The Cleveland star’s greatness created an arms race in basketball, and it has reached its apotheosis in the Golden State WarriorsLeBron James’ basketball career has played out like the story of a comic book superhero, so it’s only fitting that his downfall should have a fittingly dramatic twist: that which he created became that which destroyed him. James ushered in the modern NBA “superteam” in 2010 (distinct from the past eras of the Lakers in the 80s and Bulls in the 90s) when he signed with the Miami Heat to join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. There he won two titles in four years and then returned to Cleveland for a new superteam with Kyrie Irving and Kevin...
The NBA has no shortage of worthy MVP candidates, but the San Antonio Spurs star might have established himself as the frontrunnerFor most of the season, Kawhi Leonard was having one of the quietest MVP campaigns in recent memory. That changed on Monday night when Leonard scored 39 points as the San Antonio Spurs fought back from a 16-point deficit to beat the Houston Rockets. In the game’s final 30 seconds, he single-handedly secured the 112-110 win with a soon-to-be legendary sequence where he put the Spurs ahead with a three-pointer and then raced to the other end of the floor to block James Harden’s potential game-tying lay-up. The win helped the second-placed Spurs keep pace with the Golden State...
Golden State’s emphatic 126-91 victory revealed a shift in the power dynamic – but this is just the start of a tug-of-war that could continue for years to comeWarriors lay waste to Cavaliers in potential NBA finals previewWith three small words, Draymond Green confirmed what we’ve all been wondering about the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.“It’s a rivalry.” Related: See you in June: Warriors lay waste to Cavaliers in potential finals preview Draymond Green: "It's a rivalry" pic.twitter.com/a0bheZsdyiNot. A. Rivalry pic.twitter.com/dIOqcaFSXB Continue reading...
The Knicks president wasn’t being racist with his comments about LeBron James but they showed a man badly out of touch with the modern NBAThe Phil Jackson era of the New York Knicks continues to provide the basketball world with non-stop embarrassments. In an interview with ESPN, the Knicks president described LeBron James’s business associates as his “posse”. That resulted in strong rebukes from not just James but also Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks’ star player. It didn’t take long for James’s camp to respond to Jackson’s comments. James’s business manager Maverick Carter took to Twitter to respond to Jackson’s use of the loaded term “posse.” Related: LeBron James says he's lost respect for Phil Jackson over 'posse' comment Continue reading...
For too long, the league was interested in making itself palatable for a white audience. Under Adam Silver it is listening to its black playersIf there is one thing clear about the current NBA, it is that it is no longer the league of David Stern. As a businessman, the league’s former commissioner was a visionary, building a booming operation that now reaches around the globe. But on social issues he stumbled, creating policies that almost seemed designed to make a league of mostly African American players appear palatable to a white audience.It was Stern, after all, who 11 years ago created professional sports’ first sideline dress code that he called “business casual”. It came at a time when a phrase thrown...