Mike Cruz Articles - Page 80

The Jimmy Butler saga is over. The Minnesota Timberwolves finally pulled the trigger on a trade for the disgruntled star, agreeing to send him to the Philadelphia 76ers for Robert Covington, Dario Saric and a future second-round pick. The Sixers are taking a gamble by acquiring Butler and looking to extend him, but this is, […]

After more than two months of drama and speculation, the Jimmy Butler saga is finally over with the Minnesota Timberwovles as the four-time All-Star was dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. Butler’s arrival in Philadelphia came as a surprise to most players following the story. Moreover, now that the deal is done, word around […]

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid recently chimed in on his thoughts regarding their newly acquired star Jimmy Butler, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “If it’s beneficial for me and for the team, then no problem. But if it’s something that I don’t think is going to be good for this franchise, then that’s not okay. I […]

Phoenix Suns rookie center Deandre Ayton had a sub-par shooting night against the Brooklyn Nets, finishing 6-of-17 from the floor en route to 15 points and 13 boards. The first overall pick of the 2018 draft spoke about his performance today, and guaranteed that he’ll never shoot like that again, per Gina Mizell of The […]

The Sacramento Kings have been one of the more pleasant surprises of the first few weeks of the 2018-19 NBA season as they currently hold a 6-4 record to begin their campaign. Their core of De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, and Willie Cauley-Stein are leading the charge for this young group. Absent from all of this, […]

RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson both surpassed Sacramento Kings forward Marvin Bagley III’s Duke record for most points scored by a freshman in their debut, per Jonathan Givony of ESPN. It appears that R.J. Barrett's night is done with 33 points in 32 minutes, easily clinching the record for most points scored in a game […]

Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving threw what was supposed to be Jamal Murray’s game ball into the stands in disgust over the latter’s last-second shot in a game that was all but over. Murray had 48 points in the dying seconds of the Denver Nuggets’ 115-107 win over the Celtics, and he attempted a last […]

Jamal Murray was having the game of his life against the Boston Celtics, as his Denver Nuggets were on their way to 9-1 start to their 2018-19 campaign. With the game all but over, Murray heaved up a last-second long ball in an attempt to have his first 50-point game of his career. The shot […]

Following their huge 115-107 win over the Boston Celtics on Monday, the Denver Nuggets have now tied their best start in franchise history. The Nuggets are off to a scorching start and are now 9-1 to begin their 2018-19 campaign, a feat that they have not done since the 1976-77 season. Hit ya with a […]

The Washington Wizards have been the biggest disappointment so far in the first three weeks of the 2018-19 season. An anonymous NBA scout said that this trend will continue until the end of the regular season, per Michael Lee of The Athletic. Washington also started out slow in the 2016-17 season, but were eventually able […]

Los Angeles Lakers superstar took to Instagram to give a shoutout to “Young King” Brandon Ingram for his insane poster dunk against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpv0R18AeDW/ Ingram threw down a monster jam over Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic with around 7:28 to play in the fourth quarter. The slender 6-foot-9 swingman found an […]

Players around The Association are still talking about the early-season scuffle between Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul. The latest to chime in his thoughts is New Orleans Pelicans forward Nikola Mirotic, who appeared on Generacion NBA, per HoopsHype. “I believe everything Rajon Rondo says,” Nikola Mirotic said. “He had strong comments about Chris Paul. I […]

Tyson Chandler was bought out by the Phoenix Suns on Saturday. After the news broke, the 18-year veteran was immediately expected to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. Following their huge 114-110 road win against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night, Lakers forward LeBron James chimed in his thoughts on the looming addition of […]

The Los Angeles Lakers have finally conquered the Portland Trail Blazers after falling to them for 16 consecutive games. The Lakers snapped the losing skid on Saturday night as they snatched a 114-110 win on the road to improve their record to 4-5. The Lakers beat the Blazers for the first time in 1,706 days! […]

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors is a two-time NBA MVP, a three-time NBA champion, and is arguably the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA. For the Portland Trail Blazers, however, he is simply just “Seth Curry’s brother.” This was how the Blazers’ feed introduced the Warriors superstar as he was shown […]

Vince Carter still has it. The 41-year old Atlanta Hawks forward won’t ever seem to lose his bounce completely as he showcased his hops yet again with a putback slam in the fourth quarter in their game against the Miami Heat. It's a fact. Vince Carter will ALWAYS play above the rim ✈️ (via @ATLHawks) […]

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jimmy Butler told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that he doesn’t give an “expletive” about what other people think and that he will continue to give his all as long as he plays for the team. “I don’t give a [expletive] [what people think],” Jimmy Butler said. “I don’t. I swear to you. […]

Despite everything that he has against his teammates with the Minnesota Timberwolves, forward Jimmy Butler said that he “loves” his guys. “These are my guys,” Butler told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. “Look, [my situation] don’t got [expletive] to do with me and everybody in this [expletive] locker room. I love these [expletive]. I’m going […]

Things aren’t necessarily going as planned for the Los Angeles Lakers as they are off to a sluggish 3-5 start to their 2018-19 campaign and are currently 12th on the Western Conference standings. More often than not, when teams with high expectations struggle out of the gates, the fault usually falls on the head coach. […]

The Toronto Raptors are taking a cautious approach in handling Kawhi Leonard’s playing time for the team’s back-to-back sets this season. Leonard is making his way back from a quad injury that kept him out for all but nine games in the 2017-18 season. Fortunately for Toronto, their superstar forward has no problem with how the team […]

The Toronto Raptors are taking a game-to-game approach in handling superstar forward Kawhi Leonard for the team’s back-to-back games this season. Head coach Nick Nurse said that this will be the plan for the Raptors moving forward, as they try to bring in Leonard slowly, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. However, he also did say that […]

In 2011, Derrick Rose was named the youngest Most Valuable Player in league history and was already dubbed as the future of the NBA. However, several injuries, especially to his knees, derailed what was supposed to be a Hall of Fame career. The 2011 NBA MVP went through a lot of adversity since tearing his […]

In case you haven’t heard it yet, Klay Thompson set the record for most three-pointers made in a game by draining 14 threes in the Golden State Warriors’ 25-point romping of the Chicago Bulls on Monday night. The sweet-shooting Thompson broke the record at the expense of his backcourt mate Stephen Curry, who previously held […]

Things got heated between Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook during Tuesday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Westbrook did not appreciate Beverley’s questionable dive for the ball that undercut the former MVP off his legs and caused him to have a nasty fall on the floor. However, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers does not […]

In the middle of the first quarter of the Philadelphia 76ers’ game against the Atlanta Hawks, Sixers superstar Ben Simmons found himself wide open under the cup, following a gorgeous bullet pass from big man Amir Johnson. The pass led to a monster flush from the Sixers sophomore, who let out a roar as he […]

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James shrugged off his slow start in their 124-120 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves Monday night. James reminded everyone after the game that he is not a one-dimensional player, per Ryan Ward of ClutchPoints. “I don’t care about that. I’m still able to get rebounds. Get my teammates involved. Still […]

Los Angeles Clippers 7-foot-3 behemoth Boban Marjanovic keeps on getting comparisons with other legendary big men. The latest to compare him to an all-time great was teammate Avery Bradley, who said that the closest teammate he had to Boban was Hall of Famer Shaquille O’neal. “We have a lot of guys that are capable to […]

Klay Thompson made NBA history Monday night by breaking his backcourt mate Stephen Curry’s previous mark of 13 for most three-pointers made in a game. The other-Splash-Brother-not-named-Steph knocked down an unprecedented 14 three-pointers in the Warriors’ 149-124 romping of the Chicago Bulls on Monday. However, Thompson did not end his night unscathed. He received two […]

Phoenix Suns rookie center Deandre Ayton is already making a positive impact on his team. A poster on Reddit showed statistics to prove that the Suns are way better with Ayton on the court. The stats show that, through the Suns’ first five games, they have an offensive rating of 112.1 with their franchise big […]

Miami Heat guard Wayne Ellington was available to make his season debut in their match-up against the Portland Trailblazers on Saturday. However, he will have to wait another day as he did not see the floor in Miami’s 120-111 home victory. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra explained after the game why he did not play […]

LeBron James recently just moved past Dirk Nowitzki for sixth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar entered their game against the San Antonio Spurs with 31,167 career points, needing just 21 points to surpass the Dallas Mavericks legend. Needless to say, James accomplished the feat and finished the night […]

The Los Angeles Lakers were trailing by 3 points against the San Antonio Spurs with 15 seconds remaining in regulation. Point guard Rajon Rondo had a chance to cut the lead to 1, but opted to pass on a wide open lay-up at the cup, and kicked the ball out to Josh Hart on the […]

Swingman Rudy Gay came off the bench for the San Antonio Spurs’ home game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night but still played 33 minutes on the night. Gay has started each of the Spurs’ games prior to this one. Head coach Gregg Popovich started forward Dante Cunningham ahead of him in an […]

LeBron James just keeps on adding on to his pile of records in his storied NBA career. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar just recently passed Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki for sixth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. James spoke highly of the Mavs legend after their 110-106 loss to the San Antonio Spurs […]

According to head coach Billy Donovan, Oklahoma City Thunder superstar point guard Russell Westbrook did not practice with the team on Saturday due to a sore shoulder, Erik Horne of The Oklahoman reports. Billy Donovan said Russell Westbrook did not practice today due to a sore shoulder. Donovan did not specify which shoulder, or what […]

Philadelphia 76ers forward Dario Saric seems to imply that if he were to do it all over again, he would have probably spent more time playing in the NBA. However, the Sixers are happy with the player he is today. In an interview with Paul Hudrick of NBC Sports, Saric spoke about how his decision […]

Paul Pierce is apparently not a huge fan of White House visits. In a recent interview with TMZ, the former NBA Finals MVP called the White House visit an overrated tradition. Pierce was asked on his thoughts about Villanova, who won the NCAA tournament in April, skipping on the White House visit. This is what […]

Chicago Bulls forward Jabari Parker made sure that he wasn’t throwing head coach Fred Hoiberg and his staff under the bus in his comments following their atrocious 135-106 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night. The former no. 2 pick of the 2014 draft pointed out that the Bulls did not have any schemes […]

The New York Knicks are all-in on their recruitment campaign for Kevin Durant after putting up a billboard at Madison Square Garden featuring himself along with Knicks injured forward Kristaps Porzingis, posing with the NBA championship trophy. The Golden State Warriors superstar forward was quick to dismiss the gesture, saying that those things don’t really […]