Philadelphia 76ers

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

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; Domantas Sabonis scored a season-high 34 points and had 11 rebounds and the Sacramento Kings beat San Antonio 119-109 on Wednesday night, handing the beleaguered Spurs their seventh straight loss.
&ldquo;If they are going to be down there trying to guard him one-on-one, &lsquo;Hey, yo, go score,&rsquo;&rdquo; Kings guard De&rsquo;Aaron Fox said. &ldquo;If you have to shoot the ball 10, 15 times in a row, do it.&rdquo;
Sabonis finished 15 for 20 from the field.
Fox added 31 points, 10 assists and had just one turnover for Sacramento, which has won two straight and nine of 12 to remain atop the Pacific Division.
The Spurs, who have lost 12 of 13, were led by a season-high 22 points from rookie Malaki Branham. But already without Devin Vassell, the Spurs lost starters Tre Jones and Jeremy Sochan to injury in the first quarter.
Even without three of its top six scorers, San Antonio kept pace with Sacramento&rsquo;s league-leading offense for most of the game. Josh Richardson added 19 points for the Spurs in his return after missing three games with a sore left knee.
&ldquo;They do it every game,&rdquo; San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. &ldquo;They stick with it and they play hard every game. One out of every 10 or so, we might lay and egg, but everybody else does the same thing. I have always been pleased with their effort and their stick-to-itiveness.&rdquo;
Sacramento, which matched its season average of 119.5 points per game, went on a 14-2 run in taking a 49-37 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Kings were 8 for 27 on 3-pointers, but compensated for the poor outside shooting with a season-high 74 points in the paint.
Sabonis ignited the inside dominance, scoring 17 points primarily in the paint in the first quarter while shooting 7 for 9.
&ldquo;In the first quarter, they were trying to play him one-on-one and not allow him to spread the ball,&rdquo; Fox said. &ldquo;Obviously, he&rsquo;s a super unselfish guy, but if they are going to guard him like that, we all tell him, go score the ball because at some point they are going to have to start helping.&rdquo;
The Spurs pulled within three points twice in the third quarter and cut the deficit to 89-88 two minutes into the fourth on Doug McDermott&rsquo;s cutting layup. But the Kings responded each time with a short run to maintain their advantage.
&ldquo;Stopping them from getting in the paint,&rdquo; Sacramento guard Malik Monk said. &ldquo;After they made a little run, we locked in. Went to the timeout, said, &lsquo;We can&rsquo;t let them in the paint,&rsquo; and we did that. That&rsquo;s how we held the lead.&rdquo;
Monk added 22 points while playing 33 minutes off the bench.
TIP-INS
Kings: Sabonis&rsquo; previous high was 31 points against Denver on Dec. 28. ... Sacramento did not have a single player listed on its injury report. ... The Kings clinched the season series with their third victory over The Spurs. The series finale is April 2 in Sacramento. The Kings&rsquo; last loss to the Spurs was 136-117 on Nov. 10, 2021, in San Antonio.
Spurs: Popovich said there was no update on Sochan and Jones&rsquo; status after the game. Sochan exited with 5:11 remaining in the first quarter after clutching at his lower back. Sochan was fouled while fighting for position under the rim against Fox. Jones left with 2:58 remaining in the first after injuring his left foot. ... G Romeo Langford missed his fifth straight game with left adductor tightness. &hellip; C Zach Collins had 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
ALL-STAR NODS
Sabonis and Fox put up double-doubles in their final game before All-Star reserves are announced Thursday.
Sacramento coach Mike Brown hopes their outings serve as a punctuation to their selections given how well both have played for the surprising Kings this season.
&ldquo;I hope so,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to think people would take into consideration your record. To me, Fox and Domas are clear All-Stars, but at the end of the day, it&rsquo;s not just my decision.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Kings: At Indiana on Friday.
Spurs: Host Philadelphia on Friday.

Domantas Sabonis scored a season-high 34 points and had 11 rebounds and the Kings beat the Spurs 119-109 on Wednesday.

Sabonis’ double-double helps Kings power past Spurs 119-109

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

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes Chauncey Billups' dual-threat nature and impact on the next generation of point guards.

Blazing the Trail: Chauncey Billups, the basketball cheat code

When the New Orleans Pelicans swung a deal for CJ McCollum ahead of last February's trade deadline, they acquired a dynamic scorer with a gravitational on-court presence and eight seasons of playoff experience. They also added a rising star in sports media.&nbsp;
McCollum <a href="https://theathletic.com/1806073/2020/05/11/hes-a-really-good-storyteller-the-origins-of-cj-mccollum-journalist-at-lehigh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">majored in journalism as a student at Lehigh</a> and has coupled his basketball ascension with a developing on-air platform, most recently joining ESPN as an analyst. He has spearheaded a rush of current and former NBA players taking their voices to the airwaves.
Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III is taking notes.&nbsp;
"We've definitely had a few conversations [about media]," Murphy told Basketball News in a phone interview. "That's what I want to do after I'm done playing basketball, you know, staying close to the game as well as showing my personality. I feel like I have a pretty good personality; I'm able to speak well, speak intelligently and add a little humor to it. So I'll be able to do that and still get a nice little paycheck and stay close to the game."
Murphy has envisioned a career in sports media since he was in high school. Back then, he was a two-star recruit with limited interest from colleges, so there was no guarantee that he'd be able to go pro. However, after excelling at Rice and Virginia, he parlayed that growth all the way to first-round-pick status.
The 22-year-old plans to have a long and successful NBA career, but he's also determined to sharpen his skills behind the microphone along the way.&nbsp;
During the 2022 NBA Draft, Murphy patrolled the red carpet, interviewed some of the incoming rookies and <a href="https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA/status/1540448684919459846?s=20&amp;t=Q3VaAsvWayXab90H61pJBQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">even cited some inside sources</a> while revealing the Pelicans' plan to select Dyson Daniels.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Mbappe, NBA rookies, and <a href="https://twitter.com/TaylorRooks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TaylorRooks</a> choose between Drake, Kendrick, and J. Cole WARNING: If you're a Kendrick fan, this does not go well. 😅 <a href="https://t.co/8zQZkkI8i6">pic.twitter.com/8zQZkkI8i6</a>
&mdash; Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/ComplexSports/status/1541248474963902466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2022</a></blockquote>
He watches "almost every episode" of J.J. Redick's podcast, "The Old Man and the Three." He also has "The Draymond Green Show," "Knuckleheads with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles," "The ETCs with Kevin Durant" and "The Longshot Podcast with Duncan Robinson" in his rotation.&nbsp;
For Murphy, listening to pros discuss the game isn't just about supporting players in the media &mdash; it's also on-demand access to details and insight from athletes who have made a career in the league.
"Watching [Redick's podcast], especially, coming into the league, is almost like free game, and you're just listening to everybody's different perspectives and things that they learned while they were in the league," Murphy said. "So, it makes it a little bit easier for me. It's like I can learn from them, and I don't have to take these lumps that they probably took before they actually learned their lessons."
Of course, Murphy will attest that he took his fair share of lumps as a rookie. The 6-foot-10 forward spent much of last winter on the fringes of the Pelicans' rotation, and it took a mental toll. After one contest against the Miami Heat, a trainer took Murphy aside and told him that he needed to get back to being himself and focus on consistency in his work.
"Those times when I was struggling [and] wasn't playing a lot &mdash; that's when I really learned a lot about myself and just staying the course, because the NBA is so much of a mental aspect and a mental game that you have to worry about," Murphy said. "You could be doing a lot of good stuff physically and on the court, but if your mentals aren't right, there's gonna be a lot of stuff that's happening that won't affect you in a positive way...
"At the end of the day, we're all human. And I'll say, those times at my lows, I definitely chose some negative emotions &mdash; nothing outward enough to hurt the team, but definitely enough to where you can see I wasn't happy. And I feel like if you want to be a great player in this league, you can't just be happy with sitting on the bench, and I wasn't. I felt I could contribute. I felt I could help my team win, and I wasn't able to do that, and, you know, it hurt me a little bit. But they were just saying, 'Just stay the course [and] keep working.'"
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Murphy leaned on the Pelicans' coaching staff, including head coach Willie Green and assistants Corey Brewer, Teresa Weatherspoon and Brandon Demas. He stayed consistent, and when his opportunity came in the spring, Murphy maximized it.
Between March and April, Murphy's playing time nearly doubled from the previous two months. He averaged 9.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game after March 9, while shooting 43.8% from beyond the arc. And this wasn't in the waning months of a losing season &mdash; New Orleans was in the thick of the Play-In-Tournament race. The team went 9-6 from March 9 onward, won both of their Play-In contests, and even pushed the top-seeded Phoenix Suns to six games in the first round of the playoffs.&nbsp;
Those two months gave Murphy a massive confidence boost.
"That was really special," he said. "It made those tough times in the beginning of the season and the middle of the season just so much sweeter."
One reason for the Pelicans' success &mdash; even through a 3-16 start, the loss of Zion Williamson, a midseason blockbuster and the trials of inexperience &mdash; was that they enjoyed each other's company. Murphy says the team struck a balance between serious and fun. When the group wasn't working hard and competing at a high level, they were teasing each other and having a good time together. Murphy credits Brandon Ingram, in particular, for setting the right tone as a leader.&nbsp;
"You could just see [Ingram] cares about a lot of people. He asks us for advice at times, he tells us things that we need to do. He shows caring ways as well by, you know, [giving] gifts or just being there for people. It's appreciated," Murphy said. "...There'd be times when he was coming back [from injuries] and he'd still be a little banged up, a little nicked up. But he's still out there grinding with us and just showing us he's not leaving us out there to dry."
Murphy has a particularly close bond with Herb Jones and Jose Alvarado. They play NBA 2K, Madden and Fortnite together. Murphy (who claims to have a designated meme folder in his photos app) and Larry Nance Jr. helped disseminate "Herb Jones propaganda" via memes, graphics and tweets during the second-round pick's breakout season.&nbsp;
However, Murphy and Jones rarely faced off in practice as rookies. But during their extended workouts in New Orleans this summer, Murphy has marveled at Jones' stellar defense after getting an up-close view.&nbsp;
"This time was the first time I really went against him, and I was like, 'I understand why people don't really be scoring like that on him!' It's tough," Murphy said. "He's strong, athletic, really smart [and] just has great instincts. So, I understand."
Murphy has been bulking up too, and he says he now weighs 215 pounds. Fans who watched his two NBA Summer League contests saw an aggressive forward who was unafraid of contact.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Trey Murphy dropped a 30-piece in the <a href="https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PelicansNBA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBASummer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBASummer</a> win!<a href="https://twitter.com/treymurphy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@treymurphy</a> 30 PTS (10-18 FGM) | 6 REB <a href="https://t.co/QesZWbUZM0">pic.twitter.com/QesZWbUZM0</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1546649262146129922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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"I'm just getting a lot smarter too," Murphy said. "Just knowing what's coming next, so you're able to brace for things; you're able to absorb force as well as distribute force when need be."
As a rookie, Murphy made just eight shots after taking two-or-more dribbles, and he shot just 20.5% on those attempts (per <a href="https://theathletic.com/3418422/2022/07/12/trey-murphy-summer-league-pelicans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">William Guillory of The Athletic</a>). He matched those eight makes in two Summer League games. This bucket &mdash; where Murphy crossed over his defender, spun back around and nailed a mid-range floater &mdash; was a thing of beauty:
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Murphy recognizes that his signature offensive role is as a shooter and spacer. He understands the value of knowing one's role in the league &mdash; a lesson that he says hit home specifically after listening to Draymond Green and Glen Davis on a podcast. At the same time, he's been working on tightening his handle this offseason, and he feels more confident that he can attack in an NBA game.
"I mean, I know when to do it [and] when not to do it," Murphy said. "Definitely, I'm gonna be aggressive, because I know that's what this team will need, especially coming from the second unit. And I'll just know when to pick my spots and pick my times to really attack and really go at it."
When Murphy does space the floor though, he thinks there's one player in particular who will help make his life easier: Zion Williamson.
Murphy vividly recalls a pregame film session before facing the Minnesota Timberwolves. While watching tape of the Pelicans' 2020-21 matchups against the Wolves, Murphy was awestruck by Williamson's floor gravity.
"He had the ball at the top of the key, and Minnesota is in a 1-2-2 zone, basically," Murphy explained. "They're all literally boxed in trying to guard him, and I was just like, 'If they have that much help [off of] me, it's gonna be a field day!' It's gonna be crazy because he just draws so much attention. Me being a smart player, I can cut that, I can stay on the three-point line &mdash; I can do a lot of different things."
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Unlike last year, the Pelicans now have serious outside expectations to build on their 2021-22 playoff run. Murphy has his own motivations to assert himself as a core player and contribute to winning. While those pressures can sometimes weigh more on a given day, Murphy wants to keep New Orleans, and basketball, fun.
"At the end of the day, the NBA is stressful," Murphy said. "You're playing against the best players in the world. You have a forum. There's money involved. There's a lot of different things involved, and you just gotta have fun with it.
"Understand [that] you gotta be the kid that was playing in the driveway when you were 5 years old, and still have fun with it. Because if you don't have fun with it, then you're just not gonna enjoy it. It's not gonna be the same for you."

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Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III opens up to Ethan Fuller about his sports-media aspirations, his development as a player and more.

Trey Murphy III ready to make his presence felt in Year 2 with Pelicans

Welcome to Basketball News' 10-part mini-series, Blazing the Trail, where Mat Issa breaks down the most revolutionary players of the 1990s and 2000s. Throughout this series, we'll examine how these players changed basketball and pioneered their respective skills.
In this fourth installment, Mat goes in-depth on one of the greatest shooters of all-time: Reggie Miller. He explains what made him different from the marksmen who came before him, with insights from his former coaches in Indiana &mdash; Dan Burke and Bob Ociepka &mdash; his former teammate Rik Smits and basketball analyst Mike Prada.
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In his critically acclaimed, historical rendition of the NBA, "The Book of Basketball," The Ringer's Bill Simmons ranked NBA and Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller outside of the top 60 all-time:
&ldquo;Reggie Miller was the most overrated &lsquo;superstar&rsquo; of the past thirty years,&rdquo; Simmons opined.
To Simmons' credit, however, he later retracted this statement in the sequel podcast, "<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-of-basketball-2-0/id1483525141?i=1000462435000">The Book of Basketball 2.0.</a>" Revising his previous comments, Simmons suggested that in today's game, Miller would indeed constitute superstar status.
But what if Miller would have been a superstar in any era? What if he was an elite scorer and playmaker in ways that we couldn&rsquo;t comprehend during his time? And what if he served as an inspiration to the most prolific dynasty of the NBA's pace-and-space era?
Let's find out.
WHAT MADE MILLER SPECIAL
As a child, Miller would regularly participate in 1-on-1 matchups against his older sister, Cheryl, who turned out to be one of the greatest women's basketball players of all-time prior to untimely injuries. (She's enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.)
Because of Cheryl's superior size and strength, Reggie going inside was a moot point.
&ldquo;One of the reasons I practiced shooting from the outside was that Cheryl used to block my shots when I drove to the hoop,&rdquo; Miller recalled in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Love-Being-Enemy-Reggie-Miller/dp/0684870398" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his autobiography</a>. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bad feeling when your sister is knocking your best stuff into the rosebushes.&rdquo;
To defeat his sibling, Miller needed to hone in on his perimeter game.&nbsp;
That's exactly what he did.
Miller endured his sister&rsquo;s challenges and triumphed to become one of the premier shooters the NBA had ever seen. According to Cerebro Sports' Three-Point Efficiency metric (a shooting metric that combines three-point volume and efficiency to show the most lethal shooters), Miller finished in the 97th percentile or higher in all but one year from 1988 to 2004.
(The 2002-03 campaign was the exception, where he finished in the 94th percentile).
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/2.png" alt="" width="550" height="550" />
Visual provided by Cerebro Sports
Even more impressive is how he earned his standing in this data set. Unlike many of the great shooters of his time &mdash; who made their mark primarily off standstill catch-and-shoot opportunities &mdash; a majority of Miller&rsquo;s triples came while he was circling the half-court at top speed.
And again, much like his pickup contests growing up, this strategy was rooted in necessity.
&ldquo;The chances for spot-up [threes] weren&rsquo;t really there,&rdquo; said Dan Burke, Miller&rsquo;s former coach in Indiana and now an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers. &ldquo;You have to have a real big, key player [you&rsquo;re playing off of] to get spot-ups.&rdquo;
To back Burke's words, think of one of the other notable three-point shooters of that time: Dan Majerle. Throughout his time in Phoenix and Miami, Majerle was gifted with potent penetrators like Kevin Johnson and Tim Hardaway, who could both consistently <a href="https://streamable.com/wd17v5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">break down a defense and get two feet in the paint</a>.
Meanwhile, Miller&rsquo;s most accomplished backcourt mate, Mark Jackson, was more of a post facilitator than a downhill threat.
Instead, Miller achieved sage status in the art of movement shooting. And for those following along at home, his technique can be divided into <a href="https://youtu.be/tv3EyzBuRb4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three keys</a>.
Key 1: Set up the Defender
Miller was an avid participant in basketball grappling &mdash; the practice of using physicality to manipulate and gain separation from your defender.
&ldquo;[Miller] embraced contact and sometimes got the feel of a guy so [he] could push off him and get open,&rdquo; Burke said.
The cunning sharpshooter also deployed harsh cuts and abrupt changes in speed to further decrease the likelihood that his opponent could shadow his movements.
&ldquo;When you watch him, it wasn&rsquo;t always the same speed,&rdquo; Burke continued. &ldquo;He changed speeds. He&rsquo;d stop and go.&rdquo;
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Key 2: Read the Screen
Once he gained a step, Miller could interpret his optimal route-running path based on the direction his defender was chasing him. If his defender trailed outside the screen, Miller would juke inwards. If his defender rushed from the inside, Miller would retreat outside.
Miller's astute ability in this regard was largely based upon the continuity he achieved with his screen-setting bigs &mdash; Antonio Davis, Dale Davis and Rik Smits.
&ldquo;We would run through our sets almost every practice,&rdquo; Smits recalled to Basketball News. &ldquo;[A lot] of dummy offenses. Just run, run, run. We really concentrated on getting good screens set just to take full advantage of everything [Miller brought to the table].&rdquo;
"Reggie would talk to those bigs too," Burke added. "'Just stand there, I&rsquo;ll use you.'&rdquo;
Key 3: Footwork
Miller boasted balletic footwork, akin to that of a peak-<a href="https://youtu.be/Ye7xMqYqAbA">Torture Chamber Kevin McHale</a>, able to stop and pop effortlessly regardless of his travel velocity and angle.
&ldquo;[Typically], if you are right-handed, you want to come off [a pindown screen] going to your left so that your shoulder is closer to the rim,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t matter with Reggie. He could come with his right hand or with his left hand.&rdquo;
Miller's ambidexterity is a testament to his impeccable footwork. The direction didn't matter because his stride was sound both ways. And his ability to maintain balance during these sequences is even more impressive when you consider the defensive physicality that was accepted during his era.
&ldquo;Every time a guy like Reggie cut through the lane, the goal was to smack him. We used to say, &lsquo;Pinball him,&rsquo;" Burke recalled.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The league allows no &lsquo;impeding&rsquo; cutters now. There was much more holding then. But Reggie would stay locked and still get a rhythm jumper.&rdquo;
Here are all three of those keys in action:
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ON-COURT PRODUCTION
Miller&rsquo;s shooting served as a double-edged sword for his reputation. On one end, he was revered as one of the game&rsquo;s top snipers. On the other, he&rsquo;d been pigeonholed into a singular role on the floor.
However, Miller was more than a marksman. He was a three-level scorer who utilized the <a href="https://streamable.com/ykdkx5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">triple-threat</a> position to score from the mid-range and at the rim.
&ldquo;One thing Reggie worked on, we used to call it &lsquo;Pete Newell,&rsquo;" Burke explained. &ldquo;Pete Newell was an old coach who used to have a big-man camp. His whole thing was: Jab, catch, create space. If the guy doesn&rsquo;t honor your jab, you go by him. If he backs up, you raise up and shoot it.
&ldquo;It was a series. And [Reggie] really worked on it.&rdquo;
This combination of three-level scoring and high conversion rates from the most efficient spots on the floor made Miller arguably the best backcourt scorer of the 1990s not named Michael Jordan.
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To compare the two, from 1989 to 1999, Miller tallied nine seasons where he ranked in the 90th percentile in both scoring volume and efficiency, while Jordan only touted two such seasons.&nbsp;
Additionally, Miller&rsquo;s unpredictable tendencies coming off screens and counter-laden arsenal made him one of the few stars to rarely improve his volume and efficiency during postseason play.
For instance, in 1994-95, Miller averaged 23.9 points per 75 possessions on 62.0% True Shooting. In the playoffs, those averages ballooned to 28.0 points and 63.2% True Shooting, respectively.&nbsp;
To show how rare that is, there was an inverse trend of that with John Stockton and Mitch Richmond &mdash; two guards who were (<a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1556676428426612738?s=20&amp;t=haKXS_VAVIAeIw7hLdSqkQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrongfully?</a>) regularly awarded All-NBA selections over Miller.&nbsp;
WEAVING THE THREAD
The first guard to function as an off-ball superstar was John Havlicek. When "Hondo" wasn&rsquo;t ripping and running in transition, he was usually <a href="https://streamable.com/uzgwhw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">curling off screens</a> for leaning mid-range jumpers.
A post-three-point line precursor to Miller was Joe Dumars (who coincidentally probably also took some of his All-NBA accolades). Another one of Miller&rsquo;s coaches in Indiana, Dick Versace, spent time as an assistant on the Detroit Pistons before becoming the head coach of the Pacers in 1988.
&ldquo;Joe Dumars had that knack for getting free off screens,&rdquo; said Bob Ociepka, an assistant on Versace's staff in Indiana and a 23-year NBA coach. &ldquo;Coach Versace, coming from [Detroit], ran a lot of the things Chuck Daly did &mdash; [like Dumars] coming off those staggered screens from the baseline.&rdquo;
Miller expressed a great admiration toward Dumars, even going as far as to call him the "unsung MVP of Dream Team II" in his book.
Dale Ellis was another <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1555600444763869186?s=20&amp;t=EBeojEhLms-WUc2csgmNdA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sniper</a> from that generation who cratered defenses using floppy action &mdash; a play in which a player, positioned under the basket, can choose whether to cut off a single screen to one side or a double screen to the other, per Basketball Dictionary.
However, because of the typical constraints placed on 2-guards at the time, neither Dumars nor Ellis could fully leverage their shooting prowess to their advantage.
&ldquo;[In that era], the shooting guard was supposed to be Jordan-esque,&rdquo; said Mike Prada, editor at The Athletic and "Spaced Out" <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spaced-Out-Three-Point-Revolution-Everything/dp/1629378860/ref=asc_df_1629378860/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=564700905732&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=6603785140486578978&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9016969&amp;hvtargid=pla-1645726366795&amp;psc=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">author</a>. &ldquo;You were an all-around player, you got a lot of rebounds and assists, you went 1-on-1 a lot, you were explosive, you could dunk on people &mdash; sort of that Platonic Ideal.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Miller was different from those guards; he didn&rsquo;t possess the same ball-handling or rebounding acumen. He was an outlier who weaponized his extraordinary gift to buoy an offense almost entirely through his off-ball presence.
Notably, the Pacer legend pioneered a term deeply entrenched in today&rsquo;s basketball jargon: gravity.
Dangerous from deep, Miller made <a href="https://en.mimi.hu/basketball/double_down.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doubling down</a> on his big-men teammates in the post a conversation killer. Teams would rather face guard him at the three-point line than send reinforcements to the interior, which opened up room for his low-post executioners to make decisions.
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Smits expressed a great deal of gratitude for the space Miller provided him to operate.
&ldquo;I was glad he was on my team. I could tell you that,&rdquo; Smits laughed.&nbsp;
Miller&rsquo;s landscape-altering effect is felt when you look through the lens of historian Ben Taylor&rsquo;s passing and playmaking statistics.
For example, in 1993-94, Gary Payton finished in the 80th percentile in Taylor&rsquo;s Box Creation stat &mdash; a metric that estimates playmaking (per <a href="https://backpicks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Backpicks.com</a>). Payton did this while simultaneously scoring in the 94th percentile in Passer Rating.
In the same season, despite only scoring in the 37th percentile in passing, Miller finished in the 77th percentile in playmaking.
Miller wasn&rsquo;t the on-ball initiator that Payton was, but this conveys that the former was still able to operate as a high-end creator thanks to the attention he garnered from his opponents.
&ldquo;The thing that Reggie Miller had that we didn&rsquo;t know how to identify back when he played &mdash; but now it&rsquo;s a no-brainer concept &mdash; is this idea of gravity,&rdquo; Prada said.
IMPACT ON TODAY'S GAME
In many circles, Ray Allen is often cited as the disciple who bears the most resemblance to Miller. Along with Allen, Richard Hamilton, JJ Redick and Kyle Korver have all played the part of "<a href="https://grantland.com/features/kyle-korver-nba-atlanta-hawks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offense unto themselves</a>" by utilizing their off-ball gravitational pull.
In the current NBA landscape, Miller&rsquo;s most obvious descendants share the same squad.
&ldquo;Two guys on the same team,&rdquo; Burke pointed out. "Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson."
The dynastic Golden State Warriors have become famous for pushing the boundaries of time and space by exploiting the shooting gravity their dynamic duo wields.&nbsp;
And, as fate would have it, Miller also once teamed up with a fellow gravity co-founder, Chris Mullin.&nbsp;
Mullin was arguably the closest comparison to Miller at the time, and together, the tandem caused wide-scale chaos and confusion &mdash; the likes of which the league would not see again until the Splash Brothers coalesced in the Bay Area nearly two decades later.
Tell me if these sequences look familiar:
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In both plays, the two pairs create a defensive breakdown simply by running past each other in the opposite direction.
Even more poetic, take a look at the Pacers&rsquo; opponent in the first clip. Who was a reserve on that team? None other than Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
&ldquo;All of the stuff that the Warriors did in the early days with the Steph/Klay combo &mdash; the crazy, figure-eight-type stuff &mdash; was very much ripped right from the Pacers,&rdquo; Prada explained.
Golden State expanded on Miller&rsquo;s semi-contained havoc, turning half-court offensive sets into absolute anarchy.
Miller&rsquo;s movement authored a great deal of mayhem, more than anyone of his time, but he was still forced to rein it in a bit to accommodate the structure of his offense. Nowadays, engines like Curry and Thompson have the discretion to graze the terrain as they see fit.
&ldquo;[For Miller], his was set plays, so it was easier for teams to really dial in,&rdquo; Burke explained. &ldquo;Curry is more of a constant, built into a random system.&rdquo;
But it was still the audacious Miller who paved the way. He crawled so that the Golden State empire could walk.
&ldquo;He was this type of player that, in an era that did not have a blueprint for this style of play, he provided it,&rdquo; Prada concluded.&nbsp;
He's the player responsible for the outline that triggered a dynasty.
Are we sure Reggie Miller was overrated?
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Tune in next week for Part V of Blazing the Trail, which focuses on Andrei Kirilenko &mdash; the five-tool defender.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-shane-battier-the-databall-defender-memphis-grizzlies-houston-rockets-miami-heat-daryl-morey-david-fizdale-detroit-pistons-draymond-green" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part III: "Shane Battier, the data-ball defender."</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-rashard-lewis-all-star-stretch-four-orlando-magic-stan-van-gundy-dwight-howard-hedo-turkoglu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part II: "Rashard Lewis, the All-Star stretch 4."</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-steve-nash-phoenix-suns-mike-dantoni-raja-bell-steph-curry-all-time-great-point-guard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part I: "Steve Nash, the magician who danced in the paint."</a>

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes all-time shooting great Reggie Miller and what separated him from the rest.

Blazing the Trail: Reggie Miller, the moving target

The <a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/charles-barkley-on-winning-the-mvp-over-michael-jordan-no-1-he-didnt-deserve-it-michael-should-know-better/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/giannis-antetokounmpo-shares-why-he-doesnt-associate-or-practice-with-other-nba-players-in-the-offseason/" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">following article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="http://basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://BasketballNetwork.net" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">BasketballNetwork.net</a>:
The 1992-93 season was Charles Barkley&lsquo;s year. The Philadelphia 76ers traded him to Phoenix, and Sir Charles finally felt like he had a team he could lead to the NBA title. A lot of people think he became a better player with the Suns, but Barkley himself disagrees. He actually feels he was a worse player in Phoenix compared to Philly.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t elevate anything. I was a much better player in Philly," Barkley <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/07/27/charles-barkley-talks-team-usa-winning-mvp-michael-jordan/5381584001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in an interview with USA Today Sports this past July</a>. "What elevated me was Dan Majerle and Kevin Johnson. My numbers were not nearly as good as they were before. I had five or six better years in Philly, but we didn&rsquo;t have great teams. But when they gave me Dan Majerle and Kevin Johnson, I was like, &lsquo;I can take on anybody now.&rsquo;&rdquo;
And he did. Coached by the late, great Paul Westphal, Barkley led Majerle, Johnson, Richard Dumas, Danny Ainge, Tom Chambers, Cedric Ceballos, Oliver Miller and Co. to a Western Conference-best 62-20 record. From the moment he got there, Barkley knew they needed to be great because Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls would be waiting for them in the Finals. Majerle credits Chuck for making the team believe they had a chance against the Bulls, and the main reason for that was simple &ndash; Chuck believed he was better than MJ.
&ldquo;I got everybody together at the beginning of the season. I said, &lsquo;Guys, we&rsquo;re going to play the Bulls for the championship. We&rsquo;re going to win the West because I&rsquo;m the best player in the world,'" Barkley <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/07/27/charles-barkley-talks-team-usa-winning-mvp-michael-jordan/5381584001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "'Michael Jordan is great, but he has more help than me. But I&rsquo;m the best player in the world and I got you guys. We&rsquo;re going to go to the Finals and we&rsquo;ll see what happens.&rsquo;&rdquo;
The Suns got off to a decent start, winning 5 out of their first 7 games &ndash; then the Bulls came to town. Barkley knew Jordan would use every opportunity to plant the seed of doubt into their heads. This may have been a November game, but it mattered for what would happen in June. The Bulls won by 17, and Barkley wasn&rsquo;t happy.
&ldquo;I remember the Bulls came to Phoenix and they smoked us," Barkley <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/07/27/charles-barkley-talks-team-usa-winning-mvp-michael-jordan/5381584001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recalled</a>. "I remember going crazy after the game and saying, &lsquo;Guys, that&rsquo;s the team we&rsquo;re going to play in the [expletive] Finals. I know that [expletive] Michael Jordan. He sent me a message, &lsquo;You better bring more next time.&rsquo; I remember that night in the locker room. I was throwing stuff. I said,, &lsquo;Guys, I told ya&rsquo;ll we were going to play that team in the Finals and ya&rsquo;ll are out here messing around. We&rsquo;re not even on their level yet.&rsquo; Then, we went on a 12-game winning streak after that. Then, we became the great team that we were.&rdquo;
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At the end of the regular season that year, the Suns were the best team in the NBA with 62 wins. Barkley averaged 25.6 points, 12.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. He may have had &ldquo;five or six better years in Philly,&rdquo; but he never took as many shots as he did that year. With 18.1 attempts per game, Barkley let everyone on the team know that he could take responsibility when the lights shone the brightest. Barkley's performance that year earned him the regular-season MVP, and that didn&rsquo;t sit well with Jordan.
But the Suns forward didn&rsquo;t care.
"No. 1, he didn&rsquo;t deserve it. We had the best record in the NBA. Michael should know better," Barkley <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/07/27/charles-barkley-talks-team-usa-winning-mvp-michael-jordan/5381584001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "There were years he was the best player in the NBA, probably three years before he won MVP, but the Bulls team was no good. The MVP has always gone to the best player on the team with the best record. It has nothing to do with best player."
Barkley was right about the Finals &ndash; MJ and the Bulls were waiting for them there. The Bulls won 4-2 and completed their first three-peat. Did it happen because MJ was better than Barkley, or because he had more help? That's for fans to decide.
But with the way he played that season, it&rsquo;s no surprise Sir Charles was full of confidence.
He was the MVP.
Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net <a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Charles Barkley opened up on a number of topics with USA Today this past July, including his 1992-93 MVP season and Suns' tenure.

Charles Barkley talks winning 1992-93 NBA MVP over Michael Jordan

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