Coming off a disappointing playoff exit, the Los Angeles Lakers entered the season with renewed determination to win with their legendary leader before his play started to slow down. Joining him was a combination of holdovers from the last championship run and a new cast of big names — players whose best days might be […]
Jeff Pearlman is a New York Times bestselling author who has written for Sports Illustrated, ESPN and The Athletic, among other outlets. His books include “Football for a Buck,” “Gunslinger” and “The Bad Guys Won!” This excerpt is from his latest book, “Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty,” […]
LeBron James has spent his career burdened by comparison. He is the poster athlete of the Age of Scrutiny: applauded at 17 for maintaining Magic Johnson’s collaborative basketball legacy, denigrated at 34 for lacking Michael Jordan’s last-second cold-bloodedness, measured annually against contemporaries from Carmelo Anthony to Giannis Antetokounmpo. In just the past few seasons, he […]
In the immediate wake of Kobe Bryant’s death on Sunday, one of the biggest things that stood out was his sheer influence on basketball today. Countless players shared their sense of shock, their condolences and their memories of Bryant over social media after learning that he had died. As teams across the league paid tribute […]
There was always a lot to say about Kobe Bryant. Reams will be written about the basketball legend, who died in a helicopter crash Sunday with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others. So maybe the best approach is just to say it simply: His on-court legacy is staggering. He was an all-time great, the […]