Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 115

Being a referee in professional sports has got to be one of the most thankless jobs in the world. How the referees call the game helps dictate the flow of the contest, and no matter which way the officiating winds blow, one party will always feel like they got the short end of the stick. […]

Can the Boston Celtics pull off the unthinkable? At the very least, Jayson Tatum and company think so. And who could blame them? After all, the Celtics took Games 4 and 5 of their Eastern Conference Finals matchup against the Miami Heat in convincing fashion. Here we’ll be making a few predictions for Game 6 […]

All season long, Marcus Smart and the rest of the Boston Celtics squad wanted to have a chance to avenge their 2022 NBA Finals defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. But for the first three games of their 2023 Eastern Conference Finals tussle against the Miami Heat, they did not look like […]

The Boston Celtics looked dead in the water after mustering a lifeless display against the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, going down 3-0 in the process. That deficit is essentially a death knell, as not a single team in NBA history has come back from to win the series after […]

LeBron James made waves following the Los Angeles Lakers’ sweep at the hands of the Denver Nuggets by saying that he was pondering retirement. Some pundits did not buy James’ statement, saying that he was either putting pressure on the Lakers front office to acquire reinforcements to fortify the team for a potential title push […]

James Harden has been linked to a potential return to the Houston Rockets for months. There’s certainly a lot of smoke regarding this potential free agency move from the Beard. Even ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, one of the most reputable news sources in the NBA, dumped fuel into the fire of this potential reunion. With Harden’s Philadelphia […]

As the old adage goes, “when one door closes, another one opens”. This was the exact story of Rui Hachimura’s 2022-23 season. The Washington Wizards’ glut of forwards rendered Hachimura expendable in D.C., but here the Japanese international is, having emerged as one of the key members of the Los Angeles Lakers roster. He became […]

The Houston Rockets may not be too good of a basketball team at the moment, but there are no doubts that Jalen Green, the second overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, has a bright future ahead of him. Thus, when Green went live on Instagram not too long ago, some fans implored him not […]

The clock is certainly ticking on this iteration of the Los Angeles Clippers. Four years have passed since the Clippers’ bombshell acquisitions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and yet here they are, having fallen short time and time again of their ultimate goal to win a championship. One would think that there would be […]

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has the memory of an elephant, that much we know of. Who could forget the time when Green named all 34 players who were taken before him in the 2012 NBA Draft? Thus, it’s certainly quite like Green to recall a joke statement from Joel Embiid back in the […]

One of the most thrilling parts of watching baseball live in the stands is the prospect of catching a home run ball. Not only is it a memorable souvenir for a fan to take home, the fan can also sell the souvenir and make bank — especially if it’s a historic home run ball. But […]

Entering the 2023 Western Conference Finals, one of the biggest questions regarding the Los Angeles Lakers’ hopes of making the NBA Finals was, “how were they going to stop Nikola Jokic?” Jokic, throughout the 2023 playoffs, has been a man on a mission for the Denver Nuggets. Surely enough, Jokic proved to be an extremely […]

It has been done before in the MLB and NHL, but never before in the NBA has a team come back from a 3-0 series deficit in the playoffs. Going up 3-0 in the NBA means that one team is either vastly superior to the other, or has thoroughly outplayed and outmaneuvered the opposition. That […]

No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs before. That is simply a fact of life that the 2023 Boston Celtics would hope to overcome, one game at a time. So why not channel the energy of yet another Boston-based major sports franchise that did the unthinkable almost 20 […]

The Golden State Warriors, contrary to what some may believe, are not yet done as a contending team. As long as Stephen Curry is around and healthy come playoff time, the Warriors will have an opportunity to win it all. Nevertheless, the Warriors organization knows better than anyone that having “strength in numbers” is a […]

Given how extraordinarily competitive the majority of professional athletes are, the Los Angeles Lakers’ series defeat to the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 Western Conference Finals has to sting. After all, seeing the Lakers rescue their season all the way from a 2-10 record to coming eight wins away from an NBA championship only to […]

Given how the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2022-23 season began, making it to the Western Conference Finals is a success in and of itself. Nonetheless, for a LeBron James-led team, making the conference finals doesn’t exactly qualify as a rousing triumph, especially when their season ended on a blocked layup attempt en route to a sweep […]

LeBron James definitely seems like someone who would play in the NBA until his body no longer could. Despite entering the league in 2003, James remains one of the best players in the NBA; his greatness was in full display once more despite being on the receiving end of a sweep, dropping 40 points, nine […]

Some of the most iconic players in NBA history made an indelible mark on the game by leaving a unique imprint by virtue of having a signature shot. Even LeBron James has a signature shot, his fear-inducing “LeF**k You” three. And now, Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic is now emerging as someone who should inspire a […]

As much hate as LeBron James has drawn ever since breaking into the scene at 18 years old in 2003, one would have to admit that he is, indeed, one of the greatest basketball players of all time. At the very least, it is a guarantee that James won’t ever quit giving it his all […]

The Phoenix Suns are in a race against time. While trading for Kevin Durant isn’t exactly a move the Suns front office is going to regret anytime soon, it has put them at a position of urgency. They need to win now, especially when the Brooklyn Nets basically own their draft pick cupboard for the […]

The prospect of it may have been unthinkable just one month ago, but here the Miami Heat are, needing just one win to advance to the 2023 NBA Finals after decimating the Boston Celtics, 128-102, at Kaseya Center. The Heat, which looked dead in the water when they lost to the Atlanta Hawks in the […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder appear to be on the path of rapid ascent. They entered the 2022-23 season to little fanfare, as pundits expected more of the same from them — 20+ wins, yet another lost season in the hopes of entering the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. But here they are, in May 2023, having arrived […]

The Portland Trail Blazers are in an interesting spot this offseason. The biggest question surrounding the franchise at the moment remains, “can they build a contending team around Damian Lillard?” The past few years haven’t exactly gone according to plan for Lillard and the Blazers. For the past two years, the Blazers essentially gave up […]

Jimmy Butler is on a warpath. Like that famous Miley Cyrus song, he came into the 2023 NBA playoffs like a wrecking ball, and all he’s ever done was wreck whichever team was in the path of the Miami Heat’s bid to win an NBA championship. And there Butler was again, in Game 2 of […]

The Boston Celtics came out of the second half intermission with a single-minded goal of learning from their third quarter mistakes in Game 1. As a result, they took an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter, setting themselves up nicely for a strong finish to the contest to tie the series at one-game apiece. However, […]

Entering the 2022-23 season, all the Boston Celtics had in mind was wanting to avenge their 2022 NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors. However, the Celtics are now in dire straits after another lapse in concentration allowed the Miami Heat to come roaring back late in the game to take a 2-0 series […]

The Detroit Pistons’ luck in the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery could not have gone any worse. They had a 52.1 percent chance to at least make the top four after a dispiriting 17-win season, but here they are drafting outside the top four and essentially taking them out of the conversation for Brandon Miller. It […]

Luka Doncic may be under contract until at least the end of the 2025-26 season, but the Dallas Mavericks are not taking any chances. After all, having one of the ten-best (or perhaps even five-best) players in the entire association and then proceeding to miss even the play-in tournament isn’t ideal at all. Thus, trades […]

The Los Angeles Lakers won’t go too far if LeBron James and Anthony Davis aren’t at their best. And in Game 2 of the 2023 Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets, both James and Davis had their fair share of struggles. James settled for too many three-pointers, and he blew some very makeable shots […]

The NBA Draft is always an exciting time, both for teams looking to land the next big thing in basketball and for youngsters who want to make a name for themselves by proving that they belong on the biggest stage. Even with 29 other teams missing out on Victor Wembanyama, the most hyped up prospect […]

The Denver Nuggets, of all teams, will know that a playoff series isn’t over until one team wins four games. In 2020, the Nuggets became the first team in NBA history to come back from two 3-1 deficits in a single postseason run. But there’s no way their confidence isn’t brimming at the moment, especially […]

The Los Angeles Lakers, as long as LeBron James is healthy enough to play, have a fighting chance against the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 NBA playoffs. James has played at such a high level for so long at the grandest stage of them all that it’s not the wisest idea to doubt his ability […]

It will be interesting to see how the Golden State Warriors front office, which proclaimed that they’re light years ahead of the opposition, respond to some tough roster crunches in a bid to maximize the remaining elite years of Stephen Curry’s illustrious career. Will they trade away Klay Thompson, who vanished in Game 6 against […]

Plenty has been said and written about what a crucial offseason this would be for the Golden State Warriors. Stephen Curry may be here to stay, which gives the Warriors a leg up in their retooling process. But at age 35, the Warriors know that Curry won’t be at the top of his game forever, […]

The Philadelphia 76ers gained notoriety in the mid-2010s when they blew up their roster and began their infamous process that entailed bottoming out to earn the chance to grab some of the best draft prospects in all of basketball. And it’s not like it didn’t work, even though it has yet to bear a championship […]

The Golden State Warriors are at a crossroads; longtime general manager Bob Myers appears to be on the way out, which makes navigating one of the most pivotal offseasons for the Dubs in recent memory an even more difficult endeavor. Still, given how the Warriors’ disappointing title defense ended — in blowout fashion against the […]

The Orlando Magic don’t appear to be too far away from challenging for a playoff spot. With the likes of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Markelle Fultz leading the way, the Magic roster is filled with young, up-and-comers whom we haven’t seen the best out of just yet. But here the Magic are once more, […]

The Boston Celtics kicked off the beginning of their Eastern Conference Finals threequel against the Miami Heat on the right foot, taking a nine-point lead into the halftime intermission. But as the Heat have proven over and over again during the 2023 NBA playoffs, they’re never quite out of a game. The Celtics proceeded to […]