Tag: Iman Shumpert

Iman Shumpert sees similarity between Kyrie Irving and Carmelo Anthony’s leadership styles

Iman Shumpert has played with both Kyrie Irving and Carmelo Anthony a great deal, and he’s noticed some things.

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Iman Shumpert knows full well what it’s like to play in New York, having played for the last Knicks team to make the playoffs. During that time, Carmelo Anthony was the man running the show at Madison Square Garden.

Since the Knicks’ last postseason trip in 2012-13, Shumpert has played alongside quite a few talented players. During that time, the former Brooklyn Nets guard managed to find a player who reminded him of Anthony: his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammates turned Nets point guard Kyrie Irving.

Specifically, Irving’s leadership style reminds Shumpert of Anthony’s.

“They may forget to be vocal at times. That [is] just not them,” Shumpert said on Complex Sports’ Load Management podcast. “That’s like having — it’s hard to do it this way because they feel disrespected if you say ‘dad.’ But, how you have a dad on this end, they’re both great dads, they both want their kids in school, they both got all the same setup of rules it’s just that this dad lets his kid curse and this dad has got his kid super obedient, he never talks back. He teach[es] him how to do x, y and z because that’s something that went [on in] his life. He felt like this save him one day, os my son gotta know this. It’s one of them things with Kyrie where it’s like, I don’t know how y’all need to be led, but this is how I know how to do it. Kyrie’s not gonna say, ‘What’re y’all doing? Like, move the ball. We’re not moving the ball side-to-side.’ What Kyrie’s gonna do is he’s gonna ask for a step-up screen, drive it and then drive it down the baseline and change sides of the floor to make sure the defense shifts. But he [is] not gonna talk about. He might say it once [out of] frustration, and he’s not gonna talk about it no more. He’s just gonna do something to alternate it.

“I saw that a lot in Melo where … Melo would talk the blame in the media, shoulder whatever — he didn’t really care what he had to shoulder, he just felt like he shoulder be better. Even though I knew at times we kinda put him in a [expletive] spot. I didn’t really put you in the best spot right here and now in the papers they grilling you Melo. He just stayed in the gym and worked, and when we needed him in big moments it didn’t have to be a conversation. I would never have to come up to Melo and turn it on. … I ain’t gotta say that [expletive] to Kyrie — maybe I have said it to Kyrie a couple times where I felt like he left his cape in the hotel room and I was tired of chasing some guard.”

Then Shumpert got into how Irving handles the media:

“Kyrie feels and he says. The reason I love how Kyrie get down is it’s authentically him. I know that from sometimes it being awkward. Sometimes it be something he said and he didn’t already have the knowledge of it. But, he did it before your very eyes.”

“I always respect a man that’ll fail in front of you and just stand back up and wipe themselves off and keep walking. We all trip, but there are certain people that’s going to trip and then look around and be like, ‘Oh [expletive], did anybody see that? There’s some people that are gonna sit and lay on the floor and just laugh super hard because they uncomfortable. But there’s a grown [expletive] man that’s going to trip, dust himself off, and while you laughing he may just shoot you a mean look but he keep walking. … Ky’s gonna say some [expletive] that may be bugged out until you sit down and talk to him and hear the context of what he’s saying. I know it because that’s my friend.”

But Shumpert doesn’t simply enjoy how Irving handles himself. He also thinks what the star guard does is important.

“I just feel like a lot of people are going to grill people, and I think when they grill people it hushes a lot of guys up. Because everybody’s trying to play this good PR and [get] in good cohoots with anybody. You don’t want to burn any bridges and you want to speak politically correct, but at the end of the day, at some point you gotta look in the mirror and be like, ‘Did I really believe that or am I doing it for a couple of bucks. I just love how Kyrie does it because he’s in a position where he doesn’t have to fear reprecussion. Like, why would e have to fear reprecussion? He [is] one of the best basketball players to do it, so he’s putting the pressure on them now. How do we tolerate him?

“It’s a cool power trip to watch. You watch it with a lot of different guys that can push the envelope and it’s like, this is what we’ve been waiting on, bro.”

Shumpert is still looking to find a new home in the NBA ahead of the 2020-21 season. He last played for the Nets early in the 2019-20 season, signing with Brooklyn after Caris LeVert’s injury and just before Irving hurt his right shoulder.

Former Suns guard could be a fit for Nets at Disney

If the NBA is able to resume the 2019-20 NBA season at Disney in July, the Brooklyn Nets will need to replace Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Although the NBA has a plan in place for the 2019-20 season to be resumed at Disney World in late July, the novel coronavirus pandemic is once again creating doubt as Florida deals with an influx of COVID-19 cases.

Should the NBA go through with its plan, the Nets will be in a position to add players with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both out. Brooklyn has options in their two-way players, Chris Chiozza and Jeremiah Martin — especially the former, who carved out a role for himself before the league’s hiatus.

But the Nets have other options outside the organization. Among them is Tyler Johnson — who signed a four-year, $50 million offer sheet with the Nets back in 2016, but stayed in Miami when the Heat matched the deal in order to retain the guard.

While John Hollinger of The Athletic thinks Iman Shumpert could be back with Brooklyn if the 2019-20 season resumes, he also thinks Johnson would be a sensible addition for the Nets:

Teams in need of a fourth or fifth guard with some scoring pop will likely scour film on him carefully, with Denver and his one-time offer-sheet suitors in Brooklyn seeming to offer the cleanest fit.

Johnson was released by the Suns in February after he only shot 28.9% from 3-point territory through his first 31 games. Prior to 2019-20, Johnson was a career 36.4% 3-pointer shooter.

Hollinger also added, “The teams in line for [Gerald] Green and Johnson will also likely be kicking the tires on Shumpert too.” Green had a stint with the Nets back in 2011-12 after played overseas in the previous two seasons.

RELATED: 3 injury replacement guards Nets should consider adding for Disney

How NBA teams may use replacement players

The NBA will allow teams to sign a replacement player if there’s an injury, a positive COVID-19 test or a player who chooses to sit out.

As the NBA prepares to resume the 2019-20 season in July, more details about the league’s plan are coming to light. In the event of an injury or a positive COVID-19 test during training camp or the regular season, teams will be able to sign replacement players from the free-agent pool. 

The NBA will allow each team to bring 17 players (including their two-way guys) to Disney’s Wide World of Sports. There won’t be a limit on how many replacement players a team can sign, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Once the playoffs start on August 17, teams won’t be able to add any replacement players. 

Every night, players will be tested for COVID-19; if a player tests positive, they must self-quarantine for 10-14 days while their team continues playing.

Not only will replacement players be necessary in the event of positive tests, they also could be called upon if a player is injured. Most teams will arrive in Orlando healthier than usual at this point in the season thanks to the four-month break, but a number of trainers and players have expressed concern that there could be more injuries than usual when the season resumes. After all, players have been working out on their own since mid-March and it’s hard to mimic game movements and intensity while training alone. Ramping back up slowly with a training camp (and potentially two or three exhibition games) should help, but there’s still increased injury risk. 

Because this is an unprecedented situation, people around the NBA have no idea how teams will approach this transaction window and how many replacement players will be signed.

“I’m not sure if teams will rush to sign guys,” an agent said. “NBA rosters are already the biggest of any major sport in terms of the ratio of players on the roster to players on the court/field,” the agent explained. “In the NBA, it’s 15:5 (or 3:1) whereas it’s 25:9 (or 2.8:1) in MLB and 53:22 (or 2.4:1) in the NFL. And that doesn’t even include two-way players. I’m sure every team is aware of all the available G League guys and free agents. But in the playoffs, most rotations shrink to nine or 10 guys anyway. So, if you have 15 players, you should have five extra guys.”

“I’m curious to see if teams will sign free agents,” one Western Conference executive added. “I have no idea what will happen. At the end of the day, we’re just talking about a 15th man most likely, right?” 

One Eastern Conference general manager pointed out that some teams may not consider signing replacement players at all, even if there is an injury or a positive COVID-19 test. Since a replacement player would have to quarantine for 10-14 days before playing, the team’s injured or sick player may be close to returning by the time the replacement player is finally able to take the court.

“I think as long as a team doesn’t have multiple players who get sick at the same time, they won’t sign anyone,” the general manager said. “I think most teams will just wait for their sick player to return.” 

Some NBA teams with an open roster spot may decide to sign a free agent prior to arriving in Orlando rather than waiting until an injury or positive test occurs to address their depth. Technically, this player wouldn’t be a “replacement player,” but he’d be stashed on their roster in case of emergency. This would allow the player to go through training camp with the team as well as the initial quarantine period in Orlando. Then, if there is an injury or positive test, he would be able to play right away rather than having to quarantine for 10-14 days upon arrival like a replacement player would have to do.

Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion about how some players may choose not to play when the season resumes in Orlando. In recent weeks, a number of executives brought up this possibility and openly wondered what would happen if their players sit out because they didn’t want to be in the bubble for months and risk their health. Now, some players are also concerned that resuming play would shift the public’s focus away from the Black Lives Matter movement.

While it’s possible that enough NBA players speaking up would force the NBPA to back out of the plan to resume play, it seems more likely that the NBA will just allow each player to make their own decision when it comes to participating. If a player chooses to sit out, their team will resume play without them. These players wouldn’t face any consequences (aside from not being paid) and NBA teams would be allowed to sign a replacement player to take their place, according to a recent article by Wojnarowski. 

There’s also some concern that players on fringe playoff teams will opt to play, but then want to leave the bubble or sit out as soon as their team is mathematically eliminated from the postseason. Players won’t want to put their health at risk and stay in the bubble if they aren’t playing for something. Some players (such as Damian Lillard) have already said that they wouldn’t risk their health to participate in meaningless games, and who could blame them?

“I feel like the eighth seed and the ninth seed could partially be determined by whose schedule sets them up against teams who are ‘tanking’ at the end,” said one Western Conference executive.

DeMarcus Cousins is one of the free agents who’s eligible to be signed. (Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports)

Interestingly, not all free agents are eligible to be signed as replacement players.

In order to be eligible, a player had to be on an NBA or G League roster this season or last season. Players who were overseas as of March 11, 2020 (when the NBA season was suspended) are not eligible to be signed, which rules out some notable free agents such as Lance Stephenson, Donatas Motiejunas, Greg Monroe and Miles Plumlee. If a player started the season overseas but got a FIBA clearance before March 11, they are eligible to be signed as long as they were on an NBA or G League roster in 2019-20 or 2018-19 (like Willie Reed, for example, who was in Greece to start the season but then got his FIBA clearance and signed with a G League team). 

There are plenty of of notable free agents and former G League players who are eligible to be signed including DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Darren Collison, Jamal Crawford, Iman Shumpert, JR Smith, Nik Stauskas, Kenneth Faried, Tyler Zeller, Jerian Grant, Corey Brewer, Tyler Johnson, Jodie Meeks, Michael Beasley, Nick Young, Trey Burke, Allen Crabbe, Jordan Bell, Justin Anderson, Tim Frazier, Tyrone Wallace, Ivan Rabb, Jarrod Uthoff, Amile Jefferson, Jonah Bolden, Tyler Ennis, Josh Magette, JP Macura, Ryan Broekhoff and Yante Maten among others.

While it’ll be interesting to see how the 22 NBA teams in the bubble utilize the replacement players, the eight teams who aren’t resuming play will be allowed to sign players during this transaction window too. Don’t be surprised if some of these teams take advantage of this opportunity to add a free agent and acquire their Bird rights.

“I would be on the lookout for a smart non-bubble team to add someone during the transaction window,” one NBA agent said. “Any team can sign guys from that same pool of talent and, I assume, pay guys the same pro-rated amount.” 

In Wojnarowski’s article about replacement players, he confirmed that “the eight teams left out of the Orlando resumption are allowed to waive or sign players during the transaction window,” although “they cannot sign a player to a two-way contract.”

It’s worth noting that a lot of these details are still being worked out and nothing is official as of yet. Several agents and executives pointed out that they’re receiving these updates through social media, just like the rest of us, and awaiting further instruction from the league or NBPA.

Five players the New Orleans Pelicans could sign with expanded rosters

With the NBA reportedly set to expand rosters ahead of the league’s restart, here are five free agents the New Orleans Pelicans could sign.

As the league restarts in Orlando in July, the expectation is that the league will allow for expanded rosters. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday that the league is eyeing an expansion to 17 roster spots, two more than the current 15.

“Teams are allowed to bring as many as 17 players to Orlando, including 14 or 15 players on a standard NBA contract and additional two-way spots.”

While the wording can lead to confusion, the consensus seems to be that the league will allow two more players per team on top of the two-way players. This would allow teams more players to practice with and more players to play with to take some of the physical strain off the current roster of players and, ideally, reduce injuries.

The Pelicans already have a short-staffed roster with Darius Miller out for the season with an Achilles injury. If the NBA does expand the rosters, New Orleans could likely be one of the first teams to take advantage of that opportunity.

But which players are still available and who might be the players the Pelicans would target? Here’s a look at five players New Orleans could sign for the league’s restart.

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Lou Williams plays One Gotta Go with Lonzo Ball, Damian Lillard, Iman Shumpert

Lou Williams played One Gotta Go for NBA players turned rappers between Lonzo Ball, Damian Lillard and Iman Shumpert.

No music genre is more closely associated with the NBA than rap, which is at least partly due to the crossover players make into the studio booth. Many a player, both past and present, has taken a stab at recording either a song or even an album in some cases.

The crossover has never been more common, though, than in the modern era. Dozens of players have established rap personas or careers away from the game and have proven to be successful in both aspects, none likely more popular Damian Lillard.

A handful of other players, though, have had successful forays into the hip hop field, including Lou Williams. And it was Williams who played One Gotta Go with NBA players turned rappers recently, choosing which player had to be left out between Lillard, Lonzo Ball and Iman Shumpert.

While Shumpert isn’t one of the first names often thought of when discussing basketball players turned musicians, he is unquestionably one of the most talented ones. Shumpert has released mixtapes and EPs both and multiple songs as well. His wife has also featured in his music before as well.

A bit of politics likely came into Williams’ decision. Lillard was never going to be the one left out meaning it came down to Shumpert and Ball. And while Ball certainly has plenty of talent behind the mic himself, Shumpert being the veteran was almost always going to be the pick.

Did Williams make the right selection? Who would you have given the boot to? Let us know in the comments down below!

Iman Shumpert told an incredible Kobe Bryant story about a time he dominated the Knicks

Iman Shumpert tells an amazing story about a time Kobe Bryant took over Madison Square Garden in the fourth quarter.

Kobe Bryant played 34 games against the New York Knicks in his career, and he typically turned up his game against one of the league’s most storied franchises. Per Basketball Reference, Bryant’s offensive rating against the Knicks is higher than his rating against any other team for his career. Bryant was 10-6 overall in games at The Garden, and scored an average of 29.9 points per game, almost five points about his career scoring average.

During a discussion with Peter Rosenberg on Hot 97 in New York, Iman Shumpert recalled a jaw-dropping Kobe Bryant fourth-quarter takeover at the height of Linsanity. Shumpert said that he felt he had played an amazing game while guarding Bryant, and while on the floor in the middle of the game, he kept thinking of all the stories he was going to tell about his performance. When the fourth quarter started, though, Bryant had a warning for Shumpert.

(Warning: video contains some profanity.)

“I guarded Kobe in the Garden. I can’t remember how much he had, but I know I had multiple steals against him, to where in the game, in my head, all I’m thinking of is when I’m having this conversation with my brother after the game, how I’m going to tell him how I stole a ball from Kobe. How I stripped Kobe before he was going to take a shot, how I drove by Kobe and got a dunk. Like I’m thinking about all these things in my head, I’m so geeked.

…. The fourth quarter starts, and Kobe said ‘you had a great game.’ He said ‘you had a great game young fella.’ I swear I looked at the clock like…. I’m looking like ‘there’s 12 minutes [left], what are you talking about?’ What was that, you know what I’m saying? You ain’t said nothing the whole game. I’ve been talking [expletive], I done stole the ball, I’m hyped as hell, it’s Kobe Bryant. He ain’t said not one word to me. ‘Great game young fella.’

The man come down, you remember, he came shot fake, shot fake, threw it off the glass, caught it, threw it to the corner. I’m like ‘bro, what you on? Like, bro, you been regular all game!'”

You’re absolutely going to want to see the highlights to see what Shumpert was talking about.

 

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Breaking down what’s next for the Lakers, Clippers and Warriors

Discussing the Lakers and Clippers’ free-agent options, Darren Collison staying retired, Andrew Wiggins’ fit with the Warriors and more.

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On this episode of The HoopsHype Podcast, Alex Kennedy chats with Josh Martin, who is the Editorial Director of CloseUp360 and co-host of the Hollywood Hoops podcast. They discuss what’s next for the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angles Clippers and Golden State Warriors after the NBA trade deadline. Time-stamps are below.

:45: Alex and Josh discuss the Clippers’ acquisition of Marcus Morris and how much it improves this team.

3:25: The Lakers and Clippers have targeted many of the same players and this has been described as an arms race by Adrian Wojnarowski and others in the media. Will these two teams continue to battle over the same free agents and trade targets going forward?

7:00: Discussing Darren Collison’s decision not to return to the NBA this season and what that means for the Lakers and Clippers.

10:10: The Lakers are now shifting their focus to free agents such as Dion Waiters and JR Smith. Other available guards include Isaiah Thomas and Tyler Johnson. Do any of these players make sense for the Lakers?

14:45: Who should the Clippers target, if anyone, from free agency or the buyout market?

16:50: Lance Stephenson has history with Frank Vogel and the Lakers. Alex and Josh talk about whether he’d make any sense in Los Angeles.

19:50: Which team is the current favorite to win it all this season: the Lakers or the Clippers? And which team is better positioned for the long haul?

24:30: Breaking down whether the Warriors made the right decision trading D’Angelo Russell to the Minnesota Timberwolves last week. Can Andrew Wiggins take the next step and realize his full potential in Golden State?

Report: Nets granted disabled player exception

The Brooklyn Nets have taken the steps to replace David Nwaba’s spot on the roster for the remainder of 2019-20.

With David Nwaba suffering a ruptured Achilles in Brooklyn’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, the Nets could do one of two things: apply for a hardship exception or a disabled player exception.

The hardship exception would allow the Nets to add a 16th player to the roster after Brooklyn’s game on Saturday against the Houston Rockets. But, it would only be on a temporary basis. Also, both Caris LeVert and Kyrie Irving would have to be sidelined and expected to be out for at least two weeks.

The disabled player exception would allow the Nets to add a player for the remainder of the season, but at a limited cost. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks pointed out, the exception would be worth $839,427.

According to Alex Schiffer of The Athletic, the Nets have been granted the exception, and it will be worth $839,000.

If the Nets were to try to re-sign Iman Shumpert, who was waived when Wilson Chandler came back, he could not return for the exception alone.

Report: Nets apply for disabled player exception following David Nwaba’s injury

Following David Nwaba’s devastating injury, the path for Iman Shumpert’s return to Brooklyn doesn’t appear to be simple.

At first, it seemed like all signs pointed to Iman Shumpert returning to the Brooklyn Nets after he was waived by the team just over a week ago.

This appeared possible because David Nwaba went down with an Achilles injury in Thursday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Multiple reports then indicated the wing tore his Achilles, which means he will need to receive season-ending surgery.

With Nwaba down, along with Caris LeVert (right thumb surgery), Kyrie Irving (right shoulder impingement) and Kevin Durant (right Achilles), the Nets could apply for a hardship exception just before the new year. This would give them a 16th spot on the roster again, though someone would need to be waived once Irving or LeVert returned.

The Nets also have the option of applying for a disabled player exception. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Nets did so on Friday.

But the Nets cannot sign Shumpert on the disabled player exception, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks explains:

This may mean Shumpert is out of the question, or the Nets will have to do some serious maneuvering to get him back.

RELATED: Nets teammates’ ‘hearts and minds’ with David Nwaba following injury

RELATED: Appreciating what the David Nwaba has brought Nets

RELATED: Kenny Atkinson hit hard by David Nwaba’s injury

David Nwaba’s injury could lead to Iman Shumpert’s return

The Brooklyn Nets now need to find a way to make up for David Nwaba, who had become one of the team’s best players off the bench.

The Brooklyn Nets suffered a huge loss when David Nwaba went down in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s loss.

The team announced the wing suffered a right Achilles injury, though multiple reports indicated he, in fact, tore his Achilles. The latter would mean his season is over.

Nwaba’s injury comes exactly one week after the Nets waived Iman Shumpert to make room for Wilson Chandler, who had to miss the first 25 games of the season for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Shumpert was signed as the 16th man on the roster, though he played more than several others who were on the Nets before he signed — which is why it might be in Brooklyn’s best interest to re-sign him, if possible.

As pointed out by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, after the Nets face the Houston Rockets on December 28, they can apply for a hardship extension. But Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert have an impact on whether or not the team could add a 16th player.

If either guard is back or expected to be back within two weeks of the exception application, the Nets can’t add a 16th player to its roster. If both are expected to miss two weeks or more, Brooklyn can add an extra player. But, once one of Irving or LeVert returns, the roster has to be trimmed back down to 15 players.

The return of Shumpert makes sense given he brought much of the same attributes as Nwaba on the defensive end. Though, again, Shumpert will likely be in town for a limited time.