Tag: NBA Return

Jamal Crawford’s return was stolen by injury and NBA fans everywhere were upset

Get well soon, Jamal.

We lost Jamal Crawford just as quickly as we got him back in the NBA.

The 40-year old guard made his debut for the 2019-20 season on Tuesday with the Brooklyn Nets in their game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

It was a treat to finally see him playing basketball again. It put an end to all of confusion as to why he hadn’t played a single minute up until this point.

Dropping 50 points in a single NBA game is not an easy feat. It’s something we rarely see, even in today’s game where it’s all offense all the time. That’s why it was a moment when Jamal Crawford dropped 51 points in the Suns’ final game of last season. And it wasn’t like it was 51 points on 50 shots — it was good! All this at 39 years old.

Sure, he’s 40 now. But, clearly, he had more to give. Tuesday was his chance to prove he could still play and he proved it — at least for a few minutes.

He made his 2019-20 season debut with the Nets on Tuesday and was immediately impactful.

For his first bucket, he drained this three.

And dished off this slick pass.

Oh, and this one too.

Within his first five minutes of play, he scored 3 points and dished out three assists.

Unfortunately, as impactful as his debut was, it was also just as short. Khris Middleton stepped on Crawford’s foot and apparently injured his hamstring, sending him to the locker room after just a few minutes.

The Nets eventually ruled him out for the game and, after just getting Crawford back on the court, we had already lost him.

Fans were so upset. Not just because he’s injured, but because this might actually be the last we see of him.

After two decades in the game, this would be the worst possible way to go out. Hopefully, it’s not too bad and this isn’t the end of Jamal Crawford’s NBA career.

Either way, it was good to see Crawford back hooping again. Even if it was just for a few minutes.

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The NBA wouldn’t let Jimmy Butler wear a blank jersey instead of a social justice message

Good effort, Jimmy.

As part of its restart plan, the NBA is allowing its players to wear social justice messages on the back of their jerseys to bring awareness to the issues of police brutality and inequality that plague Black people in America.

However, there is one huge caveat that comes with that. The players were allowed to choose what message they wanted to put on the back of their jerseys, but only if it was one of the 29 messages the league approved.

Jimmy Butler didn’t want to use a league approved message, though. He didn’t want to use his name either. He just wanted to leave his jersey blank.

And so, without the league’s approval, he tried it on Saturday ahead of the Heat’s game against the Denver Nuggets. And officials refused to start the game until he put on a jersey with a name plate on it.

Here’s the start of the game with Butler wearing the jersey. Officials made him go back to the bench and change.

 

He requested permission from the league a few weeks ago to do it, saying he felt like it properly represented who he’d be if he wasn’t a basketball player.

“I love and respect all of the messages the league did choose, but for me, I felt like with no message, with no name, it’s going back to who I was. And if I wasn’t who I was today, I’m no different than anybody else of color. And I want that to be by message…everybody has the same rights no matter what.” 

That’s a well-reasoned and clearly thought out stance from Butler, but the league still shut it down. It’s honestly not the greatest look for the NBA. Policing messages is never a good look.

Oh well. Good on Butler to give it a shot anyway.

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The Pelicans were right to limit Zion Williamson’s minutes even thought we want more dunks

The Pelicans need to be as careful as possible.

The NBA bubble’s opening night was just as exciting as we all thought it’d be. The matchups were excellent.

Part of the fanfare around the night was seeing Zion Williamson for the first time since March. He was tearing the league to shreds the last time we saw him. When the NBA went into its hiatus, he was looking like a bonafide NBA superstar.

From February 1 to March 8, Williamson averaged 26.4 points per game along with 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting a whopping 60% from the floor. That’s high level stuff for a player who is still only a rookie. He’s totally worth all of the hype. Of course NBA fans want to see that back on the floor again.

But that’s exactly why Thursday night’s Pelicans game against the Jazz was a bit disappointing. Williamson didn’t play much at all.

He only played 15 minutes in the Pelicans 106-104 loss to the Utah Jazz. He made the most of his time, scoring 13 points on 6-8 shooting from the field. He was super exciting in that short time.

He caught an amazing lob from Lonzo Ball.

And then returned the favor with a sweet behind the back pass at the rim.

But you can’t help but think he could’ve done more. NBA fans were totally disappointed they didn’t see more of the Pelicans’ young star. They had so many questions.

All of those questions seem fair. Everyone in the NBA has been off for five months, basically. One would think that, after all of this time, Williamson should be in good game shape.

Williamson has an answer for those questions, though.

“No, I mean, it’s not even just conditioning. It’s just getting my flow to the game back. This is the NBA. These are the best players in the world. And you want to feel comfortable. I don’t want to hurt my team more than I help them, in a sense.” 

This makes perfect sense. We have to remember, Williamson left the team on July 16 for a personal matter. He came back, had to go through a four day quarantine and just practiced for the first time since then earlier this week.

It’s reasonable for him not to be totally comfortable just yet. This is what going from 0 to 100 looks like. And that can be daunting — especially for a rookie.

Williamson is looking on the bright side. At least they haven’t shut him down for the season.

The Pelicans should always handle Williamson as carefully as possible. It’s clear that he’s a special player. And it’s best to allow him to be as comfortable as possible out there. If he’s not? Help him get there. That’s what this does.

Sure, they may have lost the game. And they absolutely need all of the ground they can get if they’re going to pass the Trail Blazers and catch the Grizzlies.

But right now for the Pelicans, things aren’t as much about them making the players as they are in preparing Williamson for a long, healthy career. If the playoffs have to be sacrificed this season for that to happen? So be it. They’ll be better in the long run for it.

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Watch: Steph Curry is back in the Warriors practice facility getting up shots

Although the Golden State Warriors aren’t heading to Orlando for the NBA restart, Stephen Curry is back in the practice facility working out.

With the NBA’s worst record, the Warriors won’t be competing in the league’s 22-team restart in Orlando. Although they won’t participate in the stretch run of the season, their practice facility is back open for business.

After a three-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, San Francisco’s Chase Center has opened its doors for individual player workouts. On Wednesday, the Warriors shared a video montage of Stephen Curry going through a shooting routine at Chase Center’s practice court.

Watch Curry’s shooting montage via @warriors on Twitter:

When the Warriors reopened their practice facility in early June, Curry was among the first group of players in the building. Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damion Lee, Chasson Randle and Kevon Looney have also been spotted working out since the long-awaited reopening.

After missing a significant chunk of the season with a hand injury, Curry can use Golden State’s early offseason to shake off the rust and familiarize himself with his new group of teammates like Eric Paschall, Andrew Wiggins and Marquese Chriss.

While the Golden State Warriors won’t be hitting the court for game action anytime soon, a video of the two-time Most Valuable Player getting up some shots might be the next best thing.

Austin Rivers offers thoughtful response to Kyrie Irving on NBA season restart

He makes some fair points.

Kyrie Irving has become the leading voice for a faction of NBA players who don’t believe the NBA should make its return in July.

His and other player’s reasons are laid bare here. They’re concerned about injury risk, potentially contracting COVID-19 and, on top of that, don’t want the NBA to become a distraction from all of the protests erupting across the country after the killing of George Floyd.

Irving reportedly said he’d be willing to give up his entire career if it means pushing forward social reform.

But Austin Rivers doesn’t believe it has to be that way. In a comment on Instagram, he voiced his disagreement with Irving’s comments and said he was still trying to find the correlation between social justice and the NBA’s restart.

“Us coming back would be putting money in all our (NBA players) pockets. With this money you could help out even more people and continue to give more importantly your time and energy towards the [Black Lives Matter] movement. Which I’m 100% on board with.”

Rivers is making fair points here. The NBA’s return could lend players a platform while also keeping them paid.

It also means not having to completely tear up the league’s collective bargaining agreement, which would be catastrophic for some of the NBA’s middle class. Some players do need that money — everyone isn’t a max guy like Kyrie Irving.

These are all points to consider. That’s why it’s good the players are having these discussions now two months before the league starts back up. There’s plenty of time to find solutions down the road.

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A healthy Frank Kaminsky and the Phoenix Suns have an outside shot at the playoffs thanks to the NBA return format

With the NBA return format, the only former Badger and his team have a new shot at the playoffs

[lawrence-newsletter]NBA fans woke up to exciting news this morning when ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski dropped the the three words every fan has been waiting for: “The NBA’s back.”

Phoenix Suns big man Frank Kaminsky, the lone Badger currently in the NBA, has a new chance to play this season after he had been held out since the end of December with a right patella stress fracture. The former Badger last played an NBA game on December 28, and was having a bounce back season in the valley of the sun before the injury issues.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the format will invite 22 teams to Orlando, and the lucky 13th team in the Western Conference happens to be the Suns. Phoenix should have Kaminsky back when the league resumes play in late July as ArizonaSports.com reported he was fully cleared for basketball activity back on March 11. 

So, do the Suns and Kaminsky have any chance of making a playoff run in the new format? The answer is still a slim one, but considerably more of a chance than they did before the NBA suspended his season. The Suns sit 2.5 games outside of the 9 spot with eight regular season games to be played in Orlando. If Phoenix were to land the 9 spot and be within four games of the Western Conference 8 seed, then the Suns would be involved in a play-in tournament for the final playoff spot.

The NBA is all but back, and the only former Badger in the league will be able to play his first games since December. Kaminsky’s Suns will still need a ton of help to get into the NBA playoffs.