Rattlers

It isn't easy to get a stamp of approval from an NBA legend, but Phoenix Suns forward Bol Bol just secured one after helping Phoenix as they fight for positioning in a tough Western Conference playoff race. Kevin Durant raved about his teammate after the Suns' important win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
"He's been more than I expected,&rdquo; Durant said of Bol, who scored 11 points against the Lakers and just had a 25-point, 14-rebound performance against the Houston Rockets. &ldquo;His intangibles, his work ethic, his IQ, all the stuff that I didn't really think about when it comes to [Bol], that's the foundation of his game."&nbsp;
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"He's been more than I expected. His intangibles, his work ethic, his IQ, all the stuff that I didn't really think about when it comes to Bol, that's the foundation of his game." Kevin Durant on Bol Bol, who followed 25 and 14 at Houston with 11 points in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Suns?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Suns</a> win vs. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lakers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Lakers</a>. <a href="https://t.co/xoFZvfmZDD">pic.twitter.com/xoFZvfmZDD</a>
&mdash; Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DuaneRankin/status/1761927253586559436?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Against the Lakers, Bol showcased several skills including putting the ball on the floor and attacking closeouts with ease. With a respectable jumper, Bol forces opposing teams to close out on him since he can hit the occasional three-ball.&nbsp;
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MAKE WAY FOR BOL BOL 😤 7 PTS (3-3 FG) in 6 MIN 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/2Zjha9f4MJ">pic.twitter.com/2Zjha9f4MJ</a>
&mdash; NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/1761862410913071303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2024</a></blockquote>

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The lanky forward, who previously had stints with the Denver Nuggets and Orlando Magic, appears to have finally cracked head coach Frank Vogel&rsquo;s rotation. Despite just playing sparingly throughout the season, he seems ready to play meaningful minutes moving forward. 
An interesting signing this past offseason, Bol is now averaging 15.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game on a 70.6% True Shooting percentage while playing 21.5 minutes over his last three games as the Suns welcomed his length at the forward position.
As previously mentioned, Bol played his best game of the season against Houston, tallying 25 points and 14 rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench -- serving as an integral part of Phoenix&rsquo;s closing lineup.
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Tonight Bol Bol showed why he should be getting minutes, especially playing with Kevin Durant who can help mentor him too. <a href="https://t.co/zH1n9WXDkC">pic.twitter.com/zH1n9WXDkC</a>
&mdash; CantGuardBook (@CGBBURNER) <a href="https://twitter.com/CGBBURNER/status/1761256812962083197?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2024</a></blockquote>

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After scouring the league for wings in an attempt to get bigger at the forward spots prior to the trade deadline, the Suns might have found an answer to their season-long problem with a player who has been on the roster all along.
At 7-foot-3, Bol is a mismatch on offense with skills that include fluidity on dribbles as well as a soft touch around the rim. On defense, his frame allows him to alter shots despite being skinny for his size. Bol has the potential to be a good shot blocker once he improves his feel for the game and bulks up a bit to help with strength-and-conditioning issues.&nbsp;
Furthermore, Bol offers positional versatility on both offense and defense, which Durant appreciates and finds intriguing, especially come playoff time. This allows Coach Vogel to play bigger, trotting out a big lineup of Durant, Bol and center Jusuf Nurkic to counter the Lakers' big frontline.
&ldquo;When you look at the top teams in the league, they all have size,&rdquo; Durant <a href="https://x.com/DuaneRankin/status/1761928301654995404?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &ldquo;[Bol] gives us another dimension.&rdquo;
With Bol getting more and more comfortable, the Suns can be more versatile on both sides of the court and have an intriguing eight-man playoff rotation.

Kevin Durant raved about his Phoenix Suns teammate after the team's important win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kevin Durant impressed with Bol Bol: 'He’s been more than I expected'

In his 27th season as the head coach of one of the most prolific franchises in pro sports, Gregg Popovich has seen a lot of talent come through the San Antonio Spurs&rsquo; doors. But his first impression of 19-year-old rookie Dominick Barlow before the season is one he&rsquo;ll not soon forget.
&ldquo;I look at this guy, I say (to the Spurs staffers), 'Where'd you find this guy? Was he a bag boy at HEB or was he working at the gas station?'&rdquo; Popovich recalled to Basketball News. &ldquo;He looks like he never played basketball before. He's just this long, stick sorta guy. He looks almost uncoordinated in a way.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I said, 'Who is this guy?' And they said, 'Just watch him, just watch him. This guy is raw. It's a blank slate, but he's got really quick feet, he's long, he's eager (and) he's really smart.'&rdquo;
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Signed to a two-way contract on July 11, 2022, Barlow's pro career is in its infancy.
Considering there are players ahead of him in the Spurs' development pecking order, as well as more experienced individuals who are higher on the depth chart, the 6-foot-9, 221-pounder has only recently gotten the chance to get his feet wet at the NBA level. Now, having 10 games under his belt, he&rsquo;s eligible to appear in the rest of the team&rsquo;s 33 contests. Up until the trade deadline, he had played under 40 minutes across six total games.
San Antonio felt more comfortable with a gradual maturation via the G League, where the undrafted two-way forward is averaging 12.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 26.3 minutes a night across 32 games played with the Austin Spurs. Chop that down to the <a href="https://go.nba.com/y5v8t" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last four contests</a> &mdash; &nbsp;25.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals on .603/.571/.929 splits &nbsp;&mdash; and it helps explain why the big club called Barlow's number to see more.
Between Feb. 10-13, Barlow played 17.0 minutes a night over three games on San Antonio&rsquo;s lengthy road trip, including significant stints in the fourth quarter. It was his first real exposure to the NBA level, and there are going to be more opportunities coming his way.
&ldquo;Everything he's doing now is just like a freebie. He's gonna get these minutes and he's gonna play and we're gonna get to take a look at him,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;But he's been one of the team favorites because of his personality and his sort of wildness on the court. 'Cause he doesn't really know much yet. He's just got these athletic skills and he's like a whirling dervish, so to speak.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Just stay patient and stay with what I'm doing,&rdquo; Barlow told Basketball News when asked what he&rsquo;s learned during his rookie season. &ldquo;Obviously, I think the organization is seeing something &mdash; some of the stuff that I'm doing often and allowing me to play some more minutes when some guys are hurt, which I want to just keep proving myself and proving I can play at this level.&rdquo;
Barlow understands what it&rsquo;s going to take to keep him on the floor at this stage of his career. It&rsquo;s the simple things: Playing hard, running the floor, getting rebounds, finishing at the rim and, most importantly, locking in on <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1631230/head-to-head?dir=D&amp;sort=SECONDS" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defense</a>.
&ldquo;Everybody wants to become a good offensive player, but I think defensively is the way to get out on the court," Barlow said. "So just trying to read that and understand that certain guys can score. As long as you're keeping them in spots where they're uncomfortable and they have to make tough shots, you kinda sometimes have to limit that. So just trying to learn.
&ldquo;Don't get too frustrated if a guy scores; you know you did what the scouting report says. You kinda just have to trust that sometimes. It's hard playing defense in the NBA. It's hard. There's so many different looks that you see, so you kinda have to just trust your coaches, trust yourself and just give effort. Effort, at the end of the day, will trump some of the other stuff.&rdquo;
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While he has yet to put a stamp on this league, he is already a trailblazer for another.
Barlow is the first player to make it to the NBA from Overtime Elite, a rising professional basketball league focused on preparing the top high-school prospects in hoops around the globe, giving amateur athletes an alternative path to the highest level of competition with proper preparation.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I take pride in representing Overtime Elite. I feel like as a brand and as a group, they helped me a lot [with] just learning how to lock in and work on my game, and [I] became a student of the game,&rdquo; Barlow said. &ldquo;So I take those values that they brought me and I try to bring 'em into here and be a pro and do the same thing every day. Regardless of what's gonna happen game-wise, just try to be a professional. So I take a lot of pride in that.&rdquo;
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&ldquo;I loved coaching Dom. He worked hard every day, was dedicated and determined, and it finally paid off,&rdquo; OTE Cold Hearts head coach Ryan Gomes told Basketball News. &ldquo;He's where he always thought he would be, the NBA, and he's a perfect example of what putting in the work can do.&rdquo;
A solid pro in his own right, Gomes spent eight years in the NBA and also had stints in the then-D League, Germany and Spain. He started many games and learned from a lot of great players, and he&rsquo;s passed on his knowledge to Barlow.
&ldquo;Prepare for the daily grind, watch film, study yourself and your opponents, re-watch your games, keep your focus on staying there &mdash; not just making it,&rdquo; Gomes said. &ldquo;Punch the clock every day.&rdquo;
Gomes sees many parts of his student&rsquo;s game translating to the NBA level. Barlow had a 40% clip beyond the arc with OTE. He also put positional versatility on display as a ball-handling playmaker at the 4 and as a two-way defender at the 3.
We&rsquo;ve seen a lot of those tools being used in Barlow&rsquo;s games in Austin, and some of them are coming to the surface with San Antonio. He&rsquo;s a get-down-the-court, lengthy, athletic player with long strides who can feast in transition when given the chance. He'll block shots with either hand and tip a lot of passes too.
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❌ DOM BLOCK ❌<a href="https://twitter.com/Dominickbarlow_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dominickbarlow_</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/austin_spurs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@austin_spurs</a> <a href="https://t.co/bIZmLEWL9F">pic.twitter.com/bIZmLEWL9F</a>
&mdash; San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) <a href="https://twitter.com/spurs/status/1625296715447148544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2023</a></blockquote>

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While in Atlanta with the program, Barlow admitted not everything in OTE&rsquo;s first year went perfect. What that did, though, was force him to adjust &mdash; which is the biggest lesson he could&rsquo;ve learned.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You're one of like, 30 people, so there's not too many other people that have that experience. So everybody kinda came in there last year not knowing how it was gonna go or what was gonna happen; they told us the plan, but obviously some things had to be changed on the fly,&rdquo; Barlow said. &ldquo;You just learned how to be adaptable and, whatever happens, you just kinda come in and really work on your game and just try to keep getting better every day.&rdquo;
Already, Barlow has set an example for the next wave of OTE players &mdash; such as projected high-first-round picks Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson &mdash; to follow. It's an accolade to especially to be proud of, and Gomes is beaming over that fact.
&ldquo;I think it brings respectability for us as a program and league for a player like Dom (to accomplish this),&rdquo; Gomes shared. &ldquo;More under the radar, but able to apply the daily routine and have a focus and determination to achieve his goals of getting drafted.&nbsp;
&ldquo;And with the daily regimen that all student-athletes are on, him being first gives everyone &mdash; current and those who will come to OTE in the future &mdash; someone to look at and say to themselves, &lsquo;I can get there too.&rsquo;&rdquo;
OTE gave Barlow his first taste of the resources other prospects might have had long before him. Remember, he was only identified as recently as two-and-a-half years ago before entering this tier of pro prospect. Now that he's got access to the best strength training to help him work on his body and on-court guidance to help him work on his skills, it's going to be a game-changer.
"Dominick has an it-factor about him that, when his story is written a few years from now, it's gonna be that much more amazing," a source who's worked with Barlow in the past told Basketball News. "His basketball IQ and his obsession with basketball is at the highest level &mdash; his ability to take in information and apply it very quickly, his knowledge of the game, the way he studies the NBA and the game and other players. He takes in all the coaching advice. He lives it and breathes it and applies it.
"The fact that he's 6-foot-10 and 19 and still growing, he's only gonna get stronger. He's got great feet. He's got good instincts that are getting better. He could be a poster boy for development long-term."
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Every rookie experiences a classic rite of passage in Year 1 &mdash; the welcome-to-the-NBA moment. Coincidentally, it happened in the same city where he made all that noise in OTE.
&ldquo;When I came down the lane in Atlanta, Clint Capela, he blocked my shot. Pretty crazy,&rdquo; Barlow admitted. &ldquo;I was just like, 'In the NBA, naw. I can't lay the ball up like that here.' So that was definitely a moment where I was like, 'Okay, yeah, this is definitely something different.'"
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Barlow made sure to acknowledge and show appreciation to everybody in the Spurs locker room for their encouragement. He also pointed to well-seasoned big man Gorgui Dieng as one of the players who has taken the young forward under their wings.
&ldquo;One of the veteran leaders in here, he's helped me a lot in game moments,&rdquo; Barlow said. &ldquo;If we have a timeout, just talking real quick, telling me, 'Hey do this,' or 'You're doing well, just keep doing what you're doing.' So it kinda just gives me confidence to keep playing hard and try to help this team win some games.&rdquo;
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That fact that he's an NBA player is still sinking in for Barlow. Growing up in the early-to-mid 2010s, he was glued to the television watching the Spurs and Miami Heat duke it out in the 2014 Finals. That series featured the superstar trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili completely dominating LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with the help of a championship breakout performance from Kawhi Leonard.&nbsp;
Popovich was in charge of the team then, and he&rsquo;s in charge of the team now. Knowing that, and how he&rsquo;ll be taking the same lessons that the Spurs' legend taught Hall-of-Famers, Barlow is grateful.
He won&rsquo;t be taking this for granted.
&ldquo;It's definitely kind of a surreal experience knowing that the man who was coaching in those games is now my coach,&rdquo; Barlow said. &ldquo;The organization has faith in me and I want to keep making them feel like they made a smart investment in taking me in and just treating me with respect and demanding good things from me.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I'm hoping to keep living up to those expectations and trying to go past that.&rdquo;

Spencer Davies talks to Spurs two-way rookie Dominick Barlow about his season and being OTE's first NBA representative.

Dominick Barlow proud to be Overtime Elite's NBA trailblazer with Spurs

On the latest episode of The Rex Chapman Show with Josh Hopkins, the guys are joined by the legendary Mike Krzyzewski a.k.a. Coach K.
During the show, Coach K revisits his incredible tenure at Duke and watching the team play under Jon Scheyer now, the Redeem Team, his coaching philosophy and much more. Watch the full episode below:
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Time Stamps
5:30 - Should Christian Laettner have been ejected in 1992?
7:00 - After a storied career, what is Coach K up to these days? What's life after coaching like for him? There's still plenty of basketball.
9:15 - Is it difficult watching Duke basketball from a different capacity? Are there any regrets after leaving the bench, and now watching Jon Scheyer take over as head coach?
11:30 - What did Coach K see in Scheyer in his playing days at Duke that made him the perfect archetype to be a great coach?
18:30 - Where did Coach K gain his unparalleled work ethic? He goes back to his childhood and what he learned at West Point, and discusses what he continues to use to this day.
22:30 - At West Point, it wasn't just learning from Coach Bobby Knight on the basketball court, but there were so many facets of leadership and life skills he learned at the academy.
24:00 - Coach K's philosophy to "be worthy of winning"&nbsp;
28:00 - On the recruiting trail, Coach K always made it a point of emphasis to understand what a player's relationship was with their mother, and you could learn even more if they had an older sister.
31:30 - With the success Coach K has had, especially in the NCAA Tournament, he describes how several of his teams may have been worthy of a national championship, but may have fallen short because the one thing you can't fast-track is experience.
42:00 - Where coaching USA Basketball ranks among the accomplishments of Coach K's career. To him, there's no greater honor than representing your country on the world stage.
45:30 - What was so special about The Redeem Team of 2008 under the leadership of Kobe Bryant? It was about winning a gold medal, but more so about winning the respect of their country.
48:00 - Kobe Bryant approached Coach K in 2008 and asked to guard the best player on the opposing team: "Most people don't dream of moments."
52:00 - Coach K says Rex Chapman was one of the players Coach K always wanted to coach because he had a spirit and passion for the game.
54:00 - Coach K recalls "The Shot" and gives the guys his view of those final seconds in that incredible victory over the Kentucky Wildcats. It was at that moment he recognized he had to say something to the team he had just beaten.
59:00 - What Coach K's expectations are for Kentucky this season, and how hard it must be for John Calipari to have to go out and win every game for the fans.

On The Rex Chapman Show, the iconic "Coach K" Mike Krzyzewski discusses the Blue Devils, his philosophies and much more.

Legendary 'Coach K' Mike Krzyzewski talks Duke, USA Basketball, more

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes Penny Hardaway as a dual threat and how he stood out from other point guards.

Blazing the Trail: Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway, the floor giant

Red Auerbach. Lenny Wilkens. Don Nelson. Going back to the end of the NBA&rsquo;s inaugural season 75 years ago, before it was even called the NBA, they&rsquo;re the only coaches to hold the distinction of having more wins than anyone else.
Until now.
Pop has finally joined the club.
Soon, perhaps as soon as Wednesday, Gregg Popovich will stand alone in NBA history. The longtime San Antonio coach &mdash; a winner of five NBA titles, the coach of the reigning Olympic gold medalists, a lock for enshrinement in the Basketball Hall of Fame as soon as he tells them that he'd like to be considered &mdash; got career win No. 1,335 on Monday night when the Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers 117-110, tying him with Nelson atop the league&rsquo;s all-time regular season victory list.
&ldquo;He deserves it," Spurs guard Dejounte Murray said.
Predictably, Popovich never was on board with that sentiment. He&rsquo;s been waiting somewhat impatiently for the last couple weeks for the pursuit &mdash; more specifically, all the questions about it &mdash; to end. Making matters worse, the Spurs had lost each of their first four attempts to get him the record-tying victory.
Now, one more win &mdash; the first chance comes Wednesday against Toronto &mdash; and he&rsquo;ll be alone atop the regular-season victory list. More importantly to him, he won&rsquo;t have to hear as much about it anymore.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;ll be a good thing,&rdquo; Popovich conceded.
His place in basketball history, his legacy, his stamp as one of the game&rsquo;s all-time greats &mdash; if not the greatest of the greats &mdash; was secure long ago. He's one of only eight coaches in the four major U.S. sports leagues to be with one team for at least 25 years. And by adding in his 170 playoff victories, his total is at 1,505 in the NBA, which is 93 more than anyone else.
It was a circuitous path to this point. He played at the U.S. Air Force Academy, famously wasn't picked in a bid to make the 1972 U.S. Olympic team, wound up becoming a coach and probably would have been perfectly content to run a Division III program in California for the entirety of his professional life.
Eventually, the NBA called. In time, Popovich would be paired with David Robinson, then the patriarch of a dynasty fueled by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. The rest is history. Historic, actually.
&ldquo;Everyone knows the amazing job he&rsquo;s done and all the accomplishments,&rdquo; longtime coach Larry Brown said last year. &ldquo;I wish more people really could know the type of person that he is.&rdquo;
Brown was a big part of how Popovich got here.
Popovich&rsquo;s path to the NBA, and then to the role as coach of the Spurs, wasn't exactly traditional. Popovich was coaching at Pomona-Pitzer, a small Division III school in California. He inherited a program not exactly teeming with expectations: Pomona-Pitzer had lost 88 consecutive conference games before hiring Popovich.
He delivered a league title in 1985-86, the school&rsquo;s first in about 70 years. And then Popovich asked for a sabbatical, telling the school he needed to go learn more about the game. He spent a month at North Carolina, absorbing the teachings of Dean Smith. And then he sat on Brown&rsquo;s bench at Kansas, reuniting with a coach he met through ties he made while a student at the Air Force Academy.
Popovich acknowledged that he has wondered what would have happened if Smith and Brown hadn&rsquo;t extended those opportunities his way.
&ldquo;Each of us does that, right? Each of our lives is the sum of experiences, if-this, if-that,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m no different than anybody else.&rdquo;
After the sabbatical, Popovich, true to his word, returned to Pomona-Pitzer. Brown invited his team to Kansas for a game the following season; the Jayhawks, predictably, toyed with the D-III team, winning 94-38.
A year later, Brown called again. He had left Kansas to coach the Spurs. He wanted Popovich to come along. Popovich was in San Antonio until 1992, when Brown &mdash; and the whole coaching staff &mdash; got fired. Popovich got a job as an assistant in Golden State, working for Nelson.
It was at a cost.
&ldquo;He emptied my wallet every time we golfed. He knew he was better than me and he did it anyway,&rdquo; Popovich said.
It begged the question why Popovich continued golfing and giving away his money.
&ldquo;He was my boss,&rdquo; Popovich said.
Consider the golf money tuition for a basketball education. Popovich is still affected by Nelson; a recent highlight play from Murray was akin to something Nelson had drawn up a couple decades ago, Popovich said. And even the reminders that Popovich uses on the bench to keep some thoughts fresh are a nod to the lessons learned from Nelson.
&ldquo;To this day, I have plays and things written on cards &mdash; I keep them now in my pants, used to be your sportcoat &mdash; and I couldn&rsquo;t live without them,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;I never used them before. I got that from him and now I need them, badly. He was a joy and there was a lot to learn from him.&rdquo;
After two seasons with Nelson, Popovich was wanted by the Spurs again &mdash; this time, as vice president for basketball operations. That was in 1994. In 1996, he fired Bob Hill and named himself coach of the Spurs. And he&rsquo;s stayed in that chair ever since.
&ldquo;They were two wonderful, wonderful years,&rdquo; Popovich said of his time with Nelson. &ldquo;Basketball-wise, the biggest thing I took away was he was a master of understanding the rules and knowing how to use the rules, isolate players, take advantage of another team&rsquo;s weaknesses based on your own personnel. Very creative on offense, very much so. He got a big kick out of it.&rdquo;
Funny. That&rsquo;s what many say about Popovich now. At 73, he&rsquo;s teaching a young team, building a new program with the Spurs, and still innovating.
&ldquo;Every way you can win in this league, they&rsquo;ve done it,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Spoelstra and Popovich are forever linked, after going head-to-head as coaches in the NBA Finals in 2013 and 2014. The Heat won the first one, the Spurs won the rematch for Popovich&rsquo;s fifth and most recent title. They have spoken of each other in the most admirable terms since.
&ldquo;The basketball part of it is Hall of Fame, arguably the greatest to ever do it,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s the human side that has really impacted everybody.&rdquo;
The stories are legendary. If Popovich sees players in a restaurant, he picks up their check or sends something over. USA Basketball coaches have raved about his infamous dinners, where everything but basketball is discussed, usually over copious amounts of some of the world's finest wine. This is a man who considered becoming a spy &mdash; he majored in Soviet studies at the Air Force Academy &mdash; before deciding to make a life out of basketball.
&ldquo;He has an amazing sense of humor,&rdquo; Boston forward Jayson Tatum said during the Olympic run. &ldquo;I guess the casual fan sees the person who does those interviews postgame, but that&rsquo;s not the case of who he is at all. I absolutely love spending time with him."
Seems like everybody does.
Exactly 200 players have appeared in a game for the Spurs during the Popovich era. He's coached against 1,991 different players, including a bunch of fathers and then their sons. He's coached against 163 different men, who have held 273 different jobs over that span.
Pop has remained the constant. And the standard.
&ldquo;It's hard to put into words just how much he's meant," Spurs guard Josh Richardson said.
Auerbach was the NBA&rsquo;s winningest coach after its first season and held that spot atop the list for nearly a half-century.
Wilkens passed Auerbach with win No. 939 on Jan. 6, 1995, when he and the Atlanta Hawks topped the Washington Bullets 112-90. And Wilkens stayed in the top spot until April 7, 2010, when he was passed by Nelson on a night where he and the Golden State Warriors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-107.
At that point, Popovich was 15th on the all-time list.
No more. He&rsquo;s tied for No. 1 now.
And soon, the top spot will be all his.

Soon, perhaps as soon as Wednesday, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich will stand alone in NBA history.

Pop's way: From a sabbatical to the NBA coaching summit

Bill Fitch helped turn bad NBA teams into winners, and the Celtics back into champions.
A two-time coach of the year who guided Boston to one of its championships during a Hall of Fame coaching career spanning three decades, has died. He was 89.
Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, president of the National Basketball Coaches Association, said Fitch's daughter told him her father died Wednesday night in Lake Conroe, Texas, surrounded by family.
&ldquo;Coach Fitch&rsquo;s numerous accomplishments pale in comparison to the giant impact he had on countless members of the basketball world in a legendary career that spanned 40-plus years," said Carlisle, who broke in as an assistant under Fitch with New Jersey. &rdquo;His mark on the NBA game is indelible.&rdquo;
Fitch coached for 25 seasons in the NBA, starting with the expansion Cleveland Cavaliers in 1970. He was Larry Bird's first pro coach in 1979, won a title with the Celtics in 1981 and spent time with Houston, New Jersey and the Los Angeles Clippers.
While he had his greatest success in Boston, Fitch may be best remembered for his early seasons with the Cavs.
He helped develop a young team that won just 15 games in its first season and improved steadily before making the playoffs in 1976 and shocking the Washington Bullets in what became known as the &ldquo;Miracle of Richfield.&rdquo;
Fitch was chosen coach of the year that season.
&ldquo;Our franchise lost a great man and Rock that it was built on,&rdquo; <a href="https://twitter.com/MrCavalier34/status/1489259466335809546">Cavs great Austin Carr wrote on Twitter.</a> &ldquo;Coach Fitch, may he rest in peace, love u Coach.&rdquo;
Fitch spent nine seasons in Cleveland, winning 304 games.
&ldquo;Coach Fitch earned the love and respect of his Cavaliers players as he embedded a high standard of accountability and a belief system that he felt was a reflection of the team&rsquo;s motto as a &lsquo;group of daring, fearless men, whose life&rsquo;s pact was never surrender, no matter what the odds,&rsquo; something that continues to be greatly valued by those he coached and worked with on and off the court,&rdquo; the Cavs said in a statement.
&ldquo;Coach Fitch was a great friend and trusted mentor and teacher to so many across the entire basketball community, while his impact on the game, and the lives of those he touched, spanned multiple generations. He became a life-long friend to many members of the Cavaliers organization.&rdquo;
Fitch was hired by Red Auerbach and the Celtics in 1979, the same year Bird arrived in Boston, which was coming off the two worst seasons in the famed franchise's history. The Celtics went 61-21 in Fitch's first season and won the championship the following year by beating the Rockets in six games.
&ldquo;Fitch&rsquo;s deep knowledge of the game, toughness, and dry wit made him a perfect fit for Boston and the Celtics,&rdquo; the team said in a statement. &ldquo;Fitch had already built a reputation as a turnaround artist, and his ability to get the best out of his players paid immediate dividends as Fitch orchestrated what was at the time the best turnaround in NBA history, vaulting to a 61-21 record.&rdquo;
Fitch went 242-86 in his four seasons in Boston.
He went from there to Houston for five seasons (1983-88), taking the Rockets to the Finals in 1986 with a team powered by Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
Fitch joined the Nets in 1989 and took a young team that won just 17 games in his first season to 40 victories and a playoff berth in his third year.
He wrapped up his coaching odyssey with the woebegone Clippers, leading them to the playoffs in his third season before retiring in 1998.
Fitch, who had a 944-1106 record, was elected to the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Born in Davenport, Iowa, Fitch coached at his alma mater, Coe College, before stops at Minnesota, Bowling Green and North Dakota, where he saw promise in a young forward named Phil Jackson, who went on to win 10 NBA titles as a coach.

Bill Fitch's daughter told Rick Carlisle's her father died Wednesday night in Lake Conroe, Texas, surrounded by family.

Hall of Fame coach Bill Fitch dies, led Celtics to '81 title

At just 14 years old, Kristaps Porzingis knew he was destined for a different path in life, when he realized he was taller than his older brother, Martins, who had a 10-year age gap on him.
Little did Kristaps know, the life ahead of him would be a topsy-turvy one as a professional basketball player in the NBA, one so polarizing that he single-handedly turned the term &ldquo;Unicorn&rdquo; into a buzzword.
Now, at 26 years old &mdash; and after plenty of ups and downs &mdash; the 7-foot-3 Porzingis is once again one of the most intriguing players in the league. Porzingis spoke exclusively with BasketballNews.com recently about his career, playing with Luka Doncic, his "ugly" breakup with the New York Knicks and more.
And after speaking with Porzingis, it's clear that he's happier and more confident than he's been in some time, which helps explain why he's playing his best basketball in years.
Porzingis is averaging 19.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game while carrying a career-best 23.7 PER. Although the numbers are right on par with what we&rsquo;ve seen from Porzingis since his arrival in Dallas, mentally he&rsquo;s beginning to find what made him great before his catastrophic ACL injury four years ago. Porzingis is finally looking like a true co-star counterpart to his superstar teammate Luka Doncic, which has the Mavericks internally buzzing about their long-term future.
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Porzingis admitted that as the injuries piled up, it took a toll on him mentally and that caused his career to take a turn. He compared it to being dehydrated in a desert and&nbsp;searching for water. Finally, he tapped into that water source this past offseason, when he put in the hard work that&rsquo;s allowed him to start living up to the lucrative extension he signed with Dallas upon his arrival nearly three years ago.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good. I put in a lot of work this summer. It&rsquo;s not something that I&rsquo;m kinda surprised by. All of the work that I put in, it&rsquo;s coming back to me now,&rdquo; Porzingis told BasketballNews.com. &ldquo;A lot of times, it&rsquo;s like walking in the desert. Injury, working back from injury, trying to get a rhythm. And I&rsquo;m still working trying to get my way back in a rhythm, still working on my body too. I still don&rsquo;t feel [100%]; I&rsquo;m nowhere near 100%. So, still have a lot of work to do and I&rsquo;ll keep working, but it&rsquo;s good to see I&rsquo;m back again at that high level, playing high-level basketball.&rdquo;
With a player like Porzingis &mdash; who showed rare, sky-high upside when he was the biggest piece in the New York market prior to his ACL tear &mdash; it's scary to think that he's putting up these numbers despite the fact that he's still not back to his pre-injury level. As he further strengthens his body and finds the right balance mentally and physically to stay on the court, he should be able to tap back into the All-Star upside that was on full display with the Knicks. Still just 26 years old, there&rsquo;s still plenty of time for Porzingis to grow and emphatically put his stamp on the Association once again.
Joe Abunassar, who has helped train Porzingis back from injury in the past at Impact Basketball, stressed that if Porzingis stays healthy and continues to find his rhythm, it could lead to a star rebirth in Dallas.
&ldquo;Right before he got injured in New York, he was a machine &mdash; he was a double-double machine and putting up big numbers,&rdquo; Abunassar <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-alex-kennedy-podcast/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-28-nba-trainer-joe-abunassar-on-the-evolution-of-player-development,-training-kyle-lowry,-demar-derozan,-kevin-garnett-and-more-ep-28" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said recently on The Alex Kennedy Podcast</a>. &ldquo;Then, he got hurt and that&rsquo;s a tough injury and it takes a long time to recover. I think with him, it&rsquo;s just about staying healthy. People ask me all the time, &lsquo;What did you do with Kevin Garnett after training him for 10 years?&rsquo; And I say, &lsquo;We just kept him healthy.&rsquo; I mean, we did other things, but that was our primary focus. I think with Kris, keeping him healthy [is the most important thing]. For Kris, it&rsquo;s just about staying healthy and finding his rhythm in games, and I think he&rsquo;ll be fine.&rdquo;
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Porzingis admitted that the non-stop cycle of injury, rehab, injury, rehab that he was in really tested his mental toughness. But keeping his positive mindset and staying present helped him push through it. Now, Porzingis hopes his body's maturation coupled with his regimented plan will allow him to escape the darkest depths of his career.
&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m getting to a point physically where my body is mature enough now and I think I&rsquo;ll be able to stay healthy. That&rsquo;s the main thing for me,&rdquo; Porzingis said. &ldquo;Honestly, injuries suck. It just sucks. You&rsquo;re out, you can&rsquo;t play, you have to rehab everyday without seeing many results. It&rsquo;s like I said &mdash; a walk in the desert trying to find the water. That&rsquo;s how it feels like many days, but that&rsquo;s where that discipline, that mental toughness comes in.
"You have to push through it. You have to try to have a positive mindset and go day-by-day, practice-by-practice. Get better day-by-day. Once you are finally able to get on the court, get some shots up, everything starts to feel good. That&rsquo;s when you&rsquo;re getting those positive emotions out of it and you feel like you&rsquo;re actually getting closer to getting back on the court.&rdquo;
Porzingis' exit from the Knicks became a melodrama that played out in the New York media. It&rsquo;s something that Porzingis never wanted to happen, but it unfortunately reached that point due to what he described as miscommunication by both sides. Between his injuries and the miscommunication, he admitted that the situation got &ldquo;ugly&rdquo; behind the scenes.&nbsp;The two sides didn't agree on an extension once his rookie-scale contract ended and Porzingis ultimately asked for a trade.
&ldquo;I learned a lot from the situation. Obviously, it&rsquo;s not the best situation,&rdquo; Porzingis told BasketballNews.com about his stint with the Knicks. &ldquo;I loved my time in New York, but in terms of getting hurt, being out for such a long time and then a lot of stuff going on, [there were] a lot of mistakes on both parts. A lot of miscommunication, I would say. And the situation just kinda got ugly.
"It is what it is, it&rsquo;s in the past already. I&rsquo;m grateful for all the good memories I had in New York for all the people there. For the organization, for Phil Jackson for drafting me, putting his faith in me. At the end, there&rsquo;s no bigger stage than playing for the Knicks, you know? So, I enjoyed it, every single game at Madison Square Garden. Those are going to be memories forever for me.&rdquo;
Before Porzingis encountered his first serious injury issues in New York, he was once one of the most polarizing players in the Association. Gracefully running down the court, splashing threes, posterizing players, protecting the rim with All-Defensive-Team upside and swatting shots with reckless abandon, it was a player archetype that really hadn't been seen before. Becoming the &ldquo;Unicorn&rdquo; of the NBA boosted Porzingis' star power, and many believed he could eventually be on the path to MVP-type production.
Averaging a career-high 22.7 points and 2.4 blocks while shooting 39.5% on three-pointers, Porzingis was well on his way to an All-NBA season in 2017-18 before the worst-case scenario occurred.
Playing against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in early 2018, Porzingis cut to the basket and was fed an easy opportunity for a dunk. Porzingis slammed it down over Giannis as Madison Square Garden exploded in jubilance. But one second later, Porzingis landed...
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The impact on his knee was too much to handle. Porzingis fell over, immediately grabbing at his left knee as he writhed in pain in front of the Knicks&rsquo; bench. As he slammed his fist against the court, he knew the injury was serious.
Soon after, the Knicks were hesitant to pay him a lucrative contract, which contributed to the conflict behind the scenes. When asked what went wrong and what was miscommunicated toward the end of his tenure in New York, Porzingis says, "Many things, many things."
There may be a time and place down the road when Porzingis divulges more about his &ldquo;ugly&rdquo; breakup with the Knicks, but he doesn't feel that this is the right time.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to go into too much detail. I think it&rsquo;s not the right moment,&rdquo; Porzingis told BasketballNews.com. &ldquo;I think there will be a moment where I maybe talk about it more, but, for now, there&rsquo;s many new people in the organization. I really wish them well. They&rsquo;re doing well, they&rsquo;re doing better. I wish for the Knicks to be great, because that just makes all of us look great. New York City is always hyped for good-level basketball. I think they&rsquo;re on the way there.&rdquo;
That chapter is now closed, and he's focused on looking forward. Before the trade to the Mavericks, Porzingis knew about a fellow European who was taking the basketball world by storm &mdash; Doncic, a then-18-year-old multipositional superstar who can do just about everything at an elite level when he steps on a basketball court.
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When Porzingis was traded to Dallas during Doncic's rookie season, he couldn&rsquo;t hold back his excitement. He was still stunned that Doncic hadn't been the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
"I knew he was the MVP of the EuroLeague. And I was looking at the rest of the class, the rest of the rookies, and I&rsquo;m thinking &lsquo;There&rsquo;s not one guy that would be able to go to Europe and get the EuroLeague MVP at that moment,'" Porzingis said. "So, I knew he was the best player out of that class. There are many great players, but Luka is just a different type of talent."
Instead of being the face of the Knicks and trying to recruit Doncic to New York someday, the roles were reversed. Instead, they teamed up in Dallas and now the Mavericks&rsquo; future is bright as a result.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was hoping he would come to New York somehow, but we ended up playing together [anyway]. I knew it..." Porzingis told BasketballNews.com. "He&rsquo;s one of the most talented players I&rsquo;ve ever seen. He&rsquo;s just a natural-born talent. He was born for this. To see the things that he&rsquo;s capable of doing on a basketball court is just insane, and it&rsquo;s not something he thinks about. He just plays instinctively and [it] comes natural to him, so it&rsquo;s really cool to play with a high-level basketball player like him.&rdquo;
Even though they'd played together since 2019, Porzingis is still amazed at Doncic's incredible passes and how he sets up all of his teammates for easy scoring opportunities. Luka's magic is real, and Porzingis can&rsquo;t get enough of it.
&ldquo;You always gotta be ready [when Luka has the ball],&rdquo; Porzingis said. &ldquo;He can score the ball at the same time, then at the last second, he could pass it to you and you didn&rsquo;t expect it and you could be wide-open. He&rsquo;s that type of generational talent.&rdquo;
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KP and Luka fuel the <a href="https://twitter.com/dallasmavs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dallasmavs</a> comeback 🔥 Porzingis: 29 PTS, 10 REB, 51 FPTS Doncic: 19 PTS, 11 AST, 47.7 FPTS <a href="https://t.co/mbGK1AEjTM">pic.twitter.com/mbGK1AEjTM</a>
&mdash; NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAFantasy/status/1460448732596641792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2021</a></blockquote>

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With the next chapter of his career taking place in Dallas, that also means Porzingis is the Mavericks' first star big man since Dirk Nowitzki. Doncic received the title of the Mavericks' next superstar from Nowitzki, but Porzingis is the next seven-footer in line to potentially become an All-Star for Dallas. But taking the proverbial baton from a legend like Nowitzki isn't easy.
&ldquo;Yeah, I don&rsquo;t like [it],&rdquo; Porzingis chuckled when asked about following Nowitzki. &ldquo;Those shoes are way too big to fill. Not just me, but also Luka. [Dirk is] a legend of the game. To come after him, it&rsquo;s not easy at all, but the city of Dallas has welcomed us with open arms and showed us so much support since Day 1 since I got here. I know they expect high achievements from us. That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m here for, that&rsquo;s what Luka&rsquo;s here for. We want to win it all at the end. That&rsquo;s the main goal. We have a mission, until we get that done.&rdquo;
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Looking ahead further into the 2021-22 season, the Mavericks are right in the middle of the pack in the reloaded and extremely competitive Western Conference. With Doncic running the show and Porzingis slowly but surely finding his groove once again, Dallas has the pieces to make a deep playoff run. The question is: will the team be able to make it happen this season?
"Why not us?" Porzingis asks.
Why can&rsquo;t the Mavericks make serious noise and compete for a championship?
&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re the dark-horse in the league,&rdquo; Porzingis told BasketballNews.com. &ldquo;I think we have a lot of talent. I think we have more talent than many teams. It&rsquo;s just a question of us growing as a team, getting experience. We got some experience the last couple of years in the playoffs and taking that next step. Hopefully, we can surprise many people. I feel like we have the potential to do that.&rdquo;
When the Mavericks acquired Porzingis, the hope was for him to form a lethal one-two punch with Doncic to vault Dallas into the NBA's top tier. Doncic is there already, emerging as one of the best players in the NBA, but Porzingis is the true X-factor to it all coalescing. If Porzingis becomes an elite No. 2 option alongside Doncic and can also take over at some points and take pressure off the Slovenian phenom (which is much-needed), the Mavericks are set up beautifully for a fruitful future.
Porzingis knows the pressure is on, but after exiting a painful cycle of injuries and rehab, he's extremely confident and has regained hope for what&rsquo;s next in his career.
We could soon see Porzingis return to form as the NBA&rsquo;s &ldquo;Unicorn," which would change the entire calculus for the West's hierarchy this season and long-term.

Kristaps Porzingis talks to Evan Sidery about his bounce-back year, playing with Luka Doncic, the "ugly" split from New York and more.

Kristaps Porzingis' renewed confidence leading to resurgent season

Lou Dunbar is a Harlem Globetrotters legend.&nbsp;
A showman who has been with the organization since 1977 &mdash; as a player, coach and director of player personnel. Dunbar, a college All-American at the University of Houston, is often considered a precursor to Magic Johnson, because of his size &mdash; 6-foot-10 and unique ability as a ball-handler.&nbsp;
Over 79 career games with the Cougars, he scored 1,765 points.&nbsp;
Dunbar played a year of pro basketball abroad before calling it quits on a &ldquo;straight&rdquo; basketball career. He was working at a jewelry story in Houston, when he signed a free agent deal with the Rockets. It was a deal that ultimately didn&rsquo;t lead to an NBA career, but it did open the door to the Globetrotters.&nbsp;
Nicknamed "Sweet Lou" as a Globetrotter, Dunbar has a gregarious presence that radiates, even over the phone. When he tells a story, he often punctuates it with an infectious chuckle. Separate from our conversation regarding <a href="https://www.independent.com/2021/10/15/the-day-santa-barbara-police-racially-profiled-three-harlem-globetrotters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">being racially profiled by Santa Barbara Police</a>, here's a look into a talk we had recently:
Who were your basketball heroes growing up?
Lou Dunbar: My first one was Wilt Chamberlain. Coming up I wore the number 13 because of Wilt &ndash; I loved Wilt. Going into high school, Elgin Baylor. I switched my number to 22 because of Elgin Baylor.&nbsp;
Did you ever meet Wilt?
Dunbar: My coach, Tex Harrison played with Wilt; they were roommates. I met him through Tex Harrison in Hawaii &ndash; he used to live over there. We went out for lunch or dinner. From what I saw, Wilt was a great guy.&nbsp;
Why do you think that generation of players is so overlooked or forgotten today?
Dunbar: Nobody knows who they are. You have to be a student of the game. You can&rsquo;t just be a student of this era. Everything they told Wilt he couldn&rsquo;t do, he did it. Look at the record books, he&rsquo;s in every category &ndash; then you have guys like Oscar Robertson. Back then they played real basketball, wasn&rsquo;t none of that crying. You come to the well, if you want to drink, you better be ready to drink.&nbsp;
Even guys like David Thompson who came out when I came out; David Thompson was something special; but you don&rsquo;t hear people talking about him &ndash; David Thompson was a beast, man. He invented the alley-oop &mdash; he and a little guy, Monte Towe. My senior year of college we went on an All-Star tour; every game we played, David Thompson got an alley-oop the first play of the game &ndash; he was great at going backdoor, he&rsquo;d fake up top to the free throw line and go backdoor and Monte Towe would throw that alley-oop.
Who were the guys that showed you the ropes when you first became a Globetrotter?
Dunbar: My first year I played with Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal. I tell these young guys today the opportunity they have is so much different than when I came up. They used to use my young legs for the first dunk of the game and then after that I&rsquo;d sit and watch like I had bought a ticket.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Meadowlark gave me one of the greatest compliments I had being a Globetrotter: he said I picked this up better than anybody who ever played with him &ndash; I knew all the positions on the floor.&nbsp;
My second year I played with Geese Ausbie and Marques Haynes.&nbsp;
As far as being a showman, Meadowlark was guy who did stuff by timing. Every show, you know Meadowlark was about to do this, or that. Geese, we never knew where he was &ndash; he was spontaneous, I loved that about Geese. He was hilarious; he just went off the cuff. I picked up a little of everything from both of those guys.&nbsp;
What made you come back to the Trotters year after year?
Dunbar: This is not for everybody. Tex Harrison used to say that all the time. Nobody travels like the Globetrotters: most of time we play seven days a week and sometimes twice on Saturday and Sunday. It&rsquo;s not an easy gig so you have to have some love for the game and this organization to be able to do it day in day out.&nbsp;
Regardless of how many games we played a week I loved what I did. I had the best job in the world. It was kind of like Santa Claus. We put smiles on people&rsquo;s faces every day. A lot of people get up and say man, I don&rsquo;t want to go to work.
You are a Houston guy. Did you ever play at the Fonde Rec Center?
Dunbar: Come on man. You can&rsquo;t come to Houston and not do that. Once we got off the road that&rsquo;s where we went to play. I recruited Moses Malone coming out of high school, he was down there. All the pros &ndash; John Lucas &ndash; everybody; whose who in the game of basketball and they went to the Fonde Rec Center.&nbsp;
I still play downtown.&nbsp;
With the Globetrotters, we do fool around a bit, but when we come back home, we go to Fonde and get it on.
How do you think you&rsquo;d have been as an NBA player?
Dunbar: I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d have been bad. I went that route and was tired. I played a year in Europe &ndash; came back signed a free agent contract with the Houston Rockets and was in LA in the summer pro with those guys. They would play me sparingly. I thought I did alright when they played me.&nbsp;
There comes a point in your life when you have to move on.
People from the Globetrotters asked me to come to training camp and everything else is history. I&rsquo;ve enjoyed what I have done. I think I left a stamp on some people&rsquo;s lives.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s been a good run. It&rsquo;s like everything else you have your good times you have your bad times. I can tell you the good outweigh the bad. I&rsquo;d never trade it for anything in the world.

Nicknamed "Sweet Lou" as a Globetrotter, Dunbar has a gregarious presence, that radiates, even over the phone.

Q&A with Harlem Globetrotters legend 'Sweet Lou' Dunbar

The Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award is often one of the most confusing additions to a player's legacy.
Logically, it doesn't make much sense to apply so much weight to an award tied a tiny seven-game sample size at most. But Finals MVP recognizes the ability to elevate one's game to new heights while on the greatest basketball stage in the world. It's a touchstone for the series, and that season, and its place in the history of the NBA.&nbsp;
But the small sample also allows some players to make a surprising mark on a Finals. These five award-winners may not have been the odds-on favorite entering the showdown, but they all took command in high-stakes moments and became X-factors for their respective franchises. Though these are the most "unlikely" Finals MVP winners, all of them deserve praise for contributing to success.
Magic Johnson, 1980 Los Angeles Lakers
When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was ruled out for Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals with an ankle injury, the Lakers had to turn to one rookie point guard from Michigan State to bring home the title. Magic Johnson was less than a year removed from being selected first overall, but was already blazing his trail as a basketball legend.&nbsp;
In that pivotal Game 6, Johnson put up 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals -- as the team's center -- in a 123-107 championship-clinching win over the Philadelphia 76ers. At age 20, he is still the youngest Finals MVP winner in league history and the only rookie to receive the award. Johnson's star would only continue to rise; he took home three Finals MVP trophies in his illustrious career.
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Jerry West, 1969 Los Angeles Lakers
Only one player has ever won Finals MVP as the leader of a losing franchise. Ironically, it came in the first year of the award, and even as trophy namesake Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics won in seven games. But it's tough to go against West's unreal series, in which he averaged 37.9 points (without a three-point line!), 7.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game.
West scored 53 points in the Lakers' Game 1 victory and 42 points in the 108-106 Game 7 loss. He beat out John Havlicek, who put up 28.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game for Boston, to win the award. I'd bet against seeing another losing MVP winner for now, unless they can put up the same gaudy numbers as West.
Cedric Maxwell, 1981 Boston Celtics
Maxwell is the lone winner before 2000 to not be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. During his 11-year career, the small forward made an impact as a dynamic scorer and rebounder, but never made an All-Star team or averaged over 20 points per game.&nbsp;
But Maxwell did capitalize on a sluggish Finals between the Celtics and Houston Rockets. As a 25-year-old, he put up a team-high 17.7 points to go with 9.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game. Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish were all on the roster, but all three were still growing into their roles as a Big Three. Maxwell carried the torch in advance while helping hold Houston to just 38% shooting as a team during the series.
Andre Iguodala, 2015 Golden State Warriors
During the 2014-15 regular season, Iguodala was no more than a serviceable bench piece for the Warriors, averaging just 7.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. But he transformed in the Finals, putting up 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists while helping the Warriors begin their dynasty with the 2015 championship.
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6 YEARS AGO, The Golden State Warriors won the title &amp; Andre Iguodala took home Finals MVP!<a href="https://t.co/LjXLhg1HOa">pic.twitter.com/LjXLhg1HOa</a>
&mdash; Fadeaway World (@FadeawayWorld) <a href="https://twitter.com/FadeawayWorld/status/1405140602744836109?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2021</a></blockquote>

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There's skepticism around this award, as Warriors superstar Stephen Curry also dropped 26.0 points, 6.3 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game in the series. But Iguodala was the front man for defending LeBron James, and led a Warriors fortress that kept the Cavaliers from surpassing 100 points in any game. Both Curry and Iguodala deserve praise for delivering Oakland a title.&nbsp;
Wes Unseld, 1978 Washington Bullets
Of all the awards handed out, this one stumps me. Unseld was no-doubt an amazing NBA player, a well-deserved Hall-of-Famer and a key piece for the Bullets. But the power forward won Finals MVP in 1978 while averaging just 9.0 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Scoring isn't the only way to impact the game, but Unseld was seventh on his team in that category, and others such as Elvin Hayes and Bob Dandridge consistently stepped up in the seven-game series win over the Seattle SuperSonics.
In fairness to Unseld, he is one of the supreme connectors in league history. Unseld's play often transcended the box score, which was especially limited back in the 1970s, and his defense against Jack Sikma and the SuperSonics was notable. It's just such an outlier from other MVP-caliber performances. Hayes and Dandridge each shouldered the scoring load and pushed Washington ahead in some gritty contests.

Throughout NBA history, some surprising names have left their mark and won the Finals MVP award, writes Ethan Fuller.

Who were the most unlikely Finals MVP winners in NBA history?

Nearly 11 months after the 2019-20 NBA G League season was suspended and ultimately canceled, the league has formulated a plan for 2021. Here is everything you need to know about the new G League season.
The Location:
The success of the NBA bubble set the precedent for the G League's return. Like the NBA, all G League games will be played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL (just outside of Orlando).
The Teams:
Not every NBA team decided to send their G League affiliate to the new bubble. This will give the newly-formed G League Ignite team (which features top NBA prospects who are part of the professional path program) a chance to play their very first season alongside the following 17 teams:
Agua Caliente Clippers (Los Angeles Clippers affiliate) Austin Spurs (San Antonio Spurs affiliate; formerly Columbus Riverdragons, Austin Toros) Canton Charge (Cleveland Cavaliers affiliate; formerly Huntsville Flight, Albuquerque Thunderbirds, New Mexico Thunderbirds) Delaware Bluecoats (Philadelphia 76ers affiliate; formerly Utah Flash, Delaware 87ers) Erie BayHawks (New Orleans Pelicans affiliate) Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Indiana Pacers affiliate)&nbsp; Greensboro Swarm (Charlotte Hornets affiliate) Iowa Wolves (Minnesota Timberwolves affiliate; formerly Iowa Energy) Lakeland Magic (Orlando Magic affiliate; formerly Erie BayHawks) Long Island Nets (Brooklyn Nets affiliate) Memphis Hustle (Memphis Grizzlies affiliate) Oklahoma City Blue (Oklahoma City Thunder affiliate; formerly Asheville Altitude, Tulsa 66ers) Raptors 905 (Toronto Raptors affiliate) Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Houston Rockets affiliate) Salt Lake City Stars (Utah Jazz affiliate; formerly Idaho Stampede) Santa Cruz Warriors (Golden State Warriors affiliate; formerly Dakota Wizards) Westchester Knicks (New York Knicks affiliate)
The following teams have opted OUT of the G League bubble:
Capital City Go-Go (Washington Wizards affiliate) College Park Skyhawks (Atlanta Hawks affiliate; formerly Erie BayHawks) Grand Rapids Drive (Detroit Pistons affiliate; formerly Anaheim Arsenal, Springfield Armor) Maine Red Claws (Boston Celtics affiliate) Northern Arizona Suns (Phoenix Suns affiliate; formerly Long Beach Jam, Bakersfield Jam) Sioux Falls Skyforce (Miami Heat affiliate) South Bay Lakers (Los Angeles Lakers affiliate; formerly Los Angeles D-Fenders) Stockton Kings (Sacramento Kings affiliate; formerly Reno Bighorns) Texas Legends (Dallas Mavericks affiliate; formerly Colorado 14ers) Windy City Bulls (Chicago Bulls affiliate) Wisconsin Herd (Milwaukee Bucks affiliate)
NOTE: The Mexico City Capitanes, formerly of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, were slated to begin the five-year experiment of having a G League team outside of Canada or the U.S. The bubble format has pushed this timeline back, and the Capitanes will not be playing with the G League in Florida.
The Format:
Each of the 18 participating teams will play a minimum of 15 games. The top eight teams will advance through single-elimination playoff rounds until a champion is named for the season.&nbsp;
The Rules:
With the inability to have two-way players safely transition between the parent and affiliate teams -- or to send players from the parent team down on assignment -- the G League has implemented new rules to ensure a smooth and simple season that still produces maximum benefits for its players.
Two-Way Players:
Rather than the previously allotted 45-day maximum, two-way players will now be eligible to spend 50 of the 72 regular-season games with their parent team. This ensures that the days are not &ldquo;used up&rdquo; without the player ever stepping on the court. The salary for two-way players was adjusted for the 2021 season, and is now a flat $449,155 rather than a prorated salary dependent on days of service.&nbsp;
Teams that do not have an active affiliate participating in the G League bubble will be allowed to send both two-way players and roster players on assignment to the G League bubble.&nbsp;
The Jeremy Lin Rule:
After an attempt to acquire NBA champion Jeremy Lin fell through for the Santa Cruz Warriors due to his FIBA clearance, the NBA and G League created a new rule that allows NBA teams to fill one G League roster spot with an NBA veteran who has at least five years of experience. This rule allows Lin to sign with the G League itself (instead of a specific designated team) and to be assigned to a roster where he would fill a need -- in this case, the Santa Cruz Warriors. Lin is not the only former NBA player to take advantage of the newly created loophole, as Nik Stauskas has signed with the G League via the same avenue in order to play for his hometown Raptors 905.&nbsp;
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Health and Safety:
The health and safety protocols of the NBA bubble were so successful that they are being implemented in their entirety into the G League bubble. Mask wearing, social distancing, enhanced cleaning and sanitization methods -- plus regular COVID testing -- should ensure the bubble and everyone in it is kept coronavirus free.&nbsp;
The Draft:
The G League draft will be held on Monday, Jan. 11. Only the 17 teams participating in the bubble, excluding the Ignite, will be eligible to draft players. The draft is three rounds and will be conducted via Zoom. G League teams who already have a complete roster or have used the Jeremy Lin Rule will not be required to use their available draft picks and can forego all remaining picks in the draft. Players signed using the Jeremy Lin Rule will not be required to enter the draft pool.&nbsp;
Notable players who have declared for the G League draft include: Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley, Emeka Okafor, Terrence Jones, Shabazz Muhammad, Mario Chalmers, Festus Ezeli, Vander Blue, Marquis Teague, Allonzo Trier, Admiral Schofield, Antonio Blakeney, Justin Patton, Kenny Wooten, Jacob Evans, Tyler Ulis, Cat Barber, Isaiah Briscoe, Phil Booth, Terry Armstrong, Diamond Stone, Quincy Pondexter, Shawne Williams, Freddie Gillespie, Dusty Hannahs, Hollis Thompson, Jemerrio Jones, Cory Jefferson, Deonte Burton, Charles Cooke, CJ Fair, Gary Payton II, Shamorie Ponds and Chris Walker among others.&nbsp;
Players that were waived by a team prior to the new season are also draft eligible. Like the NBA, once a player is waived, his rights no longer belong to his former team -- thus becoming a G League free agent. Players who have signed overseas with rights still held by their former G League teams are also eligible to rejoin that team and circumvent the draft.&nbsp;
The Date:
The G League schedule has not been released yet, but teams have been given a tentative start date of Feb. 8. While this would usually be at the same time as the NBA All-Star Break, the late start to the NBA season moved the All-Star break back to the beginning of March.&nbsp;
All NBA G League games are streamed on Twitch and <a href="https://gleague.nba.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the G League's website</a>.

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