We did good. LAKERS San Antonio's twirling dismantling of the Lakers on Thursday night was further proof of Los Angeles' age, even its 20somethings (Ayton, Luka, Reaves) play much older. Throw a single spin move at gramps and he's had it. One would presume the
The NBA wants to introduce December's fake tournament as a restart, a way for the eliminated clubs to rest and reset ahead of a reliably clear set of expectations. The idea scans, it is hard to look at the current NBA standings and not picture a similar set
Everyone's streaming list wrapped up this week and, yeah, mine was Steely Dan again. I try not to listen to Steely Dan on random, or in streaming format. I don't want to burn myself out, and also I have a much-better sounding miniplayer filled with high-quality
Not your fault, Milwaukee. Fans, media, superstar, secondary stars, general manager, ownership group. Not to blame. Ya had some slips. Kyle Kuzma, OK, woof. Coupla blown draft picks, I get it, but, still, not your fault. I will not write columns in 30 years detailing the Milwaukee Bucks biff of
L.A., infamously, cannot bottom out. The Clippers, too, the team owes its unprotected 2026 first-round pick to Oklahoma City, L.A. cannot profit from its harrowing 2025-26 descent. A Billy King-sized abyss surrounding a miserable so-far season, well on pace for maybe 20 wins. Anyone who caught what Miami
Cannot remember the first time I saw Chris Paul photoshopped into a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. But I can remember the most recent sighting, the night Chris Paul's retirement announcement spread, spotting two separate instances on social media. Lakers fans never got over Chris Paul's Dec.
We did the East, but now we do the good teams: NOT SURPRISED At the bodacious NBA ball so far, performed in spite of the Thunder on the horizon. Oh, they say you can't see thunder, but if that ain't thunder, then what is it I&
Nobody's shocked that Detroit won 14 of 16 to start the season. Surprised, surely, but not put off by the Piston ascent. This team was good last season, won some close games in the regular season before losing some closer ones in the playoffs. But everyone improved, and
Is that fair? That I sat down to write about Nico Harrison but wrote the title of the column first? Well, is he? To his credit, Nico Harrison didn't blow the Cooper Flagg selection. NAILED THAT. To his credit, when the Charlotte Hornet and Washington Wizard front offices
LeBron James will be revaluated in a week by his Lakers, determining when his sciatic nerve problems will allow him to play NBA basketball in 2025-26, his 23rd pro season. Not counting his semi-pro senior year of high school, 2002-03, when James was paid with a resoundingly cool Wes Unseld
Fall has flung, it is autumn. Beautiful out there, too bad the leaves aren't here to see it. The NBA is two weeks into its season. Most NBA teams already worked seven, eight games. They have, in spite of the slim term, gotten much out of the way.
The idea that baseball is a cruel, unsupportive sport doesn't need re-recognition. That notion has been around for as long as sportswriters could count to three, doing our best to ape dear, old, Tennyson on our way toward detailing how some hirsute rounder struck out on three swings.
The problem with the first week of an 82-game NBA season is that everybody is right, still. Everyone is correct. Every misstep is a merely blip, never a sign, rather a one-off to be attributed to luck or novelty. Every small fissure drips with an easy, in-house, fix. Everyone is
PREVIOUSLY: ATLANTIC, SOUTHEAST, PACIFIC, SOUTHWEST, NORTHWEST. MILWAUKEE BUCKS Last season: 48-34, lost to Pacers again in playoffs, lost Damian Lillard to Achilles tear. Offseason: Milwaukee shocks NBA and waives Dame, hires Myles Turner but also, out of grave necessity, employs Cole Anthony. C: Myles Turner – block machine who spreads the
PREVIOUSLY: ATLANTIC, SOUTHEAST, PACIFIC, SOUTHWEST. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER Last season: dominated NBA from stem to stern, won 68 games and 2025 title. Offseason: NBA did little to dissuade anyone from thinking the Thunder aren't back-to-back-to-back-to-back-viable. C: Isaiah Hartenstein – do-it-all center is without question the league's greatest
Reminder that power isn't something you earn, power is something you take. PREVIOUSLY: ATLANTIC, SOUTHEAST, PACIFIC. DALLAS MAVERICKS Last season: 39-43, fell in Play-In, traded Luka Dončić for some reason? Offseason: earned the No. 1 pick, for some reason? Everything's legal now. C: Dereck Lively – yeah,
Howdy! In a few years, when the Warriors fall, this might be the collection of the five worst owners in professional sports. PREVIOUSLY: ATLANTIC, SOUTHEAST. LOS ANGELES LAKERS Last season: 50-32, somehow traded for Luka Dončić, lost in opening round to Minnesota even though head coach J.J. Redick played
Hey. Welcome to the week. Let's talk about the worst NBA division. Perpetually, bad. Please subscribe, better NBA teams in follow-up emails. Or, maybe you're from Florida. In that case, we thank your beautiful state for the band Saigon Kick. ORLANDO MAGIC Last season: 41-41, lost
The 2025-26 NBA season begins on Oct. 21, we're gonna talk about every player! BOSTON CELTICS Last season: 61-21, lost to Knicks in Eastern semis after Jayson Tatum's injury. Offseason: Celtics sold and I didn't see nearly enough "pot o' gold"
So, Al Horford is finally off to Golden State, swell, we expected it all summer, it isn't strange, it ain't weird. He may have only recently agreed to that taxpayer mid-level exception, but those papers were signed sometime in April. Horford's a Hall of
Originally this email was only sent to subscribers, which was a mistake, lets send it to everyone! Charles Barkley's legacy – brilliant NBA player, zero NBA titles – was so certain by his seventh pro season that he spent a hearty chunk of this 1992 autobiography discussing worries over never
It was a choice, not boring readers throughout summer with my gee-where's-this-goin' thoughts on restricted free agent Josh Giddey. The Bulls long ago made a public choice with Giddey's future, identifying Alex Caruso's prime as its equal. There was nothing new to pass
The 1985-86 Philadelphia 76ers lost in seven games to a very good Milwaukee Bucks team in the second round of the 1986 Eastern playoffs, Philly's best player (Moses Malone) sidelined due to an eye injury throughout the series. A Sixers team with legitimate championship aspirations had good reason
If it is proven there was any glint of recognition from Clipper ownership to these charges, any oblique Nixon/Haldeman discussion regarding What Went Down, then Steve Ballmer deserves suspension, everyone he's hired needs to be replaced. Because they knew better, did it anyway. Pro sports, since the