Golden State Warriors

For decades, the United States dominated on the hardwood. Now, that&rsquo;s changing.
Today, the U.S. still produces some of the best players in the world and certainly has the deepest talent pool, but other countries have closed the gap considerably. International superstars have taken the league by storm.
With the success of players like Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Joel Embiid (Cameroon), Luka Dončić (Slovenia) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada), it's no surprise that people are high on international players. 
Antetokounmpo, Jokic and Embiid have combined for the last five Most Valuable Player awards, and four of the last six Defensive Player of the Year awards have gone to foreign players (Giannis and Rudy Gobert). Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship, and now Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are the reigning champs.&nbsp;
Whether it&rsquo;s the FIBA Basketball World Cup or in the NBA, international players are often beating their United States counterparts.&nbsp;
Americans have been outshined as of late, but the U.S. continues to produce some of the very best players in the world. Veteran superstars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Kyrie Irving continue to excel, while younger studs like Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, Donovan Mitchell, Zion Williamson, LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, are still realizing their full potential and could challenge the influx of international competition. However, Victor Wembanyama (France) enters the 2023-24 season as the most highly anticipated rookie since LeBron James.
Now, let's take a look at the numbers. A year ago, Basketball News&rsquo; Alex Kennedy <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/an-inside-look-at-how-international-players-are-taking-over-the-nba">talked with Troy Justice,</a> the NBA&rsquo;s vice president, head of international basketball development about the international takeover on basketball&rsquo;s biggest stages.
&ldquo;Thirty years ago, there were only 23 international players. Now, we have 121. And to be real honest, I think we're only scratching the surface in terms of not only talent identification but just the development of the game globally,&rdquo; Justice said. &ldquo;So, it's amazing.&rdquo;
Of the 537 active NBA players, 128 are from outside the United States (just under 25%). International players received 88% of the votes in the 2022-23 MVP race, with Embiid, Jokic and Antetokounmpo garnering 84% combined. Of the top-eight vote-getters, only Tatum and Mitchell were American.
And that&rsquo;s not just a one-off. You have to go back to the 2020-21 NBA season to find an American player in the top-three of MVP voting, which was Curry at third (closely followed by Giannis). The last American player to win the MVP award was James Harden in 2017-18. Interestingly, there were no international players in the top-five of MVP voting that year, although Antetokounmpo barely missed out.
Also, following that season, the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy has been very much up for grabs. Previously, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors were the perennial NBA Finals matchup and no other teams really came close. LeBron and Steph were the NBA&rsquo;s poster boys, competing for a ring every year. We hadn&rsquo;t seen an international superstar lead his team to a title since Dirk Nowitzki defeated LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in 2011.
There are many reasons for this championship diversity &ndash; with five different winners in the past five years &ndash; but a big factor is the emergence of these international juggernauts like Jokic and Antetokounmpo. However, it&rsquo;s worth noting that teams with American superstars won three-out-of-five of these championships, led by Kawhi, LeBron and Steph, respectively.
The NBA landscape is volatile and this season will be telling. Will an international player win the MVP award for a sixth-straight time? Which team will be standing after the smoke clears at the end? Can Jokic and the Nuggets repeat? Will Giannis and Dame bring another title to Milwaukee? Or will one of the other contenders win it all?
American players are no doubt still some of the best in the sport and are well ahead in terms of numbers. But, particularly at the top, international players have fully closed the gap and have begun building their own disparity.&nbsp;
Other news from around the web: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dress-to-impress-why-barbie-and-ken-are-the-hottest-couples-costume-this-halloween/ar-AA1iaTEh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie and Ken are the hottest couples costume this Halloween</a>

While the U.S. still produces some of the best NBA players in the world, other countries have closed the gap considerably.

USA vs. international basketball: Is the gap closing or opening up?

The 2023 NBA Draft could go down as a special class, with talented prospects such as Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller and the Thompson twins as well as some interesting depth pieces.
But will it ever be considered one of the best draft classes in NBA history? That remains to be seen.
Today, we're going to identify the cr&egrave;me de la cr&egrave;me of NBA draft classes.
The 2003 NBA Draft
The 2003 NBA Draft featured multiple generational talents that would come to define the NBA for the next two decades. Led by LeBron James, this class also included household names such as Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Not only did this draft have star power, it was also very deep. Twenty-seven players from the 2003 class played at least 10 seasons in the NBA: James, Wade, Anthony, Bosh, Kyle Korver, David West, Zaza Pachulia, Nick Collison, Boris Diaw, Kendrick Perkins, Leandro Barbosa, James Jones, Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich, Dahntay Jones, Steve Blake, Mo Williams, Luke Ridnour, Willie Green, Matt Bonner, Travis Outlaw, Keith Bogans, Darko Milicic, Mickael Pietrus, Sasha Pavlovic, Josh Howard and Luke Walton. This class featured nine All-Stars and plenty of quality role players.
The 1984 NBA Draft
The 1984 NBA Draft stands as a legendary class, and some might argue that it's the greatest draft of all-time. Two of the top three picks &mdash; Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon &mdash; would ultimately etch their names in the annals of basketball history and redefine greatness. In addition to Jordan and Olajuwon, players like Charles Barkley, John Stockton and Alvin Robertson showcased their immense talent as well. This class produced five Hall-of-Famers and seven All-Stars.
The 1996 NBA Draft
The 1996 NBA Draft changed the landscape of the league, heralding the arrival of future Hall-of-Famers and icons. Led by the legendary Kobe Bryant and the enigmatic Allen Iverson, this class boasted an array of talent that reinvigorated the game. This class also featured Ray Allen, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal, Ben Wallace, Stephon Marbury, Peja Stojakovic, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Antoine Walker, Marcus Camby, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Derek Fisher. The 1996 NBA Draft was deep, producing 10 All-Stars and five Hall-of-Famers. Jon Finkel recently revisited this star-studded class in his book "1996," and he <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/revisiting-the-starstudded-1996-nba-draft-kobe-bryant-ray-allen-steve-nash-allen-iverson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ran a terrific excerpt on Basketball News</a>.
The 1985 NBA Draft
The 1985 NBA Draft was certainly special. This class featured 10 All-Stars including Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, Joe Dumars, Detlef Schrempf, Xavier McDaniel, Charles Oakley, &nbsp;AC Green, Terry Porter and Michael Adams. The class also featured Arvydas Sabonis, an overseas legend and terrific Portland Trail Blazer. Like the 1996 NBA Draft, this class has the star power and depth to be considered one of the best drafts in NBA history.
The 2009 NBA Draft
While not as immediately illustrious as some of the other classes on this list, the 2009 NBA Draft proved to be a treasure trove of talent. This class exemplified the importance of patience and player development, as Stephen Curry, James Harden, Blake Griffin, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday and Jeff Teague would all go on to become All-Stars. Griffin missed his rookie year with an injury, but dominated as soon as he stepped on an NBA court. Curry battled injuries early in his career, but would become a four-time champion and two-time MVP. Harden went from being an elite sixth man to an MVP once he got the opportunity in Houston. This class also featured Brandon Jennings, Ricky Rubio, Tyreke Evans, Darren Collison, Ty Lawson, Patty Mills, Danny Green, Taj Gibson and Patrick Beverley among others.
Which class is the greatest in NBA history? <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tweet us your thoughts</a>!&nbsp;

Basketball News examines the crème de la crème of draft classes throughout NBA history.

Exploring the 5 best draft classes in NBA history

DETROIT (AP) &mdash; Mikal Bridges scored 26 points and the Brooklyn Nets moved to the verge of a playoff spot by beating the Detroit Pistons 123-108 on Wednesday night.
&ldquo;We just had to stay locked in down the stretch,&rdquo; Bridges said. &ldquo;We knew they made a big run against Miami last night, so we were expecting them to make it tough on us, too.&rdquo;
Former Pistons guard Spencer Dinwiddie shot 1 for 10 from the floor but matched his career high with 16 assists for the Nets (44-36), who won for the fourth time in five games. They need one more victory or a loss by Miami (42-37) to clinch the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Joe Harris had 18 points on six 3-pointers, all in Brooklyn&rsquo;s 47-point first quarter.
&ldquo;The ball was really moving. Spencer did a great job of facilitating,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing unselfishly and making the second pass to turn good shots into great ones.&rdquo;
R.J. Hampton had a career-high 27 points for Detroit, which has lost 22 of its last 23 games. Jaden Ivey had 23 points and 10 assists.
The Pistons trailed by as many as 19 points, but Hampton had 18 points in the third quarter to help them pull within 96-90.
&ldquo;We took a punch in the third, but I thought we really responded,&rdquo; Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. &ldquo;We had every guy doing whatever they could to try to contribute to a win.&rdquo;
However, Brooklyn was able to take advantage of Detroit&rsquo;s biggest weakness, getting enough offensive rebounds to prevent the Pistons from putting together a fourth-quarter run.
&ldquo;It came down to the little things again tonight - that&rsquo;s what always seems to be the issue for us,&rdquo; Hampton said. &ldquo;We need to take the step up from playing 42 good minutes to playing 48 good minutes. That&rsquo;s when we will win some games.&rdquo;
Brooklyn had its biggest quarter of the season in the first, but Harris missed an open 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have made it 50 points. Dinwiddie&rsquo;s 10 assists in the period were the most in the NBA this season.
&ldquo;We just had everything going and Spencer was finding everybody,&rdquo; Bridges said. &ldquo;They kept overhelping and we were able to get a lot of good looks.&rdquo;
The Nets couldn&rsquo;t keep up that pace in the second quarter, but the Pistons were only within 74-57 at the half because of six missed Brooklyn free throws. The Nets had a 35-13 edge in bench scoring in the half and had four players in double figures.
After starting 10 of 16, Brooklyn missed 13 of its next 14 3-point attempts, allowing Detroit to stay within 81-69 midway through the third quarter. Hampton led Detroit&rsquo;s rally with four 3-pointers, including a 30-footer to make it 91-87 with 59 seconds left in the third quarter.
TIP-INS
Nets: The 47-point quarter was the fourth-biggest in franchise history. The Nets had a 51-point fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics on March 3, 2020, and had 48-point quarters against the Pistons (1980) and Orlando (2022). ... The Nets are the last team to lose a home game to the Pistons, losing 130-122 on Jan. 26.
Pistons: Detroit finished the season with a 9-32 record at Little Caesars Arena, the only NBA team to win fewer than 10 games at home. Charlotte and San Antonio are next with 13 wins. ... The Pistons were down to six healthy players when Ivey limped off late in the third, but he returned from the locker room for the fourth.
WAITING FOR NEXT WEEK
Pistons coach Dwane Casey met with owner Tom Gores after the game, but he said they agreed to wait until after the season ends to make any decisions about next year. Casey is 121-261 (.317) in five seasons with the Pistons, including 80-220 (.267) in the last four years.
UP NEXT
Nets: Host the Orlando Magic on Friday before finishing the regular season with a home game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.
Pistons: Finish the season with divisional road games against the Indiana Pacers (Friday) and Chicago Bulls (Sunday). The Pistons are 1-13 against the Central Division this season.

Brooklyn needs one more victory or a loss by Miami (42-37) to clinch the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Nets beat Pistons 123-108, close in on playoff berth

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; The final night of the Big East Tournament never sounded like this before.
Tyler Kolek and No. 6 Marquette raced out to a hefty lead and didn&rsquo;t look back, beating No. 15 Xavier 65-51 on Saturday to win its first Big East championship after 18 seasons in the conference.
As the clock wound down on an historic victory by a storied program that had been longing for an elusive title, chants of &ldquo;We are, Mar-quette!&rdquo; echoed through Madison Square Garden.
&ldquo;Marquette is a special place that has had a special basketball program for a long, long time,&rdquo; coach Shaka Smart said as he accepted the trophy. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re so proud to bring a championship back to Milwaukee.&rdquo;
Kolek had 20 points and eight rebounds as the top-seeded Golden Eagles (28-6) dominated a Big East final that brought a Midwestern flavor to Midtown Manhattan.
The brash Big East player of the year, who vowed his team would prove doubters wrong before the season, shared hugs with his family and friends as confetti poured down on the Golden Eagles after the game.
&ldquo;All the moments they&rsquo;ve been through with me have led up to this moment right here,&rdquo; Kolek said. &ldquo;To share that with my high school coach, my brother, my dad, my two best friends, it&rsquo;s special. There is no better feeling.&rdquo;
Smart&rsquo;s surprising team will head into the NCAA Tournament with a nine-game winning streak. Marquette&rsquo;s first appearance in the Big East championship game resulted in one of its best performances of a scintillating season.
Kolek&rsquo;s steal and layup made it 51-27 with 14:12 left. Less than a minute later, after two offensive rebounds by the Golden Eagles, David Joplin made a corner 3 to double up second-seeded Xavier (25-9).
Joplin finished with 12 points. Kolek was selected the tournament&rsquo;s Most Outstanding Player.
Adam Kunkel scored 12 points to lead the Musketeers, who had a five-game winning streak snapped. Leading scorer Souley Boum was held to one point on 0-for-9 shooting.
&ldquo;I thought tonight there are times when their effort level and their quickness, their togetherness, their communication, it was like there were six players on defense against us,&rdquo; Xavier coach Sean Miller said. &ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t get a good shot, and that is to their credit.&rdquo;
Smart described his team&rsquo;s defense as &ldquo;violent.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Coming up here to New York, we&rsquo;ve really played for the most part very, very sticky, tough defense,&rdquo; Smart said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to need that if we want to advance in the NCAA Tournament.&rdquo;
This was the first Big East title game since the conference dropped football in 2013 to not feature any of its longstanding Northeast members.
Still, the Milwaukee school, which joined in 2005, and the Cincinnati school, which joined in 2013, filled The Garden for the first 1 vs. 2 seed Big East Tournament final in 19 years.
It looked more like a 1-16 NCAA Tournament game for a while.
Marquette jumped out to a 21-4 lead, and never relented.
&ldquo;It was huge,&rdquo; Smart said. &ldquo;And our guys played with real force to start the game.&rdquo;
During a particularly splendid 2 1/2 minutes, Stevie Mitchell swished a corner 3, Kolek came off a screen to make another 3, Kam Jones got free for a reverse layup after a nifty hesitation move on the baseline and Kolek converted a layup off a give-and-go with Oso Ighodaro.
At that point, Marquette was up 33-10 with 7:02 left in the first half and the Golden Eagles had not yet committed a turnover.
Marquette&rsquo;s only previous league tournament title was as a member of Conference USA in 1997.
Twenty-six years later, the Golden Eagles were able to clear the bench in the final minute of the Big East championship and their fans were finally able to make The Garden feel like home.
BIG PICTURE
Xavier: The Musketeers played what Miller called one of their best two-way games of the season in the semifinals Friday night against Creighton. Less than 24 hours later, they did almost nothing well. Xavier shot 34% from the field, forced only four turnovers and was held 12 points under its previous season low. The Musketeers fell to 0-2 in Big East championship games.
Marquette: Smart, who took VCU to a Final Four but never could find that consistent winning formula at Texas, guided a team picked to finish ninth in the Big East in the preseason coaches&rsquo; poll to maybe its best season since Dwyane Wade led Marquette to a Final Four in 2003. The Golden Eagles tied a school record for victories set in 1970-71.
UP NEXT
Xavier: Miller will have the Musketeers back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
Marquette: The Golden Eagles will be making their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and figure to earn perhaps a No. 2 seed.

No. 6 Marquette raced out to a hefty lead and didn’t look back, beating No. 15 Xavier 65-51 on Saturday to win its first Big East title.

No. 6 Marquette routs Xavier 65-51 to win first Big East title

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum put on a record-setting show, and made Giannis Antetokounmpo look like a genius.
Tatum scored an All-Star Game-record 55 points on his way to winning MVP honors, and Team Giannis ended LeBron James&rsquo; hold on All-Star captain supremacy by beating Team LeBron 184-175 in the NBA&rsquo;s annual showcase exhibition on Sunday night.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Jayson Tatum went OFF for an NBA All-Star Game record 27 PTS in Q3 👀 52 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST, 10 3PM<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAAllStar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAAllStar</a> | Live on TNT <a href="https://t.co/iIVsghzRk0">pic.twitter.com/iIVsghzRk0</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1627515481233186816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

Tatum had 27 points in the third quarter, another All-Star Game record for any period. He was the first pick by Antetokounmpo in the starters&rsquo; portion of the All-Star draft, and in the end, that pick proved to be the right one.
&ldquo;It means the world,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;You think of all the legends and great players that have played this game, and in all honesty, records are made to be broken. I&rsquo;ll hold it for as long as I can, but I&rsquo;m certain someone will come along in a couple years and try to break it.&rdquo;
Tatum broke Anthony Davis&rsquo; All-Star record of 52 points. He was 22 of 31 from the floor, plus had 10 rebounds and six assists.
It was James&rsquo; first loss in six times as captain. Antetokounmpo improved to 1-2 in his All-Star captaincies, and became the first captain to hoist a new trophy presented to the winners of the All-Star Game.
&ldquo;Winner, winner, chicken dinner,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said.
Donovan Mitchell added 40 for Team Giannis, which got 26 points from Damian Lillard &mdash; including the game-winner to push his team past the target score.
Jaylen Brown scored 35 points and had 14 rebounds for Team LeBron, while Kyrie Irving had 32 points and 15 assists and Joel Embiid finished with 32 points.
Lillard, the winner of the 3-point contest on All-Star Saturday Night, made eight 3s &mdash; including a halfcourt pullup in the third quarter.
&ldquo;That was the worst basketball game I&rsquo;ve ever seen,&rdquo; Team LeBron coach Michael Malone said, clearly poking fun at the defense-optional event.
The league had a ceremony before the second half to pay tribute to the three leading scorers in NBA history: No. 3 Karl Malone, No. 2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James, now the game&rsquo;s career leader after he passed Abdul-Jabbar earlier this month.
Malone and Abdul-Jabbar were brought to the stage, and then Dwyane Wade &mdash; James&rsquo; former teammate in Miami and now a part-owner of the Jazz &mdash; introduced James to bring him onto the platform.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve all been witnesses,&rdquo; Wade said. &ldquo;No matter the challenge, no matter the noise, he was relentless.&rdquo;
With the number 38,388 displayed behind him, James then raised his hand to thank the fans for their ovation, hugged Abdul-Jabbar and Malone. He didn&rsquo;t return to the game, his night ending with a right hand contusion.
He finished with 13 points, and said a chasedown block in the first half led to him getting a finger caught in the rim.
&ldquo;Precautionary reasons,&rdquo; James said.
James played a half. The game&rsquo;s other captain didn&rsquo;t play a half-minute.
Antetokoumpo drafted his team before the game, went through warmups (such as they were) and started the game as planned.
But his right wrist was wrapped, and that was an ominous sign. The injury kept him out of All-Star Saturday&rsquo;s skills event, limited him to 20 seconds in this one. He got an uncontested dunk to open the game, then took a foul and headed to the bench.
&ldquo;Whatever I have, I&rsquo;m going to give,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s who I am. That&rsquo;s never going to change.&rdquo;
As in past years, the teams played for charity, with Team LeBron raising money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah and Team Giannis for Raise the Future, which connects youth waiting in foster care with stable adults. Each team started with $150,000, with the first three quarters worth another $100,000 apiece and the All-Star Game winner getting another $150,000.
The teams were tied at 46-46 in the first quarter, and Team Giannis took the second quarter 53-46. Team Giannis also won the third quarter 59-49, and the cumulative score to that point &mdash; 158-141, Team Giannis &mdash; meant 182 would be the score to reach in the untimed fourth quarter with a target-score ending.
Team Giannis won $700,000 for its charity, and Team LeBron won $200,000.
TIP-INS
Team Giannis: Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s two points kept him the all-time All-Star scoring average leader. He&rsquo;s now averaging 25.1 points in All-Star Games, just ahead of Kevin Durant (25.0). Without that basket, he&rsquo;d average 24.9. ... Jrue Holiday took Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s spot in the starting lineup for the second half.
Team LeBron: Denver&rsquo;s Nikola Jokic, the two-time reigning MVP, became the first player to start an All-Star Game on his birthday; he turned 28 on Sunday. The only other player to appear in an All-Star Game on his birthday, the NBA said, was Larry Nance Sr. in 1989. ... Halftime lasted 42 minutes. ... Paul George started in place of James for the second half.
214 COUNTRIES
Last year&rsquo;s All-Star Game was broadcast in 215 countries; this year, it was shown in 214 countries. The omission was Russia. The NBA isn&rsquo;t showing its games in Russia and hasn&rsquo;t for nearly a year. The league suspended its business activities with Russia in March 2022, just days after that country invaded Ukraine.
REFEREES
The officiating crew of John Goble, Mark Lindsay and Michael Smith had the game.
UP NEXT
Indianapolis will play host to the next NBA All-Star weekend, set for Feb. 16-18, 2024. The city was supposed to have the 2021 game, but it was moved to Atlanta and considerably scaled down because of the pandemic.

Jayson Tatum scored an All-Star Game-record 55 points on his way to winning MVP, and Team Giannis beat Team LeBron 184-175.

Tatum scores All-Star record 55, wins MVP as Team Giannis wins 184-175

A list of 12 of the top talents in modern NBA history to have never appeared in an All-Star Game.

The 12 best modern-history players to never make an NBA All-Star team

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Saddiq Bey scored 25 points and the Detroit Pistons won in Brooklyn for the first time in nearly five years, beating the Nets 130-122 on Thursday night.
Alec Burks added 20 for the Pistons, who snapped a four-game losing streak. They were playing for the first time since giving up 150 points in a loss to Milwaukee on Monday, when they were down 49-24 after one quarter.
&ldquo;We just knew we had to start off better than that and just play better throughout the four quarters,&rdquo; said Bey, who added nine rebounds. &ldquo;So I think we were very eager just to nip that one in the bud and just keep going.&rdquo;
The Pistons took advantage of a short-handed Nets team playing the second night of a back-to-back to win at Barclays Center for the first time since April 1, 2018, ending a six-game skid. They had lost seven in a row overall to the Nets.
Kyrie Irving scored 40 points for the Nets, tying his career high and the Nets NBA record with five straight games of 30 or more. Nic Claxton added a career-best 27 and Edmond Sumner had 24.
But the Nets, who lost 137-133 in Philadelphia on Wednesday, ran out of gas in the second half, falling into a hole by allowing the Pistons to score 43 points on 65% shooting in the third quarter.
&ldquo;They have a tendency to come out in the third quarter and try to win that. We came out and we were flat,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;When you do that and you are reacting to everything, every possession, it makes it difficult.&rdquo;
The Nets lost Ben Simmons to left knee soreness in the period after he played 20 scoreless minutes.
The Pistons closed well in the third, pushing a five-point lead with 2 1/2 minutes to play into a 101-90 advantage headed to the fourth. Bey scored 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting in the period.
&ldquo;We had a big third quarter,&rdquo; Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. &ldquo;The third quarter was at one time our nemesis coming out of the locker room. I think we&rsquo;re graduating, we&rsquo;re growing into being a competitive team out of the locker room.&rdquo;
Irving tried to rally the Nets but the Pistons never let them get too close. He also scored 30 or more points in five straight games in March 2019 with the Celtics, and joined Kevin Durant, Stephon Marbury and John Williamson as the only Nets players to do it since the franchise joined the NBA.
Jalen Duren scored 17 points and Jaden Ivey and Killian Hayes each had 16 for the Pistons, who led 30-27 after one. The Nets inched ahead 59-58 at the half.
TIP-INS
Pistons: Isaiah Stewart returned after missing Monday&rsquo;s game with a sore left shoulder and had 11 points. ... Bojan Bogdanovic was held to 11 points on 4-for-15 shooting after scoring 20 or more in a career-best 10 straight games.
Nets: Seth Curry sat out with right knee soreness after scoring 32 points Wednesday, his best as a Net. ... The Nets returned home from a five-game trip and began a stretch where they play eight of nine at home. The Nets, who entered with a league-low 20 home games, leave New York just one more time in their 11 remaining games before the All-Star break, with one of their two road games at the Knicks.
ALL-STARS
With Durant and Irving selected, the Nets were the only team with two All-Star starters. They are the only Nets to be selected to start multiple NBA All-Star games, and Durant joined Jason Kidd (2002-04) and Vince Carter (2005-07) as the only ones to be selected to three in a row.

Saddiq Bey scored 25 points and the Detroit Pistons won in Brooklyn for the first time in nearly five years, beating the Nets 130-122.

Pistons beat Nets, first win in Brooklyn in almost 5 years

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Tyler Herro scored 26 points, Kyle Lowry had nine straight for Miami in the final moments and the Heat rallied to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 100-96 on Sunday.
Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler each scored 18 for Miami, which trailed by 16 in the first half. Lowry scored 17 for the Heat, the last nine of those coming in a span of 1:42 down the stretch.
Trey Murphy III had 17 for New Orleans, which got 14 points and 16 rebounds from Jonas Valanciunas. CJ McCollum scored 13 and Larry Nance Jr. added 12 for for the Pelicans.
New Orleans&rsquo; 25th turnover came on a five-second violation with 15.1 seconds left, with the Heat up by two. The Heat needed two time-outs before they could get the ball inbounds, and wound up losing a jump ball anyway with 12.2 seconds remaining.
McCollum got a good look at a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, but it rimmed out and Victor Oladipo put the game away with two free throws.
The Heat turned those 25 New Orleans turnovers into 28 points. New Orleans turned 22 Miami turnovers into 31 points.
The Heat had eight turnovers turned into 15 points in the first quarter alone, the last three coming when Devonte&rsquo; Graham intercepted a pass at midcourt and swished a 45-footer. Graham then opened the second quarter with a more conventional 3, giving him six points in a span of 22 seconds and helping New Orleans take a big lead early.
The Pelicans led by 16 points on two occasions in the first half, the last coming when Murphy had a dunk with 3:52 left. That made it 47-31, and that was still the score 2 minutes later when Herro made a 3 to begin what was a 10-0 run to end the half by the Heat.
That cut the deficit to six at halftime, and it stayed a single-digit game the rest of the way.
TIP-INS
Pelicans: Brandon Ingram (toe) missed his 28th consecutive game, but played 5-on-5 on Saturday and is &ldquo;progressing,&rdquo; coach Willie Green said. ... Zion Williamson is in his fourth season, and still hasn&rsquo;t played before fans in Miami. He has missed six of the eight Heat-Pelicans games since he entered the league, and his only time playing in Miami was Christmas 2020, when the building was empty because of the pandemic.
Heat: Some of the FTX signage is gone from the building, which is being called Miami-Dade Arena for now. The logo of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange has been removed from the playing floor. ... Dewayne Dedmon did not play for the fifth consecutive game, not including the one he missed while suspended for an Jan. 10 incident against Oklahoma City.
JUMPING WEATHER
Green had a windmill dunk during the team&rsquo;s practice in Miami on Saturday, <a href="https://twitter.com/DanielBove/status/1616890864009351168?s=20&amp;t=oq9qhuWgVSPmb3YDmwGkcw">the video captured and shared</a> by Daniel Bove &mdash; New Orleans&rsquo; Director of Sports Science and Performance. &ldquo;You get in this humidity and it warms your ligaments up a bit,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I could do the same thing in Cleveland or Detroit.&rdquo;
ANOTHER CLOSE ONE
The game was the 35th for Miami decided by eight points or less this season. The Heat are now 19-16 in such games.
UP NEXT
Pelicans: Host Denver on Tuesday.
Heat: Host Boston on Tuesday.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Tyler Herro scored 26 points, and the Miami Heat rallied to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 100-96.

Herro scores 26, Heat come from 16 down, top Pelicans 100-96

PARIS (AP) &mdash; <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">Victor Wembanyama was sitting courtside,</a> the 19-year-old French phenom and presumed No. 1 NBA draft pick watching some of the players he&rsquo;ll go up against next season.
And a guy with a French surname put on quite a show.
Zach LaVine &mdash; who said his great-grandfather was French &mdash; scored 30 points and the Chicago Bulls never trailed in a 126-108 win over the Detroit Pistons at the NBA Paris Game on Thursday.
&ldquo;Maybe the air up here was good for me,&rdquo; LaVine said.
DeMar DeRozan added 26 points for the Bulls, and Nikola Vucevic finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pistons with 25 points. Killian Hayes, the only French player on either roster, scored four points for Detroit on 2-of-13 shooting, but had a game-high eight assists.
Hamidou Diallo had 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting for Detroit, while Saddiq Bey and Jaden Ivey each scored 16 for the Pistons.
&ldquo;It was a bit frustrating to not be the winners tonight," Hayes said.
It was the capper to several days of celebrating the NBA in France, after both teams took part in clinics, touristy events like visits to the Eiffel Tower, some upscale dinners and even a private show for the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-nba-sports-detroit-pistons-rodney-mcgruder-268c20ad7406e6f162bc0dc0f5a3a410">Pistons at the Paris Opera House</a>.
And while the game counted &mdash; Chicago (21-24) stayed in 10th in the Eastern Conference and what would be the last play-in spot with the win, while Detroit fell to 12-36, the second-worst mark in the NBA &mdash; it also was no mundane middle-of-the-season regular-season matchup.
The celebrity list included NBA greats like Magic Johnson, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Tony Parker; <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-nba-sports-detroit-pistons-richard-hamilton-8002bc599b1b4e27789f6624d61de0cc">a Bulls legend and native French son in Joakim Noah;</a> the rising star that everybody can&rsquo;t stop talking about in Wembanyama; WNBA players like Gabby Williams; even Grammy winners and Formula 1 drivers.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to quite compare this to All-Star,&rdquo; <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-nba-sports-france-government-africa-efc212a60bce5820d7673a54fd4bea5b">NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said,</a> &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s the closest thing to a European All-Star Game that we have.&rdquo;
It was also a celebration of the continued strength of the international footprint on today&rsquo;s NBA game. When the Bulls and Michael Jordan &mdash; along with B.J. Armstrong, then a Bulls guard, now an NBA agent who was at the game Thursday &mdash; played in Paris during the preseason in 1997, about 1 of every 14 NBA players was born outside the U.S.
Now, that&rsquo;s about 1 in 4.
&ldquo;It is special because we&rsquo;re representing not only Detroit, but the NBA,&rdquo; Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;re trying to put the brand in a good place &mdash; in a place where basketball is taking off.&rdquo;
<a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1616197195878830089?s=20&amp;t=gIeSQODhSY64TYUk1bgQew">Wembanyama and his family</a> made their way to courtside seats about 15 minutes before tip-off, immediately attracting a huge crowd. When the camera found him and he was shown to the French fans on the big in-arena screens in the second quarter, he clapped and smiled, as did his mother seated one row back over his right shoulder &mdash; as the crowd positively roared in delight.
Both teams are flying home Friday.
&ldquo;It's great for people here in Paris to get an up-close look at the NBA," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. &ldquo;It makes you realize that the sport is followed so closely around the world. It was amazing. The place was sold out."
TIP-INS
Bulls: Derrick Jones Jr. had 12 points for Chicago, <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1616196916945031181?s=20&amp;t=gIeSQODhSY64TYUk1bgQew">including four highlight-reel dunks</a> &mdash; no surprise for a former NBA dunk champion. ... Ayo Dosunmu scored 13 for the Bulls. ... Chicago shot 54%.
Pistons: Jalen Duren had an imperfect start to the trip &mdash; he misplaced his passport &mdash; then got that settled and had a perfect shooting game, 4-for-4 from the field on his way to a 11-point, 12-rebound effort. ... Isaiah Stewart grabbed 11 rebounds.
GLOBAL GAME
The NBA has teams in the U.S. and Canada, of course, and this game in France pushed the list of nations where the league has played or practiced this season to seven.
Mexico played host to a game between San Antonio and Miami last month. The Heat also had training camp in the Bahamas, and the league went to two other countries for preseason games &mdash; Golden State and Washington played twice in Japan, while Milwaukee and Atlanta played twice in the United Arab Emirates.
ROAD TRIP
It was a &ldquo;home&rdquo; game for the Pistons, even though Paris is about 4,000 miles from Detroit. As the home team, the Pistons got to bring a slew of staffers on the trip &mdash; including some game operations workers and members of the stat crew that works at the scoring table.
James Capers, Karl Lane and Natalie Sago got sent to officiate the game. All three referees had games Saturday in the U.S., then traveled to Paris.
UP NEXT
Bulls: Host Atlanta on Monday.
Pistons: Host Milwaukee on Monday.

Zach LaVine scored 30 points and the Chicago Bulls never trailed in a 126-108 win over the Detroit Pistons.

LaVine scores 30, Bulls defeat Pistons 126-108 in Paris

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; The final play had been drawn for Bojan Bogdanovic, then Saddiq Bey suddenly found the ball in his hands with no time to think, so he just let it fly.
Bey hit a 3-pointer falling backward as time expired after Golden State's Klay Thompson tied it on a 3 with 2.3 seconds left, sending the Detroit Pistons past the Warriors 122-119 on Wednesday night.
&ldquo;It was tough, I don&rsquo;t even remember I kind of blacked out a little bit,&rdquo; Bey said. &ldquo;I had one second so I didn&rsquo;t have that much time to think, so I had to shoot it so I&rsquo;m just grateful it went in.&rdquo;
Detroit ended the injury-plagued defending champions' season-best winning streak at five. Reigning NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry missed his 10th straight game with a partially dislocated left shoulder and is set to be re-examined Saturday at the two-week mark from his last evaluation.
&ldquo;I just told the guys how proud I am of them for holding down the fort these last couple weeks,&rdquo; coach Steve Kerr said.
Bey made another key 3 late and wound up with 17 points, Bogdanovic hit his first five 3-pointers and one with 3:42 left on the way to 29 points to lead six Pistons in double figures.
&ldquo;Saddiq popped back to get open and had the presence of mind to get it off quick enough,&rdquo; Pistons coach Dwane Casey said.
Thompson secured a defensive rebound with 27 seconds left but Jordan Poole turned the ball over before the Warriors could attempt a shot. Thompson scored on a layup with 40 seconds left to pull Golden State to 117-116 then delivered again &mdash; and the Warriors appeared headed to overtime for a second straight game after holding off Atlanta 143-141 in double-OT on Monday night.
&ldquo;It never feels good,&rdquo; Thompson said. &ldquo;I thought we fought very hard tonight.&rdquo;
Extra basketball might have been welcome with an atypical severe winter rain and windstorm hitting the Bay Area to greet fans afterward.
Thompson missed his first six 3-point tries then hit two big ones down the stretch on the way to 30 points, but the Warriors couldn't make the key defensive plays late on the perimeter against Detroit's shooters. Thompson made a go-ahead dunk with 7:33 to play and finally hit his first 3-pointer with 5:15 remaining coming off his season-best 54-point performance against the Hawks.
Draymond Green was ejected with 1:24 to play for his second technical of the game.
Poole added 24 points in his seventh straight 20-point game to go with six assists and five rebounds as the Warriors dropped to 17-3 at home as their six-game winning streak at Chase Center ended.
Jalen Duren added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, coming off a 135-106 loss at Portland on Monday night.
Undermanned Golden State again demonstrated its amazing depth &mdash; Ty Jerome scored 18 points off the bench and Anthony Lamb added 17.
Lamb credited Bey for getting through the Warriors' switching defense: &ldquo;He had just enough time to get it off, a turnaround shot, a great shot by him."
Killian Hayes hit a key 3-pointer with 6:21 left and contributed 13 assists and nine points while returning to Detroit&rsquo;s starting lineup following a three-game suspension for his actions scuffling against Orlando last week.
TIP-INS
Pistons: F Marvin Bagley III missed the game after breaking a bone in his right hand. ... F Isaiah Livers went through some drills Wednesday with the training staff as he rehabs a right shoulder sprain. &ldquo;He's coming along well,&rdquo; Casey said. ... The Pistons improved to 6-17 on the road. ... Detroit had lost the last two on the Warriors' home floor and 10 of 12 before prevailing.
Warriors: Durable Kevon Looney, whose tip-in at the buzzer sealed the double-OT victory against Atlanta, played his 150th consecutive regular-season game, second-longest active streak behind Suns forward Mikal Bridges. It&rsquo;s 172 in a row for Looney including playoffs. ... Donte DiVincenzo's streak of at least one steal ended at 13 games.
&nbsp;

Saddiq Bey hit a 3-pointer falling backward as time expired, sending the Detroit Pistons past the Golden State Warriors 122-119

Bey beats buzzer with 3, Pistons beat Warriors 122-119

Since Nike made the decision to end its relationship with Kyrie Irving and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-nike-employs-adl-tactics-as-they-officially-drop-kyrie-irving-etan-thomas-torraine-walker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discontinue his signature shoe</a> after he shared the documentary "Hebrews To Negroes," many brands have reportedly reached out to his camp to attempt to lure him into joining them &mdash; Adidas, New Balance and PUMA to name a few.&nbsp;
During a postgame conference while discussing being a shoe company free agent, the lone company Irving has publicly acknowledged as a possibility was SIA Collective. In addition, he explained that he is not in a rush and wants to take his time to find the right place so he doesn&rsquo;t duplicate a similar situation as the one he had with Nike, who he referred to as &ldquo;that other brand.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;Number one, I&rsquo;m in no rush to make any business decisions right now&hellip;. I just want to take my time," Irving said on Dec. 28 after the Brooklyn Nets' win over the Atlanta Hawks. "In terms of SIA Collective &mdash; great brand, great brothers, great operation team behind the scenes. But again, I'm looking for a home where we can build a huge marketplace and I can have some ownership, and that takes time to build. So I&rsquo;m willing to stay patient, but work with people that are willing to work with me.
&ldquo;SIA Collective has been a great brand to converse with, but I don&rsquo;t want to settle with one. I think I just want to keep my options open, look for ownership and enjoy the free agency for a little bit. It&rsquo;s been a long time coming, and then, I think there are a lot of details that are going to come out in the future about what was actually going on. And I think once my platform is created, when I can do that, then we'll share that. But shout out to SIA Collective and everybody that's been recruiting me during the process. I&rsquo;m appreciative. But I&rsquo;m definitely not going to go back into a similar contract that I was in &mdash; or any type of situation or circumstance that I was in or similar to what I was at &mdash; with that other brand.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Kyrie Irving was asked about his sneaker free agency &amp; touched upon what went wrong with Nike "There are a lot of details that are going to come out in the future about what was actually going on. I'm not going to go into a similar contract I was with at the other brand" <a href="https://t.co/K8AUxOEXnh">pic.twitter.com/K8AUxOEXnh</a>
&mdash; Nets Videos (@SNYNets) <a href="https://twitter.com/SNYNets/status/1608333645558816770?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

Since then, many have been asking: Who is SIA Collective, and what are they about?&nbsp;
On <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-62-devlin-carter-talks-his-desire-to-partner-with-kyrie-irving,-owning-his-own-brand,-fashion,-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the latest episode of the The Rematch</a>, I had the opportunity to sit down with the founder of SIA Collective, Devlin Carter, who founded the company in 2019. SIA Collective, which stands for Somewhere in America, is an independent, Black-owned shoe and apparel company.
Almost immediately after Nike dropped the Nets star, Carter took to social media to make a public plea to Kyrie to sign with SIA Collective instead of Adidas or PUMA or New Balance or any of the other companies that have reached out following the Nike divorce. The main theme of his pitch is that he is open to offering Irving the very ownership that he expressed is his desire. In Carter's words: "When you have that nobody can drop you because they don&rsquo;t agree with something you do or say.&rdquo;&nbsp;
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During our interview, Carter detailed his meeting with Kyrie&rsquo;s entire team, and expressed why he feels SIA Collective would be the perfect fit for Irving.
Etan Thomas: So, you <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cly41bVvJvZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made the video</a> initially after Nike decided to essentially drop Kyrie Irving making the plea to him to consider joining SIA Collective, and the response from the video was that a lot of people in the community started tagging Kyrie in your video to try to connect you with Kyrie, so walk us through what happened after that point.
Devlin Carter: :Sure. So after I made the video, I got a DM of Kyrie&rsquo;s agent Shetellia Riley Irving saying, 'Hey, send me an e-mail at your earliest convenience.' So I sent the e-mail and they responded asking when I was available for a Zoom call. I responded, 'Whenever you guys are, I&rsquo;m open. Whatever y&rsquo;all want (laughing). We can do it right now if you want.'
"So we had it scheduled for Friday &mdash; not this Friday that just passed, but the prior Friday. So we had that set up, and in between that meeting, I also sent them a shoe that we&rsquo;ve been working on called the EVO Bounce, which is a performance basketball shoe. So I sent them some images of it. I had my photo shop guy mock it up in a Brooklyn Nets design and put a No. 11 on it. And (Shetellia) hit me right back and asked, 'When could you get us this shoe?' So I explained to them that, right now, we were in the sole process. So we&rsquo;re making the sole and adding the technology to it, but I said, 'As soon as we&rsquo;re done, I&rsquo;ll send you as many samples as you need.'"
Etan: So they had a quick response?
Carter: "Yes, and I can tell by how quickly they responded that they liked the design of the shoe. That&rsquo;s one thing that I don&rsquo;t have any issues or concerns about is my ability to design a dope looking basketball shoe for Kyrie. So then, from there, we had the meeting on the Zoom call, and it&rsquo;s me, his agent Shetellia Riley Irving, Kyrie&rsquo;s dad (Drederick) and another gentleman who is Kyrie&rsquo;s brand manager. So we&rsquo;re all on the Zoom and Shetellia is quarterbacking the call. And she tells the gentlemen to tell me about themselves, so basically, they&rsquo;re pitching me. And I&rsquo;m thinking, 'Wow, I think I should be pitching myself to y&rsquo;all.'"
Etan: Right, right, but they&rsquo;re telling you about who they are.
Carter: "Yeah. So Kyrie&rsquo;s dad &mdash; super cool, super down to earth. He&rsquo;s telling me how he worked in finance and is from the Bronx. And the brand manager told me how he started with Kyrie and (how) he used to work with Nike, but left Nike to work solely with Kyrie, and how he helps his sister (Asia) with her branding and whatnot. And Shetellia tells me how she worked at BET and launching Power 105.1 (in New York). And then, they asked me how I started, my whole background in fashion design. Then, they started pitching questions."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Etan: What were some of their questions?
Carter: "One of their questions was how long have I been doing this. They asked about my company and our sales, and I told them that I started in 2019 and we&rsquo;ve done over $40 million in sales really without any advertisement at all. I feel like spending money on advertisement doesn&rsquo;t really reach your core, and she liked that concept as well.&nbsp;
"They also asked me about technology, if I had any patents on technology. And I said, 'Right now, we actually do have a new foam that we&rsquo;re developing and it&rsquo;s just about done, so we&rsquo;ll be putting a patent on that.' But then, I was just honest with them and said, 'Listen, no matter what technology I design and I patent, (China companies) are going to steal it if they want to steal it; they steal Nike&rsquo;s stuff all the time. That&rsquo;s just the way it works. But I told (Irving's team) one thing you will not have to worry about is technology, and whatever he wants his shoe to feel like and whatever he wants in there, we can do it.&nbsp;
"Here&rsquo;s the thing &mdash; these avenues and all of this stuff have never been open to us. Because an athlete has always been just an endorser. So Nike&rsquo;s not going to take you to their factories and say, &ldquo;Yeah, this is where we get our air cushion and 'This is this and this is that, this is such and such who runs the factory and you can e-mail him at any time with any adjustments you want to make.' They&rsquo;re not going to want to give you that level of say in your signature shoe. They&rsquo;re going to keep that gate closed to you."
Etan: Right, and that was actually a thing because Kyrie reportedly wanted a say in the design of his shoe at Nike.
Carter: "Right, and I told them, 'I can open that gate for you.' My whole pitch with them at the end of the day was... I said, 'Listen, I&rsquo;m not doing this for the money. I&rsquo;m set for life. I own real estate, I&rsquo;m good, my kids are good. I&rsquo;m not doing it for that. I&rsquo;m doing this for the message that it sends. This is transcending if we could make this happen.' And who better to do this than a player like Kyrie? Because at the end of the day, Kobe [Bryant] wanted to do something like this. He wanted to start Mamba Sports; he did not want to be signed with Nike forever because he opened his eyes and saw that there was a better way to do this &mdash; ownership vs. being an employee.&nbsp;
Etan: Interesting. I didn&rsquo;t know that.
Carter: "Yeah, and it&rsquo;s not that only Nike can do this stuff. Look at D-Wade (Dwyane Wade) with Li-Ning; their shoes are outperforming Nike&rsquo;s shoes. Nike does not possess a monopoly on superior technology or anything. Technology is simply monetary, meaning anybody can get the technology if they have the money. The shoe just needs to be a good foam, you need to have a good shank plate and a good lockdown. That&rsquo;s really all a basketball shoe really needs, but we can take it to that next level and add the extra cushion and add the extra foam and add the custom orthotics. We have the capability to do all of that. But again, because we&rsquo;ve never been privy to this information, to us, it seems so foreign."
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Etan: I posted on social media that Adidas and PUMA and New Balance have reached out to Kyrie for potential sponsorship deals, and I posted it alongside an <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-nike-employs-adl-tactics-as-they-officially-drop-kyrie-irving-etan-thomas-torraine-walker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article I wrote for Basketball News</a> called, "Nike Employs ADL tactics as it officially drops Kyrie Irving." I tagged you in it, and I saw in the comments section that a lot of other people were tagging you in as well. You responded in the comment section:
<blockquote>
If you just want an endorsement deal&hellip;..then sign with whoever will pay you the most, but as soon as you say something they don&rsquo;t agree with, it&rsquo;s goodbye. But if you really wanna make a change and create a movement &hellip;.ownership is the only way.
</blockquote>
Can you expound on that?
Carter: "Basically, that&rsquo;s saying: Once you take that check, you&rsquo;re just an employee. There&rsquo;s no power in taking that check. These are the times where you take a chance. I&rsquo;ll explain that in my own story.
"I was in the military. I had already done 11 years. Most people who serve in the military, once you pass 10 years, you don&rsquo;t get out of the military because you only need two more transfers, then you get your retirement. But in my 11th year in the military, I was doing the custom shoes. I&rsquo;m going to the post office with 10 boxes of shoes that I customized for people, making... say $4,000 off of those custom shoes that I did. I&rsquo;m in the line and I&rsquo;m looking at the mail clerk. I&rsquo;m looking dead at him and he looks miserable, and I asked myself... there&rsquo;s no way that when he was a kid, he told his mom, 'I&rsquo;m going to grow up and I&rsquo;m going to sell stamps for a living.'
"No, that&rsquo;s just what life brings you, curveballs. You do what you gotta do to make ends meet, and much respect to everyone who is in a position where they have to do that. I didn&rsquo;t want to be someone who said to my kids, 'You can chase your dreams, you can be whatever you want, but I didn&rsquo;t do it. I didn&rsquo;t chase those dreams, I stayed at a job that I really don&rsquo;t want to do, but it pays the bills, I&rsquo;m comfortable, so I&rsquo;m going to stay here.' I didn&rsquo;t choose that. I started SIA Collective. I have the freedom I have always wanted, and I have never struggled. In fact, I am making more money than I have ever made in my life.
"Now, relating this to Kyrie &mdash; you&rsquo;re already set for life. What&rsquo;s another $11 million a year &mdash; which is what Nike paid him last year &mdash; going to really do for you when you can easily make that, and much more, as an owner of your own shoe and not be muzzled? Ownership vs. being just a worker. Without ownership, if he goes to Adidas, New Balance, PUMA or whoever, it will just be the same as his Nike experience. If you say or do something they don&rsquo;t like, they&rsquo;ll drop you.
"We should encourage looking outside for answers, that&rsquo;s all Kyrie was doing. The seeking of knowledge should never be punishment, but In order to really be free, ownership is the only way, and Kyrie can have that with SIA Collective."

Etan Thomas interviews SIA Collective founder Devlin Carter about his behind-the-scenes pitch to Kyrie Irving and his team to collab.

SIA Collective's Devlin Carter details meeting with Kyrie Irving’s team

Throughout his basketball journey, Jalen McDaniels points out that he&rsquo;s always had to &ldquo;take the long route&rdquo; and work extra hard to prove that he belonged.
After being ranked 98th in his high-school class and doing a red-shirt season at San Diego State, McDaniels would ultimately slip to No. 52 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
McDaniels entered draft night with a lot of nerves and excitement, but that quickly turned to frustration and confusion as he saw the players who were getting picked ahead of him.
&ldquo;Like, I played against some of these guys in the workouts [and I&rsquo;m thinking], &lsquo;What?! How?!&rsquo; I had so many questions,&rdquo; McDaniels told Basketball News. &ldquo;Like, how?! But it&rsquo;s all good. It worked out for me, so it&rsquo;s all good.&rdquo;
McDaniels would be picked by the Charlotte Hornets, but he spent most of his rookie campaign with their G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm. In 31 games with the Swarm, he averaged 15.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.1 blocks and 1.4 threes on .443/.386/.828 shooting splits.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Playing in the G League, it just got me real confident &mdash; just letting me play through my mistakes and play a lot of minutes,&rdquo; McDaniels said. &ldquo;I was starting and playing probably 35 minutes per game and shooting the ball a lot, and through that, just building confidence, working on my game, doing stuff that me and my trainer had worked on in practice and implementing it in games. I played well down there, and it just made me real confident. That was one thing I took away from the G League: [I knew] that I could play in the NBA.&rdquo;
There's no guarantee that the No. 52 pick will even make their team's roster, much less carve out a significant role. But that's exactly what McDaniels managed to do. While his path has been frustrating at times, he believes that every step of his journey has helped him and he wouldn&rsquo;t have it any other way.
&ldquo;I embrace it, for sure. It&rsquo;s just who I am and how it&rsquo;s been for me my whole life, I feel like. It&rsquo;s nothing new to me,&rdquo; McDaniels explained. &ldquo;I just got a longer route; I don&rsquo;t know. Everybody&rsquo;s path is different. I just [had to] stick with it.&rdquo;
Now, in his fourth NBA season, McDaniels has become a key contributor for the Hornets, averaging 10.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.3 threes and a steal &mdash; all of which are career-highs &mdash; while shooting 45.6% from the field, 37.1% from three and 88.1% from the free-throw line.&nbsp;
Last month against the Boston Celtics, McDaniels had 24 points and 4 threes, while shooting 75% from the field, 66.7% from three and 100% from the free-throw line. In early December, he had a 21-point, 5-rebound performance against the Milwaukee Bucks. Then, a week-and-a-half later, McDaniels had a 21-point, 6-rebound, 3-three outing against the Detroit Pistons.
He says his confidence is at an all-time high, which has translated into a breakout campaign.
&ldquo;I feel like in Year 4, I just know a lot,&rdquo; McDaniels explained. &ldquo;I learned a lot of the game, coming from the G League, playing in a lot of games and just knowing what to expect. I feel like my game is just locked in and I know where I&rsquo;m supposed to be. And just having that confidence that I&rsquo;ve worked on everything that I&rsquo;m doing out there; I&rsquo;m not doing anything outside of my game. I&rsquo;m confident in everything that I&rsquo;m doing. And when I&rsquo;m guarding, I&rsquo;m confident that I can stop my man as well.&rdquo;
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McDaniels is referencing the offseason work that he put in with his trainer, Clint Parks.
&ldquo;I just worked on my overall game. A lot of ball-handling, learning to create my own shots, finishing, pull-ups, one-dribble moves, counters, a lot of three-point shooting and just touching up a lot of things that I&rsquo;m already good at,&rdquo; McDaniels said. &ldquo;My trainer, Clint, just keeps it real simple. It&rsquo;s a lot of reps and it&rsquo;s the same stuff. It&rsquo;s just straight-to-the-point workouts &ndash; we&rsquo;re not doing any extra stuff. We&rsquo;re just getting straight to it.&rdquo;
When asked if his success is even sweeter after taking the long route, McDaniels smiles.
&ldquo;Definitely! It&rsquo;s just a crazy feeling and you just want to have a smile on your face,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;At times, you can be negative and go into a hole, like, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m not playing well&hellip;&rsquo; and stuff like that. But you just gotta grind through that and then when you make it through, you&rsquo;re like, &lsquo;Alright, I&rsquo;m prepared; I&rsquo;m ready for anything.&rsquo; You feel like you&rsquo;re built for this. And that&rsquo;s how I feel.&rdquo;
It certainly seems as if McDaniels is built for the modern NBA. As a versatile, two-way wing who can knock down three-pointers, his skill-set is highly coveted among NBA talent evaluators.
&ldquo;My game has always been like that &ndash; in college and even in high school,&rdquo; McDaniels said. &ldquo;In high school, on the defensive end, I was able to guard little guards. In college, my coaches would have me guard the point guard, shooting guard [and so on]; I&rsquo;d guard everybody. I feel like on the defensive end, that&rsquo;s been in me for so long. Offensively, I feel like being versatile and playing multiple positions &ndash; like the 2, 3, 4 or whatever it may be &ndash; [was the result of] me working on stuff like coming off of pick-and-rolls and stuff like that, so when I&rsquo;m in a position like that, I know what to do and can make the read.
&ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;m one of those players who is versatile &ndash; you can throw me anywhere and I&rsquo;ll be fine. I feel like I can adapt well and just be a two-way player.&rdquo;&nbsp;
McDaniels knows his role and does whatever is asked of him, without trying to do too much. When asked about the keys to being a great role player in the NBA, he lights up.
&ldquo;Bringing energy, playing with a high motor and being able to change the game,&rdquo; McDaniels said. &ldquo;Defensively, you&rsquo;re in the right spots, you&rsquo;re guarding, you&rsquo;re picking up the pressure and people are feeding off of your energy. Offensively, you&rsquo;re making the right play. You&rsquo;re getting limited shots since you&rsquo;re a role player, so you&rsquo;ve gotta hit those shots and make those reads. You&rsquo;re still being aggressive, but making the right play. And being locked in, for sure. That&rsquo;s how to be a great role player, [following] all those rules.&rdquo;
By doing these things, McDaniels hopes to have a long, successful career in the league.
&ldquo;My long-term goal is to play for as long as I can &mdash; 10-15 years, you feel me?&rdquo; McDaniels said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just going out there and playing. I love the game and I love to compete.&rdquo;
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BROTHERLY COMPETITION
As middle-schoolers, people would tell Jalen and his brother, Jaden, that they were headed to the NBA.
&ldquo;People would say, &lsquo;Ya&rsquo;ll are going to the NBA!&rsquo; We&rsquo;d be like, &lsquo;Why would you say that? We&rsquo;re only in middle school!&rsquo;&rdquo; Jalen said with a laugh. &ldquo;Me and my brother would just say, &lsquo;Yeah, I guess, whatever.'&rdquo;
The brothers were gifted athletes who played multiple sports. Jalen and Jaden would compete constantly. They&rsquo;d have &ldquo;heated&rdquo; NBA 2K sessions. (&ldquo;He&rsquo;d get hot and throw the controller,&rdquo; Jalen recalls of his younger brother.) They&rsquo;d go head-to-head in various sports. Even if they were just working out or doing a shooting drill, it would quickly turn into a competition.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve always just been competitors,&rdquo; Jalen explained. &ldquo;That just came from me and my brother beating on each other in anything. Playing one-on-one football, trying to get past each other. [Playing] one-on-one basketball. Anything we did, we were just competitive. I felt like that just built us up, honestly&hellip;
&ldquo;So, when we would do AAU circuits, I feel like that competitiveness just always came out. Like [when we were] getting recruited and stuff, I feel like coaches have just always seen that.&rdquo;
While they loved battling one another, they dreamed of teaming up in the NBA.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We always used to talk about being on the same [NBA] team and how that would be crazy, throwing lobs to each other and stuff like that,&rdquo; Jalen said. &rdquo;We just always thought playing on the same team would be fun and just [with] our chemistry together, of course it would just go crazy. Yeah, that was one dream we had, for sure.&rdquo;
From a young age, Will McDaniels instilled a strong work ethic in his sons and taught them that nothing would ever be handed to them. If they wanted a new pair of shoes, they&rsquo;d have to work around the house for a week. And when his two kids dreamed of playing in the NBA, he&rsquo;d say, &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve gotta work to get there. It&rsquo;s not just gonna be given to you.&rdquo;&nbsp;
ESPN listed Jalen as a three-star recruit when he was in high school, while Jaden would later be a five-star recruit and one of the top players in his high-school class. While Jalen wasn&rsquo;t a McDonald&rsquo;s All-American like his brother, his high-school experience was a crucial part of his journey because it&rsquo;s when he fell in love with the grind and became obsessed with improving.&nbsp;
&ldquo;For me, it was high school,&rdquo; Jalen said when asked when he started taking basketball seriously. &ldquo;Freshman year AAU, I just kept taking steps forward. Junior year, I started getting recruited. Then, I started working out a lot and I felt like I just started getting better, and that&rsquo;s what made me really love it. Like, okay, I see the results, so I&rsquo;m just starting to go crazy &ndash; working out after practice, before 5 a.m. when my mom could drop me off, everything. I just started falling in love with seeing myself get better.&rdquo;
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At that time, Jalen&rsquo;s favorite players were LeBron James and Kevin Durant. He&rsquo;d watch their moves on TV and then try to copy them the next day while he was in the gym with Parks, who has trained him since college.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m over here trying [their moves] in the gym and that&rsquo;s when I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Okay, I can really do some stuff!&rsquo; That built my confidence and ever since then, it just took off &ndash; just loving the game and loving being a competitor,&rdquo; McDaniels said.&nbsp;
Both brothers managed to turn their NBA dream into reality. Jalen is thriving with the Hornets, while Jaden has become an every-night starter for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jalen and Jaden have now faced off three times in the NBA, which was surreal for the brothers.
&ldquo;It was dope. Like, we&rsquo;re on the same court in the NBA in a real game! It&rsquo;s crazy!&rdquo; Jalen said, before sprinkling in some trash-talk for his little brother. &ldquo;Like, you can&rsquo;t hide! And you can&rsquo;t foul me either, like how you would in one-on-one! No, this is a real game. And you know I&rsquo;m on top, 3-0, like I&rsquo;m supposed to be.&rdquo;
After Jaden was drafted by the Timberwolves with the No. 28 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Jalen would offer his brother advice as he got accustomed to playing in the NBA.
&ldquo;When he first got to the NBA, I remember he was struggling and I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Bro, you gotta play through it. You&rsquo;re just learning. It&rsquo;s a learning curve &ndash; you just gotta get through it and stick to your routine,&rsquo;&rdquo; Jalen said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had times where he isn&rsquo;t shooting it as well and I&rsquo;m always like, &lsquo;Stick to your routine and keep shooting. You aren&rsquo;t supposed to make every shot, bro. Just shake it off and be positive about it. Because as soon as you get in your head, it&rsquo;s over with; you start doing stuff you&rsquo;re not supposed to and now you&rsquo;re messing your whole game up.&rsquo; So I&rsquo;ve just always told him to stay positive and respond better than you did last time.&rdquo;
Now, Jaden is in his third NBA season and he has become a key piece for the Wolves. He&rsquo;s averaging career-highs in points (11.5), assists (1.7), blocks (1.2), steals (1.1), made threes (1.2) and three-point percentage (38%).&nbsp;
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s doing great. Ever since high school, he&rsquo;s been skilled &ndash; super skilled &ndash; you could just see it. For him to be doing what he&rsquo;s doing in the NBA, it&rsquo;s just great,&rdquo; Jalen said of his brother. &ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s seen it coming, and he&rsquo;s just letting his game speak for itself. Every year, I feel like he&rsquo;s just gonna let more of his game come out; he&rsquo;s got so much skill. His role right now is to defend and make the right play, but when he can get that ability to really rock out, then I feel like he&rsquo;s really going to take off too.&rdquo;
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CHARLOTTE'S BRIGHT FUTURE
When Jalen looks back at how much he has improved from the start of his stint with the Hornets to now, it&rsquo;s a night-and-day difference. He recalls his first few weeks in Charlotte, when his veteran teammates would torch him in practice on a daily basis.
&ldquo;When I first got to Charlotte, I remember I was playing five-on-five and I had to guard guys like Dwayne Bacon and Devonte&rsquo; Graham. I&rsquo;m fresh in Charlotte and young, and I gotta guard Dwayne and he&rsquo;s [experienced], so he was getting buckets on me. And I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;I gotta play with him every day in practice?!&rsquo;&rdquo; Jalen said with a laugh. &ldquo;As the weeks went on, it just kept getting better and better. I feel like them dudes made me better.&rdquo;
While McDaniels&rsquo; on-court impact is obvious these days, he&rsquo;s also a positive locker-room presence. He gets along with all of his teammates, and Terry Rozier recently told <a href="https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/charlotte-hornets/article269221222.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Charlotte Observer</a> that McDaniels is "the funniest person on the team."
&ldquo;[When it comes to] getting along with guys, I&rsquo;m just a cool dude, I guess!&rdquo; McDaniels said with a laugh. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know. I don&rsquo;t have problems with nobody, I just be chilling. I bring great energy and I&rsquo;m really positive. That&rsquo;s just me...
&ldquo;[I was always funny] with my friends. I wasn&rsquo;t a class clown; I was kinda shy. But with my friends, I&rsquo;m just myself &ndash; goofy, playing around all day, talking, whatever. So when Terry said that, I already knew what he was talking about. We just be making jokes &ndash; like someone will do something and we&rsquo;ll just make eye contact, like we&rsquo;re peeping the same stuff. It&rsquo;s just funny."
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McDaniels is grateful that he entered the NBA on an up-and-coming squad with plenty of other young players whom he could relate to.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re going through the same stuff and having the same type of problems on the court, messing up. Like, bro, when we first got here, the defensive scheme and stuff like that, we were all going through it like, &lsquo;Man, this is different from college,&rsquo;&rdquo; McDaniels said.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re all the same age, so I feel like we&rsquo;re all kinda going through the same types of things in life. Just growing together, that&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s been like, to be honest. We&rsquo;re all just growing together.&rdquo;
Entering this season, the Hornets had the sixth-youngest roster in the NBA (with an average age of 24.6 years old). Jalen is one of nine players on the roster who is age-24 or younger.
The Hornets are currently 10-26, with the NBA's 30th-ranked offense and 26th-ranked defense. However, McDaniels believes that the young core has a lot of potential going forward.
"I feel like the young guys we&rsquo;ve got, we&rsquo;re growing now. Me, PJ [Washington], Cody [Martin], we&rsquo;re all in Year 4. LaMelo [Ball] is in Year 3. We all kinda came in together, and we&rsquo;re just gonna keep building, I feel like. Terry as well; he got here [in 2019]. I feel like we just gotta keep building off of that," McDaniels said.
&ldquo;I love our group&rsquo;s upside. We&rsquo;ve got great young players. I feel like we&rsquo;re building, and it can be something real special."

Jalen McDaniels opens up to Alex Kennedy about his career-year with the Charlotte Hornets and his journey to this point.

Hornets' Jalen McDaniels thriving after 'taking the long route' to NBA

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

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

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

Michael Jordan was moments away from hoisting his third of what would become five NBA Most Valuable Player awards, and then-Commissioner David Stern greeted him at the midcourt ceremony with words that were both simple and profound.
&ldquo;You are simply the standard,&rdquo; Stern said that night in 1992, &ldquo;by which basketball excellence is measured.&rdquo;
That&rsquo;s never been more true.
The NBA MVP award has been renamed The Michael Jordan Trophy, the league announced Tuesday. Jordan is a five-time MVP so he has five trophies named for Maurice Podoloff &mdash; the league&rsquo;s first commissioner. But after six decades of the award bearing Podoloff&rsquo;s name, the NBA decided the time was right to rebrand.
The Jordan trophy will stand 23.6 inches tall and weigh 23.6 pounds -- nods to his jersey number and six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls -- but is not a depiction of him. The chairman of the Charlotte Hornets approved the design, one that symbolizes someone reaching for excellence, but did not want the statue to be of himself. He also declined a request for comment through the NBA.
&ldquo;Anybody should be able to see this and see themselves in it,&rdquo; said Mark Smith, a longtime designer at Jordan Brand and the person who oversaw the trophy&rsquo;s design. &ldquo;They should feel the excellence of Michael Jordan and his pursuit. It&rsquo;s got his name on it, but it isn&rsquo;t him. It&rsquo;s everybody. It could be a shipbuilder or it could be a teacher or a lawyer or a writer who looks at it and says, &lsquo;That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m trying to do.&rsquo;&rdquo;
The league has rebranded almost all its trophies in the last two seasons, even adding some new ones. As part of Tuesday&rsquo;s announcement, the league revealed that The Jerry West Award is being introduced and will be given to the NBA Clutch Player of the Year &mdash; which, like almost all other league awards, will be voted on by a media panel. NBA coaches will nominate players for the clutch award.
Also, the Defensive Player of the Year will now receive The Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy; the Rookie of the Year will receive The Wilt Chamberlain Trophy; the Sixth Man of the Year will now receive The John Havlicek Trophy; and the NBA&rsquo;s Most Improved Player will receive The George Mikan Trophy.
&ldquo;Our new collection of trophies celebrates some of the greatest and most impactful players in the history of the NBA,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. &ldquo;As we recognize the league&rsquo;s top performers each season, we also pay tribute to the legends who embody these prestigious awards.&rdquo;
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-nikola-jokic-38e98ac99f4a71a971a5e626ef7e5209">It became evident last week that something was changing about the MVP trophy</a> when the NBA said Podoloff&rsquo;s name was going onto a new prize -- a trophy that will go to the team with the best regular season record.
The MVP trophy has many levels of numerical significance related to Jordan, besides its height and weight. It has a five-sided base, a tribute to his five MVP awards. The name badge is six-sided, one for each of his championships. The base is shaped at a 15-degree angle; he played 15 NBA seasons.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m always going to numbers and symbiology as key root DNA to make something specific and authentic for that person,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;When you start putting all these things together, there&rsquo;s only one person and it becomes very unique. Not different, but very unique.&rdquo;
Jordan was involved at every step of the design process, Smith said. The final product was a bronze trophy depicting a player &ldquo;breaking out of a rock to reach for the ultimate rock &mdash; a crystal basketball,&rdquo; the league said. The trophy becomes more refined closer to the top, meant to show how hard work leads to something more polished and finally something great.
Smith said he fully expects to be emotional when he sees the new trophy awarded for the first time this spring.
&ldquo;This is actually the highest achievement for a single player ... and it&rsquo;s mind-blowing,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be a mind-blower.&rdquo;
Other trophies renamed or reimagined in the last year or so include ones named for Joe Dumars (sportsmanship), Red Auerbach (coach of the year), the Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP award &mdash; along with the Larry O&rsquo;Brien Trophy for the NBA champions and the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP trophy.
New Eastern Conference and Western Conference championship trophies named for Bob Cousy and Oscar Robertson respectively were added, along with the Larry Bird Trophy for East finals MVP and the Magic Johnson Trophy for West finals MVP. The league also began issuing divisional championship trophies, naming them for Nat &ldquo;Sweetwater&rdquo; Clifton (Atlantic Division), Wayne Embry (Central), Earl Lloyd (Southeast), Willis Reed (Southwest), Sam Jones (Northwest) and Chuck Cooper (Pacific).

The NBA MVP award has been renamed The Michael Jordan Trophy, the league announced Tuesday.

The Jordan Trophy: NBA rebrands, redesigns its MVP award

There&rsquo;s now another trophy for NBA teams to chase.
The league announced Tuesday that the team with the best regular season record will now receive The Maurice Podoloff Trophy, named for the first commissioner of the NBA.
And that name strongly suggests that another trophy tweak is coming &mdash; since until last season, the league&rsquo;s MVP trophy was named for Podoloff. Denver&rsquo;s Nikola Jokic received the Podoloff Trophy when he won his first MVP award in 2021; when he won MVP again last season, he also received a crystal ball amid a leaguewide redesign of many trophies.
The new Podoloff Trophy has a crystal ball cut into 82 panels &mdash; a nod to the 82-game regular season &mdash; and sits atop a pedestal that combines the structures of the Eastern Conference posts and Western Conference rings.
The league also unveiled several more redesigned trophies Tuesday. The Joe Dumars Trophy for sportsmanship, The Red Auerbach Trophy for coach of the year, The Twyman-Stokes Trophy for the league&rsquo;s best teammate and the NBA Executive of the Year Trophy all have new looks. Each features an embedment inside a 15-inch crystal net structure.
&ldquo;Winning the first NBA Sportsmanship Award and being the trophy&rsquo;s namesake are among the greatest honors of my career,&rdquo; said Dumars, who is now an NBA Executive Vice President and the league&rsquo;s head of basketball operations. &ldquo;The reimagined trophies represent the enduring legacy of past recipients and are a fitting way to honor those who will continue to raise the standard of excellence in our game.&rdquo;
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The NBA today unveiled redesigned trophies for its end of season trophies. The trophies are designed in partnership with artist Victor Solomon, who previously worked with the league to redesign its trophy offerings throughout the NBA&rsquo;s 75th Anniversary Season.
&mdash; NBA Communications (@NBAPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/1600143568164691968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Last season, the league changed the look of the NBA&rsquo;s championship trophy, The Larry O&rsquo;Brien, with the golden ball atop it now tilting in a different direction than the previous version and with a rounded base instead of the square one that the trophy had for decades.
It also made design changes for many other awards, including the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP trophy along with the Eastern Conference and Western Conference championship trophies &mdash; naming them for Bob Cousy and Oscar Robertson, respectively. The league also added two new prizes last season, the Larry Bird Trophy for East finals MVP and the Magic Johnson Trophy for West finals MVP.
All the trophies handed out at All-Star weekend, including the Kobe Bryant MVP award, were also redesigned last season. The league also began issuing divisional championship trophies, naming them for Nat &ldquo;Sweetwater&rdquo; Clifton (Atlantic Division), Wayne Embry (Central), Earl Lloyd (Southeast), Willis Reed (Southwest), Sam Jones (Northwest) and Chuck Cooper (Pacific).

The league announced Tuesday that the team with the best regular season record will now receive The Maurice Podoloff Trophy.

NBA adds Maurice Podoloff Trophy for team with best record

One day before Thanksgiving &mdash; immediately after the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the San Antonio Spurs &mdash; Zion Williamson was asked an innocent question: What is your favorite dish?
&ldquo;You're trying to set me up,&rdquo; Williamson replied. &ldquo;No matter what answer I give, social media is going to clown me. So, no comment."
Williamson was smiling and many people thought the exchange was funny. However, upon reflection, it&rsquo;s a bit sad. Over the years, Williamson has dealt with so many weight-related jokes and barbs that he doesn&rsquo;t even feel comfortable broaching the topic of food.
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&ldquo;You tryna set me up&hellip;.no matter what I answer I give, social media gonna clown me. So no comment.&rdquo; Zion Williamson refused to say what his favorite Thanksgiving dish is 🤣 <a href="https://t.co/wiOVx0QCOG">pic.twitter.com/wiOVx0QCOG</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1595777133523017728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Unfortunately, what Zion said is probably true. Had he answered this question, his mentions likely would&rsquo;ve been full of rude memes and jokes about his weight.&nbsp;
Not only has Williamson&rsquo;s weight been the butt of many jokes online, but media members have also discussed his body a ton. It can&rsquo;t be easy to have so much attention focused on your weight at 22 years old, especially when your earnings are directly tied to your body.
Williamson&rsquo;s contract with the Pelicans features periodic weigh-ins and &ldquo;the sum of his weight and body fat percentage must be below 295,&rdquo; according to <a href="https://www.nola.com/sports/pelicans/article_85296674-00a5-11ed-97cb-ef28af9a5590.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christian Clark of NOLA.com</a>. If this number is above 295, the team can reduce his guaranteed money. Williamson has hired a private chef and personal trainer to meet his contractual requirements. And it&rsquo;s worth noting that he&rsquo;s not the only NBA player with a weight-related clause in his contract.
Though the Pelicans would argue that they are just trying to keep Zion healthy and protect their superstar asset, there&rsquo;s no question that these weigh-ins (plus the barrage of jokes and negativity) could take a toll on a person and potentially affect their relationship with food.&nbsp;
While there&rsquo;s no evidence that Williamson has dealt with an eating disorder (and I&rsquo;m not suggesting that he has), there are many athletes who do struggle with disordered eating.
Approximately 10 million men in the United States will suffer from an eating disorder during their lifetime, and elite athletes are nearly three times more likely to have an eating disorder, according to a study by the Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education.
For example, many boxers develop eating disorders &mdash; such as anorexia, bulimia or binge eating &mdash; since they are expected to cut weight and heavily restrict what they eat prior to fights.&nbsp;
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&ldquo;There is a misconception that eating disorders are disorders for females. The reality is that men struggle with eating disorders just like women do,&rdquo; <a href="https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2019/08/28/hidden-figures-male-athlete-eating-disorders-often-overlooked/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Erin Rubenking, the associate director and clinical care coordinator for the University of Colorado Athletic Department&rsquo;s Psychological Health and Performance program. &ldquo;It often takes men a much longer time to get help because of that.&rdquo;
Several years ago, former New York Knicks center Michael Sweetney <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2017/06/12/after-battling-depression-and-surviving-a-suicide-attempt-mike-sweetney-is-spreading-positivity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opened up to me</a> about the harassment he faced about his weight and how it affected his mental health.&nbsp;
&ldquo;When I go talk to kids, I use my life as an example. I tell them, &lsquo;Google my name. All you&rsquo;re going to see is a bunch of fat jokes and bad stuff about me. You won&rsquo;t find anything positive,&rsquo;&rdquo; Sweetney said. &ldquo;A lot of these kids get cyberbullied, so I try to use myself as an example to help them get through it. I tell them what I went through, show them [negative] articles that were written about me and make it clear that everything is going to be okay &mdash; even if they don&rsquo;t understand or believe that right now. And one thing I&rsquo;ve realized is that a lot of the people who cyberbully others are going through something themselves, and are unhappy with themselves, so they pick on other people.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never mention the person&rsquo;s name, but about a year ago, a writer reached out to me. He wrote a really bad article about me a while back &mdash; it was just terrible, going in on me and mocking my weight &ndash; and he found out that I&rsquo;d suffered from depression. He called me to apologize and said that he was suffering from depression too and he felt that picking on other people would make him feel better. I didn&rsquo;t hold any of it against him; in fact, we still keep in contact and we&rsquo;re good friends now. People go through things. But that&rsquo;s where, again, I can point to my own story and tell kids, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s not you. It&rsquo;s more likely that the other person has some issues they&rsquo;re working out.&rsquo; Fortunately, I think my talks have been helping people.&rdquo;
After Sweetney&rsquo;s father died in 2003, his depression got so bad that he attempted suicide during his stint with the Knicks.
&ldquo;I remember the night,&rdquo; Sweetney told me. &ldquo;We were in Cleveland one night and I just took a bunch of pain pills, hoping it would take me out. But I woke up the next morning thinking, &lsquo;Well, it didn&rsquo;t work.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s how bad it was. I didn&rsquo;t like basketball and I just didn&rsquo;t like life at the time... Even after I tried to commit suicide, nobody really knew. I was suffering really bad. I was in New York, battling this while the media was writing [negative] articles about me, and I felt like I had nowhere to go. I just kept digging myself into a deeper hole of depression&hellip;
&ldquo;[I] tell kids my story. You know, &lsquo;Hey, I was the ninth pick in the NBA draft &mdash; the same class as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade &mdash; and people looked at me as being a potential All-Star and whatnot. I didn&rsquo;t live up to that, and a big part of that was because of my depression. I kept digging my hole deeper.&rsquo; I try to tell these kids, &lsquo;At the first sign of depression, get help. Go talk to someone. Don&rsquo;t hold it in.&rsquo; For me, it got to the point where I was holding it in and I gained so much weight that I lost my NBA career.&rdquo;
Pointing to a more recent example, DJ Carton &mdash; who currently plays for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League &mdash; has been open about his struggles with disordered eating. While playing at Ohio State, he lost a significant amount of weight while battling an eating disorder and ultimately took a leave of absence, citing mental health issues. After the season, he transferred to Marquette and was able to resume his career.
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Most people don&rsquo;t realize that eating disorders can be deadly. Every 52 minutes, at least one person dies from issues related to an eating disorder, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Each year, 10,200 deaths are the direct result of eating disorders, as they can cause complications such as heart failure, kidney failure, pancreatitis, peptic ulcers, type-II diabetes, gallbladder disease and heart disease. Also, roughly 26% of people who are struggling with disordered eating will attempt suicide at some point.&nbsp;
Fans may think jokes or insults about an athlete&rsquo;s weight are harmless, but these barbs can have serious consequences and take a toll on someone&rsquo;s mental health.

Mocking an athlete's weight can have serious consequences. Alex Kennedy explores the prevalence of eating disorders in pro sports.

Reflecting on weight-related jokes in sports and the harm they cause

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Bojan Bogdanovic scored 22 points and the Detroit Pistons snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 110-108 win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.
The victory was the Pistons&rsquo; first on the road this season, as they had lost their previous 10. Detroit entered the night with a league-worst record of 3-15.
Former University of Colorado standout Alec Burks finished with 21 points for the Pistons, seven of which came in the fourth quarter.
After missing the past three games while in the NBA&rsquo;s COVID-19 protocols, Denver center Nikola Jokic had 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, putting him just shy of his fourth triple-double of the season. Jokic&rsquo;s playing status was uncertain in the hours leading up to tip-off, as Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said before the game that he had &ldquo;no idea&rdquo; whether the reigning two-time NBA most valuable player would play after he cleared the NBA&rsquo;s health and safety protocols.
Leading by two entering the fourth quarter, the Pistons extended their advantage to 12, 96-84, on a transition dunk from Kevin Knox II that capped off an 11-1 run.
Denver trimmed that deficit to two, 104-102, following a hook shot from Jokic. With the Nuggets trailing by three with 2.2 seconds remaining, Denver guard Jamal Murray was fouled. After Murray made his first free throw and missed the second, teammate Aaron Gordon grabbed the rebound, but missed what would have been a game-tying jumper.
It was the Nuggets&rsquo; first game since Nov. 9 in which they weren&rsquo;t missing at least one of Jokic, Murray, Gordon or Bones Hyland, four of the team&rsquo;s five leading scorers. In the five games without each of those four players, the Nuggets went 2-3 following an 8-3 start to the season.
TIP-INS
Pistons: F Saddiq Bey did not play. Head coach Dwane Casey said Monday that Bey had flown back to Detroit to receive treatment for his sprained right ankle. Bey is fifth on the team in scoring, at 14.7 points per game.
Nuggets: Malone said he doesn&rsquo;t believe veteran F Jeff Green&rsquo;s right knee contusion is &ldquo;anything too serious&rdquo;, noting that it&rsquo;s &ldquo;more of a bone bruise.&rdquo; Malone added that Green will be out for the &ldquo;foreseeable future.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Pistons: at Utah Wednesday, the fifth game of a six-game road swing.
Nuggets: at Oklahoma City Wednesday

The victory was the Pistons’ first on the road this season, as they had lost their previous 10.

Pistons snap seven-game skid with 110-108 win over Nuggets

Cementing himself within an NBA rotation for the first time in his career, Charlotte Hornets big man Nick Richards is the only active Jamaican player in the league.&nbsp;
He joins only seven others from the country to have accomplished that, including the legendary Patrick Ewing (and his son Pat), Jerome Jordan, Samardo Samuels, Omari Johnson, Rumeal Robinson and Wayne Sappleton.
He looked up to Ewing for certain, but having competed in every sport when he was growing up, Richards idolized one of his countrymen in particular.
&ldquo;Usain Bolt,&rdquo; Richards told Basketball News at last Friday morning&rsquo;s shootaround in Cleveland. &ldquo;When I was younger, I played track and field.&rdquo;
A 7-foot, 245-pound behemoth of a man, Richards is taking his opportunity to show the NBA what he&rsquo;s made of and running with it &mdash; just like his hero.
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Entering last weekend, Charlotte&rsquo;s backup big came in as the league leader in Offensive Rating (137.4) on a strikingly efficient 68.2% True Shooting percentage over a career-high 19.0 minutes per contest.
Veteran center and Hornets teammate Mason Plumlee jokingly answered for him before Richards could respond to hearing those numbers: I want some more minutes!
&ldquo;Best vet in the world (laughs). I don't know how I feel about that honestly. Maybe Mase is right?&rdquo; a grinning Richards said, leaning back in his chair courtside.
&ldquo;It feels good to get some minutes, get some reps in. The past couple of games, [I&rsquo;ve] been getting into a good flow. Just feeling good. I'm contributing to my team in a positive way. But honestly, we should be able to get more wins under our belts. We should just learn from every single game and just try to get better from every single loss that we have so far. Just locking in on details, just getting better at playing for 48 minutes. As [Hornets head coach Steve Clifford] said, we don't want to play good for [just] 30 minutes and not 48.&rdquo;
(Note: Richards now ranks third in Offensive Rating [134.8] with a slight dip to 66.2% TS. He's increased his minutes average to 19.5 per game.)
An instant-impact player with the Hornets&rsquo; second unit, Richards has been making the most of his newfound opportunity. Over the last two seasons, his playing time was sporadic, honing his skills with the Greensboro Swarm in the G League as a rookie, then, observing the guys who&rsquo;ve been in front of him in the rotation with the big club.
&ldquo;Honestly I feel like the first two years were really good, were really more important years for me,&rdquo; Richards said. &ldquo;I sat back and learned from my vets that are in front of me. Just watched them and how they play on the floor, and just try to duplicate that.&rdquo;
Richards wasted no time doing it. To start the season, he put together two double-doubles in three games, collecting a combined 39 points and 21 rebounds as Charlotte started its campaign with a 2-1 record. Over his last two contests, he's produced 24 points and 24 rebounds in total, notching back-to-back double-doubles.
To this point, Richards is putting up 18.1 points and 12.0 rebounds per 36 minutes.
&ldquo;I think [it&rsquo;s] just his approach. Being consistent in this league is hard to achieve. For him, he's really been consistent for us. And I think as a teammate, you appreciate that, the staff appreciates that,&rdquo; Plumlee told Basketball News. "Obviously he had the games earlier in the year where he had incredible numbers, and I think he'll have more games like that, but just knowing what you're gonna get every night is a sign of maturity.&rdquo;
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Nick Richards said NO 🚫 (via <a href="https://twitter.com/HornetsOnBally?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HornetsOnBally</a>)<a href="https://t.co/7vRsIlwk16">pic.twitter.com/7vRsIlwk16</a>
&mdash; Dime (@DimeUPROXX) <a href="https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1593778914496860163?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2022</a></blockquote>

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One aspect of Richards&rsquo; breakout that Plumlee enjoys is watching him take the mantle while taking a breather.
&ldquo;It makes me feel great, and for our team, it really gives us a chance,&rdquo; Plumlee explained. &ldquo;What's been fun is like... our rotation is consistent, but other teams do it differently. So to see him match up with the starting bigs too and do his thing has also been exciting.&rdquo;
Explosiveness plays a key part in Richards&rsquo; success. He is all over the glass to keep possessions alive, trailing only Steven Adams with his 16.6% Offensive Rebound percentage, <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2023_advanced.html#advanced_stats::orb_pct" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per Basketball-Reference</a>. In addition, the Kentucky alum is scoring 1.42 points per possession on putbacks, <a href="https://basketball.instatscout.com/players/476499/playtypes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to InStat</a>.
&ldquo;I can get up, but I have to load a little more," Plumlee said of Richards' athleticism. "He's quicker. He's a quicker jumper. Some of his dunks are really impressive."
&ldquo;Honestly something Coach [Clifford] has been telling me is to try to gather myself more instead of just trying to get it up there quicker. But I'll probably focus on that,&rdquo; Richards explained. &ldquo;Instead of just going straight up, you just try to gather and try to dunk the ball.&rdquo;
Asked to elaborate why Charlotte is asking Richards to use that gather more, Clifford said it had to do with him getting his shot blocked too often.
"If he gets a little bit lower, he gets his eyes up, he can read the defense better to me and still make a quick move," Clifford said. "Or, you know what they say, 'Look up and look out.' If everybody's here [in the paint], just touch the ball out sometimes too. So I think that's part of his development also."
Richards&rsquo; screening and handoff abilities are helping his teammates too. Among <a href="https://go.nba.com/gj2gb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two-man combinations that the Hornets employ</a> (min. 100 minutes), he and Terry Rozier lead the pack with a plus-20.4 Net Rating. Next is teaming up with a rejuvenated Dennis Smith Jr. (15.2), and then, the Richards-Kelly Oubre Jr. duo (7.2). There&rsquo;s also a great rapport with LaMelo Ball, though they&rsquo;ve only played three games together so far this year.
&ldquo;We have really, really good guys that play really well off the pick-and-roll. That's really what our offense is based around,&rdquo; Richards said of freeing his teammates up for good looks. &ldquo;So it's just more about knowing your role on the team and just also playing your game within that role."
"I think right now he's the 35th-best screener in the league, which is important to me," Clifford said on Friday. "I think for our team, when we get everybody back, we have three guys who have the potential to be really good pick-and-roll players, and you need a good screener. And he's a good screener and he's getting better. He's improving that way. His screening on the ball and off the ball."
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As a roller, Richards is seeing some progress as well. He is getting smarter when it comes to diving hard toward the bucket, and has begun timing his cuts at the right moments.
"I think he locks into the things that make him play well. He doesn't worry about the other things," Clifford added. "He runs, he rebounds, he brings physicality, he screens, and he's gonna develop into a good roller. And if he does those things, I think he understands that those are important skills to have in this league. It makes him unique."
As we approach the quarter mark of the NBA season, Nick Richards seems to be finding his niche, and Plumlee and Clifford both recognize that growth and potential in real time.
&ldquo;I think he's having a great year,&rdquo; Plumlee said. &ldquo;I think he's impacted the game every time he's in it, and he's impacted both ends. He's getting us second-chance points, he's defending the rim, he's running the floor hard and he's been a big boost for our bench.&rdquo;
"You look at Jarrett Allen, what's he do? He runs, he sprints to the rim, he protects the rim; he's a terrific player," Clifford said. "And I think Nick understands that he can become as good as he wants to be by getting good at those things. Those are skills that a lot of guys don't appreciate."

Spencer Davies sits down with Nick Richards to talk about his fast start with the Hornets, his incredible efficiency and more.

Nick Richards boasting solid screen skills while boosting Hornets bench

On Thursday, HBO Sports Documentaries announced an upcoming four-part documentary series called "SHAQ," which details the life and career of NBA legend Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal.
Directed by Robert Alexander and executive produced by Peter Berg, the show will give an in-depth look at O'Neal's life on and off the court &mdash; delving into his upbringing in a military family, his Hall-of-Fame career, his deepest personal relationships, his successful off-court endeavors and more.
The docuseries features interviews with O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, Dwyane Wade, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Jerry West, Dennis Scott, Brian Shaw, Derek Fisher, Rick Fox and many of Shaq's relatives.
&ldquo;We kept this documentary real from the start, and I do feel like it is the most honest look into my life and career up until this point," O'Neal said in a statement. "This process allowed me to reflect publicly in a way I haven&rsquo;t before, and I&rsquo;m so proud of the work everyone has done to put it all together.&rdquo;
Throughout the course of his 19-year NBA career, O'Neal won four NBA championships, three Finals MVP awards and an NBA MVP award. Also, he earned 15 All-Star selections, 13 All-NBA nods, a Rookie of the Year award and two scoring titles.
The Hall-of-Famer racked up 28,596 points (10th-most in NBA history), 13,099 rebounds (16th-most) and 2,732 blocks (9th-most). His popularity transcended sports and allowed him to become a cultural icon, which led to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/shaquille-oneal-on-todays-nba-salaries-im-jealous-but-happy-for-the-kids" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a ton of success away from basketball</a> as an investor, rapper, actor, broadcaster and more.
The first episode of "SHAQ" will debut on November 23, 2022 at 9 p.m. ET.&nbsp;

HBO Sports announced an upcoming four-part documentary series called "SHAQ," detailing the life and career of Shaquille O’Neal.

HBO Sports announces 'SHAQ,' a new docuseries about Shaquille O'Neal

Nekias Duncan previews the Hawks, Hornets, Heat, Magic and Wizards ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season.