Tag: James Worthy

Former Celtic Cedric Maxwell on Lakers legend James Worthy: ‘I want you to smell our ass as we’re going by’

With the Celtics now three wins from No. 18, the rhetoric is likely about to get ramped up again. And, notably, the trash talk. “It always means everything when you’re going up against the Lakers,” says Cedric Maxwell, who won two titles in Boston, including MVP of the 1981 Finals, and is known for tossing barbs at Laker great James Worthy both in the media and in private. “They’re supposedly tied with us,” he said. “People say they’re the standard-bearer of the NBA but the Celtics have been that since the start. And James Worthy, after we win this championship, I want you to smell our ass as we’re going by.”

Según James Worthy, lo único que ahora hacen los jugadores de la NBA es ‘practicar tiros de tres, hacerse tatuajes y publicar tuits’

James Worthy, la leyenda de Los Angeles Lakers se ha ganado el derecho a hacer comentarios sobre el estado actual de la NBA. Durante su tiempo jugando basquetbol, Worthy ganó un campeonato de la NCAA y tres campeonatos de la NBA, incluso ganó el MVP …

James Worthy, la leyenda de Los Angeles Lakers se ha ganado el derecho a hacer comentarios sobre el estado actual de la NBA.

Durante su tiempo jugando basquetbol, Worthy ganó un campeonato de la NCAA y tres campeonatos de la NBA, incluso ganó el MVP de las Finales de la NBA de 1988. Tuvo siete apariciones en el All-Star y, francamente, siempre disfrutamos escuchar lo que sea que tenga que decir durante su análisis después de los juegos de los Lakers.

Pero así como Worthy se ganó el derecho a compartir lo que piensa en la liga, todos nosotros nos hemos ganado el derecho a burlarnos de él cuando dice algo tonto.

Durante una entrevista reciente, mientras comparaba su época con la época moderna, Worthy dijo algo que es para que, si lo leemos fuera de contexto, todos nos vamos a reír (vía 97.1 FM):

“Aprendías cómo vivir. Aprendías cómo llevar las cuentas en tu chequera durante la universidad, había muchas cosas. Cuando no haces eso, entonces tienes chicos llegando a la NBA que no tienen fundamentos sólidos. Lo único que hacen es practicar tiros de tres puntos, levantar pesas, hacerse tatuajes y estar en redes sociales. Eso es todo.”

El tres veces campeón de la NBA piensa que lo único que hacen los jugadores de hoy en día es practicar tiros de tres puntos, hacerse tatuajes y publicar tuits. Es un estilo de vida sobresaliente y ¡algo que resonó en muchos de los fans del basquetbol!

Un fan se dio cuenta de que la descripción de Worthy sobre los jugadores de basquetbol modernos le recordaba a Kevin Durant y, por supuesto, KD le respondió. La súper estrella de Brooklyn comentó que él tiene un juego efectivo.

Traducción: Mis tiros de media cancha son precisos, pero James tiene razón: estos no son los viejos tiempos. LOL.

 

Aquí les dejamos algunas de las mejores reacciones que encontramos para este tuit:

Traducción: Hoy me di cuenta de que estoy en la NBA.

 

Traducción: James Worthy acaba de ponerle nombre al más ardiente podcast de la NBA… Tres, Tatuajes y Tuits.

 

Traducción: La gran mayoría de los jugadores de la NBA de hoy son atletas con excelente condición que trabajan en sus cuerpos y en el juego todo el año. 
Muchos están muy involucrados en causas de beneficencia y educativas que ayudan a un número importante de personas menos afortunadas. 
La opinión de James está muy lejana de la realidad.

 

Artículo traducido por Ana Lucía Toledo

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James Worthy criticizes Lakers’ roster construction in LeBron era

Lakers great James Worthy dislikes the way his former team has built around LeBron James over the last few years.

After Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles in 2013, the Los Angeles Lakers were soon forced to rebuild, and they started to make good use of their draft picks.

Julius Randle, Brandon Ingram, D’Angelo Russell, Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma — to name a few — became Lakers and quickly demonstrated they had potential.

Shortly after LeBron James joined the team in 2018, it was clear it couldn’t wait on those drafted players to develop since James was thought to be entering the tail end of his career.

Ingram and Ball were traded for Anthony Davis in 2019, a trade that produced a championship. Last summer, Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell, plus a first-round draft pick, were sent to the Washington Wizards for Russell Westbrook.

The latter trade hasn’t worked out, at least not yet.

Lakers Hall of Famer James Worthy went on 97.1 The Ticket, a Detroit radio station, to appear on the “Stoney & Jansen Show.”

While there, he criticized the front office of his former team for its approach to roster construction in recent years.

Via Audacy.com:

“The Lakers, I think they have refused to build over the years,” Worthy said. “We’ve had some good players: (Brandon) Ingram, (Julius) Randle, (Lonzo) Ball. We have tried to win quickly. In Kobe’s last few years, we brought in (Steve) Nash who was a little bit older, Dwight Howard came in with a back injury. We traded away draft picks to try to win immediately and I think they’re going to have really think about how they need to build.

“You look at Memphis, you look at the way Boston is playing right now, you look at the way Milwaukee has built a team over time. We need to create players that have cohesiveness. We had it a couple years ago and we traded it all away to try to win, to try to match what Brooklyn was doing and what other teams were doing with their Big Three players. I think that’s going to go away. That’s an illusion, having the Big Three. You see what happened in Brooklyn, you see what happened with the Lakers. Even though everyone experienced injuries, you still should be playing better and you should definitely be in the playoffs. So the Lakers — it’s embarrassing and it’s unacceptable.”

Ever since James became a Laker, the team has opted to sign non-superstar players to one or two-year contracts, and the resulting roster turnover has prevented L.A. from building high-level chemistry.

There is also a feeling around the NBA that the “superteam” era is over, and the failed attempts to build such squads in L.A. and Brooklyn have only strengthened such sentiments.

It’s no wonder Worthy feels the way he does. The Lakers took him with the top pick in the 1982 NBA draft, and a year later, they traded star guard Norm Nixon for Byron Scott, who was a top pick in that year’s draft.

Those Lakers were patient year after year, even after tough playoff losses, and they were able to replenish their roster throughout the decade through the draft.

Right now, the current Lakers have a lack of draft picks, no salary cap space and not a lot of trade capital, which will make their task of replenishing the current roster difficult.

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James Worthy on modern NBA players: ‘All they do is practice threes … get tattoos and tweet’

Hey, that sounds like KD!

Los Angeles Lakers legend James Worthy has earned the right to make observations about the current state of the NBA.

During his time playing basketball, Worthy won an NCAA championship, as well as three NBA championships, even winning NBA Finals MVP in 1988. He made seven All-Star appearances, and frankly, I enjoy hearing whatever he has to say during his Lakers post-game analysis.

But just like Worthy has earned his right to share his thoughts on the league, we’ve all earned the right to make fun of him for it if he said something silly.

During a recent interview, while comparing his era to the modern era, Worthy said something that is absolutely hilarious when read out-of-context (via 97.1 FM):

“You learned how to live. You learned how to balance your freaking checkbook in college, there’s a lot of things. When you don’t get that, guys are coming to the NBA who are not fundamentally sound. All they do is practice threes, lift weights, get tattoos, tweet and go on social media. That’s it.”

The three-time NBA champion thinks that all players do now is practice 3-pointers, get tattoos and tweet. That’s an outstanding lifestyle and something that is going to resonate with a lot of basketball fans!

One fan noticed that Worthy’s description of a modern hooper reminded them of Kevin Durant — and, of course, KD replied. The Brooklyn superstar noted that he had a sharp midrange game

Others noticed that Worthy’s comments sound an awful lot like this meme about hot chips and lying.

Here were some of the best reactions that I found when I checked the quote tweets:

James Worthy on current NBA: ‘All they do is practice threes, get tattoos and tweet’

During an interview Wednesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show, Lakers legend and Hall of Famer James Worthy, a three-time NBA champ, was asked what he thinks of today’s game and its heavy reliance on the three. And Worthy said the NBA has been …

During an interview Wednesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show, Lakers legend and Hall of Famer James Worthy, a three-time NBA champ, was asked what he thinks of today’s game and its heavy reliance on the three. And Worthy said the NBA has been diminished by “the rush of guys not going to college” — or at least not going for more than a year. “I mean, Kareem had four years with John Wooden, Michael Jordan and I had three years with Dean Smith, Isiah (Thomas) had some years with Bobby Knight. So you learned the fundamentals,” Worthy said. “Not only that, you learned how to live. You learned how to balance your freaking checkbook in college, there’s a lot of things. When you don’t get that, guys are coming to the NBA who are not fundamentally sound. All they do is practice threes, lift weights, get tattoos, tweet and go on social media. That’s it.

Source: Audacy

More on this storyline

Most of the front office, it seems, has zeroed in on Darvin Ham, with former head coaches Terry Stotts (Portland) and Kenny Atkinson (Brooklyn) also in the mix. Ham was briefly an assistant with the Lakers, and according to league sources, he is the favorite of the Phil Jackson-Kurt Rambis layer of Lakers decision-makers. “I think those guys want a young coach they can mold a little bit,” one Western Conference executive told Heavy.com. “I do not think Darvin is a pushover by any means. I just think that they want a guy they can point in the direction they want to go, more traditional basketball, using Russell Westbrook a certain way.” -via Heavy.com / May 26, 2022
And the Rivers rumors? Seems the players, and perhaps general manager Rob Pelinka, too, would rather see an experienced, win-now coach on the sidelines. “If LeBron could pick,” the executive said, “it’s pretty certain he’d pick Doc.” The exec was quick to point out that the Lakers had hoed to be united on the coaching front, considering their last foray into a coaching hire, in 2019, was bungled. The team pursued Ty Lue then but would not meet his contract request, and lost out on Monty Williams to Phoenix almost at the same time. Recently fired coach Frank Vogel was the Lakers’ third choice. -via Heavy.com / May 26, 2022
“So you don’t have that sound player; you have an athletic player. And that’s what’s happening to the game. It’s a lot of ISO and looking for mismatches. Bill Russell told me one time, they had five options off of one play. You don’t see that anymore.” -via Audacy / May 26, 2022

James Worthy on current NBA: ‘All they do is practice threes, get tattoos and tweet’

During an interview Wednesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show, Lakers legend and Hall of Famer James Worthy, a three-time NBA champ, was asked what he thinks of today’s game and its heavy reliance on the three. And Worthy said the NBA has been diminished by “the rush of guys not going to college” — or at least not going for more than a year. “I mean, Kareem had four years with John Wooden, Michael Jordan and I had three years with Dean Smith, Isiah (Thomas) had some years with Bobby Knight. So you learned the fundamentals,” Worthy said. “Not only that, you learned how to live. You learned how to balance your freaking checkbook in college, there’s a lot of things. When you don’t get that, guys are coming to the NBA who are not fundamentally sound. All they do is practice threes, lift weights, get tattoos, tweet and go on social media. That’s it.

Worthy was also asked what’s wrong with …

Worthy was also asked what’s wrong with his former team after LeBron James and the high-priced Lakers missed the playoffs two years removed from winning it all. “The Lakers, I think they have refused to build over the years,” Worthy said. “We’ve had some good players: (Brandon) Ingram, (Julius) Randle, (Lonzo) Ball. We have tried to win quickly. In Kobe’s last few years, we brought in (Steve) Nash who was a little bit older, Dwight Howard came in with a back injury. We traded away draft picks to try to win immediately and I think they’re going to have really think about how they need to build.

“You look at Memphis, you look at the …

“You look at Memphis, you look at the way Boston is playing right now, you look at the way Milwaukee has built a team over time. We need to create players that have cohesiveness. We had it a couple years ago and we traded it all away to try to win, to try to match what Brooklyn was doing and what other teams were doing with their Big Three players. I think that’s going to go away. That’s an illusion, having the Big Three. You see what happened in Brooklyn, you see what happened with the Lakers. Even though everyone experienced injuries, you still should be playing better and you should definitely be in the playoffs. So the Lakers — it’s embarrassing and it’s unacceptable.”