Zips

LeBron James has exercised his $52.6 million player option to return to the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2025&ndash;26 season, as reported by ESPN&rsquo;s Shams Charania.
This solidifies James&rsquo; place as the first player in NBA history to enter a 23rd season, breaking a tie with Vince Carter for most all-time.
At 40 years old, James remains at the top of his game, averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists over 70 games in 2024&ndash;25. While this move guarantees a place in the record books, he's quick to clarify that his goal goes beyond longevity: &ldquo;LeBron wants to compete for a championship,&rdquo; his agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports told ESPN and Charania.
Despite the Lakers emerging from a blockbuster trade that brought Luka Doncic to LA, James is waiting to see how the front office shapes the roster. He remains optimistic about contending while acknowledging the team's trajectory: &ldquo;He knows the Lakers are building for the future&hellip; but he values a realistic chance of winning it all.&rdquo;
Financially, the Lakers will carry James&rsquo;s $52.6 million into the books, pushing them approximately $21 million above the salary cap &ndash; but still below the luxury-tax apron, preserving valuable negotiating and cap flexibility. Rob Pelinka and ownership now face the task of leveraging this space to strengthen the roster around James and Doncic.
ANALYSIS: With his 23rd season incoming, James will surpass Carter&rsquo;s record and inch closer to Robert Parish's games-played mark. His decision underscores a final push for another title, not merely a ceremonial farewell. With this strategic implication, the Lakers must address roster holes before camp, and James's return raises expectations for a possible title run next season.
Looking ahead, James aims to manage his recovery, recently spraining a knee ligament, but has committed to returning healthy for training camp this fall. His final decision on whether to play or not beyond 2025-26 will likely depend on how competitive the Lakers shape up this year.&nbsp;
LeBron&rsquo;s choice ensures one more season of greatness and ignites a defining offseason for Los Angeles, whether they build around his enduring greatness or begin planning for a post-LeBron era.

LeBron James has exercised his $52.6 million player option to return to the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2025–26 season.

LeBron James opts in on contract with Lakers for record-breaking 23rd NBA season

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; San Diego State had little trouble ending the run of March Madness darling Furman, getting 16 points from Micah Parrish to pace a balanced scoring attack and pulling away for a 75-52 win on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Darrion Trammell had 13 points, Lamont Butler added 12 and leading scorer Matt Bradley finished with 10 for San Diego State (29-6), which is heading to its first Sweet 16 since 2004.
The fifth-seeded Aztecs have won 11 of their past 13 games and will play top overall seed Alabama next week in the South Region semifinals in Louisville, Kentucky.
&ldquo;You should play your best at the end of the season, and we&rsquo;re playing our best basketball as the end of the season,&rdquo; coach Brian Dutcher said.
&ldquo;Obviously we hang our hat on defense. That&rsquo;s the one thing that we do every game,&rdquo; Dutcher added. &ldquo;Then when we get the opportunity, we start making shots and play good offensively, then we&rsquo;re very good.&rdquo;
San Diego State is the first Mountain West Conference team to reach the Sweet 16 since Nevada in 2018. It&rsquo;ll be the third regional semifinal appearance for the Aztecs and the seventh for the Mountain West overall.
Two days after shrugging off cold shooting and overcoming a 12-point, second-half deficit&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/furman-virginia-march-madness-upset-1b4e3c5c8b1ce5896eea85ba9fd42761" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to shock No. 4 seed Virginia 68-67</a>&nbsp;on JP Pegues&rsquo; bracket-busting 3-pointer, Furman was outmuscled and gradually worn down by the much more physical Aztecs.
The Paladins feel they still showed they belong in March Madness.
&ldquo;We wish we would have played better. Wish we would have shot the ball a little bit better. But some of that you have to give credit to (San Diego State). But there&rsquo;s nothing that can take away what this group has done,&rdquo; coach Bob Richey said.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an unbelievable story, and I couldn&rsquo;t be more proud of our team, at a time where I&rsquo;m extremely disappointed that we didn&rsquo;t advance,&rdquo; Richey added. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s really hard to not pull the lens back a little bit and still see what that group was able to accomplish.&rdquo;
San Diego State led 39-25 at the half, getting 14 points off the bench from Parrish and limiting Furman to one field goal over the final 11 minutes leading into the break.
The Aztecs took control during a 15-0 run that turned a two-point deficit into a 30-17 lead. Furman missed seven straight shots and turned the ball over four times during a 9:56 field goal drought that dumped the Paladins into the big halftime hole.
Southern Conference player and the year Jalen Slawson picked up his fourth foul with 16:27 remaining and fouled out shortly after returning midway through the second half. The super senior stomped the floor in frustration, drawing a technical foul that gave San Diego State a pair of free throws that put the Aztecs up 60-37.
Mike Bothwell led the 13th-seeded Paladins (28-8) with 15 points. Alex Williams had 11 and Pegues finished with 11 as Furman shot 32%, including 6 of 26 from 3-point range.
Like Slawson, Bothwell is a super senior who returned to Furman for a fifth season after the Paladins were denied the Southern Conference&rsquo;s automatic NCAA Tournament berth by a buzzer-beater in their league championship game.
Making this year&rsquo;s field, then getting Furman&rsquo;s first win in the tournament in 49 years, created memories that&rsquo;ll last a lifetime.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something no one can take away from this team,&rdquo; Bothwell said. &ldquo;Greatest team in the school&rsquo;s history. No one has won more games than us, and we enjoyed it. That&rsquo;s the best part about it.&rdquo;
BIG PICTURE
Furman: The Paladins lose Slawson and Bothwell, but feel they&rsquo;ve set the tone for continued success.
&ldquo;Sometimes what success can do is make you complacent, and I think the challenge going forward for us is to understand this has to make us hungrier,&rdquo; Richey said. &ldquo;This has to push us every day to want to get back here and continue to show that we belong in the NCAA Tournament.&rdquo;
San Diego State: The Aztecs are 0-2 in Sweet 16 games. Dutcher feels this team is capable of going further.
&ldquo;Now that we&rsquo;ve settled into the rhythm, and we know what this is about, I think we&rsquo;ll play better moving forward,&rdquo; the coach said. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s really encouraging moving into the Sweet 16.&rdquo;

Darrion Trammell had 13 points for San Diego State (29-6), which is heading to its first Sweet 16 since 2004.

San Diego State dominates Furman 75-52 to reach Sweet 16

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Tyler Kolek had 21 points and 10 assists, and No. 6 Marquette clinched its first outright Big East championship by beating Butler 72-56 on Tuesday night.
The victory was the fifth in a row and 10th in 11 games for the surprising Golden Eagles (24-6, 16-3), picked ninth by the league&rsquo;s coaches in the preseason poll.
Marquette, which had already secured a share of its first Big East title since 2013, had not won an outright regular-season crown since doing so in Conference USA in 2003.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper added 14 points and Oso Ighodaro had 12 for the Golden Eagles, who will be the top seed in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden &mdash; an event Marquette has never won.
Jayden Taylor scored 13 and Jalen Thomas had 10 for Butler (14-16, 6-13), which finished 4-6 in Big East home games.
NO. 3 KANSAS 67, TEXAS TECH 63
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson scored 21 points in his Allen Fieldhouse farewell, fellow senior Kevin McCullar Jr. added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Kansas clinched a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship.
Dajuan Harris had 16 points for the Jayhawks (25-5, 13-4), who would capture the outright crown if ninth-ranked Texas loses to No. 22 TCU on Wednesday night. Otherwise, the Jayhawks &mdash; now with an NCAA-leading 64 conference championships &mdash; would need to beat the Longhorns in a head-to-head showdown Saturday in Austin.
De&rsquo;Vion Harmon had 15 points to lead Texas Tech (16-14, 5-12), which was just 3 of 16 from the 3-point line. Kevin Obanor added 14 points, Fardaws Aimaq had 13 points and 18 rebounds, and Pop Isaacs finished with 11 points.
NO. 12 TENNESSEE 75, ARKANSAS 57
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 16 points and Tennessee earned its second consecutive win.
Despite the victory, the Volunteers (22-8, 11-6 Southeastern Conference) may have sustained a significant loss. Three minutes into the game, sophomore point guard Zakai Zeigler, who brings energy on offense and defense, went down with an injury to his left knee. The extent of the injury wasn&rsquo;t immediately known, but he did not return.
Santiago Vescovi, who took over the role of point guard for Zeigler, added 14 points and Josiah-Jordan James scored 11.
Anthony Black and Davonte Davis each scored 13 for the Razorbacks (19-11, 8-9). Nick Smith Jr. scored 14 and Ricky Council 11.
NO. 13 VIRGINIA 64, CLEMSON 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Jayden Gardner had 12 points and nine rebounds, Armaan Franklin and Isaac McKneely each scored 12, and Virginia stopped a two-game skid.
The Cavaliers (22-6, 14-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved into a tie for second place in the league with No. 16 Miami with one game remaining.
PJ Hall led the Tigers (21-9, 13-6) with 19 points and Hunter Tyson had 17. Clemson got within 59-55 with 33 seconds left, but Virginia made five free throws and had a steal, sending the Tigers to their fifth loss in eight games.
IOWA 90, NO. 15 INDIANA 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Kris Murray scored 26 points, Tony Perkins flirted with the first triple-double in Iowa history and the Hawkeyes defeated Indiana.
Perkins had 23 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high eight assists for Iowa (19-11, 11-8 Big Ten).
Trayce Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers (20-10, 11-8) with 26 points and 13 rebounds. He became the school&rsquo;s career rebounding leader with 1,096 &mdash; on a night the Hoosiers lost their fourth in a row in the series.
BOISE STATE 66, NO. 18 SAN DIEGO STATE 60
BOISE, Idaho (AP) &mdash; Max Rice scored 26 points and reeled off 12 straight points in a 14-0 run to close out the game and Boise State remained perfect at home in conference play.
The Broncos (23-7, 13-4 Mountain West Conference) avenged a 20-point loss to San Diego State on Feb. 3. It was the Broncos&rsquo; first win over a ranked team this season. Tyson Degenhart scored 14 for Boise State, while Naje Smith added 10.
San Diego State (23-6, 14-3), which had already claimed a share of the conference crown with its buzzer-beating win over New Mexico on Saturday, failed to hold onto a late nine-point lead. Matt Bradley paced San Diego State with 16 points, and Micah Parrish chipped in 11.
NO. 24 TEXAS A&amp;M 69, MISSISSIPPI 61
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Tyrece Radford scored 13 points as Texas A&amp;M erased an early 12-point deficit to beat Mississippi.
Wade Taylor IV added 12 points and seven assists and Julius Marble scored 10 for the Aggies, who went 13 of 16 from the free-throw line in the second half to stave off the Rebels&rsquo; attempt at a late rally.
Texas A&amp;M (22-8, 14-3 Southeastern Conference) trailed 20-8 after seven minutes but took a 29-26 lead on Taylor&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 4:06 left in the first half. The Aggies never trailed again.
Matthew Murrell made 8 of 11 from 3-point range and scored 26 points to lead Ole Miss (11-19, 3-13).

The Golden Eagles had not won an outright regular-season crown since doing so in Conference USA in 2003.

No. 6 Marquette clinches first outright Big East title

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Keyontae Johnson scored 25 points, Markquis Nowell added 14 points and 10 assists, and No. 14 Kansas State followed a long first-half slump with a big second-half run to beat ninth-ranked Baylor 75-65 on Tuesday night.
Cam Carter added 10 points for the Wildcats (21-7, 9-6 Big 12), who trailed 34-31 at the break before their 18-4 charge gave them control. They coasted from there to a school record-tying seventh win over a ranked team this season.
Keyonte George hit six 3-pointers and scored 23 points for Baylor (20-8, 9-6), which had won seven of its last eight against the Wildcats and three straight in Manhattan. LJ Cryer added four 3s and finished with 16 points.
The game was a rematch for Bears coach Scott Drew and Kansas State counterpart Jerome Tang, who spent 19 years on Drew&rsquo;s bench. And it was every bit as wild as the Wildcats&rsquo; 97-95 overtime win in early January.
NO. 8 TEXAS 72, NO. 23 IOWA STATE 54
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice and Tyrese Hunter each scored 15 points and Texas raced away from Iowa State with a big first half to keep the Longhorns at the top of the Big 12.
Texas (22-6, 11-4) is tied with No. 3 Kansas for first place with three games left in the regular season. The Longhorns haven&rsquo;t won even a share of the league crown since 2008.
Osun Ossunniyi scored 12 points to lead the Cyclones (17-10, 8-7), who beat Texas in their first matchup.
NO. 10 MARQUETTE 73, NO. 19 CREIGHTON 71
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Tyler Kolek&rsquo;s short jump shot gave Marquette the lead with 29 seconds left, and the Golden Eagles took a huge step toward the Big East regular-season title with a win over Creighton.
The Golden Eagles (22-6, 14-3) saw a 10-point lead with eight minutes left evaporate before Kolek came up big during a wild finish before a sellout crowd at CHI Health Center.
Kam Jones led Marquette with 19 points and Kolek and Oso Ighodaro added 18 apiece.
Baylor Scheierman had 18 points to lead the Bluejays (18-10, 12-5). Ryan Nembhard added 16.
NO. 25 TEXAS A&amp;M 68, NO. 11 TENNESSEE 63
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) &mdash; Wade Taylor IV scored 25 points, including four free throws down the stretch, and Texas A&amp;M extended its winning streak to six games.
Julius Marble added 21 points and nine rebounds for the Aggies (21-7, 13-2 Southeastern Conference), who haven&rsquo;t lost since Jan. 21.
It&rsquo;s the fourth loss in five games for the Volunteers (20-8, 9-6), with their only win in this stretch coming in a 68-59 victory over then-No. 1 Alabama on Wednesday.
Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler had 14 points each for Tennessee.
NO. 13 MIAMI 76, VIRGINIA TECH 70
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Norchad Omier had 17 points and 14 rebounds as Miami won its seventh straight.
Nigel Pack added 16 points for the Hurricanes (23-5, 14-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who placed five players in double figures. Isaiah Wong finished with 13 points and Jordan Miller had 11 for Miami, which shot just 42.2% (27 of 64) after leading the ACC at 48.7 percent coming into the game. The Hurricanes helped themselves with 14 offensive rebounds.
Sean Pedulla led Virginia Tech (16-12, 6-11) with 17 points. Hunter Cattoor finished with 15 points for the Hokies, who shot 46.7% (28 of 60).
VILLANOVA 64, NO. 16 XAVIER 63
CINCINNATI (AP) &mdash; Justin Moore scored 25 points to give Villanova its biggest victory under first-year head coach Kyle Neptune.
Cam Whitmore added 11 points for the Wildcats (14-14, 8-9 Big East) who dealt a big blow to the Musketeers&rsquo; Big East title hopes.
Souley Boum led Xavier (20-8, 12-5) with 17 points. Jerome Hunter added 14 and Jack Nunge scored 12.
MICHIGAN STATE 80, NO. 17 INDIANA 65
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Tyson Walker shook off a slow start to score 23 points and lifted Michigan State in its first home game since last week&rsquo;s shootings on campus that killed three students and hospitalized five students.
The Hoosiers (19-9, 10-7) relied heavily on Trayce Jackson-Davis, as usual, and he had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Michigan State&rsquo;s A.J. Hoggard had three turnovers early in the game, then didn&rsquo;t have another turnover and finished with 22 points and five assists. Joey Hauser and Malik Hall each scored 10 points for the Spartans (17-10, 9-7 Big Ten), who have won three of their last four games.
Jalen Hood-Schifino scored 16 and Trey Galloway had 11 points for the Hoosiers.
NO. 22 SAN DIEGO STATE 77, COLORADO STATE 58
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Jaedon LeDee scored 14 points and Matt Bradley scored 10 of his 13 in the first four minutes of the second half for San Diego State, which overwhelmed Colorado State for its fifth straight win.
Bradley, SDSU&rsquo;s leading scorer, appeared to hurt a finger on his left hand and was subbed out during a timeout with 7:47 left and the Aztecs leading 69-48. He returned with 4:55 to go but didn&rsquo;t play the final two minutes.
Micah Parrish added 12 and Lamont Butler and Darrion Trammell had 11 each for SDSU (22-5, 13-2 Mountain West), which solidified its lead in the conference race. The Aztecs have won nine of their last 10 games dating to an 82-76 overtime win at Colorado State on Jan. 18.
John Tonje scored 18 and Isaiah Rivera 15 for the Rams (12-16, 4-11), who have lost seven of nine.&nbsp;

A recap of Tuesday night's action in men's college hoops a battle of top-15 squads in a crucial Big 12 matchup.

No. 14 Kansas State beats No. 9 Baylor with big second half

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Tyrin Lawrence knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner at the buzzer as the Vanderbilt Commodores snapped an 11-game skid against its in-state rival by upsetting sixth-ranked Tennessee 66-65 on Wednesday night.
Students rushed the court and joined the Commodores (12-12, 5-6) in celebrating easily the biggest win in coach Jerry Stackhouse&rsquo;s fourth season.
Tennessee (19-5, 8-2) had a chance to finish off the win after Olivier Nkamhoua knocked down a 15-foot jumper with 50 seconds left for a 65-63 lead. Liam Robbins missed a turnaround jumper with 27 seconds for Vanderbilt, and Zakai Zeigler grabbed the rebound.
Lawrence finished with a team-high 19 points. Robbins added 14 and nine rebounds, and Jordan Wright had 12.
Santiago Vescovi and Tyreke Key each had 14 to lead Tennessee. Nkamhoua and Julian Phillips added 10 apiece.
NO. 2 HOUSTON 80, TULSA 42
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser scored 25 points and had five 3-pointers, Emanuel Sharp added 13 points and Houston earned its fifth straight win.
Sasser scored 19 points on 8 of 13 shooting in the first half as the Cougars (23-2, 11-1 American Athletic Conference) built a 46-18 halftime lead. The senior guard had the first 12 points in a 24-2 run that gave Houston a 31-12 lead with six minutes remaining in the first half.
Tim Dalger scored 13 points, and Sam Griffin added 11 points for Tulsa (5-18, 1-11).
NO. 3 ALABAMA 97, FLORIDA 69
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller scored 24 points and made 4 of 8 3-pointers to lead No. 3 Alabama over Florida.
The Crimson Tide (21-3, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) raced to a 29-point halftime lead against the Gators (13-11, 6-5), who had knocked off then-No. 2 Tennessee a week earlier.
Miller added nine rebounds and three assists for the Tide. Mark Sears made 4 of 6 3s and scored 19 for Alabama, which buried 15 shots from long range. Jahvon Quinerly had 11 points.
Colin Castleton led Florida with 29 points and 10 rebounds. He accounted for 13 of his team&rsquo;s 23 in the first half and made 11 of 14 free throws. Riley Kugel added 15 points and Will Richard scored 11.
WEST VIRGINIA 76, NO. 11 IOWA STATE 71
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) &mdash; Kedrian Johnson tied a career high with 22 points, and West Virginia held off Iowa State.
Emmitt Mathews added a season-high 20 points for the Mountaineers (15-9, 4-7 Big 12), who have won five of seven to get their season moving in the right direction after they dropped five in a row during one stretch.
Jaren Holmes led the Cyclones (16-7, 7-4) with 18 points. Freshman Tamin Lipsey had a season-high 16 points and Caleb Grill added 13.
NO. 14 BAYLOR 82, OKLAHOMA 72
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Keyonte George had 23 points, Adam Flagler scored 20 and big man Johnathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua made a couple of key 3-pointers as Baylor held on to beat Oklahoma.
Langston Love added 19 points for Baylor (18-6, 7-4 Big 12), which has won eight of nine overall since losing its first three league games.
The Sooners (12-12, 2-9) lost their sixth consecutive conference game, the last three since a still-hard-to-explain 93-69 win over then-No. 2 Alabama in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Grant Sherfield had 15 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Sooners, and Milos Uzan added 11 points. Otega Oweh and Joe Bamisile both scored 10.
NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 74, GEORGETOWN 62
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Bryce Hopkins scored 17 points and Providence won for the fourth time in five games.
Devin Carter and Ed Croswell had 12 points apiece as the Friars (18-6, 10-3 Big East). Noah Locke added 11 points, shooting 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
Bradley Ezewiro paced last-place Georgetown (6-19, 1-13) with 19 points and Primo Spears added 18. Brandon Murray scored 16 as the Hoyas dropped their fourth straight.
NO. 23 CREIGHTON 75, SETON HALL 62
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Baylor Scheierman had 19 points and nine rebounds, Ryan Nembhard added 15 on 6-of-7 shooting and dished out four assists, and Creighton fended off a feisty Seton Hall.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 13 points and Arthur Kaluma had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Bluejays (16-8, 10-3 Big East).
Seton Hall (15-10, 8-6) opened up the second half with an Al-Amir Dawes 3-pointer to take the lead before Kalkbrenner quickly tied things up at 42. Tyrese Samuel drilled a 3-pointer in the corner to give Seton Hall a 49-43 lead &ndash; its largest of the game &ndash; with 16:49 left.
Dawes had 19 points, Samuel had 11 points and Kadary Richmond added 10 points for Seton Hall.
NO. 25 SAN DIEGO STATE 63, UTAH STATE 61
LOGAN, Utah (AP) &mdash; Matt Bradley scored 18 points and San Diego State held on to beat Utah State.
Bradley made his first seven shots and went 7 of 9 from the field overall to help keep the Aztecs (19-5, 10-2 Mountain West Conference) atop the conference standings. Jaedon LeDee had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Micah Parrish added 12 points for San Diego State. The Aztecs&rsquo; top three scorers grabbed a combined 22 rebounds.
Steven Ashworth had 18 points, six assists and five rebounds for Utah State (19-6, 8-4). Taylor Funk added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Aggies, who lost at home for just the second time this season.&nbsp;

A recap of Wednesday night's action in men's college hoops includes two top-15 upsets, most notably the Commodores downing the Vols.

Vanderbilt’s late three-pointer stuns No. 6 Tennessee 66-65

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aliyah Boston had 11 points and 10 rebounds for her 68th career double-double to keep No. 1 South Carolina undefeated with a 102-39 victory over Coastal Carolina on Wednesday.
Boston, who played just 13 minutes, moved four games away from matching the program&rsquo;s all-time mark for double-doubles held by Sheila Foster established four decades ago.
Freshman Ashlyn Watkins had a career high 16 points and Zia Cooke 14 as the defending national champs improved to 12-0 for a second straight season and fourth time in Dawn Staley&rsquo;s 15 years as coach.
This figured to be a challenge for the Chanticleers (5-6), who have just two players 6 feet or taller while South Carolina had 10.
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 84, NO. 16 OREGON 67
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Rebeka Mikulasikova scored 27 points, Taylor Mikesell added 25 and Ohio State remained undefeated to win the San Diego Invitational.
Ohio State (13-0) is off to its best start since 2011-2012, when the Buckeyes won their first 15 games
Oregon (10-2) was led by forward Grace VanSlooten, who scored 29 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Freshman teammate Te-Hina Paopao, who grew up in Oceanside, California, just outside San Diego, added 17.
NO. 4 INDIANA 67, BUTLER 50
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Mackenzie Holmes scored 17 of her 21 points in the first half, and Indiana completed an unbeaten nonconference schedule with a win over Butler.
Yarden Garzon added 13 points and Sydney Parrish 10 for the Hoosiers (12-0).
Rachel McLimore scored 13 and Sydney Jaynes 11 for Butler (5-7).
Indiana is nearing the program record for most successive wins to open a season: 15-0 in 1972, the first year for women&rsquo;s basketball at the school. The Hoosiers were 14-0 in 2013-14.
NO. 5 NOTRE DAME 85, WESTERN MICHIGAN 57
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Westbeld scored 10 points in four minutes and Notre Dame started the second half on a 17-0 spree en route to a big win over Western Michigan.
The Fighting Irish (10-1) led 38-30 at the half, but scored on seven of their first eight possessions during the third quarter with a trio of 3-pointers. Westbeld scored a season-high 23 points, including 15 in the third quarter, and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
The Broncos (5-6) missed their first nine shots from the field in the period and saw their three-game winning streak snapped. Lauren Ross led Western Michigan with 15 points.
NO. 8 VIRGINIA TECH 86, HIGH POINT 66
HIGH POINT, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Elizabeth Kitley scored 25 points and dished out a career-best seven assists as Virginia Tech captured a road victory over High Point.
Kitley, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, shot a season-high 78.5% from the floor, making 11-of-14 field goals, and had seven rebounds and four blocks for the Hokies (11-1). Taylor Soule added 24 points and Kayana Traylor chipped in 22 for Virginia Tech.
Claire Wyatt led High Point (2-8) with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point land. Callie Scheier added 11 points and Nakyah Terrell had 10.
NO. 9 UCONN 98, SETON HALL 73
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Aaliyah Edwards had 23 points, leading six players who scored in double figures for UConn in its rout of Seton Hall.
Caroline Ducharme and Nika Muhl each had 16 points and were a combined 8 of 11 from 3-point range. Lou Lopez Senechal had 14 points, Aubrey Griffin added 13 points and seven rebounds, and Dorka Juhasz had 10 points and 10 rebounds for UConn (9-2, 2-0 Big East).
Sidney Cooks had 18 points and Lauren Park-Lane finished with 17 for Seton Hall (9-4, 2-1), which had its seven-game winning streak snapped.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma missed his second straight game due to illness. Associate coach Chris Dailey ran the team and improved to 15-0 when filling in for Auriemma.
NO. 13 IOWA 92, DARTMOUTH 54
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark&rsquo;s 20 points tied her for the quickest men&rsquo;s or women&rsquo;s Division I player to reach 2,000 career points since at least 1999-2000, and Iowa beat Dartmouth for its fifth straight victory.
Clark hit the career scoring mark in her 75th game, tying Elena Delle Donne for the quickest DI player to hit the mark, according to ESPN Stats &amp; Info. And Clark did it in style with her 242nd career 3-pointer.
Clark also had 10 rebounds and six assists. Teammate Monika Czinano, who entered with 1,969 career points in 98 games, also scored 20 points for Iowa (10-3).
Iowa scored 34 points in the first quarter and held Dartmouth to just five points in the second quarter.
Allie Harland led Dartmouth (2-11) with 11 points.
NO. 15 MARYLAND 88, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 51
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Shyanne Sellers scored 18 points, Diamond Miller had 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and four blocks and Maryland beat Purdue Fort Wayne in the final nonconference matchup for the Terps.
Abby Meyers added 14 points and Brinae Alexander had 13 off the bench for Maryland (10-3).
Shyanne Sellers, Miller, Meyers and Alexander were all in double figures by the end of the third quarter when Maryland led 71-35. Amellia Bromenschenkel led Purdue Fort Wayne (4-8) with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
SOUTH FLORIDA 66, NO. 17 ARKANSAS 65, OT
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Elena Tsineke scored all four of South Florida&rsquo;s points in overtime and finished with 23 points lifting the Bulls over Arkansas in the San Diego Invitational.
Maria Alvarez forced overtime against Arkansas by making three free throws with 17 seconds left to tie it at 62-all. Arkansas was trapped in the corner at the other end and wasn&rsquo;t able to get a shot off before the buzzer.
Fankam Mendjiadeu finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for South Florida (11-4).
Erynn Barnum scored 21 points and Daniels added 20 for Arkansas (13-2).
NO. 18 ARIZONA 78, UT ARLINGTON 59
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) &mdash; Esmery Martinez scored 13 points and was part of dominating Arizona rebounding performance with nine boards in a win over UT Arlington.
Lauren Fields, Shaina Pellington, and Cate Reese scored 10 points apiece for Arizona (10-1), which won its third straight game. Maya Nnaji grabbed nine rebounds to go with six points before fouling out at the start of the fourth quarter.
Arizona outrebounded the Mavericks 47-26, including 17-7 on the offensive glass resulting in a 22-4 bulge in second-chance points.
Starr Jacobs scored 15 points, Kayla White 13 and Taleya Jones 12 for the Mavericks (6-6), who lost their first home game this season after four wins.
NEBRASKA 85, NO. 20 KANSAS 79, 3OT
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Jaz Shelley scored 24 points, hitting two of Nebraska&rsquo;s three 3-pointers in the third overtime, and the Cornhuskers handed Kansas its first loss of the season.
Alexis Markowski had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cornhuskers (10-3), who are now 2-2 against ranked teams with their next two games against ranked Big Ten rivals. Sam Haiby had 12 points in just her third game after an offseason injury and Isabelle Bourne scored 10.
Zakiyah Franklin finished with a career-high 27 points in 54 minutes for Kansas (10-1). Taiyanna Jackson had 18 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, Holly Kersgieter had 12 and 11. Ioanna Chatzileonti had 10 points and Chandler Prater had 10 rebounds as Kansas had a 68-46 advantage on the boards, including 25 offensive rebounds.
NO. 22 GONAZAGA 82, MONTANA 67
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Brynna Maxwell scored 23 points and Kaylynne Truong added 18 and the pair combined to hit nine of Gonzaga&rsquo;s 12 3-pointers to lead the Bulldogs over Montana.
Maxwell made 8 of 12 from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point range and Truong finished with five rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
Yvonne Ejim had 15 points and nine rebounds, Eliza Hollingsworth scored 13 points and McKayla Williams finished with 11 points, five assists and two steals for Gonzaga (12-2).
Carmen Gfeller had 22 points and eight rebounds for Montana (4-7) and Sammy Fatkin added 21 points and five steals. Libby Stump scored 14.
NO. 23 OKLAHOMA 95, FLORIDA 79
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Madi Williams had had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Taylor Robertson added 18 points on six 3-pointers, and Oklahoma defeated Florida at the Jumpman Invitational.
Robertson made 6-of-7 3-pointers and matched her own Big 12 record of 53 consecutive games with a 3-pointer. It marked the 14th time during the current streak that she has made at least five 3-pointers.
Skylar Vann had 15 points and Nevaeh Tot scored 12 for the Sooners (10-1), who have won seven in a row.
Florida&rsquo;s KK Deans made a career-high seven 3-pointers, scored 28 points and had nine assists. Ra Shaya Kyle had 16 points and 13 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double, the fifth in her career. Nina Rickards added 15 points for the Gators (11-2).
NO. 24 BAYLOR 73, LONG BEACH STATE 52
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Bickle scored 17 points, Sarah Andrews missed a triple-double by one point and Baylor pulled away for a win over Long Beach State.
Andrews had career highs of 14 assists and 12 rebounds to go with nine points on 2-of-11 shooting. Je&rsquo;Mee Asberry and Bella Fontleroy both had 11 points for the Bears (9-3).
Tori Harris scored 14 points for the Beach (5-5) and Ma&rsquo;Qhi Berry and Kianna Hamilton-Fisher had 10 each.
NO. 25 ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 80, WAGNER 51
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jayla Everett scored a season-high 24 points to lead St. John&rsquo;s over Wagner and its best start in program history.
St. John&rsquo;s (12-0), ranked for the first time in almost seven years, surpassed the 11-0 start of the 2004-05 team for the best in the history of the program&rsquo;s 48 years.
Kadaja Bailey added 14 points for the Red Storm, who had 11 of 12 players reach the scoring column.
Lina Loceniece scored 13 points for Wagner (5-6) and Zhaneia Thybulle had 10.

A recap of Wednesday night's women's college hoops slate includes Aliyah Boston notching another double-double for South Carolina.

Boston four double-doubles from tying Gamecocks’ all-time mark

The Big Ten keeps getting tougher in women&rsquo;s basketball.
The conference sent four teams to the NCAA Sweet 16 a second straight year in 2022, and it leads the nation with six programs in the Associated Press preseason Top 25.
Caitlin Clark, who could go down as one of the greatest college players of all time, leads a fourth-ranked Iowa team that returns all five starters for a third straight year and is the pick to win the league title.
&ldquo;I think the rest of us will be chasing after that,&rdquo; Indiana coach Teri Moren said. &ldquo;The great thing about the parity in our league, proven night in, night out, is there&rsquo;s no game that&rsquo;s safe, right? If you&rsquo;re talking at the top or the bottom, the bottom is making strides and they&rsquo;re going to compete every single night.&rdquo;
No. 11 Indiana filled its backcourt needs through the transfer portal and is expected to contend after finishing fifth last season. No. 14 Ohio State brings back its top three scorers from the team that shared the title with Iowa.
No. 17 Maryland lost key players but brought in five transfers who should help stave off any drop-off for a team that was a half-game out of first place. No. 22 Nebraska is ranked in the preseason for the first time since 2014 with a veteran roster led by Alexis Markowski in the post.
Now consider No. 25 Michigan, the only Big Ten team to make the Elite Eight. Though the Wolverines lost star Naz Hillmon, they return their next four top scorers and got a 2021 McDonald&rsquo;s All-American out of the portal. They&rsquo;re picked fifth, which is testament to the strength of the Big Ten.
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said she wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if the conference ended its national championship drought this season. Purdue won the Big Ten&rsquo;s most recent national title, in 1999. Maryland was in the Atlantic Coast Conference when it won it in 2006.
&ldquo;I think our league is going to be more challenging than ever,&rdquo; Barnes Arico said. &ldquo;Obviously Caitlin Clark is a phenomenal basketball player, but I think from top to bottom there are tremendous, tremendous players in our league, as well as coaches.&rdquo;
NEW COACHES
Rutgers&rsquo; Coquese Washington and Illinois&rsquo; Shauna Green are the only first-year head coaches.
Washington was associate head coach at Notre Dame the past two seasons. She replaces C. Vivian Stringer, the Basketball Hall of Fame member who retired in April after 27 seasons at Rutgers and 50 as a head coach.
Green coached Dayton to four NCAA Tournament appearances in six years and replaces Women&rsquo;s Basketball Hall of Fame member Nancy Fahey, who retired after five seasons with the Illini.
COMING AND GOING
Brinae Alexander and Lavender Briggs are among five Division I transfers at Maryland. Alexander was Vanderbilt&rsquo;s top scorer last season, averaging 15.2 points per game, and Briggs was scoring better than 12 points per game for Florida when a shin injury ended her season in January. She averaged 19.5 points for the Gators in 2020-21.
Indiana strengthened its backcourt by bringing in Sara Scalia from Minnesota and Sydney Parrish from Oregon. Scalia was a 41% 3-point shooter and averaged 17.8 points last season.
Michigan brought in 2021 McDonald&rsquo;s All-American Greta Kampschroeder from Oregon State, where she had an up-and-down freshman season.
Kamaria McDaniel landed at Michigan State, her third school after two years at Penn State and the past two at Baylor. She was the Big Ten&rsquo;s second-leading scorer (19.8 ppg) in 2019-20.
Taniyah Thompson heads a list of three Division I transfers at Penn State. Thompson was the American Athletic Conference&rsquo;s second-leading scorer (18.5 ppg) for East Carolina.
FRESHMEN TO WATCH
Ohio State has the conference&rsquo;s highest-rated freshman in forward Cotie McMahon, who enrolled last spring. She averaged 14.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists in six games while helping Team USA win the FIBA U18 Americas Championship.
Two of Minnesota&rsquo;s in-state recruits were ranked in the top 50 nationally. Amanda Battle was the state&rsquo;s 2022 Miss Basketball and fellow guard Mara Braun averaged better than 18 points per game over her high school career.
Nebraska&rsquo;s Maggie Mendleson was the nation&rsquo;s No. 2 volleyball recruit, and the middle blocker has appeared in 10 matches for one of the nation&rsquo;s premier programs. A forward-center in basketball, she was No. 32 in the HoopGurlz-ESPNW basketball rankings.
EARLY BIG GAMES
Ohio State, Indiana, Maryland and Nebraska will test themselves early.
Ohio State hosts No. 5 Tennessee on Nov. 8, Maryland hosts top-ranked defending national champion South Carolina on Nov. 11, Indiana visits Tennessee on Nov. 14, Nebraska heads to Omaha to play No. 21 Creighton on Nov. 15 and Maryland goes to No. 18 Baylor on Nov. 20.
Iowa will play either Duke or No. 6 Connecticut over Thanksgiving weekend in Portland, Oregon, and host No. 10 North Carolina State on Dec. 1 and No. 8 Iowa State on Dec. 7.&nbsp;

The Big Ten keeps getting tougher in women’s basketball.

Caitlin Clark-led Iowa women are pick to win loaded Big Ten

Kevon Looney had never missed a game before he came to Golden State. Not one.
He figures that's a couple of thousand consecutive games, all the way back to youth basketball as a boy in Milwaukee.
Looney's time with the Warriors has been far different, so it's no surprise how badly he wanted to play all 82 games this season to prove to himself and everyone else that he is healthy again. He promised coach Steve Kerr he would be honest if his body ever needed a break.
<a href="https://twitter.com/warriors/status/1513379503933833216">&ldquo;Iron Man Loon," as they call him, beamed when he received the game ball from</a> the Warriors' 128-107 victory at New Orleans on April 10 that wrapped up the regular season and the big man's quest to play the full 82. Only four other players in the NBA did so this season.
"It was just good for my psyche, good for my confidence,&rdquo; said Looney, who gifted the ball to mother Victoria. &ldquo;... I wanted to put that in my head that I&rsquo;m putting all the injury stuff in the past, that I made it to this point, that I can play every game, I feel good and I don&rsquo;t have to be playing in fear.&rdquo;
Looney's emergence as a model of consistency was something these Warriors desperately needed with stars Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson all missing significant time &mdash; and veteran Andre Iguodala sitting out for stretches with various injuries.
That durability could become even more critical in the Warriors' physical series with the Grizzlies. Golden State has already lost Gary Payton II, who <a href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-draymond-green-b49c8d89dc667ca4734df9bcb42c9621">suffered a broken left elbow early in Game 2 on Tuesday after a hard foul by Dillon Brooks</a>. Game 3 is Saturday in San Francisco, with the series even at one game apiece.
Looney's interior defense and rebounding have been keys to Golden State's latest playoff run.
For five games in the first round, he muscled in the paint with reigning MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. Looney realizes his role changes this round with smaller lineups used against the Grizzlies and he is coming off the bench, vowing to &ldquo;stay ready.&rdquo;
That's how he always did it during that remarkable run of playing every game before reaching the NBA.
There were approximately 1,015 AAU games over 10 years starting in second grade. Another 20 for Samuel Morse Middle School and 100 more at Alexander Hamilton High. Then, Looney played all 36 games during his lone season at UCLA in 2014-15, when he had an NCAA freshman-best 15 double-doubles and helped the Bruins reach the Sweet Sixteen.
Early on as a pro, Looney endured his share of hard luck. He underwent surgeries on both of his hips as a rookie in 2015-16 and played just five games.
&ldquo;Missing that first season for him was tough,&rdquo; said Looney&rsquo;s longtime youth coach, Shelby Parrish, who can't even recall a single missed practice &mdash; and he served on the high school staff, too.
Looney came back for his second professional season to appear in 53 NBA games for Golden State.
A hurt hamstring kept later him out of training camp and the preseason in 2019-20, then he returned only to be sidelined again with a nerve issue. In May 2020, Looney had surgery on an injured core muscle.
Through it all, Looney longed to shed this label he felt he owned as being the injured guy. He has done that.
&ldquo;He came into the league at 18, 19, back-to-back hip surgeries to start his career,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s worked like crazy to get himself in this position and his durability this year was a key to our regular season for sure.&rdquo;
Kerr, who still takes great pride in playing all 82 games over four straight years in his career, came close to resting Looney at Toronto on Dec. 18, but the 6-foot-9 center pushed to play. Each time thereafter, Looney reassured Kerr and Rick Celebrini, vice president of player health and performance: &ldquo;I feel great."
&ldquo;I told them I wouldn't push it and be stupid about it,&rdquo; Looney said. &ldquo;They gave me that trust and I appreciate them for that.&rdquo;
Curry, who has come close on a handful of occasions to playing all 82, witnessed Looney's determination day after day.
&ldquo;Only he can probably tell you some of those games he woke up in the morning and was probably feeling it more than others and had to really drag himself to the level of availability that he wanted," Curry said, "but the fact that he accomplished that goal is so impressive."

The durability and consistency of "Iron Man Loon" has been, and will be, critical for the Warriors in a physical series with the Grizzlies.

Kevon Looney becomes model of durability for Warriors

Last night, on his 42nd birthday, Jamal Crawford announced his retirement from the NBA. Crawford is one of eight players in NBA history to play for 20 seasons; only Vince Carter (22), Robert Parish (21) and Kevin Willis (21) had a longer career.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
&ldquo; Goodbye to the game, all the spoils the adrenaline rush.&rdquo; Thank you basketball, I owe you everything &hellip;..✌🏾 <a href="https://t.co/PpKYjoqz9p">pic.twitter.com/PpKYjoqz9p</a>
&mdash; 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) <a href="https://twitter.com/JCrossover/status/1505795444693082112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
Crawford will go down as arguably the greatest sixth man of all-time, and he's one of just two players to win the Sixth Man of the Year award three times. He was known for creating instant offense off of the bench, and he was one of the league&rsquo;s best ball-handlers &mdash; consistently coming up with new moves and wowing fans with his handles. He scored the second-most points off the bench in NBA history (trailing only Lou Williams), per <a href="https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1505915685238497285" target="_blank" rel="noopener">StatMuse</a>.
Crawford was also known as one of the best teammates around the league, winning the NBA&rsquo;s Teammate of the Year award in 2018. He has strong relationships with many people around the basketball world &mdash;&nbsp; from players to coaches to executives to media. Throughout his career, he garnered a ton of respect from fellow players because of his immense love of the game and electrifying style of play, which inspired plenty of younger hoopers (especially in his hometown of Seattle).&nbsp;
Over the years, Crawford has done everything in his power to help up-and-coming Seattle-area players, even letting some live with him throughout his NBA career (including Isaiah Thomas, Nate Robinson and Abdul Gaddy among others).
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s all about. When you&rsquo;re a kid, you think it&rsquo;s all about you making it. Then, as you get older, the real joy, the real fulfillment, comes from seeing someone else make it," Crawford <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2018/09/03/nba-seattle-supersonics-sonics-jamal-crawford-proam-crawsover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told me</a> in 2018. &ldquo;How can I tell someone like Isaiah Thomas or Brandon Roy or Nate Robinson or Tony Wroten or any of these guys to go help the next generation if I&rsquo;m not doing it? It all goes full circle. That&rsquo;s the payback. I don&rsquo;t want anything from those guys, I just want them to do it for the next generation... Before looking at their talent, I like to see how good of a kid they are and what kind of character they have. That&rsquo;s No. 1 for me. Once I see that, I&rsquo;m willing to help to the moon and back. I want to work with them and show them that this [lifestyle] is attainable.&rdquo;
When Crawford thinks about his career, he's said that passing down that pay-it-forward mentality to the next generation of Seattle players is one of his proudest achievements. Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine raves about Crawford, and he now tries to help younger players just as Crawford helped him.
&ldquo;Jamal is just, like, the best human being. He&rsquo;s a great person,&rdquo; LaVine&nbsp;<a href="https://hoopshype.com/2018/09/03/nba-seattle-supersonics-sonics-jamal-crawford-proam-crawsover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told me</a> in 2018. &ldquo;I try to be the same way; it&rsquo;s just how you&rsquo;re supposed to be, how you&rsquo;re supposed to treat other people. I thank my parents [for instilling that]. I remember being in high school &ndash; or even right before I entered high school &ndash; getting little invites to their pro runs. To be a high-schooler going up against Brandon Roy, Jamal, Nate Robinson, Tone [Wroten]? You keep getting better and better. You can see the progression, and they can see that you&rsquo;re part of that group of players who will carry on Seattle basketball. You start from a young age and then once you get there [to the pros], you just pass it down the same way.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Crawford is beloved by quite a few fan bases, having suited up for the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets.
After a productive 2018-19 season with the Suns (where Crawford was a strong leader and scored 51 points in his final game), he had a hard time getting signed by NBA teams. The Nets ultimately signed him during the NBA Bubble in Orlando, but he appeared in just one game before injuring his left hamstring. That would end up being Crawford&rsquo;s final NBA game, as he remained unsigned throughout the 2021-22 season &mdash; even when COVID-19 ravaged rosters and created opportunities for other veterans.
What&rsquo;s next for the 42-year-old? He has already been co-hosting the HooperVision broadcasts on NBA League Pass alongside Quentin Richardson, and he has received other offers in the media space (such as podcasting opportunities). Crawford has long been considered an excellent candidate for a broadcasting gig, and now he can seriously pursue that.&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rG_DUD-cKFE" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Recently, Crawford has been coaching his son's basketball team, and he revealed on a Twitter Spaces conversation several months ago that he has received coaching and front-office offers from NBA teams. He has said that he wants to become an NBA executive someday because he feels that the NBA needs more former players in those positions, but it remains to be seen when he&rsquo;ll pursue that.
&ldquo;I [have] wanted to get into management just from the standpoint, I think we need more players in those roles and positions, someone that can give some insight into what it is like in the locker room,&rdquo; Crawford said, according to <a href="https://landonbuford.com/2021/10/03/jamal-crawford-reveals-he-has-gotten-nba-coaching-front-office-offers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Landon Buford</a>. &ldquo;Everything is not about numbers; sometimes, it is: what is driving this person? For example, how much does this person love the game? And is there something off the court affecting his on-the-court play? Those are the little nuances that I don&rsquo;t think they are looking at.
&ldquo;I would love to do that still, but I am enjoying coaching my son&rsquo;s team right now. Like, I am having a ball doing that. And I&rsquo;ll tell you guys that I have gotten offers for front-office and coaching in the NBA. I have put it on pause because I enjoy doing this, and I&rsquo;m the parent that is good with keeping the scorebook. The coach asked me to help out and that turned into a bug. I look forward to it and that&rsquo;s the immediate step basketball-wise, and then the other [stuff] will be there like TV and management hopefully at some point down the road.&rdquo;
After an amazing 20-year career, the basketball world is excited to see what the future holds for Crawford.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com. <a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Last night, on his 42nd birthday, Jamal Crawford announced his retirement after a 20-year NBA career. What's next for Crawford?

Jamal Crawford retires after 20-year NBA career: What's next for him?

Over the weekend, a video of 16-year NBA veteran Erick Dampier&rsquo;s son &mdash; whose namesake is Erick Dampier Jr. &mdash; spread throughout social media, as he dunked on his fellow sixth graders in a game.&nbsp;
The viral clip has been viewed more than 2 million times in just a few days.
Dampier Jr. is seen dribbling the ball confidently up the court, first left-handed before crossing over to his right hand, then easily jumping off of one leg for the dunk as the buzzer went off.
(Quick shout-out to the kid who had the courage to make an attempt for the LeBron James chase-down block. You definitely get an A for effort.)&nbsp;
Afterward, as the scoreboard flickered the game's 30-0 score, his teammates jumped up to chest bump him, and one of them happily gave Erick Jr. a hug and a few pats on the back.
Everyone was buzzing about the moment, and Erick Jr., all weekend. BasketballNews&rsquo; Rex Chapman even tweeted about it. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
SIXTH. GRADE.🤯 <a href="https://t.co/zHA8dEWcFo">https://t.co/zHA8dEWcFo</a>
&mdash; Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) <a href="https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1490357038064488454?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

I caught up with Erick Dampier to ask him about his son's viral video, as well as how he is training and preparing Erick Jr. both on and off the court.
Etan Thomas: So I saw the viral video of your son dunking on cats and he&rsquo;s only in the sixth grade. But first, I wanted to ask you about the working out process you have with him. I was watching some of his videos on YouTube and saw him handling the ball, bringing the ball up the court; then, I saw the post moves like it&rsquo;s the Clifford Ray and Robert Parish big-man camps we used to go to in the summer time. But talk to me how you have been developing your son.
Erick Dampier: (Laughing) "Yes, shout-out to Clifford Ray and Robert Parish, loved those big-man camps we used to go to. But It&rsquo;s been great watching [Erick Jr.], staying on him, putting him through drills. I want him to be a complete player; you know, the game is different from when we played. Big men now have to be able to do it all. I put him through a lot of drills and try to keep him in the gym. So we work on dribbling, footwork, lateral movement, skills training, etc. before we advance to shooting and post work. I want him to really work on his all around game, not just back-to-the-basket big man drills, but everything. But the main thing is keeping him in the gym. He plays sometimes with an older team, but he enjoys playing with his friends and the kids he knows as well. But the main thing is keeping him in the gym."
Etan: So you mentioned him playing with his both age group and with an older team, could you go into a little more detail with that? I saw a lot of people on social media asking that question.
Dampier: "Yeah, I saw that too. But, here&rsquo;s the thing: you want him to enjoy the game and play with his friends at the same time. All of those kids in the clip of the game everyone saw, those are the kids he goes to school with. Those are his friends. So I want him to have his fun with those kids, and also play with an older group in order for him to continuously be challenged and improve."
Etan: That makes sense, so how much older of an age group does he play with? He&rsquo;s in sixth grade, so does he play with seventh-grade teams or eighth-grade teams? Or even high school?&nbsp;
Dampier: "He plays with a seventh-grade travel team and he plays against eighth graders in the gym, but not on an eighth-grade travel circuit. But yeah, I see people saying that, but he&rsquo;s still a kid. You don&rsquo;t want to kill his confidence. You want him to get better but you still want his confidence to continue so it&rsquo;s a balance."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Etan: So he&rsquo;s 6-foot-5 in the sixth grade, Damp?&nbsp;
Dampier: "Yeah may be inching toward 6-6, honestly."
Etan: "Wow! That&rsquo;s great, man." 
Dampier: "Yeah and I have another son who is right behind him in [the Class of 2034], who has been watching and learning from his big brother his whole life and mimicking the drills I do with Jr., so watch out for him too."
Etan: Oh okay, like Venus and Serena Williams. He&rsquo;s just waiting for his turn, huh? That&rsquo;s great. So your son has your namesake and he&rsquo;s the No. 1 sixth grader in the country... Now this is a little different &mdash; because I don&rsquo;t know if they were ranking sixth graders when we were coming up &mdash; but as the No. 1 sixth grader, how do you balance that label given to someone that young?
Dampier: "Well, as far as on the court, I tell him over and over again every day that just because they rank you No. 1, don&rsquo;t get too comfortable and think you&rsquo;ve arrived. You gotta work extra hard now because everyone will be gunning for you. You gotta prove you deserve that ranking every time you step on the court, because believe me, the other kids who are good are going to try to go at you and give you their best anytime they play against you. And there are other kids just as big as you, just as tall as you who can dribble, dunk and score like you just waiting for their chance to shine. So you gotta continue to put the work in."
Etan: How do you prepare him for the scrutiny that&rsquo;s going to come at some point? It&rsquo;s interesting because me and my son Malcolm have been watching Emoni Bates, and I&rsquo;ve pointed out the shift that took place. He was built up to be the second coming of KD, on the cover of magazines, nonstop praise, etc. But as you see, this season at Memphis and really starting last summer at Peach Jam, there has been the complete opposite and nonstop criticism. How do you prepare him for that part?&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/img_7728_lg.JPG" alt="" width="550" height="715" />
Dampier: "We&rsquo;ve discussed the scrutiny that is going to come, and even started now. Sometimes he looks on his Instagram page (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/edampjr2028/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@Edampjr2028</a>)and sees some of the negative comments, and he&rsquo;s asked why would people say this and he would show me the different comments. I had to tell him, 'Look EJ, there will always be people who scrutinize you and criticize you. In fact, you&rsquo;re going to have that for the rest of your playing career. You just have to keep working hard and ignore what people say. They criticize everyone, that&rsquo;s what they do.' But yeah, [I'm] glad you asked that because that is definitely something we have to prepare our children for."
Etan: And it&rsquo;s so different now. Again, we didn&rsquo;t have social media back in the day. Ain&rsquo;t nobody see us play in middle school, but now things are different, so the preparation has to be different &mdash; even for someone as young as your son. How old is he? 
Dampier: "He&rsquo;s only 12. But here&rsquo;s the thing: we&rsquo;ve been there, so we know what to tell them to look out for. If I had all this preparation and knowledge and tools both on and off the floor growing up..."
Etan: Man! I say that all the time with my son. Like, do you know how blessed you are? But that&rsquo;s why we have to keep reminding them.
Dampier: "Even teaching him what it means to have real work ethic. Yeah you can play with your friends, play PS4, be talking y&rsquo;all talk on the headphones &mdash; and we didn&rsquo;t have that capability either (laughing) &mdash; but you have to structure time when you gotta take care of your working out and training. And spending time in the gym as well, because that&rsquo;s the only way you get better. But being able to teach him and guide him in all facets of this process, you&rsquo;re right. It&rsquo;s a blessing."
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/resized_fullsizer1-1_lg.JPG" alt="" width="550" height="734" />
Etan: It&rsquo;s gotta be a great feeling seeing your little man out there doing his thing. It&rsquo;s crazy because I&rsquo;m looking at the YouTube videos of him and I&rsquo;m like, man, he looks just like you. (Laughing.) There is this expression you have that&rsquo;s just the Erick Dampier expression after you score. You look up... it&rsquo;s hard to explain, but it&rsquo;s your look, and it&rsquo;s crazy seeing him have that same exact expression. 
Dampier: (Laughing) "Yeah, people tell me that all the time. But yeah, it&rsquo;s great to see. And I&rsquo;m sure sometimes he thinks Dad is hard on him and Dad is always pushing him. But then, he sees how it&rsquo;s paying off and he&rsquo;ll come to me and say, 'Hey dad, could we get some extra practice in, there&rsquo;s a few things I wanna work on.' And you know how it is &mdash; no matter what you&rsquo;re doing, you&rsquo;ll drop it all and go work with him. (Laughing) You can be in the middle of an important call, and you reschedule in a heartbeat. I gotta admit, it makes old Dad proud."
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/violalogo1_lg.png" alt="" width="674" height="337" />
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Etan Thomas chats with Erick Dampier about Erick Jr.'s viral dunk, the attention his son is getting as a sixth grader and his preparation.

Erick Dampier discusses his 12-year-old son’s viral dunking video

MIAMI (AP) — Udonis Haslem has been telling anyone who will listen the same thing for years, that if given a chance he can still impact winning.
The Miami Heat won’t disagree.
In a 90-second span Wednesday night, Haslem committed a foul, got a rebound, scored on a layup, blocked a shot, picked up another foul and grabbed another rebound. That’s a hectic minute and a half for anyone in the NBA — and when considering that Haslem is 41, it looks even better.
The Heat outscored New Orleans by 12 points in Haslem’s 7-1/2 minutes of work, and his two stints off the bench were a major spark in Miami’s 113-98 win.
“We have a lot of guys that are ignitable and then UD gives you that emotional ignitability,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And that’s tangible, but you can’t put an analytic to it. It gave us a great emotional spark. ... I’ve seen that so many times, that emotional lift, but that’s ignitability as well.”
Haslem’s final line: two points, three rebounds, one assist, one block. He became the sixth-oldest player in NBA history to have at least one of all those in the same game, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Vince Carter, Robert Parish, Dikembe Mutumbo and Kevin Willis.
He played the last minute of the first half, then the final 6:21 of the third quarter and immediately made an impact by taking an offensive foul in what was then a one-point game. The Heat wouldn't trail again.
“I preach ‘stay ready so you don’t have to get ready’ to these guys, and obviously, when I get an opportunity to go out there and play I can’t just talk about it — I’ve got to be about it,” Haslem said. “For me, I try to preach to my guys that I am who I really say I am and I want those guys to be who they say they are every night we step on the floor.”
Even players from other sports in Miami rave about what Haslem brings. Miami Marlins infielder Miguel Rojas was at the game Wednesday night, and left with a couple souvenirs — Haslem’s sneakers.
“Ever since I got here, UD's always been able to run up and down and impact the game, whether it's in practice or whatever it is," Heat guard Tyler Herro said. “He makes people better."
Haslem is in his 19th season, his stint Wednesday night was his longest in a game since August 2020, and he’s already made four appearances this season after making just one last year. Spoelstra said the Heat evaluated everything over the summer and one of the things he thought about was finding situations where he could use Haslem more.
“I don’t trust anybody more than UD,” Spoelstra said.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Udonis Haslem’s final line in New Orleans: 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block.

Udonis Haslem sixth-oldest in NBA history with unique stat line

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the NBA as a league. As such, the NBA has, over the course of the week, revealed a list of its 75 &mdash; really 76 due to a tie in voting (???) &mdash; greatest players of all time.
These legends represent every era of the league. You'll see names your parents might not have been alive for. Paul Arizin, for example, averaged 23-9-2 and made the All-Star team in each of his 10 seasons spanning from 1951 to 1962. He missed two full seasons &mdash; 1952-53 and 1953-54 &mdash; due to his service in the US Military.
The next decade or so gave us more familiar legends: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, to name just a few.&nbsp;
On and on, more names pop up. Walt "Clyde" Frazier and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the artist formerly known as Lew Alcindor in the 1970s &mdash; though Kareem spanned a couple of decades. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the 1980s. Michael Jordan in the 1990s. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal and others represent the 2000s.&nbsp;
There are current players, too. LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry represent the older new school, if you will. Newcomers, headlined by Giannis Antetokounmpo, have earned their legendary stripes.
76 names, all representing different parts of the league's rich history. 76 names with varying levels of impact, ranging from consistent All-Stars to the pantheon guys like MJ, Kareem, LeBron and others.&nbsp;
Somehow, 76 names made a list of 75, and Dwight freakin' Howard still wasn't one of them.
I do not want to outright disrespect anyone that made the list. I certainly don't want to undersell <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/there-were-major-snubs-from-nba-75-just-like-we-knew-there-would-be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how difficult it must've been for a voting panel</a> to wittle down thousands of NBA players &mdash; nearly 200 Hall-of-Famers &mdash; to a list of 75. Well, 76. Whatever.
But how in the name of God do you come up with 76 names &mdash; 11 of which are still in the league &mdash; and not have Howard?
It can't be a numbers case. Howard has career averages of 16.2 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks over his 18-year career. He holds these averages despite not being a full-time starter in four years. If you look at his starter stretch (14 seasons), those numbers rise to 17.4 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
You don't even have to make an argument for Howard to replace someone from the 1950s. His numbers are better than Robert Parish's (16 &amp; 10 from 1977-1994), and that's a lot more modern.
To be clear, Parish should absolutely be on the list as well; his blend of productivity and longevity &mdash; and his role scalability depending on what the Boston Celtics needed from him, across multiple title teams &mdash; is why he's a worthy Hall-of-Famer. I'm just saying the production is there for both.
It certainly can't be an accolades case. Howard's resume reads:
<ul>
<li>8x All-Star</li>
<li>8x All-NBA (5x 1st, 1x 2nd, 2x 3rd)</li>
<li>5x All-Defense (4x 1st, 1x 2nd)</li>
<li>3x Defensive Player of the Year</li>
<li>1x Olympic Gold Medal (2008)</li>
<li>1x NBA Champion (2020)</li>
</ul>
You're telling me that doesn't get him in the top 75? Heck, for comparison, here's the resume of Anthony Davis &mdash; one of the 11 current players to make the list:
<ul>
<li>8x All-Star</li>
<li>4x All-NBA (4x 1st)</li>
<li>4x All-Defense (2x 1st, 2x 2nd)</li>
<li>1x Olympic Gold Medal (2012)</li>
<li>1x NBA Champion (2020)</li>
</ul>
I love The Brow. He's definitely one of the 75 most talented players to lace them up. If we're projecting forward, he's going to easily have one of the heftiest resumes among big men in NBA history. That said, he has not accomplished more than Howard has at this stage, and it's wild to me that AD got the nod over him.
The individual numbers are one thing. The individual accomplishments are another thing. Are we also forgetting that Howard&nbsp;led a team to the NBA Finals&nbsp;during his peak? Compare that to Brow, who won a singular playoff round as the best player on a team (New Orleans Pelicans before being traded to the Lakers.)
That's not to say he was a failure in New Orleans or anything of the sort. He was freaking phenomenal in the postseason once he finally made it there. But, like... Howard averaged 20 points and 15 rebounds to go with nearly three blocks per contest during a Finals run &mdash; including a 26/13 stretch against the LeBron-led Cavaliers before that to advance to the 2008-09 Finals.
Aside from Howard, there are 33 players to make at least eight All-NBA teams. Every single one of them made the list. This is when I point out that there are a few players that may be near and dear to your heart &mdash; hi Patrick Ewing (7), Steve Nash (7), Paul Pierce (4) and Reggie Miller (3) &mdash; that made the list with fewer.&nbsp;
Among those four examples &mdash; because there are more, buddy &mdash; Ewing is the only one that affected both ends of the floor like peak Howard did.&nbsp;
Howard was, for nearly a decade, the league's most dangerous lob threat and interior defender at the same time. For all the cracks about his limited post game, he had a four-year stretch (2008-2011) where he ranked in the 63rd, 64th, 64th and 71st percentile as a post scorer via Synergy.
I just... come on, y'all. If Howard is annoying or childish to you, who am I to disagree with that? If his exit from Orlando (or Washington, or Atlanta, or Charlotte) rubbed you the wrong way, I absolutely get that.
He can be annoying while also being one of the 60 or so greatest players to lace them up. The numbers back that up. The accolades back that up. His peak years &mdash; 19.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals, 2.4 blocks from 2008-2014 &mdash; put him up there.
We have to stop disrespecting Dwight, the basketball player, at some point.&nbsp;

Nekias Duncan discusses Dwight Howard's absence from the NBA's top-75 list.

Put some respect on Dwight Howard's name

The NBA released the remaining 25 players of the league's 75th anniversary team Thursday night on TNT.
Here is the official release from the NBA, which lists all 75 players that made the team and the people that voted on the NBA's top 75 players of all-time team:
"A total of 158 NBA championships and 730 NBA All-Star selections. &nbsp;A combined 110 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Awards and Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Awards. &nbsp;More than 1.5 million points scored.
Those are just some of the collective accomplishments of the players who comprise the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, which was announced across TNT and ESPN from Oct. 19-21 as the league tipped off its landmark 75th Anniversary Season.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team was selected by a blue-ribbon panel of current and former NBA players, coaches, general managers and team and league executives, WNBA legends and sportswriters and broadcasters. &nbsp;Voters were asked to select the 75 Greatest Players in NBA History without regard to position. &nbsp;Panelists did not rank their selections. &nbsp;Current and former players were not allowed to vote for themselves.
As a result of a tie in the voting, the 75th Anniversary Team features 76 players. &nbsp;Team highlights include:
&bull; Eleven active players have been named to the 75th Anniversary Team: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carmelo Anthony, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook.
&bull; All 50 members of the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, which was named in 1996, have been selected to the 75th Anniversary Team.
&bull; The 75th Anniversary Team includes four players who played in the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951 (Paul Arizin, Bob Cousy, George Mikan and Dolph Schayes), the first winner of the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award (Bob Pettit for the 1955-56 season) and the first winner of the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award (Jerry West for the 1969 NBA Finals).
&bull; Bill Russell joins Cousy, Mikan and Pettit as the only four players who have been named to all four NBA Anniversary Teams: the 25th Anniversary Team (10 players named), 35th Anniversary Team (11 players named), 50th Anniversary Team and 75th Anniversary Team. (The 25th Anniversary Team was the only one of the four teams that did not allow for the inclusion of active players at the time.)
&bull; Six international players from six countries and territories have been selected to the 75th Anniversary Team: Antetokounmpo (Greece), Tim Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands), Patrick Ewing (Jamaica), Steve Nash (Canada), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) and Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria).
&bull; The five NBA legends who are serving as ambassadors for the 75th Anniversary Season are part of the 75th Anniversary Team: Clyde Drexler, Magic Johnson, Nowitzki, Pettit and Oscar Robertson. Representing different eras of the league&rsquo;s history, the ambassadors will make appearances throughout the 2021-22 season and have a significant presence at NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team is listed below in alphabetical order, followed by the list of voters. &nbsp;The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst &amp; Young LLP. &nbsp;For player profiles on each member of the 75th Anniversary Team, click here and visit NBA.com/75."
<table style="width: 95.7926%; height: 464px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 27px;">
<td style="text-align: center; width: 149.879%; height: 27px;" colspan="4" width="691">NBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Clyde Drexler</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Damian Lillard</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Scottie Pippen</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Ray Allen</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Tim Duncan</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jerry Lucas</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Willis Reed</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Giannis Antetokounmpo</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin Durant</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Karl Malone</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Oscar Robertson</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Carmelo Anthony</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Julius Erving</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Moses Malone</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">David Robinson</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Nate Archibald</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Patrick Ewing</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Pete Maravich</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dennis Rodman</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Paul Arizin</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Walt Frazier</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob McAdoo</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Russell</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Charles Barkley</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin Garnett</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin McHale</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dolph Schayes</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Rick Barry</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">George Gervin</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">George Mikan</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Sharman</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Elgin Baylor</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Hal Greer</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Reggie Miller</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">John Stockton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave Bing</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">James Harden</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Earl Monroe</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Isiah Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Larry Bird</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">John Havlicek</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Steve Nash</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Nate Thurmond</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kobe Bryant</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Elvin Hayes</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dirk Nowitzki</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Wes Unseld</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Wilt Chamberlain</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Allen Iverson</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Hakeem Olajuwon</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dwyane Wade</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob Cousy</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">LeBron James</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Walton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave Cowens</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Magic Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Robert Parish</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jerry West</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Billy Cunningham</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Sam Jones</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Chris Paul</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Russell Westbrook</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Stephen Curry</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Michael Jordan</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Gary Payton</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Lenny Wilkens</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Anthony Davis</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jason Kidd</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob Pettit</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dominique Wilkins</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave DeBusschere</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kawhi Leonard</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Paul Pierce</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">James Worthy</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<table style="width: 97.1703%; height: 798px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 170.677%;" colspan="4" width="719">NBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM VOTING PANEL</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Tim Duncan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Jack McCallum</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">David Robinson</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Marv Albert</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">David DuPree</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Brian McIntyre</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Russell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">David Aldridge</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Wayne Embry</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Ann Meyers</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bob Ryan</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Sam Amick</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Julius Erving</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Yoko Miyaji</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Simmons</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Giannis Antetokounmpo</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Patrick Ewing</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Earl Monroe</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Sam Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Steve Aschburner</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Walt Frazier</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Steve Nash</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Stephen A. Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Charles Barkley</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">George Gervin</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Rachel Nichols</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Marc Spears</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Rick Barry</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Russ Granik</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dirk Nowitzki</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Erik Spoelstra</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Howard Beck</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Becky Hammon</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">John Stockton</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dave Bing</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Elvin Hayes</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Robert Parish</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Hannah Storm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Sue Bird</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Ernie Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Candace Parker</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Sheryl Swoopes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Carol Blazejowski</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Magic Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Chris Paul</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Isiah Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Mike Breen</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Sam Jones</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bob Pettit</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rod Thorn</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Doris Burke</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Michael Jordan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Scottie Pippen</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rudy Tomjanovich</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Jerry Colangelo</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Steve Kerr</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Gregg Popovich</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Peter Vecsey</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Doug Collins</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Bob Lanier</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Shaun Powell</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Walton</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Cynthia Cooper</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Kara Lawson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Ahmad Rashad</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rick Welts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bob Costas</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Lisa Leslie</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Willis Reed</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Jerry West</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dave Cowens</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Nancy Lieberman</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Tim Reynolds</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Michael Wilbon</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Billy Cunningham</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Zach Lowe</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bill Rhoden</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Lenny Wilkens</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Stephen Curry</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Jerry Lucas</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Pat Riley</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">James Worthy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Clyde Drexler</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Jackie MacMullan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Oscar Robertson</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Jeff Zillgitt</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Some notable snubs include Tracy McGrady, Bernard King, Alex English, Vince Carter, Tony Parker, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Bob McAdoo, and Pau Gasol to just name a few. This list was part of the NBA's marketing campaign for the league's historic 75th season and will surely spark a conversation/debate amongst NBA fans all over the world.

The NBA released the final 25 players of the 75th anniversary team Thursday on TNT.

Final 25 members of NBA's 75th Anniversary Team announced

Gary Payton and Kenyon Martin talked about playing for George Karl and his staff. They also praised Karl's assistant, Tim Grgurich.

Gary Payton: 'I used to want to kill George Karl's a** every other f*cking day'

Etan Thomas, Dave Zirin, Drew Gooden and Tony Massenburg discuss what John Wall meant to D.C. and Russell Westbrook's fit on the Wizards.

Etan Thomas, Drew Gooden, Tony Massenburg, Dave Zirin on Wall-Westbrook deal

Dwight Howard experienced a rebirth this season with the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, his redemption during his second stint with the Lakers has been one of the more inspiring comeback stories in recent NBA history.&nbsp;
People have short memories. They forget that Howard was an eight-time NBA All-Star, five-time All-NBA First Team member and three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner before he turned 30. He is one of six players to post 13,000 points, 2,000 blocks and 1,000 steals (along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robert Parish, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan). But this season, he was playing on a non-guaranteed contract, as rumors swirled that this may be his last chance to keep his career afloat before he found himself out of the league. So, needless to say, he had a lot riding on this season.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Then you have JaVale McGee, who had a lot of success with the Golden State Warriors three seasons ago; and although he didn&rsquo;t play a ton of minutes, he provided instant production every time he checked into the game. When the Lakers signed him, many around the NBA questioned how he would be able to contribute and if he just looked good because he was on a good Warriors team. 
But he exceeded everyone&rsquo;s expectations in the 2018-19 season, as he averaged a career-high 12 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2 blocks in just over 22 minutes per game. It was arguably one of the best years of his career; he started at center a total of 75 times. His play forced all doubters, even Shaq, to put some respect on his name. And building on that momentum was big for JaVale coming into this year, so needless to say, he had a lot riding on this season as well.&nbsp;
McGee's numbers weren't quite as flashy in his second season with the Lakers, but his efficiency improved along with his advanced metrics (such as his offensive rating and defensive box-plus minus). Still, his impact was felt on the floor. 
However, as teams like the Houston Rockets fully embraced the concept of small ball -- and with Lakers head coach Frank Vogel simply electing for a strategy switch in the NBA Finals versus the Miami Heat -- both centers saw their playing time dramatically reduced during the playoffs.&nbsp;
But here&rsquo;s the most important thing: They didn&rsquo;t become distractions. They didn't protest or have their agents make public statements. Players have many go-to tactics when their minutes are reduced or when they are not being utilized to their individual advantage -- especially in a contract year -- but we didn't see Howard or McGee go that route. They opted to be the ultimate team players, accepting whatever roles they were given for the good of the team.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15055730-3_lg.jpg" alt="" width="552" height="AUTO" />
And as a result, they <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/lakers/news/lakers-praise-javale-mcgee-and-dwight-howard-for-their-maturity-in-handling-less-playing-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener">both received high praise from Coach Vogel</a>, who explained to reporters that it was a big relief that both McGee and Howard had been so selfless and understanding in regards to their fluctuating playing time.&nbsp;
"Their role acceptance in a matchup-oriented series like this is everything. and it&rsquo;s a big reason why we&rsquo;re winning," Vogel said. "If they&rsquo;re unhappy or disgruntled or anything like that, it pulls away from what we&rsquo;re trying to do. Those guys deserve a lot of credit for their approach and handling the role that&rsquo;s been given to them for this series."
Anthony Davis added: "A lot of guys can just fade away and be upset that they&rsquo;re not playing. Guys come in and say they want to do whatever to help the team win, but when they don&rsquo;t get minutes, they, like I said, fade away. But those guys said at the start of the season that they want to be here and do whatever they can to help the team, and you see it."
Instead of sulking, the big men became the team's most vocal cheerleaders.&nbsp;
"They&rsquo;re the loudest guys on our bench, cheering for our guys, talking to us during the game, talking to us during timeouts and that&rsquo;s what we need," Davis said of Howard and McGee. "Two guys who have been in the league for a long time. Dwight&rsquo;s been to the Finals, JaVale [won] multiple championships, so those guys know what it takes to win and we try to listen to them. And when their number is called, they still do the right thing to be ready."&nbsp;
When <a href="https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2019/11/9/20956456/lakers-news-javale-mcgee-starting-center-role-minutes-dwight-howard-frank-vogel-miami-heat-recap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked about his reduced minutes</a>, McGee kept it simple. 
&ldquo;Well, a year ago, we weren&rsquo;t winning," McGee said. "So it&rsquo;s your priorities, you know what I&rsquo;m saying? I want to win. So if that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ve got to do to win, that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ve got to do
"Being in Golden State led to a mindset where I&rsquo;m not worried about minutes. I&rsquo;m worried about if these minutes work to win the game, then I&rsquo;m down for it. If we&rsquo;re losing and this is happening then it&rsquo;s a different situation, but you can&rsquo;t complain about minutes when you&rsquo;re winning,&rdquo;&nbsp;
Not all NBA players would've handled this situation like Dwight and JaVale. I have seen guys literally throw tantrums on the bench when they aren&rsquo;t getting their minutes. I&rsquo;ve seen guys jump up and down like 5-year-olds when they get taken out of the starting lineup. I&rsquo;ve seen guys literally pout -- bottom lip stuck-out, arms folded, feet crossed, not cheering when the person who replaced them does something applause-worthy on the court, even if other players around them are cheering. Not everyone is a consummate professional.
I have seen it all, and that&rsquo;s at every level -- NBA, college, high school and AAU; and that negativity begins to spread throughout the locker room and on the bench. Then, guys who aren&rsquo;t playing the minutes they would like begin to gravitate toward other guys who don&rsquo;t play and form a no-playing-time bond of negativity.&nbsp;
I&rsquo;ve coached my son&rsquo;s AAU team, FBCG Elite Dynamic Disciples, for about five or six years now, and I have definitely seen my share of pouting and tantrums. But I have also seen players handle fluctuations in playing time with the maturity that Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee displayed, and it has definitely benefited them.&nbsp;
I have a player named Camar Gregorio (Class of 2022 and Maryland Independent League 2019-20 State Champion with Lanham Christian High School), who is our Dennis Rodman. I give all the guys a player to study and tell them that&rsquo;s their player comparison, and Rodman is exactly who Camar embodies. The tenacity, going after every rebound, two, three, four efforts; he just has a nose for the ball after a missed shot. But like Rodman, he is undersized, so sometimes when there is a bigger front line, he doesn&rsquo;t play as much, as I elect to match the opposing big man height-wise.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/image-from-ios-10-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="552" height="AUTO" />
We didn&rsquo;t play this past season due to COVID-19 concerns, but last summer in the semifinals of one of our tournaments, we played a team who had been bullying everyone -- fastbreaking, dunking, all the extra antics and everything. In scouting them, we discovered that they couldn&rsquo;t shoot from the outside and scored primarily by driving into the paint after they spread the court (like the Houston Rockets, but without the threes), so we made an adjustment and went big. We put our two centers in the game and played a tight 2-3 zone to force them to shoot outside, and we gave instructions for the guards to slowly rotate to the three-point shooters; the other team wanted a hard close-out to drive right past us because that was their strength (Coach Boeheim would be proud). 
So we packed it in and dared them to shoot, and it worked. They were bricking all over the place, and our bigs were rebounding and outletting. We stayed with that lineup, but Camar hardly played. Now, normally he is the best rebounder we have, but I just wanted size and crowding the paint, so that was the strategy. Camar didn&rsquo;t pout and didn&rsquo;t sulk; he cheered for his teammates with as much enthusiasm as we saw from Dwight and JaVale on the sidelines when they weren&rsquo;t in the game. 
Camar came back in the championship game, played literally almost the entire time and was his normal self. After the season, Camar was voted by his teammates as our MVP for the season. It had nothing to do with scoring because he wasn&rsquo;t a big scorer. He had Rodman numbers consistently all season -- four or five points, but 15 rebounds, five steals, three floor dives, 10 second-chance attempts to keep the ball in play and 100 percent positivity no matter how many minutes he played.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/image-from-ios-11-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="552" height="AUTO" />
I have another player, DJ Seedan. He&rsquo;s about 6-foot-9 and he's in the Class of 2022 at Southern Maryland Christian Academy. He has the ability to control a game defensively. His player comparison was Lew Alcindor (before he became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). He&rsquo;s not the over-aggressive Dwight Howard/Alonzo Mourning-type of big man, but rather the finesse, skilled and athletic-type. DJ can jump-hook with both hands in the lane, knock down jumpers and will block and alter every shot that comes into the lane. When the opposing team has a traditional big man, those games usually result in DJ shining, as he is more skilled than most big men at this age. But when teams go small at times and I&rsquo;m forced to play him less, he always keeps a positive attitude and stays ready in case his name is called.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/img_5712-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="552" height="AUTO" />
Chris Davis is a member of the Class of 2022 at Takoma Academy. He's a big man who can play multiple positions and impact the entire game on both sides of the floor; his player comparison is Joel Embiid. He is a big, athletic body that can dominate, inside and out. I remember one game in particular where we were playing against an older team in Virginia; we found ourselves down by almost 20 at halftime. Our third-string point guard, Nickalus Smith -- who has the highest basketball IQ on the team -- doesn&rsquo;t always get the chance to play, but is always locked in and positive (he's going to make a great head coach one day). That day, Nickalus pulled me to the side and suggested I exploit the pick-and-roll because the opposing bigs don&rsquo;t have a lot of lateral movement. Knowing good coaches listen to suggestions from players, I went with it, and Nick&rsquo;s strategy worked. Chris was unstoppable; he had about 20 second-half points -- pick-and-roll, pick-and-pop, pick-roll hit the corner. They had no answer for him. 
But DJ and Camar didn&rsquo;t get back in the game. Nobody pouted, nobody threw a tantrum and everyone was cheering and clapping during our epic comeback.&nbsp;So when I saw Dwight and JaVale&rsquo;s enthusiastic cheering on the sidelines throughout the entire postseason, their positive body language whether they played five minutes, 25 minutes or zero minutes, the first thing I thought about was the positive example they are setting. They are reinforcing what I preach to my guys everyday. 
I explain to my players that colleges ask me about my guys and comment on their attitude all the time.&nbsp; They are watching everything. Nobody wants a head case in their locker room, and these teachings are going to pay off for these guys in the long run because college coaches have scratched many players off their list simply because of their attitudes. There are many NBA players who have found themselves out of the league due to their poor attitude and negative reputation too. 
Teams want good locker-room guys, and mark my words, our players took notice of the positive attitudes and team players that JaVale and Dwight were on their road to winning the NBA championship.&nbsp;
Now, personally, I think the Lakers would be out of their minds not to bring both of them back, but just in case they don&rsquo;t, they&rsquo;ve put themselves in position to get a nice payday from another team -- mostly because of their positive attitude, their willingness to sacrifice for the team and their ability to make a significant impact whenever their number was called.

Etan Thomas praises the Lakers' two big men for their terrific attitudes throughout the season and playoffs.