Hornets

Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford is expected to step down from his head coaching position to take a front-office role with the franchise, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Clifford, 62, has led the Hornets to a 45-112 overall record in two seasons, which have been riddled with injuries to young players LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams.&nbsp;
According to sources, new Charlotte owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin were open to bringing him back as coach next season, but Clifford thought he wasn't prepared to commit to the year-round grind of head coaching for the 2024-2025 season. He will coach them for their final 7 games.
Clifford informed his players and staff on Wednesday of the decision, which will allow the Hornets to immediately start searching for a new head coach for next season.
Among the league&rsquo;s assistant coaching candidates expected to be considered in the Charlotte process are Jordi Fernandez (SAC), Charles Lee (BOS), Chris Quinn (MIA), and Kevin Young (PHX).
Coaching the Hornets next season will be appealing following the emergence of 2023 no.2 overall pick Brandon Miller with the impending return of Ball and Williams. All three players would be paired with the new players acquired from this year&rsquo;s trade deadline as well as the projected lottery pick in next season&rsquo;s draft as the organization pivots to a new era of winning basketball under their new ownership.

Hornets head coach Steve Clifford is expected to step down from his head coaching position to take a front-office role with the franchise.

Steve Clifford to step down as Charlotte Hornets coach at end of season

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced today at NBA All-Star Weekend 2024 the selection of 14 finalists from the following committees: North American, Women&rsquo;s, Men&rsquo;s Veterans, Women&rsquo;s Veterans, International, and Contributors.
The finalists will then be put forward to the Honors Committee to be considered for election as members of the Class of 2024. The new class will be announced in Phoenix on April 6 at the NCAA Men&rsquo;s Final Four.
North American Committee Finalists (in alphabetical order):
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Chauncey Billups</li>
<li>Vince Carter</li>
<li>Michael Cooper</li>
<li>Walter Davis</li>
<li>Bo Ryan</li>
<li>Charles Smith</li>
</ul>
Women's Committee Finalists:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Seimone Augustus</li>
<li>Marian Washington</li>
</ul>
Men&rsquo;s Veteran Committee Finalist:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Dick Barnett</li>
</ul>
Women's Veteran Committee Finalist:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Harley Redin</li>
</ul>
International Committee Finalist:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Michele Timms</li>
</ul>
Contributors Committee Finalists:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Doug Collins</li>
<li>Herb Simon</li>
<li>Jerry West</li>
</ul>
"Being named a Finalist for the Class of 2024 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is a testament to the highest echelons of achievement in the sport,&rdquo; said Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. &ldquo;It's an honor that reflects not only individual greatness but also the long-lasting impact on the game itself. From the strategic brilliance of coaches to the unmatched abilities of players and the influential roles of a coach/broadcaster, an esteemed owner, and a dynasty-building executive, each Finalist embodies the pinnacle of basketball excellence. Their inclusion underscores the diverse contributions that have shaped and enriched the sport, making this recognition truly exceptional."
The Class of 2024 will be enshrined during festivities in Springfield, Mass., on August 16-17. VIP packages for the 2024 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend are now available. Single-event tickets will go on sale on April 6, following the 2024 Class Announcement.
North American Committee Finalists:
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash; Nicknamed "Mr. Big Shot" for his ability to deliver crucial plays in pivotal moments, Billups was a five-time NBA All-Star and the 2004 Finals MVP after leading the Detroit Pistons to their third NBA championship. During his 17-year career, Billups&rsquo; averaged 15.2 points and 5.4 assists per game, while his&nbsp; 89.4&nbsp; free throw percentage is sixth best in NBA/ABA history. Billups was drafted third overall in 1997 by the Boston Celtics after earning Second Team All-American honors at Colorado. He is the current head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.
VINCE CARTER&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash; Renowned for his high-flying dunks, the former North Carolina standout was an eight-time All-Star in his 22 NBA seasons (1998-2020). Carter, who won the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, was named the 1998-99 Rookie of the Year and is the only player in NBA history to play in four different decades. Carter averaged 16.7 points per game (21.3 as a starter) and also played a pivotal role in the success of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, clinching a gold medal with the U.S. Men's Basketball Team. He currently holds the single-season franchise scoring record for the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors.
MICHAEL COOPER&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Cooper was named to eight NBA All-Defensive Teams, taking home First-Team accolades five times and winning Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1987. The former third-round draft pick (60th overall) out of the University of New Mexico spent his entire 12-year NBA career (1978-90) with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning five championships while routinely matching up with the opponent&rsquo;s top shooter. Following his playing career, Cooper entered the coaching ranks and earned WNBA Coach of the Year accolades in 2000 with the Los Angeles Sparks before winning back-to-back WNBA titles in 2001-02.
WALTER DAVIS&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;The all-time leading scorer in Phoenix Suns&rsquo; history was a six-time All-Star (1978-81, &lsquo;84, &lsquo;87) during his 15-year NBA career with the Suns (1977-88), Denver Nuggets (1988-92) and Portland Trail Blazers (1991). Before Phoenix chose Davis with the fifth pick in the 1977 draft, the standout player from North Carolina won a gold medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics. He then averaged 24.2 points per game in his first NBA season and was named the 1978 Rookie of the Year. The late Davis had&nbsp;his No. 6 retired by the Suns, and in 2004, he was enshrined in the team's Ring of Honor.
BO RYAN&nbsp;[Coach] &ndash;&nbsp;Ryan went 747-233 (.762) in 32 seasons as a collegiate head coach with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville (1984-89), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1999-2001) and University of Wisconsin (2001-15), including a 364-130 (.737) ledger in 14-plus seasons in Madison. Ryan, honored four times as the Big Ten Coach of the Year, led Wisconsin to unprecedented success, clinching four Big Ten regular-season titles, winning three Big Ten tournament championships, and making back-to-back Final Four appearances (2014-15). The four-time Division III champion (1991, &lsquo;95, &lsquo;98-99) was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
CHARLES SMITH&nbsp;[Coach] &ndash; Smith is Louisiana's all-time winningest high school head coach, surpassing the previous mark of 1,071 in 2020. With eight state championships to his name, Smith&rsquo;s coaching tenure at Peabody Magnet High School began in 1985 after starting as a math teacher in 1975. He guided the Warhorses to a pair of perfect seasons, going 41-0 in 2004 and 2010 and earning national top-five rankings. Smith, ESPN&rsquo;s National Coach of the Year in 2010, was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2021. In addition, Smith served as a head coach at the McDonald&rsquo;s All-American game in 2020.
Women&rsquo;s Committee Finalists:
SEIMONE AUGUSTUS&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Augustus, who was selected first overall in the 2006 WNBA Draft, was a four-time champion and eight-time All-Star during her 15-year WNBA career (2006-2020). The cornerstone player for the Minnesota Lynx, where she spent 14 of her 15 seasons, averaged 15.4 points per game and was named the 2006 Rookie of the Year and 2011 Finals MVP. At LSU, Augustus led the Tigers to three straight Final Four appearances and won the Naismith College Player of the Year and Wooden Awards in back-to-back campaigns (2005-06).
MARIAN WASHINGTON&nbsp;[Coach] &ndash; Washington led the University of Kansas women&rsquo;s basketball team for 31 seasons (1973-2004) and recorded a school-record 560 wins. The Jayhawks made 11 NCAA tournament appearances under her guidance, including two trips to the Sweet 16 (1996, &lsquo;97). Washington, who also served as Kansas&rsquo; director for women&rsquo;s athletics from 1974-79, was named her conference&rsquo;s Coach of the Year on three occasions (Big Eight: 1992, &rsquo;96; Big 12: 1997). She was a pioneer on the international stage, becoming one of the first two African American women to compete in basketball internationally at the 1971 World Championships and the first black woman to coach a United States team in international play at the 1982 R. William Jones Cup. Washington, who was the first female president of the Black Coaches Association, was inducted into the Women&rsquo;s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.
Men&rsquo;s Veteran Committee Finalist:
DICK BARNETT&nbsp;[Player] &ndash;&nbsp;Barnett first gained prominence at Tennessee A&amp;I University, where he led the Tigers to three straight NAIA national championships (1957-59), the first historically black school to claim a men&rsquo;s basketball title. The &ldquo;Skull&rdquo; played 14 NBA seasons with the Syracuse Nationals (1959-61), Los Angeles Lakers (1962-65) and New York Knicks (1965-73), winning a pair of titles in the Big Apple (1970, &lsquo;73) and making his lone All-Star team in 1968. The Knicks retired his No. 12, and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame honored his 1957&ndash;59 Tigers squad in 2019.
Women&rsquo;s Veteran Committee Finalists:
HARLEY REDIN&nbsp;[Coach]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Redin went 431-66 in 18 seasons leading Wayland Baptist&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s basketball program and captured six AAU National Championships. He coached the Flying Queens to two undefeated women&rsquo;s seasons (1956, &lsquo;57), 17 top-five finishes, and went 110-2 during his first four campaigns at Wayland Baptist. Redin also coached the Women&rsquo;s U.S. National Team in 1959, the 1971 Pan-American Games, and the 1963 World Tournament in Peru. He was the recipient of the Jostens-Berenson Service Award by the Women&rsquo;s Basketball Coaches Association for his lifetime of service to women&rsquo;s basketball in 1992, inducted into the Women&rsquo;s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999, and honored with the Naismith Award for Outstanding Contribution to the game of women&rsquo;s basketball in 2000.
International Committee Finalist:
MICHELE TIMMS&nbsp;[Player]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;A trailblazer in Australian women&rsquo;s basketball, Timms became well-known as one of the best point guards in the world, representing the Australian national team throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Timms won a pair of Olympic medals with the Opals, winning bronze in 1996 and silver in 2000, and was the first Australian, male or female, to play professional basketball internationally when she suited up for Lotus M&uuml;nchen in Germany. In addition, Timms spent five seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, guiding the team to a berth in the 1998 WNBA Finals and earning an All-Star selection in 1999. The Sport Australia Hall of Fame inducted her in 2003, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008, and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016. The Mercury retired her No. 7 jersey in 2002.
Contributor Committee Finalists:
DOUG COLLINS&nbsp;[Coach/broadcaster]&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Collins' versatile career in basketball is marked by significant achievements in roles ranging from player to coach to broadcaster, underscoring his wide-ranging impact on the sport. Following an NBA career where he was a four-time All-Star with the Philadelphia 76ers, he transitioned into coaching and accumulated over 400 wins with the Chicago Bulls (1986-89), Detroit Pistons (1995-98), Washington Wizards (2001-03) and 76ers (2010-13). Collins, who coached Hall of Famer Michael Jordan in both Chicago and Washington,&nbsp;also served as an analyst for various NBA-related broadcasts for CBS, NBC, TNT, TBS, and ABC/ESPN, along with working for NBC at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
HERB SIMON&nbsp;[Owner] &ndash; Simon, the longest-tenured governor in the history of the NBA, purchased the Indiana Pacers, along with his late brother Mel, back in 1983. Under Simon&rsquo;s stewardship, the Pacers won numerous Central Division titles and made the franchise&rsquo;s first NBA Finals in 2000. Throughout his ownership period, the Pacers have been home to legendary players like Jermaine O&rsquo;Neal, Rik Smits, and Reggie Miller (Class of 2012). Beyond ownership, Simon's influence extends deeply into the heart of the Pacers&rsquo; organization, shaping its identity and impact both on and off the court through his philanthropic endeavors and civic engagement.
JERRY WEST&nbsp;[Executive] &ndash; Enshrined as a player in 1980, West then went on to establish himself off the court as one of the most successful executives in the sport&rsquo;s history. West played a pivotal role as the architect of a pair of Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; dynasties during the 1980s and 2000s, drafting key players like Magic Johnson and James Worthy, acquiring Kobe Bryant, signing free agent Shaquille O'Neal, and hiring head coach Phil Jackson. He totaled eight NBA championships in Los Angeles (1980, &lsquo;82, &lsquo;85, &lsquo;87-88, 2000-02) and was named Executive of the Year twice (1995, 2004). Following his time in the Lakers&rsquo; front office (1979-2000), West served as GM of the Memphis Grizzlies from 2002-07 before earning two additional NBA championships as an executive with the Golden State Warriors (2015, &lsquo;17).

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the 14 finalists for the class of 2024 including Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announces 14 finalists in class of 2024

The NBA today announced Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo as the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner for the month of December.&nbsp;
Antetokounmpo is being recognized for his efforts throughout Season of Giving &ndash; an annual five-week celebration beginning in mid-November that runs through December when NBA teams and players give back by supporting and uplifting youth, families, and organizations in their communities. Antetokounmpo will receive the David Robinson trophy and the NBA will donate $10,000 to the Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation.&nbsp;
Throughout December, Antetokounmpo hosted special events to give back to Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin. On December 14, he hosted 100 youth from the Boys &amp; Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee for a special movie night and holiday shopping experience. Antetokounmpo provided transportation, food and beverages and rented two movie theaters for a screening of the film &ldquo;Wonka." After the movie, each child received a gift card to Target to spend on gifts for themselves and family members. Antetokounmpo spent time shopping with the children and helping them pick gifts for their loved ones. He also helped to provide basic clothing, winter accessories and other household items for the youth. More than 90% of the children from the Boys &amp; Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee qualify for free or reduced lunch, furthering Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s passion to provide a special experience that many kids could not typically afford. On December 16, Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks hosted seven youth from Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, with three families coming from Greece to meet him. As part of the experience, the youth signed one-day team contracts with the team, watched practice and met Antetokounmpo prior to the game.&nbsp; He signed jerseys, shoes and basketballs for all the kids from Make-A-Wish.
Also in December, Antetokounmpo and his family hosted their third annual Christmas event, where the family hosted 300 Milwaukee foster families for a night of holiday cheer and celebrations. Children in foster care were able to enjoy an evening of balloon artists, face painting, dance parties and other games and crafts. Each child received a photo with Santa and the Milwaukee Bucks mascot, Bango.&nbsp; The foster parents were also able to visit a holiday gift shop to pick out toys and clothes for the children.&nbsp; Volunteers helped wrap presents so each family could go home with wrapped gifts to put under their Christmas tree.&nbsp;
In addition to Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s Season efforts throughout December, he tipped off Season of Giving with his family by spending Thanksgiving Day serving dinner to 86 men living in shelter at Guest House Milwaukee. The family paid for a catered meal and served dinner to the residents. Antetokounmpo also ensured each resident received new blankets and socks, which are critical necessities for individuals in shelter as they face winter in Wisconsin. In October, Antetokounmpo hosted The Big Give Back, a diaper and fundraising drive for the Milwaukee Diaper Mission. The Big Give Back raised over $180,000 and provided more than 10,000 diaper donations.
&ldquo;I am fortunate to be in a position where I can give back to the communities that have raised me,&rdquo; said Antetokounmpo. &ldquo;Building my legacy on the court has been fun these past 10 years, but being able to take the next step in my career and build a legacy of giving back with my family is what has been truly rewarding.&rdquo;
Antetokounmpo will be recognized in-arena as the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner during pre-game of the Jan. 27 Pelicans-Bucks game. Bucks General Manager Jon Horst and Bucks and Fiserv Forum President Peter Feigin will present him with the David Robinson trophy.
The NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award honors Bob Lanier, an NBA League Office executive and NBA Cares Ambassador for more than 30 years. He had an enormous influence on the NBA family and young people globally, traveling the world to teach the values of the game and making a positive impact through his kindness and generosity.&nbsp;
Each monthly winner receives the David Robinson trophy and the NBA makes a donation to the charity or foundation of the player&rsquo;s choice.&nbsp;

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner for the month of December.

Giannis Antetokounmpo wins Bob Lanier Community Assist Award for December

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)
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/vw2.jpg" alt="" width="711" height="400" />
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

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Memphis guard Ja Morant not being charged with a crime for twice displaying a gun on social media will not prevent the NBA from handing down more discipline, Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday.
Silver is preparing to announce whatever penalty is coming Morant&rsquo;s way for the second gun incident shortly after the end of the NBA Finals. He suspended Morant for eight games in March after the Grizzlies star held a gun in a suburban Denver nightclub while streaming himself live on Instagram. Another live stream in May, this time while sharing the front seat of a car with one of his friends, saw Morant displaying a weapon again.
&ldquo;Waving them around, displaying them in a certain context, is not consistent with gun safety and is not the proper message that an NBA player, particularly one at Ja&rsquo;s level, should be sending to the tens of millions of followers he has &mdash; and particularly when it&rsquo;s an incident once again, where it&rsquo;s been streamed live on social media,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;So yes, I think given the similarity of this incident to the first one, I was alarmed, I was disheartened.&rdquo;
Police in Colorado looked into the March incident and did not file charges. Morant has also not been charged with doing anything illegal related to the May incident.
But the collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players also says players agree &ldquo;not to do anything that is materially detrimental or materially prejudicial to the best interests&rdquo; of their team or the NBA. That&rsquo;s why Morant&rsquo;s eight-game suspension in March was for conduct detrimental to the league, and it&rsquo;s reasonable to assume that will be part of the sanctioning that Morant will face this time.
&ldquo;When we have a standard for conduct detrimental, at the end of the day, it&rsquo;s one based on what we see as the values of this league and what our expectations from our players in terms of the image we&rsquo;re portraying to our fans,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;So, it&rsquo;s not a legal standard. It&rsquo;s a private organization standard.&rdquo;
Silver announced Thursday that the league and the National Basketball Players Association agree that the latest Morant penalty should not be announced during the finals. Morant has been suspended by the Grizzlies indefinitely, and with the team obviously off until camp this fall there&rsquo;s no urgency for the NBA to announce its decision.
Silver also insisted that his decision is not going to be a political one, even in a time where the topic of gun control only seems to be widening the political divide across the country.
There have been 557 mass killings in the United States since 2006, and at least 2,896 people have died, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. Those include killings where four or more died, not including the assailant, within a 24-hour period. So far in 2023, the nation has witnessed the highest number on record of mass killings and deaths to this point in a single year.
&ldquo;This, to me, is an issue of gun safety,&rdquo; Silver said.
This is the third known NBA investigation surrounding Morant and the possible involvement of firearms so far in 2023.
Morant&rsquo;s actions were investigated after a Jan. 29 incident in Memphis that he said led to Davonte Pack &mdash; someone Morant calls &ldquo;my brother&rdquo; and the person who live-streamed the May incident &mdash; banned from Grizzlies home games for a year.
That incident followed a game against the Indiana Pacers; citing unnamed sources, The Indianapolis Star and USA Today reported that multiple members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them while they were near the loading dock where their bus was located, and The Athletic reported that a Pacers security guard believed the laser was attached to a gun.
The NBA confirmed that individuals it didn&rsquo;t identify were banned from the arena but said its investigation into the January event found no evidence that anyone was threatened with a weapon.
Morant and Pack also are involved in a civil lawsuit brought after an incident at Morant&rsquo;s home last summer, in which a then-17-year-old alleged that they assaulted him. Morant filed a countersuit on April 12, accusing the teen of slander, battery and assault.

Ja Morant not being charged with a crime will not prevent the NBA from handing down more discipline, Adam Silver said Friday.

Silver: Morant not being charged with a crime won’t prevent NBA penalties

Ja Morant spoke out Tuesday night about&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-gun-video-investigation-ce4081ab6036570ab2703be26f842743">his latest troubles</a>, three days after the Memphis guard apparently held a firearm again while being broadcast on social media and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-nba-investigation-gun-7fe15dae343f85d0366a4c959d5313b3">was suspended by the Grizzlies</a>&nbsp;from all team activities.
He&rsquo;s also being investigated by the NBA for his actions, two months after the league&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-grizzlies-nba-gun-investigation-instagram-863e2f6217ab2ba438a85a31e4a492d5">suspended him for essentially the same thing</a>&nbsp;&mdash; displaying a gun on social media.
&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me,&rdquo; Morant said in a statement released Tuesday night by his representatives. &ldquo;This is a journey and I recognize there is more work to do. My words may not mean much right now, but I take full accountability for my actions. I&rsquo;m committed to continuing to work on myself.&rdquo;
His comments came a few hours after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment over the situation. Silver handed down an eight-game suspension in March; there is no way of knowing yet what penalties Morant may face this time.
&ldquo;Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,&rdquo; Silver said in a televised interview with ESPN before the draft lottery in Chicago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the process of investigating it and we&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video&rsquo;s a bit grainy and all that, but I&rsquo;m assuming the worst. We&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened there.&rdquo;
The first video, which cost Morant about $669,000 in forfeited salary, came out in March. The second was captured Saturday night and widely shared online. It was streamed on the Instagram account of Morant associate Davonte Pack, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Grizzlies have not commented on the specifics of the latest video.
The video streamed by Pack shows Morant briefly appearing to display a handgun. At the very brief moment &mdash; maybe less than a second &mdash; when Morant is shown holding what appears to be a weapon as he sits in the passenger seat of a vehicle, the livestream had 111 viewers.
&ldquo;He could have injured, maimed, killed himself, someone else, with an act like that,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;And also the acknowledgement that he&rsquo;s a star. He has an incredibly huge following. And my concern &mdash; and I thought he shared with me &mdash; that millions if not tens of millions of kids globally would see him as having done something that was celebrating in a way that act of using a firearm in that fashion.&rdquo;
Morant said in March that he needed to work on himself, and when the season ended a couple weeks ago, he offered similar thoughts.
&ldquo;Being disciplined on both sides, off the court making better decisions and on the court being locked in even more,&rdquo; Morant said. &ldquo;Being a leader of this team, it pretty much starts with me. ... I&rsquo;ve got to be better in that area.&rdquo;
Morant&rsquo;s five-year, $194 million max contract is set to begin this coming season. He has deals with Nike and Powerade, though the sports drink company pulled an ad featuring Morant almost immediately after the March video emerged.
This is the third known NBA investigation surrounding Morant and the possible involvement of firearms so far in 2023.
Morant&rsquo;s actions were investigated after a Jan. 29 incident in Memphis that he said led to Pack banned from Grizzlies&rsquo; home games for a year. That incident followed a game against the Indiana Pacers; citing unnamed sources, The Indianapolis Star and USA Today reported that multiple members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them while they were near the loading dock where their bus was located, and The Athletic reported that a Pacers security guard believed the laser was attached to a gun.
The NBA confirmed that unnamed individuals were banned from the arena but said its investigation found no evidence that anyone was threatened with a weapon.
Then came the Denver-area incident in the early hours of March 4, after the Grizzlies played a road game against the Nuggets when Morant started a livestream from inside a strip club while holding a gun. No charges were filed.
Morant and Pack also are involved in a civil lawsuit brought after an incident at Morant&rsquo;s home last summer, in which a then-17-year-old alleged that they assaulted him. Morant filed a countersuit on April 12, accusing the teen of slander, battery and assault.

Ja Morant spoke out Tuesday about his latest troubles, three days after he apparently waved a firearm again in an Instagram video.

Ja Morant takes accountability after holding gun in another video

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment Tuesday that Memphis guard Ja Morant apparently held a firearm again on social media this past weekend, but did not predict what punishment the league may impose.
Morant has already been suspended him from all team activities by the Grizzlies and the league has opened another investigation into the star guard&rsquo;s off-court conduct.
Silver met with Morant after a similar incident in March and suspended him for eight games.
&ldquo;Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,&rdquo; Silver said in a televised interview with ESPN before the draft lottery in Chicago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the process of investigating it and we&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video&rsquo;s a bit grainy and all that, but I&rsquo;m assuming the worst. We&rsquo;ll figure out exactly what happened there.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s the second time in less than three months that Morant was seen on Instagram holding what appeared to be a weapon. The first led to the eight-game suspension that was handed down in March and cost Morant about $669,000 in salary.
This time, the suspension could be much longer and much more costly. The second video was captured Saturday night and widely shared online. It was streamed on the Instagram account of Morant associate Davonte Pack, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Grizzlies have not commented on the specifics of the latest video.
The video streamed by Pack shows Morant in the passenger seat of a vehicle, briefly appearing to display a handgun. At the very brief moment &mdash; maybe less than a second &mdash; when Morant is shown holding what appears to be a weapon as he sits in the passenger seat of a vehicle, the livestream had 111 viewers.
&ldquo;He could have injured, maimed, killed himself, someone else, with an act like that,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;And also the acknowledgement that he&rsquo;s a star. He has an incredibly huge following. And my concern &mdash; and I thought he shared with me &mdash; that millions if not tens of millions of kids globally would see him as having done something that was celebrating in a way that act of using a firearm in that fashion.&rdquo;
When the season ended a couple weeks ago, Morant said again that he needed to work on his decision-making.
&ldquo;Being disciplined on both sides, off the court making better decisions and on the court being locked in even more,&rdquo; Morant said following a season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. &ldquo;Being a leader of this team, it pretty much starts with me. ... I&rsquo;ve got to be better in that area.&rdquo;
Morant&rsquo;s five-year, $194 million max contract is set to begin this coming season. He has endorsement deals with Nike and Powerade, though the sports drink company pulled an ad featuring Morant almost immediately after the March video emerged.
This is the third known NBA investigation surrounding Morant and the possible involvement of firearms so far in 2023.
Morant&rsquo;s actions were investigated after a Jan. 29 incident in Memphis that he said led to Pack banned from Grizzlies&rsquo; home games for a year.
That incident followed a game against the Indiana Pacers; citing unnamed sources, The Indianapolis Star and USA Today reported that multiple members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them while they were near the loading dock where their bus was located, and The Athletic reported that a Pacers security guard believed the laser was attached to a gun.
The NBA confirmed that unnamed individuals were banned from the arena but said its investigation found no evidence that anyone was threatened with a weapon.
Then came the Denver-area incident in the early hours of March 4, after the Grizzlies played a road game against the Nuggets when Morant started a livestream from inside a strip club while holding a gun. No charges were filed.
Morant and Pack also are involved in a civil lawsuit brought after an incident at Morant&rsquo;s home last summer, in which a then-17-year-old alleged that they assaulted him. Morant filed a countersuit on April 12, accusing the teen of slander, battery and assault.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment Tuesday that Ja Morant apparently held a firearm again on social media.

Adam Silver expresses disappointment over latest Ja Morant video

Ja Morant was suspended by the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday after he appeared to be holding a gun in another social media video that was streamed live on Instagram.
It&rsquo;s the second time in less than three months that Morant was seen on Instagram holding what appeared to be a weapon. The first led to an&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-suspended-nba-gun-video-8cc82061f6465f96d6c5d0806d92d7d0">eight-game NBA suspension</a>&nbsp;that was handed down in March and cost Morant about $669,000 in salary.
It&rsquo;s unclear what sanctions Morant may be facing for the second video, which was widely shared online Sunday. An associate of Morant went live on Instagram while the All-Star was in the front seat of a vehicle with another person, briefly appearing to display a handgun. It is unclear where or when the latest video was filmed.
&ldquo;We are aware of the social media post involving Ja Morant and are in the process of gathering more information,&rdquo; NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.
The Grizzlies said Morant is suspended from all team activities, &ldquo;pending league review.&rdquo;
The gun video earlier this season happened when Morant went live on his own Instagram holding a gun at a club in the Denver suburbs in early March. After that went viral, Morant announced that he was taking time away to seek help, without specifying what sort of treatment he was getting. ESPN later reported that he was getting counseling in Florida, something the team eventually confirmed but did not share any other details.
&ldquo;Ja&rsquo;s conduct was irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement in March after meeting with Morant and deciding on the suspension&rsquo;s length. &ldquo;It also has serious consequences given his enormous following and influence, particularly among young fans who look up to him.&rdquo;
Morant sat down for an interview with ESPN during his suspension, taking responsibility for the Colorado video.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t condone any type of violence,&rdquo; Morant told ESPN in March. &ldquo;But I take full responsibility for my actions. I made a bad mistake and I can see the image that I painted over myself with my recent mistakes. But in the future, I&rsquo;m going to show everybody who Ja really is, what I&rsquo;m about and change this narrative.&rdquo;
And when the season ended a couple weeks ago, Morant said again that he needed to work on his decision-making.
&ldquo;Being disciplined on both sides, off the court making better decisions and on the court being locked in even more,&rdquo; Morant said after a season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. &ldquo;Being a leader of this team, it pretty much starts with me. ... I&rsquo;ve got to be better in that area.&rdquo;
Morant&rsquo;s five-year, $194 million max contract is set to begin this coming season. It could have escalated to a supermax if he made All-NBA this season; he was not voted onto that team, which cost him about $39 million in future earnings.
His talent on the court is not a question. He averaged 27.4 points last season, 26.2 points this season and helped Memphis secure the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
But the Grizzlies&rsquo; season ended amid dysfunction. They were ousted in Round 1 by the Lakers, getting eliminated in a 40-point loss to close a series where trash-talking and antics became as much of a storyline as actual playing of basketball.
And the offseason is now off to a less-than-ideal start as well, especially after Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said following the playoffs that the team has to eliminate &ldquo;unnecessary drama, self-inflicted decisions that take away from the team.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It has to be completely different going into next year,&rdquo; Jenkins said.
This will be at least the third known NBA investigation surrounding Morant and the possible involvement of firearms so far in 2023.
Morant&rsquo;s actions were investigated after a Jan. 29 incident in Memphis that he said led to a friend of his being banned from home games for a year.
That incident followed a game against the Indiana Pacers; citing unnamed sources, The Indianapolis Star and USA Today reported that multiple members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them, and The Athletic reported that a Pacers security guard believed the laser was attached to a gun.
The NBA confirmed that unnamed individuals were banned from the arena but said its investigation found no evidence that anyone was threatened with a weapon.
Then came the Denver-area incident in the early hours of March 4, after the Grizzlies played a road game against the Nuggets. At 5:19 a.m., Morant started a livestream from inside a strip club called Shotgun Willies in Glendale, Colorado.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-police-colorado-memphis-grizzlies-gun-video-f6dc3708e6e48f7ecdbb09c6ff730462">No charges were filed</a>&nbsp;and police said there were no complaint calls stemming from Morant holding the gun were made.
Morant and a close friend also are involved in a civil lawsuit brought after an incident at Morant&rsquo;s home last summer, in which a then-17-year-old alleged that they assaulted him. Morant filed a countersuit on April 12, accusing the teen of slander, battery and assault.

Ja Morant was suspended by the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday after he appeared to be holding a gun in another social media video.

Grizzlies suspend Ja Morant after another gun video appears online

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

After monitoring the NBA awards races all season, Nekias Duncan shares his final selections for DPOY, ROY, MIP, 6MOY and more.

Nekias Duncan's 2022-23 NBA award selections: DPOY, 6MOY, MIP, more

Isaac Mourier is the director of performance nutrition and sports science at Impact Basketball, one of the most prestigious independent training organizations for elite pro basketball players. He's spent time as a consultant for the Sacramento Kings and as a nutritionist for Georgia athletics, and he played pro basketball in Germany.
So while Mourier cannot speak for everyone in the NBA, his next statement carries weight:
"I've never met a player that doesn't want to play," Mourier told Basketball News. "Never, in my career as a player, as a practitioner, have I ever met a player that does not want to play. So that's a myth."
The NBA's perceived "load management crisis" has only sparked louder outrage this season from fans, some media and even former players. Charles Barkley has <a href="https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/charles-barkley-load-management-steel-mill-first-take.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called the trend</a> "disrespectful to the game."&nbsp;Kendrick Perkins has <a href="https://fadeawayworld.net/kendrick-perkins-rips-load-management-its-starting-to-get-beyond-disrespectful" target="_blank" rel="noopener">labeled the mental toughness of today's players</a> as "softer than funeral music." While these two are certainly controversial voices at the very least, they are significant influences in the sport's discourse.
Barkley and Perkins, among many others, are also warping the true hows and whys of load management.&nbsp;
Today's NBA game is more physically taxing than ever, and among those in the league, it's barely a debate.&nbsp;
"I was part of the physical era, where you could hand-check and grind, post up and all that," Mike Conley told <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/load-management-draymond-green-warriors-kevon-looney-technology-mike-conley-jerami-grant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox Sports in January.</a> "We were a physical team. It&rsquo;s who we were. That was taxing in a whole other way. You played through injuries, but it was more bumps and bruises because you were being physically assaulted.
"Now it&rsquo;s like, imagine running as fast as you can for 48 minutes and having to do that every night. There are more possessions, more opportunities to get these non-contact injuries. Guys are having more calf strains, more hamstrings and stuff like that. We weren&rsquo;t getting those as much (before)."
Kevon Looney backs Conley up in <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/load-management-draymond-green-warriors-kevon-looney-technology-mike-conley-jerami-grant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that article</a>, and Mourier supports them both. He says that the "physicality" of the old-school, post-centric game is much different from today's fast pace that wears out the body with more muscle contractions.
"What may look less physically taxing to the eye, in terms of less bumps and bruises and people getting knocked over &mdash; I think you're actually having the opposite effect on the body, where these distances covered, the speed at which they're covered and the changes of directions are far more taxing on the body," Mourier said.
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Today, teams can quantify those stresses. Mourier explains that players often jump on force plates and see how their power generated will change with fatigue throughout a season. Hormones and proteins found in blood testing can signal muscle damage or inflammation. Teams use GPS tracking and camera systems to monitor players' wear and tear even in practices. The data paints a collective picture of an athlete's overall load during the season.
Importantly, this data isn't hidden by doctors &mdash; it typically is part of an ongoing conversation throughout the year. Building trust between players and medical staffers is crucial to injury management. That way, players can trust the data and doctors can respect the athlete's motivations.
"There's a number of data points that you will track until it gets to the point where we have to stop," Mourier said. "It's not like, 'Hey, we've just noticed something and you're not gonna play tonight.' It will be something that's been in the works &mdash; overall wellness scores, looking at that force plate data &mdash; it will be a trend, which is happening over time, and it's got to a point where it's like, 'Okay, we really have to do this.'
"It's not taken lightly because, ultimately, everybody's job there is to make sure that people can play every night."
Fans often want to ask: Who's in control? And the difficult answer is that the power dynamics change in different organizations.
Mourier says that superstars' voices will naturally have more influence, but that college staffs have more control over player rest than NBA teams. Others in the NBA have observed that teams do hold serious decision-making power.
"I do know on occasion that it&rsquo;s not the player&rsquo;s choice [to rest]," New Orleans Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr. told Basketball News.
"On the whole, I think people are on the same page, especially when it comes to our [Impact Basketball] guys on [NBA] teams," Mourier said. "I've never come across someone saying, 'They made me sit down; I wanted to play and I couldn't.'"
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_20114521.jpg" alt="" width="575" height="444" />
Seth Partnow works for StatsBomb and writes for The Athletic, and was formerly the Milwaukee Bucks' director of basketball research, working adjacent to the sports scientists within the organization. He said in his general experience, trust in both data and relationships is a huge part of reaching decisions to rest.&nbsp;
"I think that the impetus for resting overwhelmingly comes from the medical and front-office side," Partnow told Basketball News. "I think that part of the increased comfort players have with revealing that information is maybe an increased willingness to take that advice."
Partnow explained that teams often boil down decision-making for rest to a "risk versus reward" scale. Does Player X need to play this specific game for the sake of the team, and is it worth the risk of a potential injury that could threaten playoff availability?&nbsp;
"We're going to be judged on how well we do in the playoffs," Partnow said. "And more of a bigger factor than a regular-season win or two is, 'Are my good players able to play?'"
That balance does not include the weight of the fan experience &mdash; a valid criticism within the conversation. Mourier, originally from England, remembers attending his first NBA game in person between the Miami Heat and Washington Wizards and being disappointed when LeBron James and Dwyane Wade didn't suit up. NBA tickets can be a significant investment for fans and families; understandably, they would be bummed when a star rests.
But "risk vs. reward" applies to the league's approach too, as evidenced by its lack of action on anything surrounding load management. Others, including <a href="https://theathletic.com/4272209/2023/03/03/load-management-nba-injuries/?source=user_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a recent conversation between The Athletic's staff members</a>, have clamored for more transparency around injuries as at least a starting point.
&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t a new issue. There&rsquo;s nothing particularly happening this season that we haven&rsquo;t seen happening over the last several seasons," Adam Silver <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/25/sports/sunday-basketball-notes/?p1=BGSearch_Overlay_Results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in February</a>. "I understand it from a fan standpoint that if you are particularly buying tickets to a particular game and that player isn&rsquo;t playing. I don&rsquo;t have a good answer for that other than this is a deep league with incredible competition."
One motivator gaining traction is the idea of minimum-games-played requirements for season awards. Shams Charania has reported that <a href="https://theathletic.com/4302514/2023/03/13/the-bounce-lakers-cba-games-played-minimum-shams/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">both the league and the National Basketball Players Association like the idea</a>. But many do not, including Mourier.
"I think that opens up a pretty dangerous can of worms, because if you have somebody that's really not in a position where they're ready to play &mdash; we have to start looking at them as humans as opposed to just athletes," Mourier said. "If they're in a position where they are really not ready to play, they're feeling sore or there's an injury, and they're creeping up on that cut-off for games and they're about to play, and it's gonna mean that they're not going to get home, they can't put food on the table for their family or can't support the the different needs that they have, then we have a human issue."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr explains his position of protecting his players on the second night of a back-to-back, empathizes with the fans who are affected by load management and shares how a 72-game NBA season would be equally as rewarding as it&rsquo;d be safe. <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/osTyhqxNyd">pic.twitter.com/osTyhqxNyd</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1616581456658108416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2023</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Another common suggestion is to simply shorten the schedule, be it to 70 games, 65 games or whatever makes sense. It would lighten the workload for players and possibly address some of the concerns about the value of the regular season along the way. But Silver didn't seem excited.
&ldquo;If we thought it made sense to reduce the number of games, we would. But there&rsquo;s no data right now that suggests, as I said, based on some prior experiments or even as we look at the data over the course of the season and when players get injured, it isn&rsquo;t... You would think that it would be the case that injuries would increase as the season goes on, and that&rsquo;s not necessarily it either," Silver said.
Partnow echoes Silver's stance as a reason for the league shrugging its shoulders. There just isn't hard proof that the change wouldn't lead to an obvious loss of revenue from dropping 200-plus contests.
"Measuring how that sort of loss of &mdash; I don't know, if you want to call it loss of trust &mdash; might longer-term affect the per-game revenue, that's tough math to do, but I think that's the concern," Partnow added.
And even if the league did shrink the schedule, games are not the only way athletes are physically taxed during the year.
&ldquo;I think the biggest thing [fans don't notice] would just be trying to manage injuries and inflammation while traveling via airplane," Nance Jr. said. "That always seems to exacerbate most problems.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Fans can&rsquo;t imagine playing 82 games in different cities all across the country and the physical toll it takes on your body, even without injuries," added NBA veteran Etan Thomas. "It&rsquo;s difficult for most fans to really understand.&rdquo;
Mourier says that pros need at least 48-to-72 hours between high-level competition for their bodies to replenish with proper nutrients. That's not consistently happening under the current schedule, and travel doesn't help.
"All of the factors which are not directly related to after the ball is thrown up at the tip-off &mdash; so sleep, travel, all of that other stuff &mdash; how can we influence those things to put the players in a more favorable spot to be able to go and perform every night? I think that's where we start," Mourier suggested.
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Load management is the best strategy NBA teams have to contain injuries, but it isn't stopping them from happening. <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263354" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Studies are showing</a> that NBA players get hurt more than ever. Partnow warns not to assume rest every time a star is out briefly; many of the smaller cases are still legitimate injuries.&nbsp;
The findings hint at a scarier truth: What if the NBA can't do anything about it? As <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27125793/these-kids-ticking-bombs-threat-youth-basketball" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN's Baxter Holmes uncovered</a>, AAU and youth sports are taking major tolls on players' bodies before they even reach the pro level. Current pros are torn on if the grind of year-round youth basketball was worth it.
"I agree that kids are being overworked at a young age,&rdquo; <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2019/11/08/does-aau-lead-to-load-management-in-nba-kids-are-being-overworked/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic told HoopsHype in 2019</a>. &ldquo;Parents push kids too hard to succeed and hire all these fake basketball coaches who don&rsquo;t teach them how to play the game the right way. Kids have to have fun first while they play, and not [have someone] make it a business for them right away."
The NBA doesn't supervise the entirety of American youth hoops, which means it can't stop one of the root problems.
"Yes, absolutely [it's worrisome]," Partnow said. "I mean, on some level, it's not just that youth sports are out of our control. Youth sports are out of control."
So, NBA teams and players have more data than ever to manage a sport that is more physcially demanding than ever. But the league doesn't have the data to comfortably make a big change, and the frustration only grows.
At what point does the NBA stop waiting for numeric proof to force change, and take the risk for the sake of its players and fans?
"That's a political question. I don't know," Partnow said. "The longer [load management] becomes front and center of the conversation, the shorter that timespan is. But if something intervening happens that takes the focus off, and now we're talking about this other thing, then it loses salience and it kind of subsides...
"It seems like this [conversation] has been pretty continuous for the last couple months, which is probably the longest I can remember it being sort of a constant."

Ethan Fuller talks to figures around basketball to understand why load management happens and what can be done about it.

Here's the reality of the NBA's perceived 'load management crisis'

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said Thursday that members of the organization had spoken to All-Star guard Ja Morant about his off-the-court conduct before he posted a video in which he appeared to be displaying a gun in a strip club.
The team had been hoping to avoid a situation like what happened this past weekend, which led to Morant being away from the team for at least six games, Jenkins said before Thursday night&rsquo;s game against the Golden State Warriors.
&ldquo;We have had conversations in the past trying to guide him and help him continue to evolve as a person and a player,&rdquo; Jenkins said of the discussions before the incident in Glendale, Colorado. &ldquo;Obviously, this came to a head the other day, so we put this process into action.&rdquo;
Morant, the team&rsquo;s leading scorer, livestreamed the video of himself with the apparent weapon on his Instagram account after the Nuggets beat the Grizzlies on Friday night.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ja-morant-to-miss-4-more-games-colorado-police-say-no-charges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glendale police said Wednesday there was not enough evidence</a>&nbsp;to pursue criminal charges against Morant.
The Grizzlies initially announced the 23-year-old would miss at least two games. Immediately after Glendale police said they would not pursue charges, the team said he would not play at least four more games.
That means the earliest Morant could return would be March 17 at San Antonio. The Grizzlies entered Thursday&rsquo;s game tied with Sacramento for second in the Western Conference.
&ldquo;There are definitely steps that are going to have to be met &mdash; personally and professionally,&rdquo; Jenkins said, &ldquo;as he deals with some stuff personally to get better.&rdquo;
Morant&rsquo;s absence comes with Memphis on a three-game losing streak. Reserve center Brandon Clarke tore his left Achilles tendon in Friday night&rsquo;s loss at Denver, ending his season. The team also announced Thursday that starting center Steven Adams, who was expected to return to action soon,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ja-morant-to-miss-4-more-games-colorado-police-say-no-charges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would be re-evaluated in four weeks</a>&nbsp;due to a knee injury.
But Morant&rsquo;s situation has drawn the most attention because of concerns about the behavior of one of the NBA&rsquo;s most electrifying players.
&ldquo;Everyone wants to know what's this going to be,&rdquo; Jenkins said of Morant&rsquo;s absence. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the hot topic for sure. But he&rsquo;s taking time. The responsibility to get better personally. That&rsquo;s a big factor in this.&rdquo;

Taylor Jenkins said that members of the organization had spoken to Ja Morant about his off-the-court conduct prior to this latest incident.

Grizzlies tried to address Ja Morant’s actions before gun video

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Memphis center Steven Adams will be out for a few more weeks to recover from the sprained ligament in his right knee, the team said Thursday.
Adams hurt the posterior cruciate ligament in his knee on Jan. 22 in a game against Phoenix when diving for a loose ball in the final seconds.
Initially, the Grizzlies said he would miss three to five weeks. But Adams had a stem cell injection on Wednesday and will &ldquo;be reevaluated in approximately four weeks,&rdquo; the team said in a statement.
Adams was leading the NBA in offensive rebounds when he was injured and averaging 8.6 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.
The Grizzlies are also without guard Ja Morant, who will not face charges in Colorado related to a livestreamed video in which he appeared to be displaying a gun in a strip club. The team said Wednesday that the earliest Morant could play is March 17 at San Antonio &mdash; and there&rsquo;s no guarantee that&rsquo;ll happen.

Adams had a stem cell injection on Wednesday and will “be reevaluated in approximately four weeks," per the team.

Grizzlies big man Steven Adams out at least a few more weeks

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant will be away from the team for at least four more games, the team said on Wednesday, shortly after police announced that he will not face charges in Colorado related to the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-grizzlies-nba-gun-investigation-allstar-9819e8b8b5c42da71488db6688f85ca3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">livestreamed video is which he appeared to be displaying a gun in a strip club.</a>
&ldquo;Ja Morant will continue to remain away from the team for at least the next four games,&rdquo; the team said with no further comment.
That means Morant will miss games against Golden State on Thursday, home against Dallas on Saturday, at Dallas on Monday and at Miami on March 15. The earliest he could play is March 17 at San Antonio, and there&rsquo;s no guarantee of that.
Meanwhile, the Glendale Police Department said it looked into the video, which was a stream that Morant showed on his Instagram channel while he seemed to be holding a firearm, and found no proof that a crime was committed. Glendale is an enclave surrounded by the city of Denver.
&ldquo;In this case, it should be noted that on the night in question the GPD did not receive any calls for service at the nightclub regarding a weapon of any type,&rdquo; police said. &ldquo;Subsequently, no disturbances were reported, and no citizens of patrons of the club came forward to make a complaint.
&ldquo;The investigation also concluded that no one was threatened or menaced with the firearm and in fact no firearm was ever located.&rdquo;
The NBA has said it is also looking into the matter, and has not announced any sanctions &mdash; such as a suspension &mdash; against Morant.
Police said the investigation confirmed that &ldquo;the incident&rdquo; &mdash; Morant was not named in the release, which only made reference to &ldquo;a prominent NBA player&rdquo; &mdash; occurred at an establishment called Shotgun Willies in Glendale. The two-time All-Star streamed the video in the early hours of Saturday, after the Grizzlies played in Denver on Friday night.
The Grizzlies said Morant would be away from the team for at least two games &mdash; those were Sunday and Tuesday &mdash; and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ja-morant-grizzlies-gun-nba-investigation-instagram-6aa0a20153dc4f2130a0a950b8379e15" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Morant later said that he decided</a>&nbsp;&ldquo;to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.&rdquo;
It is not clear what that means. Morant has not commented further and the Grizzlies have not shared what steps he is taking or why he is seeking help.

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant will be away from the team for at least four more games, the team said on Wednesday.

Ja Morant to miss 4 more games, Colorado police say no charges

Ja Morant will be away from the Memphis Grizzlies for at least their next two games, the team announced Saturday, not long after the NBA opened an investigation into a social media post by the guard after he livestreamed himself holding what appeared to be a gun at a nightclub.
Morant said in a statement distributed through the agency that represents him that he takes &ldquo;full responsibility&rdquo; for his actions &mdash; adding that he was going to &ldquo;take some time away to get help.&rdquo;
The video was streamed by Morant on his Instagram page early Saturday, hours after the Grizzlies played in Denver. They were flying to Los Angeles on Saturday for games against the Clippers on Sunday and the Lakers on Tuesday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Grizzlies star Ja Morant was allegedly seen showing off a gun on his IG Live this morning.<a href="https://t.co/HlhvoWlnYy">pic.twitter.com/HlhvoWlnYy</a>
&mdash; ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1632036086288461824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Morant will miss those two games, at minimum, the Grizzlies said, without any further comment.
&ldquo;We are aware of a social media post involving Ja Morant and are investigating,&rdquo; NBA spokesman Mike Bass said earlier Saturday.
The league will try to speak with Morant as part of that investigation, though it is unclear when any meeting may occur. Morant apologized in the statement released by Tandem Sports + Entertainment.
&ldquo;I take full responsibility for my actions last night,&rdquo; Morant said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down. I&rsquo;m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.&rdquo;
It was not immediately clear what Morant meant by &ldquo;help&rdquo; or if he planned to be away from the team for longer than the two-game minimum announced by the Grizzlies.
The league, if it finds wrongdoing, could fine or suspend Morant. Based on the Grizzlies&rsquo; statement, the earliest Morant could play again is Thursday at home against Golden State. His Instagram and Twitter accounts were disabled shortly after the Grizzlies announced his absence.
Memphis is currently No. 2 in the Western Conference standings, led by Morant, a two-time All-Star averaging 27.1 points and 8.2 assists per game.
This is at least the second time in the last few weeks that Morant has been the subject of a league investigation. Morant&rsquo;s actions were investigated by the league after a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-indiana-pacers-nba-sports-temetrius-morant-691ebf33edbf85aef5db428406c8976e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jan. 29 incident in Memphis</a>&nbsp;that he said led to a friend of his being banned from home games there for a year.
That incident was following a game against the Indiana Pacers; citing unnamed sources, The Indianapolis Star and USA Today reported that multiple members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them, and The Athletic reported that a Pacers security guard believed the laser was attached to a gun.
The NBA confirmed that unnamed individuals were banned from the arena but said its investigation found no evidence that anyone was threatened with a weapon.
Morant responded to that incident by tweeting that the reports &ldquo;paint this negative image on me and my fam. &amp; banned my brother from home games for a year. unbelievable.&rdquo; During the Jan. 29 game, there was barking between Pacers players and friends of Morant seated along the sideline. A close friend of Morant&rsquo;s, Davonte Pack, was escorted from the arena as Pacers bench players shouted in Pack&rsquo;s direction.
Pack and Morant also are involved in a civil lawsuit brought after an incident at Morant&rsquo;s home this past summer, in which a 17-year-old alleged that they assaulted him. The Shelby County district attorney&rsquo;s office said in January that it was &ldquo;aware of the incident, and after careful review of the facts, decided that there was not enough evidence to proceed with a case.&rdquo;
There is precedent for the NBA when sanctioning a player over conduct involving guns. In January 2010, then-Commissioner David Stern suspended Washington&rsquo;s Gilbert Arenas indefinitely without pay after saying the player&rsquo;s behavior made him &ldquo;not currently fit to take the court.&rdquo;
The suspension followed Arenas getting photographed before a game in Philadelphia playfully pointing his index fingers in a gun imitation at his teammates while he was under investigation by federal and local authorities after admittedly bringing guns into the Wizards&rsquo; locker room.
Arenas ultimately missed 50 games, the rest of the 2009-10 season.
Morant, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NBA draft, has become a full-fledged superstar. His five-year, $194 million extension with the Grizzlies kicks in to start next season and would rise to about $230 million if he makes an All-NBA team this season.
He also is a sought-after endorser. On Christmas, Nike unveiled Morant&rsquo;s first signature shoe, which is set to be released in the coming weeks. And earlier this week, Powerade announced a multiyear endorsement deal with Morant.
On the same day the Powerade deal was revealed, The Washington Post published a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/03/01/ja-morant-punch-teen-laser/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">story</a>, based on police records it obtained, detailing how Morant and some associates &ldquo;have been accused of threatening and even violent behavior,&rdquo; the newspaper said.
The questions about Morant&rsquo;s conduct come at a time when gun violence again is a prominent talking point in the sports world.
Top NBA draft prospect Brandon Miller and his Alabama teammate Jaden Bradley, by courtroom revelations, have been&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-sports-tuscaloosa-alabama-crimson-tide-top-25-college-basketball-today-39eab4a038324d58910da79372722ad1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">linked to the scene of a killing</a>. Neither has been charged or accused of a crime, but then-teammate Darius Miles and another man are facing capital murder charges.
And New Mexico State&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s basketball season was shut down in February because of a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-state-basketball-shooting-crisis-d2b20604aa91ddc11cc32a4f12e660f6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fatal shooting and allegations of locker-room hazing</a>. Mike Peake, the New Mexico State player implicated in the shooting death of New Mexico player Brandon Travis in November, said he was acting in self-defense and has not been charged with a crime.

Ja Morant will step away from the Memphis Grizzlies for at least their next two games after a string of concerning incidents.

Grizzlies' Ja Morant steps away to 'get help' after recent incidents

Nekias Duncan checks back in with this year's NBA award races with an in-depth look at who leads the pack through the end of February.

2022-23 NBA award front-runners Vol. 2: MVP, DPOY, ROY, more

Sometimes, you just know it's good.
A well-timed joke in the middle of conversation. That screen pass you've been saving for the fourth quarter in Madden because your buddy's been spamming a run blitz on early downs. A perfectly placed bass run in the midst of a groove, for my musician friends reading this.&nbsp;
There's something about sensing an opening, taking advantage of said-opening and&nbsp;immediately&nbsp;knowing you made the right decision. Said the right thing, chose the right thing. It just feels&nbsp;good.
That had to be the Derrick White trade for the Boston Celtics last season.
For a team that wants to lock you down defensively &mdash; by erasing gaps with well-timed switching, or siccing its in-your-jersey defenders on unsuspecting ball-handlers while the big hangs back in a drop &mdash; White served as a perfect target.&nbsp;
There were a handful of players in the league that could navigate screens like White; close down on ball-handlers with pesky rearview contests; switch onto bigger players and swipe the ball away, or beat them to spots to draw timely charges. The Celtics were tough enough with Marcus Smart; to add another guy like that into the fold felt unfair.
And for a team trying to fully commit to moving the ball, as elementary as that sounds, White also served as the perfect target. The Celtics were just hitting their stride as an offense that could create and&nbsp;maintain advantages in the half-court without halting the show. White's ability to fit in &mdash; heck, his willingness to fit in &mdash; made him an easy fit.
He could initiate ball-screens, come off handoffs, set pin-in screens on the weak side, set pindowns for the stars to come off of, and act as an on-ball screener to force defenses into tough decisions. The shooting would serve as a bellwether of sorts, but White fit into just about everything the Celtics wanted to do on both ends.
White integrated well last season, though inconsistent three-point shooting &mdash; and waning aggressiveness &mdash; reared its ugly head during the playoff run.&nbsp;
This season, he's been even better. More comfortable, more aggressive. More efficient. For nearly a month now, he's just been more, period.
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The Celtics have been without Smart since Jan. 21, when he turned his ankle pretty badly towards the end of the first half of their matchup against the Toronto Raptors. White was already starting, but he's had to assume lead ball-handling duties since then.
To say White has been phenomenal in this recent run would be an understatement.
Over the past 11 games, White has averaged 20.1 points while converting 54.3% of his twos and 43.6% of his threes on high volume (7.1 attempts). He's dishing out 5.8 dimes (9.2 <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/passing?DateFrom=01/23/2023&amp;TeamID=1610612738&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=POTENTIAL_AST" target="_blank" rel="noopener">potential assists</a>) per game while rarely turning the ball over (1.5 turnovers). He's helped on the glass (4.6 boards), and has continued to be a menace on the defensive end.
You can really have some fun with filtering White's run too.&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Last eight games (6-2 record): 21.5 points, 6.3 assists (1.4 turnovers), 5.1 rebounds</li>
<li>Last five games (4-1): 25.0 points, 8.4 assists (1.8 turnovers), 4.2 rebounds, 1.0 blocks</li>
</ul>
White has racked up at least 25 points and 10 assists in each of his past three games &mdash; a streak he's never had in his career. He just won <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/shai-gilgeousalexander-derrick-white-named-nba-players-of-the-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eastern Conference Player of the Week</a>, another feat he had yet to accomplish until this year.
What stands out about White's play is, again, how easy it feels. That isn't meant to diminish what he's doing, but to highlight how well he fits the Celtics' ethos. He's not pounding the ball to get assists or boogying against defenders to get his buckets. He's taking what the defense gives him, and doing so without hesitation.&nbsp;
Take this possession for example:
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/noyijc" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The Celtics flow out of HORNS and look to hit either Jayson Tatum or White with a cut. Both players are defended well, with Jaren Jackson Jr.'s ball pressure on Robert Williams III also hindering things. The second option &mdash; two-man game with Williams III and Sam Hauser, testing the screen navigation of Ja Morant &mdash; doesn't hit either. The ball swings to White, and the fun begins.
White receives a screen but doesn't take it; he just waits it out, and gets Xavier Tillman switched onto him. After swinging it to the corner, the ball finds him again with Tillman out of position after attempting a steal.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2023-02-15-at-11-37-58-am.png" alt="" width="576" height="325" />
White immediately attacks the basket, driving right at Jackson. Because Tatum is on the left wing, the left corner is empty &mdash; meaning Dillon Brooks can't help without giving up an open shot on the perimeter. And with Williams III rolling to the basket, Jackson now has to choose between halting White's drive or taking away the roll &mdash; with no help behind him. He chooses the former, opening up the easy lob.
Quietly, White has been one of the most productive drivers in the NBA over this stretch. He's been able to finish through contact, avoid it altogether with a funky floater he can get to at weird times and angles, and feed open teammates if the defense overreacts to him.&nbsp;
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During this 11-game run, possessions featuring a drive by White have generated 1.17 points per possession (PPP), per Second Spectrum. That ranks seventh among 45 players with at least 100 drives in that time frame, putting him in a virtual tie with James Harden and ahead of All-Stars like Morant (1.15 PPP), De'Aaron Fox (1.15 PPP), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1.09 PPP) and DeMar DeRozan (1.05 PPP).
White's work as a screener continues to be important for the Celtics. Because he naturally draws smaller matchups than Tatum or Jaylen Brown, his inclusion as a lead blocker forces defenses into tough situations.&nbsp;
Anything less than pristine screen navigation means giving one of the stars an opening to attack. Switching a smaller guy onto either of them is asking for trouble. Trapping or hedging simply opens up short-roll opportunities for White. You can get away with daring bigs to make quick decisions in space; you can't really do that with someone as smart as White is.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/zebcv2" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
And the defense. Whew, buddy, the defense.&nbsp;
You could make the case that White has been Boston's best defender this season &mdash; a massive feat on a roster featuring last year's Defensive Player of the Year in Smart. Brown remains a strong on-ball defender; Tatum, when locked in, can provide near-elite value on and off the ball. Williams III is still rounding into form, but remains a terrifying rim protector. Horford has been sturdy in drop, and still showcases comfort venturing out in space.&nbsp;
But yet it's White pestering folks and causing the most havoc on a nightly basis.
Among the 161 players to defend at least 300 pick-and-rolls, only Desmond Bane (0.22%) has been washed out by a screen at a lower rate than White has (0.26%), per Second Spectrum.
Put another way: Of the 760 screens that have been set on White, only 20 (!) of them have taken him out of the play.&nbsp;
That, my friends, is absurd.&nbsp;
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Because of White's ability to avoid being completely taken out of the action, he's almost always in position to affect the play. He'll fight to get back in front, mirroring ball-handlers before forcing them into tough looks &mdash; or passing the ball altogether.&nbsp;He'll get rearview contests if necessary, throwing off the rhythm of pull-ups and floaters.
Then, there are the action plays. He leads the team with 11 charges taken, tied with Kyle Lowry and Herb Jones (he's back, y'all) for 10th in the league.
No guard in the East has more blocks than White (53); only Gilgeous-Alexander (55) has more in the league (and has a two-inch height advantage). That White can get on-ball blocks and&nbsp;serve as a secondary rim protector is a rarity worth celebrating.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/sh0g5m" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The combination of productivity and availability &mdash; he's the lone Celtic to appear in all 58 games this season &mdash; should tilt the "Boston's best defender" argument in his favor this season. And for what it's worth, White leads all Celtics in Defensive Estimated Plus Minus (DEPM) this season (+1.5), edging out Smart (+1.3), Tatum (+1.2) and Horford (+1.2).
White has been everything the Celtics have needed him to be, on both ends of the floor. A quality role piece and a quality roll piece. A willing spacer. An All-Defensive level contributor &mdash; he and Jrue Holiday would be my First Team guards if I had a ballot.&nbsp;
And when more has been required, like this Smart-less stretch, White has stepped up in the equation. More buckets, more decision-making and roughly the same level of defense.
He's further proven to be one of the most valuable role players in the NBA. Not only can he slot into the Celtics' system on both ends, he can also scale up or down depending on who's available. That portion isn't true for most role players &mdash; even the good ones. He deserves his flowers for that.

Nekias Duncan puts the recent incredible performances of Celtics guard Derrick White in perspective.

Appreciating the scale of Derrick White's play for the Celtics

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Ja Morant had 27 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds, Jaren Jackson Jr. added 28 points and the Memphis Grizzlies overcame a lackluster first half to defeat the Indiana Pacers 112-100 on Sunday.
Brandon Clarke had 13 points, hitting all five of his shots as Memphis snapped a five-game losing streak and ran its home record to 21-3. It was Morant&rsquo;s fifth triple-double of the season and second in a row.
Benedict Mathurin, the sixth pick in the 2022 draft, led the Pacers with 27 points and eight rebounds. Aaron Nesmith had 16 points and Myles Turner added 15 points.
The Pacers dominated the first half, leading by as many as 19. First-half shooting, which hovered at 60% at the midway point of the second quarter, helped Indiana to a 62-50 lead at the break.
But 14 straight points brought Memphis back into the game early in the third quarter, and the Grizzlies outscored Indiana 30-17 in the third to retake the lead.
Memphis&rsquo; 13-2 run to open the fourth opened the game up.
Both teams entered the game reeling from losing skids. Memphis was returning home after a winless five-game trip West, while the Pacers had lost nine of their last 10.
TIP-INS
Pacers: Guard Tyrese Haliburton continued to sit out with left knee and elbow sprains, but there were indications Indiana&rsquo;s top scorer could return to action soon. Coach Rick Carlisle expects Haliburton to practice this week &ldquo;and looking toward the real possibility that he could play this weekend.&rdquo;
Grizzlies: Have won eight straight at home; their last home loss was Dec. 27 to Phoenix. ... Guard Desmond Bane sat out with right knee soreness. Coach Taylor Jenkins classified Bane as day-to-day and expects him to return this week.
TURNER EXTENSION
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/myles-turner-pacers-agree-on-twoyear-60m-extension" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Turner will stay with Indiana</a>&nbsp;after agreeing to a two-year contract extension. Carlisle said the team has a Monday news conference planned.
MOMENT OF SILENCE
Sunday was the Grizzlies&rsquo; first home game since the video was released of Memphis police officers beating Tyre Nichols to death after a traffic stop. The Grizzlies held a pregame moment of silence for Nichols, 29, who died three days after the confrontation with police.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-memphis-crime-law-enforcement-1b7e8fa4ed7120a897086250d5d6da35" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Five officers were fired and indicted on an array of charges</a>, including second-degree murder.
&ldquo;Obviously, our city is going through a really tough time right now, I&rsquo;m kind of focused on that more than basketball,&rdquo; Jenkins said, adding that the video was &ldquo;very disturbing.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Pacers: Host the Lakers on Tuesday.
Grizzlies: Host Portland on Wednesday.

Ja Morant had 27 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Indiana Pacers 112-100 on Sunday.

Ja Morant's triple-double rallies Grizzlies over Pacers

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Grant Sherfield scored a season-high 30 points, and Oklahoma beat No. 2 Alabama 93-69 on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge to end the Crimson Tide&rsquo;s nine-win streak.
Jalen Hill added a career-high 26 points, helping second-year Oklahoma coach Porter Moser to his biggest win with the program. Tanner Groves had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Sooners (12-9) had lost three straight, but against the Crimson Tide shot 58% from the field.
Rylan Griffen led Alabama (18-3) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Brandon Miller, who came in averaging 19.5 points per game, finished with 11.
NO. 3 HOUSTON 75, CINCINNATI 69
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Jarace Walker had a career-high 25 points and seven rebounds, and Houston rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Cincinnati.
Walker, who scored 13 points in the second half, was 10 of 14 from the field. J&rsquo;Wan Roberts added 14 points and six rebounds, and Jamal Shead scored 13 points for Houston (20-2, 8-1 American Athletic Conference).
Houston has won at least 20 games in eight straight seasons under coach Kelvin Sampson.
Landers Nolley II had 24 points, including 6 3-pointers. Vicktor Lakhin added 15 points, and David DeJulius had 14 points and nine assists for Cincinnati (14-8, 5-4).&nbsp;
NO. 4 TENNESSEE 82, NO. 10 TEXAS 71
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 27 points and Zakai Zeigler had 22 points and 10 assists to lead Tennessee over Texas in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Josiah-Jordan James added 14 and Santiago Vescovi had 12 for Tennessee (18-3), which led by as many as 22 midway through the second half.
Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 21 to lead Texas (17-4). Marcus Carr and Brock Cunningham finished with 11 each.
NO. 5 KANSAS STATE 64, FLORIDA 50
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Keyontae Johnson had 13 points and 11 rebounds against his former team, Markquis Nowell flirted with the first triple-double in Kanas State history, and the Wildcats beat Florida in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Nowell finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Nae&rsquo;Qwan Tomlin also had 11 points. The Wildcats improved to 18-3 to match the 1972-73 team for the best start through 21 games in school history.
Johnson struggled from the field, going just 5 of 16 and even getting stuffed by the front of the rim during a windmill dunk on a second-half fast break. But it was nevertheless a special night for the senior forward, who collapsed on the Gators&rsquo; sideline due to a heart condition during a game against Florida State just over two years ago.
Colin Castleton scored 13 points for the Gators (12-9). Myreon Jones and Will Richard had 11 apiece.
NO. 6 ARIZONA 95, WASHINGTON 72
SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Oumar Ballo added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Arizona used a big second-half run to pull away to win its fourth straight.
Tubelis topped 20 points for the first time in five games and his rebound putback while being fouled with 4:29 remaining gave the Wildcats a 78-63 lead and sent Washington fans headed for the exits.
Kerr Kriisa added 18 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and Courtney Ramey scored 14 for the Wildcats (19-3, 8-3 Pac-12).
Keion Brooks Jr. led Washington with 25 points and Keyon Menifield added 21. But the Huskies (13-10, 5-7) suffered from too many scoring droughts and didn&rsquo;t have an answer for Arizona&rsquo;s 19-1 run in the early stages of the second half.
NO. 7 VIRGINIA 76, BOSTON COLLEGE 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin and Jayden Gardner scored 18 points each and Virginia used a big first-half run to take control over Boston College for its sixth straight victory.
The Cavaliers (16-3, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 18-15 before starting an 18-4 run over the next 11 minutes. Virginia put the game away with a 16-4 second-half spurt.
Quinten Post scored 24 to lead the Eagles (10-12, 4-7) and Makai Ashton-Langford added 12 points.
Virginia&rsquo;s Isaac McKneely finished with 12 points and Reece Beekman had 11 and eight assists.
NO. 9 KANSAS 77, KENTUCKY 68
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson scored 22 points, including one in a series of huge 3-pointers down the stretch, and Kansas avoided its first four-game losing streak under coach Bill Self.
Wilson made 9 of 18 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds for Kansas (17-4), which finished even with Kentucky at 49% shooting. K.J. Adams Jr. added 17 points, Dick had 13 and McCullar 11 with 12 rebounds as the Jayhawks edged Kentucky 34-29 on the glass.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Jacob Toppin and Cason Wallace each added 14 for Kentucky (14-7), which had won its previous four.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 81, NO. 11 TCU 74, OT
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Tolu Smith had 27 points, 13 rebounds and five assists to lead Mississippi State to an overtime victory.
Dashawn Davis added 16 points to help Mississippi State (13-8) snap a five-game losing streak. Shakeel Moore had 11, including six in overtime, while Cameron Matthews had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Tyler Stevenson also added 10 points off the Bulldogs&rsquo; bench.
Damion Baugh led TCU (16-5) with 19 points and Emanuel Miller had 13. Shahada Wells and Jakobe Coles each had 12 for the Horned Frogs and Chuck O&rsquo;Bannon had 10.
Davis&rsquo; 3 pointer with 55 seconds left in the second half gave the Bulldogs a 66-64 advantage. Emanuel Miller scored with 32 seconds remaining and then both teams missed chances to win in regulation.
MISSOURI 78, NO. 12 IOWA STATE 61
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Kobe Brown scored 20 points, and D&rsquo;Moi Hodge scored 17 points to help Missouri take down Iowa State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Brown scored 14 of his points in the first half and led Missouri (16-5) with 12 rebounds. Nick Honor added 12 points and DeAndre Gholston scored 10.
Jaren Holmes led Iowa State (15-5) with 19 points, and Gabe Kalscheur added 14.
The Tigers&rsquo; 78 points were a season-high for an Iowa State opponent in regulation; the Cyclones are 0-3 this season when allowing at least 70 points in regulation.
CREIGHTON 84, NO. 13 XAVIER 67
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Arthur Kamula scored 20 points, Creighton&rsquo;s four other starters finished in double-figures and the Bluejays earned their fourth straight Big East win.
Creighton (13-8, 7-3) steadily built a double-digit lead throughout the game and made 34 of its 60 field goal attempts (56.7%) before a sold-out crowd.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 17 points, Baylor Scheierman had 14, Trey Alexander finished with 13 and Ryan Nembhard added 11 for the Bluejays, who avenged a 90-87 loss at Xavier on Jan. 11.
Zach Freemantle led Xavier (17-5, 9-2) with 18 points, followed by Colby Jones and Adam Kunkel with 13.
NO. 14 GONZAGA 82, PORTLAND 67
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Julian Strawther had a career-high 40 points, including eight 3-pointers, and Gonzaga pulled away down the stretch for its 16th consecutive victory over Portland.
Anton Watson added 17 points for Gonzaga (18-4, 7-1 West Coast Conference).
Strawther is the first player to reach 40 points for the Zags since Kyle Wiltjer had 45 against Pacific in 2016.
Portland (11-13, 3-5) was led by Moses Wood with 19 points. Juan Sebastian Gorosito, a freshman, finished with a career-high 17 points.
WEST VIRGINIA 80, NO. 15 AUBURN 77
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) &mdash; Erik Stevenson scored a career-high 31 points and West Virginia withstood a furious late rally from Auburn to win an SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup.
The Mountaineers (13-8) have won two straight for the first time in a month. Jimmy Bell Jr. added 15 points for the Mountaineers.
Charles Barkley cheered on his alma mater from a courtside seat, but Auburn (16-5) couldn&rsquo;t overcome another slow start. The Tigers have lost two straight for the first time in two years.
Jaylin Williams led Auburn with 18 points. Johni Broome added 15 and Allen Flanigan scored 13.
NO. 16 MARQUETTE 89, DEPAUL 69
CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; David Joplin went 8 for 11 from 3-point range for a career-high 28 points, Tyler Kolek had 24 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds, and Marquette defeated DePaul.
Marquette has won eight of its last nine games, and moved into a tie with No. 13 Xavier atop the Big East.
Marquette (17-5, 9-2) pulled away in the second half. Oso Ighodaro had 10 points, making all five of his shots, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 13 and had 8 rebounds.
Umoja Gibson scored 25 points for DePaul (9-13, 3-8) on 8-of-12 shooting.
NO. 17 BAYLOR 67, ARKANSAS 64
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Keyonte George scored 24 points, including seven in a row down the stretch, and Baylor beat Arkansas in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Baylor (16-5) fell behind by as many as eight points in the second half after an early 11-point lead. But the Bears closed it out after Flo Thamba made two free throws for a 55-53 lead with 3:37 left.
LJ Cryer added 20 points and Jalen Bridges had 10 for the Bears, who won their sixth game in a row despite shooting a 34% (20 of 59) from the field. They offset the season-worst shooting from the field by making 21 of 24 free throws, including two by Cryer with 10 seconds left and two by George with 4.3 seconds remaining.
Ricky Council IV scored 25 points for Arkansas (14-7). Davonte Davis had 16 points, but missed the front end of a 1-plus-1 with 2.3 seconds left, though Joseph Pinion got the ball in the right corner only to miss wildly on a 3-pointer as time ran out.
HOFSTRA 85, NO. 18 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 81
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aaron Estrada scored 25 points and Darlinstone Dubar added 18 as Hofstra ended College of Charleston&rsquo;s 20-game winning streak.
The Pride (15-8, 8-2 Colonial Athletic Association) were down 28-20 early before rallying past the Cougars (21-2, 9-1), who had not lost since falling to then-No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 11.
Tyler Thomas had 17 points and eight rebounds for Hofstra.
Ante Brzovic finished with 18 points to lead Charleston.
PITTSBURGH 71, NO. 20 MIAMI 68
PITTSBURGH (AP) &mdash; Blake Hinson tipped in a Jamarius Burton miss with 31 seconds remaining and Pittsburgh rallied past Miami.
The Panthers (15-7, 8-3 ACC) held the Hurricanes (16-5, 7-4) scoreless over the final 2:26 while closing on an 11-0 run to beat a ranked team for the third time this season to bolster its increasingly impressive NCAA tournament resume.
Hinson finished with 21 points for Pitt. Burton had 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Panthers stunned Miami in front of a rare sell-out crowd at the Petersen Events Center.
Jordan Miller led the Hurricanes with 18 points. Isaiah Wong added 14 but Miami committed three of its 12 turnovers in the final 35 seconds as the Panthers stormed back.
NO. 21 FAU 70, W. KENTUCKY 63
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Weatherspoon scored 14 points and Florida Atlantic remained undefeated at home.
The victory extended FAU&rsquo;s winning streak to a program-record 20 games, which is now the nation&rsquo;s longest. The Owls&rsquo; 21 victories on the season ties their Division I record set in 2010-11. Western Kentucky (11-11, 3-8 Conference USA) has lost five straight.
Alijah Martin scored eight while grabbing seven rebounds for the Owls (21-1, 11-0).
Jordan Rawls led all scorers with 17 for W. Kentucky. Dayvion McKnight and Emmanuel Akot each had 16.
NO. 22 SAINT MARY&rsquo;S (CAL) 57, BYU 56
PROVO, Utah (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson had 14 points and freshman Aidan Mahaney scored all 10 of his points, including a fade-away jumper just before the buzzer, in the second half and Saint Mary&rsquo;s (Cal) won its 10th in a row.
Mitchell Saxen had 11 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks for Saint Mary&rsquo;s (19-4, 8-0 West Coast Conference). Alex Ducas scored 12 points and Augustas Marciulionis added 10.
Dallin Hall was fouled on a driving lay-up attempt with 10.2 seconds left and made 1-of-2 free throws to give BYU a 56-55 lead but Mahaney took the inbounds pass, probed the defense before he drove the lane, stopped near the right block and pivoted away from the basket before hitting the winning jumper over the out-stretched arm of defender Fousseyni Traore.
Hall scored a career-high 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting but made just 3 of 6 from the free-throw line for BYU (14-10, 4-5). Fousseyni Traore added 11 points and eight rebounds.
NO. 24 CLEMSON 82, FLORIDA STATE 81
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Chase Hunter drove the lane and drew a foul, sinking the free throw, to help Clemson escape with a win over Florida State.
Hunter Tyson scored 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting for Clemson (18-4, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which halted an eight-game road losing streak to Florida State. Hunter finished with 25.
Matthew Cleveland scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half for Florida State (7-15, 5-6), which made a season-high 13 3-pointers. Caleb Mills and Darin Green Jr. each hit four 3-pointers for the Seminoles. Freshman forward Baba Miller had his best game, scoring 11 points and pulling down four rebounds in 20 minutes.

A recap of Saturday's action in men's college hoops includes five upsets in the AP top 15.

Oklahoma's rout of No. 2 Alabama one of many top-15 upsets on Saturday

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Shahada Wells scored 17 points as No. 14 TCU beat No. 2 Kansas 83-60 on Saturday in one of the worst losses in Bill Self&rsquo;s 20-year coaching career with the Jayhawks.
The loss snapped a 16-game winning streak at home for Kansas and was the second-largest home loss under Self. The Jayhawks (15-3, 5-2 Big 12), who lost 83-82 in overtime at Kansas State on Tuesday, had not lost consecutive games in the state since 1989 &mdash; against K-State and Missouri.
Kansas trailed by 10 at halftime and never closed the gap within single digits. TCU extended the lead to as many as 24 points. The Jayhawks shot only 32.1% in the second half.
TCU (15-4, 4-3 Big 12), which shot 54.4% (31 of 57) from the field, got 15 points from Mike Miles Jr. and 11 from Damion Baugh.
NO. 4 ALABAMA 85, MISSOURI 64
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Noah Clowney and Mark Sears each scored 17 points, and Alabama remained undefeated against unranked teams this season.
Freshman Brandon Miller added 15 points and eight rebounds for Alabama (17-2, 7-0 Southeastern Conference), and reserve Jahvon Quinterly scored 13 points. Clowney also had 14 rebounds, and Sears finished with eight rebounds and three steals.
Isiaih Mosley led Missouri (14-5, 3-4) with 19 points. Mohamed Diarra had eight points and 12 rebounds.
NO. 11 ARIZONA 58, NO. 5 UCLA 52
TUSCON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Oumar Ballo scored 16 points, Azuolas Tubelis had a double-double and Arizona withstood a late rally to end UCLA&rsquo;s 14-game winning streak.
The Wildcats (17-3, 5-3 Pac-12) took a 56-44 lead on Ballo&rsquo;s alley-oop dunk with 2:07 left. But the Bruins (17-3, 8-1) fought back, creating four straight turnovers to pull within 56-52. UCLA then blocked consecutive shots but couldn&rsquo;t convert on two shots of its own. Arizona&rsquo;s Pelle Larsson hit two free throws with 0.9 seconds to close it out.
Tyger Campbell led the Bruins with 13 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 12 with 11 rebounds.
NO. 6 GONZAGA 99, PACIFIC 90
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 24 of his career-high 38 points in the second half, including 18 straight points during one stretch, and Gonzaga pulled away in the closing minutes.
Timme made 17 of 23 shots and almost all of them within a couple feet of the rim. Anton Watson added 16 points and 13 rebounds for Gonzaga (17-4, 6-1 WCC). Rasir Bolton added 16 points for the Bulldogs, who had won their previous three road games in conference play by a combined eight points, and Julian Strawther had 15.
Jordan Ivy-Curry led five Pacific players in double figures with 17 points. Nick Blake scored 16 before fouling out. Keylan Boone finished with 15, Luke Avdalovic added 13 and Judson Martindale finished with 12. Pacific (10-12, 3-4) made eight 3-pointers in the first half and was tied at 47 at halftime, but the Tigers were just 1 of 8 from deep in the second half.
NO. 7 TEXAS 69, WEST VIRGINIA 61
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Marcus Carr scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half to lead Texas.
Dylan Disu added 13 points before fouling out, and Christian Bishop and Tyrese Hunter scored 11 apiece for the Longhorns (16-3, 5-2 Big 12), who bounced back from a double-digit loss at No. 12 Iowa State on Wednesday.
The Mountaineers (11-8, 1-6) had several players in early foul trouble. Kedrian Johnson had a career-high 22 points, but his teammates fell flat in the second half against the Longhorns.
NO. 8 XAVIER 95, GEORGETOWN 82
CINCINNATI (AP) &mdash; Zach Freemantle tied a career-high with 30 points and Colby Jones had 20 as Xavier handed Georgetown its 29th straight Big East loss.
Adam Kunkel scored 14 points to help the Musketeers (16-4, 8-1 Big East) bounce back from a 73-72 loss at DePaul on Wednesday.
Primo Spears scored a career-high 37 points and Akok Akok had 14 for the Hoyas (5-15, 0-9 Big East), who have lost 10 straight. Spears&rsquo; previous high was 34 against LaSalle on March 5, 2022.
NO. 9 TENNESSEE 77, LSU 56
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Josiah-Jordan James scored a season-high 22 points and Tennessee defeated LSU, which has lost six straight.
James, who missed eight games in November and December due to injury, made his second straight start for the Volunteers (16-3, 6-1 Southeastern Conference). Playing 31 minutes, James was 9-of-16 from the field and matched his career-high with four 3-pointers.
Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler had 12 points and 10 assists, which tied his career high. Julian Phillips and Tyreke Key each had 10 points.
KJ Williams led LSU (12-7, 1-6) with 16 points. Trae Hannibal added 10 points. The Tigers committed 19 turnovers which resulted in 33 Volunteers points.
NO. 10 VIRGINIA 76, WAKE FOREST 67
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin scored 18 of his 25 points during the first half and Virginia survived blowing nearly all of a 19-point lead to beat Wake Forest.
Kihei Clark added 12 points despite getting into foul trouble for the Cavaliers (15-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). But it was a day of wild swings for Virginia, who went from missing its first eight shots to suddenly being unable to miss to go up 34-15 &mdash; only to see the Demon Deacons push back to within a single point with 8 1/2 minutes left.
Damari Monsanto had a career-high 25 points for the Demon Deacons (14-6, 6-3), highlighted by making 7 of 15 3-pointers.
OKLAHOMA STATE 61, NO. 12 IOWA STATE 59
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Avery Anderson scored 18 points, including the go-ahead free throws, and Oklahoma State defeated Iowa State for its first win over a ranked team this season.
Kalib Boone added 13 points for the Cowboys (11-8, 3-4 Big 12), who won their second straight game.
Osun Osunniyi scored 15 points and Gabe Kalscheur added 14 for Iowa State (14-4, 5-2), which had won seven of its last eight games. Cyclones sharpshooter Caleb Grill spent most of the second half on the bench wearing a back brace and wasn&rsquo;t in the game in the closing minutes.
NO. 13 KANSAS STATE 68, TEXAS TECH 58
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell had 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists in Kansas State&rsquo;s win over Texas Tech.
Keyontae Johnson had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (17-2, 6-1 Big 12), who won for the 11th time in 12 games. Ismael Massoud scored 12 points.
Pop Isaacs and De&rsquo;Vion Harmon each scored 13 points for Texas Tech (10-9, 0-7), which shot 32.4% (23 for 71) from the field.
NO. 16 AUBURN 81, SOUTH CAROLINA 66
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Johni Broome had a season-high 27 points and 11 rebounds as Auburn took control late in the opening half to run past struggling South Carolina.
Broome&rsquo;s performance helped the Tigers to their fifth straight win and offset a career-best 30 points from Gamecocks&rsquo; freshman Gregory &ldquo;GG&rdquo; Jackson II.
The 6-foot-10 Broome took full advantage of South Carolina&rsquo;s undersized interior for the Tigers (16-3, 6-1 Southeastern Conference). He hit 12 of his 17 shots in 30 minutes for his sixth double-double this season and fifth against an SEC opponent.
Meechie Johnson was the only other player for South Carolina (8-11, 1-5) in double figures with 11 points.
DUKE 68, NO. 17 MIAMI
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Kyle Filipowski had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Jeremy Roach scored 14 points in his first game in more than two weeks to lift Duke over Miami.
Tyrese Proctor had 11 points and Dariq Whitehead added 10 points for the Blue Devils (15-4, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who played their first game of the season without a national ranking.
Jordan Miller&rsquo;s 19 points and Nijel Pack&rsquo;s 18 were tops for Miami (15-4, 6-3), which has lost three of its last five games.
NO. 18 CHARLESTON 87, NORTHEASTERN 61
BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Ben Burnham scored 15 points, Pat Robinson III added 14 and Ryan Larson had 12 to lead Charleston to its 20th win in a row.
The Cougars (21-1, 9-0 Colonial Athletic Association) scored 13 straight points in the first half to pull away and extend the longest active winning streak in the nation. They have not lost since the second game of the season, to then-No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 11, climbing to their highest ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 since 1999.
Chris Doherty had 11 points and 13 rebounds and Jared Turner also scored 11 for Northeastern (8-11, 4-4). The Huskies haven&rsquo;t beat a Top 25 team since 2015.
NO. 19 CLEMSON 51, VIRGINIA TECH 50
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Hunter Tyson&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 12 seconds left lifted Clemson to a dramatic victory over Virginia Tech.
Tyson caught a pass just left of the key, took a look at at the basket and let it fly. The crowd exploded as the ball went through and the Tigers (16-4, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) continued their unexpected run atop the ACC.
PJ Hall led Clemson with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Grant Basile led the Hokies (11-8, 1-7) with 13 points.
NO. 20 MARQUETTE 74, SETON HALL 53
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Kam Jones scored 22 points, Oso Ighodaro had 18 on 7-for-7 shooting and Marquette beat Seton Hall.
Marquette (16-5, 8-2 Big East) shot 54% (29 for 54) from the field in its second straight win since an 80-76 loss to Xavier last weekend.
Kadary Richmond led Seton Hall (12-9, 5-5) with 10 points and five assists. The Pirates committed a season-high 26 turnovers.
NO. 21 BAYLOR 62, OKLAHOMA 60
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Bridges scored 11 points and hit a trio of game-turning 3-pointers in the final five minutes as Baylor rallied to hold off Oklahoma.
Adam Flagler had 16 points and five assists, and Keyonte George added 11 points as Baylor (14-5, 4-3 Big 12) won its fourth straight game after opening conference play with three straight losses and briefly dropping out of The Associated Press Top 25.
Jalen Hill had 17 points and nine rebounds, while Tanner Groves added 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for the Sooners (12-7, 2-5).
NO. 22 PROVIDENCE 75, DEPAUL 64
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Noah Locke had a career-high 29 points, including seven 3-pointers, to help Providence fend off DePaul.
Bryce Hopkins added 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Friars (15-5, 7-2 Big East) snapped a two-game losing skid and improved to 11-0 at home. They are 2-2 without point guard Jared Bynum, who missed his fourth consecutive game with a torso injury.
The Blue Demons (9-11, 3-6) came in fresh off a home victory over eighth-ranked Xavier. But they dropped their sixth straight road game and are now 0-4 in conference games away from home. Umjoja Gibson had 16 points and five assists for DePaul and Da&rsquo;Sean Nelson added 13 points.
NO. 24 FLORIDA ATLANTIC 67, UTEP 59
EL PASO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Johnell Davis scored 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting and Florida Atlantic extended its program record for consecutive wins to 18.
Davis hit 2 of 3 attempts from 3-point distance and was perfect on six shots from the line for FAU (19-1, 9-0 Conference USA). Vladislav Goldin finished with 11 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the Owls.
Calvin Solomon finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Tae Hardy also scored 16 points for UTEP (11-9, 4-5). Mario McKinney Jr. added 11 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
NO. 25 ARKANSAS 69, OLE MISS 57
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Anthony Black scored 17 points, reserve Joseph Pinion had 13 and Arkansas snapped a four-game losing streak by topping Mississippi.
Only nine teams in Division I had made fewer 3-pointers than Arkansas (13-6, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) this season, but the Razorbacks tied a season high by making eight from beyond the arc. They led by as many as 21 points.
Pinion and Devo Davis each made three 3s. Davis had 16 points and Jordan Walsh finished with 13.
Ole Miss (9-10, 1-6) committed 17 turnovers. The Rebels had six giveaways in the first six minutes of the second half, helping Arkansas extend its three-point halftime lead to 11 at the first media timeout after the break.

A roundup of Saturday's top-25 action in men's college basketball includes a TCU rout of the second-ranked Jayhawks on the road.