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      Kyrie Irving Shows Why the Nets Would Make an Exception

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      Kyrie Irving’s part-time status will be complicated — he still can’t play in home games — but his return drew praise from his team’s other stars.The Nets find themselves in a basketball paradox: They have championship aspirations, yet it might be in their best interests to lose a few more games on the way to the playoffs — and play their way into a lower seed once they arrive.What good is hosting a Game 7, after all, if one of your biggest stars can play only in road games?That was one of the questions swirling on Wednesday night when the Nets entered a new phase of their bizarre season by welcoming back Kyrie Irving — part time — after having exiled him for the first 35 games of the season because of his choice to remain unvaccinated against the coronavirus.That decision had ruled Irving out of games in Brooklyn’s home arena, in a city where players must be vaccinated, and for months the Nets had insisted they would not accept even a player of Irving’s talents in a part-time role. But last month, amid a coronavirus outbreak that had depleted the roster, the team relented. And in only four quarters on Wednesday in Indianapolis, Irving, a seven-time All-Star, made it easy to see why the Nets made that call.After a somewhat rusty start, Irving found his groove and began to look like the star the Nets had signed in free agency in 2019. He helped lead the Nets out of a 19-point deficit against the Indiana Pacers, on the way to a 129-121 victory, finishing with 22 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Ten of those points came in the fourth quarter, when the Nets overtook the Pacers.“I’ve had a lot of debuts, but nothing comes close to this one,” Irving said. “It meant a little bit more. Just because at this stage, taking off eight months or being out of the game for eight months and coming back in, there’s so much uncertainty.”It was certainly unusual. And to highlight its awkwardness, Irving will immediately head back to banishment: The Nets’ next two games are at home in New York City, where his vaccination status prevents him from playing as a result of a policy put in place by the city’s former mayor, Bill de Blasio, and that applies to public-facing places like gyms and restaurants.If Irving remains unvaccinated, he will be available — barring other injuries or absences — for 21 of the team’s 46 remaining regular-season games. (Local health restrictions mean that in addition to the games in Brooklyn, Irving also cannot play games against the Raptors in Toronto or the Knicks in Manhattan.)With rosters having become difficult to fill with wave after wave of players being ruled out because of coronavirus protocols, the Nets have chosen to treat Irving as a recurring guest star — someone they hope can make high-impact cameos on their quest to win a championship. Wednesday offered a glimpse of the obvious benefits of the on-again, off-again solution the Nets have chosen.“His game is just so beautiful,” the star forward Kevin Durant said of Irving. “Makes the game so much easier for everybody out there.”It took only one half for the rust to be shaken free. Irving showed off his court vision with a slick lookaway pass to Nicolas Claxton in the second quarter. He displayed his ability to create space for himself off the dribble, and provided an extra shooter on the floor. When the game was tight, Irving provided the final push for the Nets.The return of Irving should help create some flexibility in the Nets’ lineups, leading to more space, and more rest, for James Harden and Kevin Durant. Darron Cummings/Associated PressMost important — at least in the games he plays — Irving offers the Nets a reliable option to take the load off James Harden and Durant, who have frequently put the Nets’ offense on their shoulders. On the nights when Irving is available, Coach Steve Nash will have the ability to sit Harden and Durant at the same time, and allow Irving to run the offense with bench units. Irving’s presence alone draws defenders, which creates room for players like LaMarcus Aldridge and Patty Mills to get open jumpers. He can also give Durant and Harden more freedom to move without the ball.In simple terms, the Nets have been a barely above average team offensively this season, with an offensive rating that ranks 12th among the N.B.A.’s 30 teams despite the presence of Durant and Harden. They will now have the ability to inject one of the best offensive players in the league into their team — sometimes.Asked about Irving’s performance in his return, Nash paused.“Looks like himself,” Nash said with a laugh. He added: “You can see the rhythm was there, but it’s still an adaptation. We’ve got to give him some space.”With that space, the team is gambling that having a star part-timer matters more than building continuity. It’s a grand experiment to shuffle a star in and out of a starting lineup. And this group of stars — Irving, Harden and Durant — has had minimal time to play together. Last season, when Durant returned from an injury and Harden was added in a trade, the three rarely took the floor together.“It’s going to take time just because we have to get used to him being on the road and not at home, things like that,” Harden said. “But this has been a resilient group all year.”The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 6The global surge. More

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      Diamond Johnson Uses Prep Snub as Fuel for College Success

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      Diamond Johnson is making a name for herself at North Carolina State after being snubbed for a major high school honor.RALEIGH, N.C. — Diamond Johnson glanced over hopefully, expectantly. Andrea Peterson, her high school coach, had yet to receive the anticipated call appointing Johnson to the 2020 McDonald’s All American Game. Peterson had considered delaying practice so the team could gather in celebration. Instead, she began and asked an assistant to record the televised nominations.The game is a crowning cap to a heralded prep career, a notable distinction for a lifetime. To Peterson, the girls’ basketball coach at Saints John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School in Philadelphia, Johnson deserved the honor as much as anyone.She considered Johnson the pulsing heartbeat of the city, a hummingbird of a point guard who woke for early mornings and stayed for long nights to claim buckets and break ankles on her path to being ranked sixth overall in her class.Johnson finished a shooting drill at practice that day. The assistant who had been recording the All American nominations returned. Johnson’s name, he told Peterson, never came up. Peterson figured there had to be a mistake. The assistant insisted. Peterson called for a water break. Johnson checked her phone, finding a series of consolation texts from friends.Crestfallen and quiet, she released her emotions in a tsunami of points throughout practice, just like the time she dropped 54 points in a city championship game.That night, she bawled her eyes out while her sister and brother-in-law comforted her, wondering what, if anything, she could have done differently. She had committed to play at nearby Rutgers University and maybe, she thought, she had to have a grander stage in mind.“That just added fuel to her fire,” Peterson said. “Everything in her life adds fuel to her fire.”Johnson scored 17 points in a recent loss against Georgia.Kate Medley for The New York TimesWomen’s college basketball is largely an oligarchy. The same few programs — Connecticut, South Carolina, Baylor, Stanford, Notre Dame — typically vie for the championship each spring. “Those are the type of teams you ask, ‘Why are they great?’” Johnson said. “And then you work toward being that.”Johnson spent a season leading Rutgers in scoring before transferring to North Carolina State, a school that had heavily recruited her out of high school. “So much time that I could go to Geno’s or Pat’s, either one, and they knew me by my first name,” North Carolina State Coach Wes Moore said, referring to rival restaurants in Philadelphia known for their cheese steaks. “She’s special.”N.C. State is on the precipice of crashing through the annual favorites. The program earned a top seed in the N.C.A.A. women’s tournament last season before forward Kayla Jones injured her knee in the opening game of the tournament. Now, they have depth with Johnson, who “doesn’t just give us a spark,” Moore said. “She gives us a bonfire out there.”Johnson comes off the bench, trailing only the all-American center Elissa Cunane among the team’s scoring leaders (13.1 points per game for Cunane; 12.8 for Johnson). A point of whimsical debate is whether Johnson, listed at 5-foot-5, or the senior guard Raina Perez, at 5-foot-4, is taller. Johnson is as comfortable scoring in the lane — “I’ve been short all my life and I’ve been playing against tall people all my life,” she said — as she is draining a step-back 3-pointer.The Wolfpack were ranked No. 2 in the nation before a recent overtime loss to Georgia. “I just felt I’m that type of player that I need to be showcased in the bigger stage, and I knew them recruiting me out of high school, that they played big games against top teams,” Johnson said. “It was just me putting myself on this platform and taking it and running with it.”North Carolina State Coach Wes Moore talked with Johnson during a game against St. Mary’s.Gerry Broome/Associated PressReggie Williams, who coached Johnson when she relocated to Hampton, Va., from Philadelphia at the age of 11, imagined her on this platform.Johnson moved with her brother when their mother, Dana Brooks, sought a safer environment for them than their North Philadelphia neighborhood, off Diamond Street, the one Johnson was named after.“It’s basically like you surviving,” Johnson said. “We just have a mind-set of being on the go. Being aware of what’s going on and just making basketball an outlet to not engage in certain things.”Johnson was always fast and enjoyed gymnastics. In Virginia, she found herself among people whose country dialect she did not understand and who could not understand her.She joined Williams’s Black Widow A.A.U. team. That first practice, Johnson promptly dribbled toward the rim and threw the ball over the entire hoop. But Williams soon found that Johnson immediately retained any lesson he imparted, like the intricacies of footwork and the advantages of angles.Williams told Johnson that she had a special ability that needed nourishment. Johnson, eventually, believed him.“Everybody thinks that her talent is basketball,” Williams said. “No, her talent is the ability to pick up things.”Johnson learned the game from Williams and from Milton Rodwell, her brother-in-law, as she shuffled between spending the school year in Virginia and summers in Philadelphia, competing against boys and learning not to rely on just her talent. In high school, Johnson persuaded Brooks to let her move back to Philadelphia, where her father, James Johnson, lived.Johnson played for one year at Rutgers before transferring to N.C. State.Chuck Burton/Associated PressJohnson had helped introduce his daughter to basketball. A brain hematoma and several strokes left him unable to walk or speak, and Johnson wanted to be closer to him. Her father died in 2018 of complications from his illnesses.“I ain’t going to say it’s a sensitive subject, but it is something that I think drives her and pushes her, is her relationship with her father,” Williams said.She has also been driven by being underestimated. Johnson has moved past the slight of not being chosen for the McDonald’s All American Game in high school, even if the city has not. Dawn Staley, the Hall of Famer and longtime women’s coach, is from Philadelphia and had rallied in Johnson’s defense, even though Johnson chose to play for Rutgers and the storied C. Vivian Stringer over Staley’s University of South Carolina. The co-chairman of the McDonald’s game released a statement explaining Johnson’s exclusion and defending the selection process.A couple of months later, Peterson asked Johnson to stay close after a practice and to keep her phone nearby. This was odd and put Johnson on alert: Peterson never allowed phones in her practice. When Johnson’s phone buzzed, Allen Iverson, the city’s revered basketball son and the perfecter of the crossover Johnson emulated, greeted Johnson and her teammates.“What y’all doing?” Iverson asked. “What y’all got going on?”“We just finished practice,” Johnson responded.“Practice?” Iverson deadpanned, in a nod to his famous news conference.Johnson with her team before the game against Georgia.Kate Medley for The New York TimesHe had called inviting Johnson to play in his Roundball Classic at the 24K Showcase and to become the first woman to participate against the boys. “That just changed the dynamic of women’s basketball,” Peterson said.The pandemic canceled both the Roundball Classic and the McDonald’s Game. “I was going to show out, because it can’t go no other way,” Johnson said.Johnson is still on the verge of making a larger name for herself. The N.C.A.A. tournament is when legends are made forever, and she has a game ready to go viral at any tournament moment.Peterson said she advises her nieces to watch how Johnson plays the game, and they ask when she will have a shoe in stores that they can buy.Just wait, Peterson says. She expects Johnson to be on that level one day.Williams believes it’s only a matter of time.“The pool of gas is there,” Williams said, “and the spark is just waiting, and when it hits, it’s over with.” More

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      Sam Jones, Sharpshooting Celtics Star of the 1960s, Dies at 88

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      A member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in N.B.A. history and played on 10 N.B.A. championship teams.Sam Jones, the Boston Celtics’ sharpshooting Hall of Fame guard who played on 10 N.B.A. championship teams, a milestone exceeded only by his teammate Bill Russell, died on Thursday in Florida. He was 88. His death was announced by a Celtics spokesman, who did not specify a cause but said that Jones had been in failing health. He also did not say where in Florida he died, but Jones had been living in the Orlando area.When Jones was selected by the Celtics out of the historically Black North Carolina College at Durham (now North Carolina Central University) in the first round of the 1957 draft — he was the eighth player chosen overall — he was more astonished and apprehensive than thrilled. Since players at Black colleges had gained little national notice at the time, he viewed himself as a potential pioneer, though he questioned his chances of making a Celtics lineup brimming with stars.“I had a lot of pressure put on me,” Jones told The Boston Globe in 2009. “We didn’t have scouts coming in to see what the Black colleges were doing. If I make good, they’re going to start looking into the Black colleges.”Despite his doubts, Jones quickly impressed Coach Red Auerbach. He went on to team with K.C. Jones (no relation), a tenacious defender, in a backcourt pairing that eventually replaced that of Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, two of the N.B.A.’s greatest players of the 1950s. The Joneses became part of a record-setting run alongside Russell, who transformed the center position with his rebounding and defense, the forwards Tom Heinsohn, John Havlicek and Satch Sanders, and Cousy and Sharman in their final seasons.Jones went to the basket against the Philadelphia Warriors in a 1965 game as the Warriors’ Wilt Chamberlain (No. 13) looked on. Jones, who was 6-foot-4, relished getting the best of Chamberlain, who was 7-foot-1.Dick Raphael/NBAE/Getty ImagesSam Jones played on Celtics teams that won eight consecutive N.B.A. championships (1959 to 1966) and another two in 1968 and 1969. A five-time All-Star, he was called Mr. Clutch for the many baskets he scored in the final seconds of playoff games. His total of 10 championship rings has been exceeded only by Russell’s 11.Jones was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 1984 and was named one of the 50 greatest players in N.B.A. history when the league celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996. He once held the Celtics’ single-game scoring record, with 51 points against the Detroit Pistons in October 1965. When he retired after 12 seasons, he was the team’s career scoring leader, with 15,411 points. Larry Bird and Jayson Tatum are the current single-game record-holders, with 60 points, and Havlicek holds the career scoring record, with 26,395.Jones was renowned for using the backboard when most players were shooting directly at the hoop.“Sam showed them how to use the bank shot,” Auerbach once told United Press International. “He made it popular, and he made it an art.”Jones had supreme confidence in that shot. As he put it, “I felt it was like making a layup.”Samuel Jones was born on June 24, 1933, in Wilmington, N.C. At North Carolina College, playing for the Hall of Fame coach John B. McLendon in a Division II program, he was a fine shooter, scoring a total of 1,170 points, and an outstanding rebounder.Auerbach had never seen Jones play in college. But he drafted him when Bones McKinney, a North Carolinian and one of Auerbach’s former players, raved about him. Jones had planned to become a teacher but tried his luck at the Celtics’ training camp.He was a reserve for several seasons before taking over for Sharman. Though he was 6-foot-4, tall for a guard at the time, he was quicker than many smaller guards.When he saw Russell about to snare an offensive rebound, Jones would move away from the man defending him, who was watching the ball, and get ready to snare a pass from Russell and convert it into a bank shot. As he told NBA.com, “You only need a second to get a shot off.”Jones retired from the Celtics in 1969 and was later head coach at Federal City College in Washington (now the University of the District of Columbia) and at North Carolina Central. He was an assistant coach for the N.B.A.’s New Orleans Jazz.Jones in 2009 at the Sports Museum in Boston, where he received a lifetime achievement award. After retiring from the Celtics, he coached college ball. Steven Senne/AP Jones and his wife, Gladys Chavis Jones, who died in 2018, had five children. Information on survivors was not immediately available.Jones averaged 17.7 points a game in the regular season for the Celtics, but he was particularly dangerous in the playoffs. He hit a jump shot over the Philadelphia Warriors’ Wilt Chamberlain in the final seconds of Game 7 in the 1962 Eastern Division playoff final, giving Boston a 109-107 victory. He had five of the Celtics’ 10 overtime points against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the league finals, helping to propel Boston to a fourth consecutive championship.Jones relished getting the best of the 7-foot-1 Chamberlain.“I never challenged him by trying to drive right on him — he’d just block your shot,” he told Terry Pluto for the N.B.A. oral history “Tall Tales” (1992). “I’d stop in front of him and shoot over him. Then I talked to him. I talked to everybody on the court, but it was a lot of fun to say things to Wilt because he’d react to them.”In a fight-filled fourth quarter of Game 5 in that Celtics-Warriors series, Jones collided with Chamberlain, who outweighed him by nearly 50 pounds, and they exchanged unpleasantries. When Chamberlain grabbed at Jones’s wrist — perhaps in a peace gesture — Jones ran off the court.“He saw Wilt still coming after him, so Sam picked up one of the photographers’ chairs and held it out at Wilt as if Sam were a lion tamer,” the referee Norm Drucker recalled to Mr. Pluto.“He was about ready to go up into the stands — he didn’t want to fight,” said Chamberlain, the strongest man in pro basketball. “So I said, ‘Ah, forget it.’” More

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      ‘Every Hooper’s Dream’: N.B.A. Hopefuls Get Their Chance During Crisis

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      The rapid spread of the coronavirus has depleted several N.B.A. rosters, leading teams to call on lower-level pros and former stars to fill in. But that also has its risks.On Tuesday, Dec. 21, Charlie Brown Jr. was walking through the lobby of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas when he saw his friend Zylan Cheatham looking joyous.Brown could tell just by looking at him that he had good news to share.Earlier that day, Cheatham had found out that the Miami Heat wanted to sign him to a 10-day contract. He started screaming, jumping and running around his hotel room, where he had been staying to compete in a showcase of the best teams in the N.B.A.’s developmental league, the G League. Cheatham canceled plans to go home to Phoenix for Christmas, and when he called his mother to tell her, she jumped around, too.Soon after, Brown heard another friend had gotten a call-up from the G League. And then one of Brown’s teammates on the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats did too.“It was slowly happening around me,” Brown said.A few hours later it happened to him. Brown’s agent called him as he was warming up for a game at the G League Showcase. The Dallas Mavericks wanted to sign him.Brown and Cheatham are two of more than 80 players who have signed 10-day contracts with N.B.A. teams this season. Their opportunity has come because N.B.A. players, like everyone else, are facing the latest wave of the coronavirus. The virus, especially the Omicron variant, has depleted several N.B.A. rosters in recent weeks. A recent decision to shorten required isolation time for some infected players could help teams get their usual stars back sooner.The league and players’ union have agreed to grant hardship exceptions to allow teams to temporarily sign players to fill in, even if they wouldn’t otherwise have the roster or salary cap space. Hardship exceptions and short-term deals existed before the pandemic, but until at least Jan. 19, teams can sign players to 10-day contracts to replace anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus as soon as they need them. The league is also requiring its 30 teams to sign replacement players if they have more than one player out with a coronavirus infection.With dozens of players testing positive every week, these reinforcements help the N.B.A. avoid postponing more games — it has already done so 10 times — when teams don’t have enough healthy players.For some basketball pros, that has meant getting a call they’ve been waiting for their whole lives, an opportunity to be seen or a second chance they never saw coming.“A dream come true to say the least,” Cheatham said. “It’s every hooper’s dream. It’s what you work for, especially competing in the G League for multiple years. This is kind of your Super Bowl or N.B.A. finals.”The players signing 10-day contracts this month have included younger players like the 26-year-old Cheatham, who is just a few years out of college; older players who have spent years in the G League hoping for a chance; and N.B.A. veterans who had been out of the league and hoping for a comeback — players like Lance Stephenson, Isaiah Thomas and the 40-year-old Joe Johnson.This time around, Johnson’s teenage son gets to be part of the fun.“He asked me about a month ago, ‘Dad, when you was playing, what was I doing?’” Johnson told reporters. “I said, ‘You was in the back playing in the playroom.’”Quinndary Weatherspoon played 14 minutes in Golden State’s Christmas Day game against the Phoenix Suns after his call-up from the Santa Cruz Warriors.Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesBefore this season, Zylan Cheatham had played in just four N.B.A. games in a brief stay with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019-20.Pool photo by Kim KlementOn Monday, with all their regular starters out, the Minnesota Timberwolves used the hardship exception to sign Greg Monroe, a 31-year-old former lottery draft pick who last played in the N.B.A. in 2019.Monroe woke up at 4 a.m. Monday to fly to Minneapolis from Washington, D.C. His first flight got canceled, and he finally got in around 11 a.m. to be tested for the coronavirus so he could play.Hours later, Monroe played 25 minutes against the Boston Celtics, scoring 11 points to go with 9 rebounds and 6 assists in the Timberwolves’ win.“I’ve been around the world and back, literally,” Monroe, who played in Germany and Russia in the last two years, told reporters. “But it felt great to be out there. Just a joy to be out there.”A 10-day contract has typically been like a tryout for players, with several signees getting longer deals to stay with their teams for the rest of the season and beyond. The former players Kurt Rambis, Raja Bell and Bruce Bowen all turned these short deals into notable careers.One recent example is Gary Payton II, who played on 10-day contracts for several teams before signing one with Golden State last year. This year, Payton has been critical to Golden State’s resurgence. At 29 years old, he seems finally to have found an N.B.A. home.On Christmas, Golden State needed 14 minutes from Quinndary Weatherspoon, whom they signed on Thursday from their G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors. Weatherspoon, 25, came highly recommended by Klay Thompson, who had been guarded by Weatherspoon during scrimmages as he rehabbed his injuries with Santa Cruz. Weatherspoon came home from the G League Showcase and hours later left again to join Golden State.“It’s been crazy,” Payton said. “Guys been waiting for this moment.”Weatherspoon benefited from playing on the developmental team affiliated with the team that signed him. That makes a lot more familiar — the personnel, the system, the facilities.Cat Barber was already familiar with the Atlanta Hawks from playing with their G League team when he was called to fill in.Joe Buglewicz/Getty ImagesCat Barber, who was called up to the Atlanta Hawks from their College Park Skyhawks G League team, was similarly familiar with his new surroundings. He’s spent five years in the N.B.A.’s developmental league, rapping on the side, and never considered giving up this dream.“Just the love for basketball that I’ve got,” Barber said. “A lot of people were telling me I’m right there, I’m that close, and I just stuck with it.”Barber played 2 minutes in the Hawks’ Christmas loss to the Knicks and 4 minutes in a loss to the Bulls on Monday.“I accomplished something that not a lot of guys do,” Barber said. “I’m proud of myself.”There’s a financial benefit that can mean a lot, too. The typical salary for a G League player is $37,000 a year. Most 10-day contracts are signed for a prorated portion of the league’s minimum salary, which means most players signing 10-day contracts are making double their yearly G League salary in just 10 days in the N.B.A.“Growing up you hear people always say: ‘Oh, you got to play basketball for the love of the game. The money will come. You don’t worry about that,’” Cheatham said. “But at the same time, anybody who has real problems or real situations with family or taking care of people knows having money is definitely beneficial.”Brown got to Dallas on Wednesday and was immediately bombarded with group chats (from his former and current team), the playbook and instructions for the next few days. He guessed that he had stayed up until 3 or 4 a.m., with a wake-up call before 8 a.m. Thursday.On Christmas, the Mavericks had six players unavailable because of the virus. That was the first game Brown was able to play in for Dallas. At one point, four of the five Mavericks on the court were replacements. Brown said Brandon Knight, an N.B.A. veteran signed as a replacement point guard, helped things run smoothly.Joe Johnson, who was drafted in 2001 and played for multiple teams through 2018, received roaring applause when he scored in his first game with the Boston Celtics on a 10-day contract recently.David Butler Ii/USA Today Sports, via ReutersGreg Monroe had 11 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists on Monday in his first game on a 10-day contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, against the Celtics.Stacy Bengs/Associated Press“The best thing you can do is prepare for any given situation,” Brown said. “It can happen any day, any hour. Being on your toes kind of helps you in a way because you’re overly prepared for the moment.”Brown had never played on Christmas, the day when the N.B.A. highlights its best teams and biggest stars. He used to watch Christmas games with his father, Charles Brown Sr., back home in Philadelphia.“My dad texted me earlier in the day. Nothing meant more to him than seeing me play on Christmas,” Brown said, “because I used to talk about it all the time.”But the specter of the virus remains present for all of them.Cheatham, who had appeared in just four N.B.A. games before his call-up, arrived in Miami on an off day for the Heat last week. They were set to play the Pistons next day, and he found himself introducing himself to his teammates on game day. He didn’t play in that game, but on Tuesday, he said he felt confident he could help if needed.He also acknowledged the precarious nature of his position.“To say you don’t worry about catching Covid would be blasphemy at this point,” Cheatham said. “Every time you open your phone you see a new case. And then you see guys are vaccinated and did all the things you did and still get Covid.”He talked Tuesday about avoiding contact with others where possible, and making smart decisions despite the unpredictability of the virus.On Wednesday morning, the Heat added Cheatham to their list of players out because of the league’s health and safety protocols. More

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      An Italian Town Hopes Its Basketball Patron Advances to National Status

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      Porretta Terme, in central Italy, is passionate about basketball, and is pressing the Vatican to officially recognize its local saint as Italy’s patron of the sport.PORRETTA TERME, Italy — In the chapel of a small hillside sanctuary in Porretta Terme — a handsome town in central Italy known for the healing powers of its thermal waters — a single basketball-shaped window, its panes curved like seams, poured light on walls filled with basketball jerseys.On a table, a notebook contained pages of devotionals, including gratitude for a healed meniscus and prayers to “win the championship in the next few years.” The back wall bore a bas-relief of a dying basketball player, palming a ball in his left hand as the Virgin Mary watched his earthly clock run down.“I offer you the joy of every bucket,” Don Filippo Maestrello, a center-sized local priest, prayed to the Madonna of the Bridge in the Chapel of the Basketball Players.A window designed like a basketball inside the Chapel of the Basketball Players, in the Madonna of the Bridge Church.Camilla Ferrari for The New York TimesMemorabilia and a sculpture of a player inside the chapel.Camilla Ferrari for The New York TimesThe founder of the local basketball association and the town’s tourism and sport official bowed their heads at his side as he continued, imploring the Madonna to “guide our shot in the right direction” and to “bless and protect my team.”Residents of Porretta have for centuries venerated the Madonna of the Bridge — named after a 16th-century drawing of the Virgin Mary on a rock near a bridge over the nearby Reno River. Over the years, the rock became a site of devotion, eventually inspiring the building of the sanctuary where Don Maestrello prayed.Locals credited the Madonna of the Bridge with performing miracles, including saving a 17th-century pilgrim on the bridge by stopping bullets fired by a Florentine assassin.But more recently they say she has taken her talents, and divine interventions, to the basketball court. After a decades-long campaign by local basketball fanatics, the Italian Bishops Conference in May gave its approval for her to be officially recognized as the patron saint of Italian basketball.The application now sits with the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, which declined to comment on the patron’s progress.Guglielmo Bernardi, the former head of the local basketball association who has been a driving force behind the effort, said he understood the Vatican step to be a lay up.Guglielmo Bernardi in Porretta this month.Camilla Ferrari for The New York Times“A formality,” he said, as he recently walked to the town’s main square, lined with butcher shops, tortellini restaurants, a medieval tower and stores selling fabric, slippers and hiking shoes. The long piazza, he said, had also served as a makeshift outdoor court for a popular regional basketball tournament.“We were famous for the injuries,” said Mr. Bernardi, pointing out the uneven spots on the street.Mr. Bernardi traces Porretta’s basketball passion, loosely, back to Italian prisoners of war who learned the game from their American captors. By the early 1950s, Porretta had emerged as the national center of women’s basketball in a hoops-obsessed part of Italy. In 1956 a religious ceremony consecrated the Chapel of the Basketball Players and a long procession of players carried torches and votive candles to the shrine.Since then, the town has become a capital of youth basketball with tournaments in honor of the chapel’s consecration. Local and regional players started making pilgrimages to the Madonna for game-day assistance, leaving offerings of jerseys just as their ancestors left medals.Nicolò Savigni, the local councilman for sport and tourism, said Bologna’s Virtus team came to pray before a big game — and won. In 2020, Meo Sacchetti, the coach of Italy’s national basketball team, came to the chapel and paid his respects to the Madonna. The team qualified for the Olympics that year, the first time in 17 years.“She surely did look down on the national team,” Mr. Sacchetti said.“If that’s not a miracle,” said Mr. Bernardi.Pennants for various teams, including Virtus from Bologna, hanging in a hotel in town. Camilla Ferrari for The New York TimesThe altar of the church.Camilla Ferrari for The New York TimesMr. Bernardi and other advocates, who have pressed for signatures and testimonials in favor of the Madonna’s application to be a national patron of hoops, have powerful fans in their corner.Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna, has been called “Cardinal Basketball” by the local newspaper. In 2016, in the middle of a major local basketball tournament, he celebrated an Easter Mass in honor of the Madonna and traveled to Porretta to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the basketball chapel.“Life is like a basketball game,” he said then.Francis himself has used basketball imagery. In 2017, he spoke about a “basketball player who plants his pivot foot on the ground and makes movements to protect the ball or finds room to pass or make a move to the hoop.” The pope continued, “For us, that foot nailed to the soil around which we pivot is the cross of Christ.”For Porretta, it’s also a foothold for economic development.The current town administration recently reached a deal with a Bologna corporation to update its network of thermal baths, which might draw more seniors looking to soothe their aching bones. But official recognition of the Madonna could attract more youthful pilgrims, said Enrico Della Torre, 33, a local official in charge of economic development, as he walked down the main street on a recent morning.Encouraging younger visitors “is the most important thing for the rebirth of these towns,” he said.For a town of 4,000 people, Porretta already has a lot going on. For more than 30 years, fans of soul music have made pilgrimages to the Porretta Soul Festival, when the stone walls are brightened with murals of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Booker T. and the M.G.’s. and other stars.Practicing on the local court.Camilla Ferrari for The New York TimesWalking through town, Mr. Bernardi — who is also organizing a Prog Rock festival in Porretta — bumped into Graziano Uliani, 72, the gregarious founder of the soul festival, and a basketball fan too. Mr. Uliani talked about famous basketball players he has met while following musicians in Memphis and Los Angeles. He also plugged his festival until Mr. Bernardi, noting the time, said he was on his way to the sanctuary to meet the priest, Don Maestrello.In his car, with a vintage jersey in the back seat, he passed the run-down thermal baths where he said many locals worked in their youth. He crossed the bridge over the Reno river to the domed sanctuary and waited outside for the priest and Mr. Savigni, the councilman.It was cold and quiet except for the sound of the river’s rushing water. A local man drove by and told Mr. Bernardi that the Madonna had saved his life for a second time after a second heart attack.After Don Maestrello’s prayers in the sanctuary, Mr. Savigni confided “we are planning to build a big arena in honor of the patron.”Later in the day, the three men drove to a local gym where the organizer of a basketball school had prayed to the Madonna for intercession so that the sport could survive coronavirus lockdowns. Children were taking lessons with Francesco Della Torre, a former Italian league player and the brother of Enrico Della Torre, the economic development official. (“To beat him I would have needed days in the chapel,” Enrico Della Torre said.)A ball bounced toward Don Maestrello. He took a shot from the corner. It was an airball.“When I step on the court everyone is terrified,” the tall prelate said. “And then the first pass happens.”Don Maestrello was more at home in the large parish church in the center of town, where he showed off basketball trophies kept in a storage room for a potential museum to the patron saint. Mr. Bernardi opened a gray suitcase of basketball jerseys, some signed by entire N.B.A. teams. With reverence he extracted a Kobe Bryant Lakers jersey, apparently signed by the superstar, who partly grew up nearby and who spoke Italian.A Los Angeles Lakers jersey autographed by Kobe Bryant is among the memorabilia in the town.Camilla Ferrari for The New York TimesBasketball memorabilia.Camilla Ferrari for The New York TimesWhen Mr. Bryant died in a helicopter crash in 2020, Mr. Bernardi said, “All of us said a prayer at the sanctuary. For us he was an idol.” He whispered Mr. Bryant’s nickname under his breath. “Black Mamba.”He kept pulling out jerseys signed by players from N.B.A. teams, sent as offerings, through a well-connected associate, to the Madonna, and talked about the potential of Porretta’s Madonna going global.“The national discussion does not satisfy us,” Mr. Bernardi said. “Either show us another patron saint, or it’s this one. We’re ambitious.”Mr. Savigni, the tourism official, caught the spirit. He ran through his dream team of potential N.B.A. devotees to the Madonna and stopped short in the hall.“Is Michael Jordan Catholic?” he asked. More

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      The NBA Cuts Covid-19 Isolation Time as Dozens Test Positive

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      The N.B.A. has altered its coronavirus protocols to allow players and coaches who have tested positive but are asymptomatic to return to their teams sooner as a surge in cases has depleted several teams of their best players.The new rules will also permit those with low viral loads to follow this new protocol, even if they still test positive, according to a memo obtained by The New York Times.Players and coaches who have positive or inconclusive tests will be able to return after six days in isolation instead of 10 if they are asymptomatic by then and meet the requirements on tests for infectiousness.The N.B.A. and its players’ union agreed on the new rules.To leave isolation on the shorter timeline, players and coaches must test with a low enough viral load on the fifth and sixth days after their initial positive tests.Players and coaches can also emerge from isolation through one of the two previous methods — by isolating for 10 days and not having symptoms, or by returning two negative tests 24 hours apart.The N.B.A.’s announcement coincided with the recommendation from the C.D.C. on Monday that isolation times be reduced to five days from 10 for people without symptoms.More than 100 players entered the league’s health and safety protocols — triggered by a positive or inconclusive coronavirus test, or potential exposure — in December alone, with the Omicron variant sweeping through the league. The league increased testing for several days after Thanksgiving, leading to a rise in cases, and will now begin another period of increased testing following Christmas Day.Several teams have competed without multiple key players because of the coronavirus protocols. The Nets beat the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas despite having seven players out because of the protocols, including Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo missed five games while in the protocols, but cleared just in time for his team’s Christmas game. More

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      Who Are The NBA's Early Breakout Stars of 2021-22 Season?

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      Three players in particular have given hope to their antsy fans, despite injuries, Covid-related absences and the hiccups of being new to the league.Whether it’s because of injuries, the N.B.A.’s Covid-19 health and safety protocols or a general yearly churn, the league has seen an unexpectedly rapid ascension of young stars this season. Some of this is unique to this year: With several top stars missing in action, there is more room in the spotlight for new talents.Tyler Herro, the third-year Miami Heat guard, is helping to keep the team afloat in the face of injuries to its top players. Cole Anthony, the second-year guard for the Orlando Magic, has developed into a strong all-around player with a workable jump shot. And the 23-year-old center Jarrett Allen is scoring almost 17 points a game for the Cleveland Cavaliers on better than 70 percent shooting. Allen has a strong chance to make his first All-Star game this season.The strong play from three players in particular has given hope to their teams’ beleaguered fans: Evan Mobley, the lanky Cavaliers rookie, and Anthony Edwards, the Minnesota Timberwolves swingman in his second year. And in the case of the second-year Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane, he thrived during the injury absence of the team’s top player, Ja Morant, which could have sent Memphis into a tailspin.All three succeed in different ways — Mobley with his height and agility; Edwards with his slashing and dunking; Bane with his shooting prowess. But all of them are helping their teams be competitive and they’re — if nothing else — fun to watch.None of the three are likely to make the All-Star team this season, but making future ones is certainly within reach.Here’s what makes them three of the season’s early breakout stars.Evan Mobley, Cleveland CavaliersCleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley is drawing comparisons to the Lakers’ big man Anthony Davis in his rookie season.Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports, via Jerome Miron-Usa Today SportsAs the Cleveland Cavaliers have pulled themselves out of the league’s cellar, one of the most exciting developments for the franchise’s future has been the emergence of the rookie forward Evan Mobley.With a body type and skill set that have drawn comparisons to a young Anthony Davis, Mobley is an early contender for the Rookie of the Year Award. He was named the season’s inaugural rookie of the month, which covers October and November. During that span, Mobley’s 30 blocks were twice that of the next best rookie, Toronto’s Scottie Barnes.More important, his play is helping his team win. The Cavaliers were the only team that played a rookie more than 400 minutes through November to also have a winning record.Heading into Christmas, Mobley led all rookies in blocks per game with 1.8 and was tied with Barnes for most rookie rebounds per game. His defensive rating is among the top 10 of players who have played at least 25 games this season.The 6-foot-11 center from Temecula, Calif., was expected to shine in the N.B.A. He was a star in high school and spent one season at the University of Southern California, where he was named the Pac-12’s player of the year, defensive player of the year and freshman of the year.But rookies don’t always enter the N.B.A. quite this polished.Anthony Edwards, Minnesota TimberwolvesMinnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has become a more vocal leader in his second season.David Berding/Getty ImagesAnthony Edwards made his mark as a high-flying slasher during his rookie season with the Minnesota Timberwolves last year. He was a delight to watch, particularly because of his elite dunking. But there were some questions about his offensive efficiency as he entered his second year in the league. He shot only 32.9 percent from 3 last season and 41.7 percent overall. The N.B.A. has a long and storied list of inefficient scorers who had inflated stats, because they were on bad teams that needed someone to put the ball in the hoop.But this season, Edwards is shooting a bit better, including from 3, and keeping the Timberwolves competitive. This month, Edwards hit 10 3-pointers in a game against the Denver Nuggets. He still has work to do to become a top scorer, but at 20 years old, he’s already one of the best young players in the league. He’s also diversified his game otherwise, improving his rebounding and passing, allowing him to contribute in games even when his shot isn’t falling. If Minnesota makes the playoffs, Edwards’s leap will be one of the biggest reasons.He’s also established himself as a leader unafraid to respectfully call out teammates, like Karl-Anthony Towns, or not-so-respectfully do so to stars on other teams, like Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert. He’s a keeper for Minnesota and has an outside shot at making the All-Star team this year, as well as, you know, an actual outside shot.Desmond Bane, Memphis GrizzliesMemphis guard Desmond Bane helped the Grizzlies stay afloat when their best player, Ja Morant, went down with an injury.John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports, via John E. Sokolowski-Usa Today SportsAt the 2020 N.B.A. draft, Desmond Bane was little more than an afterthought — to nearly everyone, that is, except the Memphis Grizzlies, who traded a pair of second-round picks to the Boston Celtics as part of a three-team deal so that they could move up in the order and select Bane with the final pick of the first round.Before the draft pundits had questions about Bane, a 6-foot-5 guard who had spent a full four seasons at Texas Christian University, a red flag in an era when most top prospects are one-and-done. Would Bane merely be a spot-up shooter in the N.B.A. or would he be able to create his own looks? And weren’t his arms a bit on the short side? Bane had heard it all.As a rookie, Bane earned a rotation spot for the Grizzlies as a dependable outside threat. Now a full-time starter in his second season, he is the team’s third-leading scorer behind Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks, and he ranks among the league leaders in 3-point shooting (41.3 percent going into Christmas). His value was especially apparent when Morant went down with a knee injury at the end of November. The Grizzlies won 10 of 12 games without him, and Bane was a steadying force — and occasionally spectacular. He had a career-high 29 points in a win against the Dallas Mavericks.Morant has since returned, and the Grizzlies are in the thick of the playoff chase as one of the Western Conference’s most surprising young teams. More

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      NBA Christmas Day Games 2021: What to Know

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      A coronavirus outbreak across the league has cast a shadow over Saturday’s highlight slate of games, with several key players unavailable to compete.The N.B.A. has long looked to Christmas Day as a highlight of the young season, a made-for-TV spectacle that brings together many of the best teams and best players for a daylong extravaganza of basketball fireworks.This year? Not exactly.Dozens of players have been cycling through the N.B.A.’s coronavirus health and safety protocols in recent days, forcing teams to improvise by signing scores of replacement players to 10-day contracts. So if you’re expecting to see Kevin Durant lead the Nets into their game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, you’ll be disappointed: On Friday, Durant remained in the protocols. But fans should be able to catch the surprise return of Joe Johnson, whom the Boston Celtics signed on Wednesday to shore up their own battered roster — the same Joe Johnson who is now 40 and had last appeared on an N.B.A. court in 2018.The pandemic has wrought havoc on the holiday season, and the N.B.A. has not been immune. The league even issued a memo this week to the teams scheduled to play on Saturday that their tip times could be tweaked if any of the prime-time games are postponed. (The Nets, for example, have already had three games scuttled over the past week because of low roster numbers.)For now, and keep in mind that this is subject to change, here is a look at the five games penciled in for Saturday:All times Eastern.Atlanta Hawks (15-16) at Knicks (14-18), Noon, ESPNKnicks forward Julius Randle is having an up-and-down season, but his short-handed team will need him against the Hawks on Saturday.Mary Altaffer/Associated PressSurprising runs to the playoffs last season led to these teams meeting in the first round, spurring talk about the two franchises resurrecting. The Hawks easily dispatched the Knicks then, with the Hawks’ star player, Trae Young, delighting in quieting abrasive Knicks fans, while the Knicks’ top player, Julius Randle, had a terrible series.The matchup looked like it would start a rivalry between two up-and-coming teams on their way to the Eastern Conference’s elite.But this season, both teams, far from being resurrected, have been two of the more disappointing teams in the league. The Knicks’ new additions, Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker, have been mostly underwhelming, though Walker, after being benched for several games, has been on a tear in a recent return to the lineup. And while Atlanta had one of the N.B.A.’s worst defenses, its stellar offense hasn’t been enough to compensate for it. Young, already one of the league’s best offensive players, is having the best year of his career, while Randle has struggled.The good news is that the same thing happened last season, and both teams had impressive second half turnarounds to make the playoffs.The Christmas game will undoubtedly lose some of its luster with several key players likely to miss the game as a result of the N.B.A.’s health and protocols, including Young, Clint Capela and Danilo Gallinari from Atlanta, and Nerlens Noel from the Knicks. Derrick Rose, one of the Knicks’ lone bright spots against Atlanta in the playoffs, is slated to miss several weeks with an ankle injury.Boston Celtics (16-16) at Milwaukee Bucks (21-13), 2:30 p.m., ABCJayson Tatum’s shooting percentage is down slightly this season, but he is still Boston’s leading scorer with 25.6 points per game.Charles Krupa/Associated PressFresh off their first N.B.A. championship since 1971, the Bucks knew the early part of their schedule would pose some challenges. For starters, last season’s playoff run extended into late July. Then, two of the team’s best players, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, helped the United States men’s basketball team win gold at the Tokyo Olympics in August. The Bucks subsequently reconvened for the start of their season and lost eight of their first 15 games.Despite a shifting roster — Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo are among the players who have missed games after landing in the league’s health and safety protocols — the Bucks seem to be finding their footing as they eye another title. That’s no great stretch, thanks to the presence of Antetokounmpo, a two-time winner of the Most Valuable Player Award who still seems determined to expand his game. He is expected to play on Christmas after missing the past five games.The Celtics, meanwhile, are enduring growing pains under Ime Udoka, their first-year coach. From the start of training camp, Udoka has stressed the need for his players to pass more willingly around the perimeter. But too often, the ball still sticks — frequently in the hands of Jayson Tatum, a talented young player who has struggled with his shooting this season. The Celtics have also been hindered by injuries to Jaylen Brown.Boston needs to play a much more complete brand of basketball to have a shot of landing in the postseason, let alone to challenge the likes of the Bucks.Golden State Warriors (26-6) at Phoenix Suns (26-5), 5 p.m., ABCChris Paul leads the league in assists per game, which has helped his Phoenix Suns stay among the West’s best despite injuries.Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesThis game features the top two teams in the Western Conference. The Suns are hoping to improve upon their trip to the finals last year, while Golden State looks to continue its resurgence.In November, the N.B.A. began investigating Robert Sarver, the Suns’ owner, after ESPN published accusations of racism and sexism against him from what ESPN said were current and former Suns employees. If the specter of that investigation has affected the team, it hasn’t shown on the court.Phoenix has looked formidable in Coach Monty Williams’ third year with the franchise. After a 1-3 start to the season, the Suns went on an 18-game winning streak, which set a franchise record for consecutive wins. That included a win over Golden State and ended with a loss to Golden State. Aided by point guard Chris Paul’s steady veteran hand (he leads the league in assists per game), they’ve weathered injuries. Deandre Ayton missed eight games with a leg injury and illness, and Devin Booker missed seven games with a hamstring injury.Golden State awaits the return of Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry’s sharpshooting counterpart, who has been absent for more than two years with two serious injuries. He could return soon, but not in time for this game. The team has rocketed to the top of the conference even without him.Curry set the N.B.A. record for career 3s last week and has been playing well enough to merit consideration for his third M.V.P. Award. Role players, such as Jordan Poole and Gary Payton II, have made major contributions as well.Nets (21-9) at Los Angeles Lakers (16-17), 8 p.m., ABC and ESPNThe Nets have been hit hard by the virus recently, with so many players, including James Harden, unavailable that three games were postponed.Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesIdeally, this would be a matchup of the Nets’ Kevin Durant against his longtime elite contemporary, LeBron James of the Lakers. And in theory, there would be other stars, too, like Kyrie Irving for the Nets and Anthony Davis for the Lakers.But it’s not to be. Davis is out for several weeks because of a knee injury. And the Nets are missing so many players as a result of the league’s health and safety protocols — including Durant and Irving — that their last three games have been postponed. On Thursday, Nets Coach Steve Nash announced that James Harden had left protocols, making him available against the Lakers.For this matchup, the Nets, who are in first place in the Eastern Conference, are taking on a Lakers team fighting just to stay in the conversation to make the playoffs.The Lakers’ supporting cast around James and Davis, thus far, has proved to be ill-fitting, and the roster has dealt with a scourge of injuries. Russell Westbrook, the Lakers’ most high-profile off-season addition, has struggled at times. James is putting up exceptional numbers for a 36-year-old, but appears to be finally slowing down: He’s more reliant on his jumper than ever before, averaging a career high in 3-point attempts per game, and a career low in free-throw attempts per game. James is still one of the best players in the league, but it’s not apparent that he can carry an offense by himself like he used to.With the Nets slated to be without so many key players, this should have been marked as an easy win for a James-led team. But not this year. These Lakers, even at full strength, are mediocre and prone to coast through games. Right now, it’s a tossup.Dallas Mavericks (15-16) at Utah Jazz (22-9), 10:30 p.m., ESPNDonovan Mitchell, left, and the Utah Jazz will face a Mavericks team that has been dealing with injuries all season.Rick Bowmer/Associated PressWhat’s regular-season dominance without playoff success? The Utah Jazz found themselves confronting that question last season when they finished the regular season with the best record in the N.B.A., but only reached the second round of the playoffs.That’s meant so far this season their game-to-game focus is on not just their early wins and losses, but on what lessons they can take into the postseason.“If you’re perfect in November, no one’s going to care come playoff time,” Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell said.Mitchell has led the Jazz offense with more than 25 points per game, while Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson, the league’s reigning sixth man of the year, have also been important pieces.Defensively they are led by Rudy Gobert, who is the league’s best with 15.1 rebounds per game and also contributes more than 2 blocks per game.They’ll face a Mavericks team that has dealt with injuries all season, including to guard Luka Doncic, their best player, who is expected to miss this game because of the league’s health protocols.Although Doncic leads the team with 25.6 points per game, the Mavericks are not dramatically different statistically when he’s on the court. But they are more fun to watch. If Doncic misses the Christmas Day game, a Dallas team ravaged by the virus and injuries will have a tough time making a game against the Jazz interesting. More