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Timberwolves

The Boston Celtics raised their championship banner #18 with jubilation as they took down the New York Knicks on Tuesday night at the Boston Garden.
Members of the 2023-2024 title squad were each handed out their respective championship rings pregame. It is Boston&rsquo;s 18th NBA championship, making them the winningest franchise in league history.
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The 18th championship banner rises for the Boston Celtics ☘️👏🏽 (🎥 <a href="https://twitter.com/danield1214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@danield1214</a>) <a href="https://t.co/QQh7BguwJe">pic.twitter.com/QQh7BguwJe</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1848868309644808670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2024</a></blockquote>

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CHAMPS. ☘️💍 <a href="https://t.co/KNSqvK2gyR">pic.twitter.com/KNSqvK2gyR</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1848869435718914206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2024</a></blockquote>

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To celebrate their first title, Jayson Tatum and the rest of the Celtics ran the visiting Knicks down the court all game, earning a resounding 132-109 win. Tatum had a monster game in just 30 minutes, finishing with 37 points on 14-18 FG and 8-11 from three with 10 assists and 4 rebounds.
The Celtics as a team tied an NBA record for three pointers made in a game with 29, along with the Milwaukee Bucks who did it in 2020. Boston fully embraced coach Joe Mazzulla&rsquo;s philosophies with 61 three-point attempts, and this same formula won them a title a year ago.
Boston got everybody to contribute with Derrick White&rsquo;s 24, Jaylen Brown&rsquo;s 23, and Jrue Holiday&rsquo;s 18 proved to be too much for the new-look New York team with Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges playing their first official regular season games with the team.
The night was such a cool moment for Boston&rsquo;s sports fans as former Celtic legends Bob Cousy (who came out in a wheelchair), Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen all graced the game to see the 2024 championship banner go up next to the 17 others already in the rafters.
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FINAL SCORE: Knicks 109 - 132 Celtics Player of the Game: JAYSON TATUM 📊 37 PTS | 14-18 FG | 8-11 3PT | 10 AST | 4 REB The defending champs opened the season with a dominant home win, tying the franchise record for most threes in a game with 29 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/YVoypHD6HH">pic.twitter.com/YVoypHD6HH</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1848903456893112367?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2024</a></blockquote>

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The Boston Celtics raised their championship banner #18 with jubilation as they took down the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

Jayson Tatum, Celtics celebrate Ring Night 2024 with resounding win over Knicks

Team USA players came inside the Kerry Sports basketball facility one by one, each sporting their preferred and comfortable gear from the blazing heat of the Philippine weather they were not so accustomed to. They were about to hold their first practices in Manila for the FIBA World Cup 2023, the sport&rsquo;s world championship meet.
Anthony Edwards was one of the last ones to enter the gym along with fellow NBA no.1 overall pick Paolo Banchero. He had his Adidas Adilette comfort slides put on with black Team USA jogger pants and an Adidas triple-colored hoodie. Edwards was fixated on his phone, walking past whispering reporters onto the team&rsquo;s huddle at center court, clearly being the center of attraction for the young Team USA squad.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s who they call the Ant-Man.&rdquo;
Once upon a time, Edwards&rsquo; name was held in a much lower regard. The 22-year-old is considered to be one of the best and brightest young players in the league but has yet to establish himself as one of the staples and premier superstars with an iconic and deep playoff performance that cements him in that tier.
Until these playoffs.
Edwards has separated himself from the pack of young superstars leading their teams and entered the upper echelon of basketball royalty in the NBA. With the league anticipating the &lsquo;changing of the guard&rsquo; as current faces LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant eventually diminish their shining glories as the league&rsquo;s best of the best, Edwards comes in as one of the hopefuls to take the mantle when that inevitable day comes.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been saying that he (Edwards) is the face of the league but he hates it when I say it &ndash; but it&rsquo;s true. The future&rsquo;s so bright you gotta put the sunglasses on when you&rsquo;re walking around him,&rdquo; Karl-Anthony Towns said, in their post-game interview after their first-round series with the&nbsp;Phoenix Suns.
Edwards glanced briefly at Towns, who was beside him at the podium. He had that little smile on his face while bowing down his head as his teammate praised him in front of the listening reporters. He looked at Towns again, this time shaking his head in disbelief, but it had the element of confidence. There was obviously a focus on what Towns was talking about but with Edwards&rsquo; elite level-headedness through it all.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a young superstar in the league and you have to face it,&rdquo; the statement emphasized on Edwards as he&rsquo;s trying to soak it all in.
Ever since Edwards has been adamant about not calling himself anything until he wins in the playoffs. Now that his Wolves beat the Suns to win the franchise&rsquo;s first playoff series since 2004, Edwards certainly has all the right in the world to give himself even the tiniest bit of praise.
He thought for a good three seconds, glancing at the reporter and the horizon for a moment. He was just asked if he was now able to give himself some grace in that regard when people call him that &lsquo;young superstar&rsquo; label. A small grin emerged onto his face, clearly oozing with confidence albeit a controlled one. He looked back with that smile on his face while nodding, he said:
&ldquo;Nah, not yet a man. Not yet.&rdquo;
Behind this usual brash, confident, and charismatic Edwards is a hungry side that never gets contented and satisfied until he achieves his ultimate goal: winning a championship. Maybe he&rsquo;ll have the guts to call himself one when they reach the Finals and end up going all the way. But that remains to be seen.
He&rsquo;s got the swagger, the personality, and the charisma to be marketable by the league. Edwards mentioned wanting to go kill everybody that&rsquo;s in front of him, and boy, he did.&nbsp;
Edwards swept the Suns featuring his childhood idol and favorite player of all time Kevin Durant, who he has been jawing back and forth at several times in the series. This was him going at his childhood hero, taking on the challenge and never backing down. However, the play of the series happened in Game 4 when Minnesota was trying to put the nail in the coffin for Phoenix.&nbsp;
With 2:18 left on the clock in the 4th quarter, Edwards blew by Beal and rose through the air as high as he could. Durant made the right business decision by not going up together with a rampaging bull as he should For a brief moment, he looked like the second coming of a certain Michael Jordan &ndash; yet again &ndash; after he&rsquo;s been labeled as such throughout the course of the season after each jaw-dropping spectacular play. Edwards threw down a ferocious poster slam dunk that might have literally blown the roof over the Footprint Center as the play signaled the beginning of the end for the Suns.
Durant and Edwards will play together in Team USA in August for the Paris Olympics, and these two for sure would go head to head making their practice sessions much more interesting. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a good feeling because he&rsquo;s my favorite player of all time, and I can tell him that I was the one who sent him home. It&rsquo;s gonna be a fun summer for sure,&rdquo; Edwards said.
First game of the Western Conference Finals and up against the Nuggets, Edwards scored a playoff career-high 43 points. He dissected their entire defense, scoring in all types of ways imaginable for a superstar. Edwards hit threes, blown by some of the toughest defenders in the NBA Aaron Gordon, and hit fadeaway mid-range jumpers reminiscent of Jordan. More importantly, Edwards displayed the level of maturity a superstar has to make in the playoffs &ndash; playing off of your teammates and playmaking for the entire team. He has done it so far with relative ease and that&rsquo;s why the Timberwolves have found their early success in this postseason.
He&rsquo;s doing it against supposedly their biggest challenge &ndash; the defending champions &ndash; who sent them home a year ago. &ldquo;Last year we didn&rsquo;t have Jaden (McDaniels) and Naz (Reid) against them so it was quite frustrating. Now that we have both I think we can definitely do better,&rdquo; Edwards said about their biggest thing in this rematch series vs Denver is being healthy.
Before the season started, Edwards was this up-and-coming 22-year-old star leading his nation at the World Championships for a chance at glory. Although the Americans ended up not medalling after losing to eventual world champions Germany in the semifinals and to neighboring Canada in the third-place game, Edwards was clearly the best player on the team filled with young American talent. He led Team USA in scoring, and at 22 years old, this was only the start of a big year ahead.
Edwards then was the clear-cut best player for the third-best team in the West, with Minnesota having a 56-26 record. Those 56 wins were the most since 2004 when they had 58 and went to the Western Conference Finals. They were led back then by legend Kevin Garnett but that was also their last time seeing the playoffs.&nbsp;
20 years later, Edwards is now shouldering all the burden by taking this Wolves team back to relevance, basking in all the glory he&rsquo;s worked so hard to attain. He&rsquo;s one of the bonafide young rising superstars in the league, and he intends to take them all the way.
Edwards&rsquo; huge season and ascension to superstardom could be attributed back to something you see coming even from a mile away. And it all started in that summer lengthy yet productive summer in 2023.
While most players use their summers to recuperate, have a vacation somewhere, and spend time with families and loved ones, Edwards took a privileged yet opportunistic route: play with the National Team at the FIBA World Cup. Usually, NBA superstars all express their willingness to play with the National Team at the Olympics. For no definite reason, somehow the FIBA World Cup does not seem appealing to play for the older/senior superstar guys, so it&rsquo;s usually the juniors/young guys who represent Team USA. Anthony Edwards took up that challenge and became the best player for the team and in turn, he&rsquo;s reaping the benefits of it in the playoffs.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve put in work this summer. Big shoutout to the USA team, man. They got me ready for the season.&rdquo;
That killer mentality that Edwards has is something that&rsquo;s never seen often and has been with only a select few in the history of the game, particularly Jordan and Lakers great Kobe Bryant. Behind all that bold and tough personality, however, is a side of himself that genuinely enjoys playing with his teammates.
When asked about the prospect of having his Wolves&rsquo; teammates, the first thing out of his mouth was how he was excited to meet them while playing for their respective countries (Rudy Gobert for France, Karl-Anthony Towns for Dominican Republic, Kyle Anderson for China, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker for Canada). He looked forward to playing against them, citing how much fun he would have once it happened.
Despite his clear burgeoning superstardom, however,&nbsp; Edwards still deflected every credit thrown towards him. When asked what he feels as one of the guys being billed as one of the next faces of the league, Edwards dismissed the idea faster than a Math teacher dispersing students after giving out a tough assignment due &ndash;&nbsp; immediately answering without hesitation that he does not make anything of it.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just gonna keep working, man. I make nothing of it, yeah. I just hope that I keep getting better.&rdquo;
It was clear all along among all the people in the gym that fateful day: Edwards had the most aura out of them all. It was just oozing, something you can feel when you&rsquo;re around certain people. It&rsquo;s kind of intimidating, but only to a certain extent. You can just feel the energy brewing and that certain look when you come across one of the ones. The underlying factor before the season was Minnesota only having five national TV games all season long. With most of their games out of the eyes of the majority, Edwards assured one thing going into the season sternly and convincingly.
&ldquo;We just gonna try to keep playing, man. We&rsquo;re not really worried about the national TV games. As long as we win, we&rsquo;ll be on TV when we make it into the playoffs. The world will know about us.&rdquo;
As their playoff mantra suggests, the Timberwolves have been waiting for this moment since 2004. From the annals of the great Kevin Garnett&rsquo;s era to ushering this new one paved by superstar-in-the-making, young Anthony Edwards, the Minnesota Timberwolves have arrived.

The underlying factor before the season was Minnesota only having five national TV games all season despite having Anthony Edwards.

‘WOLVES BACK’: Anthony Edwards introduces the Timberwolves back to the world

For a team that has endured losing for almost a decade, the Minnesota Timberwolves sure are savoring the early-season success they&rsquo;re experiencing right now.
After a series of underlying factors such as bad management, poor roster construction and player fallouts, the Wolves' success has been unprecedented (and sweeter than ever).
They are currently 30-12 at the halfway point of the season, which is the best mark in the West. They are the first team in the Western Conference to reach 30 wins, trailing only the Boston Celtics for the best record in the NBA.&nbsp;
Minnesota is on a 60-win pace, and they have the easiest schedule remaining in the entire league.
They are also on pace to surpass the franchise record of 58 wins in a season, which occurred in 2004 when they were led by Kevin Garnett (the best player in franchise history), Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell.
The next goal for this Wolves team? Win their first playoff series since that 2004 season.
After two decades of struggles, what changed for the Wolves? Let's break down their turnaround.
DEFENSE
The Wolves currently have the best defense in the league by a wide margin, allowing 105.8 points per 100 possessions (the runner-up is allowing 108.3 points per 100 possessions). 
They guard opponents unlike any other team in the NBA led by three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert at the rim. Surrounding Gobert are potential All-NBA-caliber defenders at the wings in Jaden McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, Anthony Edwards and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Although their offense is still suspect and a work in progress, the team knows how to lock down the opposition.
ALL-STAR-CALIBER TRIO PLAYING WELL
The Wolves' trio of Gobert, Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns have been terrific.
The team is led by Edwards, a charismatic and burgeoning young superstar who has drawn comparisons to all-time great shooting guards Dwyane Wade (due to their similar build and playing style) and Michael Jordan (due to some eerie resemblances in their aerial capabilities, footwork and bank shots).
Edwards constantly wows the crowd with highlight-reel plays, and he gives the Wolves a true alpha, leader and closer. He's someone they can count on in the clutch, delivering when it matters the most.&nbsp;
Bruce Brown, an adversary of the Wolves during their last playoff run when he was on the top-seeded Denver Nuggets, said that Edwards was the toughest guy he had to guard all postseason. He also added that Minnesota was the toughest team that Denver faced on their way to their championship.
The Wolves followed up this praise by beating the Nuggets in November and climbing to the No. 1 seed in the West.
The 22-year-old credited his stint with Team USA in the FIBA World Cup for being able to play in a system rather than just relying on isos all the time. Edwards was the leading scorer of the USA squad that finished just fourth, but the experience was invaluable for Edwards and prepared him for the season.
Gobert is thriving once again after a down season a year ago. The 31-year-old is turning heads and serving as the anchor of the best defense in the league. He is one of the front runners for the Defensive Player of the Year award, which would be his fourth (and tie him with Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo for most all-time).
It wasn't long ago that fans were dubbing Minnesota's deal for Gobert as one of the worst trades in NBA history, but Gobert has bounced back beautifully as the front office&rsquo;s vision of playing him with Towns came to fruition.&nbsp;
Like Edwards, Towns is building off a strong stint in the World Cup and has been rock solid for the Wolves. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft is taking a backseat to Edwards for the good of the team.&nbsp; After plenty of losing seasons, Towns will do whatever is takes to win. He set his ego aside and committed to being the best second option in the league, which has had a huge impact on the Wolves.
There have been times when Towns is asked to shoulder more of the offensive load (such as when Edwards was struggling or absent) and he's stepped up in those moments. He has also been incredibly efficient, averaging 21.6 points while shooting 51.1% from the field and 43% from three-point range.
HIGH-LEVEL ROLE PLAYERS
The Wolves' trio is surrounded by quality role players, including starters McDaniels and Mike Conley. Both are nice supplementary pieces, with Conley providing stability as a floor general and shooting to space the floor and McDaniels giving them elite perimeter defense as well as spot-up shooting and occasional shot-making.
Minnesota arguably has the best eight-man rotation in the league, likely rivaled by just Boston and Denver.
In the playoffs, where rotations shrink and coaches tend to play their most trusted players, that's usually seven or eight players.
Off the bench, the Wolves have big man Naz Reid, a 6-foot-9 super scorer who&rsquo;s become a Sixth Man of the Year candidate by providing instant offense. There&rsquo;s also Anderson, a reliable Swiss army knife and point forward who is a playmaker on offense. Alexander-Walker does a little bit of everything, serving as a back-up ballhandler to Conley, lockdown wing defender and three-point shooter.
COMPETENT ORGANIZATION
A huge credit for the Wolves' success this season goes to president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, who is the engineer of this roster. His vision and willingness to swing for the fences have paid off in a major way.
Chris Finch, who was hired as the team's head coach in 2021, has done a terrific job and is currently garnering some Coach of the Year buzz for his efforts.
The same goes for new owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, who went all in and weren&rsquo;t afraid to spend for a win-now team that wants to win.&nbsp;
After years of mediocrity, the Timberwolves are finally heading in the right direction. A small-market team that has exceeded all expectations, Minnesota has been one of the feel-good stories of the season &ndash; and they are just getting started.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have the best record in the West. What has changed for the Wolves and led to this turnaround?

The Wolves are reaching new heights, and they're just getting started

Former NBA GM Pete Babcock opens up to Etan Thomas about how the media's false narratives can greatly influence NBA front offices.

Former NBA GM on how media coverage, false narratives impact players

This article was originally published on BasketballNews on July 20, 2022.
Impact Basketball's facility sits inside an unassuming section of an unassuming plaza on Dean Martin Drive in Las Vegas.
The gym contains two light-colored hardwood basketball courts with a small scoreboard, a weightlifting area, a makeshift stretching room, a kitchenette for meals and snacks and a small office. It's no place for vanities. The only flexes are the dozens of white banners hanging on the right wall, listing names upon names of distinguished players who have come through during the gym's 25 years of existence.
Among those players: Kevin Garnett, Kawhi Leonard, Chauncey Billups, Kyle Lowry, Kelsey Plum, Tayshaun Prince, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Haliburton, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Al Harrington, Kristaps Porzingis, Nassir Little, Saddiq Bey and Ziaire Williams.&nbsp;
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Kevin Garnett stopped by <a href="https://twitter.com/impactbball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@impactbball</a> and offered some advice to Blazers guard Keon Johnson, Mavericks wing Josh Green and 16-year-old prospect Dayan Nessah.<a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Abunassar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Joe_Abunassar</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinGarnett5KG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KevinGarnett5KG</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/iamkeonjohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@iamkeonjohnson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshBGreen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoshBGreen</a> <a href="https://t.co/fwRjAM2WHJ">pic.twitter.com/fwRjAM2WHJ</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1548046089877524482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Impact Basketball, founded by trainer Joe Abunassar in 1997, has a reputation for its star-studded, closed-door pickup games that take place during the NBA offseason. In the spring, it's also where some of the top NBA Draft hopefuls join Abunassar's pre-draft "boot camp" and commit themselves to an intricate world of sports training and nutrition.
The timeline is simple: arrive by April, revamp your training lifestyle and find your professional pathway &mdash; either via the NBA Draft, an undrafted free-agent deal or another contract &mdash; afterwards. The work is not flashy, isn't always fun and, if you want to stick as a pro, never ends.
But the results can change lives.
"It's not about W's or L's, it's about M's &mdash; M's being millions of dollars," said Isaac Mourier, Impact's Director of Performance Nutrition and Sport Science. "Once you say that to a guy like that, that's all they need in terms of motivation."
Mourier is a key cog in Impact's program. He's from the United Kingdom and played professional basketball in England and Germany before starting his own sports nutrition consulting business. Mourier has worked for the University of Georgia and Sacramento Kings as a nutritionist and consultant, and joined Impact in 2020 during the spring.
During his two-and-a-half years and three draft cycles with the company, Mourier has filled his laptop with infographics and progress charts for Impact athletes. They include individualized goals for each player; an example involves raising one prospect's weight by 20 pounds, lowering his body fat by 2%, increasing his bench press weight by 50 pounds and adding two inches to his vertical.
Mourier feels privileged to work with athletes at this stage of their careers. To him, the noise of team ecosystems and outside expectations all fade away. He can clearly define goals, and players know exactly what success will look like.
"This is the first time, maybe ever in their life, where they have a team of people that are only worried about them," he said. "Now, I'm just trying to get you to the NBA and keep you there. I don't care whether you win or lose games right now. This is you. All the focus is on you."
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Boot camp begins as soon as players are done with their respective prior seasons. They arrive at Impact and take part in comprehensive body testing to establish a full physical profile. The technology includes a bioelectrical impedence analysis that uses electrical currents to scan body composition. Sweat patches can read how much sodium athletes need in their system.
Variables such as blood work, stress hormone levels, nutrient deficienies, pre-workout hydration levels and post-workout hydration levels, body composition and body fat percentages all help establish a baseline of strengths and needs.
From there, each prospect receives an individualized growth roadmap. Skill development makes up one component. Players often train together in small groups, but they receive specific plans that prepare them for team pre-draft workouts and the NBA level.
"We're looking and analyzing and making assessments on the court; if guys are getting bumped off their cuts, if guys don't have enough lower-body power in their jump shot and guys seem like they need to get stronger, if guys aren't fast enough, [we'll consider], 'Okay, what do we need to do in the weight room or from a nutrition standpoint to correct that?'" Abunassar told Basketball News. "So, that's why every guy has his own program, because every guy has different goals."
Hydration and dieting are also central pieces. Mourier oversees the implementation of dietary plans through Impact's local chef connections, and says he outlines each meal, snack and supplement. Along the way are regular check-ins on body metrics, sleep schedules, mood and motivation among other factors. Mourier estimated that about 20-to-25 Impact staffers are involved with a player's development.&nbsp;
But Mourier repeatedly emphasized that the technology, food and workouts aren't what takes players to the Association. One of his most important jobs is reframing their habits and instilling discipline toward health.
"When an athlete gets to the elite level with bad habits, it's, 'Well, I'm already one of the best in the world at what I do, so why would I change?' So it's changing that mindset, and then when we've done that, it's about understanding that doing small things consistently is what gets us the results, as opposed to trying to do extreme things," Mourier said.
"The way that the structure of basketball [is] from AAU to college to the pros, a lot of the power is in the athlete's hands, where it's almost like, 'Who are you to tell me what to do?' So I think one of the main things that we have to do is cut through that barrier. And again, when our goals are the same as theirs, it becomes a little bit easier. But again, it's, 'Well, you've gotten to this level despite your bad habits. How good could you be if we instill some good habits?'"
Good habits, however, can be inconvenient and awkward. For NBA players to maintain their places in the league, they have to stick with those routines well past a pre-draft boot camp.
Dallas Mavericks wing Josh Green joined Impact's program ahead of the 2020 NBA Draft cycle. He's still entrenched with Impact today, and has been working out in Las Vegas this offseason. Part of his nutrition plan includes avoiding butter, which can be a particular hurdle when eating out at restaurants.
"I have to be the guy who requests light virgin oil, whatever it is," Green told Basketball News. "I think that's the hardest part about it. I'm about to go to Australia for three weeks, and all I'm gonna want to do is eat all the food, but I'm gonna have to stay disciplined. I want to have a big year, so my goal is focusing right now, but just taking it one day at a time."
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👀 <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshBGreen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoshBGreen</a> <a href="https://t.co/pX0fkZzCBZ">pic.twitter.com/pX0fkZzCBZ</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1547655829431525383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Green said he started prioritizing nutrition after his second shoulder surgery in April 2019. Since joining Impact, Green has been floored by how much nourishment the human body loses during workouts. He has an app that lays out meal calories and hydration plans, and his goal this offseason is to skip carbohydrates, even from snacks like a simple bag of chips.
"When you're young, whatever you see in front of you is what you want," Green said. "I [was] able to start here early and realize, if I want to play ball for a while, it's important to put the right things in my body and stay healthy. It's the same thing as seeing your physical therapist and getting treatment, if not more important for your body."
Abunassar has a plethora of stories about players who embraced the importance of nutrition at the pro level. Garnett has talked about taping his meal-plan menus on the cabinets of his Minnesota home.&nbsp; Lowry, Haliburton and Serge Ibaka are examples of guys who transformed their bodies under Impact's guidance too.
Gym time and workouts are obviously valuable, but to Abunassar, nutrition is what sparks physical development.
"The nutrition is really the basis of body change &mdash; for anybody, not even just for a basketball player," Abunassar said. "You can go to the gym every day, but if you're eating cheeseburgers and fries, you're just not going to lose weight."
Mourier has his own trail of success stories. He's worked with dozens of players, including Haliburton and Green. Zeke Nnaji, another 2020 draftee, was an especially interesting case as the only plant-based-dieting prospect Mourier has guided at Impact.
Mourier does not advise athletes to follow a plant-based diet solely for performance. However, Nnaji had chosen to be a vegan for ethical reasons, which Mourier respected, and the two worked together to create a nutrition plan despite the constraints. One of Nnaji's pre-draft goals was to add muscle, and he succeeded with rigorous attention to detail.
"He gained 20 pounds and everyone was like, 'Who the hell is this?'" Mourier said. "So that was really good, just being tactful with the timing and quantities of that stuff. And [Nnaji] was really diligent with it. He nailed every single aspect of it down to the gram... He was a really easy one. I really can't take credit for all that stuff. I just put the blueprint down and he just rolled with it."
This year, Impact has worked with several 2022 draft prospects, including MarJon Beauchamp, Blake Wesley and Michael Foster Jr. among others.&nbsp;
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San Antonio Spurs rookie Blake Wesley (<a href="https://twitter.com/blakewesley0?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@blakewesley0</a>) working out at <a href="https://twitter.com/impactbball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@impactbball</a>: <a href="https://t.co/9lfkFikWsP">pic.twitter.com/9lfkFikWsP</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1547643918904217604?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Wesley has been an Impact athlete since he was 17, meeting Abunassar for the first time as a junior in high school. Wesley would come in occasionally for workouts, staying on the far court and watching as NBA players like Leonard and Paul George would get their reps in. He returned in offseasons and locked in for his own pre-draft boot camp.
Mourier praised the Spurs rookie for his attention to detail regarding nutrition. Wesley frequently FaceTimed Mourier while at restaurants and stores, and asked questions about what he should eat. He's also a staunch advocate of Herbalife's CR7 Drive sports drink mix, and even has an endorsement deal with Herbalife.
As part of his pre-draft plan to put on weight, Welsey would cook three eggs, plus have oatmeal, milk and orange juice for breakfast.
"[Changing my nutrition] helped my body a lot," Wesley told Basketball News over the phone. "I kept doing this, so I kept getting better on the court and did everything good on the court. So yeah, my nutrition helped me a lot."
The result: Wesley turned himself from a relatively unheralded four-star recruit into Notre Dame's first one-and-done player &mdash; then bulked up to 190 pounds in the spring and became a first-round NBA draft pick.
"I met [Wesley] a year ago, before he went to Notre Dame, and his transformation from then to the start of the pre-draft [process] to now &mdash; it's phenomenal," Mourier said.
The next challenge is to maintain discipline once that contract gets signed.&nbsp;
"You gotta stay focused; the NBA is totally different from college," Wesley said. "I mean, you're getting paid, you got a high profile [and] a lot of people are watching you &mdash; &nbsp;watching how you move, who you hang out with, stuff like that. So it's a whole different lifestyle."
Abunassar, Mourier and the Impact staff are hands-on with their players during the offseason and pre-draft process. But what happens when those players head back to their respective NBA franchises?
"For the most part, from a strength-and-conditioning standpoint [and] from a player development standpoint, the NBA teams have stuff really dialed in," Mourier said. "From a nutrition standpoint, for the most part, they do not."
Mourier estimated that there are only six full-time nutritionists and dietitians in the entire NBA. The Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association (CPSDA) lists <a href="https://sportsrd.org/career-development/full-time-sports-rds-working-with-usas-top-institutions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nine full-time registered dietitians.</a> Mourier said that teams often have physicians and trainers covering several responsibilites, including nutrition, due to budget restrictions and front-office priorities. This means some athletes, specifically reserve players, receive less health guidance.
"We're kind of the ones who are the last for the front office to see the value in it, so a lot of times we're really just a check-box," Mourier said. "So especially for those lower-order guys that are maybe No. 7, 8, 9, 10, all the way through to 15 on the roster, they're not really receiving any support at all. They're receiving provision. They're receiving meals and supplements. But in terms of education and behavior change, they're really not receiving it."
Over the last 25 years, Abunassar has seen sports nutrition dramatically change, with data and technology more interwoven into practice than ever. He thinks there are positives and pitfalls to the advancements.
"From a nutrition standpoint and strength-and-conditioning standpoint, it's clearly useful information to help prevent injury, to increase lean body mass, etc.," he said. "All of the technology that has come out has been very helpful for us, but you do have to watch that you don't get too reliant on it. Sometimes, you gotta watch the games and see how guys move and that kind of thing. But a combination of the two is very effective."
Impact Basketball is one progressive frontrunner in the field of sports science, but Mourier emphasized that, at this point, all basketball pros should be setting themselves up for success with some sort of offseason developmental map. Pre-draft prospects especially cannot afford to lose that critical period before team workouts to maximize their appeal.
"It's like doing the SAT without looking at the study guide," Mourier said "...I think it's definitely a standard. There's people doing this all over the country, really. Nobody does it like us, and nobody's been doing it for as long as us, but people are seeing the value."

A behind-the-scenes look at how Impact Basketball helps players realize their full potential by focusing on their training and nutrition.

How sports nutrition and biometrics are evolving NBA training

Alex Kennedy is joined by Big Ticket Sports' CEO George Daniel, who discusses Kevin Garnett's new 3-on-3 basketball league Str33t.

Inside Kevin Garnett's new 3-on-3 basketball league Str33t

Last week, NBA legend Shawn Marion traveled to Abu Dhabi to support the 2023 NBA Abu Dhabi Games, which featured two preseason games between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves as well as youth clinics and fan events.&nbsp;
Marion led a skill-development clinic for youth athletes from Dubai's NBA Basketball School &mdash; a year-round basketball program in the UAE for boys and girls ages 6-to-18. He also judged a dunk contest, met with fans and took part in other NBA events alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ray Allen, Tim Hardaway Sr., Gary Payton, Sam Perkins, Kenny Smith, Ronny Turiaf and Salah Mejri.
Marion is an NBA champion, four-time NBA All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection and one of just five players in NBA history to record 17,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals and 1,000 blocks (the other four are LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon). The Phoenix Suns recently announced that they'll retire Marion's jersey this season.
While in Abu Dhabi, Marion joined me on <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1710458099448811578" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my new show "Running Up The Score"</a> to discuss his legendary career, the Suns' decision to retire his jersey, Mat Ishbia's impact since buying the franchise, the globalization of the NBA, how the game has evolved, whether he'll get back into podcasting and more.&nbsp;
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You&rsquo;re currently in Abu Dhabi for the Mavericks-Timberwolves preseason games and to host a basketball clinic with kids from the NBA Basketball School in Dubai. How is your trip going?&nbsp;
Shawn Marion:&nbsp;"Man, the trip is going amazing. This is a new culture for me; I've never experienced this, never been here. We're in a different part of the world right now and, I mean, I can tell you this: this is a place I'll definitely be coming back to. This is truly awesome. And, you know what, they're very passionate about [basketball]. I just had this meeting; I just came from an office visit and they had like 250 employees, but everybody spoke different languages! There were 16 languages being spoken! That tells you how diverse it is here, and they really pride themselves on that here. It's pretty amazing."
The globalization of the NBA has been a big priority for the league for some time. From when you were playing to now, do you see a big difference in terms of the NBA&rsquo;s worldwide popularity and international support?
Marion: "Yes. I think as you look at the lay of the land right now, the NBA and basketball is a global sport. But the way that the NBA has been able to grow it, they're taking it to other levels. They're starting NBA Academies and having clinics all around the world, and that just helps it grow even faster. Of course, TV and social-media content help as well, but the level it's growing at right now is unheard of."
The Phoenix Suns recently announced that they are retiring your jersey. Congratulations!
Marion: "Thank you!"
How did you find out that news and what was your reaction?
Marion: "I'm gonna be very honest and candid. Mat [Ishbia] called me as soon as he took ownership of the team and he was like, 'I'm not doing some of the shit that's been done [before]. I'm going to take care of you and reward you by retiring your jersey. I'm a man of my word, and that's what I'm going to do.' That's exactly what he said, and he did! Yep, it was that simple."
Ishbia is quickly winning over fans &mdash; he&rsquo;s spending money, making it easier to watch games, honoring past legends like yourself and so on. What do you think of Ishbia and the fresh start in Phoenix from an ownership perspective?
Marion: "I love it, man. I got a chance to see the practice facility; it's literally not too far from the place that I still have in Phoenix and I ain't been able to see [it before]. I ain't feel like... I feel like a weight was lifted off my shoulders to a certain degree. He's making the transition so easy. And he wants all the players who paved the way and set the foundation for the Suns organization and helped build that team into what the city loves and admires [to be involved]. He just wants everybody to be a part of it, man, and I love it. I think it's awesome. He's doing some amazing things out there."
The Suns have so much talent with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic. What do you think of this year's team and do you think they can win it all?
Marion: "Man, I think they got a chance just like anybody else, but, of course, their [championship hopes] are probably a little bit more realistic than some other teams. I just hope they stay healthy. When you stay healthy, you give yourself a chance. That's the thing. A lot of teams deal with injuries, and they've been hit with the injury bug a little bit as well. But they've got Frank Vogel as the head coach out there now and he's a defensive-minded guy. They just made another trade and got some other pieces to add to it &mdash; Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic. I think that happened while I was out here; I was at a meeting when I got the alert and I was like, 'Wow! They ain't playing no games right now!' Listen, at the end of the day, he's trying to give himself and the organization the best chance to win. That's what you gotta do."
You obviously helped change the game and were ahead of your time. Overall, what are your thoughts on the modern NBA?
Marion: "Listen, it's run-and-gun, it's feast-or-famine right now. We set the foundation for what [the game] is now. There's so much positionless basketball being played, and it's dynamic. You're seeing the transition and evolution of what we started back in my Phoenix days during the Seven-Seconds-Or-Less era. That's what we started, and that's what it is right now. And I don't see the game going back to two traditional big men ever again."
Throughout the 2000s, not having a specific position was a death sentence for a player; nobody wanted to be labeled a "tweener." Then, seemingly overnight, the NBA became obsessed with "positionless" players and the tweeners were suddenly the most valuable players. That's one of my favorite examples of how the NBA is always evolving.
Marion: "Here's the thing: people can say [they're positionless], but it don't mean they are. You know, to be a two-way player in this league is very rare, but to be a positionless player is even more rare. You could be a guy who can go out there and guard 1 through 5, but to actually do it &mdash; willingly do it &mdash; is a big difference! A lot of guys probably could do it, but they don't do it, you know? Right now, teams are playing positionless basketball because everybody's switching everything. Most guys don't really post up anymore either. It's all face-up game and jumpers. So, it's easy to just jump into that narrative and bandwagon, but if you look at the game as a whole though, it's more of a guard-heavy game now than it was prior to when we made that transition. It's just been a shift. A lot of bigs now don't post up anymore; they're face-up players [too]. That's the evolution of the game."
A few years so, you and I did some of the NBA Watch Parties together on Clubhouse. I also love that <a href="https://twitter.com/MainTeamSports2/status/1506615984173592589" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video where you jumped on Twitter Spaces</a> and educated fans about your career; it was incredibly entertaining. You're obviously passionate about this game. Have you ever thought of doing a podcast?
Marion: "Well, Alex, it's funny you say that. I actually had a podcast with one of my guys in Dallas, so I was one of the first guys to ever do it. I just didn't do any promoting or all of that stuff, but it was something that we did in the Mavs organization kind of early on &mdash; like way before everybody started getting into podcasts. And it was great! But the thing about podcasts is unless you got a set thing, you gotta create content all the time, and I was so busy focusing on trying to be a father first. That was my lane. And then I dibbled and dabbled in TV a little bit and thought about doing some broadcasting work, but, like I said, my priorities shifted because I'm a hands-on father. So, I couldn't keep doing it in Dallas because that was the situation, but I have thought about reopening that window.
"I do have a different side of the game that I like to talk about. I know narratives get created easily by the media, and we consume them and we digest them. It becomes part of our thought process of that player, of that team or whatever it is. But I was talking about this with one of my friends. I was telling him: it's easy for a [former] player to say, 'I can do this or that.' But what kind of player were you though? Because it's hard for a point guard to tell how to guard a big, or for a big to tell how to guard a point guard. But when I say it, I actually guarded all of them! I did it all! And I didn't just do it for a quarter or half a quarter. I did it for full games! So, when I sit there and I tell people that, people are like, 'Man, you know, I never thought about it from that standpoint.' I was like, 'Yo, I actually did this.' You know what I'm saying? Like, it's easy for somebody to say, 'I can guard somebody,' or, 'Oh, I'm a two way player; I can guard this player.' I'm like, 'Can you do it for a full game though?' I'm the only person ever to do it for full games."
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I love to ask players about big &ldquo;what-ifs&rdquo; from NBA history. There was a report a while back that you were nearly traded to the Boston Celtics as part of a three-team deal that would have sent Kevin Garnett to Phoenix and picks to Minnesota. Is that true and, if so, can you tell that story?
Marion: "It is true. But Phoenix wasn't gonna do the deal. They didn't think it was viable because they would have to change their style of play instantly because we're two different type of players. So, they didn't want it. KG was in Minnesota at the time, and I would've went to Boston and he would've came here (to Phoenix). At the time, Boston was losing; I think they had a losing record at that time. I was like, 'Uhh...' But I mean, we have no control over that. Some of the rumors that come out about trades are actually true, but both sides have to agree to it. People throw out deals all the time, [teams talk] all the time, so there's plenty of hypotheticals out there.
"But you wanna hear an untold true story? I never really fully ever became a free agent except my last year playing when I signed with with Cleveland. When I signed with Dallas, it was a sign-and-trade, so I was still under contract basically with Toronto. It was a sign-and-trade deal, so I never really tested the free-agency market like that. So, what happened was I was about to be a free agent or get traded, and this was around that same time as those KG rumors. Kobe [Bryant] called me and said, 'If you're really gonna go out on the market and it's a possibility [that you're changing teams], I want you to come out to L.A.' So, we was texting and he was like, 'Yo!' It ain't happen because they didn't have the money to pay me, but that's a story that a lot of people don't know about."
I love those kind of stories and it's always interesting to think how those potential moves could have changed NBA history.
Marion: "Oh, there were a lot of situations out there like that where [trade talks] were open! It was pretty fun. When you look at the business of the NBA, man, the optimism and [hope] of what could possibily be is what makes it so fun and dynamic &mdash; een with the trade that just went down with Damian Lillard. It's funny, Paul Pierce actually predicted that. He called that in July. He said, 'If I'm Dame, I would try to get to Milwaukee.' It's funny that he said that and I could see it [from Lillard's perspective]. But do I think they're better? Ehh, they lost a lot for that trade, you know? [Jrue Holiday]. Grayson Allen was a great player for Milwaukee. He is a great pickup for Phoenix. He's a hell of a player, a great player, dude. Like, he does a lot of small stuff. He's a very tough guy. I like him. It's something about him that I like. I like the little Duke dudes with that little rough-and-rugged side! But he's one of those guys who can hit shots, he's gonna play defense and he competes. He's actually a lot better than people give him credit for. He ain't got a chance to really showcase his skills, but he can play. And if they use him the right way, he can help them."
For sure. Thanks for your time, I really appreciate it!&nbsp;
Marion: "Anytime, man. You know, we have great conversations and stuff. I might contemplate doing a podcast again. I gotta have the mobile equipment. We'll see; I don't know. I gotta have a great co-host. I like people who shoot [straight]. I told this to a reporter, so I'll give this to you. I told this guy who was recording me yesterday: when you are doing your interviews, do not ask the same questions and stuff that somebody else asks. Do not&nbsp;ask the same stuff."
I'm sure that gets really annoying.
Marion: "It's so annoying. It's okay to piggyback off of answers just to get some kind of content to create something in your own way. But don't ask the exact same questions. You sound you are a true fan. I know you are a true fan of the game. Like, you really love this. And so [you] ask the questions that you wanna know from someone in my position! Forget about the stuff that's already been out there already! Create your own. We all got a story to tell."
For sure.
Marion: "And the thing is, I love my former guys talking about ball and stuff, but some of them talk like they was way bigger and better than they were. Some of these guys were below-average role players, but they talk like they were superstars! I'm like, 'What did you... How good was you? What did you do?!' (laughs) I'm like, 'He was a role player!' He was a solid role player! And look, I became a role player. But you know...
Yeah, but that was because of your longevity. You had four All-Star years before that.
Marion: "Yeah, that's about longevity and understanding that you gotta sacrifice to win. That's the biggest thing, you know? And I could have easily averaged such and such, but I was like, 'You know what? They don't need me to do that. I don't have to do that. If we can win and I'm averaging 16, 17 points, I'm cool with that. We gonna win, so I'm good with that. Let's win.' That was about getting them Ws.
"But that's something to think about though. You asked some great questions. That's the lane to go into. Those are the things to ask &mdash; the hypotheticals or something you [researched]. Like, 'You know what, he was pretty good at this, how did you pick up on that?' or, 'What's something that you did differently than everybody else?' Those are different questions, not the same questions [we always hear]. We get repetitively asked the same questions time and time again. It's boring. It sucks. I'ma be honest: it sucks. I hate it. It&nbsp;sucks!"
I can't imagine how old that gets.
Marion: "One thing that everybody was constantly asking me about was my shot. Everybody seemed to want ask me about my shot. But listen, you know what's really messed up about that though? One media person said it, so it went rampant and every media person wanted me to replicate the answer, right? Whether I like it or not, or whether I enjoy it or not. I did so much on the floor, but you wanna focus on something that nobody talks about? Nobody in the league talks about that. Don't nobody in the league shoot the same! ... I [used to get] pissed off, but now I respond and it's fine. 'It don't matter, don't nobody shoot the same. Next!' But why would you wanna talk about my shot, but then you won't talk about how I just had 25-and-15!"
Or that you shot 39% from three-point range one year!
Marion: "You wanna discredit me and what I did just to talk about my shot? Got it. I totally understand. There's certain lanes and narratives that will be pushed. I totally get it. I'm an owner now, so I see exactly what lane [they're in]; it's all marketing strategies. I know how it works and I know who controls it. Being on this side of the business, I know how things work now. But it's all good though. And it's all love. Thank you."
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/MwvBnhrrzgs?si=2BRrY0Vaq8WWyAPe&amp;t=1676" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Watch the full conversation here</a>.
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>

Shawn Marion opens up about the Suns retiring his jersey, nearly getting traded to the Celtics, Mat Ishbia, the modern NBA and more.

Shawn Marion on Suns retiring his jersey, near-trade to Celtics, more

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is entering Year 21 in the NBA, becoming just the sixth player in league history to play 21 seasons &ndash; joining Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Willis and Robert Parish. Carter currently holds the record for most seasons played with 22. 
With James still performing at an unprecedented level for someone his age, coupled with recent reports of his desire to still play several more years and his public goal of playing with his McDonald's All-American son, Bronny James, he certainly seems like a lock to tie, if not break, Carter&rsquo;s record.&nbsp;
James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s all-time scoring record earlier this year in February, adding a major accolade to his G.O.A.T. argument. With the seasons-played record in sight, let&rsquo;s take a look at how &ldquo;The King&rdquo; has accumulated arguably the greatest legacy in NBA history over the last two decades.
The Cleveland Cavaliers drafted the kid from Akron with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. James was the talk of the country at the time, being dubbed "The Chosen One&rdquo; and dawning the cover of Sports Illustrated at just 18 years old. With the weight of the world on his shoulders, basketball fans waited in anticipation to see if James could possibly live up to the expectations.
The young phenom did not waste any time. Debuting against the Sacramento Kings, James would go on to score 25 points while adding 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. The King would not slow down, averaging 20.9 points, 5.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds in his first NBA season.
LeBron would spend the next six seasons in Cleveland, winning back-to-back MVP awards in his last two seasons with the team, while reaching the playoffs five times and the NBA Finals once in 2007. With no championship after seven seasons with the Cavs, the two-time MVP became a free agent in the summer of 2010 and infamously decided to &ldquo;take his talents to South Beach,&rdquo; joining forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form the &ldquo;Big Three&rdquo; on the Miami Heat.&nbsp;
The decision by James, which happened to be made on live television on an ESPN special dubbed &ldquo;The Decision," sparked outrage amongst Cavaliers fans. Videos spread online of fans burning the once-hometown-hero&rsquo;s jersey, rooting for his failure in Miami. While James was used to feeling pressure, this was different; James was receiving backlash from a fanbase that once loved him, and a growing population of people were actively rooting against him. This brewing tension had fans waiting in anticipation, this time to see if LeBron could overcome the weight of the world once again.&nbsp;
In LeBron&rsquo;s quest to do the impossible again, a trip to Cleveland brought The King back to the scene of his crime in a game against the Cavaliers in December of 2010. The fans in then-named Quicken Loans Arena brought their all that night, booing LeBron from the moment he was introduced and whenever he touched the ball on offense. However, this just seemed to add more fuel to the fire for James, as he went on to score 38 points en route to a 118-90 blowout of his former team.&nbsp;
This marked a new era for James, and he would embrace his role as the &ldquo;villain&rdquo; of the NBA. Fan perception was one thing, but with James&rsquo; new team came a new energy. Now, he was a proven veteran and he was coming into his own as a player, adapting this almost meticulous style and pace of play alongside his new All-Star-caliber teammates in Wade and Bosh. James would go on to win back-to-back MVP awards again in 2012 and 2013, and the trio would prove to be a problem for the league, with the Heat even going on a 27-game win streak in 2013. During his time in Miami, James would evolve as a player, bulking up and playing more minutes down low at power forward and even center.
The bonafide &ldquo;super-team&rdquo; would spend four seasons together, reaching the NBA Finals in all four. Winning back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013, with LeBron winning Finals MVP of both, the stars' decision to team-up was a success and ushered in a new era of player movement and empowerment.
The kid from Akron would then shock the world in the summer of 2014, with James departing the Heat and returning home to rejoin the Cavaliers. The two-time champion had some unfinished business and was determined to bring a championship to his city.&nbsp;
LeBron brought his adapted and seasoned style to his former team. His impact extended into the front office, as he now had significantly more say in roster decisions. He wasted little time and used his newfound influence to encourage the Cavs to trade their No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins, for a proven star: Kevin Love. Suddenly, James was part of another Big Three, this time with rising star Kyrie Irving and Love.
In Year 1 of LeBron&rsquo;s return home, he led the Cavs back to the NBA Finals, where they faced off against the Golden State Warriors, led by league MVP Stephen Curry. While LeBron led Cleveland to a 2-1 series lead over Golden State, Irving and Love both went down with injuries. This proved to be too much for LeBron to handle, and the Warriors would defeat the Cavaliers in six games. James failed in his mission, but the wait would prove to be worthwhile the following season.
The 2016 season would see a rematch of the Cavaliers and Warriors in the NBA Finals. Curry was coming off of his second-straight MVP award &ndash; becoming the first unanimous MVP in history &ndash; and the Warriors achieved an NBA-record 73 wins that season. The odds were stacked against LeBron and the Cavs, and it only got worse when the Warriors took a 3-1 series lead. Teams in the NBA Finals were 0-32 when facing a 3-1 series deficit. Once again, LeBron was trying to do the impossible.&nbsp;
Once again, The King responded.&nbsp;
Dropping 41 points in both Game 5 and Game 6, James led the way in tying the series at 3-3. In Game 7, the Cavaliers would go on the road and defeat the Warriors, becoming the first team in NBA history to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy after falling behind 3-1. This was a storybook ending, and James became emotional during his postgame interview, shouting, &ldquo;Cleveland! This is for you!&rdquo;&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
"CLEVELAND, THIS IS FOR YOU!" That line still sends chills down our spine as LeBron James and the Cavs overcame a 3-1 deficit to claim their first ever NBA championship on this day in 2016 👑🏆<a href="https://t.co/WzMtg5kj5Z">pic.twitter.com/WzMtg5kj5Z</a>
&mdash; ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1670774843518664705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

The three-time champion would spend two more seasons in Cleveland, reaching the NBA Finals both seasons, where the Cavs would ultimately lose to the Kevin-Durant-led Warriors. When James decided to leave Cleveland in 2018, his second departure was well-received, with fans thanking him for bringing a championship to their city. The next chapter of James' career would take place in Los Angeles with arguably the most storied franchise in the NBA, the Lakers.
James&rsquo; first year under the bright lights of Los Angeles was less than ideal, as injuries plagued the roster and the Lakers' young core didn't seem ready to compete at a high level. That would quickly be forgotten, as the Lakers would trade three of those core players (Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart) and the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for superstar Anthony Davis, whom LeBron asked the organization to acquire.&nbsp;
That trade would kick off the LeBron-AD era in Los Angeles. The duo would win a championship in their first year together in 2020, with James adding a fourth championship and Finals MVP to his resume. The team has had some misfortune since, as they haven't been back to the Finals and they even missed the play-in tournament in 2022. While injuries have bothered LeBron in recent years, the four-time MVP has yet to slow down, leading the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals last season. While the Lakers were ultimately swept by the eventual-champion Denver Nuggets, their postseason run was impressive.
Now, we arrive at the present day. As James enters his 21st NBA season, he has 19 All-NBA selections, 19 All-Star selections, 10 NBA Finals appearances, four championships, four Finals MVPs and four regular-season MVPs. After surpassing expectation after expectation throughout his career, LeBron will be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer when he walks away from the game. However, he's not done playing just yet, as he hopes to play with his son and win at least one more championship before he retires.
LeBron&rsquo;s current contract has a player option for next season, so this could potentially be his final year with the Lakers (if he decides to opt out next summer). With LeBron still performing at a superstar level and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/which-nba-teams-are-under-the-most-pressure-entering-202324-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">facing pressure to lead his team to a title</a>, all eyes will be on The King yet again this season.

As LeBron James becomes just the sixth player in NBA history to play 21 seasons, Jack Maguire looks back on his legendary career.

Revisiting LeBron James' legendary NBA career as he enters Year 21

With the 2023-24 NBA season fast approaching, discussions are beginning to ramp up surrounding team expectations. Which teams are the early favorites and contenders? Which teams are just wishful thinkers? These topics are debated often, usually leading to a select number of teams facing win-or-bust expectations.&nbsp;
But, of course, there can only be one team in June that hoists the Larry O&rsquo;Brien.&nbsp;
Entering a season with championship expectations isn&rsquo;t easy, as <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-james-posey-championship-expectations-boston-celtics-doc-rivers-kevin-garnett-paul-pierce-ray-allen-cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james-tyronn-lue-miami-heat-pat-riley-shaquille-o-neal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Basketball News&rsquo; James Posey highlighted in this recent article</a>. Which teams fall into the win-or-bust category for the 2023-24 season? Let&rsquo;s look at two teams &ndash; one from each conference &ndash; who qualify.&nbsp;
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
The Los Angeles Lakers have dealt with championship aspirations and expectations maybe more than any other team in NBA history. With 17 championships, which is tied with the Boston Celtics for the most all-time, it's clear why. This franchise is used to collecting hardware by season&rsquo;s end, and did so as recently as 2020, defeating the Miami Heat to win the championship in the midst of a global pandemic and in the wake of the passing of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.&nbsp;
So, how can a team that won a title in recent years already be facing pressure to win again?
The Lakers, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, are heading into this season fresh off a clean sweep in the Western Conference Finals by the eventual-champion Denver Nuggets. While seemingly negative on paper, the season was largely viewed as a success, as nobody expected this squad to make a Conference-Finals run after starting an abysmal 2-10.&nbsp;
How did they turn their season around? By ending the Russell Westbrook experiment, the Lakers landed D&rsquo;Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt in a trade, in addition to trading for Rui Hachimura. These three, along with a blossoming Austin Reaves and a rejuvenated James and Davis, brought the Lakers to familiar heights &ndash; defeating the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round and taking down the then-defending-champion Golden State Warriors in round two.&nbsp;
It was clear that the Lakers fixed their mistakes and were back on course. Even the naysayers had to tip their cap after the team&rsquo;s surprising Western Conference Finals run.
Now comes the familiar pressure.&nbsp;
This offseason, Lakers were able to keep last year&rsquo;s core together, re-signing Russell, Reaves and Hachimura, while adding quality role players in Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish. This is really the first time in the LeBron-Lakers era that the team has been given the green light to try again for a second season. Seeing as the team didn&rsquo;t come together until late last season, it would have been very much in the Lakers&rsquo; nature to come into this year with a completely different-looking team. Instead, the front office chose to run it back, aside from some changes on the margins. This decision is what puts them in the win-or-bust category.&nbsp;
With LeBron entering his 21st NBA season, that sentiment is stronger than ever. The Lakers have to take advantage of the fact that James is still playing at such a high level so late in his career. Being a sports team in Hollywood (especially one with 17 championships) you need to not only have the stars, you need to win. If the Lakers have stars but aren&rsquo;t winning, then they are essentially just becoming their neighbors, the Angels. The Lakers have the script ready for them, but we&rsquo;ll have to wait and see if they can top the box office.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
 
With the Philadelphia 76ers coming off their second-round exit in the 2023 NBA Playoffs courtesy of the Boston Celtics in seven games, there&rsquo;s pressure to take the next step and win a championship. This pressure isn&rsquo;t new; they&rsquo;ve been feeling it for several years.&nbsp;
Superstar center Joel Embiid won his first Most Valuable Player award last season, giving the 76ers two MVPs on the team, with James Harden being the other. While the duo has looked good in the short time they&rsquo;ve been together, they haven&rsquo;t looked like two MVPs playing side-by-side. This is especially true in the postseason, with Embiid and Harden both known for sometimes regressing in playoff series compared to the regular season. 
The fact that Doc Rivers was the team&rsquo;s head coach, a man who has coached three teams that all lost a playoff series after being up 3-1 and someone who has a 6-10 record in Game 7s, certainly didn&rsquo;t help. There's no question that he also deserves his fair share of blame for the team&rsquo;s issues. All of this, along with the lingering effects of the Ben Simmons debacle, came to a head last season.&nbsp;
This offseason, the team parted ways with Rivers, and Harden requested a trade. While Harden has yet to be traded and it is possible he remains with the team, the Sixers obviously aren&rsquo;t in an ideal state. It remains to be seen what kind of pieces they can get back for Harden.
In the meantime, the Sixers hired former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse to replace Rivers. Nurse is a great coach who won a championship in 2019 and the NBA's Coach of the Year award in 2020. But if the team begins to underperform, a new coach &ndash; especially one who&rsquo;s known for previously incorporating a rougher defensive style when it came to guarding Embiid &ndash; could become an easy target for blame for the Philly faithful.&nbsp;
The 76ers might have more pressure on them than any other team this upcoming season. The reigning MVP, a former MVP (or the trade package they can get for him), a former Coach of the Year and a solid supporting cast mean this team is built to win now. This team is no stranger to win-or-bust expectations, but this may be the most pressure they&rsquo;ve faced yet.&nbsp;

Jack Maguire examines two teams facing win-or-bust expectations entering the 2023-24 NBA season.

Which NBA teams are under the most pressure entering 2023-24 season?

Every now and then, a trade comes along that ends up shifting the landscape of the NBA.
There are quite a few NBA legends who have been traded, forever altering the course of franchises. Today, we're revisiting some of the biggest trades in NBA history.
Bill Russell to the Boston Celtics
One of the most significant trades in NBA history occurred in 1956 when the Celtics acquired Bill Russell from the St. Louis Hawks in a draft-day trade. In a stroke of genius by Celtics coach and general manager Red Auerbach, Boston acquired No. 2 overall pick Russell in exchange for Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley. Russell, a dominant defensive force and rebounder, quickly became the linchpin of the Celtics' dynasty, leading them to an unprecedented 11 NBA championships in his 13 seasons with the team. His shot-blocking prowess and unyielding will to win solidified his legacy as one of the greatest winners in sports history. The trade not only transformed the Celtics into a perennial powerhouse but also established Russell as a symbol of defensive excellence and team-oriented basketball. His impact on the franchise and the league as a whole remains unparalleled, making this trade a cornerstone of NBA history.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers
In 1975, the Milwaukee Bucks sent Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers. At that time, Abdul-Jabbar was already established as one of the league's dominant forces, but his desire for a change of scenery led to this monumental deal. The Lakers gave up Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Junior Bridgeman and Dave Meyers for Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley. This trade proved to be a game-changer for the Lakers, as Abdul-Jabbar's presence immediately elevated them to championship contention. Abdul-Jabbar and his unstoppable skyhook led the Lakers to five NBA championships in the 1980s, solidifying Kareem as one of the greatest players in basketball history and cementing this as one of the most impactful NBA trades of all-time.
Wilt Chamberlain to the Los Angeles Lakers
In another major trade that reverberated throughout the NBA, Wilt Chamberlain was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers from the Philadelphia 76ers in 1968. Chamberlain, already an established superstar and prolific scorer, brought his dominant presence and unparalleled scoring ability to the Lakers. The trade was a strategic move by the Lakers to bolster their roster and create a formidable trio of Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. Chamberlain's arrival in Los Angeles marked the beginning of a successful era for the Lakers, culminating in a championship in 1972. The trade reshaped the Lakers' fortunes and added another illustrious chapter to Chamberlain's storied career, solidifying him as an all-time great.
Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers
While Kobe Bryant only ever suited up for the Los Angeles Lakers throughout his 20-year NBA career, he was actually drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. However, immediately after the selection, a pre-arranged trade sent Bryant to the Lakers in exchange for Vlade Divac. This trade, orchestrated by general manager Jerry West, proved to be a stroke of genius that forever altered the course of the Lakers' franchise. Bryant went on to become one of the most iconic figures in NBA history and a five-time champion. This trade not only transformed the Lakers' future but also set the stage for Bryant to become one of the greatest players to ever grace the basketball court.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/kg.png" alt="" width="723" height="363" />
Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to the Boston Celtics
In 2007, the Boston Celtics orchestrated a masterstroke by acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to join forces with Paul Pierce. While these were two separate trades, Garnett and Allen were in communication throughout the process and Boston pulled off both moves over the course of three days &ndash; transforming the Celtics from a struggling franchise to a powerhouse contender. The Celtics' Big Three revolutionized the concept of superstar collaborations, and their union culminated in an NBA championship in 2008, rejuvenating the storied Celtics franchise and igniting the era of superteams.
LeBron James to the Miami Heat
While many NBA fans know about "The Decision" and LeBron James taking his talents to South Beach, they may not realize that James ultimately landed in Miami via a sign-and-trade. James, the league's reigning MVP, made the highly controversial decision to leave his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers and join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Heat. In exchange for parting with James in the sign-and-trade, the Cavs received two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a pick swap (as well as a large traded-player exception).
The move instantly transformed the Heat into a juggernaut and created a new era of superteams. While "The Decision" ignited a firestorm of criticism, it also showcased the power and influence that superstar players had in shaping the league's landscape. With James leading the way, the Heat reached the NBA Finals in all four years of his tenure, winning two championships in 2012 and 2013. This trade not only marked a pivotal moment in James' career but also had a profound impact on the way teams approached team-building, ushering in the player-movement era in the modern NBA.
What's your favorite league-altering trade? <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tweet us your thoughts here</a>! And for <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/fa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a list of the biggest free-agency signings of all-time, click here!</a>

Basketball News looks back on six blockbuster trades that altered the course of NBA history.

Revisiting 6 blockbuster trades that altered the NBA landscape

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Maybe Kevin Garnett was right. Maybe,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZYPzhBf0mc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as he screamed in celebration</a>&nbsp;of Boston&rsquo;s 2008 NBA championship, anything truly is possible.
Even the impossible.
The Celtics are halfway to history, and that alone has gotten them entry into a very small club. Of the first 150 teams that trailed a best-of-seven series 3-0 in NBA history, just 14 &mdash; 9.3% &mdash; found a way to extend the matchup to Game 6. None of them have won the series, and most are usually eliminated by now.
Not the Celtics. They have cut the deficit in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat to 3-2, simultaneously trailing the series yet seeming to have all the momentum going into Game 6 in Miami on Saturday night.
&ldquo;Obviously, we didn&rsquo;t imagine being in this position, being down 3-0, but when adversity hits, you get to see like what a team is really made of,&rdquo; Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;I mean, it couldn&rsquo;t get no worse than being down 3-0, but we didn&rsquo;t look around, we didn&rsquo;t go in separate directions. We stayed together. We doubled down on what we&rsquo;re good at on defense, and now I think it&rsquo;s a series.&rdquo;
Only three teams have gone from down 3-0 to tied 3-3; the Celtics could be the fourth with a win on Saturday. No NBA team has ever fully escaped the 3-0 hole, but a win on Saturday would give Boston a chance to change that in Game 7 &mdash; which would be Monday on its home floor.
&ldquo;One of our assistants put it in great perspective: The seasons are like nine months long, and we just had a bad week,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;Sometimes you have a bad week at work. We obviously didn&rsquo;t pick the best time to have a bad week, but we did, and we&rsquo;re sticking together and fighting like hell to keep it alive.&rdquo;
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets are waiting for an opponent. If Boston wins the series, the Nuggets will visit the Celtics for Game 1 of the NBA Finals. If Miami wins the East, the Heat are headed to Denver for Game 1. Either way, the title series starts June 1, somewhere.
&ldquo;We have to shore up who we are and address the areas that we have not been maybe good enough or areas that we can clean up,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Friday, after the team&rsquo;s first real practice since sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers for the Western Conference title. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s really hard to keep your rhythm when you&rsquo;re not playing NBA games.&rdquo;
The Heat had a nine-point lead in the third quarter of Game 4, in position to perhaps win in a sweep. The lead was gone 2-1/2 minutes later and the Celtics haven&rsquo;t trailed since.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/celtics-heat-eastern-conference-2023-nba-playoffs-5e85ae90fa8d41cb67bdde88dd142082">An 18-0 run in Game 4</a>&nbsp;put Boston on top of that game for good, a 12-0 run by the Celtics later in that game ended all doubt, and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/heat-celtics-nba-playoffs-2023-6a8a1e06d6defdd571e45f76654418ba">then they started Game 5</a>&nbsp;with a 20-5 burst.
Add that all up, and from the start of the third-quarter run in Game 4 to the end of the start-of-game spurt in Game 5, the Celtics outscored the Heat 84-43 in a span of 27 minutes.
&ldquo;The last two games are not who we are. It just happened to be that way,&rdquo; Heat forward Jimmy Butler said. &ldquo;We stopped playing defense halfway because we didn&rsquo;t make shots that we want to make. But that&rsquo;s easily correctable. You just have to come out and play harder from the jump. Like I always say, it&rsquo;s going to be all smiles and we are going to keep it very, very, very consistent, knowing that we are going to win next game.&rdquo;
At least the confidence isn&rsquo;t ailing. Everything else is.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra flatly shot down the notion that Miami has an excuse for the way it played in Game 5 &mdash; &ldquo;there&rsquo;s no excuses. Not at all,&rdquo; he insisted &mdash; even though the training room is as crowded as a scrum for a loose ball under a basket right now. The Heat have been shorthanded in the backcourt for the entirety of the playoffs after injuries to shooting guards Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo, plus they didn&rsquo;t have starting guard Gabe Vincent for Game 5 and watched Kyle Lowry play through some sort of hand issue.
Miami&rsquo;s starters were outscored 95-44 in Game 5, and since the start of Boston&rsquo;s comeback-sparking burst in Game 4 the Heat have been outscored 75-33 from 3-point range, allowed the Celtics to shoot 54% from the field, 44% from 3-point range while committing 26 turnovers to Boston&rsquo;s 12.
Pick a number. They&rsquo;re all bad for the Heat, except the one that matters most &mdash; 3-2, the series score that means Miami is still only one win from capping its own improbable run of being a No. 8 seed that found its way into the NBA Finals.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a competitive series,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;You always expect things to be challenging in the conference finals. One game doesn&rsquo;t lead to the next game. &hellip; We beat them by whatever in Game 3. It just doesn&rsquo;t matter. It&rsquo;s about collectively preparing and putting together a great game. We&rsquo;ll play much better on Saturday. That&rsquo;s all we just have to focus on right now.&rdquo;

Of the first 150 teams that trailed a best-of-seven series 3-0 in NBA history, just 14 found a way to extend the matchup to Game 6.

Heat still lead East finals, but Celtics roaring back with eye on history

DENVER (AP) &mdash; The Los Angeles Lakers are taking solace in their big second-half comeback that fell just short in the Western Conference finals opener at Denver.
They aren&rsquo;t alone &mdash; the Denver Nuggets also feel L.A.&rsquo;s furious rally held takeaways for them heading into Game 2 on Thursday night at Ball Arena.
&ldquo;I told our guys this is the best possible situation we could be in,&rdquo; Denver coach Michael Malone said Wednesday. &ldquo;We won Game 1, so we&rsquo;re up 1-0. But there&rsquo;s so many things that we can clean up.&rdquo;
Film study wasn&rsquo;t much fun for either team Wednesday.
The Lakers scored 72 second-half points on 67% shooting from the field and 90% from the free throw line while holding the Nuggets to one fast-break bucket and finally slowing down Nikola Jokic in the fourth quarter.
It wasn&rsquo;t enough to overcome the big deficit or Jokic&rsquo;s big night as the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/lakers-nuggets-nba-western-finals-lebron-jokic-cc011121ac268d57ba0829739d19ae6b">Nuggets held on 132-126</a>.
Los Angeles big man Anthony Davis said the second-half turnaround has the seventh-seeded Lakers hopeful they can still wrestle the homecourt advantage from top-seeded Denver just like they did against Memphis and Golden State in these playoffs.
&ldquo;Oh, yeah. We know what put us in that hole: no transition, rebounding,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re a physical, hard-playing team. They were very comfortable doing whatever they wanted. In the second half we just imposed our will, especially in that fourth quarter, playing Laker basketball. We were able to cut the lead.&rdquo;
The Lakers were behind 21 points when they started playing and they could not overcome the deficit.
Not only did Denver&rsquo;s defense disappear after halftime but Lakers coach Darvin Ham found a way to slow down Jokic. He put Rui Hachimura on the Nuggets star in the fourth quarter which allowed Davis to roam the rim.
A two-time NBA MVP, Jokic was unstoppable in the opening two quarters. He joined Kevin Garnett as the only players in the last 25 years with 15 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a half. But in the fourth quarter, he was held without a basket and was limited to three points and a pair of assists.
&ldquo;Much is being made of them putting Rui Hachimura on Nikola Jokic, like we&rsquo;ve never seen that before,&rdquo; Malone scoffed, noting that the strategy made for &ldquo;an interesting storyline&rdquo; because it kept D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, who&rsquo;s been playing really well, on the bench for the entire fourth quarter.
Ham said he&rsquo;ll keep throwing different looks and big bodies at Jokic, who has six triple-doubles in these playoffs, including 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists Tuesday night despite his quiet fourth quarter.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re definitely going to mix up the matchups some and throw different pitches at him in terms of coverages and see where we land,&rdquo; Ham said.
Malone may have been grumpy about the Nuggets letting up after taking a 93-72 lead, but the morning also brought a sunnier mood because his players weren&rsquo;t brimming with cockiness from a blowout. They were laser focused from the close call.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like a perfect storm,&rdquo; Malone said, noting that the national buzz Wednesday seemed all about the Lakers having left Ball Arena convinced they&rsquo;d found their edge in this series.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;d bet you every red cent I have that Darvin Ham would rather be up 1-0 than down 1-0,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;So, for us to be able to watch film after a win and show all the things that we did poorly is a great situation to be in. We have a lot to improve upon, and tomorrow night is another opportunity for us to do that.&rdquo;
The Lakers&rsquo; lesson was more about the slow start than the furious finish.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the Western Conference finals &mdash; you can&rsquo;t ease into games,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;Even though they say, &lsquo;Oh, Game 1 is a feel-out game&rsquo; and everything like that, you never want to ease into the game, especially at this point in the season.&rdquo;
LeBron James, for one, didn&rsquo;t feel good about the Lakers making a game of it only to come up short anyway.
&ldquo;In postseason it doesn&rsquo;t matter if you cut it to one or you&rsquo;re down 20, if you lose, you lose,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;They are 1-and-0 and we have to come back with desperation going into Game 2. ... We need to be better in all facets of the game.&rdquo;
From start to finish.

The Lakers are taking some valuable lessons from their big second-half comeback that fell short, but they aren't alone.

Lakers, Nuggets both take lessons from LA’s near comeback in Game 1

CLEVELAND (AP) &mdash; Julius Randle joked about being out of shape and Josh Hart walked into the postgame news conference wearing&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/KnicksMSGN/status/1647411361801027584?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a T-shirt with a photo of teammate Jalen Brunson</a>&nbsp;on the front.
The Knicks could finally relax.
Finally at full strength, and following a worrisome few weeks, New York&rsquo;s season looks much brighter.
Brunson shook off foul trouble and scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half, Randle returned from an ankle injury to add 19 &mdash; and a critical final rebound &mdash; and the Knicks welcomed Cleveland back to the NBA playoffs by holding off the Cavaliers 101-97 on Saturday night in Game 1.
Brunson was limited to nine minutes in the first half, but hit several big shots down the stretch as the Knicks turned back Cleveland&rsquo;s late rally led by All-Star Donovan Mitchell, who finished with 38 points.
With the Knicks clinging to a 99-97 lead, Brunson missed a pullup with nine seconds left and Randle bailed out New York with his 10th rebound &mdash; and the team&rsquo;s 17th offensive board &mdash; that led to Quentin Grimes making two free throws to seal the win.
"You can&rsquo;t say enough about the monster rebound Julius made at the end,&rdquo; Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. &ldquo;That rebound was huge. Huge.&rdquo;
Randle hadn&rsquo;t played since March 29 because of a sprained left ankle, and said he was thankful he had enough energy for one last jump.
&ldquo;You see me breathing out there today?&rdquo; said Randle, who played 34 minutes. &ldquo;I was tired as hell. But it was just about winning at that point.&rdquo;
Randle was reminded that the Knicks had a similar play in Game 1 against Atlanta in 2021 but didn&rsquo;t come up with the ball.
&ldquo;Funny how things turn, right,&rdquo; he said.
Game 2 is Tuesday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
Mitchell scored 14 points in the fourth, but it wasn&rsquo;t enough for the young Cavs, who disappointed a raucous, towel-waving Cleveland crowd that hadn&rsquo;t seen a playoff game since the 2018 NBA Finals.
It&rsquo;s been a long road back for Cleveland, which wasn&rsquo;t as hurt by its inexperience as lack of production from the bench.
&ldquo;First off, this isn&rsquo;t the end of the world. We got to go get one right back,&rdquo; Mitchell said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no room to sit here and feel sorry or feel upset and get down. It&rsquo;s one game. We will respond.&rdquo;
Hart added 17 points &mdash; and hit a big 3-pointer down the stretch &mdash; and 10 rebounds in his playoff debut for New York, whose reserves outscored the Cavs 37-14.
Darius Garland scored 17 points and Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 14 rebounds for Cleveland. Evan Mobley had eight points of 4-of-13 shooting.
Randle missed New York&rsquo;s final five games after rolling his ankle on March 29, and the injury threatened to thwart New York&rsquo;s playoff hopes. However, he improved this week despite not taking much contact in practice and looked like himself from the outset.
His presence lifted the Knicks.
&ldquo;Seeing No. 30 out there was just a great sight,&rdquo; said Obi Toppin, who scored nine points in the third quarter.
Brunson picked up his second foul with 7:52 left in the first quarter, and Thibodeau had no choice but to replace the guard, who scored a career-high 48 points against the Cavs on March 31 &mdash; the first game Randle missed.
Brunson&rsquo;s foul trouble had Hart concerned he made a poor fashion choice.
&ldquo;I told him I was going to wear it at some point,&rdquo; Hart said. &ldquo;Then he gets into foul trouble the day I wear it, so I&rsquo;m going to go burn it and never wear it again.&rdquo;
The Cavs didn&rsquo;t take advantage with Brunson out as New York reeled off 10 straight points and led 30-24 after one.
Brunson was back on the bench with his third foul midway through the second. Again, Cleveland failed to capitalize and the Knicks led 50-45 at half.
SCARY MOMENT
Mitchell landed hard on his lower back after vaulting off a courtside table and landing several rows into the stands while saving a loose ball in the second quarter.
He winced in pain while behind helped up and returning to the floor. Mitchell then thanked fans who cushioned his fall during a subsequent timeout.
&ldquo;I jumped at them intentionally, but they moved,&rdquo; said Mitchell, who sustained a small cut on his arm. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t blame them. I probably would have done the same thing. It&rsquo;s all love.&rdquo;
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
The Knicks have dominated the Cavs in the postseason, winning all three previous playoff series.
New York swept a three-game series in 1978 at the Coliseum in Richfield, won 3-1 in 1995 at Gund Arena and swept a best-of-5 series in 1996.
TIP-INS
Knicks: Impossible to miss while wearing New York&rsquo;s bright orange, super fan Spike Lee sat courtside. ... Recorded seven offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Cavaliers: Mitchell is the fourth Cleveland to score at least 38 in a playoff game, joining LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Brad Daugherty. ... Cleveland hosted its 81st playoff game in the building, which was previously known as Gund Arena and Quicken Loans Arena. ... Four teams have winning postseason records in the arena &mdash; the Knicks (5-0), the Spurs (2-0), the Warriors (6-4) and Cavs (57-24). ... Browns star Myles Garrett and coach Kevin Stefanski sat near Cleveland&rsquo;s bench along with Cavs owner Dan Gilbert.

The Knicks welcomed Cleveland back to the NBA playoffs by holding off the Cavaliers 101-97 on Saturday night in Game 1.

Brunson, Randle push Knicks past Cavaliers 101-97 in Game 1

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

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Include the extra rebound, or don't.
It doesn't really matter with Luka Doncic's logic-defying stat line that had current and former NBA stars, along with current and former teammates, buzzing on Twitter.
Doncic had 60 points, a Dallas franchise record, a career-best 21 rebounds and 10 assists in a wild <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-knicks-dallas-mavericks-sports-basketball-luka-doncic-ed7d9ce55160d04e2c206f6a8b742cdd">126-121 overtime victory over the New York Knicks</a> on Tuesday night.
Set up by his <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1607950883312001027?s=20&amp;t=dQDB5jAu1UNu9ps8OmTnLQ">improbable tying jumper in the final second of regulation</a> off his intentionally missed free throw, Doncic had the first 60-20-10 triple-double in NBA history.
Plenty of peers noticed, including former European sidekick Kristaps Porzingis, traded to Washington last season to break up the pairing that never really clicked as planned.
Porzingis referenced their shared playing roots in Spain, <a href="https://twitter.com/kporzee/status/1607958161235021833?s=20&amp;t=kHqaiyfcpIMOZV08YcsVIg">with a tweet in Spanish</a> that translated to &ldquo;This guy is not normal.&rdquo;
And the 7-foot-3 Latvian skipped that extraneous rebound on a night when he could celebrate a double-double of his own with 24 points and 10 rebounds as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-washington-wizards-sports-basketball-bradley-beal-1f371b550fa7caec53816138b20e989a">the Wizards beat Philadelphia</a>.
Doncic broke Dirk Nowitzki's franchise record of 53 points from 2004 two days after the Mavericks unveiled a statue of the retired German star outside the arena.
Nowitzki is the highest-scoring foreign-born player in NBA history (sixth overall). The 23-year-old All-Star could hold that title some day.
&ldquo;It'll be another statue in Dallas,&rdquo; Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett wrote on Twitter.
<a href="https://twitter.com/kylekuzma/status/1607953741403103236?s=20&amp;t=JU9SqSAOsGRs9wWDr4MY5Q">Kyle Kuzma included the extra rebound</a> while calling Doncic's numbers &ldquo;INSANE!!!!!!!&rdquo;
Brooklyn star Kevin Durant felt the need for an expletive in comparing Doncic's night to video-game numbers.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he'll never see another night like it, and teammate Christian Wood, whose 3-pointer sparked the rally from nine points down in the final 30 seconds of regulation, <a href="https://twitter.com/Chriswood_5/status/1607967155093389312">said he was sending a &ldquo;GOAT&rdquo;</a> to Doncic's farm in his native Slovenia.
&ldquo;Everybody is still in shock,&rdquo; coach Jason Kidd said after the game. &ldquo; The history of the game is written by the players and it was written again tonight for a player &mdash; Luka &mdash; doing something that&rsquo;s never been done before.&rdquo;

Luka Doncic's logic-defying stat line had current and former NBA stars, along with current and former teammates, buzzing on Twitter

It's no typo: 60-21-10 stat line for Mavs' Luka Doncic goes viral

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the list of eligible candidates for the Class of 2023, including several high-profile, first-time nominees including Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich, Dwyane Wade and the 1976 U.S. Olympic Women&rsquo;s Basketball Team. &nbsp; A first look at the list of eligible nominees was provided by &ldquo;NBA Today&rdquo; on ESPN; the complete list of eligible candidates can be found below. &nbsp; Finalists from the North American and Women&rsquo;s committee for the Class of 2023 will be announced on February 17, at 5:30 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City, Utah, during NBA All-Star Weekend. &nbsp; The entire Class of 2023, including those selected by the direct-elect committees, will be unveiled during the NCAA Final Four in Houston, Texas, on April 1, in a nationally televised broadcast at 11 a.m. EST.
NORTH AMERICAN NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ken Anderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Beilein (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Bess (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Chauncey Billups (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Chambers (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Clougherty (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Cooper (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joey Crawford (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Curran (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Eaton (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cliff Ellis (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Finley (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pau Gasol (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leonard Hamilton (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lou Henson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed Hightower (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; David Hixon (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Jackson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marques Johnson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Keady (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Larranaga (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Maurice Lucas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shawn Marion (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Rollie Massimino (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Motta (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dirk Nowitzki (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jake O&rsquo;Donnell (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tony Parker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Phelan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gregg Popovich (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bo Ryan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Stan Spirou (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Reggie Theus (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dwyane Wade (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Buck Williams (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Williamson (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Westhead (COA)
WOMEN&rsquo;S NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leta Andrews (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jennifer Azzi (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gary Blair (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Bruno (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Hammon (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Martin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Debbie Miller-Palmore (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kim Mulkey (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Still (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marian Washington (COA) &nbsp; INTERNATIONAL DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jackie Chazalon &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mirza Delibasic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dusan Ivkovic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Semen Khalipski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vladimir Kondrashin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Eduardo Lamas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marcos Leite &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shimon Mirrahi &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Amaury Pasos &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Manuel Sainz &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Togo Soares &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ranko Zeravica &nbsp; WOMEN&rsquo;S VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1976 US Olympic Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1982 Cheyney University NCAA Final Four Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Alline Banks Sprouse (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Edmonton Commercial Grads (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Head (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Yolanda Laney (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Nashville Business College (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lometa Odom (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Harley Redin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hazel Walker (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Walker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dean Weese (COA)*
CONTRIBUTOR DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pete Babcock &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Baumgartner &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Henry Bibby &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marty Blake &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vic Bubas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Collins &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wayne Duke &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Foster &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Gibbons &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Simon Gourdine &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tim Grgurich &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Junius Kellogg &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Johnny &ldquo;Red&rdquo; Kerr &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Konchalski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bobby Lewis &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred McCall &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McCloskey &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jon McGlocklin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Speedy Morris &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dennis Murphy &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Curly Neal &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Powers &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Will Robinson &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Shue &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Valvano &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donnie Walsh &nbsp; VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1936 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1972 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Barnett (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Blackburn (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sid Borgia (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Freddie Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Coleman (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Eckman (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leroy Edwards (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leo Ferris (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hy Gotkin (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Travis Grant (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Hartman (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cam Henderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert Hopkins (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Keinath (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Greg Kelser (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kentucky Wesleyan 1966, 1968, 1969 (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Love (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Loyola of Chicago (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Billy Markward (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed McCluskey (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McKinney (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Melchionni (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Francis Meehan (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lucias Mitchell (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donald &ldquo;Dudey&rdquo; Moore (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joe Mullaney (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Willie Naulls (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; North Catholic High School Junior Varsity (Philadelphia, PA) (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Don Otten (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Philadelphia SPHAS (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kevin Porter (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Glenn Roberts (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lennie Rosenbluth (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kenny Sailors (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred Schaus (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sam Schulman (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Silas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lambert Will (CONT)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Max Zaslofsky (PLA)

Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich and Dwyane Wade are among the candidates for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Basketball Hall of Fame announces candidates for Class of 2023

There's an existential dread that comes with facing the Milwaukee Bucks, particularly when they're healthy.
Jrue Holiday will laugh at your attempts to screen him, instead attaching himself to a ball-handler like he's a jersey decal.&nbsp;
Jevon Carter, thriving with more minutes, is every bit as annoying to deal with at the point of attack.&nbsp;
Giannis Antetokounmpo is present, even if he isn't there. You're always aware of where he is. Any joy you feel by breaking the first level of Milwaukee's defense is quickly replaced by nervousness.
I know he's lurking. I knoooow he's lurking somewhere.&nbsp;
If you're able to break the first level, and Giannis is stashed somewhere else, you still have to deal with the final boss: Brook Lopez.&nbsp;
Splash Mountain may as well be Bash Mountain this season; opposing players just aren't having much fun in the paint when Lopez is around.&nbsp;
The Bucks have the NBA's best half-court defense, allowing just 88.7 points per 100 plays according to the good folks at Cleaning The Glass. That's a full seven points lower than league average (95.7). You'd have to go back to the Kevin Garnett-led Boston Celtics in 2007-08 to find a defense that dominant (7.9 points lower than league average).
Lopez is, figuratively and literally, at the center of that defense. They're even stingier in the half-court with Lopez on the floor (84.3 per 100) this season, thanks to his ability to wall off the paint. With the Bucks being more selective about the way they help from the perimeter, ball-handlers have been funneled into Lopez.
Only Nikola Jokic is <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defensive-impact?CF=DEF_RIM_FGA*GE*5:GP*GE*10&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=DEF_RIM_FGA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defending more shots per game at the basket</a> (8.2) than Lopez (7.6), but Lopez is allowing a much lower conversion rate at the rim (51.9%) than Jokic is (67.0%). Lopez also happens to lead the NBA in blocks (2.5 per game) among players who have appeared in double-digit games.
Because of the sheer size and length of Lopez, it's incredibly difficult to garner clean looks at the rim. Add in his understanding of timing and verticality &mdash; he very rarely leaves his feet before the shooter does &mdash; and you begin to understand why he's having an elite campaign in shot contests and&nbsp;blocks.&nbsp;
He put on an absolute masterclass against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. The spotlight was rightfully on the glamour end &mdash; he dropped a season-high 29 points behind an explosive 7-of-9 clip from three &mdash; but the way Lopez navigated the drop against the Darius Garland-Donovan Mitchell backcourt was a loud example of the quiet goodness he's displayed all year.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Brook Lopez is nasty in a drop, man. <a href="https://t.co/6zMkQA5x0E">pic.twitter.com/6zMkQA5x0E</a>
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1593364684215926786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
The Cavs generated a shade under 0.9 points per possession (PPP) on trips featuring a ball-screen defended by Lopez, per Second Spectrum. It's a wildly low number made more impressive by how good Cleveland's pick-and-roll attack has been this season (1.03 PPP, fifth entering Wednesday).
What's even wilder: That 0.9 PPP figure was actually good&nbsp;relative to how other teams have fared. On the season, the Bucks have allowed 0.81 PPP on trips featuring a ball-screen defended by Lopez. Among 56 players to defend 150 picks as the screener defender, that's the best mark in the league. And considering only Nikola Vucevic has faced more picks than Lopez (462 to 438), it's fair to conclude that nobody's fared better than Lopez.
Zoom out to include post-ups defended &mdash; and just general work as the last line of defense &mdash; I don't think there's been a better interior defender than Lopez, period. The only player keeping Lopez from being the we-don't-even-have-to-talk-about-it favorite for Defensive Player of the Year might be Toronto Raptors do-everything-man OG Anunoby &mdash; the NBA's current steals leader who can slide up and down the positional spectrum.
There are more versatile defensive players in the league; heck, between Giannis and Holiday (when healthy), there are more versatile defenders on the Bucks. But the way Lopez is impacting things on a per-possession basis is astounding.
His presence makes life easier for everyone. Holiday and Carter can put their all into screen navigation, knowing that Lopez is behind them if they get caught up. Giannis can fly around more freely knowing Lopez has his back. The Bucks don't have to send extra help towards drivers because they trust Lopez can shut things down without getting himself into foul trouble.
As we saw last season, the Bucks can <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-bucks-are-reinventing-themselves-on-defense-again" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cobble together a workable defense</a> when Lopez isn't available. But if the beginning of this seaosn is any indication, he makes this defense go from "workable and annoying" to darn-near impossible to score against.&nbsp;

Nekias Duncan breaks down the strong early play of Brook Lopez on the defensive end for the Bucks.

From Splash Mountain to Bash Mountain: Brook Lopez is inevitable

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes how Chris Webber's decision-making unlocked the Kings' revolutionary offense.

Blazing the Trail: Chris Webber, the read-and-react king

What stands out to you about this possession?
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If your eyes immediately go to Nikola Jovic &mdash; a skilled seven-footer that the Miami Heat are pretty excited about &mdash; initiating the offense, I wouldn't blame you.
If you're a stickler for process, it's fair to point out that the first action of the possession &mdash; a pitch to Marcus Garrett before flowing into a ball-screen &mdash; taking nearly 15 seconds to occur is less than ideal. It leads to Garrett trying and failing to beat Xavier Tillman off the bounce after forcing a switch, which then calls for Jovic to save the possession with a(nother) deep three.
But look at Haywood Highsmith.
While the Heat take their precious time getting into the possession, he's calling for Garrett to move closer to the right wing so his help defender can't park at the free-throw line. Spacing is the name of the game, and Highsmith has a strong understanding of it.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_10_08_20_24_08.png" alt="" width="578" height="325" />
Highsmith lifts to the right wing while the ball-screen happens, then retreats back to the corner once Jovic receives the ball. And while his defender, David Roddy, stares down the late-clock iso from Jovic, Highsmith loops into the paint in anticipation for the shot.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_10_08_20_28_13.png" alt="" width="578" height="325" />
Sure enough, the shot clanks off the right side of the rim. By doing his homework early, by remaining active off the ball, Highsmith goes from spacer to glass-cleaner before anyone can put a body on him. Two-possession game.
Highsmith continues to fly under the radar. You can track it back to his family; he's technically a junior, with his father &mdash; Haywood Highsmith Sr. &mdash; carving out a prolific college career <a href="https://fightingfalcons.com/honors/hall-of-fame/haywood-highsmith/74" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in his own right</a>.
"First and foremost, my parents were very supportive of me over the years," Highsmith told Basketball News during a phone interview. "My father grew up playing basketball; he was a Hall-of-Famer in college, so I basically learned the game from him."&nbsp;
The younger Haywood would have <a href="https://wucardinals.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/haywood-highsmith/3842" target="_blank" rel="noopener">productive college career</a> of his own. He shined at Wheeling University, a Division II school, starting three of his four years there. As a senior, Highsmith averaged 22 points (60.9% from two, 40.5% from three), 12.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.8 blocks.
It's been work since then. A two-way deal with the Philadelphia Sixers here; a two-year stretch in Germany there; G League reps in the interim. Highsmith has had to cycle through teams, schemes, roles and countries. But that amalgamtion of experiences has prepared him for this Heat run.
&ldquo;I don't view him as a young player," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said after Friday night's win over the Memphis Grizzlies. "I understand he doesn't have an extensive NBA experience &mdash; but he's played some very good basketball in the G League. He has had to grind and earn everything and every opportunity that he&rsquo;s been given. He just continues to get better each year.
"He has also contributed on some very good winning teams in the G League, and he has been one of those glue guys for those teams. [That] was one of the things that appealed to us about him &mdash; and it was the fact that he makes winning plays and contributes to winning &mdash; and it does not necessarily always show up in the conventional box score. But he defends, has a knack for the ball [and] he is very good in the system."
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The biggest question surrounding the Heat entering this season has been some variation of, "Who starts alongside Bam Adebayo in the frontcourt?" We've seen Caleb Martin, another diamond-in-the-rough find, get reps at the 4. Adebayo himself has played the 4 alongside Omer Yurtseven. It probably won't be Jimmy Butler, who jokingly-yet-seriously shut down the prospect of it in training camp.
Keep an eye on Highsmith, once again flying under the radar. He's coming off of a productive showing at NBA Summer League where he was tasked with defending all over the floor, canning triples and occasionally keeping the offense flowing as a driver.
During preseason play, he's been sliding across the positional scale defensively. He saw time against Bryn Forbes (movement shooter), Austin Rivers (wing scorer), Taurean Prince (spacer, close-out attacker) and Eric Paschall (versatile 4). Against the Brooklyn Nets, he spent time against Kevin Durant and&nbsp;Ben Simmons. On Friday night against the Grizzlies, he saw time against Dillon Brooks, Ziaire Williams and even Xavier Tillman.&nbsp;
He didn't always fare well against those matchups, but he offers the archetype &mdash; rangy, active, physical, willing &mdash; that the Heat want if they decide to go smaller again.&nbsp;
Highsmith recently spoke to Basketball News about his qualifications at the 4, his influences as a player, what he's worked on this summer and more.
(This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.)
How would you describe your game to someone who isn't familiar with you?
Haywood Highsmith: "I'm just a versatile basketball player. I don't really have a set position; I'll go out there and play whatever the team needs me to play. It starts with defense, being able to guard multiple players. Offensively, I'd say I'm a good shooter, an underrated passer. I'm just a guy that does a little bit of everything on the floor &mdash; and plays hard."
I was going through some of your college and overseas film, and it looks like you have somewhat of a post game too. Do you feel like that's something you can utilize if opponents stash smaller players on you?
Highsmith: "When I was in college, I was a Division II player so I faced some smaller players from time to time. I was pretty dominant in the post with a right hook, spins and stuff like that. I was kind of a big man in college; now that I'm in the pros, I'm more of a hybrid. When I get mismatches, I could definitely use some of the moves I used to do back in my earlier days &mdash; take advantage of my size and length and get good shots against smaller opponents."
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Since you've been in the NBA, who are some players you've drawn from or learned from?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"When I was in Philly (2018-19 season), I did talk to Jimmy [Butler] from time to time. Obviously I'm with him now, so I've been able to learn more from him. With the Heat last year, P.J. [Tucker] taught me a lot about playing hard, doing the little things while on the court; you can affect winning in different ways.
"In the G-League, I'd say Shaq Harrison. He's been around the NBA for a minute, played for the Bulls &mdash; he's a really good player. Guys like that, you can a learn a lot from. They've been playing longer than me, and they have more knowledge than me as well."
You've discussed your dad playing on the college level. How has that shaped your game?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"My dad has been supporting me since I was a kid. I knew I'd grow up to play basketball; he played, we're both very tall. He pushed me to develop skills beyond what he had. He tries to tell me things I could do better; sometimes I listen, and sometimes I don't (laughs). I feel like I'm learning more on this side, but sometimes he does bring up good points."
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Whenever you do pour over game tape, what are the kind of things you look for?
Highsmith: "I try to pinpoint areas in which I can be better, then I look at the things I did well and see what I can be consistent with. It's not always about looking at the things you did wrong; it's important to see the things you did well and stay positive. I just try to soak it all in, honestly."
What's a specific area of your game that you looked to improve this past summer?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"Obviously, it starts with being in the best conditioning as possible. I feel like the Heat have really helped me with that. I've been with them all summer.
"Beyond that, I've worked on my ball-handling and being more consistent with my shot. I worked with Rob Fodor, the Heat's shooting coach. He's a really good guy, and has had me working on different things with my jumpshot. So, it's been a blend of skill work and getting in great shape."
On the jumper, have you made any tweaks to it, or has it been more about getting reps up?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"It's about having a one-motion jumper for me. I have to make sure I don't hold the ball up top. I want to have one fluid motion with my jumpshot."
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Last question for you. You've played D-II, played overseas, played in the G-League, and you have some NBA experience. What are some of the stylistic differences that you've seen across those leagues?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"Overseas, it's obviously a more physical game. I think the defense is harder because there's more ball movement.
"In the NBA, the players are more talented so the stars have the ball in their hands more. Overseas, they move the ball around. There are a lot of good passers. Some of the big men can really shoot, and can also pass the ball really well.&nbsp;
"But with the NBA, G-League, overseas, D-II &mdash; it's all just basketball at the end of the day. There are different levels and different skill sets; obviously, I had to make an adjustment coming from playing D-II. I was probably the best player on the court every practice, every game. When I came to the pros, I had to change spots. I had to learn how to adjust and find my niche. I feel like I've done a good job of that, being able to play alongside different types of players. It's different everywhere, but you just have to be able to adjust and adapt to different styles."
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Actually, one quick follow-up before I let you go. You mentioned the physicality overseas and, at least when I watch, there seems to be more of an emphasis on big-man play. Do you feel like there's less switching overseas? What are the differences in defensive schemes?
Highsmith:&nbsp;"Yeah. When I was overseas, a lot of teams would hedge on ball-screens. You'd have to be able to hit the short-roll with a pass, or swing a pass to the opposite wing so that guy could hit the player rolling.
"When I got over there, they asked me to hard hedge, which I'd never done before. It was hard for me to learn at first. But as I grew, they recognized that I was better at switching because I could guard multiple positions. It didn't make much sense for me to hedge and try to recover back to my man. I feel like switching is very easy to do, especially compared to something like hedging."

Nekias Duncan talks to Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith about his background, role, skill set and more.

Heat's Haywood Highsmith Q&A: Playing the 4, skill development, more

Welcome to Basketball News' 10-part mini-series, Blazing the Trail, where Mat Issa breaks down the most revolutionary players of the 1990s and 2000s. Throughout this series, we'll examine how these players changed basketball and pioneered their respective skills.
In this fifth installment, Mat goes in-depth on one of the most versatile defenders of all-time: Andrei Kirilenko. He explains what made him different from other off-ball rovers who came before him, with insights from his former coaches, teammates and more.
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No player in this series has garnered more anticipation than Andrei Kirilenko. A quick survey of the internet yields countless articles and <a href="https://youtu.be/XGkSph7VDrU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube videos</a> that are all centered around the same premise:
Kirilenko would be a perfect fit in today&rsquo;s era.
Did Kirilenko serve as the prototype for the modern-day defender? During his prime, was he a revolutionary and a superstar?&nbsp;
Let's find out.
WHAT MADE KIRILENKO SPECIAL?
In baseball, a "five-tool player" is bestowed this label if they display excellence in five categories: hitting for average, hitting for power, fielding, speed and throwing.
Similarly, Kirilenko excelled in five different defensive disciplines.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/kirilenko-five-tool-defender.jpg" alt="Visual Created by Mark Cheung" width="487" height="520" />
Tool No. 1: Man Defense
&ldquo;His technique was fundamentally instinctive,&rdquo; said Gordon Chiesa, Kirilenko&rsquo;s former coach in Utah.
Kirilenko touted great length, reflexes and an active &lsquo;tap-dancing&rsquo; stance (see clips below) that enabled him to keep the ball in his line of sight at all times.&nbsp;
On top of that, he mastered the &lsquo;flick-hand technique,&rsquo; which aims to force ball-handlers to dribble East to West rather than North to South (since it's harder to get in the paint when you can&rsquo;t move forward).
"[Your] defensive hand is on the ball side, and [you're] flicking [your] hand up towards the ball &ndash; without losing [your] balance &ndash; to make their dribble lateral, so that it's more protective [rather than] more downhill," Chiesa explained to Basketball News.
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Tool No. 2: Versatility&nbsp;
While Kirilenko&rsquo;s primary assignments were forwards, he was capable of guarding shiftier speedsters and gargantuan bruisers as well.
&ldquo;You could literally put him on just about anyone,&rdquo; recalled Michael Ruffin, Kirilenko&rsquo;s former teammate who is now an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns. "[He] had the speed, quickness, length to keep up with guards&hellip; on the perimeter. That&rsquo;s who he would end up guarding a lot [of the time].&rdquo;
Kirilenko even developed antidotes to deploy when going up against the more powerful, low-post big men of the time.
&ldquo;Even on the post with a bigger, banging guy&hellip; he could make it difficult for them to get the ball deep by fronting them,&rdquo; said Charlotte Hornets assistant Tyrone Corbin, who coached Kirilenko in Utah. "What he would do is put the work in early [in the post] to make the catch a little further out, so they wouldn&rsquo;t catch it so deep in the paint.&rdquo;
And if the big man somehow managed to receive the entry pass?
&ldquo;He would go after the ball and keep them off balance that way,&rdquo; Corbin explained.
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Tool No. 3: Off-Ball Disruptor
&ldquo;The thing I remember about him most is that he [was] a defensive playmaker,&rdquo; Chiesa said.
Each season from 2001 to 2011, Kirilenko finished in the 96th percentile or higher in Cerebro Sports&rsquo; Defensive Statistical Impact metric (which measures defensive playmaking).&nbsp;
&ldquo;What made Kirilenko brilliant, I call it early eyes,&rdquo; Chiesa explained. &ldquo;He could read plays before [they] happened&hellip; and he was able to be cat-quick and jump in the passing lanes to steal the ball, block a shot or pickpocket somebody.&rdquo;
Among other things, Kirilenko was adept at doubling down from the perimeter &ndash; the concept of rotating over from the perimeter to double a player on the low block (which was particularly important during that era considering the high volume of post-ups).
&ldquo;People never understood how long he really was,&rdquo; Corbin said. &ldquo;He could be at the <a href="https://medium.com/the-basketball-dictionary/the-basketball-dictionary-5c3835e9fe58#:~:text=Nail%3A%20The%20spot%20in%20the,the%20middle%20at%20all%20costs." target="_blank" rel="noopener">nail</a>/elbow, and a guy could get the ball in the post and turn to dribble or make a move, and he&rsquo;s on top of them knocking the ball out.&rdquo;
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Tool No. 4: Motor
Legendary Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was known for stressing the importance of conditioning in all his practices.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of the biggest sticklers with Coach Sloan: you had to be in great shape,&rdquo; Corbin emphasized. &ldquo;Most of the things that we did every day involved some kind of drill [with] conditioning as part of the drill.&rdquo;
Upon reflecting on his experiences, Ruffin agreed with Corbin&rsquo;s assessment.
&ldquo;The philosophy of the team&hellip; was that every time you stepped on the court, you go hard,&rdquo; Ruffin said.
Kirilenko did not deviate from this mission statement. During his iconic run in the 2003-04 NBA season (more on that in a bit), he finished in the 94th percentile in minutes played. And he spent every second of those nearly 2,900 minutes stalking the terrain at a frenetic pace.
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Tool No. 5: Shot-Blocking
Kirilenko was a human eraser of the highest order, and his acumen as a shot-blocker is what separated him from the likes of Shawn Marion &ndash; the other multi-faceted forward of that time.
During his career, Kirilenko posted a whopping seven seasons with a block percentage of 4% or higher. Marion, on the other hand, never surpassed 3%.&nbsp;
With his condor arms, impeccable timing and recovery speed, Kirilenko was terrific at swatting away attempts.
&ldquo;Super timing. Super, super timing," Corbin said. "And his ability to recover &ndash; to get from point A to point B &ndash; especially off the ball when he could be on the weakside. A guy could drive thinking he was open; [Kirilenko] would get from where he was to the ball quickly before the guy could alter his shot or see him coming.
&ldquo;As good as he was on the ball, he was better coming off the ball because guys couldn&rsquo;t see where he was coming from.&rdquo;
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ON-COURT PRODUCTION
Prior to the 2003-04 NBA season, ESPN writer Frank Hughes <a href="https://www.deseret.com/2003/10/5/19788279/little-expected-of-jazz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">predicted</a> that the Utah Jazz would lose more games than any team in NBA history.&nbsp;
Not only did Utah outperform these not-so-lofty expectations, they came within one game of the playoffs in the loaded Western Conference.&nbsp;
So, what happened?
&ldquo;When things like that usually happen, you look back, and you&rsquo;re like, &lsquo;Oh, we missed on three or four of those players. They were way better than we thought,'&rdquo; said David Locke, who has been the radio voice of the Jazz for 13 years.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that exists on [the Jazz&rsquo;s] roster. I think the only one we missed on was a 22-year-old Andrei Kirilenko [who] was just a way better player and more important than people realized.&rdquo;
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Advanced data helps us understand Kirilenko's impact that season. Basketball Reference&rsquo;s Box Plus-Minus paints Kirilenko as a <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2004_advanced.html#advanced_stats::bpm">top-three player</a> in the league that year, with the next-best Jazz player ranking 75th. While top-three may be unlikely, he was pretty darn close.
In 2003-04, Utah's defense was 2.2 points stingier per 100 possessions with their Swiss-army-knife defender on the floor (which ranked in the 72nd percentile, per Cleaning the Glass).&nbsp;
What&rsquo;s more, AK-47's value extended beyond his defense. He also boasted a progressive offensive game &ndash; one that improved Utah&rsquo;s attack by 9.5 points per 100 possessions (ranking in the 97th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass).&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Along with being a revolutionary defender, Kirilenko had an incredibly modern (and underrated) offensive game. He was a decisive passer, an eager cutter, a fearless driver, and a FT drawing machine. He would have been the perfect player in today's read-and-react react game. <a href="https://t.co/dvEZTxxWDJ">pic.twitter.com/dvEZTxxWDJ</a>
&mdash; Mat Issa (@matissa15) <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1562527132013604865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Put those two outputs together, and the Jazz had a +11.8 efficiency differential per 100 possessions when Kirilenko was on the court. That year, the only other All-Stars to achieve that mark were Kevin Garnett (the 2003-04 MVP), Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, Jason Kidd and Brad Miller.&nbsp;
(Note: On the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/260tNesWxrhH93RDQP06pS?si=79381e7876574e8f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blazing the Trail podcast</a>, historian Cody Houdek and I broke down where Kirilenko ranked in the league that season, and we ultimately landed on him falling somewhere in the 8-12 range).
BLAZING THE TRAIL
Chiesa&rsquo;s Jazz spent the late 1990s being vanquished by a team that rostered a player in Kirilenko&rsquo;s likeness: Scottie Pippen.
&ldquo;Defensively, [Pippen] was a defensive playmaker who could guard all five positions, and that was Kirilenko,&rdquo; Chiesa compared.&nbsp;
Despite their similarities, Pippen&rsquo;s approach was more <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9vFHYVXtRk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on-ball orientated</a> (juxtaposed with Kirilenko&rsquo;s primarily off-ball style). A more perfect progenitor for this inspector-gadget model exists by way of 1970s stalwart Bobby Jones.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Absolutely,&rdquo; Chiesa exclaimed when asked about the two forwards' similarities.&nbsp;&ldquo;Just like Kirilenko &ndash; 6-foot-9, [220] pounds, gangly, high hips, [could] run the floor, defensive playmaker...&rdquo;&nbsp;
Like Kirilenko, the Secretary of Defense touted the illustrious <a href="https://streamable.com/3ynktv" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five defensive tools</a> and, as a result, left a significant mark on that end of the floor &ndash; quarterbacking five top-5 defenses during his 10-year tenure in the NBA.
Both defensive roamers by nature, Kirilenko was able to become arguably more impactful than his predecessor thanks to the abolition of illegal defense rules in 2001. Before this rule change, zone defense was banned, and if teams/players wanted to execute these exotic coverages, they had to do so covertly, which greatly mitigated the value of off-ball roamers such as Jones.
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IMPACT ON TODAY'S GAME
In the era of pace and space, the logical defensive counter to this increased surface area is to obtain personnel who can cover this space efficiently.&nbsp;
As alluded to in the previous section, rule changes enabled Kirilenko to operate unrestricted in a manner his forefathers never could. And this confluence of events, combined with his unique physical tools and instincts, made him the prototype for the space-ball defender.
Today, the NBA landscape is littered with players who resemble Kirilenko's robust defensive palate. Nearly every prominent defender in the Association has shades of Kirilenko&rsquo;s design in their own game.&nbsp;
For instance, All-Defensive First Team forward Mikal Bridges shares Kirilenko&rsquo;s length and motor.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think that [Kirilenko] is actually a lot like Mikal,&rdquo; said Ruffin, who coaches Bridges on the Suns. &ldquo;They are both extremely long, they move really well [when] negotiating screens, both have good motors, and they both take pride in defending.&rdquo;
As for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, Ruffin said that he inherited Kirilenko&rsquo;s versatility. Like Kirilenko, Smart regularly faces off against defenders far larger than him in stature, and he holds them off using the same <a href="https://streamable.com/5x6n4y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fronting techniques</a> Corbin alluded to earlier.&nbsp;
Draymond Green, arguably the best defender of his generation, may share the most similarities with Kirilenko &mdash; possessing all five of his fancy utensils. And similar to how Kirilenko surpassed Jones, Green one-upped AK-47 by adding a rim-deterrence component to his game.&nbsp;
The best paint protectors deter opponents from taking shots in the restricted area entirely, and Green is no exception. This past season, opponent rim frequency decreased by 5.4% when he was on the court (which ranked in the 99th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass). Unfortunately, Kirilenko's presence didn&rsquo;t have the same effect, as the opponent's rim frequency <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/2029/onoff#tab-opp_shooting_freq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">oftentimes</a> increased when he was on the floor.
Thanks to the movement initiated by Kirilenko (and capitalized on by Green), every team is looking for the next torchbearer to the space-ball-defender lineage.
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In fact, Utah may have just stumbled upon its second iteration of the archetype in recently acquired Jarred Vanderbilt. When asked about their parallels, Chiesa pulled out his notes from when the Jazz and Timberwolves faced off on December 31, 2021, and read them aloud:
&ldquo;Lengthy frame, long arms, pretzel legs&hellip; wily defensive ball-retriever, glides in from perimeter to block shots, active back-tipper into transition, early-eyes anticipator, in and out of the passing lanes, steal maker&hellip; around the ball consistently.&rdquo;
Sound familiar?
Meanwhile, in Toronto, the Raptors believe they hold the key to the next link in the five-tool chain in reigning Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think Scottie is overall a better talent [than Kirilenko]," Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin told Basketball News. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not taking anything away from Kirilenko&hellip; but I think there is something special about Scottie.&rdquo;
Seeing the direction the league is going, it makes sense why people always ponder how Kirilenko would fare in today&rsquo;s game.&nbsp;
But don&rsquo;t let his status as a revolutionary fool you; he was a damn good player during his time too.&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/img_5197.jpg" alt="" width="562" height="562" />
Check back next week for Part VI of Blazing the Trail, which focuses on Shawn Kemp, the aerial artist.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-reggie-miller-the-moving-target-indiana-pacers-rik-smits-dan-burke-michael-jordan-joe-dumars-golden-state-warriors-chris-mullin-steph-curry-klay-thompson">Click here to read Part IV: Reggie Miller, the moving target</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-shane-battier-the-databall-defender-memphis-grizzlies-houston-rockets-miami-heat-daryl-morey-david-fizdale-detroit-pistons-draymond-green" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part III: Shane Battier, the data-ball defender</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-rashard-lewis-all-star-stretch-four-orlando-magic-stan-van-gundy-dwight-howard-hedo-turkoglu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part II: Rashard Lewis, the All-Star stretch 4</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-steve-nash-phoenix-suns-mike-dantoni-raja-bell-steph-curry-all-time-great-point-guard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part I: Steve Nash, the magician who danced in the paint</a>

Andrei Kirilenko was a five-tool defender who was ahead of his time. Mat Issa looks back on AK-47's career and impact on today's NBA.