James Salmon Articles - Page 2

The Sixers must be getting sick of losing to the Celtics. After conceding a 3-2 lead to lose in seven games to the boys from Bean Town in the Eastern Conference Semis last season, they’ve kicked off the preseason with another two losses to Boston, the first by eight points and the second by 11 […]

The Memphis Grizzlies are in for an interesting start to the season. A team which, all going well, will be hoping to compete for a championship, they’ll need to manage for the first nearly-third of the regular season without their best player, with Ja Morant set to miss 25 games due to suspension. But while […]

A new era is dawning in Brooklyn, though the quality of that era is very much still an unknown. The Nets’ Irving-Harden-Durant experiment fell apart as quickly as it came together, with Irving now seemingly comfortable – for the time being – in Dallas, Harden not comfortable anywhere and Durant on another super team. That […]

This is going to be an interesting season for the Charlotte Hornets. After being mired in the lower reaches of the Eastern Conference standings for much of the past decade, and winning just 27 games last season, they all of a sudden have an intriguing list full of young talent, and drastic improvement in season […]

Despite winning just 80 games over the past four seasons, including only 17 last season, there is a bit to like about the Pistons roster. Headed by the returning Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey in his second season in the backcourt and with the addition of number five draft pick Ausar Thompson, they also have […]

Considering how much discussion there was about the Heat and their potential moves during the 2023 offseason, very little has changed for them nearing the 2023-24 season. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – they did, of course, just make the NBA Finals, but they were also only the eight seed and probably wouldn’t have […]

Kai Jones’ tumultuous couple of months could be set to continue, with the Hornets’ big man potentially set to be fined or suspended after publicly announcing his own trade request. Jones first made headlines after an Instagram live appearance in which he appeared to be under the influence of something, though he later claimed that […]

Very few players make it to Year 21 in the NBA, and the select few who have, none have had much of an impact. But LeBron James, as we all well and truly know by now, is built different. The only five players to get that deep into an NBA career prior to LeBron have […]

Just two years into his NBA career, Evan Mobley has already made a significant mark on the league. And in the lead-up to his third season, both he, his brother and Cavs’ President of Basketball Operations, Koby Altman, have revealed the improved commitment to his body. Speaking during the Cavs’ media day on Monday, Mobley […]

Damian Lillard’s surprise trade to the Milwaukee Bucks sent shockwaves through the NBA, but there is perhaps no team – Miami aside – who would have been less pleased to see the move than the Boston Celtics. The two are the clear favorites in the Eastern Conference, so the addition of one of the best […]

A fire has broken out at Marco Simone, the course at which the Ryder Cup took place just days ago. The fire was reported in one of the temporary hospitality structures alongside the first hole. Fortunately, nobody was injured, and there was no damage to any other part of the course. The footage of the […]

The Hawks are in that weird NBA purgatory where no team wants to be. After making the Conference Finals just two seasons ago, they’ve failed to get near repeating that effort since, just sneaking into the playoffs through the play-in tournament two seasons in a row, only to be beaten relatively comfortably in the first […]

It’s an exciting time to be a Spurs fan. A franchise not exactly accustomed to missing the playoffs, they’ve done just that for the past four seasons during a transitionary period which followed two consecutive first round losses in the postseason. But while last season was, from a results perspective, the worst in their history, […]

The Portland Trail Blazers will be looking very different in season 2023-24. After a long, arduous summer waiting to find out if their star of the past decade, Damian Lillard, would find a new home, he was eventually sent to the Bucks in exchange for Jrue Holiday – who was subsequently shipped to the Celtics. […]

Last season was a rough one for the Rockets, and their offseason took an unwanted turn when their talented young point guard, Kevin Porter Jr, arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. But there is reason to be optimistic in Houston. The addition of Fred VanVleet will provide them with a much-needed veteran presence, while their […]

The Cavs improved rapidly last season, but it wasn’t exactly on the back of them shooting the house down. According to lead point guard Darius Garland, however, a few offseason additions may help to change that this season. In 2022-23, the Cavs shot 36.7% from three, good for 12th in the league, but they were […]

Kevin Love may be a long way past his prime, but if Max Strus’ recent comments are anything to go by, the 35-year-old is still having a significant impact on his teammates. Speaking to the media after practice at the Cleveland Clinic Courts on Wednesday, Strus talked about his love for his former teammate. “I […]

Russell Westbrook is no stranger to criticism for his on-court performance – criticism which most would agree has at times been over the top. But a consistent theme throughout the course of his career has been the adulation of his teammates, with glowing reports of what he is like to be on a team with […]

There’s no doubting just how much talent the Phoenix Suns will have from an offensive perspective in the upcoming season. With Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal all set to don the Suns jersey, they will be incredibly difficult to stop with ball in hand and will no doubt put up some big scores. […]

Koby Altman has revealed his feelings about the recent incident which saw him arrested in mid-September, after he was pulled over for a traffic violation and subsequently failed a sobriety test. He hadn’t previously commented publicly about the incident, but on Monday’s media day he broke his silence. “I feel awful about the distraction that […]

Cleveland Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations, Koby Altman, has provided an update on Ricky Rubio, after the veteran point guard was absent from the team’s media day. At the beginning of August, Rubio indefinitely put his career on hold so that he could focus on his mental health, subsequently sitting out of the FIBA World […]

With Chris Paul joining Draymond Green as well as Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors not only have one of the most decorated teams in the NBA, they also have one of the most fiercely competitive. Paul and Green, in particular, are no strangers to conflict, having been at the center of many of […]

After adding Chris Paul to their veteran roster during the off-season, it’s not unreasonable to expect some growing pains for the Warriors early in the 2023-24 season, but a lack of competitiveness certainly won’t be the reason why. With Paul joining Draymond Green, two of the fiercest competitors in the NBA will be playing alongside […]

It’s been a big few days for the Portland Trail Blazers. After they at long last secured a trade for one of the greatest players to ever don their jersey in Damian Lillard, they moved on Jrue Holiday – who they secured in the Lillard trade – and acquired Malcolm Brogdon in the process. They’ve […]

The NBA’s Eastern Conference has undergone a significant shake-up in recent days, after Damian Lillard joined the Milwaukee Bucks and Jrue Holiday departed for Portland, only to be almost immediately traded to the Boston Celtics. Now, these two modern-day powerhouses of the East will enter the 2023-24 season as notably different teams to what they […]

Europe captain Luke Donald and their star Rory McIlroy have responded to Europe’s Ryder Cup victory, after their team capitalized on their dominant opening day in Rome to record a solid win. The event wasn’t without its share of controversy, but on the course the Europeans were clinical, ultimately running out 16 1/2 to 11 […]

Rory McIlroy has denied meeting with Joe LaCava, Patrick Cantlay’s caddie, after a heated altercation between the two at the Ryder Cup extended from the 18th green to the parking lot on Saturday. The initial disagreement was sparked after LaCava, following a 43-foot birdie putt by Cantlay, celebrated on McIlroy’s putting line and didn’t immediately […]

The Orlando Magic are building. After winning just 21 and then 22 games in the previous two seasons, they jumped up to 34 in 2022-23, and the list of young talent they’ve steadily compiled is actually beginning to look pretty imposing. They’ll be looking to continue their improvement this season, and these are three burning […]

Well hasn’t the outlook of the Milwaukee Bucks changed drastically? Granted they were a contender before the Damian Lillard-Jrue Holiday trade just as they are after it, but a whole new set of circumstances surrounds this team now heading into the 2023-24 season. Clearly, the talent that they have at their disposal is significant, but […]

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ big offseason move of 2022 saw them bring in Rudy Gobert to play alongside Karl-Anthony Towns, but that pairing didn’t quite reach the heights they’d hoped last season. In a large part that was due to the fact that the two didn’t play alongside one another all that often, and with another […]

The 2022-23 season was one of significant improvement for the New York Knicks. After missing the playoffs the season prior, they won 47 games and then very impressively knocked off a good team in the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games. Jalen Brunson’s career season in his first with the team was a large reason for […]

It’s been close to a year and a half since Isaiah Thomas last appeared on an NBA court, but that hasn’t stopped the former All-Star from offering up his services to the Milwaukee Bucks after they stunningly brought in Damian Lillard in exchange for Jrue Holiday on Wednesday. Thomas’ career, of course, unravelled in sad […]

The Memphis Grizzlies will head into the 2023-24 season with some high hopes. They’ve now won over 50 games in two consecutive seasons and have one of the more talented young rosters in the league, but while they’ll be looking to replicate elements of their past couple of seasons, there are still some clear areas […]

The Phoenix Suns have officially moved on from Deandre Ayton after months of speculation, adding Jusuf Nurkic from the Trail Blazers as well as a few depth pieces, most notably Grayson Allen and Nassir Little. It’s a significant move and one which moves the needle, at least a little, for almost certainly the most talented […]

The Magic might have finished in the bottom three in the Eastern Conference in each of the last three seasons, and made the playoffs just twice since 2012, but there is plenty of reason for optimism in Orlando. They’ve got one of the better collections of young talent in the league, headlined by a wing […]

The 2022-23 season was a tough one for the Charlotte Hornets, who won just 27 games and finished 14th in the Eastern Conference. But it’s not all doom and gloom. They’ll be buoyed this season by the return of Lamelo Ball and, after a few games, Miles Bridges, while the acquisition of Brandon Miller and […]

The New York Knicks, at long last, appear to be on the way up. A 47-win regular season in 2022-23 was their best in a decade, and their 4-1 series win against the Cavaliers was just their second since 2000. A well-rounded roster headlined by a talented triumvirate of guards and a capable front court […]

A member of Germany’s FIBA World Cup winning team has weighed in on the debate ignited by American athlete Noah Lyles, backing up his position that the winners of the NBA shouldn’t call themselves world champion. Andreas Obst certainly didn’t hold back in espousing his view – perhaps unsurprising given his recent success on the […]

Hakeem Olajuwon has spoken out on working out with Giannis Antetokounmpo, after the former Rockets’ legend and the Bucks’ star joined forces during the offseason. Antetokounmpo revealed the plans a couple of weeks ago, while earlier this week footage emerged of the supremely talented duo in the gym together. Speaking after the workout, Olajuwon could […]