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      Elgin Baylor, Acrobatic Hall of Famer in N.B.A., Dies at 86

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      Foreshadowing the likes of Michael Jordan, he was a star with the glamorous Lakers and was voted to the all-N.B.A. team for the league’s first 50 years.Elgin Baylor, the Lakers’ Hall of Fame forward who became one of the N.B.A.’s greatest players, displaying acrobatic brilliance that foreshadowed the athleticism of later generations of stars, died on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 86.His death, at a hospital, was announced on Twitter by the Lakers. The team did not specify a cause.In his 14 seasons with the Lakers, first in Minneapolis but mostly in Los Angeles, with another pair of Hall of Famers, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, as teammates, Baylor played with a creative flourish that had never been seen in pro basketball.He was only 6 feet 5 inches — relatively short for a forward even then — but he played above the rim when he soared toward the basket. His ability to twist and turn in midair on his way to the hoop previewed the freewheeling shows put on by stars like Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and LeBron James.When Baylor arrived in the N.B.A. in 1958, an All-American out of Seattle University, the pros usually scored on one-handed set shots or running hooks. Baylor added a new dimension.“You could not stop Elgin from driving to the basket,” the Hall of Fame guard Oscar Robertson recalled in his autobiography “The Big O” (2010), adding, “You sure couldn’t out-jump him, or hang in the air any longer than he did.”“Elgin,” Robertson wrote, “was the first and original high flier.”Baylor’s sturdy 225-pound frame complemented his finesse. He could muscle his way to the basket, and he followed up his missed shots by maneuvering to score over bigger players. He was also an outstanding rebounder and passer.Baylor driving to the hoop against Tom Sanders of the Boston Celtics, the Lakers’ perennial nemesis, in the 1962 championship series. Boston won, as it so often did against the Lakers. Associated PressBaylor was voted to the all-N.B.A. team for the league’s first 50 years. He was a 10-time N.B.A. first-team All-Star selection and averaged more than 30 points a game for three consecutive seasons in the early 1960s.He set a league record by scoring 64 points against the Boston Celtics in November 1959, then scored 71 against the Knicks in November 1960, only to see Chamberlain score 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors against the Knicks in March 1962.Baylor joined with West and later with Chamberlain to turn the Lakers into a glamour team. He played in eight N.B.A. final series, but the Lakers lost seven times to the Celtics in the Bill Russell era and then to the Knicks in a memorable Game 7 at Madison Square Garden in 1970.He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977.But Baylor had little success when he turned to coaching and front-office positions. He coached three losing teams with the New Orleans Jazz (now the Utah Jazz) in the 1970s and later spent 22 mostly frustrating seasons as the general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers.In the days when the N.B.A.’s TV coverage was limited, Baylor had never viewed a pro game before he played in one.“I had never seen anyone else do my moves,” he told Terry Pluto in the N.B.A. oral history “Tall Tales” (1992). “It starts with talent; you have to be able to jump. But more than that, things I did were spontaneous. I had the ball, I reacted to the defense.”And he had a nervous facial twitch that sometimes made defenders think he was setting off in one direction only to find him heading the other way.As the center Johnny Kerr put it, “You didn’t know if it was a head fake or what was going on.”Baylor, second from right, as coach of the New Orleans Jazz in 1979. With him, from left, were Kent Benson of the Milwaukee Bucks and Tommy Green and Jimmy McElroy of the Jazz.Associated PressElgin Gay Baylor was born in Washington on Sept. 16, 1934. He was a high school basketball star, then played for one season at the College of Idaho and two seasons at Seattle University, leading his team as a senior to the 1958 N.C.A.A. tournament final, a loss to Kentucky.The Minneapolis Lakers selected Baylor as the league’s overall No. 1 pick in the 1958 draft. He took them to the 1959 N.B.A. final series, where he averaged nearly 25 points a game in a losing cause, the Lakers being swept by the Celtics. He was named rookie of the year.The Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960, the year West arrived to provide an outside game to go with Baylor’s all-around skills.Baylor was eventually hampered by knee surgery that diminished his spring, but he remained an offensive force. He retired after his injuries limited him to two games in 1970-71 and just nine at the outset of the 1971-72 season, when the Lakers went on to defeat the Knicks for the championship.“Winning that championship was marred for me by the sad, conspicuous absence of Elgin Baylor,” West recalled in his memoir “West by West” (2011), written with Jonathan Coleman. “The guy that shared all the blood, sweat and tears wasn’t there to realize what it felt like.”Baylor averaged 27.4 points and 13.5 rebounds for his career and played in 11 All-Star Games.He was fired as the Jazz coach in 1979. He became the head of basketball operations for the Clippers, essentially their general manager, in 1986.The Clippers made the playoffs only four times in Baylor’s tenure, which ended before the 2008-09 season opened. The Clippers said he had resigned, but he filed a lawsuit in March 2009 against the Clippers’ owner, Donald T. Sterling, and the N.B.A., maintaining that he had been fired as a result of age and racial discrimination.The lawsuit contended that Sterling had described Baylor as “a token” and that he had wanted the team to be composed of “poor black kids from the South” with a white head coach. The N.B.A. was accountable, according to the suit, because league officials knew of a large salary disparity between other general managers and Baylor, an African-American.A jury decided in the Clippers’ favor, concluding that Baylor had lost his job because of the team’s poor showings.But in April 2014, the N.B.A. imposed a lifetime ban on Sterling shortly after a recording obtained by TMZ caught him making racist comments in a conversation with a female acquaintance. The team was sold to the businessman Steve Ballmer in August 2014.Baylor is survived by his wife, Elaine; a daughter, Krystal; two children from a previous marriage, Alan and Alison; and a sister, Gladys Baylor Barrett.Long after Baylor’s playing days ended, his reputation endured.Tom Heinsohn, the Hall of Fame forward on Celtic teams that bested Baylor’s Lakers, marveled at his feats.“Elgin Baylor as forward beats out Bird, Julius Erving and everybody else,” Heinsohn told Roland Lazenby in his biography “Jerry West” (2009), referring to the Celtics’ Larry Bird. “He had the total game: defense, offense, everything, rebounding, passing the ball.” (Heinsohn died in November at 86.)Bill Sharman, the Celtics’ sharpshooting guard who coached Baylor in his brief, final season, was even more succinct, telling The Los Angeles Times back then, “Elgin Baylor is the greatest cornerman who ever played pro basketball.”Alex Traub contributed reporting. More

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      LaMelo Ball Is Out Indefinitely With a Wrist Injury

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      Ball, a rookie guard for the Charlotte Hornets, had been considered the leading candidate for the Rookie of the Year Award.Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball, widely considered the leading candidate to win the N.B.A.’s Rookie of the Year Award, has a fractured bone in his right wrist and is out indefinitely, the team announced on Sunday night.Ball underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam on Sunday in San Antonio as the Hornets prepared for a road game against the Spurs on Monday. Ball, 19, had a hard landing on Saturday night in the first half of the team’s road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and tried to play through the pain in the second half.Drafted third over all by the Hornets in November, Ball is averaging 15.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.59 steals per game; he ranks seventh in the league in steals per game. Combined with strong play from the free-agent newcomer Gordon Hayward and the second-year Hornet Terry Rozier — both former Boston Celtics — Ball has helped Charlotte challenge for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after four consecutive seasons out of the postseason.Ball became a starter on Feb. 1 in Miami and has averaged 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.7 steals since the move. Amid much skepticism leading up to the draft about his dependability from the perimeter, Ball has shot 46.4 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from 3-point range in his 21 starts.Ball was named the Eastern Conference rookie of the month in both January and February, and was the only rookie over the past 60 years to lead all first-year players in total points, rebounds, assists and steals at the All-Star break.Ball, the younger brother of New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball, was selected by the Hornets in the 2020 draft, after Minnesota drafted guard Anthony Edwards and Golden State chose center James Wiseman. More

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      Rooting for Your Home Team in Person? Here’s What You Need to Know.

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      This spring, big-league games are luring fans to stadiums and arenas. Expect varying levels of mask-wearing, social distancing and pregame testing.From strict testing, masking and physical-distancing protocols in New York and California, to a full 40,000-seat stadium with almost no coronavirus restrictions outside Dallas.These are the widely varying conditions sports fans can expect as large-scale spectatorship returns to big-league stadiums and arenas this spring. Americans are still getting infected with the coronavirus each day, and hospitalizations and deaths continue to add to the virus’s ghastly toll — but even the most Covid-weary cannot deny the life-affirming joy of root-root-rooting for the home team.The question is, should you be rooting in person?“The devil’s always in the details,” said Dr. Thomas A. Russo, chief of infectious medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. But when masking and distance standards are closely enforced, “the risk is going to be low,” he said.Fans were present on a very limited basis for some games at the end of last baseball season and in the N.F.L. season that concluded last month, and more recently for some N.B.A. and N.H.L. games. As of Friday, there have been no reports of community spread, but an argument can be made for waiting a bit before applying the face paint and heading out.“We’re still going to have a moderate community burden of disease for another six to eight weeks,” Dr. Russo said. “After that, as we’re working on the vaccinations, I expect it to lighten. So baseball in July may be very comfortable,” he continued, “whereas Opening Day may be less so.”This spring, the spectator policies of big-league baseball, soccer, hockey and basketball teams in the United States are governed primarily by the Covid-19 regulations of the 27 states where they are located, and the District of Columbia. The N.H.L. has extensive protocols for players, fans and buildings, and “none are independent of local, state, provincial or federal guidelines,” said John Dellapina, the league’s senior vice president of communications.But that leads to wide variations in how many are able to watch a game at the stadium or arena — and the lengths to which they must go to get in. The best thing for prospective spectators to do is check on their favorite team’s website and see what they need to do for a ticket.In New York, regulations currently allow 10 percent capacity at indoor sports venues — that translates to roughly 2,000 fans at Madison Square Garden for Knicks and Rangers games, 1,300 Islanders fans at Nassau Coliseum and 1,800 Nets fans at the Barclays Center — and 20 percent at outdoor venues.Those fans must present evidence of a negative virus test taken within 72 hours of the game (at a cost of $60 or more); have that test result linked to their ID via an app, like the tech company Clear’s digital health pass or New York State’s Excelsior Pass; complete a health survey before entry; submit to a temperature check; and, once inside, wear a mask except when eating or drinking.Outdoors, the same entry procedures will be in place, but with 20 percent capacity, when fans return to Yankee Stadium on Opening Day, April 1, and to Citi Field for the Mets home opener on April 8. (Both teams also say they will accept proof of full vaccination.) Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced the doubling of capacity for outdoor stadiums on Thursday, which means the Yankees can host almost 11,000 fans and the Mets about 8,400.That will also hold true for the Toronto Blue Jays, who are likely to play home games in Buffalo’s intimate Sahlen Field starting in May or June if the U.S.-Canada border remains closed. At Sahlen, 20 percent capacity translates to about 3,300 fans.Limited tickets and lots of social distancingOf course, all of this is dependent on scoring a ticket. Season-ticket holders get first crack at seats, so resale sites are the best bet for the casual fan.For some teams those secondary prices will be steep, given the limited supply, like the $260 nosebleed seat listed on Thursday for Islanders-Rangers at the Coliseum April 11. The cheapest resale price for a Red Sox-Orioles Opening Day ticket at Fenway Park (12 percent capacity) was put at $344. Currently, resale sites don’t even list tickets for Yankee Stadium or Citi Field until June.Baseball fans kept their distance from each other during the game between the New York Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., on March 13.Eve Edelheit for The New York TimesNew Jersey is allowing 10 percent capacity at Devils games indoors in Newark (about 1,800 fans), and 15 percent capacity for Red Bulls games outdoors in Harrison (about 3,750) when the Major League Soccer season starts on April 17. But unlike New York, no negative Covid-19 test is required. “If you buy tickets together, you can sit together, but otherwise, we have to spread apart,” said Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey.Sports and health officials use algorithms to determine what percentage of capacity allows for six feet of spacing. For most arenas, that figure is 20 to 25 percent, so the Devils are well below that threshold.In California, a color-coded system determined by local infection rates determines restrictions. Until recently, Los Angeles County was in the strictest purple tier, which would have restricted attendance to 100 fans at LA Galaxy and LAFC soccer games and Dodgers baseball games.But the county has since moved to the red tier, which allows 20 percent capacity at sports venues. So when the Dodgers play their home opener on April 9, as many as 11,200 fans will be on hand at Dodger Stadium. Orange County also moved to red, which will enable 9,000 fans to turn out at Angel Stadium. So did San Diego County, giving the OK for 10,000 Padres fans at Petco Park.And so it goes in a checkerboard manner across the country. The Colorado Rockies can fill their ballpark to just over 42 percent of capacity, or 21,000 fans who must wear proper masks. In Missouri, the St. Louis Cardinals can fill up to 32 percent of their stadium, and in Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates can fill 20 percent. But in Michigan, current regulations mandate that the Detroit Tigers admit only 1,000 fans, though the team says that figure could be increased.In Oregon, state officials have not yet cleared the Portland Timbers men’s and Portland Thorns women’s soccer teams to allow fans into Providence Park. That’s also true for 13 N.B.A. basketball teams, though that number could shrink in the coming days.Indeed, the N.B.A. has perhaps the most uniform leaguewide policy regarding Covid protocols. In the 17 arenas that currently admit fans, none are allowed to sit courtside and must be at least 15 feet behind team benches. Fans with seats within 30 feet of the court must present a negative Covid-19 test within 48 hours of game time or pass a rapid test on-site, and they are prohibited from eating.The N.H.L. has also made rink-side adjustments after a few early-season outbreaks among players and officials in closed-door games. The plexiglass panels were removed from behind the team benches and the penalty boxes to promote air circulation. And at 18 of the 24 U.S. rinks that now or will soon allow attendance, fans are prohibited from sitting behind the benches and penalty boxes or along the glass.And then there’s Texas…Then there’s the Lone Star state, where Gov. Greg Abbott recently removed all Covid-19 restrictions.The Texas Rangers took that as their cue to allow full capacity, all 40,518 seats, for the first three games at their new retractable-roof baseball stadium in Arlington — the first team in North America to do so. There will be no protocols beyond a mask-wearing rule at those two exhibition games on March 29 and 30 and the season opener on April 5. Subsequent games will be at less-than-full but still undetermined capacity.Dr. Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston, said she would not recommend attending those first three games in Arlington.“Will people keep their masks on, will they be drinking alcohol, will they be shouting, will the roof be open or closed?” she said. “There are so many risk factors. Even if you’re fully immunized, I’d advise against going.”However, another Dallas team is showing more restraint. The N.B.A. Mavericks will continue to cap their attendance at about 25 percent capacity and require fans to complete a health questionnaire. “Nothing will change,” the Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, said.Golf fans, buoyed by the principle that outdoors is better when it comes to the coronavirus, are returning to PGA Tour events. Some 10,000 were expected for this weekend’s Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. That’s 20 percent of maximum capacity.But if it still seems like a lot of people on a golf course, don’t worry. The PGA Tour website reminds all spectators to make sure their temperature is under 100.4 degrees before they arrive and to maintain six-foot distancing.And, as a final reassurance for those who simply must get out and watch a tournament in person, the PGA warns that “no autographs, fist bumps or selfies are permitted with players.”Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. More

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      Your N.B.A. Coronavirus Questions, Answered

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyYour N.B.A. Coronavirus Questions, AnsweredCan fans attend all games? Will players be vaccinated? Was All-Star weekend safe? Read on to find out.Fans at a game between the Knicks and the Sacramento Kings at Madison Square Garden, with limited seating.Credit…Pool photo by John MinchilloMarch 11, 2021Updated 5:49 p.m. ETThe second half of another strange N.B.A. season in the pandemic has begun.In the first half, multiple players missed several games because of health concerns related to the coronavirus, even if they didn’t contract the virus. Teams have missed games. At one point, the Washington Wizards did not have enough players to practice. Almost every team in the N.B.A. has been affected in some way.As action resumes, here is where the league stands with the virus, and other story lines to watch.Some of the questions we’ll answer:Are fans allowed in arenas yet?How many games were postponed in the first half?Are enhanced protocols still in place?How many players have tested positive for the virus?Can the Texas teams — the Spurs, the Rockets and the Mavericks — fill their arenas now?Will N.B.A. players get vaccinated?Are fans allowed in arenas yet?So far, 14 of 30 teams allow fans to attend games in varying capacities: Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Indiana, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Orlando, Phoenix and Utah, plus both the Nets and the Knicks. Some other franchises will be allowing fans soon: San Antonio (March 12), Charlotte (March 13), Philadelphia (March 14), Detroit (March 17) Toronto (March 19; this will be in Tampa, Fla.) and Boston (March 22).Will the Knicks make the playoffs?This isn’t the piece for that.But will fans be able to watch the Knicks in person in the playoffs?You got me. It’s possible.How many games were postponed in the first half?A total of 31 games were postponed when teams did not have enough players because of positive tests or contact tracing. All are expected to be made up.Are enhanced protocols still in place?They are. In January, the N.B.A. and the players’ union announced — following a surge of postponements — that players were being directed to spend their time almost exclusively at home or, if on the road, in their hotel rooms. Initially, the tightening was described as at least two weeks. But it is still in place.But didn’t they just have an All-Star Game in Atlanta?Well, yeah.So most of the league’s best players traveled to Atlanta for an exhibition game. Was that an unnecessary risk?So far, no players are publicly known to have tested positive coming out of All-Star festivities. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers, who were supposed to play, missed the All-Star Game because of contact tracing after their barber tested positive for the coronavirus. Both will also miss Thursday’s game against the Chicago Bulls.How many players have tested positive for the virus?Beginning with the weekly testing report on Dec. 10, the first after players entered training camp, 60 players have tested positive. According to the most recent report by the N.B.A., two new players have returned positive tests since March 3.Why haven’t I seen Wayne Knight in the ads for “Space Jam 2”?I’m sorry, Mr. Knight. I can’t answer that.Can the Texas teams — the Spurs, the Rockets and the Mavericks — fill their arenas now?Recently, Gov. Greg Abbott, Republican of Texas, ended the state’s mask mandate and said that all businesses could operate without capacity limits.No. All teams must still adhere to the N.B.A.’s protocols, which require social distancing between groups of ticket holders. The Spurs will allow about 3,200 fans. The Mavericks have been topping out at 4,000, but Mark Cuban, the team’s owner, also recently said on a podcast, “We think that by the end of the regular season we’ll have full houses, because like the president said, anybody who would want a vaccine will be able to get a vaccine.” The Rockets allow roughly 4,000 or so fans.Will N.B.A. players get vaccinated?Commissioner Adam Silver has said repeatedly that he does not want N.B.A. players to get vaccinated ahead of their eligibility. He also expressed openness to players receiving the vaccine as part of a public awareness campaign.Last weekend, Silver told reporters that he was unaware of any players who had been vaccinated.“I also think being realistic, around the N.B.A., as I said, we have no plans to mandate that players get vaccinated,” Silver said. “For any sort of large scale, required vaccinations to take place, that can only happen with the players’ association.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Meyers Leonard Fined $50,000 and Suspended for Using an Anti-Semitic Slur

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyMeyers Leonard Fined $50,000 and Suspended for Using an Anti-Semitic SlurLeonard, a reserve center for the N.B.A.’s Miami Heat, said the slur while playing a video game on a public livestream.Meyers Leonard of the Miami Heat used an anti-Semitic slur while playing a video game on a livestream on Monday. Credit…Lynne Sladky/Associated PressMarch 11, 2021, 3:28 p.m. ETMeyers Leonard, a reserve center for the Miami Heat, has been fined $50,000 and suspended for one week after a viral clip showed him using an anti-Semitic slur while playing a video game on a public livestream.“Meyers Leonard’s comment was inexcusable and hurtful and such an offensive term has no place in the N.B.A. or in our society,” Adam Silver, the N.B.A. commissioner, said in a statement announcing the punishments. “Yesterday, he spoke to representatives of the Anti-Defamation League to better understand the impact of his words and we accept that he is genuinely remorseful.”The statement continued, “We have further communicated to Meyers that derogatory comments like this will not be tolerated and that he will be expected to uphold the core values of our league — equality, tolerance, inclusion and respect — at all times moving forward.”Leonard, a 29-year-old gaming aficionado, was playing “Call of Duty: Warzone,” a popular multiplayer video game, on Twitch, a livestreaming platform, when he said the slur. He also said a sexist vulgarity in his comment, after another player tried to kill his character in the game. The video was recorded Monday, but the clip did not spread on social media until Tuesday.The condemnation of Leonard was swift, with the Heat suspending him indefinitely on Tuesday and the Anti-Defamation League saying in a statement on Twitter that it was “shocked and disappointed” to see Leonard use the “ugly, offensive” slur.Leonard apologized Tuesday in a statement posted to Instagram.He said he was “deeply sorry” for using the slur, and that he did not know what the word meant at the time.“I acknowledge and own my mistake and there’s no running from something like this that is so hurtful to someone else,” Leonard said. “This is not a proper representation of who I am.”On Wednesday, further criticism came from within the Heat organization.Erik Spoelstra, the Heat’s coach, told reporters that Leonard’s words were “distasteful and hurtful.”“We know Meyers. Meyers has been a really good teammate,” Spoelstra said. “He’s a good human being. He said something that was extremely distasteful and hurtful. And we’re left with the aftermath. We don’t condone that obviously.”Udonis Haslem, who has played for the Heat for almost two decades, said of Leonard: “We can’t tolerate that here. Right is right and wrong is wrong. And since I’ve been here in this organization, to the day I leave this organization and beyond, we’re going to try to be on the right side of everything — especially issues like this.”Haslem added that he had “never heard him use any language that made me uncomfortable at all” previously.Leonard, who had played only three games this season, his ninth in the league, already was expected to miss the rest of the season because of a shoulder surgery last month. He is making about $9.4 million this year, with a team option for next season. He has come off the bench for much of his career but started the majority of the Heat’s games last year.After the clip of him saying the slur went viral, Twitch suspended his channel and several gaming companies he had been affiliated with denounced him. FaZe Clan, an e-sports team Leonard invested in two years ago, said it was cutting ties with him, although it was unclear what that meant since Leonard was an investor. Other companies, like Origin PC and Scuf Gaming, which are both owned by the hardware company Corsair, and Astro Gaming, whose gaming headsets Leonard was giving away as a promotion, also said they were ending their relationships with him.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      One Year Later, Rudy Gobert Is at Peace. And Thriving.

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyOne Year Later, Rudy Gobert Is at Peace. And Thriving.The Utah Jazz center’s positive test for the coronavirus began a cascading shutdown of American sports. But with a huge new contract and a dominant team, he has moved on.Rudy Gobert is averaging 14.2 points, 13.1 rebounds and a career-high 2.7 blocks a game. Credit…Kent Smith/NBAE, via Getty ImagesMarch 10, 2021Updated 9:24 p.m. ETIt was not a time in his life, understandably, that Rudy Gobert is eager to revisit. No one wants to be connected so closely to the day that the N.B.A., suddenly infiltrated by the coronavirus, suspended its season.Gobert, though, is realistic. He constantly sizes up situations in his rim-protecting role for the Utah Jazz. He understands better than most that there are some things even a supreme shot-blocker can’t swat away.So he has known for some time what was coming this month. Copious coverage of the unhappy anniversary was inevitable, ready or not, one year removed from Gobert’s positive test for the coronavirus on March 11, 2020. It was the thunderbolt that led to the postponement of Utah’s game in Oklahoma City that night and, some 90 minutes later, an abrupt announcement that the 2019-20 season was being placed on hiatus “until further notice.” The novel coronavirus had been thrust to the forefront of major team sports in North America.It was the sort of unforgettably seismic event that forced Gobert, during a virtual interview session just hours before he played in Sunday’s 70th N.B.A. All-Star Game, to field multiple questions asking him to look back.“Those few weeks, those few months, were really tough,” Gobert said softly. “I’m just blessed to be able to be here today to enjoy this All-Star Game — and to be healthy.”The focus should be back on basketball soon enough and Gobert, this March, is clearly in a good place. Despite his modest 14.2 points per game, and winding up as the last of 24 players selected when LeBron James and Kevin Durant chose the All-Star squads, Gobert can stride into Utah’s one-year-later practice session on Thursday knowing he has never been a more effective two-way player.There is a case to be made that Gobert, because of his impact at both ends, is the foremost catalyst for Utah’s league-best record (27-9) halfway through the regular season. Gobert, 28, ranks No. 239 out of nearly 500 players in usage rate; only 17.3 percent of Utah’s plays on offense involve him when he’s on the floor. But his tireless screen-setting, with the constant threat he poses to dive to the rim for dunks, opens things for Utah’s increased emphasis on the 3-point shot.The Jazz are on pace to become the first team in league history to make 17 3-pointers per game. Ryan Smith, Utah’s rookie owner and a lifelong Jazz fan, called Gobert “one of the most selfless players in the league” for the space he creates.“He does so much,” Smith said, “that no one sees.”It’s a scouting report no one could have filed 12 months ago, when Gobert lost any semblance of anonymity. Two days before he tested positive, Gobert made a show of touching several microphones on a press-room table. It was an ill-fated attempt to lighten the mood on the first day that reporters, limited by a new N.B.A. rule to promote social distancing, could not hold their microphones near Gobert’s face as they asked him questions. When the video was replayed, over and over, after Gobert’s positive test, his actions were widely interpreted as cavalier behavior that mocked the severity of the coronavirus.In an Instagram post, Gobert apologized for what he termed “careless” actions and said he “had no idea I was even infected.” The N.B.A. was largely praised for reacting so swiftly to Gobert’s positive test — in what many billed as the moment, along with the subsequent suspension of the season, that the coronavirus threat became real for many Americans — but the fallout made Gobert a villain on top of his status as the N.B.A.’s Patient Zero.The Jazz have the N.B.A.’s best record and Gobert’s intimidating defense and efficient offense have played a huge role in that. Credit…Steph Chambers/Getty ImagesWhat followed were those tough “weeks” and “months” that Gobert referenced before making his second consecutive All-Star appearance. Yet by year’s end, Gobert had rebounded so emphatically that he signed a five-year, $205 million contract in December, just days after Smith was approved as Utah’s new owner. It is the richest deal in league history for a center and ensured that Gobert’s 2020 produced a dizzying swirl of emotions.“It was definitely a tough year, not just for me, but for everyone,” Gobert said. “A lot of things happened. A lot of unexpected things happened. But I believe that every tough moment is a learning experience. I think the most important thing is to try to make positive out of the negative, and hopefully that’s what I’ve been able to do.”Said Smith: “It was hard for him to be the first, but if you ever dive deep into that day in Oklahoma, no one knew what to do. People were calling me when I was still a sponsor, saying: ‘How do we get the team out of here, how can we get a plane?’ The organization was literally in the most uncharted situation that we have been through.”Gobert’s lows and challenges consumed several months. His bout with the coronavirus included a temporary loss of taste and smell. The microphones episode and a positive test for Donovan Mitchell, Utah’s All-Star guard, exacerbated long-simmering tensions between the two, which lingered until the season restarted at Walt Disney World in July.Gobert, Mitchell and the franchise faced another setback when the Jazz were stunned by the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs after taking a three-games-to-one series lead. Some around the league wondered if Utah would break the duo up via trade. Yet Gobert insisted that just being in the N.B.A. bubble — and, for him, scoring the historic first basket of the restart — instilled him with “the feeling that the world was still spinning.” He and Mitchell have since rebuilt their relationship to the point it has become a running joke among Jazz players that various media reports described the union as “unsalvageable” last April.“You watch those two guys play now and that’s a long time ago, literally and figuratively,” Utah Coach Quin Snyder said of past tensions.To gain further distance from the crushing Denver series, Mitchell signed his own lucrative contract extension in November. The pair’s deals are worth a combined $400 million and Gobert, the No. 27 overall pick in 2013 who spent time in the N.B.A.’s developmental league as a rookie, has lived up to it with perhaps his best all-around play (13.1 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game).“Signing the contract doesn’t put more pressure on me,” Gobert said in a telephone interview on a recent drive home from practice. “In people’s minds, maybe it changed their perception about me, but no amount of money is going to add pressure to what I put on myself.“I’ve had a target on my back for many, many years now — for multiple reasons. When you win multiple defensive player of the years, people just try to come at you. So I’ve had that mind-set already.”Gobert, who stands 7 feet 1 inch and has a 7-foot-9 wingspan, also has a kindred spirit nearby when he needs counsel. Mark Eaton, the 7-4 center who played for the Jazz for his entire 11-season career, remains a fixture in the community and has become a sounding board for Utah’s modern-day defensive anchor.Their relationship was once described as “unsalvageable,” but Donovan Mitchell and Gobert have worked through any issues. They have committed to stay in Utah long term.Credit…Rick Bowmer/Associated PressThey bonded a few years back when Eaton introduced Gobert to a fellow Frenchman, David Folch, who designs bicycles with 36-inch wheels for tall riders. Gobert purchased his own bike and soon visited Eaton’s Park City home for a 7-footers-only ride — and, later, a visit to what Eaton called “the shrine my wife put up in our house” of mementos from his Jazz career. Gobert spotted Eaton’s two Defensive Player of the Year trophies from 1984-85 and 1988-89 and announced that he intended to continue the tradition.“Now he has two of his own,” Eaton said.Praise was slow to come during Utah’s hot start, even when the Jazz ripped off a 20-1 stretch that featured 18 double-digit victories, but Gobert has learned to live with that, too. His succinct answer for skeptics who say that the Jazz have to prove themselves in the playoffs to validate their many regular-season feats: “They’re right.”When given the chance, he also refused to fire back at the Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal, who has been repeatedly dismissive of Mitchell and Gobert on TNT — especially regarding Gobert’s contract.“I have a lot of respect for his career,” Gobert said of O’Neal. “He’s one of the guys that, growing up watching basketball, we all looked up to. But now he’s an entertainer in a way, so he’s doing things, saying things. If I start taking personal everything that’s been said about me, it’s going to be a long year.”Gobert said he would take a similar approach to cope with the likelihood that his connection to March 11 is something that he’ll always be asked about.“People only know what they’ve seen and what they’ve been told about me,” he said. “I’m not really worried about what people that don’t know me think about me.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      On the Road Again at All-Star Weekend

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyMarc Stein On BasketballOn the Road Again at All-Star WeekendPlenty of stars expressed concern about playing in the All-Star Game, but it proved to be an important trip for Nikola Vucevic and for a columnist eager to resume traveling.For Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic, the All-Star festivities were a chance to reconnect with a few friends. He played 19 minutes in the game and finished second in the skills competition. Credit…Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports, via ReutersMarch 10, 2021, 9:00 a.m. ETSunday’s 70th N.B.A. All-Star Game was repeatedly described as one almost all of us could have done without.The almost disclaimer got thrown in for people like Boran Rajcic, Stefan Vulevic and the Orlando Magic’s Nikola Vucevic. Like the league’s broadcast partners at Turner Sports, and the historically Black colleges and universities that gained so much from the weekend, Vucevcic and his close friends savored the experience.Vucevic and fellow All-Stars were allowed to bring up to four guests into the bubble environment that the N.B.A. conceived in Atlanta in hopes of staging Sunday’s competitions safely and hushing the naysayers who feared that the one-day format could devolve into some sort of superspreader event. After deciding with his wife, Nikoleta, that it would be wiser for her and their two young children to stay home this year, Vucevic figured he would be commemorating the second All-Star appearance of his career as a party of one.Rajcic and Vulevic wouldn’t let it happen.Rajcic drove to Georgia from California and made stops in Phoenix and Dallas along the way to register the requisite league-mandated negative tests for Covid-19 at official N.B.A. team testing facilities. Vulevic drove in six hours from Virginia to double the size of Vucevic’s fan club. So moved by those efforts, Vucevic arranged to stay over Sunday night before returning to Orlando — unlike the many All-Stars who left town immediately after the game by private jet — to maximize his time with the guys.Time together had to suffice as the primary source of entertainment, since they were posted up in a downtown hotel that, per N.B.A. rules, those cleared to enter were not allowed to leave.“I actually had a pretty nice balcony with my room,” Vucevic said. “We just hung out, played music, caught up.”Rajcic, who was the best man in Vucevic’s wedding, and Vulevic were adamant that they had to be in Atlanta, whatever it took, to make the most of what might prove to be the high point of Vucevic’s trying season. Vucevic, at 30, is producing career-best personal numbers so robust that he earned an All-Star spot despite injury-ravaged Orlando falling to 14th in the Eastern Conference at 13-23. A 6-foot-11 Montenegrin center, he is averaging 24.6 points and 11.6 rebounds while shooting 41.2 percent from 3-point range, which explains why the Boston Celtics — who openly covet a big man with shooting range — are mentioned often among the multiple playoff teams interested in acquiring Vucevic before the March 25 trade deadline.I was not aware of a room-with-balcony-option at my Atlanta hotel, but I could understand the pull Rajcic and Vulevic felt to make the trip. Before boarding a Georgia-bound flight last Friday night, I hadn’t left my Dallas base to attend an N.B.A. function of any kind since leaving the Walt Disney World bubble last September. This assignment struck me as the must-see occasion to end that drought. I was convinced of it despite the unappetizing prospect of pandemic air travel and knowing that the mere 50 members of the news media that would be credentialed at State Farm Arena, compared with the usual 1,000-plus that the league credentials, would get nowhere near the players or the floor like we ultimately did in the Disney bubble.When I strolled the streets surrounding the Atlanta Hawks’ home on Saturday afternoon, there was zero All-Star energy in the air and, unlike a typical N.B.A. production, very little signage to signal what would be happening Sunday night. Sunday’s walk to the game was even more disorienting, thanks to a police presence in the area that completely cleared out the arena’s perimeter. Maybe the N.B.A. and Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Atlanta mayor, were unable to dissuade locals and out-of-towners from congregating at unaffiliated parties thrown Friday and Saturday night as they had hoped, but by game day it was very much the closed-to-the-public, made-for-television event that the league intended.I knew going in that I would be granted access to a decent seat in a confined section of the arena behind one of the baskets and little else, but I’m glad I went. If the game was going to go ahead, after LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden and various other stars had all spoken out so forcefully against the league’s intentions to stuff three days’ worth of All-Star festivities into a one-night Turner bonanza, I felt a responsibility to get there as well and see as much as I could with my own eyes — just in case something went badly askew.Those superspreader fears were apparently averted when Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons were kept isolated from the other All-Stars after it was discovered that before leaving Philadelphia they had been exposed to a barber who had tested positive for Covid-19. The announcement that Embiid and Simmons were being pulled from Sunday’s game stoked a fresh round of apprehension and resistance among players, but my sense was that most participants came away appreciative of the experience.“There’s obviously a big balancing act, and I know Adam Silver tried to articulate that throughout this process, and obviously us as players, we have reactions to everything that happens because it’s our world and we’re living in it,” Golden State’s Stephen Curry said. “I still had a great time out there.”Credit…Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images“There’s obviously a big balancing act, and I know Adam Silver tried to articulate that throughout this process, and obviously us as players, we have reactions to everything that happens because it’s our world and we’re living in it,” Golden State’s Stephen Curry said. “I still had a great time out there.”Portland’s Damian Lillard added: “It had to be done, and we got it done. We showed up and did what we needed to do.”Whether All-Star 2021 really was or wasn’t a must is the point on which this whole debate hinged. Perhaps you will recall how succinctly Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers summed it up in early February.“We all know why we’re playing it,” Leonard said then. “There’s money on the line.”I, too, thought the risks taken to preserve Turner’s projected windfall of up to $30 million, on top of the untold millions that the N.B.A. and its players avoided losing through an outright cancellation, were ill-advised. Yet I must concede, with hindsight, that it’s a stretch to parrot the line that routinely dismisses the All-Star Game as “just” an exhibition. TNT treats it as the jewel of its annual N.B.A. coverage, bigger than any single playoff game on its air, while Silver said the league was expecting a global television audience of more than 100 million people, along with more than a billion social media views and engagements.No mere exhibition game generates that sort of hoopla. All-Star games don’t count — except that the N.B.A. can rightfully say they do.Like everything else in the league (and the world) these days, it’s complicated — and often inherently risky over the past year. Few understand that better than Silver, who is back in New York now for what could be another nervy week as the 400-plus players who were not in Atlanta gradually return to their teams. Coming out of a break is when the N.B.A. has typically had a surge in positive Covid-19 cases.It likewise figures to be a week filled with somber reflection given Thursday’s looming one-year anniversary of the N.B.A.’s shutdown in response to the coronavirus outbreak. I interviewed Silver recently for a one-year-later project that ran in Monday’s editions of The New York Times, which featured Silver sharing some of his thinking and takeaways from March 11, 2020.“When I made that decision that night to shut down, I thought of it more as a hiatus, because it was a realization that however long we’re shut down, we need to put in place a whole new set of protocols to deal with this emerging virus,” Silver said in last month’s interview. “It wasn’t so much that, all right, the world has stopped.“At that moment,” Silver said, “I did not have a sense that we would be having this conversation almost a year later and we still would not be back to business as usual.”The 70th All-Star Game, however you felt about it, was the latest illustration of exactly that. It became such a divisive issue because business as usual has been replaced by pandemic life for longer than most of us ever imagined.The Scoop @TheSteinLineMarch 8There is optimism within the Lakers that they will get strong consideration from Andre Drummond if Drummond ultimately leaves the Cavaliers via buyout, league sources say.Cleveland’s preference, of course, remains trading Drummond elsewhere before the March 25 trade deadline.March 6The NBA has sent out roughly 200 letters with cease-and-desist orders to various party promoters in the Atlanta area that have used the league’s All-Star logo and event name in connection with unaffiliated events scheduled this weekend, league spokesman tells ⁦‪@NYTSports⁩The most notable aspect of the letters, of course, is that they suggest there are at least 200 parties going on in the area this weekend after Atlanta Mayor @KeishaBottoms urged the local citizenry not to hold All-Star events when the NBA is not interacting with the public at allThis newsletter is OUR newsletter. So please weigh in with what you’d like to see here. To get your hoops-loving friends and family involved, please forward this email to them so they can jump in the conversation. If you’re not a subscriber, you can sign up here.Corner ThreeImmanuel Quickley is off to a promising start for the Knicks, but Obi Toppin is still adjusting to the speed of the pro game.Credit…Pool photo by John MinchilloYou ask; I answer. Every week in this space, I’ll field three questions posed via email at marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as the city you’re writing in from, and make sure “Corner Three” is in the subject line.(Responses may be lightly edited or condensed for clarity.)Q: You recently wrote an article about the surprising New York Knicks. Knicks fans are excited about Immanuel Quickley, but this Knicks fan is puzzled about the play of Obi Toppin. What is your sense of the hype he got when drafted and the reality of his play to date? — Rich Helfont (Port Washington, N.Y.)Stein: The hype hasn’t helped Toppin’s cause, but the Knicks’ circumstances have changed since draft night in November, too. No one expected Julius Randle to play at an All-Star level. Toppin was drafted as a potential Randle replacement by a front office that suddenly finds itself trying to determine whether Randle’s glorious half-season makes him a cornerstone player they have to keep.I thought there was a decent chance that the Knicks would take Tyrese Haliburton at No. 8 rather than Toppin, but they felt a greater need in the frontcourt, with RJ Barrett projected to be a more significant contributor to the Knicks’ future than Randle.The most troubling aspect of Toppin’s slow start is that, at age 23, he was thought to be more N.B.A.-ready than most rookies. Even Derrick Rose, whose recent return to the Knicks has clearly helped Toppin when they play together, mentioned recently that Toppin is still adjusting to the speed of the N.B.A. game. The ultratight turnaround from draft night to the start of Toppin’s first N.B.A. training camp, with no summer league, appeared to snuff out the supposed experience edge.Q: Is there any concern about dilution of the N.B.A.’s brand due to the oversaturation of the alternate jerseys teams wear every year? The recent orange-versus-red clash between the Hawks and Thunder seemed like a humorous, and unfortunate, result of league guidelines that allow teams to wear clashing colors instead of the traditional light-versus dark contrast. Is anyone at league headquarters worried that the Lakers wearing blue on another team’s blue court, or Miami dressing like the Pittsburgh Steelers or cotton candy on any given night, or Milwaukee wearing two shades of blue that have never been part of the Bucks’ aesthetic cheapens the history of these teams and the league? — Michael McAfee (Austin, Texas)Stein: As a fellow traditionalist, I decided to let your whole rant run, even though I suspect you knew the answer before you sent in the question. The league and its teams clearly hold no such concerns about printing an array of new jerseys every season. It must be profitable or they wouldn’t do it.If it were up to sappy me, of course, teams would all be wearing what they wore in the 1970s and 1980s (when applicable) and Mitchell & Ness would remake and market everything the Buffalo Braves wore from 1973-74 through 1977-78. But I, like you, clearly am not the target audience for today’s jersey manufacturers.I will say, though, that I really do like the San Antonio Spurs’ new Fiesta scheme. That’s pretty much the lone modern design I am drawn to.Q: If a replacement All-Star gets replaced, does it go in the record books that they made the All-Star team? — @RivelBrian from TwitterStein: Excellent question about precisely the sort of record-book minutiae that this newsletter cherishes.I checked with the league office and, yes, Phoenix’s Devin Booker will be recorded as an All-Star for the second successive season, even though he was chosen as a replacement for the injured Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers and then had to be replaced by Utah’s Mike Conley because of a sprained left knee.Conley thus exits the Best Player To Never Earn All-Star Status debate, leaving behind the likes of 1980s (and 1990s) stalwarts Derek Harper, Ron Harper, Rod Strickland, Byron Scott and Cedric Maxwell, along with Jason Terry and Lamar Odom from the more recent past, and Portland’s CJ McCollum as the most deserving current veteran player.Booker will surely carry a chip into next season even with the league now recognizing him as a two-time All-Star, because he was an injury-replacement selection both times after being snubbed by Western Conference coaches two seasons in a row. McCollum, in his eighth season, was also playing at an All-Star level when he sustained a fractured left foot on Jan. 16.Numbers GameWith Deandre Ayton anchoring the team’s defense and Devin Booker and Chris Paul thriving on offense, the Phoenix Suns are one of just two teams ranked in the N.B.A.’s top-ten in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Credit…Ronald Martinez/Getty Images2As the second half of the season begins with two games on Wednesday, only two teams rank in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency: Utah and Phoenix. The Jazz, at No. 4 in both categories, are the only team in the league that ranks in the top five in both. The Suns are No. 8 in offensive efficiency and No. 3 in defensive efficiency.99.4After two consecutive seasons in which pace leaguewide crept past 100 possessions per 48 minutes for the first time since 1988-89, that figure is down ever so slightly. Entering Wednesday’s play, teams are averaging 99.4 possessions per 48 minutes, according to Stathead.3The Lakers, Clippers and Nets are the only teams in the 30-team N.B.A. that have not had a game postponed this season according to the league’s health and safety protocols. The league had to postpone 31 games during the season’s first half because at least one team could not field the requisite eight players in uniform as a result of positive tests for Covid-19 or, more frequently, because of issues with contact tracing.6Only five of the six actually played in the All-Star Game after Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons was sidelined by the N.B.A.’s contact tracing rules, but this season’s six All-Stars listed as left-handers tied a league record: James Harden (Nets), Julius Randle (Knicks), Domantas Sabonis (Indiana), Simmons (Philadelphia), Zion Williamson (New Orleans) and the late addition Mike Conley (Utah).14Leave it to my trusty friends at Stathead to be able to dial up the history that shows there were also six lefties in the 1973 All-Star Game in Chicago: Tiny Archibald (Kansas City-Omaha), Dave Cowens (Boston), Gail Goodrich (Los Angeles Lakers), Bob Lanier (Detroit), Jack Marin (Houston) and Lenny Wilkens (Cleveland). Yet it must be noted that All-Star rosters swelled from 12 to 14 from 1970-71 through 1972-73, when the N.B.A. briefly stipulated that each team in the 17-team league had to be represented in the All-Star Game. The 1973 game in Chicago was the league’s last of three in a row with 28 All-Stars rather than 24. Fan voting for the five starters began in 1974-75.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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      Meyers Leonard Will Be Away From Heat ‘Indefinitely’ After Use of Anti-Semitic Slur

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyMeyers Leonard Will Be Away From Heat ‘Indefinitely’ After Use of Anti-Semitic SlurLeonard, a reserve center for the Miami Heat, lost gaming sponsorships after a video emerged of him using the slur while playing a video game on the livestreaming site Twitch.Meyers Leonard, right, during the 2020 N.B.A. finals. This season, he had played only three games and was expected to miss the rest of the campaign after having shoulder surgery.Credit…Kim Klement/USA Today Sports, via ReutersSopan Deb and Published More