George Floyd’s murder last month at the hand of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin appears to have jolted much of America’s collective conscience from an apathetic slumber. People of all ages, races and backgrounds have taken up their First Amendment rights of assembly to redress grievances—namely the extra-judicial killing of unarmed Black men by America’s…
One of the most exciting aspects of NBA fandom is watching a promising young player tap into his lofty potential. Sometimes it happens in a hurry, but oftentimes it occurs incrementally. Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown falls into the latter category, as he’s gradually grown from a high-upside-yet-erratic teenage rookie into a steady, dynamic scoring…
The last time Team USA played in an international tournament was an embarrassment. The inaugural FIBA World Cup took place in China this past summer and, after taking home the gold in the previous five events, the Americans finished seventh. They lost back-to-back games against France and Serbia to close out the tournament. It was…
When free agents sign contracts, NBA team PR staffers usually get busy crafting a cocky “look at how good our signing is” press release. But when Jaylen Brown signed his behemoth 4-year, $115 million extension in October, the Boston Celtics’ statement read like one big backhanded compliment. “Jaylen is a true professional who did a…
Though every NBA campaign is rife with injuries to notable players, every minute lost for one ostensibly opens up playing time for someone else. These opportunities often can be leveraged into bigger roles. Sometimes, even a career can be drastically altered simply by maximizing such a moment. (See: Draymond Green filling in for David Lee…
There was a lot of talk heading into the 2019-20 NBA season that, thanks to parity, there would be a newfound interest in the sport. After half a decade of the Golden State Warriors storming / sleepwalking their way to the NBA Finals, this year is supposed to be different. Multiple all-star players changed teams…
The NBA’s Most Improved Player race is typically one of the most difficult to predict. While the usual suspects will be in the running for MVP (i.e. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, James Harden and LeBron James), Defensive Player of the Year (Rudy Gobert, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green and Joel Embiid) and Sixth Man of the…
The 2016 NBA draft class cashed in on Monday. Ahead of the 6 p.m. ET deadline to sign rookie-scale extensions, Buddy Hield, Jaylen Brown, Domantas Sabonis, Dejounte Murray and Taurean Prince came to terms on deals with their respective teams. They joined Ben Simmons (five years, $170 million), Jamal Murray (five years, $170 million), Caris…
In many ways, the 2019-2020 NBA season marks a new chapter for the Boston Celtics. Thanks to some high-profile free-agent departures and arrivals, coach Brad Stevens will have a noticeably different starting lineup and rotation. They’re past the point of “arriving” as contenders after their 2013-2016 rebuild, but they’re also no longer the young darlings…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba) and Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) discuss which players should sign rookie-scale extensions ahead of the Oct. 21 deadline. Should the Toronto Raptors max out Pascal Siakam? How much should the New Orleans Pelicans be willing to spend on Brandon Ingram? Is Buddy Hield a max-caliber player?…
