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    LeBron James Is Reminded in Boston That a Career Is Not All Glory

    James drew closer to the N.B.A. career scoring record ahead of games in New York, but the Celtics proved again why they have been one of his great adversaries over the past 20 years.BOSTON — LeBron James was warming up for the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night when an old foe wearing shamrock-themed pajama pants strode onto the court to greet him. Paul Pierce, the former Celtics star, embraced James, who got a kick out of Pierce’s outfit.It was a warm moment that lacked any sort of discernible shelf life. A few seconds later, James appeared on the arena’s giant video screens. Several thousand early-arriving fans booed him.With LeBronapalooza revving into high gear as James approaches the N.B.A. career scoring record, his trip to Boston was a reminder of some of the less glamorous stuff — the tight games and controversial calls, the fraught rivalries and hostile crowds — that has filled out his career, shaping him and motivating him. And the Celtics have been right there throughout, providing paint for his canvas.Saturday’s game was another doozy. The Celtics’ 125-121 victory in overtime came after James justifiably felt that he had been fouled on a layup attempt at the end of regulation. A foul call would have sent him to the free throw line with a chance to win it. Instead, the officials missed it. James yelled and protested and fell to his knees. Then he seethed at his locker after another loss by the Lakers (23-27) in a season full of them.“I don’t get it,” he said. “I’m attacking the paint just as much as any of the other guys in this league that’s getting double-digit free throws a night. I don’t get it. I don’t understand it.”The messy end obscured another enormous effort by James, who finished with 41 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. (He was 5 for 6 from the free throw line.) And it is worth emphasizing: He is regularly posting numbers like those at 38 years old, the third-oldest player in the N.B.A.Ahead of the Lakers’ trip to New York for games against the Nets on Monday and the Knicks on Tuesday, James has now scored 38,271 career points, putting him 117 points away from eclipsing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record.It is a number so large that it defies belief, a number so large that it can be difficult to conceptualize. James has scored against defenders who have long since retired, in arenas that no longer exist.How about this? When James faced the Celtics on Saturday, it had been 19 years 2 months 14 days since his first regular-season game in Boston. That game was on Nov. 14, 2003, back when TD Garden was known as the Fleet Center, when James was an 18-year-old rookie with the Cleveland Cavaliers and nine games into his career. It was also when Jayson Tatum — now the face of the Celtics — was 5.James has been averaging 30 points a game this season. In Boston on Saturday night, he had 41 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.Maddie Meyer/Getty ImagesJames struggled in that game, a narrow loss, scoring just 10 points to increase his career total at the time to 146. Vin Baker played 36 minutes that day for the Celtics, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas led the Cavaliers with 22 points. For James, it was an inauspicious opening act ahead of two decades of tussling with the Celtics.By now, each team in the league can cite moments (plural) when James did something to destroy the collective morale of its highly paid employees. A fast-break dunk that sealed a win. A long jumper that clinched a playoff series. A pass, a defensive stop, a blocked shot.The Celtics may be able to cite more of those moments than most teams. Consider that James has won five straight playoff series against them, dating to 2011. But as a much younger player with the Cavaliers, James was stymied by them. The Celtics of the Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen era had savvy and experience, and they bounced the Cavaliers from the playoffs in 2008 and 2010.Their series in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals may have changed the arc of the league. After the Cavaliers were eliminated, James removed his jersey before he reached the visiting locker room.“A friend of mine told me, ‘I guess you’ve got to go through a lot of nightmares before you realize your dream,’” he said at the time. “That’s what’s going on for me individually right now.”James thought he had been fouled by Tatum on the final play in regulation. No foul was called, and the Lakers lost in overtime.Michael Dwyer/Associated PressAbout two months later, James emerged from a luxury vehicle at the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich, Conn., to announce in a televised special that he was joining the Miami Heat as a free agent.The new-look Heat proceeded to eliminate the Celtics from the playoffs in 2011 and again in 2012, after a seven-game scrap in the conference finals. That year, the Celtics were actually home for Game 6 with a chance to clinch the series. Before the game, Doc Rivers, who was then the Celtics’ coach, instructed his players to force James to shoot from the outside. They heeded his message.“The way he was scoring, if you go by a scouting report, was the way we wanted him to score,” Rivers, now the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, said in an interview. “Like, if he had to score, it had to be from the outside. It had to be with the 3-ball. We didn’t feel like he could beat us with that. And he did.”James extended the series by collecting 45 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in a lopsided win. He shot 19 of 26 from the field and 2 of 4 from 3-point range.“That,” Rivers said, “was the moment LeBron became a champion.”The Heat went on to win Game 7, and then defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in the N.B.A. finals as James won the first of his four championships.As for roughing up the Celtics, it seemed to become one of James’s favorite pastimes. During his second stint with the Cavaliers, he helped oust the Celtics from the postseason all three times he played them.So perhaps there was some relief in Boston when James decamped for Los Angeles before the start of the 2018-19 season, since it meant the Celtics would see him less often. But it also seemed fitting that he signed with the Lakers, whose rivalry with the Celtics is nearly as old as the league itself.On Saturday, Celtics fans showed up in “Beat L.A.” shirts and jeered every time James touched the ball, which was really just their way of honoring him. The game itself was basketball as theater, same as ever, all the way to the bitter end.Sopan Deb More

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    LeBron James Scoring Tracker: How Close Is He to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Record?

    The Lakers star is fewer than 200 points away from breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career scoring record, which Abdul-Jabbar set before James was born.Since his early days playing basketball, LeBron James has considered himself more of a passer than a scorer. But he has always been dynamic at the rim, and later in his N.B.A. career he developed a shooting touch that made him even more dangerous offensively.Twenty years of perfecting exactly how to attack N.B.A. defenses have brought James to the cusp of a historic achievement that had once seemed almost impossible for anyone to reach.James, the Los Angeles Lakers star, is 178 points away from eclipsing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career total of 38,387. Abdul-Jabbar has been the N.B.A.’s career scoring leader since April 5, 1984 — more than eight months before James was born. Abdul-Jabbar played five more seasons for the Lakers after passing Wilt Chamberlain for that title.As James has approached the record, he has increased his scoring output to 35 points per game in January, up from 28.5 points per game in the season’s first three months. This season and 2021-22 have been two of the highest-scoring of his career. Though it would be difficult, it is possible he could break the record against the Knicks on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, one of his favorite arenas. Four games later, the Lakers will host the Milwaukee Bucks in a game between the two N.B.A. teams for which Abdul-Jabbar played.Lakers ScheduleWednesday vs. San Antonio SpursSaturday @ Boston CelticsMonday @ NetsTuesday @ KnicksFeb. 2 @ Indiana PacersFeb. 4 @ New Orleans PelicansFeb. 7 vs. Oklahoma City ThunderFeb. 9 vs. Milwaukee BucksHere are some of James’s notable performances this season:Jan. 24 vs. Los Angeles Clippers: 46 pointsJames had 46 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in the Lakers’ loss to the Clippers on Jan. 24. He played 33 minutes and had no turnovers.Mark J. Terrill/Associated PressThe Clippers took a big lead early, and from then on the only facet of the game that seemed to be working for the Lakers was James’s long-range shooting. James made nine 3-pointers, a career high, on 14 attempts.James ended the night with 46 points, making it the first time he’d scored at least 40 points against the Clippers. He is now the first player ever to score at least 40 points in a game against all 30 N.B.A. teams.Despite James’s good night, the Lakers lost, 133-115, leaving James dejected as he sat on the bench at the end of the game.Jan. 16 vs. Houston Rockets: 48 pointsJames had 48 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists against Houston on Jan. 16. Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe Lakers had just come off close losses to the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers and were on a three-game losing streak. James has produced several impressive performances in losses this season, but he enjoys it more when the team wins. This game was his highest scoring this season, and came on the second night of a back-to-back.He also got a reminder of his age when the Houston rookie Jabari Smith Jr. told him during the game that his father had played against him in James’s first N.B.A. game in 2003. At 38, James is one of the oldest players in the league.“I could have very easily took tonight off, but I don’t feel like the momentum of our ball club could use me taking a night off tonight,” James said after the game. “I don’t feel like I wanted to sit on that loss to Philly last night. I kind of wanted to get that out of my taste buds.”Dec. 2 at Milwaukee Bucks: 28 pointsJames had 28 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists in the Lakers’ win. He has improved as 3-point shooter in his career and hit 3 of 6 against the Bucks.Michael Mcloone/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThis wasn’t one of James’s highest-scoring games, but it was one that showed the Lakers’ potential when they’re at full strength. Anthony Davis was healthy and scored 44 points as the Lakers beat one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams on the road.James’s 11 assists allowed him to pass Magic Johnson for the sixth-most career assists in N.B.A. history. It was also his 900th career win. More

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    This Isn’t Who the Lakers Are Supposed to Be. Right?

    The Lakers have long been seen as a glamour franchise of big names and big wins. LeBron James is dominating. But the wins have been much harder to come by, for a while.LOS ANGELES — LeBron James fidgeted as he answered questions after a second consecutive frustrating Lakers loss in which he thought the referees had missed a potential game-altering foul call.He was terse and dismissed a question about scoring his 38,000th career point in the N.B.A., something only he and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have done. He was asked if he thought much about what the Lakers’ many losses in recent seasons meant to the franchise.“No,” James said. Then he turned and sped out of the locker room, into a rainy Los Angeles night.The gloom outside reflected the mood in the building.For decades, the Lakers defined themselves as one of the N.B.A.’s glamour franchises — a place the biggest stars went to play, win championships and achieve basketball immortality. Making the playoffs was an expectation, not an accomplishment.Then 10 years ago, two seismic events shook the franchise. On Feb. 18, 2013, Jerry Buss, who bought and revitalized the Lakers in 1979, died at age 80, leaving the franchise to a trust controlled by his six children, some of whom would wrestle for control of the team. Less than two months later, as he tried to drag the Lakers into the playoffs, Kobe Bryant tore an Achilles’ tendon, the first in a string of injuries that would spell the end of his 20-year career.Since then, the Lakers have gone through several discordant phases, from Bryant’s return and retirement to chaos in the executive ranks to a championship in 2020 that seemed proof of purple-and-gold exceptionalism, no matter the obstacles.But new obstacles have the Lakers once again facing the question of whether the excellence they spent decades building can return. For the second year in a row, James, 38, is having to produce herculean efforts to try to pull his injury-plagued team out of the bottom of the Western Conference standings.LeBron James is averaging nearly 30 points a game at the age of 38 as he tries to power the injured and struggling Lakers to the playoffs.Jae C. Hong/Associated Press“We’re going to figure this thing out,” said Lakers Coach Darvin Ham, the team’s fifth in the past 10 years. “We’ll definitely figure this thing out.”‘Kobe realized that he could not win’If success is measured by championships, the Lakers have still been one of the top teams in the N.B.A. during the past decade. They are one of the six teams to have won championships since the 2012-13 season.Broadening the measure to playoff or regular-season success, the Lakers become less impressive. With only two playoff appearances since the 2012-13 season, the Lakers are in the bottom third of the league. Only two teams have been to the playoffs fewer times in that span — the Knicks (once) and the Sacramento Kings (none).By contrast, between 1960-61, the team’s first season in Los Angeles after moving from Minnesota, and 2012-13, the Lakers had missed the playoffs just four times.Frank Vogel coached the Lakers to their only two recent playoff appearances, guiding them to the championship in 2020 then a first-round loss in 2021. The Lakers fired him in April after they missed the playoffs.Even though injuries and roster construction played major roles in the Lakers’ struggles in the 2021-22 season, Vogel became a casualty of heightened expectations with James on board. James’s arrival as a free agent in July 2018 marked the first time since Bryant retired two years earlier that the Lakers had a transcendent star.Bryant had spent his whole career with the Lakers and won five championships. So even after his Achilles’ tendon injury, the Lakers rewarded him with a two-year contract extension worth $48.5 million, giving him the highest salary in the league at the time. They were confident that he deserved it no matter what happened next.To announce Bryant’s return from injury in late 2013, the Lakers created a video with dramatic music and an image of his jersey being battered by weather until a lightning bolt finally tore it. The video closes with the jersey having been mended by unseen means and with the words: “The Legend Continues.”Bryant returned for six games in December, then fractured his knee and missed the rest of the 2013-14 season as the Lakers won just 27 games. He missed most of the next season as the team won only 21 games.“At some point, I think it’s obvious to everyone that Kobe realized that he could not win,” said Gary Vitti, who was the Lakers’ head athletic trainer for decades until Bryant retired. “And once he realized he couldn’t win, then a lot of the stress and the pressure sort of came off him and he really started having fun and being a lot happier around the game and his teammates.”Kobe Bryant, who died in 2020, spent his entire 20-year career with the Lakers, though the final few seasons were rough. He scored 60 points in his final game in April 2016.Harry How/Getty ImagesOpposing fans feted him everywhere he went. They cheered the first shot he made, even if it took him a while to get there. Coach Byron Scott, a former Lakers guard, led the team during Bryant’s loss-filled farewell tour, a franchise-low 17-win season.“Losing — it’s horrible,” Vitti said. “But if you put it all in the context, if you’re Kobe, you know, basically Kobe could do whatever he wanted out there. Byron took over and kind of fell on his sword for the team. He said, let’s send Kobe out the way he wants to go.”Said Metta Sandiford-Artest, who played for the Lakers on their 2010 championship team and again from 2015-17: “At that point, you just wanted to make it comfortable for Kobe. That’s it. Nothing else really matters at that point.” He added: “He deserved it.”‘Pieces for the future’All the losing gave the Lakers enviable draft positioning.With picks earned by their records in the final few years of Bryant’s career, the Lakers drafted or acquired several promising young players, like Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell, Larry Nance Jr., Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac.Randle, Clarkson, Russell and Nance have said they learned from Bryant’s example. But his star power was such that they had to wait until he retired in April 2016 for the franchise to focus on their development.“It felt like a career-beginning training camp because it definitely was not the pieces at the time you needed to win,” Sandiford-Artest said. “There was more, you know, pieces for the future.”Those players would not be part of their future, except as trade chips to build the championship roster.In the gap between Bryant and James, Jeanie Buss, the controlling owner, overhauled the front office and thwarted a coup attempt by her older brothers as the team’s losses — and external criticism — mounted.In the summer of 2017, the Lakers signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who is represented by James’s agent and close friend, Rich Paul. That gave Paul an inside look at the organization a year before James became a free agent.Paul knew the situation wasn’t perfect, but few teams are. He advised James that signing with the Lakers could work, in part out of trust in Buss. James chose the Lakers and suddenly the drama of the past few seasons didn’t seem to matter.After missing the playoffs in James’s first season, when he dealt with a groin injury, the Lakers tried again. Magic Johnson, whom Buss had hired to run basketball operations and who had helped to recruit James, abruptly stepped down before the last game of the 2018-19 season. They traded several young players and draft picks to the New Orleans Pelicans for another Paul client: Anthony Davis. Rob Pelinka, the team’s vice president of basketball operations, said he consulted with James and Davis as he built the rest of the roster.The two stars were electrifying together. The rest of the team fit perfectly and charged through the coronavirus pandemic-interrupted season. When Bryant died suddenly in a helicopter crash in January 2020, James became the public face of the organization’s grief.Months later, James led the Lakers to the franchise’s 17th championship. Buss felt vindicated against those who had questioned her leadership.Jeanie Buss, the Lakers’ controlling owner, has faced criticism as the team has struggled. She oversaw the franchise’s 17th championship run, in 2020.Tracy Nguyen for The New York TimesOnstage as the team celebrated the victory, James enveloped Buss in a long embrace. He told her they had accomplished what they set out to do.“I think the hug for that long a time was to really let it soak in,” Buss told the Los Angeles Times at the time. “He’s won several championships now, and he knows that those moments are to be cherished and to be recognized.”But it was only one championship. They would soon tumble from their pedestal.‘Things are going to get right’This season is Ham’s first season with the Lakers, and it began disastrously.The team lost its first five games, and 10 of its first 12. Ham benched Russell Westbrook in October after three starts. Westbrook had struggled in his first season in Los Angeles last year.James has been a bright spot. In his 20th season, he has been playing like he is still in his 20s. He’s had trouble enjoying the chase for Abdul-Jabbar’s career scoring record as losses and injuries have piled up this season.Ham has remained optimistic.“I get disappointed, but I don’t get discouraged or down on myself or the team,” he said in an interview. “Yeah, there’s moments in games we should have won, or different moments we should have played better, but at the end of the day working in the N.B.A. for one of the most, if not the most storied franchise, having a lot of great people I get to work with, great people I’m working for. It’s been fun.”The Lakers lack depth, but there is evidence lately that, with the right additions, they can contend for a championship if they have Davis, who had been playing like a candidate for the league’s Most Valuable Player Award before his foot injury in mid-December. The Lakers went on a five-game winning streak starting Dec. 30 and recently they nearly beat two contenders — the Mavericks and the 76ers.Lakers guard Russell Westbrook, left, has had a rocky tenure in Los Angeles, but has found success coming off the bench this year. Coach Darvin Ham, right, pulled Westbrook from the starting lineup after three games.Mark J. Terrill/Associated PressThe trading deadline is Feb. 9, giving the Lakers until then to make a major move to get back on the championship track. But all of the trades of the last few years, particularly those for Davis and Westbrook, have left them with little flexibility and salary-cap space. They can’t trade any of their first-round picks until the 2027 selection, and have been reluctant to lose more draft assets.Ham said he has felt support from Pelinka and Buss, who signed Pelinka to a multiyear extension last year despite the team’s struggles. After a five-game road trip from Christmas to Jan. 2, Ham and Pelinka went to Buss’s office.“She gave me a big hug and told me: ‘Hang in there, you’re doing a phenomenal job and things are going to get right. We’re going to start winning consistently, but Darvin, we’re totally happy with what you’re doing and you and your staff are doing an excellent job,’” Ham said. “It was cool. It was really thoughtful.”Ham said the mood when he sees both Buss and Pelinka is light and full of smiles.“It’s not like a lack of an awareness, but just a gratefulness, a thankfulness to be in this together,” Ham said.He is being afforded patience, at least for now. More

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    Measuring Up to Wilt Chamberlain May Take More Than Stats

    Several N.B.A. players have had Chamberlain-like performances this season. But to some, he will always be untouchable.From a courtside folding chair at Fiserv Forum, where Dick Garrett has assisted fans as a Milwaukee Bucks employee for more than two decades, he recently watched Giannis Antetokounmpo toy with the Washington Wizards, levitating above the rim as if he were frolicking in a slam-dunk contest.“Fifty-five points and he was doing it so easily, like no one could even challenge him,” Garrett said. “I’m thinking, ‘Geez, he’s a man playing against boys.’ ”Not unlike what he witnessed, but with an even better view, more than a half-century ago.Such physical dominance took Garrett back to his rookie N.B.A. season, 1969-70, with the Los Angeles Lakers. In a postseason run to a Game 7 finals loss to the Knicks, he lobbed passes into the post from his backcourt position to the man best known as Wilt, in that familiar one-name tribute to fame.This season, Antetokounmpo, among others, has been drawing enough statistical comparisons to Wilt Chamberlain — who scored a record 100 points in a game and averaged a mind-boggling 50 per game for a season — to wonder if the sport has ascended to its most exceptional athletic plane.Or, if its video-game mimicry is as much or more the result of competitive engineering.Take a significantly expanded area of attack due to rampant 3-point shooting; open up driving lanes to the physically blessed and skilled likes of Antetokounmpo to score or find open teammates on the perimeter. What you get is an array of eye-opening individual stat lines in a league where team scoring has soared by roughly 15 points from where it was a decade ago.On Dec. 30, Garrett watched Antetokounmpo manhandle the Minnesota Timberwolves for 43 points and 20 rebounds, two nights after notching 45 points and 22 rebounds against the Bulls in Chicago. Antetokounmpo’s seven assists in Chicago and five against Minnesota made him the first player to record at least 40 points, 20 rebounds and 5 assists in consecutive games since, well, Wilt.Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of several players who have put up Wilt-like stat lines this season.Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesAntetokounmpo, with his seven-foot frame and elastic wingspan that can optically delude one into thinking he scratches the ceiling, is indeed what Garrett called the ringleader of a “big man revolution.”It hasn’t just been the tallest of the league’s elite — Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic in Denver, Joel Embiid in Philadelphia — whose statistical bingeing has reintroduced Chamberlain, who died in 1999, into the N.B.A. discourse.When Luka Doncic, Dallas’s 6-foot-7 do-everything Slovenian import, strafed the Knicks for 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists in a comeback overtime victory late last month, commentators breathlessly noted that no one, not even Wilt, had ever posted such a line.Walt Frazier, the Hall of Fame guard who broadcasts Knicks games and once shared a backcourt with Garrett at Southern Illinois, has an idea why.“What you mostly see now are guys running up and down, dunking on people,” he said in a telephone interview. “Only a few teams buckle down on defense. They don’t double-team when someone goes off. When someone came in and dropped 40 on me, it was always, ‘Clyde got destroyed.’ Now Doncic scores 60 and no one even says who was guarding him.”Frazier, 77, was echoing recent laments on the state of the sport from the old-school coaches Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr. It’s no surprise that appreciation, or lack thereof, for the contemporary N.B.A. would break down along generational lines. For those who played with or against Chamberlain, he is basketball’s Babe Ruth, the game’s all-time goliath. Everyone has a tale, perhaps on the tall side, to tell.Billy Cunningham, 79, a Hall of Famer and Chamberlain’s teammate with the Philadelphia 76ers, cited the night Gus Johnson, a very strong forward for the Baltimore Bullets, went at Wilt with every intention of dunking over him as he’d done earlier in the game.Chamberlain didn’t just block the shot, Cunningham said: “He actually caught the ball, and while Gus went to the floor, he just stood there holding it over his head.”However grainy the video, however dorky the short shorts, do not try to convince Cunningham and company that what Chamberlain achieved was the result of an ancient, inferior era. They will remind you that he averaged 45.8 minutes per game for his career and seldom sat one out, in stark contrast to the more coddled modern star — who, in fairness, represents a far greater financial investment to protect.But when a knee injury limited Chamberlain to 12 regular-season games in 1969-70, he returned for all 18 playoff games to average 22.1 points, 22.2 rebounds and 47.3 minutes per game. And this, Garrett reminded, was Chamberlain at 33, several years removed from when he could run like the track-and-field star he had been at the University of Kansas — as freakish an athlete as the Greek version, Antetokounmpo.Chamberlain and the Lakers lost to the Knicks in the N.B.A. finals in 1970 but beat them two years later, giving Chamberlain his second championship.Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated, via Getty ImagesIt is foolish to think that professional athletes aren’t physically enhanced from a half-century ago, if only for their weight training and nutrition. As Garrett said: “You look at the size of Giannis — who’s not as strong as Wilt or even Shaquille O’Neal. But he and a few of these other big guys, they’re athletic enough to play like smaller guys, and that’s what’s changed.”Having played with Elgin Baylor on the Lakers, and watched from up close the modern-day smaller and midsize players, Garrett said: “I honestly think the wing players and guards are pretty similar in what they do.”But, he added, in comparison with Wilt’s time: “The way Giannis and some others are scoring, the level of resistance is not the same. I don’t know if that’s for the better or not.”Now the league eagerly awaits the arrival of the latest in a parade of big men from abroad who have, along with the likes of Kevin Durant, dramatically altered positional perception. France’s Victor Wembanyama may be the next greatest thing or at least Kristaps Porzingis 2.0. But for every progression in size, skills and worldwide production of talent, the old guard will judiciously argue that their game was fundamentally sounder, tactically superior, defensively stouter.They will remind you that when Wilt averaged 50.4 points per game for the Philadelphia Warriors in 1961-62, team scoring was at 118.8 points per game — or five points per game higher than this season. And that was when there was hand-checking, hard fouls and other generous interpretations of traveling rules.Wilt established four of the top five season-scoring averages while clanking half his free throws and, as Cunningham noted, “when there were only eight or nine teams and he had to play against Bill Russell 10 times a year.”Conversely, in Wilt’s time, the flow of African American talent into the N.B.A. was limited by a de facto quota system, which no doubt affected the league’s overall quality.Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics posts up against Chamberlain during a game in 1968.Dick Raphael/NBAE, via Getty ImagesCunningham conceded that comparisons are, beyond futile, “almost unfair because everything is so different. The game in all sports now is about entertainment.”The bottom line: The more cash that pours into sports, the more tinkering there will be to satisfy contemporary highlight tastes, especially those of younger fans who drive internet clicks, fantasy leagues, merchandise sales and the newest revenue deity: online gambling. In a league where regular-season relevance has been dampened by injuries and load-management caution, and further diluted by recent postseason expansion, why so many games have taken on the eye candy nature of all-star games is no great mystery, just calculated marketing.For Frazier, who quarterbacked the acclaimed 1970 and 1973 championship Knicks, the playoffs are when the bridge between old and new is rebuilt. “That’s when the continuity and defense that we older guys love does return,” he said.Only then, perhaps, can we gain a meaningful perspective on the historical numbers game currently in play, and on how to more accurately measure the young wannabes against Wilt. More

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    NBA Christmas Day Games 2022: What to Know

    The N.B.A. brings out its stars on Christmas. This year, there will be some new rivalries, too.The N.B.A. showcases its stars on Christmas Day, and this year there will be some big names to watch, like LeBron James, Jayson Tatum and Joel Embiid.There will also be a new face in the mix (Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant is playing on the holiday for the first time) and a familiar one missing (Golden State’s Stephen Curry is out injured).In each of the five games, there is something to look forward to, from young players trying to make their mark to older foes avenging playoff losses.Here’s what you need to know.All times are Eastern, and all games will air on ABC and ESPN. The statistics were current entering Friday night’s games.Philadelphia 76ers at Knicks, noonJames Harden missed several games for the Sixers with an injury, but he’s back and helping them stack up wins.Matt Slocum/Associated PressAfter rocky starts, these teams are finally clicking. The Knicks surged up the Eastern Conference standings on the strength of a recent winning streak, while Philadelphia was compiling a streak of its own.They met on Nov. 4, with the Knicks winning, but Philadelphia didn’t have its two best players: center Joel Embiid and guard James Harden. That makes Sunday’s game the teams’ first true matchup. The Knicks have played on Christmas more often than any other team, but this is the first time they will have Jalen Brunson, their big free-agent signing of the off-season.Brunson, a guard who spent his first four seasons in Dallas, leads the Knicks in assists and is the team’s second-best scorer, behind forward Julius Randle. For the first quarter of the season, the Knicks struggled to string together wins. But then December hit, and they found their stride.That’s when fortunes improved for the Sixers, too. Harden had missed more than a dozen games with a foot injury but returned this month to produce several impressive games with double-digit assist totals. The Knicks will, of course, have to watch out for Embiid as well. Last month, in a game against the Utah Jazz, he had this wild stat line: 59 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists and 7 blocks.Los Angeles Lakers at Dallas Mavericks, 2:30 p.m.Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic is in his fifth N.B.A. season but has already been named to the All-Star team three times.Emil Lippe/Associated PressFans can seemingly always count on seeing the Lakers on Christmas — this is the 24th year in a row — but nothing else about the team has been that consistent.Even as LeBron James, who will turn 38 on Friday, continues to defy reason with his youthful play, minor injuries keep tugging him to the bench. Then there’s the major injury to center Anthony Davis, who is out indefinitely with a sore right foot. Other ailments have rippled through the roster, and the Lakers’ sub-.500 record reflects that. But it also reflects an aging team that got off to a terrible start (0-5) and hasn’t settled into a high-performing rhythm since then.All of that is to say: The Lakers have been a little bit all over the place.Dallas has been, too. Luka Doncic is playing and scoring more than last season, but the Mavericks are losing to bad teams right after beating good ones. The Lakers could fall into either category on Sunday. At the very least, it should be a fun game, with Doncic and James battling to see who can put on the best show. They are both capable of making even the earliest risers hold off on a midday nap.Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics, 5 p.m.Jayson Tatum led the Celtics to the N.B.A. finals last season and has followed that up with high-scoring play this season.David Butler II/USA Today Sports, via ReutersBoston’s Jayson Tatum has responded to his disappointing appearance in the N.B.A. finals last season in the best way: by playing better than ever before. He’s leading the league in minutes per game (37.2), and he’s putting them to good use, averaging a career-best 30.6 points per game by making about half of his shots.The Celtics will face a Bucks team with a not-so-shabby star of its own in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Last season ended in playoff disappointment for him, too, with Milwaukee falling to Boston in seven games in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Sunday will be his first chance for a little revenge.The Bucks and the Celtics are jockeying for first place in the East, though they are fighting with different strengths. Boston has the league’s second-best offense, while Milwaukee has the third-best defense. The postseason is still a ways off, but it would be a surprise not to see one of these teams in the N.B.A. finals. Their Christmas matchup should help each team see what it needs to work on to make sure it’s the one playing for a title.Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State, 8 p.m.Ja Morant has made the Grizzlies one of the most exciting teams to watch in recent years. Brandon Dill/Associated PressNo one can argue that the Grizzlies haven’t earned this, their Christmas debut.Point guard Ja Morant is the speedy, soaring, confident heart of the team, but Memphis is more than its brightest star — and Morant would be the first to say so. He’s averaging a career-best 7.8 assists per game as he and his teammates keep the Grizzlies near the top of a tightly contested Western Conference.They finished last season as the No. 2 seed in the West and could have made a run to the conference finals if Golden State (and injuries) hadn’t gotten in their way in the second round. Sunday will be the teams’ first meeting since then.Both teams have dealt with their share of injuries this season, but Golden State has an especially big one: Stephen Curry has been out since he hurt his shoulder against Indiana on Dec. 14, and it’s not clear when he will return.Golden State is currently ranked in the bottom half of the West, but the intensity of last season’s playoff series with Memphis should carry over and make Sunday’s game a good contest nonetheless.Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets, 10:30 p.m.Denver’s Nikola Jokic won the Most Valuable Player Award the past two seasons.Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesThe last game on a long day of basketball is easy to overlook. But Denver’s Nikola Jokic is sure to make at least one pass that will make staying up late worth it. That’s kind of his thing: One minute he has the ball, and then the next his teammate on the other side of the court does, and no one is quite sure how it happened. The Suns are a top-10 defensive team, but some things just can’t be stopped.Phoenix is also the league’s best on offense, which could be a challenge for the Nuggets, who are among the N.B.A.’s worst on defense. Suns guard Chris Paul is one of the best ever at getting the ball to his teammates. Paul led the league in assists last season, his fifth time doing so, and is averaging about nine per game this season.If this game’s late start isn’t a deal-breaker, it should be a nice chance to see some excellent passing and skilled shooters making good on the assist. More

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    LeBron James and Deni Avdija React to Kyrie Irving Posts

    “If you are promoting or soliciting or saying harmful things to any community that harm people, then I don’t respect it,” LeBron James said. “I don’t condone it.”The Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Deni Avdija, a Washington Wizards forward from Israel, said Friday that they hoped Nets guard Kyrie Irving understood that he had hurt people when he promoted an antisemitic film on social media.Calling Irving a role model and great player who had made a mistake, Avdija said: “I don’t think it’s right to go out in public and publish it and let little kids that follow you see it and the generations to come after to think like that because it’s not true. And I don’t think it’s fair.”On Thursday, the Nets suspended Irving for at least five games, after he would not say that he did not have antisemitic beliefs. It had been a week since he tweeted a link to an antisemitic film and posted a screenshot of its online rental page to Instagram. He apologized late Thursday night, after he was suspended.James, who won an N.B.A. championship with Irving in Cleveland in 2016, said that he loved Irving but that what he had done was “unfortunate.”“I believe what Kyrie did caused some harm to a lot of people,” James said Friday in Los Angeles after the Lakers lost to the Utah Jazz. He added: “If you are promoting or soliciting or saying harmful things to any community that harm people, then I don’t respect it. I don’t condone it.”In 2018, James apologized for posting music lyrics on Instagram that included the phrase “getting that Jewish money.”“I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously it wasn’t through the lens of a lot of people,” James said at the time.Few current N.B.A. players have spoken about Irving amid the public backlash to his social media posts. The N.B.A. said it had 120 international players at the start of the season last month, but Avdija was the only one from Israel. His comments about Irving came after the Nets beat the Wizards in Washington in the Nets’ first game since Irving’s suspension.“I think there need to be consequences for the actions that players do,” Avdija said. “I don’t know the amount, the punishment that the league gives, but I think it needs to be known that there’s no room for words like that.”Irving did not add captions or comments to his social media posts about the antisemitic 2018 film, “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” But over the past week, he has been vague when asked what he did and did not agree with in the film. He has distanced himself from its claim that the Holocaust did not happen. On Wednesday, he announced with the Anti-Defamation League that he would donate $500,000 to anti-hate causes. The Nets said they would do the same.But Irving did not apologize at that time, drawing criticism from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the N.B.A. Hall of Famer who is known for his social justice work.“There was no explicit apology — which tells us everything about what he really believes,” Abdul-Jabbar said in a post on Substack. “Honestly, there’s little hope that he will change because he’s insulated by fame and money and surrounded by yes-people. There is no motivation to learn how to distinguish propaganda from facts. All that’s left is for the world to decide how it should respond to him.”Abdul-Jabbar also praised three former players who criticized Irving during a TNT broadcast of the Nets’ game against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday: Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Reggie Miller.Avdija said he hoped Irving was sorry. “He needs to understand that he gives example to people, and people look up to him,” he said. More

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    The Lakers Can’t Make a 3-Pointer

    Russell Westbrook is getting most of the heat, but the Lakers’ problem is its roster.LOS ANGELES — As Lakers guard Russell Westbrook went up for a 3-pointer against the Clippers, his home crowd groaned before the ball even left his hand. The shot clanked off the rim, justifying the fans’ apprehension.Westbrook missed all six of his 3-pointers in the game on Thursday. It was a microcosm of the two biggest issues facing the Lakers this season: Westbrook and shooting. Again and again on Thursday night, the Lakers faithful remained subdued as the team kept shooting. And missing. And shooting. And missing some more. There were enough bricks that the Lakers could offer themselves up as an infrastructure project.Through the first two games of the season, the Lakers have shot an almost unfathomable 19 for 85 from 3-point range (22.4 percent). That was the biggest factor in a blowout loss to Golden State in the season opener on Tuesday and in a 103-97 loss to the Clippers on Thursday night.In a league where deep shots have evolved from being quirky additions to being the driving force of contemporary scoring, the Lakers constructed their roster without enough players equipped to maximize that style of play. This summer, the Lakers let more formidable shooters like Wayne Ellington and Malik Monk walk, and instead opted to bring in the athletic guard Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Schröder, neither of whom is known for perimeter prowess.It’s not that the Lakers are in a shooting slump. If someone put tap dancing shoes on a flamingo, one would not say the flamingo was struggling to be Fred Astaire. It’s that — as LeBron James factually noted after Tuesday night’s drubbing by Golden State — the Lakers just don’t have many good shooters. They weren’t built for this.LeBron James had 20 points on Thursday, but, like everyone else, he was cold from outside. He was just 2 of 8 from 3.Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press“We’re getting great looks, but it could also be teams giving us great looks,” James said. “To be completely honest, we’re not a team that’s constructed of great shooting. That’s just the truth of the matter. It’s not like we’re sitting here with a lot of lasers on our team.”And yet the Lakers have launched a bevy of 3s. The penetration skills of Anthony Davis and James have generated open looks outside for other Lakers, but both Golden State and the Clippers also continuously dared the Lakers to shoot.“They want to give us those shots?” Lakers Coach Darvin Ham said Thursday. “We will accept it wholeheartedly. That’s the way we want to play. We want to play fast, physical and free.”He added: “We see these guys making shots in practice and shootaround. They’ve got to do it on game floor. It’s as simple as that.”The Lakers climbed back from multiple deficits on Thursday to keep the game close down the stretch. But they weren’t able to sustain their periods of strong play. After the game, James was asked about his “laser” comments.“I love the way we’re playing basketball right now,” James said. “We’re really sharing the ball offensively. We’re moving bodies. And I think we will begin to knock down shots.”James does have good reason for optimism, but it has to do with the other side of the ball. In the loss to Golden State, the Lakers had a defensive rating of 107.0, which would have been good for fourth in the N.B.A. last season, a fact that guard Patrick Beverley pointed out after the Thursday morning shootaround. The Lakers were even better on Thursday with a rating of 100.0. When the Lakers fell into deficits against the Clippers, they turned up the defensive intensity and forced several turnovers to get out in transition to get back in the game.“I’m definitely not going to sit here and harp on what we can’t do every single game,” James said. “That’s not leadership. What I know we can do: We can defend our ass off.”The Clippers turned the ball over 22 times Thursday, contributing to some of the Lakers’ 15 fast-break points. This is where Westbrook’s skills can be useful to the Lakers. He had five steals Thursday, and as he is known to do, immediately focused on pushing the ball down the floor off those forced turnovers.Anthony Davis had a scary fall against the Clippers, but he returned to the game and led all scorers with 25 points. He was 2 of 4 from 3.Mark J. Terrill/Associated PressBut Westbrook remains a lightning rod for criticism, at times unfairly. He missed all 11 of his shots against the Clippers, much to the chagrin of the crowd. But through another lens, Westbrook played the exact type of game that the Lakers need from him.“We’ve all had bad shooting nights,” James said. “I’ve had bad shooting nights. Everybody in this league has had bad shooting nights. Who cares? I thought he played a great game. Defensively, he was in tune. He was locked in. He pushed the tempo. He just didn’t make any shots. That’s OK.”A key criticism of Westbrook last season was his penchant for turnovers and for playing out of control. He had only one turnover on Thursday while quarterbacking the offense. Westbrook has also been bashed for his shot selection. He has, so far, focused on taking fewer shots of higher quality. Almost all of his 11 shots on Thursday were strong looks.Westbrook is not the issue for the Lakers; that would be roster construction. But if the 33-year-old Westbrook cannot be at least a passable shooter, defenders won’t have to pay him much attention, leaving James and Davis with less room to operate. And if the Lakers want someone other than Westbrook to be their starting point guard, there aren’t many better options on the bench. (And Westbrook has grumbled about coming off the bench.)The Lakers and Westbrook are, for now, stuck with each other. However, Westbrook’s frenetic energy could be a boost for a team suddenly reliant on fast-break points to counter its bad shootingThe Lakers are a work in progress, and while the team lacks shooters, the 3-point shooting percentage will almost surely increase from the low 20s. That improvement, combined with their defensive effort, left Ham upbeat despite the difficult start to the season.“The way we stepped out there and scrapped, even when we did get down, to be able to get back in the game, make it a game, that’s the definition of identity building,” Ham said.He added: “I’ll sleep well. I won’t be angry or depressed. And we still have 80 games left, but we’re trending in the right direction.” More

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    Why Draymond Green May Soon Be the Odd Man Out at Golden State

    The shadow of Green’s punch looms over the team, even as Golden State shows it still has what it takes to compete for a championship.SAN FRANCISCO — As Golden State posed in front of a banner destined for its arena’s rafters, all looked fine and well for the team. The players were beaming and dancing, flashing their new championship rings toward a photographer.The Tuesday evening scene was a déjà vu of sorts. Golden State has gone through this pomp and circumstance four times in the last eight seasons as part of a ceremony to celebrate winning an N.B.A. title by raising a championship banner. Tribute video. Inspirational music. Cheering fans.“I’ve never had a bad ring night,” Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said. “They’re all awesome.”Just ignore the reality show that aired on TNT hours earlier starring and produced by Golden State’s Draymond Green, who in the show briefly addressed punching his younger teammate Jordan Poole in the face in an incident that threatened to rupture the franchise on the doorstep of the season.Oh, that. Awkward.Golden State began its pursuit of a fifth championship for its current dynasty by dismantling the Los Angeles Lakers, 123-109, on Tuesday, easily dispatching a team with no shortage of its own drama and championship aspirations. Golden State’s Stephen Curry, the most valuable player of last season’s finals, effortlessly dropped 33 points. But his team began the season under the shadow of Green’s swing at Poole at a practice, a video of which was obtained by TMZ.Golden State’s Jordan Poole, right, had 12 points and 7 assists off the bench in Tuesday night’s win against the Lakers.John G Mabanglo/EPA, via ShutterstockAnd in part because of Green, the Golden State dynasty — at least as the world has known it — faces the potential of great upheaval.Golden State has long been defined by the greatness of Curry. But it has also been marked by a rare continuity. This is Kerr’s ninth season as head coach, the third-longest tenure behind that of San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich and Miami’s Erik Spoelstra. Green, Curry and Klay Thompson have played together for more than a decade. Bob Myers, the team president, has been with the franchise since 2011.Green’s value to the team is undoubtable: He can defend all five positions at an elite level, and he is an excellent passer, particularly adept at finding Curry in the right spots. He had 5 assists Tuesday to go with 4 points and 5 rebounds.At 32, he has also been known as a leader on and off the floor. Younger players like Moses Moody, James Wiseman and, at one point, Poole have spoken about the encouragement they received from Green when they were struggling on the court.Without Green, there is no Golden State dynasty.He has spent his whole career in Golden State and has a player option after this year worth roughly $27.5 million. Green is a four-time All-Star who, according to The Athletic, believes he’s deserving of a maximum contract extension. And in many situations, this would be a no-brainer, both as a reward for his past service to Golden State and in recognition of his current abilities.But his role as a leader is in question after what happened with Poole this month. He has a reputation for impulsive behavior like the Poole incident, yelling at coaches and teammates, and racking up silly technicals. One wonders if Myers and Joe Lacob, the team’s owner, may look at Green entering the twilight of his career and wish him the best playing somewhere else.Golden State has long been defined by Stephen Curry’s greatness. He had 33 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists Tuesday.Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesThey have locked in the 23-year-old Poole for years to come, recently signing him to a four-year extension worth up to $140 million, according to ESPN.Poole was diplomatic Tuesday when asked whether the rift with Green had healed.“It was ring night and that’s really what we were focused on,” Poole said. “Finishing the first game. Huge win against a really good team.”Golden State also recently signed forward Andrew Wiggins, 27, to a pricey extension after he proved crucial to the team’s finals win last year and cemented himself as a building block for the team’s future. Not signed to an extension so far: Green.Golden State may be liable for almost $500 million in salaries and luxury tax next year. To put that in perspective, the minimum team salary for this season is about $111 million. Lacob has been willing to spend more than any other team in the N.B.A. to keep the team’s core together, but from a cold business perspective, Green soon may be the odd man out.Golden State has cited the organization’s strong culture as a reason for its success. But professional sports have long been a haven where bad behavior is overlooked for players who contribute to wins, which perhaps explains why Golden State chose to fine but not suspend Green for the punch.That is, however, a short-term solution to keep the peace. And Green, who won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2016-17, certainly contributes to wins. On Tuesday, his ball-hawking skills made life difficult for Anthony Davis, the Lakers’ star big man, and offensively, Green flashed his versatility.But the shadow of his punch still looms.Green, in publicly apologizing for the incident on Oct. 8, told reporters that the he regretted the embarrassment his punch caused Poole and his family. Yet he chose to air the video again Tuesday in a self-serving “all-access” show called “The Countdown” on TNT, which also broadcast Golden State’s game. He turned the incident into profit and a glossily produced opportunity for image rehabilitation. He addressed the Poole incident by saying that he hadn’t paid much attention to the social media backlash. He also tried to use the show to reassert himself as a leader of the team.“You can’t change the events that happened, but we can control what happens moving forward and that’s where we are,” Green said straight into the camera during the segment. “And myself as a leader of this team, it’s on me to make sure we’re headed that way.”Golden State’s Andre Iguodala, left, Curry, Green and Klay Thompson have won four championships together.Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesWhatever becomes of Green, Golden State is strongly positioned for the future. Aside from Poole and Wiggins, young talents with like Wiseman, Moody and Jonathan Kuminga are waiting in the wings for more playing time (and their own contract extensions) without the drama that Green brings.That Golden State faces upheaval is not the same thing as Golden State facing an end. This isn’t the first time that the team’s run has seemed seriously threatened. As a result of injuries, Golden State was among the worst teams in the league the two seasons before last year, which left many wondering if they could recapture their greatness. That didn’t escape Curry.“I heard it back in 2019,” Curry told The Mercury News in an interview published Tuesday. “I heard during the pandemic. We hear it a little louder now because we won again. We would have heard it louder had we not won. Nobody has any idea what’s going to happen.”As Tuesday night showed, the team is positioned for another ring chase. Poole and Green showed they can coexist on the court: Poole slipped Green a slick pass in the second quarter for an easy layup. But if Golden State hosts another banner-raising ceremony next fall, it may be the last one featuring Green. More