Gilbert Arenas on Giannis Antetokounmpo: Is he smarter than Chris Paul or LeBron James?

Marc Stein: One senses, though, that this saga is far from over. Public pressure on Sarver, as well as the NBA regarding Sarver, has come nowhere close to Sterling levels — presumably because there is no TMZ recording, as with Sterling, of Sarver’s misdeeds. Yet that climate could change. We’re less than two weeks away from Suns Media Day on Sept. 26, which is the latest we will start hearing frequent questions posed to Chris Paul and other Phoenix players, as well as Coach Monty Williams, about Sarver’s ongoing operational control of the Suns. It really shouldn’t fall on them to make up for punishment this light, but the reality is that how players and Suns staffers — and, of course, sponsors — react will have a significant influence on what happens next in terms of a potential external push to urge Sarver to sell the team. -via marcstein.substack.com / September 14, 2022

Curry repeatedly agonized over a moment he wishes he could take back. In 2014, the Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was exposed as a vile racist in recordings published by TMZ, in the middle of the upstart Warriors’ playoff series against them. Curry privately discussed a unified player response with the Clippers star Chris Paul, twice, because Curry and his teammates wanted to walk off the court after the jump ball. But the Warriors ultimately deferred to their opponents’ protest of choice — the Clippers wore warmup shirts with the logo inside out, then discarded them at center court — and to the league commissioner’s lifetime ban of Sterling. “One of my biggest regrets is not boycotting the game,” Curry told me. “That was a moment to leverage beyond anything we probably could have said.” -via Rolling Stone / September 12, 2022

Chris Paul: Never seen anything like what Serena Williams is doing!!! EVERYBODY EVERYWHERE is cheering for her and watching every moment!! I’m a fan and enjoying every minute!!! @serenawilliams #USOpen2022 -via Twitter @CP3 / September 1, 2022

While talking to Eurohoops after qualifying for the Eurobasket quarterfinals, Dragic didn’t hold any punches on the issue: “Giannis is the MVP. Gilbert Arenas is not. Was he ever the MVP? I don’t think so. So he can’t talk about Giannis. Giannis won the championship, won the MVP award. He has been the defensive player of the year”. -via EuroHoops.net / September 10, 2022

So how he explained this take by Arenas? “Sometimes when they retire they just want to be relevant and sometimes you come out in the media. It is what it is. Gilbert Arenas was an unbelievable player and an unbelievable scorer, but in the end, I feel like this generation has a lot of good European players in the NBA who are MVPs, or win the championship”. -via EuroHoops.net / September 10, 2022

Gilbert Arenas: When I was in Boston and someone was calling me the N-word, I was like, ‘Bro, you have a Paul Pierce jersey on … It’s like, how can you say you’re racist, but everybody – all the players in your arena – is just Black men back there. -via YouTube / September 7, 2022

Not even a romantic vacation in Italy can stop LeBron James from prepping for his 20th NBA season — the Lakers star was spotted shirtless on a yacht Tuesday pumpin’ iron … and he looked GOOD. LBJ has been over in Portofino this month with his wife, Savannah, getting in some much-needed R&R; — but he’s clearly carved out time to make sure he’s still getting ready for the Lakers’ upcoming slate of games. -via TMZ.com / September 13, 2022

The WNBA playoffs have practically been an infomercial for Becky Hammon’s brilliance as a head coach. She has the Aces two wins away from their first WNBA championship going into Tuesday night’s game against the Connecticut Sun. Her in-game decisions have been flawless – if you want to know how to run plays out of a timeout, go back and watch the end of Game 3 of the semifinals against the Seattle Storm – and no less than LeBron James has taken notice. Impressive as Hammon has been, however, it raises a question: What the hell were the Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic doing in passing her by? And what’s the excuse for all the other sad-sack NBA teams that didn’t even bring her in for an interview? “I have not,” Aces owner Mark Davis told USA TODAY Sports when asked whether he’s heard from any jealous NBA owners. “But I’m sure they’re sitting there thinking, ‘Hmm, why didn’t I think of that?’ ” -via USA Today Sports / September 13, 2022

NBA Central: The Redeem Team Documentary looks 🔥 pic.twitter.com/u6KNbrsCKv -via Twitter @TheNBACentral / September 13, 2022