Shaq picks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as his MVP

Shaq picks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as his MVP.

As the 2023-24 regular season winds down, the MVP race tightens. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a prominent player in those discussions this season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder (46-20) sit in first place in the Western Conference standings. The young squad has opened a championship window this season.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s superstar rise has been the main reason. The 25-year-old is averaging 31.1 points on 54% shooting, 6.4 assists and 5.6 rebounds. He also averages a league-leading 2.1 steals.

Before the Thunder collected a signature win over the Dallas Mavericks, Shaquille O’Neal spoke highly of Gilgeous-Alexander, claiming he meets his standards for MVP this season.

“SGA is my MVP right now. He fits both our criteria. He’s the baddest m-f-, shut-your-mouth in the league and his team is winning,” O’Neal said. “He’s definitely my MVP.”

This is a pretty strong endorsement for Gilgeous-Alexander. O’Neal is one of the greatest players ever and has turned into a massive media personality over the years with the “NBA on TNT” crew.

As the Thunder continue to play on national television, famed pundits such as Shaq will recognize Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the best players in the league.

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Full injury report for Thursday’s Mavericks vs. Thunder matchup

Full injury report for Thursday’s Mavericks vs. Thunder matchup.

The Oklahoma City Thunder finish a four-game homestand when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday for a national television game. It’ll be the penultimate matchup between the two squads; each has one win in the season series.

The Thunder (45-20) welcome back Jalen Williams from a one-game absence due to an ankle sprain.

Ousmane Dieng (G League assignment), Keyontae Johnson (G League two-way), Olivier Sarr (G League two-way) and Adam Flagler (G League two-way) are out.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks (38-28) will be without Luka Doncic (hamstring soreness), who suffered the injury late in their win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

Brandon Williams (wrist sprain), Olivier-Maxence Prosper (G League assignment), Greg Brown III (G League two-way) and Alex Fudge (G League two-way) are also out.

In their last contest, the Thunder struggled to make up for Williams’ absence in their loss to the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers dictated the pace and scored 73 points inside of the paint against OKC.

Last time out, Dallas scored 146 points and blew out OKC with its new trade deadline acquisitions on Feb. 10.

Tip off from Oklahoma City is set for 9 p.m. CT.

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NBA on TNT crew mercilessly roasted Shaq’s Orlando Magic jersey retirement in NSFW footage

“We’ll show the whole ceremony when the Celtics retire your jersey.”

The NBA on TNT broadcasters are some of the best in the business. Shaq, Kenny, Ernie, and Charles make analyzing basketball fun because regularly roast each other during broadcasts. But behind-the-scenes footage from NBA All-Star weekend suggests that their jokes aren’t just for TV. In what can only be described as a likely version of their group chat, the crew gives Shaq zinger after zinger over complaints he seemingly had about his Orlando Magic jersey retirement ceremony not being shown on TNT.

NBA All-Star Weekend was filled with a lot of wild moments, including LeBron James claiming he knew nothing about the Warriors’ alleged attempt to trade for him, Kenny Smith’s WNBA 3-point line comments about Sabrina Ionescu and whatever awful display of defense was played during the All-Star game. But, nothing could have prepared us for this.

In new behind-the-scenes footage, Shaquille O’Neal appears slightly bothered that his Orlando Magic jersey retirement ceremony was shown on NBA TV and not TNT. You get the sense that he was genuinely pumped about his jersey retirement and wanted his friends to acknowledge it. However, they’re like, “Nah, no big deal. We got games to show.”

That’s when Charles Barkley starts clowning Shaq, saying the ceremony should have been on truTV. And, it all goes downhill from there.

(Warning: NSFW language.)

@muggamanb

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How to buy Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers tickets

Want to watch Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers in person on February 22? Tickets still remain for as little as $164.

The Golden State Warriors are surging, winning three of their last four heading into the All-Star break. They scored 125 points or more in their last three games and sit 10th in the Western Conference, one spot ahead of the Lakers.

The Lakers, led by the dynamic duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, also entered the extended break on fire, winning six of their last seven games and their last three in a row. The Lakers beat the Warriors in the two high-profile team’s lone matchup of the season to date.

The Golden State Warriors will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, February 22 at 10 p.m. ET.

[afflinkbutton text=”View Warriors vs. Lakers tickets” link=”https://seatgeek.pxf.io/Y9GoBB”]

With these teams ninth and tenth in the standings, this could have massive playoff implications. And, who doesn’t love Stephen Curry vs. LeBron James?

At the time of publication, the cheapest available tickets for Warriors vs Lakers are $164.

If you’re looking for a more luxurious experience, the most expensive ticket would only cost you $25,885.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Warriors vs. Lakers tickets at Seat Geek” link=”https://seatgeek.pxf.io/Y9GoBB”]

How to buy Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers tickets

Want to watch Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers in person on February 22? Tickets still remain for as little as $164.

The Golden State Warriors are surging, winning three of their last four heading into the All-Star break. They scored 125 points or more in their last three games and sit 10th in the Western Conference, one spot ahead of the Lakers.

The Lakers, led by the dynamic duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, also entered the extended break on fire, winning six of their last seven games and their last three in a row. The Lakers beat the Warriors in the two high-profile team’s lone matchup of the season to date.

The Golden State Warriors will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, February 22 at 10 p.m. ET.

[afflinkbutton text=”View Warriors vs. Lakers tickets” link=”https://seatgeek.pxf.io/Y9GoBB”]

With these teams ninth and tenth in the standings, this could have massive playoff implications. And, who doesn’t love Stephen Curry vs. LeBron James?

At the time of publication, the cheapest available tickets for Warriors vs Lakers are $164.

If you’re looking for a more luxurious experience, the most expensive ticket would only cost you $25,885.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Warriors vs. Lakers tickets at Seat Geek” link=”https://seatgeek.pxf.io/Y9GoBB”]

How to buy Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers tickets

Want to watch Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers in person on February 22? Tickets still remain for as little as $164.

The Golden State Warriors are surging, winning three of their last four heading into the All-Star break. They scored 125 points or more in their last three games and sit 10th in the Western Conference, one spot ahead of the Lakers.

The Lakers, led by the dynamic duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, also entered the extended break on fire, winning six of their last seven games and their last three in a row. The Lakers beat the Warriors in the two high-profile team’s lone matchup of the season to date.

The Golden State Warriors will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, February 22 at 10 p.m. ET.

[afflinkbutton text=”View Warriors vs. Lakers tickets” link=”https://seatgeek.pxf.io/Y9GoBB”]

With these teams ninth and tenth in the standings, this could have massive playoff implications. And, who doesn’t love Stephen Curry vs. LeBron James?

At the time of publication, the cheapest available tickets for Warriors vs Lakers are $164.

If you’re looking for a more luxurious experience, the most expensive ticket would only cost you $25,885.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Warriors vs. Lakers tickets at Seat Geek” link=”https://seatgeek.pxf.io/Y9GoBB”]

Charles Barkley was criticized for his awful comments about San Francisco during the All-Star Game

This was so uncalled for by Charles Barkley.

During TNT’s broadcast of the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, Inside the NBA’s Charles Barkley was terrible during his brief appearance.

The longtime NBA analyst, who made 11 All-Star appearances during his professional career, was on the pre-game and post-game show for TNT. But during TNT’s telecast of the game, Barkley instead appeared on the TruTV “alt-cast” with Taylor Rooks and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green.

TNT briefly had the “alt-cast” on the TNT feed, however, and Barkley quickly took an unnecessary and classless jab at San Francisco — the city that will host the 2025 NBA All-Star Game.

You can hear his comments for yourself but it was a bad look for TNT:

These comments were uncalled for and fans (and his fellow broadcasters) were not afraid to call him out for the rude and thoughtless remarks.

Here is a sampling of what some folks had to say:

NBA fans were baffled when CNN Sports (of all outlets) reported that the Bucks hired Doc Rivers

This whole saga is incredibly bizarre!

After the Milwaukee Bucks suddenly fired head coach Adrian Griffin, NBA champion Doc Rivers emerged as a leading candidate to replace him.

Despite the winning record in Milwaukee, Griffin’s departure wasn’t exactly shocking. Rivers, who was the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers until last season, makes plenty of sense as his successor. Rivers was already serving as an “informal consultant” for the team, per The Athletic.

What baffled everyone, however, is that the first outlet credited with breaking the news was CNN Sports. Even though CNN is a trusted news outlet, it isn’t a desk known for its sports department.

So what exactly happened here? How did basketball insiders like Adrian Wojnarowski (currently Rivers’ colleague at ESPN) and Shams Charania get scooped by an outlet that doesn’t have much of a sports presence?

During a broadcast of NBA on TNT, host Adam Lefkoe relayed that CNN Sports was reporting that Doc Rivers was accepting the head coaching gig with Milwaukee.

Jamal Crawford, the longtime NBA player who is now an analyst on the show, immediately asked Lefkoe to confirm that the outlet was indeed CNN. How is this possible? Others had the same question. Here is more from Awful Announcing:

“This Doc Rivers report is the first time CNN Sports has been mentioned as a thing in literally decades. CNN Sports Tonight, the highlight show alternative to SportsCenter from Turner, hasn’t aired since 2001. CNN was linked with the Sports Illustrated brand before the platform was taken over by Bleacher Report sports content in 2013. In fact, all of Warner Bros. Discovery’s sports branding had transitioned to Bleacher Report in the last several years before it literally just rebranded to TNT Sports earlier this month.”

A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports later reported, however, that the news was fully vetted by CNN before it was passed along to TNT.

It is important to note that CNN and TNT are both owned by the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. But at the time of the broadcast, there was nothing on the CNN Sports website that mentioned Rivers.

Perez was told this was likely due to CNN’s coverage of the GOP primary in New Hampshire.

As noted on Twitter/X by New York Times reporter Kevin Draper, a CNN Sports correspondent named Coy Wire appeared on NBA TV (also owned by Warner Bros. Discovery) to confirm that Rivers was hired by Milwaukee.

Draper added that he was also told by a CNN spokesperson that all of the reporting went through their “editorial process” at the network.

Later in the night, CNN Sports eventually published a story that credited “a source with knowledge of the conversations” but the reporting had no byline.

But this was far from the end of the story and the confusion continued.

Chris Haynes, who is widely considered the network’s top basketball insider and news breaker at NBA on TNT and Bleacher Report (which is also owned by Warner Bros. Discovery) refuted the report.

He claimed there is “no agreement” yet in place for Rivers to take over as the head coach of the Bucks. Bill Reiter of CBS Sports also reported that there is no agreement in place.

So what exactly happened here? Was this a giant miscommunication or was CNN Sports the first publication to break this news? Basketball fans had a lot of questions.

Shaq boldly said he’d take Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over Luka Doncic

Shaq boldly said he’d take Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over Luka Doncic.

As the Oklahoma City Thunder continue to rise as contenders, the number of nationally televised games will increase.

This gives media personalities such as Shaquille O’Neal, who is part of TNT’s famous four-man panel, a chance to offer his thoughts on Thunder players. He did exactly that with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander before OKC’s loss to the LA Clippers on Tuesday.

When discussing Gilgeous-Alexander and his MVP-type season, the Hall-of-Famer spoke highly of the 25-year-old and boldly stated he’d take him over Luka Doncic.

“I’m gonna have to take him,” O’Neal said when asked which of the two he’d take. “Luka is a fabulous player, but this kid? Listen, he plays the right way, gets his teammates involved. When he puts his head down, goes to the basket. …

“I’m taking him right now. He’s definitely emerged as one of my favorite players to watch. I like stories like this — guys that come out of nowhere and are a force to be reckoned with. He’s a hell of a player right now.”

Gilgeous-Alexander’s rise has been special to watch unfold over the last two seasons. He joins a long lineage of Thunder players who’ve blossomed into one of the best players in the league.

The fact that a legitimate argument could be made between Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic — one of the best players in the league — speaks volumes about the former’s rapid ascension to the upper echelon of players.

After finishing on the All-NBA first team last season, expect Gilgeous-Alexander to make another strong case for back-to-back considerations.

In 39 games, he’s averaging 31 points on 55.2% shooting, 6.3 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals. He’s headlined the second-place Thunder’s 27-13 record.

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Thunder vs. Clippers: Lineups, injury reports and broadcast info for Tuesday

Thunder vs. Clippers: Lineups, injury reports and broadcast info for Tuesday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder play the LA Clippers on Tuesday, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The Thunder (27-12) are playing on the second night of a road back-to-back at the same arena. On Monday, OKC lost to the Los Angeles Lakers because it couldn’t find an offensive rhythm.

Meanwhile, the Clippers (25-14) continue to be one of the best teams in the league. LA has won eight of its last 10 games. In their last outing, the Clippers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.

This should be a marquee matchup on TNT between two of the best teams in the league. The Clippers trail the Thunder by two games in the standings, so it’ll be an important contest for seeding come playoff time.

In their previous matchup this season, the Thunder blew out the Clippers, who were without Kawhi Leonard, on Dec. 21.