more unscrupulous parties to manipulate the point spreads for New Orleans' Pelicans' games. Then you have the issue of rest (or "load management," the new catchphrase for sitting out otherwise healthy players), not to mention the issue of tanking. What if someone is able to get the inside scoop about which stars are going to rest for which games, or which teams decided to tank 10 games before the general public could tell that those teams are tanking? The NBA's recent embrace of widespread legalized gambling is fraught with peril. 

The Porter case and the allegations against Jones and Rozier are exactly the type of situations that I warned about. Legalized gambling is a major threat not just to the NBA but to professional (and college) sports in general, as Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder noted decades ago:

Gambling should be made difficult for the average man. It should be something he budgets to do once or twice a year. Vegas was best when it was hardest to reach.

You see, it isn't the two or three percent, the house edge, that beats you. Otherwise, people would only lose two or three percent, and so what? It's the psychology. A guy goes to a casino. He wins $500, he's ecstatic. He goes home, buys his wife a present, springs for a night out. Fine. Now he goes back. This time he loses $500. O.K., altogether he's even. But does he quit $500 down the way he did $500 up? No. He takes another $500 out of the bank. And now he's pressing, so he blows that and borrows $500. Now he's out $1,500, and this is a guy who only makes 20 to 25 grand a year. He goes home, gets into his wife's checking account. 

This is what happens when gambling is too accessible. Everybody gets hurt but the casino. The guy can't buy the new summer suit or the new shoes for his wife. He lets the tune-up go. The stores are hurt, the restaurant, the gas station. This is the kind of stuff you'll start to see soon at Atlantic City.

And if they legalized sports betting, the little guy would be just as dead. We'd find a way to beat you. Right now, if we—me, anybody—tried to bet more than $50,000 on any game, we'd have a hard time. And when you only got $50 riding, you can't pay enough to fix a game. Put a pencil to it. But with legalized gambling, there'd be so much money bet you could get down a million or more on one game. So now it's worth it to pay for a fix, isn't it? And that's easy. You don't need the quarterback. Just gimme the center. Gimme the referee. All I'd need is one offside at the right time. You don't even need to get a guy to throw it for you. Suppose we just pay a big star $50,000 to stay home with the flu? Nobody ever thought of that before, did they?

I don't buy the argument that behavior and morality cannot be legislated and that people simply have to be responsible for their decisions; gambling has been proven to be addictive, so making an addictive activity easily accessible to the majority of the population will inevitably lead not only to scandals but also to a public health crisis, even if the ramifications of that public health crisis are not immediately apparent. A lot of people are losing a lot of money that they cannot afford to lose and that they would not be losing if gambling were not so widely accessible, and this is going to destroy families. Ultimately, we will all pay for this looming public health crisis, both financially and emotionally as the damage ripples throughout society. 

I also don't buy the argument that widespread legalized gambling makes gambling easier to monitor and regulate; in contrast, and as Snyder noted, widespread legalized gambling incentivizes cheating while also making cheating harder to detect. In addition to a public health crisis compounded by honest gamblers losing money because of point shaving and other shenanigans, we have already seen and heard about threats made against athletes by gamblers who lost money because of how well (or how poorly) athletes performed. Will it take someone injuring or killing an athlete over a wager for society to understand the dangers?

I am not suggesting that all wagering should be banned, but I think that wagering should be much more restricted than it is, and I think that sports leagues and their media partners should not be in the business of promoting wagering. Of course, the reforms that I am proposing are unlikely to happen because the leagues and their media partners are making a lot of money off of this misery and they will not voluntarily give up that money.  

Labels: Chauncey Billups, Damon Jones, FBI, gambling, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, NBA, Terry Rozier, Tim Donaghy

posted by David Friedman @ 8:52 PM

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Victor Wembanyama Dominates as Spurs Rout Mavericks in Cooper Flagg's First Regular Season Game

With all due respect to the other players on the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs, we know the two reasons why these non-playoff teams from the 2024-25 season faced each other in ESPN's first telecast of the 2025-26 season: 2024 Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama and 2025 number one overall draft pick Cooper Flagg. Wembanyama led both teams in scoring (40 points), rebounding (15), and blocked shots (three) as his Spurs routed the Mavericks, 125-92, and he put himself in very distinguished company in two different ways. He set the franchise record for most points scored in a season opener--and that franchise history includes Hall of Famers George Gervin, David Robinson, and Tim Duncan; also, since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers during the 1977-78 season, four players have had a game with at least 40 points, at least 15 rebounds, and no turnovers: Moses Malone (twice), Shaquille O'Neal (three times), Anthony Davis (three times), and Victor Wembanyama. 

The most impressive and striking thing about how Wembanyama played is that he is noticeably bigger and stronger than he was last season, enabling him to attack the paint and eschew the long jumpers that he shot too frequently during his first two seasons. Being able to make outside shots and handle the ball on the perimeter are nice bonus features for the 7-4 Wembanyama, but the foundation of his greatness must be dominating the paint at both ends of the court--that will be his pathway to winning individual awards while lifting his team from the Draft Lottery to the playoffs. 

Stephon Castle, the 2025 Rookie of the Year, had a strong game (22 points, seven rebounds, game-high six assists), and could form a powerful duo with Wembanyama--and that could be a strong trio after former All-Star De'Aaron Fox returns from injury. Spurs' rookie Dylan Harper had a solid debut with 15 points on 7-14 field goal shooting.

The Spurs have enough talent, versatility, and experience to end their six year playoff drought, and this game was a good step in that direction. 

Flagg struggled to score, finishing with 10 points on 4-13 field goal shooting. As a versatile forward cast into an unfamiliar role as the starting point guard, he had no assists and three turnovers. The one positive is that he grabbed 10 rebounds. Charles Barkley--part of the award-winning TNT pre-game and post-game crew transferred to ESPN--said at halftime that the Mavericks are doing Flagg a disservice by playing him at point guard. Kenny Smith agreed, and noted that at point guard Flagg is being asked to pass to players who are not as good at scoring as he is. Barkley and Smith are correct that there is a big difference between being a skilled passer--which Flagg is--and playing the point guard position. I am not a fan of trying to convert versatile forwards into guards in their rookie seasons; it did not work well with Kevin Durant, and it is unlikely to work well with anyone else. Flagg must first learn how to play his natural forward position in the NBA before he learns how to play a new position. 

There is also a big difference between playing well in Summer League or preseason and playing well in the regular season. Despite his first game struggles, Flagg will be fine, but anyone who thinks that even the best college team would have a chance against the worst NBA team should note the huge gap between the college game--where Flagg was just the consensus Player of the Year--and the NBA game; the NBA game features much better players (and coaches) than the college game. 

Anthony Davis led the Mavericks in scoring (22 points) and rebounding (13), but he shot just 7-22 from the field and was outplayed by Wembanyama both overall and when they were matched up. P.J. Washington (17 points on 7-11 field goal shooting) was the only other Dallas player who scored more than 10 points. The Mavericks obviously missed the injured Kyrie Irving--who will not play until at least January 2026--and Daniel Gafford, who has a sprained ankle but is expected to return to action soon; however, even with those two players out, the Mavericks should not have lost by 33 points at home. Starting center Dereck Lively II was a non-factor with four points, two rebounds, and five fouls in just 10 minutes of action. Future Hall of Famer Klay Thompson was invisible (10 points on 4-13 field goal shooting), and the talented but inconsistent D'Angelo Russell (six points on 1-6 field goal shooting) reminded everyone why Dallas is his fourth team in the past four seasons.

Gafford's return, switching Flagg to his natural position, and playing with more energy collectively should help the Mavericks avoid more blowout losses.

Labels: Anthony Davis, Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks, Dylan Harper, San Antonio Spurs, Stephon Castle, Victor Wembanyama

posted by David Friedman @ 9:46 AM

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New York Knicks Bully Cleveland Cavaliers, 119-111

The New York Knicks outrebounded the Cleveland Cavaliers 48-31 and had twice as many free throw attempts (36-18) en route to a 119-111 home win in the season opener for both of the Eastern Conference's presumptive top two teams. The Knicks outscored the Cavaliers in the paint, 42-30. This kind of loss to a contending team is all too familiar to the Cavaliers and their fans; the Cavaliers fell to the Indiana Pacers in the second round of last season's playoffs after finishing with the best record in the Eastern Conference (64-18), they were dominated 4-1 by the Boston Celtics in the second round of the 2024 playoffs, and the Knicks outrebounded the Cavaliers 227-186 and had 127 free throw attempts while conceding just 93 free throw attempts in a 4-1 rout of the Cavaliers in the second round of the 2023 playoffs.

OG Anunboy led the Knicks with 24 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Jalen Brunson scored 23 points despite shooting just 5-18 from the field, including 1-9 from three point range. Karl-Anthony Towns overcame early foul trouble to finish with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Mikal Bridges had a solid all-around game (16 points, game-high tying six assists, five rebounds), and Miles McBride made a strong contribution off of the bench (15 points in 26 minutes, game-high +17 plus/minus number). 

Donovan Mitchell poured in a game-high 31 points, but he also had a game-worst -14 plus/minus number; this was a game of runs, and he was on the court not only for Cleveland's big third quarter run but also for most of the Knicks' many runs. Evan Mobley added 22 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Sam Merrill chipped in 19 points, but also fouled out in just 28 minutes. Lonzo Ball had a game-high tying six assists in his Cleveland debut, but he scored just three points on 1-7 field goal shooting in 23 minutes off of the bench.

Both teams were without the services of key injured players: Cleveland did not have two-time All-Star Darius Garland, versatile wing De'Andre Hunter and three point shooter Max Strus, while the Knicks missed strong rebounder/defensive anchor Mitchell Robinson and versatile Josh Hart, who ranked second on the team in rebounding (9.6 rpg) and assists (5.9 apg) last season. The concerning thing for the Cavaliers is that their absent players are unlikely to help much in terms of rebounding and free throw attempts, while the Knicks who did not play are both excellent rebounders. 

It is often said that the NBA is a fourth quarter league, but I often point out that the NBA is frequently a first quarter league, meaning that the matchups and tendencies that emerge in the opening stanza foreshadow what will happen the rest of the way. The Knicks led by as many as 12 points in the first quarter, and they were up 33-23 after the first 12 minutes. They established the rebounding dominance (15-7) and free throw attempts lead (8-0) that proved to be the game's two main themes; the Knicks attacked the paint offensively, and protected the paint well defensively, outshooting the Cavaliers from the field .524 (11-21) to .391 (9-23).

The Knicks extended their lead to 15 in the second quarter before the Cavaliers went on a 16-2 run to pull within 44-43 at the 4:44 mark. Just when it may have seemed like the Cavaliers were back in the game, the Knicks hit them with a 21-7 burst to enjoy a 65-50 halftime lead.

Before the third quarter began, ESPN's Tim Legler said that the Cavaliers need for Mitchell to be much more aggressive. Mitchell had just eight points on 3-7 field goal shooting in the first half. As I noted in my recap of Oklahoma City's 125-124 double overtime win versus Houston, a team's leading scorer has an obligation to take a high volume of shots and score a lot of points, because otherwise he is throwing off his team's rhythm. It may sound nice to say things like "Everyone is going to eat," but the reality is that when the star player "eats" that forces double teams and traps that make it easier for his less talented teammates to "eat." This is one of the most misunderstood factors behind some of LeBron James' biggest postseason failures, most notably in the 2010 playoffs and the 2011 NBA Finals; when James became inexplicably (and inexcusably) passive after being a big-time scorer throughout those seasons, he left his teams high and dry without a realistic chance to win. 

Coach Kenny Atkinson told ESPN's Lisa Salters that he was unhappy with his team's lack of aggressiveness, poor shot selection, and lack of focus, including fouling three point shooters four times.

Mitchell received the message loud and clear, erupting for 21 third quarter points on 9-14 field goal shooting as the Cavaliers outscored the Knicks 37-22 to knot the score at 87-87 entering the fourth quarter. In the third quarter, the Cavaliers outrebounded the Knicks 12-8 and attempted seven free throws while conceding just four free throw attempts. 

The third quarter proved to be an aberration, and in the fourth quarter the regularly scheduled programming resumed: the Knicks outscored the Cavaliers 32-24 while winning the rebounding war 13-4 and attempting 13 free throws while allowing just six free throw attempts. Mitchell had two points on 0-4 field goal shooting in 10 minutes.  

A road loss to one of the Eastern Conference Finalists from 2025 does not spell the end of Cleveland's championship dreams and goals, but it is clear that the Cavaliers not only need to get healthy but they need to cultivate a more aggressive mindset; they can glide by most teams in the regular season based on talent, but they cannot glide by elite teams relying on talent alone. 

Last season, the Knicks went 0-4 versus the Cavaliers, and 2-9 combined versus the Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Indiana Pacers. This is just one game, but it was a successful start for the Mike Brown era in New York. No sensible person can deny that Tom Thibodeau did an outstanding job coaching the Knicks before being fired after last season's Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Pacers, but the Knicks' brass felt that the Knicks could and should have at least reached the NBA Finals. It remains to be seen if Brown will lead the Knicks to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

Labels: Cleveland Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, Mike Brown, New York Knicks, OG Anunoby

posted by David Friedman @ 12:29 AM

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Oklahoma City Thunder Outlast Houston Rockets 125-124 in Opening Night Double Overtime Thriller

Hearing John Tesh's "Roundball Rock" as the NBA returned to NBC for the first time since 2002 brought back a flood of nostalgic memories, foremost among them the Chicago Bulls' twin three-peats (1991-93, 1996-98) culminating in the legendary "Last Dance" 1998 championship season. There has been a lot of hype about the revival of the NBA on NBC and, at least on Opening Night, the game lived up to the hype as the 2025 NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Houston Rockets 125-124 in a double overtime battle featuring plenty of drama and plot twists. If this was a Western Conference Finals preview--and it is way too soon to say that it was--then we are in for a treat next May.

Before the game began, the Thunder received their championship rings and raised the first championship banner in Oklahoma City history. The Thunder's rings feature a unique ring within a ring design; championship rings have become so big and gaudy that they are not practical to wear, but each of the Thunder's championship rings contain a smaller ring inside that is personalized for each player and small enough to be worn comfortably.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning Finals MVP, regular season MVP, and scoring champion, overcame a slow start to lead the Thunder with 35 points while also grabbing five rebounds, and tying three teammates with a team-high five assists. Chet Holmgren added 28 points and seven rebounds. The Thunder were without the services of 2025 All-NBA Third Team selection Jaylen Williams, who is recovering from offseason surgery on his right (shooting) wrist, but they received an unexpected boost off of the bench as Ajay Mitchell poured in 16 points in just 15 minutes. Cason Wallace contributed 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Isaiah Hartenstein only scored six points, but he had a team-high nine rebounds and five assists. Fan favorite Lu Dort was the other Thunder player with five assists, and he played 45 minutes, second most for the Thunder behind Gilgeous-Alexander's 47.

Alperun Sengun scored a game-high 39 points, snared 11 rebounds, and dished for a game-high seven assists. He often overpowered Alex Caruso in the post, and Caruso--a key defensive player for the Thunder--finished with a game-worst -15 plus/minus number. Kevin Durant had 23 points and nine rebounds in his Houston debut, and he was booed lustily by an Oklahoma City crowd that has not forgiven him for fleeing a championship contending team to join the Golden State Warriors in 2016. Amen Thompson had 18 points, five assists, and four turnovers before leaving the game with a leg injury in the first overtime. He had a team-worst -11 plus/minus number as the starting point guard in place of the injured Fred VanVleet. Thompson is bigger, faster, and more athletic than VanVleet but also not as savvy in terms of running a team and controlling pace. 

The Rockets trotted out the tallest starting lineup since the NBA first tracked starting lineups in the 1970-71 season: Amen Thompson (6-7), Kevin Durant (6-11), Jabari Smith, Jr. (6-11), Alperen Sengun (6-11), and Steven Adams (6-11). Adams, a former Thunder player who the fans cheered when the starting lineups were announced, had a game-high 13 rebounds as the Rockets bludgeoned the Thunder 51-39 on the glass. The modern NBA is supposedly all about playing small, pace and space, and jacking up three pointers, but the Rockets nearly beat last year's champions with a big team despite shooting just 11-39 (.282) from three point range. Losing the turnover battle 21-11 nullified Houston's rebounding advantage, and if the Rockets can clean that up then their defense and rebounding will make them very difficult to beat and very uncomfortable to play against. The Thunder uncharacteristically had five turnovers in the first quarter after leading the league in fewest turnovers per game (11.7) and most turnovers forced per game (17.0) last season, but in the final 46 minutes the Thunder only had six turnovers.

In four full quarters and two overtimes, neither team outscored the other by more than four points in a quarter or an overtime. The Rockets enjoyed a 57-51 halftime lead, using a balanced attack featuring three double figure scorers. Gilgeous-Alexander had just five first half points on 2-5 field goal shooting. NBC's Jamal Crawford made an interesting point near the end of the first half, stating that the Thunder are built for Gilgeous-Alexander to be the leading scorer and look out of sorts when he is not. I have often made a similar point about elite scorers in general, noting that they have a responsibility to score a lot; their high volume shooting is not selfish, but is necessary for their teams to be successful. 

A halftime interview is not usually worth mentioning in a game recap, but most halftime interviews don't feature Michael Jordan, who said that he wishes he could take a "magic pill" to play basketball again, which is reminiscent of remarks he made during his Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame speech in 2009: 

This is not fun for me. I don't like being up here for the Hall of Fame because at that time your basketball career is completely over. I was hoping this day would be 20 more years, or actually go in when I'm dead and gone. Because now, all along...you always [could] put shorts on and go out and play. Now, when you get into the Hall of Fame, what else is there to do? This is kind of a love-hate thing for me--great accomplishment, great respect that everybody's paying, but for me, I always want to be able to have you thinking that I can always go back and play the game of basketball, put my shorts on. As long as you have that thought, you never know what can happen...Am I? No. But I'd like for you to think that way. Hall of Fame, to me, is like, 'OK, it's over and done with, it's pretty much done, you can't ever put a uniform back on.' It's totally the end of your basketball career. But it's a great accomplishment. I don't walk away from it. But I never envisioned myself really wanting to be up here so quickly. I wanted it to be when I'm 70 years old, 80 years old. I'm 45 and I still think I can play. You guys don't know if I can or can't but at least I've got you thinking that way. 

Jordan told NBC's Mike Tirico that he agreed to be interviewed--NBC plans to show the interview in installments over the next several weeks in an obvious attempt to boost ratings--because he feels an obligation to give back to the game by providing his observations and wisdom about basketball and competition. Jordan made it very clear that he would much rather be playing than talking about playing, and he said that he misses the competition. More than 20 years after he retired, being a basketball player is still a core part of Jordan's identity. This should not surprise anyone who followed Jordan's career, or anyone who gets an adrenaline boost not just from competing but from winning; if you are that kind of person, it is difficult to find anything to replace that feeling. That is what is so fascinating about the direction that Kobe Bryant seemed to be taking as a retired player, because he appeared to find other ways to express himself beyond playing; it is a shame that Bryant's life (and the lives of all of the passengers in that doomed helicopter, including his daughter Gigi) was cut short before he could explore all of those other aspects of life. 

Next week's installment of the Jordan interview will focus on his thoughts about load management and about why it was so important to him to play all 82 regular season games. I don't expect to be surprised by Jordan's thoughts on this topic, but I hope that after Jordan explains why playing every game is important that today's players take his approach to heart.  

The Rockets built a 63-51 lead on Thompson's layup at the 10:13 mark of the third quarter, but by the end of that quarter the Thunder had trimmed the margin to four (79-75), setting up a competitive fourth quarter during which neither team led by more than six points. Durant split a pair of free throws with 9.5 seconds remaining in regulation to put the Rockets up 104-102, leaving the door open for the Thunder to tie or even win. Gilgeous-Alexander, the master of the midrange game that is despised by many "stat gurus" but essential for winning in the playoffs, drilled a pullup jumper to tie the score with 2.6 seconds left. The Rockets called timeout before inbounding the ball to Sengun, who missed a jumper as time expired.

The Thunder jumped out to a 110-104 lead in the first 1:24 of the first overtime, but the Rockets reeled them in and tied the score on Sengun's putback dunk with 8.8 seconds remaining. After Gilgeous-Alexander missed a jumper with 2.2 seconds left, Durant grabbed the rebound and clearly signaled for a timeout. The only problem was that Houston did not have any more timeouts. Had the officials recognized Durant's request with time left on the clock then the Rockets would have been assessed a technical foul and the Thunder would have had a chance to take the lead at the free throw line. However, time just ran out, after which Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault approached the officials and angrily asked why they did not call a technical foul. The NBC crew never got a definitive explanation regarding what happened; play by play announcer Mike Tirico merely noted that the officials had never acknowledged Durant's signal, without questioning how it is possible that an official standing right next to Durant could not have noticed Durant's signal (and, presumably, Durant also verbally requesting a timeout). 

The second overtime was as closely contested as the rest of the game, with neither team leading by more than three points. At the 1:15 mark, Durant drove to the hoop, drew Hartenstein's sixth foul, and hit a shot while he was falling down. Durant made the free throw to put Houston up, 122-120. Gilgeous-Alexander answered with a smooth stepback jumper, and then he split a pair of free throws after Houston turned over the ball. Durant missed a three pointer, but the Rockets retained possession and Durant passed to a cutting Sengun for a layup that put the Rockets up 124-123 with just 11 seconds remaining. Durant guarded Gilgeous-Alexander on the final possession, and played good defense before fouling him with just 2.3 seconds left. Gilgeous-Alexander hit both free throws to provide the final margin.

A Thunder win with Durant fouling out on the play that gave the Thunder the lead is undoubtedly a perfect ending for Oklahoma City fans. Both teams competed hard, and both teams made many nice plays at both ends of the court. My only quibble would be that 67 combined missed three pointers is not efficient basketball no matter what the "stat gurus" say, but teams regularly jacking up 30, 40, 50 or more three pointers appears to be a permanent feature of the sport now. We have all heard that "Three is more than two," but it is worth pointing out that "Two is more than zero," and that 67 possessions in this game ended with zero points on shots from 23 feet, nine inches and beyond. For the modern NBA, though, this was a very high level game, and it was enjoyable to watch.

Anyone who understands the NBA knows that it is foolish to read too much into one game, particularly the first game of a long regular season; after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hit a game-winning skyhook in rookie Magic Johnson's first NBA game, Johnson celebrated and Abdul-Jabbar casually informed him that there were 81 more games to go (and Johnson told him that if he hits a shot like that 81 more times then he will celebrate 81 more times, but that is a different story). Nevertheless, even though it is way too soon to draw definitive conclusions, we can make a few observations about both teams. The Thunder were sluggish offensively at first, primarily due to Gilgeous-Alexander starting slowly and Williams not being in the lineup, but after they fell behind by double digits they woke up and found a way to win despite not playing their best and not having their second best player. After Williams returns, the Thunder will be much better at both ends of the court. The Rockets' size and physicality challenged the Thunder, and will challenge most teams in the league. Sengun looked as good as he has ever looked even though the Rockets lack a true point guard and are still figuring out how to fully integrate Durant into the offense (he had just nine points after halftime). It will be very interesting to assess both of these teams after a larger sample size of games.

Labels: Alperun Sengun, Amen Thompson, Chet Holmgren, Houston Rockets, Kevin Durant, NBA, NBC, Oklahoma City Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

posted by David Friedman @ 2:20 AM

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