Sample size matters, people. So when The Athletic launched its first NBA player poll in 2019, with 127 players answering questions about league matters so honestly because of the anonymity they were granted, the bar was set very high. We hit triple digits again last year (108 players), when the popular poll returned in full … Read more
NEW ORLEANS — Fresh off a redemptive demolition of the favored Golden State Warriors in a win-or-go-home game — stomping out a rival’s season as bluntly as had been done to them in the same building a year prior — the Sacramento Kings skipped into New Orleans last week with a level of growing confidence. … Read more
We, as a species, have trouble imagining something until it actually happens. The NBA playoffs are a perfect vessel from which to view this particular shortcoming. The Boston Celtics just completed a regular season in which they won 64 games, winning their conference by a staggering 14 games and posting the fifth-best scoring margin of … Read more
Are you ready for some NBA postseason? We got a little taster on the season’s final weekend, with a few teams playing high-stakes games that resembled playoff environments. That was particularly true in the jumbled Western Conference standings, where the New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings were … Read more
Yesterday, I largely focused on setting the table for the updated NBA Pre-Postseason Players Tiers before revealing Tier 3 (players between the 24th and 42nd spot) and Tier 4 (Nos. 43-80). Today, I’m going to get a little more into some of the more interesting and/or challenging placements, as well as note a few overall … Read more
NBA players have always gotten an earful from fans, whether at home or on the road. It comes with the job. But this season, it’s getting darker. The recent surge in legalized gambling in every pro league, and throughout college athletics, has impacted American sports in ways thought unimaginable just a few years ago. But … Read more
The definition of anticlimactic, courtesy of Dictionary.com: “An event, conclusion, statement, etc., that is far less important, powerful, or striking than expected.” Does that sound about right, Los Angeles Lakers fans … Atlanta Hawks fans … Chicago Bulls fans … Sacramento Kings fans … and Golden State Warriors fans? The list could go on from … Read more
Every August, after the NBA releases its schedule for the upcoming season, Michael McCullough, the Miami Heat’s chief marketing officer, thinks about the next 82 games. He not only considers ticket sales and promotions but also sets a meeting with the team’s equipment manager and focuses on an essential part of his job: uniforms. Laying … Read more
The dunk is basketball’s most lionized play. The most iconic ones are canonized, referenced fondly and often, debated for their merits and significance. The sport’s language has created so many names for it: jam, yam, slam, poster, stuff, hammer. It’s a unique club that only few on this world can join. It’s marvelous. And it … Read more
