Julius Randle is clearly somebody who likes and cares about the whole New York Knicks Thing, which can't be taken for granted in 2021. Read more »

Joel Embiid has won a turf war against Ben Simmons because he's improved a bit more and definitely in easily noticeable ways. Embiid also won over the people in power within the Sixers, as well as the fans and the media. Read more »

Despite the general understanding that his development might have stagnated a bit, both in terms of skills and physicality, Emoni Bates continues to be viewed as a potential star. Read more »

The selfish stance of Kyrie Irving and Andrew Wiggins on the vaccine issue speaks to one of the biggest problems of our age: that we are far too deep in our own stuff, wholly unable to help each other. Read more »

One of the perks of coming out a champ is that you are no longer in dialogue with any arguments against you, extant or nascent or merely hinted at. You've settled things completely. Whatever we've asked of Khris Middleton, whatever he's asked of himself, the answer is yes. Read more »

Karl-Anthony Towns' relative loss in prestige over the last few seasons speaks to how much context can shape how one is perceived, even at the expense of one's on-court performance. Read more »

As the Nets enter the 21-22 season as overwhelming title favorites, my question is simple: has a team ever been this good and this weird at the same time? Read more »

C.J. McCollum doesn't get to do whatever he wants; he posts his 20-whatever in the negative space Dame Lillard leaves in his wake. It's a peculiar rhythm you have to strike, not being The Guy but playing as if you were, however intermittently. Read more »

As hard as this summer has been on his shaken teammate, Joel Embiid has surely been struggling too. Struggling to keep his thoughts to himself, to put in the work knowing that his fate will be decided by forces beyond his own commitment. It's an existential bother, a fittingly big mannish problem. Read more »

As the NBA transitions to a new era, a Lakers-Nets Finals could function as the capstone to a certain era of stars; one last hurrah for everyone old enough to remember when David Stern was still their commissioner. This would be a Super Bowl of sorts- a collision of legacies too rich to miss, too hyped-up to possibly escape. Read more »

The Sixers have succeeded because they moved counter to the NBA's prevailing trends. Whereas other teams focused on optimizing their offense until it reached some analytically divined flow state, Philly yucked their opponents' yum. Read more »

DeAndre Jordan may wish he could create a better set of options, be 27 again. Or maybe this is a fine time to get out. Read more »

Free agency is undeniably overloaded but it is hardly with momentous, league-altering players as it was last decade. It is musical chairs with the music at 5X speed in which most fungible players feel compelled to take the best immediate offer as teams brutely replenish the end of their roster. Read more »

J.R. Smith going back to school and joining its golf team is a fine story for late August, which shouldn't contain much NBA news. Especially coming off a year-and-a-half jammed with more basketball than even the professionals who play it could handle. Read more »

The repetitive nature of the Blazers' failures seems to be grating on Damian Lillard. Will he remain content to pour all his power into a cyclical ballad about how the little guys can never be amazing enough to overcome the big boy advantages elsewhere? Read more »

If the offseason seemed like an anticlimactic change of pace, it speaks to how happy most of the contenders are with their current core and how the rebuilding teams are content to take their time. Read more »

The only option on the table right now for Lauri Markkanen is to accept the Bulls' qualifying offer and hope he has a healthy and productive 21-22, featuring for a team that hardly values him. Read more »

The media cycle that followed the Malice at the Palace did not correlate with the reality in the arena that night, aside from the magical one that racists are always manufacturing on the fly. Read more »

Ben Simmons, despite boasting many spectacular qualities as a player, is not close to LeBron James, but his experience as a public figure does share important common ground. Read more »

If Summer League has a utility, it's the taste of the extreme strangeness the NBA regular season doesn't quite brook. Janis Timma is too perfect and most likely not nearly talented enough for this world. Read more »