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Spurs

This article was originally published on BasketballNews on July 20, 2022.
Impact Basketball's facility sits inside an unassuming section of an unassuming plaza on Dean Martin Drive in Las Vegas.
The gym contains two light-colored hardwood basketball courts with a small scoreboard, a weightlifting area, a makeshift stretching room, a kitchenette for meals and snacks and a small office. It's no place for vanities. The only flexes are the dozens of white banners hanging on the right wall, listing names upon names of distinguished players who have come through during the gym's 25 years of existence.
Among those players: Kevin Garnett, Kawhi Leonard, Chauncey Billups, Kyle Lowry, Kelsey Plum, Tayshaun Prince, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Haliburton, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Al Harrington, Kristaps Porzingis, Nassir Little, Saddiq Bey and Ziaire Williams.&nbsp;
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Kevin Garnett stopped by <a href="https://twitter.com/impactbball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@impactbball</a> and offered some advice to Blazers guard Keon Johnson, Mavericks wing Josh Green and 16-year-old prospect Dayan Nessah.<a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Abunassar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Joe_Abunassar</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinGarnett5KG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KevinGarnett5KG</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/iamkeonjohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@iamkeonjohnson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshBGreen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoshBGreen</a> <a href="https://t.co/fwRjAM2WHJ">pic.twitter.com/fwRjAM2WHJ</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1548046089877524482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Impact Basketball, founded by trainer Joe Abunassar in 1997, has a reputation for its star-studded, closed-door pickup games that take place during the NBA offseason. In the spring, it's also where some of the top NBA Draft hopefuls join Abunassar's pre-draft "boot camp" and commit themselves to an intricate world of sports training and nutrition.
The timeline is simple: arrive by April, revamp your training lifestyle and find your professional pathway &mdash; either via the NBA Draft, an undrafted free-agent deal or another contract &mdash; afterwards. The work is not flashy, isn't always fun and, if you want to stick as a pro, never ends.
But the results can change lives.
"It's not about W's or L's, it's about M's &mdash; M's being millions of dollars," said Isaac Mourier, Impact's Director of Performance Nutrition and Sport Science. "Once you say that to a guy like that, that's all they need in terms of motivation."
Mourier is a key cog in Impact's program. He's from the United Kingdom and played professional basketball in England and Germany before starting his own sports nutrition consulting business. Mourier has worked for the University of Georgia and Sacramento Kings as a nutritionist and consultant, and joined Impact in 2020 during the spring.
During his two-and-a-half years and three draft cycles with the company, Mourier has filled his laptop with infographics and progress charts for Impact athletes. They include individualized goals for each player; an example involves raising one prospect's weight by 20 pounds, lowering his body fat by 2%, increasing his bench press weight by 50 pounds and adding two inches to his vertical.
Mourier feels privileged to work with athletes at this stage of their careers. To him, the noise of team ecosystems and outside expectations all fade away. He can clearly define goals, and players know exactly what success will look like.
"This is the first time, maybe ever in their life, where they have a team of people that are only worried about them," he said. "Now, I'm just trying to get you to the NBA and keep you there. I don't care whether you win or lose games right now. This is you. All the focus is on you."
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Boot camp begins as soon as players are done with their respective prior seasons. They arrive at Impact and take part in comprehensive body testing to establish a full physical profile. The technology includes a bioelectrical impedence analysis that uses electrical currents to scan body composition. Sweat patches can read how much sodium athletes need in their system.
Variables such as blood work, stress hormone levels, nutrient deficienies, pre-workout hydration levels and post-workout hydration levels, body composition and body fat percentages all help establish a baseline of strengths and needs.
From there, each prospect receives an individualized growth roadmap. Skill development makes up one component. Players often train together in small groups, but they receive specific plans that prepare them for team pre-draft workouts and the NBA level.
"We're looking and analyzing and making assessments on the court; if guys are getting bumped off their cuts, if guys don't have enough lower-body power in their jump shot and guys seem like they need to get stronger, if guys aren't fast enough, [we'll consider], 'Okay, what do we need to do in the weight room or from a nutrition standpoint to correct that?'" Abunassar told Basketball News. "So, that's why every guy has his own program, because every guy has different goals."
Hydration and dieting are also central pieces. Mourier oversees the implementation of dietary plans through Impact's local chef connections, and says he outlines each meal, snack and supplement. Along the way are regular check-ins on body metrics, sleep schedules, mood and motivation among other factors. Mourier estimated that about 20-to-25 Impact staffers are involved with a player's development.&nbsp;
But Mourier repeatedly emphasized that the technology, food and workouts aren't what takes players to the Association. One of his most important jobs is reframing their habits and instilling discipline toward health.
"When an athlete gets to the elite level with bad habits, it's, 'Well, I'm already one of the best in the world at what I do, so why would I change?' So it's changing that mindset, and then when we've done that, it's about understanding that doing small things consistently is what gets us the results, as opposed to trying to do extreme things," Mourier said.
"The way that the structure of basketball [is] from AAU to college to the pros, a lot of the power is in the athlete's hands, where it's almost like, 'Who are you to tell me what to do?' So I think one of the main things that we have to do is cut through that barrier. And again, when our goals are the same as theirs, it becomes a little bit easier. But again, it's, 'Well, you've gotten to this level despite your bad habits. How good could you be if we instill some good habits?'"
Good habits, however, can be inconvenient and awkward. For NBA players to maintain their places in the league, they have to stick with those routines well past a pre-draft boot camp.
Dallas Mavericks wing Josh Green joined Impact's program ahead of the 2020 NBA Draft cycle. He's still entrenched with Impact today, and has been working out in Las Vegas this offseason. Part of his nutrition plan includes avoiding butter, which can be a particular hurdle when eating out at restaurants.
"I have to be the guy who requests light virgin oil, whatever it is," Green told Basketball News. "I think that's the hardest part about it. I'm about to go to Australia for three weeks, and all I'm gonna want to do is eat all the food, but I'm gonna have to stay disciplined. I want to have a big year, so my goal is focusing right now, but just taking it one day at a time."
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👀 <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshBGreen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoshBGreen</a> <a href="https://t.co/pX0fkZzCBZ">pic.twitter.com/pX0fkZzCBZ</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1547655829431525383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Green said he started prioritizing nutrition after his second shoulder surgery in April 2019. Since joining Impact, Green has been floored by how much nourishment the human body loses during workouts. He has an app that lays out meal calories and hydration plans, and his goal this offseason is to skip carbohydrates, even from snacks like a simple bag of chips.
"When you're young, whatever you see in front of you is what you want," Green said. "I [was] able to start here early and realize, if I want to play ball for a while, it's important to put the right things in my body and stay healthy. It's the same thing as seeing your physical therapist and getting treatment, if not more important for your body."
Abunassar has a plethora of stories about players who embraced the importance of nutrition at the pro level. Garnett has talked about taping his meal-plan menus on the cabinets of his Minnesota home.&nbsp; Lowry, Haliburton and Serge Ibaka are examples of guys who transformed their bodies under Impact's guidance too.
Gym time and workouts are obviously valuable, but to Abunassar, nutrition is what sparks physical development.
"The nutrition is really the basis of body change &mdash; for anybody, not even just for a basketball player," Abunassar said. "You can go to the gym every day, but if you're eating cheeseburgers and fries, you're just not going to lose weight."
Mourier has his own trail of success stories. He's worked with dozens of players, including Haliburton and Green. Zeke Nnaji, another 2020 draftee, was an especially interesting case as the only plant-based-dieting prospect Mourier has guided at Impact.
Mourier does not advise athletes to follow a plant-based diet solely for performance. However, Nnaji had chosen to be a vegan for ethical reasons, which Mourier respected, and the two worked together to create a nutrition plan despite the constraints. One of Nnaji's pre-draft goals was to add muscle, and he succeeded with rigorous attention to detail.
"He gained 20 pounds and everyone was like, 'Who the hell is this?'" Mourier said. "So that was really good, just being tactful with the timing and quantities of that stuff. And [Nnaji] was really diligent with it. He nailed every single aspect of it down to the gram... He was a really easy one. I really can't take credit for all that stuff. I just put the blueprint down and he just rolled with it."
This year, Impact has worked with several 2022 draft prospects, including MarJon Beauchamp, Blake Wesley and Michael Foster Jr. among others.&nbsp;
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San Antonio Spurs rookie Blake Wesley (<a href="https://twitter.com/blakewesley0?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@blakewesley0</a>) working out at <a href="https://twitter.com/impactbball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@impactbball</a>: <a href="https://t.co/9lfkFikWsP">pic.twitter.com/9lfkFikWsP</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1547643918904217604?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Wesley has been an Impact athlete since he was 17, meeting Abunassar for the first time as a junior in high school. Wesley would come in occasionally for workouts, staying on the far court and watching as NBA players like Leonard and Paul George would get their reps in. He returned in offseasons and locked in for his own pre-draft boot camp.
Mourier praised the Spurs rookie for his attention to detail regarding nutrition. Wesley frequently FaceTimed Mourier while at restaurants and stores, and asked questions about what he should eat. He's also a staunch advocate of Herbalife's CR7 Drive sports drink mix, and even has an endorsement deal with Herbalife.
As part of his pre-draft plan to put on weight, Welsey would cook three eggs, plus have oatmeal, milk and orange juice for breakfast.
"[Changing my nutrition] helped my body a lot," Wesley told Basketball News over the phone. "I kept doing this, so I kept getting better on the court and did everything good on the court. So yeah, my nutrition helped me a lot."
The result: Wesley turned himself from a relatively unheralded four-star recruit into Notre Dame's first one-and-done player &mdash; then bulked up to 190 pounds in the spring and became a first-round NBA draft pick.
"I met [Wesley] a year ago, before he went to Notre Dame, and his transformation from then to the start of the pre-draft [process] to now &mdash; it's phenomenal," Mourier said.
The next challenge is to maintain discipline once that contract gets signed.&nbsp;
"You gotta stay focused; the NBA is totally different from college," Wesley said. "I mean, you're getting paid, you got a high profile [and] a lot of people are watching you &mdash; &nbsp;watching how you move, who you hang out with, stuff like that. So it's a whole different lifestyle."
Abunassar, Mourier and the Impact staff are hands-on with their players during the offseason and pre-draft process. But what happens when those players head back to their respective NBA franchises?
"For the most part, from a strength-and-conditioning standpoint [and] from a player development standpoint, the NBA teams have stuff really dialed in," Mourier said. "From a nutrition standpoint, for the most part, they do not."
Mourier estimated that there are only six full-time nutritionists and dietitians in the entire NBA. The Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association (CPSDA) lists <a href="https://sportsrd.org/career-development/full-time-sports-rds-working-with-usas-top-institutions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nine full-time registered dietitians.</a> Mourier said that teams often have physicians and trainers covering several responsibilites, including nutrition, due to budget restrictions and front-office priorities. This means some athletes, specifically reserve players, receive less health guidance.
"We're kind of the ones who are the last for the front office to see the value in it, so a lot of times we're really just a check-box," Mourier said. "So especially for those lower-order guys that are maybe No. 7, 8, 9, 10, all the way through to 15 on the roster, they're not really receiving any support at all. They're receiving provision. They're receiving meals and supplements. But in terms of education and behavior change, they're really not receiving it."
Over the last 25 years, Abunassar has seen sports nutrition dramatically change, with data and technology more interwoven into practice than ever. He thinks there are positives and pitfalls to the advancements.
"From a nutrition standpoint and strength-and-conditioning standpoint, it's clearly useful information to help prevent injury, to increase lean body mass, etc.," he said. "All of the technology that has come out has been very helpful for us, but you do have to watch that you don't get too reliant on it. Sometimes, you gotta watch the games and see how guys move and that kind of thing. But a combination of the two is very effective."
Impact Basketball is one progressive frontrunner in the field of sports science, but Mourier emphasized that, at this point, all basketball pros should be setting themselves up for success with some sort of offseason developmental map. Pre-draft prospects especially cannot afford to lose that critical period before team workouts to maximize their appeal.
"It's like doing the SAT without looking at the study guide," Mourier said "...I think it's definitely a standard. There's people doing this all over the country, really. Nobody does it like us, and nobody's been doing it for as long as us, but people are seeing the value."

A behind-the-scenes look at how Impact Basketball helps players realize their full potential by focusing on their training and nutrition.

How sports nutrition and biometrics are evolving NBA training

Most NBA teams have a young core of some sort, but some are better than others.
Each year, teams try to add to their young nucleus through the draft. The 2023 NBA Draft just featured the most highly-anticipated prospect since LeBron James in Victor Wembanyama, plus a number of other talented rookies like Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller and the Thompson twins.
Entering the 2023-24 season, which team has the best young core? Today, we'll rank the five best cores from around the league. The criteria is simple: players must be age-25 or younger to be considered.
5. Orlando Magic&nbsp;
The Magic landed young star Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 overall pick last season, pairing him with 2021 lottery pick Franz Wagner to form a nice one-two punch. Cole Anthony had high expectations entering the league, but he hasn't quite become the player that fans wanted him to be. One player who has exceeded expectations is Wendell Carter Jr. After a shaky start to his career with the Chicago Bulls, Carter has found his place on the Magic and is considered one of the better young starting centers in the NBA. He isn't the only player who turned his career around after landing in Orlando, as Markelle Fultz is playing his best basketball and has a nice redemption story of his own. Other young players who have an opportunity to make an impact going forward are Orlando's recent lottery picks Anthony Black and Jett Howard, both of whom are 19 years old. Orlando has consistently been one of the worst teams in the league for several years now and while their rebuilding roster is solid, it isn&rsquo;t quite as good or enticing as some of the other teams on our list.
Notable Players: Paolo Banchero (20), Franz Wagner (23), Wendell Carter Jr. (24), Anthony Black (19), Jett Howard (19), Markelle Fultz (25), Cole Anthony (23), Jalen Suggs (21), Jonathan Isaac (25), Caleb Houstan (20)
4. New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans are the only young core on this list with postseason experience, as they made the playoffs in 2021-22 and made the play-in tournament last season. Their young core is largely carried by four players: Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones. Ingram has become a terrific scorer, and he's coming off a season in which he averaged career-highs in points (24.7) and assists (5.8). While Williamson has been one of the best players in the NBA when healthy, we haven&rsquo;t seen him on the court very much since he was drafted in 2019. Murphy is a terrific shooter and Jones has had a very solid start to his career as well, making a name for himself as a lockdown perimeter defender. New Orleans has a few other young players with potential including Dyson Daniels, Jordan Hawkins and Kira Lewis Jr., but they have yet to prove themselves. Ingram, Williamson, Murphy and Jones are the main reason why the Pelicans are ranked here.
Notable Players: Brandon Ingram (25), Zion Williamson (23), Trey Murphy III (23), Herb Jones (24), Dyson Daniels (20), Jordan Hawkins (21), Kira Lewis Jr. (22)
3. Houston Rockets
The Rockets have one of the more underrated young cores in the NBA, as their lack of success has prevented them from getting much recognition. Fortunately for the Rockets, their main issue has been lack of experience, and the team addressed it this offseason. They had money to spend and they brought in some veterans to help lead the team, most notably Fred VanVleet. That said, their young core is still extremely talented and got even better through this year&rsquo;s draft. The key for this Rockets team to succeed is to make sure these young players continue to develop at a high rate, which is where new head coach Ime Udoka and his staff come in. They have multiple players on their roster with All-Star potential, and it's possible they'll compete for a play-in spot by the end of the season.
Notable Players: Jalen Green (21), Jabari Smith (20), Alperen Sengun (21), Amen Thompson (20), Tari Eason (22), Kevin Porter Jr. (23), Cam Whitmore (19)
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2. San Antonio Spurs&nbsp;
The Spurs undoubtedly have one of the NBA's best young cores. No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama has made San Antonio the team to watch this season. That said, they likely won&rsquo;t be a playoff team for at least another year. While it's possible that they'll shock everyone, it will be difficult for Wembanyama to lead them to the postseason as a rookie. He will likely need at least a year to adjust to the NBA and develop before taking that next leap in his career. Wembanyama isn&rsquo;t the only young star on the Spurs, as they have already started developing fellow cornerstones Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson, who have made quite an impression. Throw in Tre Jones, Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham, Romeo Langford and Blake Wesley, and it's clear why the Spurs are this high. Other young players who have shown promise are Charles Bassey and Julian Champagnie, both of whom came over from the Philadelphia 76ers&rsquo; organization. These two players have displayed a ton of potential, particularly in the G League and Summer League, and they could be solid contributors for years to come.&nbsp;
Notable Players: Victor Wembanyama (19), Keldon Johnson (23), Tre Jones (23), Devin Vassell (22), Jeremy Sochan (20), Malaki Branham (20), Romeo Langford (23), Zach Collins (25), Blake Wesley (20), Julian Champagnie (22), Charles Bassey (22), Dominick Barlow (20), Sandro Mamukelashvili (24)
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Spurs were a hard core to beat but, to nobody&rsquo;s surprise, the Oklahoma City Thunder have the best young core in the NBA. Not only do they have the youngest starting lineup in the league, it is filled with young stars. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as one of the best guards in the league, while Josh Giddey and Rookie-of-the-Year runner-up Jalen Williams just had a terrific season. Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick in last year's draft, hasn't played yet but he will undoubtedly make an immediate impact and could give OKC a Rookie-of-the-Year finalist for the second year in a row. Despite how young the Thunder are, they could make a serious playoff push this season, with Shai at the steering wheel. Perhaps what's scariest about the Thunder is that they have 35 draft picks over the next seven years, including 15 first-rounders, so their already-impressive young core is still a work in progress.
Notable Players: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (25), Chet Holmgren (21), Josh Giddey (20), Jalen Williams (22), Cason Wallace (19), Luguentz Dort (24), Aleksej Pokusevski (21), Isaiah Joe (24), Tre Mann (22), Jaylin Williams (21), Ousmane Dieng (20), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (22), Keyontae Johnson (23)

Entering the 2023-24 season, which NBA teams have the best young core? Hunter Simpson ranks the best cores from around the league.

Ranking the NBA's top-5 young cores entering the 2023-24 season

Every now and then, a trade comes along that ends up shifting the landscape of the NBA.
There are quite a few NBA legends who have been traded, forever altering the course of franchises. Today, we're revisiting some of the biggest trades in NBA history.
Bill Russell to the Boston Celtics
One of the most significant trades in NBA history occurred in 1956 when the Celtics acquired Bill Russell from the St. Louis Hawks in a draft-day trade. In a stroke of genius by Celtics coach and general manager Red Auerbach, Boston acquired No. 2 overall pick Russell in exchange for Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley. Russell, a dominant defensive force and rebounder, quickly became the linchpin of the Celtics' dynasty, leading them to an unprecedented 11 NBA championships in his 13 seasons with the team. His shot-blocking prowess and unyielding will to win solidified his legacy as one of the greatest winners in sports history. The trade not only transformed the Celtics into a perennial powerhouse but also established Russell as a symbol of defensive excellence and team-oriented basketball. His impact on the franchise and the league as a whole remains unparalleled, making this trade a cornerstone of NBA history.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers
In 1975, the Milwaukee Bucks sent Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers. At that time, Abdul-Jabbar was already established as one of the league's dominant forces, but his desire for a change of scenery led to this monumental deal. The Lakers gave up Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Junior Bridgeman and Dave Meyers for Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley. This trade proved to be a game-changer for the Lakers, as Abdul-Jabbar's presence immediately elevated them to championship contention. Abdul-Jabbar and his unstoppable skyhook led the Lakers to five NBA championships in the 1980s, solidifying Kareem as one of the greatest players in basketball history and cementing this as one of the most impactful NBA trades of all-time.
Wilt Chamberlain to the Los Angeles Lakers
In another major trade that reverberated throughout the NBA, Wilt Chamberlain was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers from the Philadelphia 76ers in 1968. Chamberlain, already an established superstar and prolific scorer, brought his dominant presence and unparalleled scoring ability to the Lakers. The trade was a strategic move by the Lakers to bolster their roster and create a formidable trio of Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. Chamberlain's arrival in Los Angeles marked the beginning of a successful era for the Lakers, culminating in a championship in 1972. The trade reshaped the Lakers' fortunes and added another illustrious chapter to Chamberlain's storied career, solidifying him as an all-time great.
Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers
While Kobe Bryant only ever suited up for the Los Angeles Lakers throughout his 20-year NBA career, he was actually drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. However, immediately after the selection, a pre-arranged trade sent Bryant to the Lakers in exchange for Vlade Divac. This trade, orchestrated by general manager Jerry West, proved to be a stroke of genius that forever altered the course of the Lakers' franchise. Bryant went on to become one of the most iconic figures in NBA history and a five-time champion. This trade not only transformed the Lakers' future but also set the stage for Bryant to become one of the greatest players to ever grace the basketball court.
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Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to the Boston Celtics
In 2007, the Boston Celtics orchestrated a masterstroke by acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to join forces with Paul Pierce. While these were two separate trades, Garnett and Allen were in communication throughout the process and Boston pulled off both moves over the course of three days &ndash; transforming the Celtics from a struggling franchise to a powerhouse contender. The Celtics' Big Three revolutionized the concept of superstar collaborations, and their union culminated in an NBA championship in 2008, rejuvenating the storied Celtics franchise and igniting the era of superteams.
LeBron James to the Miami Heat
While many NBA fans know about "The Decision" and LeBron James taking his talents to South Beach, they may not realize that James ultimately landed in Miami via a sign-and-trade. James, the league's reigning MVP, made the highly controversial decision to leave his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers and join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Heat. In exchange for parting with James in the sign-and-trade, the Cavs received two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a pick swap (as well as a large traded-player exception).
The move instantly transformed the Heat into a juggernaut and created a new era of superteams. While "The Decision" ignited a firestorm of criticism, it also showcased the power and influence that superstar players had in shaping the league's landscape. With James leading the way, the Heat reached the NBA Finals in all four years of his tenure, winning two championships in 2012 and 2013. This trade not only marked a pivotal moment in James' career but also had a profound impact on the way teams approached team-building, ushering in the player-movement era in the modern NBA.
What's your favorite league-altering trade? <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tweet us your thoughts here</a>! And for <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/fa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a list of the biggest free-agency signings of all-time, click here!</a>

Basketball News looks back on six blockbuster trades that altered the course of NBA history.

Revisiting 6 blockbuster trades that altered the NBA landscape

One year ago, Jeremy Sochan walked across the stage at Barclays Center and shook Adam Silver&rsquo;s hand after the San Antonio Spurs selected him with the No. 9 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Now, after an terrific season that earned him an All-Rookie Second-Team selection, Sochan is returning to New York and attending the NBA Draft once again&nbsp; &mdash; this time as a media correspondent for the NBA&rsquo;s app and social-media accounts.
Sochan will conduct red-carpet interviews with this year's top prospects, including No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama, who will soon be Sochan&rsquo;s teammate. Wembanyama is the most hyped-up prospect since LeBron James, and all eyes will be on San Antonio next season after adding the potential superstar.
The Spurs will have one of the most promising young cores in the NBA, and the pieces fit together incredibly well. Sochan, Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell will perfectly complement Wembanyama&rsquo;s skill-set, and all four players are age-23 or younger. It&rsquo;s an exciting time to be a Spurs fan, and it certainly seems that San Antonio has found its next franchise cornerstones.
As a rookie, Sochan turned heads with his dyed hair and one-handed free throws. However, he also proved he belongs in the NBA and flashed glimpses of brilliance throughout the campaign.&nbsp;
The 19-year-old averaged 11.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 stocks while shooting 45.3% from the field, 24.6% from three and 69.8% from the free-throw line. Over the final month of the season, Sochan was even better, averaging 16.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals, while shooting 48.3% from the field and 76.9% from the charity stripe.
Before Sochan transitions to interviewer mode, he spoke to Basketball News&rsquo; Alex Kennedy as the interviewee and discussed Wembanyama&rsquo;s game, his advice for the incoming rookies, the Spurs&rsquo; terrific young core, his interest in broadcasting, his one-handed free throws and more.
After a successful rookie season that culminated in an All-Rookie Second-Team selection, what advice would you give to this incoming class of rookies?
Jeremy Sochan: &ldquo;Stand your ground, but also listen, be open to [feedback] and be coachable. Just be able to go into an organization and show them that you want to work hard and that you want to be there. Also, listen to your elders &ndash; your coaches and your vets &ndash; because that&rsquo;s going to help you. The other thing is consistency. They&rsquo;re coming from a season where they&rsquo;ve played 30 or 40 games, and now they&rsquo;re going into a season where they&rsquo;re playing 82 games (plus the playoffs, if you make it). Just try to be consistent because it&rsquo;s a lot of games and it wears down on your body, so try to do everything to help that.&rdquo;
Victor Wembanyama is one of the most hyped-up prospects in NBA history. His size and length are obviously crazy, but what aspects of his skill-set impress you and what are some things that should help him in the NBA?&nbsp;
Sochan: &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s just the footwork for his size, the mobility for his size and the touch for his size. I think that all adds up into him being an all-around player, and his height just gives him so many advantages, for real. I think [his skill-set] is really exciting and it&rsquo;s going to be really good for him.&rdquo;
I&rsquo;ve talked to scouts and executives who believe that you and Victor will complement each other really well. Do you feel that your skill-sets are a good fit? And how can you guys help each other on the court?
Sochan: &ldquo;Of course, if it happens&hellip;&rdquo;
Oh, right. Assuming he&rsquo;s a Spur, how would you guys help each other on the court?
Sochan: &ldquo;Yeah, assuming it happens, I think we both have a lot of versatility, especially on the defensive side. He&rsquo;s a rim protector and he&rsquo;s very lengthy, and then I&rsquo;m very destructive and I can play 1 through 5, so I think there&rsquo;s a lot of potential there. And then offensively, I feel like I&rsquo;ll be able to get him into good spots and be able to play-make for him and make the game easy for him. I think we complement each other&rsquo;s games really well and I think it&rsquo;s really exciting if, potentially, that happens.&rdquo;
Again, assuming Wembanyama is the pick, he&rsquo;ll join this young core in San Antonio that already consists of you, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Tre Jones, Zach Collins, Malaki Branham, Romeo Langford and Blake Wesley among others. What do you think of all this young talent, and where does this group rank among the best young cores in the NBA?
Sochan: &ldquo;I think the thing about our young core is that we all want to be around San Antonio, we all want to work together and we all want to be better. I think we&rsquo;re all very motivated to just work. We have [the opportunity] to be around the Spurs and just work, and I think that really helps. Personally, I think we&rsquo;re one of the best young cores in the league. I&rsquo;m not a guy that likes to rank [teams] and stuff, but I definitely think we&rsquo;re up there."
Gregg Popovich is arguably the best coach in NBA history and the Spurs are known for getting the most out of players. Sometimes, legends like Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili will stop by to work out with you guys. What can you share about your experience in the Spurs&rsquo; organization and how they help players realize their full potential?
Sochan: &ldquo;I think they&rsquo;re just really keen and want to help us with opportunities, and it&rsquo;s all very team-based. They&rsquo;re always communicating with the players and showing us the way. The Spurs have a winning culture; they&rsquo;ve won for so long so they know the blueprint. They give us that blueprint and try to find players who actually want to work for that. That&rsquo;s what they&rsquo;re really good at, finding those kinds of players [who will buy in]. They help us a lot.&rdquo;&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/pop_sochan.jpg" alt="" width="748" height="373" />
You and Victor played against each other back when you were 15 and he was 14. Your team won, and you <a href="https://twitter.com/JeremySochan/status/1658907669879574528">joked on Twitter</a> that neither of you were good back then. Do you have a relationship with Victor and when did you realize he could be a special player?
Sochan: &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t really have a relationship like that, but I&rsquo;ve talked to him a couple times. And like you said, we played against each other so there is a relationship in that sense, but it&rsquo;s nothing crazy. But yeah, I played against him back then, and he already had a lot of potential, so it&rsquo;s exciting to see how he grew and how popular he got over the years. I think he&rsquo;s a very exciting prospect and he&rsquo;s going to do a lot of good stuff for himself.&rdquo;
Paolo Banchero, Walker Kessler, Bennedict Mathurin and Jalen Williams served as media correspondents during the NBA Finals, and now you&rsquo;re going to be the league&rsquo;s NBA Draft correspondent tonight. I know you&rsquo;ve done some interviews before, like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT9CQNvQvyw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">your chat with Tony Parker</a>. Are you hoping to do more broadcasting or media stuff in the future?
Sochan: &ldquo;Potentially! If I get the opportunity to do it, then why not? I feel like I&rsquo;m pretty good at it; I&rsquo;m natural. So yeah, if there&rsquo;s an opportunity, I&rsquo;ll do it.&rdquo;
Did you do any research about the players or prepare any questions? What kind of prep goes into being an NBA Draft media correspondent?
Sochan: &ldquo;(laughs) Yeah, I&rsquo;ve been able to prep a bit and do some research on the players. I&rsquo;ve talked to the people around me who know a bit more than I do. And sometimes it&rsquo;s just on the go too and just being able to do it [on the fly]. But yeah, I&rsquo;m excited to be here for the draft. It&rsquo;s kinda cool to come back here after a year and still remember everything [from my draft night], just all of the emotions and stuff. And [it&rsquo;s fun] just to be here for all of this year&rsquo;s draft prospects too.&rdquo;
You let fans <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1671237507634147332" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vote on what color you&rsquo;ll dye your hair</a> for tonight&rsquo;s NBA Draft. When did you start dying your hair and using that as a way to express yourself?
Sochan: &ldquo;I probably started two years ago or two-and-a-bit years ago. It was just something that I always wanted to do, just to be able to showcase [who I am] and be myself. And it shows people that you can do whatever with your body and be proud of it. Just be confident!&rdquo;
Your one-handed free throws really worked and improved your free-throw percentage over the course of the season. I actually <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/will-onehanded-or-underhand-free-throws-ever-catch-on-in-the-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote an article</a> about how it could influence other players to make the same change. Would you recommend shooting one-handed to players who want to improve their free-throw percentage?
Sochan: &ldquo;Yeah, why not? The thing is, if it&rsquo;s working and it helps your shot, why not do it? When I started doing it, I feel like a lot of people were like, &lsquo;Why are you doing that? or, &lsquo;It looks weird,&rsquo; or whatever. Or they&rsquo;d ask like, &lsquo;How did you do it mentally?&rsquo; But I&rsquo;m going to do anything [to improve] my game and help me. If that helps, I&rsquo;m going to do it. And who cares if people laugh at you? Who cares if there are critics who talk about it? It is what it is at the end of the day and if it&rsquo;s helping me, I&rsquo;m going to do it.&rdquo;

Jeremy Sochan opens up to Alex Kennedy about his rookie year, Victor Wembanyama's game, San Antonio's young core and more.

Q&A: Jeremy Sochan on Victor Wembanyama, Spurs' young core, more

The NBA announced that 242 players have filed as early-entry candidates for the 2023 NBA Draft. Here is the complete list.

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Keldon Johnson scored 25 points and the San Antonio Spurs snapped a 16-game losing streak, beating the Utah Jazz 102-94 on Tuesday night.
Doug McDermott added 19 points for the Spurs, Jeremy Sochan had 13 and Devonte Graham 12. San Antonio improved to 15-47, winning for the first time this season after trailing to start the fourth quarter.
The Spurs also won on the road for the first time since mid-December.
&ldquo;Ain&rsquo;t nothing like it, man,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;We fought the same fight. We stayed together as a group and good things happened.&rdquo;
Lauri Markkanen had 28 points and nine rebounds for Utah. Walker Kessler added 10 points and 15 rebounds, Talen Horton-Tucker had 16 points and Kris Dunn added 11.
The Jazz floundered on offense while playing shorthanded, making just five baskets over the entire fourth quarter.
&ldquo;We were very stubborn tonight,&rdquo; Jazz coach Will Hardy said. &ldquo;We refused to adjust to what the game kept telling us over and over again.&rdquo;
Blake Wesley, McDermott and Graham made 3-pointers to fuel an 11-0 run that erased a double-digit deficit early in the fourth and gave the Spurs an 88-82 lead.
Horton-Tucker tied it on back-to-back 3-pointers. The Jazz took a 92-91 lead on Dunn&rsquo;s driving layup, but Johnson countered with a pair of baskets to put San Antonio up 98-93 with 2:06 remaining.
Johnson accounted for four of the Spurs&rsquo; nine fourth quarter baskets.
&ldquo;I wanted to win,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;I feel like I had it going a little bit. I thought I&rsquo;d make the right play. My coach and teammates trusted me. They put the ball in my hands. They trusted me to make the right decision.&rdquo;
Utah did not score a basket over the final three minutes and shot a season-low 35% from the field.
San Antonio held an opponent under 100 points for just the fourth time this season.
&ldquo;They played 48 minutes,&rdquo; Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. &ldquo;It obviously wasn&rsquo;t perfect. It never is. But watching them give that effort for 48 was very satisfying.&rdquo;
San Antonio forced the Jazz out of their usual offensive style and limited Utah to a single contested shot on many possessions down the stretch.
&ldquo;We got stagnant,&rdquo; Markkanen said. &ldquo;We ended up with more iso&rsquo;s and post-ups than we ever do.&rdquo;
TIP-INS 
Spurs: Charles Bassey had 10 rebounds. &hellip; The Spurs are 1-42 when trailing after three quarters this season. &hellip; San Antonio outscored Utah 56-36 in the paint.
Jazz: Jordan Clarkson did not play (right thumb sprain) and Collin Sexton missed his third straight contest (left hamstring strain). &hellip; Johnny Juzang made his NBA debut. He had three points in 15 minutes.
UP NEXT 
Spurs: Host Indiana on Thursday night.
Jazz: At Oklahoma City on Friday night.

Keldon Johnson scored 25 points and the Spurs snapped a 16-game losing streak, beating the Jazz 102-94 on Tuesday night.

Spurs snap 16-game losing streak with 102-94 victory over Jazz

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have agreed to purchase Marc Lasry&rsquo;s 25% stake of the Milwaukee Bucks in a deal that puts the value of the NBA franchise at $3.5 billion, two people with knowledge of the negotiations said Monday.
The agreement has not been finalized, said the people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the Bucks nor the Haslams publicly disclosed any element of the agreement.
Those numbers, if finalized, would mean the Haslams plan to spend about $875 million for Lasry&rsquo;s stake of the team.
The Haslams, who also own the Columbus Crew of Major Soccer League, have explored buying other professional sports teams, including the Minnesota Timberwolves in the past. Sportico was first to report the Haslam Sports Group&rsquo;s interest in the Bucks. ESPN and The Athletic were first to report the agreement on Monday.
It would be the second-highest valuation in NBA history,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/phoenix-suns-cleveland-cavaliers-nba-sports-michigan-state-spartans-6566e08fe2238ff514b36fdf9bcc3b6c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">behind the $4 billion valuation for the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury when Mat Ishbia acquired them</a>&nbsp;in a deal that closed earlier this month. It&rsquo;s also a massive return on Lasry&rsquo;s initial investment.
The Haslams bought the Browns from Randy Lerner in 2012 for $1.05 billion. Their tenure in Cleveland mostly has been defined by losing records, changes and controversy.
The Browns have made the playoffs only once under the Haslams, who have made numerous coaching and front-office overhauls in their pursuit of a Super Bowl title. Last year, they were criticized for acquiring quarterback Deshaun Watson in a trade before signing him to a record contract while he was being accused of sexual misconduct by two dozen women in Texas.
Lasry and Wesley Edens, both New York investment firm executives, bought the Bucks from former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl for about $550 million in 2014 with pledges to keep the team in Milwaukee. The Bucks&rsquo; ownership group also includes Jamie Dinan and Mike Fascitelli.
The Bucks have enjoyed great success since that sale. They moved into a new arena in 2018, won their first NBA title in 50 years in 2021 and have built a perennial contender around Greek superstar and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The surging valuations almost certainly mean that the expansion fees will be well beyond what was originally thought when the NBA decides to add teams &mdash; something that will likely start getting discussed seriously once the league and the union complete their talks on a new labor agreement and the NBA completes its next rights deal with broadcast partners.
If the Suns and Bucks are both being valued in the $3.5-to-$4 billion range, it stands to reason that expansion fees will be at least that much and likely more when the league decides the time is right to add clubs.
&ldquo;It is natural at some point that an organization expands,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month at the All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City.
&ldquo;The view from our governors has been let&rsquo;s figure out exactly what the new CBA looks like, let&rsquo;s figure out what our new media deals look like. Then let&rsquo;s think about expansion,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;So invariably we will. There&rsquo;s no active discussions in the league office right now, but we&rsquo;ll turn back to it in a few years.&rdquo;

Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have agreed to purchase Marc Lasry’s 25% stake of the Bucks, valuing the franchise at $3.5 billion.

Haslams agree to purchase Marc Lasry’s stake in Milwaukee Bucks

Since the 2013-14 season, the NBA has used player-tracking technology to collect all kinds of interesting data, including a player&rsquo;s average speed, distance traveled, number of touches and more.
Second Spectrum is the NBA&rsquo;s &ldquo;official optical tracking provider,&rdquo; and they&rsquo;ve installed a player-tracking system in the catwalk of every NBA arena. Using multiple cameras, state-of-the-art machine learning and computer-vision techniques, the software identifies and locates every player and the ball 25 times per second. If something happens on the court, the player-tracking system catches it, and the data gets uploaded to <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/speed-distance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA.com</a>.
That&rsquo;s how we know that five players &mdash; Mikal Bridges, Miles Bridges, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey and Scottie Barnes &mdash; ran more than 200 miles throughout the course of last season. And for the second-straight season, Fred VanVleet led all players in average distance traveled, running 2.82 miles per game.&nbsp;
Which players are currently covering the most distance this season? And which players have the fastest and slowest average speed? Let&rsquo;s take a look:
MOST MILES PER GAME
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 50.933%; height: 220px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.5985%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">LaMelo Ball</td>
<td style="width: 22.4998%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">2.8 miles per game</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.5985%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">Fred VanVleet</td>
<td style="width: 22.4998%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">2.77 miles per game</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.5985%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">Terry Rozier</td>
<td style="width: 22.4998%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">2.74 miles per game</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.5985%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">Mikal Bridges</td>
<td style="width: 22.4998%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">2.73 miles per game</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.5985%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">Pascal Siakam</td>
<td style="width: 22.4998%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">2.72 miles per game</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.5985%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">Dejounte Murray</td>
<td style="width: 22.4998%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">2.69 miles per game</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.5985%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">Tyler Herro</td>
<td style="width: 22.4998%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">2.69 miles per game</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.5985%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">Scottie Barnes</td>
<td style="width: 22.4998%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">2.68 miles per game</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.5985%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">C.J. McCollum</td>
<td style="width: 22.4998%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">2.64 miles per game</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.5985%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">Zach LaVine</td>
<td style="width: 22.4998%; height: 22px; text-align: left;">2.64 miles per game</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
MOST TOTAL MILES
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 50.7996%; height: 220px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 22.5067%; height: 22px;">Mikal Bridges</td>
<td style="width: 24.0045%; height: 22px;">163.7 miles</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 22.5067%; height: 22px;">Anthony Edwards</td>
<td style="width: 24.0045%; height: 22px;">159.6 miles</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 22.5067%; height: 22px;">Buddy Hield</td>
<td style="width: 24.0045%; height: 22px;">156.2 miles</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 22.5067%; height: 22px;">Franz Wagner</td>
<td style="width: 24.0045%; height: 22px;">155.3 miles</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 22.5067%; height: 22px;">Julius Randle</td>
<td style="width: 24.0045%; height: 22px;">154.1 miles</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 22.5067%; height: 22px;">Scottie Barnes</td>
<td style="width: 24.0045%; height: 22px;">153 miles</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 22.5067%; height: 22px;">Evan Mobley</td>
<td style="width: 24.0045%; height: 22px;">151.5 miles</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 22.5067%; height: 22px;">Jalen Brunson</td>
<td style="width: 24.0045%; height: 22px;">150 miles</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 22.5067%; height: 22px;">P.J. Washington</td>
<td style="width: 24.0045%; height: 22px;">149.2 miles</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 22.5067%; height: 22px;">Domantas Sabonis</td>
<td style="width: 24.0045%; height: 22px;">148.9 miles</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Clearly, a player's role and their team's style of play influence how many miles they're running each game.
FASTEST AVERAGE SPEED
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 50.933%; height: 220px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.3733%; height: 22px;">Wendell Moore Jr.</td>
<td style="width: 22.7734%; height: 22px;">4.71 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.3733%; height: 22px;">Luka Garza</td>
<td style="width: 22.7734%; height: 22px;">4.62 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.3733%; height: 22px;">T.J. McConnell</td>
<td style="width: 22.7734%; height: 22px;">4.62 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.3733%; height: 22px;">Jordan McLaughlin</td>
<td style="width: 22.7734%; height: 22px;">4.61 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.3733%; height: 22px;">Blake Wesley</td>
<td style="width: 22.7734%; height: 22px;">4.59 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.3733%; height: 22px;">Caleb Martin</td>
<td style="width: 22.7734%; height: 22px;">4.58 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.3733%; height: 22px;">Cody Martin</td>
<td style="width: 22.7734%; height: 22px;">4.57 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.3733%; height: 22px;">Sam Hauser</td>
<td style="width: 22.7734%; height: 22px;">4.57 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.3733%; height: 22px;">Dalano Banton</td>
<td style="width: 22.7734%; height: 22px;">4.56 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.3733%; height: 22px;">Aaron Wiggins</td>
<td style="width: 22.7734%; height: 22px;">4.55 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
SLOWEST AVERAGE SPEED
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 50.7996%; height: 209px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.386%; height: 22px;">Chris Paul</td>
<td style="width: 22.2461%; height: 22px;">3.55 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.386%; height: 22px;">Joel Embiid</td>
<td style="width: 22.2461%; height: 22px;">3.55 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.386%; height: 22px;">James Harden</td>
<td style="width: 22.2461%; height: 22px;">3.56 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.386%; height: 22px;">DeAndre Jordan</td>
<td style="width: 22.2461%; height: 22px;">3.59 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.386%; height: 22px;">Eric Gordon</td>
<td style="width: 22.2461%; height: 22px;">3.63 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.386%; height: 22px;">Luka Doncic</td>
<td style="width: 22.2461%; height: 22px;">3.66 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.386%; height: 22px;">Kevin Durant</td>
<td style="width: 22.2461%; height: 22px;">3.67 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.386%; height: 22px;">John Wall</td>
<td style="width: 22.2461%; height: 22px;">3.7 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 11px;">
<td style="width: 24.386%; height: 11px;">Kyle Lowry</td>
<td style="width: 22.2461%; height: 11px;">3.7 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 24.386%; height: 22px;">LeBron James</td>
<td style="width: 22.2461%; height: 22px;">3.72 miles per hour</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
If you're interested in checking out all of the NBA's tracking data, <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/speed-distance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it can be found here</a>.

The NBA uses player-tracking technology to find out every player’s average speed, average distance traveled and much more.

Tracking data shows which NBA players run the most miles per game

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; Deni Avdija had a career-high 25 points, Bradley Beal had 21 points and the Washington Wizards ended a 22-game losing streak to the Spurs in San Antonio with a 127-106 victory Monday night.
Washington, which last won in San Antonio on Dec. 11, 1999, has won six straight for its longest winning streak since a six-game run in 2015.
&ldquo;You never want to be on the losing end of that streak, but it&rsquo;s good to get that one off our chest,&rdquo; said Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr., who was an advance scout with the team in 1999.
Kristaps Porzingis added 17 points and nine rebounds after a fast start for Washington.
Keldon Johnson had 26 points, Jeremy Sochan added 17 and Zach Collins had 16 for the Spurs, who have lost six straight to fall to 2-13 this month.
The Wizards led 63-55 at halftime and never trailed in the second half. The Spurs closed within four points midway through the third quarter, but Washington responded with an 8-0 run to regain a double-digit advantage.
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San Antonio is 0-35 this season when trailing by double digits.
&ldquo;We had more fast-break points,&rdquo; Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. &ldquo;We had more second-chance points. We had fewer turnovers. We had more points in the paint but shot 20-something from 3 and they shot 50 or something. Game over.&rdquo;
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<div class="title-0-2-79">
San Antonio was 7 for 29 on 3-pointers while Washington shot 16 for 30 on 3s.
Porzingis scored 13 of the Wizards&rsquo; first 19 points. Jakob Poeltl picked up two fouls in the opening four minutes, forcing the Spurs to bring Zach Collins in sooner than usual.
After his early scoring burst, Porzingis was scoreless in the next two periods and had four points in the fourth.
Avdija responded by scoring 23 points in the final three quarters to help the Wizards win here for the first time since he was 2 years old.
&ldquo;The streak is done,&rdquo; Avdija said. &ldquo;Just to close that circle and be here and having a good game versus the Spurs and end that streak. I think everybody did a really great job competing. When we&rsquo;re focused and sharing the ball, we&rsquo;re a really dangerous team.&rdquo;
Avdija was 10 for 12 from the field and made both his 3-point attempts. Kendrick Nunn added 10 points, giving him double-digit scoring in all three games since being acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers for Rui Hachimura.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Washington&rsquo;s longest winning streak in franchise history is nine straight, which it accomplished in 2002, 1979, 1975, 1970 and 1969. ... Washington is 12-16 on the road, two victories shy of matching last season&rsquo;s win total away from home. ... Kuzma and Delon Wright were reunited with Poeltl, their teammate with the Utah Utes in 2015. ... Nunn received a technical foul 7 seconds into the second quarter after complaining about a non-call. After stripping possession from Blake Wesley, Nunn thought he was fouled on a layup attempt that was knocked out of bounds by the Spurs&rsquo; rookie. San Antonio F Doug McDermott missed the free throw.
Spurs: San Antonio has allowed 100-plus points in six straight games and in all but one of its past 27 games. .. Sochan has scored in double figures in seven straight games and in 10 of his past 12. ... G Josh Richardson did not play after being upgraded to probable several hours before tipoff. Richardson missed his third straight game with a sore left knee. ... Collins suffered a bloody nose that forced officials to stop play with 2.8 seconds left in the first quarter. Keldon Johnson re-entered the game in place of Collins.
<div class="Component-dfp-0-2-62 apnews_article_midarticle_3" data-card-id="sovrn-article-midarticle">
TURBO
Avdija&rsquo;s recent rise has coincided with the team bestowing the nickname &ldquo;Turbo&rdquo; on the 22-year-old forward.
Wizards veteran Monte Morris unknowingly gave Avdija the nickname while the two were playing 1-on-1. Morris playfully remarked that Avdija&rsquo;s hustle reminded him of the &ldquo;turbo and square&rdquo; move in NBA2K.
&ldquo;They really want me to succeed and be aggressive,&rdquo; Avdija said. &ldquo;Since they gave me that nickname, I really just am being more aggressive. I&rsquo;m just enjoying, that&rsquo;s the most important for me.&rdquo;
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The Washington Wizards ended a 22-game losing streak to the Spurs in San Antonio with a 127-106 victory.

Wizards end 22-game skid in San Antonio, beat Spurs 127-106

Springfield, Massachusetts has been offering glimpses into the future of basketball since James Naismith put some peach baskets on a YMCA wall in 1891. Every MLK weekend, the town gives us another in the form of the HoopHall Classic, where dozens of the best high-school players in the country descend on Blake Arena.
The HoopHall Classic is also one of three high-school showcases this season that was given the green light for NBA scouts to attend. It's a prime opportunity for the elite talents to separate themselves from the pack &mdash; or for less heralded names to put themselves on the map.
I checked into the arena at 10 a.m. and caught all eight contests. These standouts, among many others, caught my eye:
DeMatha Catholic (MD) 66, Bishop Loughlin (NY) 55
Mason So, Bishop Loughlin &mdash;&nbsp;So wasn't the leading scorer of the game or the team MVP, but he really impressed with the little things he did to help the Stags keep control. The UNC Greensboro commit finished with 14 points and operated as a secondary ball-handler and spaced the floor well.
So hit 2-of-5 three-point attempts, but his best play came when he initiated the offense, passed the ball away, snuck behind the Bishop Loughlin zone to the low block and got it back for an easy layup. The senior also hustled on the glass impressively for a 6-foot-2 guard and grabbed 7 total boards.
Mount St. Joseph's (MD) 54, North Laurel (KY) 48
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Mount St. Joseph wins by 6 over North Laurel! 😤 🏀 Mount St. Joseph - 54 North Laurel - 48 🏆 MVP - Tyonne Farrell 19 PTS - 4 REB - 5 AST - 🏟️ - Hoophall Classic 2023 cc: <a href="https://twitter.com/HoophallClassic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HoophallClassic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Spalding?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Spalding</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MSJ_Basketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MSJ_Basketball</a> <a href="https://t.co/943lF8n6bW">pic.twitter.com/943lF8n6bW</a>
&mdash; Legit Sport Stats (@LegitSportStats) <a href="https://twitter.com/LegitSportStats/status/1614685273568288768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Tyonne Farrell, Mt. St. Joseph's &mdash;&nbsp;Farrell logged an awesome statement game in front of the college recruiters and NBA scouts: 19 points, 5 assists, 4 blocks and 4 rebounds. The forward (listed at 6-foot-6, though he seems taller) was a monster protecting the rim. Both squads talked trash back-and-forth throughout and Farrell's rejections made quite the statement.
"Scrappy game; they were talking a lot of smack," Farrell told Basketball News. "It was good to block shots and talk back."
He also nearly brought the hoop down with an emphatic designed alley-oop slam. But Farrell, a junior, was more than a rim-runner and cutter. He made 1-of-2 triples and was not afraid to power-drive from the perimeter. Farrell grew up playing guard but has grown and built out his frame. He lists Paul George and Jayson Tatum among his favorite pros to watch because of the way they can handle the ball and use their strength fluidly.
Farrell and Illinois-bound senior teammate Amani Hansberry teamed up for 5 assists apiece; each took turns dissecting North Laurel's zone from the middle of the half-court. Hansberry had a strong afternoon of his own with 14 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.&nbsp;
"Me and Amani, we go well together because we both can pass," Farrell said. "So he'll catch the ball, I'll backdoor slip and he'll find me. And then, we'll set screens for each other, [and] we both can handle the ball pretty well for bigger people. So it's lovely playing with Amani. He's a great player."
Farrell didn't dive into his college situation, but he has publicly posted an offer from Rhode Island and said he's confident in the direction of his recruitment. He didn't even know NBA personnel could attend this year's Classic &mdash; but it added another boost of confidence when he learned afterwards.
"That makes me feel great; I didn't know that," he said with a laugh. "That's amazing... gotta get my name out there."
Reed Sheppard, North Laurel &mdash;&nbsp;Sheppard, a four-star senior bound for Kentucky, simply didn't have his shot falling (5-for-21 from the field, 3-for-14 from three-point range). But he still ended up with 13 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals by impacting the game just about everywhere else. He played at a rapid pace that really worked in transition, but even his drive-and-kick passes occurred at blazing speeds. Sheppard follows in the footsteps on his father, Kentucky legend Jeff Sheppard, but the younger ballplayer looks more than capable of carving out his own path.
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Ss. John Neumann-Maria Goretti (PA) 55, Vashon (MO) 45
Robert Wright III, Neumann-Goretti &mdash;&nbsp;Alright, another smaller guard with a big day! Wright, a 6-foot junior, has already committed to Baylor and he posted 17 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals for Neumann-Goretti in the victory. He displayed some impressive passing reads and decision-making in the open floor. Wright didn't shoot all that well and did struggle in the half-court with some of the opposing size. But he's crafty and creative, and his 5-foot-10 teammate Khaafiq Myers helps form one of the most fun backcourts seen this weekend.
Simeon Career Academy (IL) 52, Archbishop Stepinac (NY) 39
Miles Rubin, Simeon &mdash;&nbsp;Rubin is a 6-foot-9, 3-star big man en route to Loyola Chicago. He finished with an efficient 17 points (8-for-10 from the field) plus 7 rebounds and 2 blocks, and was the beneficiary of some timely interior passing. His frontcourt partner and twin brother Wesley (7 assists) frequently caught the basketball around the elbow and threw it inside as Rubin cut to the basket.
The senior also added two blocks, one being an impressive help-defense rejection on 5-star guard Boogie Fland. Simeon tasked Rubin early with showing hard in pick-and-roll defense and it led to two fouls, so there's room to improve with his mobility on the perimeter. Still, Rubin was rock-solid inside and a safe bet as a decision-maker.
Also, I have to shout out Simeon guards Michael Ratliff and Rashard McKinnie. They took turns tracking Fland and neutralized his downhill speed and strength. Fland can get low and slide right by most defenders, but not these two.
AZ Compass Prep (AZ) 55, Oak Hill Academy (VA) 35
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Zayden High shot 100% from the field in AZ Compass&rsquo;s win over Oak Hill 55-35 🐉 <a href="https://t.co/oEPuA4L7hC">pic.twitter.com/oEPuA4L7hC</a>
&mdash; NIBC (@NIBCOfficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/NIBCOfficial/status/1614756786053218304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Zayden High, Compass Prep &mdash; &nbsp;Most of this high-caliber clash was pretty ugly, but High helped Compass Prep pull away late with some timely two-way moments. The 6-foot-10 power forward went a perfect 5-for-5 with 15 points, including a three, a one-dribble pull-up two and some interior scores. His one block was a monster rejection at the rim on Oak Hill big man Drayton Jones.
"I like to think of myself as a shot-blocker," High said postgame. "I'm really good at timing the ball before it goes to the rim. It's all about timing for me &mdash; timed it, blocked it, right point at the right time."
High took instruction from his coaches late in the game regarding screening angles on both sides of the ball. In his first year at AZ Compass Prep, the UNC-bound big man says he's learning a lot about the ins-and-outs of screening.
"Coming to AZ Compass, I've learned a lot about setting screens, shifting my hips and being able to re-screen," he said. "It's helped me out because I'm a pick-and-pop guy; I'm a pick-and-roll guy. So it's lethal to the defense."
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Paul VI Catholic (VA) 72, Roselle Catholic (NJ) 59
DeShawn Harris-Smith, Paul VI &mdash;&nbsp;The Maryland-bound senior absolutely rocked in a huge win for the Panthers. Harris-Smith compiled 23 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. He's quite strong for a wing listed at 6-foot-4 and used that strength to surge past defenders on his drives. Harris-Smith also showed some foresight as a vertical cutter and held his own defensively. He seems physically prepared and experienced enough to make the leap to college ball as a dynamic 4-star talent.
Simeon Wilcher, Roselle &mdash;&nbsp;Wilcher, with 21 points and 5 assists, was Roselle Catholic's scoring spark to keep this game competitive. The senior guard has all sorts of tricks in his bag, including one crab-dribble-type move that split two defenders and ended in a layup. Wilcher had a lot on his plate with 5-star teammate Mackenzie Mgbako struggling, so the 6 turnovers are understandable with the load he had to carry as a creator. He'll be the next top-notch guard to watch at North Carolina next season.&nbsp;
Prolific Prep (CA) 71, Westtown (PA) 33
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Top freshman Tyran Stokes and <a href="https://twitter.com/ProlificPrep?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ProlificPrep</a> lead Westtown 29-16 at halftime of their <a href="https://twitter.com/HoophallClassic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HoophallClassic</a> matchup ✅<a href="https://twitter.com/tyran_stokes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tyran_stokes</a> <a href="https://t.co/Wds1Plac2V">pic.twitter.com/Wds1Plac2V</a>
&mdash; SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) <a href="https://twitter.com/SCNext/status/1614787207159504899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Tyran Stokes, Prolific Prep &mdash;&nbsp;There was one moment late in the second half of Prolific Prep's blowout victory where Stokes caught his breath during a pause in action. A young fan exclaimed, "He's just a freshman!" from the bleachers and Stokes tossed a sly wink back.
"My game, I just come with a swag," Stokes told Basketball News. "My teammates come with it [too], so it's just a group thing."
Stokes will assuredly be among the top freshmen in the country whenever 2026 rankings drop, and he backed up his confidence with an easy 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. The 6-foot-7 wing threw down two alley-oop dunks from senior Aden Holloway and lobbed up one of his own to Zion Sensley.&nbsp;
Prolific Prep has several more experienced playmakers, so Stokes can get comfortable spacing the floor and cutting for the most part. He says his coaches and teammates have helped advance his overall processing speed as a cutter.
"[In] middle school it was a lot slower, but once I got to high school, it just became way faster. The game was faster, so I had to step my game up," he said.
Stokes already has swarms of colleges after him (just check his <a href="https://twitter.com/tyran_stokes/media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>), and HoopHall was a big test for his maturity under the eyes of college and pro scouts. He says his mother, Kee, is his biggest source of support and helps relieve some of the stress of his impending rise.
"Me and my mom, we just work as a team to block all the noise out," Stokes said. "People come at me, people come at her, and we just stick together and don't let nobody get to us."
Zion Sensley, Prolific Prep &mdash;&nbsp;Beyond throwing down that alley-oop from Stokes, Sensley earned his game's Most Valuable Player robe with with 18 points, canning 7-of-10 shots. He knocked down threes from the corner, ran the floor for layups and even added in some mid-range self-creation. Sensley has more game off the dribble than he got the chance to show in a dominant win, and his offensive versatility at 6-foot-8 is intriguing. He's a 4-star junior worth keeping an eye on.
Imhotep (PA) 62, Cardinal Hayes (NY) 59
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Justin Edwards puts the first points on the board for Imhotep. <a href="https://t.co/z6dhGBzqYJ">pic.twitter.com/z6dhGBzqYJ</a>
&mdash; Bella DiAmore (@belladiamore) <a href="https://twitter.com/belladiamore/status/1614805998539100160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Justin Edwards, Imhotep &mdash; Edwards made his case for the top billing in the 2023 high-school class with a dominant effort in a thrilling Sunday nightcap. The 6-foot-7 wing amassed 25 points, 12 rebounds, 6 steals and 4 assists.&nbsp;
The defense particularly impressed me. Edwards took on Ian Jackson (11 points, 4-of-10 from the field, 5 assists), one of the best juniors in the country, and stuck with him throughout the matchup. He sprawled out on the floor for one steal and used some quick-twitch hands to poach other passes and get running. Edwards includes a defensive emphasis whenever he tries to cultivate a well-rounded performance.
"When I have an all-around game, it's me locking in defensively and getting my teammates going, so that was just the main thing," he said postgame.
Of course, the scoring was pretty remarkable too &mdash; a combination of emphatic driving slams and lefty mid-range pull-ups. He even snuck in an impressive entry bounce pass that turned into a layup assist. If you want to call Edwards the best senior in the country, you'll get no complaints from me.
Steven Solano, Cardinal Hayes &mdash;&nbsp;Solano's final stat line (4 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks) might not pop off the page, but his impact far transcended the box score. The lanky 6-foot-11 center was an impactful rim protector even beyond his swats and consistently thwarted Imhotep with his length and timely rotations. He only got on the scoreboard twice, but one bucket was a nifty layup spinning out of the post, suggesting he has a bit more of a bag than we saw. Solano's a 3-star center with a host of high-major offers and he could be an underrated find wherever he ends up.

Ethan Fuller recaps his standout stars from Sunday's HoopHall Classic games in Springfield, MA.

HoopHall Highlights: Top performances from Sunday's action

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, including the tiebreaking jumper with 33 seconds left, Jaylen Brown added 29 and the Boston Celtics beat the San Antonio Spurs 121-116 on Saturday.
The reigning Eastern Conference champions maintained the NBA&rsquo;s best record by winning for the sixth time in eight games.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m actually glad the game went like that for us,&rdquo; Boston interim coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;We needed a game like that, to where it&rsquo;s back and forth. Things aren&rsquo;t going our way; they are going our way. You just don&rsquo;t get a lot of those. It&rsquo;s easier to say that because we won, but I&rsquo;m happy the game went the way it did because we got to execute some stuff.&rdquo;
And it gave Tatum an opportunity to close out a victory.
Tatum was serenaded with &ldquo;MVP! MVP!&rdquo; chants late in the first half while attempting a free throw. The All-Star rewarded the Celtics fans in attendance with his highest-scoring game since dropping 38 points against Houston on Dec. 27.
San Antonio had eight players score in double figures, including 18 points each from Josh Richardson, Zach Collins and Tre Jones.
San Antonio never led but remained close throughout despite being without injured starters Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell and Jakob Poeltl.
&ldquo;Great game, couldn&rsquo;t be more proud of them,&rdquo; Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. &ldquo;Jayson did it at the end of the game, (he) got us. But taking care of the ball, rebounding, playing with effort, I couldn&rsquo;t be more proud of our guys. A great game for them to be participating in and to play the way they did. Lots of great contributions from everybody on the court and over time we will get everybody back.&rdquo;
Richardson and fellow former Celtics player Romeo Langford forged a tie with 37 seconds remaining. Following a layup by Langford with 1:12 left, Richardson drained a 3-pointer that tied the game at 116.
Tatum followed with a step-back 13-footer to put Boston ahead and made the first of two free throws before intentionally missing the second to preserve the victory.
&ldquo;Obviously they are an extremely well-coached team,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;Teams like that are dangerous. Kind of playing carefree, the pace that they play at. They don&rsquo;t necessarily have an agenda, just pass, cut and try to get the best shot. Constant movement.&rdquo;
Boston was forced to call a timeout four minutes into the third quarter after San Antonio opened the second half on a 13-3 run to close within 71-70. Jones had seven points in the run, including a three-point play after Derrick White was called for goaltending following a foul by Marcus Smart.
Tatum responded by making an open 3-pointer. San Antonio would again pull within a point at 79-78, but Brown responded with a three-point play.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Smart exited the game in the third quarter after bumping knees with Collins on a screen. Smart told reporters after the game that X-rays were negative, but his status remains uncertain. &hellip; Boston had dropped two straight in San Antonio, last winning Nov. 9, 2019, at the AT&amp;T Center. ... White was honored prior to being announced in the starting lineup. White spent his first 4 1/2 seasons with the Spurs after being drafted 29th in 2017 out of Colorado. San Antonio traded White to Boston on Feb. 10 for Richardson, Langford and a first-round pick they used to select Blake Wesley 25th in 2022.
Spurs: Vassell will undergo arthroscopic left knee surgery Jan. 11 in New York. Popovich said Vassell will likely not return until after the All-Star Game, which is Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City. &hellip; Johnson sat out after suffering a strained left hamstring during the first half of Friday&rsquo;s victory against Detroit. &hellip; Poeltl missed the game with bursitis in his Achilles heel.
WELCOME HOME
White was honored with a video highlighting his time in San Antonio, which drew thunderous applause.
&ldquo;I was extremely thankful for it,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I always had great times here and the crowd was amazing. I was just extremely thankful and grateful for it, for them to do that for me.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, Jaylen Brown added 29 and the Boston Celtics beat the San Antonio Spurs 121-116.

Tatum, Brown help Celtics escape with 121-116 win over Spurs

Basketball News highlights the reporting, analysis and podcasts that defined a year of basketball in 2022.

Best of Basketball News: Spotlighting our top content from 2022

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Cole Anthony had 23 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, Franz Wagner added 21 points and the Orlando Magic beat the San Antonio Spurs 133-113 on Friday night for their eighth victory in nine games.
Paolo Banchero had 18 points and six rebounds, and Mo Bamba broke open a close game with three 3-pointers in a 51-second span in the fourth quarter.
Keldon Johnson led San Antonio with 17 points. Tre Jones had 16 points and eight assists.
The Magic made 17 of 32 3-point shots and scored 72 points in the second half. Anthony, who came off the bench with 4:49 left in the first quarter, led everyone on both teams in points, rebounds and assists, finishing an assist shy of his first triple-double since high school.
&ldquo;Obviously, he was flirting on the triple-double, but the one thing I love the most is he didn&rsquo;t chase a stat,&rdquo; Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. &ldquo;He respected the game and just went after what we needed to win.&rdquo;
&ldquo;When it happens, it&rsquo;s going to happen naturally. I wasn&rsquo;t going to force it,&rdquo; Anthony said. &ldquo;I tried to distribute the ball and they made the shots. But all the credit goes to the team. They got me a lot of easy shots and they put me in position to get those rebounds.&rdquo;
Johnson scored eight points and Doug McDermott hit a couple of 3-pointers in a 24-10 run that gave the Spurs a nine-point lead late in the first half. But the game got away from them quickly in the third quarter.
&ldquo;We played two and three quarters quarters well," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, &ldquo;but we have a hard time putting together a 48-minute game. We saw that when the defense collapsed at the end of the third quarter into the fourth when they outscored us in a 10-minute period 46-20. So we&rsquo;ve seen it before and we saw it tonight.&rdquo;
Banchero had a 3-pointer and a layup and set up Wendell Carter and Wagner with assists to help the Magic regain the lead late in the third quarter, and Bamba and Anthony quickly stretched it to double figures early in the fourth.
Bamba and Anthony scored 14 points in a 17-1 run that turned a two-point lead into an 18-point advantage with 8:31 remaining.
TIP-INS
Spurs: F Jeremy Sochan and C Jakob Poeltl played the second half in foul trouble. ... Keldon Johnson played 31 minutes after missing two games with a tight right hamstring. ... G Blake Wesley (MCL strain) was back with the team for a second game after being brought up from the G League, but did not play.
Magic: Carter played for the first time since Nov. 18, having missed 18 games due to right plantar fascia. He played 19 minutes, contributing eight points and four rebounds. &ldquo;The sky is the limit for this team,&rdquo; Carter said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just excited to be part of it.&rdquo; ... G Gary Harris had nine points in 21 minutes after missing 11 games with a right hamstring strain. ... Wagner had a plus/minus of plus-36, and Anthony had a plus-22.
UP NEXT
Spurs: Host Utah on Monday night.
Magic: Host Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Cole Anthony had 23 points, Franz Wagner added 21 points and the Orlando Magic beat the San Antonio Spurs 133-113.

Magic beat Spurs 133-113 for 8th victory in 9 games

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the list of eligible candidates for the Class of 2023, including several high-profile, first-time nominees including Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich, Dwyane Wade and the 1976 U.S. Olympic Women&rsquo;s Basketball Team. &nbsp; A first look at the list of eligible nominees was provided by &ldquo;NBA Today&rdquo; on ESPN; the complete list of eligible candidates can be found below. &nbsp; Finalists from the North American and Women&rsquo;s committee for the Class of 2023 will be announced on February 17, at 5:30 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City, Utah, during NBA All-Star Weekend. &nbsp; The entire Class of 2023, including those selected by the direct-elect committees, will be unveiled during the NCAA Final Four in Houston, Texas, on April 1, in a nationally televised broadcast at 11 a.m. EST.
NORTH AMERICAN NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ken Anderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Beilein (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Bess (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Chauncey Billups (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Chambers (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Clougherty (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Cooper (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joey Crawford (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Curran (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Eaton (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cliff Ellis (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Finley (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pau Gasol (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leonard Hamilton (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lou Henson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed Hightower (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; David Hixon (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Jackson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marques Johnson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Keady (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Larranaga (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Maurice Lucas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shawn Marion (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Rollie Massimino (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Motta (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dirk Nowitzki (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jake O&rsquo;Donnell (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tony Parker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Phelan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gregg Popovich (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bo Ryan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Stan Spirou (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Reggie Theus (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dwyane Wade (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Buck Williams (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Williamson (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Westhead (COA)
WOMEN&rsquo;S NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leta Andrews (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jennifer Azzi (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gary Blair (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Bruno (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Hammon (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Martin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Debbie Miller-Palmore (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kim Mulkey (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Still (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marian Washington (COA) &nbsp; INTERNATIONAL DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jackie Chazalon &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mirza Delibasic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dusan Ivkovic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Semen Khalipski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vladimir Kondrashin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Eduardo Lamas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marcos Leite &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shimon Mirrahi &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Amaury Pasos &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Manuel Sainz &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Togo Soares &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ranko Zeravica &nbsp; WOMEN&rsquo;S VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1976 US Olympic Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1982 Cheyney University NCAA Final Four Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Alline Banks Sprouse (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Edmonton Commercial Grads (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Head (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Yolanda Laney (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Nashville Business College (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lometa Odom (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Harley Redin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hazel Walker (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Walker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dean Weese (COA)*
CONTRIBUTOR DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pete Babcock &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Baumgartner &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Henry Bibby &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marty Blake &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vic Bubas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Collins &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wayne Duke &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Foster &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Gibbons &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Simon Gourdine &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tim Grgurich &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Junius Kellogg &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Johnny &ldquo;Red&rdquo; Kerr &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Konchalski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bobby Lewis &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred McCall &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McCloskey &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jon McGlocklin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Speedy Morris &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dennis Murphy &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Curly Neal &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Powers &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Will Robinson &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Shue &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Valvano &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donnie Walsh &nbsp; VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1936 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1972 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Barnett (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Blackburn (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sid Borgia (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Freddie Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Coleman (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Eckman (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leroy Edwards (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leo Ferris (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hy Gotkin (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Travis Grant (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Hartman (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cam Henderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert Hopkins (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Keinath (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Greg Kelser (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kentucky Wesleyan 1966, 1968, 1969 (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Love (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Loyola of Chicago (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Billy Markward (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed McCluskey (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McKinney (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Melchionni (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Francis Meehan (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lucias Mitchell (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donald &ldquo;Dudey&rdquo; Moore (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joe Mullaney (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Willie Naulls (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; North Catholic High School Junior Varsity (Philadelphia, PA) (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Don Otten (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Philadelphia SPHAS (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kevin Porter (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Glenn Roberts (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lennie Rosenbluth (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kenny Sailors (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred Schaus (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sam Schulman (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Silas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lambert Will (CONT)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Max Zaslofsky (PLA)

Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich and Dwyane Wade are among the candidates for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Basketball Hall of Fame announces candidates for Class of 2023

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; The Portland Trail Blazers are feeling better now that Damian Lillard is healthy.
Lillard had 37 points and the Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs 128-112 on Wednesday night for their third straight win.
Portland has had the NBA's most efficient offense while winning five of its last six games.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to have the No. 1 efficiency when your best player is not playing,&rdquo; coach Chauncey Billups said. &ldquo;So, you&rsquo;ve got to give him a lot of that credit.&rdquo;
Lillard is averaging 34.4 points per game in December after missing two weeks in late November with a strained muscle in his right leg.
Anfernee Simons added 23 points, Jerami Grant had 18 and Jusuf Nurkic 15 for Portland.
Keldon Johnson led San Antonio with 25 points, Doug McDermott added 14 and Keita Bates-Diop had 13.
The Spurs were seeking their fourth consecutive victory after losing 11 in a row, but they couldn&rsquo;t slow Lillard.
The star guard dazzled San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich, his coach on Team USA when it won a gold medal last year at the Tokyo Olympics.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s amazing,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;I was very happy he was on the Olympic team. Not happy tonight.&rdquo;
Lillard also had eight assists and five rebounds. He was 14 for 23 from the floor, including 7 of 14 from 3-point territory. He scored 22 points in the first half, the most the Spurs have allowed to an opponent this season.
&ldquo;His pace, his change of speed is so good right now,&rdquo; Billups said. &ldquo;In pick-and-rolls, he&rsquo;s keeping the defense off kilter so well. Obviously, he&rsquo;s such a threat to shoot it from wherever, but he&rsquo;s getting to that basket and he&rsquo;s making that extra play, the passes for the team. He&rsquo;s setting an incredible tone for us every night.&rdquo;
San Antonio cut Portland&rsquo;s lead to 85-78 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter on consecutive 3-pointers by Devin Vassell and Johnson. Vassell was fouled on his jumper and completed a four-point play.
Lillard then hit successive 3s in a 30-second span to help the Blazers maintain control.
&ldquo;Chauncey is very clear about what he wants and what guys&rsquo; jobs are, and everybody is executing,&rdquo; Lillard said.
Portland shot 60.5% from the field, including 18 for 40 (45%) from 3-point range.
The Blazers closed the first quarter on a 27-15 run after the Spurs took their first lead at 13-12 with 7:23 remaining.
Bates-Diop had eight of San Antonio&rsquo;s first 13 points in his return from a three-game absence. But the Spurs lost Zach Collins and Romeo Langford to injury Monday, and Jakob Poeltl and Blake Wesley also remained out.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Lillard averaged 38 points in his previous three games. &hellip; Not only was Blazers G Shaedon Sharpe whistled for traveling midway through the second quarter, official Kevin Scott mimicked Sharpe&rsquo;s move before signaling the violation. &hellip; G Gary Payton II continued his rehabilitation from offseason core muscle surgery. Payton&rsquo;s season debut is expected in the next couple of weeks as he has entered return-to-competition reconditioning.
Spurs: San Antonio is 0-17 when trailing by double digits this season. &hellip; Poeltl has missed seven straight games with a bruised right knee bone. &hellip; Collins and Langford both sprained their left ankles in San Antonio&rsquo;s victory over Cleveland on Monday.
NEW ROLE
Spurs center Charles Bassey made his first start in 41 career games. He finished with six points and five rebounds in 19 minutes while battling early foul trouble.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s just a young guy that is trying to find his place in the league,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;Those guys (on Portland) are very experienced.&rdquo;
The Spurs signed Bassey on Oct. 24 after he was cut by the Philadelphia 76ers.
&nbsp;

Damian Lillard had 37 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs 128-112 for their third straight win.

Lillard leads Blazers past Spurs 128-112 for 3rd straight

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Bones Hyland scored 24 points, Nikola Jokic added 21 and the Denver Nuggets shot over 60% from the field in a 126-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night.
Michael Porter Jr. added 15 points and Jamal Murray chipped in 13 for the Nuggets, who shot 53 of 87 (60.9%) and remained unbeaten in four games at home this season. &ldquo;We have a very unselfish team and we did some good things tonight,&rdquo; said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, taking note of Denver's season-high 37 assists. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just so happy we&rsquo;re playing well at home. Last year, we were not a very good home team. It&rsquo;s early in the season, but we&rsquo;re 4-0.&rdquo;
Keldon Johnson scored 25 points and Devin Vassell 20 for the Spurs, who lost their third in a row, including both ends of a back-to-back set.
Ahead by 19 points at the break, the Nuggets outscored the Spurs 29-25 in the third quarter, leaning on a 12-0 burst midway through the period for a 99-76 advantage heading into the final quarter. Porter capped the flurry by hitting a 3-pointer and a layup in succession, both off feeds from Jokic, who finished with 10 assists.
The Nuggets remained hot through the fourth quarter, buoyed by Hyland, who scored 17 of his points in the second half, including five of his six 3-pointers. &ldquo;What I liked most was it wasn&rsquo;t just the Bones show,&rdquo; Malone said of Hyland, who also had seven assists, five rebounds and two steals against just one turnover. &ldquo;He got everybody else involved. I&rsquo;m just really happy for him because the last week has been tough on him, dealing with the injury (hip soreness) and being in and out of the lineup. But he went out there and hooped tonight.&rdquo;
Hyland, who was held out of Thursday&rsquo;s game at Oklahoma City, said the rest was beneficial and he was able to quickly get in a groove.
&ldquo;I just felt like the basket was opening up, like an ocean out there,&rdquo; Hyland said. &ldquo;I was just having fun. Once I get in that mode, it&rsquo;s like unstoppable.&rdquo;
Making two thirds of their shots in the first half, the Nuggets took a 70-51 lead and led by as many as 23 points. They led by as many as 31 points in the second half. The Nuggets piled up the points with their fast break, outscoring San Antonio 26-8.
TIP-INS
Spurs: G Wesley Blake, who sustained a torn left medial collateral ligament Sunday against Minnesota, is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks. &hellip; The Spurs came into the game allowing an average of 120.7 points per game, second most in the NBA.
Nuggets: F Zeke Nnaji was ruled out after suffering a right ankle sprain Thursday at Oklahoma City. &hellip; G Ish Smith remained sidelined with a right calf strain. &hellip; Denver&rsquo;s 70-point first half was a point shy of their season high achieved in Thursday&rsquo;s win at Oklahoma City. &hellip; Denver also made 15 of its 29 3-point attempts (51.7%) compared to 40% for the Spurs (12 of 30).

Bones Hyland scored 24 points, Nikola Jokic added 21 and the Denver Nuggets scored a 126-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Hyland scores 24 points, Nuggets beat the Spurs 126-101

Nearly two weeks into the 2022-23 NBA season, there have been plenty of surprises.
The Portland Trail Blazers (5-1), Utah Jazz (5-2) and San Antonio Spurs (4-2) have gotten off to hot starts, while the Brooklyn Nets (1-5) and Miami Heat (2-5) have struggled early on.
There have been some shockers from a fantasy-basketball standpoint too. To help us break down the early fantasy returns, I reached out to <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeSGallagher" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Gallagher</a> of <a href="http://establishtherun.com/nba/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Establish the Run</a>, who&rsquo;s one of the top fantasy-basketball analysts in the business.
Gallagher shared his early surprises, must-adds, sell-highs, buy-lows and more!
It&rsquo;s still early, but which players have surprised you so far?
Michael Gallagher: &ldquo;Ja Morant. There was so much buzz on him improving his jumper to cut out some of the noise, and so far he&rsquo;s caught fire from the perimeter and from the line. I had a fade on him, and it&rsquo;s looking quite bad.
&ldquo;Andrew Wiggins has looked even better than postseason Wiggins. Earlier in his career, he was just a points-only guy, but the championship run of filling up the stat sheet has carried over.
&ldquo;Jaden McDaniels was a guy I was high on every year, but it just didn&rsquo;t seem like he could put it together with his constant foul trouble and lack of usage. This year, he went to P3 to work on his jumper, and it&rsquo;s translated to better shooting numbers.&rdquo;
Who are some players that should be owned in significantly more leagues?
Gallagher: &ldquo;It makes no sense that Trey Murphy III is only on 61% of Yahoo rosters. Sure, he&rsquo;s getting a nice boost from no Brandon Ingram and no Zion Williamson, but the coaching staff and players have been talking him up like crazy. I want to bet on this offense, and Murphy is a cheap way to do that.
&ldquo;Joshua Primo isn&rsquo;t on the Spurs anymore, so Josh Richardson is going to find plenty of minutes as long as he&rsquo;s on the roster (there&rsquo;s been some buzz about a possible trade). Devin Vassell will return at some point to take the upside case off him, but he should still produce. Keep an eye on Blake Wesley too.
&ldquo;Deni Avdija had a quiet game on Friday, but he&rsquo;s expected to pick up some extra ball-handling while Delon Wright (hamstring) is out.&rdquo;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_19304741.jpg" alt="" width="690" height="460" />
Are there any players that you are trying to buy-low or sell-high on?&nbsp;
Gallagher: &ldquo;Evan Mobley is off to a bit of a slow start, but he&rsquo;s just popped on the defensive end. Coach JB Bickerstaff had mentioned that he&rsquo;s still in preseason mode after he missed time in the preseason due to an ankle injury, so I would expect him to trend up quickly.
&ldquo;Jamal Murray is off to an extremely slow start, which is certainly expected given all the time off. ACL injuries aren&rsquo;t as debilitating these days, and it shouldn&rsquo;t be too long before he&rsquo;s starting to trend up.
&ldquo;Brook Lopez is absolutely rolling to start the year with his 4.0 blocks per game in four games. There&rsquo;s an outside chance he leads the league in blocks (I have a 150:1 ticket that he does!), but his injury history has been extensive [so he&rsquo;s a potential sell-high].
&ldquo;Jonas Valanciunas has also run very hot to start the year, but Zion Williamson&rsquo;s injury is really boosting him. We saw him lose closing duties earlier this year, and that&rsquo;ll happen more often as Willie Green gets his options back.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Who are some players to keep an eye on as this season progresses that could become a decent add down the road?
Gallagher: &ldquo;Jalen Williams is out after suffering an eye injury in his NBA debut, but the role was so good in the preseason. He played 1-through-4, and we&rsquo;ve already seen Mark Daigneault go to a small-ball four in Aaron Wiggins. Williams can do it all on the stat sheet, so I would want him on my team ASAP.
&ldquo;Not enough people are buying Jeremy Sochan. He&rsquo;s not going to score much, but the Spurs are going to use him as one of their defensive staples. The playing time should be there all year, and they&rsquo;re even letting him shoot three-pointers.
&ldquo;Markelle Fultz is still in a boot, but the Magic are getting nothing out of their point guards right now &ndash; partly because nobody is healthy at guard, but the fit with Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs has been weird (although it&rsquo;s not a big sample, of course).&rdquo;
What are your thoughts on this rookie class and what they have shown thus far?
Gallagher: &ldquo;Paolo Banchero is just unfair. He was 2:1 for ROY, and now he&rsquo;s close to -200. His offensive game is on another level.
&ldquo;Bennedict Mathurin can score with the best of &lsquo;em. He gets to the basket at will, and the minutes have been climbing. We should see the Pacers thin out their roster, and it won&rsquo;t be long before coach Rick Carlisle is turning him into the clear No. 2 option behind Tyrese Haliburton. Plus, Haliburton is dropping dimes like crazy to possibly boost him even more.&rdquo;
Be sure to check out <a href="https://establishtherun.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Establish the Run</a> for the most in-depth fantasy analysis.

Fantasy-basketball expert Michael Gallagher shares his must-adds, buy-lows, sell-highs, early surprises and more.

Fantasy basketball advice: Must-adds, sell-highs, buy-lows and more

Nikola Jokic is about to start his chase toward something that hasn&rsquo;t been done in nearly 40 years.
A player winning back-to-back NBA MVP awards is rare, something that&rsquo;s happened only 13 times in league history. And having done that last season, Jokic &mdash; the cornerstone of the Denver Nuggets &mdash; is now trying for something even more unusual: winning it three years in a row.
The only players who have pulled off that feat are Bill Russell (1961, 1962, 1963), Wilt Chamberlain (1966, 1967, 1968) and Larry Bird (1984, 1985, 1986).
The Nuggets aren't keeping that fact a secret from Jokic.
&ldquo;No, I challenged him,&rdquo; said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who flew to Serbia last summer to surprise Jokic with his second straight award.
Jokic is obviously among the favorites. Until this past season, there had never been a stretch of four consecutive international MVPs in the NBA. Jokic changed that, winning each of the last two awards after Milwaukee&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) won in 2019 and 2020.
And right now, it would seem almost likely that the MVP streak for non-U.S.-born players goes to five in a row, with Jokic, Antetokounmpo, Dallas&rsquo; Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and Philadelphia's Joel Embiid among the favorites. Embiid was born in Cameroon and holds French and now U.S. citizenship.
<a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba?tab=player-awards">FanDuel Sportsbook</a> says Doncic is the favorite, just ahead of Embiid and Antetokounmpo. Jokic is fourth in terms of lowest odds, tied with Brooklyn&rsquo;s Kevin Durant and just ahead of Memphis&rsquo; Ja Morant, Boston&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum and Golden State&rsquo;s Stephen Curry.
POP STUFF
San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich has faced 163 different coaches so far in his legendary career. That list should reach at least 166 this season, with him slated to oppose Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham, interim Boston coach Joe Mazzulla and former Spurs assistant Will Hardy &mdash; now the coach in Utah &mdash; all for the first time.
There have been 322 coaches in NBA history, not including Popovich, who have coached at least 10 games. Popovich, the NBA&rsquo;s all-time wins leader, has faced more than half of them &mdash; 50.3%, or 162.
Popovich turns 74 on Jan. 28, and he's the oldest active head coach in the NBA.
It's no secret that Popovich enjoys talking about and, of course, sipping fine wine. But six of the players on San Antonio's season-opening roster probably won't have much to say about that topic; Jordan Hall is 20 and the Spurs have five other players &mdash; Joshua Primo, Blake Wesley, Dominick Barlow, Malaki Branham and Jeremy Sochan &mdash; who are still 19 as this season begins.
The Spurs' group of 19-year-olds, incidentally, are five of the NBA's 17 youngest players who made rosters or got two-way deals to start the season.
SPO WATCH
Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra &mdash; whose tenure with the Heat is the second-longest of any current coach in his current job, behind only San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich &mdash; should move into the top 20 on the NBA&rsquo;s all-time wins list this season.
Spoelstra starts the season with 660 wins, behind No. 22 Mike Fratello (667), No. 21 Mike D&rsquo;Antoni (672) and No. 20 Red Holzman (696). No. 19 John MacLeod (707) is within legitimate reach for Spoelstra this season as well.
Philadelphia&rsquo;s Doc Rivers enters the year No. 9 on the list with 1,043 wins, which is 55 behind No. 8 Larry Brown. Indiana&rsquo;s Rick Carlisle has 861 wins, three back of No. 14 Jack Ramsay.
FIT TO BE TIED
For only the second time in the last 23 seasons, the Western Conference didn&rsquo;t win the season-long series against teams from the Eastern Conference.
In the regular season, the East went 226-224 against the West &mdash; bolstered by a 3-0 record on the final day with Chicago topping Minnesota, Boston rolling past Memphis and Atlanta defeating Houston.
Throw in Golden State&rsquo;s 4-2 mark against Boston in the NBA Finals, and the final games-won tally for the full season was West 228, East 228.
The only other time since 1998-99 that the East won the regular season series vs. the West was 2008-09, going 231-219. In the other 21 regular seasons over that span, before last year, the West had gone 5,149-3,910 vs. the East &mdash; a .568 winning percentage.
AGE GAME
The youngest player in the league entering this season is Detroit&rsquo;s Jalen Duren, who was born Nov. 18, 2003.
Yes, that means he wasn&rsquo;t born yet when some current players were already in the league. LeBron James and Udonis Haslem both played their 11th career games on the day Duren was born.
That isn&rsquo;t the only age quirk this season.
The 42-year-old Haslem is older than five current head coaches &mdash; New Orleans&rsquo; Willie Green, Memphis&rsquo; Taylor Jenkins, Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Mark Daigneault, Utah&rsquo;s Will Hardy and Boston interim coach Joe Mazzulla. Golden State&rsquo;s Andre Iguodala is older than than the last four names on that list; James is older than the last three.
There are 19 players currently on rosters who are older than Hardy (including Jazz players Rudy Gay and Mike Conley) and 23 players older than Mazzulla (including Boston forward Al Horford).
ODDS ARE
Oklahoma City has been favored in five games over the last two seasons. That&rsquo;s the fewest games in a two-year span by any team over the last decade; Philadelphia was favored in a combined six games over the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
That said, the Thunder were a great bet last season. They covered in 63% of their games, just behind Memphis (64%) for the best such rate in the NBA. The worst was Portland, which covered 38% of the time.
This much is certain: The team that was favored in more games than anyone else last season won&rsquo;t have that same distinction this year.
Last year, the Utah Jazz were favored in 73 of the 82 regular-season games, ahead of Phoenix (70), Milwaukee (66), Golden State (62), Boston (61) and Miami (59). With Donovan Mitchell now in Cleveland and Rudy Gobert now in Minnesota, the Jazz won&rsquo;t be favored anywhere near that often this season.
LEBRON CLIMBING
LeBron James isn&rsquo;t just on target to become the NBA&rsquo;s all-time scoring leader this season; he&rsquo;s 1,325 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and at his average career scoring pace would need about 49 games to move into the No. 1 spot.
He&rsquo;s also set to keep moving up a bunch of other lists, including:
&mdash; Assists: James is seventh right now with 10,045, behind No. 6 Magic Johnson (10,141), No. 5 Mark Jackson (10,334) and No. 4 Steve Nash (10,335). That would put him behind only John Stockton (15,806), Jason Kidd (12,091) and Chris Paul (10,977 entering this season).
&mdash; Games: James has been in 1,366, currently 14th-most all-time. He needs to appear in 27 games to pass Tim Duncan (1,392) for 10th on the NBA career list, and could potentially catch Kevin Willis (1,424) for eighth.
&mdash; 3-pointers: James is 11th in NBA history with 2,140, three behind Portland&rsquo;s Damian Lillard and the retired Paul Pierce, who enter this year tied for ninth.
&mdash; Seasons: James is entering Year 20. He&rsquo;ll be the ninth player to appear in 20 seasons.
SPEAKING OF 20
Miami&rsquo;s Udonis Haslem will be the 10th player to appear in 20 seasons, assuming that LeBron James gets into a game before Haslem does.
Haslem is one of only three players to spend 20 years with one team, joining Dallas&rsquo; Dirk Nowitzki (21) and the Lakers&rsquo; Kobe Bryant (20).
If Carmelo Anthony, who is unsigned, gets into a game this season, that'll mark Year 20 for the former Syracuse great as well.
REMEMBERING RUSSELL
All players will wear Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Russell's No. 6 on the right shoulder of their jerseys this season, commemorating the life of the 11-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics and civil rights activist who died this summer.
Also, all courts in the NBA will have a &ldquo;6" on the sideline near the scorer's table. And no player who isn't already wearing No. 6 will be allowed to wear it ever again; Russell is the first to have his number retired across the entire league.
Among those still wearing the No. 6 jersey because they were wearing them previously: LeBron James, Washington's Kristaps Porzingis and Chicago's Alex Caruso &mdash; who wanted to change numbers as a tribute to Russell this season, but said he had his request denied.
POINTS MARK
The NBA is 26,324 points away from reaching 14 million all-time.
A record 291,912 points were scored last season, including playoffs. There have been years where more points were scored on average per game &mdash; 16 of them, actually. NBA games saw an average of 220.6 points last season, 16 points per game less than the record of 236.6 set in 1961-62.
At last year's pace, the 14 millionth point would be scored roughly 120 games into this season. or sometime in early November.

The AP highlights important milestones, numbers and records in the NBA that could be achieved in the 2022-23 season.

NBA 2022-23: 10 things to know about the upcoming season

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; San Antonio is going to have a difficult time adding to the NBA-record career victories held by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
Take it from him.
&ldquo;To be a championship program, you have to have a couple of superstars on your team. We have all known that for a long time. That doesn&rsquo;t exist right now,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not a knock on these players, it&rsquo;s just a fact. To avoid that fact seems kind of senseless to me. What we have is a bunch of guys that can all be parts of a championship team if the other pieces arrive at some point.&rdquo;
The Spurs have talent. They are just young and inexperienced.
Forward Keldon Johnson, who celebrated his 23rd birthday Tuesday, is the team&rsquo;s leader along with 26-year-old center Jakob Poeltl and 22-year-old Devin Vassell. San Antonio also has four promising 19-year-olds in rookies Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley, along with Josh Primo, who is entering his second season.
The Spurs open their 50th season in San Antonio on Oct. 19 at home against the Charlotte Hornets.
&ldquo;We are going out there to win,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;I feel like we are capable of winning. We are not backing down from anybody. I feel like whoever we are playing, that is who we are going to go after. We aren&rsquo;t taking a back seat to no one, and that&rsquo;s for all 82 games.&rdquo;
The Spurs will of course surely add to Popovich&rsquo;s 1,344 career victories, but it be more difficult following the offseason trade of Dejounte Murray, the team&rsquo;s starting point guard and lone All-Star.
Over the past six years, the Spurs have lost Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, DeMar DeRozan and Murray to retirement, trades or free agency.
San Antonio is projected to miss the playoffs this season and instead vie for something more coveted than an eighth seed in the Western Conference. Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-2 center from France, is projected to be the top pick in next year&rsquo;s NBA draft. The Spurs, Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder are expected to scramble for the league&rsquo;s worst record and the best statistical chance for the top pick.
The last time San Antonio held the No. 1 pick they selected Duncan, who guided the Spurs to five championships and league-record tying 22 straight postseason appearances.
MEET THE NEW BOSS
Johnson has emerged as team leader as much out of necessity as his play on the court. Entering his fourth season with the team, Johnson and Poeltl are the longest-tenured players with the Spurs.
&ldquo;I definitely feel like a leader,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;Whether it&rsquo;s leading by example or being vocal. I think with these young guys, I can definitely speak my opinion and show them the right way.&rdquo;
RETURNING
Johnson and Primo missed the first three preseason games due to injury, but both were expected to play the final two contests in preparation for the season opener. Primo suffered a strained left MCL at the start of training camp and Johnson dislocated his right shoulder during a pre-camp workout.
KID GLOVES
The tough love Popovich meted on Parker in his rookie season has become notorious. Both can laughingly reminisce about the screams that drove Parker to tears as an 18-year-old, but don&rsquo;t expect a repeat of that treatment for the Spurs&rsquo; teenagers.
&ldquo;No, luckily that was a phase in the past,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;Because as I have told you often, I would be in jail if I treat anyone now like I treated Tony. For sure, I would be in jail.&rdquo;
ZACH IS BACK
Zach Collins played 28 games last season for the Spurs after missing all but 11 games the previous two seasons due to shoulder and foot injuries.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s still hesitant with his shot,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good shooter. We want him to shoot it, but he doesn&rsquo;t seem totally confident yet. But, I think he feels much healthier than he did last year. More confident in his body.&rdquo;
The 6-foot-11 center averaged 7.8 points and 5.5 rebounds while starting four games in his first season in San Antonio.
NOT FORGOTTEN
The Spurs traded Murray to Atlanta in the offseason for three first-round picks and forward Danilo Gallinari, who signed with Boston after being waived by San Antonio.
Murray was 19 when he was drafted by the Spurs out of Washington in 2016. The 26-year-old was mentored as a player and a person by Popovich.
&ldquo;He and his daughter, watching him grow as a father, and watching the things he would do in that regard, are much more in the front of my mind than the triple-doubles that he got or anything like that,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;So, the basketball sort of fades when you get to know these people over time, and he was here a good time.&rdquo;

The San Antonio Spurs have talent. They are just young and inexperienced.

Young Spurs eagerly await 'other pieces' in transition year

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker may be walking through that door at the San Antonio Spurs' practice facility, but they are only coming to visit.
In their place on the court is a bunch of fresh-faced youngsters who may want to wear a name tag to curry favor with 73-year-old coach Gregg Popovich.
&ldquo;I walked into the film room today, and there was this young kid sitting there, and I said, &lsquo;Who the hell are you?&rsquo;&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;Seriously. He said &hellip; I forgot his name already. I don&rsquo;t know anybody.&rdquo;
The franchise that won five NBA championships and matched a league record with 22 straight postseason appearances now has the equivalent of summer interns walking the halls.
Duncan, Parker and Ginobili have long retired and the team&rsquo;s plans for life after The Big Three were sidetracked following the trades of young stars like Kawhi Leonard in 2018, Derrick White last season and Dejounte Murray this offseason.
Instead, the 50th edition of the Spurs is the youngest in franchise history. They are so young that 19-year-old Josh Primo has become a mentor to Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley &ndash; the 19-year-olds San Antonio drafted in the first round this year.
Still, it&rsquo;s an opportunity to teach that Popovich seems to relish.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s still around here smiling and excited each and every day,&rdquo; said forward Keldon Johnson, who will turn 23 in mid-October. &ldquo;We are already excited, high energy, yelling and things like that, but to see him come along with us and smiling is something big.&rdquo;
Popovich considered last season a chance to develop his young roster. That plan is amplified this season with at least 10 players 25 or younger.
&ldquo;I probably shouldn&rsquo;t say this, but I&rsquo;ll say it anyway, what the hell: Nobody here should go to Vegas with the thought of betting on us to win that championship,&rdquo; Popovich said.
The Spurs do return veterans Jakob Poeltl at center, Doug McDermott at forward and Josh Richardson at guard. And some players are not giving up on the playoffs.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited for us,&rdquo; Spurs guard Devin Vassell said. &ldquo;I think we can surprise a lot of people. I think that as long as we play together, and we play the right way, we&rsquo;ll have a chance to win every game.&rdquo;
STILL IN SHOCK
Murray&rsquo;s offseason trade to Atlanta caught his teammates by surprise. He became an All-Star last season and blossomed into the team&rsquo;s leader at just 25.
Spurs general manager Brian Wright said the opportunity to acquire three first-round picks and a potential fourth in a pick swap was too good to pass up.
&ldquo;Man, it was tough because he was like a big brother my first year,&rdquo; Primo said. &ldquo;He taught me so much. He was a great leader for me. Hearing it, I was shocked in a lot of ways. I had to understand that it is a great opportunity for him, but also for the rest of us. So, it works out for both parties.&rdquo;
INJURY REPORT
Johnson suffered a right shoulder posterior dislocation after getting &ldquo;tangled up&rdquo; with a teammate last week during workouts at the Spurs&rsquo; practice facility. Johnson will miss the start of training camp but expects to play in San Antonio&rsquo;s season opener Oct. 19 against Charlotte.
STARTING OVER
Popovich said Poeltl will start at center for the Spurs but was non-committal about who else will join the six-year veteran.
Johnson should return to the starting lineup once he is healthy and Vassell started at guard following White&rsquo;s trade to Boston last season. McDermott also returns after starting all 51 games he played last season.
Primo is expected to vie with two-year veteran Tre Jones to start at point guard.
BIGGEST FAN
Seeing Becky Hammon win the WNBA Championship in her first season as head coach of the Las Vegas Aces was &ldquo;one of the greatest days of the summer for me and the coaches,&rdquo; Popovich said.
Hammon spent eight seasons as a Spurs assistant.
After attending Game 2 of the WNBA Finals in Las Vegas, Popovich cheered from his San Antonio home as the Aces beat the Connecticut Sun to claim the franchise&rsquo;s first championship.
&ldquo;In a larger sense, I miss the heck out of her,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;She was there at every meal on the road when she was here and helped me be a better coach. She is a lovely person. Just any time we are able to spend with her is a real joy.&rdquo;
OOPS
Popovich was sporting a clean-shaven look after having a beard last season. The change wasn&rsquo;t intentional, he admitted.
&ldquo;I was trying to make it look like I was really trying to take care of it and I did something and half of it was gone and I had to shave it all off,&rdquo; Popovich said.

As the San Antonio Spurs enter its 50th season, coach Gregg Popovich relishes the chance to develop his young roster.