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    Walter Davis, Basketball Star With a Velvet Touch, Dies at 69

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    “Walter is a good shooter until the fourth period,” one coach said of Davis, a standout in both college and the N.B.A. “Then he becomes a great shooter.”Walter Davis of the University of North Carolina in action against Duke in 1976. He averaged 15.7 points a game over four seasons there.Harold Valentine/Associated PressWalter Davis, whose smooth shooting propelled him to basketball stardom with the University of North Carolina and the Phoenix Suns, but who late in his career struggled with drug addiction, died on Thursday while visiting family in Charlotte, N.C. He was 69.The university announced his death but did not specify a cause.Davis, a 6-foot-6 forward, played at North Carolina from 1973 to 1977 for Dean Smith, one of the most successful coaches in college history. He averaged 15.7 points a game over four seasons on Tar Heels teams that also included Bobby Jones, Phil Ford and Mitch Kupchak.In one of Davis’s signature games, in March 1974, North Carolina was losing to Duke, 86-78, with 17 seconds left. After North Carolina closed the deficit to two points with time expiring, Davis tied it with a shot from a distance estimated at between 30 and 35 feet. (The basket would have counted for three points and won the game today, but the three-point shot was not officially introduced by the N.C.A.A. until 1986.) North Carolina went on to win in overtime, 96-92.“I wasn’t trying to bank it in,” Davis, then a freshman, said afterward. “It wasn’t a desperation shot. I was just trying to do my part, that’s all. I didn’t allow myself to think about anything. I just told myself it could only do two things, go in or come back out.”In 1976 he was a member of the United States team, also coached by Dean Smith, that won a gold medal at the Olympics in Montreal. A year later, he led North Carolina with 20 points — and 10 of his team’s last 12 — when it lost to Marquette, 67-59, in the final game of the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament.He was twice selected for all-Atlantic Coast Conference teams.His nephew Hubert is currently the North Carolina coach.Walter Davis was born on Sept. 9, 1954, in Pineville, N.C. His high school in Charlotte won three state titles in basketball before he left to attend prep school in Delaware. He arrived at North Carolina in 1973.In 1977, Davis had surgery on a broken finger after North Carolina won the A.C.C. tournament in his senior year. “Before they put me out, I remember looking up and Coach Smith was right there,” he told Ken Rosenthal for his book “Dean Smith: A Tribute” (2001). “I remember seeing him and having the screws drilled into my finger.”Davis was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 1977 N.B.A. draft. After averaging 24.2 points a game — the highest average of any season in his career — he was voted the league’s Rookie of the Year. He remained a steady performer throughout his 11 seasons with Phoenix, averaging 20.5 points a game as a small forward and shooting guard.Davis was a steady performer in his 11 seasons with the Phoenix Suns, averaging 20.5 points a game as a small forward and shooting guard.Focus on Sport/Getty ImagesDuring a game in 1983, he set a league record by scoring 34 points (on 15 field goals and four free throws) against Seattle before missing a shot.“I don’t remember a sweeter shot,” Alvan Adams, one of his teammates, told NBA.com in 2015. “He was a feared shooter. The other team knew it, too.”Chuck Daly, then the Detroit Pistons’ coach, told The New York Times in 1987: “Walter is a good shooter until the fourth period. Then he becomes a great shooter.”Davis had two nicknames: Sweet D and Greyhound.In his later years in Phoenix, Davis dealt with drug problems. In 1986, he spent a month in a drug rehabilitation center to treat cocaine and alcohol dependency. Early the next year he told The Times, “The scariest part is knowing that it is a disease that I will have to work on for the rest of my life.”When he relapsed in 1987, Davis was suspended by the league and once again entered a drug rehabilitation facility. He also received immunity from prosecution when he agreed to testify against several current and former Suns teammates, who were indicted on drug charges.In his testimony, The Arizona Republic reported, Davis said that he had first used cocaine in his second season in the league after being introduced to it by a teammate, Gar Heard. When asked by a prosecutor who else was there, he said, “Pretty much the whole team.”Later that year, Davis said that prosecutors had forced him to testify against his teammates.“I had no choice,” he told Sports Illustrated. “The last thing I wanted to do was get my teammates and friends indicted. If I’d known I was going to do that, I’d have probably gone to jail instead.”Davis left the Suns in 1988 to sign as a free agent with the Denver Nuggets. He was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in 1991 and then re-signed with Denver, where he played in the 1991-92 season before retiring.Davis was honored by the Suns and the Black Chamber of Arizona during a Black History Month celebration in Phoenix in 2016. Barry Gossage/NBAE, via Getty ImagesDavis averaged 18.9 points a game for his career and played in six All-Star Games.After his retirement, he worked as an announcer and community ambassador for the Nuggets and a scout for the Washington Wizards.Information on survivors was not immediately available. More

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      How Phoenix Fans Watch Their Teams May Change How You Watch Yours

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      Numerous franchises are expected to overhaul their local media deals, returning games to free networks. The transition is underway in Arizona.Days after Mat Ishbia reached a deal in December to buy majority stakes in the N.B.A.’s Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury of the W.N.B.A., he met with top executives to learn more about the teams’ business operations, including how local fans were able to watch their games on TV.The executives detailed three possibilities going forward, including sticking with Diamond Sports Group, which owned the regional sports network that for more than a decade had held the rights to show the teams’ games. Diamond Sports was saddled with $8 billion in debts — it would file for bankruptcy protection in March — but it still wrote big checks worth millions of dollars a year.Mr. Ishbia, though, gravitated to the riskiest of the three options: ditching the regional sports network model that most teams followed for decades and returning to showing Suns and Mercury games for free on over-the-air channels. It might cost the teams money in the short term, but the bet was that it would help them reach more fans, including those who dropped their cable subscriptions or, like many younger fans, never had one.“What was interesting was the amount of people that were reaching out to me on social media about how they couldn’t watch the Suns games,” Mr. Ishbia said in an interview, adding: “It’s their team. It’s not Mat’s team. To not be able to watch your game wasn’t an option that we were interested in.”In April, the organization announced that it would leave Diamond Sports and broadcast all Suns and Mercury games on over-the-air channels with the company Gray Television. They sent thousands of free antennas to fans who needed them. They also created a streaming option with the company Kiswe.Mr. Ishbia’s decision shook a sports media world — clubs, leagues, networks, cable and satellite providers — trying to navigate the decade-long shift in how fans watch their home teams. Those used to finding games on one channel are having to search for them elsewhere as networks and leagues reshuffle their distribution deals in response to the rise of cord cutting and the boom in streaming. Some clubs could face shortfalls as they search for ways to replace revenue lost by the end of local media deals, potentially hindering their ability to bid for top players.More teams are expected to overhaul their local media deals in the coming months as their contracts expire. Those that choose to show more of their games on free television are returning to a world that the N.F.L., which shows more than 90 percent of its games on over-the-air channels, never abandoned.“It’s back to the future,” said Michael Nathanson, a media analyst at MoffettNathanson. “As more people cut the cord, these teams are losing their ability to reach their fans. So why not put it over the air for free and also build a streaming product that’s more accessible for younger fans.”Bally Sports Arizona, the network that televised the games for Phoenix’s N.B.A., W.N.B.A., N.H.L. and Major League Baseball franchises, shut down last week.Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesAs the largest market going through this, Phoenix is ground zero for the rapid transition. In recent months, the Phoenix Coyotes of the N.H.L. and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball joined the Suns and the Mercury in overhauling their local media deals. On Friday, Bally Sports Arizona, the Diamond Sports network that carried all of those teams, shut down.The Phoenix-area franchises are part of a growing wave of teams doing the same. The San Diego Padres, like the Diamondbacks, ended their agreement with Diamond Sports, the largest regional sports network provider. Major League Baseball used its broadcasting and streaming capabilities to keep the teams on the air and guaranteed they would get 80 percent of the revenue they received in their Diamond Sports deals.Diamond Sports, which must make at least $400 million in annual debt payments, is in talks with its creditors, some of whom want to reshape the company’s business while others want to be bought out. Diamond Sports is also in talks with the N.B.A. and other leagues about reducing their rights fees.A company spokesperson declined to comment on the talks with creditors and the leagues.Last year, Monumental Sports Network, which is owned by Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Washington Wizards (N.B.A.), Capitals (N.H.L.) and Mystics (W.N.B.A.), bought NBC Sports Washington and unveiled a new streaming service. The N.H.L.’s Vegas Golden Knights said in May that they planned to shift to a free over-the-air channel. The N.B.A.’s Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers are selling their games and programming directly to viewers with streaming packages, with the Jazz also broadcasting their games on a free channel.The Jazz are “probably the largest real media company in the state,” Ryan Smith, the team’s owner, said in an interview this year. “If you actually think about the N.B.A., we’re not that different than a media or tech company.”Mr. Smith said he expected most teams to take over their broadcasts entirely within three years.Major League Baseball and the N.B.A. have been preparing for this possibility for years. When Sinclair, Diamond’s parent company, bought the regional sports networks from Fox Sports in 2019, M.L.B. made a bid because it wanted to control as much of its content as possible, Commissioner Rob Manfred said.“That was a product of our belief the media was going to change dramatically,” he said, noting that 11 major league teams still have contracts with Diamond Sports.Local media deals have traditionally been handled by the clubs, but in January, M.L.B. hired executives from regional sports networks to develop contingency plans, like taking back the rights to Padres and Diamondbacks games and showing them on MLB.TV’s subscription service, as well as an array of cable and satellite companies. The broadcasts included the same announcers.While deals with regional sports networks bring in dependable checks for teams, cord cutting has led to shrinking viewership.Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves, via Getty ImagesJason and Wendy Dow, who live in Queen Creek, south of Phoenix, canceled their cable package with Cox this summer to save money and signed up for YouTube TV. Now they watch the Diamondbacks using the MLB app, which they said had better streaming functions.“I was kind of upset at first, but it’s turned out to be better in the end,” Jason Dow said at a recent Diamondbacks home game. “On the old feed, you basically just saw the game without a lot of extras.”The N.B.A. began preparing for changes in 2018, creating a “next gen” service that includes a streaming service and production and distribution support that teams can use to stream broadcasts. So far, the Clippers, the Jazz and the Suns are using it.Diamond’s bankruptcy doesn’t affect every team. Franchises like the New York Knicks, the Denver Nuggets and the Wizards in the N.B.A. and the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox in baseball own their networks. Other teams are locked into long-term deals, like the Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed a 25-year, $8.35 billion deal with Time Warner Cable in 2013 and have part ownership of their regional sports network.While the deals bring in dependable checks, some teams are reaching a shrinking viewership because of cord cutting. For others, like the Nuggets and the Dodgers, disputes with carriers like DirecTV and Comcast meant their games weren’t available to most people in their markets for part of their contracts.The Suns first had games on cable television in 1981, and started broadcasting games on Fox Sports, which later became Bally Sports, in 2003.“​At the time it seemed pretty good, pretty solid,” said Jerry Colangelo, who was with the Suns as an executive and then an owner from 1968 until 2004. “And they had some strong years of growth, for sure.”Instead of outsourcing the production and ad sales to the networks, the Suns produced their own content “to control our own destiny,” Mr. Colangelo said.The Suns continued to produce their own games and sell their own ads after Mr. Colangelo sold the team. That gave them and the Mercury a head start when Mr. Ishbia decided to change course. Most other teams will have to create those resources if they cut ties with regional sports networks.The early results have been positive. Viewership for Mercury games jumped 418 percent last season, said Josh Bartelstein, chief executive of the Suns and the Mercury. Mr. Ishbia said getting fans hooked on the Suns and the Mercury was the goal. He has made big (and expensive) moves since buying the team, trading for the highly paid stars Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, and investing more than $100 million in a new practice facility for the Mercury and a new headquarters for both teams.“I’m not focused on money,” Mr. Ishbia said. “We’re focused on success. We’re focused on fan experience. And money always follows those things.”He added: “I think other teams will follow whether they have to or whether they want to. I think this is the future.” More

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      Chris Paul Headed to Warriors as Wizards Trade for Jordan Poole

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      Paul, who has spent the past three seasons in Phoenix, is expected to be traded to Washington and then to Golden State.The Washington Wizards plan to trade Chris Paul to Golden State for guard Jordan Poole after reaching an agreement to acquire Paul from the Phoenix Suns earlier this week, according to a person familiar with the deals who was not authorized to discuss them publicly.The plan, which was first reported by ESPN on Thursday just hours before the N.B.A. draft, continues a chaotic off-season for Paul, a 12-time All-Star guard who has spent the past three seasons in Phoenix. Paul, 38, said he was caught off guard on Sunday when he learned that the Suns planned to trade him. The Wizards’ deal with the Suns is expected to send Bradley Beal, a three-time All-Star guard, to Phoenix, according to the person.“Seriously, it is part of the business, and what you realize is that no one owes you anything,” Paul said of the Suns trading him, in an interview with The New York Times on Monday. “No matter how you are with them or what you do, you realize that in this business, nobody owes you anything, as it should be.”In Golden State, Paul would team up with the sharpshooting guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, whom he has faced in the playoffs three times, most memorably in the 2018 Western Conference finals with the Houston Rockets. Golden State beat Houston in seven games that year, with Paul missing the final two games due to injury, then swept Cleveland in the N.B.A. finals. Paul hasn’t won a title, but he helped lead the Suns to the finals in 2021.In recent years, Paul has scored less and missed time with injuries. In the 2022-23 season, he averaged a career-low 13.9 points per game and missed the Suns’ final four playoff games. But teaming up with Curry, one of the best point guards in N.B.A. history, may provide his best chance to win an elusive championship.The move is risky for Golden State. Curry, 35, will have in Paul another historically talented guard to help get him easy shots, if Paul can approximate his All-Star form. But if Paul continues to decline, Curry will have to shoulder more of the offensive burden. Paul likely will also have to get used to not being his team’s primary ballhandler.For Golden State, the trade is a rapid about-face on the 24-year-old Poole, whom the team once viewed as a promising bridge out of the Curry era. So much so that in October, Golden State rewarded Poole with a four-year contract extension worth up to $140 million.Poole, who just finished his fourth season, helped Golden State win a championship in 2022. While he has shown potential as an elite scorer, he had a penchant for erratic play and sloppy turnovers. His season got off to a rocky start: During a preseason practice, Golden State forward Draymond Green punched Poole in the face, video of which was leaked to TMZ, causing a headache for a franchise known for stability. The friction between Green and Poole lingered over the season.Poole is the second key young player Golden State has moved on from in the past several months. In February, the Warriors traded center James Wiseman, 22, to the Detroit Pistons. They had drafted him No. 2 overall in 2020 amid much hype. The young talents they have left, like Jonathan Kuminga, 20, and Moses Moody, 21, who were both first-round draft picks in 2021, have yet to play well consistently, though they have shown flashes of promise.Poole, whom Golden State drafted late in the first round in 2019, had been the best of the team’s recent picks. Now he is poised to join a Wizards team that appears to be commencing a full-scale rebuild. More

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      Chris Paul Found Out About the Suns’ Trade From His Son

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      Chris Paul was on a plane to New York on Sunday, to promote his new book, when he heard the news in a text from his 14-year-old son, Chris II: He had been traded.Paul, a 12-time All-Star, is one of the most accomplished point guards in N.B.A. history. He had recently finished his third season with the Phoenix Suns, a run that included a trip to the N.B.A. finals in 2021. There seemed to be greener pastures ahead after the Suns acquired Kevin Durant in February.But the Suns preliminarily agreed on Sunday to a trade with the Washington Wizards for guard Bradley Beal, a three-time All-Star who will turn 30 next week. Paul, 38, was included in the deal. At the moment, it is unclear where Paul will play next season.In an interview with The New York Times, Paul repeatedly said that Mat Ishbia, who recently acquired the team, and Isiah Thomas, the Hall of Fame point guard who is close with Ishbia, “wanted to go in a different direction.” In February, Ishbia told reporters that Thomas did not have a role with the team. Representatives for the Suns and Thomas did not respond to a request for comment.Paul talked with The Times as part of a promotional tour for his book, “Sixty-One: Life Lessons From Papa, On and Off the Court.” The book, due out Tuesday, is a tribute to his grandfather Nathaniel Jones. Jones was murdered in 2002, a day after Paul signed a letter of intent to attend Wake Forest University.Paul describes Jones as a seminal figure in his life and one of his closest confidants. Jones operated what is thought to be the first Black-owned service station in the Winston-Salem area in North Carolina.Paul co-wrote the book during the height of the pandemic with the ESPN host Michael Wilbon, weaving in tales of his grandfather and his own journey — including his experiences as a Black athlete in the wake of the death of George Floyd.The interview, which has been edited for length and clarity, took place Monday at the New York offices of the public relations firm Rubenstein. In it, Paul discussed the trade from Phoenix, his grandfather and what his plans are after his N.B.A. career is over.You’re on the plane last night. The team that you helped get to within two games of a championship said that it intended to trade you, and your feeling is what?It’s just — it’s tough. Seriously, it is part of the business, and what you realize is that no one owes you anything. No matter how you are with them or what you do, you realize that in this business, nobody owes you anything, as it should be. But when it comes through and my son texts me, I realize that, you know, Mat and Isiah, I guess, just wanted to go in a different direction.So you found out because your son texted you on the plane? It wasn’t your agent texting you, or Mat Ishbia. What is running through your head when you get the text?I showed my phone to my wife. Because, I mean, I had talked to James Jones yesterday or whatnot. [Jones is the Suns’ president of basketball operations and general manager.]And did James Jones give an indication that this was on the table? How surprised were you by that text from your son?[Paul paused.]I was surprised.I can see it in your face that you’re trying not to talk too much trash right now.No, because, I mean, like I say, it is what it is. But like I said, Mat and Isiah must have wanted to go different.“What you realize is that no one owes you anything,” Paul said.Amir Hamja/The New York TimesIn your ideal scenario, what happens next?I don’t know. I really haven’t had enough time to process it yet. Like seriously, because these things that happen affect more than just me.You said recently in another interview that you wanted to remain in Phoenix. What are your feelings toward the organization at the moment?Like I said, Mat and Isiah, they want to go in a different direction. But my time there has been amazing. You know what I mean? It’s been great. And so, get back to work.You could have written a book about anything. You chose to write about your grandfather. Why was that?That was a huge point in my life. And being 38 years old now, I would have never imagined I would have had the opportunity to do the things that I’ve done. I was reflecting and realized how many things are the way they are because of my relationship with my grandfather.How do you reflect differently on his death now at 38 than you did when you were a teenager?In doing this book, there were conversations that I hadn’t thought about or talked about in 20 years.How painful was it for you and your family to revisit the murder?I actually got a few videos in my phone of some recordings. [Paul was referring to recording the audiobook.] And when I was doing it, there were a few times where I broke down and I couldn’t get through it.What’s a time in the last 20 years of your life that you wish you had your grandfather’s guidance?Maybe when I was in college, the Julius Hodge situation. I got suspended for a game. [In 2005, Paul appeared to deliberately throw a punch below the waist of North Carolina State’s Julius Hodge in the teams’ final game of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season.]What do you think he would’ve said?I don’t know. I don’t think he would have necessarily been crazy. Well, it’s crazy because that whole situation happened because it was kids chanting, “I killed your grandfather.” So had he been here, they wouldn’t have been able to say that.Paul was 17 when his grandfather was killed.Amir Hamja/The New York TimesOne of the interesting stories I read in the book was after George Floyd’s death you talk about getting pulled over in Los Angeles. Can you describe the unease you felt?I was on the 405, it was during construction, so it was crazy. When I pulled over, I pulled over to the left. I think I was supposed to pull over to the right, but I think it was the nervousness and anxiety. And so I pulled it over. I don’t care what anybody says — especially at the height of everything going on, at the time, I was just a little nervous.You’re a wealthy, famous, successful athlete, and you’re getting pulled over by cops, and you’re worried. What does that tell you about our country right now?It tells you a lot.When I’m playing in a game and I’m in an arena, all those fans are in there screaming. As soon as I leave the game, I don’t leave the game in my uniform. I could leave the game in a hoodie with a hat on. So I’m regular. I’m just like anybody else. That’s another thing, too. All people don’t know who athletes are and all this stuff. I’m not thinking for one minute that I should get some type of pass because I’m an athlete.How much thought have you given to how many years you have left in the N.B.A.?I ask a lot of questions of friends, of people that have retired, people that are in other businesses that are working. And one of the biggest things that I’ve heard just years ago is that as soon as you start thinking about when it’s over, then it’s over.And you’re not feeling that.At all.What does post-playing-career Chris Paul look like?I’d love to be a governor someday.A team owner.Exactly. Because I just know every nuance of the league from all the years as president of the union. And I have relationships where I’ve been able to learn from these guys.“One of the biggest things that I’ve heard just years ago is that as soon as you start thinking about when it’s over, then it’s over.”Amir Hamja/The New York Times More

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      NBA Quiz: Where Is the Pass Going?

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      Few aspects of basketball capture the joy of the game like great passes. The most exciting ones require communication, improvisation and a little luck. This year’s N.B.A. finals will feature one of the sport’s best at getting the ball to his teammates: Denver’s Nikola Jokic. Can you see the court like the pros? Try to […] More

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      Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic Issued Foul for Shoving Suns Owner Mat Ishbia

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      Nikola Jokic was issued a technical foul, but wasn’t ejected, when he briefly tangled with the owner Mat Ishbia on the sideline.Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic on Monday was fined $25,000, but not suspended, for making contact with the Suns owner Mat Ishbia while trying to grab a ball away from him in a scuffle at courtside Sunday.Jokic had scored a career-high 53 points in the Nuggets’ 129-124 loss to the Suns in Phoenix in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinals series. But all the postgame chatter was about his confrontation with Ishbia and the owner’s apparent flop at the ensuing contact.With two and a half minutes left in the second quarter, momentum took Josh Okogie of the Suns and the ball into the front row. Okogie wound up sprawled across some fans while the ball ended up in the hands of Ishbia.Jokic tried to grab the ball, hoping to inbound and restart the game quickly with a five-on-four advantage. Ishbia resisted, and the ball popped away to some other fans a few feet away.Jokic’s forearm then made contact with Ishbia, who, perhaps remembering his days as an end-of-the-bench player at Michigan State, seemed to sell the contact hard, throwing his hands in the air and falling into his seat.Jokic was assessed a technical foul.“Jokic came to get the ball, grabbed it away from the fan, then after that he deliberately gave him a shove and pushed him down, so he was issued an unsportsmanlike technical foul,” the game’s refereeing crew chief, Tony Brothers, said after the game.Brothers said Jokic was not ejected because “he didn’t just run over and hit a fan; there was some engagement, so I deemed the technical foul the appropriate penalty.”The Suns won the game, tying the best-of-seven series at two games all.“The fan put a hand on me first,” Jokic said after the game. “I thought the league was supposed to protect us. Maybe I’m wrong.”“He’s a fan — I know who he is, but he’s a fan isn’t he?” Jokic added, acknowledging he was aware he had tangled with Ishbia. “He cannot influence the game by holding the ball.”Ishbia had seemed ready to move past the incident on Twitter Monday morning: “Suspending or fining anyone over last night’s incident would not be right,” he wrote. “I have a lot of respect for Jokic and don’t want to see anything like that.”The Nuggets were eager to do the same. “I think it’s crazy that Nikola got a technical foul in that situation,” Coach Michael Malone said. “He’s going to get the ball, and some fan is holding on to the ball like he wants to be a part of the game. Just give the ball up, man.”Told the fan was Ishbia, he said, “I really don’t care.”The incident hardly slowed Jokic, whose 53 points came on 20-of-30 shooting. He had 11 assists as well.Jokic won the Most Valuable Player Award in 2021 and 2022 and was runner-up to Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers this season. But in his eight years with Denver the team has only one trip to the conference finals and has not made it to the N.B.A. finals. As the No. 1 seed in the West this season, hopes are high in Denver that will change. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Denver, with Game 6 on Thursday and Game 7, if necessary, on Sunday. More

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      Kevin Durant and Westbrook Are Finding Their Way Without Each Other

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      Durant’s Suns bested Westbrook’s Clippers in the first round of the playoffs, but the former teammates held their own.PHOENIX — Russell Westbrook sprinted to steal the ball from Kevin Durant, sending Durant flying to the floor on his backside.Durant winced in pain for a few moments before heading to the free-throw line at Phoenix’s Footprint Center as thousands of Suns fans in orange T-shirts held their breath. Westbrook quickly walked away from the scene, seemingly unconcerned, and waited for Durant to begin shooting.The sequence played out like two ardent foes battling in an elimination game — which, technically, it was. Westbrook’s Clippers were on their last chance to stay alive in the first-round playoff series. But it was also a matchup between two men who had spent nearly a decade together as teammates, making the N.B.A. finals in 2012 with Oklahoma City as fledgling 23-year-olds tasked with carrying a new franchise in a small city.“You know Russ is a fierce competitor, so when he sees K, it’s always about trying to play super hard,” said Suns guard Cameron Payne, who played with Westbrook and Durant on the Thunder.Payne added: “Maybe in the regular season, he’ll go help him up, but you never know with Russ. Like playing with him in OKC, he was big on how it’s 15 guys on a team, and I’m with my 15 guys, so that’s just that competing stuff I was talking about.”It was another puzzling moment in a jagged relationship.Durant and Westbrook made a thrilling run to the N.B.A. finals in 2012 but lost to LeBron James and the Miami Heat.Paul Buck/European Pressphoto AgencyDurant’s Suns won the decisive Game 5 on Tuesday, 136-130, holding off a late comeback attempt from the Clippers and advancing to the second round. Phoenix will play the top-seeded Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals beginning Saturday. Suns guard Devin Booker led all scorers with 47 points; Durant added 31, and Westbrook had 14.Eleven years ago, Durant and Westbrook led Oklahoma City past playoff teams fronted by the future Hall of Famers Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan and headed into an N.B.A. finals matchup with LeBron James and the Miami Heat. The Heat beat the Thunder easily in five games, with Miami’s experience and star power proving too much for the upstart Thunder.As swift as the loss was, it seemed to indicate that Durant and Westbrook would be back and would win championships together; they appeared too talented not to.But they didn’t. Durant and Westbrook picked up individual accolades: Each has won a Most Valuable Player Award and many All-N.B.A. honors, but they never got to another finals together. Durant left for the Warriors in 2016 after the Thunder blew a three-games-to-one lead in the Western Conference finals against Golden State.In their second matchup against each other after Durant’s departure, Westbrook yelled at his teammates and instructed them not to talk to Durant. They avoided questions about each other. Even former teammates like James Harden, who played with them in Oklahoma City, said they were “grown men” who had to “figure it out themselves.”Since then, each has been on several teams. Durant won two championships with the Warriors and then headed to the Nets and now Phoenix. Westbrook has played on several teams that were supposed to have been title contenders — Rockets, Lakers, Clippers — but none has panned out. As Durant thrived, Westbrook began to be viewed as past his prime, no longer the player who could will teams to wins and average triple-doubles, and he has become the butt of jokes from fans when he struggles.But in this playoff series against the Suns, Westbrook proved he could still be a difference maker. Westbrook signed with the Clippers in February as a free agent after the Lakers had traded him to Utah, where he was released to, at best, be the third option for the Clippers behind the stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. But injuries to George and Leonard made Westbrook the first scoring option against the Suns, and he often served as the team’s best rebounder and defender.He finished the series averaging 23.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game, looking like a version of his old self, and he had the game-sealing block on Booker in the Clippers’ Game 1 win.Westbrook proved he could still be a valuable contributor in the N.B.A. He had 37 points in Game 4.Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press“When he’s retired, people are going to really tell the truth about how they feel about his game,” Durant said after Game 4, when Westbrook had 37 points. “Right now, the fun thing to do is to make a joke out of Russ. But the way he’s been playing since he got with the Clippers is showing everybody who he really is.”After Game 5, Westbrook reflected on Durant’s comments, with an introspective answer that sounded as if it could also serve as a pitch to teams to sign him this summer.“I just think that I am a player that makes mistakes like anybody else,” Westbrook said. “I miss shots like anybody else. I turn the ball over like anybody else. But I also do a lot of things that a lot of people can’t do, and I’ve done a lot of things people haven’t done in this league.”For Durant, this series, and these playoffs, have a different meaning in some basketball fans’ eyes: proving that he can win a title without Golden State’s Stephen Curry and as a team’s best player. Durant, however, has said that he doesn’t feel that pressure because he has “nothing to prove.”The Boston Celtics embarrassed Durant and the Nets last season in the first round of the playoffs, sweeping them without much trouble. Boston’s star forward Jayson Tatum outplayed Durant, scoring a lot while also defending Durant.And then, in the N.B.A. finals, Curry and the Warriors beat that Boston team that had easily conquered Durant’s earlier in the postseason.In Tuesday’s win, Durant disappeared for much of the fourth quarter, going scoreless for nearly 10 minutes as Booker dominated the ball and the Clippers inched closer. As the postseason continues, how the Suns win — with Durant leading the way or with Booker, or someone else — will add fodder to the discussion about Durant’s place as one of the best players ever.That was clear on Tuesday, as Suns Coach Monty Williams made sure to acknowledge in his postgame news conference. But Williams also said that he was at fault for Durant’s lack of touches at the end of the game.“I’ve got to figure out ways to get him in space so he can catch the ball freely and be able to go,” Williams said.As the game ended, Westbrook had many long embraces with Suns players and coaches on the court, but he never made it to Durant. Instead, Westbrook left the floor alone, with one hand raised to fans as he exited, while Durant did a television interview on the other end of the court. More

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      Phoenix Suns Even Series With Game 2 Win Over Los Angeles Clippers

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      A rough start to Game 2 had Kevin Durant and Phoenix looking vulnerable. They recovered to turn a must-win game into a shooting clinic.With five and a half minutes left in the second quarter on Tuesday night, the Kevin Durant experiment looked to be in danger of becoming a bust.The Phoenix Suns trailed the Los Angeles Clippers by 13 points at home and appeared set to go down two games to none in their opening round playoff series. The Clippers star Kawhi Leonard was hitting shots from everywhere, and Russell Westbrook was bouncing back from a 3-for-19 shooting performance in Game 1.But from then on, the new-look Suns looked the way they were supposed to look when Durant was acquired in a trade with the Nets in February. They tied the score by halftime. They went ahead by 10 four minutes into the third quarter. And they went on to even the series with a 123-109 victory.Devin Booker led Phoenix with 38 points, Durant had 25 and Chris Paul had 16.A big difference in Game 2 was Phoenix’s shooting. The Suns shot 58.8 percent from the field and 41.7 percent on their 3-pointers, significant improvements from 47.6 and 31.6 percent in Game 1.The Suns got particularly hot late when the Clippers threatened to creep back into the game. With three minutes left and the Clippers within 6, Paul took a guarded midrange fadeaway with plenty of time on the shot clock. It didn’t look like the kind of shot Coach Monty Williams or the home fans might have chosen, but it was the kind of night where that shot went in.The Suns are a team in particular need of a championship. The franchise joined the N.B.A. in the 1968-69 season and has made it to the finals three times: in 1976 with Paul Westphal and Alvan Adams, in 1993 with Charles Barkley, and two seasons ago with Booker and Paul. But Phoenix lost all three times it played for the title.To take the next step, the team added Durant, and the move looked to be working as the Suns were 8-0 when he played in the regular season (he missed 18 other games, mostly because of an ankle injury). The Suns, though only a four seed, became a hot pick to win the title, and they remain the third favorite among most oddsmakers, behind only the Celtics and the Bucks of the East.But after losing Game 1 against the Clippers at home, Game 2 became effectively a must win. Even now, the best-of-seven series is tied and heading to Los Angeles.Williams admitted that he remains wary, particularly of Leonard, who had 31 points in Game 2. “Any time you can get the ball in your best player’s hands and space the floor well, it allows you the be more efficient,” he said. “That’s what they are doing with Kawhi. He gets it at the nail” — at the center of the free throw line — “it’s a tough place to double team.” More

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      How a Trade Changed Everything for Two N.B.A. Players and Their Dogs

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      Professional sports can be a tough business. When Mikal Bridges was dealt from the Suns to the Nets, his friend Cam Payne had to give the news to Sonny and Uno.When Mikal Bridges was traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Nets in early February, he had to join his new team without stopping at home in Arizona first.So it fell to Cameron Payne, one of Bridges’s close friends on the Suns, to break the news to their dogs, who are best pals, or so their owners say. The moment called for compassion and candor, and Payne brought both.Bridges’s dog, Sonny, is a yellow Labrador retriever. Payne’s dog, Uno, is a 25-pound French bulldog. They were lazing around Bridges’s house in Phoenix when Payne approached them. He addressed his comments mainly to Sonny, whose routine would be most disrupted.“Man,” Payne recalled telling the dog, “Uno’s staying, and, Sonny, I think you’re leaving.”Sonny and Uno seemed to consider this, or perhaps had no idea what was going on.Payne told Sonny, “Mikal said he wanted you out there. Mikal’s leaving. He got traded.”He tried to reassure the dog: “You and Uno are still going to be best friends forever.”“He looked at me crazy,” Payne recalled. “It just made me laugh. I was like, they really humans for real. They know exactly what we’re saying.”The trade brought Kevin Durant to the Suns, transforming them into championship contenders, and offered a professional upside for Bridges, who will have a bigger role on the Nets.But trades can be hard on N.B.A. players, who often develop close friendships during long hours together on the court and on the road. Bridges and Payne lived in the same neighborhood in Phoenix. They hung out at one another’s homes. They talked about their schedules and the best shoe insoles and what they saw on Instagram.So when Bridges was traded away on Feb. 9 while the Suns were in Atlanta, Payne went straight to his friend’s hotel room and said an emotional goodbye.Mikal Bridges, left, and Cameron Payne played together in Phoenix from 2020 until early February, when Bridges was traded to the Nets as part of the deal that brought Kevin Durant to the Suns.Lauren Bacho/NBAE, via Getty Images“I’m just going to miss just the funniness, the icebreaker making everything cool, always having a good time,” Payne said of Bridges. “Always smiling and stuff. Those type of things I’m going to miss. He always made every day at work happy.”The two friends were bound together, too, by a love of dogs — Sonny and Uno, whose relationship involved car rides and tussles over toys and was itself chronicled on Instagram.If the disruption of these friendships is not exactly a tragedy — Bridges and Payne are young millionaires who admit to spoiling their dogs — it gives a glimpse into how personal and poignant the business of sports can be.‘Why are you jealous, man?’Bridges, 26, who is from Philadelphia, was a first-round draft pick after helping Villanova to two N.C.A.A. championships. Known as a strong defender, he will earn $21 million this year. A self-described “people person,” he had a lot of friends on the Suns — “I’m going to miss them so much,” he said. But he is making friends quickly on the Nets.Sonny, who is 7 and barks when he wants to play with someone, has been in Bridges’s family since his sophomore year of college, mostly staying with Bridges’s mother. During the 2020-21 season, Sonny came to live with Bridges for what was supposed to be two weeks. But he never really left.In Phoenix, Bridges lived with a friend who sometimes walked Sonny before Bridges got out of bed. One of Sonny’s favorite tricks was to wait until Bridges got up, pretend he’d been neglected and beg to go out again.“He thinks he can outsmart humans,” Bridges said. “I watch him from a distance and I’m like, ‘Look at him trying to be so sneaky.’”Payne, 28, was also a first-round draft pick, but he bounced around lesser leagues until finding a home with the Suns in 2020. Known as a high-energy guard, he is now an important role player in Phoenix.Payne has had Uno, who is 4 and loves to run around, since he was a puppy and takes him most everywhere. He took Uno to a game a few years ago when he played for the Texas Legends, a G-League team. Uno sat near the bench, and Payne notched his first ever triple double and was delighted that his “son” was there.When Payne gets ready to leave for road trips, Uno sits by his suitcase. He has, in the past, sat inside Payne’s girlfriend’s travel bag, presumably to prevent her from leaving without him.Uno attended a game of the Texas Legends of the G-League when Payne played for them and inspired him to a triple double.Texas LegendsBridges and Payne started playing together on the Suns in 2020. They became friends faster than their dogs did. Sonny and Uno were wary of each other at first, and neither liked it when his owner paid attention to the other dog.Sonny even got jealous if Payne paid attention to his own dog, neglecting Sonny. This befuddled Bridges: “It’s like, ‘Bro, that’s not even — why are you jealous, man?’”Tensions eased with time and more exposure to each other. Suns players and their dogs hung out at the team practice facility and the home of the Suns star Devin Booker, whose Italian mastiff, Haven, is perhaps the most famous dog on the team, given that he is featured on Booker’s Instagram account, which has 5.4 million followers.When the Suns lost to the Dallas Mavericks in seven games during the Western Conference semifinals last year, the dogs provided a kind of comfort. When Bridges got home after the series ended, Sonny immediately started whining for Bridges to pet him.“Just told him, ‘Well, I’m going to be home with you every day now,’” Bridges said glumly, as he remembered the day. “It kind of gets your mind off basketball. You come home; someone’s just excited to see you.”A month later, Bridges dog-sat Uno while Payne was away and posted the highlights on Instagram. One video showed Uno wandering around the back seat of Bridges’s car while Sonny sat in the front with Bridges. In another, Bridges took the pair to the store to look at toys.“Two toys each,” Bridges told them in the video. He let Uno know he’d be spoiled with him just like he was at home.Later that day, Bridges dribbled a tennis ball in front of the two dogs. Uno tried, without success, to play defense and snatch the ball from Bridges. He chased the ball as Bridges crossed him over. Sonny knew better. He waited until Bridges let the ball go and then ran to get it.“Sonny been gettin fried from birth so he chillin,” Bridges wrote in a caption for the video.Matching personalitiesIt is said that dogs and their owners often develop similar traits. Asked if he ever noticed similarities between Payne and Bridges and their dogs, Booker paused for a moment to think.“Definitely Uno and Cam,” he said. He raised his eyebrows as he thought more about it.“Sonny and Mikal, too.”Sonny, now of New York.Courtesy of Mikal Bridges“Uno walks in, he’s the energy of the room no matter what. He’s a little bit smaller than other dogs, but he’s still the energy when he walks in,” Booker continued, perhaps making a sly reference to Payne’s relatively small 6-foot-1 stature.“Sonny’s all over the place,” Booker said, suggesting that Bridges is, too.Bridges and Payne will miss each other, but they said they — and their dogs — will remain close.“C. Payne’s my best friend,” Bridges said, adding: “And Uno, he’s little.”Bridges pantomimed carrying a little dog the way a running back might carry a football.“So when C. Payne flies, he can just tuck him with him. It’s a little easier for travel. But Sonny’s definitely going to miss his guy.”Payne said he knew that Sonny’s move to Brooklyn would leave a hole in Uno’s life.“That’s really been one of the few dogs that he’s been hanging around,” he said, adding: “I’ve got to get him a new friend from on the team.” More