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Hawks

<div>Every February, LeBron James has been wondering why he didn't participate in the Slam Dunk Contest for more than two decades, one of the NBA's great what-ifs. Fans have debated the topic in barbershops, on sports radio, and across social media.</div>
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<div>Brandon 'Scoop B' Robinson's recent interview with former <a href="https://bookmaker-ratings.ru/tip/sport-types/tip-nba-tips/">NBA </a>forward and 1992 dunk champion Cedric Ceballos has given new life to the conversation, even though some parts of the past need to be addressed.</div>
<div>Ceballos didn't just suggest that LeBron skipped the contest because he wasn't interested.</div>
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<div>He defined it as something deeper: the preservation of the brand.</div>
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<div>&ldquo;He had a chance his rookie year and he didn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; <a href="https://scoopb.com/2026/02/cedric-ceballos-talks-vince-carters-springs-anthony-edwards-rise-and-why-lebron-james-skipped-the-dunk-contest/">Ceballos told Robinson</a>. &ldquo;After that rookie year, anything after that would damage his credibility and his career. It&rsquo;s not really if he wins it &mdash; because he&rsquo;s supposed to win it &mdash; it&rsquo;s that if he loses it.&rdquo;</div>
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<div>According to Ceballos, the risk outweighed the reward. LeBron had already become too big, too famous, and too accustomed to dominating. Winning would be the standard operating procedure.</div>
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<div>Losing would be a headline that would follow him forever.</div>
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<div>To reinforce his point, Ceballos referenced LeBron's high school years.</div>
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&ldquo;He lost in the McDonald&rsquo;s All-American Game,&rdquo; Ceballos said, claiming that a then lesser-known Shannon Brown outshined LeBron in the dunk contest. &ldquo;Shannon Brown beat him, but he was a little bit not as famous as LeBron and they gave it to LeBron.&rdquo;
The story fits neatly into Ceballos&rsquo; narrative: LeBron experiencing early proof that even one loss could dent his aura.
The problem? It didn&rsquo;t quite happen that way.
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<h2 data-start="1601" data-end="1646">What Ceballos Was Really Arguing</h2>
Ceballos' fundamental basketball critique was evident, even though his memory was spotty. According to him, LeBron is a powerful power dunker - one of the best in live action - but not a specialist in dunk contests.
&ldquo;LeBron dunks on a lot of people,&rdquo; Ceballos implied, &ldquo;but trickery, suaveness &mdash; no.&rdquo;
<div>LeBron's remarkable abilities are attributed to his speed, strength, timing, and rim violence, not to his choreographed creativity. In the past, the Dunk Contest has awarded both flair and force equally.</div>
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<div>The basketball argument is fair. Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Vince Carter, and Zach LaVine were legends of the contest, blending athleticism and innovation.</div>
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<div>Windmills, free-throw line glides, props, timing, and theatrical moments all play significant roles.LeBron's game has always been about efficiency and dominance, not pre-planned artistry.</div>
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<h2>The McDonald&rsquo;s Contest Reality</h2>
Officially, LeBron James won the 2003 McDonald&rsquo;s All-American Slam Dunk Contest in Cleveland. The other finalists were Shannon Brown and J.R. Giddens.
However, the nuance matters.
Many recaps from that night noted that LeBron&rsquo;s dunks were solid but relatively basic &mdash; powerful, clean, but not jaw-dropping. Brown, on the other hand, pulled off one of the most impressive single dunks of the event but missed multiple attempts afterward, hurting his overall score.
LeBron benefitted from consistency, hometown energy, and others&rsquo; miscues.
So while Ceballos is wrong that LeBron &ldquo;lost,&rdquo; he&rsquo;s not wrong that the perception afterward was more complicated than a dominant victory.
Even as a teenager, LeBron was learning something crucial: when you&rsquo;re the most famous player in the building, expectations distort everything.
<h2 data-start="3213" data-end="3356">The Real Risk for Superstars</h2>
This is where Ceballos&rsquo; brand argument actually lines up with reality.
For a player like LeBron James, the Dunk Contest was always a high-risk, low-reward proposition.
If he won? Fans would shrug and say he was supposed to.
If he lost &mdash; especially to a smaller, less famous, more creative dunker like Nate Robinson, Gerald Green, or Zach LaVine &mdash; it would instantly become a meme, a punchline, a permanent footnote.
History backs this up. Dwight Howard&rsquo;s loss to Nate Robinson still gets referenced. Aaron Gordon losing twice despite incredible dunks became a running joke about being &ldquo;robbed.&rdquo; The contest doesn&rsquo;t forget.
And LeBron has essentially acknowledged this dynamic himself over the years.
He&rsquo;s said repeatedly that if he ever did the Dunk Contest, he&rsquo;d &ldquo;have to win&rdquo; &mdash; otherwise it wouldn&rsquo;t be worth it. That mindset alone shows how much pressure and perception factored into the decision.
<h2 data-start="4098" data-end="4298">LeBron&rsquo;s Own Explanation</h2>
Publicly, LeBron has always framed his absence in basketball terms rather than branding ones.
He&rsquo;s emphasized that his goals <a href="https://x.com/ScoopB/status/1668247108309118977">were championships</a>, MVPs, Defensive Player of the Year awards &mdash; not dunk trophies.
He&rsquo;s also consistently called himself an &ldquo;in-game dunker,&rdquo; explaining that he doesn&rsquo;t enjoy planning or practicing set-piece dunks. For him, dunking is about reacting in real time, attacking defenders, and finishing with force &mdash; not choreography.
That explanation fits his personality and play style perfectly.
But it doesn&rsquo;t exclude the brand reality either.
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<h2 data-start="5066" data-end="5370">So Was Ceballos Right?</h2>
Factually, no &mdash; LeBron didn&rsquo;t lose that high-school contest to Shannon Brown.
Conceptually? He was tapping into something very real.
From the moment LeBron entered the league as &ldquo;<a href="https://rg.org/news/basketball/phil-handy-jordan-kobe-lebron-goat-debate">The Chosen One</a>,&rdquo; every appearance became a referendum on greatness. The Dunk Contest, meant to be fun and experimental, would&rsquo;ve placed him in a situation where creativity mattered more than dominance &mdash; and where a single off night could live forever online.
For a generational superstar with nothing to gain and everything to lose, skipping it made strategic sense.
In that light, LeBron&rsquo;s absence doesn&rsquo;t look like fear or lack of interest alone. It looks like a calculated understanding of modern sports culture, expectations, and reputation.
<h2 data-start="5481" data-end="5659">The Middle Ground</h2>
<div>LeBron James' Dunk Contest absence was not only framed as a branding decision by Cedric Ceballos, but also by an associate of James' <a href="https://landonbuford-com-488060.hostingersite.com/lakers-lebron-james-associate-reveals-real-reason-he-skipped-dunk-contest/">Rob MC in the Walklikeus room</a> a few years back.</div>
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<div>They said it did not fit LeBron's image at the time and pointed out that the contest was less exciting after the best players stopped participating in the early 2000s.</div>
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<div>He answered those who questioned LeBron's drive by citing his famous 3-1 Finals comeback, and also reminded everyone that many great players skipped the contest.</div>
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<div>LeBron stayed out of the Dunk Contest, not because he was scared, but because he thought it could hurt his reputation more than it could help, choosing his long-term legacy over a show, according to their comments.</div>
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Cedric Ceballos explains how branding, risk, and legacy factored into LeBron James's decision not to enter the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

Ex-Laker Cedric Ceballos Weighs-In on Why LeBron Skipped the Dunk Contest

This isn&rsquo;t the type of NCAA Tournament that will give NBA fans an idea of what they can expect in the upcoming draft.
The likely first two picks in the draft &ndash;&nbsp;Victor Wembanyama&nbsp;and&nbsp;Scoot Henderson&nbsp;&ndash; aren&rsquo;t playing college basketball. That&rsquo;s a major change from&nbsp;last year,&nbsp;when the first six picks in the draft all had played in the NCAA Tournament a few months earlier.
It&rsquo;s also worth noting that Villanova freshman Cam Whitmore, generally regarded as one of the top NBA prospects in the college ranks, won&rsquo;t be playing in this NCAA Tournament because his Wildcats failed to qualify.
But there are plenty of guys in this tournament who should have long NBA careers. A look at some of the top NBA prospects in this year&rsquo;s field (listed alphabetically):
ANTHONY BLACK and NICK SMITH JR., ARKANSAS
These freshman teammates are regarded as potential lottery picks, though neither was an Associated Press All-Southeastern Conference selection. Black, who is 6-7, averages 12.8 points and 4.2 assists per game, though he also has 3.2 turnovers per game. He&rsquo;s regarded as a very good defensive player. Smith, a 6-5 guard, hasn&rsquo;t gotten much of a chance to showcase the skills that made him the nation&rsquo;s No. 1 prospect in his high school class&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://247sports.com/Season/2022-Basketball/RecruitRankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports.</a>&nbsp;Smith has played in just 14 games due to a knee injury but scored at least 24 points in three of Arkansas&rsquo; last four regular-season contests.
First-round game: Thursday vs. Illinois.
GRADEY DICK, KANSAS
Dick is a 6-8 freshman with guard skills who earned second-team&nbsp;Associated Press All-Big 12&nbsp;honors. He&rsquo;s averaging 14.1 points and 4.9 rebounds, and shooting 39.9% (79 of 198) from 3-point range. He has shown he can play well against top opponents. Some of his games with at least 20 points came against North Carolina State, Indiana, Iowa State, Baylor and Texas.
First-round game: Thursday vs. Howard.
KEYONTE GEORGE, BAYLOR
This 6-4 guard arrived at Baylor as the nation&rsquo;s No. 9 prospect in his class according to the 247Sports Composite. He&rsquo;s had an impressive freshman season as a key part of&nbsp;Baylor&rsquo;s outstanding backcourt.&nbsp;George has averaged 15.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists while earning second-team Associated Press All-Big 12 honors.
First-round game: Friday vs. UC Santa Barbara.
BRANDON MILLER, ALABAMA
Miller&rsquo;s off-court situation has been well-documented: Police say he was asked to bring a teammate a gun that was used in a fatal shooting which has resulted&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/exalabama-player-darius-miles-indicted-on-capital-murder-charges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in the capital murder case against former teammate Darius Miles and Michael Davis</a>. Miller hasn&rsquo;t been charged with anything, hasn&rsquo;t missed any games and has become a star. The 6-foot-9 freshman is the&nbsp;SEC player of the year&nbsp;and has led Alabama to its first&nbsp;No. 1 seed. He averages 19.7 points and 8.3 rebounds and is shooting 39.9% (99 of 248) from 3-point range.
First-round game: Thursday vs. Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi.
JARACE WALKER, HOUSTON
Although senior guard Marcus Sasser is Houston&rsquo;s best player, Walker is the Cougars&rsquo; top pro prospect. The 6-8 freshman isn&rsquo;t particularly polished yet, but he has shown flashes of his enormous potential. He scored at least 21 points four times in an eight-game midseason stretch. NBA teams love his versatility. He should develop into a guy who can defend multiple positions, block shots and shoot the 3-pointer.
First-round game: Thursday vs. Northern Kentucky.
CASON WALLACE, KENTUCKY
Rated as the nation&rsquo;s No. 5 prospect in his high school class according to the 247Sports Composite, Wallace averages 11.6 points, 4.2 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. The 6-4 guard has done that while dealing with some nagging injuries. Wallace has dealt with an ankle injury lately and has shot only 3 of 26 from 3-point range over his last seven games. First-round game: Friday vs. Providence.

There are a number of 2023 NBA Draft prospects competing in the NCAA Tournament. Here's a look at the notable prospects to watch.

March Madness: 7 NBA draft prospects to watch during NCAA Tournament

Before the national media cared about the other basketball team in New York City, the 2018-19 Brooklyn Nets were one of the dopest stories in the NBA.
They were a hard-working, culture-changing, overachieving, likable group who surprised many outside of (and within, if we&rsquo;re being honest) the New York Metropolitan Area by hustling their asses to a 2019 playoff berth. It was their first in four years, and marked the beginning of three consecutive postseason runs.
At the core of this period, there was an ongoing D&rsquo;Angelo Russell-Spencer Dinwiddie Twitter war that emotionally consumed much of the fan base, a more insulated type than the one that rages on today. In the 2017-18 season, Russell was the starting point guard, and Dinwiddie entered the season in the third string on the depth chart.
But after Jeremy Lin tore his Achilles on opening night &mdash; and with Russell needing arthroscopic knee surgery one month in &mdash; Dinwiddie stepped into a role that nearly landed him the league&rsquo;s Most Improved Player award.
The occasional Russell-Dinwiddie minutes shared? Notably not great, a trend that continued in 2018-19. Then-Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson would <a href="https://www.netsdaily.com/2018/11/3/18058490/inside-dangelo-russells-fourth-quarter-benching" target="_blank" rel="noopener">semi-regularly bench Russell for Dinwiddie</a> &mdash; the team&rsquo;s sixth man &mdash; to close games. <a href="https://www.netsdaily.com/2018/11/5/18063566/dangelo-russell-bounces-back-kenny-atkinson-offers-road-trip-challenge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Atkinson would be pressed, as a result</a>, especially on those occasions where it didn&rsquo;t work.
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The "Russell or Dinwiddie" talk extended to who should represent the Nets if they had an All-Star, and then, Dinwiddie tore his the UCL in his hand &mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/realtuffjuice/status/1088550514432794624" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first reported by Caron freakin' Butler</a> (!!) &mdash; clearing the runway for Russell. He then became the replacement All-Star for Victor Oladipo, who tore his quad one day before Dinwiddie tore his thumb &mdash; but honestly, Russell was probably the most deserving of the three anyway.
(Go look back at Oladipo&rsquo;s season. He was good, but less so than you remember, primarily when held against his extraordinary 2017-18 campaign.)
You can draw a straight line from Russell&rsquo;s breakout near MIP-winning season in 2018-19 to watching Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving join the Nets later that summer. If not for Russell&rsquo;s emergence that helped put Brooklyn in position to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-kevin-durant-kyrie-irving-brooklyn-nets-los-angeles-clippers-kawhi-leonard-paul-george-learn-mistakes-culture-kenny-atkinson-doc-rivers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">abandon their process to chase stars</a> &mdash; which landed him in Golden State in exchange for Durant &mdash; who knows if the Nets would've become what they have over the last three years?
Since then, in a crowded talent pool of All-Star level NBA point guards, Russell&rsquo;s kinda become&hellip; underrated.
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Congratulations to D'Angelo Russell for this amazing achievement 💯 <a href="https://t.co/vbvxkhzqsv">pic.twitter.com/vbvxkhzqsv</a>
&mdash; Timberwolves Nation (@TWolvesNationCP) <a href="https://twitter.com/TWolvesNationCP/status/1493966873427603459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Now, this isn&rsquo;t to say Russell is slept on like the way y&rsquo;all are sleeping on Top Boy, bison meat, Splinter Cell, Nas and Hit-Boy&rsquo;s Magic EP &mdash; or dipping your quesadilla in barbecue sauce &mdash; but D'Lo's impact is a tad underdiscussed. Russell, 26, is mainly overlooked in the way that a once-rising star who we believe to have plateaued could be easily forgotten despite remaining near his previous peak at arguably the NBA&rsquo;s deepest position. &nbsp;
To this point, Russell&rsquo;s been pretty durable, which is major since he&rsquo;s about to play his 46th regular-season game on Thursday, his most since that '18-19 run in Brooklyn. The 31-28 Minnesota Timberwolves are currently seventh in the Western Conference and are 15-8 since Jan. 3.
In their now 33-season history, the Wolves have secured only nine playoff berths, and just one since Kevin Garnett left (Jimmy Butler&rsquo;s only full season with the team). Even then, in 2017-18, Minnesota only finished eighth in the West &mdash; fourth at the time of Butler&rsquo;s late-season meniscus injury &mdash; so the team hasn&rsquo;t finished seventh or higher since the 2003-04 season. That was the only time the Wolves have ever gotten past the first round as a franchise.
It&rsquo;s fair to say that they&rsquo;re at least pretty, pretty, pretty good by NBA standards. There are still reasons to be skeptical regarding their legitimacy, but we&rsquo;re usually penciling them in for yet another lottery draft pick &lsquo;round this time of year. And look, they may still get one, but we&rsquo;re approaching March, and they&rsquo;re in games that matter. Russell deserves some credit for that, as he does for still producing since '18-19 and proving his breakout wasn&rsquo;t a fluke. 
The Timberwolves' &ldquo;quiet ass&rdquo; fans are apparently so stunned at their relative success that they&rsquo;re <a href="https://twitter.com/Dloading/status/1491095748934455304?s=20&amp;t=sv7cJecuhNpOmS0ql-nTUQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not cheering enough</a>. This is sh*t they ain&rsquo;t used to!
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(To be fair, D&rsquo;Angelo, on the night you called out your quiet-ass fans, y&rsquo;all were playing the Detroit Pistons and beat them by 13. My ass would be quiet if I saw my team semi-spank a Cade Cunningham-less skeleton crew led by 24 non-threatening Saddiq Bey points!)
To his credit, those quiet asses answered though!
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This season, Russell&rsquo;s averaging 18.8 points and 7.0 assists on .408/.351/.802 shooting splits. It doesn&rsquo;t wow you on the surface &mdash; not even when I tell you he&rsquo;s tied for 12th in assists per game this season (7.0) ahead of guys like LeBron James, Ja Morant, Jrue Holiday and his old teammate Dinwiddie.
Minnesota is third in pace, fifth in scoring, 10th in Offensive Rating and 14th in Net Rating as a result.
However, it's the Timberwolves' defense that has been, as local reporting out of Minnesota has put it this season, <a href="https://www.twincities.com/2021/11/30/quarterbacking-the-timberwolves-improved-defense-is-dangelo-russell/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"quarterbacked" by Russell</a> &mdash; an area that has been one of the foremost knocks on him individually since entering the league. And D-Lo&rsquo;s grown into a leader in a locker room that includes Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards (and Patrick Beverley matters). &nbsp;
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Can't tell what I liked more here the nail help from D'Angelo Russell or the rotation from Jaden McDaniels. <a href="https://t.co/SkH6hP7lHX">pic.twitter.com/SkH6hP7lHX</a>
&mdash; Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20/status/1493763756580425731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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You watch Russell, and without question, save for his deserved All-Star season, he&rsquo;s playing his most impactful basketball to date. Currently, he has a career-high .105 win shares per 48 minutes and has been productive despite a 25.9% usage rating; it isn&rsquo;t low by any means, but it&rsquo;s the lowest since his rookie season. We&rsquo;re also seeing Russell at optimal usage, even if he isn&rsquo;t an All-Star anymore, and will have a hard time getting back there due to the depth at guard in #thisleague. (It&rsquo;s not completely impossible though.)
Russell is leading on both ends and ranks third in shot attempts behind Towns and Edwards, where he should be, and will have a $31 million expiring contract next season. So, yes, he&rsquo;s extension-eligible this summer. No, he shouldn&rsquo;t get a max, but why not ride this out if you&rsquo;re Minnesota? You clearly have something functioning at, for you, a high level &mdash; the highest you&rsquo;ve seen in five seasons and the second-highest since 2005. (Edwards turned four that year, fam.)
So, yes, Russell has earned his extension so far and is ideally the third option on a good team (as he is there), but is a primary playmaker (as he&rsquo;s been). Keeping a core together and continuing to progress is the Wolves' best bet, which is incredibly important in markets like Minnesota.
And, overall, we should commend Russell's sheer resiliency. Others may have gone in the tank while trying to reclaim All-Star status by now. He's out here helping a winner for a franchise that's seen so few.&nbsp;
Oh, and while we're here, happy 26th birthday, D&rsquo;Angelo.
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Bryan Fonseca credits D'Angelo Russell for his role in the Wolves' success this season and feels he's been underrated.

Commending D’Angelo Russell for playing his most impactful basketball

Damian Lillard&rsquo;s defiance has made him a social-media punching bag, as his Portland Trail Blazers are dissolving around him and looking like a completely different team.
Lillard hasn&rsquo;t played since New Year&rsquo;s Eve, and as he recovers from abdominal surgery, he watched his team <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/breaking-down-why-the-blazersclippers-deal-works-for-both-sides" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deal Norman Powell and Robert Covington</a> to the Los Angeles Clippers while the best player coming back is Eric Bledsoe. Keon Johnsn was also included in the trade and while Portland hopes he pops off, he's only 19 years old, so who knows how soon he can make an impact? The Blazers also received a 2025 second-round pick &ndash; the year Lillard turns 35.
Then, on Tuesday, Lillard watched his Blazers acquire Josh Hart, Didi Louzada, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Tom&aacute;&scaron; Satoransky and draft picks in exchange for Larry Nance Jr., Tony Snell, and the reason we&rsquo;re gathered here today: CJ McCollum.
#Narratives are already in motion. The jokes have been flying on social media about how people are, in hindsight, underwhelmed by the run that Lillard and McCollum had. But before we stomp on their Basketball-Reference pages and laugh in their comments about &ldquo;not having won anything,&rdquo; we should offer a massive amount of respect for what they accomplished in Portland.
You&rsquo;ve probably seen the photo of a 5-foot-2 McCollum as a freshman in high school, but even that symbolizes so much here.
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CJ McCollum was really 5&rsquo;2&rdquo; playing Varsity basketball as a freshman lol <a href="https://t.co/ukPiVyOUYC">pic.twitter.com/ukPiVyOUYC</a>
&mdash; Nothing Matter3D (@HiDefDee) <a href="https://twitter.com/HiDefDee/status/1376562700440965131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2021</a></blockquote>

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The parallels Lillard and McCollum maintained were astounding; they were the reason the backcourt became divisive among NBA consumers &mdash; with some loving them and thinking that the Blazers could build a contender around them, while others refused to believe that a pair of 6-foot-3 scoring machines could lead a team to a title, even in this guard-friendly era.
These things need to be delivered out loud and thoroughly processed.
Lillard went to Weber State, and McCollum went to Lehigh. Both played in mid-major conferences, and they are two of the better mid-major players we&rsquo;ve seen this century. But really, the Big Sky and Patriot League are closer to the bottom of the NCAA&rsquo;s Division I conference rankings; take it from a Northeast Conference alum.
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Lillard was drafted No. 6 overall in 2012; the only Weber State player drafted in the first round, period. McCollum was taken No. 10 overall the following year and is <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/draft.fcgi?college=lehigh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still the only Lehigh player to be selected in an NBA Draft</a>. One of the first things that people noted when Lillard got drafted was that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXXXDlzv0-U" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he never played against a top-25 team while in college</a>. And Bill Simmons <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJBwqmwfQbg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">couldn&rsquo;t believe a Patriot Leaguer was selected</a> in the top-10 in 2013.
Suddenly, we looked up and Lillard was the NBA's Rookie of the Year, <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_2013.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">receiving every single first-place vote</a> over perennial favorite Anthony Davis, who won a gold medal with Team USA during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.&nbsp;And then, in 2013-14, Portland was in the playoffs, where they&rsquo;ve been every year since Lillard and McCollum became teammates &ndash; the longest active streak in the NBA. Even then, McCollum didn&rsquo;t have his coming out party until 2015-16, when he immediately filled an All-Star sized scoring role vacated by LaMarcus Aldridge (who left for San Antonio) and won the NBA's Most Improved Player award.
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They played similarly and complemented each other exceptionally. Lillard and McCollum would each produce 20 points a night, occasionally going off for 30 each, and in a brutal Western Conference, return to playoffs no matter what was around them. And then they&rsquo;d lose, which led some to dismiss them.
In 2015, it was a five-game gentlemen&rsquo;s sweep as a No. 4 seed against the Grit N&rsquo; Grind Memphis Grizzlies, who went up 2-1 on the Golden State Warriors in the semifinals before losing to the eventual champions. In 2018, as a No. 3 seed, it was that memorable sweep against the same Pelicans that McCollum now joins, who were the sixth seed.
Then, in 2019, we finally saw a breakthrough: a run to the Western Conference Finals. Thanks to a legendary 37-point performance from McCollum in Game 7 of the semifinals, the Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets on the road &ndash; still CJ's paramount performance to date. Portland met up with the Warriors in the Conference Finals, and Golden State ultimately swept them (even though they were missing Kevin Durant, who was out due to a calf strain).
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The Blazers followed up that Conference-Finals appearance with consecutive first-round exits. With that said, Portland's failures can't be blamed on Lillard and McCollum alone.
Their fellow starters and key teammates include Al-Farouq Aminu, Mason Plumlee, Meyers Leonard, Noah Vonleh, Jusuf Nurkić, Evan Turner, Mo Harkless, Jake Layman, Zach Collins, Trevor Ariza, Carmelo Anthony, Hassan Whiteside and Norman Powell. Despite having one of the best backcourts we&rsquo;ve seen in generations, the Blazers could never figure out how to properly surround them with talent. (And honestly, doing is probably harder in the real world than we realize).
But in spite of their nitpickable shortcomings, their rigorous conference, their identical 6-foot-3 statures, their style of play and the lack of an ideal supporting cast, Lillard and McCollum co-engineered (along with Aldridge the first two years) the NBA&rsquo;s longest playoff streak. And they did so defiantly, as underrecruited long-time college players who stunned scouts by becoming top-10 picks and high-end NBA talents.
They led five 50-plus-win teams and two No. 3 seeds out West. Lillard is a <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/nba-75th-anniversary-team-announced" target="_blank" rel="noopener">top-76 NBA player ever</a>, and McCollum is one of the best active NBA players to never make an All-Star team (and he probably would've made multiple appearances had he been in the Eastern Conference instead).
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People have been trying to separate this duo for years via trade machines, NBA 2K, forums, social-media posts, comments under those posts, text threads, direct messages, barbershop debates, radio call-ins, post-sex conversations, you name it. Finally, that day is here, and the circumstances suck.
Lillard <a href="https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/damian-lillard-loyalty-over-everything" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continually preached loyalty and wanting to win the hard way</a>. McCollum <a href="https://www.theringer.com/the-bill-simmons-podcast/2021/2/3/22263991/brooklyn-bliss-draymonds-dip-and-cj-mccollum-stops-by" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked us to stop putting him in trade rumors</a>.
The parallels between the two are why many loved them, and the parallels proved to be their demise. But dammit, they accomplished a lot. We could say that they were ultimately underwhelmed by their surroundings, but let&rsquo;s also acknowledge how hard this damn thing is. You can&rsquo;t take playoff streaks for granted &ndash; look at what the Pelicans, Cleveland Cavaliers and Sacramento Kings are doing this week in hopes of ending their postseason droughts.
This could&rsquo;ve had a happy ending, and it still might, but it doesn&rsquo;t appear that it&rsquo;ll be with Lillard and McCollum together. They didn&rsquo;t fail, and they probably didn&rsquo;t live up to your (or their own) expectations, but that&rsquo;s usually how our experiences on Earth go. Regularly, even if we don&rsquo;t want to admit it, that&rsquo;s OK, because more often than we acknowledge, that&rsquo;s life.

Bryan Fonseca looks back on what Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum accomplished together with the Portland Trail Blazers.

End of an era: Saluting the defiance of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum

Civil Rights attorney Lee Merritt discusses the power and influence the NBA has, and can continue to have &mdash; if the NBA continues using its platform, voices and resources to fight for justice.&nbsp;
Lee Merritt is one of the attorneys for Ahmaud Arbery&rsquo;s family &mdash; a 25-year-old black man who was murdered while on a run near Brunswick, in Glynn County, Georgia. A verdict of life imprisonment was just announced in the case, in which three men were convicted of murdering Arbery. While Lee Merritt is definitely relieved about the verdict, we discuss the long road ahead to achieve justice and equality for all. Merritt is running for attorney general in Texas and I would love to see the NBA duplicate what the WNBA did, when they threw their support behind Raphael Warnock, an Atlanta-area pastor who was running as a Democrat at the time for (and would eventually win) one of Georgia&rsquo;s seats in the U.S. Senate.&nbsp;
This was a great discussion.
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Etan Thomas: So this time last year, I interviewed a group of WNBA players, [including] Renee Montgomery and Elizabeth Williams, who both played for the Atlanta Dream at the time, [as well as] Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, Angel McCoughtry &mdash; and Eric Garner's daughter, Emerald. And <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-nba-kelly-loeffler-atlanta-dream-renee-montgomery-elizabeth-williams-swin-cash-etan-thomas-activism-black-lives-matter-activist-movement-vote-warnock-shirts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we discussed what the WNBA did to galvanize support for Raphael Warnock, and ultimately get him in office and Kelly Loeffler out of office</a>. And it was really amazing. Because for one, Raphael Warnock was polling at 9% before the WNBA got involved. And he won &mdash; in Georgia, of all places.&nbsp;
So I want to see how we can galvanize the NBA to duplicate that with you, as you're running for attorney general in the state of Texas. So that's why I reached out to you to have this interview with you. I've been following you for a long time and I'm a big fan of the work that you do. And so, I'm going to send this interview to the NBA, to the <a href="https://www.thesocialchangefund.org">NBA Social Change Fund</a>.
Which, for those that aren't familiar, it was birthed out of the Bubble season. After the NBA players went on strike, after Jacob Blake was shot multiple times in broad daylight, in front of his children. The NBA Social Change Fund was formed by Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, and is aimed to support critical issues in the black community.
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So that's why after speaking to Allisa Charles-Findley, who is Botham Jean's sister &mdash; and I actually interviewed her for my new book, &ldquo;<a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/police-brutality-and-white-supremacy-the-fight-against-american-traditions/">Police Brutality and White Supremacy: The Fight Against American Traditions.</a>&rdquo;
She was one of the people I interviewed, along with Atatiana Jefferson's family, who I know that you work with as well &mdash; so we came up with the idea of conducting this interview with you, to try to galvanize that support from the NBA. Some people are like, "Alright, you usually do basketball stuff. Why are you interviewing a politician right now?" But that's the reason why. So thank you for taking this time.
Lee Merritt: "Sure, I really appreciate that. During most of my career, I've enjoyed the support of the National Basketball Association. I can recall in 2017, a young man named <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2018/08/29/jordan-edwards-made-the-case-against-roy-oliver-unlike-any-murder-trial-dallas-had-ever-seen/">Jordan Edwards </a>was slain in Balch Springs, Texas.&nbsp;
"It was in the middle of the NBA playoffs &mdash; and Steve Kerr, who had suffered family tragedy as well, identified with that family, reached out, invited them to the playoff games [and] got his brothers to take their mind off of it for a bit.
"I actually used to coach basketball myself. I was a coach down at South Atlanta High School. I coached Derrick Favors, I coached against Cousins and Walls* when they were high school students. And I enjoy a relationship with them today, continuing to give back to the community of Atlanta.
"And yeah, the names that you mentioned that you work with, Chris Paul has supported the work and the families I represent. Dwyane Wade and his wife, Gabrielle Union, [have] been major, major supporters over the course of my career.
"And, just as I transition away from representing one family at a time and start talking about representing larger groups of people and going towards policies, I certainly think the NBA can play a major role &mdash; in not only the success of the campaign, but championing some of those issues that we're fighting for on a case-by-case basis, and taking it to one of the biggest states in the country and really impacting national policy."
Etan: So, let me ask you to review some of the cases that you've worked with before, and the people that you've represented. We could start off with Ahmaud Arbery.
Merritt: "Sure. I came to represent the Ahmaud Arbery family before the video was released of his brutal slaying in South Georgia. Many [...] will recall that he was a South Georgia jogger. On February 23, 2020, he was targeted by three white men who have now been each <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/jury-reaches-verdict-ahmaud-arbery-death-case/story?id=81353504">convicted of murder</a>, and are facing life sentences in the state of Georgia, as well as federal hate crime charges.
"I've also represented... Unfortunately, the list of families that I've represented is quite extensive. I represent over 67 families who have suffered misuse of force, that lost a loved one, as a result of the deadliest police culture in the world. Some of the names that your viewers may have heard of.
"You mentioned [...] <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article236198028.html">Atatiana Jefferson</a>.&nbsp;
"Of course, that case is ongoing. <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/death-innocent-man-timeline-wrong-apartment-murder-trial/story?id=65938727">Botham Jean</a>, who was an accountant eating a bowl of ice cream in his own apartment complex.&nbsp;
"<a href="https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-illinois-police-shooting-guard-20181112-story.html">Jemel Roberson</a> was a security guard in Chicago. Had just stopped a mass shooting, and was shot in the back by a police officer who must have mistook him for a gunman.&nbsp;
"<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/13/us/california-attorney-general-sean-monterrosa-shooting/index.html">Sean Monterrosa</a> in California.
"But the bulk of my work has been in Texas. I represent <a href="https://foxsanantonio.com/news/local/damian-daniels-family-responds-to-no-indictment-for-deputy-that-killed-him">Damian Daniels</a>, a veteran shot to death in his home.&nbsp;
"<a href="https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Family-of-woman-killed-by-Baytown-officer-13872709.php">Pamela Turner</a> in the Houston area.&nbsp;
"And like I said, we could probably spend the rest of this podcast going through the list of names."
Etan: Wow! So now you're running for attorney general in Texas. And for those that don't know, what exactly are the responsibilities of an attorney general?
Merritt: "The attorney general of Texas, and an attorney general in any state, is the legal voice for the people. They're supposed to serve as the spokesperson for what justice is in a municipality. And so we've seen it, in cases like Breonna Taylor, where we had a really bad attorney general interfere with accountability in that case, in the form of Daniel Cameron. We've seen the opposite end of that spectrum with Keith Ellison and the work that he's done in Minnesota. Prosecuting the officers responsible for the death of George Floyd and, most recently, Daunte Wright.
"But even beyond the criminal justice aspect, the attorney general&rsquo;s office, particularly in the state of Texas, impacts virtually every aspect of Texas life. So property taxes, school protection. And we've heard a lot recently in the news about the CRT [Critical Race Theory] scam, where they're trying to erase entire portions of our history in the name of not getting anyone upset.
"From the border crisis, to really economic empowerment in our schools. There's so many businesses that are attempting to get off the ground, but don't have access to the kind of governmental loans and support that our white counterparts do.
"All of those things run through the attorney general's office. It's a very, very influential office. More or less the second-in-command in the state of Texas."
Etan: Now, Ken Paxton, [is] who you would be running against, and who is the current attorney general &mdash; and has been since 2015. I want to talk about the stark differences between the two of you, because it's really night and day.
But I want to start off with this, because the Jan. 6 insurrection [anniversary] is upon us. And you know, I'm looking at him, looking at the footage, and I see him at a rally right before the insurrection, almost like leading the charge. Explain to me, let's start off with there, about the stark differences between you and Ken Paxton.
Merritt: "Well, there is a clear contrast. You know, Texas was in the national news because of [its] unique voter suppression laws. They passed some laws that would make it more difficult for the black and brown people in the state, people with disabilities and marginalized communities to vote.
"It was so upsetting that certain members of the Texas legislature left the state and went to DC &mdash; refused to participate in that session in order to fight for voting rights. Now, I was present with them. I thought that was a fight worth standing with people for, providing both legal advice and strategies, working with the labor community and others to take on voting issues in Texas.
"By contrast, the last sort of infamous trip of the attorney general, the current attorney general, to our nation's capital was on Jan. 6. And we don't know exactly what he did there, because he has not participated in an ongoing investigation in terms of his potential criminal liability for helping to incite a riot.
"But he was very publicly on camera, encouraging the soon-to-be riders and insurrectionists that the election was stolen, that they had a responsibility to fight. And he invoked the name of Texas when he did it. He said, "You all should fight, because Texans fight." And he laid out that he had fought to overturn the results of the free and fair election. And yeah, that's our top legal position in the state, advocating for the overthrow of our government."
---------------
We then went on to discuss particular differences between him and Ken Paxton such as his position on education, police reform, border, gun training before owning a gun, and we cleared up the misconceptions on CRT, being anti-police vs. anti-police brutality, Second Amendment rights, etc.
---------------
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Etan: So let's go to the NBA, and how important it is for the NBA to continue to promote, to continue to use their platforms, to be able to &mdash; I mean, this is the thing. It's important to do that part. But now we have to take it a step further.
And I think the NBA has been doing a great job of promoting, raising awareness. You saw it all especially during the Bubble season, after the entire country was promoting and demonstrating and protesting what happened with George Floyd, what happened with Breonna Taylor [and] Ahmaud Arbery.
You saw John Wall and Bradley Beal here in D.C. leading protests. You saw all the Ball brothers, you saw Russell Westbrook in L.A. You saw Jaylen Brown and Enes Kanter Freedom too, in Boston &mdash; of course everything that LeBron was always doing.
But now it's like, it needs to be a step further, like the next step. And I think that you, with what you are trying to implement in Texas as the attorney general, is that next step. Because you have to be able to have someone in place that's on the right side of wanting to be able to create something that functions properly. So just talk about that, how this is like the next step that should happen. Along with [...] raising awareness and protesting and everything like that.
Merritt: "Yeah. I can recall, we were in the middle of the NBA playoffs when Jacob Blake was repeatedly shot in his back by a Milwaukee police officer. And I was watching the game, and Chris Paul had just gone off, sort of a historic performance.
"And <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxcNbbyg0ZI">they interviewed him</a> right after the game. And they said, 'You know, Chris, you were playing...' I think he was playing his old team, the Houston Rockets. He was with the Oklahoma City Thunder [...], where Derrick Favors is currently.
"And they said, 'Tell us about this performance against your old team. You had a chance to really show them that you still got it.' And he said, 'Yeah, I don't really care about that. That's cool. And that's what I'm paid to do. But a law enforcement officer in my community has just shot someone in their back several times. He was unarmed and nonviolent. Let's talk about that.'
"I think it's on the players to stand up like Chris Paul did, and like you said, like people have done, in a systemic way across the National Basketball Association &mdash; where the pundits and the media might tell you, 'Could you just shut up and dribble.' We've heard that refrain before.
"It's important for the players to say, "No, actually I won't. This is my community. What's going on in our community, it's urgent. It's a crisis. It's not something that we want to put off for a later conversation or for the offseason. But where it happens, I'm going to stand up to it. And I will get involved in elections. And I will use my resources and time and attention to shine a light on these issues that must be addressed."
Etan: You know, it's interesting. In my book, &ldquo;<a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/we-matter-athletes-and-activism/">We Matter: Athletes and Activism</a>&rdquo; I interviewed Jahvaris Fulton, who is Trayvon Martin's brother. And in the interview, he told me how &mdash; and when he said this, it kind of threw me,&nbsp; because I didn't expect him to say it &mdash; he said that if it weren't for NBA players and celebrities and everybody like that, talking about his brother, he didn't think that anybody would know his name. And I was like, "Wow, that's kind of strong. Why do you say that?"
So then he explained to me how, when Trayvon Martin was first killed, his family was trying to get the local news people to cover it and they didn't want to cover it. They said, "Okay, another young black man was killed. That's not newsworthy."
And I was like, "That's what they told you?" He said, "Yeah," he was like, "We don't have no evidence. We don't have no video of it. Just your word saying that he [was] killed, that's not newsworthy." And he gave a shout-out to Roland Martin and some of the black news people, who were covering it. But he said, "But no local news people wanted to cover it."
So then he said, "But then, LeBron James started talking about it. And Dwyane Wade started talking about it. And then the entire Miami Heat team posed in the hoodies." So then he said, "So then you had everybody like, 'Okay, what is this that LeBron James is discussing? And why is Dwyane Wade feeling so passionate about this, and talking about his kids, and about this case?' Then everybody started to gravitate towards it and cover it and everything like that."
But he said [...] before, they couldn't get anybody to cover it. And that's just... It's unfortunate that it is that way, because people should have a regard for human life anyway, without an athlete having to speak about it. However, the athlete speaking about it is what drew the attention &mdash; and that just shows where athletes have to continue to do that, continue to use your voice and your platform to be able to speak to these causes.
And also to take it a step further by having laws being changed, and people who are in positions to fight for laws being changed, like [you are]. You know what I mean? And running for attorney general &mdash; [who] are in positions to actually implement some things so these things don't just continue to keep happening.
Merritt: "Yeah. I can remember in 2016, we saw two high-profile officer-involved shootings back-to-back, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. It was the same weekend, and it was almost like a dark cloud being hanged over impacted communities. And if you and I saw each other on the street, we would make eye contact and say, 'You know, man, this is becoming too much.'
"Dallas had a protest &mdash; I was living in Dallas at the time. And they had a protest downtown, where we marched and we discussed what happened, and started to talk about organizing police reform. And at the end of that protest, a vigilante named Micah Xavier Johnson, targeted law enforcement officers and shot five police officers and a couple of civilians as well. And you could imagine the national outcry about Black Lives Matter, and how they put law enforcement lives at risk.
"And everyone began to ignore the fact that people were there for protesting peacefully about police violence &mdash; that was back-to-back and overwhelming. And while it was a tragedy for our entire community that law enforcement officers were targeted by Mr. Johnson, there was also an ongoing crisis in our community, that was the reason that all those people had gathered and made targets of themselves.
"And it was Dwyane Wade. LeBron was still, I think, in 2016, with the Miami Heat. So it was Wade and LeBron who came forward at the ESPY Awards that weekend and re-centered the conversation. And said, 'That's terrible what happened in Dallas, and we back the blue. We stand for the law enforcement officers.'
&ldquo;But understand that our community is also under attack. And it's two sides of the same coin. We don't tolerate violence directed at law enforcement officers. And we cannot continue to tolerate violence directed at our community.
And it saved the national conversation so that we could get back to what had brought us all there in the first place. And so, yeah, members of the NBA have the opportunity, in [the] state of Texas, but [also] throughout the country, the voices of the NBA are critically important to that."
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/violalogo1_lg.png" alt="" width="666" height="333" />

Etan Thomas is joined by Lee Merritt on "The Rematch" to discuss social justice and the NBA's role in societal change.

Lee Merritt: The NBA could impact public policy and elections

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Kemba Walker couldn&rsquo;t have envisioned this Christmas.
Less than two weeks ago, his coach wouldn&rsquo;t even call his name.
On Saturday, his hometown fans were chanting it.
Walker became the seventh NBA player with a triple-double on Christmas, and the New York Knicks beat the depleted Atlanta Hawks 101-87 for their first win on the holiday in a decade.
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<div class="Component-adTitle-0-2-29">&ldquo;It was amazing,&rdquo; Walker said. &ldquo;Those are moments that you dream about. It&rsquo;s kind of hard to put it into words, to be honest.&rdquo;</div>
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Julius Randle had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks in a matchup of teams that met in the first round of last season&rsquo;s playoffs. But the Hawks were missing Trae Young among nine players in the NBA&rsquo;s health and safety protocols, so it wasn&rsquo;t much of a rematch of Atlanta&rsquo;s five-game victory.
Walker finished with 10 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot guard raced around the floor trying desperately for his 10th rebound for much of the second half, finally getting it in the fourth quarter when Mitchell Robinson&rsquo;s block came to him.
It was the first triple-double on Christmas since Golden State&rsquo;s Draymond Green in 2017, continuing Walker&rsquo;s strong stretch since going from a nine-game stint out of the rotation to back in the starting lineup when the Knicks were short-handed.
He said he couldn&rsquo;t have foreseen things turning so quickly.
&ldquo;This is not how we pictured it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I ain&rsquo;t complaining, either.&rdquo;
Fans in the sold-out crowd chanted &ldquo;Kemba Walker! Kemba Walker!&rdquo; for the New York native, who scored 44 points in a loss to Washington on Thursday.
&ldquo;As a teammate, as a brother, I&rsquo;m happy for him that he&rsquo;s able to come out and be who he is,&rdquo; Randle said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure when he signed to come here this is kind of what he envisioned, playing the type of basketball that he&rsquo;s playing right now.&rdquo;
Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes each scored 15 points for the Knicks, who snapped a six-game Christmas skid. They are 23-31 in their league-high 54 appearances, but hadn&rsquo;t won one since 2011.
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<div id="google_ads_iframe_15786418/APNews/site/article/midarticle2_0__container__">John Collins and Delon Wright each scored 20 points for the Hawks, who were playing on Christmas for the first time since 1989. They had their six-game road winning streak snapped.</div>
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Young starred in his first playoff series last spring against New York, ignoring profane taunts by Knicks fans and getting the last word when he bowed to them near the close of Atlanta&rsquo;s clinching Game 5 victory.
But he couldn&rsquo;t clear protocols in time for a coveted spot on the calendar, and playing short-handed caught up with the Hawks. Coach Nate McMillan said some players even asked to be subbed out of the game, which he said never happens.
&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a lack of energy,&rdquo; McMillan said. &ldquo;I think our guys are tired. They&rsquo;ve been logging a lot of minutes.&rdquo;
The Knicks made their first seven shots and raced to a 19-3 lead on Randle&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 7:48 left in the first quarter.
They blew it open in the third quarter, and consecutive 3-pointers by Grimes and Taj Gibson to open the fourth gave New York its biggest lead at 87-66. From there the only drama was whether Walker would get one more rebound.
The Hawks&rsquo; injury report took three tweets from the team&rsquo;s official account to list, and besides Young featured key players such as Kevin Huerter, Lou Williams and Danilo Gallinari. Clint Capela returned from protocols and had six points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Knicks are getting healthier. RJ Barrett returned to the starting lineup and Grimes made his first appearance since setting a Knicks rookie record with seven 3-pointers and scoring 27 points against Milwaukee on Dec. 12. He was then placed into protocols and missed the last five games.
TIP-INS
Hawks: Signed guards Anthony &ldquo;Cat&rdquo; Barber and Malik Ellison, both playing this season for the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta&rsquo;s NBA G League affiliate, to 10-day contracts. Ellison is the son of former No. 1 draft pick Pervis Ellison.
Knicks: Hall of Famer Bernard King, who set the Christmas record of 60 points playing for the Knicks in 1984, was at the game. ... The Knicks are down to just Nerlens Noel, Miles McBride and Jericho Sims in protocols. Immanuel Quickley and Kevin Knox II have been cleared but need to regain their conditioning before playing.
CHRISTMAS TRIPLE-DOUBLES
Besides Walker and Green, the other players with Christmas triple-doubles are Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Oscar Robertson, Billy Cunningham and John Havlicek. Robertson did it four times.
HOLIDAY HOOPS HISTORY
The Hawks fell to 9-12 on Christmas. They are 2-1 against the Knicks, with both victories coming when they were based in St. Louis.
UP NEXT
Hawks: Host Chicago on Monday.
Knicks: Visit Minnesota on Tuesday to begin a four-game road trip.
___
More AP NBA:&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/hub/nba">https://apnews.com/hub/nba</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://twitter.com/AP_Sports" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://twitter.com/AP_Sports</a>

Walker posted 10 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the victory.

Kemba Walker’s triple-double leads Knicks over Hawks, 101-87

Before the 2021 NBA Draft and the start of free agency, we assessed the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/facing-a-somewhat-challenging-offseason-the-los-angeles-lakers-have-decisions-to-make" target="_blank" rel="noopener">key personnel decisions that the Los Angeles Lakers would have to make this offseason</a>.&nbsp;Here is a section from that article:
&ldquo;While the Lakers can never be counted out as candidates to trade for a superstar, the likelihood is that L.A. will not be able to swing a deal for someone like Damian Lillard this offseason. The Lakers do not have a core of young players to throw in a trade or a stash of draft picks to barter with.
"With little cap flexibility, the simplest path toward filling out the roster this offseason is through re-signing the free agents from last season&rsquo;s squad. While that will not make for the most exciting offseason in Lakers&rsquo; history, it would ensure the Lakers have a baseline of talent to put around LeBron James and Anthony Davis."
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka took a bolder approach this offseason, opting to trade several players in exchange for guard Russell Westbrook, moving on from several players from last season&rsquo;s roster, re-signing Talen Horton-Tucker and filling out the depth chart with a mix of experienced veterans and younger players with upside. With the recent Marc Gasol trade, the only returning players from last year&rsquo;s roster are LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Horton-Tucker.&nbsp;
The current roster now includes James, Davis, Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Kent Bazemore, Carmelo Anthony, DeAndre Jordan, Malik Monk, Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington, as well as Joel Ayayi and Austin Reaves (on two-way contracts).&nbsp;
The Lakers now feature a star-studded roster, but the main concern will be the overall age of the team. L.A. now has nine players over the age of 32 and four of the top-five active leaders in overall career games played (James, Howard, Ariza and Anthony). The main questions with this roster are:&nbsp;
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Will the age/injuries limit L.A. in the postseason?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How will Westbrook share playmaking duties with LeBron?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Will the Lakers drop off from last season's league-leading defense?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do the Lakers have enough three-point shooting?</li>
</ol>
Last season, James missed 27 games and Davis missed 26 due to injury, and both were limited in the postseason. If both superstars are once again battling injuries in the postseason, the Lakers will suffer a similar fate as last season. However, assuming James and Davis are relatively healthy, the question is: how will the remainder of the Lakers' roster hold up? Is there enough depth to get through the grueling 82-game regular season without suffering too many setbacks?
With some luck and strategic maintenance throughout the regular season, the answer should be yes. While the roster is quite old collectively, their key rotation players did not miss too much time <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last season</a> due to injuries.
<ul>
<li>Trevor Ariza &ndash; 1</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dwight Howard &ndash; 2</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Russell Westbrook &ndash; 2</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Talen Horton-Tucker &ndash; 2</li>
<li>Kent Bazemore &ndash; 3</li>
<li>Carmelo Anthony &ndash; 3</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Kendrick Nunn &ndash; 6</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Wayne Ellington &ndash; 15</li>
<li>Malik Monk &ndash; 17</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Rajon Rondo &ndash; 26</li>
</ul>
Out of these key rotation players, only three had more than 10 injury-related missed games last season. Of course, some players did not play heavy minutes at different times throughout the season, but based on this data, it&rsquo;s reasonable to believe that the Lakers can get through the upcoming season without losing a disproportionate number of players. Injuries are unavoidable and COVID-19 will likely play a factor in terms of players missing games, but with some strategic load management throughout the season, it appears the Lakers have the depth and personnel to persevere.&nbsp;
In terms of sharing playmaking duties, it&rsquo;s unclear how James and Westbrook are going to mesh. Westbrook is saying the right things so far:&nbsp;
&ldquo;My job is to make sure that I&rsquo;m able to make his game easy for him. I&rsquo;ll find ways to do that throughout the game,&rdquo; Westbrook said at his first press conference as a Laker. &ldquo;As it pertains to ball-handling and all that, it really doesn&rsquo;t matter. There&rsquo;s many different ways you can impact the game without having the ball in your hands. And I&rsquo;ve been able to do that for many years and I will figure it out.&rdquo;
Westbrook has played with dynamic scorers and ball-handlers in the past, including Kevin Durant, James Harden (twice) and Bradley Beal. Westbrook&rsquo;s heavy usage rate, aggressive style of play and inefficiency as a three-point shooter have caused chemistry issues with past teammates, but LeBron is now 36 years old and coming off a rare injury-plagued season.
Perhaps LeBron will look to take a step back from his usual playmaking duties in the regular season and allow Westbrook to take on that volume in his place. Or, perhaps Westbrook will defer to James and Davis, being more selective with his opportunities and acting at the team&rsquo;s primary playmaker. Considering LeBron&rsquo;s age and the injuries he suffered last season as well as Westbrook&rsquo;s desire to win his first championship, there is plenty of reason to believe these two players will find a workable balance in terms of running the Lakers&rsquo; offense.
Perhaps the biggest question people have not focused on enough is the possible drop-off on the defensive end. The Lakers had the best defense in the league last season, but that was with a younger roster that featured several two-way wing defenders. Missing from last season&rsquo;s squad are Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Wesley Matthews, Markieff Morris and Marc Gasol.&nbsp;
While none of these players are individually elite defenders at their respective positions, they meshed well enough to cover each other&rsquo;s shortcomings and create a solid, consistent defense. Caruso was a particularly effective wing defender, and Gasol was still an effective anchor when he got minutes. The Lakers added some players who can certainly step in and try to fill the void left behind, but players like Ariza, Rondo, Ellington, Jordan and Carmelo are well past their athletic primes. Younger players like Monk, Nunn, Horton-Tucker and even Bazemore have the mobility to stay in front of wings and should each be in the rotation to a certain extent.
Westbrook also has the athletic ability to be a tough defender, but his focus and effort on that end of the court have been inconsistent for several seasons. The Lakers are going to need Davis to be a defensive anchor in the middle. Last season, AD averaged career-lows in blocks per game (1.6, down from 2.3 the year before), block percentage (4.5%), total rebound percentage (13.8%), defensive win shares (2.4) and value over replacement player (1.9). In addition to getting more out of Davis, L.A. hopes that Howard can provide the same defensive impact as he did during his last stint with the team in 2019-20.
Head coach Frank Vogel has the difficult task of implementing a defensive system with a rebuilt roster that features several players in the twilight of their respective careers. Expect at least a slight drop-off from last season&rsquo;s top-ranked defense.
Three-point shooting was an area of concern entering the offseason, but the Lakers added a couple of players who should provide spacing for Westbrook, James and Davis to operate. Ellington shot a scorching 42.2% from distance last season on six attempts per game. Anthony shot 40.9% on 4.7 attempts, a nice bump in efficiency over the last six seasons, and his shooting could be a big catalyst for the Lakers&rsquo; offense. Monk is coming off his best season from beyond the arc, as he shot 40.1% from distance on five attempts per game. Nunn also had a particularly good season shooting the ball, hitting 38.1% of his 5.7 attempts per game. Bazemore and Ariza showed efficiency from distance last season, though Horton-Tucker continues to struggle from beyond the arc.
In short, the Lakers added enough shooters to this roster to ensure that spacing shouldn't be a major issue unless several players regress this upcoming season, or if defenses force Westbrook into taking a heavy dose of three-point attempts each night.&nbsp;
The Lakers entered the offseason with seemingly little flexibility to reshape and improve their roster. Despite the odds, Pelinka managed to add another star player and round out the roster with proven veterans who can still contribute at a high level. Injuries and age are a concern, but that is true for several teams in contention. The Lakers enter this season with plenty of star talent, a ton of experience and championship-or-bust expectations as they look to add banner No. 18 to the rafters of Staples Center.

Jesse Blancarte answers some key questions surrounding the Lakers' 2021-22 roster.

Answering the big questions surrounding the Lakers' 2021-22 roster

With the 2021 NBA Draft now in the past, I&rsquo;ve turned the page to the 2022 NBA Draft. Our first big board hasn&rsquo;t been released just yet, but I&rsquo;m getting prepared for the upcoming season behind the scenes. In an effort to get prepared, I&rsquo;ve begun to pencil in different tournaments, double-headers and matchups I&rsquo;d like to attend throughout the college season. And although the dates have not been set, I can assure you I&rsquo;ll be keeping an eye on when Kentucky and Tennessee will be playing each other.
John Calipari vs. Rick Barnes. Big Blue Nation vs. Rocky Top. Two of the top recruiting classes and teams in the country. That narrative alone is enough to drive widespread excitement.
However, I&rsquo;m most excited about this matchup mostly because it will pit potentially the top two point guards prospects, TyTy Washington of Kentucky and Kennedy Chandler of Tennessee, against one another.
Let&rsquo;s start with TyTy Washington. I first saw him play at the Pangos All-American Festival last year in Phoenix, Arizona around early November. During that camp, I took notice of TyTy, but I did not see him as a sure-fire NBA prospect... yet. In hindsight, I think he was overshadowed by hyped-up prospects like Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero and Jabari Smith.&nbsp;
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The narrative changed for me on March 8 at the Flyin&rsquo; to the Hoop Top Gun Showcase in Dayton, Ohio, where I saw TyTy and AZ Compass Prep dominate Emoni Bates and Bates Fundamentals.
Following that game, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/basketball-news-top-college-basketball-prospects-tyty-washington-sadraque-nganga-az-compass-prep-high-school" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I noted my observations</a>:
&ldquo;I was extremely impressed with AZ Compass Prep&rsquo;s team as a whole, but what really stood out to me was TyTy Washington&rsquo;s talent. At 6-foot-3 or so, TyTy, although a good athlete, didn't blow me away with elite athleticism or any typical traits you generally see with top-tier prospects. However, his outside shooting, court vision, toughness and, most importantly, his floor presence did &mdash; he&rsquo;s clearly a winner. TyTy was the floor general and set the tone for their team as they moved the ball, took great shots and supported one another. And as a result, they put a thumping on Ypsi Prep. Emoni Bates only scored two points, as AZ Compass Prep won in a blowout.
&ldquo;Walking out of the gym, my colleague and I looked at each other, both nodding in approval of what we had just witnessed. He asked me, 'Who does TyTy remind you of?' I said, 'He&rsquo;s just a young kid and he needs to keep getting better, but he reminds me of Chauncey Billups.'&rdquo;
I was shocked that TyTy hadn&rsquo;t received more attention and wasn&rsquo;t considered a top prospect in the high school class of 2021. However, it seemed that as I took notice of TyTy, so did the rest of the basketball world simultaneously. Shortly after my trip to Ohio, TyTy de-committed from Creighton and skyrocketed up player rankings. During that time, I flew to Phoenix to watch TyTy and AZ Compass Prep practice for several days. I had the opportunity to get to meet TyTy, his family and his coaches. After talking to them, it seemed as if the whole world was knocking their doors down. I joked with TyTy, as I called him <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leai3jDsQiQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jesus Shuttlesworth</a>.
Despite being recruited by nearly every top college program in the country and supposedly receiving lucrative offers from professional teams overseas, on May 12, TyTy committed to head coach John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats. A seemingly perfect fit, in my opinion.
As a part of my evaluation process, I organize positional rankings for internal use. After TyTy&rsquo;s sudden emergence, I knew that I needed to move him way up. However, I found myself in a dilemma when trying to decide where to slot him exactly, as there is another very good point guard from the high school class of 2021: Kennedy Chandler.
In Jan. 2020, I made a trip to Memphis, Tennessee, where I had the opportunity to watch a couple of prospects that went on to be selected in the 2020 NBA Draft: Anthony Edwards of the Georgia Bulldogs (No. 1 pick, Minnesota Timberwolves) and Precious Achiuwa of the Memphis Tigers (No. 20 pick, Miami Heat &mdash; recently traded to Toronto Raptors).
Prior to that game, a friend of mine asked if I would sit down with Chandler, the top high school player in the Memphis area, and his dad, Kylan. I agreed, of course. The three of us talked about college recruiting, the NBA Draft and my processes for evaluating prospects, among other things. I had not seen Kennedy play at that point, so my advice to him was pretty generic. After the Georgia vs. Memphis game, I joined them at their home for a barbeque. I had a nice time visiting with them. They are good people.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
I had a nice time catching up with 5-star point guard Kennedy Chandler and his father Kylan this morning. Kennedy is a terrific kid and a major talent. We will certainly be keeping a close eye on him. <a href="https://t.co/Z11gae1CSI">pic.twitter.com/Z11gae1CSI</a>
&mdash; Matt Babcock (@MattBabcock11) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBabcock11/status/1213513300333486080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
Luckily, I was able to see Kennedy play the next day at the Memphis Hoopfest, a high school tournament in the area. In addition to seeing Kennedy, I was also able to see 2021 NBA Draft picks Cade Cunningham (No. 1 pick, Detroit Pistons), Moses Moody (No. 14 pick, Golden State Warriors) and Day&rsquo;Ron Sharpe (No. 29 pick, Brooklyn Nets).
As for my initial evaluation of Kennedy, the first thing that I noticed was his lack of size. He is listed as 6-foot-1. However, once the game started, it was clear why he was so highly rated, despite his lack of height. Possessing waterbug-like quickness, threatening burst and superior cerebral nature, Kennedy ran the show for his team, Briarcrest Christian. I was intrigued, to say the least.
After the game, I was complimentary to both Kennedy and his dad. I encouraged Kennedy to keep working to improve his physical strength and outside shooting. I told them I would keep a firm pulse on Kennedy&rsquo;s development, which I have done.
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In early April, I <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2021-geico-nationals-recap-which-players-stood-out" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attended GEICO Nationals in Fort Myers, Florida</a>. Although their teams never faced each other, I had several days to evaluate both TyTy and Kennedy more. Both players continued to impress, and subsequently added fuel to the fire in regards to my internal debate as to which point guard I preferred more.
Although I have a lot of confidence in both TyTy and Kennedy as prospects, I must admit that I&rsquo;m ultimately undecided on who I am going to rank higher. There&rsquo;s a legitimate competition for the top point guard spot, in my opinion, and these two just happen to be playing for two of the top schools in the SEC that will face each other twice this upcoming season.
Is there a potential rivalry brewing? Perhaps.&nbsp;
Knowing what I do about both of these players, I doubt either will shy away from the competition.
Needless to say, I&rsquo;ll be watching closely. I suggest you do the same.

Matt Babcock discusses his experiences seeing TyTy Washington and Kennedy Chandler, two point guards that will be in the 2022 NBA Draft class.

Who’s the top point guard prospect in the 2022 NBA Draft?

The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off a disappointing first-round exit after winning the NBA championship in 2020. Injuries derailed the defending champions, who now enter the 2021 offseason with little cap flexibility and some <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/what-do-the-lakers-have-to-address-in-the-2021-nba-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">big decisions to make on key players</a> who are up for new contracts.&nbsp;
LeBron James and Anthony Davis combined will take up roughly $76.5 million of the Lakers&rsquo; salary cap space. The overall total with current contracts on the books (including player options, qualifying offers, and non-guaranteed salary) could be as high as roughly $127 million next season. Along with LeBron and Davis, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Marc Gasol are set to be wearing purple and gold next season.
Some key players who are free agents include: Dennis Schroder, Andre Drummond, Alex Caruso, Markieff Morris, Wesley Matthews, Ben McLemore and Talen Horton-Tucker (who will likely pass on the Lakers&rsquo; qualifying offer and become a restricted free agent). Also, Montrezl Harrell has a $9.7 million player option for next season.
While the Lakers can never be counted out as candidates to trade for a superstar, the likelihood is that&nbsp; L.A. will not be able to swing a deal for <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/damian-lillard-says-report-he-plans-to-request-a-trade-is-not-true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">someone like Damian Lillard</a> this offseason. The Lakers do not have a core of young players to throw in a trade or a stash of draft picks to barter with. With little cap flexibility, the simplest path towards filling out the roster this offseason is through re-signing the free agents from last season&rsquo;s squad. While that will not make for the most exciting offseason in Lakers&rsquo; history, it would ensure the Lakers have a baseline of talent to put around LeBron and Davis.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Perhaps the most important player for the Lakers to focus on at the beginning of free agency is Schroder. Schroder reportedly turned down a four-year, $84 million extension during the season, which indicates that he believed he could get even more from the Lakers in the offseason -- when they could offer him significantly more money.
The Lakers are in a tough spot with Schroder. The 27-year-old is reportedly looking to <a href="https://twitter.com/manuel_baraniak/status/1409976057189572611?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sign a new deal with the Lakers in the $100-$120 million range</a>. While that may seem like an absurdly high number for Schroder, the fact is that the Lakers are the only team able to pay him this much money because he has Bird Rights. The Lakers cannot pass on Schroder and try to pay another free agent with that kind of money since that player would not have Bird Rights, leaving L.A. with little cap flexibility. This gives Schroder tremendous leverage in these negotiations. With LeBron nearing the end of his career and Davis on the roster, the Lakers need to maximize their roster and compete for a championship this upcoming season, which means Schroder may in fact get his massive payday.
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Another tough question for the Lakers is what to do with Drummond. Drummond averaged 11.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1 block in 24.8 minutes per game with the team last season (21 total games). It is difficult to say whether Drummond would be a good fit alongside a healthy LeBron and AD since the three did not play in a lot of games together this season. Drummond is still relatively young (he is turning 28 in less than a month) and can produce big box score numbers. He is certainly worth bringing back for another season, but at what price?
The Lakers can only offer him 120 percent of his salary from this season, or they could offer him more money using their mid-level exception. However, considering that Drummond will be looking for more money in free agency than the Lakers can offer and that he didn&rsquo;t seem to fit particularly well on the roster, it is possible that Drummond will not be returning to Los Angeles next season.&nbsp;
The next big question for the Lakers is what will happen with Horton-Tucker. Horton-Tucker is only 20 years old (he turns 21 later this year), and has already developed into a quality player with a good amount of upside. The young wing will certainly pass on the Lakers&rsquo; qualifying offer to become a restricted free agent.
Horton-Tucker&rsquo;s situation is somewhat unique, as he only has two years of NBA experience under his belt, meaning the Lakers will have Early Bird Rights instead of full Bird Rights. This is important because it means that another team can offer Horton-Tucker a poison-pill type of contract that would boost his salary significantly in the third and fourth years of that deal; the Lakers would have a difficult decision to make on whether to match this type of offer sheet. Notably, the third year of that possible deal would fall in the 2023-24 season, which is when LeBron&rsquo;s current contract expires. It is unclear whether the Lakers want to invest a big portion of their future cap space in Horton-Tucker two years from now when James may no longer be wearing a Lakers jersey and the team may be looking to transition.
The next free agent priority for the Lakers is Caruso, a fan favorite who has developed into a quality backup guard and a particularly stingy defensive player. The Lakers want to bring Caruso back on a new deal, but Caruso has performed well enough that other teams are going to at least consider offering him a contract large enough to lure him away from Los Angeles. However, Caruso has expressed his desire to return to the Lakers, who have Bird Rights on Caruso and can offer him a significant raise over the $2.75 million he made last season.
If the Lakers manage to bring Caruso back on a new deal, it&rsquo;s possible they will look to expand his role and give him more playing time. With Caruso on a relatively small salary over the last few seasons, it was not critical for Caruso to produce big numbers with heavy minutes. But with a bloated cap sheet and a bigger salary, the Lakers may look to get more production out of Caruso if he signs a new contract with the team this offseason.
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In terms of the Lakers&rsquo; remaining key players, things become a lot simpler.
Harrell has a $9.7 million player option for next season, which means he gets to decide whether he returns to Los Angeles next season or not. Harrell was a solid contributor throughout the regular season, but his defensive limitations were once again exposed in the playoffs. This led to Frank Vogel benching Harrell in Game 2 and Game 3 in the first round against the Phoenix Suns. This may have dropped his value in free agency, enough that he will consider exercising the option and testing free agency next year. However, it would not be shocking for Harrell to test free agency again this offseason, betting on the idea that another team will ignore his playoff struggles over the last two seasons.
Harrell is still only 27 years old, so he should have a few more seasons in his athletic peak, but the back end of a long-term contract could be problematic down the road.&nbsp;
Morris is a solid forward who can spread the floor and help the Lakers, especially in small-ball lineups. Morris can be streaky in terms of his overall production, but if he is willing to come back on a relatively small deal, the Lakers will not hesitate to re-sign him.
Matthews provided the Lakers with some solid production on both ends of the court. The veteran guard is known for his defensive prowess and three-point shooting. However, Matthews is now 34 years old; we can't forget his injury history, as he suffered an Achilles tear in 2015. It is reasonable to believe that Matthews can provide more defense and three-point shooting next season, but there is always the risk that his production could plummet as he gets deeper into his NBA career.
Despite those factors, the Lakers would likely bring back Matthews back on an affordable contract if another team does not lure him away.
The Lakers could also bring back Ben McLemore on a small deal, but it&rsquo;s not clear how big of a priority he is for them this offseason. McLemore is 28 years old, still has plenty of athleticism and can score in bunches. McLemore has never rounded his game out, and it&rsquo;s unlikely that he'll have a breakout season, but he is a decent option to have at the end of a rotation.&nbsp;
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Outside of their own free agents, the Lakers will certainly look beyond last season's roster to bolster theirs for the 2021-22 campaign. The Lakers can try to make some big trades that could bring back a notable player or two by trading someone like Kuzma. While Kuzma has improved on both ends of the court over the last few seasons, it&rsquo;s no secret that his role has been unclear at various times, which <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kyle-kuzma-sounds-off-on-inconsistent-role-with-los-angeles-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he believes has negatively impacted his production</a>. The Lakers could also engage in a sign-and-trade with one of their own free agents, but that will trigger the hard cap and would limit the team&rsquo;s flexibility, so don&rsquo;t expect that to happen unless a deal for a major player emerges.&nbsp;
The Lakers need to add more shooting around LeBron and Davis, so it&rsquo;s possible they will target someone who can spread the court with their mid-level exception.
Someone like Jeff Green could make sense for Los Angeles. Green is now 34 years old, but he shot well for the Brooklyn Nets last season (41.2% from beyond the arc), and can play as a small-ball center and defend relatively well.
The Lakers have also been linked to Spencer Dinwiddie, who has reportedly expressed his interest in signing with the purple and gold. However, Dinwiddie will <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/spencer-dinwiddie-says-5year-125-million-contract-could-keep-him-with-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">certainly wait to see what kind of offers materialize</a> before considering playing for the Lakers on a massive discount.
Also, someone like Reggie Bullock, who played for the Lakers briefly a few years ago, could add valuable shooting from the wing on an affordable deal.&nbsp;
The Lakers face a somewhat challenging offseason. The franchise always looks to get involved in deals for star players, but without a war chest of tradeable young players and draft picks, it is more likely the Lakers will have to focus on bringing back their own players and rounding out the roster with a few free agents that can be had on bargain contracts.

Jesse Blancarte goes over what moves could be coming next for the Lakers, who could return, who could make sense to add and more.

Without many assets, the Lakers face a somewhat challenging offseason

Here&rsquo;s how the Most Valuable Player voting process works: Late in the season, a select group of NBA writers and broadcasters will receive e-mails from the league office telling them they have been chosen to cast ballots for postseason awards. Those ballots are due back at noon ET the day after the season ends.
And then the wait begins, unless it is obvious who is going to win the award, as it is with LaMelo Ball and Rookie of the Year.
In a typical season, those who vote would gather with their colleagues at media work rooms in NBA arenas and debate the relative merits of the top candidates. Some writers and broadcasters would seek input from the scouts and assistant coaches they speak to at the arenas.
But this year is different, because most everybody who will be voting is working remotely. Face time no longer exists (and no, Zoom does not qualify as actual face time), which means each individual voter is on an island somewhat. If they want to kick around a few ideas with colleagues, there are not many opportunities to do so together over a cup of coffee.
Such is life as an NBA writer in a pandemic. The social distancing that sometimes leads to social isolation is going to impact the voting this season. Exactly how remains to be seen, but the guess here is that a groundswell will build up around one or two players who start getting touted hard by somebody big in the national media, such as a Stephen A. Smith or a Dwyane Wade or a Kenny Smith or a Marv Albert or a Jeff Van Gundy.
It will be interesting to see whether the league issues ballots to Smith or Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal of Turner Sports, both of whom now have potential conflicts of interest because they have signed deals with FanDuel, which takes wagers on who will win each award.
Joel Embiid of Philadelphia was having an MVP-worthy season before getting injured Friday night, and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-philadelphia-76ers-joel-embiid-drops-to-third-in-mvp-race-after-knee-injury-lebron-james-nikola-jokic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he is no longer the favorite</a>. That spot is now held by LeBron James, who plays for the third-best team in the West as of this particular Sunday. His statistics in most categories are about the same as they were last season, with the exception of assists, which have dropped from 10.2 to 7.8.
Some folks are making note of the fact that James, 36, has not won the award since 2012-13, which somehow just doesn&rsquo;t seem right, which is true.&nbsp;
But is that going to be the operative thought in the minds of enough voters to win him the award? That he&rsquo;s overdue?&nbsp;
Only time will tell, but an outside-the-box thinker could make the case that Julius Randle has been more valuable to the Knicks than James has been to the Lakers when you factor in where preseason expectations were set.
The same case can be made for a half-dozen players, and there are another half-dozen whose teams are one 10-game winning streak away from having frontrunner status for awards including Coach of the Year, Most Improved Award and MVP.
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This season&rsquo;s MVP winner will be determined by what happens between now and the end of the regular season in the third week of May. The race is more wide-open than many would have you believe.
So while there could be as many as 10 legitimate candidates, let&rsquo;s keep it at LeBron plus the five guys who are the most in the mix, their biggest pros and cons and their individual storylines.
LeBron James, Lakers:&nbsp;
Pros: He keeps everyone interested every time he plays and every time he speaks. He is the Michael Jordan of his time.
Cons: He is missing 31.1% of his free throws.
The best thing he has working in his favor is a magic touch with many members of the national media who have covered the league for a long time. Some of them voted for him last season when he was gaining ground on Antetokounmpo before the season was brought to a halt. We also can assume he will get the fan vote, because he is the most popular player in the league. After tonight, his Lakers have only one more road trip this month, but will have measuring stick games against Phoenix, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.&nbsp;
Nikola Jokic, Nuggets:&nbsp;
Pros: The Joker is a one-of-a-kind point center who is the only guy showing up on a nightly basis for a team that has a talented, yet inconsistent Jamal Murray.
Cons: His team is just six games over. 500 and in sixth place in the West.&nbsp;
The Nuggets just went 5-0 on a five-game road trip, and Jokic has had one 50-point game, three 40-point games and nine triple-doubles. He is a worthy contender, but he is not beloved by the American media the same way LeBron is, and it will be an uphill battle for him to win. The Nuggets will play 7 of their next 9 against teams from the East, beginning tonight against the Pacers -- assuming the epic snowstorm in Denver does not force a postponement. They need a surge for Jokic to have a snowball&rsquo;s chance in hell. 
Joel Embiid, Sixers:&nbsp;
Pros: He is second in the NBA in scoring at 29.9 points per game, and his shooting percentages are vastly improved across the board for the East&rsquo;s first-place team. His overall field goal percentage is up nearly five percentage points to 52.5%, and his three-point shooting has jumped from 33.1% to 42.2%.&nbsp; 
Cons: He has a knee injury that will sideline him at least two weeks, and he has missed seven other games for a variety of reasons including contact with a COVID-infected barber.
The major question is how long his knee injury (the team is calling it a bone bruise) will keep him sidelined. But if it is only three weeks and he can pick up where he left off, he could quickly go back to being the No. 1 candidate &ndash; especially if the Sixers can stay ahead of the Nets during his absence, which will not be easy during a six-game road trip that runs from March 21 through April 1. A good night to target for his return is April 3 at home against Minnesota, the first of a back-to-back in which he can test himself first against Karl Anthony-Towns and then against Jonas Valanciunas the next night vs. Memphis. He will have to play enough games to qualify.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks:&nbsp;
Pros: He has six triple-doubles, he can still go the length of the court and dunk with two dribbles, he went 16-for-16 in the All-Star game and his team has won 8 of 9.
Cons: His Bucks are not playing at the same knock-everyone-out (except Miami) level that they were at this time a little more than a year ago. Voters have not made anyone an MVP in three straight seasons since Larry Bird in 1985-86 and will not do it for the Greek Freak unless his team finishes atop the East &ndash; and maybe not even then. 
Think of all the great players who have passed through the league since Bird was in his heyday. Not even Jordan could win three in a row, and many voters acknowledged that they voted for Karl Malone over Jordan in 1996-97 as sort of a &ldquo;career appreciation&rdquo; vote. (Jordan took offense and used it as motivation in the NBA Finals.) The Bucks will be on ESPN four times over the remainder of this month, and they are only two games behind the Sixers in the loss column. But it would still take something extraordinary to get a majority of voters to put him first on their ballots for a third straight year. 
James Harden, Nets:
Pros: He has taken over leadership of the offense for a very dangerous Brooklyn Nets team, recording nine triple-doubles in 33 games. Only Russell Westbrook has more.
Cons: Some voters will hold it against him that he forced a trade out of Houston and in turn, made life difficult for Stephen Silas, John Wall, P.J. Tucker and every other Rocket not named Kevin Porter Jr.
At the same time, Harden has never won the award and was a strong candidate over the past several seasons in Houston, and it is to his credit that he has altered his game in Brooklyn to suit the personnel around him, replacing Kyrie Irving as the de facto point guard and helping the Nets survive the prolonged absence of Kevin Durant. They have won 12 of 13 heading into tonight&rsquo;s game against the Knicks, and Harden leads the NBA in assists with 11 per game.
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There are others who could make a case for themselves over the remainder of the season, but their teams will have to go nuts in the overachievement department to get them into the MVP conversation. Those players include Luka Doncic of the Mavs, Damian Lillard of the Trail Blazers, Donovan Mitchell of the Jazz, Chris Paul and Devin Booker of the Suns, Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers and Jimmy Butler of the Heat.&nbsp;
As noted above, a 10-game winning streak could bring some new names into the MVP debate.&nbsp;
For now, we have to consider LeBron a guy that has to be knocked off the leaderboard. We shall see who is capable.

Chris Sheridan looks at the pros and cons of the candidates for NBA MVP.

The MVP Debate: How many valid candidates are there?

While LeBron James was largely resting through the All-Star Game, the Brooklyn Nets were adding another piece for a run at his title.
With James still near the top of his game and the Nets on top of the league in scoring, it's easy to envision a coast-to-coast NBA Finals when a champion is crowned in July.
But, when most teams resume play Thursday — the same date last season was suspended — the leaders in the Eastern Conference might be doing so without their two best players.
As proven again when Philadelphia's Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons had to sit out the All-Star Game, the coronavirus might still have a say on this season, making uncertainty a sizable obstacle in the title chase.
“You’re playing every other day. You don’t know when you’re going to have practice time. You don’t know as far as what the restrictions and with COVID and things of that nature if you’re going to have all your guys," James said. "So it’s very challenging for all teams, not just us.”
The bigger problem for the Lakers has been the absence of All-Star Anthony Davis because of a right calf injury. The defending champions have struggled without him, dropping six of eight to end the first half and falling 3 1/2 games behind surprising West leader Utah.
The Nets have also been without an All-Star, though they've hardly missed Kevin Durant because of the brilliance of James Harden and Kyrie Irving. Blake Griffin agreed to join them Sunday night after the six-time All-Star cleared waivers after securing his buyout from Detroit.
“We’re fortunate to be able to add a player of Blake’s caliber to our roster at this point in the season,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said. 
Brooklyn comes out of the break a half-game behind Philadelphia. Embiid has been a force this season and become a leading MVP candidate, but he and Simmons were ruled out of the All-Star Game on Sunday morning because they got haircuts from a barber who tested positive for COVID-19.
They may not be cleared to return until the weekend, after the Sixers have played their first two games of the second half. 
“We start on the road, back-to-back games, with one practice. That’s a challenge in itself, right?,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “Then, obviously, not having those guys, that’s a lot of points, our two best defenders. So, obviously, it would hurt.”
Teams are used to it after a first half in which the unavailability of players and coaches because of health and safety protocols forced 31 games to be called off. For every team, the first big test of the second half is the coronavirus one that will determine who is good to go upon returning from break. 
Once that's finished, teams can look ahead to a busy and exciting stretch run. With many clubs bunched in the standings and another play-in tournament opening up additional paths to the postseason, even teams that weren't as sharp as they hoped in the first half have reason for hope.
That includes teams such as Miami and Boston — last season's Eastern Conference finalists — plus Dallas and Golden State, all at or barely above .500 but perhaps just one hot streak from a nice leap up the standings. 
Or maybe Milwaukee, which was running away with the best record in the East last year when the season stopped but has been inconsistent this season, can discover its old form. The Bucks will be fearsome again if Giannis Antetokounmpo shoots anywhere near the way he did in the All-Star Game, when he went 16 for 16 en route to MVP honors.
“I’ve got to keep working hard and I’ve got to keep enjoying the game of basketball, and hopefully more important things can come, and hopefully my goal is to be a champion one day,” the two-time regular-season MVP said. “Hopefully we can hold the big trophy.”
A number of teams could have a shot. The Lakers may have looked like a solid favorite to repeat when the season started, but Davis' health throws that into question. 
Perhaps the Jazz can capitalize. They were the team whose coronavirus issues caused the season to stop last March 11. Now, they have three All-Stars and a league-leading 27-9 record.
“It’s definitely been rewarding but at the end of the day we’re not here to celebrate and act like we’ve done something and it’s only March,” Donovan Mitchell said. “I think we’ve got to continue to get better.”

When most teams resume play Thursday, the leaders in the East might be doing so without their two best players.

Exciting second half awaits NBA, but virus may still have a say

Ah, the Western Conference. Where there are very few &ldquo;average&rdquo; teams, much less a need to quantify that mediocrity by stating a team is &ldquo;very average.&rdquo; Back in the East, &ldquo;very average&rdquo; was the quote of the night from a player from a certain team in Brooklyn that stunk for a third-straight game.
The West is better than the East once again, which is no longer can be explained away as a cyclical pattern (as former commissioner David Stern used to do). Only once in the past 12 seasons has there been an East team without LeBron James that won a title. And that team was not even located within the continental United States.
As this 72-game season plods forward with cabin fever being experienced at an epidemic level by NBA players in five-star hotels, there is nothing predictable on any given night unless the Jazz are playing. Utah has won 16 of 17, with that only loss coming in an afternoon game against Denver. Utah&rsquo;s last loss in a night game was way back on Jan. 6.
So Quin Snyder&rsquo;s team leads off our trimester report card for the West, coming off of <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-trimester-report-cards-grading-team-eastern-conference-philadelphia-sixers-nets-brooklyn-boston-celtics-milwaukee-bucks-brooklyn-nets">yesterday&rsquo;s Eastern Conference report card</a> in which the Pistons must have been upset about their D-minus-minus. Hey, the professor is tough, but nobody gets an &ldquo;F&rdquo; around here.
So, without further ado&hellip;
UTAH JAZZ (20-5): What sets this team apart from the other 29 is their three-point proficiency. They have taken and made more three than any team and they have converted them at a 40.2-percent rate, which is better than everyone except the Clippers. On any given night, it could be Donovan Mitchell (an MVP sleeper pick at 100-1), Joe Ingles, Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson or Royce O&rsquo;Neale. Then, they also have Rudy Gobert grabbing 13.5 rebounds and blocking nearly three shots per night, and there isn&rsquo;t much to pick apart here. They have a back-to-back against the Clippers next week. Advice: Watch both games.
GRADE: A
LOS ANGELES LAKERS (19-6): They have the league&rsquo;s best road record (10-2) and are currently on a five-game winning streak, as ageless LeBron James keeps putting up triple-doubles and Anthony Davis gets it done on both ends of the floor -- something that has made him to No. 1 name when discussing Defensive Player of the Year candidates.&nbsp; Dennis Schroeder and Montrezl Harrell are combining to give them almost 28 points per night, and they are so deep that their starting center, Marc Gasol, is 11th on the team in scoring. Six of their next 10 games are on ABC/ESPN, the best of the bunch being their Feb. 24 match-up at Utah.
GRADE: A
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (17-8): They go into tonight&rsquo;s game against Minnesota having lost two in a row for the first time this season, and Paul George (swollen right toe) is not on the trip. But Patrick Beverley could be back after missing eight games with right-knee soreness, and it&rsquo;ll be nice to have another look at one of the handful of current NBA players who can an effective perimeter defender night after night after night. Imagine if he was allowed to hand check? The Clippers are knocking down threes at an astronomical rate (41.9 percent), which is the best since the Charlotte Hornets shot 42.8 percent in 1996-97 when the league moved the three-point line closer (22 feet), a change that was abandoned after two seasons. Back to the Clippers: Kawhi is not getting worse. &lsquo;Nuff said.
GRADE: A
PHOENIX SUNS (14-9): Kaminsky? Really? OK, apologies for that, Devin Booker, but old Frank from UW is bringing it nightly lately, which is a testament to how this Phoenix team gets a lot more than expected from absolutely everyone, and last season&rsquo;s 8-0 unbeaten bubble run was no fluke. Adding Chris Paul has been huge for this team, as his veteran leadership has turned the Suns into a top-four team even though their primary offensive weapon in Booker has seen his scoring and shooting dip from where they&rsquo;ve been the past three seasons (which is weird). The trend extends to Deandre Ayton, whose scoring is down 4.2 points per game. But the Suns are well-rounded, and Paul is Mr. Intangible, Mr. Leadership, Mr. Steady.
GRADE: A-
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PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (13-10): To have this record despite the injury absences of C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard is quite impressive, and at a certain point 29 general managers (along with some former GMs) are going to be kicking themselves for not grabbing Enes Kanter when he was available, which has happened a number of times over the past half-decade. Lillard pretty much never has a bad night (only three sub 20-point games), and Carmelo Anthony continues to flash the form that made him a 10-time All-Star. Gary Trent Jr. is hitting threes at a 43-percent clip, and Terry Stotts has been adept at riding the secondary hot hand (aside from Lillard) from game to game.
GRADE: B+
SAN ANTONIO SPURS (14-11):&nbsp; All of the barber shops are apparently closed in San Antonio, but that did not stop Gregg Popovich from getting the coronavirus vaccine and having the NBA film it so that it could be used in a public service announcement. Props on that, Pop. Dejounte Murray and Patty Mills have been excellent alternating time at point guard, which makes one wonder whether Derrick White gives them too much of a good thing, and whether they will be active at the trade deadline. LaMarcus Aldridge has missed the past four games, and he can be considered an old 35 as he finishes up his contract along with DeMar DeRozan. No NBA team has less salary committed for next season, so the Spurs can take on long money if they so choose at the trade deadline. 
GRADE: B+
DENVER NUGGETS (12-11): Perhaps Jamal Murray spoiled us in terms of expectations during the playoffs. For two weeks, he was all anybody wanted to talk about. But now he is shooting 44 percent and averaging just 16.8 points, and the rest of the sidekick by committee crew is not stepping up on any kind of a consistent basis. Michael Porter Jr. is pretty darned good now that we are getting an extended view of him, but the team needs more from Murray and their supporting cast. Asking Nikola Jokic to deliver career-best games night after night isn&rsquo;t sustainable.
GRADE: C
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (13-12): It was all &ldquo;boo-hoo&rdquo; and &ldquo;the-end-of-the-world-is-here&rdquo; back on draft night when we all learned that Klay Thompson would miss another season, but these guys have dusted themselves off and are getting big night after big night from Steph Curry. As head coach Steve Kerr recently said: "This is the best I've ever seen him, just from a confidence and strength standpoint, and that's saying something, obviously.&rdquo; When you are talking about a two-time MVP who was once a unanimous pick (the first ever), that is truly a mouthful. Draymond Green is piling up the assists, reaching double figures four times in five games this month after doing it just twice in all of January. Kelly Oubre has improved after a slow start to the season, and you have to wonder what James Wiseman will look like in the playoffs after having a full season (aside from his current injury absence &ndash; sprained wrist) under his belt.
GRADE: C+
SACRAMENTO KINGS (12-12): De&rsquo;Aaron Fox has popped out four 30-point games in their last five, Harrison Barnes is as steady as they come and Richaun Holmes is second in the NBA in field goal percentage at 65.3 percent. If Buddy Hield could figure out how to shoot with consistency and Marvin Bagley III could realize his full potential, this could be a pretty decent team. Tyrese Haliburton has shown flashes in his rookie season, but he&rsquo;s no LaMelo Ball. The Kings were 5-10 but have won seven of their last nine, so keep an eye on them. They are the epitome of the sneaky, under-the-radar team. 
GRADE: C
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (11-12): Is it fair to say that the Zion fever we were all collectively experiencing entering his rookie season has gone away? Yes, he is a heck of a skilled player, but is he a guy you schedule your nightly TV viewing around? No. And Eric Bledsoe was supposed to be better than this. Same with Lonzo Ball and Steven Adams. They had the NBA&rsquo;s worst case of cabin fever after spending two consecutive weeks on the road right when the NBA tightened COVID protocols and banned players from leaving their hotels on the road. They have bounced back nicely recently with wins in six of their past eight, albeit against mediocre competition. A favorable schedule continues for another two weeks, after which David Griffin can decide what to do with this roster. 
GRADE: C-
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (9-10):&nbsp; Looks like we will be seeing a lot of them and the Wizards during what was supposed to be a down week surrounding the All-Star break. All of their COVID-related postponements are going to make for a busy second half of the season, and they really don&rsquo;t even qualify for a trimester grade because they&rsquo;ve only played 19 games. Aside from Ja Morant, who should continue to be a mainstay of Plays of the Day, there is not a whole lot for the casual fan to gravitate toward here.
GRADE: INCOMPLETE
HOUSTON ROCKETS (11-13): Everyone except Shaq had Christian Wood fever just a couple weeks back, and then he went down with a sprained ankle and the Most Improved Player race got thrown wide open (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-gambling-bets-odds-most-improved-player-award-jerami-grant-christian-wood-jaylen-brown-chris-boucher-collin-sexton-julius-randle">with Jerami Grant of the Pistons picking up steam</a>). There is not a huge body of evidence to review concerning John Wall and Victor Oladipo playing alongside each other, as Houston has become the new home of load management. In hindsight, they probably should have traded James Harden before the season began. Distractions of that magnitude are not all that easy to shake off, and in this case, it set a negative tone for the franchise that seems to be bleeding into mid-February.
GRADE: C-
DALLAS MEVRICKS (11-14): Wasn&rsquo;t this supposed to be Luka Doncic&rsquo;s MVP season, the year when he and Kristaps Porzingis delivered a one-two Euro punch that the rest of the West would be unable to recover from? Well, so much for preordained storylines. This is the most disappointing team in the West, and you have to wonder how Rick Carlisle is going to solve this puzzle &hellip; or if he&rsquo;ll become the NBA&rsquo;s first head coaching fall guy. Not that we expect that, but somebody will eventually win the Fizdale Award. They are the NBA&rsquo;s worst three-point shooting team, and the NBA has sort of become three-point-centric, ya know?
GRADE: D
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (10-13): After last year&rsquo;s overachieving season, we were all expecting them to take a major step backward while Sam Presti sent legions of scouts to the furthest reaches of the planet to find guys worthy of his horde of first-round draft picks. But scouts cannot travel overseas because of the pandemic, which makes you wonder exactly how Presti will find the next Aleksej Pokusevski. If not for Hamidou Diallo winning the slam dunk contest a couple years ago, these guys would be more anonymous than the Grizzlies. But they&rsquo;ve overachieved here and there, so kudos for that.
GRADE: C
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (6-18): They were 2-0 the day after Christmas after beating the Jazz, but things have not really panned out since then, one might say. As a polar vortex covers a majority of the United States this week and you sit home shivering, be thankful that you are not in Minneapolis, and that your name is not Ricky Rubio. The forecast for Thursday is 1 degree in the Twin Cities and 58 degrees in El Masnou, Catalonia in Spain where Rubio is from. Did we mention that they actually beat the Jazz? Not much else positive to say about them.
GRADE: D-

A third of the way into the 2020-21 NBA season, Chris Sheridan breaks down the state of each West team and grades their start.