In early January, ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan and Kirk Goldsberry tag-teamed a fantastic article about the death of the post-up in the NBA’s new pace-and-space era. Perhaps unsurprisingly, back-to-the-basket greats like Patrick Ewing and Shaquille O’Neal were on hand to perform the eulogies. “Get in, get your butt on the block and dominate,” Ewing said of…
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Houston Rockets are trading Clint Capela to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday as part of a massive four-team trade which brings back Robert Covington and Jordan Bell to the Rockets. They also send out their 2020 first-round pick and get back the Golden State Warriors’ 2024 second-round pick.…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba) and Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) make their midseason picks for every major award. Who is the front-runner for MVP: James Harden, Luka Doncic or Giannis Antetokounmpo? Can anyone catch Ja Morant for Rookie of the Year? Who’s leading the wide-open Defensive Player of the Year and…
Dwight Howard’s career was crashing more dramatically to Earth than a victim of his facial dunks. Ever since abruptly leaving the Orlando Magic in 2012, injuries, team in-fighting and the modern game passing him by systematically sapped powers from the wunderkind once known as Superman. No longer more powerful than a locomotive and leaping over…
When the Boston Celtics traded for Kemba Walker, it opened up a chance for young Devonte’ Graham to prove himself, even as the Charlotte Hornets bet far bigger money on free agent scoring guard Terry Rozier. Graham has not only seized the opportunity, he’s one of this year’s most improved players and possibly the league’s…
Russell Westbrook’s immersion into the Houston Rockets hasn’t been seamless, but it’s beginning to take hold as the season progresses. His early-season inefficiency is getting better, and wins are coming as a result. Come postseason, that could mean all the difference. Westbrook isn’t the first great point guard that James Harden has played with. His…
In every NBA season, the league’s deep stable of stars find new ways to entertain and amaze us. They deliver unprecedented performances, display unforeseen athletic feats and reach new statistical milestones. Today’s sports media climate is ultra-competitive, so it’s driven by clickable highlights, headlines and eye-popping stat lines. The NBA and its media mouthpieces don’t…
Before the first game of the season, I threw out 50 fairly bold predictions for the NBA season, all of which were rooted in optimism and belief. As always, one subtle action can change how the dominos fall, whether it’s an injury (here’s looking at you, Stephen Curry) or the unforeseen ascension of talent. We’re…
James Harden was lighting it up again. November 30 was to the tune of 60 points in a shade over 30 minutes. Then he watched the entire fourth quarter. He was surreal, going 8-of-10 from 2, 8-of-14 from 3 and 20-of-23 from the charity stripe. His 87.9 true shooting percentage was the highest in NBA…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba), Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) and special guest Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) of FiveThirtyEight discuss their biggest takeaways from the first few days of the 2019-20 NBA season. Can anyone stop the Los Angeles Clippers? How did James Harden and Russell Westbrook look in their first game together?…
