Toronto Raptors

Blake Stern previews the NBA's Central Division, breaking down each team's projected lineup and burning question entering the year.

NBA Central Division Preview: Burning questions, rotation projections

The Orlando Magic have had their fair share of ups and downs in their relatively short history. However, since the franchise was established in 1989, they have provided their fans with some unforgettable seasons. From the early success of Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway to the dominant play of Dwight Howard in the late 2000s, the Magic have had some remarkable teams.
The Magic have had quite a bit of lottery luck, landing the No. 1 pick in 1992 (which allowed them to select O'Neal), 1993 (which allowed them to pick Chris Webber and trade him to the Golden State Warriors for Penny Hardaway and three future first-round picks), 2004 (which allowed them to select Howard) and 2022 (which allowed them to draft Paolo Banchero).&nbsp;
The current Magic squad has fans in Orlando excited about the future, with a core of Banchero, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr. and Markelle Fultz among others. But today, let's look back at the past and examine the five best seasons in franchise history.
5. 2007-08 SEASON RECORD: 52-30 FINISH: LOST IN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
This season, the Magic won 52 games and finished as the third-best team in the Eastern Conference. The team was led by a 22-year-old Dwight Howard, who earned his second All-Star selection while emerging as a two-way force. During the regular season, Howard averaged 20.7 points, 14.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks, while shooting 59.9% from the field. He was even more dominant in the playoffs, averaging 18.9 points, 15.8 rebounds and 3.4 blocks. Orlando defeated the Toronto Raptors in five games in the first round, but they were ultimately eliminated by the Detroit Pistons in five games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. This season laid the groundwork for Orlando's Finals run in 2008-09.
4. 2009-10 SEASON RECORD: 59-23 FINISH: LOST IN CONFERENCE FINALS
Despite coming off of an NBA Finals run, the Magic decided to make some big changes entering this 2009-19 season. Orlando acquired Vince Carter in a blockbuster trade with the New Jersey Nets and added some new role players in Matt Barnes, Jason Williams, Ryan Anderson and Brandon Bass. The Magic won 59 games, which was the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Orlando was once again led by Howard, who earned his second-straight Defensive Player of the Year award. The Magic were dominant through the first two rounds of the 2010 NBA Playoffs, sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks. But in the Eastern Conference Finals, they faced off against the Boston Celtics and lost in six games. Still, their regular-season success and deep postseason run cannot be overlooked.
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3. 1995-96 SEASON RECORD: 60-22 FINISH: LOST IN CONFERENCE FINALS
The 1995-96 season was another successful year for the Magic. The team finished with a record of 60-22, which was the second-best in the Eastern Conference and is still the franchise record for most wins in a single season. Led by one of the best one-two punches in the league in Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway, Orlando went 7-1 through the first two rounds of the 1996 NBA Playoffs, eliminating the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks with ease. But in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Magic ran into Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, who got their revenge from the previous year by sweeping Orlando.
2. 2008-09 SEASON RECORD: 59-23 FINISH: LOST IN NBA FINALS
This team was ahead of its time, as Stan Van Gundy surrounded Dwight Howard with shooters and made teams pick their poison. The Magic had a terrific core of Howard, Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson, plus excellent role players such as Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Mickael Pietrus, J.J. Redick and Marcin Gortat. Orlando's run in the 2009 NBA Playoffs was incredible, as they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics (led by the Big Three) and Cleveland Cavaliers (led by LeBron James). Until this year, the Magic were the only team to defeat James in a Conference Finals series. In the NBA Finals, the Magic matched up against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, ultimately losing in five games. What if Courtney Lee hits the game-winning layup at the end of Game 2 in the 2009 NBA Finals? That's one of the biggest "what ifs" among Magic fans to this day.
1. 1994-95 SEASON RECORD: 57-25 FINISH: LOST IN NBA FINALS
The 1994-95 season was the most successful season in the Magic's franchise history. Shaquille O'Neal was virtually unstoppable, averaging 29.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.4 blocks, while shooting 58.3% from the field. Penny Hardaway was excellent as well, averaging an efficient 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals on 51.2/34.9/76.9 shooting splits. The team won 57 games, which was the best record in the East. Prior to the 1995 NBA Finals, the Magic became the only team to eliminate Michael Jordan in the playoffs during the 1990s, beating Chicago in six games in the Conference Semifinals. Jordan came out of retirement midseason and the Magic spoiled his return. After defeating the Indiana Pacers in seven games in the Conference Finals, the Magic faced off against the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals. Hakeem Olajuwon put up 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.0 blocks and 2.0 steals per game and helped the Rockets sweep the Magic. Still, the Magic's run to the Finals was nothing short of spectacular.
While the Magic have not won an NBA championship, they have had some great seasons and provided their fans with plenty of memorable moments.&nbsp;

From Shaq and Penny to the Dwight Howard era, Basketball News looks back at the five best teams in Orlando Magic history.

Ranking the 5 best seasons in Orlando Magic history

The NBA announced that 242 players have filed as early-entry candidates for the 2023 NBA Draft. Here is the complete list.

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

Here's the list of NCAA players who have as of April 6 filed for consideration as a candidate for the 2023 WNBA Draft

2023 WNBA Draft: Full list of prospects who have entered

Spencer Davies tells the complex story of Eban Hyams, the first Indian-born international professional basketball player.

Setbacks and bouncebacks: On Eban Hyams, India's first pro ballplayer

LAS VEGAS (AP) &mdash; Courtney Ramey had missed all four of his previous 3-point attempts Saturday night when the ball wound up back in his hands at the most critical moment.
Ramey shook a defender and then calmly drilled one from the top of the key with 16.7 seconds left to put Arizona in front. The eighth-ranked Wildcats hung on from there, beating No. 2 UCLA 61-59 in the Pac-12 championship game.
&ldquo;I kept telling myself, the next shot is going in,&rdquo; Ramey said. &ldquo;My job was to make a play.&rdquo;
The Wildcats (28-6) boosted their case for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA (29-5) still hopes to land the No. 1 seed in the West and return to Las Vegas in two weeks for the regional.
It was the second year in a row Arizona beat UCLA in the Pac-12 title game.
Arizona second-year coach Tommy Lloyd can&rsquo;t lose in Las Vegas. He is 9-0 in this city, 8-0 at T-Mobile Arena and 6-0 in the Pac-12 Tournament.
&ldquo;It was a knock down, drag out and I had a feeling it was going to be that way,&rdquo; Lloyd said. &ldquo;So much respect for the UCLA program. Obviously, they&rsquo;re going through a lot of injury stuff right now, but they&rsquo;re resilient and I knew it was going to be like that.&rdquo;
Ramey&rsquo;s 3-pointer put the Wildcats ahead 60-58. The clutch shot came after teammate Azuolas Tubelis missed a 3 that was rebounded by Pelle Larsson, who got the ball to Ramey.
UCLA guard Tyger Campbell was fouled with 6.8 seconds left, and he made the first free throw but missed the second. Tubelis hit one of two free throws with 5.8 seconds to go, and UCLA&rsquo;s Dylan Andrews missed a 3 at the buzzer to ensure Arizona&rsquo;s victory.
&ldquo;Wide-open shot to win the game,&rdquo; UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. &ldquo;Tyger&rsquo;s beating himself up over a missed free throw, but that had nothing to do with some of our bad fouls and defensive breakdowns. Those are controllables. I&rsquo;ll take Tyger at the line and put my career on the line with Tyger at the line.&rdquo;
Tubelis, the tournament&rsquo;s Most Outstanding Player, had 19 points and 14 rebounds for second-seeded Arizona. Oumar Ballo scored 13 points and Larsson had 11.
Amari Bailey led top-seeded UCLA with 19 points. Campbell scored 16 and Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bruins knew coming in they wouldn&rsquo;t have guard Jaylen Clark (lower leg) or Adem Bona (shoulder), and their problems only mounted when two of Bona&rsquo;s replacements in the post got into foul trouble.
Mac Etienne and Kenneth Nwuba each had four fouls in the second half, forcing Cronin to play at least one of them. Etienne fouled out with 9:35 left and Nwuba with 4:27 remaining, meaning the Bruins had to play with a smaller lineup the rest of the game.
Arizona wasn&rsquo;t completely healthy, either. Point guard Kerr Kriisa has been playing with a balky shoulder this tournament.
POSTGAME COMMOTION
An Arizona fan was yelling at Cronin&rsquo;s dad, Hep, after the game, according to UCLA radio broadcaster Josh Lewin. When a reporter told Cronin afterward, he immediately left the postgame news conference. Athletic director Martin Jarmond quickly followed him.
BIG PICTURE
Arizona: The Wildcats entered the game just 10 3-pointers behind their school record set in the 2010-11 season. But long-range shots didn&rsquo;t fall for them against the Bruins until the end. Arizona went 6 of 20 from beyond the arc.
UCLA: The question is the health of Clark and Bona. Cronin won&rsquo;t provide any information other than saying before the Pac-12 Tournament that Clark wouldn&rsquo;t play. UCLA was easily the class of the Pac-12 this season, but not having those players was quite noticeable, especially against Arizona.
UP NEXT
Arizona: Likely will be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA: Almost certainly a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA tourney.

No. 8 Arizona beat No. 2 UCLA 61-59 in the Pac-12 title game, boosting their case for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Ramey lifts No. 8 Arizona over No. 2 UCLA for Pac-12 title

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Grace Berger finished with a season-high 26 points, nine rebounds and six assists and Mackenzie Holmes added 24 points as No. 2 Indiana used a late scoring run to pull away from No. 5 Iowa 87-78 on Thursday night.
The Hoosiers (23-1, 12-1 Big Ten) used a 17-7 fourth-quarter run to earn their 11th consecutive win, this time in front of a record crowd of 13,046. Indiana has broken the attendance mark three times since January and now has a 1 1/2-game lead in the chase for its first regular-season conference crown since the Big Ten&rsquo;s inaugural season of 1982-83.
Caitlin Clark had 35 points, 10 assists and four rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes (19-5, 11-2), who lost for the first time since Jan. 1.
NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 83, AUBURN 48
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Zia Cooke had 15 points and four assists in 20 minutes to lead South Carolina to its 30th straight win.
The Gamecocks (24-0, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) dominated from the start in a game sandwiched between a pair of top-5 matchups. They were coming off an 81-77 win over No. 4 UConn and host No. 3 LSU on Sunday.
Aliyah Boston had 10 points and eight rebounds for South Carolina before exiting with 8:54 left to end a string of eight straight double-doubles.&nbsp;
Sydney Shaw tied her career high with 15 points and made 3 of 4 3-pointers to lead the Tigers (13-10, 3-8). Auburn played without its top scorer and rebounder Aicha Coulibaly, who sat out with a leg injury. Mar&rsquo;shaun Bostic added 10 points.
NO. 6 STANFORD 84, NO. 17 ARIZONA 60
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Cameron Brink and Haley Jones each scored 18 points and Stanford used a strong rebounding performance to beat Arizona.
The Cardinal (23-3, 11-2 Pac-12) won their sixth straight against the Wildcats (18-6, 8-5), a streak that includes the 2021 NCAA title game. Stanford moved into first place in the conference, a half-game ahead of No. 7 Utah.
Jones shot 8 for 11 from the field and added 12 rebounds and six assists. Brink scored all her points and added eight rebounds in 21 minutes.
Paris Clark, Esmery Martinez and Cate Reese led the way for Arizona with 10 points apiece.
NO. 8 MARYLAND 79, NORTHWESTERN 54
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Diamond Miller had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Maryland eased past struggling Northwestern for its seventh win in eight games.
Brir McDaniel added 14 points and the Terrapins (20-5, 12-3 Big Ten) followed up the program&rsquo;s most lopsided win over a top-10 opponent with another dominant performance.
Coming off a 90-54 romp over then-No. 10 Ohio State on Sunday, Maryland outscored Northwestern (8-16, 1-12) 18-2 while holding the Wildcats without a field goal in the second quarter.
Paige Mott led Northwestern with 15 points.
NO. 9 DUKE 68, BOSTON COLLEGE 27
BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Reigan Richardson scored 14 points and Celeste Taylor added 11 to lead Duke to the 1,000th win in the program&rsquo;s history.
Richardson scored 10 points in the second quarter, when the Blue Devils (21-3, 11-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) turned a five-point lead into a 32-14 runaway. Boston College (14-13, 4-10) made just two baskets in the period, going scoreless for the last 7:55 of the half.
Maria Gakdeng had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles, who shot 18.4% from the field.
NO. 10 NOTRE DAME 69, PITT 63
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Sonia Citron scored 20 points, Maddy Westbeld added 17 to lead Notre Dame.
Sophomore guard Olivia Miles had a double-double of 11 points and 13 assists with seven rebounds and two steals as the Fighting Irish (19-4, 10-3 ACC) extended their home winning streak against Pitt to 16 games.
Senior guard Dayshanette Harris led the Panthers (8-16, 1-12) with a season-high 20 points.
SYRACUSE 75, NO. 14 NORTH CAROLINA 67
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) &mdash; Dyaisha Fair scored 18 of her 23 points in the second half, Georgia Woolley added 20 points and Syracuse used a big third quarter to beat North Carolina.
Dariauna Lewis had 14 points and 15 rebounds for Syracuse (16-9, 7-7 ACC), which outrebounded North Carolina 43-29 to make up for 21 turnovers.
North Carolina was without two starters for the second straight game in Alyssa Ustby (13.6 points and 8.9 rebounds) and Eva Hodgson (10.2 points) due to injury. Deja Kelly led North Carolina (17-7, 8-5) with a career-high 32 points. Kennedy Todd-Williams added 14 points.
MIAMI 86, NO. 19 FLORIDA STATE 82
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Haley Cavinder made eight straight free throws in the final 30 seconds and finished with a career-high 33 points to help Miami beat a ranked team for the third time this season.
Miami used a five-point possession to tie it at 72 with 4:25 left. The Hurricanes took a 75-73 lead on a 3-pointer by Cavinder with 2:10 remaining. Florida State forward Makayla Timpson made layups with 25.2 seconds and 18.5 seconds left, but Cavinder made free throws after each to seal it.
Jasmyne Roberts added 19 points for Miami (16-8, 9-4 ACC) and Ja&rsquo;Leah Williams had 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Timpson finished with 19 points and nine rebounds for Florida State (20-6, 9-4). Sara Bejedi scored 13 points and Ta&rsquo;Niya Latson and Jazmine Massengill each had 12.
NO. 22 N.C. STATE 51, WAKE FOREST 42
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) &mdash;Saniya Rivers scored eight points in the third quarter and 10 of her team-high 12 points in the second half to help North Carolina State pull away from Wake Forest.
The road win was the Wolfpack&rsquo;s ninth straight over Wake Forest and comes after back-to-back losses at Georgia Tech and at home to No. 11 Virginia Tech.
NC State (17-7, 7-6 ACC) made just 19 of 56 shots from the floor (33.9%) and missed all 10 of its 3-point attempts.
Wake Forest (14-11, 5-9) was 16 of 62 from the field (25.8%), including 3 of 20 from beyond the arc. Jewel Spear was 5 of 24 from the field, including 1 of 10 from distance, and finished with 11 points. Elise Williams grabbed 11 rebounds.

A recap of Thursday's action in women's college hoops includes a star-studded top-5 matchup and South Carolina's 30th straight win.

No. 2 Indiana uses late scoring burst to beat No. 5 Iowa

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese showed little interest in celebrating after extending her LSU-record double-double streak to help the third-ranked Tigers maintain their unblemished record.
She wasn&rsquo;t all that pleased with how she or her team played.
Reese had 23 points and 14 rebounds to extend her streak of double-doubles to 22 games, and No. 3 LSU narrowly remained unbeaten with an 82-77 victory over Georgia in overtime Thursday night.
&ldquo;Honestly, it&rsquo;s a wake-up call,&rdquo; Reese said. &ldquo;We beat Tennessee (on Monday) and then we came into Georgia thinking they were going to lay down.
&ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t lay down,&rdquo; Reese continued. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re definitely the hunted and I think they did a great job scouting us, they did a great job playing against us.&rdquo;
Alexis Morris highlighted her 15-point night with a 3 from the right corner in the final minute of the extra period to give LSU (22-0, 10-0 SEC) a 77-74 lead, and the Tigers held on from there.
&ldquo;Lex has hit a few of those big shots this year,&rdquo; LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. &ldquo;It was big.&rdquo;
Morris was coming off a career-high 31 points against Tennessee, but didn&rsquo;t score in the first half against Georgia. She hit one 3 in the third quarter and scored 12 of her points in the fourth period and overtime.
&ldquo;I was clutch when I needed to be,&rdquo; Morris said. &ldquo;Of course, it&rsquo;s frustrating because everybody&rsquo;s expecting me to have another 30-ball right? But I showed up in a way I needed to.&rdquo;
Diamond Battles scored 22 points for Georgia (15-9, 4-6), which had a chance to pull within a point when De&rsquo;Mauri Flournoy was fouled behind the 3-point line with 8 seconds left. But Flournoy made just one free throw.
Morris rebounded Flournoy&rsquo;s last miss and then hit two free throws for the final margin.
Reese grabbed 11 of her rebounds on the offensive end, helping LSU score 20 vital second-chance points.
&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t shoot well tonight, so I just tried to get as many rebounds as I could get to get second-chance opportunities,&rdquo; said Reese, whose point total could have been higher had she not missed six of her 15 free throws.
Sa&rsquo;Myah Smith and LaDazhia Williams each scored 10 points for LSU, which rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Brittney Smith scored 13 points, Javyn Nicholson 12 and Alisha Lewis 11 for Georgia, which held the Tigers to their second-lowest regulation point total this season.
The Lady Bulldogs &ldquo;fought, they stayed together, they stayed focused, they stuck to the game plan,&rdquo; Georgia coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said. &ldquo;Maybe the only thing we didn&rsquo;t do really well is box out.&rdquo;
Georgia led 59-50 after Battles converted her steal of Flau&rsquo;Jae Johnson&rsquo;s pass into a fast-break layup with 7:53 left.
But the Tigers quickly cut it to 59-55 on Reese&rsquo;s basket inside and Morris&rsquo; 3.
Reese hit four straight free throws over multiple possessions to pull LSU back into a tie at 63. After Battles&rsquo; free throws put Georgia back in front, Morris again tied it with a fast-break layup.
Smith and LSU&rsquo;s Kateri Poole each made one of two free throws, and regulation ended tied at 66 after both teams failed to score on their final possessions of the period.
The Lady Bulldogs never trailed by more than four points until the final seconds of overtime. LSU held a 30-29 lead at halftime, but Georgia led for the last 5:07 of the third quarter, going up 55-48 after Battles&rsquo; fast-break layup.
&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t get lax,&rdquo; Reese said. &ldquo;Just getting back in the gym and being able to get better, I think that&rsquo;s going to be important for us.&rdquo;
BIG PICTURE
Georgia: The Lady Bulldogs looked formidable defensively in recent victories over Missouri (62-51) and Mississippi State (62-34) and maintained that form at LSU, holding the Tigers to 36% shooting (24 of 67). Nicholson scored at least 10 points for the 10th time this season, and for the seventh time in a reserve role.
LSU: This marked just the fourth time this season the Tigers were held below 70 points in regulation and the first time they were pushed to overtime. Georgia&rsquo;s defense had a lot to do with that, but LSU missed a number of open shots. The Tigers&rsquo; 18 turnovers were relatively few against a Georgia squad that has forced 20 or more opponent turnovers in 15 games this season, but Georgia was efficient in scoring 21 points off turnovers. LSU outscored Georgia at the foul line 28-15.
UP NEXT
Georgia: Visits Vanderbilt on Sunday afternoon.
LSU: Visits Texas A&amp;M on Sunday afternoon.

Angel Reese had 23 points and 14 rebounds to extend her streak of double-doubles to 22 games.

Reese rescues No. 3 LSU in 82-77 OT win over Georgia

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Giannis Antetokounmpo had 50 points and 13 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks trounced New Orleans 135-110 on Sunday, handing the Pelicans their eighth straight loss.
Anteotkounmpo&rsquo;s 50 points were five off the career high he set Jan. 4 in a&nbsp;123-113 victory over the Washington Wizards.&nbsp;He shot 20 of 26 from the floor, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, and went 7 of 12 on free-throw attempts.
The Bucks never trailed and won their fourth straight as they opened a four-game homestand. They also reached the 130-point mark for the fifth time in their last seven games.
Jrue Holiday scored 17 and Brook Lopez added 15 for the Bucks, who shot 55.2%.
Antetokounmpo collected 29 points and 10 rebounds in the first half alone, helping the Bucks build a big lead early. This was Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s 10th game this season with at least 40 points, tying the career high for 40-point games that he set last season.
New Orleans was missing its top three scorers: Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram (toe injury on left foot) and CJ McCollum (sprained right thumb). Jose Alvarado stepped up to lead the Pelicans with 18 points, while Trey Murphy III and Jonas Valanciunas had 16 each.
Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s sizzling start put the Pelicans in an early hole. The two-time MVP already had 16 points midway through the first quarter. He went 8 of 9 for 18 points in that opening period, nearly matching New Orleans&rsquo; scoring total while helping the Bucks build a 37-19 advantage.
TIP-INS
Pelicans: Kira Lewis Jr. played for the first time since Jan. 18 and scored 15 points. .... Larry Nance Jr. had a season-high 12 rebounds ... The Pelicans were outrebounded 57-38. They had a minus-11 rebound margin Saturday against the Wizards.
Bucks: Antetokounmpo played his 695th career regular-season game to tie Sidney Moncrief for second place on the Bucks&rsquo; all-time list. The franchise record is owned by Junior Bridgeman, who played 711 regular-season games in two stints with the Bucks from 1975-84 and 1986-87. ... Middleton came off the bench for a fourth straight game as the Bucks continue to monitor the three-time All-Star&rsquo;s workload in his return from right knee soreness. Middleton has played just 11 games this year, missing time first to recover from offseason wrist surgery and later to deal with his knee issue.
UP NEXT
Pelicans: At Denver on Tuesday in the second game of a three-game road swing. The Pelicans have split two home matchups with the Nuggets this season.
Bucks: Host Charlotte on Tuesday.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/charlotte-hornets-los-angeles-lakers-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-43bb3b888a1106de7e6b77562dfa6e4b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Bucks won at Charlotte,</a>&nbsp;and a month later lost to them&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-charlotte-hornets-nba-sports-bobby-portis-ddb460d79b932a3f2574bf51f048267d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at home.</a>

Antetokounmpo had 50 points as the Bucks trounced New Orleans 135-110 on Sunday, handing the Pelicans their eighth straight loss.

Antetokounmpo scores 50 for Bucks; Pelicans lose 8th in row

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

On Monday, Nike announced that it officially cut ties with Kyrie Irving due to him sharing a link to the documentary "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America," which many have labeled antisemitic. The news comes after Nike had suspended Irving and canceled his signature sneaker line.&nbsp;
The relationship between Irving and Nike began to deteriorate prior to the recent controversy. Last July, Irving said that the Kyrie 8 sneakers were "trash" and that he had "nothing to do with the design or marketing" of the shoe, but that "Nike plans to release it without my okay."
However, Nike co-founder Phil Knight specifically mentioned Irving's scandal as the reason the company was parting ways with him.
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&ldquo;Kyrie stepped over the line, it&rsquo;s kind of that simple,&rdquo; says Nike co-founder Phil Knight. &ldquo;He just made some statements we can&rsquo;t abide by and that&rsquo;s why we ended the relationship.&rdquo; <a href="https://t.co/VWWAEbsIku">pic.twitter.com/VWWAEbsIku</a>
&mdash; CNBC (@CNBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/1590741070018641931?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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After nearly a decade-long run of success with Nike, Irving is officially a sneaker free agent.
In response to this, during Wednesday's game against the Charlotte Hornets, Irving wore the Kyrie 3s with the Raygun colorway, but employed black tape to cover the Nike Swoosh logos. Additionally, he handwrote in marker the messages "I AM FREE" and "Thank you God... I AM" and "Logo Here" on the side of his shoes.
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Kyrie Irving covered up the Swoosh on his Nike Kyrie 3 with some messages following his official split with the company. Irving is a sneaker free agent <a href="https://t.co/xyKS4qN1qd">pic.twitter.com/xyKS4qN1qd</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1600692264774287360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2022</a></blockquote>

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(The Brooklyn Nets also won 122-116, with Irving leading all scorers with 33 points and finishing one assist shy of a double-double.)
Irving&rsquo;s agent, Shetellia Riley Irving, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/05/business/nike-kyrie-irving.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The New York Times</a> that the sides &ldquo;mutually decided to part ways and we just wish Nike all the best.&rdquo;
On my radio show, "The Collision: Where Sports And Politics Collide,&rdquo; my guest was Torraine Walker, the <a href="https://twitter.com/TorraineWalker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">founder of Context Media Group</a>. We examined what Nike&rsquo;s decision to break ties with Irving means in the grander scheme of things, what actually constitutes antisemitism and if an ADL-style punishment is the answer. This was a great discussion.
Etan Thomas: What was your response to Nike dropping Kyrie and his response to being free? Were you surprised they did that?
Torraine Walker: "No I wasn&rsquo;t really surprised. I know once this controversy blew up that there was going to be some type of corporate response to it. I didn&rsquo;t think it would go to this extreme, but at the same time, I can&rsquo;t really say that I&rsquo;m surprised. Whether we like it or not, sports and politics are often divisions, and anything that looks like it&rsquo;s going to affect the brand, the bottom line, is going to be dealt with harshly when you&rsquo;re dealing with corporations.
"But the one thing I think this really lays out is, it shows the difference between ownership and sponsorship. A lot of times, we get caught up in the idea that someone who is the face of a brand has some type of bargaining power to the level that they can make contractual decisions. So this 'Hebrews To Negroes' controversy was so big that Nike could not ignore it.
"The other side is this &mdash; I think this is a great opportunity for Kyrie and also other athletes to look at basically creating their own brand and basically having some ownership in the products they are endorsing and have their faces on. Now, the question is, will the public get on board with that? Let&rsquo;s be honest, Nike has such a stronghold on the market and such strong brand loyalty and brand recognition that it&rsquo;s going to be difficult for someone who is coming into the market to do that. But I&rsquo;m not surprised at all that Nike did what they did."
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Thomas: What role did the media have in really magnifying this issue and controversy?&nbsp;
Walker: "The media had the primary role in keeping this 'controversy' going as long as it did. I can see the point where the posting of the documentary may have ruffled some feathers, or it made some people feel like it was an antisemitic thing. But usually when something like this happens, if an athlete or celebrity does something that people take offense to, people get offended, the athlete releases a statement, there&rsquo;s usually a cooling off period and, then, it goes away.
"But for some reason, there was this drive in the media to make this thing bigger than it was. They took a two-day story and made it into a month story, and I still don&rsquo;t fully understand the motivation behind that. I know a lot of organizations were pushing this. And I wonder if people inside the Nike organization was pushing this as well because, if I&rsquo;m not mistaken, Kyrie&rsquo;s contract is coming up anyway.
"But I think with the media, this was just the an opportunity for them to jump on an antisemitic angle with Black people and a Black man specifically, and they can run with it. So they saw a hot story and narrative that they could really push, and that&rsquo;s why we are where we are with this situation with Nike dropping him today. So to answer your question, the media had a huge role in this."
Thomas: What do you think about Kyrie and what he did with his shoes on Tuesday night &mdash; putting the tape over the logo and writing "I Am Free." What was your reaction to that?&nbsp;
Walker: "I was in favor of it, and I&rsquo;m glad he did it that way. My question is, how long will this be sustainable? It&rsquo;s easy to create a moment, it&rsquo;s easy to get people&rsquo;s attention, but can you direct that attention into something that will then be tangible for you to really be 'free?' And what does 'freedom' look like? Freedom looks like something different to everybody. Does this mean he is free from having to hold his tongue on issues he is concerned about? Does this mean he is free to create his own sneaker line? Does this mean he is free psychologically? I would love get clarification on that. I think it was a powerful statement, especially the timing, but would love to see it turn into something tangible."
Thomas: You mentioned something before, and it's the question that I continued to ask throughout this entire process: what is considered "antisemitic?" I think right now, there is a wider and wider bucket of what is being casted as antisemitic. On my show, "The Rematch," I spoke with an actual Rabbi, Harry Rozenberg, and we talked about this. He said, "Well, I may have a different opinion than your's, and feel very strongly and emotionally about my different opinion, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean your's is antisemitic." So I&rsquo;m asking you, in your opinion, what exactly is antisemitic?
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Walker: "Well, in my opinion, being antisemitic means you are making hateful statements about Jewish people, or you are calling for their extermination &mdash; which is what a lot of white supremacists and neo-Nazis call for. I don&rsquo;t believe that having questions about Judaism or having questions or issues as a Black man in America with the relationship between Black people and Jewish people is necessarily 'antisemitic.'
"And what&rsquo;s happening now is, any questioning of anything having to do with Jewish people or the state of Israel is being seen as antisemitic, and I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s fair and it doesn&rsquo;t make for a rational conversation. It has become this thing where even if you mention it, you are labeled as antisemitic, and that shuts down any conversation. So to answer your question, my definition of antisemitism is violent hatred of any person who is Jewish. That&rsquo;s my definition of it."
Thomas: Well, I couldn&rsquo;t agree more. I had a debate with Dave Zirin, my regular co-host on The Collision, when he guested on The Rematch, and we disagreed for literally the entire interview. We just had a different view of everything that had occurred, and this is when everything first happened.
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I mentioned my debate with Harry Rozenberg and we disagreed at times &mdash; we definitely disagreed when it came to discussing Palestine and Israel &mdash; but we also agreed that everything isn&rsquo;t in the "antisemitic" bucket. I think one of the things that happens is, when you label something as "antisemitic," it&rsquo;s kind of a lazy argument because it shuts down all conversation. Once you say something is antisemitic, then there is no conversation. But I think there are different things that can and should be discussed without the label of "antisemitic."
Walker: "Absolutely, and like I said earlier, when you are an African-American, your ideas on what 'antisemitism' means and what discrimination feels like is very different than what someone else from a different demographic may be familiar with. And this is not to say that people who are Jewish have not dealt with discrimination and bigotry in Europe and America &mdash; they definitely have &mdash; but that conversation has to change a little bit when we&rsquo;re talking about Black people.
"Because, we have to be honest: Black people are still collectively at the bottom of the economic ladder in America. And our relationship with someone who may be a landlord or someone who is exploiting them, it may be coming from an attitude of pushing back against exploitation. It doesn&rsquo;t mean that it&rsquo;s antisemitic, and a lot of times that gets lost in this conversation.
"But I do think that one thing that has come out of this conversation with Kyrie and Nike and Kanye [West] and [Dave] Chappelle, to an extent, is that these conversations are beginning to happen and they have to happen in order for any meaningful, impactful dialogue to take place. You can&rsquo;t just label something as antisemitic and then shut down the conversation and punish anyone who brought it up like Nike did with Kyrie."
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Thomas: I agree 100%. And yes, Nike&rsquo;s decision to drop Kyrie in the wake of him sharing the documentary "Hebrews To Negroes" has actually made them become part of the problem we&rsquo;ve seen with the ADL. Punishment over dialogue. Labeling over discussion and understanding.&nbsp;
Van Jones also took it upon himself to apologize to the Jewish community on behalf of the entire Black community for statements made by Kanye West &mdash; even though I don&rsquo;t know who appointed him as spokesperson for the Black community. But before we finish, let me make this point clear: a lot of people are, and have been, conflating Kanye West a.k.a. Ye and Kyrie Irving, but they are two COMPLETELY separate issues. One is NOT like the other and should NEVER be lumped together in any way, shape or form.
Walker: "I definitely agree."
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Etan Thomas speaks with Torraine Walker to discuss Nike parting ways with Kyrie Irving, how he responded and what it could mean.

Nike employs ADL tactics as it officially drops Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s first press conference after returning from his suspension was met by a barrage of reporters seemingly throwing a series of questions at him that could have potentially resulted in him being suspended again.
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The media smh <a href="https://t.co/6ZsGU5llll">pic.twitter.com/6ZsGU5llll</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1594830463675375620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2022</a></blockquote>

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One interpretation is that the reporters were just doing their job in asking Kyrie the questions that inquiring minds would like answered. However, another interpretation is that Kyrie asked (very politely) if the reporters could simply stick to questions about the actual game, and they seemingly ignored his request and continued to ask questions that could potentially get him in hot water once again &mdash; an intentional attempt to set him up.
I wanted to delve deeper into this topic, so I reached out to journalist Chuck Modiano, who is a senior writer for Deadspin and has also written for the New York Daily News.
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Etan Thomas: Does it seem like the media is now picking on Kyrie?
Chuck Modiano: Let me first say that you have been doing a great job on social media covering this.
Thomas: Oh, I appreciate that.
Modiano: No problem. Well, there are definitely a couple of members who keep harping on it, but the problem is, they don&rsquo;t do that to other athletes. I don&rsquo;t think Jerry Jones is going to be peppered the same way. I know initially they asked him, but I doubt the questions will continue. I could be wrong, but we&rsquo;ll see. But the double standard always exists with Black athletes and it always has, and part of that double standard is the makeup of the press &mdash; and what the press finds noteworthy and not noteworthy to pursue. So yeah, it&rsquo;s definitely there and will continue to be there and we have to keep calling it out.
Thomas: I agree, but I don&rsquo;t see enough people calling it out and that&rsquo;s the part that frustrates me. It seems like it&rsquo;s just accepted. And let&rsquo;s take the actual content of everything that happened with Kyrie out of the discussion for a moment, and just compare this to how, say, Brett Farve was dealt with in the media. I mean, he didn&rsquo;t have to do anything &mdash; he didn&rsquo;t have to apologize or nothing?
Modiano: I think Brett Favre is a great recurring example. With Kyrie, it goes so far beyond the initial discussion of anti-semitism. It goes to something greater in media. The Black athlete is profitable and the Black athlete&rsquo;s perceived misbehavior is profitable. And we know this when a discussion should shift and it does not. So I&rsquo;ll give you an example. So there was a period of time where the discussion moved from Kyrie Irving to Jeff Bezos &mdash; let&rsquo;s hold Amazon accountable. He&rsquo;s making all this money off "Hebrews To Negroes." And let&rsquo;s form a petition, etc. And there were some famous actors joining in the charge. Rolling Stone actually had pictures of those actors, but most publications, even if the article was focused on Jeff Bezos and Amazon, still had the cover picture of Kyrie. So I said, "Well, that&rsquo;s not about perceived anti-semitism, that&rsquo;s about anti-Blackness." Because, again, the whole article was about Jeff Bezos and Amazon, so why is Kyrie on the cover picture? That was an editorial choice and that&rsquo;s when you have to examine the fact that anti-Blackness will get you more clicks and there is more profit in anti-Blackness.
Thomas: That&rsquo;s interesting. Now that you say that, I definitely noticed that as well. And to your point, there are a lot of Black media that participate in that as well. Right now, there are a lot of people trying to give Jerry Jones a pass. I just saw Stephen A. Smith and Jason Whitlock both defending him today. I actually tweeted about it.
Modiano: It&rsquo;s completely ridiculous. And listen, I am someone who has marched with former Nazis who are now against Nazis and are now on the anti-racism side and it&rsquo;s their life mission to flip other Nazis. So I am someone who believes to the greatest extent that reform is possible. But let&rsquo;s take Jerry Jones here, and put aside the fact that probably 95% of white people in Arkansas in 1957 more than likely shared a certain belief about Black people, I think we can safely say that. But not everyone joined a mob to terrorize Black students, so there is a difference between racist thoughts and racist actions. And it&rsquo;s important to remember that in 1954, the Brown vs. Board of Education was put into law, and the one of the ways white people would fight against that law was through mob action, and Jerry Jones was a part of that. So if you&rsquo;re going to tell me he&rsquo;s changed, I need to see it. I see his comments about [Colin] Kaepernick. I see the fact that he has never had a Black head coach. I see him donating half a million to Governor [Greg] Abbott&rsquo;s campaign. This doesn&rsquo;t sound like he has changed too much since 1957.
Thomas: And the same with Brett Favre. I haven&rsquo;t seen anything where he's tried to make amends after this $77 million Mississippi state-welfare-fund scandal or any evidence that he has changed. They say it&rsquo;s always something with Kyrie; well, it&rsquo;s always something with Brett Favre, right?
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JerryJones?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JerryJones</a> <a href="https://t.co/kpy9G3XaFU">pic.twitter.com/kpy9G3XaFU</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1596296501747228674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<div>Modiano: Oh, don&rsquo;t get me started on Brett. He has a long, ugly history and I&rsquo;m not just talking about outwardly supporting Donald Trump at the height of his racism and Charlottesville and Jan. 6th, or the inappropriate messages and nude pictures he sent to New York Jets game day host Ms. Sterger, but yes there is definitely enough history for there to be much more upheaval of outrage from the media. So we have to ask, why is the Brett Favre scandal not given the same attention and scrutiny as Kyrie? The answer could be simply that Brett Favre is not going to produce the amount of clicks that Kyrie will. But then you have to ask: why is Kyrie going to produce more clicks? Because Brett is retired and Kyrie is an active player? I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s it. I think it&rsquo;s because of anti-Blackness. We have a white customer service base that likes to see Black athletes being denigrated and will use Black media talking heads, like the ones you named before, to do the actual denigrating. That&rsquo;s the bottom line. So some will say, "No, it&rsquo;s the anti-semitism that is a much bigger issue." Well, if that were the case, all forms of perceived anti-semitism would garner the same reaction that Kyrie did, and it doesn&rsquo;t.</div>
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<div>Thomas: And to your point, let me read this <a href="https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1596184440513777665" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweet from Shaun King</a> that read: &ldquo;So we now know that Donald Trump just had dinner with one of the most explicit bigots and Holocaust-deniers in the world right now, Nick Fuentes. I need to see if Trump and the people who support him get the Kyrie Irving treatment now. I seriously doubt it." Now they can&rsquo;t say that Kyrie has more power and influence than Trump, so will there be a big outrage about Trump?&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Modiano: We already know the answer to that. Of course there won&rsquo;t and Nick Fuentes is a proud white supremacist and racist. He is an actual Holocaust denier and has spewed actual anti-semetic rhetoric out of his mouth. And Trump has himself said a lot of perceived, I&rsquo;ll say, antisemitic statements. So in comparing the reaction of that to Kyrie, you&rsquo;re right; it&rsquo;s not the same outrage.&nbsp;A few years ago, I wrote an article with the New York Daily News asking, "Why are we not critiquing white athletes?" Whether it&rsquo;s Tom Brady with the Trump hat in his locker or Brett Favre posing in a picture with him on the golf course, where were those same reporters who pressed Kyrie then? Where were the pointed questions that we are seeing repeatedly with Kyrie? So if we are going to have a media that is critiquing athletes the way they are with Kyrie, ok that&rsquo;s fine, but let&rsquo;s do it with the white athletes too.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Thomas: So, how can Kyrie navigate through this? Because it seems like the media is going to continue to press him on topics where they&rsquo;re almost trying to play GOTCHA with him. He has to meet with the media, or he&rsquo;ll get fined. So should he just keep repeating the phrase, "Can you please only ask me basketball questions?" Or do the Marshawn Lynch ("I&rsquo;m just here so I won&rsquo;t get fined")?</div>
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<div>Modiano: I&rsquo;ll tell you what, I thought he turned the Thanksgiving question on its head pretty nicely. I thought it was brilliant how he navigated that. He ended positively, he wished everyone a happy holiday, and he did it with a smile, but he also made the point clear: I&rsquo;m not personally celebrating Thanksgiving. And I think that&rsquo;s great because it now brings the much larger discussion that is not going on about the actual history of Thanksgiving and the treatment of indigenous people of this country, so I thought he navigated that question brilliantly.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Thomas: But do you think the media was again trying to pick at him? I tweeted about this and it got a very strong response. Anyone who has been even remotely following the NBA knows about Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s connection to his Native American heritage. When I saw that, I was like, "Are they just trolling Kyrie now?" They could&rsquo;ve asked any other player on the team that, but they ask him in particular? I just don&rsquo;t think they would&rsquo;ve asked Deni Avdija (the Washington Wizards forward who is Jewish) if he would like to wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas; I just personally don&rsquo;t think they would.&nbsp;</div>
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They know Kyrie Irving doesn&rsquo;t celebrate Thanksgiving and they know exactly why because he has explained his connection to his Native American heritage and the celebrated slaughter of his people. The media is being very intentional right now with Kyrie <a href="https://t.co/RCKWhaJn0I">https://t.co/RCKWhaJn0I</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1595784312359624707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<div>Modiano: So, I&rsquo;m leaning toward what you&rsquo;re saying. I don&rsquo;t know who the particular reporter was, I don&rsquo;t know the history, and we have to look at media collectively, not just this one person.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Thomas: Oh yeah, it wasn&rsquo;t particular to Meghan Triplett, the Nets new sideline reporter; I wasn&rsquo;t saying that. I was just using this one instance as yet another example, not her in particular. &nbsp;</div>
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<div>Modiano: Right, but I think collectively, it&rsquo;s no question the media has a double standard with Kyrie. It&rsquo;s abundantly clear. So I&rsquo;ll say it like this: I can&rsquo;t say definitively that it&rsquo;s a racial double standard, but I will say that it&rsquo;s worthy of an investigation of a possibly racial double standard. And it&rsquo;s not just Kyrie, there has been a racial double standard historically with Black athletes for decades.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Thomas: So let me ask you this: People like Shaq and Charles Barkley were very direct with their critique of Kyrie. I actually tweeted about this as well.&nbsp;</div>
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Immediately they got <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CharlesBarkley?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CharlesBarkley</a> to go live and condemn <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KyrieIrving?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KyrieIrving</a> and I know he hadn&rsquo;t actually watched <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HebrewsToNegroes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HebrewsToNegroes</a> to even know what he was talking about. But Barkley is one of the go to Black Media used to condemn Black People and it&rsquo;s sad<a href="https://t.co/58aGoedJo8">https://t.co/58aGoedJo8</a> <a href="https://t.co/XC1kdKqKXi">pic.twitter.com/XC1kdKqKXi</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1595022874901090311?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<div>Modiano: I&rsquo;m telling you, you&rsquo;ve been on it on social media. And your interviews have been great too. Different perspectives. You even got a Rabbi! I haven&rsquo;t seen anyone go to the length to actually sit down with a Rabbi and discuss this.</div>
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<div>Thomas: (Laughing) Well, there&rsquo;s been a lot to cover, but it seems like people like Charles Barkley and those of his ilk are just not willing to move past it. He brought it up again last night, saying he was disappointed that more NBA players didn&rsquo;t come out and speak against him. I&rsquo;m just like... he has apologized, served his suspension, went through the entire ridiculous six-step criteria they laid out for him, met with Adam Silver, met with Joe Tsai, and they all gave him the stamp of approval that he is not anti-semitic (although he never said anything out of his mouth that was anti-semitic). He went through all of those steps, so how long will it be before the media as a collective whole stops trolling him?&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Modiano: My response to the many problematic things that come out of Charles Barkley&rsquo;s mouth is: Why is he being uplifted as this voice of Black America or something? I remember a few years ago, CNN did this series called Race In America, led by Charles Barkley. What qualified him to lead that series?&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Thomas: They could&rsquo;ve gotten Craig Hodges, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Colin Kaepernick, John Carlos, Tommie Smith or if they wanted contemporary athletes, they could&rsquo;ve gotten LeBron James, Eric Reid, Jaylen Brown, the Olympian Gwen Berry, Swin Cash... There are so many combinations of athlete activists they could&rsquo;ve gotten. And I interviewed most of them in my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Matter-Athletes-Activism-Sports/dp/1617755915/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=66c9a448-2d15-42b5-ad8b-555bf1229604" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"We Matter: Athletes And Activism.&rdquo;&nbsp;</a></div>
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<div>Modiano: Right, but they didn&rsquo;t want any of them, they wanted Charles Barkley. Why? The same reason he was on CNN being the spokesperson of Black America, which I believe you tweeted about too.</div>
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<div>Thomas: Yes, <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1594710024969912322?s=46&amp;t=DudNOqBBO4hPI-A58FFLUg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I did actually.</a>&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Modiano: I told you, you&rsquo;ve been on it! (laughing) But why Charles Barkley? Because they know what his position will be on the topic, so it doesn&rsquo;t matter that he doesn&rsquo;t have a rich history of social justice like all the athletes you mentioned before and interviewed in your book. They like the positions he takes so that will trump his actual qualifications. Same with Herschel Walker. But just think about it, they don&rsquo;t do that with white athletes; they don&rsquo;t turn them into the spokespersons for white America on race relations. Anybody know where Larry Bird stands on anything? Kevin McHale? Dirk? Jerry West? Chris Mullin? We have to question these networks who continue to put the mic in Charles Barkley&rsquo;s face but at the same time, we know the answer. It&rsquo;s because he is saying what they want to hear a Black person say. Anti-Black is anti Black whether it&rsquo;s on Fox News, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Jason Whitlock or Charles Barkley.</div>
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<div>Thomas: So basically, a lot of people in the media are pawns like Kyrie said&hellip; You don&rsquo;t have to answer that. Like you said, we already know the answer.</div>
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<div>Check out these related episodes of "The Rematch."</div>
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<div>Craig Hodges and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf:</div>
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<div>Rabbi Harry Rozenberg:</div>
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<div>Dave Zirin:</div>
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Has the media treated Kyrie Irving fairly? Etan Thomas sits down with journalist Chuck Modiano to discuss the coverage of Irving.

How long will the media continue to troll Kyrie Irving?

Over the last week, I have been very active on social media voicing my views on the Kyrie Irving situation, which prompted quite a few active NBA players to reach out to me privately to express that they too shared the view that the six requirements laid out for Irving to end his indefinite suspension were not only way over the top and excessive, but insulting.&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s do a quick recap of the events that have led us to this point.&nbsp;
Irving shared a link to the documentary &ldquo;From Hebrews To Negroes: Wake Up Black America" without context, which caused a firestorm, as many viewed this as an endorsement of the film.&nbsp;
At his initial press conference, he expressed his reasoning for sharing the doc, saying, &ldquo;When I post, it does not mean that I support everything that&rsquo;s being said or everything that&rsquo;s being done or [that] I&rsquo;m campaigning for anything. All I do is post things for my people and my community.&rdquo;&nbsp;
He also said:&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a divisive person when it comes to religion. I embrace all walks of life. You see it on all my platforms. I talk to all races, all cultures, all religions. And my response would be, it&rsquo;s not about educating yourself on what antisemitism is. It&rsquo;s really about where the root words come from and understanding that this is an African heritage that is also belonging to the people. Africa is in it, whether we want to dismiss it or not. So the claims of antisemitism; who are the original chosen people of God? And we go into these religious conversations and it&rsquo;s a big no-no, I don&rsquo;t live my life that way. I grew up in a melting pot, and I say a melting pot of all races: white, black, red, yellow, Jewish, Christian, Muslim. You see the way I live my life now, I&rsquo;m not here to be divisive."
This was prior to his spat with ESPN's Nick Friedell.&nbsp;
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This was met with criticism, condemnation and accusations that Kyrie was antisemitic, since people felt he was endorsing and promoting antisemitic propaganda (which he said wasn&rsquo;t his intention).
The media as a collective began taking turns bashing Kyrie, attributing beliefs to him that he did not express, and since he didn&rsquo;t vehemently denounce these ideas, many took that as an endorsement. It's not uncommon for athletes to be attacked by certain media talking-heads who shall remain nameless, but what we saw was a unified, non-stop, public lashing of Kyrie across the board.&nbsp;
He deleted his tweet. Then, during another press conference, he was asked if he was antisemitic and his answer was, "I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from." He also explained that he meant no harm, while adding that he wasn&rsquo;t the one who made the documentary.
This drew the ire of Brooklyn Nets governor Joe Tsai, as Irving was swiftly suspended for a minimum of five games and given six steps that had to be completed before he would be allowed to return.
The Nets released a press release that stated: "We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge hateful material in the film. This was not the first time he had the opportunity &mdash; but failed &mdash; to clarify. Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team. Accordingly, we are of the view that he is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets."
Many people (including some who strongly condemned Kyrie for posting the link to the documentary) viewed this as a blatant attempt to emasculate and dehumanize Irving in front of the entire world.&nbsp;
Irving eventually posted <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckhj8iIu0HN/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a lengthy apology</a> to the entire Jewish community on Instagram.
As I voiced my personal disproval of the six steps he had to complete to return &mdash; which is unprecedented for an NBA suspension &mdash; that&rsquo;s when I started receiving messages from active players who were also outraged by the treatment Kyrie was receiving. However, they didn&rsquo;t feel comfortable saying anything out of fear that a similar outrage would be directed toward them or that an objection to Kyrie's punishment would be interpreted as supporting him posting the movie. They didn't want to be lumped in with Kyrie and face the same backlash. Their apprehension was very understandable.&nbsp;
This caused me to ponder the question: what if this Kyrie backlash causes athletes to go silent again? After all, besides Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Craig Hodges, athletes were pretty quiet back in the 1990s. That continued through my era in the early 2000s. Only recently, since Colin Kaepernick's protest, has there been a resurgence of athletes using their platforms and voices, and it&rsquo;s been beautiful to see. But it&rsquo;s also important to note that since Kaepernick took his stance, he has not played a single snap in the NFL. In addition, all of the protests have stopped and, for the most part, NFL players speaking out has significantly reduced almost to a whisper. Could that happen in the NBA?&nbsp;
Over the last 24 hours, both NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Joe Tsai said that they have met with Kyrie and can report that, in their opinion, he is not antisemitic, which has led many to believe that Irving will be returning to the court soon. But has the damage already been done?
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I reached out to Emerald Garner, the daughter of Eric Garner who has a newly-released book that I co-wrote called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Finding-My-Voice-Grieving-Pushing/dp/1642598313/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=163ffcc0-f0f3-4ecf-b8fa-907636f54c3f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Finding My Voice,"</a> to discuss this situation. We talked about what it meant to her personally when athletes used their voices and platforms to support her family and whether the Kyrie backlash might scare players into being silent going forward.
Etan: Do you think the backlash that Kyrie Irving is currently receiving has the potential to silence athletes?&nbsp;
Emerald: "I hope not. Listen, I don&rsquo;t know anything about the film, and don&rsquo;t support antisemitism in any form or fashion, but I didn&rsquo;t actually hear Kyrie say anything antisemitic. And correct me if I&rsquo;m wrong, but he didn&rsquo;t produce the documentary, did he? They&rsquo;re acting like it&rsquo;s his film."
Etan: No, he didn&rsquo;t produce it, but to be fair, he did share it without context. But he also cleared up his reasoning for sharing it in his initial press conference. He said he was just sharing it for the information and wasn&rsquo;t endorsing or promoting the film.
Emerald: "So, he apologized and deleted it, right?"
Etan: Yes, he did.
Emerald: "But he still has to go through all of these hoops before he gets to play again?"
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Etan: Yes, the six steps he has to complete are:
1) He has to apologize and condemn the film
2) Make a $500,000 donation to anti-hate causes
3) Complete sensitivity training
4) Complete antisemitism training&nbsp;
5) Meet with the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish leaders
6) Meet with Joe Tsai to &ldquo;demonstrate an understanding of the situation.&rdquo;
Emerald: "Wow, that&rsquo;s really a lot. So let me say it like this: officer Daniel Pantaleo murdered my father in broad daylight on video and he didn&rsquo;t have to do anything before he returned to active duty. I wrote about it in my book how traumatizing it was to see him laughing and joking with other cops on the street like nothing happened. He didn&rsquo;t have to do anything. He didn&rsquo;t even have to apologize to the family of the man he murdered. But they&rsquo;re gonna make Kyrie do all this before he can play basketball?"&nbsp;
Etan: Wow, that&rsquo;s a great point.
Emerald: "Listen, Kyrie and LeBron and all of the players on the Brooklyn Nets at the time and Kobe and all of the Lakers team supported my family after my father was choked to death by the NYPD. Back then, every time I turned on the TV, all I saw were people justifying his murder and saying why my father deserved to die. I will forever be thankful to him and all the athletes who stood with us for that."
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Etan: Yeah, a lot of people were quiet then, but athletes weren&rsquo;t. That started a new boom of athletes using their voices and platforms. That&rsquo;s why I wrote my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Matter-Athletes-Activism-Sports/dp/1617755915/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=3aa7746c-b367-4e3f-b314-48164e0e4144" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"We Matter: Athletes And Activism"</a> and interviewed so many athletes and impacted family members. I wanted to encourage the next generation of athletes to continue to use their voices and show the impact it has. My fear now is that after this, athletes may start being quiet again or people may advise them to be quiet again in fear of the Kyrie Irving treatment.
Emerald: "And that would be tragic. You have done an amazing job promoting that concept and, yes, there is great power in their voices. When I turned on the TV and saw all of the NBA players wearing 'I Can&rsquo;t Breathe' shirts&hellip; I&rsquo;m getting emotional right now..."
Etan: I&rsquo;m sorry, I don&rsquo;t want to trigger you.
Emerald: "No, it&rsquo;s ok. You know I always get emotional when we talk, and we talked about this in my book, but when I saw them wearing those shirts, it made me feel seen. That someone actually cared about what happened to my father. It didn&rsquo;t feel like anyone cared. The police definitely didn&rsquo;t show any remorse. They all stood around and watched as Officer Pantaleo choked my father to death, then they all supported Pantaleo, not one of them condemned anything. So many people supported Pantaleo like they always do when the police murder someone. But it was Kyrie and NBA players who supported me. And my father loved basketball. He loved every New York team that existed. Even sports he wasn&rsquo;t even that into, if they were [a team in] New York, he supported them. He would&rsquo;ve been so proud how they all supported him. I can see his big smile now. I can&rsquo;t tell you how much I miss seeing that big smile of his."&nbsp;
Etan: It&rsquo;s so important that people know this, and understand this. I&rsquo;ve gone on multiple programs recently and said that silencing athletes that you disagree with isn&rsquo;t the answer. Instead, have an actual dialogue. And I really believe that.
Emerald: "Listen, we have done enough speaking engagements for me to fully understand and be a supporter of dialogue. Of course it&rsquo;s important. And not lectures but actually listening to because, correct me if I&rsquo;m wrong, but I didn&rsquo;t hear Kyrie say anything bad or anti-anything. He said I love everyone, I respect all religions. It&rsquo;s like they&rsquo;re trying to make him believe things that he didn&rsquo;t say he believed. At least that&rsquo;s how I see it."
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Etan: I definitely agree. I didn&rsquo;t hear him actually say anything antisemitic. I&rsquo;m just worried about the effect it will have on athletes moving forward. When I was playing, I had so many people warn me to be careful (including David Stern). I had other people who literally said you don&rsquo;t want to get done like Craig Hodges or Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. I heard Shannon Sharpe initially say that on his show "Undisputed." I see people putting that notion out there.
Emerald: "Well, that would be tragic if athletes did 'shut up and dribble.' I&rsquo;mma be honest, I didn&rsquo;t realize the impact y&rsquo;all have until I started working with you and talking to other impacted families who had athletes stand up for them. How Russell Westbrook spoke up for Terence Crutcher, how Stephen Jackson spoke up for George Floyd, how LeBron speaks up for a lot of families, how the whole Milwaukee Bucks [team] spoke up for Jacob Blake, how the whole NBA spoke up for Breonna Taylor and I can go on and on and on. It&rsquo;s important. Take it from me, it means everything."

Could this Kyrie Irving situation silence athletes going forward? Etan Thomas discusses this with Eric Garner's daughter, Emerald.

Emerald Garner hopes Kyrie Irving backlash doesn’t silence athletes

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Kyrie Irving said Wednesday he opposes all forms of hate, and he and the Brooklyn Nets will each donate $500,000 toward groups that work to eradicate it.
Irving took responsibility for the negative impact on the Jewish community that was caused by his <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-82152b5992a02d806760bd15e070433e">appearing to support an antisemitic work</a>, as the Nets and their star guard worked to sooth the anger that had been directed at them since Irving's Twitter post and refusal to apologize for it.
&ldquo;I oppose all forms of hatred and oppression and stand strong with communities that are marginalized and impacted every day,&rdquo; Irving said in a joint statement with the Nets and Anti-Defamation League. &ldquo;I am aware of the negative impact of my post towards the Jewish community and I take responsibility."
Irving had drawn criticism around the NBA &mdash; including from Nets owner Joe Tsai &mdash; for posting a link to the film &ldquo;Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America&rdquo; on his Twitter feed last week.
&ldquo;I do not believe everything said in the documentary was true or reflects my morals and principles,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;I am a human being learning from all walks of life and I intend to do so with an open mind and a willingness to listen.&rdquo;
Irving <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-social-media-e478796ff3b085f813e448c456eab049">hadn't spoken since Saturday</a>, when he defiantly defended his right to post about material he believes. He didn't talk to reporters after either of the Nets' home games since &mdash; one of them featuring fans wearing &ldquo;Fight Antisemitism&rdquo; shirts as they sat courtside.
&ldquo;There is no room for antisemitism, racism, false narratives or misguided attempts to create animosity and hate,&rdquo; said Sam Zussman, the CEO of BSE Global, parent company of the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center. &ldquo;Now, more than ever, there is a pressing need to ensure education in these areas. We are putting our prior statements into practice because actions speak louder than words.&rdquo;
Irving and the Nets will work with the ADL to develop inclusive educational programming to combat all forms of bigotry and antisemitism.
General manager Sean Marks said Tuesday that the Nets had been in discussions with the ADL on the proper way to respond to the fallout involving Irving, who was not punished by the team or the NBA.
&ldquo;At a time when antisemitism has reached historic levels, we know the best way to fight the oldest hatred is to both confront it head-on and also to change hearts and minds," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.
The Nets added that they and the WNBA's New York Liberty would host a series of community conversations at Barclays Center in partnership with ADL and other national civil rights organizations and local community associations.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Kyrie Irving said he opposes all forms of hate, and he and the Nets will each donate $500,000 toward groups that work to eradicate it.

Irving takes responsibility for tweet, will donate $500,000

MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) &mdash; There is growing fear among college basketball coaches at the lower levels of the sport, the vast majority of which do not make seven-figure salaries, fly around the country in private jets or hang out with rich and famous boosters and fans.
It&rsquo;s a fear that comes with success.
It only takes a couple of marquee players to compete for championships at the Division II or III level, the NAIA or even in low-major Division I leagues. But in an era of freedom of transfer and name, image and likeness endorsement money, the reality is this: If your program is too good, there&rsquo;s a good chance those prolific players will be playing elsewhere next season, recruited to major programs that can offer them more exposure, opportunities and financial benefits.
When it happens, lower-level coaches who might be coming off a 20-win season could be left rebuilding their rosters and fighting for 10 wins and, potentially, their jobs.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s always been an opportunity to poach kids if you want to poach them, but it&rsquo;s all become easier now,&rdquo; said Joe Lombardi, the longtime coach of Division II powerhouse Indiana (Pa.). &ldquo;I believe in karma. I&rsquo;m not doing that, OK? But some places it has become a way of life. It&rsquo;s disappointing that people invest in kids and, you know, they get poached.
&ldquo;They don&rsquo;t just go to the market,&rdquo; Lombardi added. &ldquo;Some do, but a lot of them are talked into it.&rdquo;
His team reached the Final Four last season thanks largely to shooting guard Armoni Foster, who averaged 18 points for the Crimson Hawks, but who will be playing Division I ball for Buffalo this season. And while Lombardi encouraged him to seek a better opportunity for his final year of eligibility, the coach acknowledges that won&rsquo;t always be the case.
Especially when players no longer have to sit out a year under the NCAA&rsquo;s transfer rules.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had guys that Division I schools made overtures about and I&rsquo;m eventually going to lose someone, and it might not be amicable,&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;I might not be happy with the move. But if you&rsquo;re in it long enough, that will happen.&rdquo;
It happened at Nova Southeastern, the top seed in the NCAA Tournament last year. Sekou Sylla, who averaged 22.4 points and 10.4 rebounds for the Division II program, will be playing for Towson at the Division I level this season.
And it happened at Hillsdale, another strong Division II program, where Patrick Cartier caught the attention of Colorado State. And at Bentley, which saw shooting guard Colton Lawrence follow up a strong season by leaving for Maryland-Baltimore County, a low-major program but nonetheless an opportunity for him to compete at the Division I level.
Even the bluest of the bluebloods have kept their eyes open for lower-level transfers.
Cam Martin, a bruising 6-foot-9 forward, was a two-time All-American for Missouri Southern who chose to continue his career elsewhere. He landed at Kansas, the defending Division I national champion, about a 3-hour drive from the Lions&rsquo; campus in Joplin but light years away in terms of opportunity and experience.
Martin, who graduated from Missouri Southern and is pursuing his graduate degree at Kansas, went from starting every game and playing major minutes to being a key practice player but rarely seeing the floor in actual games.
&ldquo;You have the good and bad stories that come of it,&rdquo; acknowledged Dennis Gates, the new Missouri coach who brought three players with him when he was hired from Cleveland State. &ldquo;But the rules give student-athletes an opportunity, no different than coaches have opportunities now, to represent a different program.&rdquo;
Still, as TCU coach Jamie Dixon admitted, the fact that players no longer have to sit out has changed the dynamic.
&ldquo;A kid having success at a lower conference than, say, the Big 12, was likely not to transfer and sit out because he&rsquo;s playing well,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting his minutes. Why would he want to sit out?&rdquo;
When the NCAA removed that impediment, it became easier for players to move on &mdash; and move up. And when NIL legislation came along, allowing players to profit off their celebrity, it created a situation where high-major programs can effectively offer financial benefits unavailable at most lower-level programs.
Throw in the chance to compete at a higher level and it&rsquo;s hard for kids to turn their back on the opportunity.
Fardaws Aimaq remembers playing for Utah Valley in the WAC Tournament last spring, and five or six NBA scouts were sitting in a corner. Aimaq dominated the first half of the Wolverines&rsquo; game, only to see the scouts get up and walk out, and he recalled thinking, &ldquo;Why did they leave?&rdquo; Aimaq texted his advisers afterward, and the answer was simple: &ldquo;They wanted to know if I was really that good or the competition was not that good.&rdquo;
Aimaq ended up transferring from the low-major school to Texas Tech in the hopes of raising his NBA draft profile this season.
&ldquo;Leaving was hard,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but it was just the best decision for me business-wise.&rdquo;
Just like it was for Malachi Smith, a prolific shooting guard who spent the last two seasons at Chattanooga but will play for Gonzaga this season, or Johni Broome, a 6-10 forward who transferred from Morehead State to Auburn.
Transfers go both ways, of course. Plenty of players leave high-majors for low-majors, or even lower divisions, where they might go from benchwarmer to starter. But they are typically easier for big-budget programs to replace.
It&rsquo;s tougher to accept at small schools, though, when a player who might have slipped through the recruiting cracks not only got an opportunity to play but was also developed over time &mdash; only to take their game somewhere else.
&ldquo;There could be a great player at Division III. I will not make an overture for that kid. I will not do it,&rdquo; said Lombardi, the Division II coach at Indiana (Pa.) &ldquo;Maybe I would if I was 10-20 for three straight seasons &mdash; I might then. But I just don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s for the good of the kid or the good of athletics.&rdquo;

There is growing fear among college basketball coaches at the lower levels of the sport.

Portal chaos puts pressure on hoops coaches in lower levels

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

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes the offensive splendor of Dirk Nowitzki and the dramatic evolution of his career.

Blazing the Trail: Dirk Nowitzki, the unicorn that became world champion

The second domino in Utah has finally fallen.
After trading All-World center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a league-shifting pick package, the Jazz followed suit by <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-trade-instant-reaction-donovan-mitchell-cleveland-cavaliers-utah-jazz-collin-sexton-lauri-markkanen-ochai-agbaji-darius-garland-evan-mobley-jb-bickerstaff-koby-altman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trading star guard Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers</a>. Three unprotected first-round picks, two unprotected pick swaps and a multi-player package headlined by Collin Sexton was enough for the team to officially set off its rebuild.
The stars are gone, but there are vets still on the roster. Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Jazz aren't opposed to moving them if they're given more picks, young players or (ideally) both.
Chief among those vets is point guard Mike Conley.&nbsp;
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Conley is coming off one of his healthier campaigns, appearing in 70 games (72) for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Conley was steady, averaging 13.7 points and 5.3 assists (1.7 turnovers) while posting a 57.2% True Shooting percentage. He oscillated between diagnosing defenses as a pick-and-roll threat and spreading the floor for Mitchell to attack.
Coinciding with Mitchell's ascension, he's become more of a spacer than a focal point over the past two seasons. Conley's three-point rate &mdash; the percentage of shot attempts that come from deep &mdash; has hit career-high levels over the past two seasons (52.3). He's drained 41% of his threes on 6.1 attempts per game during that stretch; only three other players &mdash; Anfernee Simons, Zach LaVine and some Steph Curry guy &mdash; have hit 40% of their threes on 6 or more attempts on average (min. 100 games).
Don't let the off-ball focus fool you: Conley's blend of pull-up shooting, court vision and ambidexterity still makes him a valuable playmaker. Over the past two seasons, possessions featuring a Conley-led ball screen has generated 1.03 points per possession (PPP), a mark sandwiched between Damian Lillard (1.032 PPP) and James Harden (1.023 PPP).
Even at this stage, playing drop coverage against Conley is a mistake.
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Because Conley doesn't have the same burst anymore, he doesn't get two feet in the paint very often. His rim rate &mdash; the percentage of shot attempts coming inside of 3 feet &mdash; has dropped in each of the past five seasons. Only 7.5% of his attempts came at the rim last year, easily a career low.
He's been able to counter that by sprinkling in short pull-ups and floaters with either hand, but the threshold for bending defenses with those shots is pretty high.
Conley remains sound defensively. He's dutiful when navigating screens and still does a good job of reconnecting with ball-handlers. This might be my favorite stat find of the summer: Per Second Spectrum, among 165 players that defended at least 300 drives last season, only one player &mdash; Chicago Bulls rookie Ayo Dosunmu (13.97%) &mdash; was "blown by" at a lower rate than Conley (14.18%).
There's context to be added, like who Conley was directly matched up with, but that's a "he's typically in the right spot" stat if I've seen one.
Of course, Conley isn't perfect. There's only so much he can do as a shot-contester, even against his position, because of his size. While he's still a good screen navigator, his recovery speed isn't what it once was. If a screen nails him, you could be in some trouble.
Overall, Conley is still a good starting point guard with a game that can complement a high-usage star. If the Jazz are truly open to moving him, teams should come calling.
With a vet like Conley, finding a contending team for him is the likely priority. That makes trade talks tough since so many of the top teams either have (All-) star point guards already (Golden State, Phoenix, Milwaukee, etc.), younger players they're already invested in (Philadelphia, Denver), or vets they're okay with (Miami, Boston).
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The Dallas Mavericks may be the most realistic suitor within this lens. Conley could certainly slot into the Jalen Brunson-sized void that was opened this summer. Tim Hardaway Jr.'s contract ($19.6 million in 2022-23) is enough to start the conversation, but you'd have to wonder if a middleground could be found from there.
The Mavericks owe a first round pick to the Knicks (top-10 protected through 2025) that you'd assume would convey this year, but that's off the table. Would the Mavericks be willing to throw in a later first-round pick instead? If not, is there a young piece on the roster (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/josh-green-impact-basketball-dallas-mavericks-playoffs-joe-abunassar-offseason-training-diet-nutrition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hello, Josh Green</a>) that they'd be willing to sweeten the pot with in lieu of the pick? It's hard to gauge.
I'd be intrigued by a trade centered around a Conley-D'Angelo Russell swap if the Minnesota Timberwolves were game.
(I don't think I'd be game if I were them. It'd have to be Conley and another player or two &mdash; Rudy Gay and Nickeil Alexander-Walker would get you there &mdash; since the Jazz are hard-capped. Beyond that, I'm sure they would've worked to include a Russell-Conley swap into the Gobert trade if there was real interest in that regard.)
There's been smoke, then fire, then smoke, then fog, then&nbsp;more&nbsp;smoke around Conley being featured in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers for Russell Westbrook. Conley would certainly vibe alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis; I just don't know how likely it is that Westbrook is traded at this point, even if it might be best for everyone involved.
If it's not contender-or-bust for Conley, there are a couple of lottery teams I'd like to see throw their hats in the ring for him.&nbsp;
Depending on how you feel about the Kevin Porter Jr. point guard experiment, something I had my eye on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/something-to-prove-kevin-porter-jr-at-point-guard-houston-rockets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heading into last season</a>, there could be room for a half-season of Conley stability in the starting backcourt. Having a consistently-good decision-maker alongside Jalen Green could foster easier development for him.
There are things Green (or Porter, for that matter) could learn from Conley. My mind immediately goes to how patient Conley is against drop, and how good he is at snaking ball-screens and bending defenses. Green showed growth as his rookie campaign went on, but there's still room for improvement.
There's even a number for it. Per Second Spectrum, the Rockets generated a little over 0.67 points per possession (PPP) on trips featuring a ball-screen that Green snaked.
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Considering Eric Gordon's salary would likely be needed to make this work, a third team would make some sense here. An interesting framework would be sending Conley to Houston, Eric Gordon to New Orleans (I know, I know) and a combination of KJ Martin (if he <a href="https://theathletic.com/3373516/2022/06/20/houston-rockets-nba-draft-roster/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still wants a trade</a> from Houston), Kira Lewis and more salary filler to Utah.
STRAY THOUGHTS
<ul>
<li>If Bradley Beal wants an even more dependable guard next to him than Monte Morris, Conley would make some sense in Washington. At minimum, the Wizards certainly have enough pieces to consolidate. I still don't know what to make of their forward room.</li>
<li>In light of the Lonzo Ball injury news, I can definitely see the use for a table-setter in Chicago. The Bulls may be content with Goran Dragic filling that void; beyond that, I'm not sure they could make the money work without getting ride of a core piece.</li>
<li>The Clippers would've been a fun team in here before <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-offseason-news-rumors-examining-john-wall-fit-with-los-angeles-clippers-houston-rockets-buyout-paul-george-kawhi-leonard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the John Wall signing</a>. I guess they could still be a dark horse if things don't work out, but I wouldn't bet on it.</li>
</ul>

Nekias Duncan analyzes the trade market for Jazz guard Mike Conley and which teams the veteran point guard could fit with.

Examining potential destinations for Mike Conley

In the latest installment of his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes the two-way brilliance of Shawn Kemp.

Blazing the Trail: Shawn Kemp, the aerial artist

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 fourth installment, Mat goes in-depth on one of the greatest shooters of all-time: Reggie Miller. He explains what made him different from the marksmen who came before him, with insights from his former coaches in Indiana &mdash; Dan Burke and Bob Ociepka &mdash; his former teammate Rik Smits and basketball analyst Mike Prada.
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In his critically acclaimed, historical rendition of the NBA, "The Book of Basketball," The Ringer's Bill Simmons ranked NBA and Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller outside of the top 60 all-time:
&ldquo;Reggie Miller was the most overrated &lsquo;superstar&rsquo; of the past thirty years,&rdquo; Simmons opined.
To Simmons' credit, however, he later retracted this statement in the sequel podcast, "<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-of-basketball-2-0/id1483525141?i=1000462435000">The Book of Basketball 2.0.</a>" Revising his previous comments, Simmons suggested that in today's game, Miller would indeed constitute superstar status.
But what if Miller would have been a superstar in any era? What if he was an elite scorer and playmaker in ways that we couldn&rsquo;t comprehend during his time? And what if he served as an inspiration to the most prolific dynasty of the NBA's pace-and-space era?
Let's find out.
WHAT MADE MILLER SPECIAL
As a child, Miller would regularly participate in 1-on-1 matchups against his older sister, Cheryl, who turned out to be one of the greatest women's basketball players of all-time prior to untimely injuries. (She's enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.)
Because of Cheryl's superior size and strength, Reggie going inside was a moot point.
&ldquo;One of the reasons I practiced shooting from the outside was that Cheryl used to block my shots when I drove to the hoop,&rdquo; Miller recalled in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Love-Being-Enemy-Reggie-Miller/dp/0684870398" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his autobiography</a>. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bad feeling when your sister is knocking your best stuff into the rosebushes.&rdquo;
To defeat his sibling, Miller needed to hone in on his perimeter game.&nbsp;
That's exactly what he did.
Miller endured his sister&rsquo;s challenges and triumphed to become one of the premier shooters the NBA had ever seen. According to Cerebro Sports' Three-Point Efficiency metric (a shooting metric that combines three-point volume and efficiency to show the most lethal shooters), Miller finished in the 97th percentile or higher in all but one year from 1988 to 2004.
(The 2002-03 campaign was the exception, where he finished in the 94th percentile).
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Visual provided by Cerebro Sports
Even more impressive is how he earned his standing in this data set. Unlike many of the great shooters of his time &mdash; who made their mark primarily off standstill catch-and-shoot opportunities &mdash; a majority of Miller&rsquo;s triples came while he was circling the half-court at top speed.
And again, much like his pickup contests growing up, this strategy was rooted in necessity.
&ldquo;The chances for spot-up [threes] weren&rsquo;t really there,&rdquo; said Dan Burke, Miller&rsquo;s former coach in Indiana and now an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers. &ldquo;You have to have a real big, key player [you&rsquo;re playing off of] to get spot-ups.&rdquo;
To back Burke's words, think of one of the other notable three-point shooters of that time: Dan Majerle. Throughout his time in Phoenix and Miami, Majerle was gifted with potent penetrators like Kevin Johnson and Tim Hardaway, who could both consistently <a href="https://streamable.com/wd17v5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">break down a defense and get two feet in the paint</a>.
Meanwhile, Miller&rsquo;s most accomplished backcourt mate, Mark Jackson, was more of a post facilitator than a downhill threat.
Instead, Miller achieved sage status in the art of movement shooting. And for those following along at home, his technique can be divided into <a href="https://youtu.be/tv3EyzBuRb4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three keys</a>.
Key 1: Set up the Defender
Miller was an avid participant in basketball grappling &mdash; the practice of using physicality to manipulate and gain separation from your defender.
&ldquo;[Miller] embraced contact and sometimes got the feel of a guy so [he] could push off him and get open,&rdquo; Burke said.
The cunning sharpshooter also deployed harsh cuts and abrupt changes in speed to further decrease the likelihood that his opponent could shadow his movements.
&ldquo;When you watch him, it wasn&rsquo;t always the same speed,&rdquo; Burke continued. &ldquo;He changed speeds. He&rsquo;d stop and go.&rdquo;
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Key 2: Read the Screen
Once he gained a step, Miller could interpret his optimal route-running path based on the direction his defender was chasing him. If his defender trailed outside the screen, Miller would juke inwards. If his defender rushed from the inside, Miller would retreat outside.
Miller's astute ability in this regard was largely based upon the continuity he achieved with his screen-setting bigs &mdash; Antonio Davis, Dale Davis and Rik Smits.
&ldquo;We would run through our sets almost every practice,&rdquo; Smits recalled to Basketball News. &ldquo;[A lot] of dummy offenses. Just run, run, run. We really concentrated on getting good screens set just to take full advantage of everything [Miller brought to the table].&rdquo;
"Reggie would talk to those bigs too," Burke added. "'Just stand there, I&rsquo;ll use you.'&rdquo;
Key 3: Footwork
Miller boasted balletic footwork, akin to that of a peak-<a href="https://youtu.be/Ye7xMqYqAbA">Torture Chamber Kevin McHale</a>, able to stop and pop effortlessly regardless of his travel velocity and angle.
&ldquo;[Typically], if you are right-handed, you want to come off [a pindown screen] going to your left so that your shoulder is closer to the rim,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t matter with Reggie. He could come with his right hand or with his left hand.&rdquo;
Miller's ambidexterity is a testament to his impeccable footwork. The direction didn't matter because his stride was sound both ways. And his ability to maintain balance during these sequences is even more impressive when you consider the defensive physicality that was accepted during his era.
&ldquo;Every time a guy like Reggie cut through the lane, the goal was to smack him. We used to say, &lsquo;Pinball him,&rsquo;" Burke recalled.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The league allows no &lsquo;impeding&rsquo; cutters now. There was much more holding then. But Reggie would stay locked and still get a rhythm jumper.&rdquo;
Here are all three of those keys in action:
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ON-COURT PRODUCTION
Miller&rsquo;s shooting served as a double-edged sword for his reputation. On one end, he was revered as one of the game&rsquo;s top snipers. On the other, he&rsquo;d been pigeonholed into a singular role on the floor.
However, Miller was more than a marksman. He was a three-level scorer who utilized the <a href="https://streamable.com/ykdkx5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">triple-threat</a> position to score from the mid-range and at the rim.
&ldquo;One thing Reggie worked on, we used to call it &lsquo;Pete Newell,&rsquo;" Burke explained. &ldquo;Pete Newell was an old coach who used to have a big-man camp. His whole thing was: Jab, catch, create space. If the guy doesn&rsquo;t honor your jab, you go by him. If he backs up, you raise up and shoot it.
&ldquo;It was a series. And [Reggie] really worked on it.&rdquo;
This combination of three-level scoring and high conversion rates from the most efficient spots on the floor made Miller arguably the best backcourt scorer of the 1990s not named Michael Jordan.
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To compare the two, from 1989 to 1999, Miller tallied nine seasons where he ranked in the 90th percentile in both scoring volume and efficiency, while Jordan only touted two such seasons.&nbsp;
Additionally, Miller&rsquo;s unpredictable tendencies coming off screens and counter-laden arsenal made him one of the few stars to rarely improve his volume and efficiency during postseason play.
For instance, in 1994-95, Miller averaged 23.9 points per 75 possessions on 62.0% True Shooting. In the playoffs, those averages ballooned to 28.0 points and 63.2% True Shooting, respectively.&nbsp;
To show how rare that is, there was an inverse trend of that with John Stockton and Mitch Richmond &mdash; two guards who were (<a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1556676428426612738?s=20&amp;t=haKXS_VAVIAeIw7hLdSqkQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrongfully?</a>) regularly awarded All-NBA selections over Miller.&nbsp;
WEAVING THE THREAD
The first guard to function as an off-ball superstar was John Havlicek. When "Hondo" wasn&rsquo;t ripping and running in transition, he was usually <a href="https://streamable.com/uzgwhw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">curling off screens</a> for leaning mid-range jumpers.
A post-three-point line precursor to Miller was Joe Dumars (who coincidentally probably also took some of his All-NBA accolades). Another one of Miller&rsquo;s coaches in Indiana, Dick Versace, spent time as an assistant on the Detroit Pistons before becoming the head coach of the Pacers in 1988.
&ldquo;Joe Dumars had that knack for getting free off screens,&rdquo; said Bob Ociepka, an assistant on Versace's staff in Indiana and a 23-year NBA coach. &ldquo;Coach Versace, coming from [Detroit], ran a lot of the things Chuck Daly did &mdash; [like Dumars] coming off those staggered screens from the baseline.&rdquo;
Miller expressed a great admiration toward Dumars, even going as far as to call him the "unsung MVP of Dream Team II" in his book.
Dale Ellis was another <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1555600444763869186?s=20&amp;t=EBeojEhLms-WUc2csgmNdA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sniper</a> from that generation who cratered defenses using floppy action &mdash; a play in which a player, positioned under the basket, can choose whether to cut off a single screen to one side or a double screen to the other, per Basketball Dictionary.
However, because of the typical constraints placed on 2-guards at the time, neither Dumars nor Ellis could fully leverage their shooting prowess to their advantage.
&ldquo;[In that era], the shooting guard was supposed to be Jordan-esque,&rdquo; said Mike Prada, editor at The Athletic and "Spaced Out" <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spaced-Out-Three-Point-Revolution-Everything/dp/1629378860/ref=asc_df_1629378860/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=564700905732&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=6603785140486578978&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9016969&amp;hvtargid=pla-1645726366795&amp;psc=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">author</a>. &ldquo;You were an all-around player, you got a lot of rebounds and assists, you went 1-on-1 a lot, you were explosive, you could dunk on people &mdash; sort of that Platonic Ideal.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Miller was different from those guards; he didn&rsquo;t possess the same ball-handling or rebounding acumen. He was an outlier who weaponized his extraordinary gift to buoy an offense almost entirely through his off-ball presence.
Notably, the Pacer legend pioneered a term deeply entrenched in today&rsquo;s basketball jargon: gravity.
Dangerous from deep, Miller made <a href="https://en.mimi.hu/basketball/double_down.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doubling down</a> on his big-men teammates in the post a conversation killer. Teams would rather face guard him at the three-point line than send reinforcements to the interior, which opened up room for his low-post executioners to make decisions.
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Smits expressed a great deal of gratitude for the space Miller provided him to operate.
&ldquo;I was glad he was on my team. I could tell you that,&rdquo; Smits laughed.&nbsp;
Miller&rsquo;s landscape-altering effect is felt when you look through the lens of historian Ben Taylor&rsquo;s passing and playmaking statistics.
For example, in 1993-94, Gary Payton finished in the 80th percentile in Taylor&rsquo;s Box Creation stat &mdash; a metric that estimates playmaking (per <a href="https://backpicks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Backpicks.com</a>). Payton did this while simultaneously scoring in the 94th percentile in Passer Rating.
In the same season, despite only scoring in the 37th percentile in passing, Miller finished in the 77th percentile in playmaking.
Miller wasn&rsquo;t the on-ball initiator that Payton was, but this conveys that the former was still able to operate as a high-end creator thanks to the attention he garnered from his opponents.
&ldquo;The thing that Reggie Miller had that we didn&rsquo;t know how to identify back when he played &mdash; but now it&rsquo;s a no-brainer concept &mdash; is this idea of gravity,&rdquo; Prada said.
IMPACT ON TODAY'S GAME
In many circles, Ray Allen is often cited as the disciple who bears the most resemblance to Miller. Along with Allen, Richard Hamilton, JJ Redick and Kyle Korver have all played the part of "<a href="https://grantland.com/features/kyle-korver-nba-atlanta-hawks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offense unto themselves</a>" by utilizing their off-ball gravitational pull.
In the current NBA landscape, Miller&rsquo;s most obvious descendants share the same squad.
&ldquo;Two guys on the same team,&rdquo; Burke pointed out. "Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson."
The dynastic Golden State Warriors have become famous for pushing the boundaries of time and space by exploiting the shooting gravity their dynamic duo wields.&nbsp;
And, as fate would have it, Miller also once teamed up with a fellow gravity co-founder, Chris Mullin.&nbsp;
Mullin was arguably the closest comparison to Miller at the time, and together, the tandem caused wide-scale chaos and confusion &mdash; the likes of which the league would not see again until the Splash Brothers coalesced in the Bay Area nearly two decades later.
Tell me if these sequences look familiar:
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In both plays, the two pairs create a defensive breakdown simply by running past each other in the opposite direction.
Even more poetic, take a look at the Pacers&rsquo; opponent in the first clip. Who was a reserve on that team? None other than Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
&ldquo;All of the stuff that the Warriors did in the early days with the Steph/Klay combo &mdash; the crazy, figure-eight-type stuff &mdash; was very much ripped right from the Pacers,&rdquo; Prada explained.
Golden State expanded on Miller&rsquo;s semi-contained havoc, turning half-court offensive sets into absolute anarchy.
Miller&rsquo;s movement authored a great deal of mayhem, more than anyone of his time, but he was still forced to rein it in a bit to accommodate the structure of his offense. Nowadays, engines like Curry and Thompson have the discretion to graze the terrain as they see fit.
&ldquo;[For Miller], his was set plays, so it was easier for teams to really dial in,&rdquo; Burke explained. &ldquo;Curry is more of a constant, built into a random system.&rdquo;
But it was still the audacious Miller who paved the way. He crawled so that the Golden State empire could walk.
&ldquo;He was this type of player that, in an era that did not have a blueprint for this style of play, he provided it,&rdquo; Prada concluded.&nbsp;
He's the player responsible for the outline that triggered a dynasty.
Are we sure Reggie Miller was overrated?
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Tune in next week for Part V of Blazing the Trail, which focuses on Andrei Kirilenko &mdash; the five-tool defender.
<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>

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes all-time shooting great Reggie Miller and what separated him from the rest.