Los Angeles Lakers

The article was initially published on BasketballNews on April 6, 2022.
Anyone else love going back and looking at old box scores and falling down afternoon-long rabbit holes, or am I the weirdo?
You might&rsquo;ve read the headline and either recalled this event actually happening, or are befuddled at how such a thing could take place, even in that NBA.
This article, published on April 6, 2022, marks 25 years since the Del Harris-led Los Angeles Lakers held Jim Cleamons and his Dallas Mavericks to 2 points in the third quarter of a regular-season game.
The contest was held at the LA Forum, where a 50-24 Laker team met a 22-53 Mavs squad with two weeks remaining before the playoffs started. Staples wasn&rsquo;t that big yet, and Crypto didn&rsquo;t exist. (Some might say it still doesn&rsquo;t, but you can fight about that amongst yourselves.)
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
A large-ass, Biggie verse-having, All-Star center named Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal had been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/14/sports/injury-to-o-neal-is-a-blow-to-lakers.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">out with a knee injury</a> suffered that February, which he returned from five days later. Something tells me, if you made it here, you&rsquo;ve heard of him. Also on the Lakers, quite famously, was a talented rookie named Kobe Bryant, who had been playing regular rotation minutes at 18 years old, but wasn&rsquo;t yet Kobe.
The Mavericks had traded a controversial-but-talented point guard in Jason Kidd earlier in the season &mdash; along with Tony Dumas and Loren Meyer &mdash; to the Phoenix Suns for a package highlighted by Michael Finley, Sam Cassell and A.C. Green. They also dealt Jamal Mashburn to the Miami Heat several weeks later for Kurt Thomas, Sasa Danilović and Martin M&uuml;&uuml;rsepp.
And right before the deadline, Dallas rerouted Cassell as part of a five-man package including Jim Jackson, George McCloud (who wound up on the Lakers retroactively), Eric Montross and Chris Gatling for Shawn Bradley, Khalid Reeves, Robert Pack and Ed O&rsquo;Bannon &mdash; famously the Most Outstanding Player of the 1995 Final Four, and <a href="https://www.primerus.com/business-law-articles/ed-obannon-shines-a-light-upon-student-athletes-right-of-publicity-624201.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killer of EA's NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball video game franchises</a>. This move not only cemented Dallas&rsquo; rebuild, but it officially made way for a <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/mavericks/2018/06/06/flashback-jamal-mashburn-on-what-really-happened-between-jason-kidd-jim-jackson-and-toni-braxton/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toni Braxton-less future in Texas</a>.
The Mavericks, <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DAL/1997_games.html">who came in as losers of 10 straight heading into this game</a> &mdash; a lengthy skid that never saw the team score more than 92 points &mdash; went into Hollywood and started Pack, Finley, Green, Bradley and Derek Harper. Without Shaq, the Lakers began with Derek Fisher, Eddie Jones, Jerome Kersey, Corie Blount and Sean Rooks, who played a game-high 43 minutes (33 over his season average).
<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199704060LAL.html">The Mavericks led 30-17 after the first quarter and 51-37 at halftime</a>. The teams combined to attempt 12 threes in the first half, which most teams would typically combine to do in a quarter today. The Mavericks shot 21 of 44 from the field and outrebounded the Lakers 24-16 while holding L.A. to 12 of 32 shooting.
Bryant and Robert Horry went a combined 2 of 9 off the bench, and Rooks had logged 10 points and 7 boards to that point. Harper and Finley combined for 25 points on 9 of 15 shooting, while Bradley had 9 points and 9 rebounds.
Okay, now let's get to why you&rsquo;re here.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wM2nQTRiUpo" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Not only did the Mavericks score 2 points in the entire third quarter, but the points came from a pair of Harper free throws with 1:51 left in the quarter. So it took over 10 minutes to even get on the board in this period.
Anyway, the Mavericks shot 0 of 15 from the field for the quarter and missed all 4 of their three-balls. They also had 9 turnovers and only made one substitution over the entire 12 minutes, removing Pack for Sa&scaron;a Danilović about halfway through the third. That meant Green, Harper, Finley and Bradley were each a minus-25 for the quarter, and Pack was a minus-20.
For good measure, the Mavericks third quarter could be summed up like this:
<ul>
<li>Points: 2</li>
<li>Fouls: 3</li>
</ul>
The Lakers outscored the Mavericks 27-2 and still just led 64-53 after three. L.A. shot 10 of 17 in the quarter, made 5 of 7 triples, only needed to pull down 8 rebounds and turned the ball over just twice.
The Mavs outdid their horrific third quarter only 48 seconds into the fourth with two layups. They even cut their deficit to as close as 7 points in garbage time before the Lakers pulled away with a 87-80 win.
Fisher scored 21 points &mdash; not even close to a career-high for him &mdash; but to that point, his highest point tally had been just 14. In fact, the 21 points would remain a career-best mark for Fisher until he netted 26 points on March 13, 2001 in a win over the Boston Celtics four years later.
Sean &ldquo;2019 Bam Adebayo&rdquo; Rooks ended the night with 15 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Bryant logged about 22 minutes off the bench, netting 13 points on 3 of 9 shooting, also finishing with 3 steals and going a perfect 5 of 5 at the free-throw line.
Harper led the Mavs with 18 points on 6 of 15 shooting. Finley only put up 9 shots in over 34 minutes of play. The next time he put up just 9 shots in that many minutes? <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200203310WAS.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March 31, 2002</a>.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
So, what ended up happening to these two teams? Glad you asked!
The Lakers finished 56-26 and fourth in the Western Conference, sweeping the Kenny Anderson, Isaiah Rider, and Rasheed Wallace-led Portland Trail Blazers in Round 1. Then, in the West semifinals, L.A. fell to the No. 1 seed Utah Jazz, who eventually lost to the Chicago Bulls in the 1997 NBA Finals. The Lakers still had a few more years of Harris before Phil Jackson eventually came to clean things up prior to the 1999-2002 three-peat era.
The Mavericks finished 24-58 and were actually still fourth in the Midwest Division among seven teams, completing 1996-97 with only the sixth-worst record in the league. Unfortunately, they didn&rsquo;t own their own draft pick, but fortunately, the Celtics &mdash; who had it at No. 6 &mdash; used it on Ron Mercer, so it wasn&rsquo;t an egregious miss.
Tracy McGrady did go No. 9 overall, and the Mavs did settle on Kelvin Cato at No. 15, but they landed with a kid named Dirk Nowitzki in the 1998 NBA Draft after another 20-win season.
<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>!

Bryan Fonseca revisits when the Mavericks only mustered a measly 2 points in the third quarter against the Lakers.

Revisiting the time the Mavericks scored just 2 points in a quarter

SlamBall co-founder Mason Gordon spoke to Alex Kennedy about the sport's return, the new season on ESPN and much more.

The return of SlamBall: Co-founder Mason Gordon discusses new season

It&rsquo;s the easiest call of the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-2023-wembanyama-b3449d1a5f7a7de5906bb1979ffb2a26">NBA draft</a>: The San Antonio Spurs won.
That&rsquo;s not to say other teams didn&rsquo;t do very well on Thursday, when 58 players were selected as the league&rsquo;s newest members. But the Spurs being able to take generational French talent Victor Wembanyama puts them at the head of the class.
Some of the teams that also did well: NBA champion Denver, Golden State, Toronto &mdash; even with just one pick &mdash; and Orlando, which might now be closer to returning to the postseason mix.
A breakdown of which teams had Excellent drafts, those that had Good drafts and others that will have to Wait and See:
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">EXCELLENT</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">DALLAS MAVERICKS</h3>
Picks: Dereck Lively II (12, via trade); Olivier-Maxence Prosper (24, via trade).
Dallas got the big man it wanted and created opportunity by moving Davis Bertans. Hard to argue that it wasn&rsquo;t a good night. And now free agency awaits. Prosper is another player with big potential and was extremely hard to guard at Marquette.
Picks: Julian Strawther (29), Jalen Pickett (32, will be acquired via trade), Hunter Tyson (37),
Pickett should have gone in the first round. He&rsquo;s that good, and the NBA champions just got another do-it-all guy who will also serve as insurance should Bruce Brown leave in free agency.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">DETROIT PISTONS</h3>
Picks: Ausar Thompson (5), Marcus Sasser (25, via trade), James Nnaji (31)
No matter what, the Pistons were going to get better and deeper on Thursday night. Thompson is incredibly athletic (even by NBA standards) and plays defense with a ton of energy.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS</h3>
Picks: Brandin Podziemski (19), Trayce Jackson-Davis (57, via trade)
Play to your strength, and the Warriors got another shooter to add to the mix with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Podziemski could add something right away, and came to Golden State on the same day that the Warriors swung a deal for Chris Paul by sending Jordan Poole to Washington.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">HOUSTON ROCKETS</h3>
Picks: Amen Thompson (4), Cam Whitmore (20)
Thompson is a great move and gives Detroit another great option as it builds. If Whitmore is healthy, then Houston got an absolute steal by getting the Villanova forward at No. 20.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER</h3>
Picks: Cason Wallace (10, via trade), Keyontae Johnson (50)
Wallace was great for Kentucky in his lone college season and played perhaps his best game in the Wildcats&rsquo; finale in the NCAA tournament. He can score; he didn&rsquo;t look to score quite often enough at times in college.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">ORLANDO MAGIC</h3>
Picks: Anthony Black (6), Jett Howard (11)
Paolo Banchero got a couple more shooters to help him out, and the young and talented Magic got more young talent. An excellent night again and it&rsquo;s time to start thinking about Orlando as a team that should make a run at the play-in &mdash; at minimum.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">SAN ANTONIO SPURS</h3>
Picks: Victor Wembanyama (1), Sidy Cissoko (44).
Their grade was secured at the very moment that the last ping-pong ball appeared at the lottery last month. Wembanyama was a no-brainer, and now it&rsquo;s up to the Spurs to start the real work &mdash; get him into the gym, see how he fits, and figure out what the plan is going forward.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">TORONTO RAPTORS</h3>
Pick: Gradey Dick (13)
Dick showed up to the draft in a red-and-black jacket &mdash; a nod to Dorothy from &ldquo;The Wizard of Oz&rdquo; and his Kansas roots. The color scheme will work in Toronto as well. Dick is a pure shooter, and no team can have too many of those. The jury&rsquo;s still out on what the Raptors will be this coming season, but this kid will be a rotation piece.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">UTAH JAZZ</h3>
Picks: Taylor Hendricks (9), Keyonte George (16), Brice Sensabaugh (28)
Hendricks is what an NBA big pretty much is now; a power forward who can also defend centers. George was the Big 12 rookie of the year at Baylor and is a proven scorer. He&rsquo;s good from the line, has 3-point potential and can get to the rim. There&rsquo;s some work to do, but he&rsquo;s a serious prospect.
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">GOOD</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">BROOKLYN NETS</h3>
Picks: Noah Clowney (21), Dariq Whitehead (22), Jalen Wilson (51)
Clowney is an athletic big from Alabama whose game is still a bit unfinished. Whitehead has enormous potential and was highly recruited by Duke, but foot issues are a concern. Wilson was the Big 12 player of the year at Kansas. The Nets likely didn&rsquo;t choose three elite programs accidentally. Lot to like here.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CHARLOTTE HORNETS</h3>
Picks: Brandon Miller (2), Nick Smith Jr. (27), Amari Bailey (41).
Miller made sense over Scoot Henderson because the Hornets have a point guard already. But Henderson might be the more NBA-ready player.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">INDIANA PACERS</h3>
Picks: Jarace Walker (8, via trade), Ben Sheppard (26), Julian Strawther (29), Mojave King (47, via trade), Isaiah Wong (55)
Walker plays hard on both ends, and this is rare to say, but he might play harder on defense than he does on offense. And getting Wong &mdash; the ACC player of the year &mdash; so late is a steal.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS</h3>
Picks: Kobe Brown (30), Jordan Miller (48)
Brown is a strong player, addicted to rebounding, and probably needs to improve considerably on the offensive end. Miller did a little of everything for the Miami Hurricanes in their run to the Final Four.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">LOS ANGELES LAKERS</h3>
Picks: Jalen Hood-Schifino (17), Maxwell Lewis (40, via trade).
Hood-Schifino got NBA coaching in college last season; Indiana is coached by Mike Woodson. He&rsquo;s a winner; his high school teams won, his Indiana team went to the NCAA Tournament and he&rsquo;ll obviously benefit from time with LeBron James.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MIAMI HEAT</h3>
Pick: Jaime Jaquez Jr. (18)
A four-year college player whose game got more complete each year, Jaquez has a notorious work ethic that should fit in quite well with the Eastern Conference champions.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">NEW ORLEANS PELICANS</h3>
Pick: Jordan Hawkins (14)
Hawkins was a big part of UConn&rsquo;s team that won the national title last spring, earning his way onto the All-Tournament team. New Orleans got a winner.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS</h3>
Picks: Scoot Henderson (3), Kris Murray (23), Rayan Rupert (43).
Henderson has shown that he&rsquo;s NBA-ready. The Blazers drafted well. But really, the only question now is whether Damian Lillard is happy or not. Murray is the twin brother of Sacramento&rsquo;s Keegan Murray and had a big season for Iowa &mdash; averaging just over 20 points per game.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">WASHINGTON WIZARDS</h3>
Picks: Bilal Coulibaly (7, via trade), Tristan Vukcevic (42)
The Wizards are starting over, and on the day they also agreed to acquire Jordan Poole from Golden State they just happened to get a French player. (No, not that one.) But Coulibaly is highly touted by No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama, and that&rsquo;s enough of an endorsement for us.
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">WAIT AND SEE</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">ATLANTA HAWKS</h3>
Picks: Kobe Bufkin (15), Mouhamed Gueye (39, via trade), Seth Lundy (46)
Bufkin had a great second half of the season at Michigan, and left-handers always provide defenses with an extra challenge. The best way to describe his game is this: He doesn&rsquo;t do much wrong. Very solid, can help the Hawks in a lot of ways.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">BOSTON CELTICS</h3>
Picks: James Njaji (31, via trade), Jordan Walsh (38, via trade)
Still only 18, Njaji started playing the game about seven years ago and is not even close to reaching his potential yet. Big prospect.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CHICAGO BULLS</h3>
Pick: Julian Phillips (35, via trade)
The Bulls had to forfeit what would have been their pick because of free-agency violations last summer, and swung a deal with Boston to land the Tennessee wing.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS</h3>
Pick: Emoni Bates (49)
He was touted as a star since basically middle school, had more than his share of promising moments in college, and now has to really prove himself.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES</h3>
Picks: Gregory Jackson II (45), Tarik Biberovic (56)
Prospects. They&rsquo;re not expected to provide any real help anytime soon.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MILWAUKEE BUCKS</h3>
Picks: Andre Jackson (36, via trade), Chris Livingston (58)
Jackson was a big part of UConn&rsquo;s national championship. He&rsquo;s only going to benefit from being around Giannis Antetokounmpo every day.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES</h3>
Picks: Leonard Miller (33, via trade), Jaylen Clark (53)
Miller had a lot of big moments playing with Scoot Henderson and the G League Ignite this past season. Athleticism is tough to ignore.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">NEW YORK KNICKS</h3>
No picks.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PHILADELPHIA 76ERS</h3>
No picks.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PHOENIX SUNS</h3>
Pick: Toumani Camara (52)
Given the trades that they&rsquo;re making, this might be one of their last picks for quite some time. There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with not valuing the draft, but giving up on it entirely is a dangerous game to play too often.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">SACRAMENTO KINGS</h3>
Picks: Colby Jones (34, via trade), Jalen Slawson (54)
Jones has skills the Kings crave; great shooter, great passing and great vision. A young Kevin Huerter-type in those regards.

Which teams came away from the 2023 NBA Draft as big winners? Check out the AP's draft report cards.

NBA draft report cards: Spurs, Rockets among teams that hit it big

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; In the 1990s, Dallas Mavericks point guard Derek Harper famously shot down an offer to be traded to the Jazz, quipping to ESPN: &ldquo;You go live in Utah.&rdquo;
Two decades later, members of the Golden State Warriors squad&nbsp;mocked Salt Lake&nbsp;as a nightlife-free city that could &ldquo;lull you to sleep.&rdquo;
And two months ago, former Jazz star Donovan Mitchell,&nbsp;reflecting on his time in Utah, said it was &ldquo;draining&rdquo; being a Black man in the mostly white, deeply religious state.
As the spotlight turns toward Salt Lake City and Utah during&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/107533176444f092fed0c7996a8e328f">this weekend&rsquo;s NBA All-Star Game</a>, business and political leaders are seeking to chip away at long-held notions &mdash; in basketball circles and elsewhere &mdash; of the state as a peculiar, boring and homogenous place that lags behind on LGBTQ- and race-related issues.
Their push to showcase the city and state as increasingly diverse and vibrant has been complicated by Utah&rsquo;s enduring legacy as a religious conservative stronghold, coupled with recent political developments at the intersection of race, gender and sports.
Just a year ago, a statewide ban implemented on transgender kids playing girls&rsquo; sports raised&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-nba-sports-adam-silver-north-carolina-64a3f0f2d3b33bf9ccc806bcd6293997">worries</a>&nbsp;that organizers of some events like the All-Star Game would think twice about coming to Utah.
Still, political leaders see efforts to make businesses and tourists feel welcome as key to Utah&rsquo;s continued growth and ability to attract profitable trade shows and the&nbsp;Winter Olympics, which it is seen as likely to bid to host again in 2034.
&ldquo;What happens with those oddities that people think is, they&rsquo;re very quickly dispelled when people actually come to Utah,&rdquo; said Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican and avid Jazz fan.
Downtown, a pop-up liquor store has been erected to serve fans this weekend between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints&rsquo; flagship temple and the Jazz&rsquo;s home arena. Team owner Ryan Smith is&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-nba-sports-salt-lake-city-f458ade6c498f9d9e729b25f9e5a7ebb">telling</a>&nbsp;anyone who will listen about the state&rsquo;s robust tech sector and progressive thinking. And the NBA is heavily advertising a pregame performance featuring&nbsp;Post Malone, a Utah-based, heavily face-tattooed rap star popular among residents.
Salt Lake City has long been more liberal and religiously diverse than the rest of Utah, a blue island in a sea of red. A majority of members on the current left-leaning city council&nbsp;identify as LGBTQ and are people of color.
<div class="Component-dfp-0-2-62 apnews_article_midarticle_2" data-card-id="sovrn-article-midarticle">
In the three decades since 1993, the last time the All-Star Game last was here, the population has diversified and almost doubled, transforming it into a thriving metropolis complete with the politics and problems that plague many midsize cities including pollution, housing shortages and&nbsp;homelessness.
A skyline dense with apartments, office buildings and two downtown malls has sprung up between Temple Square and the nearby mountains. The 2002 Olympics brought an influx of funding that helped build a light rail system many visitors will use during All-Star festivities.
Mayor Erin Mendenhall said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the counterculture that rose up in response and continues to thrive both contribute to the city&rsquo;s social fabric.
&ldquo;We may still be peculiar, but we&rsquo;re&nbsp;minority Mormon&nbsp;now,&rdquo; she said.
The extensive influence of the faith known widely as the Mormon church will still be apparent, yet changes within its culture and the influx of thousands of secular residents may complicate how the expected 150,000 All-Star visitors perceive Salt Lake City, said Patrick Mason, a professor of religious studies at Utah State University.
&ldquo;Anybody who visits &mdash; especially for the first time &mdash; is going to be immediately struck by the Salt Lake Temple and the church&rsquo;s holdings right downtown very close to the arena. This is, as a lot of people say, &rsquo;Mormonism&rsquo;s Vatican,&rdquo; he said.
High-profile church members also demonstrate how the image the faith projects has remained distinct while also becoming more assimilated into the mainstream, he said.
&ldquo;That really gets reflected in the younger generation of entrepreneurs and politicians,&rdquo; Mason added. &ldquo;People like Cox and Smith are Latter-day Saints who are committed to their faith but also are savvy people who grow up with the internet, plugged in to a global culture.&rdquo;
Hosting All-Star Weekend is a major opportunity in particular for Smith, who purchased the Jazz in 2020 after selling the survey-software provider company that he founded, Qualtrics, for $8 billion.
&ldquo;This is just a chance to really have a moment together. People definitely know that there&rsquo;s something here,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s absolutely unique in all the positive ways. I think the one thing that is beautiful about Utah, that the people keep telling me from a wellness standpoint, &lsquo;Utah is like where I&rsquo;m at my best.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Since Smith attended part of 1993&prime;s All-Star Weekend as a member of the Jazz&rsquo;s youth basketball program, the NBA has cultivated a reputation for embracing progressive politics and social justice to a greater extent than most other professional sports leagues.
The ban on transgender athletes in girls&rsquo; sports didn&rsquo;t end up costing Utah the All-Star Game. But some fear marketing efforts could face challenges as the state doubles down on socially conservative stances on matters of race, gender and sports. Last month lawmakers&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-health-children-utah-surgery-9d8b304aef5060a1e033416558c9d6f8">banned</a>&nbsp;gender-affirming care for transgender youth, a policy being considered by lawmakers in a number of states across the country.
Utah has among the highest white populations of any state at 78% of its 3.3 million residents, and less than 2% are Black. That lack of racial diversity is long believed to have hurt efforts by the Jazz to lure free agents and retain players.
Mitchell, after being&nbsp;traded&nbsp;to the Cavaliers last offseason, said it took a lot of energy to confront a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-nhl-ut-state-wire-utah-nfl-758cb7968d564893b57ca6d0a19777ce">series</a>&nbsp;of highly public race-related experiences and the pushback he received in response. They included incidents of bullying against Black students in Utah schools that he&nbsp;called&nbsp;&ldquo;demoralizing&rdquo;; a&nbsp;dustup&nbsp;between him and the state Senate president over new restrictions on how race and history could be taught; and the time Mitchell said he was pulled over and &ldquo;got an attitude from the cop&rdquo; until the officer saw Mitchell&rsquo;s ID and realized he was the Jazz player.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no secret there&rsquo;s a lot of stuff that I dealt with being in Utah, off the floor. ... I took on a lot because I felt like I could do it. But at some point, it became a lot to have to deal with,&rdquo; he&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://andscape.com/features/donovan-mitchell-thinks-the-cavaliers-can-be-a-pretty-scary-group/">told</a>&nbsp;the ESPN publication Andscape in December.
Some see All-Star weekend as a means of elevating social justice initiatives and changing Salt Lake City&rsquo;s image through showcasing oft-overlooked pockets of diversity. Sheena Meade, CEO of the Clean Slate Initiative, helped organize a expungement clinic with the NBA&rsquo;s social justice arm in the lead-up to the game, a year after Cox signed legislation to clear low-level convictions from people&rsquo;s criminal records. She said the NBA&rsquo;s presence in places regardless of the prevailing local politics has had&nbsp;tangible&nbsp;impacts.
&ldquo;They are doing more than lip service. They&rsquo;re putting out a host of events,&rdquo; Meade said. &ldquo;What it means for the All-Star Game to come to a state like Utah is it brings an immersion of culture and diversity and lifts up what&rsquo;s happening on some social issues.&rdquo;
</div>

With the spotlight on Salt Lake City for the NBA All-Star Game, local leaders are looking to chip away at long-held notions of the state.

In NBA All-Star spotlight, Utah looks to change perceptions

Tre Mann had 15 points and seven assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to an 86-80 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night in the NBA Summer League.
Oklahoma City's three first-round picks draft all contributed to the victory.
No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren had eight points, five rebounds, five steals and three assists before fouling out. No. 12 pick Jalen Williams added 12 points, while No. 11 pick Ousmane Dieng &mdash; acquired in a draft-day trade with the Knicks &mdash; had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Sacramento's Keegan Murray &mdash; the fourth overall choice &mdash; had 29 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Jared Rhoden added 16 points and eight rebounds. Keon Ellis had 14 points and five assists.
BUCKS 87, TIMBERWOLVES 75
Sandro Mamukelashvili had 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead Milwaukee Bucks past Minnesota.
Mamukelashvili, who was coming off a 28-point game Monday, also had four of Milwaukee's 25 assists on 30 field goals.
MarJon Beauchamp made four of Milwaukee's 15 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. Rayjon Tucker, Lindell Wigginton and Zylan Cheatham each scored 14 points.
Kevon Harris scored 16 points for Minnesota. Terrell Brown Jr. added 14 points, Wendell Moore Jr. had 13 and Marial Shayok 11.
HORNETS 91, CAVALIERS 80
Bryce McGowens made five 3-pointers and scored 24 points as Charlotte beat Cleveland.
Mark Williams, Brady Manek and LiAngelo Ball each scored 12 points, and Kai Jones added 11 for Charlotte (2-1).
Ochai Agbaji scored 24 points, with four 3-pointers, for Cleveland (1-2). Cameron Young added 11, Amauri Hardy had 10 and Isaiah Mobley grabbed 11 rebounds. The Cavaliers were 5 of 25 from distance.
PELICANS 106, WIZARDS 88
Deividas Sirvydis scored 25 points, going 6 of 10 from 3-point range, to help New Orleans beat Washington.
New Orleans trailed at halftime, but outscored Washington 28-15 in the third quarter to take the lead for good.
Jared Harper made 10 of 14 free throws and had 18 points and six assists for New Orleans (2-1). Daeqwon Plowden added 16 points and Dereon Seabron had 13.
Vernon Carey Jr. made his first five shots and scored 11 points for Washington (1-2). Tyler Hall also scored 11 points and Tahjere McCall added 10.
RAPTORS 80, JAZZ 74
D.J. Wilson had 22 points and nine rebounds, Jeff Dowtin added 19 points and Toronto handed Utah its first loss.
<a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1547380055629877248">Dowtin made a contested layup with 45.6 seconds left</a> for a four-point lead. Utah missed 3-pointers on its next two possessions and Dowtin sealed it with two free throws.
Jared Butler scored 12 points, Leandro Bolmaro added 11 and Darryl Morsell had 10 for Utah (2-1).
76ERS 75, HEAT 71
Trevelin Queen scored 16 points, Tyler Bey added 14 and Philadelphia held off Miami.
Malik Ellison had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia.
Javonte Smart topped Miami with 20 points, and Haywood Highsmith had 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
NUGGETS 80, CLIPPERS 75
Matt Mitchell had 17 points and six rebounds to help power Denver past Los Angeles.
Nuggets first-rounder Christian Braun &mdash; 21st overall &mdash; had eight points to go along with 12 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
Jay Scrubb led the Clippers with 18 points.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Tre Mann had 15 points and seven assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to an 86-80 victory over the Kings on Wednesday night.

Mann leads Thunder past Kings 86-80 in Summer League play

Keep track of where the top 2022 undrafted free agents are headed after draft night.

2022 NBA UDFA Tracker: Latest news on undrafted free agents

The NBA announced the 76 players who are expected to attend the 2022 NBA Draft Combine, which is scheduled for May 18-20 at Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.
The 2022 NBA Draft Combine is an important step in the draft process for NBA prospects, leading up to 2022 NBA Draft on June 23.&nbsp;
Players will have interviews with NBA teams and participate in five-on-five games, shooting drills and strength-and-agility drills from May 18-20. Coverage of the 2022 NBA Draft Combine begins Thursday, May 19 on ESPNews from 3-5 p.m. ET and transitions to ESPN2 from 5-7 p.m. ET. The coverage continues on Friday, May 20 from 1-2 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and 2-5 p.m. ET on ESPNews.
Additionally, a select number of standout players from the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-announces-field-of-44-draft-prospects-for-g-league-elite-camp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA G League Elite Camp</a>, which takes place May 16-17 at Wintrust Arena, will be invited to participate in the 2022 NBA Draft Combine.
Here is the complete list of expected attendees for this year's NBA Draft Combine (and check out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com's 2022 NBA Mock Draft</a> to see where each player is projected to go):&nbsp;
<table style="font-weight: 400;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" width="832">
Player (College/Club)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Ochai Agbaji (Kansas)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jake LaRavia (Wake Forest)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Patrick Baldwin Jr. (Milwaukee)
</td>
<td width="442">
Justin Lewis (Marquette)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Paolo Banchero (Duke)
</td>
<td width="442">
E.J. Liddell (Ohio State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Dominick Barlow (Overtime Elite)
</td>
<td width="442">
Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Marjon Beauchamp (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td width="442">
Matthew Mayer (Baylor)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Hugo Besson (New Zealand Breakers)
</td>
<td width="442">
Bryce McGowens (Nebraska)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Malaki Branham (Ohio State)
</td>
<td width="442">
Leonard Miller (Fort Erie Intl. Academy [Canada] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Christian Braun (Kansas)
</td>
<td width="442">
Josh Minott (Memphis)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Kendall Brown (Baylor)
</td>
<td width="442">
Aminu Mohammed (Georgetown)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
John Butler Jr. (Florida State)
</td>
<td width="442">
Iverson Molinar (Mississippi State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Julian Champagnie (St. John&rsquo;s)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jean Montero (Overtime Elite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Kennedy Chandler (Tennessee)
</td>
<td width="442">
Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Max Christie (Michigan State)
</td>
<td width="442">
Keegan Murray (Iowa)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Kofi Cockburn (Illinois)
</td>
<td width="442">
Andrew Nembhard (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Dyson Daniels (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td width="442">
Scotty Pippen Jr. (Vanderbilt)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Johnny Davis (Wisconsin)
</td>
<td width="442">
Gabriele Procida (Fortitudo Bologna [Italy] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
JD Davison (Alabama)
</td>
<td width="442">
Orlando Robinson (Fresno State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Moussa Diabate (Michigan)
</td>
<td width="442">
David Roddy (Colorado State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Ousmane Dieng (New Zealand Breakers)
</td>
<td width="442">
Ryan Rollins (Toledo)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Khalifa Diop (Gran Canaria [Spain] )
</td>
<td width="442">
Dereon Seabron (North Carolina State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Jalen Duren (Memphis)
</td>
<td width="442">
Shaedon Sharpe (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Tari Eason (LSU)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jabari Smith (Auburn)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Keon Ellis (Alabama)
</td>
<td width="442">
Terquavion Smith (North Carolina State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Michael Foster Jr. (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jeremy Sochan (Baylor)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Collin Gillespie (Villanova)
</td>
<td width="442">
Matteo Spagnolo (Cremona [Italy] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
AJ Griffin (Duke)
</td>
<td width="442">
Julian Strawther (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Jaden Hardy (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td width="442">
Dalen Terry (Arizona)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Ron Harper Jr. (Rutgers)
</td>
<td width="442">
Drew Timme (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jabari Walker (Colorado)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Harrison Ingram (Stanford)
</td>
<td width="442">
TyTy Washington Jr. (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Jaden Ivey (Purdue)
</td>
<td width="442">
Peyton Watson (UCLA)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
</td>
<td width="442">
Blake Wesley (Notre Dame)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Nikola Jovic (Mega [Serbia] )
</td>
<td width="442">
Alondes Williams (Wake Forest)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Johnny Juzang (UCLA)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jalen Williams (Santa Clara)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Ismael Kamagate (Paris [France] )
</td>
<td width="442">
Jaylin Williams (Arkansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Trevor Keels (Duke)
</td>
<td width="442">
Mark Williams (Duke)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Walker Kessler (Auburn)
</td>
<td width="442">
Trevion Williams (Purdue)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Christian Koloko (Arizona)
</td>
<td width="442">
Fanbo Zeng (G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

The NBA announced the 76 players who are expected to attend the 2022 NBA Draft Combine, which takes place May 18-20 in Chicago.

NBA announces 76 prospects who will attend 2022 NBA Draft Combine

While doing the media rounds for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Last-Enforcer-Outrageous-Fiercest-Competitors/dp/1982175648/ref=asc_df_1982175648_nodl/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=532676525181&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=8339304955139487848&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=m&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9007723&amp;hvtargid=pla-1380126241639&amp;psc=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his new book</a>, "The Last Enforcer," Charles Oakley has been extremely vocal about his feelings towards his former New York Knicks teammate Patrick Ewing.
It has become abundantly clear that Oakley and Ewing are not currently on good terms in any way shape or form.&nbsp;This appears to have stemmed from the ugly Madison Square Garden incident of 2017 when Oakley was forcibly removed by security staff from a Knicks game.&nbsp;
The image of Oakley shoving a security guard prior being dragged away from his seat on live television stands as one of the ugliest moments the Knicks organization has ever seen.&nbsp;According to court papers, Oakley has since <a href="https://theathletic.com/2266870/2020/12/16/charles-oakley-wants-knicks-owner-james-dolan-named-in-assault-suit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused Knicks governor James Dolan of orchestrating an attack on him</a>.
Oakley has long been beloved by New Yorkers as a whole, while Dolan has grown to be an incredibly unpopular figure among many Knicks fans who blame him solely for much of the team's struggles over the years.
This particular situation definitely didn&rsquo;t help Dolan&rsquo;s popularity. In fact, during the incident, Knicks fans chanted &ldquo;Oakley! Oakley!&rdquo; as he was being removed from the arena, so it was clear as day as to who the fans were supporting.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
To make matters worse, the Knicks released a statement that said, &ldquo;We hope [Oakley] gets some help soon," implying &mdash; without basis &mdash; that Oakley had a problem with drugs, alcohol or some type of mental issues. Dolan also subsequently banned the Knicks legend from MSG indefinitely.&nbsp;
Since then, Oakley has expressed his disappointment that some of his former teammates, namely Ewing, didn&rsquo;t have his back the way he felt they should&rsquo;ve.
&ldquo;My relationship with Patrick Ewing should be better," Oakley told Fat Joe in February. "I played with him for 10 years in the Garden. Fans saw how hard I played, had everybody&rsquo;s back. When I came to a situation and needed him, he didn&rsquo;t come out to represent me like he should have... He knows he hasn&rsquo;t been fair to me, and I was always fair to him."
&ldquo;That happened in 2017, he just said something 5 months ago," Oakley said on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpmqPkiSIm8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Rich Eisen Show</a>. "I played with him 10 years, had his back. They offered him a D League job about 7 yrs ago, I said how are you gonna offer a guy who played with you 15 yrs a D League job? That hurt me when he didn&rsquo;t speak up for me."
While <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-48-nba-hall-of-famer-patrick-ewing-talks-knicks-days,-turning-the-hoyas-around,-charles-oakley,-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interviewing Ewing for The Rematch</a>, I asked him about Oakley and the chance of them patching their brotherhood back together again. He was honest and forthcoming about the fallout, the current status and the possibility for reconciliation.&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tdGWgeWlXdg" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Etan Thomas: How are you with all of your former Knicks teammates?&nbsp;
Patrick Ewing: "We all still talk, John [Starks] and I talk a lot. He works for the Knicks. He came to our game in the Garden. Herb Williams, we still communicate. Derek Harper, we still communicate. Doc Rivers. Me and Oak, we were still communicating; we&rsquo;re not communicating right now, but Oak was one of my best teammates. I respect everything he did on the court. Greg Anthony. So a lot of us are still in communication. We&rsquo;re all doing our own things, but we&rsquo;re friends, we&rsquo;re comrades, and we did a lot of great things together."
Etan: So, you mentioned Oak, and you said y&rsquo;all are not really communicating right now. It&rsquo;s interesting, I interviewed Oakley a few years ago, right after the thing with Dolan happened in the Garden. So I interviewed him about it, and he talked about it a lot. It was a really ugly scene, and I felt bad for Oakley because that&rsquo;s just not how you do a former New York ;egend and Knicks great when they come back to the Garden. I mean, I&rsquo;m no Washington Wizards great, but I go back to D.C. and they&rsquo;re not gonna do me like that. That&rsquo;s just not how you treat former players.
So we did the interview and we&rsquo;re talking, and he alluded to the fact that some players didn&rsquo;t support him the way he felt they should have. He didn&rsquo;t say that you were one of them, but he said to me, 'I really only knew you one year,' because he played that one year in D.C. And when I saw him in All-Star weekend in New Orleans after it happened, I gave him a big hug. 'Are you alright, do you need anything?' I thought that was messed up.
I went on a few shows and talked about it. I actually went on Michael Rappaport&rsquo;s show with Kenyon Martin and talked about how they did Oakley wrong, and I think I wrote about it as well. And he was like, 'Well, me and you, we only knew each other one year and you was kind of quiet to be honest for most of the year.' I mean, I had legends there so I was just watching and learning, but he said, 'Some of my other teammates that I&rsquo;ve known for years and played with and was in the trenches with and bled for, they didn&rsquo;t really come to back for me like I thought they should&rsquo;ve.' And he keeps saying it over and over again, and honestly, he sounded to me like he was really hurt by it. And I don&rsquo;t know if you were one of the players in that category because he didn&rsquo;t say you by name, but thinking back on that incident, do you think you and the other guys supported him as much as you all should&rsquo;ve?
Ewing: "I can&rsquo;t speak for others, all I know is what I did. When I saw the incident, I picked up the phone and called (Oak) and asked, 'Do you need anything?' I saw they took him and cuffed him, so my first question was, 'Do you need me to have someone come and bail you out? Whatever you need.' What else am I supposed to do? I was asked about it by the media. I told them it was wrong. Oak was an integral part of our team, and of the Knicks fabric, and something like that should never happen. I don&rsquo;t know what else I was supposed to do.
"I&rsquo;m still working in the NBA as an assistant coach (at the time). I&rsquo;m trying to work my way up the ladder to hopefully be a head coach in the NBA. So I don&rsquo;t know what else I was supposed to say, or what else I was supposed to do. All I could do was give him my support, let him know I was there for him and (do) anything that he needed. When I was asked about it, I gave my honest feelings that I thought it was wrong and that things like that cannot happen. And I supported him. Anything else that he may have wanted me to do... I guess I didn&rsquo;t do enough to show him that I thought about him as a friend more than just a former teammate, but I did."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Etan: You know, as somebody who watched you all play your entire careers with New York, I personally hope that you all get back together and are back on talking terms and do like a public thing where y&rsquo;all are together as brothers. Because, when I tell you that I was a die-hard Knicks fan. Like after y&rsquo;all would lose a game, and I went to school, somebody better not say nothing about the Knicks. That&rsquo;s how seriously I took it. So even when you just mentioned that you and Oakley aren&rsquo;t really speaking now, that was like a jab to me, like, 'Aww, it&rsquo;s supposed to be like this (pounds fist together),' like the Knicks vs. everybody. 
Ewing: "Like I said before, he was one of my best teammates. I used to call him 'The Hitman.' He was the enforcer. Anything that happened on that floor, you always knew he had your back. And I wanted to let him know that I had his back in this situation. I supported him in every way I could. I talked to Mr. Dolan myself about the situation. I know other people tried to broker a peace as well, but I still respect Oak and always will."
Etan: Well, I&rsquo;m gonna still hold out hope that y&rsquo;all get back together and reconcile. 
Ewing: "Me too. Believe me, me too."
Etan: Okay, so that&rsquo;s great to hear. So if you&rsquo;re holding out hope about it and it&rsquo;s open, I&rsquo;m confident that it will happen when it&rsquo;s supposed to happen in due time. Sometimes brothers fight, sometimes brothers argue, sometimes brothers have disagreements. And then, they come back together as brothers are supposed to, so I&rsquo;m holding out hope for that.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/violalogo1_lg.png" alt="" width="696" height="348" />
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 speaks with Patrick Ewing about supporting Charles Oakley and how he hopes for the two to broker a peace.

Patrick Ewing is hopeful that he and Charles Oakley can reconcile 

I&rsquo;ve had the privilege of being around some great players, including some guys from the NBA&rsquo;s 75th&nbsp;anniversary team.
In Boston, I was teammates with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. In Miami, I had Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal and Dwyane Wade showing me how to become a champion. I played with Chris Paul in New Orleans, coached LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, and was fortunate to have other guys like Antonio McDyess, Nick Van Exel and Steve Francis show me what success at the NBA level looked like.
I&rsquo;ve been around the game for a long time and, even though the game has changed, one of the constants has been players of the older generation telling the younger players they couldn&rsquo;t cut it &ldquo;back in the day.&rdquo;
Charles Oakley became the latest to make those kinds of comments earlier this week when Oak said that Giannis Antetokounmpo wouldn&rsquo;t even be a starter if he played back in the 1980s or 1990s.
I wouldn&rsquo;t necessarily say that I agree with Oak, but to be honest with you, I understand why he would feel that way. To go even further, I understand why most of the older players feel that way about the younger players in general.
There&rsquo;s always going to be people on either side of the argument, but one thing we can all agree on is the fact that the game is way different now than it was 30 years ago.
On a personal level, I feel like I&rsquo;m kind of caught between the two generations. I grew up watching Scottie Pippen and people compared me to him. I was drafted in 1999, but I was shown the ropes by guys like McDyess and Nick the Quick, who more so came up in those times. At the same time, I played 12 years and I think I saw that transition happen right before my eyes. Things just slowly evolved.
Truth be told, I think there&rsquo;s a lack of respect on both parts.
Older players like Oakley look at younger players and, for the most part, don&rsquo;t really think they&rsquo;re tough. Today, the league is more about protecting offensive players, protecting shooters and encouraging high-scoring games than it was back in the 1990s. Go back and watch some tape and you&rsquo;ll see. If Michael Jordan played by today&rsquo;s rules, for example, he could probably average 50.
Meanwhile, if Steph Curry went back to the 1980s and had to play against Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Bad Boys, and if he was seeing that kind of competition every night, if he wasn&rsquo;t encouraged to shoot 15 three-pointers every game&hellip; Would he have become the same player?
Maybe he still would have. I&rsquo;m just saying, that&rsquo;s where the arguments come from. Older players just think that the league has become soft, and they don&rsquo;t respect how players exaggerate contact and go out of their way to draw fouls the way it&rsquo;s become so common in today&rsquo;s game.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
On the other hand, one of the things I&rsquo;ve heard a lot from younger players and people who think guys like Giannis and Steph could go back and dominate is the &ldquo;lack of skill&rdquo; that some of the older players had, and I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s true at all.
In recent times, we began to equate a guys&rsquo; skill with his flash. Guys like Dr. J, George Gervin and Dominique Wilkins got accolades and attention, partially because of the things they could do, but so many other guys &mdash; guys like Charles Oakley &mdash; simply played the game in a no-nonsense type of way.
Guys like Oakley focused on fundamentals and on being able to perform their jobs well on the court, and I think the current generation of players and fans &mdash; when they look back at those guys &mdash; try to act like they weren&rsquo;t &ldquo;good&rdquo; because they weren&rsquo;t doing flashy dunks or crossing people over.
Even worse, a lot of the time we try to act like a lot of what we see today isn&rsquo;t a result of evolution. Guys like Giannis and Steph were either watching the previous generation or were taught by the guys who came before them. Would we have gotten Giannis if we never had Kevin Durant? Would we have had KD if we never had Dirk? Would we have had Dirk if we never had someone like George Gervin or Ralph Sampson?
I grew up being taught to respect my elders, and I think we should remember to do that.
At the same time, the older generation needs to understand that the game has changed and is just played differently. There&rsquo;s no reason to think that someone like Steph wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to get buckets against someone like Isiah or Derek Harper or whoever. He would&rsquo;ve had to adjust and find ways to be effective, just like he did in his earlier days when he was squaring off against other tough defenders.
The whole thing actually got me thinking: if I had a time machine and could make an imaginary pickup game with today&rsquo;s players against players from the 1980s and 1990s, which matchups would I like to see?
Ultimately, I think the winning team would be decided by which set of rules the imaginary pickup game was played under. If you were playing with today&rsquo;s rules, Isiah would probably get called for three hand-checking fouls on Steph in the first five minutes of the game.
If we were playing in the 1990s, though, Anthony Davis would probably get caught with an elbow from Karl Malone and need some time to recover. Worse for AD? There probably wouldn&rsquo;t even be a foul called on the play.
If I could have it my way, I&rsquo;d take one player from each position and two wildcards.
At point guard, as I&rsquo;ve already hinted at, I&rsquo;d like to see Chris Paul vs. Isiah. Both are all-time great point guards and both guys are tough competitors.
At shooting guard, I&rsquo;d take Reggie Miller and James Harden. Two of the greatest shooters ever, and also two of the best actors, haha. I&rsquo;d be interested in seeing how well Reggie would be able to keep up with and stay in front of James and also whether James could be effective without necessarily getting a bunch of free throws.
I&rsquo;d obviously have to put MJ and LeBron in there. Even though MJ is a shooting guard, I&rsquo;d have to cross-match them. It&rsquo;d be great to see whether MJ could score on LeBron at will the way he pretty much did against everyone else.
Karl Malone and Anthony Davis is an interesting one. Malone was as tough as they come, and AD doesn&rsquo;t really have that type of reputation. That said, AD is a superior offensive player and one who can score from almost anywhere. I&rsquo;d definitely want to see how The Brow managed to hold his own against The Mailman.
At center, I&rsquo;d take Shaq and Joel Embiid to go at it. Embiid reminds me of Shaq a little just because he&rsquo;s so dominant, but so agile. Because Shaq was so strong, people really don&rsquo;t give him the credit he deserves for being a great defender (when he tried) and for being able to move without the ball and see his teammates.
For my two wildcards, so to speak, I&rsquo;d want to cross-match Kevin Durant and Larry Bird and Steph Curry and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Durant and Curry are probably the superior talents, but Bird never saw a challenge he couldn&rsquo;t meet. He also never saw a player quite like KD, though, so it&rsquo;d be interesting. Curry would obviously have to be in this matchup, and the reason I&rsquo;d pick Abdul-Rauf is mainly because I think he&rsquo;s someone who isn&rsquo;t talked about enough. He definitely wasn&rsquo;t on the level of Steph, but he was a great scorer and someone who could control a game. And even if Steph was lighting him up, he wouldn&rsquo;t be asking for any double-team. If Abdul-Rauf played in this generation, I think his entire career would have been different.
So that would be my ultimate pickup game:
Isiah Thomas, Reggie Miller, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, Larry Bird and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf vs. Chris Paul, James Harden, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry.
Just writing out those names for the new-school team makes me wonder how on earth the old-school team would be able to stop them from scoring&hellip; But I think Isiah, MJ, Malone and Shaq would band together to find a way&hellip; Or at least go down swinging. Probably literally, too.
The game has definitely changed. Some people may like the changes, some may not. Either way, one thing is for sure: no matter what era you&rsquo;re from, it&rsquo;s not easy to succeed in the NBA. We all deserve each other&rsquo;s respect, and whether or not you agree with Oak and his assessment of Giannis, we can&rsquo;t take away the fact that the Greek Freak is the reigning Finals MVP.
Whether in 1980 or 2021, that trophy has always carried the same weight. That&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;d challenge my old-schoolers to always keep in mind.
<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.&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>!

James Posey discusses the changes he's witnessed in the NBA over the last decades, and describes his ultimate pick-up game matchups.

Going back in time for a 7-on-7: NBA Stars of Today vs. Team 1990

Dirk Nowitzki wiped a tear as his No. 41 rose slowly above the court not far from the podium where the franchise icon for the Dallas Mavericks had held it together through a 20-minute speech until it was time to thank the fans.
&ldquo;I almost made it through without getting emotional,&rdquo; Nowitzki said moments before the banner-raising finale of the ceremony to retire his number after his old team's 99-82 victory over Golden State on Wednesday night. &ldquo;But you guys get me every time.&rdquo;
The concourse of Dirk Nowitzki's old home arena displayed memorabilia that fans lined up to see, and waited in some cases even longer to buy his jersey. They chanted &ldquo;MVP! MVP!&rdquo; just about every time they saw him, live or on the video boards above the court, all night.
The Mavericks were honoring Nowitzki nearly three years after he announced his retirement on the court at the American Airlines Center after the final home game of the 2018-19 season. He played one more game at San Antonio.
The 43-year-old Nowitzki played a record 21 seasons with the same franchise, beating the late Kobe Bryant's previous mark of 20 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The highest-scoring foreign-born player in NBA history led the Mavericks to their only championship in 2011 and their only other NBA Finals appearance five years before that. The big German changed the game as the best 7-foot shooter from 3-point range.
Eight players from that title team, including current Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, attended the ceremony. Kidd spoke along with Commissioner Adam Silver and owner Mark Cuban, the one-time season-ticket holder who Nowitzki remembered from his first two seasons before Cuban bought the team in 2000.
&ldquo;I've got one question,&rdquo; Kidd said, setting up a nod to the COVID-19 circumstances that are leading to 10-day contracts all over the NBA as fill-ins for players sidelined by health and safety protocols. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re giving out 10 days. You want to come back?&rdquo;
Nowitzki leaned in to his wife, Jessica, their three kids standing with them, as the banner was raised with his number, name and the years he played (1998-2019) as sparklers sprayed toward the court.
Cuban and Nowitzki's heir apparent, 22-year-old European star Luka Doncic, wore T-shirts with a picture of the baby-faced Nowitzki from his introductory news conference after getting drafted going on 24 years ago.
That was after Doncic had scored 26 points to lead the Mavericks over Stephen Curry and the Warriors, who went into the game with the NBA's best record and are now tied at 29-8 with Phoenix.
&ldquo;A night you&rsquo;ll never forget,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;The Warriors are one of the best teams in the world right now and we did an amazing job. And after that was even more special. To be there in the front row to see that, it was special.&rdquo;
The accolades aren't quite finished for Nowitzki, who helps the club as a consultant and has part of a street near the arena named after him. Nowitzki said during a news conference a day before the jersey retirement that he had just spent time in Chicago with the artist commissioned for a statue that will stand outside the facility.
Cuban unveiled a miniature preview of that statue, which will commemorate Nowitzki's signature one-legged fadeaway jumper. There are already silhouettes of the shot on each end of Dallas' home court.
&ldquo;This is because of who you are, what you&rsquo;ve done and we always want to recognize greatness,&rdquo; Cuban said.
Nowitzki is sixth on the career scoring list with 31,560 points, and the 14-time All-Star also leads the Mavericks in career 3s, rebounds and blocks.
The 2007 NBA MVP and 2011 Finals MVP is the fourth Dallas player to have his number retired after Brad Davis, Rolando Blackman and Derek Harper.
Holger Geschwindner, who discovered Nowitzki in Wurzburg, Germany, and mentored him throughout his career, sat next to Nowitzki's family, not far from Silver on one side of the lectern. Part of the Dallas symphony was on the other side.
&ldquo;You're somebody who's been a pioneer for international players,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;So many players on the court tonight grew up watching you. International players used to be something different in this league.&rdquo;

The Mavericks honored Nowitzki nearly three years after he announced his retirement on the court in Dallas.

Mavs retire Dirk Nowitzki's 41 after win over Warriors

The epitome of pride and accountability, Patrick Ewing would sit in his locker stall with enough ice wrapped around his body that he could&rsquo;ve been mistaken for a snowman.&nbsp;
Whether it was winning a championship or toppling his team&rsquo;s foes, Ewing made a lot of promises and wrote a lot of checks. He was mostly able to cash them, but the big fella would always take the darts when the team fell short, and proudly rejoice when it didn&rsquo;t.
Either way, he would listen, accept the criticism and, most importantly, never lose sight of the fact that he was a franchise player. More than anything else, Ewing &mdash; like Derek Jeter, Eli Manning and many of their predecessors &mdash; understood what it was to lead by example.&nbsp;
Flawed he may have been, one thing that nobody could&rsquo;ve ever questioned about Ewing was his desire to play hard, and the fact that he never once mailed-in his effort.
Ask Allan Houston, Stephon Marbury and Carmelo Anthony &mdash; being the man in New York City isn&rsquo;t easy. The uniform doesn&rsquo;t fit everyone the same way.
Perhaps not coincidentally, more than 20 years later, the Knicks are still chasing the ghosts from Ewing&rsquo;s proud regime. But even though the team hasn&rsquo;t been a true contender since Ewing was traded, it doesn&rsquo;t mean the expectations and the weight on the shoulders of the team&rsquo;s players isn&rsquo;t crushing.
Starved to the point of emaciation, the mere perception of respectability makes Knicks fans salivate. A scintilla of hope is all it takes for something like a double-overtime win in the season opener to be treated as the second coming.
Like Broadway, the lights in Madison Square Garden shine differently.
Unlike anywhere except perhaps Los Angeles, there&rsquo;s a microscope somewhere above the Empire State Building, and not every player knows how to&nbsp;live under it, much less play under it.
If Julius Randle is truly the type of player cut out to lead the New York Knicks back to where they desire to be, he&rsquo;ll have to not only be a better player, but a better leader for the franchise. &nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
As a collective, we completely discount and often overlook the extent to which psychology determines outcomes in the league. When Paul Pierce and Ray Allen got to the practice facility at 8:30 a.m. and saw Kevin Garnett already on the practice floor, dripping with sweat, it pushed them to work that much harder. They set the tone, and the rest of the team fell in line.
When LeBron James corralled his teammates for summer workouts in Miami and was in better shape than he was when he was eliminated by those same Celtics, everyone marveled at his demeanor and approach, August days or not.
Damn, this dude is a maniac.
In the NBA, there&rsquo;s a difference between being a star player and a franchise player. A star player usually has the ball in his hands at the end of a game. A franchise player is who the players look to when they're searching for their leader. They seek out the franchise player when they need answers.
So what do you think Randle&rsquo;s teammates think when, night after night, they see him pout, miss clutch free throws and argue with officials during play?
Those who don&rsquo;t know better &mdash; and it&rsquo;s safe to assume a fair amount of them don&rsquo;t considering the relative youth of the team &mdash; think that his conduct is acceptable. And it&rsquo;s not. Winners don't act like that.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LW7MAPdBklI" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Randle may have had a good argument on Nov. 30 against the Brooklyn Nets, and perhaps he did against the Celtics on Dec. 18, but getting a tech in the closing minute of a game or not getting back on defense to argue with an official is unacceptable &mdash; what is this, high school?
There&rsquo;s something said about being a professional and acting like one, and despite the Knicks winning Tuesday night&rsquo;s contest against the lowly Detroit Pistons, Randle, thus far, really hasn&rsquo;t looked the part.&nbsp;
Pressure busts pipes, but it also creates diamonds. The early-season adversity the Knicks have faced presented an opportunity for him to show maturity, grace and accountability, and thus far, he&rsquo;s whiffed. He's spent much more time complaining about things than leading his team to wins.
Across the board, the reigning Most Improved Player&rsquo;s numbers are down from last season, with his scoring (24.1 points per game last season, 19.6 this season) and his three-point shooting percentage (41.1% in 2021-22 compared to 32.2% this season) the biggest concerns.&nbsp;
But although putting up numbers and leading by example are important parts of being a franchise player, it&rsquo;s nowhere near the most important consideration. What&rsquo;s more important is how you conduct yourself &mdash; particularly when things aren&rsquo;t going your way.
Having just celebrated his 27th birthday and coming off of his first playoff appearance, Randle still has a bit of maturing to do. But when you think about the way that other great players have conducted themselves and how they&rsquo;ve responded to adversity at this point in their respective careers &mdash; when compared to the league&rsquo;s five-star players &mdash; it&rsquo;s easy to see that he&rsquo;s behind the eight ball.
Adversity hits a bit differently in New York, and to this point this season, Randle has given us reason to wonder whether he&rsquo;ll ever be able to hold it together when things crumble.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The Knicks began the season a disappointing 8-7, and back then, it was obvious that their <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/could-the-knicks-next-15game-stretch-make-or-break-the-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second batch of 15 games would</a>&nbsp;determine whether the club would replicate last season's success.&nbsp;
They followed it up by going 5-10.
Sure, COVID decimated the team&rsquo;s roster, but that challenge isn&rsquo;t unique to New York. And even at full strength, too many of the team&rsquo;s losses were due to poor effort, lack of energy and bad execution. Those shortcomings ultimately fall on the team&rsquo;s star player as much as (if not more than) its head coach.
It&rsquo;s Dec. 22 and the Knicks, at 14-17, are the 12th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Obviously, they miss RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and the team&rsquo;s platoon of rather impressive youngsters.
But you know what they&rsquo;ve missed even more?&nbsp;
A franchise player who, by example, can lead through dark tunnels.
To that end, Julius Randle has certainly left a lot to be desired.&nbsp;

The Knicks are among the NBA's biggest disappointments this season, and Julius Randle deserves his share of the blame.

As a franchise player, Julius Randle has left a lot to be desired

The Dallas Mavericks are retiring Dirk Nowitzki's No. 41 when Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors visit in January.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is expected to attend the Jan. 5 ceremony honoring the only player in league history to play 21 seasons with the same team. The ceremony will be held after the game.
The 43-year-old Nowitzki is the franchise leader in points, games, starts, minutes, rebounds, 3-pointers, free throws and blocks. The 14-time All-Star is the highest-scoring foreign-born player in NBA history. Nowitzki is sixth on the all-time list with 31,560 points.
Nowitzki retired at 40 in 2019, eight years after leading Dallas to the only championship in franchise history. Jason Kidd, the point guard on that team, is now coach of the Mavericks.
Three other Dallas players have had their numbers retired, all of them guards in Brad Davis (10), Rolando Blackman (22) and Derek Harper (12).

The Dallas Mavericks are retiring Dirk Nowitzki's No. 41 when Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors visit in January.

Mavs retiring Dirk Nowitzki's No. 41 in January when Warriors visit

From the year 2000 to the present day, New York Knicks governer James Dolan has been despised by most New York Knicks fans. I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;ll have too many people who argue that point with me, and the reasons as to why definitely vary.
First, let&rsquo;s go over the stats.
For the last 21 years, Dolan has cycled through eight front-office leaders, 14 head coaches and countless supposed &ldquo;saviors" with subpar winning percentages, all while an arms-folded Dolan was pouting on the sideline game after game. That goes without mentioning a number of lifetime bans, including beloved Knicks warrior Charles Oakley, who was the heart and soul of the franchise. The image of Oakley being accosted by Madison Square Garden security guards will probably anger Knicks fans for the rest of their days. And in addition to all of that, prior to this season, the Knicks only mustered up five playoff appearances, four winning records and one postseason series win, while recording more losses than any other NBA team for the last two decades with Dolan at the helm of the organization.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The perception was that he was a boss who doesn't seem to understand his job, but kept meddling in everyone else&rsquo;s. He never allowed the people he put in place to actually do their job, and fumbled any potential superstars signing with the Knicks who may have genuinely wanted to come to the Mecca. Further, the perception has been that he undervalues fan-favorite players when free agency arrives, and they leave as a result -- something that Knicks fans are currently praying to the basketball gods doesn&rsquo;t happen with Julius Randle.&nbsp;
But nowadays, the feeling is different in New York, as the Knicks are currently 37-29 and would be the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference if the playoffs started today. They say winning cures everything, and now we see longtime frustrated, over-emotional New Yorkers repping their Knicks and talking about their team with pride.&nbsp;
Full disclosure: I grew up a Knicks fan. My grandfather was, too. We were both passionate, emotional fans that wore our heart on our sleeve when it came to our Knicks. We took losses to heart and yelled at the television screen. We cheered when we won, and felt the Knicks were going to win the championship for many, many years. So I can relate to the emotional fans in New York. I felt their pain in years past, as well as their jubilation this season as the Knicks faithful definitely have a lot to cheer about.&nbsp;
Derrick Rose, who everyone in the NBA is rooting for, has had a comeback-of-the-year-worthy story in one of the toughest places to achieve that, New York. The same Knicks fans who booed him in his first stint are now singing his praises -- a difficult task to achieve. We actually see Derrick Rose smiling, which was definitely not the case during his first stint there.
Then you have Julius Randle, whom Charles Oakley told SiriusXM Radio &ldquo;is a better version of Zion Williamson.&rdquo; The praise doesn&rsquo;t get much higher than that.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
"Now they got a superstar" 🔊 Longtime NBA Forward Charles Oakley believes the Knicks have their centerpiece in Julius Randle <a href="https://t.co/LaUHE0rxjI">pic.twitter.com/LaUHE0rxjI</a>
&mdash; SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SiriusXMNBA/status/1388520336258334722?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

Even when the Knicks lose, they are exciting to watch. They play hard the entire game, leaving it all out on the court and giving maximum effort. It's reminiscent of the good ol' days with Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, Derek Harper, Greg Anthony, Latrell Sprewell and Larry Johnson. Those Knicks teams played with all heart, all the time.&nbsp;
And Randle, Rose, Obadiah Toppin, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Nerlens Noel, Reggie Bullock and Co. are giving maximum effort night-in and night-out,&nbsp;
So, the question now becomes: has the tide shifted in the perception of James Dolan? Does the success of the team this year erase the anger and vitriol New York fans felt for two decades due to the perceived mismanagement of Dolan? Will the &ldquo;Fire Dolan&rdquo; signs that once populated MSG read &ldquo;Dolan Is The Man!" now?
On my radio show in Washington D.C. with Dave Zirin, "<a href="http://archive.wpfwfm.org/mp3/wpfw_210506_100000collision.mp3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Collision: Sports And Politics</a>," basketball historian and NBA insider Brandon &ldquo;Scoop B&rdquo; Robinson gave us his opinion:
&ldquo;Many people thought it was a foregone conclusion that the Nets were going to be the only ticket in town. And the Knicks had different plans this season... When you look at the Knicks, and you look at Dolan specifically, Knicks fans are passionate fans and knowledgeable fans. But I think Knicks fans were, one: living in the past, and two: did not have the accoutrement to make them happy to be Knicks fans," Robinson said.
"I feel like they&rsquo;ve always laid the blame on Dolan because they weren&rsquo;t a good team... But now, those criticisms have quieted down quite a bit. The Knicks are a feel-good story for the NBA as a fourth-place team if the playoffs started today. I think Dolan is off the hook in the eyes of Knicks fans this year, but I still do think they gotta finish what they started. I think the Knicks fans had a right to be upset, but it&rsquo;s only one year. The last time they made the playoffs was 2013, but this year, it&rsquo;s a different story, so now Knicks fans can drink cucumber water and sprout sandwiches with the crust cut off and be happy.&rdquo;&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
ESPN&rsquo;s Scoop Jackson has a very different opinion, as he told me for the purpose of this article.&nbsp;
&ldquo;To me, Dolan is not getting a pass, he&rsquo;s simply being overlooked. We all know what is happening right now with the Knicks is happening in spite of him, not because of him," Jackson said. "Real basketball people are back cheering for the Knicks because we are cheering for Thibs, Leon Rose, Worldwide Wes and Derrick Rose. All of them are underdogs in their own special way, and New Yorkers know how each one of them has been counted out by larger parts of society during parts of their careers. Any applause for Dolan (if there is any) is for him hiring Leon and Wes, and getting out of the way for one of the few times during his tenure as owner. So in a lot of our minds, Dolan&rsquo;s not even there and none of this &lsquo;New Knicks&rsquo; love has anything to do with him.&rdquo;
Elements of both opinions from the two Scoops may very well be true. And for those that don&rsquo;t know, James Dolan isn&rsquo;t only the governor of the New York Knicks, but he is executive chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden Sports and Madison Square Garden Entertainment, and executive chairman of MSG Networks. And as the companies' chairman, Dolan oversees all operations within the company and also supervises day-to-day operations of its professional sports teams -- the New York Knicks and New York Rangers -- as well as their regional sports networks, which include MSG Network and MSG Plus.
I say all that to say this: he&rsquo;s not going anywhere, whether the Knicks do well or do terrible.
But this season, the Knicks have definitely given New York plenty to cheer about.

Etan Thomas writes about his lifelong love of the Knicks and asks if James Dolan should get a pass for his previous failures.

Will the Knicks' success give James Dolan a pass? Scoop Jackson says no

When you came up in the 1990s, it&rsquo;s hard to watch the NBA today and not think about how the game was taught and played 20 or 30 years ago.
Because most people regarded me as a 3-and-D player for most of my career, one of the questions that I get most is which of the current generation of players embody the same kind of spirit and energy as guys like me, Bruce Bowen and Shane Battier.
Truth of the matter is most dudes who played the game would probably agree that the traditional 3-and-D player doesn&rsquo;t really exist anymore. Or, at the very least, they&rsquo;re completely different than they were when I was coming up.
To me, the original 3-and-D guy was Scottie Pippen. Everybody used to compare my game to his because he used his frame, size and feet to guard multiple positions and that&rsquo;s what everybody fell in love with. Eventually, though, his talent began to shine through to the point where he got more opportunities to do other things. Six championships later, Pip is a Hall-of-Famer.
I think that&rsquo;s a good way to think about most of the players who may have just been asked to simply play defense and shoot three-pointers once upon a time. Today, most teams don&rsquo;t have that luxury.
Think about teams like the Lakers, Clippers, Nets and Warriors (to name a few). They&rsquo;re so talented and so top-heavy that opposing teams might have a tough time matching up against them if they have players who only specialize in one or two things on the basketball court.
Because the game has become so free-flowing and offenses are now so equal opportunity, teams can no longer win games by having guys on the court who can only do one or two things well. This isn&rsquo;t football or baseball where a guy can get in the rotation by only specializing in one thing. The NBA is just too talented these days.
That&rsquo;s why you get to see players like Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid shine. If those guys came up in the 1990s, their coaches would have never encouraged them to shoot threes or try to take guys off the dribble. I think the same thing applies to some of my favorite role players in the league today: Marcus Smart, Patrick Beverley, Draymond Green, Kelly Oubre and Cedi Osman.
Even though none of those guys fit the traditional mold of a 3-and-D player, overall, they&rsquo;re the kinds of players that teams need to win in this league. And overall, I think less position specialization is good for the game. These five guys have been developed to become so much more than a traditional 3-and-D player, and that&rsquo;s helping to produce the high-level basketball we&rsquo;ve grown to love watching! Here's a breakdown of my favorite active role players:
Marcus Smart
What I love most about Smart is that he brings his energy and passion every single day. No days off.&nbsp;
There aren't too many players like him. The will to want to play defense -- that gets the ultimate respect. He also pays attention to the scouting report and isn&rsquo;t afraid of mixing things up and diving on the floor. For him, it&rsquo;s all about winning. Eventually, Boston began to trust him a little more and allow him to do more things, so he became way more than a 3-and-D-type player.
With the high scoring and long-distance shots, everything is about putting up numbers and getting on highlights; that's what is sexy in today's NBA. Playing defense and mixing things up and taking charges? Those things aren't really celebrated the way scoring is. Depending on the front office, they also aren't rewarded as handsomely when it comes time for contract negotiations, so the commitment to do the little things and be a guy who does the dirty work comes from a place that&rsquo;s truly about selflessness. You gotta be someone who buys into the team aspect and wants more than their individual shine. I think Smart is definitely one of those players. Love him.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/bev2_lg.jpg" alt="" width="789" height="AUTO" />
Patrick Beverley
Beverley is another player who I never get tired of watching. He&rsquo;s getting in your face, he&rsquo;s taking charges and he&rsquo;s mixing it up. Whether it&rsquo;s LeBron James or Russell Westbrook, he&rsquo;s someone who isn&rsquo;t gonna back down from any challenge and, to make things even better, he&rsquo;s basically shooting 40% from three.
At the end of the day, he&rsquo;s a tough-ass point guard, an old-school point guard. Back in the 1990s, a second-string point guard&rsquo;s job was so important because it was his responsibility to pick up full court, change the tempo of the game and control the offense until the starters get back in. When I think of solid point guards from the 1990s, I think of guys like Derek Harper, Sam Cassell and Bobby Jackson. Beverley reminds me of that type of guard.&nbsp;
Calling someone an &ldquo;old-school&rdquo; point guard is a major compliment because offenses were so structured and individual possessions were valued so much that coaches wouldn&rsquo;t entrust just any player with that kind of responsibility. It was a badge of honor to be called a point guard; you had to be a floor general who could be trusted. Pat Bev is exactly that. He&rsquo;s known for his tough defense, but he&rsquo;s also become a marksman. He gets my vote &mdash; I&rsquo;d take him on my squad any day.
Draymond Green
Not much needs to be said about Draymond. Some people credit him for helping to push the league into this era of &ldquo;position-less&rdquo; basketball because he was one of the few guys who could guard opposing bigs, outworking and outrebounding them while also handling the ball and creating offense for Steph, Klay and the rest of his teammates.
Outside of our battles in the Finals when I on the Cavs' coaching staff, I never had any personal relationship with Dray, but it&rsquo;s obvious to anyone who watches that he&rsquo;s the heartbeat of the Warriors. He makes everything go. He&rsquo;s obviously a very tough and versatile defender and he badly wants to stop guys. He does a good job of knowing player personnel and scouting reports, and he is one of the smartest players I&rsquo;ve ever been around.&nbsp;
Coming out of Michigan State, Dray had a good upbringing and a lot of pride in his game. From the moment he got his opportunity to play (he didn&rsquo;t become a starter until his third year in the league), he never let it go. A lot of guys would have pouted and been bitter after not getting immediate opportunity, but he just decided to beat everyone&rsquo;s ass.
Three championships and three All-Star appearances later, it's safe to say the Warriors wouldn&rsquo;t have become who they were if not for him.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/dray22_lg.jpg" alt="" width="785" height="AUTO" />
Kelly Oubre
If I&rsquo;m building a team, Kelly Oubre is definitely a young player I would want on my squad.&nbsp;
The Thunder had him for a second, but they probably dealt him because they wanted to give Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the keys. Even though they&rsquo;re still trying to figure some things out, I think in Golden State, and especially with Draymond, Kelly&rsquo;s game is gonna go to the next level.
When I think about Kelly and him being one of my favorite players, it makes me laugh because I remember when he was younger, I thought dude was a bit of a clown -- and I mean that with love.&nbsp;
It was crazy because he just always had his swag, even when he was barely playing. He seemed like he always wanted to bring attention to himself, even when he was really inconsistent. He&rsquo;d make one jump shot, come down the court and airball two others, but he&rsquo;d be smiling and talking trash anyway. He had his swag and confidence from Day 1.
At the end of the day, though, that kind of attitude and self-belief is what will make him successful. He&rsquo;s one of the few players who play the game with effort, passion and joy. He also does it while doing the dirty work, which I love.&nbsp;
On the real, Kelly had the swag before he deserved to, but in the years since I&rsquo;ve coached against him, I&rsquo;ve just seen him grow so much that I appreciate it, especially knowing where he came from.&nbsp;
If he sticks with the Warriors long-term, once the team gets some better chemistry and Klay returns, they have the opportunity to be a real problem.
Cedi Osman
I gotta show some love to my guy Cedi Osman out in Cleveland. I didn&rsquo;t have the chance to coach him for that long, but he embodies what I think a young player should be. He was put in a situation where the only way he could even get on the court in Cleveland was to dedicate himself to doing the little things. I mean, he was playing behind LeBron James.
Cedi came into the league being a decorated European player, but he barely played for us. Even still, his toughness and the energy that he brought was there from the beginning. He was defensively disruptive and dedicated himself to getting playing time by outhustling and outworking everybody.
What I respected most is how he just stuck with it. He would play well in practice with us, get sent to the G League, put up numbers and then come back and ride the bench. Even still, he never went against the grain and just stayed with it, stayed committed, put his head down and did his work. He was just committed, and once LeBron left, like Draymond, he took advantage of his opportunity. I see big things coming for him.&nbsp;
--
It&rsquo;s funny&hellip; I originally started thinking about which 3-and-D players I admired in the league and eventually realized that term is kinda obsolete. Today, in the NBA, we just have guys who can play. Some do different things than others, some gets more accolades than others and some just do the little things that make the biggest difference.
These are five of my favorites.

Three-time NBA champion James Posey shares his favorite role players in today's NBA and breaks down each individual's game.

Unsung Heroes: 5 of my favorite role players in today's NBA

In an exclusive interview with BasketballNews.com&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Rematch,&rdquo; former NBA player and current co-host of &ldquo;All The Smoke&rdquo; Stephen Jackson opened up about his relationship with George Floyd and how his murder set him on a path of activism, prompting him to use his voice and platform like never before.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9YOMgbyWSKU" width="100%" height="415" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Jackson spoke candidly about the pain he felt when he learned that his friend had been murdered. This wasn&rsquo;t simply another tragic murder at the hands of the police or another hashtag; this was his friend. This was very personal for him.
He reminisced about his first encounter with Floyd; they looked so similar that they started calling each other &ldquo;Twin.&rdquo; He discussed their friendship as well as the growth he saw in Floyd, who admittingly made his share of mistakes over the years in his quest to provide for his family while living in an impoverished situation with limited opportunities. But, according to Jackson, he had found a new path and was making the necessary changes to improve his life and surroundings. Jackson discussed Floyd&rsquo;s love for his daughter, Gianna, and his commitment to helping others (such as the work he was doing in his church). Jackson painted a much different picture of Floyd than the media initially did after his murder.&nbsp;
He humanized George Floyd.
Just as his friend was turning over a new leaf, his life was snatched away from him by Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, MN. Jackson went into great detail about the tears he shed, the anger he felt and the heartache he shared with the Floyd family. He vowed to be there for Gianna, who recently celebrated her first birthday without her father.&nbsp;
Here&rsquo;s a transcript of my conversation with Jackson, who detailed the entire process starting from the moment he learned the news that Floyd had passed:&nbsp;
Etan Thomas: &ldquo;Talk to me about what happened when you got the call and found out about George&rsquo;s death. Where were you? Who broke it to you? What was your immediate reaction?&rdquo;
Stephen Jackson: &ldquo;I was right here on the same couch I'm sitting on. It was probably 10:30 in the morning. I'm on the couch, sleeping with my daughter. My daughter's room is upstairs, but she doesn't like to sleep in her room because my room is downstairs. So she sleeps on the couch and watches TV, so she can be close to me. And something made me get up and come get on the couch with her. So I was laying on the couch with her that morning. And me and my girlfriend's mom talk about police brutality and all the nonsense that&rsquo;s done to Black people all the time, and she sends me videos all the time.
&ldquo;So my phone is ringing, vibrating. I look at it and I see the video from her, but I don't even correlate that this is my brother. So I'm not even thinking about George when she sent me the video. I look at it, not even putting two and two together. I'm just like, &lsquo;Oh man, they done killed another brother.&rsquo; As I put the phone down, my phone vibrates again. And I pick up the phone and I look at it and it&rsquo;s a message from my friend, Mike Dean, and it says, &lsquo;You see what they did to your twin in Minnesota?&rsquo;&nbsp;
"I went back to the video from my girlfriend's mother. And I see the video and I look in closely and see that's him on the ground and I lose it, E. I get to throwing stuff. I jumped up and scared my daughter. I'm screaming. I was hurt, bro. I was actually hurt because I saw myself in him and this is somebody who I consider my twin getting murdered by the police for the world to see. I never thought that I would see that with my own eyes -- somebody that I loved, that I consider me. I've never dealt with nothing like that, E. And so to see that, it knocked the wind out of me, honestly. It knocked the wind out of me and I just cried. I couldn&rsquo;t even get myself together for a while.&rdquo;
Thomas: &ldquo;Everybody saw the video and when I watched, I was looking at the evil in him -- in the officer, Derek Chauvin -- as he was kneeling on his neck and putting his hand in his pocket (and they say this was so he could apply even more pressure to his neck). The facial expression that he had, it was just nothing. I looked at it with my kids and I'm breaking down too. We talk about Black Lives Matter and that showed us that, to that officer and all those officers around him, our lives didn't matter at all. You don't even treat an animal like that. I mean, if everybody saw a dog being murdered like that&hellip;&rdquo;
Jackson: &ldquo;They would go crazy.&rdquo;
Thomas: &ldquo;They would go absolutely crazy. And that's the part that was so tough to me. You think that we&rsquo;ve made some kind of progress and then you see something like that, and it just knocks us all the way back. I'm feeling like, &lsquo;Wow, so what do we do now?&rsquo; And you went into work mode after that. That happened, you had your moment of grieving and feeling upset, and then you went into work mode right after that. Talk about that switch; what went into that?&rdquo;
Jackson: &ldquo;You never know what God has for you in your life. I was really upset. In the past, I had been upset that I didn&rsquo;t make All-Star games in my career. [I had been upset] for being judged for the (Malice at the Palace) brawl for having my teammates&rsquo; back and it messed up my career and all of the accolades I should&rsquo;ve gotten. I know I should have been an All-Star at least two or three times. But God works in mysterious ways. What I'm doing now, I want to be known for that. I don't even want to be known for basketball at all. I want to be known for what I'm doing now. Like I said, you never know what God has for you. Me going to Minnesota... I wanted to go down there so they wouldn't demean my brother's name. Like you&rsquo;ve said: the first thing they do when they murder one of us and try to make it look valid, they demean our character.&rdquo;
Thomas: &ldquo;Yeah, that&rsquo;s what they always do. With Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Terence Crutcher, Alton Sterling, Ahmaud Arbery and so on. They literally do it every time.&rdquo;&nbsp;
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/jax222_lg.jpg" alt="" width="671" height="AUTO" />
Jackson: &ldquo;Yup, and I wanted to go down there to let the world know who he really was. And nine times out of 10, when this happens, none of these people that get killed by the police have a celebrity to speak up for them. That's one thing that messed up Minnesota and the world: nobody expected Stephen Jackson to be considered George Floyd&rsquo;s twin. And nobody expected Stephen Jackson to put everything he had on the line for him, and fight for justice for him. While I was in Minnesota, not only did they know he had a celebrity speaking up for him, but at the time I spoke up for him, my podcast was one of the bigger podcasts in the world. I was all over ESPN and doing all of these shows. Nobody expected him to have somebody [with that kind of platform] to speak up for him.
&ldquo;When I went down there, seeing how the city of Minnesota got behind me and supported me, [that] let me know that this has been going on for a long time. I walked to the corner [and saw a woman holding a sign that said], &lsquo;His name was Hardel Sherrelle.&rsquo; His mom was standing on the corner, crying and holding signs, trying to get justice for her son just by herself. She didn&rsquo;t have no Stephen Jackson to speak up for her. So we stopped. I had all kinds of cameras following me at the time. I stopped, I put the cameras and the mics in front of her, and she tells her whole story. I ended up being the voice for her [too]. So I inherited being the voice for so many people who have been brutalized by police or by racism and never got justice. And the fact that it was a celebrity basketball player that everybody knew, that a lot of people respected and loved, all 18 countries and 50 states got behind me. And it became one of the biggest protests all at one time ever in the history of protests.&nbsp;
&ldquo;So the fact that that happened, I just dropped on my knees because I never knew God would make my life that important. It's way more important than basketball because I'm changing lives. And it sparked me to want to go to all 50 states and to let people know -- in the areas we come from -- that we care about them, that we hear them, that we have money to give and resources to help you out to try to get to a better life. And it's just God. Like I said, you never know what God has for you. It was meant for me to be in this position. It was meant for me to have a domino effect of helping people after going out there and standing up for my brother and to fight for change, and I would rather be known for what I'm doing now than anything else.&rdquo;
Later in the interview, Jackson lashed out at the media for the way they negatively portrayed his friend. He criticized attorneys like Benjamin Crump, whom he called out by name, because he feels they should fight harder for justice and less for settlements. (Although he did add that he still has respect for Crump and prays for him and hopes that the fight for justice is successful.) He also expressed his frustration with a justice system that doesn&rsquo;t hold police officers accountable for murdering innocent civilians.&nbsp;
Also, Jackson thanked celebrities such as Kyrie Irving (who purchased a house for the Floyd family), Lil Baby (who paid for Gianna's recent birthday party), Barbra Streisand (who bought Disney stocks for the Floyd family) and activist Tamika Mallory (who showed a lot of support).&nbsp;
Jackson praised the people of Minnesota for the tremendous support he received when he went there to protest for his friend. He really felt like the city embraced him and his cause, which he didn&rsquo;t anticipate. He also thanked all of the white allies, in particular, across the country who have aided him and supported him on his quest for justice.&nbsp;
Jackson is a new man. A man who has found his voice after much of the world joined him to protest the murder of George Floyd. In fact, many people were getting involved and protesting police brutality and racism for the first time (including many white people), which was likely due to Jackson&rsquo;s efforts. 
As the country awaits to hear the verdict for Derek Chauvin and the other officers involved, we can only hope and pray that justice will prevail.

Stephen Jackson opens up about his relationship with George Floyd and how his murder prompted him to speak out like never before.

Stephen Jackson on fight for George Floyd: 'It's way more important than basketball'

LeBron James will turn 36 years old in December, but you'd never know it if you saw his performance in the Los Angeles Lakers' Game 3 win over the Houston Rockets.
James dominated on both ends of the floor, finishing with 36 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 threes, 4 blocks and 1 steal while shooting 13-23 from the field (including 4-9 from three-point range).
Anthony Davis also chipped in 26 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal against the small-ball Rockets. Rajon Rondo added 21 points, 9 assists, 3 threes, 2 rebounds and 1 steal off the bench.
For Houston, James Harden and Russell Westbrook combined for 63 points, 17 rebounds, 15 assists, 6 threes and 2 steals on 24-47 shooting from the field (including 6-13 from three) in the losing effort. Jeff Green had 16 points off the bench as well.
In the fourth quarter, Davis and Robert Covington had a scary collision; Davis seemed alright, but a bloody Covington went back to the locker room for treatment. BasketballNews.com will keep you updated on both players' status as more information becomes available.
The Lakers are up 2-1 in the Western Conference semifinals series, with Game 4 on Thursday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS GAME RECAP:
LeBron James added another record to his resume as he continues his chase for a fourth career title.
Nobody has played in as many NBA playoff victories.
James scored 36 points, Rajon Rondo sparked a fourth-quarter rally and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 112-102 on Tuesday night to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.
The triumph gave James his NBA-record 162nd postseason victory, surpassing former Lakers guard Derek Fisher&rsquo;s 161.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very humbling,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something that I never dreamed of.&rdquo;
James had seven rebounds, five assists and four blocks as he helped lead the Lakers&rsquo; second-half defensive surge. The Rockets had 64 points at halftime but were held to 38 the rest of the way.
&ldquo;Nobody impacts winning more than LeBron James,&rdquo; Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s true for this season. That&rsquo;s why he should be MVP. Honestly, it&rsquo;s probably true in the history of the game. Nobody impacts winning more than LeBron James. To see him have that actual numerical statistic is just indicative of that.&rdquo;
James reached the milestone with plenty of help from Rondo, who became the first player to have at least 12 points and five assists in the fourth quarter of a playoff game since James for the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 22, 2010, according to STATS.
Rondo finished with 21 points and nine assists. He scored eight straight points during a 10-0 run early in the period that put the Lakers ahead for good. Rondo assisted on the other basket during that stretch.
&ldquo;I just took what was given,&rdquo; Rondo said. &ldquo;It started on the defensive end for me. Guys found me when I was open, and I took the shots with confidence. And I got some easy layups.&rdquo;
Anthony Davis had 26 points and Kyle Kuzma added 14. James Harden scored 33 points and Russell Westbrook had 30 for the Rockets.
Rockets forward Robert Covington was taken to the locker room after colliding with Davis in the fourth quarter. The left side of Covington&rsquo;s face hit Davis&rsquo; right arm, while Covington&rsquo;s left elbow hit Davis&rsquo; right side.
Houston coach Mike D&rsquo;Antoni didn&rsquo;t have an update on Covington after the game.
The game featured 16 lead changes and 15 ties, with neither team pulling ahead by more than six points until the Lakers took control late.
&ldquo;Too many 50-50 balls we didn&rsquo;t get, too many times we just weren&rsquo;t sharp,&rdquo; D&rsquo;Antoni said. &ldquo;We just weren&rsquo;t quick to the ball or quick to a play and it got away from us. They hit a lot of good hard shots. Tonight they got us. Next time, we&rsquo;ll see what we can do.&rdquo;
Rondo assisted on a layup by James that put the Lakers ahead with about 10 minutes remaining. Rondo then hit a 3-pointer to give the Lakers an 89-85 advantage, their largest lead to that point.
After a Houston timeout, Westbrook missed a shot and Rondo sank another 3. Rondo then stole the ball from Harden and made a layup to cap the 10-0 run.
&ldquo;Playoff Rondo is real,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;His intensity picks up. He wants to guard the best perimeter guy. ... He&rsquo;s shooting the ball very well, making the right passes. His IQ is on another level.&rdquo;
LA controlled the final period for the second straight game. The Lakers blew a 21-point lead in Game 2 but outscored Houston by 10 in the fourth quarter to win 117-109.
&ldquo;I just thought in the second half they played a little bit harder than we did," D'Antoni said. "Our legs, we were a little slow off a lot of things, especially on the defensive end. We didn&rsquo;t create enough turnovers to run.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Lakers: C JaVale McGee returned to action, playing 6 minutes, but G Dion Waiters was unavailable after both players were hurt in Game 2. Vogel said Waiters is day to day with a strained groin.
Rockets: Danuel House missed the game for what D&rsquo;Antoni said were personal reasons unrelated to COVID-19. House had scored 13 points off the bench in Game 2. ... This marked the fourth time in D'Antoni's tenure that Houston split the first two games of a playoff series. In the previous three instances, the Game 3 victor went on to win the series.
UP NEXT
Game 4 is Thursday.

LeBron James didn't look 35 years old in the Los Angeles Lakers' Game 3 win over the Houston Rockets.