#where to watch boston celtics vs lakers

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Anthony Davis leads surging Lakers past Celtics

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Live streaming | UEFA Champions League |

Uefa champions league live streaming - Where to watch the UEFA Champions League | UEFA Champions League |

Can I really watch for free? What is leagke catch? Your first month is completely free. You can cancel your free month at any time with a few clicks. You will not get charged during your free month. Getting started on DAZN is quick and easy. Simply click Sign Up Now, choose between an annual or monthly pass, enter your name and email address and then your payment details. Liverpool put their Premier League woes to one side by staying in the hunt for Champions League glory in Budapest.

Is Haaland ready to be a Pep nine? Watzke: No alternative to Haaland. Guardiola wary of Dortmund threat. Tuchel wary of Porto uefa champions league live streaming. Tennessee Titans.

Washington Football Team. Big Big Sky. Big South. Big Ten. Sun Belt. SW Ath. Arizona Diamondbacks. Atlanta Braves. Baltimore Orioles. Boston Red Sox. Chicago Cubs. Chicago White Sox. Cincinnati Reds. Cleveland Indians. Colorado Rockies. Detroit Tigers. Houston Astros. Kansas City Royals. Los Angeles Angels. Los Angeles Dodgers. Miami Marlins. Milwaukee Udfa. Minnesota Twins. New York Mets. New York Yankees. Oakland Athletics.

Philadelphia Phillies. Pittsburgh Pirates. San Diego Padres. San Francisco Giants. Seattle Mariners. Louis Cardinals. Tampa Bay Rays. Texas Uefa champions league live streaming. Toronto Blue Jays. Washington Nationals. Atlanta Hawks. Boston Celtics. Brooklyn Nets. Charlotte Hornets. Chicago Bulls. Cleveland Oive. Dallas Mavericks. Denver Nuggets. Detroit Pistons. Golden State Warriors. Houston Rockets. Indiana Pacers.

LA Clippers. Los Angeles Lakers. Memphis Grizzlies. I have 1 of 2 Univision channels. I also have Galavision and Univision Deportes Network. Lague are 15 providers and Comcast is not one of them. Do you know why? Thank you so much and keep up the excellent work! It appears that the Univision games not televised on a linear channel will this year require a subscriber login. Last year, the non-televised games were available without any authentication. I think that you get the games via tudn.

From the apple app store page:. Thank you for the update on upcoming matches and for the info on channel changes. We do get some of the South American leagues here too occasionally. Select games from smaller continental European clubs are shown via mycujoo. But it appears that the other games are available on a club-by-club basis. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them are not available to viewers in the United States.

Well that is shocking! Would make sense for CBS to start their coverage early, but uefa champions league live streaming they basically brand new in covering this type of event, would also make sense for UCL to give it to someone more established in soccer for the resumption of the tournament and give CBS lead time for next year make it a 4 year deal instead of 3?

ESPN makes sense, as does Fox. As a beIN fan would also be funny if they got it and everyone complains about not getting that channel…. I agree with everything you typed. TNT network should have never gotten the Champions League TV contract as they are not a good sports covering network and do not have good qualified people to manage it.

We also cannot watch any games in English without paying, I hate listening to Univision as they only broadcast in Visit, which is a pain to my ears. A uefa champions league live streaming shame on UEFA. A big uefa champions league live streaming on TNT.

They should have never uefa champions league live streaming in winning this contract a they are simply incapable in handling it and doing a good job. No, I am not happy as CBS will start their coverage next year in It is also disheartening on why TNT stopped covering this year, they should have at least broadcasted all the games starting August 7th between Real Madrid at Manchester City, and continue coverage till the final in Lisbon website August They offer a 7-day free uefa champions league live streaming ,ive it is worth trying it.

My anger and disappointment is at Leagye for just cancelling their coverage before this season was completed. They should have at least completed this whole season. I will not miss their poor coverage anyway. I am also very angry and disappointed at stupid and greedy UEFA for not acting in a proper way to service English speaking soccer fans in the US.

Uefa champions league live streaming poor decisions are most unbecoming and very poor business I am trying to be polite here. TNT stfeaming have at least covered till the end of this season…. Their abysmal disregard to all US soccer fans is unpardonable.

Watch Champions League online: Live stream, TV channels, schedule

Agree with everything above. If streamong super elite rich person hates soccer so much they want to destroy the game in USA, then the contract to TNT and not showing the games is how you do that. Amazing TNT really had no idea what they were getting into with this. Any clue who has taken the remainder of this years CL?

CBS is next year but not Aug games. Remember that all matches starting with the quarter-finals are all going to be held in Lisbon and are single elimination matches, no more home and away matches, so these games should be very exciting. They offer a 7-day free trial.

Maybe it is worth buying this just for a month. You can watch these matches for free on Univision if you have this channel available, but it is only in Spanish. The only free way to watch these games in English is to find a free online streaming site, Google should come in handy in finding them. Again, UEFA fumbled these arrangements very badly. If we are lucky…. More matches will be available on TV too just as soon as the decisions are made on which matches will be on English-language TV.

Thank you Christopher Harris for all your help and information. This page must have been updated to include a uefa champions league live streaming of new and useful current information, which I had not seen before. We soccer fans appreciate all your good efforts. Stay well and wish you oive the best. Today, July 25,I checked what Leagke read the following on the top of this page here: Manchester City vs.

It is possible that this schedule has not been updated yet …. If and home this information is ever updated and corrected please share it here. Of course, they can always change their mind. Hi Christopher Harris, thanks for your prompt reply and explanation.

You could be absolutely right as I too expect this scheduling information to be corrected and updated closer to game day. Thanks continued lot for all your help strdaming information, we all soccer fans appreciate all that you do here. Have a wonderful day and stay well and healthy, we need you.

The advantage is you can watch this channel on your TV with this new coming app and without needing to stream it through your WiFi or Internet. Check with your TV provider. Champlons luck all. Chris do you think CBS is uefa champions league live streaming only going to show the final on all access? That seems horribly inconsistent with their prior claims. When Turner had the rights, none of the games were on over-the-air television. My question is will I able to watch the Streamkng League through my Prime account or will I have to pay for a separate subscription?

If anyone can answer this question it is greatly appreciated. Thanks Chris. If you pay…. You are right Christopher. Amazon Prime does make available many shows and channels to Prime members, the sad fact is that many of these available offers are NOT free, the customer is forced to buy their selected packages at extra cost besides paying for Prime membership. I made this fact very clear in my earlier post which was deleted from here, I uefa champions league live streaming because I was unkind to Jeff Bezos.

Hopefully this one will be fixed in time. There is no DVR offered. A great relief to have that in place. Or does coverage begin at the Playoffs? Group Stage uefa champions league live streaming How much do those rights in the past cost. How in the world does acompany only get half a tournament. I guess this is the new streaming world we now live in. Is CBS interesting getting that or later?

Real played very poorly today to have any chance to eliminate Manchester City. The only consolation for Real fans is that at least we won the La Liga championship this season. Now we have to wait till the next season starts. It has been a very sad day for all Real Madrid fans. Real Madrid lost and got eliminated because of their French Connection. He picked wrong players for this very uefa champions league live streaming game and did not srreaming players till the game championd almost over.

Even though Zidane is highly regarded as a brilliant coach his stupid stubbornness is also his downfall. I will not be sad if and uefa champions league live streaming Zidane departs Real Madrid.

His personal stubborn and poor decisions have hurt this team enormously, Had he planned smarter and more logically Real would have uefa champions league live streaming a much better chance to win and advance to the quarter-finals. Champion: Bayern Munich. You are welcome to use my tips and call your bookie and get rich. Hi guys, anyone getting rich with my accurate picks?

[katee02158martinez]

Watch Manchester United v. Manchester City Live

Manchester united vs manchester city live free - How to watch Manchester City vs. Manchester United: Live stream, TV channel, time | FOX Sports

Get the best features, fun and footballing frolics straight to your inbox every week.

How to watch Manchester City vs. Manchester United: Live stream, TV channel, time

Contact me with news and offers from dity Future brands. Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors. Thank manchester united vs manchester city live free for signing up to Four Four Two.

You will receive a verification email shortly. Manchester united vs manchester city live free was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. Colorado Rockies. Detroit Tigers. Houston Astros. Kansas City Royals. Los Angeles Angels. Los Angeles Dodgers.

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San Antonio Spurs. Toronto Raptors. Utah Jazz. City will go for the dominant win, and it won't shock anybody if this one is over at half time. Craving even more coverage of the world's game? A Daily CBS Soccer Podcast livw we take uinted beyond the pitch and around the globe for commentary, previews, recaps and more. United: This is a match where United will need City to have an off night or for Bruno Fernandes to have a source performance to get a win.

The manchester united vs manchester city live free Portuguese midfielder is going manchestrr need to produce a couple moments of magic for the Red Devils to mxnchester a really good chance, assuming City continue their quality play in attack. Luke Shaw, who has been sharp for United, will have to be on point on the left to deal with Raheem Sterling, Riyah Mahrez or whoever is lined up there.

Helpful site he can continue to play cautiously and be strong in his tackles, it could severely hamper City's ability to create down the wing and make things more manageable. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this manchrster. Ad Choices. Subscribe today for news you need now. Facebook Share. Twitter Share.

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Matches on TV | Tottenham Hotspur

Watch tottenham game live - Tottenham Hotspur live on TV and stream today

Newcastle hope to have Allan Saint-Maximin back in the fold soon, but this match may come too soon for the Frenchman. Callum Wilson is still out with a hamstring issue, while Isaac Hayden and Fabian Schar are both nursing knee problems.

Martin Dubravka has been suffering watch tottenham game live a bout of illness but is expected to start between the sticks. Kick-off is at 2. See watch tottenham game live for watching details where you are. Bet Credits available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit.

Moreover, they have won the FA Cup a total of 8 times! What website here team, ay? All the better to make football on TV and live stream more thrilling! But, special info can't find Spurs games and fixtures on TV?

So, when is Tottenham Hotspur on TV? Everton v Tottenham Hotspur Premier League. Historical Background Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is one of England's best professional football clubs, which plays in the Premier LeagueEngland's topmost professional football competition.

Tottenham has established itself as a regular top 6 clubs and is ready to challenge such clubs as Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City for their place in the Champions League. The North London club will desperately try to end this season above its worst rivals - Arsenal, and you can watch everything that watch tottenham game live here.

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Stream football is Tottenham Hotspur's live streams. Using this service, you can find streaming sources in real time, set reminders for upcoming games and watch content from the club and fans upon request. We are using cookies to be able to show you this content.

Read more. Spurs often go on an unpredictable journey and should be the same this season. Subscribe so that you never miss another Tottenham Hotspur game! S Sport, TRT. Match TV. After losing their first match in the premier league made great comeback and defeat Southampton with score line on 20th September.

Just few fixtures left in the season and Tottenham must need to win their match against Newcastle United, Arsenal, Everton and Lecieser City to stay in the place finish on premier watch tottenham game live table.

How to watch Tottenham vs. Arsenal: Live stream, game time, TV

The tv channels details updated here for match coverage of Tottenham. Tottenham Matches Fixtures Confirmed. Kickoff Time. TV Channel. Sky Sports. Newcastle United. Manchester United. West Ham United. Cleveland Indians.

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Stephen A. Smith previews Heat vs. Lakers NBA Finals matchup | SportsCenter

Stephen A. Smith joins Kenny Mayne on SportsCenter to react to the Miami Heat defeating the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to advance to the NBA Finals where they will face the Los Angeles Lakers.

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[secondcityson]

Week 1 of the NFL Return

With last night we closed out some serious turn of events in the world of sports. I myself went 7-3 with some football picks, the Denver Nuggets took Game 7 in 3-1 series comeback, the Miami Heat took an OT victory in Game 1 against the Boston Celtics, and the New York Islanders pulled off a 2OT victory in their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Not to mention at the time of this writing it was announced that October will bring the college football season.

Brady and Gronk had a tough knock against the Saints. It is way too soon to hit the panic button seeing how they’re finding their footing with a new team and it was only 1 goddam game. There’s plenty of football left to be played, I have faith in the team, I believe in them. Also the Patriots got the “W” with their new leader in Cam Newton so my Sunday was balanced. Full disclosure the Bears were one of my picks and they delivered on their end as well.

Denver winning the series was written in the form of Easter Eggs in the previous series against the Utah Jazz. Another series where a 3-1 lead was blown by the favored team. Alas the highly anticipated Lakers-Clippers matchup is scrapped and it is now Lakers-Nuggets. The excitement just got turned up on this one, and I cannot wait to sit back and watch the show.

Speaking of shows, Miami vs. Boston was a fast-paced, butt clenching, back and forth addicting thrill ride. So much so that I had no idea how to cope with half-time. And then the OT clock felt like the longest ever. Leads changed sides and when it came down to the crucial seconds the final buzzer sounded and Miami took the win as the underdogs and helped a lot of people cash tickets.

The Lightning vs the Islanders was one of those low scoring games (2-1) that almost had too much defense. But I say this as someone who took the TB puckline (-1.5). Although to be fair you also want a back and forth game on the boards to really get the fire under your ass going. It’s funny I sit here and say “too much defense” when there are leagues with none at all —NBA

Anyway back to the game. By the time OT hit I was thinking to myself this really can be anyones’ game seeing what the Bubble Playoffs 2020 has done to these games. But going into the second OT I just wanted the game to end and be over with, hell they legit could’ve just stopped the game and I wouldn’t have really cared. The Islanders are being called “The Team Of Destiny” and in the bubble this is very much possible. Guess we will just have to wait and see how the next game goes, GOOD teams win but GREAT teams cover. Whether it is Tampa or New York, one of them will have us cashing tickets in this series.

Lastly, I close out this piece with the news that October will bring College Football after all and we won’t have to wait until next year as previously predicted. Should this be the case we are so fucking back and nature really is healing. Nothing will bring me greater joy than to have that marching band music blasting, the enery and electricity before kick-off, the shit talking, the rivalries continued, and all the other joys that come with Game Day. Until next time.

Let’s Fucking Go, All Gas No Brakes

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New Post has been published on http://techcrunchapp.com/2020-nba-schedule-debate-best-games-playoff-races-and-nba-title-favorites-espn/

2020 NBA schedule debate - Best games, playoff races and NBA title favorites - ESPN

After Friday’s release of the new 2020 NBA schedule, it’s time to look ahead at the games, players and teams that will be most compelling when the season resumes on July 30 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.

Which playoff races are most important, which teams are the ones to watch and who are the new title favorites?

Our experts answer the big questions, make their predictions after the unveiling of the schedule and break down what will happen inside the bubble.

MORE: 2020 NBA restart key dates — Playoffs, draft and free-agency schedule

1. What’s one game you’d circle on the calendar?

Kevin Pelton: Memphis Grizzlies vs New Orleans Pelicans on Aug. 3, the biggest swing game in the play-in matchup race. According to my simulations of the seeding games, New Orleans is the team with the best chance to pass Memphis for eighth, and doing so will almost certainly require winning this game. (Plus, you know, Zion vs. Ja.)

Royce Young: Definitely the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers on “opening night.” It’s a premier matchup with megastars, combined with the curiosity of how the restart will all look and feel. It’s going to be a can’t-miss game on the scale of a playoff showdown.

Eric Woodyard: Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers on July 31. Ja Morant versus Damian Lillard will give us a fun point guard matchup involving a rising star and one of the game’s great manipulators. With both teams vying to secure the final playoff spot in the West, the first seeding game for each matters greatly.

1 Related

Ramona Shelburne: I almost want to throw out every game of the first week, just on principle. It’s bound to be fairly ragged after such a long layoff, and I know teams are going to want to ramp up carefully to avoid injuries. But I can’t see either team taking it easy in that Lakers-Clippers game on July 30. Not after all the smack talk that has gone on, all season, involving the Western Conference favorites.

Andre Snellings: I want to see the Blazers play the Grizzlies. Behind the eighth-place Grizzlies and their electric Rookie of the Year favorite Morant, the Trail Blazers are extremely dangerous as the next team out. Portland has been the third seed in consecutive postseasons, was a Western Conference finalist last season and should get a big boost when big men Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins return from injuries. That matchup could easily be a preview of the play-in tournament, should have playoff intensity and features two of the more exciting point guards in the NBA.

MORE: Current NBA standings

2. Which West seeding race will you be watching most closely?

Young: Is it possible for the Mavericks to bump the Houston Rockets into a conference quarterfinals matchup with the Clippers? They’re tied in the win column at 40, but the Mavs have three more losses than the Rockets. Houston’s small-ball approach would benefit from drawing the Denver Nuggets in the conference quarterfinals rather than the versatile Clippers.

Woodyard: The eighth seed in the Western Conference. The Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Pelicans and Kings will be clawing for the final playoff spot, but I like the Trail Blazers to get back to the postseason. The return to health for Collins and Nurkic could be just what Portland needs. Damian Lillard should be especially motivated after proclaiming he wanted the chance to play meaningful games.

Shelburne: The Rockets were basically tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for fifth in the West, but just 2 ½ games back of Denver for the third spot. Home-court advantage doesn’t really mean anything now, but I’m sure they’d like to get on a hot streak and move up in the standings.

Snellings: I’m watching the race for the 2-seed, because it puts a team in the pole position to make the conference finals without having to deal with the Lakers. The Clippers are currently in that spot, but there are four teams within four games of them. The seeding of those five teams shapes key playoff matchups to determine who would likely face the Lakers in the West finals.

Pelton: Who ends up stuck in seventh, which probably means facing the Clippers in the conference quarterfinals. The drop-off in talent from the Clippers to whichever team finishes third probably will be sizable, making this the spot nobody wants. And though the Dallas Mavericks are currently slotted there, they move up from seventh in more than half of my simulations.

Who will finish atop the Eastern Conference when it’s all said and done? Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

3. Which East seeding race will you be watching most closely?

Woodyard: I’m interested in seeing who is able to secure the second seed. If it is Boston, with Kemba Walker stabilizing the team and four players who can get their own shot, then I think that the Celtics look poised to make a return to the conference finals.

Shelburne: I’m sure the Heat would love to move out of the No. 4 spot to avoid a second-round matchup with the Bucks. They’re 2 ½ games back of the Celtics — a real challenge for just an eight-game stretch, especially with the tough schedule Miami has been given.

Snellings: I’m watching the race for seeds 4 to 6, where the Heat, Pacers and 76ers are within two games of one another. Being the 6-seed means a team avoids a potential Bucks matchup until the East finals. With home-court advantage no factor, the Sixers in particular are a threat to make a serious run through the playoffs if healthy.

The NBA board of governors voted to approve the league’s format to restart the 2019-20 season in Florida.

• How the Orlando bubble will work • Team-by-team preview • NBA forecast predictions

Pelton: Not so much where the Philadelphia 76ers are seeded as who they face in the conference quarterfinals. It’s not clear that the Sixers are better off moving from sixth to fifth if it means facing the Miami Heat — against whom they’re 1-3 this season — rather than the Boston Celtics, a season series they won 3-1.

Young: Watching how the 76ers approach the schedule now that they don’t have to consider home-court advantage will be interesting, as they’re currently tied with the Pacers for No. 5 in the East. Should Philadelphia try to land the No. 6 spot to avoid a likely conference semifinals showdown with the Bucks? Or will the Sixers focus on finding their best basketball form ahead of the postseason?

4. Which team’s chances will get the biggest boost from the hiatus and the new schedule?

Shelburne: I am probably destined to be the last person left on Sixers Island. But they just have so much talent, I think they’ll be dangerous on a neutral court with no expectations now. A healthy Ben Simmons helps a ton too. I suppose I could make the same argument for the Clippers, who now have a healthy Paul George and Kawhi Leonard and one of the deepest teams in the league.

Snellings: The Rockets get the biggest boost from the hiatus because their team is uniquely built. They have a powerful backcourt in James Harden and Russell Westbrook, but with their lack of big men, their forwards were getting run down with the amount of effort required to play their style. The hiatus should have allowed them to feel fresh again, and the short schedule lets them ramp back up in time for the playoffs. And Harden tends to be worn by the postseason; he has had the chance to not only rest but also reportedly get in excellent shape for the summer.

Pelton: Dallas. As I mentioned earlier, the Mavericks have a reasonable chance to move up from seventh, and they’re no longer affected by being shut out of the race for home-court advantage in the conference quarterfinals. That means the team with the West’s third-best point differential this season is a scary opening-round opponent.

Young: The 76ers are a logical choice, considering Ben Simmons had the chance to get healthy and they no longer have to play true road games (they were 10-24 on the road this season). The layoff probably didn’t fix their inconsistencies, however, so I’m going with the obvious: LeBron James just got a three-month break and has a maximum of 28 playoff games between him and another title.

Woodyard: The Trail Blazers. They were injury-riddled before the season paused, but the return of Collins and Nurkic should be huge. We already know what we’re going to get from Lillard and CJ McCollum, but if the supporting cast can shake off the rust and click right away, this team will be scary.

5. Which team was your title pick before the hiatus, and have you changed your mind?

Snellings: The Bucks were my pick as the clear favorite in the East, but the gauntlet in the West is more difficult. I still favor the Bucks, but the hiatus has helped their opponents more than it has helped Milwaukee. The Bucks are deep and their best players weren’t required to play huge minutes, while each of the Lakers, Clippers, Rockets and 76ers had the chance to get healthier and close the gap. But the Bucks are still dominant at both ends of the floor, and have the best chance to take home the title if playing to their potential.

Pelton: The Clippers. I would change my pick if Lou Williams decides not to participate in the restart. Otherwise, I think their combination of depth and star talent should play well in this environment, and the Clippers no longer have to deal with the potential of having more Lakers fans than Clippers fans at Staples Center during nominal home games if the teams meet in the conference finals.

Young: It has reinforced my confidence in the Clippers. Maybe the Clippers will take a step back in on-court chemistry, trying to sort out their impressive depth, but they’ve had three months to get Paul George fully healthy and let Kawhi Leonard rest. It’s impossible to anticipate how much the new environment will alter the outcome, but LA’s depth should be an asset. And in a possible West finals matchup with the Lakers, the Clippers would’ve had a series with seven de facto road games. Now they’re on a neutral court.

Woodyard: Before the hiatus, I picked the Clippers. Now, I’m in on the Lakers to win their 17th title. They were clicking so perfectly before the season ended, and LeBron James seems to be on a mission to get back on the court with his window for a championship slowly closing.

Shelburne: I picked the Lakers to start the year and I’m sticking with it. But I feel as if Toronto has a great shot in the East now. The defending champion Raptors have that playoff experience, are well coached and should be healthy after the long break.

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Today our Pittsburgh interlocutors confirmed significant information and highlighted a key angle in the HOUSTON PK vs WASHINGTON PK NCAA Basketball Game tonight, The MAC is releasing this game as his NCAAB HUSH MONEY PLAY. The MAC has been playing and fading these teams for years, knowing when to lay or take points with CBB teams like the Cougars, Gaels, Bulldogs, and Huskies has aggrandized THE MAC's reputation for his college hoops hush money action. These types of moves are why people recommend THE MAC'S PLAYS, making him one of the most venerable sources for top rated picks against the spread, and lionizing RedAlertWagers.com in and around sportsbooks and casinos!

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NBA Christmas Day games, ranked

The NBA’s Christmas day scheduled is loaded once again.

What’s your favorite Christmas day matchup in the NBA?

Christmas Day is usually the best holiday NBA event of the year, with all of the league’s best talent and a team from New York playing a five-game slate that lasts from 12 p.m. ET until bedtime. The formula is typically the same. There’s a warmup game or two (that’s made for the Knicks or Nets), followed by the two main event games of the day, then a nightcap if you’re still awake and eager for more hoops.

For those who celebrate, by now, you’ve probably developed a pattern. The first game is usually the most skippable, where you compromise with family so that by the third game you have no obligations except sitting your ass on that couch to watch Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.

I’m here with good news and bad news for you you about this year’s slate. We’ll start with the good — no Knicks or Nets! But here’s the bad. The 2019 slate isn’t nearly as formulaic as years prior because nobody could have predicted this injury-filled mess of a season.

Here are the games, in order of appearance:

12:00 p.m. ET: Celtics vs. Raptors on ESPN

2:30 p.m. ET: Bucks vs. Sixers on ABC

5:00 p.m. ET: Rockets vs. Warriors on ABC

8:00 p.m. ET: Clippers vs. Lakers on ABC and ESPN

10:30 p.m. ET: Pelicans vs. Nuggets on ESPN

Here they are, ranked by watchability.

5. Pelicans vs. Nuggets

Oh man. The NBA really tried to give us one worth taping our eyes to stay open for late at night. But it failed.

The Pelicans totally stink. Their first quarter of their year has been defined by lengthy losing streaks and speculation over who’s getting traded by the deadline. (Jrue Holiday, J.J. Redick and Derrick Favors are all possibilities.) Lonzo Ball’s recently been benched. And worst of all, Zion Williamson hasn’t played a game, and isn’t likely to by Christmas. He’s just started shooting and bearing weight on the knee he had meniscus surgery on before the season started. At least Brandon Ingram’s been a star, but this was supposed to be Zion’s introduction to mainstream NBA fans. Damn.

The Nuggets are a very good team, just in a different way from what we’re used to. Nikola Jokic hasn’t been nearly as good as the past two years, looking out of shape for most of the season. Instead, this has been Jamal Murray’s offense, along with Gary Harris, Will Barton and a bevy of shooters who make Denver roll. The Nuggets should roll all over the Pels.

At the least, we can all go to bed early.

4. Rockets vs. Warriors

Woof. This game should have been it. It’s probably the biggest active rivalry in the NBA. But for now, it’s in a coma.

The Warriors absolutely stink. This game won’t have Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala or Shaun Livingston. The team is nearly unrecognizable, and not for the better.

With D’Angelo Russell and Draymond Green in and out of the lineup playing next to up-and-comer Eric Paschall and a couple of dudes you still have to Google for in December, the Warriors are debatably the worst team in the entire league. They’re just so bad.

They’ll be playing a Rockets team that you might hate even more than usual, too. James Harden is at his most James Harden, shooting a career-high amount of free throws. The team has Russell Westbrook now, which needs no further explaining. The Rockets have already tried to protest a loss into a win. They’re the most.

At the very least, Harden is having an unbelievable season where he’s averaging close to 40 points per game. Whatever you think of him, that’s something that hasn’t been seen since Wilt Chamberlain. Seeing Harden’s final stats will be worth taking a look at. But that might be it.

3. Celtics vs. Raptors

Yep, that’s right. We’re still not up to the second primetime game. Two early day games look more exciting than that one.

Celtics-Raptors could be really fun, though it’s one you might be able to just hang around the second half for considering the injury bug has just hit Toronto. Pascal Siakam, Norman Powell and Marc Gasol are all out indefinitely. Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Serge Ibaka will still compete against a good Boston team, though.

Without Kyrie Irving, the Celtics are less flashy, but still fun. Any of Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown can take over a game, and should give the Raptors a run. This game could go to the wire!

The good times stop rolling here.

2. Bucks vs. Sixers

Giannis Antetokounmpo is the most must-see player in the NBA right now, because he’s producing stat-lines nobody’s ever seen before while maintaining a super-human stature doing unreasonably cool things with a basketball. He’s averaging 32 points per game with 13 rebounds and five assists while doing things like this:

This Giannis dunk is 10x better than LeBrons from last night but it won’t get as much attention pic.twitter.com/dlRNH9e8ql

— ZS Tourney’s are back (@ZhaireWRLD) November 17, 2019

The quickest-rising star in all of hoops against Joel Embiid, the league’s biggest and baddest center, will make for a fascinating matchup. The Sixers are finally starting to find a groove fitting three of the biggest All-Stars in the league on one floor. Ben Simmons, Embiid and Al Horford make for a tough trio. Maybe even tough enough to keep Giannis away from the rim.

And if not, Embiid’s going to Instagram something good anyway.

1. Clippers vs. Lakers*

The best game of the night will undoubtedly* be the second primetime slot as the battle for L.A. continues. The Clippers and Lakers are probably two of the best three teams in the league (Bucks) with four of the best ten or so players in the league. And we haven’t seen them play at full strength yet.

The NBA’s opening day saw both teams play in a game without Paul George, who was nursing an injured shoulder, while Kawhi Leonard tore apart the Lakers. The Clippers won, 112-102, but a lot has changed. Since that day, almost two full months ago, the Lakers have lost just three more games. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both in the MVP conversation, and Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee, Rajon Rondo, and all the other bizarre fits are thriving. The Clippers are a few games behind the Lakers in the standings, but that’s come while resting Leonard periodically. They’re just as good.

Both of these teams are elite. If we get all four superstars on the floor, this game will rule, and could be a conference finals preview.

*depending on load management

[gibsonsflowofthoughts]

LeBron James to the Lakers was all about choosing the best story

LeBron James is a Laker.

Sit with that for a moment. Whisk it around like a glass of his favorite wine. Bask in the unfamiliar aroma. The tannins will smack your dormant senses like ancient, ancestral history nonetheless.

On Sunday, we witnessed an old tradition: the unification of NBA royalty.

The Lakers and LeBron, possessing the same stubborn will to cling to their grand ambitions, were destined for each other, especially after the Warriors threw them off the perch they assumed was their birthright. Of course the man who has called himself King since he was 18 years old would join forces with the franchise whose success rests on mystique — the durability of Lakers exceptionalism. Together, they’ll attempt to restore the old order, to re-establish the Lakers as the class of the NBA, and James as a champion.

LeBron could have palled up with Chris Paul and James Harden in Houston, or completed The Process with the 76ers. But like all of his Decisions, LeBron didn’t sign with Los Angeles just to win a title. Harnessing the multiplying impact of a captivating narrative was just as important.

A 17th banner won’t match the catharsis of the home-grown, salt-of-the-earth portrait of the Cavaliers winning their first title in their 52-year history, but Los Angeles is a prestige franchise that could give LeBron a chapter in the NBA’s enduring rivalry: the Lakers vs. the Celtics. Even exempting that possibility, everything is bigger and more boisterous in Hollywood.

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

As he enters a city that values storytelling as much as he does, LeBron has finally mastered the art.

Eight years after The Decision, James’ agency, Klutch Sports, announced he was joining the Lakers by tweeting a 39-word press release. LeBron then posted an Instagram story thanking Northeast Ohio for four wonderful years, followed by a black-and-white picture of his I Promise school, which will target “kids who are at risk of falling behind their peers academically” and “take into account the struggles and traumas in students’ lives while providing ‘social-emotional learning’ and wraparound series for the kids and their families”, according to Theresa Cottom of the Akron Beacon Journal.

On July 30, when the school officially opens, LeBron will hold his first press conference since announcing he’s signing with the Lakers. Any questions about leaving his hometown team a second time will be answered on of a backdrop that reminds everyone just how much he has done for the place. Not that LeBron owes anyone anything, but the optics are a far cry from an hour-long ESPN special with kids from the Boys & Girls Club in the background.

Until then, it’s on us to speculate, and he can bet we will. LeBron isn’t just famous, he’s fascinating. Every new destination unveils a new layer and summons a new incarnation of him. From threading the needle and turning it over on never-before-seen jump-passes ... to patiently manipulating angles and throwing the ball where only his teammates can catch it. From getting zoned up and shooting off-balance mid-post fadeaways over Jason Kidd ... to hitting almost 37 percent of his threes. From making marginal passes to contested jump-shooters ... to taking the onus on himself to score when things break down. In the past 10 years, the league has changed many times, only to watch LeBron continually assert his dominance as the best player in the world, the brightest star in its orbit.

In Los Angeles, LeBron will (likely) find Lonzo Ball — a pure point guard and fast break machine — alongside coach Luke Walton, a Steve Kerr disciple who learned to love basketball when his dad, Bill Walton, played for Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics. Can Luke combine LeBron’s greatness with a team-oriented approach that minimizes the ball dominance that flattens his teammates skills? Can he convince James to trust in somebody beyond himself to create shots, to finally cede control and harness the spoils of the beautiful game?

James did in fact ink a four-year deal, his longest since signing with Miami, so he at least won’t annually lord free agency over the Lakers like he did the Cavs. Hell, maybe Cavs owner Dan Gilbert is the only person LeBron won’t entrust with his long-term security. LeBron also assured the Lakers that “this was a long term play and his decision wouldn’t be affected by a transaction they could make under a time pressure,” according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.

(On the other hand, the Lakers have already signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a Klutch Sports client, to a one-year $12 million deal. LeBron’s influence in Los Angeles still extends beyond the court.)

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

To succeed, James and the front office will have to strike a balance. The good news for L.A.: Magic Johnson is uniquely suited for the task.

LeBron has always been more Magic than Michael Jordan, and not just on the court. Johnson is a media-savvy business mogul, a local leader, a beloved national icon. As a player, he wasn’t afraid to throw around his weight. Early in his third year, Johnson quarreled with coach Paul Westhead, who was already on the hot seat, and demanded a trade. The game after Westhead was fired, Lakers fans at The Forum booed Magic relentlessly.

James’ omnipresence in the social media era has usurped Johnson’s even in the heyday of Showtime, but Magic can understand the gifts and burdens of LeBron’s ambitions. At the very least, he must understand that LeBron didn’t decide to plant his flag in the city of scripts just to concede the pen to somebody else.

Two of the league’s brightest spotlights have converged, and it’s on James and Johnson to navigate their trappings and construct a team that can turn the luster of the Lakers, Los Angeles, LeBron, even LaVar Ball — a collection of L’s — into one big W.

Dope article from sbnation.com

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A United Airlines plane is viewed through a plane window January 17, 2014 at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, Illinois.United Airlines Wants an App to Personalize Your Experience — Without… PHOTO: Delta Bombardier C-Series aircraft. (photo courtesy of Delta Air Lines)Delta’s Flight Experience for Children with Disabilities is Awesome a group of people around each other: PSA Airlines, a regional carrier for American, canceled 275 of its scheduled flights on Thursday and 400 more on Friday. © Provided by Fox News PSA Airlines, a regional carrier for American, canceled 275 of its scheduled flights on Thursday and 400 more on Friday. Thousands of passengers scheduled to fly out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport, in North Carolina, on an American Airlines-operated carrier became stranded on Thursday night after the airline suddenly canceled all remaining flights. PSA Airlines, a regional carrier for American Airlines, reportedly experienced a “technical issue” that led to the cancellation of 275 flights on Thursday and 400 on Friday, a representative for the airline confirmed to Fox News. “Our team, in coordination with PSA, is working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible,” said American in a statement. “PSA plans to resume their operations at 12 p.m. ET on June 15.” GALLERY: RANKED: 13 of the worst airlines in the world in 2018 (Provided by Business Insider) a airplane that is sitting on a runway at an airport: Flight compensation company Airhelp has produced a ranking of 72 of the world's airlines, revealing the best and worst - and some are certainly surprising. The company's sixth annual AirHelp Score rates airlines based on quality of service, on-time performance, and claim processing in order to produce an overall score.A spokesperson for AirHelp told Business Insider that in order to ensure consistency, where data wasn't available across each of these metrics, an airline was excluded from the survey, which resulted in a ranking of 72 international carriers in total. Of the 13 lowest scoring carriers on AirHelp's ranking, six were European.Scroll on for the 13 worst airlines of AirHelp's list, ranked in descending order by their overall score. RANKED: 13 of the worst airlines in the world in 2018 In the meantime, the carrier claims it is working to accommodate impacted travelers on “mainline flights or other regional carriers.” “We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans, and we are sorry for the trouble this caused. Customer relations will be reaching out to all of those who have been impacted by this issue. Customers are encouraged to check their flight status on the American Airlines app or at aa.com before heading to the airport,” the airline added. PSA’s cancellations reportedly impacted other area airports as well, though Charlotte Douglas International appeared to be most affected. As a result, thousands of passengers were left to wait overnight for the airline to resume operations, or to be re-accommodated on another flight, the Charlotte Observer reported. WSOC further reported that a school group from Ohio was among travelers forced to sleep on the ground after waiting around for six hours. Other fliers were outraged over the cancellations, with some taking to Twitter to vent their frustrations. American Airlines and Charlotte Douglas International Airport both tweeted that operations would be resuming at noon, though both urged fliers to check the status of their American Airlines flights before leaving for the airport. https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/american-airlines-carrier-cancels-hundreds-of-flights-over-technical-issue-leaves-thousands-stranded/ar-AAyH9y8

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Watch Manchester United-Watford live stream

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The LARB Ball NBA Roundtable

NOVEMBER 1, 2018

With the NBA season in full swing, I reached out to Theresa Runstedtler (Associate Professor of History at American University) and Yago Colás (Professor of English at Oberlin College), sports scholars with expertise (and books in progress) about the pro game, to discuss the state of the league today and its history. Moving between on- and off-court issues, and from the 1970s to our expectations for the new season, the conversation takes up topics including LeBron’s move west, NBA vs. NFL politics, race and power, the basketball version of “moneyball,” the league’s embrace of gambling, and the past and future of business-minded player-celebrities. How long can Golden State’s stranglehold on the league last? Will big data analytics sap the game of its pleasing uncertainty? Can a new generation of players, coaches, and owners steer the league to a more politically progressive place? And for those interested as much in reading about the sport as watching the games, stick around to the end for book recommendations. Enjoy! – BRJ

Brian Jacobson: Let’s start broadly: what story lines—on or off the court—most interest you as the NBA season kicks off?

Theresa Runstedtler: I’m interested to see what happens as LeBron James makes his transition from the Cavaliers to the Lakers. Will he continue to be vilified for his lack of loyalty and individual career ambitions? I’m also interested to see what happens with Vince Carter’s year with the Hawks. I was part of the Raptors organization during his first season in 1998. To hear him talked about as the “old guy” at 41 years of age is amusing to me (and tells me I’m getting old too). I guess even though I haven’t lived in Toronto for 17 years, I’m still a Raptors fan at heart. I’m curious to see whether the addition of Kawhi Leonard will improve or hurt the team’s chemistry on the court. #WetheNorth

Yago Colás: I share Theresa’s interest in LeBron’s move to the West, but for slightly different reasons. I’ve lived half an hour from Cleveland for the last seven years, and my sense is that, at least in this region, fans wish LeBron well.  They are grateful for the 2016 championship, and recognize all he does (and will surely continue to do) for the area. As the mother of one of the youngsters participating in the LeBron James Family Foundation educational initiative told Howard Bryant on the radio program Only a Game, “I don’t care where he works.”

I am interested, however, to see how LeBron responds to his changed competitive circumstances. He now has a young team around him and will be facing the much deeper Western Conference.  Will the Lakers make the playoffs? If they struggle early (they are 2-3 as I write), will they add a superstar? What will Kobe’s legendary legion of insane fans do to LeBron if LA is horrible? On the other hand, if they do make the playoffs, how deep a run can they make? And, as a massive LeBron fan, OH MY GOD, what if they beat the Thunder, Rockets and Warriors to get to the finals and then beat the Celtics or the Raptors?!! LeBron will have become, as Obi Wan once said, “more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”

The other interesting story emerging from LeBron’s move to the Lakers is what will happen in the East now that the roadblock to the Finals named LeBron James has been removed. Toronto or Boston should be ready to come out of the East, but will they?  Will the young Sixers continue their ascent? As I write, Toronto is undefeated (congrats Theresa!), but the other unbeaten teams in the East are Milwaukee and Detroit! Of course, it’s early, but with so many exciting and talented young players distributed on different teams, I think the Eastern conference could be very exciting.

A week or so into the season, the one league-wide trend that has caught my eye is the marked uptick in both scoring and pace (meaning: possessions per game) this season.  Though it’s early in the season, both figures are on pace to easily set historic high marks and observers have attributed this to the convergence of a number of factors, one of which is NBA officials calling defensive fouls away from the ball more closely, which obviously works to the offense’s advantage, especially given the penchant in today’s NBA for Warriors-esque action away from the ball.  It’ll be interesting to see if this early offensive explosion prompts any effective defensive adjustments, provokes any kind of backlash among fans and, if so, any kind of adjustments from the League.

Finally, at a personal level, I’m always interested to see how my former University of Michigan students fare as they adjust to the demands of pro ball.  As the season opened, former students of mine were playing for Brooklyn (Caris LeVert), the Knicks (Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway, Jr.), the Pistons (Glenn Robinson III),  the Trailblazers (Nik Stauskas), and the Lakers (Moe Wagner). Having gotten to know these hard-working players when they were just 18 year old freshman with big NBA dreams, I’m happy to see that they have all stuck with it and are beginning, each in their own way, to make a mark.

BRJ: I too am interested in Lebron’s move and how a single player can shape so many storylines. Here in Boston, where I spend part of my time, the Celtics still appear to be built for long-term success, but the reintegration of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward hasn’t been as seamless as fans might have hoped. Will that allow Toronto, finally, to get to the finals (and perhaps even keep Kawhi from packing his bags for LA next summer)? Or will this be the year the 76ers move from process to product? (*paging Markelle Fultz’s jump shot*)

I guess we’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention the Jimmy Butler situation (fiasco?) in Minnesota, which represents fairly well, I think, the internal and individual tensions—among players, coaches, and management—that PR-minded teams and agents usually do so well to keep out of the spotlight—but that sports journalists, when given the opportunity, just can’t seem to get enough of.

But in the interest of other stories, I want to shift directions now to talk about the politics of the NBA, especially in comparison to the NFL, which was covered in the column last month. The NFL, and especially its owners and commissioner, have (rightly, I think) been denounced for their conservative politics and failure to respond to Donald Trump’s comments about and implicit threats against players kneeling during the anthem. In contrast, some critics see the NBA as a progressive league, with younger, more liberal owners and both players and coaches who have spoken out against Trump, racial injustice, and other political issues without receiving the kind of backlash as Colin Kaepernick or Eric Reid. Is this a fair contrast? If so, how do we account for the NBA’s comparative progressive politics—or at least the impression of it?

TR: When I tell people I’m working on a project about race and professional basketball in the 1970s, they often take the opportunity to tell me that the NBA is “so much more progressive” than any other professional sports league. I think that there is some truth to this statement when you compare the NBA to the NFL. However, something about this idea that the NBA is racially progressive doesn’t sit well with me–and it doesn’t really hold water when I look at the demonization and disciplining of both black players and black style over the decades. I think that if the NBA is progressive at all, it is because they have to be. In other words, since the 1970s the majority of the players have been black, and the NBPA has had many black leaders. The global audience of basketball has become increasingly multicultural and multiracial. It is not good business to be overtly racist. That said, the NBA has been very clever about how to depoliticize and aestheticize blackness for the sake of profitability, while also containing and managing its mix of danger and respectability for its corporate partners and white fans.

YC: I absolutely agree with Theresa’s more sober view of the NBA’s much-celebrated political progressiveness.  Sure, it looks great compared to the NFL, but that’s not saying much. The NBA’s racial containment strategies (e.g. the dress code), especially under former commissioner David Stern, from the late 70s through the 2000s were real and must be kept in mind.  (Readers might be interested in Todd Boyd’s Young, Black, Rich & Famous, David Leonard’s After Artest and Jeffrey Lane’s Under the Boards for accounts of these dynamics.)

At the same time, I wouldn’t underestimate the power of NBA players.  The NBA is a much smaller league than the NFL, and one in which individual stars have a much greater impact (not just on competitive outcomes, but on financial outcomes, and on the culture surrounding the league).  I sense that over the past eight years, the players have begun to experiment with exercising the power they have. Some of these experiments have involved internal power differentials within the league (like LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh “usurping” team formation powers that had always resided with GM’s and owners) or the NBPA resisting the use of biometric devices in game play, others have involved the manifestations of racism within the NBA (the Chris Paul-led reaction to the Donald Sterling case in 2015), and of course many have involved players acting or speaking out against police lethality against black men, transphobia, Donald Trump, or just racism more generally.  

I also think it’s important to note that 1) there is nothing politically retrograde in the NBA that is not also to be found in American society and 2) I’m wary of the general expectation that professional athletes have some sort of unique responsibility, different than any of the rest of us, to make the world more free and more just.

BRJ: As your answers make clear, even if the NBA is comparatively more progressive than the NFL today—which, as Yago says, is hardly a rousing endorsement—no doubt it remains an institution with a history of racism and front offices dominated by just as many white men as the NFL. Last year, Draymond Green accused one of these men, New York Knicks owner James Dolan, of having a “slave master mentality.” Meanwhile, a recent investigation into sexual harassment by former Dallas Mavericks president and CEO Terdema Ussery revealed “a corporate culture rife with misogyny and predatory sexual behavior,” followed just weeks ago by another report about sexual harassment by a Mavericks team photographer. What do these kinds of reports tell us about the league’s progressive claims?

TR: These incidents are hardly surprising to me. Racism and sexism are very much alive and well in professional basketball. All we need to do is look at someone like the LA Clippers’ former owner Donald Sterling to see that team owners (behind closed doors) still view their majority-black players as mere pawns (if not property) who are there to earn them money. Also, I was a dancer for the Toronto Raptors back in the late 1990s and can attest that aspects of toxic masculinity pervaded the league from bottom to top. That said, I don’t think there is anything exceptional about the NBA in this regard. Big-time sports leagues are all complicit in the production of anti-blackness and toxic masculinity. At the same time, they also reflect and reinforce the racism and sexism of society at large.

YC: Of course, I agree.  But what do we mean by “the League” when we talk about its politics. Are we talking about the Commissioner? The various owners? The legal corporation? The players? The superstar players? The NBPA?  I think we get different answers depending on who we are talking about. And, as I say, for me personally the most interesting political phenomenon over the past decade has been the increasing autonomy players are showing.  I’m very curious to see what the immediate and long-term effects of this will be.

The work I did to write Ball Don’t Lie! taught me that the whatever the League administrators and owners and their corporate partners, and even some more conservative fans may want, the players make the game and it is a game that is at its most essential level on the court about getting free.  I wouldn’t underestimate the cultural and political power of a group of young wealth, influential black men with a strong sense of shared interests and collective responsibility who have spent most of their lives dedicated to the embodied practice of getting free.

BRJ: It has become a common refrain that the NBA is a year-round league, with fans just as, if not more, interested in what’s happening off the court as on it—whether in free agency or the constant rumor mill about which player wants to play on which team, not to mention off-court politics and the players’ various entanglements in non-sports work. For those who love the game itself, this might seem like a sad state of affairs, but it also brings into focus something critics of course know: that the game itself is just the beginning. My question is this: is there actually anything new about the “year-round” nature of the league, or are we just more attentive to what happens beyond the games? If it is different, what has prompted the change?

TR: I don’t think there is anything particularly new about year-round reporting on the NBA and its players; however, the volume of reporting has definitely increased. I think there are a number of reasons for the uptick in coverage. Firstly, before the advent of the ABA and the players’ victory in removing the option clause as a condition of the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, there simply wasn’t as much player movement to report. (The option clause meant that a team retained the rights to a player even after the expiration of his contract. Thus, the team had full control over when a player could be re-signed, traded, or released.) Free agency has added another storyline to the sports news cycle. Since the expansion of professional basketball in the 1970s, publications have reported on players’ non-sports work—particularly the charitable, mentorship kind—because the league wanted to improve its public image. On the flipside, the press also has covered basketball players’ misdeeds, crimes, etc.—especially those of black players. However, changes to the media industry landscape have ramped up this coverage. With the move to a segmented marketplace of growing numbers of niche publications/networks, on both traditional and internet media, there is now a constant demand for more and more content. I suppose this kind of coverage might be dismaying to basketball “purists,” but it has long been part of the game.

YC:  I agree with everything Theresa has said here: it’s not new, though factors like free agency and transformations in the mediascape around the game have definitely fueled an expansion in the volume of coverage and interest around both off-court and off-season happenings.  My own current research (see below) is on the effect of quantification and big data analytics on the sport (i.e. the hoops version of “moneyball”) and I’ve found that this issue of year-round coverage is one of the areas of the sport’s culture impacted by the phenomenon.  As in other areas of American society, big data analytics in the NBA has the explicit aim of maximizing competitive and financial efficiency. I suspect that fans and journalists know a great deal more about the financial side of the sport than they previously did and that, together with the player assessment data available to fans through the media today, it’s easier to generate (and publish) opinions about off-seasons transactions.  

BRJ: It seems to me that part of the reason the league garners so much coverage beyond the games has to do with the celebrity power of today’s NBA stars, and probably no more so than LeBron. This summer, his foundation launched the “I Promise” school in Akron. Meanwhile, as many journalists have noted, his move to Los Angeles to join the Lakers seems to have as much to do with media production ambitions and life after basketball as NBA ambitions. And of course LeBron isn’t alone: we could say something similar about Kevin Durant’s move to Golden State and his ties with the Bay area startup scene, or about Russell Westbrook’s turns through the fashion world, or about Dwayne Wade’s wine business. What can we expect of the new NBA celebrities who have their sights set on personal brands and long-term non-basketball franchises? NBA players have long been spokesmen and some have gone into politics. Is the new generation—with its enormous salaries and business acumen—any different?

TR: I think the scale of their wealth and fame is certainly different. However, I was doing some reading in a 1970s-era publication called Black Sports a couple of weeks ago, which suggests that this idea of player-businessman is not so new. (Black Sports was the first major sporting publication to specifically target black readers from 1971 to 1978.) There was a monthly feature called “Taking Care of Business” that featured former professional athletes who translated their success in sports to success in the corporate world or as entrepreneurs. I think there has long been the expectation, particularly among black athletes, that they should parlay their sporting achievements into wealth and an elevated socio-economic status. When I was part of the Raptors organization back in the late 1990s, I also recall many of the players talking about side-hustles/hobbies that they hoped to turn into full-fledged businesses upon retirement. However, I do think that the players nowadays have much more access to contacts and capital to launch their own companies. What’s also interesting is the emergence of second-generation NBA stars such as Steph Curry (father Dell Curry played in the league from 1986-2002). They have an even better sense of how to work the business of basketball to their own advantage.

BRJ: Can you imagine any of today’s players going into politics? Is Lebron gearing up for a presidential run?

TR: Perhaps. Hey, if Donald Trump managed to become president, a former basketball player certainly can.

BRJ: Let’s talk more about the game itself. Even readers who don’t follow sports are likely to be familiar with the “moneyball” phenomenon that hit baseball with the publication of Michael Lewis’s book fifteen years ago in July. Has the “analytics revolution” shaped the NBA in similar ways?

TR: Obviously, some aspects of data analysis have contributed to the success of teams like the Golden State Warriors. How can one deny that the strategy of taking more three-point shots has been a good one for the Curry and the Warriors? However, I want to think about the analytics revolution in light of the ongoing negotiation of power between team owners and the players. I know that proponents of the data analytics revolution have tended to scoff at naysayers like Charles Barkley, casting them as less-evolved luddites who are simply suspicious of change. I’m no Barkley fan, but I’m wondering if part of this critique has to do with fears about the players losing control over the game. It seems as if the rise of data analytics has the potential to shift the balance of power more so in favor of the team owners, potentially taking away the autonomy and creativity of the players in practicing their craft. As Yago asks in Ball Don’t Lie, who makes the game? The league and the team owners or the players?  Also, what about the invasiveness of the statistics garnered from trackers that some players now have to wear? What is the bodily autonomy of the athlete in this case? Data can be used as a means for increased surveillance, discipline, and punishment. I also wonder if the data analytics revolution may change the character of the game. What is the end goal of the game? Is it the efficiency of scoring? Is it creative, entertaining play? Are these incompatible? I’m not sure, but they’re definitely things to think about. Basketball, much like soccer, is one of the few professional team sports that encourages free-flowing play. How will data analytics impact this aspect of the game? It suggests a potential move away from the ethics and aesthetics of black streetball that have come to define modern basketball. I’m not sure this is a good thing.

YC: As I said above, I’m writing a book called Numbers Don’t Lie! Counting and What Counts in the Culture of Basketball (forthcoming from University of Nebraska Press) to explore the question of the impact of basketball analytics on NBA play and culture.  It’s played out a little differently than in baseball simply because in the NBA, the use of advanced statistical methods, enabled in part by computing power, to discern hidden patterns (which was what baseball’s moneyball was about) has coincided with the use of very sophisticated digital data production technologies (such as Second Spectrum’s optical tracking cameras, installed in every NBA arena, and which capture the movement of the ball and all ten players 25 times per second, thus delivering 800,000 data points to each franchise every game) so that basketball analytics is, at this point, essentially big data analytics.  

The most obvious and frequently noted impact is the continued rise of the three-point shot in response to the statistical insight that it’s greater point value, given the skills and patterns of play prevailing in the league, make it a more efficient scoring play than many two-point shots.  Another major trend that is still unfolding involves the use of wearables and other kinds of biometric technologies. Currently these can only be used in training and practice. Players understandably may want to know all they can about their bodies, their tendencies, and their futures. But the use of these devices should occasion serious discussion about the ethical and political implications related to quantification, surveillance, and the use of predictive algorithms in situations (like the NBA) where power differential exists.

However, as fascinating and powerful as basketball analytics are, and as important as the political and ethical questions raised by them are, I find myself personally even more compelled by a possibly more esoteric question raised by these techniques and technologies.  Let me put it to your readers this way. Nobody argues that the purpose of analytics is to minimize risk by maximizing the capacity to forecast future outcomes. In other words, when owners and GMs use the data to project career arcs for players and correlate those with financial cost-benefit analyses, when coaches use the data to make decisions about matchups and rotations, and when players use the data to make tactical and technical decisions, they are all hoping that they will not be surprised.  

Now, speaking for myself, most (not all, but most) of the delight I derive from watching basketball comes from being surprised.  The wonder and awe, the beauty and grace and power, that I experience when I watch basketball play depends, at least in part, on players and teams doing unexpected (and even probabilistically unadvisable) things.  I feel pretty sure that chance, randomness and surprise will continue to play a role in the NBA, but I wonder how that role will change with the continued expansion and advance of various kinds of predictive technologies.  The predictability of the Warriors’ dominance of the league over the past four seasons (2016 is the exception that proves this rule) may be interpreted as a sign of this.

To wit, here is a slide from a lecture I recently gave to members of International Association for the Philosophy of Sport.

Just sayin.

BRJ: The risk that probability and big data could take some of the fun out of the game by limiting surprise rings true to me. To wit, the conventional wisdom about Golden State seems to be that they can only lose in the unlikely event that one of their stars gets injured. That’s hardly the kind of surprise eagerly awaited by most fans. At the same time, one might rightly argue that the pleasure also comes from watching the game at its finest, and what could be finer than the Warriors offense? This, at least, was the argument many of Kevin Durant’s supporters made about his decision to boost this juggernaut by joining the already great team he couldn’t quite defeat.

The other argument might be that enough chance will always remain, especially for the casual fan. After all, even the best shooting teams—currently the New Orleans Pelicans(?!)—only make 50% of their shots, and so, one might argue, any play could always go either way (if you’re wondering, Pelicans star Anthony Davis is shooting over 59% after 3 games). And perhaps part of the fun is simply the work of calculating the odds—and betting on them. Earlier this month the Mavericks, following something of this logic, hired a former professional gambler as “director of quantitative research and development.��� This follows the announcement, back in September, that the NBA had entered an agreement with sportsbook provider MGM Resorts, now the league’s “official gaming partner.” What does this official sanctioning of gambling signal about the league’s future ambitions? Can you see any long-term consequences for the game itself?

YC: The NBA, in its earliest years, benefited enormously from the disrepute that befell college basketball in the early 1950s as a result of the CCNY game-fixing scandal.  So I certainly expect that the League will do everything possible to avoid anything like that occurring.  But as my comment above suggests, everybody involved in the NBA (from owners, to GMs, to coaches, to players) are all already essentially gamblers and already using quantitative data to inform their bets.  Because of this, I see the official sanctioning of gambling more like the simple addition of another revenue stream rather than some sea change in the nature of the sport.

TR: I agree with Yago. It seems like a move to create another revenue stream. Nevertheless, this discussion makes me think back to the blackballing of Connie Hawkins for nearly a decade for his suspected ties to gambling ring leader, Jack Molinas. (Molinas ran a game-fixing operation.) Because of these unsubstantiated claims, Hawkins’ was first blackballed from the NCAA and then from the NBA, which nearly destroyed his chances of playing professional basketball. Forced to play in the ABL, ABA, and for the Harlem Globetrotters, Hawkins finally sued and won a settlement from the NBA in 1969. However, by then, his best playing days were over. Against the backdrop of this move to incorporate gambling, Hawkins’ story is all the more tragic.

BRJ: Thinking more about the NBA’s future and its relationship with college athletics, last week the New York Times reported that top high school recruit Darius Bazley, having already decommitted from Syracuse to sign with the NBA’s development league (the “G League”) has now opted instead to sign a deal with New Balance that will pay him $1 million to be an intern next year while he waits to meet the minimum age requirement (19) to enter the league. This is just the latest in a long struggle over when players should be allowed to enter the league—and what role the scandal-prone NCAA should play in the development of amateur athletes. Where do you see this debate going? Is the NBA headed for a system more like Major League Baseball’s minor league? This gets us away from the NBA, but what might this mean for the college game?

TR: At face value, the age minimum strikes me as paternalistic and unjust. Moreover, I can’t help but see the age minimum rule as part of the gentlemen’s agreement between the NBA and the NCAA to preserve the interests of both leagues. For a long time, the NBA needed the NCAA and its stars and player rivalries in order to capture their fans as college players moved on to the professional game. At the same time, the NCAA relies on being the proven path to the NBA in order to replenish its talent pools and suppress labor costs. In the course of doing research covering from the 1970s to the present, I’ve found that the critiques of the NCAA acting as the NBA’s defacto farm system have been very consistent over the decades. (i.e. the academics for NCAA basketball players are a sham, the “student-athletes” involved in Division I basketball are amateur only in name, the players are being exploited, the punishments of the players are draconian while the NCAA and its teams wash their hands of any culpability of rule violations, etc.) I don’t think it would be bad thing to disrupt this gentlemen’s agreement between two organizations that act as monopolies (Taylor Branch even called the NCAA a cartel). This is what happened back in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the advent of the ABA (the NBA’s rival league from 1967-1976) and then with Spencer Haywood v. NBA (1971), which struck down the league rule that a team could not draft a player until four years after his high school graduation. Thanks to these and other disruptions of the monopolistic control of the NCAA and NBA, the players were eventually able to use their position of increased power to end the option clause. I’m not really much of a prognosticator, but rules violations are endemic to the NCAA system, so I’m not terribly sentimental about it losing some of its control over the fates of players. I think that the fact that it has survived the way it has for so long has something to with the racial makeup of the players. People don’t care; they just want to be entertained regardless of what it is doing to the players.

YC: Theresa, again, is right on the mark as far as my experience (personal and scholarly) with these issues goes.  She’s also wiser than I in refraining from prognostication. But what the hell: there are so many leaks in the NCAA boat right now that I have a hard time imagining its current D1 basketball model functioning too much longer into the future.  On the one hand, college athletes seem to me to be growing in their awareness of their economic power and in their willingness to exercise that power as leverage (e.g. Missouri football), while on the other hand, the recurrent scandals and generally unsavory air of corruption and racialized exploitation surrounding the NCAA I think is already spurring (and is likely to continue to prompt) various individuals and organizations (even simply entrepreneurially motivated) to imagine and attempt to implement competitive models of sub-NBA caliber basketball play.  One of the most interesting of these to me is the HB league, an initiative to create a national college basketball league that would compensate the college students who played in it beyond simply covering the costs of attendance .  I like it because it addresses the racist dimensions of the current situation, acknowledges the importance of the financial piece (not only to players but to investors in any viable alternative to the NCAA), and seems to be trying to value education.  

BRJ: We’ll have much more to say about the NCAA in future LARB Ball pieces, but I share your sense that D1 basketball needs to change.

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to talk with me. A couple of quick questions to end: Yago’s inevitability slide aside, can anyone unseat the Warriors—or, put another way, when and how does this reign end? And for those interested in tracing some of the issues we’ve discussed in more depth, what basketball books—aside from your own, of course—should we be reading, or anticipating, this fall?

YC: I don’t see anyone knocking off the Warriors this season (barring, as you mentioned, Brian, a major injury to a member of the core).  But after this season, KD is a free agent, and there’s already lots of talk of him moving on to new challenges. But even if that doesn’t happen, time, eventually catches up with every great team (such as the Spurs currently). Players age, their skills diminish even if only slightly, they become more vulnerable to minor injuries and fatigue, and in the meantime, a new cadre of young players is on the rise who are themselves exhibiting new combinations of size, athletic ability and skill that may, eventually, make the on-court innovations of Curry & Co. seem routine.

As for book recommendations, my gosh, there are so many great, thoughtful books inspired by by basketball.  One of my favorites is Aram Goudsouzian’s riveting biography of Bill Russell, King of the Court, which gives a superb account not only of Russell himself, but of the overlapping contexts of sport, American society, and race that shaped Russell and that he also helped to transform in the 50s and 60s. In a different vein, the pioneering works by the FreeDarko blogging collective (The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac and The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History) are great introductions both to basketball and to the innovative creative writing that has emerged around the game in the past 15 years.  I’m looking forward to Theresa’s work on the 70s, but in the meantime, I think that historian Adam Criblez’ Tall Tales and Short Shorts: Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the Birth of the Modern NBA gives an excellent account of that pivotal decade, perhaps paired with Halberstam’s The Breaks of the Game.  Boyd’s and Lane’s books that I mentioned above do an excellent job tracing the complicated intersections of race, class, and culture converging on hoops in the 80s and 90s.  Among the most recent works, I think that Jonathan Abrams Boys Among Men (on the prep-to-pro generation) is not only thoroughly reported, but very beautifully written.  It may in some ways be a bit outdated, but your readers might appreciate this more extensive list of my favorite basketball books that I posted a few summers ago on my blog.

TR: There is always a human element to the game, so you never know what is going to happen. As I said before, I’m not much of a fortune teller, but bodies fail, minds get side-tracked, and unforeseen circumstances are always in the wings.

As for books, I agree with Yago’s selections. A few that I would add are Sam Smith’s book on the Oscar Robertson et al v. NBA suit, Hard Labor: The Battle that Birthed the Billion-Dollar NBA, John Feinstein’s, The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, And the Fight that Changed Basketball Forever, and David J. Leonard’s After Artest: The NBA and the Assault on Blackness. My own book, tentatively titled, Black Ball: Rethinking the “Dark Ages” of Professional Basketball, is still very much a work in progress. According to popular memory, the NBA struggled during the seventies because it was too black, too violent, and too drug-infested for its majority-white audience. Black Ball critiques this declension story. It explores how professional basketball emerged as a site for public debates over black politics and culture in the late twentieth-century United States, as African American athletes not only became the demographic majority (approximately 75 percent of the players), but fought for more control over their labor. I also explore how black players changed the aesthetics and rules of the game, infusing it with the style and ethics of urban black streetball. This underlying tension played out in the form of numerous “crises” throughout the decade—over not just on-court violence and drug abuse, but also the league’s monopoly status, the option clause, and the slam dunk—as NBA league executives and team owners tried to figure out how best to market and monetize a sport now dominated by African American players. It promises to shed light on this relatively understudied era that gave rise to the modern NBA.

Source: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/larb-ball-nba-roundtable/

[jodyedgarus]

Here Are The NBA Storylines You Should Be Following

Thursday night marks the return of NBA hoops, with teams entering the homestretch of their season. A few are fighting for their playoff lives, while others will try to avoid a late-season collapse. And for a handful of others, just playing basketball again figures to be a good thing, if only to shift the conversation from off-court turmoil that could bubble over.

With that in mind, we analyzed five of the league’s most interesting storylines as we prepare to dive into season’s second half.

What’s going to happen with the Celtics?

Even after the Raptors got Kawhi Leonard and the Sixers got Jimmy Butler, the Celtics carried great expectations this season. As a club that made it to Game 7 of the conference finals without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, getting back at least to that stage with both of them healthy seemed like almost a given.

Fast-forward to now, though, and it’s clear that there’s no guarantee they’ll get that far. The Bucks have joined the league’s elite. The Sixers have gone all in. And the Raptors are solid on both ends.

Complicating matters, too, is the fact that Irving, a free-agent-to-be, is no longer willing to commit long-term to the idea of being a Celtic — a situation that has reporters and fans alike parsing his every word in interviews. (Irving’s exit would make it more difficult for the team to entice star big man Anthony Davis into staying in Boston for the long haul if the Celtics rolled the dice and traded for him.)

No, Jaylen Brown hasn’t been as impressive as he was in his second year. And Al Horford, a defensive stalwart in years past, hasn’t been as consistently good on that end this season.

Still, Hayward, whose mental blocks this season had left him struggling to look like himself, has shown positive signs as of late.22 And more importantly, the Celtics — for all their early season struggles — remain in the top 10 in both offense and defense, which generally signifies a true contender.

Whether they can make good on that level of promise is key because of how drastically their roster could change this summer, for better or worse.

Can the Bulls’ rebuild be a blueprint for a team like the Hawks?

It’s been far from a stellar season for the Bulls, who fired their coach early on, then saw players take issue initially with their hard-charging replacement. But the club has shown progress the past couple of weeks since trading for wingman Otto Porter, who looks to be a great fit on both ends with shoot-first players like Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen.

Some fans didn’t like the move, as Porter’s hefty contract all but took the Bulls out of the running for a max-level free agent this summer. But there’s value in acquiring solid players who can complement your young core. The best evidence of that so far: The Bulls have logged a net rating of 14 — meaning they outscore opponents by 14 points per 100 possessions — in the 110 minutes that Porter, LaVine and Markkanen have shared on the court thus far. Not too shabby for a club that’s been beaten by 8.5 points per 100 plays on the year to this point.

The early Chicago returns could serve as a blueprint for the rebuilding Hawks, who have young, budding talents of their own in John Collins, Trae Young and Kevin Huerter. The youngsters have each had their moments of offensive brilliance,23 but the trio, defensively challenged to put it kindly, has been outscored by 5.6 points per 100 possessions.

Finding veterans who can consistently defend at a high level to play next to them, and developing those three on D, will go a long way in determining when and whether Atlanta can turn it around.

The MVP race could come down to the wire

Making sense of this year’s MVP race has been a challenge. Just when Giannis Antetokounmpo seemed to be the clear leader for the award, given his eye-popping numbers for the team with the best record in the sport, James Harden came bursting through like the Kool-Aid Man, forcing himself into the conversation with a historic scoring streak.

There are a couple of other players, like Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid24 and Oklahoma City’s Paul George, whose outstanding play deserves consideration, too. But this will more than likely end up being a two-man race.

Harden’s offensive domination over the past two months has shifted a narrative that was shaping up to be a runaway for Antetokounmpo. Yet it’s worth watching whether some level of voter fatigue (Harden won the award last year, whereas Antetokounmpo has never been a front-runner before) comes into play. And there are those who dislike Harden’s iso-heavy style, even though he’s had little choice but to rely on that, given the injuries his team has suffered.

So it wouldn’t be surprising if Antetokounmpo eventually gets the nod here, particularly if the Bucks end up finishing in first place.

Can LeBron will the Lakers into the playoffs?

It would be jarring to watch all-time great LeBron James go from making the NBA Finals eight straight years to not even making the playoffs in his first season out West. But it’s more than a mere possibility at this point: FiveThirtyEight’s projection model currently has the Lakers with just a 26 percent probability of reaching the postseason.

We wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if James can get the Lakers over the playoff line. Aside from his own individual greatness, the Lakers are in the process of wrapping up a difficult stretch in their schedule this month, with seven of their nine games as road tilts. Their fortunes figure to improve when the calendar turns to March.

The bigger question is whether it’s ultimately worth it for James to go into overdrive simply to earn a No. 8 seed and a first-round date with the two-time defending champion Warriors.25 As his five-week injury26 earlier in the season illustrated, James isn’t getting any younger. And while it’s nearly certain that he won’t take his foot off the pedal because of where the Lakers are in the standings, there’s an argument to be made that his energy would be better spent next season, once L.A. has another top-flight player to pair with him.

Will Denver emerge as the top challenger to Golden State out West?

Denver has been near the top of the standings all year, while clubs like the Thunder and the Rockets started slow before getting back on track to contend for home-court advantage in the first round.

The Nuggets seemingly deserve the benefit of the doubt in this discussion. Aside from having led the conference standings earlier in the season, they still own the West’s best record against quality competition — even slightly better than the Warriors’ mark against teams .500 or better. Their defense hasn’t been as good as it was to start the season, but they still have enough balance — in both their first and second units — to get the job done. And after Golden State, Denver is basically neck-and-neck with Oklahoma City in net rating in the West.

If anything gives us pause about the Nuggets, it’s their lack of playoff experience. It’s uncommon for a team that hasn’t been in the playoffs to suddenly make a deep run upon getting there, which might explain our model feeling better about a team like Houston, Oklahoma City or even Utah.

But the beauty of all this, of course, is that Denver — after being eliminated in the last game of the regular season in 2018 — will get a chance to set itself apart over these final 25 games.

Check out our latest NBA predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/here-are-the-nba-storylines-you-should-be-following/

[junker-town]

Zendaya is Meechee, and LeBron James is Gwangi

Danny DeVito is Dorgle.

(Please subscribe.)

Jimmy Butler has reportedly fallen for the Miami Heat, and the feeling is mutual. The weird upshot is that Miami is pretty capped out, so it would likely take a painful salary-cutting trade or two for the Heat to clear the space to sign Butler as a free agent in the summer. As such, trading for him now -- or at least before February’s trade deadline -- would make matters cleaner. It also prevents Butler from getting traded somewhere else and falling in love with another situation.

Miami is actually a good fit in these circumstances if you believe, as I do, that the Timberwolves will prioritize getting ready-to-contribute players back instead of future assets. As such, kvetching over Miami’s lack of draft picks seems less important than determining where the nexus of what the Heat are willing to concede and what the Wolves demand. Apparently, Josh Richardson is a keystone.

The funniest subplot here is that pairing Butler with Dwyane Wade in the latter’s “last dance” season would probably mean more shots of Tom Crean on our TVs during the NBA playoffs, and that’s a net good for the world.

Schedule Check

Aaaaaah, preseason basketball is coming!

Friday Melbourne United vs. 76ers, 7 p.m. ET, League Pass Celtics vs. Hornets, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV

Saturday Blazers vs. Raptors, 7 p.m. ET, League Pass Beijing Ducks vs. Mavericks, 8:30 p.m. ET, League Pass Timberwolves vs. Warriors, 8:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV Perth Wildcats vs. Jazz, 9 p.m. ET, ???

Sunday Heat vs. Spurs, 5 p.m. ET, NBA TV Hornets vs. Celtics, 6 p.m. ET, League Pass Pelicans vs. Bulls, 7 p.m. ET, NBA TV Nuggets vs. Lakers, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN Sydney Kings vs. Clippers, 9:30 p.m. ET, League Pass

Links Galore

Meet the chef who helped Dwyane Wade change his diet.

I wondered if Tom Thibodeau is willing to get fired over Jimmy Butler.

Dirk Nowitzki doesn’t actually have to teach Luka Doncic all that much. Also, no one knows how tall Luka is. If only we had tools to measure a person’s height. Maybe like a tape with markings indicating standard lengths on it?

An argument that the Nets should actually sit out the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes.

Ricky O’Donnell declares 2018 the summer of LeBron.

Willie Cauley-Stein is talking about getting paid. I’m not sure he’s watched a whole lot of Willie Cauley-Stein tape.

LeBron is downplaying expectations and aspirations for the season. He did the same thing his first year in Cleveland. Of course, he had Kyrie and K-Love there instead of Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball. Also, LeBron James in Gwangi.

Rest in peace to Jack McKinney.

Whatever happened to Big Country?

How some victims of the Mavericks’ hostile work environment reacted to the investigation report and league mandates.

Klay Thompson indicates he wants to stay with Golden State. Kyrie Irving indicates he wants to stay with Boston. Oh my gosh, please don’t let 2019 free agency be a bust!

The genetics of being really, really, really tall, and how it relates to Shawn Bradley.

I want lots of coverage of LeBron and Rajon Rondo and their photographic memories this season.

The Suns think Deandre Ayton looks really good early on. The question is whether this is good relative to the Suns (which is not impressive, because the Suns are bad) or actual good.

Get to know the Team USA women’s basketball squad currently running through the FIBA Women’s World Cup.

Chandler Parsons sliding his way back into our consciousness with (what else?) a Players’ Tribune essay.

And finally: Kofie Yeboah is an absolute genius. Get on that.

Be excellent to each other.