The Lakers star is only the eighth player and first since Michael Jordan to win an NBA title, an NCAA championship and an Olympic gold medal. At 27, the best may be yet to comeAnthony Davis looked on with an expression of disbelief on Sunday night as the Los Angeles Lakers put the finishing touches on their first NBA championship in a decade. For the 27-year-old big man from Chicago’s South Side, the elusive missing piece in a career with no shortage of individual successes was finally in his grasp.As the Lakers’ other, slightly older do-it-all superstar took in the scene from down the bench, he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of nostalgia. You never forget your first time....
LA or Miami? Our writers predict the winner, key players and dark horses before the championship tiltWell, that’s the question isn’t it? It’s tempting to say that there’s not much hope, but the Heat have been surpassing expectations all postseason. There’s a simple answer here: limit either LeBron James or Anthony Davis and force the other to try to carry the entire team, hope that they can’t. Reminder: Simple is not the same as easy. HF Continue reading...
A crucial part of Bryant’s story is upwards of 1,000 more missed shot attempts than any other NBA player in historyOne regular season MVP award, two Olympic gold medals, three consecutive championships, four All-Star MVP awards, five championships in total. In the last couple of days we’ve seen these numbers in the papers, heard them on the news bulletins. And others too, 18 consecutive All Star appearances, 20 years with the Lakers, 39,283 career points, 57,278 career minutes, 122 40-point games, 25 50-point games, six 60-point games, one 81-point game. Caught short by the suddenness of his death, journalists used the stats to underpin their first sketches of Kobe Bryant’s life, a shorthand to capture something of the magnitude of...
The Lakers legend, who died on Sunday, delivered five championships and countless brilliant plays. We run down some moments to savor from his careerFrom throwing paper in a trash can, to playground horse games, to high school, college and professional games, you’re bound to hear someone shout ‘Kobe!’ Bryant’s cold and calculated playing style became the stuff of legend over a glittering 20-year career. Here are some memorable moments from his time on court. Continue reading...
ESPN pundits’ criticism of rookie’s weight draws backlash Williamson delivered on hype with fourth-quarter outburst New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson, the No 1 overall pick in last year’s NBA draft who’s been hailed as the best prospect since LeBron James, made his long-awaited professional debut on Wednesday night, a wait that had been made even longer by the team’s cautious approach to his rehabilitation from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.The 19-year-old prodigy managed to deliver on the extraordinary hype that’s preceded him since high school, whipping the sold-out Smoothie King Center into chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” during an electric fourth-quarter stretch where he poured in 17 unanswered points on seven consecutive possessions over a three-minute span.No. 1 overall...