Tag: Danny Green

Danny Green believes LeBron, vets won’t come back early for December start

Danny Green was on The Ringer NBA Show and believes that guys like LeBron James won’t play early on if the season starts in December.

With only three days between now and the self-imposed deadline for the NBA and NBPA to come to an agreement for modifications on the collective bargaining agreement, with momentum within the league coalescing around trying to start the season in late December, there have been a lot of opinions floating around with regards to what the players will do in response to the league’s new plan.

Among the most notable opinions, Lakers guard Danny Green offered that he believes veterans and stars, such as LeBron James, will elect not to play early in the season if the NBA moves forward with the proposed start before Christmas.

While Green knows LeBron and has perhaps even heard some rumblings to this point, there is still nearly two months until this proposed start. Also, with the realization finally hitting the league that fans won’t be in arenas anytime soon, it might be soon hit LeBron and the players that the next best thing will be getting back to a usual schedule and getting their summers back.

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Bronny James to face Emoni Bates in showcase game sponsored by Danny Green

Bronny James and Sierra Canyon will face off against the highest-rated high school player in the country, Emoni Bates in late November.

With the NBA’s owners apparently uniting around the pursuit of a 2020-21 season around Christmas, the rest of the basketball world is getting ready to start in the late fall like they usually do. Included in the rest of the basketball world is high school basketball at some levels, including Bronny James and the Sierra Canyon Trail Blazers. As one of the highest-ranked teams in the nation, they will take the court again soon and they will have a highly-anticipated showdown against the most hyped high school basketball player in some time.

Adam Zagoria reported for Forbes that Bronny James and the Sierra Canyon Trail Blazers will face off against No. 1 ranked high school player Emoni Bates and Ypsi Prep (Michigan) in the Green and Gold Level Sports & Entertainment Showcase in Dallas, Texas, sponsored by LeBron’s Lakers teammate Danny Green. Green told Forbes he hopes he and LeBron can both attend the game.

“I think so since we’re not playing, we don’t have much else going on,” Green, who has won NBA titles with the Lakers, Raptors and Spurs, said in a phone interview. “It would be nice, I hope we will both be able to make it out there.”

Sierra Canyon advanced to the State Final in 2020 but the final game was stopped due to the coronavirus.

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Jared Dudley didn’t like the way Snoop Dogg called out Danny Green during Finals

The Los Angeles Lakers forward thought that there would be better ways to get a better performance other than bullying on social media.

It was thankfully only a short-lived storyline during the NBA Finals but one of the uglier ones was when Danny Green and his fiance were the subject of death threats after Green missed what would have been a go-ahead shot in Game 5 of the 2020 NBA Finals. The Lakers eventually won in Game 6 a couple of days later, but members of the team did not forget what happened. In particular, there were one fan’s comments that bothered Lakers forward Jared Dudley, those from noted Lakers super fan Snoop Dogg.

Dudley discussed what he saw as unproductive shaming of Green on the part of Snoop Dogg, while also discussing other things fans say on social media, such as a petition to deny Kyle Kuzma a championship ring or comments saying Dudley was also undeserving of the team award, on Complex’s Load Management podcast. The statement was transcribed by Christian Rivas of SB Nation.

“Nah, nah, because I’m someone where I don’t question your fandom, because for one, he’s solidified, he’s cemented when it comes to fandom. I’m questioning your tactic on a trying to help a player help win your team a championship … My only problem with it was you can’t call no man a bitch … My whole thing is when you come to that, now we’re getting on something personal. And you know when you grow up, I don’t care what age you are, you hear that word, you’re automatically thinking fighting. We’re not fighting Snoop Dogg. He’s a fan…

My whole thing was that he wanted to win so bad, (he) got out of character. We all get out of character. I do that with my kids when I get mad at them when they slip up and I say something or do something I regret. I get it, but it’s like listen, you don’t think this man wants to hit a shot? This man shoots hundreds of shots every day. You don’t know what he’s going through in his personal life, you don’t his body. And you know what? No fan wants to hear all that. I agree. You don’t have to hear about it, just let the man work his way up, and look at it, next game, we win, he hits two threes, and now all is forgotten.”

Snoop is arguably the most visible and most famous Lakers fan there is today, so him using his massive platform to bash Green and call negative attention to him is obviously something the Lakers had a problem with. However, the passions of fandom can often go into a negative place and it’s not as if Snoop was hoping to have Green and his family received death threats. Luckily for both sides, the season is over and the Lakers have risen to glory once again.

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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope plans to opt-out of contract, become free agent

Los Angeles Lakers swingman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is looking to cash-in on an incredible playoff run, according to Shams Charania.

One of the most consistent contributors for the Los Angeles Lakers during the playoffs outside of their two superstar leaders is lining things up for a bigger payday. Outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, perhaps no player was a bigger key to the success of the Lakers in their run towards an NBA championship than Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and now he’s going to be weighing his options after helping bring the Lakers their 17th championship.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Thursday that Caldwell-Pope is looking to opt-out of the final year of his contract and sign a new, presumably higher-value deal. The Lakers do, however, have the bird rights on his contract and can go over the salary cap in order to re-sign him if need be.

There’s significant mutual interest between Caldwell-Pope and the Lakers, but there will be some external suitors. A team such as Atlanta — searching for productive veterans around All-Star Trae Young — could emerge with interest.

The Hawks being a potential suitor is notable, if for no other reason than they are projected to have among the highest possible amount of available cap space of any team in the NBA. The Hawks could have over $44 million in cap space available to them.

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Davante Adams offers support to Lakers’ Danny Green amid death threats

The Packers’ Davante Adams with a big statement, supporting Danny Green.

Davante Adams of the Green Bay Packers know what happens when fans — fanatics — cross the line.

And because the great wideout has been on the side of derision when everything doesn’t go right, he tweeted his support of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Danny Green before Game 6 of The NBA Finals Sunday.

The backstory — and it is sad and twisted how some folks are — is Green received death threats after missing a shot at the end of Game 5, which would have won the game and the NBA title for the Lakers.

“I had to ask, ‘Are you getting death threats?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, you are too,’ and I was like, I don’t know, because I don’t really pay attention or care,” Green said of his fiancee, Blair Bashen, a former Purdue volleyball player. “Nor am I upset, shaken or worried about it. I’m just not one of those types of people. I probably should be a little more paranoid or safe about things.”

Kudos to Adams for supporting a fellow athlete. Green missed a shot. There is another game. Another chance to win the championship. That’s all it was: a missed shot.

Some people need to get a grip and remember: They are still called games.

Danny Green says he and his fiance got death threats after Game 5

Los Angeles Lakers guard Danny Green says that his fiance got death threats after his missed 3 at the end of Game 5.

If you’re here and reading this, you probably care quite a bit about sports, the Los Angeles Lakers, or LeBron James. However, there’s is unfortunately an endpoint where fandom can get to where it crosses over into a deeply personal violation.  Lakers starting guard Danny Green and his fiance now, unfortunately, have also been victims of this type of violation of fandom.

With the Lakers shutting down practice after Friday night’s grueling Game 5 loss to Miami, they spoke to the media on Sunday morning before Game 6. Green then shared with reporters that he and his wife have gotten death threats on social media, even though he played it pretty cool.

Green actually played pretty well for most of Game 5, but he just missed a shot. While Lakers fans have a right to be disappointed the shot didn’t go their way, it’s also a game and something nobody, especially family members, should be threatened to lose their life over.

Game 6 of the NBA Finals is at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday night.

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LaMelo Ball reacts to Danny Green’s missed three in Game 5 of the NBA Finals

LaMelo Ball was one of many that reacted to the final shot from Danny Green in Game 5 of the 2020 NBA Finals between the Lakers and Heat.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat had a game for the ages on Friday in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. LeBron James and Jimmy Butler went shot for shot down the stretch of the fourth quarter with two all-time performance, the former finishing with 40 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists on 15-of-21 shooting and the latter notching his second triple-double of the Finals with 35 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.

Despite the brilliant performances from the two superstars, the talking point after the game was about a shot from neither of them that didn’t go in. With the game, and a title, on the line late, the Lakers trailed 109-108 with 16 seconds left. James used a ball screen and drove into the lane, attracted nearly every Miami defender and kicked out to Danny Green for an open three.

Green, who has struggled from three in the series, missed the open look. Markieff Morris would corral the rebound but would throw the ball out of bounds on a pass attempt to Anthony Davis and the Heat eventually escaped with a 111-108 win.

There were many takes about that possession from the Lakers. Some insisted James should have shot the ball with the game on the line. Others criticized Green for missing the shot or Morris for turning the ball over late.

LaMelo Ball was one of those that had a reaction to the final play but his was different than most others.

Ball is referencing Green’s final shot and the option he should have made instead of shooting. A freeze-frame of the moment Green receives the Ball shows that a pass to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was possible.

With both Andre Iguodala and Tyler Herro closing on Green, Caldwell-Pope would have been open if Green made the pass. In the playoffs this season, Green is shooting 2-of-9 from three at the top of the key while Caldwell-Pope is shooting 13-of-29 from the left corner.

However, in the moment, it’s unreasonable to expect Green, who has made a career on shooting three-pointers, to pass up an open look like the one he got. Ultimately, it’s a make or miss league and the Lakers missed the biggest shot of the night.

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LeBron James’ pass to Danny Green was the right play yet NBA fans are still arguing about it

Don’t argue on the internet about this. It’s a waste of time.

LeBron James is 17 years into an NBA career that would have him voted into the Hall of Fame three times over if you broke it down into multiple stints.

So one would think, after playing basketball for so long at such a high level, NBA fans would have a certain amount of respect and deference for James and the decisions he makes on the court. He probably knows what he’s doing at this point, right?

Apparently not, though. In the immediate aftermath of the Lakers’ game 5 loss to the Heat, fans were bickering about James’ decision to pass the ball to Danny Green for what essentially was the final shot of the game.

And it was a great pass! James had the entire Heat squad surrounding him and you can’t get any more wide open than this. It’s a miracle that the pass even got there.

But, of course, people are still coming with all of their “He should’ve shot it!” takes.

And, of course, there were people wasting their time pushing back against this nonsense on the internet into the wee hours of the morning.

Listen, this is an exercise in futility. There’s no point in arguing with anyone who thinks James didn’t make the right play and was supposed to shoot that shot.

This has been routine over the course of James’ career. He passes out of a triple team to a wide open teammate and he’s torched the next day by Skip Bayless types for not being clutch. He shoots over the triple team and misses, he’s torched for not being clutch.

On the off chance that he actually makes this shot, cool. They’ll give him his props for a bit. But then it’s right back to it. It’s a lose-lose situation that really shouldn’t be one at all.

The bottom line is that the pass to Green was absolutely the right play. Not only did James pass to a wide open teammate, but he passed it to Danny Green. He’s not shooting well, but he’s one of the best spot-up shooters in Finals history.

You trust that player to make a shot. That’s what James did. And he’d do it again.

Great pass. Great shot. It just missed. You live with that and move on to game 6. It is what it is.

Lakers not worried about lead shooters going cold in Game 3

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green both had a rough Game 3 but the Lakers aren’t worried about it. At least not yet.

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The Los Angeles Lakers obviously need more from Anthony Davis in Game 4 of the NBA Finals after the star center had perhaps his most anonymous game of the playoffs, only taking nine shots and grabbing a measly five rebounds. But the Lakers also need more, at some point in this series, from their wings in the starting lineup.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has at least had a moment to look back on, with his play in the first quarter of Game 1 being a catalyst for their win. But ever since, he’s gone ice cold from the field and he’s only 5 for 20 from the 3-point line in the series. Meanwhile, his counterpart on the opposite wing Danny Green, has been even worse, going 4 for 20 from the 3-point line in the first three games of the series. Green, while still a starter and the highest-paid player on the team outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, is now on the outskirts of the Lakers rotation.

Those guys have been fine,” Vogel said after the Lakers’ 115-104 loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday, according to SB Nation’s Christian Rivas. “They have been great for us all year. We have to execute as a group better. If we execute as a group better, have more intent to get higher shot quality, then those guys will be fine.”

Green has been supplanted for almost the entire playoffs in the closing lineups by Alex Caruso. Now that Caruso is also shooting the ball better (4 for 10 from the 3-point line in the Finals) than Green, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Caruso doesn’t continue to get those minutes. But for the Lakers to close out the Heat, Green and Caldwell-Pope have got to cash in the looks LeBron creates for them.

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Jimmy Butler: Telling LeBron that Lakers are ‘in trouble’ a response to earlier trash talk

Jimmy Butler said he didn’t seek the moment of trash talk with LeBron James but rather responded to something LeBron said earlier.

Towards the end of the Miami Heat’s upset over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals to make things interesting in the final series of the longest season in NBA history, ABC’s perfectly positioned cameras caught Jimmy Butler telling LeBron James something about being “in trouble,” obviously referring to James and the Lakers. After the Heat avoided an 0-3 hole and are now down 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, Butler was asked about the moment below.

According to Butler, telling LeBron that he and the Lakers are now in trouble in the series was a reference to something James had said earlier to Butler in the first quarter.

After the game, LeBron said nothing but complimentary things about Butler, saying he’s one of the “greatest competitors” in the NBA.

The Lakers are still in control in the series after Anthony Davis had one of his most anonymous games of the playoffs. While the Heat definitely breathed some life and intrigue back into the series, the Lakers aren’t in trouble yet. But one more night like tonight in Game 4 and they just might be, for the first time in these playoffs.

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