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Celtics

It&rsquo;s time. The Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes is about to have a winner.
The&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-lottery-2023-wembanyama-spurs-pistons-rockets-7e95b8f804e9ec64e303debdc3a7b2d4">NBA draft lottery is Tuesday night</a>&nbsp;in Chicago and 14 teams will hope that the ping-pong balls will bounce their way, giving them the No. 1 pick this year and the chance to draft Wembanyama.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs</a>&nbsp;all have the best chance of winning the lottery and getting the No. 1 pick &mdash; 14%, or about 7-1 odds.
Here is a look at what all the fuss is about:
WHO IS VICTOR WEMBANYAMA?
He&rsquo;s one of the most talked-about players in the world right now, for good and obvious reasons. He is a 7-foot-3, 19-year-old phenom who is wrapping up his third professional season in France and is about to start his NBA career.
LeBron James calls Wembanyama &ldquo;an alien,&rdquo; and says that with the utmost of respect. Wembanyama has the height of a center, the shooting touch of a wing and the passing ability of a point guard. His wingspan is nearly 8 feet and he can nearly grab the rim &mdash; 10 feet in the air &mdash; without even jumping.
WHAT WEMBANYAMA&rsquo;S BACKGROUND?
His parents are both tall and both very athletic. His father, Felix Wembanyama, is about 6-foot-5 and was a high jumper. His mother, Elodie de Fautereau; is about 6-foot-3 and was a basketball standout. They have tried to keep life very normal for a son who just happens to have worldwide fame already. And Wembanyama has tried to be a normal kid; he likes video games, art, reading and soccer.
WHAT HAPPENS TUESDAY?
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-nba-draft-spurs-ee1a9bd2232173666d3302bb491c7c5c">The winner of the draft lottery</a>&nbsp;gets the chance to make the No. 1 pick in next month&rsquo;s draft. So, while Wembanyama won&rsquo;t &ldquo;officially&rdquo; be a member of that team yet, it&rsquo;ll be a foregone conclusion that &mdash; barring some sort of incredible trade &mdash; he&rsquo;ll be selected by that franchise in June and could be with his new club for summer league games in early July.
HOW WILL HE FIT IN THE NBA?
There is a learning curve for everybody, even No. 1 draft picks. And it&rsquo;s a rite of passage for all rookies, especially highly touted ones, to get challenged by established NBA players &mdash; few of them are taller, but many are stronger and more experienced. He will have some rough moments, for certain.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-wemby-nba-draft-lottery-50308e65f44b8df7a2368c4de17bacff">But he will make any team better,</a>&nbsp;maybe much better, right away.
WHERE HAS HE PLAYED?
He became a full-time pro in the 2020-21 season with the French club Nanterre. He has been on three teams in his three seasons in the French league, his year with Nanterre followed by a season with the powerhouse club ASVEL &mdash; owned by San Antonio Spurs great Tony Parker &mdash; and this season with Boulogne-Levallois. His current team wraps up its regular season on Tuesday (which is why he won&rsquo;t be at the draft lottery) and is about to open the playoffs.

The Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes is about to have a winner. Here's everything you need to know about the potential superstar.

Who is Victor Wembanyama? Here's everything you need to know

Academy Award winner Michael Douglas loves basketball. He&rsquo;s a big Miami fan, mainly because of his relationship with Heat President Pat Riley. He&rsquo;s followed the game for decades.
He&rsquo;s gone to a couple French league games in recent weeks for one reason:&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">Victor Wembanyama,</a>&nbsp;the 7-foot-3 French phenom who is already capturing the basketball world&rsquo;s imagination and attention.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen Victor play twice in person and twice on television,&rdquo; Douglas, who has been working near Paris playing the role of Benjamin Franklin, told The Associated Press. &ldquo;And I went specifically to just see him play.&rdquo;
As Douglas said in his famous role as Gordon Gekko, &ldquo;I wanna know where he goes.&rdquo;
So does everybody else. Finally, the answer is coming. On Tuesday night, Chicago plays host to the NBA draft lottery, an event where 14 ping-pong balls go into a hopper, and the numbers of the first four balls to pop out will be matched to a combination assigned to a team.
That team wins the No. 1 pick. Spoiler alert: They&rsquo;ll use it to choose Wembanyama on June 22.
&ldquo;Pray for Victor,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/SeanTPendergast/status/1627126316431540224" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Houston owner Tilman Fertitta</a>&nbsp;told Houston television station KPRC back in February at a Mardi Gras celebration, when the Rockets were in the second half of their dreadful season and with the team well on its way to the lottery at that point.
He didn&rsquo;t say Wembanyama. He didn&rsquo;t have to. Everybody knows what he meant.
The Rockets, San Antonio and Detroit&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-nba-draft-spurs-ee1a9bd2232173666d3302bb491c7c5c">all have the best chance of landing Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;&mdash; 14% apiece, or about 7-1.
The odds decrease a bit as one goes down the line of the other lottery hopefuls: Charlotte (12.5%), Portland (10.5%), Orlando (9%), Indiana (6.8%), Washington (6.7%), Utah (4.5%), Dallas (3%), Chicago (1.8%), Oklahoma City (1.7%), Toronto (1%) and New Orleans (0.5%).
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&ldquo;I&rsquo;m alive. I have ears and I can see TV and there&rsquo;s a lottery. Yes, I&rsquo;ve thought about it,&rdquo; San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said on the day his team&rsquo;s season ended in April. &ldquo;Duh. Did you think I didn&rsquo;t, that I live in a phone booth?&rdquo;
NBA rules prohibit teams from discussing draft-eligible players publicly, until they&rsquo;re announced as candidates for the draft. Key word there: publicly. They&rsquo;ve all been talking among themselves about Wembanyama for a couple of years now, trying to find the new ways to describe a skyscraper of a teen who can shoot, pass, dribble and defend.
So have a ton of NBA players, even the game&rsquo;s biggest stars. LeBron James famously called Wembanyama &ldquo;an alien,&rdquo; and Giannis Antetokounmpo &mdash; who said he enjoyed hearing that Wembanyama counts him among his favorite players &mdash; insisted that the kid should make immediate impact in the NBA.
&ldquo;At the end of the day, as we know, NBA players also will want to make sure that when someone gets so much hype, that they let him know what it&rsquo;s about,&rdquo; NBA great and soon-to-be Basketball Hall of Famer Pau Gasol said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to be challenged. But great players thrive off of challenge, right? So, I expect him to continue to progress and continue to get better and continue to show why people are so excited about him at this point.&rdquo;
There are some other sure-fire lottery picks in this draft that should make teams better as well &mdash; among them, Alabama&rsquo;s Brandon Miller, twin brothers Amen and Ausar Thompson of the Overtime Elite program, and Scoot Henderson of the G League Ignite. It was announced Monday that&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/stephen-curry-scoot-henderson-nba-draft-20cc165a9d8516ad940cc519a5494072">Henderson will be mentored on and off the court by four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry</a>&nbsp;of the Golden State Warriors.
&ldquo;I have been watching Scoot and his family for a while now, and I am beyond impressed with what he has accomplished thus far, and excited to watch him take control of his future and grow,&rdquo; Curry said while announcing the alliance with Henderson &mdash; whose team played against Wembanyama&rsquo;s team last fall in a pair of exhibitions near Las Vegas, part of the buildup toward this draft.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-russell-westbrook-draft-20110cf4506dd900f48d84fefd673077">Henderson exudes confidence,</a>&nbsp;and believes he&rsquo;s earned the right to be in the No. 1 conversation.
&ldquo;I think I can make a big difference,&rdquo; Henderson said.
Wembanyama won&rsquo;t be at the lottery; his French team, Boulogne-Levallois, has a game Tuesday. It&rsquo;ll be a little after 2 a.m. Wednesday in Paris when the results are announced.
It&rsquo;ll be the start of a new chapter,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">as his current one is coming to a joyful end.</a>&nbsp;The winding-down of his French career has been a celebration, and it&rsquo;ll only continue.
Wembanyama&rsquo;s pro career started with the French club Nanterre. His Metropolitans 92 team went to Nanterre last week and got an 82-72 victory &mdash; and it seemed like none of the home fans cared that their team lost.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/Agence_Comsport/status/1656051950083776513?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wembanyama went into the stands after the game,</a>&nbsp;hugging Nanterre fans and posing for pictures, before returning to the court and hugging team officials and others as tears welled in his eyes.
They are saying &ldquo;au revoir.&rdquo;
The NBA is about to say &ldquo;bonjour.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I found Victor highly intelligent, he speaks English well, taught himself by English speaking television shows,&rdquo; Douglas said. &ldquo;He has a close-knit family and is very tight with his management team. He seems to have an inquisitive mind, interested in many things off the court.&rdquo;
And as for what Douglas tells Wembanyama about what awaits, his answer was simple: Enjoy.
&ldquo;The pressure of being No. 1 is a high-quality problem,&rdquo; Douglas said. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t let it overwhelm the joy of the moment. Victor is an impressive all-around young man.&rdquo;
Let the journey begin.

On Tuesday night, one lucky NBA team will land the No. 1 pick and the right to draft potential superstar Victor Wembanyama.

Victor Wembanyama to learn NBA destination at Tuesday's Draft Lottery

Spencer Davies speaks with Taqwa Pinero about his life journey and how he's preparing both the future and current hoop generations.

Taqwa Pinero's knowledge is its own currency, and he's paying it forward

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese dismantled Michigan on both ends of the court with 25 points, 24 rebounds, six blocks and three steals to help third-seeded LSU beat the No. 6 seed Wolverines 66-42 Sunday night in the second round of the women&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament.
Reese, a 6-foot-3 All-America forward, did most of her damage with gauze wedged under her upper lip after a shot to her mouth drew blood in the opening minutes of the game.
Alexis Morris scored 11 and LaDazhia Williams had 10 points and 10 rebounds for LSU (30-2), which never trailed and held Michigan (23-10) to its lowest point total of the season.
In just their second season under coach Kim Mulkey, the Tigers advanced past the second round of the tournament for the first time since 2014 and will meet second seed Utah in the Greenville 2 regional semifinal.
Laila Phelia scored 20 points for Michigan, which opened the second half with a 7-0 run to pull as close as eight points, but quickly went back down by double-digits for good after Reese&rsquo;s layup and Kateri Poole&rsquo;s 3.
Reese played with relentless determination, three times chasing driving Michigan players down the lane to swat their shots away from behind.
She was a menace to Michigan rebounders on both ends of the court. She grabbed 14 offensive rebounds. And after one, Emily Kiser was called for an intentional foul when she knocked Reese to the floor on a putback attempt.
LSU had 18 second-chance points to Michigan&rsquo;s 2, and although both teams shot 35%, LSU got off 68 shots to Michigan&rsquo;s 46.
Leading by only a few points early on, the Tigers took over in the second quarter. Jasmine Carson hit three 3s for LSU, which had missed its first eight from deep. Her third put LSU up 23-9, prompting Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico to call timeout.
That stunted LSU&rsquo;s momentum only briefly before Reese scored LSU&rsquo;s next seven points on a short jumper, a putback, an explosive drive to the hoop and a free throw to put the Tigers up 30-15 at halftime.
ROUGH START
The first quarter was a defensive struggle in which both teams looked prepared to exert as much physical force as official would permit. Reese took an inadvertent shot to the mouth under the basket. She continued intermittently rubbing her lip and looking at her finger tips to check for blood for much the quarter. Later, she lost one of her eyelash extensions while tangled up inside with Kiser and Leigha Brown.
Reese delivered punishment, too, flattening Kiser on a drive down the lane. Kiser drew the charge, but stayed down for several moments, placing her hand on the part of her upper body that apparently took the blow, before teammates helped her up.
BIG PICTURE
Michigan: After reaching the regional finals last season and and the regional semifinals in 2021, Michigan&rsquo;s tournament ended in the second round for the first time since 2019. The Wolverines&rsquo; previous scoring low this season was 52 in a loss at Indiana on Feb. 16. They finished
LSU: Mulkey is now 3-0 against Barnes Arico in the NCAA Tournament, with each meeting coming since 2018 and two while Mulkey was at Baylor, where she won three national titles. Outrebounded Michigan 46-26.&nbsp;

Angel Reese dismantled Michigan on both ends of the court with 25 points, 24 rebounds, 6 blocks and 3 steals to lead LSU.

Angel Reese posts 25-point, 24-rebound, 6-block night as LSU beats UM

NEW ORLEANS (AP) &mdash; Jrue Holiday frustrated former teammate Zion Williamson like few NBA guards can and drained a momentum-changing, late-game shot for good measure.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 42 points and 10 rebounds, Holiday capped his 18-point, 11-assist performance by hitting a 3 with 1:17 to go, and the Milwaukee Bucks held off a late New Orleans surge to beat the Pelicans 128-119 on Monday night.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s something about being in this gym," Holiday said of his decisive 3, which Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer called &ldquo;probably the biggest shot of the game.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I'm guessing I&rsquo;ve done it quite a bit here,&rdquo; Holiday continued. "So, just coming off that screen and letting it fly.&rdquo;
Brook Lopez mixed in four 3-pointers with opportunistic play in the paint to score 30 points for the Bucks, who led by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter before the Pelicans went on a 22-7 run and pulled to 117-114 on CJ McCollum's fadeaway.
Shortly after Holiday made his big shot, he set up Lopez's cutting layup to virtually ensure New Orleans' fourth straight loss on the heels of its seven-game winning streak.
&ldquo;The moment we decided to pick it up the fourth quarter, we&rsquo;re right back in the game," Pelicans coach Willie Green said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think we sustained it for 48 minutes.&rdquo;
Milwaukee, which has won 10 of 13, maintained a double-digit lead for long stretches while frustrating Williamson for much of the game.
Guarded primarily by Holiday, with Lopez and Antetokounmpo rotating in behind to protect the rim, Williamson was limited to nine points through the first three quarters. He scored nine in the final 12 minutes to finish with 18 points.
&ldquo;We know he such a big part of their offense that if he&rsquo;s not scoring, we have a good chance," Holiday said. &ldquo;I feel like we kind of frustrated him.&rdquo;
Williamson's annoyance was evident when he was assessed a technical foul while speaking angrily to official John Conley in the third quarter.
&ldquo;Jrue, in a kind of subtle, understated way is very, very strong and I think he loved the challenge, beating him to a spot, having the strength to kind of take a hit, pressuring him a little bit,&rdquo; Budenholzer said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s probably only a handful of guards, if even that many, like Jrue that could maybe pick him up higher, pick him up earlier, do some different things to him.&rdquo;
Jonas Valanciunas scored a season-high 37 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for New Orleans, but he hit just one of his career high-tying seven 3-pointers in the second half.
McCollum scored 31 for New Orleans, which lost at home for the first time in eight games.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be fine," Green said. "We have to be able to accept some of the bad with the good. ... We have to climb our way out of it.&rdquo;
With multiple Bucks defenders trying to wall off Williamson from the basket early, the ball tended to find Valanciunas open on the perimeter. The Lithuanian big man hit 6 of 8 3-point attempts and scored 28 points in the first half.
Antetokounmpo, returning from left knee soreness, scored 26 in the first half on shots ranging from a 3, to a Eurostep layup amid a crowd of defenders, to a soaring alley-oop dunk.
TIP-INS
Bucks: Pat Connaughton scored 11 points. ... Outscored New Orleans in the paint 54-42. ... Antetokounmpo made 17 of 22 free throws. ... Shot 55.6% (45 of 81) overall, including 13 of 40 from deep.
Pelicans: F Brandon Ingram (left great toe contusion) missed his 11th straight game. ... F Larry Nance Jr. sat out with a sore right Achilles. ... Hit 18 of 45 3s and shot 42.2% (42 of 99) overall.
INGLES CHECKS IN
Joe Ingles made his Bucks debut in a reserve role after a nearly 11-month recovery from knee surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Playing for the first time since Jan. 30, when he was with Utah, Ingles saw 15 minutes of action but missed all four of his shots &mdash; all from 3-point range &mdash; and did not score.
&nbsp;

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 42 points and 10 rebounds, and the Bucks held off a late surge to beat the Pelicans 128-119.

Antetokounmpo's 42 points leads Bucks past Pelicans 128-119

Compared to a grind-it-away offseason last summer that helped earn him a huge payday, Cleveland Cavaliers big man Jarrett Allen has been traveling and spending much more time with family this go-round.
Allen's latest adventure? Canberra, Australia, where the 24-year-old is participating in the Basketball Without Borders Asia program as a coach for the first time in his career.
"I've been trying to come here to BWB for a while, but things just never lined up,&rdquo; Allen told Basketball News over the phone. &ldquo;I just liked the idea of the world-life travel, the connecting basketball globally, expanding the NBA globally. I just think it's a great opportunity to share the game.&rdquo;
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Working alongside Chicago Bulls guard Coby White, Dallas Mavericks swingman Josh Green and Phoenix Suns forward Cam Johnson, Allen&rsquo;s been appreciative to get to know the guys he competes against. Together, the four NBA players are providing their best knowledge and advice to the next generation of hoopers to ensure the game of basketball continues to thrive.
&ldquo;That's who's coming after us. That's literally the future of the game, both globally and in the States,&rdquo; Allen explained. &ldquo;We have to share our knowledge to the people coming after to just make things better for the future."
Part of the reason Allen feels so strongly about this is that he had the proper guidance when he was in these campers&rsquo; shoes.
&ldquo;I don't remember the names well. But just growing up, [during] my summer workouts when I was their age [at Texas], I used to practice against some college and NBA players,&rdquo; Allen said. &ldquo;They would always take the time to help me, to show me little tips about how they played the game, how they played their position, and just helped me get my game to the next level. So that's what I'm trying to do with these kids.&rdquo;
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With BWB Asia Camp wrapping up on Aug. 10, Basketball News spoke with Allen about his involvement, his offseason, the Cavs&rsquo; upcoming year and more.
I'm sure Matthew Dellavedova told you good things about Australia. Have you been there before?
Allen: "This is my first time, but so far so good (laughs)."
Did you get any good coaching tips from J.B. Bickerstaff?
Allen: "Ah, no! Actually, I could've asked him (laughs). Honestly, I've been meeting great coaches out here, great people. It's been an amazing experience."
Have you gotten any kinds of unique questions from the campers?
Allen: "The kids didn't really ask me questions. They were kinda shy. But one of the kids just asked about leadership and how to become a better leader, which is surprising. I bet you none of us would've asked that growing up. But it goes to show the kids are trying to be the best they can."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
How&rsquo;s the offseason gone for you?
Allen: "Offseason's going pretty well. It's been kinda just a normal offseason, honestly."
Is your finger feeling alright?
Allen: "The finger's completely healed, not even like I broke it anymore."
Are you eager to start back up again at your own training camp in Cleveland?
Allen: "Aw yeah. I mean, it feels like the season's been done for eight months. Around this time of the year, I get itching to play, I get ready to get back on the court. But the good thing [is] it's about two months away."
You and Darius Garland are going into your second-and-a-half season together basically. Why do you think you guys have meshed so well as a tandem, and how would you like to build on that this coming year?
Allen: "Things really clicked for us as soon as I got to Cleveland. Obviously, we all know he's an amazing point guard. But the thing that I don't think people realize is just how willing he is to learn the game, how willing he is to work with myself to try to figure out the best position for me to catch the ball and to just finish a lob. And I see it expanding even further.
"Just every single year, especially with him and I, we've improved our games together, improved our chemistry, improved how we play the game together. And I think we still have a long way to go."
What did you think of the team bringing in Robin Lopez? 
Allen: "I'm happy with the Robin [addition]. I know him from just playing against him on the court. He's a great dude. The Lopez brothers altogether, just the things beyond social media battles, great guys. Especially defending [Robin], [he's a] great player &mdash; Captain Hook (laughs). He has the best hook shot in the league."
Ricky Rubio&rsquo;s back in the fold too. The locker room&rsquo;s gotta be thrilled about that.
Allen: "It's so good to have Ricky back. Off the court, great guy. He was a glue guy for us, to be able to keep us together. [He] came in with a positive attitude every day, willing to work. And even especially on the court, he ran the offense, he got us to where we needed to be."
Are we going to see more of that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WVdTvfC2ik" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high-low action</a> with Evan Mobley?
Allen: "Oh absolutely, that's not going anywhere (laughs). I mean hey, we've got Lauri [Markkanen] too. We've got all three levels of scoring."
Is anybody coming into the paint after what you two did last year?
Allen: "(Laughs) You know, if they do, they're gonna know what happens."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Kevin Love: 22 PTS, 6 REB, 6 3PM Jarrett Allen: 19 PTS, 11 REB, 5 BLK Evan Mobley: 17 PTS, 11 REB, 4 BLK The <a href="https://twitter.com/cavs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cavs</a> big men put in work in their win 💪 <a href="https://t.co/jSdNxx5rAl">pic.twitter.com/jSdNxx5rAl</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1466414382519398417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

You were right there in the thick of it before the injuries hit. Do you feel you guys would&rsquo;ve gotten further/made more of a run had everybody been healthy?
Allen: "You know, with that, you never can say for sure. I don't like saying if we could've made it or not because what happened, happened. But the possibility is definitely there, and the question is there, of just how far could we have made it."
Being sidelined had to sting, especially with the timing. You guys were surging before the All-Star break.
Allen: "Yeah, we were. It was the whole timing of the injury, right? When we were rolling and then, things started to not go where we wanted to go toward the end of the season. So this year, coming out, I think we're all full-steam ahead."
What&rsquo;s the vibe been with the guys?
Allen: "We have our own little group chat. We share memes, check in on each other every now and then. We're all [ready] to play again."
I'm sure the pictures from Kevin Love and Cedi Osman's weddings made it in there.
Allen: "(Laughs) I'm super excited for them."
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Here&rsquo;s something I always wanted to ask you &ndash; how did you get so invested in anime? Those likes pop up on the Twitter feed quite a bit! 
Allen: "(Laughs) I just think it's a fun thing to do. People have things that they like, have different types of hobbies, different things. That's just who I am. It's the things I like to do, things I don't mind sharing that I like."
Have you ever gotten fan art before?
Allen: "Some. Normally, me as <a href="https://www.funimation.com/shows/afro-samurai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Afro Samurai</a> (laughs). But other than that, nothing too crazy."
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Background on Basketball Without Borders
<ul>
<li>Basketball Without Borders (BWB) is the NBA and FIBA&rsquo;s global basketball development and community outreach program that has been conducted annually since 2001.</li>
<li>The first-ever BWB camp took place in Europe in July 2001: Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Toni Kukoc (Croatia), together with former teammates from the Yugoslavia national team, reunited in Treviso, Italy to work with 50 children from the former Yugoslavia.</li>
<li>Since then the NBA and FIBA have staged 65 BWB camps in 42 cities in 30 countries on six continents with more than 3,700 participants from 133 countries and territories.&nbsp;</li>
<li>The NBA typically hosts four regional BWB camps over the summer (Africa, Europe, Asia, Americas), and in 2015 created the BWB Global camp, which is held annually at NBA All-Star for the top prospects from the previous summer&rsquo;s camps.</li>
<li>More than 310 current and former NBA/WNBA players have joined more than 240 NBA team personnel from all 30 NBA teams to share their expertise and knowledge with participants.</li>
<li>More than 100 former BWB campers have made it to the NBA or WNBA, including Marc Gasol, Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam, Nicolas Batum, Jonas Valanciunas, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, Danilo Gallinari</li>
<li>A record 41 former BWB campers were on opening-night rosters for the 2021-22 season.</li>
<li>The highest-drafted former BWB campers are:
<ul>
<li>No. 1 overall: Deandre Ayton (Bahamas; 2018), Andrea Bargnani (Italy; 2006)</li>
<li>No. 3 overall: RJ Barrett (Canada; 2019), Joel Embiid (Cameroon; 2014), Enes Kanter Freedom (Turkey; 2011)</li>
<li>No. 4 overall: Dragan Bender (Croatia; 2016)</li>
<li>No. 5 overall: Jonas Valančiūnas (Lithuania; 2011)</li>
<li>No. 6 overall: Josh Giddey (Australia; 2021); Danilo Gallinari (Italy; 2008); Bennedict Mathurin (Canada; 2022)</li>
<li>No. 7 overall: Killian Hayes (France; 2020), Lauri Markkanen (Finland; 2017), Jamal Murray (Canada; 2016)</li>
<li>No. 8 overall: Frank Ntilikina (France; 2017)</li>
<li>No. 9 overall: Deni Avdija (Israel; 2020) and Rui Hachimura (Japan; 2019)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

Spencer Davies chats with Jarrett Allen about his involvement with BWB Asia, his offseason, the Cavs’ upcoming year and more.

Jarrett Allen Q&A: Cavaliers' offseason, Basketball Without Borders

The Orlando Magic finished another losing season singing a familiar refrain.
Despite dropping 60 games, posting the worst record in the Eastern Conference and missing the playoffs for the third time in five years, the club insists it&rsquo;s latest overhaul is headed in the right direction.
&ldquo;From when we walked into the building on Day One, we talked about how we were going to compete at a high level, defend at a high level, work every day and have fun doing it,&rdquo; first-year coach Jamahl Mosley noted Sunday. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ve done.&rdquo;
The Magic dropped 27 of 32 games to start the season and never won three games in a row, yet Mosley said a young team that played most of the season without two of its best players never got discouraged.
&ldquo;Practice (Saturday) felt like Day One. There was an energy, an enthusiasm, a joy for being on the court with one another throughout the day,&rdquo; the coach said before Sunday night&rsquo;s finale against the Miami Heat.
&ldquo;And I think it was about what we&rsquo;ve talked about from the beginning. It&rsquo;s about us getting better every single day. Whether we win or lose, we&rsquo;re putting that work in every single day,&rdquo; Mosley added. &ldquo;These guys have embraced that, and they have embraced each other.&rdquo;
In a sense, this season was doomed from the start with Jonathan Issac and Markelle Fultz, two of the young players the Magic are trying to build around, on the mend from serious knee injuries.
Issac tore his left anterior cruciate ligament when the pandemic-interrupted 2019-20 season resumed in the Disney bubble. He&rsquo;s missed all of the past two seasons and only played 136 games since being drafted five years ago..
Fultz tore his ACL in January 2021 and was sidelined almost 14 months before returning late this season and playing well enough to gradually work his way back into a starting role.
Team president Jeff Weltman and general manager John Hammond remain committed to building through the draft after trading veterans Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon in March 2021 for future first-round picks in 2023 and 2025.
The current roster includes eight players selected in the first round of the past five drafts, including Fultz (No. 1 overall by Philadelphia in 2017) and Wendell Carter Jr. (seventh by Chicago in 2018).
Isaac (sixth, 2017), Mo Bamba (sixth, 2018), Chuma Okeke (16th, 2019), Cole Anthony (15th, in 2020), Jalen Suggs (fifth, 2021) and Franz Wagner (eighth, 2021) are Orlando picks.
Suggs and Wagner showed flashes of promise as rookies this season. The 6 foot-10 Carter looks like part of the future, too, after averaging a confidence-bolstering 15 points and 10.5 rebounds in 62 games.
&ldquo;All the young teams in the league &mdash; the Memphis Grizzlies, the Phoenix Suns, the Cleveland Cavaliers &mdash; I feel like we&rsquo;re right there,&rdquo; Carter said.
&ldquo;Especially with us being so young, it gives us the opportunity to really mold everyone,&rdquo; Carter added. &ldquo;I feel like we&rsquo;re in a perfect opportunity where everybody understands what everybody is capable of, and we all like each other.&rdquo;
WORK TO DO
Despite insisting there are signs of progress, this the seventh time in the past 10 seasons the Magic have won fewer than 30 games.
Orlando has had five different coaches and only posted one winning record (42-40 in 2018-19) during that span. The franchise hasn&rsquo;t won a playoff series since 2010.
MIXED REVIEWS
Suggs was the fifth pick in last year&rsquo;s draft out of Gonzaga. He earned a starting job right away, but would up missing 34 games due to various injuries. He shot just 36% and averaged 11.8 points and 4.4 assists in 48 games..
Wagner, the 8th pick out of Michigan, averaged 15.2 points in 79 games. He started the first 74 games before being sidelined by an ankle injury.
GET IN THE GYM
Mosley said one of the team&rsquo;s priorities is improving its perimeter shooting.
The Magic finished 28th in the NBA in field-goal percentage at 43.4, including 33.4 from 3-point range.
Fultz (23.5%, Suggs (21.4%) and Anthony (33.8%) all struggled from beyond the arc.
Without mentioning any names, Mosley said he wants everyone to return in September with better jump shots.
&ldquo;Being able to shoot the heck out of the basketball, and coming back with that conditioning level all the way up, I think those are going to be the big keys,&rdquo; the coach said.

The Magic dropped 27 of 32 games to start the season and never won three games in a row, yet Mosley said they remained upbeat.

Jamahl Mosley: Young, rebuilding Magic have promising future

The Boston Celtics have traded Dennis Schroder for the Rockets' Daniel Theis.
Source:<a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1491864450311274503"> Adrian Wojnarowski/ESPN</a>
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;Bruno Fernando and Enes Kanter are reportedly also headed to Houston, and the latter will be waived per Jonathan Feigen.
Schroder had not been a great fit with the Celtics this season, averaging 14.4 points per game off the bench.
Theis, who had also struggled in Houston, will rejoin the Celtics.
Theis had spent the first four years in Boston until being moved at last year's deadline.&nbsp;

The Boston Celtics have traded Dennis Schroder for the Rockets' Daniel Theis.

Celtics trade Dennis Schroder to Rockets for Daniel Theis

Civil Rights attorney Lee Merritt discusses the power and influence the NBA has, and can continue to have &mdash; if the NBA continues using its platform, voices and resources to fight for justice.&nbsp;
Lee Merritt is one of the attorneys for Ahmaud Arbery&rsquo;s family &mdash; a 25-year-old black man who was murdered while on a run near Brunswick, in Glynn County, Georgia. A verdict of life imprisonment was just announced in the case, in which three men were convicted of murdering Arbery. While Lee Merritt is definitely relieved about the verdict, we discuss the long road ahead to achieve justice and equality for all. Merritt is running for attorney general in Texas and I would love to see the NBA duplicate what the WNBA did, when they threw their support behind Raphael Warnock, an Atlanta-area pastor who was running as a Democrat at the time for (and would eventually win) one of Georgia&rsquo;s seats in the U.S. Senate.&nbsp;
This was a great discussion.
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Etan Thomas: So this time last year, I interviewed a group of WNBA players, [including] Renee Montgomery and Elizabeth Williams, who both played for the Atlanta Dream at the time, [as well as] Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, Angel McCoughtry &mdash; and Eric Garner's daughter, Emerald. And <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-nba-kelly-loeffler-atlanta-dream-renee-montgomery-elizabeth-williams-swin-cash-etan-thomas-activism-black-lives-matter-activist-movement-vote-warnock-shirts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we discussed what the WNBA did to galvanize support for Raphael Warnock, and ultimately get him in office and Kelly Loeffler out of office</a>. And it was really amazing. Because for one, Raphael Warnock was polling at 9% before the WNBA got involved. And he won &mdash; in Georgia, of all places.&nbsp;
So I want to see how we can galvanize the NBA to duplicate that with you, as you're running for attorney general in the state of Texas. So that's why I reached out to you to have this interview with you. I've been following you for a long time and I'm a big fan of the work that you do. And so, I'm going to send this interview to the NBA, to the <a href="https://www.thesocialchangefund.org">NBA Social Change Fund</a>.
Which, for those that aren't familiar, it was birthed out of the Bubble season. After the NBA players went on strike, after Jacob Blake was shot multiple times in broad daylight, in front of his children. The NBA Social Change Fund was formed by Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, and is aimed to support critical issues in the black community.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/img_7183_lg.jpg" alt="" width="501" height="282" />
So that's why after speaking to Allisa Charles-Findley, who is Botham Jean's sister &mdash; and I actually interviewed her for my new book, &ldquo;<a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/police-brutality-and-white-supremacy-the-fight-against-american-traditions/">Police Brutality and White Supremacy: The Fight Against American Traditions.</a>&rdquo;
She was one of the people I interviewed, along with Atatiana Jefferson's family, who I know that you work with as well &mdash; so we came up with the idea of conducting this interview with you, to try to galvanize that support from the NBA. Some people are like, "Alright, you usually do basketball stuff. Why are you interviewing a politician right now?" But that's the reason why. So thank you for taking this time.
Lee Merritt: "Sure, I really appreciate that. During most of my career, I've enjoyed the support of the National Basketball Association. I can recall in 2017, a young man named <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2018/08/29/jordan-edwards-made-the-case-against-roy-oliver-unlike-any-murder-trial-dallas-had-ever-seen/">Jordan Edwards </a>was slain in Balch Springs, Texas.&nbsp;
"It was in the middle of the NBA playoffs &mdash; and Steve Kerr, who had suffered family tragedy as well, identified with that family, reached out, invited them to the playoff games [and] got his brothers to take their mind off of it for a bit.
"I actually used to coach basketball myself. I was a coach down at South Atlanta High School. I coached Derrick Favors, I coached against Cousins and Walls* when they were high school students. And I enjoy a relationship with them today, continuing to give back to the community of Atlanta.
"And yeah, the names that you mentioned that you work with, Chris Paul has supported the work and the families I represent. Dwyane Wade and his wife, Gabrielle Union, [have] been major, major supporters over the course of my career.
"And, just as I transition away from representing one family at a time and start talking about representing larger groups of people and going towards policies, I certainly think the NBA can play a major role &mdash; in not only the success of the campaign, but championing some of those issues that we're fighting for on a case-by-case basis, and taking it to one of the biggest states in the country and really impacting national policy."
Etan: So, let me ask you to review some of the cases that you've worked with before, and the people that you've represented. We could start off with Ahmaud Arbery.
Merritt: "Sure. I came to represent the Ahmaud Arbery family before the video was released of his brutal slaying in South Georgia. Many [...] will recall that he was a South Georgia jogger. On February 23, 2020, he was targeted by three white men who have now been each <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/jury-reaches-verdict-ahmaud-arbery-death-case/story?id=81353504">convicted of murder</a>, and are facing life sentences in the state of Georgia, as well as federal hate crime charges.
"I've also represented... Unfortunately, the list of families that I've represented is quite extensive. I represent over 67 families who have suffered misuse of force, that lost a loved one, as a result of the deadliest police culture in the world. Some of the names that your viewers may have heard of.
"You mentioned [...] <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article236198028.html">Atatiana Jefferson</a>.&nbsp;
"Of course, that case is ongoing. <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/death-innocent-man-timeline-wrong-apartment-murder-trial/story?id=65938727">Botham Jean</a>, who was an accountant eating a bowl of ice cream in his own apartment complex.&nbsp;
"<a href="https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-illinois-police-shooting-guard-20181112-story.html">Jemel Roberson</a> was a security guard in Chicago. Had just stopped a mass shooting, and was shot in the back by a police officer who must have mistook him for a gunman.&nbsp;
"<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/13/us/california-attorney-general-sean-monterrosa-shooting/index.html">Sean Monterrosa</a> in California.
"But the bulk of my work has been in Texas. I represent <a href="https://foxsanantonio.com/news/local/damian-daniels-family-responds-to-no-indictment-for-deputy-that-killed-him">Damian Daniels</a>, a veteran shot to death in his home.&nbsp;
"<a href="https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Family-of-woman-killed-by-Baytown-officer-13872709.php">Pamela Turner</a> in the Houston area.&nbsp;
"And like I said, we could probably spend the rest of this podcast going through the list of names."
Etan: Wow! So now you're running for attorney general in Texas. And for those that don't know, what exactly are the responsibilities of an attorney general?
Merritt: "The attorney general of Texas, and an attorney general in any state, is the legal voice for the people. They're supposed to serve as the spokesperson for what justice is in a municipality. And so we've seen it, in cases like Breonna Taylor, where we had a really bad attorney general interfere with accountability in that case, in the form of Daniel Cameron. We've seen the opposite end of that spectrum with Keith Ellison and the work that he's done in Minnesota. Prosecuting the officers responsible for the death of George Floyd and, most recently, Daunte Wright.
"But even beyond the criminal justice aspect, the attorney general&rsquo;s office, particularly in the state of Texas, impacts virtually every aspect of Texas life. So property taxes, school protection. And we've heard a lot recently in the news about the CRT [Critical Race Theory] scam, where they're trying to erase entire portions of our history in the name of not getting anyone upset.
"From the border crisis, to really economic empowerment in our schools. There's so many businesses that are attempting to get off the ground, but don't have access to the kind of governmental loans and support that our white counterparts do.
"All of those things run through the attorney general's office. It's a very, very influential office. More or less the second-in-command in the state of Texas."
Etan: Now, Ken Paxton, [is] who you would be running against, and who is the current attorney general &mdash; and has been since 2015. I want to talk about the stark differences between the two of you, because it's really night and day.
But I want to start off with this, because the Jan. 6 insurrection [anniversary] is upon us. And you know, I'm looking at him, looking at the footage, and I see him at a rally right before the insurrection, almost like leading the charge. Explain to me, let's start off with there, about the stark differences between you and Ken Paxton.
Merritt: "Well, there is a clear contrast. You know, Texas was in the national news because of [its] unique voter suppression laws. They passed some laws that would make it more difficult for the black and brown people in the state, people with disabilities and marginalized communities to vote.
"It was so upsetting that certain members of the Texas legislature left the state and went to DC &mdash; refused to participate in that session in order to fight for voting rights. Now, I was present with them. I thought that was a fight worth standing with people for, providing both legal advice and strategies, working with the labor community and others to take on voting issues in Texas.
"By contrast, the last sort of infamous trip of the attorney general, the current attorney general, to our nation's capital was on Jan. 6. And we don't know exactly what he did there, because he has not participated in an ongoing investigation in terms of his potential criminal liability for helping to incite a riot.
"But he was very publicly on camera, encouraging the soon-to-be riders and insurrectionists that the election was stolen, that they had a responsibility to fight. And he invoked the name of Texas when he did it. He said, "You all should fight, because Texans fight." And he laid out that he had fought to overturn the results of the free and fair election. And yeah, that's our top legal position in the state, advocating for the overthrow of our government."
---------------
We then went on to discuss particular differences between him and Ken Paxton such as his position on education, police reform, border, gun training before owning a gun, and we cleared up the misconceptions on CRT, being anti-police vs. anti-police brutality, Second Amendment rights, etc.
---------------
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Etan: So let's go to the NBA, and how important it is for the NBA to continue to promote, to continue to use their platforms, to be able to &mdash; I mean, this is the thing. It's important to do that part. But now we have to take it a step further.
And I think the NBA has been doing a great job of promoting, raising awareness. You saw it all especially during the Bubble season, after the entire country was promoting and demonstrating and protesting what happened with George Floyd, what happened with Breonna Taylor [and] Ahmaud Arbery.
You saw John Wall and Bradley Beal here in D.C. leading protests. You saw all the Ball brothers, you saw Russell Westbrook in L.A. You saw Jaylen Brown and Enes Kanter Freedom too, in Boston &mdash; of course everything that LeBron was always doing.
But now it's like, it needs to be a step further, like the next step. And I think that you, with what you are trying to implement in Texas as the attorney general, is that next step. Because you have to be able to have someone in place that's on the right side of wanting to be able to create something that functions properly. So just talk about that, how this is like the next step that should happen. Along with [...] raising awareness and protesting and everything like that.
Merritt: "Yeah. I can recall, we were in the middle of the NBA playoffs when Jacob Blake was repeatedly shot in his back by a Milwaukee police officer. And I was watching the game, and Chris Paul had just gone off, sort of a historic performance.
"And <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxcNbbyg0ZI">they interviewed him</a> right after the game. And they said, 'You know, Chris, you were playing...' I think he was playing his old team, the Houston Rockets. He was with the Oklahoma City Thunder [...], where Derrick Favors is currently.
"And they said, 'Tell us about this performance against your old team. You had a chance to really show them that you still got it.' And he said, 'Yeah, I don't really care about that. That's cool. And that's what I'm paid to do. But a law enforcement officer in my community has just shot someone in their back several times. He was unarmed and nonviolent. Let's talk about that.'
"I think it's on the players to stand up like Chris Paul did, and like you said, like people have done, in a systemic way across the National Basketball Association &mdash; where the pundits and the media might tell you, 'Could you just shut up and dribble.' We've heard that refrain before.
"It's important for the players to say, "No, actually I won't. This is my community. What's going on in our community, it's urgent. It's a crisis. It's not something that we want to put off for a later conversation or for the offseason. But where it happens, I'm going to stand up to it. And I will get involved in elections. And I will use my resources and time and attention to shine a light on these issues that must be addressed."
Etan: You know, it's interesting. In my book, &ldquo;<a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/we-matter-athletes-and-activism/">We Matter: Athletes and Activism</a>&rdquo; I interviewed Jahvaris Fulton, who is Trayvon Martin's brother. And in the interview, he told me how &mdash; and when he said this, it kind of threw me,&nbsp; because I didn't expect him to say it &mdash; he said that if it weren't for NBA players and celebrities and everybody like that, talking about his brother, he didn't think that anybody would know his name. And I was like, "Wow, that's kind of strong. Why do you say that?"
So then he explained to me how, when Trayvon Martin was first killed, his family was trying to get the local news people to cover it and they didn't want to cover it. They said, "Okay, another young black man was killed. That's not newsworthy."
And I was like, "That's what they told you?" He said, "Yeah," he was like, "We don't have no evidence. We don't have no video of it. Just your word saying that he [was] killed, that's not newsworthy." And he gave a shout-out to Roland Martin and some of the black news people, who were covering it. But he said, "But no local news people wanted to cover it."
So then he said, "But then, LeBron James started talking about it. And Dwyane Wade started talking about it. And then the entire Miami Heat team posed in the hoodies." So then he said, "So then you had everybody like, 'Okay, what is this that LeBron James is discussing? And why is Dwyane Wade feeling so passionate about this, and talking about his kids, and about this case?' Then everybody started to gravitate towards it and cover it and everything like that."
But he said [...] before, they couldn't get anybody to cover it. And that's just... It's unfortunate that it is that way, because people should have a regard for human life anyway, without an athlete having to speak about it. However, the athlete speaking about it is what drew the attention &mdash; and that just shows where athletes have to continue to do that, continue to use your voice and your platform to be able to speak to these causes.
And also to take it a step further by having laws being changed, and people who are in positions to fight for laws being changed, like [you are]. You know what I mean? And running for attorney general &mdash; [who] are in positions to actually implement some things so these things don't just continue to keep happening.
Merritt: "Yeah. I can remember in 2016, we saw two high-profile officer-involved shootings back-to-back, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. It was the same weekend, and it was almost like a dark cloud being hanged over impacted communities. And if you and I saw each other on the street, we would make eye contact and say, 'You know, man, this is becoming too much.'
"Dallas had a protest &mdash; I was living in Dallas at the time. And they had a protest downtown, where we marched and we discussed what happened, and started to talk about organizing police reform. And at the end of that protest, a vigilante named Micah Xavier Johnson, targeted law enforcement officers and shot five police officers and a couple of civilians as well. And you could imagine the national outcry about Black Lives Matter, and how they put law enforcement lives at risk.
"And everyone began to ignore the fact that people were there for protesting peacefully about police violence &mdash; that was back-to-back and overwhelming. And while it was a tragedy for our entire community that law enforcement officers were targeted by Mr. Johnson, there was also an ongoing crisis in our community, that was the reason that all those people had gathered and made targets of themselves.
"And it was Dwyane Wade. LeBron was still, I think, in 2016, with the Miami Heat. So it was Wade and LeBron who came forward at the ESPY Awards that weekend and re-centered the conversation. And said, 'That's terrible what happened in Dallas, and we back the blue. We stand for the law enforcement officers.'
&ldquo;But understand that our community is also under attack. And it's two sides of the same coin. We don't tolerate violence directed at law enforcement officers. And we cannot continue to tolerate violence directed at our community.
And it saved the national conversation so that we could get back to what had brought us all there in the first place. And so, yeah, members of the NBA have the opportunity, in [the] state of Texas, but [also] throughout the country, the voices of the NBA are critically important to that."
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Etan Thomas is joined by Lee Merritt on "The Rematch" to discuss social justice and the NBA's role in societal change.

Lee Merritt: The NBA could impact public policy and elections

The&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/dwyane-wade-on-goat-discussions-theyre-gonna-forget-about-jordan-like-we-forget-about-kareem/" 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>:
"Greatest of All Time" debates change from era to era, and that&rsquo;s the natural course of things, according to Dwyane Wade. The retired great claims there will be a new set of GOATs for the younger generation as time passes.&nbsp;
Passing of the Torch
Fans often wage war over who&rsquo;s the best player of all time, but there will always be the passing of the torch as time goes by. Bill Russell had to pass it to Wilt Chamberlain, who had to pass it down to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The process went on to Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have fans who say MJ passed it to their favorite of the two.
If they can keep up and play long enough, there will be the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Dončić making their respective cases. A new set of names will be included in the discussion in another five years, and so on.
For Wade, who grew up in Chicago and idolized Jordan, he believes there will come a time that the fans will no longer remember MJ or Kareem as the best ever to do it.
&ldquo;These GOATs, these names that we throw out, it&rsquo;s not gonna just be a lot of those players. But the game continues to keep moving forward. And so we are gonna continue to see things that we have never seen before. And the eyes are gonna get younger and younger,&rdquo; Wade <a href="https://youtu.be/ISENOkL6Gho" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard</a>.
&ldquo;We are not going to have a conversation about the GOATs. Now it&rsquo;s going to be the younger, younger, younger generation. And they&rsquo;re gonna forget about Jordan like we forget about Kareem.&rdquo;
That&rsquo;s the beauty of this game. It evolves as players come and go. Records are meant to be broken, and sooner than later, these achievements by special players once thought to be untouchable will soon go down, and a new set of records will be established.&nbsp;
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Player of the Decade
Many factors are needed for a player to be considered the NBA's GOAT. First, he has to have a productive career with titles to boot. There&rsquo;s also health, luck and fan support. What makes MJ the standard and the generation-defying GOAT is that he had to earn everything. He willed his team to win and helped basketball reach international viewership. MJ played before social media, but his name always comes up in the current era. His presence can still be felt in the league, and his business ventures continue to speak of how great he is.&nbsp;
If the GOAT debate never ends, maybe there should be a Player of the Decade instead. These are for the players whose achievements and dominance lasted a decade (or an era). That way, every great player would get the respect he deserves. Of course, we all have different meanings to greatness and other criteria to determine the greatest of all time. Unless the NBA releases some type of official criteria, fans will always indulge in friendly banter on the real GOAT.
Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

As the game evolves over time with new names, Dwyane Wade thinks MJ will mistakenly be forgotten in the GOAT conversation.

Wade: 'They’re gonna forget about Jordan like we forget about Kareem'

In case you missed it, Markieff Morris had this to say last night.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Ain&rsquo;t shit wild about it! It&rsquo;s a real injury! Imagine having a 300 pound sloppy fat boy run full speed and make direct contact with your spine! I&rsquo;ll be back soon like I said. <a href="https://t.co/jMdySrLxuw">https://t.co/jMdySrLxuw</a>
&mdash; Keef Morris (@Keefmorris) <a href="https://twitter.com/Keefmorris/status/1479276725292830723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2022</a>
<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</blockquote>
Yeah, so, about that.
It&rsquo;s been 60 days since Markieff Morris last played an NBA game. The reason... we all know by now, don&rsquo;t we?
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It was common to hear reactions from NBA Twitter, "Inside The NBA" and others&nbsp;that suggested Jokić was in the right and/or Morris deserved it. While Morris can&rsquo;t entirely be absolved because of the needless take foul beforehand, the entire ordeal and aftermath are worth revisiting precisely two months later.&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s preface the rest by saying, coming from someone who also covers combat sports and asks for&nbsp;your favorite kerfuffles on his profile for this website, I think fighting in non-combat sports isn&rsquo;t as bad as the pearl-clutchers think. It honestly shouldn&rsquo;t even always warrant a suspension &mdash; depending on the context &mdash; but I understand why it often does. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOAEz9uK6GY">Some sh*t goes too far</a>, but more than often,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmAMCFAugKc&amp;t=27s">guys don&rsquo;t even want to fight to begin with</a>. (Kenyon Martin even <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-kenyon-martin-enforcer-toughness-physicality-league-kevin-garnett-fight-fighting-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">addressed that here on BasketballNews.com in an article</a>.) 
And there&rsquo;s shared blame here, which we&rsquo;ll navigate through as one, big, happy-ass family.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
First of all, the video of the fight itself: Bleacher Report having as their headline, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L06009FEQRs&amp;t=27s">Nikola Jokic INJURED Markieff Morris &amp; ALMOST ENDED HIS CAREER 👀</a>&rdquo; is pretty wack. Eyeball emojis shouldn&rsquo;t come after ALMOST ENDED HIS CAREER in all caps &ndash; that&rsquo;s mad insensitive to still have up there after two months.
Secondly, the comments embody what we&rsquo;re talking about. People saying a variation of Morris getting what he deserved, applauding Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal and Charles Barkley for defending Jokić&rsquo;s right to obliterate Morris from behind &mdash; we&rsquo;ll get to that momentarily.
Not too many combinations of jokes were directed at Morris, who apparently was faking his injury, right? So much so that he still hasn&rsquo;t played since.&nbsp;
Now, the "Inside" guys.&nbsp;
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The first thing Charles Barkley said was, &ldquo;I love this.&rdquo;
Less than a minute later, O&rsquo;Neal added, &ldquo;I like what The Joker did.&rdquo;
Asked by Ernie Johnson to expand, Barkley emphatically interjected, rhetorically asking, &ldquo;What did Joker do?&rdquo;&nbsp;
Johnson replied, &ldquo;Gave him (Morris) a shot in the back and whiplashed him.&rdquo;
And Shaq contributed, &ldquo;First of all, Ernie, it&rsquo;s called retaliation. When you hit me, don&rsquo;t turn around. Don&rsquo;t turnaround, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM1V1D1r_PU">Brad Miller, because I&rsquo;m swinging</a>,&rdquo; with a laugh.
Kenny Smith attempted to provide a more levelheaded take, saying, &ldquo;We would hope that Joker could have some self-restraint.&rdquo; He was then immediately shot down by O&rsquo;Neal and Barkley, and the segment continued.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
There&rsquo;s absolutely something to what O&rsquo;Neal and Barkley said regarding retaliation, self-defense and sending a message. Additionally, there&rsquo;s some arrogance in leveling someone and immediately turning around, thinking you&rsquo;re untouchable as a result. Not great from Keef, there.
And as bad as the neck injury has been for Morris, it could&rsquo;ve been worse &mdash; a stretcher was even brought out as a precaution. Luckily, he was able to walk off.
And, look, we&rsquo;ve all been to an emotional point where the subsequent actions we took were regrettable, so this ain&rsquo;t finger-wagging more than an observation and reevaluation.
Jokić, at 6-foot-11, 284 pounds, has a distinct size advantage over Morris' listed <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/morrima02.html">6-foot-9, 245-pound frame</a>, so throwing his entire body weight into an unsuspecting Morris from behind is especially threatening. You&rsquo;d probably say Morris put himself in that danger, but even Jokić &mdash; clearly not being in his right mind at the time &mdash; has to know that he can&rsquo;t charge into Morris from behind like that, which he admitted after. It isn&rsquo;t like the foul was from behind, either.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a stupid play,&rdquo; Jokic said, seemingly with regret. &ldquo;I feel bad. I&rsquo;m not supposed to react that way, but it&rsquo;s in the middle of the game. I got hit, I saw him, but I just thought it was gonna be like a take foul... I thought [what Morris did] was a dirty play, and I just needed to protect myself. I fouled him bad, and I&rsquo;m not supposed to react that way.&rdquo;
He later added, insisting his feelings were genuine, &ldquo;No, I felt bad, for real... his head snapped back, so I feel really bad.&rdquo; &nbsp;
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In regards to the unusually physical Morris take foul, that was mad unnecessary at that point of the game, and when NBA games are out of reach, that&rsquo;s typically when things like this happen. As many people have indicated, Keef has a history of NBA dust-ups &mdash; including <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBZ4Al-zAQU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with DeMarcus Cousins</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ-azSxV-oE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OG Anunoby</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlWOv0HEYlk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Ennis</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9WUBR3e7H8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whatever this was with Buddy Hield</a> among others.&nbsp;
But if his reputation preceded him, Jokic&rsquo;s should too.
Just four months earlier, Jokić was ejected for a reckless-ass frustration foul against 6-foot-1, 180-pound Cameron Payne, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bHAc-BU8oE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">then going head-to-head and exchanging words with Devin Booker</a>. Two months before that,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bQgHLt59NM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jokić punched Terrence Ross in his arm</a>&nbsp;out of anger for not getting a call he felt he deserved. Ross gave him a receipt later in the half, but not an overly rough one.
In the Orlando Bubble, and in similar fashion, Jokić was upset about a non-call against 6-foot Patrick Beverley, and frustration fouled him on a break by... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmftuUeYLHk">trying to Rick Flair chop him</a>? In the Nuggets-Blazers 2019 playoff series,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhndn_k-6G0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he elbowed the sh*t out of Enes Kanter</a>. (Depending on who you ask, he might&rsquo;ve been ahead of his time. Lots of people would, and I.... I understand.)
Jokić also had a bumping/shoving match with Marcus, Keef&rsquo;s twin, two years ago.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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This isn&rsquo;t to say Jokić is a bad dude or an a**hole. Things happen, and different athletes have different ways of expressing themselves. But if people are going to hold up Morris&rsquo; past, this should go both ways. And all of these things can co-exist &mdash; this doesn&rsquo;t have to be some tribal, side-taking nonsense.&nbsp;
Revisiting all this is not to say we should retroactively ban Jokić for an extended period, but we should reevaluate how we process these things both in the moment and afterward. Morris still hasn&rsquo;t played. I don&rsquo;t care how much you don&rsquo;t like the dude and the misguided, non-productive nature of his foul &mdash; he didn&rsquo;t deserve to get hurt and obviously hasn&rsquo;t been faking an injury. (In the moment, I thought Jokić would get suspended 3-to-5 games, so one game appeared light at the time, for what it&rsquo;s worth.)
A question lingers in my mind: How would people have reacted if this were reversed? I&rsquo;m not even going to Black and white, but more specifically: What if Morris did this to Jokić? Clearly, people would&rsquo;ve been coming for Morris&rsquo; head since he&rsquo;s a role player, Jokić is a superstar, and plenty of y&rsquo;all don&rsquo;t like the Morris twins to begin with.
On Christmas Eve,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Keefmorris/status/1474434182575185922" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Morris said he was "coming soon."</a> He said it again last night.
Well, it&rsquo;s been eight weeks since the encounter with The Joker. At 32 years old, hopefully, he&rsquo;ll be able to reclaim what he established earlier, <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/morrima02.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which has turned out to be his best season in three years</a>. And ideally, Jokić could, as he himself indicated, collect himself a tad better before endangering someone else in this fashion.

Two months later, Bryan Fonseca analyzes the aftermath of the Nikola Jokic-Markieff Morris incident, with the latter still injured.

60 days later: Revisiting the Nikola Jokić-Markieff Morris incident

BOSTON (AP) — Joel Embiid scored 17 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter, hitting three jumpers in the final minutes and three free throws in the last four seconds to ice it as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics 108-103 on Monday night.
With both teams fighting COVID-19 outbreaks, Embiid also had 10 rebounds and a steal on the Celtics’ last-chance inbound pass while playing 40 minutes, 14 seconds — a season high for a game that didn’t go to overtime.
Seth Curry scored 26 points and Tobias Harris had 25 for Philadelphia.
Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, Jayson Tatum had 17 and Enes Kanter Freedom had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who had seven players in COVID-19 protocol, with Robert Williams III a late scratch for personal reasons.
After trailing the entire first half, the Celtics took an 80-75 lead into the fourth quarter and went ahead 97-90 on Brown's 3-pointer with 4:14 left. Matisse Thybulle hit a 3-pointer and then Embiid made a pair of foul shots. 
Boston led 98-96 when Danny Green made a 3-pointer, and then Embiid made three straight mid-range jumpers to hold the Celtics at bay. 
WHERE THERE’S SMOKE
The game was delayed for seven minutes after the national anthem and before the introduction of the Celtics players when a fire alarm went off in the building, accompanied by an announcement telling the crowd it may need to evacuate. After a few minutes of people nervously looking around, the Celtics mascot began waving his arms to pump up the fans; the pregame festivities resumed soon after.
A TD Garden spokesman said the problem was a malfunctioning sprinkler head in a concession area in the balcony level and set off a fire alarm. Building operations coordinated with the Boston Fire Department before giving the all-clear.
IN AND OUT
The Celtics’ pregame injury list required a three-tweet thread to list everyone, with Al Horford, Jabari Parker, Josh Richardson, Brodric Thomas, Grant Williams, Juancho Hernangomez and Sam Hauser all in the COVID-19 protocol. Robert Williams III was also listed as out for personal reasons. 
Tatum (ankle), Romeo Langford (neck) and Dennis Schroder (non-COVID illness) were questionable but cleared to play. To fill out the roster, the Celtics signed 15-year NBA veteran C.J. Miles, who hadn’t appeared in a game in more than two years, to a 10-day contract.
The Sixers were without Andre Drummond, Shake Milton and Georges Niang because of COVID protocols, along with Tyrese Maxey (thigh bruise), Furkan Korkmaz (non-COVID illness), Jaden Springer (concussion protocol) and Ben Simmons, who hasn’t played all year while awaiting a possible trade. 
THROWBACK
The Celtics celebrated ’60’s night, looking back on the decade when they won 9 NBA titles — going through the Philadelphia Warriors twice and the 76ers four times. (The Sixers were the only team to beat them, in the 1967 Eastern Division finals. 
Satch Sanders, Mal Graham and Rick Weitzman were honored on the court, and ’60’s music was played throughout the night. 
UP NEXT 
Sixers: Host Atlanta on Thursday. 
Celtics: Host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Joel Embiid scored 41 points, and the 76ers beat the Boston Celtics 108-103.

Embiid scores 41, 76ers beat Celtics 108-103

Enes Kanter Freedom opened up to Etan Thomas on "The Rematch" on being a U.S. citizen, his Fox News interview, LeBron and more.

Q&A: Enes Kanter Freedom on U.S. citizenship, Fox interview, LeBron

Enes Freedom, formerly known as Enes Kanter, joined BasketballNews.com's own Etan Thomas on "The Rematch" and was given a chance to clarify some of the comments he made during an interview by Fox News' Tucker Carlson, in which he said:
&ldquo;People should feel really blessed and lucky to be in America. They love to criticize it, but when you live in a country like Turkey or China or somewhere else, you will appreciate the freedoms you have here. I feel like they should just keep their mouth shut and stop criticizing the greatest nation in the world and they should focus on their freedoms and their human rights and democracy.&rdquo;
These comments rubbed many the wrong way, as it came just days after Enes had changed his last name to 'Freedom.' These comments also drew comparisons to Laura Ingraham telling LeBron James to "shut up and dribble" not too long ago, which lit a fire under all athletes across all sports.
On BasketballNews.com's "The Rematch," Freedom was asked about these comments and offered some clarification.
"I stand for freedom. I would never tell an athlete or a human being or a celebrity to not use their platform," he said. "The greatest thing we have is freedom of speech, and the amazing thing we have is the platform."
This is very different from what Freedom said last week, so perhaps he did not mean for what he said last week (or didn't mean for it to come off the way it did). Freedom said he is hoping to meet with LeBron, so he can "educate" him on how to use his platform for good, but James seems uninterested in doing that, as he expressed after the Lakers' loss to the Celtics in Boston a few weeks ago.
"I don't give too many people my energy. He's definitely not someone I would give my energy to," James said. "He's trying to use my name to create an opportunity for himself. I definitely won't comment too much on that. He's always had a word or two to say in my direction, and as a man, if you've got an issue with somebody, you really come up to him. He had his opportunity tonight. I saw him in the hallway, and he walked right by me."
Watch the full conversation between Enes Kanter Freedom and Etan Thomas on "The Rematch" here:
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Enes Kanter Freedom clarified the recent comments he made on Fox News, saying he would never tell athletes not to use their platform.

Enes Kanter Freedom clarifies Fox comments: Athletes should speak out

Jayson Tatum and Dennis Schroder scored 31 points apiece and the Boston Celtics rode a sizzling start to a 145-117 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.
Enes Freedom grabbed 15 rebounds off the bench for the Celtics, who made 14 of their first 15 shots and built a 21-point, first-half lead.
Coach Ime Udoka believes Tatum&rsquo;s recent success has been the product of attacking the basket. Tatum scored 37 on Friday night against Utah as well.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s had some success driving to the basket and getting to the free throw line,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s been encouraging him to drive more and not settle as much. With some of their guys out, we felt we could attack some mismatches and get to the basket without a ton of rim protection and he did that very well.&rdquo;
CJ McCollum scored 24 points for the Trail Blazers.
Portland chipped away behind its bench before Boston took a 64-58 lead into halftime.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen a team that needs its bench to inspire its starters,&rdquo; Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. &ldquo;It should be the other way around.&rdquo;
Boston took control in the second half with a good start to the third quarter. The Celtics pushed their lead to as high as 26 before Portland pulled its starters with 5:51 remaining.
The Celtics continued to pour it on. Former Oregon star Payton Prichard scored 16 points in the final six minutes, sending the Celtics bench into a frenzy. The bench was called for a taunting technical for celebrating Prichard&rsquo;s 3-pointer to put Boston up 145-114.
&ldquo;You want to see him do well,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;The crowd was very supportive of a hometown hero but it got a little out of hand with our guys getting overzealous and getting a technical. I did apologize to Chauncey at the end for that. I didn&rsquo;t mean for it to get out of hand like that. You&rsquo;re happy for him, but there&rsquo;s a line not to cross there.&rdquo;
Boston&rsquo;s 145 points were the most ever scored in regulation by a visiting team in Blazers history.
NEW START
Saturday night&rsquo;s game was Portland&rsquo;s first following the firing of President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey. With Joe Cronin assuming the role of interim general manager, Billups expressed his respect for Cronin&rsquo;s new position and excitement about working together.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very much looking forward to building with Joe,&rdquo; Billups said. &ldquo;In all honesty right now, Joe is the man. I&rsquo;m not overlooking that, I don&rsquo;t think anybody should. He&rsquo;s been in the game for a long time, he&rsquo;s well thought of by many people and I think Joe is as qualified as most people. He&rsquo;s very good. It&rsquo;s easy to jump over that and look for the next move. But right now, Joe is the next move.&rdquo;
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Udoka was in his hometown for the first time as an NBA head coach, something he wasn&rsquo;t taking for granted.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a first for everything, as I mentioned. But this one obviously means more coming home,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;A ton of family and friends here and the first time in this capacity, so obviously it means a lot. For me, it&rsquo;s great to come back and see family and friends briefly, but it&rsquo;s also time to handle business.&rdquo;
Udoka visited Jefferson High School before the game.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Romeo Langford missed the game with a right ankle sprain. &hellip; Jaylen Brown remains out with hamstring tightness and Udoka said he won&rsquo;t return until he&rsquo;s &ldquo;100 percent, not 85 or 90&rdquo;&hellip; Al Horford sat out with a stiff lower back. Grant Williams started in his place.
Trail Blazers: Anfernee Simons (right ankle sprain), Damian Lillard (abdomen) and Nassir Little (left ankle sprain) all missed Saturday&rsquo;s game.
UP NEXT
Celtics: At the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
Trail Blazers: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.&nbsp;

Jayson Tatum and Dennis Schroder scored 31 points apiece and the Celtics rode a sizzling start to a 145-117 victory over the Blazers.

Celtics start fast, rout Trail Blazers 145-117

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter is legally changing his name to Enes Kanter Freedom,&nbsp;The Athletic&nbsp;learned. Kanter will be his middle name, Freedom is his new last name. He becomes a U.S. citizen on Monday.
Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1464974953351200768" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania/The Athletic</a>
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;Kanter's name changed would become one of the more recognizable name changes in recent NBA memory, alongside Metta World Peace. The Celtics big man is averaging 4.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game off the bench for the 10-10 squad.

Kanter will remain his middle name while Freedom is his new last name.

Enes Kanter changing last name to 'Freedom'

Cleveland Cavaliers fast-starting rookie forward Evan Mobley could return to the lineup sooner than expected after missing less than two weeks with a sprained right elbow.
Mobley got hurt on Nov. 15 against Boston. At the time, the Cavs estimated he could out for as long as one month. However, the No. 3 overall pick has made quick progress and is listed as probable for Saturday's game against the Orlando Magic.
The Cavs lost to the Celtics on the night Mobley was injured while batting Boston big man Enes Kanter under the basket. Cleveland, which has been hit hard by injuries, has dropped its last four games without Mobley.
He's been among the NBA's top rookies through the season's first six weeks, and Mobley's return could help the young Cavs get untracked. Cleveland lost leading scorer Collin Sexton for the season with a knee injury.
The 20-year-old Mobley averaged 14.6 points and 8.0 rebounds in his first 15 games. He's been equally effective on defense, averaging 1.6 blocks and being amongst the league's leaders in contested shots.

Evan Mobley could return to the lineup sooner than expected after missing less than two weeks with a sprained right elbow.

Cavs rookie F Mobley nearing return from elbow injury

Boston Celtics games were abruptly pulled from the Chinese internet on Thursday after a center on the team, Enes Kanter, said on social media that the country&rsquo;s leader, Xi Jinping, was a &ldquo;brutal dictator,&rdquo; citing his government&rsquo;s repressive policies in Tibet.
The incident could spell fresh trouble for the N.B.A. in China. The league has millions of devoted fans there but has also just spent two years mending its image in the country after a Houston Rockets executive tweeted support in 2019 for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
Source: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/21/sports/basketball/celtics-kanter-china-tibet.html?smid=tw-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Raymond Zhong and Sopan Deb of The New York Times</a>
ANALYSIS: This is not the first time that China has pulled NBA games from their network. Back in 2019, former Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support for the pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong, which prompted China to stop streaming NBA games, resulting in massive revenue losses for the NBA.&nbsp;

China has reportedly pulled all Celtics games from the internet after Celtics center Enes Kanter called China's leader a 'brutal dictator'.

Celtics games pulled in China after Kanter describes leader as 'brutal dictator'

For all the handwringing this summer over Damian Lillard's happiness in Portland, the Trail Blazers guard is staying put, hopeful the team's moves will pay off.
The biggest, of course, was parting ways with coach Terry Stotts after nine seasons. Portland hired Chauncey Billups, who has no prior experience as an NBA head coach.
The nucleus of Lillard, guard CJ McCollum and center Jusuf Nurkic remains intact, but Portland shored up the roster with the addition of Larry Nance Jr., Cody Zeller and Ben McLemore. Carmelo Anthony and Enes Kanter have moved on.
While the team didn't strike any splashy offseason deals, Lillard believes the Blazers are in a better place,
&ldquo;Obviously at the end of last season, I wanted to see our roster improve, I wanted us to have a better chance to win,&rdquo; Lillard said. "And we had our conversations throughout the summer about what that looked like and how we could take steps in that direction, and I come into this season with faith that that&rsquo;s going to happen and that we&rsquo;re going to do that.&rdquo;
Portland finished 42-30 last season and earned the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The team won 10 of its final 12 regular-season games but the playoffs ended quickly with the Blazers eliminated by Denver in the opening round.
Lillard is entering his 10th NBA season. The closest he&rsquo;s come to a title was a trip to the Western Conference finals in 2019.
He ranked third in the NBA with an average of 28.8 points last season, and was in the top 10 with 7.5 assists. But it may be Portland's last season with their All-Star and Olympian, unless the team gets results.
&ldquo;I think we all know we've got to get over the hump,&rdquo; Nurkic said.
ANFERNEE'S OPPORTUNITY
Portland didn't make any moves for a proven backup point guard in the offseason, an issue that's plagued the Blazers in recent years. McCollum has taken on those duties at times.
Anfernee Simons, going into his fourth year in the NBA, is looking to fill the role.
When Lillard was given the night off in a preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, Simons scored 24 points.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s continued to make strides and stay aggressive. I want him to always just be confident," Billups said. "Even some nights those shots aren&rsquo;t going to be falling, just him being aggressive and getting spots he wants to get to and playmaking.&rdquo;
MORE INVOLVED
Nurkic is excited about taking on a greater offensive role this season.
Nurkic was frustrated with how he was used last season under Stotts, who leaned on him defensively. Nurkic averaged 11.5 points and nine rebounds last season but missed time because of a broken wrist.
Billups told Nurkic in the offseason that he'd expand his presence on both ends. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking for a big year personally for me and the team," Nurkic said.
VACCINATION STATUS
The Blazers are 100% vaccinated among the players and coaching staff. Lillard said when the vaccinations became available, he wanted to line up his whole family for the shot.
&ldquo;I have a lot of people in my family who I&rsquo;m tight with and spend a lot of time around, and I&rsquo;m just not going to put their health or their lives in danger because I have to go do research,&rdquo; Lillard said. &ldquo;As a kid I had to get shots my whole life, before I went to college I had to get shots. And I couldn&rsquo;t tell you one thing about any of them.&rdquo;
FRAUD CASE
Trail Blazers assistant coach Milt Palacio was among 18 former NBA players who were charged in federal court this month with defrauding the league&rsquo;s health and welfare benefit plan. Authorities said the scam involved claiming fictitious medical and dental expenses.
As a result, Palacio was placed on administrative leave by the Blazers.
&ldquo;The federal investigation is independent of the Trail Blazers organization and we will have no further comment pending the outcome of the legal process,&rdquo; the team said.
Former Trail Blazers Sebastian Telfair, Darius Miles and Ruben Patterson were also charged.
BUSY OFFSEASON
The Blazers backcourt didn't rest in the offseason.
Lillard got married to his college sweetheart, won an Olympic gold medal, and released new music. Not to be outdone, CJ McCollum announced he and his wife are expecting their first child, bought a winery and that he was named president of the NBA Players Association.
Lillard brought his gold medal to the team's annual media day, asking whether he should pass it around to the reporters present. Then he quickly changed his mind: &ldquo;Y&rsquo;all can&rsquo;t touch my medal.&rdquo;

For all the handwringing this summer over Damian Lillard's happiness in Portland, the Trail Blazers guard is staying put.

Damian Lillard embarking on pivotal season with Blazers

Perhaps the most significant change with this year's Boston Celtics comes from the team's one constant.
Marcus Smart is Boston's longest-tenured active player. Since joining the franchise as the No. 6 pick in 2014, Smart has watched the lead-guard torch pass from Rajon Rondo, to Isaiah Thomas, to Kyrie Irving and to Kemba Walker, while he settled in primarily as an off-ball guard.
Now, in his eighth season, Smart is poised to take that mantle. Sure, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will drive the offense and the team as a whole. But Boston's heart and soul appears to now be its primary table-setter, a role Smart hasn't been entrenched in since his college days at Oklahoma State.
This means Smart assumes new responsibilities as a communicator, playmaker and creator. It's an interesting fit for one of the best all-around defenders and streakiest shot-makers in the NBA.&nbsp;
"He's our leader now," said Enes Kanter on the first day of training camp.
After a practice this past Wednesday, new Celtics head coach Ime Udoka said that he doesn't want to micromanage an entire game, and specifically mentioned Smart as someone who has done a great job arranging the offense in training camp.
"I like to give the players freedom to be coaches out there, and I feel Dennis [Schr&ouml;der] and Marcus have done a great job throughout camp," Udoka said. "I try to come down and call plays since they know the package we have off of makes and misses. But I'll get up and mention a coverage or call out a play if I have to."
Udoka also mentioned that he specifically brought assistant coach Damon Stoudamire aboard to work with Smart this season. Stoudamire played 13 seasons as a point guard in the NBA and was previously the head coach at Pacific University.&nbsp;
Evidently, Udoka and the Celtics are investing in Smart's development as a floor general. Positional data from Cleaning the Glass estimates that Smart has played at least 60% of his seasonal minutes at shooting guard in each of the last six years. Futhermore, 2020-21 was the only season in his career that the 27-year-old spent more than 20% of the time at point guard, and that was likely boosted with Kemba Walker's injuries.
So this is new professional territory. What can the team and the fans expect on the offensive end?
While Smart's responsibilities might change, his total usage likely won't. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown exist, and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/al-horford-brings-back-varying-skill-set-to-completement-boston-celtics-stars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Al Horford's return</a> &mdash; coupled with Schr&ouml;der's acquisition &mdash; adds some new ball-movers to the mix. Make no mistake, though: Smart is assuredly the best passer on Boston's roster.
BBall Index has developed advanced metrics for all sorts of passing attributes using tracking data. In seven of their 11 "playmaking" categories, Smart placed in the 80th percentile or above. That includes measurements such as Passing Creation Quality (whose passes lead to the best quality of shot), Passing Versatility (who has the greatest range of passing types), Points from Assists per 75 possessions and the site's overall "Playmaking Talent" grade, in which Smart was in the 90th percentile.
In essence, these stats claim Smart is a malleable playmaker who can hit teammates in all sorts of situations. He averaged a career-high 5.7 assists per game last season. The tape backs up the statement:
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In the footage, we see: an on-target bounce pass, a one-arm toss to the weak-side corner, two beautiful alley-oops and an aggressive hit in transition. Smart's court vision is apparent. He has a vet's knowledge of the playbook and can also push the pace.
That buzzword, "pace," has become a preseason theme for Boston. We saw the Celtics speed things up in their preseason opener against the Orlando Magic and again versus the Toronto Raptors. Though the pace led to some sloppy turnovers, there were a few moments I liked with Smart, including this play:
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It's nothing crazy. Smart flips the ball up to Brown and follows the pass as he and Robert Williams set up a double screen. It gets Brown running on the perimeter, and with Wendell Carter Jr. defending in drop coverage, opens up a three-point attempt. This is how Boston should intend to play with pace: by catching the defense off guard and putting Brown and Tatum downhill in advantageous spots.&nbsp;
The Celtics also frequently used Smart as a screener against Orlando, which makes sense given his physical 6-foot-4 frame. He typically returned to his traditional off-ball role whenever Schr&ouml;der or Payton Pritchard shared the floor. I'd expect this to continue into the regular season.
Now, let's get to the scoring, which has drawn the ire of Boston fans since Smart entered the league. He's a wild card of a shooter, and while I think it's an overblown concern, the fact remains that his 32.2% career clip on catch-and-shoot threes is... dead last among active players (min. 800 attempts). It is what it is at this point.&nbsp;
But the real concern, and the ultimate swing skill to me, is his rim pressure. Smart has struggled throughout his career getting to and finishing at the basket. According to Cleaning the Glass, 21% of the guard's field goal and free-throw attempts last season came from attacking the rim (29th percentile at his position), and he made only 49% of his field goal attempts (15th percentile).&nbsp;&nbsp;
Part of the problem was his role; Smart wasn't in position to attack with a ball-dominant guard beside him. But the 27-year-old relies heavily on brute force and touch to muscle his way to the hoop. He doesn't lean on a floater, and lacks explosiveness and leaping ability.&nbsp;
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The silver lining is that Smart made solid playmaking decisions when he attacked. Per BBall Index, he passed out of drives 41% of the time, and 30% of those passes became assists &mdash; both healthy numbers. But will Smart intimidate enough to collapse the defense? Boston doesn't have many at-rim terrors on paper, so he'll need to step up (as do Tatum and Brown).&nbsp;
Saturday night showed promise. Smart posted 7 assists against just 2 turnovers in the Celtics' win over the Toronto Raptors, drawing praise from teammates for his aggressive play. He finished just 2-of-7 from the field, with many of those being missed shots at the basket. But he also showed what happens when he does pressure the defense.
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"Tonight, he quickly realized that if he puts pressure on the rim, the way that we're playing, the defense is collapsing, so it was opening up shots for all of us." Horford said. "He did a really good job recognizing. The thing about Smart is, he justs adjusts to how they're playing; he just figures it out."
In many facets, we know what we're getting with Smart: an all-world defensive pest, a loose-ball magnet and a cerebral decision-maker. The team and fan base should also know they are not&nbsp;getting a ball-dominant, walking-bucket point guard in the vein of past Celtics.
Marcus Smart's offensive impact will be largely defined by how he sets the table for his teammates and how he feasts when the plate is for him. If the veteran can't pressure defenses and keep a fast pace, Boston may revert to its past scoring inconsistencies. But if things break correctly, Smart can unleash the point guard skills necessary for his teammates to thrive.

Ethan Fuller breaks down how Marcus Smart fits in as the Celtics' true point guard.