Golden State Warriors

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

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

Exploring the 5 best draft classes in NBA history

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Anthony Davis had 30 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots, LeBron James added 22 points and 11 rebounds dueling with Stephen Curry in their latest postseason showdown, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off a late flurry by the Golden State Warriors to win an entertaining Game 1 in the Western Conference semifinals 117-112 on Tuesday night.
Jordan Poole missed a 3-pointer to tie it with 9.7 seconds left as the Warriors&rsquo; rally in the closing minutes fell short. Curry&rsquo;s 3 with 1:38 left tied the game, then D&rsquo;Angelo Russell answered right back before Davis blocked a shot by Curry moments later. James missed the first of two free throws with 1:05 to go.
Poole&rsquo;s 3 with 2:48 remaining cut the Lakers&rsquo; lead to 112-109, and James was called for traveling with 1:53 left
For all-time scoring leader James and Curry &mdash; who has the most 3-pointers ever &mdash; this is a new chapter in the long rivalry between the superstars after they faced off in four straight NBA Finals from 2015-2018 while James played for Cleveland.
Curry scored 27 points, Splash Brother Klay Thompson had 25, and Kevon Looney grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds for his fourth game of this postseason with 20 or more. He also had 10 points and five assists. Thompson made a 3 with 5:19 to go that cut the Lakers&rsquo; lead to 112-104.
The defending champion Warriors will try to even the series in Game 2 on Thursday night back on their home floor at Chase Center, where LA fans could be heard chanting &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go Lakers!&rdquo; after the final buzzer.
Curry&rsquo;s 3 with 9:38 left got Golden State within 99-95, but the Lakers responded with two straight scoring possessions, including James&rsquo; layup with 8:38 remaining.
Davis dominated from the opening tip, making 9 of his first 10 shots, while Russell scored 19 points and dished out six assists against his former team.
James&rsquo; 3-pointer with 5:23 left in the third put the Lakers ahead by 10, 86-76. Then Thompson&rsquo;s snazzy behind-the-back pass led to a dunk by Gary Payton II over James with 3:48 to go as Golden State cut it to 86-80 and forced a Lakers timeout.
The Lakers finished off Memphis in six games Friday night and had a couple of extra recovery days to get ready as Golden State was pushed to the distance by the young Sacramento Kings and won Game 7 on Sunday. The Warriors were the first reigning champion to come back from behind 2-0 and win a playoff series.
Curry went off for a playoff career-high 50 points, an NBA record for a Game 7. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he thought his team had an advantage having just played two days earlier.
But the revamped Lakers took it to Golden State just as they did winning the final three regular-season matchups &mdash; and Los Angeles is a far different team than the one that lost 123-109 here on Oct. 18 to start the season.
The franchises&rsquo; first playoff matchup since 1991 didn&rsquo;t disappoint. They hadn&rsquo;t played on the postseason stage since &ldquo;Run TMC&rdquo; Warriors led by Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin lost in the Western Conference semifinals to Magic Johnson and James Worthy.
Thompson was determined to come out hot in Game 1 after calling his 4-for-19 day in Game 7 on Sunday at Sacramento &ldquo;disgusting.&rdquo; He&rsquo;s been waiting his whole life to play the Lakers on the big stage, too, and scored 18 by halftime with four 3s.
He, Curry and Poole each made six 3-pointers after a season in which all three reached 200 3s and Thompson 301.
Golden State is the sixth seed and the Lakers No. 7, marking the first time a No. 6 seed has home court in the second round since the sixth-seeded Houston Rockets against the No. 7 Seattle SuperSonics in 1987.
Curry dropped to 15-8 against James in the playoffs.
LOONEY ON THE BOARDS
Looney is leading the NBA in rebounds this postseason. He had seven rebounds by the 4:31 mark of the first and 13 by halftime on the way to double-digit rebounds in his sixth straight playoff game &mdash; with four 20-plus rebound performances.
He grabbed 106 rebounds in seven games against Sacramento, including 90 with 34 on the offensive end and 27 assists in the final five games of that series.
TIP-INS
Lakers: Thanks to Davis, the Lakers had 32 points in the paint in the first half to Golden State&rsquo;s 12. The Lakers also were 16 of 17 from the free throw line in the first half and 25 for 29 overall &mdash; Davis making all eight of his attempts.
Warriors: Golden State didn&rsquo;t shoot a free throw until Poole converted a three-point play 38 seconds before halftime. ... The Warriors trailed 65-64 at intermission after a first half with 11 lead changes.

The Lakers held off a late flurry by the Warriors to win an entertaining Game 1 in the Western Conference semifinals 117-112 on Tuesday.

Anthony Davis, James deliver as Lakers top Curry, Warriors in Game 1

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

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Kevin Durant is the shiny new toy for the Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker is still the team&rsquo;s heart and soul.
Booker &mdash; the three-time All-Star who has spent all eight of his NBA seasons in Phoenix &mdash; scored 38 points, Durant added 25 and the Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 123-109 on Tuesday night in Game 2 to tie the Western Conference first-round series.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s an all-around player,&rdquo; Durant said about Booker. &ldquo;He can do everything at an elite level on a basketball court.&rdquo;
The Suns needed a gritty effort after a disappointing loss in Game 1. Their shots weren&rsquo;t falling for much of the first half and they fell into a 13-point hole midway through the second quarter.
But led by Booker, they never panicked.
The 26-year-old drilled a 3 just before the halftime buzzer to tie it and scored 18 points in the third quarter on 7-of-8 shooting, helping the Suns push to a 92-87 advantage entering the fourth. The defense also improved after the Clippers got several easy baskets in the second quarter.
&ldquo;People talk about adjustments all the time and we make them,&rdquo; Suns coach Monty Williams said. &ldquo;But sometimes basketball is just being able to sit down and guard the ball, keep your man from getting to the basket and contesting the shot.&rdquo;
Phoenix never trailed in the final quarter, slowly pulling away. It was their first playoff win with Durant on the floor. The team was 8-0 during the regular season with the 13-time All-Star following his trade from the Brooklyn Nets in February.
The series moves to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday night.
Kawhi Leonard led Los Angeles with 31 points after he scored 38 in Game 1. Russell Westbrook added 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting.
&ldquo;We know it is going to be a tough series,&rdquo; Westbrook said. &ldquo;They came back and took care of business tonight.&rdquo;
Booker had a stellar shooting night, connecting on 14 of 22 shots, including 4 of 7 on 3s. He added nine assists. Deandre Ayton added 14 points &mdash; on 7-of-10 shooting&mdash; and 13 rebounds. Torrey Craig hit 5 of 8 3s and had 17 points, and Chris Paul had 16 points and eight assists.
&ldquo;We tried to blitz. We tried to fire. We did a lot of different things,&rdquo; Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. &ldquo;They played great.&rdquo;
PAUL VS. FOSTER
Paul&rsquo;s archnemesis was carrying a whistle Tuesday, not dribbling a basketball.
The point guard had his personal 13-game playoff losing streak snapped when referee Scott Foster is on the floor. The long-running feud has lasted years with Paul criticizing Foster multiple times.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t notice,&rdquo; Paul said. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re all about, in this run, minimizing distractions. That is what it is, I&rsquo;m sure it&rsquo;ll still be a thing.&rdquo;
SWITCHING DEFENSES
Several Suns players credited the Clippers coaches and players for their unpredictable defensive sets, which they said was part of the reason for the team&rsquo;s slow start.
&ldquo;They switched their defense up like every possession,&rdquo; Durant said. &ldquo;They might double, they might triple, they might go zone, they might go full court press. So they&rsquo;re trying to throw us off with their coverages. I think we did a good job of (eventually) figuring it out. Just playing simple.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Clippers: Eight-time All-Star Paul George (sprained knee) hasn&rsquo;t played since March 21. ... L.A.&rsquo;s bench outscored Phoenix&rsquo;s 30-13. ... Leonard shot 11 of 20 from the field, including 3 of 5 on 3-pointers.
Suns: G Cam Payne (low back soreness) hasn&rsquo;t played yet in the series. Said coach Monty Williams &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just not ready. He&rsquo;s done a lot more on the floor, but there&rsquo;s certain movements he can&rsquo;t do yet without pain.&rdquo; ... Hosted a 76th consecutive sellout, combining regular season and playoff games.

The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 123-109 on Tuesday in Game 2 to tie the Western Conference first-round series.

Devin Booker scores 38 points, Suns beat Clippers to even series

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) &mdash; The horn sounded and Miami coach Katie Meier turned to start jumping and hugging her staff as players and cheerleaders sprinted past for a meet-at-midcourt celebration. She soon made her way into the crowd to embrace players hollering with delight.
Soon she emerged through the other side to trade hugs and high-fives with a front-row section of Hurricanes fans.
An improbable and emotional ride to the program&rsquo;s first Elite Eight appearance in the women&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament was worth sharing with as many people as she could.
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe it,&rdquo; Meier said afterward. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to act cool. This is awesome.&rdquo;
Jasmyne Roberts scored a career-high 26 points &mdash; including a stick-back for the go-ahead, three-point play with 38.8 seconds left &mdash; to help Miami overcome blowing a 21-point lead and beat Villanova 70-65 on Friday, pulling the program to within a win of the Final Four.
Miami had reached the Sweet 16 only once before, in 1992. Now the Hurricanes will play Sunday for the Greenville Region 2 title against third-seeded LSU.
The ninth-seeded Hurricanes (22-12) looked dominant in building a huge lead, wobbly in blowing it. But they hung on down the stretch after Villanova made its push back behind the latest big-scoring effort from Associated Press first-team All-American Maddy Siegrist.
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t even explain the feeling really,&rdquo; guard Haley Cavinder said.
The celebration said plenty. While Meier made her way to the fans, Roberts stayed locked in a firm and emotional embrace with teammate Ja&rsquo;Leah Williams. The sophomore guard picked a perfect time to come through with a huge performance by making 10 of 16 shots and all six of her free throws while pulling down nine rebounds.
&ldquo;Cool Hand Luke is her new nickname. She doesn&rsquo;t even know that movie,&rdquo; Meier said, referencing the Paul Newman movie released more than three decades before Roberts&rsquo; birth.
Siegrist, the nation&rsquo;s scoring leader, had 31 points, 13 rebounds and five steals for fourth-seeded Villanova (30-7). It marked her third 30-point outing in as many tournament games, pushing her to the No. 2 single-season scoring total in Division I history.
Yet it wasn&rsquo;t enough down the stretch, with Siegrist coming up empty in a couple of key moments late. The first came when she posted up Destiny Harden inside, but a quality look on a turnaround hit the backboard before coming off the rim with her team down just 67-65.
Moments later, after a Miami free throw, Siegrist missed from the other side of the lane as Villanova had a chance to extend the game. Instead, Miami secured the rebound, and Roberts hit clinching free throws with 11.1 seconds left for a two-possession lead.
Miami originally appeared to be headed for a much easier finish.
The Hurricanes spent much of the first half using their athleticism and aggressiveness to take control, both in scoring off the dribble and attacking the glass. The Hurricanes led 46-33 by halftime then used a stunning 8-0 burst in the opening minute of the second half, ending when Harden scored on a drive through contact from Siegrist for a three-point play that pushed Miami to a 54-33 lead.
Villanova responded by throwing fullcourt pressure to get back into the game. The Wildcats scored 14 straight points to end the third quarter then took a 60-59 lead on Siegrist&rsquo;s free throws with 5:31 left to cap a 23-2 run, a stretch that had Roberts saying the Hurricanes &ldquo;did kind of lose our composure for a little bit.&rdquo;
That set up a tense finish with neither team leading by more than two until the final 30 seconds. Villanova took its last lead at 65-64 when Lucy Olsen banked in a drive with 49 seconds left before Roberts answered with the and-1.
&ldquo;My mistake,&rdquo; Villanova coach Denise Dillon said. &ldquo;We should have in the first half shown some more of the pressure, the press, but you think just a team that&rsquo;s quick like that can take advantage. But again, just waited a little too late to make that run.&rdquo;
Consider it the latest entry in a wild NCAA novel for the Hurricanes. They first rallied from 17 down to beat Oklahoma State. Then Harden hit the late shot to win at 1-seed Indiana and get them back to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 31 years.
Now they have a chance to play for &mdash; and celebrate &mdash; a whole lot more.
SIEGRIST&rsquo;S FUTURE
An emotional Siegrist fought back tears during her postgame news conference, and offered a hint of finality when asked about plans that could include returning to school or pursuing the WNBA.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to talk to my parents and stuff like that after,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But I couldn&rsquo;t be more grateful for the opportunity to have played here. So many good people, and it&rsquo;s really about the people. Take the basketball part out of it, like the memories and the people are something that I&rsquo;m going to cherish forever.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Siegrist closed with 37 straight 20-point games, which the NCAA said is the longest streak by any men&rsquo;s or women&rsquo;s Division I player this century. ... Christina Dalce had 13 points, eight rebounds and five blocks to help Villanova do a better job of battling Miami inside after halftime. ... Harden had 15 points and nine rebounds for Miami, which took a 43-32 rebounding advantage. ... The Wildcats made just 2 of 16 3-pointers.&nbsp;

Miami had reached the Sweet 16 only once before, in 1992. Now the Hurricanes will play Sunday for the Greenville Region 2 title vs. LSU.

Miami women hold on, beat Villanova for first trip to Elite 8

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Rick Pitino is back in the Big East Conference.
St. John&rsquo;s hired the Hall of Fame coach Monday to boost a storied program that&rsquo;s been mired in mediocrity for much of this century.
The school announced the move on Twitter, and Pitino is expected to be formally introduced during a news conference Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
Following a successful run at nearby mid-major Iona, the 70-year-old Pitino was plucked away to replace Mike Anderson, fired March 10 after four seasons in charge of the Red Storm without making the NCAA Tournament.
Reports quickly surfaced that indicated St. John&rsquo;s planned to target Pitino, who grew up on Long Island not far from the school&rsquo;s Queens campus in New York City.
Pitino has been to seven Final Fours and won a pair of NCAA championships, one each at Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013).
He was dismissed at Louisville in 2017 after an FBI investigation into college basketball corruption led to allegations of NCAA violations. It was the third scandal, professional and personal, in an eight-year period with the Cardinals &mdash; but Pitino was eventually exonerated in the FBI-related case.
Pitino has been coaching college basketball so long that he was on the opposing bench with Big East rival Providence when St. John&rsquo;s was a national power in the mid-1980s under Lou Carnesecca.
Now, he&rsquo;s tasked with invigorating a Red Storm squad that hasn&rsquo;t won an NCAA Tournament game &mdash; or even reached the Big East semifinals &mdash; since 2000. The school has made only three NCAA appearances over the past two decades, the most recent coming in 2019 under Chris Mullin.
During that time, through several conference reconfigurations, St. John&rsquo;s has fallen behind Big East foes with similar profiles such as Villanova, Providence and Seton Hall.
The Red Storm went 18-15 during a turbulent 2022-23 season, including 7-13 in Big East play to finish eighth in the conference standings. They blew a 14-point lead against sixth-ranked and top-seeded Marquette in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals, ending the season with a 72-70 loss in overtime that left Anderson with a 68-56 record at St. John&rsquo;s.
Pitino has a .740 winning percentage in 34 full seasons as a college basketball coach. He has guided five schools to the NCAA Tournament, including Boston University (1983) and Iona (2021, 2023).
He took a surprising Providence team on a memorable run to the 1987 Final Four, but the 2013 national title Pitino won at Louisville (then in the Big East) was later vacated by the NCAA after an investigation found that an assistant coach paid escorts and exotic dancers to entertain players and recruits in campus dorms.
After two years coaching in Greece, he got the job at Iona &mdash; a small, private Catholic school located in New Rochelle, just north of New York City.
Pitino went 64-22 in three years with the Gaels, guiding them to two regular-season titles in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. Seeded 13th this year, they led No. 4 seed UConn at halftime before getting knocked out in the first round with an 87-63 loss that snapped a 14-game winning streak.
Pitino posted tweets thanking Iona administrators and &ldquo;all those people who touched our lives.&rdquo;
&ldquo;To my players, the last three years. All I can say is you know how much I love you,&rdquo; he tweeted. &ldquo;Follow up, I&rsquo;m not sad it ended. I&rsquo;m so grateful it happened.&rdquo;
Leading up to Iona&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament game, Pitino said he hoped he can coach for 12 more years.
&ldquo;But I&rsquo;ll take six or seven,&rdquo; he said.
He said it would take &ldquo;a special place&rdquo; for him to consider leaving Iona, but he also spoke about how much he admired St. John&rsquo;s president, the Rev. Brian Shanley, who previously worked at Providence.
Pitino had two stints in the NBA, one with the New York Knicks that featured a division title and a failed stretch with the Boston Celtics that didn&rsquo;t produce a playoff appearance.
But in college, he endured only one losing season (13-14 at BU in 1980-81).
And now, at a time when Hall of Fame coaching contemporaries like Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim have reached the end of their road, Pitino is going strong and getting new jobs.
St. John&rsquo;s has the ninth-most wins among Division I teams, with 90 winning seasons in its 116-year basketball history.
The school has reached two Final Fours (1952, 1985) and won the NIT a record six times &mdash; including back-to-back crowns in the 1940s when that event was still often considered the country&rsquo;s premier postseason tournament.
___
AP College Sports Writer Ralph D. Russo contributed to this report.

Following a successful run at nearby mid-major Iona, the 70-year-old Pitino was plucked away to replace Mike Anderson.

Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino accepts job at St. John’s

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller heated up and so did Alabama, which avoided the fate of two other top NCAA Tournament seeds and brushed aside Maryland 73-51 behind a dominant second half on Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide (31-5) advanced to their second Sweet 16 in the past three tournaments and ninth overall. Alabama will face&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-furman-san-diego-state-7fe292dc79cd3e7d2fa2fbd146e1698b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fifth-seeded San Diego State</a>&nbsp;in the South Region semifinals in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday.
Before the game even tipped off, two top seeds &mdash; Purdue and defending national champion Kansas &mdash; had gone down, and No. 1 seed Houston trailed Tide rival Auburn by 10 points at halftime earlier at Legacy Arena before pulling away.
Alabama and Miller got off to a slow start but the All-America freshman and top NBA prospect wound up with 19 points after going scoreless in the first-round game. Miller is nursing a groin injury and missed his first nine shots of the tournament.
Jahvon Quinerly scored 22 points on the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-notre-dame-defeats-alabama-1c043fd0f800ecc590a6d9a7a7629503" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one-year anniversary</a>&nbsp;of his left knee injury early in a second-round loss to Notre Dame, which still limited him early this season. Quinerly made 4 of 6 3-pointers.
Charles Bediako had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Alabama&rsquo;s starters hit the bench with a couple of minutes left to chants of &ldquo;Sweet 16&rdquo; in the friendly crowd.
Julian Reese had 14 points for Maryland (22-13) before fouling out. Jahmir Young scored 12.
Alabama, the top overall seed, faced scant drama, unlike the other No. 1s.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-fdu-march-madness-upset-3e97e93cd259b1efcc16c8e6cbf62943" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson</a>&nbsp;toppled top-seeded Purdue 63-58 on Friday in only the second such upset. Then&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-kansas-arkansas-upset-dfbf9716af7de6e346e47c6edeb87277" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 8 Arkansas beat the Jayhawks</a>&nbsp;72-71 earlier Saturday. Houston ultimately pulled away from Auburn as the Tide waited for their opportunity.
The first half was more to Maryland&rsquo;s liking &mdash; other than the 28-23 deficit &mdash; for a team that came in giving up just 63 points a game.
BIG PICTURE
Maryland: The 2002 national champion Terps failed to make their 15th trip to the Sweet 16 in coach Kevin Willard&rsquo;s first season. They also lost to Alabama in the second round two years ago under former coach Mark Turgeon. Maryland&rsquo;s defense was on point enough that it kept the lead for much of the first half despite a stretch of nine straight misses.
Alabama: Its depth has been on display so far. The Tide controlled the game despite not getting much scoring from starters Mark Sears and Noah Clowney or Nick Pringle, the star of the opening game against Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi.
UP NEXT
Alabama faces a San Diego State team making its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2004, which was also the year of the Tide&rsquo;s only Elite Eight run. The Crimson Tide have never reached the Final Four.

No. 1 seed Alabama brushed aside Maryland 73-51 behind a dominant second half on Saturday night.

No. 1 seed Alabama beats Maryland 73-51 to advance to Sweet 16

They are the five letters no No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed ever wants to see: Upset.
Thursday marks the five-year anniversary of University of Maryland-Baltimore County &mdash; the tiny school few fans had ever heard of, let alone picked in their bracket &mdash; pulling off the biggest upset in college basketball history by beating the tournament&rsquo;s top seed in Virginia.
UMBC&rsquo;s lasting legacy became this: If you don&rsquo;t watch out, No. 1 can mean one-and-done.
While there were some close calls before 2018, No. 1 seeds had gone 135-0 before UMBC routed Virginia 75-54 at Charlotte&rsquo;s Spectrum Center. Now they are 1-147. Like the men, the women&rsquo;s side of March Madness has seen only one 16 knock off a 1: Harvard over Stanford in 1998.
On Thursday, three more No. 1 seeds &mdash; Alabama, Kansas and Houston &mdash; take the court looking to avoid what the Cavaliers endured five years ago, while their respective opponents Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi, Howard and Northern Kentucky look to capture that &ldquo;One Shining Moment&rdquo; and etch their name in history alongside the Retrievers.
Ryan Odom, the Retrievers coach that season, said after the game &ldquo;these are the moments that you dream of.&rdquo; while his players celebrated in a cramped locker room after shocking the world. Diminutive 5-foot-8, 140-pound guard KJ, Maura and his teammates joked about there being &ldquo;no more perfect brackets&rdquo; and possibly becoming the focal point of a future ESPN &ldquo;30 for 30&rdquo; episode.
Some players struggled to process the enormity of the moment, hugging each other long and hard.
&ldquo;It felt like my soul left my body, man,&rdquo; UMBC guard Jourdan Grant said that day.
Odom, now the head coach at Utah State, a No. 10 seed in this year&rsquo;s tourney, said Wednesday it was &ldquo;a memory that will last a lifetime.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Will a 16 ever beat a 1 again? I have no idea,&rdquo; Odom said. &ldquo;It takes a special group. It takes a lot of luck in order to have a chance to win any game in the NCAA Tournament.&rdquo;
Former UMBC guard Joe Sherburne said it remains the single greatest day of his life.
&ldquo;You can measure my life by this: before that day, and after that day,&rdquo; Sherburne said Wednesday. When friends introduce him to people, the first thing they say is &ldquo;Joe played for UMBC.&rdquo;
Sherburne, who works as a financial adviser, remembers the day well.
As UMBC&rsquo;s lead over Virginia grew to double digits in the second half he sensed something special, something miraculous was happening. He struggled to concentrate on the next play call while sitting on the bench during TV timeouts: &ldquo;I felt like I was in shock.&rdquo;
Could this really be happening? Could a 20 1/2-point underdog really beat the No. 1 team in the nation in the NCAA Tournament?
But it happened &mdash; and everyone suddenly wanted to know their story.
Sherburne stayed at the arena until 1 a.m. doing interviews before returning to the team hotel where he was greeted by overwhelmed fans, friends and family members. He and his teammates watched &ldquo;Sports Center&rdquo; on repeat and ate pizza, basking in the moment.
&ldquo;We were all still running on adrenaline,&rdquo; Sherburne said. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t eat or drink. I can usually eat a whole Domino&rsquo;s pizza by myself, but I couldn&rsquo;t that night. I might have had two or three slices.&rdquo;
Sherburne still wishes the celebration had gone on for days longer, but UMBC lost a close second round loss to Kansas State two days later.
Still, there will always be the satisfaction of accomplishing something that had never been done before. Sherburne is hoping it stays that way for awhile.
After the final 16 seed lost in last year&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament, he toasted UMBC&rsquo;s legacy with a shot of whiskey.
Two years ago, he attended Game 6 the 2016 NBA Finals where he watched former Virginia big man Mamadi Diakite win a championship ring. Diakite was one of six Virginia players from that team to play in the NBA; UMBC had none.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sitting in the arena that night, in the second row from the top, thinking to myself, &rsquo;You know, just a couple of years ago I was making this guy and his teammates cry,&rsquo;&rdquo; Sherburne said.
UMBC players haven&rsquo;t had an in-person reunion, but Sherburne said players remain in touch on group texts.
Last week, Odom opened one of those texts to find players and assistant coaches reminiscing about star guard Jairus Lyles&rsquo; buzzer-beater to beat Vermont in the 2018 America East Conference Tournament championship game &mdash; a dramatic win that earned the Retrievers an automatic bid to the Big Dance.
Odom&rsquo;s eyes swelled up with tears as he scrolled through the comments and pictures.
&ldquo;Each team that we&rsquo;re fortunate enough to coach has one life to live,&rdquo; Odom said. &ldquo;That particular team lived a great life. The joy that that team experienced was unlike any other. Certainly the memories that we&rsquo;ll all take from that particular season will last a lifetime. This is what all coaches and players want: they want to be a part of March Madness and the upset.&rdquo;.

Thursday marks five years since the University of Maryland-Baltimore County had the biggest upset in college basketball history.

UMBC’s legacy: No. 1 can mean one-and-done in March Madness

Let's have an awards debate.
No, no, not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2022-23-nba-award-picks-mvp-dpoy-rookie-sixth-man-most-improved-all-league-defensive-teams-volume-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that&nbsp;one</a>. We've already been through enough nonsense, goalpost-moving, half-baked arguments and general toxicity in that debate. Let's zoom out a bit. Let's take a step back.
While most focus on what the criteria should be for winning an award like MVP &mdash; oops, I said it &mdash; and what makes one candidate more valuable than the other, I always find myself going back to a more simple question: what should be the parameters for even qualifying&nbsp;for the award?&nbsp;
Or put another way: how many games should a player have to participate in to garner consideration for that award, or any award?
There's been an unwritten-rule feel to the question in the past. There are qualifications for stat leaderboards; you must appear in at least 58 games to qualify for the scoring title, for example. But we don't have anything firm for awards &mdash; at least not yet.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, it would appear the league and its players are <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1635292461743628289?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at least in agreement</a> that something firm should be in place. From Charania:
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are&nbsp;<a class="c-link" href="https://theathletic.com/4254429/2023/02/27/nba-nbpa-collective-bargaining-agreement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://theathletic.com/4254429/2023/02/27/nba-nbpa-collective-bargaining-agreement/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">in advanced discussions on a new collective bargaining agreement</a>&nbsp;and the two sides are getting closer to agreeing on a stipulation that&nbsp;a player must play in a minimum number of regular season games&nbsp;to be eligible for major awards, sources tell&nbsp;The Athletic.
Top league and players union officials held a Competition Committee meeting on Friday to discuss an issue both sides are jointly motivated on: star players playing in more games, and staying healthy enough so that the NBA can display its best talent on a night-to-night basis. Both sides are in agreement on tying major awards to games played over the course of the season, sources said, <a class="c-link" href="https://theathletic.com/4197919/2023/02/14/nba-awards-games-players-cba/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://theathletic.com/4197919/2023/02/14/nba-awards-games-players-cba/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">a possibility&nbsp;The Athletic&rsquo;s Mike Vorkunov first reported on Feb. 14</a>.
According to sources with knowledge of both sides of the discussions, while both sides still need to come to an agreement on the number of games that players would need to play in order to qualify for awards,&nbsp;the two sides do agree on the concept.
It makes sense that there's an amount of time you're on the floor to qualify as the best or most valuable something&nbsp;in the league. Some voters have their own cutoffs, or at least use games played (or minutes played) as a tiebreaker. Having a firm number in place gives players clarity and, to a nod of convenience, gives voters an objective measure to help trim their lists before sorting through their own criteria.
Finding that minimum is going to be interesting. There's a balance to be struck between setting the bar high enough to truly reward players for getting out there, but having it low enough to safeguard against injuries, team absences due to personal matters or even season maintenance (we won't use l*** mana****** in here).&nbsp;
I've landed on 60% of games in recent years &mdash; 49 in an 82-game schedule &mdash; as a barometer, but 1) I'm not an official voter (hi, NBA) and 2) even that falls below the scoring title requirement, which is probably a sign to consider raising my personal bar higher.
"I know for me, it's pretty hard to justify voting for someone who hasn't gotten into at least 50-55 games," Chris Herring of Sports Illustrated told Basketball News.
Some of ESPN's most notable analysts think the bar should be higher.
"I think 65 games is reasonable now. Maybe even 60 if someone is just overwhelmingly better," ESPN's Zach Lowe told Basketball News. "I mean, we should just put 70 games in as the expected number of games for a healthy player at this point anyway."
"I want to examine the effects of the schedule, the back-to-backs or the stretches of three-games-in-four-nights," ESPN's Doris Burke tells Basketball News. "But off the top of my head, I'd say 65 games, or maybe even 70 to be honest with you."
Former head coach and current TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy (in)famously sets his bar at 80% of games, which is right in line with the 65-game suggestion from Lowe and Burke.
When I <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1633253408869064706?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tossed the question out to social media</a>, specifically in regard to the MVP, the most common answers I got were 65 and 70 games.&nbsp;
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(On a related note, I do think there should be a separate, higher requirement for MVP. It's the most prestigious individual award, and thus should be more difficult to qualify for. If a 60-game mark is required for Rookie of the Year, I'd be okay with 65 or 70 being the requirement for MVP. Having a bar for win rate &mdash; say, 60% of games played &mdash; would open the door for some lower-seeded players if they're dominant enough, but still lend itself toward the top-four seed precedent that's been set across NBA history.)
There's another question worth considering within this context: should there be a minutes minimum as well? Heck, should there only&nbsp;be a minutes minimum?
As some have noted, there could be ways for players to "game" the system, particularly late in the season, by appearing in a game and subbing out after a couple of possessions. That could go against the "spirit" of the requirement, though that player would also run the risk of altering some of their averages by pulling off this gambit.
But back to the heart of the question. What's more valuable, how often you're on the floor or how long you're on the floor?
<a href="https://twitter.com/BlakeMurphyODC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blake Murphy of Sportsnet</a> brought up the All-Defense battle between then-Sixers wing Matisse Thybulle and Raptors do-everything defender OG Anunoby from a couple of seasons ago to highlight a potential flaw in the games-played debate.
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E.g. OG Anunoby v Matisse Thybulle All-Defense debate in 2020-21. OG only played 43 games but 1433 minutes Thybulle played 65 but only 1298 Why does it make sense Thybulle clears artificial usage cutoff but not OG? Who spent more possessions impacting defense?
&mdash; Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlakeMurphyODC/status/1635294070074658817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Anunoby arguably impacted games to a higher degree than Thybulle did; Thybulle impacted more games than Anunoby did. Who's right?&nbsp;
The answer may just be "yes", which is why it'd make sense to factor in both games and minutes.&nbsp;
"I have to figure out where I land minute-wise," Herring said. "But I&rsquo;m guessing it&rsquo;ll end up somewhere in the 1700-1800 range, minimum. And if most or all things are equal, then I generally go with someone who&rsquo;s been available most. It's definitely getting harder to have a staunch line in the sand for a number of reasons."
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Murphy noted in another tweet that he'd like the bar to be set at 1600 minutes. Going with 1800 minutes &mdash; or 30 minutes per game across 60 games &mdash; does seem like a reasonable starting place.
There are still more pressing matters in award discussions, like positional requirements for the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams; if the teams aren't going to be positionless, there's no reason we shouldn't at least have the two-backcourt, three-frontcourt template that we have for All-Star teams.&nbsp;
Ultimately, I do think adding a minimum &mdash; with games, minutes or both &mdash; is a solid starting place for making things better. It's a first step, not a save-the-ship move.

The NBA is exploring a games-played minimum for end-of-season awards. Nekias Duncan asks voters what the minimum should be.

What should be the games-played minimum for NBA awards?

March Madness is quickly approaching! Here is everything you need to know, including some key games to watch and who&rsquo;s on the bubble ahead of Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament:
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-68 h2 Component-p-0-2-59">CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS</h2>
All eyes will be on the conference tournaments this week:
&mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://theacc.com/sports/2018/1/12/2017-18-new-york-life-acc-tournament.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The ACC Tournament is March 7-11</a>&nbsp;in Greensboro, North Carolina.
&mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://admin.big12sports.com/tournaments/?id=1041" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Big 12 Tournament is March 8-11</a>&nbsp;in Kansas City, Missouri.
&mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://bigten.org/sports/2022/10/20/2023MBBT.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Big Ten Tournament is March 8-12</a>&nbsp;in Chicago.
&mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.bigeast.com/tournaments/?id=146" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Big East Tournament is March 8-11</a>&nbsp;in New York.
&mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://pac-12.com/mens-basketball-tournament-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Pac-12 Tournament is March 8-11</a>&nbsp;in Las Vegas.
&mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.bridgestonearena.com/events/detail/2023-sec-mens-basketball-tournament" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The SEC Tournament is March 8-12</a>&nbsp;in Nashville, Tennessee.
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-68 h2 Component-p-0-2-59">MARCH MADNESS</h2>
Selection Sunday is March 12, when&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bracket matchups will be set</a>&nbsp;for the First Four and first- and second-round&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-02-21/2023-march-madness-mens-ncaa-tournament-schedule-dates-times" target="_blank" rel="noopener">games that stretch from Florida to California</a>.
Sweet 16 weekend will see games in New York City (East Region), Las Vegas (West), Kansas City, Missouri (Midwest), and Louisville, Kentucky (South).
Where is the Final Four? In Houston, on April 1, with the championship game on April 3.
Basketball aficionados, take note:&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-kansas-city-march-madness-264616d053a2dc26ccf1f59999c0ea5b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The women&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament</a>&nbsp;will hold its Final Four in Dallas, a four-hour drive from Houston.
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-68 h2 Component-p-0-2-59">BETTING GUIDE</h2>
Who&rsquo;s going to win the national championship? With the regular season over, the betting favorites as of this week to reach the Final Four are Houston, Alabama, Kansas and Purdue, according to&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/ncaab?tab=final-four" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FanDuel Sportsbook</a>. That matches the top teams in&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-02-18/division-i-mens-basketball-committee-reveals-top-16-seeds-three-weeks-selection" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the NCAA&rsquo;s initial seed watch</a>. UCLA is in the mix near the top in&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the AP Top 25</a>&nbsp;too.
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<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-68 h2 Component-p-0-2-59">WHO&rsquo;S IN</h2>
These teams are already going dancing after landing their league&rsquo;s automatic bid:&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/kennesaw-state-liberty-asun-atlantic-sun-conference-5b09f7866f7c962b6240905cfb971449" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kennesaw State</a>&nbsp;(26-8, Atlantic Sun),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/campbell-unc-asheville-big-south-conference-a41680d93065815045140d736d2929dc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UNC Asheville</a>&nbsp;(27-7, Big South),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-ziggy-reid-javon-bennett-tanner-thomas-nico-galette-c22c114822b241c1990b7f789466574f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fairleigh Dickinson</a>&nbsp;(19-14, Northeast),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/mvc-championship-drake-bradley-0cafbe568b4c18386c99944f407b2f1d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drake</a>&nbsp;(27-7, Missouri Valley),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/chattanooga-furman-southern-conference-socon-f73c63056db9426a1cd7728db9cf86c7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Furman</a>&nbsp;(27-7, Southern),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/sun-belt-south-alabama-louisiana-tournament-ncaa-560ca5dfbffdf02126b1aa254f5e50d1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Louisiana-Lafayette</a>&nbsp;(26-7, Sun Belt),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/southeast-missouri-state-tennessee-tech-ovc-a1c488e92b79f977e42cb9a431f90c30" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southeast Missouri State</a>&nbsp;(19-16, Ohio Valley),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/gonzaga-saint-marys-west-coast-conference-ncaa-tournament-8309d967f68424b76b6eb8d40e35babc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gonzaga</a>&nbsp;(28-5, West Coast),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/charleston-unc-wilmington-a5a96b049c0254c4e02e13b104f2583f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">College of Charleston</a>&nbsp;(31-3, Colonial Athletic Association),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/north-dakota-state-oral-roberts-d72cdca23a50685e2b63eca07e7f8ed9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oral Roberts</a>&nbsp;(30-4, Summit League),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/northwestern-state-texas-am-corpus-christi-b6bda8e49d4f699d690bbb8b318980dc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi</a>&nbsp;(23-10, Southland),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/northern-arizona-montana-state-big-sky-conference-c956fc0ad669863a5b90839c4b29f6d6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Montana State</a>&nbsp;(25-9, Big Sky),&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/northern-kentucky-cleveland-state-75d8750c09d58ac260f2ab8469945170" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Northern Kentucky</a>&nbsp;(22-12, Horizon League) and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/lafayette-colgate-a865298447d891db81c6243f7f85902b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Colgate</a>&nbsp;(26-8, Patriot League).
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-68 h2 Component-p-0-2-59">BUBBLE WATCH</h2>
Arizona State (22-12, 11-9 Pac-12):&nbsp;The Sun Devils could have strengthened their NCAA Tournament hopes by beating Arizona for a second time this season. Arizona State failed in that bid, losing to their rival 78-59 in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals, but still should be in good shape after beating Southern California in the tournament quarterfinals.
Oklahoma State (18-15, 8-10 Big 12): The Cowboys&rsquo; NCAA Tournament chances looked good not that long ago. Closing the season with six losses in eight games, including to No. 7 Texas in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals, may dash their hopes.
Clemson (23-10, 14-6 ACC): The Tigers tied for third in the ACC regular season but will be sweating out Selection Sunday during a down year in the ACC. Clemson missed out on a big resume-booster by losing by 20 to No. 13 Virginia in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Providence (21-11, 13-7 Big East):&nbsp;The Friars closed the season with three straight losses, which will lead to some tense moments on Selection Sunday. A close loss to No. 11 UConn after a huge rally in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals, along with a solid resume, could nudge them into the bracket.
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-68 h2 Component-p-0-2-59">GAMES TO WATCH</h2>
Florida Atlantic (30-3) vs. UAB (25-8), Conference USA championship, Saturday, 8:30 p.m. Eastern (CBSSN):&nbsp;Every team riding the NCAA Tournament bubble will be rooting for the Owls, who could slip into the dance as an at-large team if they lose to the Blazers in the finals. They would much rather FAU take the automatic berth and free up another spot for them.
Ohio State (16-18) vs. No. 5 Purdue (27-5), Saturday, 1 p.m. Eastern (CBS): The Buckeyes have been the biggest surprise of any conference tournament, but every team on the bubble will be pulling for the Boilermakers to knock them out. With two more wins, Ohio State would be swiping another bid from a potential at-large team.

Here's everything to know about March Madness, including games to watch, who’s on the bubble ahead of Selection Sunday and more.

March Madness 2023: Last chances arrive for bubble teams

Longtime pro Jordan Crawford opens up to Spencer Davies about his unpleasant NBA experience, his Detroit connection and more.

Ex-NBA pro Jordan Crawford has a story to tell — and a whole lot more

The most important word in NBA All-Star break might actually be "break."
For one week, the entire league recalibrates itself for the home stretch of the regular season and catches up on the aches, pains and more significant injuries that stem from competing hard every single day. Rookies can also breathe after being thrown into the fires of their first year as a pro.
Young talent can thrive coming out of the break. Bottom-feeding teams are ready to turn minutes over to those with less experience and more upside after the trade deadline. Contenders have a better understanding of how rookies could slot into a playoff-seeking rotation. And regardless of the ethics, a stellar final impression can heavily impact All-Rookie narratives.
So who might surprise us with a strong close to the season?
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Here are five under-the-radar rookies worth monitoring for a leap forward &mdash; "under-the-radar" excluding lottery draft picks and players already firmly in the Rookie of the Year conversation (i.e. Walker Kessler):
Malaki Branham, San Antonio Spurs
Malaki Branham is barely under the radar at this point; he's leading all rookies with 18.1 points per game in February. But he is one of my favorite players in this rookie class, and since he fits my criteria, I'm seizing the chance to spotlight him.
According to PBP Stats, 136 players have attempted at least 50 "self-created" mid-range shots this season (attempts after possessing the ball for at least two seconds). Branham is converting on a ridiculous 56% of those shots, ranking third behind only Kevin Durant and Seth Curry.
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Malaki Branham logged his sixth consecutive start Monday at Cleveland and played well, scoring 18 points on 8-of-11 in the loss. Branham is a natural shot-creator who is also excellent moving off-ball. He&rsquo;s going to be a very good NBA player and an important piece for the Spurs. <a href="https://t.co/kbfm5KivkL">pic.twitter.com/kbfm5KivkL</a>
&mdash; Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/UsherNBA/status/1625337236152799232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2023</a></blockquote>
The No. 20 overall pick hardly wastes time and effort when he attacks off the dribble. While Branham has showcased his chops as an on-ball scorer, he's also 26-for-29 on assisted shots within 10 feet of the rim this season, per PBP Stats, and Synergy says Branham is shooting 76.5% on cutting field goal attempts.&nbsp;
Branham's relatively low output from the perimeter at Ohio State drew question marks around the NBA Draft. Could he stretch his mid-range prowess beyond the arc? This season, Branham has made just 33.3% of his catch-and-shoot threes, but since February, he's at a scorching 18-for-41 (43.9%) on 4.6 &nbsp;attempts per game.&nbsp;
Right now, he's purely been a bucket. We're still waiting to see a bit more of the off-dribble playmaking, which I believe was underrated in college. Branham also is, well, a contributor to the Spurs' league-worst defense. But the 6-foot-5-inch wing is playing in a low-stakes environment by NBA standards and is clearly growing more comfortable with each passing game. If you told me he would lead rookies in post-All-Star scoring, I'd believe you.

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Christian Braun, Denver Nuggets
The No. 21 overall selection in this past year's draft hung around the back end of the Nuggets' rotation for most of the season, but has received 23.3 minutes per game this month. Christian Braun is averaging 7.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals across nine February contests on a scintillating 64.5% True Shooting clip.&nbsp;
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Holy crap Christian Braun! The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nuggets?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Nuggets</a> rookie summoning his inner Nikola Jokic, on the baseline cut takes the entry pass from Joker and instantly dishes it back out to Michael Porter Jr. for the corner 3-pointer. Such a damn impressive heads up play.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MileHighBasketball?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MileHighBasketball</a> <a href="https://t.co/p01V1g6PIi">pic.twitter.com/p01V1g6PIi</a>
&mdash; Joel Rush (@JoelRushNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoelRushNBA/status/1625539664571699201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Braun is a quintessential connector for the Nuggets right now. Over 53% of his shots have come at the rim, mostly off of secondary drives or cuts, and he'll also spot up from the corners frequently. He's not a lead playmaker, but he'll keep the ball moving; plus, he's had just six bad-pass turnovers all season, per PBP Stats.&nbsp;
The Nuggets also like to use Braun's size at 6-foot-7, 218 pounds to guard up the lineup. According to BBall Index, the Kansas product has spent over 62% of his playing time defending point guards and shooting guards. And, while he's not the point-of-attack defender, he's useful in taking away complementary options and being an additional pest.
Denver's lack of trade-deadline additions on the wing (and top billing in the West) means Braun is expected to contribute to a deep playoff run. A stable three-point shot would go a long way (46.7% in February, 37.1% on the season), along with continued growth on defense. But Braun is the rare rookie on a pressure-packed team, and thriving would say a lot about his impact.
Tari Eason, Houston Rockets
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Per Cleaning the Glass: only 5️⃣ NBA players have block and steal rates both above 1.5% 🏀 - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) - Jaren Jackson Jr. (MEM) - Larry Nance Jr. (NOP) - Kyle Anderson (MIN) - Tari Eason (HOU) <a href="https://t.co/Fi0pGOHnbL">pic.twitter.com/Fi0pGOHnbL</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1628828512206348291?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Tari Eason's 1.5% block rate and 2.2% steal rate place him in an elite group of defensive havoc-wreakers this season. He's averaging 4.52 bad-pass steals or deflections per 75 possessions, per BBall Index, which puts him in the 95th percentile at his position.
Eason is already a unique event-creator on defense with his length and mobility. He also inhales rebounds on both ends of the glass. The former LSU forward secures offensive boards on 10.6% of Houston's misses, a rate that ranks second among all non-bigs in the league.&nbsp;
Those two impact areas carry the weight for Eason's All-Rookie case; he's still finding his niche on offense. He has to create more for himself than expected, and he's making a paltry 40.7% of his unassisted shots at the rim. The Rockets' offense has been a mess all season long. Ideally, Eason could start his career capitalizing on more cuts, lobs and spot-ups, but it's unclear if he'll find that balance this season.
Still, his defensive impact and rebounding activity warrant a prime spot in the rotation of a young, losing team, and Eason is talented enough to make it work.
Jaylin Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
The pesky Thunder continue to stick around in the playoff race, and Jaylin Williams &mdash; not to be confused with Jalen &mdash; has been the most recent young head-turner with his charge-taking. Check out this graphic from Dom Samangy:
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Former Razorback, Jaylin Williams, is currently LEADING THE NBA in charges drawn per minute played and has the highest charge rate in 7 years since the NBA started tracking &ldquo;hustle stats&rdquo; in 2016. He currently draws a charge every 22 minutes of play! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ProHogs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ProHogs</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/Jay_MWilliams_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Jay_MWilliams_</a> <a href="https://t.co/bOM9XcqynU">pic.twitter.com/bOM9XcqynU</a>
&mdash; Dom Samangy (@DSamangy) <a href="https://twitter.com/DSamangy/status/1628448922770329601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Williams is such a fun, unique player. He's not racking up blocks or steals as a rim-protector, but he rebounds, takes charges and positions himself well on defense for a rookie.
Then, on offense, he's warped his impact from the pre-draft projections coming out of Arkansas. Williams' perimeter shot-making was more of an intriguing developmental pathway than a bread-and-butter skill entering the 2022 NBA Draft. The second-rounder is shooting a red-hot 47.7% from long range this season, including (checks notes) 55.6% since Jan. 1. In contrast, he's barely scoring around the rim; just 29% of his shots are coming within 4 feet of the basket.
Add in an 11.1% assist rate (66th percentile among bigs) and 3.1 screen assists per 75 possessions (80th percentile), and Williams is upending a lot of the traditional images for low-usage young centers.&nbsp;
OKC moved on from Mike Muscala and forward Darius Bazley at the trade deadline. Williams' playing time has fluctuated this season, but he's averaging 21.8 minutes per game in February and has started 11 of 17 games in the new year. He'll be a big part of this stretch run for a Thunder team capable of contending.
Mark Williams, Charlotte Hornets
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
mark williams size blk + lob radius, good stuff <a href="https://t.co/8lVqlyksUH">pic.twitter.com/8lVqlyksUH</a>
&mdash; ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) <a href="https://twitter.com/bjpf_/status/1627041357041897472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2023</a></blockquote>

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The Hornets traded away Mason Plumlee and are well out of the playoff picture. It's time to give the young guys some runtime, and that begins with Mark Williams, who has started the last four contests. The No. 15 overall pick is averaging 7.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 15.9 minutes per game this season.
Williams has thrived in more of the traditional finishing-center archetype. He's tallying 4.4 screen assists per 75 possessions (88th percentile) and posting a monster 3.7% block rate and 2.0% steal rate. (He missed the minute qualifier for Eason's previously mentioned stat). The 7-foot-1-inch center takes 78% of his shots around the rim, the majority via assists, and he makes 70% of those attempts.&nbsp;
Let's expand on the interior defense a bit because Williams' small-sample impact numbers are insane. Pulling from BBall Index's data, here's a look at how he's affecting shots around the basket.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 132px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 48.6251%; height: 22px;">Category</td>
<td style="width: 16.3185%; height: 22px;">Value</td>
<td style="width: 35.0481%; height: 22px;">Percentile rank (among C's)</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 48.6251%; height: 22px;">% of teams' at-rim shots contested by Williams</td>
<td style="width: 16.3185%; height: 22px;" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:0.4714}" data-sheets-numberformat="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;0.00%&quot;,&quot;3&quot;:1}">47.14%</td>
<td style="width: 35.0481%; height: 22px;" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:0.96}" data-sheets-numberformat="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;0%&quot;,&quot;3&quot;:1}" data-sheets-formula="=percentrank('Data Pull'!C[134]:C[134],R[0]C[-1])">96th</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 48.6251%; height: 22px;">At-rim contests per 75 poss.</td>
<td style="width: 16.3185%; height: 22px;" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:10.82}">10.82</td>
<td style="width: 35.0481%; height: 22px;" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:0.987}" data-sheets-numberformat="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;0%&quot;,&quot;3&quot;:1}" data-sheets-formula="=percentrank('Data Pull'!C[135]:C[135],R[0]C[-1])">99th</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 48.6251%; height: 22px;">Blocks per 75 poss.</td>
<td style="width: 16.3185%; height: 22px;" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:2.63}" data-sheets-numberformat="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;0.0&quot;,&quot;3&quot;:1}">2.6</td>
<td style="width: 35.0481%; height: 22px;" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:0.97}" data-sheets-numberformat="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;0%&quot;,&quot;3&quot;:1}" data-sheets-formula="=percentrank('Data Pull'!C[136]:C[136],R[0]C[-1])">97th</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 48.6251%; height: 22px;">% of Williams' contests that become blocks</td>
<td style="width: 16.3185%; height: 22px;" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:0.2429}" data-sheets-numberformat="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;0.00%&quot;,&quot;3&quot;:1}">24.29%</td>
<td style="width: 35.0481%; height: 22px;" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:0.857}" data-sheets-numberformat="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;0%&quot;,&quot;3&quot;:1}" data-sheets-formula="=percentrank('Data Pull'!C[137]:C[137],R[0]C[-1])">86th</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 48.6251%; height: 22px;">Opponent FG% at rim vs. expected FG%</td>
<td style="width: 16.3185%; height: 22px;" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:-0.116}" data-sheets-numberformat="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;+#,##0.00%;-#,##0.00%&quot;}">-11.60%</td>
<td style="width: 35.0481%; height: 22px;" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:0.987}" data-sheets-numberformat="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;0%&quot;,&quot;3&quot;:1}" data-sheets-formula="=1-percentrank('Data Pull'!C[138]:C[138],R[0]C[-1])">99th</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
(Scroll right to view full table on mobile)
These are massive data points for any player, much less a rookie.
When Williams is on the court, Charlotte allows 6.6 fewer points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass. He's already changing the tone for a squad that has historically had issues fortifying the floor. Hopefully we get to see more of that in this stretch run.
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THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>Not a stat, but I do want to give honorable mention shoutouts to AJ Griffin of the Atlanta Hawks and AJ Green of the Milwaukee Bucks. Both are talented rookies ready to join their team's rotations; I just wonder what minutes are available. Griffin now has to compete with Saddiq Bey in Atlanta's wing room in addition to the other established talents on the roster. Green seems to take a back seat when the Bucks are fully healthy.</li>
<li>Synergy's Todd Whitehead made these neat visualizations of pick-and-roll defense that I highlighted at the beginning of the year, and he's got some interesting takeaways now:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
When I made this chart back in November, I was interested to see that the teams with the best process (ones taking away opponents rolls/cuts to the rim, corner 3s, and shooting fouls) weren't necessarily the ones with the lowest PPP allowed (👀Boston, for example). <a href="https://t.co/5VVpnVCyYW">https://t.co/5VVpnVCyYW</a> <a href="https://t.co/aWBfcmOA9T">pic.twitter.com/aWBfcmOA9T</a>
&mdash; Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1626670052769669120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2023</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>Another post-All-Star stats check-in courtesy of Tom Bassine:</li>
</ul>
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Updated starter and bench majority lineup team strengths. Denver still builds their leads through starter lineups with Jokic. Chicago bench stands out. <a href="https://t.co/1Uh8HSWSfs">pic.twitter.com/1Uh8HSWSfs</a>
&mdash; Tom Bassine (@tvbassine) <a href="https://twitter.com/tvbassine/status/1629102353210126336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Ethan Fuller highlights five under-the-radar rookies who could make an impact in the NBA season's final months.

NBA Stats Notebook: 5 players who could break into the All-Rookie race

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

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

Aliyah Boston scored 23 of her 26 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter, to help No. 1 South Carolina beat fifth-ranked UConn 81-77 on Sunday.
The Gamecocks (23-0) have won 29 consecutive games since losing to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament title game last year. They&rsquo;ve also won four of the past five meetings with the Huskies, including a victory in the NCAA championship game last season.
South Carolina used its size again to top the Huskies. The 6-foot-7 Kamilla Cardoso and Boston, the reigning AP Player of the Year helped the Gamecocks have a 42-30 advantage on the boards, including grabbing 25 offensive rebounds.
Boston finished with 11 rebounds for the 76th double-double of her career.
Aaliyah Edwards led UConn (21-3) with 25 points.
WASHINGTON 72, NO. 2 STANFORD 67
SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Elle Ladine scored 21 points and Dalayah Daniels made two key free throws with 8 seconds left, helping Washington knock off Stanford.
Washington (13-9, 5-7 Pac-12) closed the game with a 9-2 run. Lauren Schwartz made two foul shots before Ladine put the Huskies in front with a layup with 1:41 left.
Daniels had 15 points in Washington&rsquo;s first victory over a ranked opponent this season. Haley Van Dyke scored 14.&nbsp;
Haley Jones scored 18 points for Stanford (22-3, 10-2), and reserve Brooke Demetre had 15. Cameron Brink finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
NO. 3 LSU 72, TEXAS A&amp;M 66
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese had 26 points and 22 rebounds to help LSU outlast Texas A&amp;M.
Alexis Morris added 22 points before fouling out late to help LSU (23-0, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) remain undefeated ahead of next week&rsquo;s showdown with top-ranked and undefeated South Carolina. It was Reese&rsquo;s 23rd consecutive double-double.
An 8-0 run by Texas A&amp;M (6-15, 1-10) cut the lead to 66-62 with less than two minutes to go. Reese made two free throws before Kay Kay Green made 1 of 2 free throws on the other end to leave LSU up 68-63 with less than a minute left.
Last-Tear Poa added two free throws for the Tigers to push it to 70-63 seconds later. LSU forced a turnover and Reese added a basket to make it 72-63 with 17 seconds left to secure the victory.
Sahara Jones had 14 points for the Aggies, who lost their third straight.
NO. 4 INDIANA 69, PURDUE 46
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Sydney Parrish and Mackenzie Holmes each scored 15 points and Indiana won its 10th straight game, pulling away from Purdue in front of a record Boilermakers crowd.
The announced attendance of 14,876 was the largest for a Purdue women&rsquo;s home game. It marked the first sellout for a women&rsquo;s matchup at Mackey Arena since 2000 and third in program history.
Sara Scalia had 14 points and Chloe Moore-McNeil had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Hoosiers (22-1, 12-1 Big Ten).
Lasha Petree scored 13 points and Abbey Ellis had 10 to lead the Boilermakers (15-7, 6-6).
NO. 6 IOWA 95, PENN STATE 51
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark had 23 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds to lead Iowa over Penn State.
Monika Czinano scored 14 points and Kate Martin added 11 for the Hawkeyes (19-4, 11-1 Big Ten), who took the lead midway through the first quarter and pulled away in a lopsided second half to win their eighth straight game.
Taniyah Thompson led Penn State (13-11, 4-9) with 11 points while Leilani Kapinus had 10. Kapinus, Makenna Marisa and Shay Ciezki, all averaging double figures this season, combined to go 2 for 15 from the floor in the first quarter.
NO. 7 UTAH 100, OREGON 92
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Alissa Pili scored a season-high 30 points, and Utah moved into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 Conference.
Jenna Johnson added 19 points and Kennady McQueen scored 16 as the Utes (20-2) shot 62.3% from the field. Utah improved to 10-2 in the conference to tie for the top spot with Stanford, which lost 72-67 at Washington earlier in the day.
Endyia Rogers scored 35 points to lead Oregon (14-9, 5-7). Chance Gray added 18 points and fellow freshman Grace VanSlooten had 16 for the Ducks, who shot 50% from the field and made nine 3-pointers two days after going 0-for-16 beyond the arc in a loss to Colorado.
NO. 8 MARYLAND 90, NO. 10 OHIO STATE 54
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) &mdash; Diamond Miller scored 16 of her 29 points in the third quarter, and Maryland earned its most lopsided win over a top-10 opponent.
Abby Meyers added 22 points and Shyanne Sellers contributed 19 for the Terrapins (19-5, 10-3), who rebounded emphatically from their loss at No. 6 Iowa on Thursday night with a 36-point win.
Taylor Thierry scored 21 for Ohio State. The Buckeyes (20-4, 9-4 Big Ten) have dropped four of five since starting the season 19-0.
NO. 16 DUKE 57, NO. 9 NOTRE DAME 52
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Celeste Taylor scored 14 points in Duke&rsquo;s come-from-behind victory at Notre Dame.
Trailing for most of the game&rsquo;s first 28 minutes, the Blue Devils (20-3, 10-2 ACC) took the lead for good in the final two minutes of the third.
Maddy Westbeld led Notre Dame (18-4, 9-3) with 15 points and Sonia Citron scored 14.
LOUISVILLE 62, NO. 11 NORTH CAROLINA 55
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Chrislyn Carr scored 11 of her 17 points in the third quarter and Louisville ended North Carolina&rsquo;s eight-game winning streak.
Hailey Van Lith also had 17 points for the Cardinals (17-8, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who made 9 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter of a game that was mostly a defensive struggle.
Deja Kelly scored 13 points but was just 3-of-16 shooting for the Tar Heels (17-6, 8-4), Paulina Paris added 12 points and Anya Poole had 10.
NO. 14 UCLA 82, ARIZONA STATE 63
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Charisma Osborne had 23 points, Londynn Jones added 20 off the bench, and UCLA pulled away in the second half to snap a three-game losing skid.
Gabriela Jaquez added 14 points off the bench for the Bruins (18-6, 7-5 Pac-12), who had a 42-6 advantage in bench scoring.
Tyi Skinner scored 28 points, Treasure Hunt 18 and Jaddan Simmons 10 for the Sun Devils (7-14, 0-12), who have lost 12 straight &mdash; the fifth-longest active streak in the nation.
NO. 18 MICHIGAN 77, MICHIGAN STATE 67
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Leigha Brown scored 19 of her 29 points in the second half and finished two assists shy of a triple-double to lead Michigan over rival Michigan State.
Brown scored 10 in the fourth quarter, eight from the foul line, and Maddie Nolan had two big 3-pointers in the fourth and scored 22 points for the Wolverines (19-5, 9-4 Big Ten Conference). Michigan pulled out a second-straight win without leading scored Laila Phelia, who has a lower leg injury.
Matilda Ekh and Moira Joiner both had 12 for the Spartans (11-12, 3-9), who lost their third straight since coach Susy Merchant had a medical issue and a minor car accident on Jan. 28. Dean Lockwood is the interim head coach. DeeDee Hagemann added 11 points and a season-high nine assists.
NO. 22 ARIZONA 81, SOUTHERN CAL 75, 2 OT
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Cate Reese scored a career-high 33 points, including four free throws in the last 7.5 seconds of the second overtime, to give Arizona the win over Southern Cal.
Shay Pellington and Jade Loville both had 17 points for the Wildcats (18-5, 8-4 Pac-12 Conference), who picked up a critical sweep in Los Angeles after beating No. 14 UCLA 71-66 in overtime on Friday.
Helena Pueyo had her only two points from the foul line with 15 seconds to go for a 77-73 Arizona lead, the first time it became a two possession game in the second overtime.
Destiny Littleton had 21 points for the Trojans (17-6, 7-5), playing all 50 minutes, as did Kadi Sissoko, who scored 15 points. Rayah Marshall had 17 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks in 48 minutes. Doumbia, a senior transfer from Purdue, had a career-high 17 in 28 minutes off the bench before fouling out in the first OT.

A recap of Sunday's action in women's college hoops includes a star-studded meeting between the Gamecocks and UConn Huskies.

South Carolina wins rematch of NCAA final to stay undefeated

Stop me if you've heard this before: We have another trade in the WNBA.
It's been reported, twice over, by Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports that the Dallas Wings were expected to trade versatile wing Allisha Gray over the offseason. In <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-trade-rumors-news-dallas-wings-forward-allisha-gray-expected-to-be-traded-connecticut-sun-chicago-sky-washington-mystics-atlanta-dream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the latest report</a> from Williams, four teams &mdash; Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Washington Mystics, and Atlanta Dream &mdash; were listed as potential suitors.
It would appear that Gray has finally gotten her wish. Per ESPN's M.A. Voepel, Gray will be traded to the Atlanta Dream. From his feed:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sources tell ESPN that an agreement is in place for guard Allisha Gray to be traded to <a href="https://twitter.com/AtlantaDream?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AtlantaDream</a> from <a href="https://twitter.com/DallasWings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DallasWings</a>. Details being finalized. <a href="https://twitter.com/Graytness_15?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Graytness_15</a> was 2017 <a href="https://twitter.com/WNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WNBA</a> rookie of year out of <a href="https://twitter.com/GamecockWBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GamecockWBB</a> and was 3x3 Olympic gold medalist in 2021.
&mdash; M.A. Voepel (@MAVoepel) <a href="https://twitter.com/MAVoepel/status/1615865386121187328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2023</a></blockquote>

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UPDATE: On Saturday, the Dream and Wings officially announced the deal, with the Dream sending the third overall pick of this year's draft and a 2025 first round pick to the Wings for Gray.

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As we wait for the details to roll in, I think it's still fair to call this a slam dunk for the Dream. Gray narrowly missed out on an All-Star berth last season, but make no mistake: She's that type of talent.
Gray averaged career-highs in points (13.3) and assists (2.5) while also grabbing 4.8 boards and racking up 1.1 steals per contest. Even those numbers don't do Gray justice. She's an additive on both ends; someone who can spread the floor at an elite level (40.8% from three on 4.8 attempts), attack titled defenses (66.1% FG inside of three feet), and defend multiple positions at a high level.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661321&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=All&amp;PlayerIds=1628277" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Per PBP Stats</a>, the Wings outscored opponents by 69 points (plus-3.1 net rating) in nearly 1200 minutes with her on the floor last season, playoffs included. They were outscored&nbsp;by 93 points (minus-12.0 NET) in 372 minutes without her. This may shock you, but that was one of the biggest swings in The W last year.&nbsp;
Adding Gray to a Dream roster headlined by Rhyne Howard &mdash; the reigning Rookie of the Year who also made the All-Star team last season &mdash; is truly fun stuff. As noted by <a href="https://twitter.com/MG_Schindler/status/1615866720585150464?s=20&amp;t=bv5DdMIkDVXTSzPIpp85gg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WNBA.com's Mark Schindler</a>, there may not be a two-way wing tandem in the league like Howard and Gray.&nbsp;
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Both Gray and Howard are dangerous off the ball, with Howard having a little more gravity due to her slippery nature around screens. Gray showed last season that she can handle more ball-screen usage than originally given credit for. Howard got increasingly comfortable getting downhill against defenses geared to stop her.&nbsp;
There shouldn't be much overlap between to the two. Don't be shocked if we see the Dream flow into more option-based reads in the half-court. Picture, for a moment, Howard coming off a pindown on one side and Gray coming off a pick on the other. The lead guard would have the option to feed one of them for a shot or drive, or receive receive a ghost screen from one of them to further strain a defense.
With as much handling that Cheyenne Parker did on the perimeter &mdash; as a high-post hub or a dribble handoff hub above the three-point line &mdash; there's room to invert the offense as well. The Dream led The W on field goal attempts from dribble handoffs (5.8) last season, per InStat tracking.
Gray's comfort pulling against defenders going under handoffs (or leaving a gap when switching), and ability to get downhill makes her a viable piece in a handoff-heavy offense.
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For a Dream team that ranked 11th (out of 12 teams) in offensive rating last season, they could move into a different tier with the Gray acquisition. The fit is&nbsp;that&nbsp;good.
Defensively, Gray is tenacious defending 2s and 3s, with the ability to slide with 1s and body up 4s in a pinch. She navigates screens well, and, more impressively, her motor never seems to die out. Even if she does get hung up on a screen, she can still challenge (and sometimes block) shots from behind.
I fully expect her and Howard to bring chaos to opposing offenses.

Nekias Duncan gives his early thoughts on the Atlanta Dream's acquisition of Allisha Gray.

WNBA trade: Atlanta Dream acquire Allisha Gray from the Dallas Wings

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Damian Lillard had 36 points and 10 assists, and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 136-119 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.
Jusuf Nurkic added 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers, who face the Mavericks again on Sunday night.
Spencer Dinwiddie led Dallas with 25 points. Luka Doncic was held to a season-low 15 points before Mavericks coach Jason Kidd pulled him with seven minutes to go.
&ldquo;It feels great. When you&rsquo;re trying to fight for a win and you get in that type of funk, it seems like it&rsquo;s never going to end. But you&rsquo;ve just got to keep pushing,&rdquo; Lillard said about the end of the losing streak. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been saying, when your mind is right and you&rsquo;re pushing, everybody&rsquo;s pulling the rope in the same direction, you find your way to where you need to get to. And a lot of times all it takes is one.&rdquo;
Portland led by as many as 20 points early in the second half and went into the fourth quarter up 106-90. Nurkic dunked to give the Blazers a 116-94 lead with 9:59 left.
Doncic and Lillard had a heated exchange before Lillard scored to give the Blazers a 122-102 lead. Tim Hardaway Jr. left the court a short time earlier and limped to the locker room with what appeared to be a left ankle injury.
The Mavs have already been beset by injuries, with Josh Green, Maxi Kleber and Dorian Finney-Smith all out.
&ldquo;Hopefully we do get healthy soon, but until then we have to play with the guys who are in uniform,&rdquo; Mavs coach Jason Kidd said.
Lillard started, but had been listed as questionable going into the game after he rolled his ankle early in Portland's 119-113 loss to the Cavaliers on Thursday. Lillard came out and scored 11 points in the first quarter against the Mavs.
Dallas was coming off a 119-115 double-overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. The win snapped a two-game losing skid.
Christian Wood was ruled out before the game with a sore right ankle. Wood played 48 minutes against the Lakers, with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
Portland had a 31-30 edge after the first period. The Mavericks kept it close by making eight of 13 3-point attempts.
Taking advantage while Doncic rested in the second quarter, Shaedon Sharpe's 3-pointer and Nurkic's layup and free throw put Portland up 47-36.
Lillard's 3-pointer put the Blazers ahead 65-49 and they went on to lead 71-56 at halftime. Lillard finished the half with 24 points, while Doncic had five.
&ldquo;We broke through,&rdquo; Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. &ldquo;We played so much better. We were really, really aggressive defensively and it just kind of fueled us.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Kidd was asked about whether he would have skipped playing college ball given the G League, like Mavs guard Jaden Hardy. He joked: &ldquo;I would&rsquo;ve left in the 8th grade.&rdquo; ... Dwight Powell got in foul trouble early, collecting his fourth with 2:48 left in the first half.
Trail Blazers: Portland lost the first two games of the series against the Mavericks this season, both in Dallas. Doncic averaged 37.5 points against the Blazers. ... With his fifth assist of the night, Lillard moved to second on the Blazers' career list ahead of Clyde Drexler. Lillard is already the team's most prolific scorer.
&nbsp;

Damian Lillard had 36 points, and the Trail Blazers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 136-119 victory over the Mavericks.

Lillard has 32 and Blazers beat Mavs 136-119 to end skid

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Tyrese Haliburton scored 33 points and the Indiana Pacers opened a 30-point lead in the first half before holding off the slumping Boston Celtics 117-112 on Wednesday night.
Former Celtics player Aaron Nesmith had 15 points, Chris Duarte added 14 and Myles Turner had 10 to help the Pacers win for just the second time in six games.
&ldquo;We were certainly aware that they were going to come out in the second half and put everything into making a furious run, and they did," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. &ldquo;I was just really proud of the way we hung tough in difficult stretches. We found ways to get stops and get the ball in the basket.&rdquo;
Jayson Tatum led Boston with 41 points after missing a game because of personal reasons, while point guard Marcus Smart sat out with a non-COVID illness.
Jaylen Brown added 19 points and 10 rebounds for Boston, and Malcolm Brogdon had 18 points. Atop the NBA a week ago, the Celtics have dropped five of six.
&ldquo;It's all about effort,&rdquo; Brogdon said. &ldquo;There's really not more much to it. We didn't really get the execution. You talk about execution in the first half, we didn't need to. We weren't playing hard enough to get the execution. We understood that it was about effort. I think we responded in the second half.&rdquo;
Coming off consecutive home loss to Orlando, the Celtics fell behind by 30 points late in the second quarter before Tatum carried them back into it.
Indiana led 71-43 at the half, and the Celtics walked off the court to a spattering of boos echoing down from the fans at TD Garden.
&ldquo;We just didn't play with a great sense of urgency, didn't play with awareness and didn't play with a sense of details,&rdquo; Boston interim coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Tatum&rsquo;s 3-pointer from the right wing cut Boston&rsquo;s deficit to seven points midway into the final quarter.
Brown&rsquo;s 3 made it 111-106 a few minutes later but Haliburton answered with a 3 from the top the next trip down the floor and the Pacers closed out the victory.
&ldquo;Tyrese is a great player,&rdquo; Carlisle said. &ldquo;There's a lot of talk right now about All-Star and who's going to be in and who's not going to be in. Tyrese Haliburton is our All-Star. In less than a year, he's completely changed the trajectory of our franchise.&rdquo;
The Pacers led by 19 points at the end of the first quarter and used an 11-0 run midway into the second, pulling ahead 59-30 before Nesmith&rsquo;s 3 from the left corner gave them their first of three 30-point leads late in the opening half.
&ldquo;It means a lot to me to take what I've learned from them and use it against them,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;Just the little things every single day; not on the floor, but off the floor how they prepare.&rdquo;
BANK SHOT
Duarte banked in an off-balance 3-pointer from deep on the left wing as the third- quarter buzzer sounded, giving the Pacers a 100-85 lead.
TIP-INS
Pacers: The Pacers had a season-high 42 points in the first quarter when they shot 61.5% (16 of 26) and connected on 8 of 11 from 3-point range.
Celtics: Brown went tumbling over a TV table at midcourt early in the game but got right back up. &hellip; Three starters (Al Horford, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard) were scoreless in the first half.
&nbsp;

Tyrese Haliburton scored 33 points and the Indiana Pacers held off the slumping Boston Celtics 117-112.

Haliburton scores 33 points, Pacers beat slumping Celtics

WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; Kevin Durant scored 30 points, Kyrie Irving had 24 and the well-rested Brooklyn Nets methodically pulled away for a 112-100 win against the overmatched Washington Wizards on Monday night.
The Nets, who won at Indiana on Saturday night with their top seven scorers sitting out, matched a season best with their fourth straight victory. All those players were back in action Monday except Royce O&rsquo;Neale, who missed a second consecutive game for personal reasons.
Will Barton had a season-high 22 points for the Wizards, who lost their season-worst seventh game in a row. Washington was missing leading scorer Bradley Beal (right hamstring strain) for the fourth straight game.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 20 points for the Wizards, but departed with 3:37 left in the third quarter and didn&rsquo;t return. Porzingis rode an exercise bike with a pad strapped to his back while on the bench in the first half.
CLIPPERS 113, CELTICS 93
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Paul George scored 26 points, Kawhi Leonard had season highs of 25 points and nine rebounds, and Los Angeles beat NBA-leading Boston.
Leonard also had six assists in one of his best all-around games of a young season that has been interrupted at times while he eases his way back from ACL surgery that cost him all of last season.
Jaylen Brown scored 21 points to lead the Celtics, who dropped two in a row for just the second time this season. They had won eight of 10, including a loss at Golden State on Saturday. Jayson Tatum added 20 &mdash; well below his 30-point average &mdash; and 11 rebounds.
MAVERICKS 121, THUNDER 114
DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic had 38 points and 11 rebounds in his return from a one-game absence, and Spencer Dinwiddie added 20 points and 10 assists as Dallas defeated Oklahoma City.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 20 for the Mavericks, who ended a two-game skid.
Doncic sat out a 29-point loss at Chicago on Saturday night with a strained right quadriceps. The Mavericks were completing a back-to-back, having played at home Friday in a 9 p.m. start.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander matched his season high with 42 points for the Thunder, who lost their third straight in the finale of a five-game road trip.
HEAT 87, PACERS 82
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Bam Adebayo had 22 points and 17 rebounds, and Jimmy Butler scored seven straight points late in the fourth quarter to help Miami hold off Indiana.
Butler finished with 20 points. The Heat had lost three of their previous four but evened the season series with Indiana by pulling away late.
Buddy Hield led the Pacers with 19 points and Andrew Nembhard scored 18. Indiana has lost two straight and six of eight.
GRIZZLIES 128, HAWKS 103
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Tyus Jones had 22 points and 11 assists, Dillon Brooks added 18 points and streaking Memphis beat shorthanded Atlanta with both teams minus key starters.
Santi Aldama scored 16 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 15 points and a career-best eight blocks for the Grizzlies, who won their sixth straight and moved within a half-game of Western Conference-leading New Orleans.
De&rsquo;Andre Hunter led the Hawks with 19 points, and Jalen Johnson added 14 points and nine rebounds. Atlanta lost for the fourth time in five games.
Both teams were missing their leading scorers. Grizzlies guard Ja Morant sat out with right thigh soreness, while counterpart Trae Young was dealing with lower back tightness.
Young&rsquo;s absence meant Atlanta was down five of its top six scorers, including Dejounte Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
SPURS 112, CAVALIERS 111
SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; Keldon Johnson scored 21 points and blocked a late shot by Donovan Mitchell as San Antonio held off Cleveland.
Josh Richardson had 24 points to help the Spurs win their third straight after an 11-game losing streak.
Mitchell scored 28 to keep Cleveland close. The Cavaliers trailed by 19 in the third quarter and rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final 4 1/2 minutes for a chance to win.
Mitchell&rsquo;s runner was blocked by Johnson with 6.1 seconds remaining. Following an offensive rebound by Caris LeVert, Darius Garland missed a 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining.
LeVert finished with 23 points, and Evan Mobley had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavs.
TRAIL BLAZERS 133, TIMBERWOLVES 112
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Damian Lillard tied his own franchise record by making 11 3-pointers and finished with 38 points, leading Portland past Minnesota.
Lillard shot 11 for 17 from long range and didn&rsquo;t play in the fourth quarter. The Trail Blazers never trailed and led by as many as 27.
Jerami Grant had 24 points for Portland, and Jusuf Nurkic added 14 points and 16 rebounds.
D&rsquo;Angelo Russell scored 23 for the Timberwolves. Rudy Gobert grabbed 20 rebounds to go with 16 points.

A recap of Monday night's NBA action includes a pair of dominant performances from the Nets' duo of KD and Kyrie.

Durant, Irving propel rested Nets past skidding Wizards

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>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<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>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<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>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<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>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<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>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<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>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<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>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<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 class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></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>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<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>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<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>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Check out these related episodes of "The Rematch."</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<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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</div>

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?

Spencer Davies details Jamal Cain's climb from Pontiac, Michigan to the NBA level through the lens of longtime friend Mychal Covington.