Even since last week’s Part 1 of our end-of-season grades, there have been rumblings that a second bubble will take place (in Chicago) for the NBA’s worst eight teams. With details yet to emerge, it only seems appropriate to continue reviewing the performance of those franchises. Sure, not even receiving an invite to Orlando…
By Huw Hopkins
Huw is a TBW staff writer who grew up in Wales and currently lives in England where he coaches a local basketball team. He loves all sorts of basketball: men's, women's, wheelchair, international, good and bad. He has bylines with the NBA/WNBA’s UK broadcast rights partner Sky Sports, has featured on Sporting News covering FIBA events and is a Lead Writer with UK-based basketball website and podcast Double Clutch. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram @coach_huw where he often posts about how Tim Duncan was the best player of his era.
NBA End-of-Season Grades: Part 1
The season looks set to continue for 22 of the NBA’s 30 franchises, but competitive play is over for the eight that had zero chance of reaching the 2019-20 playoffs. Sure, not even receiving an invite to Orlando suggests that these teams’ end-of-season grades will be low, but for some, there is light at the…
WNBA Roundtable: Answering 2020-21 Season’s Big Questions
Though the WNBA has announced its intention to return, a lot of questions remain for TBW’s staff, including the moral, competitive and technical implications of what will unfold at the IMG Academy. We searched for some answers in this recent roundtable between TBW’s WNBA writers Myles Ehrlich, Jannelle Moore and Huw Hopkins. WNBA player Nneka…
The Remaining NBA Regular Season Will Have a Big Impact on These Teams
Anticipation for the NBA’s reboot might reach playoff levels of excitement immediately upon the regular season’s return on July 31. That’s because there is still a chance for several teams to reach post-season play. The play-in period will highlight how some franchises have plenty to gain beyond just reaching the playoffs. But for some that…
Basketball is Coming Back, but Does it Matter?
If Coronavirus taught us to appreciate the frivolous-but-welcome distraction that basketball offers in our daily lives, the raw pain that has followed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis (and then erupted into global protests) has reminded us of sport’s place in the grand scheme of life. That is, it’s a luxury item and little…
Sydney Wiese is Ready to be an All-Star for Loaded L.A. Sparks
While the recently re-upped Sydney Wiese plays on an LA Sparks team with Kristi Toliver, Chelsea Gray, Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike and Candace Parker, the guard still has big ambitions. During a press conference to celebrate her freshly inked contract, Wiese said, “My aspirations as an individual are to eventually become an All-Star, and then…
3 Key Youngsters That Must Take the Next Step
There comes a point in every NBA player’s career that will define how long they play, how successful they are as individuals and what their future looks like with their team. You have LeBron James in the 2012 NBA Finals, who took the step toward all-time greatness by embracing the leadership role on that first…
Scottie Pippen was the Robin Who Could Have Been Batman
In 1992, Detective Comics issued #644, the first part of a Batman story called Electric City. At one point, Batman is killed by The Electrocutioner and Robin steps up to beat him into submission. Batman was eventually revived by a bolt of electricity and ultimately saved the day, but the brief period without the leading man…
Revisiting 1992-93’s Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley MVP Race
During the 1992-93 season, Michael Jordan pushed his Chicago Bulls to their third straight NBA title. As mentioned in episode five of The Last Dance, the team was slogging coming off two back-to-back championships and finished with 10 fewer wins than the previous season. The media scrutiny was getting out of control, and there were rumors…
How WNBA Players Stay Fit & Motivated Amid Uncertainty
“I was extremely exhausted going into that game. I tried to shoot around that morning, but I was feeling light-headed so I went to the hospital for an IV.” This was Connecticut Sun forward Theresa Plaisance, who played in China during the WNBA off-season. She could barely breathe in the week leading up to her…