During an appearance on the Bill Simmons podcast, Kevin Garnett said the 2010 Celtics “broke” then Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James.
Just in case you were wondering, the Boston Celtics from the late 2000s and early 2010s are still salty about only getting one championship during a run when they believed they were the best team of the era.
The subject of those Celtics teams has come up more recently due to Adam Sandler’s new movie “Uncut Gems,” which stars the defensive and emotional leader of those Celtics teams, Kevin Garnett. Garnett joined Sandler in an interview with Bill Simmons on the Bill Simmons podcast, where they talked about the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals when LeBron finally got over the hump and beat the Celtics.
Garnett of course deflected talking about the 2012 Finals and instead went for one of the glory moments of his run in Boston, defeating LeBron in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals that sent him on his way to Miami later that summer.
“We broke LeBron. So get your a** out of here with that.”
OK, so remember that, alright? Stop bringing it up. So they was talking (expletive) to him, the media. And the league knew that they had an agenda in which we wasn’t a part of the agenda. And that’s how they ended up winning that series. Yeah, I said it…. Man listen, let me tell something to you. The C’s, we didn’t give a (expletive) about LeBron. We didn’t fear LeBron, and we didn’t think that he could beat all five of us. And that’s how it felt. He was trying to consolidate because he didn’t want the pressure on him. You understand?”
Things are still sensitive for Garnett and they probably always will be, given the way that he talked about it. James, of course, overcame a 3-2 series deficit in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals by putting together one of the best performances in playoff history by scoring 45 points in Boston to force a Game 7.
James and his Heat team would eventually win Game 7 before going on to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games in the 2012 NBA Finals, earning LeBron his first NBA title. LeBron’s career narrative can never be told without Boston and Garnett’s attitude, to this day, is a big reason why.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was quick to remind reporters on that Howard once kept him from a Finals showdown with Kobe Bryant.
Let this be a lesson for people in the future wondering about asking LeBron James if anything that Dwight Howard does this season is something “special.” Because as LeBron himself reminded reporters last night, the subject of Howard having “special” performances is an issue that is uniquely personal to him.
While the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a 14-game road win-streak and a seven-game streak overall last night in Indiana, Howard had his best offensive game of the season with 20 points on a perfect 10 for 10 from the field.
But as you NBA historians will remember and James noted, Howard’s most special performance came at the cost of LeBron having a showdown that will always go down as one of the missed connections in NBA Finals history. Howard’s incredible 2009 Eastern Conference Finals kept LeBron out of the Finals and away from an NBA Finals showdown with Kobe Bryant.
LeBron James if he saw something special in Dwight Howard tonight as the Lakers big man went 10-for-10 from the field tonight: pic.twitter.com/ZY2HltSG9y
Ok so just to recap, LeBron is speaking in a little bit of a hyperbole here but the point stands that Dwight kept him from a meeting with Kobe in the Finals. Dwight’s actual averages were 25.8 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and 1.2 blocks per game. But this is why I’m here.
Oddly enough Howard only had seven total blocks in that series, it probably just felt like more since the Cavs had little success attacking him at the basket. LeBron may have also gotten somewhat confused with his own numbers in that series which sounded a lot more like the ones he attributed to Dwight of 35.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, eight assists as well as over one steal and one block per game in the six-game series.
Howard and the Magic played great against the Cavs but fell to the Lakers in five games in the 2009 NBA Finals as Kobe Bryant won his first championship after parting ways with Shaquille O’Neal.
Kevin Garnett says LeBron James left Cleveland for Miami because he couldn’t handle the pressure of facing the Celtics.
LeBron James’ decision to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami is commonly pointed to as the start of the modern superteam era that has dominated the NBA this decade, but before the Heat had a Big 3, the Boston Celtics won a title after assembling a team with three legendary players in Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.
James single-handedly led a historically weak Cavaliers roster to the NBA Finals in 2007, but just days after that series ended in a Spurs sweep, the Celtics acquired Allen in a trade. A month later, Boston welcomed Garnett in another major trade, and the new-look Celtics went on to win 66 games in the regular season and beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals.
The Celtics eliminated LeBron’s Cavaliers from the playoffs in 2008 and 2010 before James relocated to Miami. The Heat then knocked the Celtics out 4-1 in 2011, but were pushed to the limit by Boston’s Big 3 in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals, which went to seven games. In a conversation with The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, Kevin Garnett said the Celtics lost that series because of an “agenda” that existed for LeBron’s team to win, and boasted that the Celtics “didn’t give a [expletive]” about James.
“We broke LeBron. So get your a** out of here with that.”
Bill Simmons: “Celtics win in Miami [in 2012], and they’re talking all kinds of [expletive] to LeBron. All kinds of [expletive that whole game. Correct or incorrect? You’re trying to get into his head. You feel like you can break LeBron at this point.”
Kevin Garnett: “We broke LeBron, so get your [expletive] out of here with that. You understand how he got to Cleveland, how he got to Miami, Bill? You remember that?”
Simmons: “Oh that’s true. You broke him in 2010. Fair enough.”
Garnett: “OK, so remember that, alright? Stop bringing it up. So they was talking [expletive] to him, the media. And the league knew that they had an agenda in which we wasn’t a part of the agenda. And that’s how they ended up winning that series. Yeah, I said it…. Man listen, let me tell something to you. The C’s, we didn’t give a [expletive] about LeBron. We didn’t fear LeBron, and we didn’t think that he could beat all five of us. And that’s how it felt. He was trying to consolidate because he didn’t want the pressure on him. You understand?”
The Heat were down 3-2 in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals after a Game 5 loss at home, but James had one of the greatest performances of his career on the road in Game 6. James finished the game with 45 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists to lead Miami to a 98-79 win.
After over a month of the college basketball season, we are starting to get a better picture of what the 2020 NBA Draft will look like.
After over a month of the college basketball season, we are starting to get a better picture of what the 2020 NBA draft will look like.
For example, Georgia Bulldogs freshman Anthony Edwards is beginning to separate himself as a near-consensus No. 1 overall pick. On the other side of the coin, though, several of the projected top selections (LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, Cole Anthony and RJ Hampton) will miss extended time due to either injury or suspension.
In order to get a better read of the bigger picture, we collected opinions from the top experts and analysts that cover the draft. The latest 2020 NBA mock drafts from ESPN, CBS Sports, SI.com, Bleacher Report, NBADraft.net, The Athletic as well as USA Today Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire were used for these rankings.
Cassius Winston, Aaron Henry, Xavier Tillman in top-45 of The Athletic's NBA Draft Big Board https://t.co/LFrVsMcvZD
One of the most interesting takeaways is that the Michigan State Spartans have three players (Cassius Winston, Aaron Henry and Xavier Tillman) all trending up.
After making the Final Four in last year’s March Madness, the program was expected to take another leap forward for their 2019-20 campaign.
Despite three losses in their first 10 games, the Spartans still rank No. 15 overall this season. This can be attributed to the fact Michigan State currently has the third-best offense in college basketball, per KenPom.com.
They also have three of the most improved players since our last aggregate mock draft. The full list, and more on each of the MSU players moving up draft boards, is included below.
Since our last AMD, this has moved up 17 spots in our rankings.
Despite already being 21 years old, the 6-foot-1 guard currently has a first-round grade from ESPN as well as Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports.
Winston has been one of the best distributors since he began at MSU. 67.1 percent of all field goals for the Spartans have been assisted, which is the sixth-most among all teams so far this season. His career assist rate (44.1 percent) ranks No. 1 overall among all college players who have played at least 50 games since 2009-10, via Sports-Reference.
With 7 assists today vs Rutgers, Cassius Winston now has the 2nd-most career assists (770) in Big Ten History, passing Illinois’ Bruce Douglas.
Winston is now just 46 assists behind Mateen Cleaves for the conference career record (816). pic.twitter.com/BLzMQGjpzx
During his freshman season, he had the second-best assist rate (46.7 percent) in the NCAA. Then as a sophomore, his assist rate (43.5 percent) trailed only Trae Young for the best in college basketball. Last season, his assist mark (44.8 percent) ranked third-best and behind only Ja Morant among all who played for teams that made the tournament.
But he has also shown strength as one of the more accurate shooters in the NCAA.
Winston was 75-for-151 (49.7 percent) from beyond the arc in 2017-18. That helped him join the exclusive 50-40-90 club for field-goal percentage, three-point percentage and free-throw percentage. Even as a sophomore then, the guard was one of the few to have a membership with at least two three-point attempts per game.
There is some enough NBA readiness to show he can contribute right away for a winning team.
Aaron Henry, Wing
AMD Rank: 33
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Since our last AMD, this has moved up 26 spots in our rankings.
Henry was of the players who helped himself the most during the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Then a freshman, he put up 20 points with 6 rebounds and 6 assists during a victory over LSU.
While he has not yet taken the leap some expected as a sophomore, draft experts still have confidence in him as a prospect. His highest ranking right now comes from Jonathan Wasserman, who has him at No. 28 overall (via Bleacher Report):
“The eye test on Henry looks more convincing than the numbers. He isn’t a high-level creator, which limits him in Michigan State’s offense. But the 6’6″ guard is hitting open shots, capitalizing on driving lanes and making impact defensive plays. This late, teams will overlook Henry’s production for his fit.”
Perhaps the best news for the wing is that there is room for improvement. However, there have also been moments that show what Henry is capable of accomplishing at the next level.
This season, for example, the sophomore has been one of the most effective shooters off the catch. He is averaging 1.78 points per possession on catch-and-shoot attempts in a set offense, per Synergy Sports, which ranks in the 98th percentile.
Henry is also shooting 72.7 percent at the rim, which is an especially solid rate for a wing. Overall, he looks like someone capable of being a 3-and-D player in an NBA rotation.
Xavier Tillman, Big
AMD Rank: 50
Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Since our last AMD, this has moved up 13 spots in our rankings.
Michigan State has always been a team that plays better with Tillman on the court. Last season, for example, the big actually had the third-best box plus-minus in the NCAA — trailing only Zion Williamson and Brandon Clarke.
Jeremy Woo recently helped contextualize what professional teams may like about the 6-foot-8 junior (via SI.com):
“Tillman specializes in doing the dirty work and has been a largely unheralded yet invaluable piece of the Spartans’ success dating back to last season. He’s not particularly tall for a center but has a chance to be a quality rotational big in the pros with what he adds defensively and on the glass. Tillman has worked on extending his shooting range, and if he ends up being able to shoot the three, he’ll have a fairly strong window of opportunity as a role player. A lot of the things he does as a screener and defender don’t show up in the box score, and while he’ll never be more than a fourth or fifth offensive option, he might be able to thrive in that capacity.”
His best trait so far this season has been his ability to cut to the basket. He is shooting 15-for-17 (88.2 percent) on these attempts, per Synergy.
But he has also added value on the offensive glass and as a rim protector for Michigan State. His willingness and ability to make the most of time on the floor makes him a draftable professional prospect.
After a near silent few months of trade rumors, rumblings league-wide are beginning to pick up. We have the latest stirrings for you here.
TRADE SZN STIRRING: You know trade season is about to pick up when Woj is getting his own half-hour ESPN specials to discuss the latest rumblings in the Association. Among the rumors discussed by Woj and Zach Lowe:
LET THE TRADES BEGIN: Yesterday, 123 players had their trade restrictions – stemming from them signing new contracts this past summer – lifted.Here is every single guy who can now be traded.
YESTERDAY IN THE ASSOCIATION: One team continues to roll while another continues to do the opposite of that.
🔥 The Lakers defeated the Hawks 101-96 to improve to 24-3 on the year. It wasn’t their most impressive victory, but the fact they refuse to lose on the road this season is insane in its own right. LeBron James finished the contest with 32 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists while Anthony Davis had 27 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks.
😲 The Pelicans lost their 12th game in a row on Sunday, falling 130-119 to the Orlando Magic… at home.Head coach Alvin Gentry’s job appears to be safe for now, but if the losing continues, it would be easy to foresee first-year GM David Griffin bringing in his own guy to lead New Orleans. Markelle Fultzthrew down this nifty dunk in that same game.
(NOT) HOT SEAT: The Bulls have been an abject disaster this season relative to expectations, placing a lot of heat on head coach Jim Boylen’s job security. Regardless, Chicago general managerJim Paxson publicly endorsed his head coach on Saturday anyway.
A RETURN APPROACHING:Jusuf Nurkic says he’s 60 percent complete with rehab, and was seen doing more physical activity at practice recently. Portland, 10-16, desperately needs their big man to get healthy as soon as possible.
SWINGMAN RETURNS: Wilson Chandler made his return for the Nets yesterday after missing the first 25 games of the season due to testing positive for a banned substance. He played 19 minutes and scored seven points in a 109-89 Brooklyn victory over the Sixers.
ATTEMPTED COMEBACK: Six-time All-Star Amare Stoudemire has left the Chinese CBA and returned to South Floridain hopes of making an NBA return.
FASCINATING JOURNEY: St. Thomas More is an all-boy boarding school with an enrollment of 125, located in Connecticut. Why are we telling you that?Because that tiny school somehow produced three NBA players, all of whom play on the Golden State Warriors this season. Crazy.
CLUTCH LIKE DADDY: LeBron James Jr., in a nationally televised game against his father’s alma mater, with his father in attendance,hit a game-winning layup and was named MVP of the contest over the weekend. It would be really cool if we got to see both James men in the NBA at the same time one day.
The Golden State Warriors were easily the most dominant NBA team in the 2010s decade. What teams followed them? Our full rankings included.
The end of the decade is upon us, which a good time to look at the teams that thrived and those that took a nosedive over the 2010s.
For clarity, the period examined begins with the 2010-11 NBA season and ends Dec. 12, 2019, rather than bridging games that were played in the second half of 2009-10. Remember, the 2011-12 season was limited to 66 games due to a players’ strike.
30. Sacramento Kings
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The Kings have been consistent … as in consistently under .500. The last time the franchise had a winning season was 2005-06. It will be interesting to see if they can get over the .500 mark this go-round. The Kings are currently flirting with .500 but still under.
NBA rookie Darius Garland is averaging 2.8 assists per game, which is actually the lowest for a team leader in the 24-second shot clock era.
Cavs rookie Darius Garland is averaging 2.8 assists per game, which is actually the lowest for a team leader in the 24-second shot clock era.
Most of the lowest figures came before 1951, which is when the current rule was introduced. Since then, the previous-worst since 1968 was by Marcelo Huertas (3.4) on the Los Angeles Lakers in 2015-16 and Tony Parker on the San Antonio Spurs (3.5) in 2017-18.
To contextualize how bad it has been for Garland, who still manages to lead the Cavaliers in assists: The rookie has produced 2.3 assists per game in a set offense, per Synergy, which ranks No. 103 so far this season. His assists per game when running his team’s transition offense (0.5) ranks No. 120 as well.
Garland is averaging just 1.0 assist per 70 possessions to Kevin Love, which is quite a bit lower than he has received from teammates in previous years. compare that to last season when Cleveland’s Cedi Osman had 1.7 assists per 70 to Love. Love received more than three assists per 70 from LeBron James during their final two seasons together.
As @ZachLowe_NBA mentioned on his podcast, here's Kevin Love intentionally taking a three second call out of frustration When Darius Garland leads your team with 2.8 apg.. pic.twitter.com/cOt7eJ6AGM
ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently wrote about how frustrating this has clearly been for the veteran big man, citing an intentional lane violation after just planting himself in the key (via The Lowe Post):
“He still stood there even as Brett Brown was on the court yelling for a three-second violation. And then as the coup de gras, he raised his hand to call for the ball and alert, on purpose I think, alert the referees to say: ‘That’s right. I’m still here.'”
Lowe believes that was his way of trying to signal to Garland and fellow young guard Collin Sexton that he wanted more touches.
Cleveland, overall, is passing at a fairly normal rate during the 2019-20 season. They are averaging 288.4 passes per game, which ranks 16th in the league.
But only 7.2 percent of those passes have been on assists, the second-lowest rate among all teams. The Cavaliers are averaging 20.7 assists per game this season, the third-worst mark in the NBA.
HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report. Possession data is pulled from NBA Wowy.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was asked about the former Magic star’s role for the Lakers so far this season.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers came out with a victory in the first game of their five-game road trip on Wednesday night, 96-87 over the Orlando Magic.
But aside from an excellent first quarter where they held the Magic to just nine points, most of the action on Wednesday was fairly forgettable except for a scuffle at the end of the game involving both teams that began with several Magic players shoving Dwight Howard. It ended an ejection for LA.’s Jared Dudley and Orlando’s Wes Iwundu, but with Howard back where his career started in Orlando, it obviously led to questions about how he’s been with the Lakers.
LeBron James couldn’t be happier with the fit, according to his postgame interview with Spectrum Sportsnet.
“He’s thriving. He’s thriving. He’s gonna have more years in his career and he’s gonna add an ingredient to our team’s success because of the role that he’s accepting. He’s just making the most of it every single night. Defending at a high level, rebounding, blocking shots, catching lobs and with zero ego.
“When his number is called he goes out there, and when he’s subbed out he cheers on his teammates every single night. We were lucky to be able to snatch him up late in the summer like that, and we’re happy to have him.”
Howard’s numbers have normalized a little bit after his monstrous start to the season, which briefly included leading the NBA in plus-minus. But he’s still been incredibly important for the Lakers, often playing crunch time for them and averaging more minutes than starting center JaVale McGee.
Another reason why Howard’s numbers have stabilized as of late is that McGee has played better as well, which is a great sign for the Lakers as a squad moving forward. Howard is averaging seven rebounds and seven points per game while shooting 72 percent from the field in just under 20 minutes per game.
