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      Growing Chorus of N.B.A. Stars Boos League’s Virus Strategy

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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 storyGrowing Chorus of N.B.A. Stars Boos League’s Virus StrategyGiannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard joined LeBron James in criticizing the league’s plans for an All-Star Game, while Kevin Durant questioned protocols.Kevin Durant spoke out against the N.B.A. on social media on Friday night after he was pulled from a game because of the league’s coronavirus health and safety protocols. He had already played 19 minutes.Credit…Frank Franklin Ii/Associated PressFeb. 6, 2021Updated 4:53 p.m. ETMultiple N.B.A. stars, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant, added their voices to the growing chorus of players criticizing the league’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly plans to hold the All-Star Game in Atlanta on March 7.“We’ve got to all follow the big dog,” Antetokounmpo told reporters on Friday night, referring to LeBron James, who this week said that holding the game would be “a slap in the face” for players. Echoing James, Antetokounmpo, the reigning Most Valuable Player Award winner, said he had “zero excitement, zero energy” for the game.Following Antetokounmpo’s comments, Leonard, the Los Angeles Clippers forward, said he was not surprised by the league’s plans, but that it was “just putting money over health right now, pretty much.”“We all know why we’re playing it,” said Leonard, a four-time All-Star. “It’s money on the line. There’s the opportunity to make more money.”The All-Star events are a chance to showcase the N.B.A.’s top talent. There is also a financial benefit, although how much is unclear. This year, the league, in conjunction with the players’ union, is planning to hold the 3-point contest and the skills competition on the same day as the game to condense an affair that typically lasts days. The N.B.A.’s collective bargaining agreement requires those selected for the All-Star Game to play if they are healthy.Nonetheless, a condensed schedule does not eliminate the added health risks of an event bringing together the game’s best players from across the country for an exhibition — and presents a sharp contrast to rules that bar players from sharing hugs and handshakes after games to help reduce the chances of infection spread.The league’s protocols appear to be wearing on some players, including Durant of the Nets, who was pulled from a game on Friday night in a strange spectacle that played out on TV and social media. About 20 minutes before the Nets were to tip off against the Toronto Raptors, the Nets announced that Durant would not start the game because of the league’s virus protocols. Just after the game started, the Nets announced that Durant had been cleared to play. But then, after Durant played a little more than 19 minutes, he was pulled from the game and ruled out because of the protocols.Shortly after leaving the game, Durant posted on Twitter, “Free me.” He had appeared frustrated on the TV broadcast as he walked out of the arena after being removed from the game, tossing a water bottle to the side as he walked into the tunnel.The N.B.A. then released a statement saying that Durant had tested negative for the coronavirus three times in the past 24 hours but had “interacted” with someone who first had an inconclusive test result before the game on Friday, then a positive result during the game. An inconclusive test, according to the N.B.A.’s protocols, does not necessarily require quarantine, so Durant was allowed to play. But when the positive result came in, the league pulled Durant “out of an abundance of caution.”In response to the statement, Durant tweeted: “Yo @nba, your fans aren’t dumb!!!! You can’t fool em with your Wack ass PR tactics.”Mike Bass, a spokesman for the N.B.A., told The New York Times that 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. The health and safety of everyone involved is at the forefront of our discussions with the Players Association.”The players’ union declined to comment, but Chris Paul, the Phoenix Suns guard and president of the players’ union, told reporters on Friday: “Guys are entitled to their feelings, their decisions, everything. I think the job for the union has been to try to make sure our players are healthy and safe.“This is something that was a decision by the league, and we are definitely day in and day out trying to figure it out,” he added. “But we’ve got 450 players that we are always trying to get insight from. It’s tough, but we are trying to figure it out right now.”Paul also said that he had previously spoken to James about the topic.The league has struggled to contain virus outbreaks this season. The N.B.A. has postponed 23 games in connection with infections and contact tracing, and has stationed security guards on the court before and after games to discourage players from socializing. Only five of the league’s 30 teams have not had a virus-related postponement.On Jan. 12, the league and the players’ union announced new health protocols to deal with a rash of game postponements. Among the new rules, players and staff have been directed to remain at their homes or hotels when on the road except for team activities and essential tasks. After a recent game between the Miami Heat and the Nets, a security official interrupted Nets guard Kyrie Irving’s attempt to exchange jerseys with the Heat’s Bam Adebayo — much to the bafflement of Irving. (Irving slipped a jersey to Adebayo after their next game two days later.)Others players have weighed in on the All-Star game as well. On Friday, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, who was selected to his first All-Star team last season, said: “I feel like, for the most part, they have done a great job of trying to keep us safe,” referring to the league, “though you can’t control everything. But I do understand the concerns about it, especially in Atlanta.”His teammate Kemba Walker, a four-time All Star, told reporters on Friday that he agreed with James.“He’s a smart man,” Walker said. “He’s been around. He’s a leader. A lot of things he says are correct. He feels the way he feels. I’m probably going to be on vacation.”Earlier in the week, De’Aaron Fox, the top guard on the Sacramento Kings, said holding the game would be “stupid.”“If we have to wear masks and do all this for a regular game, then what’s the point of bringing the All-Star game back?” Fox told reporters. “Obviously, money makes the world go ’round so it is what it is.”For the moment, the N.B.A.’s virus-related game postponements have died down. The most recent one was on Monday, when the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets were supposed to play in Denver. Two days later, the league said in its weekly report that no new players had tested positive for the coronavirus. The week before there had been one case, a sharp reduction from the 27 reported over the two weeks prior. In January, several teams were missing multiple players because of infections and contact tracing, but now most teams are no longer missing anyone for that reason.N.B.A. players — like much of the country — are under enormous mental strain, as Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors said in a podcast interview that was posted on Friday. He said this season has been particularly difficult with longer days as a result of daily testing and restrictions in the league’s protocols.“Even on off days, you have to go to the facility and test,” Green said. “And so even just seeing that facility that day, although you may not even go in and work out, but you drive into that facility every day. Mentally, it’s exhausting and so it’s been a very tough season to say the least, and I think a lot of guys are struggling with it.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      From Kobe to LeBron: Tragedy and Triumph in the N.B.A.

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonThe Warriors Are StrugglingVirus Upends Houston RocketsMarc Stein’s Fearless PredictionsThe Reloaded LakersAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storymarc stein on basketballFrom Kobe to LeBron: Tragedy and Triumph in the N.B.A.A year that began with the deaths of two N.B.A. icons could not end soon enough, marked by heartache along the way but also small moments worth celebrating now.Kobe Bryant and LeBron James dominated a year of tragedy and triumph in the basketball world.Credit…John McCoy/Getty ImagesDec. 30, 2020, 9:00 a.m. ETThe longest and possibly saddest year in pro basketball history is almost over. From this world that plays out on hardwood, as with so many other wings of society, there will be few fond farewells to 2020.The basketball public has been losing and grieving since the first day of January, when David Stern, the N.B.A.’s former longtime commissioner, died at age 77. Soon after, a helicopter headed for a weekend youth tournament with nine aboard, among them Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, Calif. There were no survivors.Mere weeks later, the country was gripped by the coronavirus. Inside and outside of the sport’s sphere, life did not get easier and, as 2021 dawns, it still hasn’t.Yet there was some undeniable good along the way, most of all the N.B.A.’s leadership in coping with the coronavirus, and how its players, in tandem with their longtime activist peers from the W.N.B.A., lent many loud and influential voices to a year of profound social reckoning. The N.B.A. was the first major professional sports league to shut down in response to the pandemic, completed its 2019-20 season by engineering an ambitious protective bubble, and amplified the fight for racial justice and equality.Those were real-world triumphs that will be long-lasting.So let’s celebrate them. In the final edition of Year 3 for this newsletter, I have singled out a few of the far smaller victories, too, as opposed to rehashing a frequently dispiriting 12 months in detail. For all the natural Year In Review instincts that kick in for all of us every December, I’d rather reach back for some smiles, thin as they might be, than recount all the tumult and tragedy.Allow me to rewind to All-Star Weekend in Chicago in February, when the much-maligned dunk contest, and a competitive All-Star Game crunchtime enhanced by the use of the Elam scoring system, generated a level of tension and watchability that many skeptics no longer thought possible.Derrick Jones Jr. won the dunk contest during a revitalized All-Star Weekend in Chicago in February.Credit…Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThere were five uplifting Sundays in a row during the mostly lonely (and scary) days of April and May when a basketball documentary about Michael Jordan, “The Last Dance,” delivered the sort of shared experience and sense of community — through sports — that was otherwise unavailable.Michael Jordan captivated millions each week this spring with his recollections of his Chicago Bulls glory days.Credit…Jon RocheThe recent sports trading card renaissance extended to basketball, and led to rookie cards from LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo fetching $1.8 million — each — at auction.The creative forces behind the acclaimed animated series “Game of Zones” served up one final season that, to my great shock and pride, managed to work in a few lucky sports scribes.The seventh season of the animated show “Game of Zones” by Bleacher Report includes characters inspired by Marc Stein, right, and the former N.B.A. star Dwyane Wade, left.Credit…Bleacher ReportAnd when it comes to something that really matters: Delonte West, the former N.B.A. guard, was back in Maryland to spend Christmas with his family after years of struggling with bipolar disorder and drug use. A video surfaced in late September that appeared to show West, a former Dallas Maverick, homeless in Dallas. That led Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks, to track him down and help West enter a drug rehabilitation facility in Florida.The dunks and trading cards and M.J. memes, to be clear, were mere footnotes at a time even sports struggled to provide its usual escape, but one suspects we will keep coming back to the bigger headlines from basketball’s intersection with a global health crisis.“This will go down as the most remembered year in N.B.A. history,” said Jared Dudley, the veteran forward and frequent unofficial team spokesman for the Los Angeles Lakers. “They will be making movies about 2020 for years to come.”He’s probably right. Tales from the bubble are bound to hold considerable long-term interest, particularly after Dudley’s Lakers emerged from the grand experiment as champions.Hollywood’s team is back on top for the first time since 2009-10, and the ending did include a surprise element: James and Co. have not been subjected to as much asterisk talk as the curmudgeons among us (like me in April) envisaged.My original view stemmed to some degree from fears that the N.B.A. postseason would be truncated from its usual four rounds of best-of-seven series, and thus not constitute a representative championship run. Critics could have also seized on the absence of travel, arenas without fans, and how much living and playing at the same address might have benefited the Lakers, so I still wanted to give it some time to see how their 17th championship would be received.LeBron James said he has won “the two hardest championships” in N.B.A. history, including the 2019-20 title.Credit…Harry How/Getty ImagesThe response has been encouraging. Occasional jabs about James and his supposed “Mickey Mouse” ring haven’t really stuck.Perhaps James went too far the other way with his recent assertion on the “Road Trippin’” podcast that he had won “the two hardest championships” in league history: Cleveland’s comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the 2015-16 N.B.A. finals against the 73-win Golden State Warriors, and the Lakers’ bubble crown. Historians haven’t exactly rushed to endorse those claims, but there is an no shortage of appreciation for what the Lakers did overcome during their 95-day bubble stay, cut off from the outside world.There was a mental toll from essentially living at work. There was isolation. There was an internal conflict to manage, as James and many of his peers would explain, for athletes playing a game and feeding the entertainment industry at a time of so much social unrest in their home communities.The truth, of course, is that you could slap an asterisk on just about anything that happened in 2020, sports or not, since we strayed so far from normalcy in too many precincts to count. Or did so much change get foisted upon all of us that nothing in 2020 should be sullied by the asterisk treatment?Maybe we’ll have that figured out by next year’s final newsletter.The Scoop @TheSteinLineCorner ThreeThe league’s free agency investigation of the Bucks ruined Milwaukee’s chances of signing Bogdan Bogdanovic, who landed with the Atlanta Hawks.Credit…Brett Davis/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.(Questions may be lightly edited or condensed for clarity.)Q: It is vital that it be explained why this was the “line in the sand” for the N.B.A. There have clearly been other examples of tampering. Why were no draft picks rescinded in those cases? — @Wanediggity from TwitterStein: I know Bucks fans are upset, but I don’t think the league’s decision to strip their team of a second-round pick in 2022 in the wake of Milwaukee’s failed attempt to court Bogdan Bogdanovic is such a mystery. For all the league’s shortcomings in policing and curbing tampering, it has been consistent in dishing out penalties when violations were blatant. The violations, in this case, were pretty blatant.These were not mere rumblings or assumptions about the sort of free-agent conversations that many of us suspect are happening leaguewide before they are supposed to. The league opened an investigation in response to a detailed news report about a five-player deal involving the Bucks and Sacramento Kings that had Bogdanovic, a restricted free agent, landing in Milwaukee — nearly four days before free agency was scheduled to start.The league took action again on Monday when it fined Daryl Morey, Philadelphia’s new president of basketball operations, $50,000 for a seemingly harmless tweet congratulating James Harden on a statistical milestone he hit when Morey was still his general manager in Houston. It doesn’t matter if the social media post was automated or accidental, as ESPN reported Morey told the league office. The mere fact that Morey publicly “discussed” another team’s player put him in line for a fine.Bucks fans have asked me: What about all the teams that have tried to recruit Giannis Antetokounmpo behind the scenes? My retort: Do we have proof? If there was a detailed news report in circulation about a specific team doing so — or if text messages Antetokounmpo has reportedly received from players on other teams were turned in to the league — I’m quite sure penalties would be imposed on the offending clubs. But no such evidence has surfaced in the public domain. It’s not that the Bucks are the only ones breaking the rules. Other teams have just been better at hiding it.Whether or not Milwaukee or Sacramento wanted this stuff to be out there, it got out. Both were operating as if they had a deal even though Bogdanovic insisted he never agreed to anything. The league wasn’t going to let that go.Even though the league announced in September 2019 that it would institute a new set of anti-tampering regulations to crack down on the practice, there is clearly still much to fix, given how many deals we still saw coalesce in the early hours of free agency on Nov. 20. But the league’s stance on this one, in the words of its general counsel Rick Buchanan, is that Milwaukee had to be sanctioned for “gun-jumping” the start of free agency.There is plenty of skepticism regarding Commissioner Adam Silver’s claim that the punishment “will act as a clear deterrent” to other teams, since the whole episode technically only cost Milwaukee a future second-round pick. Yet it’s also true that the league’s decision to investigate essentially snuffed out any chance the Bucks had of resurrecting a deal for Bogdanovic — someone, by all accounts, Antetokounmpo badly wanted to play with.So losing the ability to pursue Bogdanovic was Milwaukee’s real penalty here, while Sacramento wound up losing Bogdanovic without compensation after electing not to match Atlanta’s four-year, $72 million offer sheet. The Kings did not receive any formal penalty from the league office, but they would have acquired a player they coveted from the Bucks (Donte DiVincenzo) had the original sign-and-trade plan been resuscitated.Q: Any word on the status of Jeremy Lin getting his FIBA Letter of Clearance yet? Many fans want to know! — Tom GardnerStein: To catch up those who weren’t following this saga as it played out on Dec. 19, Golden State needed a clearance letter from the Beijing Ducks, Lin’s last team in China, to sign and then immediately release him before 11 p.m. Eastern time that day. That would have allowed the Santa Cruz Warriors to secure Lin’s G League rights.In part because FIBA’s office is closed on weekends, Golden State couldn’t obtain the letter in time. The rush to get the clearance letter pretty much ended then, because it initially appeared that subsequently obtaining Lin’s G League rights would require some complicated (and more costly) roster gymnastics for the Warriors.It has since emerged that the Warriors will have a new pathway to steering Lin to their G League affiliate that wasn’t apparent then — provided that the G League goes ahead with a 2020-21 season that will be at least partly played in a bubble environment. The N.B.A. is instituting a rule that will enable N.B.A. parent clubs to recruit players to fill one G League roster spot with an N.B.A. veteran who has at least five years of service time. The Warriors will thus have a mechanism to guarantee that Lin can play with Santa Cruz, their G League affiliate, should he decide to sign with the league.Neither the Golden State Warriors nor the Santa Cruz Warriors would sign Lin. He would have to sign with the G League first and then be allocated to Santa Cruz via the new rule, which some G League observers are even calling “the Jeremy Lin rule.” Yet there is no frantic need for the clearance letter now with the G League still trying to resolve some outstanding issues and commit to a season.If Lin decides he wants to go the G League route in hopes that it can boost his chances of an N.B.A. comeback at age 32, and if Santa Cruz is where he wants to play, it will happen.Q: Knowing James Dolan, do you think that the Knicks want to trade for James Harden? I’m sure Dolan is already tired of the Knicks playing second fiddle to the Nets. — Frank AlecciStein: After skipping the opening week of training camp and forcing the league to hit him with an additional four-day quarantine last week, while repeatedly violating the league’s health and safety guidelines in both instances, Harden made his season debut Saturday and promptly uncorked 44 points and 17 assists in Houston’s overtime loss to Portland.As my Houston Chronicle colleague Jonathan Feigen put it, Harden quickly reminded us that, yes, he is worth the trouble on a lot of levels.This would be especially true for a Knicks team that doesn’t have anything close to a certifiable franchise player at the moment. I imagine that Harden would hold appeal throughout the organization — not just with Dolan — despite being under contract only for the rest of this season and next season before he has the right to become a free agent in July 2022.The harsh reality of the Knicks’ current roster, though, is also a problem when it comes to getting into the Harden sweepstakes, since Houston has made it clear that it wants a player like Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons to headline the package it receives for Harden. If there is a combination of Knicks players and draft picks that would entice the Rockets, I don’t see it.Numbers GameKevin Durant (7) and Kyrie Irving (11)Credit…Sarah Stier/Getty Images7-11In one of the better quotes from the season’s opening week, Kyrie Irving said he and his Nets teammate Kevin Durant had “introduced the world to 7-11” with their scoring outbursts in the Nets’ first two games. Irving, of course, was referring to their jersey numbers, not the famed convenience store chain.23.2The average margin of victory from the league’s five Christmas Day games was a whopping 23.2 points. Only the first game (Miami over New Orleans by 13) and the last one (Clippers over Denver by 13) could be classified as competitive. Not what the N.B.A. was hoping for when it pushed up the start of the season at the behest of the league’s television partners, who badly wanted a Christmas week launch.107There were 107 international players from 41 countries on opening-night rosters, including a record 17 players from Canada and a record-tying 14 African players. It’s the seventh consecutive season that opening-night rosters included at least 100 international players; 113 at the start of the 2016-17 season is the record. France (nine), Australia (eight) and Serbia and Germany (six each) are the countries with the most players after Canada.5K.C. Jones earned enshrinement to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1989, but his coaching résumé is perhaps even more H.O.F.-worthy. Jones coached three teams in the N.B.A. across 10 seasons (Washington, Boston and Seattle) and made five trips to the N.B.A. finals in that short span, winning championships with the Celtics in 1983-84 and 1985-86. Jones died on Christmas at the age of 88.4,500There is a strong argument to be made, as a matter of fairness, that fans should not be in N.B.A. buildings until all 30 teams were allowed by local health regulations to do so, because it is a competitive advantage to have a crowd of any size. Yet it’s worth noting just how varied the maximum crowd sizes are for the six teams currently admitting fans. At the low end: Cleveland (300 fans maximum), New Orleans (750) and Utah (1,500). At the high end: Toronto (3,800 fans maximum in Tampa, Fla.), Orlando (4,000) and Houston (4,500).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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      N.B.A. 2020-21 Predictions: LeBron vs. Luka for M.V.P.

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyN.B.A. 2020-21 Predictions: LeBron vs. Luka for M.V.P.Our panel predicts a big year for the Nets and the Pelicans’ Zion Williamson, a surprise from Damian Lillard, a Lakers repeat and a fierce battle among the rookies.Our predictors see a two-man race for the Most Valuable Player Award: LeBron James vs. Luka Doncic.Credit…Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports, via ReutersDec. 22, 2020, 3:00 a.m. ETThe last time the sports staff of The New York Times and assorted friends gathered to make the annual set of N.B.A. preseason predictions, we got some things right.Ahead of the 2019-20 season, several of us thought that Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks would repeat as the N.B.A.’s most valuable player. (Yawn.) Others predicted that the Oklahoma City Thunder would have a surprisingly successful season after a summer in which they traded Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers, and that the Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant would win the league’s Rookie of the Year Award over Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans.But no one predicted that the Los Angeles Lakers would win the championship — let alone advance to the N.B.A. finals. (The Clippers were the unanimous choice to come out of the West.) Or that the Lakers’ title run would come after the arrival of something called the “coronavirus,” which would suspend the season for four months and before resuming in a spectator-free bubble at Walt Disney World outside Orlando, Fla.The point being: Predictions are difficult, and sometimes impossible. But that is not about to stop us from trying again.Here is a look at some of our highly unscientific picks and prognostications for the season ahead:(The New York Times does not permit its staff to vote for the official N.B.A. awards.)The predictors:Jonathan Abrams, sports reporterHarvey Araton, Hall of Fame sportswriterElena Bergeron, assistant sports editorJonah Bromwich, staff writerScott Cacciola, sports reporterSopan Deb, sports reporterEvan Easterling, senior staff editorShauntel Lowe, N.B.A. editorMarc Stein, Hall of Fame sports reporterMost Valuable PlayerPortland’s Damian Lillard could have a shot at the M.V.P. Award with a top-five finish for his Trail Blazers.Credit…Pool photo by Kevin C. CoxAbrams: Anthony Davis (Lakers)Araton: Luka Doncic (Mavericks)Bergeron: LeBron James (Lakers)Bromwich: Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)Cacciola: Stephen Curry (Warriors)Deb: LeBron James (Lakers)Easterling: Luka Doncic (Mavericks)Lowe: LeBron James (Lakers)Stein: Luka Doncic (Mavericks)Why Curry? “He’s back. The Warriors won’t be title contenders without Klay Thompson. But they’ll be in the thick of the playoff race with Curry putting on nightly shows.” — CacciolaWhy Lillard? “The smart pick here is Kevin Durant or Luka Doncic, but I love Lillard, everyone else loves Lillard and if the Blazers crack the top five in the West, he’s got a great chance at it.” — BromwichRookie of the YearThere’s no consensus winner for rookie of the year, but Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball has been fun to watch during the preseason.Credit…John Raoux/Associated PressAbrams: Obi Toppin (Knicks)Araton: Immanuel Quickley (Knicks)Bergeron: LaMelo Ball (Hornets)Bromwich: Isaac Okoro (Cavaliers)Cacciola: Tyrese Haliburton (Kings)Deb: James Wiseman (Warriors)Easterling: LaMelo Ball (Hornets)Lowe: LaMelo Ball (Hornets)Stein: Deni Avdija (Wizards)Why Ball? “More offense will run through Ball than rookies on teams that are closer to contention, like James Wiseman in Golden State, or joining ready-made tandems, like Anthony Edwards, who’ll play alongside Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell in Minnesota. In limited preseason action, he showed signs his passing ability will translate to the N.B.A., a skill that will be augmented by playing with Gordon Hayward and Devonte’ Graham.” — EasterlingDefensive Player of the YearMany people and players thought the Lakers’ Anthony Davis should have been named the best defensive player last season.Credit…Mark J. Terrill/Associated PressAbrams: Anthony Davis (Lakers)Araton: Anthony Davis (Lakers)Bergeron: Anthony Davis (Lakers)Bromwich: Anthony Davis (Lakers)Cacciola: Anthony Davis (Lakers)Deb: Anthony Davis (Lakers)Easterling: Joel Embiid (Sixers)Lowe: Anthony Davis (Lakers)Stein: Anthony Davis (Lakers)Sixth Man of the YearThe best bet for sixth man will be one of these two Nets guards: Caris LeVert, left, and Spencer Dinwiddie, right.Credit…Harry How/Getty ImagesAbrams: Dennis Schröder (Lakers)Araton: Caris LeVert (Nets)Bergeron: Danilo Gallinari (Hawks)Bromwich: Spencer Dinwiddie (Nets)Cacciola: Spencer Dinwiddie (Nets) or Caris LeVert (Nets)Deb: Caris LeVert (Nets)Easterling: Tyler Herro (Heat)Lowe: Caris LeVert (Nets)Stein: Caris LeVert (Nets)Why the best sixth man will come from the Nets: “Whichever guard — LeVert or Dinwiddie — Coach Steve Nash chooses to bring off the bench is going to produce big numbers for a team that has all the components for a title run.” — CacciolaMost ImprovedAbrams: Lonzo Ball (Pelicans)Araton: Tyler Herro (Heat)Bergeron: Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets)Bromwich: Deandre Ayton (Suns)Cacciola: Deandre Ayton (Suns)Deb: Rui Hachimura (Wizards)Easterling: OG Anunoby (Raptors)Lowe: Tyler Herro (Heat)Stein: Christian Wood (Rockets)Wild Predictions for Houston:“John Wall will have a bounce-back season, leading a James Harden-less Houston Rockets team to fringe playoff contention.” — Abrams“It’s not that wild: John Wall is going to ball out in Houston. He seems fully rehabbed and highly motivated to show out, and the fresh start will help him bounce back from a rough two years off the court.” — BergeronCoach of the YearThe first-year coach Steve Nash has a lot to deal with, but if he can manage, the Nets can be champions.Credit…Kathy Willens/Associated PressAbrams: Monty Williams (Suns)Araton: Erik Spoelstra (Heat)Bergeron: Erik Spoelstra (Heat)Bromwich: Steve Nash (Nets)Cacciola: Steve Kerr (Warriors)Deb: Steve Nash (Nets)Easterling: Michael Malone (Nuggets)Lowe: Monty Williams (Suns)Stein: Steve Nash (Nets)Why Steve Nash? “The Nets and the Clippers remind me of each other a bit: superteams assembled in the last normal off-season, with sky-high potential and possibly combustible chemistry. The Nets will overcome the inevitable Kyrie Irving-related distractions and Nash will get credit for making it all run smooth-ish.” — BromwichExecutive of the YearRob Pelinka made significant upgrades to the defending champion Lakers’ roster this year.Credit…Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesAbrams: Rob Pelinka (Lakers)Araton: Sean Marks (Nets)Bergeron: Rob Pelinka (Lakers)Bromwich: Rob Pelinka (Lakers)Cacciola: Rob Pelinka (Lakers)Deb: Daryl Morey (Sixers)Easterling: James Jones (Suns)Lowe: Rob Pelinka (Lakers)Stein: Rob Pelinka (Lakers)Wild Prediction: “Tired of paying mega-salaries for meager results, Michael Jordan cashes out as majority owner of the Hornets to go all-in on NASCAR.” — AratonBest Record in the LeagueThe Bucks have had the best record two years in a row, but could not make it out of the East.Credit…Mark J. Terrill/Associated PressAbrams: Milwaukee BucksAraton: Miami HeatBergeron: Milwaukee BucksBromwich: Milwaukee BucksCacciola: Milwaukee BucksDeb: Milwaukee BucksEasterling: Milwaukee BucksLowe: Milwaukee BucksStein: Brooklyn NetsWild Predictions: What happens to James Harden?Cacciola: The Rockets will wait until the trade deadline to deal James Harden. What’s the rush?Deb: James Harden remains in Houston all season.Easterling: The Indiana Pacers trade for James Harden.Worst Record in the LeagueThe Cavaliers seem to be in a rebuild with all of their young players.Credit…Jason Miller/Getty ImagesAbrams: Detroit PistonsAraton: Detroit PistonsBergeron: Detroit PistonsBromwich: KnicksCacciola: Cleveland CavaliersDeb: Chicago BullsEasterling: Cleveland CavaliersLowe: Cleveland CavaliersStein: Cleveland CavaliersWild Prediction: “In the preseason, I watched the Cavaliers surprise Indiana twice, and then totally missed them losing to the Knicks in their next two. That means I’m unjustifiably excited about the Cavs, particularly Collin Sexton and Isaac Okoro. My wild, semi-informed prediction is that Cleveland will be fun to watch for the first time since LeBron left, and — why not? — will sneak into a play-in game.” — BromwichBreakout StarZion Williamson was injured for much of his rookie season, but he is expected to have an exciting Year 2.Credit…Gerald Herbert/Associated PressAbrams: Collin Sexton (Cavaliers)Araton: Zion Williamson (Pelicans)Bergeron: Christian Wood (Rockets)Bromwich: Talen Horton-Tucker (Lakers)Cacciola: Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets)Deb: Devonte’ Graham (Hornets)Easterling: Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets)Lowe: Obi Toppin (Knicks)Stein: Zion Williamson (Pelicans)Why Williamson? “Fully unleashed on the league.” — AratonEastern Conference FinalsMiami looks to be returning to the top of the Eastern Conference with its young stars Duncan Robinson, far left, and Tyler Herro, center right.Credit…Chris O’Meara/Associated PressAbrams: Sixers over BucksAraton: Heat over NetsBergeron: Bucks over HeatBromwich: Nets over BucksCacciola: Celtics over NetsDeb: Bucks over NetsEasterling: Heat over NetsLowe: Nets over BucksStein: Heat over NetsWestern Conference FinalsThe Lakers are the favorite to come out of the Western Conference over their in-house rivals, the Clippers.Credit…Harry How/Getty ImagesAbrams: Lakers over Trail BlazersAraton: Lakers over JazzBergeron: Lakers over MavericksBromwich: Lakers over ClippersCacciola: Lakers over ClippersDeb: Lakers over WarriorsEasterling: Lakers over MavericksLowe: Lakers over ClippersStein: Lakers over ClippersN.B.A. FinalsNo matter the Eastern Conference foe, the Lakers are our pick to win the championship.Credit…Kim Klement/USA Today Sports, via ReutersAbrams: Lakers over SixersAraton: Lakers over HeatBergeron: Lakers over BucksBromwich: Lakers over NetsCacciola: Lakers over CelticsDeb: Lakers over BucksEasterling: Lakers over HeatLowe: Lakers over NetsStein: Lakers over HeatWhy the Lakers will win again: “I will never again bet against LeBron, even if he runs for president.” — AratonAdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      N.B.A. Eastern Conference Preview: Will the Nets Reign Supreme?

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyN.B.A. Eastern Conference Preview: Will the Nets Reign Supreme?The Bucks got better, but the Nets with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant might be too much for Milwaukee — or any other team in the East — to overcome.With Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant healthy, and a strong supporting cast, the Nets are poised to make a run to the top of the Eastern Conference.Credit…Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty ImagesDec. 21, 2020, 3:00 a.m. ETIs it already the most wonderful time of year again? With LeBron alley-ooping and referees demanding we be of good cheer? There’ll be dunks used for posting, Kawhi laughs for roasting and trash talking out in the snowwwww.Yes, the N.B.A. season is upon us, beginning Tuesday, with a much different landscape from any other season. Most arenas won’t have fans in the stands because of the pandemic. At the same time, several top stars who missed most or all of last season will be returning, shifting the balance of power in the N.B.A.And all eyes are on James Harden to see where he ends up, whether he has to stay in Houston for the season or gets sent to one of his preferred destinations, like Milwaukee, Philadelphia or Miami.The Eastern Conference is wide open this year. Here’s a look at where it stands.The ContendersNow that Kevin Durant, left, and Kyrie Irving are finally able to play together, they should make the Nets the best team in the East.Credit…Kathy Willens/Associated PressBrooklyn Nets2019-2020 record: 35-37 (No. 7 playoff seed)Key additions: Jeff Green, Landry ShametKey subtractions: Wilson Chandler, Garrett TempleOutlook: On paper, this is the most talented team in the East, if not the league. The only new players this season are key reserves, but the real addition is Kevin Durant, who is ready to play after missing last season with an Achilles’ tendon injury. His friend and fellow perennial All-Star Kyrie Irving also will be returning, from a shoulder injury that limited him to 20 games last season. If they are close to the players they were before their injuries, this team is a threat to win the finals, especially considering its dynamic supporting cast.The Nets have elite shooting in Shamet and Joe Harris; rebounding and shot-blocking in DeAndre Jordan and Jarrett Allen; quality playmakers in Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie; and bench sparkplugs like Green and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot.Getting Giannis Antetokounmpo signed to an extension was a victory of its own kind for the Milwaukee Bucks.Credit…Pool photo by Ashley LandisMilwaukee Bucks2019-2020 record: 56-17 (No. 1 seed)Key additions: Jrue Holiday, D.J. Augustin, Bobby Portis, Torrey CraigKey subtractions: Robin Lopez, Eric Bledsoe, Marvin Williams, Wesley Matthews, Ersan IlyasovaOutlook: The Bucks enter the season without the cloud of whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will sign an extension hanging over Wisconsin. That’s a huge win in itself. But now the focus will be on whether this team will vie for a championship or disappear early in the playoffs again.Trading for Holiday, a former All-Star, was a great start. Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Holiday are a fearsome trio. The Bucks also revamped their bench, adding Augustin, a veteran who can shoot the ball, to make up for the loss of players like Matthews and Ilyasova. (Side note: Antetokounmpo has the opportunity to become the first player since Larry Bird in 1985-86 to win the Most Valuable Player Award for a third straight season.)Repeating as the Eastern Conference champions could be tough for the Miami Heat.Credit…Kim Klement/USA Today Sports, via ReutersMiami Heat2019-2020 record: 44-29 (No. 5 seed)Key additions: Avery Bradley, Maurice HarklessKey departures: Solomon HillOutlook: After last year’s Cinderella run to the finals, the Heat enter this season with the same team more or less, led by Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic. You can expect Tyler Herro, who mostly came off the bench last season and delivered many strong performances in the playoffs, to have a bigger role. You do wonder whether Miami will be able to take teams by surprise again, with many teams in the East making significant moves to get better or having players return from injury.The MaybesThe Sixers brought in two elite shooters, but they still need Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons to improve to avoid last season’s disappointment.Credit…Matt Slocum/Associated PressPhiladelphia 76ers2019-2020 record: 43-30 (No. 6 seed)Key additions: Seth Curry, Danny Green, Dwight HowardKey departures: Al Horford, Josh RichardsonOutlook: Daryl Morey, the new team president, already left his mark on the roster, shipping out the ill-fitting Horford for Green, who will provide Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons some much needed spacing, as will Curry. The team is better balanced than the disappointing one last season, but Embiid and Simmons still must elevate their play. (And let’s not forget: The Sixers are in play to trade for Houston’s James Harden.)The Celtics are counting on Jayson Tatum’s improvement to go deeper into the playoffs this season.Credit…Matt Slocum/Associated PressBoston Celtics2019-2020 record: 48-24 (No. 3 seed)Key additions: Jeff Teague, Tristan ThompsonKey departures: Gordon Hayward, Brad WanamakerOutlook: This was a bad off-season for the Celtics, who lost Hayward, an All-Star talent, in a free-agency-related trade that netted Boston a record trade exception, which the franchise could use to acquire a solid rotation player. To contend, the Celtics will need Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to make another leap, plus better-than-expected contributions from their stable of young players like Grant Williams, Robert Williams and Romeo Langford, especially given Kemba Walker’s knee troubles.The dynamic guard Trae Young and a much-improved roster make the Hawks a must-watch this season.Credit…Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports, via ReutersAtlanta Hawks2019-2020 record: 20-47Key additions: Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn, Solomon HillKey departures: Vince Carter, Evan Turner, Jeff TeagueOutlook: The Hawks are a team primed to make The Leap. Aside from having an elite talent like Trae Young, the team signed several strong veterans to surround a dynamic core that includes John Collins, Clint Capela, Kevin Huerter and Cam Reddish. Melding so many new faces will be difficult, and this team will probably be poor defensively. But Atlanta will be a must-watch on League Pass.Russell Westbrook was a surprise addition to a Wizards team that struggled last season.Credit…Sarah Stier/Getty ImagesWashington Wizards2019-2020 record: 25-47Key additions: Russell Westbrook, Robin Lopez, Raul NetoKey departures: John WallOutlook: Both of the team’s stars — Bradley Beal and Westbrook — will be playing this season with chips on their shoulders: Beal, for being snubbed for All-N.B.A. teams despite his stellar last season and Westbrook for the narrative surrounding his campaign in Houston, despite making an All N.B.A. team. Look for Rui Hachimura to be in the conversation for the Most Improved Player Award after a strong rookie season.The Indiana Pacers had a quiet off-season, but at least Victor Oladipo is still with them.Credit…David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty ImagesIndiana Pacers2019-2020 record: 45-28 (No. 4 seed)Key additions: NoneKey departures: NoneOutlook: The biggest acquisition the Pacers made this off-season was a new coach, Nate Bjorkgren. Aside from that, they’ll have a healthy Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to build around, as well as Malcolm Brogdon and TJ Warren, who had a great run in the Florida bubble. Hard to see this team making any real noise as the season progresses, though.Pascal Siakam wasn’t great in the playoffs, but he still has value for the Raptors this season.Credit…Kim Klement/USA Today Sports, via ReutersToronto Raptors2019-2010 record: 53-19 (No. 2 seed)Key additions: DeAndre’ Bembry, Alex Len, Aron BaynesKey departures: Serge IbakaOutlook: This might be the toughest team in the East to peg. Pascal Siakam’s stock took a dive after his performance in the playoffs, and replacing Ibaka with the combination of Baynes and Len might not be enough. Kyle Lowry turns 35 this season. Toronto was knocked out of the playoffs in the second round and didn’t upgrade much in talent. Even so, the Raptors are never to be counted out.The Non-ContendersThe Magic sneaked into the playoffs last season and look to be only so-so again.Credit…Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesOrlando Magic2019-2020 record: 33-40 (No. 8 seed)Key additions: Cole AnthonyKey departures: D.J. AugustinOutlook: The only reason to watch this team is to see what kind of player Anthony, drafted 15th over all last month, will be. Otherwise, the team is set up to be average again, especially with Jonathan Isaac likely to miss the year with a knee injury. It’s time for this franchise to start over. Building around Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier is just not good enough.LaMelo Ball, the Hornets rookie, has already made waves during the preseason with his playmaking skills.Credit…Chris Carlson/Associated PressCharlotte Hornets2019-2020 record: 23-42Key additions: LaMelo Ball, Gordon HaywardKey departures: Nicolas BatumOutlook: This team could challenge for the playoffs. Hayward had a great year in Boston last season, and Ball is showing himself to be a talented playmaker during the preseason. Devonte’ Graham (18.2 points a game in his sophomore N.B.A. campaign) is a solid young talent poised for a leap.Zach LaVine can put up big numbers for the Bulls, but this season they need him to be consistent.Credit…Nam Y. Huh/Associated PressChicago Bulls2019-2020 record: 22-43Key additions: Garrett Temple, Patrick WilliamsKey departures: NoneOutlook: The Bulls have a new coach, Billy Donovan, who has a penchant for squeezing production out of less-than-stellar rosters. Zach LaVine put up all All-Star numbers (25.5 points a game) last season, but will need more consistent playmaking to actually become one. If the Bulls want to be competitive, they’ll need Lauri Markkanen to recover from a down year.Obi Toppin will give Knicks fans something to cheer about this season.Credit…Raj Mehta/USA Today Sports, via ReutersKnicks2019-2020 record: 21-45Key additions: Obi Toppin, Alec BurksKey departures: Bobby Portis, Wayne Ellington, Maurice HarklessOutlook: The Knicks, aside from hiring Tom Thibodeau as coach, didn’t make any major moves this off-season, which is fine. They sat out a weak free-agent class and kept their flexibility. Barring any major star trades, this is another development year for the franchise. It’s a chance to determine what exactly RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson can do. Separately, Toppin may be the most exciting Knicks draft pick in years.Blake Griffin’s future with the Detroit Pistons is uncertain.Credit…Raj Mehta/USA Today Sports, via ReutersDetroit Pistons2019-2020 record: 20-46Key additions: Killian Hayes, Mason Plumlee, Jahlil Okafor, Josh Jackson, Jerami Grant, Saddiq BeyKey departures: Luke Kennard, Christian WoodOutlook: It was an odd off-season for Detroit, as the team stocked up on big men who can’t shoot, while trading away talented pieces like Kennard and Wood. But Blake Griffin is healthy, and the franchise is hoping Hayes is ready for big minutes. This is probably not a playoff team right now, but players like Hayes offer hope for the future. Will Griffin be on the team come season’s end?The Cavaliers were at the bottom of the East last season, and their prospects now don’t look much better.Credit…Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty ImagesCleveland Cavaliers2019-2020 record: 19-46Key additions: Isaac Okoro, JaVale McGeeKey departures: Tristan ThompsonOutlook: Collin Sexton, going into his third year, is one of the few guaranteed bright spots on the team. He’s a proven scorer. But Andre Drummond and Kevin Love on the frontline are … an interesting pairing. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Cleveland last in the conference again.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Giannis Antetokounmpo Signs $228 Million Extension With Bucks

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyGiannis Antetokounmpo Signs $228 Million Extension With BucksWith less than a week before the deadline, Antetokounmpo signed a five-year extension with the team that drafted him in 2013. He has won the past two N.B.A. Most Valuable Player Awards.Giannis Antetokounmpo posted on social media that he was “blessed to be able to be a part of the Milwaukee Bucks for the next 5 years.”Credit…Ashley Landis/Associated PressDec. 15, 2020Updated 7:01 p.m. ETGiannis Antetokounmpo redoubled his commitment to the only N.B.A. franchise he has known by signing a five-year contract extension worth an estimated $228 million from the Milwaukee Bucks.Six days before a Dec. 21 deadline to either sign the so-called supermax extension or become an unrestricted free agent after this season, Antetokounmpo on Tuesday released a statement via his social media channels proclaiming himself “blessed to be able to be a part of the Milwaukee Bucks for the next 5 years.”“This is my home, this is my city,” Antetokounmpo wrote.This is my home, this is my city.. I’m blessed to be able to be a part of the Milwaukee Bucks for the next 5 years. Let’s make these years count. The show goes on, let’s get it. 🤎🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/895tCBE9RK— Giannis Ugo Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) December 15, 2020
      In a team statement later Tuesday confirming the deal, Antetokounmpo said: “You took a chance on us eight years ago and now putting my signature on a contract like this is unreal — but it’s all because of hard work. This is my home and I’m going to continue working hard and do my best to make the Bucks, our fans and the city proud. Let’s have fun, win and make these years count.”The Bucks selected Antetokounmpo, who was born and raised in Greece by Nigerian parents, with the 15th overall pick in the 2013 draft, despite Antetokounmpo’s limited professional experience in the Greek second division. Antetokounmpo has blossomed beyond all expectations to win back-to-back Most Valuable Player Awards and, by committing his long-term future to the Bucks, has delivered the team its most significant victory since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson led Milwaukee to its lone N.B.A. championship in 1970-1971.“This is one of the great days in Bucks history,” Peter Feigin, the Bucks’ team president, said during a virtual meeting organized by the Milwaukee Press Club shortly after Antetokounmpo revealed the news.Antetokounmpo, who turned 26 on Dec. 6, is under contract for one more season on his current deal and, because he signed an extension, cannot be traded by the Bucks before next season. The extension is the largest contract in N.B.A. history, surpassing the five-year, $207 million contract Russell Westbrook signed to stay with the Oklahoma City Thunder in September 2017. Antetokounmpo’s new deal includes a player option after the 2024-25 season that would allow him to enter free agency one year early.After winning M.V.P. honors for the first time in 2018-19, Antetokounmpo averaged 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game last season to repeat as M.V.P. He was also named Defensive Player of the Year last season, joining Michael Jordan (1987-88) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1993-94) as the only players to win the M.V.P. and defensive player awards in the same season.The Bucks posted the league’s best regular-season record in each of the past two seasons but have had back-to-back playoff disappointments, which led to considerable apprehension in Milwaukee that Antetokounmpo might pass on the extension and choose a new team next season. After a meek second-round playoff series loss to the Miami Heat this summer, Bucks officials promised Antetokounmpo that they would upgrade the roster — and they duly agreed to a trade in November to acquire the highly rated guard Jrue Holiday from the New Orleans Pelicans.But a planned sign-and-trade deal with the Sacramento Kings to acquire the sharpshooting restricted free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic in addition to Holiday collapsed and, as The New York Times first reported, prompted the league office to open an investigation. The N.B.A. is exploring possible violations of its anti-tampering rules, since it appeared that the Bucks and Kings had already reached an agreement on a sign-and-trade transaction more than three days before free-agent discussions of any kind were allowed to start. Bogdanovic eventually joined the Atlanta Hawks after he signed a four-year, $72 million offer sheet with the Hawks that Sacramento elected not to match.Tuesday’s announcement ended a nervy period for the Bucks since the Holiday acquisition and the Bogdanovic drama, sparing the small-market franchise from the specter of constant questions about Antetokounmpo’s future as the Bucks try to make it back to the N.B.A. finals for the first time since 1973-74. After that season, Abdul-Jabbar quietly asked Milwaukee to trade him, saying he preferred to live in New York or Los Angeles. The request ultimately led the Bucks to trade Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers in June 1975.In a 2017 interview with The Times, Antetokounmpo described himself as “a low-profile guy” who had no interest in “all these flashy cities like L.A. or Miami.”“I don’t know if I could be the same player if I played in those cities,” Antetokounmpo said then.Teams such as Miami, Toronto and Dallas had been managing their payrolls in hopes of making a free-agent run at Antetokounmpo in 2021, but to the Bucks’ great relief, teams in flashier markets won’t get that chance.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Giannis Antetokounmpo Has Left the Bucks, and Their Fans, Waiting

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyGiannis Antetokounmpo Has Plenty of Pens. But Will He Sign?The Milwaukee Bucks superstar was gifted pens by many of his teammates in hopes he would sign a so-called supermax deal with the team. In a complicated business, it’s not that simple.Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks has won the N.B.A.’s Most Valuable Player Award in back-to-back seasons. He has an entire city and region waiting to see if he will stick around.Credit…Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesDec. 11, 2020, 2:35 p.m. ETWhen the Milwaukee Bucks showed up for training camp on Sunday, Khris Middleton presented his teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo with a gift for his 26th birthday: a pen. Antetokounmpo did not understand its significance at first.“Then I was thinking about it, and I realized he was wanting me to sign the contract,” he said.Antetokounmpo got the joke. He thought it was funny. But as more teammates arrived and they continued to bestow him with pens, he apparently stopped laughing.“It got a little bit old,” he said. “I’ve got 20 pens here in my locker.”The problem is that Antetokounmpo has not used any of them for their intended purpose. He has until Dec. 21 to sign a so-called supermax contract extension that would be worth about $227 million and would run through the 2025-26 season. Barring that, or a more modest extension, he would become an unrestricted free agent next summer.Waiting is the hardest part in Milwaukee, which has gone 49 years since the Bucks won their only N.B.A. championship and now has no shortage of Greek Freak agita. Fans have watched Antetokounmpo blossom from a spindly-limbed teenager into one of the league’s most dynamic forces, a back-to-back winner of the N.B.A.’s Most Valuable Player Award.Now, as the days pass and the deadline to resolve his contract situation comes into sharper focus, Antetokounmpo is holding the city in a state of suspense.In hopes of convincing Antetokounmpo to stick around, Milwaukee overpaid to acquire Jrue Holiday, one of the N.B.A.’s best two-way guards.Credit…Rusty Costanza/Associated PressFrank Madden, a management consultant and longtime Bucks fan who has written and co-hosted podcasts about the team, noted how a cloud had been hanging over the franchise in recent months because of the uncertainty surrounding Antetokounmpo, a cloud that had darkened in the wake of another early exit from the playoffs.“But now we’ve reached this inflection point where it’s not just about the national media saying, ‘Does he want to leave?’” Madden said in a telephone interview. “It’s also Giannis opening the door to that — or at least not slamming it shut by signing the extension.”Much of that feeling stems from comments that Antetokounmpo made — or chose not to make — on Wednesday at a virtual news conference. In addition to revealing that he had a new collection of unused pens, Antetokounmpo was noncommittal about his extension. He said he was leaving it up to his agents.“I’m just focusing on basketball,” he said. “I do what I love. What I love is playing basketball. What I love is improving. What I love is helping my teammates. What I love is winning games. And off the court, about agents and contracts, I’m not focusing on that. Not that I don’t care about it. Obviously I care about it. It’s a very big decision in my life, and probably one of the biggest decisions I’m going to make. But I just let my agent focus on that.”Antetokounmpo has options. He could sign the supermax deal by Dec. 21. He could sign a shorter-term contract — there is no deadline for that style extension — for less money. Or he could opt not to sign anything at all, which would not necessarily preclude him from signing a supermax extension next summer.But it would also lead to several more months of questions and communal hand-wringing — for fans and for the Bucks’ front office, which would need to weigh whether the team would be willing to risk letting him walk away next summer without seeking any compensation for him in a trade.“For a guy who says he just wants to focus on basketball, it would be such a distraction,” Bart Winkler, the host of a morning sports-talk radio show in Milwaukee, said in a telephone interview. “I think we’d all been assuming, whether it was going to be a short contract or a super max, that somehow, someway, he would sign his next contract to stay in Milwaukee. And now, for the first time, there’s some real concern that he might not.”When Antetokounmpo was drafted in 2013, he was a skinny teenager from Greece who was routinely amazed by American culture. Now he is a dominant force in the league.Credit…Eirini Vourloumis for The New York TimesOther cities have gone through similar ordeals with marquee players. Consider Oklahoma City’s fractured relationship with Kevin Durant after he decided to jump to the Golden State Warriors as a free agent in 2016, or Cleveland’s more nuanced ties to LeBron James, who paralyzed that city more than once as he weighed his future.“I think it kind of comes with the territory of being a fan of a team that has an elite player,” Madden, the management consultant, said, “and doubly so if you’re following a small-market team. Unfortunately, when your team has a superstar, there’s this double-edged sword of expectations and rumors about where they may go next on the N.B.A. roulette wheel, especially given how transaction-centric the league has become. But as Bucks fans, we haven’t had to go through this pre-Giannis.”Or at least not since 1975, when the Bucks fulfilled Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s request to be traded. Abdul-Jabbar had led Milwaukee to a championship in 1970-71 but grew frustrated by the small market.Antetokounmpo is beloved in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin. The sports landscape there is still dominated by the N.F.L.’s Green Bay Packers, but Antetokounmpo has helped lift the Bucks to new levels of popularity since the team drafted him with the 15th overall pick in 2013.Beyond his talent, Antetokounmpo instantly endeared himself to fans with his charm, his humor, his community outreach and his seeming innocence. As a rookie, he delighted in tasting his first fruit smoothie. “MAN GOD BLESS AMERICA,” he wrote on Twitter, complete with a smiley face emoticon.Now, he has his own signature sneaker line with Nike. His rags-to-riches story is being made into a motion picture for Disney. And by extending his contract negotiations and deflecting questions about them, he is finally treating basketball like something other than a game: He is, in his own way, acknowledging that it is a business.The stakes could not be higher. The Bucks have finished each of the past two seasons with the league’s best regular-season record while falling short in the playoffs. In September, they were dominated by the Miami Heat in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. That was the moment when the city’s collective concern went from a simmer to a boil.During an abridged off-season, the Bucks improved their backcourt by acquiring Jrue Holiday, one of the league’s best two-way guards, from the New Orleans Pelicans. As a part of the deal, the Bucks sent the Pelicans three future first-round picks. Holiday is a terrific player but the Bucks overpaid to get him, mortgaging a big chunk of their future because they were determined to build out their roster around Antetokounmpo and, by extension, make him happier.“The bottom line for Bucks fans is we know if we don’t win a title with Giannis, we won’t have one here for a long, long time,” Winkler said. “That’s why everyone is so tense.”Complicating matters, the Bucks appeared to bungle a deal to land Bogdan Bogdanovic, a forward who wound up with the Atlanta Hawks.“Nobody wants to win a championship more than me,” Antetokounmpo said. “I can guarantee you that.”Now, as he mulls his contract, some fans face decisions of their own. Matt Aleithe, a small-business owner from just outside Milwaukee, said he was nearing a deadline to renew his season tickets for 2021-22, when arenas would presumably welcome fans back. Aleithe said he was pleased with the Bucks’ off-season moves — “The team’s better than they were at the end of last season,” he said — but he could not help but wonder whether Antetokounmpo would still be playing for them in a year.“It’s kind of a big commitment, being a season-ticket holder,” Aleithe said. “There’s just a little more angst among fans these days.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Diego Maradona Loved Basketball. Its Stars Loved Him, Too.

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storymarc stein on basketballDiego Maradona Loved Basketball. Its Stars Loved Him, Too.Maradona, the Argentine soccer legend, was a big fan of his country’s biggest N.B.A. star, Manu Ginobili. But his fandom extended to Michael Jordan and, recently, Stephen Curry.Diego Maradona was a big fan of the N.B.A., from Michael Jordan to Manu Ginobili to Stephen Curry.Credit…Massimo Sambucetti/Associated PressBy More