Tag: NBA Finals

Former Blue Devil JJ Redick to join NBA Finals broadcast team

Duke’s all-time leading scorer JJ Redick will join the ABC crew for NBA Finals coverage this postseason, according to a Monday report from The Athletic.

Duke basketball great JJ Redick will be on your television for postseason basketball soon.

The Blue Devils’ all-time leading scorer will join the ABC crew for NBA Finals coverage this season, according to a Monday report from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.

Redick will take the place of Doc Rivers, who left to coach the Milwaukee Bucks.

The guard enjoyed a 15-year NBA career after his time with Duke after he was drafted 11th overall in the 2006 NBA draft. He averaged 12.8 points per game while primarily playing with the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, and New Orleans Pelicans. He also spent time with the Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas Mavericks.

He also averaged two rebounds and two assists per game across his career, and he averaged a career-high 18.1 points per game in 2018-19 with Philadelphia at 34 years old.

Reddick emerged as a popular social media presence through his appearances on ESPN talk shows and his podcast, “The Old Man and the Three.”

Spurs were one of most dominant championship dynasties ever

The San Antonio Spurs were one of the best dynasties in NBA history, and they were amazing in the NBA Finals.

At the conclusion of the 1998-99 season, the San Antonio Spurs were crowned champions of the NBA. Over the course of the next 15 years, they would consistently be one of the top teams, bringing home five titles behind the talent of Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker, among others.

To this day, they are one of the winningest franchises in the history of the sport. Their five championships rank fifth among all NBA teams, behind only the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, and Chicago Bulls. Led by Gregg Popovich, the Spurs stood on top more often than not.

The FreeDawkins YouTube channel recently compiled a four-hour video of the Spurs’ best moments in the NBA Finals.

Duncan was at the forefront of the Spurs’ success over the years. His dominance isn’t always appreciated in the grand scheme of things, but he’s widely regarded as one of the best power forwards of all time. And yet, he’s still somehow underrated historically.

Guys like Robinson, Parker, and Ginobili were there to back him up.

Now, Victor Wembanyama is looking to lead a new generation of Spurs into the future. The rookie Frenchman has been great this year, but unfortunately, the Spurs haven’t been winning just yet. It could take a few years for them to get back to that point and even longer to get back into title form.

Wembanyama isn’t Duncan, and he never has to be, but for as long as he stays in San Antonio, he’ll have a great example to follow.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Nuggets present Houston’s Jeff Green with 2023 NBA championship ring

At Friday’s game, the Nuggets honored Jeff Green — who signed with Houston last offseason — by presenting the veteran with his 2023 NBA championship ring.

With the team citing personal reasons for his absence, veteran Rockets forward Jeff Green wasn’t available Wednesday during Houston’s home victory over Oklahoma City.

He returned Friday in Denver, though, and received quite a reward. After playing a rotation role for the 2022-23 NBA champions, the Nuggets presented Green — who signed with the Rockets as a free agent last offseason — with his championship ring.

The ceremony was supposed to happen when the Rockets visited Denver nine days ago, but logistics issues delayed it until the second meeting. For Green, it was clearly worth the wait.

“I waited 17 years to this point. To wait one more week to get it, I’m not stressing at all,” Green said after the unexpected delay, per Vinny Benedetto of the Denver Gazette. “This gives me an opportunity to have my family here, as well, to enjoy the moment.”

Videos of the ceremony and pregame activity are available below.

Now 37 years old, Green is averaging 5.9 points (54.0% FG, 33.3% on 3-pointers) and 2.2 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game this season.

[lawrence-related id=117953,116830]

WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart predicts Warriors to win 2024 NBA Finals

The reigning WNBA Most Valuable Player dropped a prediction for the 2024 NBA Finals.

After a fiery campaign with the New York Liberty, Breanna Stewart was crowned the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player for the 2023 season.

Following her MVP award, Stewart received a flurry of questions in a rapid-fire interview with Slam Magazine. During the rapid-fire segment, Stewart was asked who would win the 2024 NBA Finals. Stewart responded with the Golden State Warriors.

Via @slam on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxrK63Ytrm8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

After winning the NBA title in 2022, the Warriors were bounced in the second round of the 2023 postseason by the Los Angeles Lakers. Following a busy offseason that included the addition of Chris Paul, the Warriors will begin their climb towards another potential long playoff run on Oct. 24 in the season opener against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns.

Stewart is currently in the middle of helping lead the Liberty to the WNBA Finals. The Liberty currently holds a 2-1 advantage over the Connecticut Sun in the semi-finals of the WNBA postseason. If Stewart and the Liberty clinch a series victory over the Sun, they will face the No. 1 seed Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA Finals.

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Shaquille O’Neal tips cap to Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon for 1995 NBA Finals

“I realized that in order to be the best, you have to beat the best,” Shaquille O’Neal says of Hakeem Olajuwon. “That year [1995 NBA Finals] we faced off, and the best won out.” #Rockets

In a show of respect between Hall of Fame centers, former Orlando Magic center Shaquille O’Neal reflected on his team’s loss to the Houston Rockets in a four-game sweep during the 1995 NBA Finals.

On Friday, O’Neal — who works as an analyst for the NBA on TNT — served as “principal for the day” at Pine Shadows Elementary School in Houston’s Spring Branch.

In a wide-ranging interview at the event, Josh Criswell of chron.com asked “Shaq” about his battles with rival Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets. When asked of his greatest takeaway, O’Neal said:

Just him being one of the best ever. I realized that in order to be the best, you have to beat the best. That year we faced off, and the best won out. It just made me a much stronger competitor.

Olajuwon was named NBA Finals MVP after averaging 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. O’Neal averaged 28.0 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in four straight losses.

[lawrence-related id=32481,30021]

Which NBA teams have the most finals appearances?

For fans of the Boston Celtics, their own fandom has given them a pretty solid guess.

What are the top teams with the most appearances in the NBA Finals? For fans of the Boston Celtics, their fandom has given them a pretty solid guess. The Celtics’ longtime West Coast rival Los Angeles Lakers are another good guess.

Younger fans might guess the Golden State Warriors given what they know, and you’d be forgiven if you went with the Chicago Bulls given what the GOAT Michael Jordan was able to do in red and white or the San Antonio Spurs based on what Hall of Fame head coach Gregg Popovich has done over the years.

But if you ask a random person off the street what teams they think are the answer, you might be surprised.

Which is exactly what the folks at the House of Highlights did in a recent video — check it out in the clip above.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 category=590969556]

Most recent Notre Dame players to be NBA draft selections

All of these players did the Irish proud before making the jump.

Nobody on Notre Dame’s veteran-laden team from this past season will be selected in Thursday’s NBA draft. In fact, given the inexperience across the board on the upcoming season’s roster and under a new coach no less, it could be quite a while before we see another Notre Dame player drafted. On the bright side, that means no early departures except via the transfer portal. Then again, it sure would be nice to have NBA-ready talent in South Bend.

The only way to deal with a challenging present and short-term future is to look to the past. In this case, the way to go about that is to look at former players who heard their names called on draft night over the past several years. Of the 62 former Notre Dame players who have suited up in the NBA or ABA, 41 have entered professional basketball via the draft. Here are the most recent ones:

Boston Celtics included in ’20 craziest plays in NBA Finals history’ compilation

With a record 17 titles to their name, the Boston Celtics have had their share of amazing moments in the NBA finals over the decades.

With a record 17 titles to their name, the Boston Celtics have had their share of amazing moments in the NBA finals over the decades. The Celtics’ unbelievable triple-overtime victory vs. the Phoenix Suns in Game 5 of the 1976 Finals — often referred to as ‘the greatest game ever played’ — immediately comes to mind.

As does the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history in 2008, which saw Boston overcome a 24-point deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers on their own home court as they took a 3-1 series lead. With the Celtics, there is no shortage of iconic plays one can look back on with wonder.

Another of them can be found on a recent compilation of the best NBA Finals moments in the history of the modern game put together by the folks behind the HoopFlix YouTube channel.

Be sure to check them all out in the clip embedded above, which includes one of the greatest Celtics moments on the world’s biggest stage among them.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 category=590969556]

Nikola Jokić’s advice on failure and how to copy his NBA success applies to more than basketball

Nikola Jokić gave some absolutely great advice about how to achieve success in life.

Everything’s coming up Nikola Jokić these days. 

The 2023 NBA Finals MVP has had quite a week, celebrating a championship with the Denver Nuggets and cementing himself as perhaps the best basketball player on the planet.

Jokić’s success is likely to be a shining star to guide future NBA players, and the Nuggets star is giving folks some insights into how he’s gotten to where he is. 

“If you want to be successful… you need to be bad, then you need to be good,” Jokić told NBA media this week. “Then when you’re good, you need to fail. Then when you fail, you’re going to figure it out… There is no shortcuts. It’s a journey.”

This is an incredibly humble and wise response from Jokić, a player whose gone from being drafted during a Taco Bell commercial break to playing some of the best basketball of any athlete around. 

Failure is always your best teacher, and it seems that Jokić knows as well as anyone that the journey to the top is paved with plenty of humility and hard-earned lessons. 

Nikola Jokic proved he’s just as awkward at parties as the rest of us during title celebration

NBA star or Average Joe, we’ve all been here.

After adding an NBA title and Finals MVP to his resume, Nikola Jokic is the league’s unquestioned best player in the world right now. Yet, despite some wholesome moments with his teammates, at times, it seemed like Jokic was actually kind of uncomfortable during the Denver Nuggets’ celebrations on Monday night.

I mean, Jokic did make his wishes to go home after the win pretty explicit, but there were more subtle nuances to his demeanor, too.

Take this NBA TV shot of the superstar center standing alone, holding a beer, as the Nuggets’ locker room goes wild around him. There is no simply no way the man is comfortable in his own skin at this moment, and I totally get it.

Heck, we’ve all been here, right?

You’re at a big party with friends, family, and lots of strangers, ideally to cut loose. But there’s just something off. There are too many people, they’re talking way too loudly, and you don’t like the music. You’d rather be cozy in a good pair of sweatpants at home while watching some halfhearted romantic comedy movie.

I’m sure Jokic enjoyed the biggest achievement of his NBA career to date. Who wouldn’t? But he still showed he was just like us, trying and failing to seem natural in a large crowd of people in a tight space.