Tag: Michael Jordan

Magic Johnson weighs in on MJ vs. LeBron debate, says ‘Michael was the freakiest player in the game,

What metric best measures greatness in the NBA? In the debate over whether LeBron James or Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time, Magic Johnson is counting NBA Championships.

What metric best measures greatness in the NBA? In the debate over whether LeBron James or Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time, Magic Johnson is counting NBA Championships.

Magic Johnson weighs in on MJ vs. LeBron debate, says ‘Michael was the freakiest player in the game,

What metric best measures greatness in the NBA? In the debate over whether LeBron James or Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time, Magic Johnson is counting NBA Championships.

What metric best measures greatness in the NBA? In the debate over whether LeBron James or Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time, Magic Johnson is counting NBA Championships.

James Harden has the fourth-most 40-point games in NBA history

Rockets star James Harden achieved another scoring milestone Saturday night against the Phoenix Suns.

James Harden has been on a historic scoring tear since last season, and his hard work helped him achieve another milestone Saturday night.

Harden scored 47 points in the Houston Rockets’ 139-125 win against the Phoenix Suns. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Harden now has the fourth-most 40-point games in NBA history (89), passing Elgin Baylor on the list. Harden’s outing marked the 12th time this season he scored at least 40 points.

Wilt Chamberlain has the most 40-point games ever with 271, and Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant rank second and third, respectively.

The NBA’s 2018 MVP, Harden has won the past two scoring titles. He’s on pace to win a third this season, as he’s scoring a career-high 38.8 points per game. Chamberlain holds the two highest averages for a scoring champion. He scored 50.4 points a game in the 1961-62 season, and he averaged 44.8 points in the 1962-63 season.

If Harden can maintain his scoring output, he’ll have a good chance at achieving the third-highest scoring average, assuming he wins this season’s scoring title.

Harden is already one of the most prolific scorers ever, and according to NBA.com, he ranks fifth among active players in total points (19,751).

The Rockets will play the Sacramento Kings on the road Monday at 10 p.m. EST.

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LeBron James takes home 62nd NBA Player of the Week award

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James took home Western Conference Player of the Week honors for last week.

A storybook weekend for LeBron James continued into the following Monday as the NBA announced that he’d won his 62nd career Player of the Week award, taking home the honors for the Western Conference for the week of Dec. 8-15.

James averaged 28 points, 11 rebounds and just a hair under 10 assists as he led the Lakers to a 3-0 record over the first three games of their current five-game Eastern Conference road trip. He was also in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, watching his son Bronny get a win over his alma mater St. Vincent-St. Mary’s, a win in which Bronny was named MVP of the game.

James was the second Laker this month to win the award as Anthony Davis won Player of the Week the previous week. Davis has won Player of the Week twice this season. This is James’ first POTW award this season.

When James got word of the honor, he shared the news and also gave a special shout out to Eastern Conference POTW, Miami’s Bam Adebayo.

Adebayo’s Heat had a great week themselves as they pushed the Lakers in a 113-110 that was easily the best game from last week and one of the best games so far this season.

James and the Lakers won last night in Atlanta and are now headed to Indiana where they will face the Pacers, before finishing their trip on Thursday against the also 24-3 Milwaukee Bucks.

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Seahawks QB Russell Wilson reflects on having Nike shoe line

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was able to collaborate with Nike to make a shoe called Dangeruss, but for him it means more.

Athletes are taught to play for the name on the front of their jersey, not the name on the back. However, nobody said anything about the name on their shoes, and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has had the opportunity to do exactly that.

Wilson certainly isn’t wearing the Nike Dangeruss shoes on the field while he crafts his MVP-caliber season, but having a Nike shoe still is one of the most surreal experiences of his life.

“It’s been a cool experience, you think about young kids all over the world, all over the country that you want to be able to impact and have an influence on,” Wilson said. “Hopefully they look up to you, hopefully they want to be like you, hopefully they want to be better than you. That’s what I want to inspire in everybody, why not them, why not you?”

Wilson sees all that in the shoe named after him. His ability on the field has allowed him to catapult himself into an influential spot and his shoe is just another positive in the success he’s had in his career.

It means more if people wear the shoe, which according to Wilson has not been a problem.

“People loved them,” Wilson said. “It’s always cool when you have your own shoe, people shout you out. With social nowadays, you get a lot of tweets and Instagram posts, I get a lot of those and try to shout some people out occasionally. It’s always cool when fans recognize all the hard work you put into everything.”

That hard work has manifested itself to success in a career where he was seen as the underdog for so long.

In 2019, the hard work has helped Wilson not only reach MVP numbers, but also lead his team to a 9-2 record.

Week 13 brings another tough test against the Vikings, and a chance to take over the number one seed in the NFC West.

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Luka Doncic joins James Harden, Russell Westbrook in historic streak

Luka Doncic, James Harden and Russell Westbrook are three of the most skilled playmakers in the NBA.

This current era of NBA basketball has produced players who have pushed the boundaries of what it means to be a playmaker.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic is one of the most talented players in the league, and as a second-year player he has quickly elevated himself into the league’s upper echelon. On Sunday he joined the company of Houston Rockets guards James Harden and Russell Westbrook in a historic streak.

Doncic scored 41 points and tallied 10 assists in the Mavericks’ 137-123 win over Houston. Per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Doncic joined Westbrook and Harden as the third active player to post four consecutive games of at least 30 points and 10 assists.

Since the 1983-84 season, Michael Jordan is the only other player to accomplish the feat.

As two of the best guards in the league, Harden and Westbrook are skilled at penetrating the lane and finding teammates. On top of that, both players always seem to find ways to score. Doncic has been compared to Harden in part because he uses a stepback jumper similar to Harden’s signature move.

Each of the three players are ranked in the top 15 of the league for assists per game, with Doncic being the highest at No. 2. Harden ranks seventh, and Westbrook ranks 15th.

The league’s leading scorer, Harden has put together two games this season where he’s had at least 30 points and 10 assists. Westbrook hasn’t posted any games with those numbers.

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The oldest players to receive MVP votes in NBA history

All ages at the end of the regular season.

All ages at the end of the regular season.

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The longest double-digit scoring streaks in NBA history

Numbers as of November 16, 2019.

Numbers as of November 16, 2019.

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Warriors on pace for worst drop in winning percentage in NBA history

After their first twelve games of the 2019-20 season, the once-mighty Golden State Warriors currently have the worst record in the league.

After their first 12 games of the 2019-20 season, the once-mighty Golden State Warriors currently have the worst record in the league.

Their roster has been absolutely decimated, mostly due to injuries to their two franchise cornerstones Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. But their wild offseason also included the departures of two former NBA Finals MVP in both Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala. Golden State hardly resembles the team that won the Western Conference five years in a row.

While the offense has struggled without these players, it has been especially bad on the other end of the court. Their defensive rating (117.2) ranks as the worst in the league. Overall, their winning percentage (.167) is a far cry from their mark in 2018-19 (.695).

According to our research, that would be the largest year-over-year negative difference in NBA history. This pace would be worse than the Cleveland Cavaliers after they first lost LeBron James in 2010-11 and the Chicago Bulls after Michael Jordan retired for the second time.

The good news is their eerie similarities thus far to the San Antonio Spurs in 1996-97. Much like the Warriors who added an All-Star (D’Angelo Russell) in the offseason and have started 2-10, the Spurs signed a former All-Star in Dominique Wilkins before the season began and started 2-13. San Antonio received just six games from David Robinson due to an injury while Golden State lost Curry after only four appearances.

The Spurs finished the season 20-62 and ended up with a lottery pick that was used to draft Tim Duncan. Once he returned from injury and played alongside Duncan, they went on to win two titles together following their rough speed bump in 1997. If Golden State gets a high lottery pick to add alongside Curry and Thompson, perhaps a similar fate is coming to the Bay Area.

For context: This is not the first time that the Warriors have experienced an incredibly poor change in their year-over-year performance. They made the NBA Finals in 1964 behind 36.9 points per game from Wilt Chamberlain, who was traded the following season. Later the year, the team then finished with the worst record in the league.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

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Steph Curry seems to have added Michael Jordan to his list of haters

M.J. may have made an enemy.

Michael Jordan hoped that Stephen Curry wouldn’t take offense when M.J. said the Golden State Warriors guard wasn’t a Hall of Famer yet. But, of course, that was never going to happen. Curry insinuated that Jordan was one of the haters during a recent interview with SoleCollector.com.

During the video segment, SoleCollector.com’s Matthew Welty asked if Curry had ever autographed his shoes and sent them to the haters.

“Not yet, I might have to set up a little service,” Curry told Welty. “I might have to send them to M.J.”

Curry laughed it off, but perhaps there’s some gravity to his statement. And it was surely a reference to Jordan’s recent comments. Here’s a look at the moment.

There is no doubt Curry will someday be a Hall of Famer. He knows it. I know it. Everyone — except apparently M.J. — knows it.

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