Reporting Articles - Page 443

While training camp is typically for teams to work through sets and schemes to knock the rust off before the season, it is also a great opportunity for players to earn playing time. One team that has rotation spots up for grabs is the Philadelphia 76ers. Between new players incoming and the Ben Simmons holdout, […]

The Los Angeles Lakers are getting along famously so far in training camp. But, according to comments from head coach Frank Vogel, LeBron James, and Russell Westbrook over the past two days, the level of competition has been extremely high in 5-on-5 scrimmages. On Friday, we may have seen our first physical indicator of the […]

Damian Lillard’s pointed calls for the Portland Trail Blazers to make significant roster changes this summer went unanswered. His team enters 2021-22 with last season’s same core in place and an unchanged starting lineup. Portland’s four offseason additions come mostly on the margins, with Larry Nance Jr. the only one among them guaranteed to make […]

Because the Los Angeles Lakers just overhauled their roster, they entered 2021-22 training camp with as little trade buzz as any team in the NBA from an importing and exporting standpoint. The Lakers orchestrated the largest blockbuster swap of the summer — a five-teamer that netted them Russell Westbrook — and then surrounded Westbrook, LeBron […]

Pau Gasol, 41, has called a press conference for Tuesday to announce his retirement from professional basketball, according to Lucas Saez Bravo. At some point in the not-too-distant future, I fully expect the Los Angeles Lakers to retire Gasol’s No. 16 and hang his jersey in the Staples Center rafters next to Kobe Bryant. Fully […]

SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors fans know about the Draymond Green and Kevin Durant fight in 2019. This summer, the two NBA stars decided to sit down and speak about it publicly on Bleacher Report’s Chips with Draymond Green. Green talked with the local media about it for the first time after Thursday’s practice, […]

The New York Knicks, after having roughly a 20-year streak of underachievement, lack of development, and overall futility at the point guard spot, are suddenly flush with talent at that spot. Apologies to fans of Raymond Felton, or to those magical few weeks of Linsanity, but the Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose tandem at point […]

Breaking news: Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook is pretty, pretty, good at basketball. Two days into Lakers training camp, Westbrook has already impressed Frank Vogel, LeBron James, and his Lakers teammates. Nobody is surprised, of course, but they still haven’t been able to curb their enthusiasm. “Russell Westbrook’s pretty good. He’s good at basketball,” […]

SAN FRANCISCO – Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green participated in his first practice of the new NBA season under head coach Steve Kerr. After checking in, Green decided to jump right in and get to work. He is one of the leaders of the team. Green’s impact on practice was felt instantly, even though […]

SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Warriors finally have all their players at camp as Draymond Green made his practice debut. He was away from the team handling personal matters. Since it was his first day back, he spoke with the media, and as always, Green didn’t hold back on answering any questions, even the […]

Two days into Los Angeles Lakers training camp, LeBron James specifically cited three newcomers who have stood out (other than the obvious: Russell Westbrook). “K. Nunn, Baze, and DJ,” LeBron told reporters after the Lakers second day of practice — as in Kendrick Nunn, Kent Bazemore, and DeAndre Jordan — when asked whose stood out. […]

This is a tough one. Before you read what I came up with, take a moment to ask what you might have come up with here. How on earth could these Nets truly surprise us? If they were all healthy and started gunning for 70 wins would that be a shock? (Honestly, I’m confident they […]

Heading into Philadelphia 76ers training camp, everyone expected the Ben Simmons cloud to hang overhead. The former No. 1 pick has still yet to show up in Philadelphia but he doesn’t appear to be changing his mind anytime soon. Questions regarding Simmons have died down some since Sixers Media Day, but he has still been […]

Anfernee Simons enters 2021-22 coming off a relative breakout season, at least when accounting for the gravity of his struggles over his first two years in the NBA. Fully established as a rotation player with the Portland Trail Blazers now, rookie coach Chauncey Billups is finally affording Simons the opportunity to prove his bona fides […]

SAN DIEGO – When Kawhi Leonard suffered the ACL injury in the playoffs, the expectation was that he’d miss the entirety of the playoffs due to the fragility and seriousness of the injury. Leonard going down immediately opened the door for more playing opportunities for LA Clippers players like Terance Mann and Luke Kennard, and […]

SAN FRANCISCO — The late, great Kobe Bryant inspired basketball players with his on-court dominance for two decades. Before passing away, he continued to do so off the court with his Mamba Mentality mindset. One of the many players he touched was Golden State Warriors youngster James Wiseman. “It’s a lot of different ones, but […]

All summer, the Houston Rockets hinted that Kevin Porter Jr. was going to be their starting point guard this season. John Wall not being in the picture only makes this even more of a reality. At a charity event availability, Rafael Stone indicated that the organization views him as a playmaker. This was also when […]

One major factor that led to Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid’s MVP-level season last year was his health. After years of critics commenting on his weight and conditioning, the All-Star center emphasized taking better care of his body. Embiid hired a personal chef and came into the 2020-21 season in much better physical shape compared […]

Marcus Morris has been very vocal that his Los Angeles Clippers would’ve reached the NBA Finals last year if they were healthy. Kawhi Leonard suffered the partially torn ACL, Ivica Zubac suffered a sprained MCL, and Morris dealt with flare-ups from his knee tendinitis. The Clippers fell to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference […]

The Los Angeles Lakers officially signed Trevelin Queen to an Exhibit-10 contract on Wednesday, giving the 24-year old wing an exciting opportunity to scrimmage with LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis in Lakers training camp. OFFICIAL: The Lakers have signed Trevelin Queen to an Exhibit-10 training camp contract. pic.twitter.com/HIL9hmZjJo — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) […]

There were times last season when Jusuf Nurkic took matters into his own hands defensively for the Portland Trail Blazers. Terry Stotts didn’t outright forbid Nurkic from veering outside Portland’s ultra-conservative defensive scheme, even encouraging his random forays to the perimeter with a simple caveat. “Sometimes Nurk goes rogue,” Stotts said after the Blazers beat […]

The Golden State Warriors’ No. 7 pick in the 2021 draft, Jonathan Kuminga, might be the most athletic rookie in this year’s class. At 18 years old, however, it was uncertain what position he will play with the Dubs this 2021-22 season. That was until head coach Steve Kerr cleared the air after Wednesday’s practice. […]

The 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers have just one practice under their belt, yet Russell Westbrook is already seeing the type of dynamic force Anthony Davis can be in pick-and-roll scenarios. Westbrook and Davis conducted a joint media session following the first practice of Lakers’ training camp. Both players, and head coach Frank Vogel, had positive […]

Media Day and the first few days of training camp have been some of the more explosive days around the NBA. While the Kawhi Leonard was affirming his decision to stay with the LA Clippers and coach Tyronn Lue was expressing his excitement to be back, players around the league were making all the headlines. […]

Between winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, co-starring in a basketball blockbuster, releasing his fourth studio album and getting married to his longtime girlfriend, Damian Lillard didn’t exactly have much downtime during another shortened offseason. Endless speculation about his suddenly uncertain future with the Portland Trail Blazers only made his summer more hectic. […]

Brooklyn Nets headlines are being dominated by Kyrie Irving’s vaccination status, the NBA’s biggest bombshell story of the season so far. However, there are obviously other big storylines surrounding the 2021-22 title favorite, including another one involving Irving. That would be contract extensions. Kevin Durant has already signed his extension. Will the Big Three stay together […]

The Philadelphia 76ers kicked off training camp Tuesday, and Ben Simmons was nowhere in sight. Following his trade request this summer, the three-time All-Star remains intent on distancing himself from the team until he is moved elsewhere. While Doc Rivers is still hopeful that Simmons will eventually show, he has to prepare for the reality […]

The Los Angeles Lakers were the lone NBA franchise to hold Media Day on Tuesday — the first day of training camp. After two months of hype, we saw LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and the rest of the star-studded cast in gold jerseys, together in the same room — […]

SAN FRANCISCO – After the first day of training camp, the Golden State Warriors saw what they wanted to see from Klay Thompson. It’s a good sign for the organization and Dubs fans. Head coach Steve Kerr talked about watching Thompson get on the floor and do his thing. “He basically did everything single thing […]

Tyronn Lue and LA Clippers started training camp in San Diego, California on Tuesday afternoon. The team made the two hour trip to San Diego State University, Kawhi Leonard‘s alma mater. Lue is entering his second season as the head coach of the Clippers, and is entering camp with the same core to the one […]

The Philadelphia 76ers kicked off training camp Tuesday, and Ben Simmons remains to be nowhere in sight, something Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid are painfully aware of. Even though the former number one pick isn’t present with the Sixers, new reports regarding his trade request continue to pour out. Early Tuesday morning, Sam Amick released […]

Philadelphia 76ers players and coaches discussed an array of topics during their media day on Monday. After answering questions on the Ben Simmons situation, Doc Rivers dove into his thoughts on some of the Sixers’ new additions. Daryl Morey retained most of the team’s free agents, but some spots had to be filled. In a […]

Damian Lillard did his best this summer to recruit free agents to the Portland Trail Blazers. He didn’t even have dreams of somehow luring another superstar to Rip City. Lillard instead sought out potential additions that could help his team on the margins, like former Blazer Nicolas Batum and athletic wing Kelly Oubre Jr. But […]

At Los Angeles Lakers Media Day, Dwight Howard became the latest high-profile athlete to reveal a profound misunderstanding of HIPAA laws. The Lakers center — who has publicly questioned COVID-19 protocols and vaccines in the past — was asked about his vaccination stance by The Athletic’s Bill Oram (and then Dan Woike of the Los […]

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Austin Reaves may be the least heralded player on the star-studded team, but he may boast the most instantly iconic nickname: “Hillbilly Kobe.” Reaves — who went undrafted out of Oklahoma and recently had his two-way contract converted into a two-year deal, giving him the 14th spot on the Lakers’ active […]

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn will sign with Rich Paul and Klutch Sports. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin first reported the news: “Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn has signed with Klutch Sports Group, league sources told ESPN. Undrafted out of college, Nunn has averaged 15 pts and 3 ast per game in his first two seasons in […]

The Nets had one goal a season ago, which was to stay healthy so they can beat the brakes off everyone else. They couldn’t do it. A pair of injuries to James Harden and Kyrie Irving derailed their title aspirations. The Milwaukee Bucks would not have survived if either Nets’ guard was able to go. […]

The Los Angeles Lakers open training camp on Tuesday. LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and the team’s re-tooled cadre of veterans, former All-Stars, role players, and coaches will conduct Media Day then formally begin the quest for banner No. 18. After a blockbuster summer befitting only of Hollywood, we can finally start swapping speculation […]

The Golden State Warriors have been destroyed by the injury bug the past two seasons. Heading into the 2021-22 season, it appears the team is finally coming upon a fully healthy roster. Center James Wiseman had a meniscus injury at the end of last season that ended his rookie year. Monday at media day, he […]