Tag: NBA

Michael Malone sarcastically ripped Nikola Jokic MVP voter fatigue amid his tremendous start to 2024

Michael Malone thinks NBA MVP voters need to respect Nikola Jokic MUCH more.

In year 10 of his illustrious NBA career, it seems like reigning MVP Nikola Jokic is better than ever.

To help bring his Denver Nuggets to a sharp 7-3 record, Jokic is averaging an astonishing 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and one block per game while also enjoying an efficient true shooting percentage of 67.1. For perspective, he’s averaging a near-30-point triple-double and sits fourth in the league in scoring while leading the entire NBA in rebounds and assists. If that weren’t enough, the Serbian big man is fourth in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (56.4) on a moderately high volume of four attempts per game. Phew.

For all intents and purposes, after a regular-season MVP or NBA Finals MVP in each of his last four seasons, Jokic has been transcendent through 10 games, even by his already high standards. He is the clear best player in the world — there is no “arguably” — and the gap between him and the No. 2 player (whoever that might be) seems wider than ever.

But if you ask Denver head coach Michael Malone, Jokic’s play so far this season apparently hasn’t been that impressive. After Jokic dropped 37 points, 18 rebounds, and 15 assists on the Dallas Mavericks in a thrilling Sunday night win, Malone said he hoped Jokic would “probably be fifth in MVP voting.”

Wait, what? Oh, Malone was joking, and it’s easy to see why:

Malone will never confirm it himself, but there’s a decent chance he saw an absurd NBA MVP ladder that put the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis and the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum over Jokic in this year’s early MVP conversation last week. While those two stars have also been awesome, given how utterly incredible Jokic has been for a Nuggets team that has needed him to play this well just to have a chance to win, lists like that reek of “voter fatigue,” a.k.a. people being tired of Jokic winning the league’s most prestigious individual honor in the regular season. Again.

And it’s not hard to see why Malone likely thinks that that sentiment is ridiculous, as he watches his superstar player put his team on his back every single night:

It’s still so early, and anything can happen in an arduous 82-game season. More importantly, Jokic is also past the point of caring about chasing regular-season MVPs. He and the Nuggets are trying to win championships first and foremost, meaning they will likely have him turn off the jets the closer we get to the postseason so he can conserve his energy for a hopeful (and long) NBA title run. Jokic’s Nuggets have bigger fish to fry these days.

But I’m gonna tell you this right now and remember it well. Davis is having a great season. So is Tatum. So is the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant. They are still nowhere near the same stratosphere as Jokic right now. It’s not even close. No one impacts or controls a game more, and he somehow took another massive step forward. And if the all-time center actually does average even, say, an impeccably efficient 25-point triple-double throughout the entire season for a contending Nuggets team, he will be taking home a fourth NBA MVP award.

Full stop. Voter fatigue about Jokic be damned.

The esteemed honor would lose a ton of credibility if anyone else got it in that scenario.

Former Duke basketball star Jared McCain scores 27 points in Philadelphia’s overtime victory

Former Duke basketball star Jared McCain dropped a career-high 27 points during the Philadelphia 76ers’ second win of the season on Sunday.

Former Duke basketball star [autotag]Jared McCain[/autotag] took the spotlight on Sunday night as he balled out in a winning effort for the Philadelphia Sixers against the Charlotte Hornets.

The 16th overall pick from this summer’s NBA dropped 27 points, setting a career-high, as the Sixers defeated the Hornets in overtime, 107-105. McCain tallied 23 of his points after halftime, shooting 10/18 from the floor and making three of his eight 3-point attempts.

Despite only playing 31 minutes off the bench, McCain led a Philadelphia team that included nine-time All-Star Paul George in scoring.

McCain hasn’t been able to crack the team’s starting five during his rookie season, but he clearly plays a crucial role off the bench. McCain dropped 18 points against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, and his previous career high came on November 2 when he dropped 19 points against the Memphis Grizzlies. He’s averaging 10.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game in his debut NBA season.

The Sixers improved to 2-7 on the season with the victory with another game against the New York Knicks on Monday night.

Sabrina Ionescu wants to partner with Caitlin Clark vs. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson in All-Star shooting contest

Sabrina and Caitlin vs. Steph and Klay? We would like to see it.

One of the highlights of NBA All-Star Weekend last season was the 3-point shooting contest between Golden State Warriors’ guard Steph Curry and New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu. NBA stars made picks and chose sides, WNBA stars had takes too, and in the end, Curry got the edge over Ionescu 29-26.

Because of how compelling and entertaining the shootout was, a lot of folks want Curry and Ionescu to run it back.

And some folks want to add an extra wrinkle to the contest, making it a two-on-two matchup, with Curry and his former co-Splash Brother Klay Thompson on one side, and Ionescu with a WNBA partner on the other.

Who would Ionescu pick? She revealed her answer in the hypothetical scenario on Saturday when she joined the FOX college football set ahead of her top-ranked alma mater Oregon hosting Maryland.

“If I would have to choose, I’m taking Caitlin Clark on my team.”

Was there really any other choice?

This past season, Clark and Ionescu ranked first and fourth respectively in 3-pointers made per game, and both knocked down north of 100 shots from behind the arc.

Let’s see it. Set up Klay and Steph versus Caitlin and Sabrina at All-Star Weekend 2025.

You should believe in the Cleveland Cavaliers as championship contenders

Take the Cavs seriously, folks.

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes

Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you’ve got a great weekend ahead of you.

We’re about an eighth of the way through the NBA season, which isn’t very much. Teams have only played about 10 games or so at this point. There’s not a large enough sample of anything to make any determinations about everything.

But you know how the conversations about this league go. It’s always about who can make it to the end of the race instead of where teams are currently at. Who are the real championship contenders? How do you separate the real from the fake.

The conversation surrounds the usual suspects. In the West it’s the Thunder, Suns, Timberwolves, Nuggets and Lakers. That’s the championship circle at this point.

But in the East? All anyone seems to talk about these days is Boston — especially with the Knicks, Bucks and 76ers all floundering in their own ways. The path for Boston is supposedly easy in yet another all-time bad Eastern Conference.

COOPER FLAGG SHOULD GO EAST: Robert Zeglinski makes the point that the East needs the Duke sensation more than the West.

But why aren’t we talking more about the Cavaliers?

Cleveland is the only undefeated team left in the NBA, for now. We’ll see if that lasts on Friday night when they go up against the Golden State Warriors, who have the NBA’s best point differential at +15.5 through eight games.

Regardless of the outcome in this one, you should believe in the Cavaliers. Not just as one of the best teams in the East, but as a strong contender to dethrone the Celtics and make it all the way to the NBA Finals.

Cleveland has given you every reason to believe this season. The team’s +12.1 point differential is the best in the East today. Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley all look like All-Stars. Jarrett Allen has been elite defensively and a plus on offense. The wing depth that has been a sore point for this team over the last few years actually seems pretty good now.

Best of all, Kenny Atkinson is pulling the right threads. One of the major problems with JB Bickerstaff’s Cavaliers last season was that the combinations of players he threw together just didn’t work as well as you’d have wanted.

To be fair to Bickerstaff, a huge part of that was health. But it also came down to his overall decision-making.

For example, this season the Cavs’ second most played lineup of Garland, Mitchell, Mobley and Allen plus Isaac Okoro has played 31 minutes together and has a +22.2 net rating. That combination looks awesome together — especially defensively.

But that same lineup only played five minutes together in three games last season — even with Okoro’s improvement as a shooter.

Subtle moves like that are what puts these Cavaliers over the top. The talent has always been there, but Atkinson is pressing the right buttons now. Things are working.

Obviously, things will slow down at some point. The Cavs won’t go 82-0. And this team has to stay healthy to remain in that championship circle.

But it’d be a huge mistake for you to overlook the Cavs right now.

Bronny 🤝  NBA G League

John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Bronny James should finally have more opportunity to play. The Lakers have sent him to the NBA G League to play for the South Bay Lakers — the Los Angeles affiliate team.

Not only is it a huge deal that Bronny will finally get some reps, but he’s also making a huge difference for the G League already.

Our Bryan Kalbrosky writes that his game immediately sold out. That’s extremely rare, folks.

Here’s the impact:

“But when the former USC guard makes his debut for South Bay, that is exactly what he will expect as the team announced a capacity attendance with tickets being re-sold for as much as $271 to sit courtside.

South Bay ranked last in attendance the season before last, drawing an average crowd of 441 fans per game. The venue has a small capacity of less than 1,000 people, for what it is worth, but drawing any interest to the Lakers G League affiliate is no easy task.”

I’m not sure I’d count being famous as an accomplishment on its own. But the fact that Bronny is this sort of draw is impressive.

This could be a huge deal for the G League moving forward depending on how long he plays there.

Shootaround

— Speaking of Bronny, here’s Bryan again with more on why him going to the G League is a good development.

— Take a look back at the rivalry between Devin Booker and Luka Doncic here.

— Joe Mazulla has to be the funniest coach in the NBA and the best part is I don’t think he actually tries to be.

— JJ Redick is already fed up with D’Angelo Russell. Can’t blame him.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. Have a great weekend. We’ll talk to you soon. Peace.

-Sykes 💯

NBA MVP visits USC as Eric Musselman focuses on improving team culture

A brush with stardom occurred for young Trojan hoopers: A 7-time NBA All-Star made an appearance at USC basketball practice this week.

The USC Trojans and Eric Musselman had a surprise visitor during their basketball practice earlier this week. Joel Embiid, a seven-time NBA All-Star for the Philadelphia 76ers, dropped by the Galen Center to watch USC basketball practice on Wednesday.

The 76ers were in Los Angeles on Wednesday to face the Clippers when the former MVP, who is currently sidelined due to a suspension, decided to visit the team.

Embiid comically towered over head coach Eric Musselman in a picture posted to Musselman’s X/Twitter account the same day.

Later that evening, Musselman attended the Clippers versus Sixers matchup and met up with former Trojans Caleb Martin and Ricky Council IV after the game, evidenced by another X/Twitter post.

Musselman is having an immediate impact on USC. He intends to start his tenure with a main focus on changing the culture of the team. Bringing in a former NBA MVP certainly helps to achieve that goal.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, Ducks Wire, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Bronny James selling out his G League debut is his most impressive accomplishment yet

Bronny James is growing the game in the G League!

Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Bronny James will play in the G League for the South Bay Lakers, which is the correct decision for all involved.

This is not a punishment but rather the right path for a young player who only recently turned 20 years old and did not have extensive success in the NCAA.

The opportunity to play in the G League is a fantastic chance for a young prospect to develop their game, and it is where most second-round picks with his level of experience begin their professional careers. There is nothing very unusual about a rookie spending time outside of the NBA.

BRONNY JAMES: Sending him to the G League is the right move for the Lakers and for him

What is far more unusual, though, is for a sellout crowd to watch teams play in the G League.

But when the former USC guard makes his debut for South Bay, that is exactly what he will expect as the team announced a capacity attendance with tickets being re-sold for as much as $271 to sit courtside.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop South Bay Lakers Tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/NdBxgzL/”]

South Bay ranked last in attendance the season before last, drawing an average crowd of 441 fans per game. The venue has a small capacity of less than 1,000 people, for what it is worth, but drawing any interest to the Lakers G League affiliate is no easy task.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1373 tag=421396352]

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Cooper Flagg must join the NBA’s Eastern Conference to balance out the league

The NBA NEEDS Cooper Flagg in the Eastern Conference.

With all due respect to fans of woeful NBA teams like the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers, it’s time we have a frank conversation. And I apologize for how it will exclude your totally valid (but, to me, ultimately tertiary) needs as diehard supporters of your respective favorite teams.

The NBA’s latest truly generational draft prospect, Duke’s Cooper Flagg, must play in the Eastern Conference when he likely jumps to the league in the summer of 2025. Full stop.

There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it, either.

If we want to have a truly healthy and balanced NBA, throwing another potential franchise superstar like Flagg into an already-stacked West is a dire scenario for the league. The sheer talent disparity between the two conferences — the West has had more All-NBA players every season for 26 straight years — is already way too glaring.

The East’s embarrassingly slow start to the 2024-2025 season only confirms as much. It’s still a small sample size (less than 10 games into the year at the time of this writing), but here are some eye-opening early numbers to keep in mind if you’re one of those people who’d like to see Flagg play somewhere West of the Rocky Mountains:

  • Only two East teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, currently have a winning record. That’s right. Quite literally, everyone else outside of Cleveland and Boston in the East is straddling the line at .500 or lower. Yikes.
  • Eight of the NBA’s 10 best records so far belong to Western Conference teams. Eight. EIGHT.
  • The West, itself, is winning over 70 percent of its games head-to-head with the East so far. That’s roughly a 57-win pace over an 82-game season, by the way. A real ho-hum kind of dominance.
  • The East, itself, is also being heavily dragged down by the struggling Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks, who were supposed to be bellwethers as conference heavyweights. From injuries and age to good old-fashioned bad luck, these two teams are instead mired at the bottom of the standings. Tough scene.

I know it’s tempting to say we’ll appreciate someone with Flagg’s unique all-around abilities wherever he plays. Which, sure. That’s part of the deal we make as sports fans. Sometimes, it’s just about sitting back and appreciating the show talented athletes can put on.

You take what you can get. I understand.

Still, this massive disparity between the NBA’s East and West simply cannot continue. Flagg and the San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama are/were considered two of the best draft prospects in the league in years. For both of them to play on Western teams in a conference where, for example, a 50-win team was the fifth seed last season (a 50-win team was the No. 2 seed in the East) would be an unmitigated disaster for competitive balance.

Western teams already tear each other apart all year. Meanwhile, the 2-3 squads fighting at the top of the East get to be on cruise control as they please. A possible superstar like Flagg going West would just make it even worse. It’s not tenable or sustainable for players or fans of Western teams. (The conference really needs more “nights off,” if you know what I mean!)

The East needs an injection of potential all-time youth and talent. Badly.

So, this is my message to fans of fledgling squads like the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors. I’m really rooting for you.

Go capture that Flagg.

The NBA’s interconference competitive balance might depend on it.

WATCH: Brandon Miller wins game for Charlotte Hornets with buzzer-beater

Former Alabama basketball star Brandon Miller helped the Charlotte Hornets defeat the Pistons on Wednesday night with a buzzer-beater.

Former Alabama Crimson Tide basketball standout Brandon Miller was part of one of the most memorable plays from the NBA slate Wednesday night, as the Charlotte Hornets forward played a key role in their win over the Detroit Pistons.

In this, Miller was also the reason why the Hornets defeated the Pistons at the end of regulation, tipping in a basket as time expired to win by the final score of 108-107. Miller also had 19 points for the Hornets in the win, as well as six rebounds and four assists.

So far this season, Miller has started all four games that he has played in his second season in Charlotte where the former Alabama star is averaging 12.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 3 APG. Miller is also shooting a combined 35.4% from the field, as well as 31% from three and 88.9% at the free throw line.

The full video of Miller’s buzzer-beater from Wednesday night against the Pistons can be found below:

Dalton Knecht returns to Tennessee and makes first start

Dalton Knecht makes first professional start in return to Tennessee.

In his return to Tennessee, former Vol Dalton Knecht made his first NBA start for the Lakers.

He totaled three points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal in the Lakers,’ 131-114, loss to Memphis at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.

Knecht played 27 minutes against the Grizzlies. He converted 1-of-7 three-point attempts.

He was selected in the first-round of the 2024 NBA draft (No. 17 overall) by Los Angeles.

Knecht, a transfer from Northern Colorado, played for the Vols during the 2023-24 season under head coach Rick Barnes. During his one season at Tennessee, he averaged 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

He led the Vols to a SEC regular-season championship and an appearance in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history.

Knecht was the 2024 SEC Player and SEC Newcomer of the Year. He was a consensus All-America standout and earned the Julius Erving Award.

PHOTOS: Dalton Knecht through the years

Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Puka Nacua thinks it’d be ‘so easy’ to go from NFL to NBA, says he could do it in 3-6 months

Puka Nacua, NBA point guard? He doesn’t think it’d be hard at all to make the jump to the NBA.

There was a whole debate back in May when Austin Rivers claimed there are 30 NBA players who could play in the NFL. The conversation seemed to go on forever, with multiple former NFL players calling Rivers out for what they thought was a ridiculous statement.

Well, Puka Nacua is about to reignite that fire with a bold statement of his own.

As a guest on Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford’s “Nine and Dime” show, Nacua was asked whether going from the NFL to NBA or vice versa is easier. He left no doubt about where he stands on the debate.

“I think it would be so easy to transition from the NFL to NBA. Like, less than three months,” he said confidently. “Probably 3-6 months, I truly believe I could transition to play point guard or shooting guard for one of the (30) teams in the NBA.”

He then buried the Pistons with a haymaker.

“If I go to the Detroit Pistons, if that’s where I know I’m going, you’re going to play me 15 minutes. If I go to, like, the Lakers, no, I’m going to be the 15th man. Like, when we go 72-9, I’ll play the last game of the season.”

He’d make sure to celebrate appropriately after every bucket, too.

“I will have the best three-point celebrations you’ve ever seen. The handshakes? Let me get a handshake with LeBron!” he said.

As bold as Nacua’s claim is, Kupp actually agreed with him – to an extent.

“I agree with Puka in the preliminary stage of the question. I believe that’s the direction that’s easier,” Kupp said. “… There’s a very physical element moving from the NBA to NFL. There’s a very skill-oriented aspect to going the other direction.”

He continued, throwing some water on Nacua’s statement.

“I will say this, Puk: I think that you, specifically, could do it. Not in 3-6 months. But I do believe you could one day make it happen…in Lithuania,” Kupp said.

Nacua wants a shot with Stan Kroenke’s Nuggets, only asking for a workout and an opportunity.

“Make a pitch to Mr. Kroenke, you know? Send me up to the Mile High city, man. Give me a workout. Let me see what it looks like because I can use five fouls very, very well,” Nacua said with a laugh.

Nacua can actually ball a little bit. He played in the NBA celebrity game last year and threw down a few impressive dunks, showing he has hops.

His handles are solid, too, especially for a guy who doesn’t play basketball for a living.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/09zT2bPa3Ig

It’s not going to happen, but Nacua might be one of the few guys in the NFL who could actually score a few buckets in the NBA.