After a dull weekend of Game 1s, a doubleheader between Knicks/Sixers and then Nuggets/Lakers delivered an excess of drama. You never know when a basketball cult might be formed or broken. Read more »
Basketball Articles
Panic! In The NBA Playoffs
Basketball's Best Weekend: A Review
On the Cavaliers doing to the Magic what the Knicks did to them last season, Milwaukee saving up their competitive juices, New York's rabid hustle cult, Minnesota vanquishing their playoff inexperience, a nerve-inducing game in OKC and more. Read more »
The Malaise And Potency Of The Phoenix Suns
Because of the staggering expectations they set for themselves by loading so much neon into their superstar billboard, they inspire more malaise than optimism. That might be changing, though. Read more »
The NBA Is Sweating Through Its Gambling Era
The NBA will now be weathering various strange controversies as a part of what is maybe a process toward better future health. And it will take some much bigger blow-ups before anything is seriously done about the situation. Read more »
The Changing (Podcast) Face Of NBA Retirement
The likes of Gilbert Arenas, Jeff Teague and Kwame Brown have shown us that the option to be a professional vibesmith is larger than ever, and the blueprint for a post-playing career is forever changed. Read more »
The Pelicans Are In Unfamiliar, Promising Territory
Zion Williamson is still 23, but he is now a layup artist, getting on the scoreboard in decidedly less pyrotechnic ways than before. He's stayed healthy this season and the Pelicans figure to enter the playoffs more formidable than ever. Read more »
The Nuggets' Confident Collective Prodigy
The Nuggets won't rack up a lot of blowouts, but they don't have to fret much to win games, either. Pressure, for them, is a bathhouse; the heat of it relaxes them. Read more »
The All-Star Game's Goofy Core, Exposed
If there is a meaningful future for the All-Star Game, it should be in further exploring the range of this dopey anti-competition. Read more »
The Bucks, The Bulls, And Two Very Different NBA Midwest Lives
As Chicago and Milwaukee sit 90 miles away from each other, there is a dichotomy between both present and past of their respective NBA franchises. Read more »
Welcome To Giannis Revisionism
Giannis Antetokounmpo was unassailable in the public realm, but he ultimately is more like other stars than previously imagined, and less the exception to their characteristic profile than assumed. Read more »
The Lakers And Bulls Need Each Other
A Zach LaVine trade is not an ideal scenario for either the Lakers or the Bulls- not now, and not after they potentially make this trade. But there aren't superior options on the table, or even on the horizon for two teams that need some humble reorganization. Read more »
The Ja Morant Moral Panic Is Back
If Ja Morant is endangering himself or others, that's an issue that needs addressing, but when it comes to how he wants to be, well, that's up to him, and it looks as though he's decided for now that his freedom to speak and signal as he does matters more to him than maximizing his branding opportunities. Read more »
Zion Is Still Here
You don't have to squint too much to see how, through all the deflated hype and underwhelming results, Zion Williamson remains indomitable enough pull his team through the postseason. Read more »
We've Witnessed The Birth Of A New NBA Tradition
Here we are, at the start of something, which one of the greatest players of all time felt strongly enough about to make it an important conquest in his shockingly lengthy farewell cruise. Read more »
Small Sample Size Notebook
On Jalen Suggs, Jamahl Mosley, Tyrese Haliburton, De'Aaron Fox, plus notes on the Thunder, Clippers and Pelicans. Read more »
The Bulls And Zach LaVine Are Breaking Up
The relationship between Zach LaVine and the Bulls has seemed to always be about business rather than preference. Read more »
The Bucks Are A Reckless, Glorious Drama In Giannis' Image
This season the Bucks have been reckless, questionable, and stressful, which also describes Giannis. This squad is now more like him than any Bucks assemblage before it. Read more »
The Thunder Look Beyond Youth
Expectations are high for Oklahoma City in the tuned-in hoops dork demographic, with some predicting a premature competitive uptick drastic enough to take them deep into the postseason. Read more »
The Dual Vortex Dynamic Of Dame And Giannis
In terms of raw court dynamics, we haven't seen such a complementary rim-plus-arc pairing such as Dame and Giannis since the days of Shaq and Kobe, of T-Mac and Yao. Read more »
The Gnarly Path Of Draymond Green
The Draymond Green torrent has always gone on, forward, away from pause or introspection. The reckless, universal-beef warpath is inseparable from all the championship qualities he brings to the Warriors. Read more »
Basketball RSS Feed