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      Knicks Fans Want Someone to Love. Julius Randle May Be Their Guy.

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.The Friendship of LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyKnicks Fans Want Someone to Love. Julius Randle May Be Their Guy.Randle is playing the best basketball of his career in his second season with the Knicks, and he wants to be here. “A picture perfect thing for me,” he said.Knicks forward Julius Randle is coming into his own this season, a star turn he hopes gives him a solid place in the future of New York basketball.Credit…Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE, via Getty ImagesFeb. 17, 2021, 4:06 p.m. ETOne of Julius Randle’s earliest tormentors on the basketball court was his mother, Carolyn Kyles. Once, when Randle was in fourth grade, Kyles teamed up with Randle’s older sister, Nastassia Caldwell, in a game of two-on-two against Randle and one of his friends.“I was throwing hook shots on him,” said Kyles, who once played for the University of Texas at Arlington. “She was passing me the ball and I’m knocking him around and he got so mad because they were losing. And I threw his sister the ball and he went up to her and just slammed her down on the court after blocking her shot. I’m like, ‘Really, Julius?’”She added: “I couldn’t take it easy on him. I had to teach him how to stay strong on the court.”Now, Randle is the bully. A bulky 26-year-old in his seventh N.B.A. season, he has made a living in the league by combining an overpowering 6-foot-8 physique with finesse to outwork taller players.“How I approach the game, and how I play hard and try to leave everything out there on the court, I get from her,” Randle said of his mother.This season, Randle’s second with the Knicks, has been a revelation: He is averaging career highs in points, rebounds and assists, making a serious push to be the team’s first All-Star since Kristaps Porzingis in 2017-18. After an underwhelming campaign last year, Randle is providing hope to a beleaguered fan base as the best player on a Knicks team that might make the playoffs for the first time since 2012-13. He bolstered his credentials with a dominant 44-point performance on Monday against the Atlanta Hawks.Randle is averaging career highs in points, rebounds and assists. He had 44 points in a win against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.Credit…Pool photo by Jason DecrowAnd yet Randle’s contract is up after next season, and his future with the franchise is unclear, an unusual position for a potential All-Star entering his prime. Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks coach, has spoken about needing at least one more star and wanting the team to be “aggressive” in pursuing other players. Randle could be anything from a cornerstone to a player traded for a cornerstone. But Randle wants to wear a Knicks jersey for years to come, an encouraging sign for a franchise that has long struggled to attract top free agents.“I knew where we were starting at,” Randle said. “I knew the challenge I had when I signed here. I signed here with the hopes of being here long term. I want to be one of the guys that’s part of this team and eventually, hopefully, we are competing for championships and winning championships. That’s my dream. A picture perfect thing for me.”Randle’s journey to New York began in Texas, where he first began playing basketball at age 3. A Dallas native, he grew up with his sister and Kyles, who described him as a confident, outgoing gym rat. Randle eschewed parties for basketball practice, Kyles said.“Being that he played basketball, he was around a lot of coaches or other fathers that he was able to talk to or maybe I felt they could say the exact same things that I would say,” Kyles said. “And it would be so much clearer to him coming from a male’s voice. So he always had mentors.”But Randle’s mother remained his biggest influence. When Randle first started playing basketball, he wore the No. 8 of his idol, Kobe Bryant. But one day — again in fourth grade — Randle walked in the kitchen and asked what number Kyles wore. She said: “Thirty. Why?”“‘Then can I have that number?’” Kyles recalled Randle asking. She snapped back: “Well, if you’re going to do something with it, yeah. If not, leave my number alone.”Now she says, “I guess he did do something with it.”Randle said he learned his toughness from his mother, Carolyn Kyles. He wears No. 30 because of her; it was what she wore in college.Credit…Courtesy of Carolyn KylesRandle took that number to the University of Kentucky, where he played one standout year under John Calipari. (Randle’s 4-year-old son, Kyden, also now wears the number in his blossoming basketball career.)“If you’re around a young man and you see the desire, the heart, the fight, you tell people, ‘Whatever you think he’s going to be, it will be more,’” Calipari said. “There are other guys that you coach that it either came really easy for or they were still learning that competitiveness of, ‘it’s either him or me.’ Julius had it.”Strong college play landed Randle a new No. 30 jersey: The Los Angeles Lakers selected him with the seventh pick in the 2014 draft, teaming Randle with his idol, Bryant, who was nearing the end of his career. But Randle’s career began on an extraordinarily difficult note: He broke his right leg just 14 minutes into his N.B.A. debut. He did not play another game that season, but he never doubted he would recover fully.“It just sucked because it was my first game my rookie year,” Randle said.Kyles, who saw the injury in person, felt obligated to be optimistic about what she called a “devastating moment.” She immediately went to meet him and stayed with him as he had X-rays taken.“We feed off each other, and so I know that if I showed any sign of fear that he wouldn’t have been able to make it back on the court,” Kyles said. She continued: “Of course, when I was by myself, and I was in a room, I cried. I cried with my daughter. But when I faced him, I just put this strong face on.”Randle did make it back the next year, missing only one game. And in the ensuing seasons, he developed a reputation for his strong work ethic and for keeping his body in shape.Randle grew up idolizing Kobe Bryant, then got to play with him after the Lakers drafted him seventh over all in 2014.Credit…Doug Pensinger/Getty ImagesBut his career over all has been mostly one of transitions. In four years in Los Angeles, he was often the subject of trade rumors on a seemingly rudderless Lakers team struggling to move out of the Bryant era. In July 2018, Randle signed as a free agent with the New Orleans Pelicans. He was slated to be a part of one of the most talented frontcourts in the league alongside Anthony Davis, the franchise star. Except Davis wanted out of New Orleans, creating a testy situation and a franchise in flux. Randle left New Orleans after one season and signed with the Knicks.In Randle’s first year, he struggled, in part because he didn’t have the right complementary pieces around him. There also seemed to be constant turmoil surrounding the franchise, including Coach David Fizdale’s firing less than two months into the season. This season, the Knicks have stabilized behind the team president, Leon Rose, and Thibodeau. Randle said Thibodeau has been “like a perfect match.”“Honestly, Thibs is a dog,” Randle said. “He’s a guy that is an extreme competitor and very aware of everything that’s going on. Takes each possession like it’s our last, and really coaches with the type of intensity and passion that you want from a coach.”This Knicks season isn’t just a refreshing change of pace for fans, but for Randle as well. For someone who hates losing, he has become intimately familiar with it. In each of his six previous seasons, Randle’s teams never finished higher than 11th in the conference. He’s not solely, or even mostly, to blame for that, but the fact remains: Randle has never played for a winning team. This season is his best opportunity.Knicks Coach Tom Thibodeau “really coaches with the type of intensity and passion that you want,” Randle said.Credit…Adam Hunger/Associated Press“When we come to the game, we feel like we have a chance to win every game,” Randle said. The Knicks were 14-15 entering Wednesday’s game against the Orlando Magic, good enough for sixth in the Eastern Conference.If Randle gets his way, he may be on his way to attaining something few recent Knicks have: the approval of Knicks fans. Former Knicks like Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, Allan Houston (Randle counts him as a mentor) and Carmelo Anthony are still beloved, but all except Anthony are from an era when Knicks wins weren’t so hard to come by. For Randle, wearing a No. 30 jersey at the All-Star Game on behalf of the Knicks may go a long way toward cementing his approval with fans.“It’d be amazing, man,” Randle said. “You put in a lot of work and sacrifice and dedication to your craft. So for you to receive those accolades or whatever it may be and be recognized as such would be a great feeling.”Randle paused slightly.“And especially as a Knick.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      NBA All Star Game Predictions: Picks and Snubs

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.The Friendship of LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyPredicting N.B.A. All-Star Picks and SnubsThe usual All-Star Game debates — who’s in, who’s out — have a new component this year during the coronavirus pandemic: Should the game happen at all?The Utah Jazz are the best team in the West, and their stars — including Donovan Mitchell, fourth from left — have earned a spot in the All-Star Game. The question is, though: How many of their stars will make it?Credit…Jamie Schwaberow/Getty ImagesFeb. 17, 2021, 3:00 a.m. ETIf you enjoy spirited discourse about N.B.A. All-Star matters, this is your year.There is the ongoing debate about the wisdom of holding even a scaled-down version of the event in Atlanta amid the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to disrupt the regular-season schedule. There is also the traditional wrangling over who should claim the 12 All-Star spots in each conference — as spirited and layered as ever in a season marked by game postponements, mostly empty arenas and more parity than usual in the standings.Fan balloting ends Tuesday at midnight, Eastern time. All-Star starters will be revealed Thursday night on TNT, with the reserves, as selected by the league’s coaches, to be announced next Tuesday.Here is our annual projection of the rosters featuring my unofficial reserve sections:Eastern ConferenceThe Nets’ Kyrie Irving, left, and Bradley Beal of the Wizards, right, are each having career seasons in the Eastern Conference.Credit…Brad Penner/USA Today Sports, via ReutersLikely StartersFrontcourt: Kevin Durant (Nets); Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks); Joel Embiid (Sixers)Backcourt: Bradley Beal (Wizards); Kyrie Irving (Nets)Durant, Antetokounmpo and Embiid have such sizable leads in fan voting (and rightly so) that we can proclaim them starters. Beal (2,528,719) was the leading vote-getter among guards, over Irving (2,104,130) and James Harden (1,829,504), as of last week’s balloting update, which was pleasing to see.Beal missed out last season on All-Star and All-N.B.A. honors despite averaging 30.5 points per game. He is averaging 33.1 points per game this season while facing even more attention from defenses. A starting nod, if you can get past the Wizards’ 8-17 record, would be a nice makeup call for a player who has pledged his loyalty to a franchise that is floundering in its attempts to build around him.The Celtics are in a skid, but Jaylen Brown, front center, and Jayson Tatum, right, have proved talented enough to keep Boston fans from losing all hope.Credit…Brian Fluharty/USA Today Sports, via ReutersSure-Thing ReservesKhris Middleton (Bucks); Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (Celtics); Bam Adebayo (Heat); James Harden (Nets)The Bucks packaged an array of trade assets to acquire Jrue Holiday from New Orleans in hopes of persuading Antetokounmpo to sign a five-year, $228 million contract extension. Antetokounmpo did sign in the end — on the 31st of 37 days he was eligible to do so — but Holiday’s arrival appears to have sparked Middleton just as much. Lest anyone suggest Holiday had supplanted him as Milwaukee’s clear-cut second star, Middleton is shooting (and playmaking) better than ever.Tatum and especially Brown have also ascended to new levels as two-way forces and, because of their promise, give the Celtics reason to avoid plunging into full-blown panic mode after a 5-10 skid dumped them to fourth in the East.The Heat have two undeniable All-Stars, but their 11-16 record has me fearing Jimmy Butler could get passed over by voting coaches on a technicality: Butler missed 12 of Miami’s first 27 games. Adebayo, by complementing his defensive versatility with an improving jumper and a vastly improved free-throw stroke, should ensure that last season’s East champions have at least half the representation they should.And, yes, Harden still counts as an All-Star automatic for me — disruptive as his behavior was in Houston during the season’s first six weeks in an ultimately successful bid to coerce the Rockets to trade him.Julius Randle had 44 points for the Knicks on Monday, continuing a strong season that should earn him his first All-Star honors.Credit…Jason Decrow/USA Today Sports, via ReutersWild CardsGordon Hayward (Hornets); Julius Randle (Knicks)The Hornets were mocked for giving Hayward a four-year, $120 million contract in free agency after his three injury-plagued seasons in Boston. Hayward has responded with some of the strongest across-the-board play in his career, alongside the exciting rookie LaMelo Ball, to establish the Hornets as an unexpected playoff contender.Perhaps I let romance sway me on both picks here, but it’s true: I also went with the Knick! The Knicks’ competitiveness is an even bigger surprise than Charlotte or anything else we’ve seen in the East, and Randle, along with the first-year coach Tom Thibodeau, has been a cornerstone of that competence.Even before Randle’s 44-point masterpiece Monday night in a victory over Atlanta, I couldn’t resist being swept up in his 23.1 points, 11.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while shooting a career-best 40.6 percent from 3-point range. Those benchmarks have been sustained by only one player for an entire season: Larry Bird.It’s difficult to say what more Chicago’s Zach LaVine could have done to deserve a spot in this year’s All-Star Game.Credit…Mike Dinovo/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe SnubsFrontcourt: Nikola Vucevic (Magic); Domantas Sabonis (Pacers); Jerami Grant (Pistons); Tobias Harris (Sixers); Jimmy Butler (Heat)Backcourt: Zach LaVine (Bulls); Trae Young (Hawks); Malcolm Brogdon (Pacers); Fred VanVleet (Raptors); Ben Simmons (Sixers)LaVine, Vucevic, Young and Sabonis were especially tough to omit. Like Randle, LaVine is surely wondering what more he has to do when he is averaging 28.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game — and has Chicago in the playoff mix. Sportswriters love to dramatize the agony involved in these unofficial choices, but I don’t envy the coaches. In either conference.Western ConferenceGolden State’s Stephen Curry, left, is leading the backcourt fan voting in the West; the Lakers’ LeBron James, right, leads in the frontcourt.Credit…Jae C. Hong/Associated PressLikely StartersFrontcourt: LeBron James (Lakers); Nikola Jokic (Nuggets); Kawhi Leonard (Clippers)Backcourt: Stephen Curry (Warriors); Luka Doncic (Mavericks)James has played in each of the Lakers’ 28 games in an apparent bid to convince the Most Valuable Player Award voters who have bypassed him since 2012-13 that he is not coasting this season — even after the shortest off-season (72 days) in N.B.A. history. A slimmed-down Jokic is likewise a top M.V.P. candidate, with his gleaming stat line of 26.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game. Leonard, who held a narrow lead over Anthony Davis entering the final week of balloting, has been a two-way menace as usual.Damian Lillard has a slightly stronger claim to the West’s second backcourt slot than Doncic, given the Trail Blazers’ superior record even after losing CJ McCollum, another All-Star contender, to injury. Both, though, are locks to get an All-Star invitation no matter what.Utah’s Rudy Gobert, left, and Donovan Mitchell, right, are two of three strong candidates from the Jazz to make the All-Star team.Credit…Chris Nicoll/USA Today Sports, via ReutersSure-thing ReservesDamian Lillard (Trail Blazers); Anthony Davis (Lakers); Paul George (Clippers); Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell (Jazz)Lillard is here because we’re assuming that Doncic, who was voted in as a starter last season, will hold on to the West’s No. 2 backcourt post.Davis appears likely to miss the All-Star Game, now that the Lakers intend to be conservative in treating the nagging discomfort in his right Achilles’ tendon and right calf, but he has anchored the league’s top-ranked defense ably in spite of the injuries. Even accounting for the dip in Davis’s scoring and rebounding from last season and the legitimately worrisome decline in his free-throw shooting we detailed last week, it wouldn’t surprise me if West coaches picked Davis as a reserve to foist a harder choice — selecting an injury replacement from the usual long list of the snubbed — upon the league office.I’m keeping George among the locks because he is averaging 24.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game while shooting a robust 50.8 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from 3-point range. Where some doubt creeps in: George has been sidelined for the Clippers’ last six games by a foot injury and has missed almost a third of their schedule.Did you notice how deep we went into this discussion without mentioning the league’s hottest team? The Utah Jazz are 8-0 in February, 19-1 in their last 20 games and 23-5 over all. They will probably have at least two All-Stars, and they have three strong candidates: Gobert, Mitchell and Mike Conley. Gobert is the strongest of the three because of his defensive excellence and how much he helps his teammates at both ends with his screening and rim-running. Mitchell has found a new gear, while hamstring trouble has kept Conley out for the past five games.Chris Paul, left, is doing for the Suns what he did for the Oklahoma City Thunder last season: turning a veteran’s savvy into wins for a young team.Credit…Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports, via ReutersWild CardsMike Conley (Jazz); Chris Paul (Suns)This basically comes down to: Should the Jazz have three All-Stars, like the Nets, or do the Suns deserve two because of their surge to a top-four seed in the competitive West?Conley, 33, has never made it to the All-Star Game, and this might be his last good shot. Did I let that Hallmark story line (and Conley’s left-handedness) nudge me into a sappy call? Guilty.In my defense: It’s also true that Conley is an advanced-statistics darling whose role in Utah’s success has been undeniably pivotal. And I do think the Jazz should have three All-Stars, in tribute to their standing as one of the few consistently dominant forces in a season marred by so much unpredictability and abnormality.Going this route, though, leaves only one spot for two worthy Suns (Paul and Devin Booker) as well as New Orleans’s Zion Williamson, Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox and San Antonio’s DeMar DeRozan. All five have a strong All-Star case. I went with Paul over Booker because he has made such a cultural difference in Phoenix in his ever-efficient quarterbacking at age 35.De’Aaron Fox is having a great season for the Sacramento Kings, whose record (12-15) doesn’t quite capture his impact.Credit…Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe SnubsFrontcourt: Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram (Pelicans); Christian Wood (Rockets)Backcourt: De’Aaron Fox (Kings); DeMar DeRozan (Spurs); Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder); Ja Morant (Grizzlies); Devin Booker (Suns)As the proud curator of an All-Lefty Team every August, it was painful to snub Williamson, who I’ve unfairly punished for his team’s struggles, and Fox, who hasn’t received enough shine for living up to a new mega contract. The same holds for DeRozan, who has quietly led the retooling Spurs to the top of the Southwest Division and, at 31, can’t count on future All-Star invites the way the other two can.Corner ThreeDenver’s Facundo Campazzo knew the transition to the N.B.A. would be difficult, but he has earned a spot in the Nuggets’ rotation.Credit…David Zalubowski/Associated PressYou ask; I answer. Every week in this space, I’ll field three questions posed via email at marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com. (Please include your first and last name, as well as the city you’re writing in from, and make sure “Corner Three” is in the subject line.)Q: Why do most teams rely so much on switching defensively? There are very few big men who can really defend guards, so I don’t understand why it is the main strategy. But I also confess that I am a huge fan of Facundo Campazzo, and I know that switching does not suit him. — Emanuel Suhotliv (Buenos Aires)Stein: Entering Tuesday’s play, N.B.A. teams were averaging 34.9 3-point attempts per game. Last season’s 34.1 per game is the record.Teams are constantly searching for answers to improve their pick-and-roll defense and combat the growing 3-point threat. “Drop” schemes, in which a big man sinks toward the rim on pick-and-rolls, are becoming more frequent and, yes, defenders are switching assignments on pick-and-rolls more than ever. The idea is that switching enables a team to rely less on making extra rotations to open shooters and to defend the ball with two players instead of all five directly involved. Switching, when effective, reduces the scrambling teams have to do.I am a Campazzo fan who couldn’t wait to see him make the leap to the N.B.A., just like you, but everyone knew he was going to face major challenges adjusting to the league’s size, speed and athleticism. He has been pretty open about the difficulties, too, after making the move relatively late in his career (Campazzo turns 30 on March 23) and standing just 5-foot-10.I think it’s better to look at the situation this way: Denver wanted him in spite of the naysayers, and Nuggets Coach Mike Malone finds 12 minutes a game for him because he looks beyond the modest statistical production and likes Campazzo’s playmaking and tenacity so much. (I’m guessing by now you’ve seen the no-look pass from Campazzo against the Lakers on Sunday night that had me tweeting giddily.)If you expected the Nuggets to entrust him with as much offensive responsibility as Campazzo carried with Argentina’s national team, you are sure to be disappointed. Denver (and especially Malone) seems to be encouraged by Campazzo’s progress, and his fans back home should be, too.Q: I’d love to read more about the Tokyo Olympics and who will play for the United States if the Games go ahead. Have any players said they would be willing? — Brad (Adelaide, Australia)Stein: N.B.A. players aren’t asked often about the Olympics these days because the fate of the Tokyo Games remains uncertain. Some of the league’s biggest names are likely to be unavailable because the N.B.A. playoffs are scheduled through July 22 and the Olympics are set to begin the next day. U.S.A. Basketball is nonetheless confident it can assemble a roster capable of winning a fourth successive gold medal — one certainly stronger than that at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.The player pool U.S.A.B. has been assembling in recent weeks is expected to feature about 60 names, including on-the-rise players such as New Orleans’s Zion Williamson, Memphis’s Ja Morant and Atlanta’s Trae Young. U.S.A.B. has also petitioned the U.S. Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee and FIBA to scrap their usual rules and allow roster changes in July rather than mandating that rosters be pared to 12 players well before the Olympics begin.The Americans understand, though, that they will generate zero sympathy from their competition around the world if they are limited to choosing players from N.B.A. teams that miss the playoffs or exit the postseason early. Even after slumping to a stunning seventh-place finish in China under San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich, nothing has changed: U.S.A.B. has by far the world’s deepest talent pool.A trip to the Olympics continues to be far more meaningful to America’s N.B.A. players than participating in the World Cup. Combine that with Popovich’s presence — which LeBron James has said will keep him interested in making his fourth trip to the Olympics even as he expects to make a long playoff run — and one surmises that the United States will be just fine.I’m sure you’re aware that the basketball officials in Australia, where you are, have taken a similar approach, naming a preliminary Olympic roster of 24 players that included 10 current N.B.A. players. Australia knows it has to cast the widest possible net because it can’t count on being able to field its first-choice 12 in Tokyo given this season’s atypical N.B.A. calendar on top of the usual injury issues and concerns.Q: Going back to the recent discussion about suggesting better names for the “baseball-style series” N.B.A. teams are playing this season, two games in a row against the same visiting team in baseball is a “set.” Three or more games is a series. — Terry ThomasStein: Admire the certitude with which you made your case, but I don’t think there are absolutes in baseball when it comes to “two-game set” and “three-game series.” Clarification from any baseball experts reading along is certainly welcome, but I’ve seen both terms used liberally.Either way, while I still don’t love “baseball-style series,” that phrasing carries more clarity for N.B.A. fans than “baseball-style set.” So I’m afraid that the search for better alternatives continues. (Or it’s futile at this point.)Numbers GameCarmelo Anthony has given Portland critical scoring off the bench while key players have been out with injuries this season.Credit…Craig Mitchelldyer/Associated Press10If the Los Angeles Lakers needed any additional incentive to be extra-cautious with the Achilles’ tendon injury that has been hampering Anthony Davis, they need only scan the data accrued by the noted injury tracker Jeff Stotts, who maintains InStreetClothes.com. There have been 31 full Achilles’ tendon tears in the N.B.A. since the 2005-6 season, according to Stotts. Ten of them (32 percent of cases) have occurred since the start of the 2018-19 season and have felled stars such as Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall. Medical experts around the league have struggled to pinpoint why Achilles’ tendon tears are on the rise.9-3A positive omen for the team that polarizes opinion like no other in the league: Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving have played in only six games together, but the Nets are 9-3 this season against teams with .500-or-better records. No other team in the East has a winning record in such games, offsetting the damage of the Nets’ 7-9 record against teams with losing records. The 9-3 mark is second only to Utah’s 10-3.95-55The Spurs have flourished for years on their rodeo road trip, which sends them away from San Antonio every February while a stock show and rodeo take over their arena. But not this season: After the Spurs got off to a 2-0 start on the seven-game trip, with wins over Atlanta and Charlotte, the league postponed their next four games because of a coronavirus outbreak within the team. Since the 2002-3 season, when San Antonio moved into the AT&T Center, it has posted a record of 95-55 (.633) in rodeo trip games.17.0Portland’s Carmelo Anthony, 36, is averaging 17.0 points per game and shooting 42.5 percent from 3-point range in 24.6 minutes per game in February. The Trail Blazers need the added offensive punch with CJ McCollum (fractured left foot) and Jusuf Nurkic (fractured right wrist) sidelined by long-term injuries.432Blake Griffin’s last dunk for the Detroit Pistons came on Dec. 12, 2019, according to Stathead — 432 days ago. Shocking as the statistic sounds, it must be pointed out that Griffin, who turns 32 on March 16, scarcely played in 2020, thanks to stubborn knee issues that have plagued him since a stellar 2018-19 season in which he averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. Griffin appeared in only five of Detroit’s final 41 games last season after his most recent dunk and has missed seven of the Pistons’ 27 games this season.The team said this week that it would stop playing Griffin between now and the March 25 trade deadline in hopes of finding him a new team via trade or perhaps buying out his massive contract (which pays Griffin nearly $37 million this season and nearly $39 million next season) to make him a free agent.Hit me up anytime on Twitter (@TheSteinLine) or Facebook (@MarcSteinNBA) or Instagram (@thesteinline). Send any other feedback to marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Half the Team Had the Coronavirus. The Wizards Are Still Recovering.

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.The Friendship of LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyHalf the Team Had the Coronavirus. The Wizards Are Still Recovering.An N.B.A. outbreak in January swept up the Washington Wizards, sending one player scrambling to the pharmacy and another off to a hotel for 11 days of video gaming to protect his pregnant wife.Wizards guard Bradley Beal had to be removed from Washington’s lineup on Jan. 9 because of contract tracing. Washington had six games postponed in January.Credit…Patrick Smith/Getty ImagesFeb. 11, 2021, 6:24 p.m. ETFive teammates had already tested positive for the coronavirus in the 48 hours before Ish Smith, a reserve for the Washington Wizards, heard from Dr. Daniel Medina, the team’s chief of athlete care and performance, on Jan. 14. Dr. Medina told Smith that his most recent test was inconclusive and was undergoing additional analysis.Smith considered the circumstances — his teammates’ positive tests, a season interrupted — and anticipated the worst. He made an emergency run to a nearby pharmacy.“When you get an inconclusive, you’re thinking, ‘That might not be too good,’” Smith said. “I was taking NyQuil, DayQuil — and not even needing it. I just wanted to prevent any symptoms from going from 0 to 100.”Smith soon received confirmation that he had the coronavirus, becoming the sixth of seven Wizards players who would test positive over a four-day stretch of mid-January, an outbreak that forced the team to pause its season for nearly two weeks.With the team locked down, the sole nexus of communal activity was the parking lot at the practice facility in Southeast Washington — specifically, the cul-de-sac where about 50 members of the organization reported for daily drive-through testing.“That was the highlight of my day,” said Davis Bertans, a forward from Latvia who spent 11 days holed up at a Residence Inn because he did not want to infect his wife, Anna, who was pregnant, or their 2-year-old daughter, Mila. “My parents have stories about the Soviet Union. I’m going to have stories for my kids about Covid.”Ish Smith playing in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers in early January. He tested positive for the coronavirus days later.Credit…Chris Szagola/Associated PressThe team’s outbreak, which helped spur the N.B.A. to tighten restrictions on players’ social activities, came amid a surge of cases for the league and underscored the fragile dynamics of the 2020-21 season. Even as the numbers of cases and postponements have dipped dramatically — the league has reported two new cases since Jan. 20, a sharp reduction from the 27 reported over the prior two weeks — teams continue to crisscross a country gripped by a pandemic.The N.H.L. is now coping with similar challenges. The Devils on Monday announced that 19 players were absent from the team because they had entered the league’s coronavirus protocols.In a series of interviews, several members of the Wizards organization shared their firsthand view of how quickly things can come unglued.“Every team has a game plan for it,” Wizards General Manager Tommy Sheppard said, “but every game plan involves a great deal of hope. Hope is not a strategy.”It is often difficult to be certain how or when or where players become infected, but the Wizards point to circumstantial evidence: The virus appeared to be swirling around them. Before members of their team began testing positive, they had six games in five cities and faced four opponents — the Nets, the 76ers, the Celtics and the Heat — whose players would soon test positive for the virus or realize they had been exposed to it.Scott Brooks, the team’s coach, said he could sense trouble.“You’re in a movie, and you’re waiting for something bad to happen,” he said. “And you don’t know when it’s going to happen, but you know it’s going to happen.”Foreshadowing came in the form of a phone call from the league office on Jan. 9, about an hour before the Wizards were to play the Heat. Bradley Beal had to be removed from the Wizards’ lineup because of contact tracing. He had defended and shared a postgame hug with the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum the previous night, and Tatum had tested positive.Beal missed one game after spending time near Boston’s Jayson Tatum, who tested positive for the coronavirus. It was the start of weeks of virus-related trouble for the Wizards.Credit…Elise Amendola/Associated PressIt was about to get worse for the Wizards. Less than two minutes into their game against the Heat, Thomas Bryant, their starting center, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Two days later, with Beal back in the lineup, the Wizards crushed the Phoenix Suns.Brooks thought the win could be galvanizing for his team, which had gotten off to a poor start. The problem was that the Wizards would not play again for 13 days.Isolation: ‘We should’ve been playing.’It was a rapid descent into pandemic purgatory for the Wizards, who began canceling practices on Jan. 12 after their first two positive cases.Two days later, Dr. Medina called Bertans to tell him that he, too, had tested positive. After Bertans’s wife tested negative, he packed in a hurry — making sure to include his Xbox and a gaming laptop — and left for a nearby hotel.“I think I played 10 to 12 hours of video games a day,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I would be able to qualify for some sort of ‘FIFA’ world championship.”For the Wizards, it was a surreal period of boredom and anxiety, impatience and alarm.“I used to joke that the one day players never pick up the phone is trade deadline day,” Sheppard said. “But now you don’t want to call them too early in the morning because they’ll think, ‘Oh, no, I must have Covid.’ So you have to text them: ‘You do not have Covid. Pick up the phone. I need to talk to you.’”Team officials advised those who had tested positive to avoid physical activity, citing research that it could worsen symptoms. For the players who continued to test negative, the coaches organized virtual workouts: ball-handling and conditioning drills via video conference calls. “Because that’s all we could do,” Brooks said.Players who had the coronavirus were tested once a day, in the morning, while everyone else was tested twice a day. Stephen Korda, the team chef, and his staff prepared meals that were loaded into the players’ vehicles when they pulled up to the practice facility.Sheppard and his family assembled care packages — baskets with vitamins and snacks — and dropped them off at the players’ homes. Brooks called and texted them.Wizards Coach Scott Brooks said he could sense that trouble was coming for his team as a number of players across the league tested positive for the coronavirus in January.Credit…Scott Taetsch/Getty Images“Sometimes we want to treat these guys like they’re machines,” Brooks said. “No, they’re human.”On top of everything else, the city was reeling in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol while girding itself for President Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. More than 25,000 members of the National Guard had been deployed, producing a heightened sense of unease — and traffic issues for those living downtown.Bryant, the center who had blown out his knee, lived in a neighborhood that was heavily barricaded. Despite his injury, he still needed to make his way to the practice facility for testing every day. Sheppard had a staff member who lived nearby scoop him up.“And they’d drive off before anyone could stop them,” Sheppard said. “It was like they were robbing a bank.”A drive to the facility that would normally take Brooks about 15 minutes was now sometimes taking him nearly two hours — a minor inconvenience given the circumstances, he said, except for one night when nearly everyone in the organization seemed to arrive at the same time. Cars circled the block.“And I’m thinking, ‘I need to use a restroom,’” he said.Yet testing was a strange reprieve, a break from the collective monotony of their lives. Brooks would honk and wave at players from his car. Smith would take the “long route” from his home in Alexandria, Va., where he was heeding the team’s advice to take it easy.Smith and Bertans said their symptoms were mild, though Bertans lost his sense of smell.“I have no clue how bad my hotel room must have smelled,” he said.Davis Bertans, right, spent more than a week in a hotel to try to avoid spreading the coronavirus to his wife, Anna, who was pregnant.Credit…Ned Dishman/NBAE, via Getty ImagesIn other ways, the experience felt familiar: Having been through a pair of knee surgeries, Bertans knew how to cope without basketball, and he’s used to being away from his family because of N.B.A. road trips.“My daughter thought I was at the gym the whole time,” he said.At night, Brooks would watch other teams play on TV.“I don’t know if it was jealousy or envy,” he said, “but it was depressing because we should’ve been playing.”Recovery: ‘We needed a therapy session.’Brooks said he spent most of Jan. 20 waiting for word from the league that the Wizards could return to practice. At around 5 p.m., aware of the issues he could have getting to the facility in time for a workout that was tentatively scheduled for 7:30 p.m., he hopped in his car and hoped for the best. He got the good news at 6 p.m.“We didn’t need a practice,” Brooks said. “We needed a therapy session.”He told his players how grateful he was to be with them, he said, then looked around and laughed. He had eight functional players, including two on two-way contracts with the Wizards’ G League affiliate, plus Russell Westbrook, who was limited because of an injury. Several others, including Bertans and Smith, remained out.For 45 minutes, the Wizards’ skeleton crew did some shooting and jogging. As Brooks made his way to a post-practice call with reporters, it occurred to him that he needed to pack that night. The Wizards were scheduled to leave for Milwaukee the next day for a game against the Bucks on Jan. 22. It seemed incomprehensible.“There was just no way,” Brooks said.Westbrook and Beal got on the phone with Michele Roberts, the executive director of the players’ union, while Sheppard called the league, which intervened and called off the game — the Wizards’ sixth straight postponement.On Jan. 21 and 22, the Wizards practiced with eight players — and Raul Neto, a backup guard, strained his groin. (“Even when we were getting healthy, we got hurt,” Sheppard said.) On Jan. 23, Sheppard signed centers Alex Len and Jordan Bell. On Jan. 24, Washington played its first game in 13 days, a 121-101 loss to the Spurs in San Antonio. It was the first of three losses in four days, all of them on the road.The Wizards have gone 3-8 since returning to play after the outbreak.Credit…Daniel Dunn/USA Today Sports, via Reuters“I knew we were going to be put in a tough position where running out of gas would be a possibility,” Brooks said.Bertans had finally been freed from isolation while his teammates were gone, returning home to his wife and daughter. His first practice was an ordeal — “I could definitely tell that I hadn’t done anything for almost two weeks,” he said — and then he missed all seven of his shots in a 16-point loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 29.“The feel for the game was the biggest struggle,” he said.Smith was having his own problems. The league uses something called cycle threshold, a measure of the amount of virus in the body, to help determine whether a player can be cleared to return. Generally, that number needs to be at least 30, with higher numbers implying less of the virus. A week after first testing positive, Smith was registering cycle threshold values of only 28, he said.Smith would run up the stairs of his home to gauge his fitness.“Everybody is different, and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a situation where I couldn’t breathe,” Smith said.His teammates and coaches were rooting for him from afar.“It reminded me of the Winter Olympics,” Sheppard said. “Americans don’t know anything about these sports, but within two days we’re all experts. It was the same thing with Ish: ‘Come on, Ish! You’ve got to get above 30!’”Smith knew he was fortunate, he said. He had medical supervision. He was undergoing daily testing. His symptoms were never serious. He thought of his siblings, who are teachers, and countless others living through the pandemic without that type of support.“I’ve got no complaints,” he said. “You just have to pick it up and keep it moving.”Smith returned on Jan. 31, scoring 13 points in a dramatic win over the Nets. Brooks celebrated with a can of White Claw.The Wizards have had more lows than highs, going 3-8 since their patchwork season resumed. Practice time has come at a premium. There is no playbook for a pandemic, Brooks said, and he can only hope that his players have endured the worst of it, and that they can build some chemistry. But there are no guarantees, not this season.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      NBA Says Teams Must Play the National Anthem

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.The Friendship of LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyN.B.A. Says Teams Must Play the National AnthemThe announcement came a day after Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, said he had told his team ahead of this season to stop playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games.The Dallas Mavericks and the Atlanta Hawks during the playing of the national anthem before Wednesday’s game in Dallas.Credit…Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesFeb. 10, 2021Updated 8:01 p.m. ETThe N.B.A. is again requiring teams to play the national anthem before games, after the Dallas Mavericks had stopped playing the anthem through their first 13 preseason and regular-season home games.“With N.B.A. teams now in the process of welcoming fans back into their arenas, all teams will play the national anthem in keeping with longstanding league policy,” Mike Bass, an N.B.A. spokesman, said Wednesday.The league office abruptly changed its stance on the matter after giving Mark Cuban, the Mavericks’ franchise owner, permission going into the season to stop playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before home games. All but 11 of the N.B.A.’s 30 teams are still playing home games without fans because of the coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday, the league had said that teams were permitted “to run their pregame operations as they see fit” because of “the unique circumstances of this season.”The Mavericks, at Cuban’s insistence, seized on that latitude to break from a longstanding tradition in American sports and remove the anthem from their pregame program. The change went largely unnoticed until an article by The Athletic called attention to it after the team’s first game with fans in attendance, which was on Monday night. Dallas gave 1,500 free tickets to frontline workers who had received at least the first of two required shots of the Covid-19 vaccine.Cuban told The New York Times on Wednesday that the Mavericks would follow the policy immediately and play the anthem before that night’s nationally televised home game against the Atlanta Hawks at American Airlines Center.“We are good with it,” Cuban said.Most players and coaches regularly knelt during the national anthem to protest social injustice while the league played out the last three months of the 2019-20 season at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., last summer. Adam Silver, the N.B.A. commissioner, said in December that the league did not intend to enforce its rule that players stand for the national anthem. The league’s 29 teams apart from Dallas had mostly played recorded versions of the anthem before games.“I recognize that this is a very emotional issue on both sides of the equation in America right now, and I think it calls for real engagement rather than rule enforcement,” Silver said in December.In a statement released through the Mavericks, Cuban said: “We respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country. But we also loudly hear the voices of those who feel that the anthem does not represent them. We feel that their voices need to be respected and heard, because they have not been.“Going forward, our hope is that people will take the same passion they have for this issue and apply the same amount of energy to listen to those who feel differently from them.”Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas, on Wednesday called for Cuban to sell the franchise to “some Texas patriots” and said that the Mavericks’ decision not to play the anthem was “a slap in the face to every American” and “an embarrassment to Texas.” Cuban has also sparred publicly with Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, who has been critical of Cuban’s support of N.B.A. players’ kneeling during the anthem.The Mavericks never announced the policy to stop playing the anthem but quietly let visiting teams know on game days that their players could expect to proceed straight to the introductions of starting lineups.New Orleans Pelicans Coach Stan Van Gundy expressed support on social media for the Mavericks’ original decision to forgo playing the anthem.“This should happen everywhere,” Van Gundy posted on Twitter before the league said the anthem would again be required. “If you think the anthem needs to be played before sporting events, then play it before every movie, concert, church service and the start of every work day at every business. What good reason is there to play the anthem before a game?”For 16 years when Donald Carter owned the Mavericks, singers performed “God Bless America” before home games at the old Reunion Arena. The Mavericks began playing the national anthem after the team was purchased by Ross Perot Jr. on May 1, 1996. Cuban bought the Mavericks in January 2000.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Liberty Trade Top Scorer but Add the All-Star Natasha Howard

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyLiberty Trade Top Scorer but Add the All-Star Natasha HowardKia Nurse, the team’s leading scorer last season, is headed to Phoenix. The Liberty also sent the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft to Seattle as part of the deal for Howard.Natasha Howard won championships with the Seattle Storm in 2018 and 2020.Credit…Mary Holt/USA Today Sports, via ReutersFeb. 10, 2021, 7:51 p.m. ETThe Liberty traded away the top pick in this year’s draft and Kia Nurse, their top scorer last season, as part of a flurry of deals across the W.N.B.A. on Wednesday that also brought the All-Star Natasha Howard to New York.The Liberty acquired Howard as part of a three-team deal with the Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury. Howard, a three-time W.N.B.A. champion, provides a solid interior player for the Liberty to pair with last season’s No. 1 overall draft pick, Sabrina Ionescu. As a designated core player for Seattle, Howard had to approve the trade.The Liberty also sent the No. 1 pick in the draft this year and the Mercury’s 2022 first-round pick to the Storm. The Liberty acquired that pick from Phoenix by sending Nurse and Megan Walker to the Mercury for the sixth pick this year and their first-round choice next year.The No. 1 pick didn’t stay in Seattle long, as the Storm traded it to Dallas for Katie Lou Samuelson and the Wings’ second-round pick in 2022. The Wings become the first team in W.N.B.A. history to hold the first and second overall picks in the same draft. In addition, Dallas also holds the fifth, seventh and 13th selections in 2021.“The opportunity to acquire the top pick in a draft does not present itself very often,” said Greg Bibb, the Wings’ president and chief executive. “By securing this pick, we will ensure our ability to draft the player at the top of our draft list while having additional draft assets at our disposal to further improve our team.”It’s only the third time in the league’s history that the top pick in the draft has been traded. On draft night in 2007, Phoenix traded the No. 1 pick to the Minnesota Lynx. Three years later, the Lynx sent the top pick to Connecticut in a deal for Lindsay Whalen, who is from Minnesota.There is a lot of uncertainty about who will be available to be picked in this year’s draft. The N.C.A.A. granted every player an extra year of eligibility, meaning top seniors like Dana Evans of Louisville and Michaela Onyenwere of U.C.L.A. could return to college next year.Also on Wednesday, in a separate trade with Seattle, the Liberty got guard Sami Whitcomb for the rights to Stephanie Talbot.“We have the privilege of welcoming multiple-time W.N.B.A. champions Natasha Howard and Sami Whitcomb to Brooklyn,” Liberty General Manager Jonathan Kolb said. “The magnitude of Natasha choosing to be in New York cannot be overstated. She is an All-W.N.B.A. talent who has worked for and earned everything that she has achieved, who has contributed to championship runs on multiple teams, and who will fit seamlessly into Walt Hopkins’ system.”Howard won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2019. The 29-year-old forward won one title in Minnesota, in 2017, and two titles in Seattle, in 2018 and last season.Kia Nurse was the team’s top scorer during a difficult 2020 season, averaging 12.2 points per game.Credit…Mike Carlson/Associated Press“I am very excited to be a part of the New York Liberty organization,” Howard said. “I’m also excited to meet my new teammates and the fans. I’m so pumped about the 2021 season.”Howard averaged 9.5 points and 7.1 rebounds last season while shooting 53 percent from the field.Whitcomb was a key member of the Storm’s franchise the last few years. The 32-year-old is a solid 3-pointer shooter.Nurse, the Liberty’s 10th overall selection in the 2018 draft, averaged 11.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2 assists per game over 89 contests (59 starts) during her three-year tenure. She led the team in scoring last season with 12.2 points per game.The Liberty drafted Walker ninth overall last season, and she averaged 3.3 points and 1.5 rebounds while playing in 18 games.“I would like to thank Kia Nurse and Megan Walker for their contributions to our organization,” Kolb added. “The unfortunate part of transactions such as these is that you have to say goodbye to people who have contributed to the team in so many ways. ”Finally, the Lynx traded forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan to the Storm for the 2022 first-round pick they had acquired from Phoenix through the Liberty.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Behind the ‘Grind’ of the N.B.A. Team With the Next Big Thing

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.The Friendship of LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyBehind the ‘Grind’ of the N.B.A. Team With the Next Big ThingThe Charlotte Hornets are emerging from obscurity, thanks to the star power of the rookie LaMelo Ball and the shotmaking of Gordon Hayward. Here’s how they’re doing it.Charlotte Hornets players and coaches have been using this season’s schedule, with its back-to-back games against teams like the Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers, as an opportunity to develop their young team.CreditCredit…Courtesy of Charlotte HornetsFeb. 10, 2021Updated 12:39 p.m. ETThe buzzer sounded, signaling a Charlotte Hornets loss to the Indiana Pacers. Charlotte wouldn’t have to wait long to try to exact revenge.This N.B.A. season is unusual in many ways because of the coronavirus pandemic, and one of its main scheduling wrinkles is that teams are playing each other in consecutive games to reduce travel and potential virus exposure.For the Hornets (12-13), a young, rebuilding team that has turned heads with its star rookie LaMelo Ball, the two-game stands have become a time for learning. Charlotte provided behind-the-scenes access to The New York Times for 48 hours to see how its coaching staff — a team within a team — prepared for recent back-to-back home games against the Pacers. There was practice (practice?), film sessions together and apart, family time and a little bit of trash talk.“I allow my coaches — I trust them — to put together a good game plan,” Hornets Coach James Borrego said. “I take in that information, I digest it, and obviously I make the final decisions. But I trust them to help me make those decisions.”Three of the assistant coaches — Jay Triano, Ronald Nored and Nick Friedman — focus on the team’s offense, while the other three — Chad Iske, Dutch Gaitley and Nate Mitchell — prioritize defense.“A big, overall philosophy for me is a developmental approach with our players, that they help our players grow and develop,” Borrego said. “And I want to have a culture as a head coach that our coaches are developing as well. They’re not just static.”Another assistant, Jay Hernandez, recently departed to coach the Greensboro Swarm in the G League’s bubble at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla.This season is the staff’s third as a group. Triano has head coaching experience, with the Toronto Raptors and the Phoenix Suns. Nored is young enough to have shared a backcourt with Charlotte’s marquee off-season acquisition, Gordon Hayward, when the pair played together at Butler.“We blend well,” Nored said of the coaching staff. “We have a couple of 30-year-olds. Chad is in his 40s. Jay’s in his 60s, but he acts like he’s 25, so it all fits really well together.”After losing to the Pacers on Jan. 27, the Hornets had less than 48 hours to prepare for a rematch.Credit…Jared C. Tilton/Getty ImagesWednesday, Jan. 2710 p.m. — Indiana 116, Charlotte 106The coaches started filtering from the Spectrum Center following the loss to Indiana. Nored, 30, spoke to Hayward over the phone as the two drove home, dissecting the game. Indiana limited Hayward to just 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting in 40 minutes.Getting home that night provided a short decompression window for most of the coaches before they dove back into work. Gaitley, 33, caught an episode of “The Real Housewives of Dallas” with his wife, Moraya. “Made sure that I was up on everything, so that whenever we have that conversation, she knows that I was listening,” he said.At home, Nored tries to study film only after his 2-year-old daughter, Avery, is asleep. He caught up with his wife, Danielle, before plopping on his living room couch, close enough to attend to Avery or his month-old son, Kai, should they stir.Indiana’s defense was Nored’s scout, meaning he was tasked with providing the rest of the coaching staff with a report on the Pacers’ defense so they could prep Charlotte’s offense. (Gaitley had to do the opposite.)Nored watched the game again from his laptop. He jotted notes as he created the video edit that he would show the staff the next day, with clips no longer than three minutes highlighting key decisions and reads.Midnight — ‘It’s a grind.’Jordan Surenkamp, Charlotte’s head video coordinator, wrapped up his evening at the arena. The video staff coded the game as it happened, breaking it into segments — for example, all of the team’s pick-and-rolls and how Indiana defended them.When the game ended, Surenkamp reviewed the film, tightening the segments into digestible pieces before making them available to the coaches. The video staff also gathered film for the players, such as all their shots or assists, so that it would be available to them by the time they returned home. Surenkamp then moved on to his own duties, editing video and compiling statistical spreadsheets, then sending any noticeable trends to the coaching staff.“It’s really the hub of my program, the video room,” Borrego said.It’s also Borrego’s background. Long ago, he started his N.B.A. career in San Antonio’s film room under Coach Gregg Popovich. He sets high standards for Surenkamp, who tries to be the first into the arena and the last to leave.“The expectation is there to be really, really good and prompt and available at what I do,” Surenkamp said. “But I think with that being said, he does understand that it’s a grind, it’s longer days, there’s a lot of responsibilities that I’m given.”Hornets Assistant Coach Dutch Gaitley, left, with Caleb Martin.Credit…Courtesy Charlotte HornetsHornets Assistant Coach Ronald Nored, right, with LaMelo Ball.Credit…Courtesy Charlotte HornetsThursday, Jan. 287 a.m. — ‘One game ahead’Surenkamp had already been at the arena for an hour by the time the assistant coaches returned and eased into their practice day. Friedman, 30, hopped on the treadmill while listening to the author Ben Greenfield’s fitness podcast. Nored had dropped Avery off at school en route to the Spectrum Center, then did some recreational reading before starting his day. Gaitley watched film on his next scout, the Miami Heat, whom the Hornets would play in four days. “You’re always working on one game ahead,” Triano, 62, said.10:30 a.m. — ‘Who was talking trash?’The defensive staff filed into a room for a coaches’ meeting, making small talk. George Rodman, Charlotte’s director of basketball analytics and strategy, opened by discussing the recent saga involving GameStop’s stock. “We’re talking about what happened the night before,” Gaitley said. “Who was talking trash or posted on Instagram? You’re joking about that, and keeping everybody up to date on everything that’s happening in the league and then you sort of organically jump into it.”The group watched the video edit that Gaitley had compiled, discussing whether they adhered to their main principles of protecting the paint, grabbing defensive rebounds and contesting 3-point shots. Nored watched, looking for points to emphasize with Ball, one of his developmental priorities and an early leading candidate for the Rookie of the Year Award.11:15 a.m. — ‘I’m going to get my game.’Pre-practice: The players who did not log many minutes in Wednesday’s game went through an extra workout session to maintain their cardio. Gaitley let the veteran Bismack Biyombo choose between playing pickup with the other players or working out individually.While Biyombo chose to work out, Malik Monk and the twins Caleb and Cody Martin played three games of four-on-four with Gaitley and the assistant video coordinators. “When you’re playing with Gordon Hayward, you’re not going to get 25 shots,” Gaitley said. “But when you play against the video guys, that’s where you’re like: ‘All right, I’m going to get some shots. I’m going to get my game. Get into rhythm.’”The moment afforded Gaitley a chance to connect with the players. He is the son of Stephanie Gaitley, the women’s basketball coach at Fordham University. As a child, he often accompanied her on recruiting visits. Occasionally, she handed him a binder that listed tidbits about the recruit and he’d quiz her on the drive about the name of the recruit’s boyfriend or favorite movie.His mother’s attention to detail stayed with him.“We don’t recruit at our level, but you are still showing the guys that you care every single day, because if you don’t build a personal relationship with them, then it’s going to be hard to coach them hard,” Gaitley said.Noon — ‘I try to be efficient in everything.’Practice: “You want to give them two or three things that they’re going to be able to remember and translate,” Triano said.In previous stops, Triano would list the team’s principles on the whiteboard with an addendum stating that any player who read the board could come into his office to collect $50. Few ever did.Homework: Some coaches stayed in the building throughout the afternoon, working with players and watching film on upcoming opponents. Others resumed their personal lives, like picking up their children from school. Still, they would often text one another through the night.“I think it happens a lot in our culture where it’s just, ‘I’m going to spend every waking moment thinking about basketball and watching every drop of film,’ ” Nored said. “And I could do that, but my daughter would be missing out on time with her dad, my wife would be missing out on time with her husband. And so they’re my priorities as well. And so I try to be efficient in everything that I do.”“I love playing two games against the same team in such a short period,” Hornets Coach James Borrego said. “This is a great way to teach.”Credit…Jared C. Tilton/Getty ImagesFriday Jan. 298:30 a.m. — ‘It’s always a good chess match.’The defensive scout meeting was shorter than the previous day’s, a reinforcement of the principles heading into the rematch. “It’s the battle of the adjustments to a degree and what can win out,” said Iske, 44. “Can you prepare for their adjustments, and on the other side of it, what they might do ahead of time? I think it’s always a good chess match to a degree, and exciting because it reminds you of the playoffs.”Afterward, the offensive coaches’ meeting included a 20-clip edit of how Indiana would most likely guard Charlotte on key plays, from screen-and-rolls to pin downs and dribble handoffs.9 a.m. — ‘Vitamins’To limit potential exposure to the virus, the Hornets bypass traditional team morning shootarounds in favor of individual sessions with coaches, called vitamins. “A big thing for us is our player development,” Triano said. “How are we going to get these guys better?”Mitchell, 34, started his day working with Hayward on his ball-handling and finishing at the rim. Later, he would also work with Biyombo, P.J. Washington and Devonte’ Graham. The goal was for Hayward not to settle for midrange shots when there was a path to the basket.Mitchell hopes Hayward’s free-throw attempts will soon rival his career high of 6.1 during the 2014-15 season. He’s averaging 4.8 per game this season.“It’s almost to the point now where he’s pointing out the opportunities more than it is me,” Mitchell said.Noon — ‘I just like to cram some work in.’The coaches filled the middle of the game day as they saw fit. Iske played a shooting game with Surenkamp before finishing his scout of the Milwaukee Bucks, Charlotte’s opponent the following evening. Some, like Triano and Mitchell, took a brief nap, after having watched film late the previous night.Friedman squeezed in another workout before preparing for his next scout. “It’s hard for me to nap on game days,” he said. “I just like to cram some work in. It’s basketball at the end of the day, so you’re not really overworking yourself.”4:30 p.m. — ‘The best version of himself’Walk-through: The players and coaches gathered on the practice court for a walk-through of the night’s matchup. The session included an offensive breakdown, defensive scout and a review of plays. Then the assistants worked on the court with players, pulling some aside to watch quick video clips.Friedman played a short montage for guard Terry Rozier of his first start of the 2017-18 season, when he was with Boston. It was a triple-double effort against the Knicks. “It’s more for helping him envision the best version of himself right before we play,” Friedman said.7:10 p.m. — Tipoff vs. IndianaThe Hornets won the rematch, 108-105. “We made more plays down the stretch than we did the night before,” Borrego said, adding: “And I love this setup. I love playing two games against the same team in such a short period. This is a great way to teach.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      In the N.B.A., Money Speaks Louder Than Stars

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.The Friendship of LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storymarc stein on basketballIn the N.B.A., Money Speaks Louder Than StarsWith tens of millions of dollars at stake, the All-Star Game is unlikely to be derailed by pushback from the league’s biggest stars about the health risks or the need for a break.The N.B.A.’s biggest stars are speaking out against the All-Star Game, but money has the megaphone for now.Credit…Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports, via ReutersFeb. 10, 2021, 11:30 a.m. ETDavid Stern was in his final full season as the N.B.A. commissioner in 2012-13 when LeBron James won his fourth and most recent Most Valuable Player Award. Eight years later, James is in his 18th season and a leading candidate in the race to receive the Maurice Podoloff trophy from Commissioner Adam Silver.James can still do many things in his supposed twilight years with the Los Angeles Lakers. He remains the game’s most high-profile figure and, by playing at an M.V.P. level at age 36, is constantly reminding us that basketball has its own answer to the N.F.L.’s time-defying Tom Brady.It would appear not even James, though, can stop the N.B.A. from staging an All-Star Game next month in Atlanta.He couldn’t have come out much stronger against the concept than he did late last week, blasting the N.B.A.’s plans to stuff three days’ worth of All-Star events into a one-shot Turner Sports extravaganza on March 7. League and players’ union officials are nonetheless expected to soon announce that those plans have been locked in.It is reminiscent of how the season started — and another illustration of the louder-than-ever say held by the N.B.A.’s broadcast partners at such challenging financial times for the sport’s various stakeholders.Players largely left the summer bubble expecting the 2020-21 season to be contested exclusively in 2021, starting no earlier than January and perhaps as late as March. Opening night was then suddenly moved up to Dec. 22 at the strong urging of the league’s two national broadcast partners, who wanted to preserve two valuable television properties: Disney’s five-game Christmas slate on ESPN and ABC, and Turner’s traditional Tuesday night doubleheader to start the season.As James said in a postgame session with reporters on Thursday, many players assumed there would not be an All-Star Game during the extended break scheduled from March 5 to 10. Those players were surprised when it emerged in late January that the league and the union were working on a one-night-only window for All-Star festivities that would enable TNT to air the event, the jewel of its annual N.B.A. coverage.The 2020 All-Star Game in Chicago, for example, attracted 7.3 million viewers for TNT. That was better than the viewing figures for any of the Christmas games on Disney-owned channels.The big difference between December and now is that no one has pinpointed the financial impact of a modified All-Star program. League officials maintain that it’s difficult to project figures for All-Star festivities in terms of basketball-related income, which owners and players split nearly 50/50. The New York Times was among the news outlets to report in December that starting the season before Christmas, rather than in mid-January, was expected to generate at least $500 million more in revenue.Chris Paul, left, has been working with the league to plan for the All-Star Game as president of the players’ union.Credit…Ralph Freso/Associated PressTwo estimates I was provided by industry insiders pegged the value of Turner’s All-Star coverage at $30 million to $60 million — money that the N.B.A. would have to make up to Turner later if the game was not played. You can safely assume that the overall potential loss (with B.R.I. added) would be much higher, given the way players of considerable stature, such as Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers, have talked about what’s motivating the league to take the health risk of bringing together the top players during the coronavirus pandemic.“It is what it is at this point,” Leonard said. “We all know why we’re playing it — there’s money on the line.”Leonard seemed to grasp better than most that, 11 months into the N.B.A.’s new reality (and the world’s), trade-offs for the big picture are a constant.Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Nets’ James Harden are among the marquee players who have joined James in publicly questioning the All-Star plans, contributing to an uncharacteristic swirl of pushback for Silver from the league’s stars. Phoenix’s Chris Paul, the players’ association president, said in response that “guys are entitled to their feelings” — but Paul insisted that “decisions are being made” with “the full body of players in mind.”Translation: More than 400 players who won’t be invited to participate in the resuscitated All-Star gathering are counting on those who do take part to ensure TNT can proceed with its usual showcase event and insulate them from a costly financial hit.The league’s deals with Disney and TNT, worth $24 billion over nine years, do not expire until after the 2024-25 season, but it is never too soon in coronavirus times to re-establish oneself as an exemplary partner. The N.B.A., for all the criticism it has absorbed in recent days, is certainly on a winning streak there, from conceiving a bubble to safely usher the 2019-20 season to a conclusion … to engineering that bubble at Walt Disney World as opposed to Las Vegas or any other interested city … to this All-Star save.I’m told Phoenix was proposed as a potential venue for March 7. Holding it in Atlanta instead would put the game in TNT’s backyard, eliminating travel for its coverage crews.Yet it’s the opposite for the participants, and that’s the unsettling part — even after the N.B.A. announced zero positives in leaguewide coronavirus testing last week. The All-Stars face extra travel to a function steeped in fraternization between players at a time when teams, in their day-to-day existence, are strongly discouraged from postgame interactions of any kind. There’s seemingly no way to avoid describing this game — an exhibition — as risky.The All-Star Game “has been an important tradition throughout the history of the league and remains one of our top events for global fan interest and engagement,” Mike Bass, an N.B.A. spokesman, said in a statement to The Times last week. “The health and safety of everyone involved is at the forefront of our discussions with the players’ association.”The league and the union have been adamant that the game will feature a significant philanthropic component to benefit historically Black colleges and universities as well as Covid-19 relief efforts. The broadcast itself is certain to amplify a league campaign that urges fans to take the coronavirus vaccine as it becomes available and features Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Gregg Popovich in commercial spots.Murmurs persist that some All-Stars will seek to opt out of playing what has been a mandatory assignment for those selected, according to the league’s bylaws, but all signs indicate the game will go ahead.James surely knows it, too. Don’t forget that, dismayed as he was about a game that “I don’t even understand” and a trip that will take 24 All-Stars “into one city that’s open,” he also said he would be there if selected.Even for the face of the N.B.A.’s player empowerment era, even when he’s playing Brady-esque ball, there are limits.Corner ThreeKobe Bryant, left, and Shaquille O’Neal, right, won three championships in eight seasons together in Los Angeles.Credit…Matt Campbell/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesYou ask; I answer. Every week in this space, I’ll field three questions posed via email at marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as the city you’re writing in from, and make sure “Corner Three” is in the subject line.(Responses may be lightly edited or condensed for clarity.)Q: Who you got? Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant? Or LeBron James and Anthony Davis? I know you’ve covered both duos. I bet you go with Kobe and Shaq. — Chris Williams (Laguna Beach, Calif.)Stein: We’ve seen James and Davis together for less than a season and a half. As fearsome as they look as a tag team, even after winning a championship on their first try and quickly establishing the Lakers as this season’s title favorites, I can’t put them ahead of the twosome at the center of the N.B.A.’s last three-peat.Not yet.But I reserve the right to change this vote down the road.For all their success together, O’Neal and Bryant had to settle for three titles in eight seasons. They dominated every aspect of the league for nearly a decade, with their drama as much as with the on-court havoc they caused, but the partnership was dissolved in acrimony when the Lakers decided it was untenable to keep orbiting the team around O’Neal and traded him to Miami in July 2004. There will always be a sense that these two divorced prematurely and could have won more together.James and Davis so far have a harmony that O’Neal and Bryant scarcely achieved. It’s still the honeymoon phase, with no guarantee things stay this way, but the Lakers also have their two biggest stars under contract together through 2022-23. The outlook is rather rosy — as long as they stay healthy. (Davis, as we speak, is nursing some nagging discomfort in his right leg and foot.)It’s important to remember the circumstances when making your assessments. O’Neal hadn’t won an N.B.A. championship and was still reasonably young himself, at 24, when he was paired with Bryant, then the most ambitious teenager in basketball history. James and Davis not only have games that mesh together beautifully, as offensive fulcrum and defensive anchor, but they came together when they were clearly ready to team up.James is in the later stages of his career and, with his legacy secure, has willingly ceded a chunk of the spotlight to Davis that might have been much harder to share in his 20s. Davis couldn’t carry New Orleans to glory as the face of that franchise and has clearly reveled in the boost he gets from James’s presence to unlock his full potential.Q: Why did the Nets feel compelled to give away so much in the James Harden trade? Couldn’t this transaction have gone forward without including Cleveland and Jarrett Allen? — Tom Cartelli (Milford, N.J.)Stein: No chance.The three future first-round draft picks that the Nets parted with were the headliner trade assets they used to win the Harden sweepstakes, but they were not going to have any shot at constructing a workable deal without including both Caris LeVert and Allen. Rather than keep Allen, Houston routed him to the Cavaliers for another first-round pick (Milwaukee’s 2021 first-rounder) and to reduce the Rockets’ luxury-tax bill.Harden’s incoming $41,254,920 salary required the Nets to send out a minimum of $32,923,936 to make the salary-cap math work. Allen’s $3,909,902 salary didn’t make much of a dent into that figure, but combining him with another blossoming talent in LeVert at $16,203,704, those three first-round picks and the rights for Houston to swap first-rounders in four additional drafts enabled the Nets to outbid Philadelphia and Boston.Q: Given the potential voter fatigue with the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo this season and Luka Doncic’s Mavericks off to a slow start, could we see someone in his 30s win the Most Valuable Player Award for the first time in 15 years? Steve Nash was the last to win the award in his 30s in 2006. — David Anderson (Raleigh, N.C.)Stein: You’re onto something for sure. Denver’s Nikola Jokic (26 on Feb. 19) and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (27 in March) are at the forefront of the M.V.P. race with roughly one-third of the regular season complete, but there are more 30-somethings in the conversation than players in their 20s.The Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James (36), Golden State’s Stephen Curry (33 in March) and the Nets’ Kevin Durant (32) would be in my top five with Jokic and Embiid if voting ended today.The duel between Curry (57 points) and Doncic (42 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds) Saturday night in a 134-132 victory for Dallas was one of the games of the season so far — and reminded you that Curry is back to his best after missing almost all of last season with a broken hand.(The Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, in case you’re wondering, turns 30 in June.)Numbers GameAnthony Davis is struggling from the free-throw line this season.Credit…Daniel Dunn/USA Today Sports, via Reuters17The Western Conference-leading Utah Jazz (20-5) are making 17 3-pointers per game — which puts them on pace for a league record. The 2018-19 Houston Rockets made 16.1 3s per game to set the record, according to Stathead.70.2For all the justified praised we heaped on the Lakers’ Anthony Davis last week for how perfectly he complemented LeBron James, there’s no avoiding one prime area of slippage in his game this season: Davis is shooting a career-worst 70.2 percent from the free-throw line. He shot a career-best 84.6 percent last season.2Jeremy Lin of the Santa Cruz Warriors (Golden State’s affiliate) and Nik Stauskas of the Raptors 905 (Toronto’s affiliate) were the only two N.B.A. veterans allocated to the G League team of their choosing via the N.B.A. developmental league’s new veteran selection rule — which is also known unofficially as “the Jeremy Lin rule.” The G League’s 20th season opens Wednesday with 18 teams playing in a restricted-access zone at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., similar to last summer’s N.B.A. bubble.5We’re down to just five teams that have not faced a game postponement through the season’s opening seven weeks. That group includes both New York teams (Knicks and Nets), both Los Angeles teams (Lakers and Clippers) and Toronto (which is playing its home games in Tampa, Fla.).3Atlanta appears poised host to the All-Star Game for the third time. It was the host city in 1978 (when my beloved Randy Smith of the Buffalo Braves won most valuable player honors) and in 2003.Hit me up anytime on Twitter (@TheSteinLine) or Facebook (@MarcSteinNBA) or Instagram (@thesteinline). Send any other feedback to marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Mark Cuban Says He Told Mavericks to Stop Playing National Anthem

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.The Friendship of LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyMark Cuban Says He Told Mavericks to Stop Playing AnthemThe N.B.A. has long required the playing of the national anthem before games, but the league gave teams permission to skip the ritual this season.Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks’ owner, before a home game between his team and the Golden State Warriors last week.Credit…Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports, via ReutersFeb. 9, 2021Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, said Tuesday night that he had instructed the team to stop playing the national anthem before its home games this season.“It was my decision, and I made it in November,” Cuban said. He declined to comment further.The Mavericks did not announce the new policy, but Cuban was allowed to enact it because the N.B.A. has permitted teams “to run their pregame operations as they see fit” because of “the unique circumstances this season,” according to a league spokesman.Nearly two-thirds of the league’s 30 teams are still not admitting fans to home games, as the N.B.A. grapples with the complexities of trying to stage a 72-game season in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.Dallas is believed to be the only team in the league that has abandoned the anthem at home games, a decision that was first reported by The Athletic. Other teams have continued to play recorded versions of the anthem.The league rule book has required players to stand during the national anthem since the 1980s, but Adam Silver, the N.B.A. commissioner, said in December that the rule would not be strictly enforced this season. The league also chose not to enforce the rule during its restarting of the 2019-20 season in a bubble environment at Walt Disney World in Florida, where many players opted to kneel during the anthem to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement and to demonstrate against systemic racism and social injustice in the United States.“I recognize that this is a very emotional issue on both sides of the equation in America right now, and I think it calls for real engagement rather than rule enforcement,” Silver said in December.The anthem has not been played at American Airlines Center in Dallas before any of the Mavericks’ 13 preseason or regular-season home games this season. In a victory on Monday night over Minnesota, Dallas became one of the 11 teams in the league that are admitting reduced crowds — 1,500 frontline workers in the health care and food-service industries, as well as police officers, firefighters and other emergency workers.This, however, is not the first time in franchise history that the club has declined to play the national anthem before games. For the club’s first 16 years of existence, when it was owned by Donald Carter, “God Bless America” was sung instead before home games at the old Reunion Arena. The Mavericks began playing the national anthem after the team was purchased by Ross Perot Jr. on May 1, 1996. Cuban bought the Mavericks in January 2000.In an interview on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” last June, before the N.B.A. resumed the 2019-20 season, Cuban said he would support players who knelt during the anthem as a form of protest.“If they were taking a knee and they were being respectful, I’d be proud of them,” Cuban said. “Hopefully I’d join them.”Cuban did not accompany the Mavericks to the bubble at Disney World, but he said via Twitter shortly after his ESPN appearance: “The National Anthem Police in this country are out of control. If you want to complain, complain to your boss and ask why they don’t play the National Anthem every day before you start work.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More