Beavers

Kevin Durant joined an exclusive list of NBA legends on Saturday night as he became one of 8 players to score 29,000 total career points or more, in the Phoenix Suns&rsquo; 114-102 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
The Suns&rsquo; superstar reached the mark in the 4th quarter of the game off a pass from Tyus Jones for a pull-up transition three.
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Kevin Durant surpasses 29,000 career points with this 3, becoming just the 8th player in NBA history to reach the mark! 👏 <a href="https://t.co/e6qT9O0Wo2">pic.twitter.com/e6qT9O0Wo2</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1850391347099783662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a>
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Durant, in turn, is now in elite company together with LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, and Wilt Chamberlain.
Durant, a 14-time NBA All-Star, now has a total of 29,010 points after tallying 31 markers against the Mavericks. He has a career scoring average of 27.3 points per game in 1,064 games played over his 17-year NBA career.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to give credit to the people who have helped me since I was a kid,&rdquo; Durant said post-game about the accomplishment. &ldquo;Teammates who passed me the ball, set screens for me, coaches who drew up plays for me. I&rsquo;m glad to be able to do this in front of these guys and this crowd, but I have more to do.&rdquo;
Durant is now 10th on the all-time NBA scoring list, and with the way he&rsquo;s still scoring the ball, he will likely climb up more ladders in the scoring history list for the remainder of his career.
Other than Durant, LeBron James continued racking up NBA history by having his 8th triple-double after being 35 years or older when racked up 32 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists in the Lakers&rsquo; 131-127 win over the Kings.
LeBron at one time had 14 straight for the Lakers in the 4th quarter, and scored 16 overall as he led LA&rsquo;s comeback from down 10 late in the 3rd quarter.&nbsp;
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A vintage LeBron game in the <a href="https://twitter.com/Lakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Lakers</a> 3rd straight win: 👑 32 PTS (16 in 4th) 👑 14 REB 👑 10 AST 👑 4 3PM 👑 12-22 FGM <a href="https://t.co/kDAuPZ274b">pic.twitter.com/kDAuPZ274b</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1850409431126716669?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Even at their age, KD and LeBron are at the peak of their games with each and every stellar outing they produce night after night.

Kevin Durant joined an exclusive list of NBA legends on Saturday night as he became one of 8 players to score 29,000 points.

Kevin Durant becomes 8th player in NBA history to score 29,000 points or more

Throughout NBA history, there have been plenty of supremely talented teams. However, only a select few managed to string together multiple championships, revolutionize how the game is played and dominate to the point that they defined their era.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s extremely difficult to create a dynasty, but these six teams earned that distinction.
Boston Celtics (1957-1969)
While it&rsquo;s difficult for today&rsquo;s NBA fans to fathom, the Boston Celtics managed to win 11 championships in just 13 seasons. Celtics head coach and general manager Red Auerbach pulled off a draft-day trade in 1956 that changed the franchise forever, with Boston acquiring No. 2 overall pick Bill Russell in exchange for Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley. Russell would become one of the most dominant defenders and rebounders of all-time, and when paired with Bob Cousy, John Havlicek and Sam Jones among others, the Celtics became an unstoppable force.&nbsp;
Today, winning three-straight championships is considered an astonishing feat, yet these Celtics managed to win eight consecutive titles from 1959 to 1966 &ndash; a record that is virtually impossible to break. While it was certainly a very different era of basketball, Boston deserves a ton of credit for revolutionizing the game and sustaining that level of dominance for more than a decade.
Los Angeles Lakers (1980s)
The 1980s belonged to the "Showtime" Lakers, a dynamic and star-studded team led by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Under head coach Pat Riley's leadership, the Lakers thrilled fans with their fast-paced style of play. From 1980 through 1991, the Lakers won five championships and made nine NBA Finals appearances.
Magic&rsquo;s unparalleled playmaking abilities and Kareem&rsquo;s automatic skyhook made these Lakers nearly unstoppable on the court. The Lakers&rsquo; rivalry with the Celtics (and Magic Johnson&rsquo;s personal rivalry with Larry Bird) added another layer of excitement to the NBA, culminating in memorable NBA Finals matchups and moving NBA playoff games to live broadcasts rather than being on tape delay.&nbsp;HBO&rsquo;s show &ldquo;Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty&rdquo; has introduced the Showtime era to a new generation of fans.&nbsp;
Chicago Bulls (1991-1998)
On June 19, 1984, the Chicago Bulls selected Michael Jordan with the No. 3 overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. It didn&rsquo;t take long for Jordan to make his mark on the league, as he won Rookie of the Year and became a household name. Jordan was the lynchpin of the Bulls&rsquo; dynasty and became the biggest sports star that the world had ever seen. Coached by Phil Jackson, MJ and Scottie Pippen led the Bulls to six championships in eight years, thanks to two different three-peats. In the 1995-1996 season, the Bulls amassed a record-setting 72 wins, solidifying their status as one of the greatest teams in NBA history (although the record would later be broken by another team featured on this list).&nbsp;
These Bulls teams captured the imagination of fans worldwide. The Bulls&rsquo; dynasty and Team USA's "Dream Team" (which featured Jordan and Pippen alongside other NBA superstars like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone and Charles Barkley) deserve a lot of credit for making basketball popular across the globe. Just as &ldquo;Winning Time&rdquo; is bringing the Showtime Lakers back into the spotlight, ESPN&rsquo;s docuseries &ldquo;The Last Dance&rdquo; became a huge hit and showcased Jordan&rsquo;s dominance and popularity to younger fans who never got a chance to watch him play live.
San Antonio Spurs (1999-2014)
The San Antonio Spurs, guided by the steady hand of coach Gregg Popovich, enjoyed an extended period of excellence. By now, you&rsquo;re probably realizing that dynasties tend to start when a team drafts a special player. For the Spurs, that player was Tim Duncan, who is often regarded as the greatest power forward in NBA history. While Duncan wasn&rsquo;t a flashy player, he was incredibly consistent and capable of taking over games offensively and defensively.&nbsp;
Duncan and Popovich captured five NBA championships between 1999 and 2014. They managed to win across different eras, first with David Robinson, Avery Johnson and Sean Elliot, then with Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen, and later with Kawhi Leonard, Parker and Ginobili among others. The Spurs' success was built on fundamentals, exceptional team chemistry and a selfless approach to the game. Their sustained success over more than a decade solidified them as a modern NBA dynasty.&nbsp;
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Los Angeles Lakers (2000-2002)
The Lakers of the early 2000s were an unstoppable force, combining the dominant inside presence of Shaquille O'Neal and the scoring prowess of Kobe Bryant. Coached by the legendary Phil Jackson, this superstar tandem led Los Angeles to three consecutive NBA championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
Teams had to pick their poison against these Lakers, as Shaq and Kobe were nearly impossible to defend one-on-one. Shaq dominated with his imposing size and physicality in the paint, while Kobe made teams pay with his unmatched scoring ability and constantly evolving skill-set. Together, they formed one of the most formidable duos in NBA history, complementing each other's strengths on the court (while often butting heads off the court). Who knows how many more championships the Lakers would have won if Shaq and Kobe managed to get along and make things work in L.A.&nbsp;
Golden State Warriors (2014-2022)
The Golden State Warriors' dynasty has been a breathtaking display of offensive brilliance and finesse. Led by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, the Warriors revolutionized the game with their three-point shooting, fast-paced style of play and small-ball lineups. Head coach Steve Kerr, who won five championships as a player with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs dynasties, helped the Warriors capture four NBA championships in eight years (2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022).&nbsp;
The Warriors won 73 games in 2016, breaking the previous record set by the Bulls. And as if this team wasn&rsquo;t already scary enough, Golden State signed Kevin Durant and became even more unstoppable. Even after Durant left in 2019, the Warriors managed to win another championship, beating the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals last year. The Warriors revolutionized the modern NBA, and their dynastic run may not even be over. After all, Curry, Thompson, Green and Kerr are still around and the team recently added veterans Chris Paul, Cory Joseph and Dario Saric in hopes of chasing a fifth ring.

Alex Kennedy looks back on six of the most unstoppable dynasties throughout NBA history.

Exploring the most dominant dynasties throughout NBA history

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Some might say Stan Kroenke and his family would be pulling off the impossible by bringing a long-awaited NBA title to Denver.
Less discussed &mdash; at least these days &mdash; was their willingness, in 1999, to dive into a messy acquisition process for a largely irrelevant franchise that had been considered a relocation prospect as the 21st century approached.
All of the talk of them relocating no longer exists.
Now, the conversation is about how the Nuggets were able to reach their first NBA Finals thanks to the stubborn patience displayed by the Kroenkes, who have taken an unorthodox route toward assembling an unorthodox winner. Denver hosts the Miami Heat in Game 2 Sunday night after&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-denver-nuggets-nba-sports-755531bae7f944958c4225f8d5f54bad">winning the Finals opener</a>.
Kroenke&rsquo;s deal to purchase the Nuggets, along with the Colorado Avalanche and their home arena for $450 million, included a clause that tethered the NBA franchise to Denver for the ensuing 25 years. These days, the Nuggets are estimated by Forbes to be worth $1.93 billion.
&ldquo;One thing I know about Stan is that when he sets his mind to doing something, and when he thinks he&rsquo;s right, he&rsquo;s going to fight for that,&rdquo; said Wellington Webb, who was Denver&rsquo;s mayor in 1999 and helped broker the deal that closed a year later between Kroenke and the Nuggets.
Though Kroenke married into money &mdash; he wed Walmart heiress Ann Walton in 1974, a few years after meeting her during a ski trip to Aspen &mdash; he had already honed his business chops. His first deal: Taking a $1,500 loan at 6% interest from his dad so he could buy part of a clothing shop with his friend.
Not long after, he got into the real estate business, building shopping centers with a developer who was tight with Walmart founder Sam Walton.
Real estate and sports are, these days, almost intertwined &mdash; a reality Kroenke grasped quickly.
&ldquo;I always thought I&rsquo;d enjoy (owning a sports franchise) because the professional sports business is part business and part sports,&rdquo; Kroenke told the Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune in 2022, &ldquo;and I love both of them.&rdquo;
Kroenke&rsquo;s representatives did not return messages left by The Associated Press seeking an interview.
His first major jump into sports was his partnership with Rams owner Georgia Frontiere. In the mid-1990s, Frontiere was chafing at the inability of Los Angeles to build a new stadium, She was looking for partners to bankroll a move to St. Louis. Kroenke bought in, and when Frontiere died in 2008, he exercised his right to purchase a majority stake in the team.
The sad irony is that it was Kroenke, the Missouri native, who moved the Rams out of St. Louis and back to LA where they are the main tenant in his $5.1 billion stadium. His connection with Denver &mdash; much different.
&ldquo;One of my dreams was to be involved in a professional basketball team,&rdquo; Kroenke told The Denver Post, shortly after closing the deal for the Nuggets. &ldquo;This is a dream I&rsquo;ve had for a long time.&rdquo;
There is, in fact, a strong argument that the basketball trophy might be the most meaningful for a family that has amassed three Stanley Cup trophies with the Avalanche, a Super Bowl trophy with the Rams and is still looking for glory with Arsenal, the Premier League soccer team it has had a controlling interest in since 2011.
Kroeke&rsquo;s son, Josh, was a standout basketball player in high school and played at University of Missouri. He now runs the Nuggets.
&ldquo;I thought that you could bring a championship to Denver,&rdquo; Josh said in a recent interview on team-owned Altitude Sports Radio. &ldquo;Trying to do something that&rsquo;s never been done before, it&rsquo;s not always easy, and it&rsquo;s usually met with a lot of resistance. ... We&rsquo;re mostly excited for the city to get to experience this. But the job&rsquo;s not done.&rdquo;
The Nuggets were parked squarely in NBA purgatory when the team went on the block in 1999, having not sniffed relevancy since their mid-80s heydey, when the teams were highlighted by coach Doug Moe&rsquo;s uptempo offense. Their situation off the court wasn&rsquo;t much better. In the late &rsquo;80s, then-owner Sidney Shlenker had toyed with the idea of moving the team to Memphis.
His sale to a media conglomerate that was never truly hot on owning sports teams did nothing to tamp the idea that the Nuggets were a team that might be available to move. And teams were moving; Between 2001-08, Memphis (from Vancouver), Oklahoma City (from Seattle) and New Orleans (from Charlotte) all adopted existing franchises in a flurry of NBA reshuffling.
When Denver went on the block, the highest bidder, billionaire businessman Donald Sturm, came in with a $460 million offer, but balked at the idea that he couldn&rsquo;t move the team.
In stepped Kroenke, who had no problem with the arrangement. A side note: To close the sale, Kroenke had to outmaneuver another group fronted by none other than John Elway.
&ldquo;It was clear Sturm wasn&rsquo;t going to work out,&rdquo; Webb said. &ldquo;And my only question was, &lsquo;Is the new guy going to be supportive of the team winning?&rsquo; Because if the arena is full, not only do the owners make money, but city makes money, as well.&rdquo;
The Kroenkes have answered Webb&rsquo;s question with their willingness &mdash; increasingly rare in pro sports &mdash; to play the long game, both on the roster and on the bench.
The roster was built in workmanlike,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-nuggets-jokic-murray-malone-18329e13dfecae50834ebc06d409027c">no-drama fashion</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-playoffs-nikola-jokic-denver-nuggets-mvp-lebron-lakers-8e668572f9f43942175ded63e7a61832">highlighted by Nikola Jokic</a>, who entered the league as an unheralded second-round pick from Serbia. The coach, Michael Malone, was hired in 2015, and there was never much talk of making changes after disappointing finishes to their seasons in 2018, 2019 and even last year.
Today, Malone sits behind only Gregg Popovich (Spurs), Erik Spoelstra (Heat) and Steve Kerr (Warriors) &mdash; who have a combined 11 championships on their coaching resumes &mdash; in terms of longevity among the NBA&rsquo;s 30 head coaches.
&ldquo;That has a ton to do with where we are today,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t be more thankful for working for an ownership group that is not impatient and is not trying to find the next great thing, but is saying &lsquo;Hey, listen, let&rsquo;s let this grow and marinate into something special.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Despite his family&rsquo;s large role in the Denver sports scene &mdash; the Kroenke business also owns the MLS Colorado Rapids, and the National Lacrosse League&rsquo;s Colorado Mammoth, who lost the deciding game in that league&rsquo;s title series Saturday &mdash; Kroenke has still taken his fair share of criticism around town.
It&rsquo;s a byproduct of his 2004 move to bundle his teams&rsquo; TV rights and air them on company&rsquo;s new regional television network, Altitude.
In 2019, the region&rsquo;s biggest cable operator, Comcast, stopped carrying Altitude due to a disagreement over fees the cable giant was charging to carry the network. The ensuing legal battle has kept the Nuggets off the local airwaves in millions of homes for the last four seasons. The battle between billion-dollar companies has left many average Nuggets fans feeling like the only real losers in the equation.
But whatever bitterness lingers from the cable dispute has mostly been set aside over the past few months. All the playoff games have been on national TV.
Meanwhile, Kroenke stays firmly in the background. He can make it from his apartment at the top of Ball Arena through some back passageways and into his luxury suite to watch games in less than two minutes. Sometimes he brings his German Shepherd along.
&ldquo;I think that not only is he a good businessman,&rdquo; Webb said, &ldquo;but he also feels he has something special in Denver. And I think it&rsquo;s always been his goal to do right by Denver.&rdquo;

Some might say Stan Kroenke and his family would be pulling off the impossible by bringing a long-awaited NBA title to Denver.

Kroenke bought Nuggets, kept team in Denver, now hoping to deliver title

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra practically snickered when asked about neutralizing the effective two-man game played by Denver Nuggets teammates Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
&ldquo;Yeah, where do you start? You have two guys that can score 50 in a playoff game. One guy is a triple-double machine that loves to get guys involved,&rdquo; Spoelstra said.
&ldquo;You go down the list of myriad of things you can do defensively, you have to check off some things that you don&rsquo;t really want to do because of both their ability to score and Jokic&rsquo;s ability to create something off-script.&rdquo;
Spoelstra knows what the Heat are up against; it&rsquo;s nothing new for Denver. The Nuggets&rsquo; potent duo has been nearly unstoppable in powering Denver&rsquo;s 13-3 run through the playoffs, including a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-2023-heat-nuggets-jokic-278674ca5c096db5880b812c7cc348dc">104-93 win in Game 1</a>.
A win Sunday night would make them just the second team this century to win its first 10 home games in a single postseason. The Nuggets&rsquo; run to what they hope is their first NBA championship is being fueled by Jokic and Murray.
They&rsquo;re entering the pantheon of pick-and-roll royalty of standard-bearers John Stockton and Karl Malone. But the Nuggets do it with a different twist.
Whereas Malone set up almost all of the screens for Stockton when they were Utah Jazz teammates, Denver&rsquo;s version is ambidextrous, doubling the difficulty of deciphering much less defusing it.
&ldquo;Three, four years ago, the No. 1 pick-and-roll combo in the entire NBA was Nikola and Jamal,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone recalled. &ldquo;And most people would just assume that it was Nikola setting for Jamal. It was actually the opposite. It was Nikola handling and Jamal setting.
&ldquo;The reason it was so effective, aside from the obvious &mdash; two really talented players &mdash; is that Jamal is big, strong, physical and not afraid of contact. Some guys like to slip out of every screen because they don&rsquo;t want to make that contact, they don&rsquo;t want to give themselves up,&rdquo; the coach added. &ldquo;Jamal from early in his career here, he&rsquo;s shown that he&rsquo;s willing to go and set a screen on a big guy, small guy, doesn&rsquo;t matter, because he&rsquo;s tough.
&ldquo;The second part of that is he also knows that if Nikola has the ball and he screens, his man has to help, which will give him separation. If you want to simplify the game of basketball, it comes down to separation.&rdquo;
Both Murray and Jokic are three-level scorers who can shoot 3-pointers, make midrange jump shots and drive to the basket. Their Game 1 performance put them in some elite company.
Heading into the series opener, only Michael Jordan in 1991 and Russell Westbrook in 2012 had at least 25 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in an NBA Finals debut. Jokic and Murray added their names to that list Thursday night &mdash; Murray had 26 points, 10 assists and six rebounds and Jokic extended his NBA record with his ninth triple-double in these playoffs, getting 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.
The only other pair of teammates to have 25 points and 10 assists in an NBA Finals game was Magic Johnson and James Worthy, who did it for the Los Angeles Lakers against Boston in Game 1 in 1987.
Murray and Jokic have been refining their on-court relationship since Murray&rsquo;s rookie season in 2016, a year after Jokic joined the Nuggets as the now-hard-to-fathom 41st overall draft pick. Murray was backing up Gary Harris and Jokic was coming off the bench behind Jusuf Nurkic.
&ldquo;We would actually come into the game together, and we would run post-ups or just simple give-and-goes ... and I&rsquo;d say then we kind of developed a chemistry,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Soon we both started, we started playing off each other. We started to figure out where we like the ball, when we liked the ball, when I&rsquo;m going to pass, when he&rsquo;s going to pass, when he&rsquo;s driving, when to relocate, where to relocate.&rdquo;
Heat guard Kyle Lowry, who is in his 16th NBA season, is hard-pressed to come up with a better point guard/big man combo.
&ldquo;Jamal and Jokic, they&rsquo;re deadly because they both can score and pass the ball,&rdquo; said Lowry, noting he played against the San Antonio Spurs&rsquo; &ldquo;great combination&rdquo; of Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re big targets, and they have a great feel for each other.&rdquo;
Nuggets guard Ish Smith has been on a record 13 teams in 13 NBA seasons and said he has never seen anything quite like Denver&rsquo;s duo. Smith said what makes Jokic and Murray so effective is both players are the antithesis of superstars who&rsquo;d rather go 1-on-1 in isolation.
&ldquo;It wouldn&rsquo;t work if Nikola was selfish and, &lsquo;I need the ball,&rsquo; and Jamal was a guy that was like, &lsquo;I need the ball all the time,&rsquo;&rdquo; Smith said.
The Heat know they have to at least slow down the Nuggets.
&ldquo;We have proven that we can win and overcome regardless of how the game is going,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;Ideal situation would be if it&rsquo;s on our terms and we are controlling the tenor of the game, but we have also won games where we haven&rsquo;t been able to do that for the entire game.&rdquo;

The Nuggets’ potent duo has been nearly unstoppable in powering Denver’s 13-3 run through the playoffs.

Nuggets’ 2-man game of Jokic, Murray setting new pick-and-roll standard

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Dirk Nowitzki stood with his son Max, both ready to push the lever that would unveil the statue of the retired Dallas Mavericks star outside the team's arena.
It already had been revealed that the statue depicted Nowitzki's signature one-legged fadeaway jumper. Not that there ever was any question.
&ldquo;That jump shot, just going up to the sky, creating all type of rain,&rdquo; said Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham, whose team was playing the Mavericks in the Christmas Day game that followed the Nowitzki ceremony Sunday.
Nowitzki has a street named after him not far from American Airlines Center, where his jersey is in the rafters. And now a nearly 24-foot statue on the plaza south of the arena, unveiled on a chilly but sunny morning.
&ldquo;It was emotional,&rdquo; said Nowitzki, the only NBA player to spend all 21 seasons with the same franchise. &ldquo;When the thing went up, felt like the sun was just perfect today, just shining right on it."
The biggest of those multiple moments honoring Nowitzki's career came on the 11th anniversary of the only other Christmas home game for the Mavericks.
Nowitzki was the face of the franchise then, opening defense of the club's only NBA title in the lockout-delayed 2011-12 season.
The new face, 23-year-old star guard Luka Doncic, watched the ceremony from just behind Nowitzki with several teammates and coach Jason Kidd.
Nowitzki's point guard on the 2011 title team had to throw in at least one joke about his former teammate, deciding to poke fun at the defense of the NBA's highest-scoring foreign-born player.
&ldquo;They picked the right move,&rdquo; Kidd told reporters later. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think they were going to use the swipe (on defense) or him passing the ball. You see his stats on passing? He was a ball hog.&rdquo;
Sculptor Omri Amrany has created statues of other retired NBA stars in Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal. He worked mostly with Nowitzki mentor Holder Geschwindner, who shaped the 7-foot German's one-legged fadeaway.
Nowitzki's family came from Germany along with Gershwindner, and the 44-year-old couldn't say enough times what it meant to have his mom and dad witness the ceremony.
It came four days after Nowitzki was <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/basketball-hall-of-fame-announces-candidates-for-class-of-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nominated for the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame</a> alongside Gregg Popovich, coach of Texas rival San Antonio, retired Spurs guard Tony Parker and Dwyane Wade, who beat Nowitzki in the 2006 NBA Finals with Miami before losing to him with LeBron James in 2011.
Nowitzki's title came the year James and Chris Bosh joined Wade and the Heat, who went on to win the next two multiple championships. Nowitzki stayed through some lean final years in Dallas, mostly because he had what he wanted most.
&ldquo;I'm so happy I didn't have to do that and it worked out this way,&rdquo; Nowitzki said. &ldquo;Once we won the championship, I knew I wanted to be here and finish my career here.&rdquo;
Nowitzki is sixth on the career scoring list with 31,560 points and the leader in every other significant offensive category for the Mavericks. He is a consultant for owner Mark Cuban and spends most of his time in Dallas with his wife, Jessica, and three children.
As the three-year statue project dragged on, Nowitzki pondered the theme that would accompany the base. When it came time to decide, he said he got lucky in picking something with 21 letters, matching his 21 seasons with the Mavericks.
&ldquo;Loyalty never fades away.&rdquo;

In addition to having a street named after him and his jersey in the rafters, Dirk Nowitzki now has a 24-foot statue on the arena's plaza.

Mavs unveil Dirk Nowitzki statue before Christmas game vs. Lakers

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Jeremy Roach scored 16 first-half points to help seventh-ranked Duke open Jon Scheyer&rsquo;s coaching tenure with a 71-44 win over Jacksonville on Monday night.
Freshman Mark Mitchell had a team-high 18 points for the Blue Devils, who used a 25-4 run spanning halftime to blow the game open.
It was a quality start to a season of massive change for the Blue Devils, starting with Scheyer taking over for retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski. Duke has 11 new players, including the nation&rsquo;s No. 1-ranked recruiting class and two power-conference transfers. The Blue Devils didn&rsquo;t have top freshmen Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead for this one as they recover from preseason injuries.
Mike Marsh scored 15 points to lead the Dolphins, who shot 34% and missed 18 of 19 3-pointers before making two meaningless 3s late.
NO. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 69, UNC WILMINGTON 56
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Caleb Love and RJ Davis scored 17 points apiece and North Carolina began a season of grand expectations by pulling away from UNC Wilmington.
Armando Bacot added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Tar Heels, who were perhaps most impressive at the defensive end. UNCW shot 29.8% from the field.
The Tar Heels, who were the NCAA Tournament runner-up in April, began the new season with the top ranking for the first time in seven years. It&rsquo;s a record 10th time that North Carolina has been ranked No. 1 to start a season &mdash; one more than rival Duke.
Trazarien White scored 19 points for UNCW, which faced a top-ranked team for the first time in program history.
NO. 2 GONZAGA 104, NORTH FLORIDA 63
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 22 points, Julian Strawther added 16 and No. 2 Gonzaga used a big first-half run to beat North Florida in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Anton Watson had 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals for Gonzaga, which won its 68th consecutive home game, the nation&rsquo;s longest such streak.
Carter Hendricksen scored 16 points, Jadyn Parker 13 and Jose Placer 12 for North Florida, a veteran-laden team from the Atlantic Sun Conference that returned its top four scorers from last season.
NO. 3 HOUSTON 83, NORTHERN COLORADO 36
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser scored 21 points, J&rsquo;Wan Roberts added 12 points and six rebounds, and Houston opened the season by beating Northern Colorado.
Sasser, a preseason All-American, scored 11 points in the first half. He finished 7 of 14 from the field and made 4 of 8 3-pointers. The senior guard missed the second half of last season and all of Houston&rsquo;s run to the Elite Eight with a toe injury.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson won his 700th career game and 200th with the Cougars.
Matt Johnson II, Riley Abercrombie and Caleb Shaw each scored eight points for the Bears.
NO. 4 KENTUCKY 95, HOWARD 63
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Antonio Reeves scored 22 points, CJ Fredrick had 20 and Kentucky beat Howard with All-American Oscar Tshiebwe and two other players sidelined.
Tshiebwe had a procedure last month on his right knee. Point guard Sahvir Wheeler (right leg) and sophomore forward Daimion Collins (personal reasons) were also out, but the Wildcats still shot 55% against the overmatched Bison.
Jacob Toppin and freshman Cason Wallace each added 15 points for Kentucky.
Kobe Dickson scored 17 points and Elijah Hawkins had 14 for Howard, which shot 34%.
NO. 5 KANSAS 89, OMAHA 64
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Gradey Dick added 23 points in his debut, and Kansas began defense of its national championship without suspended coach Bill Self by routing Omaha.
Bobby Pettiford Jr. added 13 points, Dajuan Harris had 11 points and eight assists, and Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar Jr. scored 10 for the Jayhawks, who broke open a close game in the second half with two big runs.
Self served the first of a four-game punishment along with assistant Kurtis Townsend as part of the fallout from a 2017 federal investigation into college basketball corruption.
Jaeden Marshall scored 13 points and Luke Jungers had 12 for the Mavericks.
NO. 5 BAYLOR 117, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 53
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Adam Flagler scored 21 points to lead six players in double figures as Baylor won the opener of its 20th season with coach Scott Drew.
Flagler, a preseason All-Big 12 pick who also was the Bears&rsquo; leading scorer last season, also had eight assists and one of his four 3-pointers started a 24-0 run midway through the first half.
LJ Cryer had 16 points and Dale Bonner, another returning guard, had 14.
Alvin Stredic scored 14 points and Terry Collins 10 for Mississippi Valley State in its first game for new coach George Ivory.
NO. 9 CREIGHTON 72, ST. THOMAS 60
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Baylor Scheierman made back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half to give Creighton the lead for good.
Arthur Kaluma scored 17 points, Trey Alexander had 12 and Scheierman added 11 as the Bluejays won their 25th opener in 26 years.
St. Thomas, a Summit League member beginning its second season in Division I, gave the Bluejays all they could handle until the last few minutes. Andrew Rohde had 15 points to lead the Tommies.
NO. 10 ARKANSAS 76, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 58
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Trevon Brazile had 21 points and 12 rebounds in his debut as Arkansas won its season opener.
Brazile, a sophomore transfer from Missouri, scored six straight points during an 11-0 run early in the second half that gave Arkansas a 16-point lead with 15 minutes left.
Wichita State transfer Ricky Council led the Razorbacks with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting.
Grant Nelson and Boden Skunberg had 17 points apiece to lead North Dakota State.
NO. 11 TENNESSEE 75, TENNESSEE TECH 43
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Tyreke Key came off the bench to score 17 points and Tennessee beat Tennessee Tech in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Key, an Indiana State transfer, connected on 4 of 8 3-pointers to ignite a sluggish Volunteer offense. Zakai Zeigler scored all but two of his 12 points in the second half.
Brett Thompson led the Golden Eagles with 15 points.
NO. 12 TEXAS 72, UTEP 57
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Tyrese Hunter scored 18 points to lead Texas past UTEP in the debut of its new arena.
Hunter, a transfer from Iowa State, was 6-of-8 shooting and added five rebounds. Ze&rsquo;Ri Onyema led UTEP with 10 points.
Texas this season moved to the $375 million Moody Center on the edge of campus, leaving behind the old Frank Erwin Center after 45 years.
NO. 13 INDIANA 88, MOREHEAD STATE 53
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Preseason All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis and freshman Malik Reneau each scored 15 points, helping Indiana beat Morehead State in the season opener for both teams.
The Hoosiers have won all six matchups in the series and are 26-0 all-time against Ohio Valley Conference foes.
Mark Freeman led the Eagles with 14 points, and Drew Thelwell had 11 for the OVC favorites.
NO. 14 TCU 73, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 72
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Mike Miles hit a 3-pointer with 51 seconds remaining to finally put TCU ahead to stay against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which built an early 20-point lead in the season opener for both teams.
Miles, the preseason Big 12 player of the year, hit from deep beyond the top of the key for a 71-68 lead.
Emanuel Miller had 15 of his 19 points in the second half, and Miles finished with 15 points for the Horned Frogs. They returned all five starters and five other scholarship players after winning their first NCAA Tournament game since 1987.
Shaun Doss had 25 points with four of Arkansas-Pine Bluff&rsquo;s 13 3-pointers.
NO. 15 AUBURN 70, GEORGE MASON 52
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Wendell Green Jr. scored 16 points while K.D. Johnson and Johni Broome each had 12 to lead Auburn to a season-opening win over George Mason.
The Tigers weren&rsquo;t really challenged much in their first game since losing NBA first-round draft picks Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler.
Ronald Polite III led George Mason with 10 points, and Victor Bailey Jr. had nine.
NO. 16 VILLANOVA 81, LA SALLE 68
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) &mdash; Caleb Daniels scored 24 points to make coach Kyle Neptune a winner in his Villanova debut.
Neptune replaced Hall of Famer Jay Wright, who retired in the offseason. The Wildcats returned three starters (a fourth, Justin Moore, was injured) from the team that lost a national semifinal game to Kansas. Eric Dixon added 20 points for Villanova.
Daniels made his first five 3-pointers and the Wildcats used an early 10-0 run to put away their city rival and spoiled 74-year-old coach Fran Dunphy&rsquo;s return to the bench.
Josh Nickelberry scored 22 points to lead the Explorers.
NO. 17 ARIZONA 117, NICHOLLS STATE 75
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis scored 23 points and Arizona went on a massive opening run to begin its second season under coach Tommy Lloyd with a rout.
Ballo scored 18 points, helping Arizona set a school record with 71.7% shooting from the floor against the reigning Southland Conference regular-season champions. The Wildcats opened the game with a 30-4 run.
Micah Thomas led Nicholls State with 20 points.
NO. 18 VIRGINIA 73, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 61
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman sparked a 15-2 second-half run, and Virginia beat North Carolina Central after blowing a 16-point first-half lead.
Armaan Franklin led Virginia with 21 points in the season opener for both teams, and Francisco Caffaro had 10.
Justin Wright scored 20 and Eric Boone had 18 for the Eagles, who used a 12-0 run just after halftime to go ahead. But Clark hit a 3 and Beekman followed with a steal and a breakaway.
NO. 19 SAN DIEGO STATE 80, CAL STATE FULLERTON 57
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Darrion Trammell hit three 3-pointers during a 29-10 run to open the second half and finished with 18 points as San Diego State beat Cal State Fullerton.
Fellow newcomer Jaedon LeDee and Lamont Butler scored 11 points apiece and Nathan Mensah had 10 for the Aztecs, who won their 10th straight season opener and their 17th in 18 seasons.
Vincent Lee scored 11 and Jalen Harris 10 for the Titans, the defending Big West Conference champions.
NO. 20 ALABAMA 75, LONGWOOD 54
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Freshman Brandon Miller had 14 points and 13 rebounds in his debut as Alabama beat Longwood.
Fellow freshman Rylan Griffen also scored 14 for the Crimson Tide, and point guard Mark Sears had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Freshman guard Jaden Bradley added 11 points and six boards.
Alabama held Longwood to 27% shooting and blocked nine shots. Michael Christmas led Longwood with 12 points.
NO. 21 OREGON 80, FLORIDA A&amp;M 45
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) &mdash; N&rsquo;Faly Dante had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Oregon opened with an easy win over Florida A&amp;M.
Keeshawn Barthelemy added 13 points for the Ducks, ranked to start the season for the ninth straight year. Will Richardson scored 11.
Jordan Tillmon and Jordan Chatman had eight points apiece for the Rattlers, who have 11 new players. Florida A&amp;M coach Robert McCullum was on Oregon coach Dana Altman&rsquo;s staff from 2014-17.
NO. 22 MICHIGAN 75, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 56
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Hunter Dickinson had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and freshman Jett Howard added 21 points in Michigan&rsquo;s season-opening win.
After Purdue Fort Wayne opened an 8-4 lead, Michigan went on a 20-0 run to take control.
Quinton Morton-Robertson scored 15 points and Bobby Planutis added 13 for the Mastodons.
NO. 23 ILLINOIS 87, EASTERN ILLINOIS 57
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 24 points and Coleman Hawkins had 23 points and 12 rebounds as Illinois cruised past Eastern Illinois.
Dain Dainja added 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Illini, who outrebounded the Panthers 53-30 in the opener for both teams.
Kinyon Hodges scored 14 points and Yaakema Rose added 10 for Eastern Illinois.
NO. 24 DAYTON 73, LINDENWOOD 46
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Mustapha Amzil scored 14 points, DaRon Holmes II and R.J. Blakney each had 13 and Dayton beat Lindenwood in a sluggish opener for both teams.
Dayton was without injured point guard Malachi Smith and didn&rsquo;t play particularly well until late, but it had a large margin for error against Lindenwood, which was playing its first game after moving up to Division I.
Chris Childs had 15 points for the Lions, who shot 33% from the field.
NO. 25 TEXAS TECH 73, NORTHWESTERN STATE 49
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash; Daniel Batcho had 12 points and 10 rebounds as Texas Tech rolled past Northwestern State in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Texas Tech broke it open late in the first half and led 42-23 at halftime.
Isaac Haney led Northwestern State with 16 points.

It was a quality start to a season of massive change for the Blue Devils, starting with Jon Scheyer taking over Duke's program.

Roach leads No. 7 Duke past Jacksonville in Scheyer’s debut

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; North Florida took a 10-8 lead early against No. 2 Gonzaga, but that just seemed to ignite Drew Timme and the Bulldogs.
Gonzaga went on a 26-0 run, helped by eight North Florida turnovers, to build a big lead they never relinquished.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s as good a stretch as we&rsquo;ve had all year,&rdquo; Coach Mark Few said after Gonzaga posted a 104-63 victory in the season opener for both teams. &ldquo;We got our hands on a lot of balls.&rdquo;
&ldquo;We played with great intensity,&rdquo; Few said, adding that North Florida is a team that can score a lot.
Timme, a player of the year candidate, led all scorers with 22 points, Julian Strawther added 16 and six Zags finished in double figures.
Anton Watson had 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals for Gonzaga (1-0), which won its 68th consecutive home game, the nation&rsquo;s longest such streak.
&ldquo;I think he was terrific in the first half,&rdquo; Few said of Watson. &ldquo;He got us going and made a lot of plays.&rdquo;
The Bulldogs, who have led the nation in scoring for four consecutive seasons, shot 63% in the game while holding the Ospreys to 36%.
Carter Hendricksen scored 16 points, Jadyn Parker 13 and Jose Placer 12 for North Florida (0-1), a veteran-laden team from the Atlantic Sun Conference that returned its top four scorers from last season.
&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t let someone go on a 26-0 run,&rdquo; North Florida coach Matthew Driscoll said. &ldquo;We had too many turnovers that led to easy baskets.&rdquo;
Transfer Malachi Smith had seven points during the big Gonzaga run and finished with 15.
&ldquo;Malachi is getting a little more comfortable out there and getting more assertive,&rdquo; Few said.
The Bulldogs closed the first half with an 11-2 run, holding North Florida without a field goal for the final 4:30, to take a 53-23 halftime lead.
Gonzaga shot 65% in the first half, led by Timme&rsquo;s 16 points, while the Ospreys shot 28%. North Florida committed 13 turnovers in the first, which Gonzaga converted into 20 points.
Rasir Bolton hit a pair of 3-pointers as Gonzaga pushed its lead to 71-34 with 15 minutes left in the game. North Florida did not threaten again.
VETERAN PUNCH
North Florida returned Placer (14.7 points per game), Hendricksen (12.2 ppg), Jarius Hicklen (12 ppg) and Parker (8.3 ppg) from last year&rsquo;s team. &ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t the first rodeo for these guys,&rdquo; Driscoll said. &ldquo;We play this kind of schedule every year.&rdquo;
NAISMITH NAMES
Timme and Strawther were named Monday to the 50-player watch list for the Naismith Trophy, presented annually to college basketball&rsquo;s top player. Timme was an Associated Press second-team All-America last season and won the Karl Malone Award, presented to the nation&rsquo;s top power forward.
BIG PICTURE
North Florida: The Ospreys were picked to finish fifth in the A-SUN coaches&rsquo; poll. They finished 11-20 last season, 7-9 in the league. North Florida also faces No. 3 Houston and No. 4 Kentucky this year.
Gonzaga: The Zags largely succeeded in avoiding the rough second half performances that showed up in exhibition games against Tennessee and NAIA Warner Pacific. They have won 18 consecutive regular-season openers.
UP NEXT
North Florida plays at Washington on Friday.
Gonzaga plays Michigan State on an aircraft carrier in San Diego on Friday.

The Bulldogs, who have led the nation in scoring for four consecutive seasons, shot 63% in the game while holding the Ospreys to 36%.

Timme scores 22 as No. 2 Gonzaga beats North Florida 104-63

On Wednesday night, Bennedict Mathurin treated NBA fans to another highlight-reel performance by an inbound rookie.
The sixth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft dropped 27 points, shot 61% from the field and threw down this monster dunk for the Indiana Pacers in their preseason contest against the New York Knicks:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Bennedict Mathurin is making everyone who had him Top 5 look very smart in this preseason&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/MgcKLeA05g">pic.twitter.com/MgcKLeA05g</a>
&mdash; Draft Deeper (@DraftDeeper) <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftDeeper/status/1580373117926805505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

Mathurin is averaging 20.3 points in just over 22 minutes per game this preseason, ranking second in scoring among all rookies who have played multiple games. He's been a leading hype-getter over the past month, along with others like Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/is-tari-easons-preseason-play-forecasting-a-breakout-rookie-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who I wrote about on Monday</a>), Sacramento Kings swingman Keegan Murray and Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey. As always, though, there's the asterisk that comes with a stellar showing in a contest that doesn't count.&nbsp;
So how well does preseason rookie stardom forecast the first year of production? Obviously, countless variables can change the environment for a player between the preseason and regular season. But past trends are always worth a peek and offer a historical look at a portion of the NBA calendar that always gets forgotten.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Per-game scoring has some of the highest weight in the All-Rookie race. Last year, the top five per-game scorers made up the All-Rookie First Team. In 2020-21, the first-team members included five of the top six scorers. Points shouldn't be the crux of the voting process (see Herb Jones getting snubbed from the First Team!!), but they are.
Here's a look at preseason historical rookie scoring leaders over the last 10 seasons, and how they ended up faring in Year 1. This data is courtesy of RealGM (minimum 2 preseason games played and 50 regular season games played).
(Note: Exceptions were made for Zion Williamson and Joel Embiid, who landed on All-Rookie First Team despite playing well below 50 games. They are included in applicable categories.)
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 76.50130548302872%; height: 242px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 8.998963522219945%; height: 22px;">Year</td>
<td style="width: 23.9518220184301%; height: 22px;">No. of top-10 preseason scorers who were also top-10 in reg. season</td>
<td style="width: 19.021436368956508%; height: 22px;">No. of top-10 preseason scorers who made All-Rookie teams</td>
<td style="width: 17.556894488460735%; height: 22px;">No. of top-10 reg. season scorers who made All-Rookie teams</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 8.998963522219945%; height: 22px;">2021-22</td>
<td style="width: 23.9518220184301%; height: 22px;">5</td>
<td style="width: 19.021436368956508%; height: 22px;">4</td>
<td style="width: 17.556894488460735%; height: 22px;">8</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 8.998963522219945%; height: 22px;">2020-21</td>
<td style="width: 23.9518220184301%; height: 22px;">6</td>
<td style="width: 19.021436368956508%; height: 22px;">4</td>
<td style="width: 17.556894488460735%; height: 22px;">8</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 8.998963522219945%; height: 22px;">2019-20</td>
<td style="width: 23.9518220184301%; height: 22px;">5</td>
<td style="width: 19.021436368956508%; height: 22px;">4</td>
<td style="width: 17.556894488460735%; height: 22px;">7</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 8.998963522219945%; height: 22px;">2018-19</td>
<td style="width: 23.9518220184301%; height: 22px;">6</td>
<td style="width: 19.021436368956508%; height: 22px;">5</td>
<td style="width: 17.556894488460735%; height: 22px;">8</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 8.998963522219945%; height: 22px;">2017-18</td>
<td style="width: 23.9518220184301%; height: 22px;">7</td>
<td style="width: 19.021436368956508%; height: 22px;">6</td>
<td style="width: 17.556894488460735%; height: 22px;">8</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 8.998963522219945%; height: 22px;">2016-17</td>
<td style="width: 23.9518220184301%; height: 22px;">5</td>
<td style="width: 19.021436368956508%; height: 22px;">6</td>
<td style="width: 17.556894488460735%; height: 22px;">9</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 8.998963522219945%; height: 22px;">2015-16</td>
<td style="width: 23.9518220184301%; height: 22px;">4</td>
<td style="width: 19.021436368956508%; height: 22px;">4</td>
<td style="width: 17.556894488460735%; height: 22px;">8</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 8.998963522219945%; height: 22px;">2014-15</td>
<td style="width: 23.9518220184301%; height: 22px;">2</td>
<td style="width: 19.021436368956508%; height: 22px;">2</td>
<td style="width: 17.556894488460735%; height: 22px;">8</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 8.998963522219945%; height: 22px;">2013-14</td>
<td style="width: 23.9518220184301%; height: 22px;">5</td>
<td style="width: 19.021436368956508%; height: 22px;">5</td>
<td style="width: 17.556894488460735%; height: 22px;">6</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 8.998963522219945%; height: 22px;">2012-13</td>
<td style="width: 23.9518220184301%; height: 22px;">5</td>
<td style="width: 19.021436368956508%; height: 22px;">4</td>
<td style="width: 17.556894488460735%; height: 22px;">8</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
(Scroll right to view full table) 
This table eschews some of the context that comes with the ups and downs of different rookie classes. For example, just four rookies averaged more than 9 points per game, and Steven Adams averaged 3.3 points and managed to land on the All-Rookie Second Team... yeesh. Cade Cunningham probably would have been a preseason top scorer if he wasn't hurt, and the same could be said for Jabari Parker's 2014-15 regular season had he not torn his ACL.
Still, the general theme appears to be that preseason bucket-getters can signal regular-season success, but it's not an automatic transition. And this makes sense &mdash; playing time is obviously different in the preseason, and roles that appear to be solid might dissolve. Jared Butler, Trey Murphy III and James Bouknight were all top-five preseason rookie scorers last year who scarcely played in the regular season (though Murphy caught on late).&nbsp;
The last 10 years of preseason scoring leaders, in reverse chronological order, are Jared Butler (18.0 PPG), Theo Maledon (15.5), Zion Williamson (23.3), Deandre Ayton (18.2), Kyle Kuzma (17.3), Troy Williams (13.2), Emmanuel Mudiay (15.0), Jabari Parker (15.1), Victor Oladipo (13.9) and Damian Lillard (16.2). Seven of those guys landed on an All-Rookie team, but only Lillard earned Rookie of the Year.&nbsp;
That being said, it's significant that Eason and Mathurin have thrived at their current level. They're both putting up over 30 points per 36 minutes, which is ridiculous given their sizeable preseason roles. Williamson is the only other qualifying rookie in the last 10 years to clear such a threshold while averaging more than 20 minutes per game. Let me go find the wide-eyed emoji.
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Playing time, ultimately, is perhaps the trickiest puzzle to solve with preseason. Eason and Mathurin should have room to play through mistakes on teams in rebuilding situations. But what about some of the less emphatic rookie standouts?
This year's 10 leading scorers are Eason (20.7 PPG), Mathurin (20.3), Murray (16.0), Ivey (13.7), Jaden Hardy (13.5), Paolo Banchero (13.3), Jalen Williams (12.8), Shaedon Sharpe (11.8), Ousmane Dieng (11.0) and Jamal Cain (10.0). I'd consider Hardy, Sharpe and Cain the toughest All-Rookie bets of the group, just because they'll have to overcome deeper rosters and show they can impact winning for playoff hopefuls.
It's a boring takeaway, but here's my final thought: Remember that it's the preseason, and the jump to games that matter gets bumpy fast. But be cautiously excited about your favorite rookie. It's healthy to enjoy fun basketball. As interesting as it is to look back at history, every young player faces their own unique set of obstacles on the pathway to success.
Meanwhile, Rockets and Pacers fans &mdash; go wild. Even if the team scores are meaningless, Tari Eason and Bennedict Mathurin sure are awesome.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>Happy belated birthday to our Nekias Duncan! He dropped a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/202223-nba-season-preview-pacific-division" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pacific Division season preview</a> and mentioned the Golden State Warriors' we-won't-call-it-a-Death Lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green outscored opponents by 42 points in 105 playoff minutes last year. That's a group to watch out for.</li>
<li>Let's not forget how huge Jerami Grant's addition could be for the Blazers defense (via this graphic from SIS Hoops):&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
In Jerami Grant, Portland adds a versatile defensive chess piece, adept at limiting advantages on the ball and cleaning up as a help rim protector: <a href="https://t.co/un8bilBhI5">pic.twitter.com/un8bilBhI5</a>
&mdash; SIS Hoops (@SIS_Hoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/SIS_Hoops/status/1580221934603640838?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>Todd Whitehead has put together some neat visualizations of how players have changed roles over the course of their careers. I thought this one with Pascal Siakam was particularly interesting:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Who might follow this career path next? Pascal Siakam was super efficient as a slashing wing a few seasons ago but then he took on a more central role in Toronto's offense and his PPP hasn't fully recovered. Perhaps this is the year. <a href="https://t.co/A4WlUBAmj5">pic.twitter.com/A4WlUBAmj5</a>
&mdash; Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1580345468344623105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Ethan Fuller looks at past trends to see if this year's preseason rookie stars can keep the momentum going into the regular season.

NBA Stats Notebook: Does preseason stardom translate to rookie success?

LAS VEGAS (AP) &mdash; Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson have been linked constantly over the last couple years, with just about every prognosticator anointing them as the top two picks in the 2023 NBA draft.
Thing is, they don&rsquo;t know each other.
That&rsquo;s about to change. Wembanyama &mdash; he&rsquo;s listed at 7-foot-2, some say he&rsquo;s 7-foot-4 &mdash; and the Paris-based club Metropolitans 92 are in Las Vegas to take on Henderson and the G League Ignite in a pair of exhibitions, the first on Tuesday and the second on Thursday.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing against an NBA team, with NBA rules, on an NBA court,&rdquo; Wembanyama said Monday. &ldquo;This is really going to be a first for me. I&rsquo;m curious to know how it&rsquo;s going to go. I know it&rsquo;s going to go well, but I&rsquo;m still curious.&rdquo;
Victor vs. Scoot. Scoot vs. Victor. They&rsquo;re not playing 1-on-1, but they are the clear headliners and the reasons why these first-of-their-kind games were put together.
Wembanyama is listed as a center but plays all over the floor with guard skills in a big-man frame; Henderson is a point guard who has been getting tons of attention for years.
&ldquo;Out of all the prospects I&rsquo;ve heard about in our class, I think he&rsquo;s my favorite one,&rdquo; Wembanyama said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s the most reliable that I&rsquo;ve seen. He&rsquo;s really a great player. If I was never born, I think he would deserve the first spot.&rdquo;
Henderson &mdash; a five-star recruit from Georgia who signed with the Ignite last year and played in 10 games &mdash; sees these two games as an opportunity, downplaying the 1-on-1 storyline.
&ldquo;People always try to compare and contrast whoever. I don&rsquo;t look at it like that,&rdquo; Henderson said. &ldquo;I look at it as two good ballplayers.&rdquo;
The Ignite program exists to develop young prospects in preparation for the NBA Draft, mixing them with veteran talent to help guide them along the way. It has featured three eventual top-10 picks &mdash; Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga last year, Dyson Daniels this year &mdash; in its first two seasons.
Henderson is a huge draw for the Ignite this year. The Ignite also have Shareef O&rsquo;Neal, the son of Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal. But much of what the Ignite would ordinarily be doing right now would be barely noticed nationally; hence, the games against Wembanyama were put together.
The Los Angeles Lakers are playing in Las Vegas this week, a pair of preseason matchups against Phoenix and Minnesota. Wembanyama is going to those as a fan; he'll have a slightly different view of NBA games next season.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of those type of players, honestly, where you say like there&rsquo;ll never be like another Shaq or there&rsquo;ll never be another that,&rdquo; Ignite coach Jason Hart said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s that. You&rsquo;ll never see another one of those. The scouting report on him is tough. ... I&rsquo;m honored that I&rsquo;m getting to play him at 18, because at 24, he&rsquo;s going to be something different.&rdquo;
Wembanyama has been a pro for three seasons already, spending last season with ASVEL in France &mdash; a club owned by San Antonio Spurs legend Tony Parker. He made the decision this year to join Metropolitans in part to be coached by Vincent Collet, who also coaches the French national team.
Collet is welcoming the chance.
&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s the best prospect we&rsquo;ve ever had in our league,&rdquo; Collet said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s amazing, not only by his size, but incredible skills. Despite that, he still needs to learn the game. He&rsquo;s very young. ... We will try to give him this experience. That&rsquo;s the deal we have together, him and me. We want to give him the experience before he gets to the league. It&rsquo;s most important to get him ready for what will follow next year.&rdquo;

Victor vs. Scoot. Scoot vs. Victor. They’re not playing 1-on-1, but they are the clear headliners on Tuesday night.

Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson set to clash in top prospect battle

Let the Victor Wembanyama watch begin.
This year, Duke's Paolo Banchero was the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. A choice some consider at least a mild surprise.
Next year, it&rsquo;ll almost certainly be Wembanyama. That will be no surprise.
Those who haven&rsquo;t heard of the 7-foot-3 French teenager probably should familiarize themselves over the next 12 months, because he&rsquo;s coming to the NBA -- and he&rsquo;s already being touted as an immediate-impact player.
The comparisons are many, and all are impressive. Physically, he reminds scouts of Kristaps Porzingis. In terms of the combination of height and shooting ability, he&rsquo;s reminiscent of what Kevin Durant was at that age. And he&rsquo;s carried around the can&rsquo;t-miss label for a couple years already.
Plus, he&rsquo;s been a pro for a couple of years.
Wembanyama plays for ASVEL, the French team owned by former San Antonio Spurs point guard and four-time NBA champion Tony Parker. And he turned plenty of heads with a 22-point, eight-rebound, eight-block performance against the United States in the championship game of last year&rsquo;s FIBA Under-19 World Cup. The Americans beat Wembanyama and the French 83-81 for the gold medal.
THE SUITS
There was no shortage of fashion statements at the draft.
Bennedict Mathurin picked a red suit with a floral theme and a bow tie. Tari Eason's suit was emerald. And No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero went with a bright purple suit covered with dozens of silver rhinestones attached throughout, along with a silver chain and &ldquo;P5&rdquo; medallion.
He was asked if the sparkly stones were real, and quickly confirmed that they were not.
&ldquo;I'd have to have security follow me 24-7," Banchero quipped.
Both of his Banchero's parents went to the University of Washington and the Seattle native said he wore purple &mdash; the Huskies' primary color &mdash; as a tip of the hat to them and the school, even though he wound up choosing to travel across the country to play for Duke.
&ldquo;I did it to pay my respects to them," Banchero said.
Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick from Gonzaga, wore a black velvet suit with a bow tie and dice hanging in a net from his chain. Purdue's Jaden Ivey wore a similar suit with a chain.
Baylor forward Jeremy Sochan chose a lavender suit, and No. 3 overall pick Auburn's Jabari Smith Jr. had pictures of his playing days with the Tigers sewn inside his suitcoat.
YO, CANADA
Bennedict Mathurin and Shaedon Sharpe went No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, in the draft.
And that was history for Canada &mdash; marking just the second time two players from that country went in the top 10 in the NBA draft. The other instance was 2014 when Andrew Wiggins was taken first overall by Cleveland, and Sacramento took Nik Stauskas with the No. 8 pick.
Mathurin went to Indiana, Sharpe to Portland.
DUKE MOVES PAST KENTUCKY
Duke has now moved ahead of Kentucky with the most No. 1 overall picks among colleges during the common era (since 1966) of the NBA draft with four overall &mdash; Banchero, Elton Brand (1999), Kyrie Irving (2011) and Zion Williamson (2019).
The Wildcats have had three No. 1 selections since 1966 with John Wall (2010), Anthony Davis (2012) and Karl-Anthony Towns (2015).

Victor who? Wembanyama favorite to be No. 1 pick in 2023

The Oklahoma City Thunder came out of last Tuesday&rsquo;s NBA Draft Lottery as the night&rsquo;s runner-up, taking home the No. 2 overall pick.&nbsp;
The Thunder have never received the first-overall pick in their franchise history, which technically goes back to 1967 when they were still the Seattle Supersonics. They have selected second on two occasions though, and both worked out really well (Kevin Durant in 2007 and Gary Payton in 1990).
The Thunder have a war-chest of draft picks in the coming years, but those picks are meaningless if they don&rsquo;t select a franchise-altering talent. Fortunately, the No. 2 pick should provide an opportunity to do so. The 2022 draft class features a few &ldquo;can&rsquo;t-miss&rdquo; prospects, including Auburn&rsquo;s Jabari Smith, Gonzaga&rsquo;s Chet Holmgren and Duke&rsquo;s Paolo Banchero. All three have their pros and cons, but adding any of them to the existing core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey should work out beautifully.
In the 2021 NBA Draft, the Thunder made six selections, but they traded three of those players. They added Giddey (who was named to the 2021-22 All-Rookie Second Team), Tre Mann and Aaron Wiggins &ndash; none of whom are bigs. The Thunder did trade for a seven-footer in the 2020 draft (Aleksej Pokusevski), but he&rsquo;s still extremely raw and is not the same caliber of player as the top-three prospects.
Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done through the scouting process to effectively evaluate all three of this draft's most-coveted prospects, but a look back at the last 10 NBA drafts reveals a murkier history than one might assume. After <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-the-success-of-teams-selecting-first-in-the-nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">examining the success of teams selecting No. 1 in the NBA Draft</a> last week, let's look at how recent No. 2 overall picks have fared.&nbsp;
2012 NBA Draft: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets
The Hornets bombed with the second pick in 2012. Kidd-Gilchrist had a fine career, averaging 12.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game across eight seasons in the NBA. The thing is, Bradley Beal was selected third and Damian Lillard was selected fifth, and both of those guys are All-NBA-caliber players annually. Comparatively, that&rsquo;s a huge miss for Charlotte.
Verdict: Failure.
2013 NBA Draft: Victor Oladipo, Orlando Magic
The Cavaliers certainly surprised many of us by picking Anthony Bennett with the first overall pick, but the Magic stuck to the script. Oladipo was universally seen as a top-three player in this draft, and he became the second-best player in the class before knee and quad injuries derailed his career.
As much as injuries have robbed much of what Oladipo was, he is still an intriguing player, and he&rsquo;ll probably command some decent free-agent offers this offseason. Obiously, CJ McCollumn (selected 10th) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (selected 15th) are better players, but neither was being considered by the Magic. Considering that Oladipo is a two-time All-Star, an All-Defensive selection and a one-time All-NBA selection, I&rsquo;d say the Magic did a fine job in picking Oladipo.
Verdict: Success
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2014 NBA Draft: Jabari Parker, Milwaukee Bucks
The 2014 draft was a weird one. Neither the first nor the second pick ended up being the best player from this draft class. Andrew Wiggins found a good role, even if he is far less successful than most thought he&rsquo;d be, but Jabari Parker really underwhelmed. Granted, Parker stuck around in the league for eight seasons, including some of the current one, but his career simply never materialized even if it&rsquo;s not his (nor Milwaukee&rsquo;s) fault.
Parker tore his ACL twice. He looked like he was becoming a pretty darn good player (even if he was a defensive liability) before the second ACL injury, averaging 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in 2016-17. However good Parker could have been, the fact of the matter is that Joel Embiid was intriguing enough as of draft night to be taken one pick later, and that stings.
Verdict: Failure
2015 NBA Draft: D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers
Here&rsquo;s an instance where a player actually was worth a top-three pick. The problem is that the Lakers had the second pick, and there&rsquo;s a big difference between Karl-Anthony Towns or Devin Booker and Russell. Making matters worse, the Lakers sent Russell to Brooklyn before he matured. His immaturity was part of the reason he was traded, but that doesn&rsquo;t change the fact that the Lakers picked him and moved on very quickly. Russell may or may not end up being a franchise-altering talent, but he hasn&rsquo;t realized his full potential yet, and he clearly won&rsquo;t do so for the Lakers.
Verdict: Failure
2016 NBA Draft: Brandon Ingram, Los Angeles Lakers
Ingram is one of the best No. 2 picks in the last 10 drafts. He&rsquo;s a true number one option on a playoff team, a career 18.5 points-per-game scorer and a one-time All-Star. It&rsquo;s debatable that Jaylen Brown (selected third) and/or Jamal Murray (selected seventh) are as good or better players, but both have played alongside more talented teammates throughout their careers.
Ingram has been the best player on the New Orleans Pelicans for a few years now, and we shouldn&rsquo;t take for granted the fact that Ingram led a playoff team this season. Sure, the Lakers didn&rsquo;t cash in on him specifically, but he was part of the package that led to Anthony Davis landing in Los Angeles. So, it worked out for them too.
Verdict: Success
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2017 NBA Draft: Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers picked second overall again in 2017. They weren&rsquo;t as successful this time around. First, there&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum to consider. Tatum was selected third and is the best player in the 2017 draft class. Being selected by the Lakers wouldn&rsquo;t have changed that, and that should be enough. But there&rsquo;s also Ball&rsquo;s rough shooting mechanics to consider. Sure, he&rsquo;s grown into a good shooter, but the Lakers didn&rsquo;t benefit from that. It&rsquo;s hard to categorize Ball&rsquo;s selection as an outright failure because like Ingram, he helped facilitate Davis to the Lakers. Still, it's tough to classify his selection a success.
Verdict: Push
2018 NBA Draft: Marvin Bagley III, Sacramento Kings
Bagley might be the worst second pick in the last 10 years. The 2018 NBA Draft will forever be remembered as the Luka Doncic class. The Kings could have drafted Doncic, as he was still on the board, but they chose to go with Bagley instead. Bagley isn&rsquo;t even on the Kings any longer, and his time in Sacramento was not memorable.
Bagley is a sub-par defender and three-point shooter. He&rsquo;s scored the ball at a decent pace, averaging 19.5 points per-36 minutes, but he&rsquo;s never earned a big enough role to demonstrate what he can really do, and he&rsquo;s exclusively been on losing teams. Comparatively, Doncic and Trae Young (selected No. 5 in 2018) have turned their franchises around.
Verdict: Failure
2019 NBA Draft: Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
Ingram was the best second pick in the last 10 years, until 2019. Morant stole that made-up accolade almost immediately in his rookie season. The thing is, the 2019 NBA Draft was supposed to be all about Zion Williamson. However, unlike Williamson, Morant has backed up all the hype and then some. So, while Williamson has dealt with injuries for much of his young career, Morant has brazenly become the face of his draft class.
Morant is drawing comparisons to numerous superstars, and he was named to the 2021-22 All-NBA Second Team. No one selected after him comes close to making the Grizzlies think twice about their decision.
Verdict: HUGE success
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2020 NBA Draft: James Wiseman, Golden State Warriors
Unlike his brother Lonzo, LaMelo Ball was deserving of the second pick in 2020. Instead, the Golden State Warriors went with James Wiseman, though the logic behind the pick is clear, even in retrospect. The Warriors already had two All-NBA guards. The thing is, Jordan Poole looks pretty good alongside Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, doesn&rsquo;t he? So, it&rsquo;s feasible to assume that Ball would have fit too.
After two seasons, Ball is a significantly better player, but he&rsquo;s also had plenty of opportunity to demonstrate that fact. Wiseman has had terrible health-related luck. He played in 39 of the Warriors' first 53 games in 2020-21, but he tore his meniscus in Golden State&rsquo;s 53rd&nbsp;game of the season and hasn&rsquo;t been seen since. Wiseman could still be a serious contributor, as his per-36 numbers were impressive for a rookie (19.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 assists on .542/.316/.628 shooting). This is one we&rsquo;ll have to continue monitoring.
Verdict: Unclear
2021 NBA Draft: Jalen Green, Houston Rockets
Basing the success of a pick on only a rookie season is tough. Green posted an impressive rookie campaign, but his defensive deficiencies were clear. That&rsquo;s an understandable flaw for a rookie. Green was the assumed second-best player in the class. Having the luxury of hindsight, we now know that Scottie Barnes (selected fourth) and Evan Mobley (selected third) translated to the NBA incredibly well. But wing scorers have a tougher time making the jump, as they must shoot deeper three-pointers and compete against far more athletic competition. Green&rsquo;s floor may be lower than that of Barnes and Mobley, but I'd argue that his ceiling is still higher. Let&rsquo;s give him a little more time.
Verdict: Unclear&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
In the last 10 drafts, the second overall pick has clearly been one of the best players in the draft class just three times (2013, 2016 and 2019).&nbsp;
A deeper examination of No. 2 overall picks reveals a limited number of franchise-altering talents. For every Kevin Durant, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Earl Monroe and Bill Russell, there are a number of players who didn't live up to expectations. Sometimes, there isn't a generational player on the board; other times, the team picking No. 2 overall just overthinks it or goes in the wrong direction. Either way, No. 2 hasn&rsquo;t produced as many all-time greats as you might expect, but there have been quite a few significant contributors.
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Oklahoma City will pick No. 2 in the 2022 draft. A look back at the last 10 drafts reveals that there are no guarantees for No. 2 picks.

Examining the success of teams selecting No. 2 in the NBA Draft

Sometimes Justė Jocytė needs to slow down her warp-speed world.&nbsp;
The Lithuanian channels Drake and "chill music" through her headphones, and takes a walk to find a space for herself. In her preparation process, Jocytė makes it a point to clear her head of stress.
"Literally, it's almost like meditating," Jocytė told BasketballNews.com in an exclusive interview via Zoom. "You just stop thinking. Just take a deep breath, clear your head out and really just stop overthinking everything. I think that helps; when you're thinking a lot before a game, that's not good for you."
Jocytė speaks with the calm poise of a veteran professional because she is one, in her third season at the highest levels of European basketball with Lyon ASVEL F&eacute;minin in France. But the 6-foot-2 lefty guard is also considered one of the top prospects on Earth, and, at just 15 years old, is accomplishing more than most young hoopers do in their lifetimes.
San Antonio Spurs great Tony Parker recruited her at at age-13, and she debuted with the Lithuanian senior national team that same year. At 14, Jocytė became the youngest player to debut in modern EuroLeague history. Today, she regularly competes against WNBA players and European stars, and even holds a small sponsorship deal from Nike.
Jocytė carries the faith of an NBA legend, the hopes of an entire country and the potential of a future global star on her teenage shoulders. But she holds the burden with a placid purpose, knowing that as long as she works, her pathway will reveal itself.
"I mean, the dream is obviously to get to the WNBA &mdash; but I don't really know if it's gonna be my style of game, it's kind of different from Europe &mdash; but obviously playing there, and just living my best life," she said.
"I love basketball &mdash; that's what I'm planning to do for a living &mdash; and [I] just take pleasure every day in every practice," she added. "And I think, yeah, that's most important: just to be happy."
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"Every day, we live with basketball."
According to Jocytė's father, Alvydas Jocys, the house TV is almost always tuned to hoops: NBA, WNBA, men's and women's EuroLeague and EuroCup, Lithuanian competition, you name it.&nbsp; Basketball is the country's most popular sport. It is woven into the fabric of Jocytė's family.
"It's just our life, you know?" Alvydas told BasketballNews.com over the phone.
Alvydas played college basketball through the end of the 1990s for Mid-Plains Community College, and then Bellevue University, in Nebraska. His brother, Evaldas, logged professional and collegiate careers, including stints with Lithuanian club Olimpas Plung&eacute; and Division I East Carolina University. Jocytė's older brother, 17-year-old Rokas, competes in Lithuania after having spent time on Stellazzurra Rome's U18 team in Italy.
Jocytė was even born in Washington D.C. before the family moved back to Lithuania when she was an infant. She has played above her age bracket since she could first dribble a basketball. First, it was in the backyard against Rokas. Then, at 6 years old &mdash; when she began to take a serious interest in the sport &mdash; Alvydas and his wife, Aurelija Jociene, noticed their daughter was unusually talented.
"We noticed that she had the ability to play with the ball, and play and dribble and shoot. She was different at that kind of age from other girls," Alvydas said.
Jocytė entered a program in her hometown of Palanga on the Baltic Coast of the country. Then, she outplayed her competition, and the family signed her up for training in Klaipėda, a nearby city. Jocytė was hopping from bus-to-bus at 9 years old, attending practices and games with kids three years her senior.&nbsp;
"Year after year, we saw that she was developing into a pretty good basketball player," Alvydas said. "As a family, all our job was just to get her physically and emotionally ready for the journey she has right now."
The <a href="https://twitter.com/jrnba/status/1028733912321859585?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jr. NBA came</a> at age-12. But in 2019, Jocytė's star truly shined. She led Lithuania to its first-ever U16 FIBA European Championship as a 13-year-old, then three months later, <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/womenseurobasket/2021/qualifiers/news/the-future-is-here-13-year-old-jocyte-has-lithuania-back-on-the-rise" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made her debut with the country's senior national team</a> in the EuroBasket Qualifiers.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
SHE IS 13 😱 ! Juste Jocyte's 20PTS &amp; 15REB led @Musukrepsinis 🇱🇹 to a first EVER <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIBAU16Europe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIBAU16Europe</a> Final 🔥 ! <a href="https://t.co/gAjWbsLocB">pic.twitter.com/gAjWbsLocB</a>
&mdash; FIBA (@FIBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBA/status/1167346821678678017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2019</a></blockquote>

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Europe took note &mdash; including one Tony Parker. The four-time NBA champion co-owned the men's and women's LDLC ASVEL clubs, and was starting his <a href="https://tpadequatacademy.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tony Parker Ad&eacute;quat Academy</a> in Lyon for students desiring advanced opportunities in a number of different professions. He invited Jocytė and her family to an individual workout in Oct. 2019.
"It was kind of tough, you know? You don't really know what to say because you're... scared," Jocytė said. "But I mean, he was really pretty normal as a person, so he was easy to talk to."
At that same workout, Jocytė also met her idol: former New York Liberty guard, and future teammate, Marine Johann&egrave;s.
"She was there to pass me the ball. That was cool," Jocytė said with a laugh.
Parker saw Jocytė as a headlining addition and made his pitch to Alvydas and the family. Jocytė would join the academy and become a member of Lyon ASVEL F&eacute;minin, with a three-year agreement centered on her development in Lyon. If the family ever had a question or concern about her well-being or development, Parker was a phone call away.
"It was, for myself and my wife, ver,y very surprising [to hear] the kinds of superstars as Tony Parker &mdash; we just saw them on TV prior [to when] we came to France," Alvydas said. "But when you talk to them after one minute, you already know that they're so simple and they know what they're doing. They know what kind of business they're in."
On Nov. 7, 2019, the academy announced the signing.
"I am very happy for the Tony Parker Ad&eacute;quat Academy because it&rsquo;s the first big signature," Parker said in the official press release in French. "Justė is the most special player of her generation. It&rsquo;s one of the reasons that I opened the Academy: to welcome the best prospects of their generation, evolve with young enthusiasts of all fields, and enrich each other."
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"She's definitely one of the most gifted European players to come up in a long time."
Mark Williams is a Global Scout for Premier Basketball (the same service that compiles ESPN's HoopGurlz recruiting rankings). He has watched Jocytė rise through the youth ranks since 2018, and says the smooth shooting guard is one of the most advanced players he has seen in recent years. Her cool confidence, surgical vision and sweet perimeter shot all set her apart.
"She's gifted with the ball in her hands [and] can score at all three levels," Williams told BasketballNews.com over the phone. "One of the things that she's really done well over the last year is develop the ability to get everybody else shots... I mean, she's really gifted. She can play multiple positions. She can play on the ball. She's a better defender than people give her credit for. And she can score anytime she wants."
Jocytė carved up the competition at the 2021 FIBA U18 Women's European Challengers tournament. She averaged 20.6 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game in effortless fashion, patrolling the court while exuding serenity and swagger.
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Jocytė can spot up, step back and hesi her way to any shot on the floor. She glides with an effortless grace, and shrugs contact off of her. She also operates the offense like a surgeon, rifling pinpoint cross-court passes with either hand. Williams said that if he ranked the entire 2023 recruiting class with both U.S. and international players, the Lithuanian phenom would rest on top.
"For her, it's just kind of come together really, really early. And it's fun to watch, for sure," Williams said.
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British FIBA writer Paul Nilsen has watched the international youth game for over a decade. From the first moments he scouted an age-12 Jocytė, Nilsen was floored by her clutch gene.
"You could just tell straight away she's got it," Nilsen told BasketballNews.com over the phone. "The clutch, the ice through her veins, the smarts, the I.Q., on top of, obviously, the skill factor of being able to do what you want, when you want.
"I think that maturity so young is quite a rare and special thing."
Both Williams and Nilsen lauded Jocytė's trajectory as that of a high WNBA draft pick and a potential No. 1 overall selection. But they also cautioned against the familiar trap of locking prospects in as surefire generational superstars.&nbsp;
"It's one thing, I think in any sport, being a wunderkind, where often you find other players catch up," Nilsen said. "Sometimes you're the best out of that age at 12-13, and you're phenomenal because you've got so much natural talent. And you have to try and maintain large gap, which can sometimes be hard.
"It all boils down to whether she keeps working hard and she keeps learning," he added. "Nothing else [matters] apart from her. It's got to come from her."
For Jocytė to be challenging herself on a professional team, Nilsen says, is a testament to her dedication.
"One of the things I'm very, very committed to is this concept of: the hardest decision is always for the most talented players... even though you've got lots of choices, it's very very, very difficult," he said.
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"Playing against them every day is just a dream come true. I mean, that's the best practice you can get."
In Dec. 2019, 14-year-old Justė Jocytė subbed in for the the first time with Lyon ASVEL F&eacute;minin, and became the youngest woman to debut in the modern EuroLeague, perhaps the highest level in the world outside of the WNBA. Fast-forward two years, and she has now locked down a role in the regular rotation before her 16th birthday.
Lyon competes this season in the EuroCup; it's one league lower than the EuroLeague, but still arguably the third-best league worldwide. The EuroCup is littered with WNBA talent this season, including Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell, Atlanta Dream guard Aari McDonald, Phoenix Mercury forward Brianna Turner and Minnesota Lynx forward Natasha Mack among many others.
But that's only half of the battle. In LFB (Ligue F&eacute;minine de Basketball) competition, the team squares off against players like Phoenix Mercury guard Sophie Cunningham, Chicago Sky guard Lexie Brown and Los Angeles Sparks forward Nia Coffey. For Lyon, Johann&egrave;s and Julie Allemand both have WNBA experience.
On non-game days, Jocytė's schedule typically includes distance schooling, plus two grueling practices per day with some of the best basketball players on the planet. It's a grind she embraces.&nbsp;
"This is the pro life," she said. "Get used to it, because they will not change for you."
Jocytė generally stayed on the bench in her first two years with Lyon; she logged just 31 total minutes across both seasons. However, that doesn't mean she was stuck; behind the scenes, Jocytė was adapting to the speed and physicality of pro ball with the help of her teammates and coaches.
"I really appreciate the the work that they put in. Nobody sees the work, but they're helping me a lot," she said.
This season, the young phenom has begun to emerge. Jocytė is averaging 11.8 minutes per game in LFB play and 15.0 minutes per game in the EuroCup. She's dished out 17 assists against just six turnovers, and is shooting 75% from the field across both leagues. The performances aren't coming on some experimental squad, either &mdash; Lyon sits 3-1 in the EuroCup and 4-2 in the LFB.&nbsp;
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Even more impressive is hearing the 15-year-old critically reflect on her role with the methodical understanding of a grizzled vet:
"The physical part is tough, so you obviously had to find other ways. I think mine is just reading the game, really, because obviously you will not be faster [or] stronger," Jocytė said. "Coach puts you in [and] you have to just bring the energy; he doesn't expect you to, like, score 20 points in the game. So as a young player, you just have to stay humble, stay calm and just read."
Breanna Stewart and Nikola Jokic, as well as fellow lefty D'Angelo Russell, are film favorites for the Lithuanian. She had the last laugh this fall as one of the few members of Lyon cheering for the Chicago Sky in the WNBA Finals. And even after two years playing next to Johann&egrave;s, Jocytė still marvels every day at the star guard's talent.
"It's kind of weird because before, yeah, she was my role model, and now that it's my third year playing with her, it's kind of... she's like my friend," Jocytė said of Johann&egrave;s.
Though Jocytė is still technically the youngest player on the roster, she's no longer the only teenager. Dominique Malonga &mdash; a 6-foot-6, 15-year-old center loaded with athleticism and potential &mdash; joined ASVEL F&eacute;minin for the 2021-22 campaign. Malonga is also a Tony Parker Academy student, and Parker even labeled her "<a href="https://ldlcasvelfeminin.com/dominique-malonga-nouvelle-lionne/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the feminine Victor Wembanyama</a>."
"She's my roommate, so we kind of get along pretty easily," Jocytė said of Malonga. "This goes better than last year, when you're, like, really young with all these &mdash; I'm not gonna say old (laughs) &mdash; but older ladies. So it's kind of cool to have [someone] your age."
Jocytė is still a kid, after all &mdash; a kid playing on the other side of the continent, away from her family. Alvydas and Aurelija check-in nearly ever day with their daughter via WhatsApp. When Jocytė comes home, she'll get back on the court and battle with her brother and father, and everyone in Palanga knows her name. She says she's "not that sensitive of a person," but that doesn't mean leaving Lithuania is easy.
"I really miss home, and it's kind of hard without your family and friends. So it's always a good feeling when you come back home. It doesn't matter if it's, like, two days or something. It's really good to be there," she said.
"It was hard to let her go the first time because, you know, the '14-year-old girl on her own in the big city 2000 kilometers away' &mdash; kind of scary," Alvydas added. "[But] we know that she is in good hands [and] she gets taken care of."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Lthuania may be a basketball-crazed nation, but its women's leagues lack sustained prominence. Top players and prospects typically latch onto a development track in another region, and return home to play during the offseason. Jocytė and her father cited that lack of consistency at home as a factor in them looking toward France for her pro career.
With the national teams, though, Jocytė feels immense pride in representing her country on European and global stages.
"It's an amazing feeling to play with your national team," she said. "It's just something you really appreciate when you play overseas or something. When you come back, it's really just amazing."
(Her most recent opportunity came in the 2023 EuroBasket Qualifiers, where she scored four points on Thursday against Finland before leaving the game with a minor ankle injury. Lithuania will play again Sunday.)
The world only continues to open up for Lithuania's young star. Her current agreement with the Tony Parker Academy and Lyon reaches an option of sorts after this season. Jocytė could continue on for another three years, adding continued professonal experience and growing with ASVEL F&eacute;minin. Or, she could opt out and attend another program or school just about anywhere &mdash; including the United States.
According to a source, high-major colleges are already demonstrating interest in Jocytė. Even WNBA teams have her on their radar when the earliest she could be draft-eligible appears to be 2025. (There's confusion here due to her U.S. birth vs. Lithuanian upbringing/playing status.)&nbsp;
The family will face a monumental decision after the season. They'll weigh pros and cons, including developmental situations, level of play and even endorsement opportunities. But for now, Jocytė is focused on what she loves &mdash; playing basketball &mdash; with the regimented mentality of continued growth each day.
"I feel good here and there's a good opportunity for me here," Jocytė said. "I'm still young, so that's normal that I don't play a lot. So really, I'm just working on myself every day trying to earn the trust of my coach, and hopefully in one year or two, I will be able to really have a big impact on the team."
That's what Alvydas admires most about his daughter. Jocytė remains a level-headed sailor amidst rocky seas, letting a pure love for the sport guide her to whatever big stage is next.
"I'm very proud that she's still a simple girl, and she's very supportive to other kids," Alvydas said. "I'm very proud that she's still very, very simple and focused on what she's doing."

Lithuanian star Justė Jocytė is turning heads as the youngest woman to ever compete in the modern EuroLeague.

Meet Justė Jocytė: 15-year-old phenom and professional record-breaker

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored a season-high 41 points, Jaylen Brown added 30, including an emphatic dunk in overtime, and the Boston Celtics beat Charlotte 140-129 on Monday night, handing the Hornets their first loss of the season.
Dennis Schroder had nine of his 23 points in overtime, and Robert Williams added 12 points and 16 rebounds in a game that featured 28 lead changes.
“It just showed that we have some fight in us, some toughness,” Tatum said of the Celtics, who battled back from 12 points down in the fourth quarter. “Whatever was going our way, wasn't going our way, we had to figure it out."
Miles Bridges had 25 points and 10 rebounds and LaMelo Ball added 25 points on seven 3-pointers for the Hornets before fouling out in overtime. Kelly Oubre added 19 points for Charlotte (3-1), which was denied its first 4-0 start in franchise history.
Both teams had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation but had difficulty inbounding the ball resulting in neither team getting a shot off in the game's final 15 seconds.
Charlotte fell behind by four in overtime before Ball canned a long 3 to give the Hornets with 3:25 left and then knocked down two free throws to push the lead to 3.
But it was all Celtics from there.
Schroder and Brown made back-to-back 3s and Brown added a powerful one-handed dunk over the athletic Bridges after receiving a pass on a fast break from Tatum.
Brown said he had to make up for a missed breakaway dunk in overtime against the New York Knicks last week that proved to be a turning point in the loss. He said he'd taken some teasing from teammates and wasn't about to let it happen again.
“Miles is obviously one of the better athletes in the league so I knew if I tried to lay it up he was going to send it back to Boston,” Brown said. “So I went up with bad intentions."
Tatum called it a “big time” dunk, and it appeared to suck the life out of the Hornets even though it was still a 5-point game with 1:21 left.
Schroder went 4 of 4 from the foul line down the stretch to help seal the win.
Both teams were playing on the second night of a back-to-back, and Hornets coach James Borrego felt his team was “gassed out” down the stretch.
“They are tough, physical and they do this to most teams in the half court,” Borrego said of the Celtics. “They are long, they are physical, they switch out. We will find ways to get better as we go. We are trying to do the right thing and this is another process in learning and will help us down the road.”
The Celtics erased a 12-point fourth quarter lead as Brown started to heat up.
Boston would battle back to cut the lead to one with 2:03 remaining as Tatum drove the lane and Mason Plumlee was called for goaltending. Boston purposely fouled Plumlee at the other end of the floor on the next possession the Hornets new center missed both free throws badly. Boston took the lead on a dunk by Williams with 1:47 left.
But Ball would answer with a 26-footer at the other end to give the Hornets back the lead. Tatum tied with two free throws with 1:11 left, setting up a frantic, although scoreless final minute of regulation.
“We don’t love these overtime games, but it builds toughness mentally as well as getting in shape and playing through these,” said Celtics coach Ime Udoka. “But we just kept chipping away. We jumped it up a little bit and did a few different things trapping wise and sped them up and the guys had to obviously make shots on the other end.”
TIP-INS
Celtics: Attempted 50 3-pointers, making 19. ... Boston's Al Horford sat out with a left adductor strain. ... Jabari Parker had 13 points, all in the first half. 
Hornets: Charlotte played without Terry Rozier for the third time in four games because of a sprained ankle and forward P.J. Washington (knee) was also out. Borrego said Washington is day to day.
PLAYING THROUGH MIGRAINE
Marcus Smart said afterward that nearly didn't play at all because he woke up with a migraine. He received fluids before the game and ate several bananas and told coaches he was going to try to give it a go.
“I decided to go,” Smart said. “I decided to fight through it.”
The Celtics are glad he did, as he turned in one of the game's biggest plays by fighting through a screen and denying a side inbounds pass to Ball near halfcourt with 14 seconds left in regulation, forcing a Charlotte turnover. 
BALL IMPRESSES
Ball was impressive all night.
With the game tied at 75, he got Smart off balanced with a drive to the top of the key and nifty step-back 3, saluting as it went through the net. A few seconds later Ball corralled a defensive rebound and released a full-court baseball pass to Gordon Hayward for a layup.
UP NEXT
Celtics: Host Washington on Wednesday night.
Hornets: Visit Orlando on Wednesday night.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Jayson Tatum scored 41 points, and the Boston Celtics handed the Hornets their first loss of the season.

Tatum scores 41 points as Celtics beat Hornets 140-129 in OT

The NBA released the remaining 25 players of the league's 75th anniversary team Thursday night on TNT.
Here is the official release from the NBA, which lists all 75 players that made the team and the people that voted on the NBA's top 75 players of all-time team:
"A total of 158 NBA championships and 730 NBA All-Star selections. &nbsp;A combined 110 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Awards and Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Awards. &nbsp;More than 1.5 million points scored.
Those are just some of the collective accomplishments of the players who comprise the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, which was announced across TNT and ESPN from Oct. 19-21 as the league tipped off its landmark 75th Anniversary Season.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team was selected by a blue-ribbon panel of current and former NBA players, coaches, general managers and team and league executives, WNBA legends and sportswriters and broadcasters. &nbsp;Voters were asked to select the 75 Greatest Players in NBA History without regard to position. &nbsp;Panelists did not rank their selections. &nbsp;Current and former players were not allowed to vote for themselves.
As a result of a tie in the voting, the 75th Anniversary Team features 76 players. &nbsp;Team highlights include:
&bull; Eleven active players have been named to the 75th Anniversary Team: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carmelo Anthony, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook.
&bull; All 50 members of the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, which was named in 1996, have been selected to the 75th Anniversary Team.
&bull; The 75th Anniversary Team includes four players who played in the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951 (Paul Arizin, Bob Cousy, George Mikan and Dolph Schayes), the first winner of the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award (Bob Pettit for the 1955-56 season) and the first winner of the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award (Jerry West for the 1969 NBA Finals).
&bull; Bill Russell joins Cousy, Mikan and Pettit as the only four players who have been named to all four NBA Anniversary Teams: the 25th Anniversary Team (10 players named), 35th Anniversary Team (11 players named), 50th Anniversary Team and 75th Anniversary Team. (The 25th Anniversary Team was the only one of the four teams that did not allow for the inclusion of active players at the time.)
&bull; Six international players from six countries and territories have been selected to the 75th Anniversary Team: Antetokounmpo (Greece), Tim Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands), Patrick Ewing (Jamaica), Steve Nash (Canada), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) and Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria).
&bull; The five NBA legends who are serving as ambassadors for the 75th Anniversary Season are part of the 75th Anniversary Team: Clyde Drexler, Magic Johnson, Nowitzki, Pettit and Oscar Robertson. Representing different eras of the league&rsquo;s history, the ambassadors will make appearances throughout the 2021-22 season and have a significant presence at NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team is listed below in alphabetical order, followed by the list of voters. &nbsp;The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst &amp; Young LLP. &nbsp;For player profiles on each member of the 75th Anniversary Team, click here and visit NBA.com/75."
<table style="width: 95.7926%; height: 464px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 27px;">
<td style="text-align: center; width: 149.879%; height: 27px;" colspan="4" width="691">NBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Clyde Drexler</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Damian Lillard</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Scottie Pippen</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Ray Allen</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Tim Duncan</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jerry Lucas</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Willis Reed</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Giannis Antetokounmpo</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin Durant</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Karl Malone</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Oscar Robertson</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Carmelo Anthony</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Julius Erving</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Moses Malone</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">David Robinson</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Nate Archibald</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Patrick Ewing</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Pete Maravich</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dennis Rodman</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Paul Arizin</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Walt Frazier</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob McAdoo</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Russell</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Charles Barkley</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin Garnett</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin McHale</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dolph Schayes</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Rick Barry</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">George Gervin</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">George Mikan</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Sharman</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Elgin Baylor</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Hal Greer</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Reggie Miller</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">John Stockton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave Bing</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">James Harden</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Earl Monroe</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Isiah Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Larry Bird</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">John Havlicek</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Steve Nash</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Nate Thurmond</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kobe Bryant</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Elvin Hayes</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dirk Nowitzki</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Wes Unseld</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Wilt Chamberlain</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Allen Iverson</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Hakeem Olajuwon</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dwyane Wade</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob Cousy</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">LeBron James</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Walton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave Cowens</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Magic Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Robert Parish</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jerry West</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Billy Cunningham</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Sam Jones</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Chris Paul</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Russell Westbrook</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Stephen Curry</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Michael Jordan</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Gary Payton</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Lenny Wilkens</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Anthony Davis</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jason Kidd</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob Pettit</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dominique Wilkins</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave DeBusschere</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kawhi Leonard</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Paul Pierce</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">James Worthy</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<table style="width: 97.1703%; height: 798px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 170.677%;" colspan="4" width="719">NBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM VOTING PANEL</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Tim Duncan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Jack McCallum</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">David Robinson</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Marv Albert</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">David DuPree</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Brian McIntyre</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Russell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">David Aldridge</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Wayne Embry</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Ann Meyers</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bob Ryan</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Sam Amick</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Julius Erving</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Yoko Miyaji</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Simmons</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Giannis Antetokounmpo</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Patrick Ewing</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Earl Monroe</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Sam Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Steve Aschburner</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Walt Frazier</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Steve Nash</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Stephen A. Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Charles Barkley</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">George Gervin</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Rachel Nichols</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Marc Spears</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Rick Barry</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Russ Granik</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dirk Nowitzki</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Erik Spoelstra</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Howard Beck</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Becky Hammon</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">John Stockton</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dave Bing</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Elvin Hayes</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Robert Parish</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Hannah Storm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Sue Bird</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Ernie Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Candace Parker</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Sheryl Swoopes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Carol Blazejowski</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Magic Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Chris Paul</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Isiah Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Mike Breen</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Sam Jones</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bob Pettit</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rod Thorn</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Doris Burke</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Michael Jordan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Scottie Pippen</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rudy Tomjanovich</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Jerry Colangelo</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Steve Kerr</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Gregg Popovich</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Peter Vecsey</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Doug Collins</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Bob Lanier</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Shaun Powell</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Walton</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Cynthia Cooper</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Kara Lawson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Ahmad Rashad</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rick Welts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bob Costas</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Lisa Leslie</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Willis Reed</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Jerry West</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dave Cowens</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Nancy Lieberman</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Tim Reynolds</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Michael Wilbon</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Billy Cunningham</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Zach Lowe</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bill Rhoden</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Lenny Wilkens</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Stephen Curry</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Jerry Lucas</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Pat Riley</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">James Worthy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Clyde Drexler</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Jackie MacMullan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Oscar Robertson</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Jeff Zillgitt</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Some notable snubs include Tracy McGrady, Bernard King, Alex English, Vince Carter, Tony Parker, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Bob McAdoo, and Pau Gasol to just name a few. This list was part of the NBA's marketing campaign for the league's historic 75th season and will surely spark a conversation/debate amongst NBA fans all over the world.

The NBA released the final 25 players of the 75th anniversary team Thursday on TNT.

Final 25 members of NBA's 75th Anniversary Team announced

One week from now, we will know who is playing in the NBA Finals. It appears it will be the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns, but we should have learned by now to never count out the resilience of the Los Angeles Clippers.&nbsp;
And the Atlanta Hawks? Just ask anyone from Philadelphia or New York whether that team should be underestimated.
This is somewhat uncharted territory for Adam Silver and the NBA, who have grown accustomed (along with all of us) to having all eyes glued to LeBron James or Steph Curry at this point of the season.
Also, our NBA body clocks are saying &ldquo;draft, draft, draft.&rdquo; But due to the pandemic, we've all had to readjust to this slightly different schedule. So the end of the Finals are still quite a ways down the road, the draft and free agency are going to happen at the end of the July and beginning of August, respectively. The Olympics are looking like a walkover for a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jerami-grant-to-join-team-usa-james-harden-to-withdraw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loaded Team USA</a>... but we have seen that movie before, and the ending is not always a certainty. FIBA competition usually takes care of that.
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No matter which two teams make the Finals, though, it will be the first time in a long time (or ever) that the Bucks, Clippers, Suns and/or Hawks got that far.
So let&rsquo;s refresh everyone&rsquo;s memory. Or, let&rsquo;s fill in the younger generation on what folks in the four finalists' cities have endured over the years.
PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are one victory away from making the championship round for the first time since 1993, back when Charles Barkley was playing against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. It was the summer before Jordan decided he wanted to change professions and become a Major League baseball player.&nbsp;
The Bulls won Game 1 and Game 2 in that 1993 series, and battled in a classic Game 3 that went three overtimes before the Suns won and chopped the series lead down to 2-1. Chicago won Game 4 at home, but the Suns took Game 5 in Chicago (the format was 2-3-2 at the time) and the series returned to Phoenix for Game 6 on June 20. The Bulls were going for a three-peat under Phil Jackson with a roster that included Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bill Cartwright, Horace Grant and John Paxson. Barkley was flanked by Dan Majerle, Tom Chambers, Kevin Johnson, Cedric Ceballos and Danny Ainge.
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Barkley and Jordan were friendly, but the edge in competitive streak was in favor of Jordan. Back then, fraternization on off days was common, and Barkley and Jordan were fewer than two years removed from being teammates on the original Dream Team. The way the story has been told, Jordan took Barkley out to Majerle&rsquo;s bar on the night of June 19 after everyone traveled, and the drinks flowed freely... except the drink of choice for Jordan was water.
Then, on the night of June 20, the Bulls were ahead by eight entering the fourth quarter, but then went cold. In the first 6:09 of the fourth, the Bulls didn&rsquo;t score. They committed three shot-clock violations in that span, and Phoenix was ahead 98-96 with 14 seconds left. But the Bulls had the ball, and Grant found John Paxson open at the three-point line for a shot that Paxson drilled. Prior to that, all nine of the Bulls&rsquo; fourth-quarter points had been scored by Jordan. Phoenix had the final possession, but Barkley rolled to the basket off the inbounds play and Phoenix did not get the ball to him. Instead, Kevin Johnson attempted a runner from the lane just before the final buzzer, and Grant blocked it. Game over. Bulls 99, Suns 98. And Phoenix has not hosted an NBA Finals game since.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS 
The Bucks are up 2-1 on the Hawks now after Khris Middleton was Mr. Everything last night in Atlanta except for being Mr. Airball, an award that will be retired in honor of Giannis Antetokounmpo for what he has been doing from the free-throw line the past few seasons, but especially this postseason. These teams will be back at it Tuesday night, and hopefully the referees will be briefed, too, on allowing a player shooting a three-point shot to have enough space to land without turning an ankle because an official was too close. Are there enough ace bandages in "The A" to wrap Trae Young tightly enough to give the Hawks a chance to even this series? Or is Milwaukee advancing to the Finals as a fait accompli currently maneuvering speed bumps?
Whatever the case, the Bucks are favored for good reason, and if they make it to the Finals, it&rsquo;ll be the first time it's happened for that franchise since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s sky hook was a lethal weapon. That was back in 1974, before Kareem decided he did not like living in Milwaukee following a 4-3 loss to the Celtics in the Finals and forced a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, a maneuver for which he was never forgiven in the city where Mike Budenholzer now calls the shots. The Bucks last won a title in 1971, and have not been back since despite being led at different times by Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Giannis, Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon, among others.
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They dropped four straight in the Conference Finals three years ago against the Toronto Raptors, and they went out in seven games in 2001 against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. All of the sports glory in the state of Wisconsin since then has belonged to Aaron Rodgers and Frank Kaminsky, and all those years of losing have been drowned out by beer, cheese, frozen custard, bratwurst and beer. The last time the Bucks won, the team was a member of the Western Conference and the Brewers were still adapting to the American League following the franchise&rsquo;s move from Seattle, where they were known as the Pilots. Al McGuire and Marquette provided a couple years of glory, but aside from the accomplishments of the Packers, there has not been much to celebrate.
But losing is never permanent unless your favorite team is the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Bucks are halfway to breaking through the organization's three-and-a-half decades of frustration. So stay tuned.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 
Ahead of a win or go home scenario in Monday's Game 5, Kawhi Leonard is once again unable able to play, and could be more seriously hurt than the franchise has let on. There are reports out there that he needs knee surgery and is upset with the Clippers' medical staff; one would think the league office would order the Clippers to provide some clarity on this matter, since Leonard is a pretty good basketball player whose health is a determining factor in whether Steve Ballmer&rsquo;s team has a snowball&rsquo;s chance in hell of being championship material.
The Clippers have never been to the Finals, before or since relocating to California from Buffalo, spending 1978-1984 in San Diego. They blew 3-1 leads in the conference semifinals in 2020 (to Denver) and 2015 (to Houston), and went out in six games against Oklahoma City in 2014. There is only so much that Paul George can do without his fellow superstar teammate, and if Leonard is truly done and legitimately unhappy in L.A., the offseason unrestricted-free-agency market just got a heck of a lot more interesting.
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Before they were the Clippers, they were the Buffalo Braves and joined the NBA as an expansion franchise in 1970 along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. Their Hall-of-Famers included Bob McAdoo and Ernie DeGregorio, and in one of the most interesting pieces of NBA cameo trivia, they had Moses Malone for a grand total of two games before trading him to Houston for a pair of first-round picks.
In 1975, the franchise made it to the conference semifinals, but were defeated by the Washington Bullets. Since then, the Clippers have a franchise history that everyone in the NBA outside of Minnesota can laugh at. Except Clippers fans, of course. And those poor folks deserve either our pity or our sympathy. But to Clippers fans and Timberwolves fans, we can only say: &ldquo;The Cubs eventually won, okay?&rdquo; Perhaps that will help.&nbsp;
ATLANTA HAWKS 
Dominique Wilkins was a heck of a hooper and had one of the greatest nicknames in the history of professional sports: &ldquo;The Human Highlight Film.&rdquo; But he never appeared in a single NBA Finals game, and his only championship came with Panathinaikos in 1996 when the &ldquo;Greens&rdquo; won the Euroleague championship.
The Hawks franchise has not won a title since 1958 when they were based in St. Louis, and they reached the Finals in 1960 and 1961 only to lose to the Boston Celtics. The closest they came since then was 2015, when they reached the Conference Finals but were swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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The Hawks are closer now than they have ever been, but when your entire team gets outscored by a single player in a single quarter (Khris Middleton had 20 points to the Hawks&rsquo; 17 in the fourth last night), you really have to dig deep for resiliency &ndash; although we would not put anything past Trae Young at this point. At the very least, the Hawks have two games remaining. In the first round, they bounced back from a Game 2 loss in New York and won the next three. Atlanta was down 2-1 against the Sixers last round and gutted out that series in seven games, winning three times on the road. The team has a terrific mix of young and old, and Nate McMillan has worked wonders with these guys.
A victory in Game 4 would turn this into a best-of-3, and we already know that hostile arenas do not faze them. Middleton had the hot hand in Game 3, and who is to say that Bogdan Bogdanovic or Kevin Huerter or Danilo Gallinari cannot be that type of player for Atlanta sometime in the coming week? Count the Hawks out at your own peril. Knicks fans and Sixers fans will tell you not to take them lightly.
We've got a big week ahead of us. Let&rsquo;s hope it brings more good stories than bad.
But the only thing we know for sure is that one of these four franchises will eventually end a very long drought.&nbsp;

Chris Sheridan refreshes everyone's memory and fills in the younger crowd on what folks in the four final teams' cities have endured over the years.

Sheridan: A history lesson is in order as the NBA Finals draw near

In San Antonio, iron is sharpening iron. It might not be coming in the usual form of an unprecedented playoff streak or championship gold, but it is instead manifesting itself through the development of its highly-touted young talent, as the Spurs transition from the old era to a new one.
Spearheading the evolution is a crop of late first-round draft picks from the past five years, all learning from the guiding hand of the legendary Gregg Popovich. One of those first-rounders is Derrick White, who had taken a significant jump in team responsibility before suffering a season-ending ankle injury on April 26 in Washington, D.C.&nbsp;
"I'm just staying with them. I told 'em when I got hurt that I was with 'em 'til the end,&rdquo; White told BasketballNews.com in a phone interview. &ldquo;We've still got a lot of talent on our roster, so I'm excited for these last couple games and hopefully, we finish strong and playing the right way for the play-in."
The Spurs are currently the 10th seed in the Western Conference at 31-34 with seven games left in the season and the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings on their heels.
Prior to another untimely setback, White posted career-high averages in points (15.4), field goal attempts (12.6) and minutes (29.6) over his 36 games of action. Alongside Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker IV and Keldon Johnson, White is a part of a core with the onus of keeping up with an ever-progressing sport, yet upholding the tradition of a first-class franchise with a stellar reputation.
"I wouldn't say [there&rsquo;s] pressure. You just want to go out there and compete,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;You're aware of the history and all that, but just going out there, competing, playing the game you love. San Antonio fans are great, so you want to do well for them... I mean, basketball as a whole is changing, so you kinda have to change with the times, and we're no different. So it's just exciting that this is the way that basketball is going. It's been entertaining and it's fun to play.
&ldquo;I'm just blessed to be a part of this organization. You kinda see the day-to-day, what goes into it. Just their great history, going back from '99 to where we are now. So I'm thankful to be a part of this organization and learning from Coach Pop, probably the greatest coach of all-time. So, it's been great.&rdquo;
Murray and White have a unique perspective that the others do not. They were taken under the sure-to-be Hall-of-Fame wings of Manu Ginoboli and Tony Parker, getting a firsthand look at the standard-bearers of professionalism and what it meant to be a Spur.
&ldquo;It was cool to be a part of that team and see them and just be around them and all they've done for San Antonio," White said. "And then now we've kinda got a lot of young guys and we're all trying to make a name for ourselves, so it's been a cool transition.&rdquo;
White, Murray and Johnson were all selected in the same exact draft position: No. 29 overall.
&ldquo;We're all, like, the &lsquo;29 Boys,&rsquo;&rdquo; White said with a laugh. Murray was the first to receive a contract extension. White said that once his backcourt partner signed his contract extension, Murray told him, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re next.&rdquo;
Sure enough, White inked a four-year, $73 million extension with the Spurs in December.&nbsp;
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That&rsquo;s back-to-back late first-round picks who earned deals past their rookie-scales, and their chemistry together is a big reason why. This season, according to NBA.com, the Spurs have scored 114.2 points per 100 possessions <a href="https://go.nba.com/3s26" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with White and Murray on the floor together</a>, just behind White and DeMar DeRozan as the Spurs&rsquo; top offensive duo (min. 650 minutes).&nbsp;
In the 266 minutes without either Murray or White on the floor (in games they&rsquo;ve played), San Antonio has a <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612759&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=1628401,1627749&amp;OnlyCommonGames=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">net rating of negative-25.7</a>, per PBP Stats. Needless to say, they&rsquo;re kind of important to the team&rsquo;s success, which is why White feels so grateful to be considered a cornerstone with Murray.
&ldquo;He's special. He's able to do a lot of different things on the court and he's gotten better each and every year that he's played,&rdquo; White said of Murray. &ldquo;That hard work and just wanting to be great. We just get along well off the court, and it makes it easy on the court.&rdquo;
Walker and Johnson have been added to the mix over the last three seasons, and are following a similar pattern. White sees that Walker is &ldquo;uber-talented and uber-athletic,&rdquo; while observing that Johnson &ldquo;plays his tail off every two seconds.&rdquo; The drive to improve and be great makes each of these four push one another in order to become the best they can.
There&rsquo;s also another aspect of White&rsquo;s approach that's undergoing maturation: vocalizing and teaching what he's soaked in from those before him.
White appreciated how productive Ginobili was at 40 years old. When he retired and Parker exited to the Charlotte Hornets, LaMarcus Aldridge played a pivotal role in helping White&rsquo;s development and keeping his head up during his second season. Similarly, then and now, he says that DeRozan will answer any question that gets asked.
&ldquo;All the vets that we've had here have been amazing. That's kinda the thing, is there's always great people around,&rdquo; White stated.
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The way leadership works is that you instill values into the people you&rsquo;re in charge of, so that when they grow older and wiser, they can impart the wisdom onto the next generation. White learned the proper lessons; being a fourth-year pro, it&rsquo;s his turn to move up the ladder.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The front office and Pop have been on me [about] trying to be more of a leader,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;It's something that I'm continuing to develop in. The more confidence you have, the more you're doing the right things, the more you can hold other people accountable. So it's a constant thing that I'm developing, and hopefully I just keep getting better and better at it."
White, an avowed introvert, admits it is an adjustment: "I'm pretty quiet at the start. But once I get to know people, I start talking more. (laughs)"
As White tries to blossom into a more vocal figure, his skill set can do the talking for now. Defensively, he is a thorn in everybody&rsquo;s side, sticking to his assignments, closing out hard on shooters and standing pat when the opposition tries to drive on him.
Get this: Among those playing at least 25 minutes and defending a minimum of three field goal attempts at the rim per game, there are only 14 NBA players holding opponents under 55% on those tries. White is <a href="https://go.nba.com/dxmv" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a part of that group</a>, and all but Miles Bridges and White are big men.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s not every day you see a 6-foot-4 guard averaging more rejections (1.0) than steals (0.7), either.
&ldquo;I always tell people I'm a shot-blocker,&rdquo; White quipped. &ldquo;I don't know. I'm just trying to get a stop. It's something that I've always kind of done is just be able to block shots. I just kinda have a knack for it, and I'm just trying to do whatever it takes to get some stops and get us the ball back.
&ldquo;[Strategically, my approach] depends on the matchup. There's a lot of talented guards and wing players that I've been guarding. Try to limit their touches, try to push them out of their spot. There's so many talented people in the league that they're gonna get their points. Just try to make it difficult for them."
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White&rsquo;s offensive burden has ramped up more this season, sporting a career-high 22.7% usage rate, in addition to doubling his three-point attempts to nearly seven per game.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Coach [Pop] said if I was open or anything just to let it fly and, hopefully, I can continue to get in the gym, continue to get shots and reps up, and my percentage and everything will just continue to grow as my game grows,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I'm pretty confident [in my shot]. I mean, it was kinda a rough offseason and then getting hurt and then COVID and everything, so it was kinda inconsistent, I feel like, 'cause I just didn't really get a lot of reps in during the offseason stuff. But just staying in and staying confident, and I think good things are starting to happen."
Though the traditional statistics don&rsquo;t jump out and he&rsquo;s missed more shots than he&rsquo;s accustomed to making, White&rsquo;s advanced numbers indicate his effect on the game. As specified by Cleaning the Glass, San Antonio&rsquo;s offensive rating dips by 4.7 with White off the floor. He&rsquo;s also incredibly careful with the basketball, as the team has a <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4304/onoff#tab-team_efficiency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mere 11% turnover rate when he&rsquo;s on the court</a>.
Last week, Popovich expressed that White&rsquo;s season is over. It&rsquo;s been an unfortunate series of events that will hold back the 26-year-old guard from having the chance to be a part of the Spurs&rsquo; chase in the postseason play-in.
It&rsquo;s times like these when White leans on a support system that&rsquo;s been with him from the start. His mother, Colleen; his father, Richard; his sister, Brianna; his fiancee, Hannah; even his friends that he hooped with growing up -- all of these people cheer him on and keep him level-headed. White is grateful that he has them in his corner, keeping him &ldquo;boosted&rdquo; when he needs it.
Besides Russell Westbrook welcoming him to the NBA early his rookie year ("guarding Russ for the first time was pretty eye-opening. He didn't take it easy, that's for sure"), one of the favorite moments of White&rsquo;s embryonic career is when he burst onto the scene in the 2019 playoffs vs. his hometown Denver Nuggets, a series his parents witnessed up close and personal.
&ldquo;I grew up watching the Nuggets and everything, so to play them my first playoff round while really playing, it was crazy,&rdquo; said White, whose Spurs ultimately fell by four points in Game 7. &ldquo;It did a lot for my confidence, but it also showed that I had a lot of room to grow. So I was happy that I played well, but still wanted more out of it.
&ldquo;My mom and my dad went to every game in Denver, and then they were in San Antonio for Games 3 and 4. So they saw pretty much all of 'em. They were in San Antonio when I kinda blew up and scored 36, so it was cool to hang out with them after the game and just get dinner and get food with them after. It was nice to see and it was good to have them there."
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White&rsquo;s family saw his growth -- physically, mentally and professionally -- from when he was generously listed at 6-feet tall in high school, to catching eyes at Division II Colorado-Colorado Springs and, ultimately, landing at the University of Colorado for one year and being drafted by the Spurs in 2017.
&ldquo;It's kinda crazy,&rdquo; White said of his journey. &ldquo;UCCS kinda gave me a preferred walk-on, basically, and I just thought it was cool 'cause it had my major [sports management], but it actually worked out perfectly. I was able to start right away, and they kinda just gave me the keys to the whole program from like Game 5 on, so that did a lot for my development, confidence, everything. Three years there, and it was amazing. But Marcus Mason, my trainer, was like, 'I think it's time for you to go on.'&nbsp;
&ldquo;And so, I have an opportunity to transfer to CU, to the PAC-12, and compete at that level; I couldn't turn it down. So I transfer in there, redshirting and just working out for a whole year trying to get better and then, just competing that one year there, trying to make a name for myself as quickly as I could. So it was all pretty crazy. But I mean, I think everything happens for a reason, so it all works out for me."
When asked what he&rsquo;s most appreciative about regarding his unusual path to the greatest basketball league in the world, White pondered before responding.
&ldquo;I mean, just sticking with it, not giving up,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I could've just called it quits [and said], 'It is what it is.' But I just continued to work. Obviously, growing helped, but I worked harder than I had before and good things started happening for me."
If White's path is any indication, it&rsquo;ll take a lot more than a few bumps in the road to keep him from achieving whatever he puts his mind to.

Spencer Davies chats with Spurs guard Derrick White about the franchise's new era, what his coaches are asking of him and more.

One-on-One: Derrick White, Spurs' youth trying to make a name for themselves

If there&rsquo;s one piece of advice I&rsquo;d give anybody about the Eastern Conference and the 2021 NBA playoffs, it's to not count out the Miami Heat.
I wore that Heat uniform for a couple years, won a championship under Pat Riley, and even though that was way back in 2006, nothing has changed down there.
As long as Riley is pulling the strings, the Heat are gonna have a shot. It&rsquo;s the Riley way, and Alonzo Mourning warned all of his teammates &mdash; including me &mdash; of that back in 2005.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t want that man upstairs to come down here to coach,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If you think it&rsquo;s hell now, wait until he comes down... This won&rsquo;t be tolerated.&rdquo;
&lsquo;Zo was hot. We had a pretty rough November, losing some games to some bad teams and just having a tough time putting it together. He pulled a few of us aside in a team meeting and gave us that warning.&nbsp;
We all respected him, and he knew what he was talking about. After all, Riles was his coach for seven years.
I was new in town, so was Jason Williams, Gary Payton and Antoine Walker. We were some of the new faces the team brought in after losing in the Eastern Conference Finals the season before.
The pressure was on Stan Van Gundy to lead the team, and when we sputtered out the gate, everyone began speculating about his future -- even the players. That&rsquo;s what made &lsquo;Zo so outspoken.&nbsp;
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We thought we had some time to pull it all together, but the next thing we knew, after about 20 games, Stan and Riley were having a joint press conference. Stan announced he was stepping down.
Riles took over and led us to the championship. And although I didn&rsquo;t last too long in Miami, I learned some valuable lessons there, and I carry them with me to this day.
I played in Miami over 15 years ago, but based on what I&rsquo;ve seen and what I know, ain&rsquo;t nothing changed down there. Heading into the 2021 NBA playoffs, that&rsquo;s the exact reason why I wouldn&rsquo;t count the Heat out.&nbsp;
No matter what, with Riles leading that front office, the team will always end up with the kind of tough, gritty players it needs to excel playing that special brand of Heat basketball that he brought from New York way back in 1995.
Players who suited up for Riles are like a special little club, and I know that because, on top of playing for Riles himself, I had the opportunity to play for Doc Rivers and Byron Scott. It was obvious that they took some lessons from Riles. They were both tough guards who weren&rsquo;t afraid to challenge you, and they both had their own little fables and stories and techniques that they'd use to teach you and motivate you.
They had nothing on Coach Riley, though. I remember the very first lesson he taught us. He wasted no time.
We had one of those brutal four-game, five-night road trips. Tuesday night at the Bulls, Wednesday night at the Bucks, day off, Friday night at the 76ers and Saturday night at the Cavaliers. Stan resigned at that press conference the Monday beforehand, Riles took over and his first game as our coach would be on the first game of the trip, against Chicago.&nbsp;
We beat the Bulls, and then won against the Bucks the next night. Winning back-to-back games on the road in the NBA is tough, and after that, most coaches would reward their teams by giving them a day off, especially since we were playing four in five.
Not Riles, though. Or so we thought.
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After the Milwaukee game, we got to Philly in the late-night hours, and were told that we had a bus leaving the hotel in the morning and that we had to be ready by whatever time it was &mdash; maybe 11:00 a.m.
So we wake up in the morning, get dressed, get our ankles taped and all that. ALL OF US were grumpy and tired because, especially after winning those first two games on back-to-back nights, we felt like we earned the day off, you know?&nbsp;
Instead, we had to wake up, get dressed and head to the bus.
None of us knew what our new coach had in store for us. Remember, he&rsquo;d only been on the job officially for a few days.
After driving for a few minutes, the bus parked. We ended up at a movie theater &mdash; nobody knew what was going on.
Riles pops up and tells everyone to head into the theater and find a seat. We do, and next thing we knew, we were watching the basketball film &ldquo;Glory Road.&rdquo;
The movie was about the 1966 NCAA-champion Texas Western Miners. The team was coached by Don Haskins, and the reason why it was historically significant is because in that game, Texas Western became the first team to win the national championship with an all-Black starting lineup.
Of all teams, it was Kentucky that Texas Western beat in the championship game, and even back then, Kentucky was a powerhouse. They had an incredible starting lineup that was led by a young guard named Pat Riley.
Yeah. So that was quite the introduction to our new coach.
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Of course, back in those days, everyone knew what Riles&rsquo; reputation was. People thought of him as a drill sergeant and as a no-nonsense type of coach. If he were a high school teacher, he&rsquo;d be the teacher who walked in the classroom five minutes late and made all the students stop talking, sit up straight in their desks and face the board.
I took a few things away from Riles taking us to watch that movie. First, I knew he had connections, because we saw the film a full month before it was released in the theaters. But more important was the fact that it just let you know that he was a basketball lifer.&nbsp;
I think what he wanted us to take from seeing the film, though &mdash; and what I did take away &mdash; was that he knew what it felt like to be on the wrong side of history. Riles knew that our team was capable of succeeding like Texas Western, and that even if nobody gave us a shot, we had the power to control our own destiny. Riles told us that from the opening tip of the title game, he knew they were in trouble. He knew what it felt like to be surprised by his opponent, and wanted to do all he could to make sure that never happened to him again.
The same attitude and teachings were passed down to Doc Rivers and Byron Scott, and although I never played for Erik Spoelstra, many people refer to him as Riles&rsquo; prot&eacute;g&eacute;, so I know he&rsquo;s cut from the same cloth. That&rsquo;s why I wasn&rsquo;t surprised that the Heat won the Eastern Conference last season.&nbsp;
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And to be honest with you, I wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if they managed to do it again. &nbsp;
The Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks are probably the teams that most people mention when they talk about the contenders, but the Heat should never be counted out. That&rsquo;s really what Riles&rsquo; legacy is, to me, anyway.&nbsp;
Talent-wise, Miami hasn&rsquo;t been considered among the top teams, but the discipline and the way they approach being prepared is always gonna put them in position to win any game. That&rsquo;s the kind of team that executes well, makes smart decisions with the ball, takes good shots and is physical with you. They&rsquo;re not the kind of team that beats themselves. Whoever they face, it&rsquo;s gonna be one of those series that&rsquo;s gonna be very physical and very exhausting.
The Los Angeles Lakers can tell you.
From the day Riles took over, it was the dawn of a new day in Miami. And almost 20 years later, even though he stopped coaching long ago, he still has his fingerprints all over that team. Toughness. Grit.
As long as Riles is in the building and can get his eyes and hands on that franchise, every player who walks through those doors in Miami quickly realizes the importance of mentally and physically being ready to play at a high level.&nbsp;
Believe me when I tell you, nobody who knows Pat Riley will ever count his team out. I know what&rsquo;s being preached down there every day, because I heard those messages.&nbsp;
The Heat are preparing to win it all, and when the 2021 playoffs come, just like they were last season, they&rsquo;re gonna be ready.

James Posey tells the story of Pat Riley taking over as head coach of the Heat in 2006 and how he has affected the franchise since.

As long as Pat Riley is in the picture, the Heat have a shot

No Eastern Conference team has had a worse year than the Toronto Raptors when it comes to living up to preseason expectations, which is understandable when you consider the fact that the entire organization relocated to Tampa, Fla. because of cross-border travel coronavirus concerns.
Yes, they beat the Golden State Warriors by 53 points Friday night, but that came after losses in 13 of their previous 14 games. They are currently 11th in the Eastern Conference, two games behind the Chicago Bulls for the No. 10 spot that would ensure them at least one play-in game.
But they have taken a deep drop since winning the NBA championship two years ago, and their fans back in Ontario are entering a month-long government-ordered lockdown today. It is going to be a long April in Toronto, but the thing about the NBA is&hellip; You just never know.
The Raptors were 5.5-point favorites against the Warriors on Friday night, so they covered by a mere 47.5 points on a night when the oddsmakers set the over/unders so high that eight of 10 games finished under. The game between the Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks was under by 28 points, although the Phoenix Suns and Oklahoma City Thunder went 22.5 points over the number the oddsmakers had set for total points.
This all goes to show that gambling lines can be way off in this most uncertain of seasons, and that brings us back to the Raptors and, specifically, big man Chris Boucher.
Boucher grew up in Quebec and three years ago, he was playing part-time for the Raptors' G League affiliate. (Neat factoid: As a rookie with Golden State in 2017-18, he played one minute of one game and missed his only shot, a three-point attempt).
The fourth-year veteran has improved his scoring from 6.6 points per game to 13.2, and his shooting percentage has gone from 48.2% to 52.7%.
Much improved, eh?
But Most Improved?
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That is debatable, but if there has been one constant throughout this strangest of NBA seasons, it has been the debate over who will win a bunch of the postseason awards. Those awards are selected by a panel of about 120 writers and broadcasters who cover the league on the regular basis (the fans also get a vote for Most Valuable Player).
One writer has gone 12-for-12 with his votes, picking all of the correct award winners over the last two seasons: Zach Harper of The Athletic. On Thursday, he made the case that &ndash; at this point of the season &ndash; he sees Boucher as <a href="https://theathletic.com/2485012/">most qualified to get his vote</a>. According to him, Boucher beats out Detroit&rsquo;s Jerami Grant and Houston&rsquo;s Christian Wood.
From <a href="https://theathletic.com/2485012/">Harper&rsquo;s column</a>:
&ldquo;I do think Chris Boucher has been the Most Improved Player, and not entirely just because he&rsquo;s played 48 games to the 24 of Christian Wood. The Toronto Raptors have been slowly bringing Boucher along for a couple of seasons now, and we&rsquo;ve seen a vast improvement in everything he&rsquo;s doing. He&rsquo;s a legitimate Sixth Man for the Raptors. He&rsquo;s a defensive presence, especially around the rim. He&rsquo;s turned himself into a real threat around the rim, a real 3-point shooter, and someone who has a good in-between game, as well. Boucher has been great for the Raptors, even though their season has been less than. His improvement from last year is tops for me at the moment.&rdquo;
Boucher is 80-1 to win the award at DraftKings and PointsBet, and 100-1 at FanDuel and BetMGM. Every sportsbook that has a line posted on Most Improved has Julius Randle of the New York Knicks as the heavy favorite. Randle has gone from averaging 19.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season to 22.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists this season. Although they fell below the .500 mark with Friday night&rsquo;s loss to the Dallas Mavericks, the Knicks currently sit poised to make the postseason after a seven-year drought. If they do, that may give Randle an edge. But nothing&rsquo;s promised.
At DraftKings, just 1% of the total money bet on Most Improved Player has been on Boucher and he has 6% of the Sixth Man of the Year handle,&nbsp;spokesman Parker Winslow said.
At PointsBet, Boucher has taken just 0.85% of the handle, which is 12th among all players. Meanwhile, Grant has taken 27.5%, Wood is at 26% and Randle is at 14%, according to spokesman Wyatt Yearout.
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We still have one-third of the season left, and as veteran NBA writer Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press noted in <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-sheridan-show-brian-mahoney-on-mvp-odds-who-will-play-for-team-usa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my most recent podcast</a>, there has been an above-average amount of debate over postseason awards this season. So we shall see where Most Improved goes the rest of the way.
With so many new faces populating NBA rosters, along with so many teams resting superstars regularly and so many MVP candidates injured, the actual Most Improved Player may come out of nowhere as the season rolls toward its conclusion.
There are a couple Porter, Jrs. out there &ndash; Kevin in Houston and Michael in Denver &ndash; who are sitting at 150-1. Perhaps they&rsquo;re worth some consideration, as well.
The field is obviously open, but as of right now, Boucher &ndash; for several reasons &ndash; is an interesting flyer opportunity for people who have wagering legalized in their states.

Similar to MVP, the race for the NBA's Most Improved Player Award appears to be wide open. Chris Sheridan checks in on the field.

Is Raptors' Chris Boucher worth a flyer For Most Improved Player?

NBA All-Star 2021 will take place on Sunday, March 7 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, reaching fans in 215 countries and territories in more than 50 languages on their televisions, computers, mobile phones and tablets. This marks Atlanta&rsquo;s third time hosting the league&rsquo;s annual global celebration of basketball.
TNT&rsquo;s NBA All-Star coverage in the United States will begin at 5 p.m. ET with TNT NBA Tip-Off presented by CarMax, followed by the Taco Bell Skills Challenge and MTN DEW 3-Point Contest starting at 6:30 p.m. ET. NBA All-Star Game coverage on TNT will begin at 8 p.m. ET, with the AT&amp;T Slam Dunk Contest taking place at halftime. ESPN Radio coverage in the U.S. will begin at 7 p.m. ET.
Below are facts and figures about NBA All-Star 2021:
NBA All-Star Game
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">4 &ndash;&nbsp;The Phoenix Suns&rsquo; Chris Paul is the third player to be named an All-Star with&nbsp;four&nbsp;different franchises, joining Moses Malone and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">9 &ndash;&nbsp;The LA Clippers&rsquo; Paul George&nbsp;made a record&nbsp;nine&nbsp;3-pointers on his way to 41 points in the 2016 NBA All-Star Game while representing the Indiana Pacers.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">17 &ndash;&nbsp;The Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; LeBron James has been selected as an NBA All-Star&nbsp;17&nbsp;times, third most in league history behind Kareem Abdul Jabbar (19) and Kobe Bryant (18).&nbsp; James is also set to start the All-Star Game for the&nbsp;17th&nbsp;consecutive year.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">20 &ndash;&nbsp;At&nbsp;20&nbsp;years old, the New Orleans Pelicans&rsquo; Zion Williamson is set to become the fourth-youngest player to play in the NBA All-Star Game, behind Kobe Bryant, James and Magic Johnson.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">27.3 &ndash;&nbsp;The Milwaukee Bucks&rsquo; Giannis Antetokounmpo has the highest scoring average in NBA All-Star Game history at&nbsp;27.3&nbsp;points per game.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">58 &ndash;&nbsp;As part of the game production,&nbsp;58&nbsp;cameras will be positioned around the arena, including more than 30 in robotic form in the tunnel, practice court and locker room.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">70 &ndash;&nbsp;This is the&nbsp;70th&nbsp;edition of the NBA All-Star Game, which was first played in 1951.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">385 &ndash;&nbsp;James is the leading scorer in NBA All-Star Game history with&nbsp;385&nbsp;points.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">7,424,951 &ndash;&nbsp;NBA All-Star Voting 2021 presented by AT&amp;T set a single-day record with&nbsp;7,424,951&nbsp;fan votes cast on Jan. 28.</li>
</ul>
AT&amp;T Slam Dunk Contest
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">1 &ndash;&nbsp;In the final round, the two competitors who advance that far will perform&nbsp;one&nbsp;dunk each and the winner will be determined by &ldquo;Judges&rsquo; Choice&rdquo; instead of individual score.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">2 &ndash;&nbsp;Two&nbsp;Slam Dunk participants, the Portland Trail Blazers&rsquo; Anfernee Simons and the Pacers&rsquo; Cassius Stanley, have NBA G League experience.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">3 &ndash;&nbsp;Nate Robinson is the only player to win Slam Dunk&nbsp;three&nbsp;times (2006, 2009, 2010).&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">7 &ndash;&nbsp;This year&rsquo;s five Slam Dunk judges (Dee Brown, Jason Richardson, Josh Smith, Spud Webb and Dominique Wilkins) won a combined&nbsp;seven&nbsp;Slam Dunk titles.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">44 &ndash;&nbsp;Stanley recorded a maximum vertical leap of&nbsp;44&nbsp;inches in the 2020 NBA Draft Combine, tied for the third-highest mark since 2000.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">107 &ndash;&nbsp;Slam Dunk competitor Obi Toppin of the New York Knicks led Division I college basketball in dunks last season with&nbsp;107.</li>
</ul>
MTN DEW&nbsp;3-Point Contest
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">3 &ndash;&nbsp;The 3-Point Contest will feature two shots in the deep &ldquo;MTN DEW Zone&rdquo; that are worth&nbsp;three&nbsp;points each.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">6 &ndash;&nbsp;The&nbsp;six-player field&nbsp;will be composed entirely of 2021 NBA All-Stars &ndash; Devin Booker of the Suns, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls and Donovan Mitchell of the Jazz &ndash; making it the first 3-Point Contest in which each participant is a current All-Star.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">7 &ndash;&nbsp;Curry, the 2015 champion, will compete for the&nbsp;seventh&nbsp;time, tying Dale Ellis for the second-most appearances behind Craig Hodges (eight).</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">2,664 &ndash;&nbsp;Curry has made&nbsp;2,664&nbsp;career 3-pointers, second most in NBA history behind Ray Allen (2,973).</li>
</ul>
Taco Bell&nbsp;Skills Challenge
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">2 &ndash;&nbsp;Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade are the only&nbsp;two-time winner of the&nbsp;Skills Challenge.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">5 &ndash;&nbsp;Chris Paul is making his record&nbsp;fifth&nbsp;appearance in the&nbsp;Skills Challenge and his first since 2011.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">22 &ndash;&nbsp;Dončić, who turned&nbsp;22&nbsp;on Feb. 28, is the first player in Mavericks history to be voted as an NBA All-Star Game starter in two consecutive years.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">2013 &ndash;&nbsp;Robert Covington, who entered the NBA in&nbsp;2013,&nbsp;attended Tennessee State, an HBCU in Nashville, Tenn.</li>
</ul>
NBA All-Star in Atlanta
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">3&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;This is the&nbsp;third&nbsp;NBA All-Star in Atlanta, which previously hosted in 1978 and 2003.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">27 &ndash;&nbsp;The Buffalo Braves&rsquo; Randy Smith scored&nbsp;27&nbsp;points to lead the Eastern Conference past the Western Conference 133-125 in the 1978 NBA All-Star Game, the first time that Atlanta hosted.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">300 &ndash;&nbsp;The teams combined for&nbsp;300&nbsp;points in the 2003 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta, where the Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference 155-145 in the only double-overtime game in All-Star history.&nbsp; Kevin Garnett scored a game-high 37 points and Michael Jordan had 20 points in his final NBA All-Star Game.</li>
</ul>
NBA All-Star Entertainment
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">12&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;All-Star entertainers have earned a&nbsp;combined&nbsp;12&nbsp;GRAMMY Awards during their careers.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">7 &ndash;&nbsp;Gladys Knight, a&nbsp;seven-time GRAMMY Award winner, will sing the U.S. national anthem at NBA All-Star 2021.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">3 &ndash;&nbsp;Three-time GRAMMY Award winner and Florida A&amp;M University alum Common will introduce the Clark Atlanta University Philharmonic Society Choir, which will perform an original rendition of &ldquo;Lift Every Voice and Sing.&rdquo;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">1 &ndash; GRAMMY Award winner and singer-songwriter Alessia Cara will sing the Canadian national anthem.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">1 &ndash; GRAMMY Award winner Anthony Hamilton will perform his song &ldquo;Fine Again&rdquo; in recognition of frontline workers.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">100&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;The nationally-recognized Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band and Florida A&amp;M University Marching&nbsp;100&nbsp;will play during NBA All-Star player introductions from their respective historic campuses.</li>
</ul>
NBA All-Star Around the World
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">1 &ndash;&nbsp;For the&nbsp;first&nbsp;time ever in Canada, TSN, Sportsnet and RDS will televise all the All-Star events.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">2 &ndash; Two&nbsp;international players have been named All-Star Game MVP: Tim Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands; 2000) and Kyrie Irving (Australia; 2014).</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">4 &ndash;&nbsp;Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon) is one of&nbsp;four&nbsp;players born in Africa to be at least a four-time All-Star, along with Dikembe Mutombo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Steve Nash (South Africa) and Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria).</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">6 &ndash;&nbsp;A record&nbsp;six&nbsp;European players were named All-Stars this season: Antetokounmpo (Greece), Luka Dončić (Dallas Mavericks; Slovenia), Rudy&nbsp;Gobert&nbsp;(Utah Jazz; France),&nbsp;Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets; Serbia), Domantas Sabonis (Indiana Pacers; Lithuania) and Nikola&nbsp;Vučević&nbsp;(Orlando Magic; Montenegro).</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">9/5 &ndash;&nbsp;There are a record&nbsp;nine&nbsp;international All-Stars, including a record&nbsp;five&nbsp;international players voted All-Star Game starters.&nbsp; The nine international All-Stars are Antetokounmpo, Dončić, Embiid, Gobert, Irving, Jokić, Sabonis, Ben Simmons (76ers; Australia) and Vučević.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">14 &ndash;&nbsp;Fourteen&nbsp;active international players have been named All-Stars during their careers.</li>
</ul>
NBA All-Star on TNT
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">7 &ndash;&nbsp;TNT&rsquo;s announcing team of Marv Albert, Reggie Miller and Chris Webber will call its&nbsp;seventh&nbsp;straight NBA All-Star Game together.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">8&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Analysts&nbsp;Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal (3), Isiah Thomas (2), Charles&nbsp;Barkley (1), Dwyane Wade (1) and Candace Parker (1) have won a combined&nbsp;eight&nbsp;All-Star MVP awards in the NBA and WNBA.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">19 &ndash;&nbsp;TNT will present the NBA All-Star Game for the&nbsp;19th straight year.</li>
</ul>
NBA All-Star on ESPN Radio
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">25 &ndash;&nbsp;ESPN Radio will broadcast its&nbsp;25th&nbsp;NBA All-Star Game.&nbsp; Commentator Marc Kestecher and analyst Jon Barry will call the game action, with Kevin Winter and analyst P.J. Carlesimo anchoring pregame, halftime and postgame studio coverage.&nbsp; ESPN Radio host and Los Angeles Sparks star Chiney Ogwumike will join the broadcast at halftime as a special guest analyst for AT&amp;T Slam Dunk.</li>
</ul>
Support for HBCUs and COVID-19 Equity Efforts
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">9&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Throughout the game, members of the Divine&nbsp;Nine&nbsp;fraternities and sororities, a prestigious group of nine historically Black Greek letter organizations, will introduce step teams from Spelman College and Morehouse College.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">37/47 &ndash;&nbsp;As part of this year&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://pr.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2021/03/2021-NBA-All-Star-Game-Format-3-4-21.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pr.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2021/03/2021-NBA-All-Star-Game-Format-3-4-21.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615047366969000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHdCojJOVRRBY1zllGkbqgXgB87Sg">game format</a>, the two All-Star teams will play for either UNCF (consisting of&nbsp;37&nbsp;member colleges) or Thurgood Marshall College Fund (composed of&nbsp;47&nbsp;publicly-supported HBCUs) as their respective beneficiary, with both providing scholarship funding to further HBCU students&rsquo; higher education.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">3,400 &ndash;&nbsp;The Goodr NBA All-Star Grocery Pop-Up presented by Kaiser Permanente will benefit nearly&nbsp;3,400&nbsp;families in need across 16 locations in Metro Atlanta by providing them with free groceries and household essentials.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">3 Million &ndash;&nbsp;As part of NBA All-Star 2021, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association will commit more than&nbsp;$3 million&nbsp;in initial funds and resources toward HBCUs and support awareness around equity and access to COVID-19 care, relief and vaccines.</li>
</ul>

Here are some interesting facts and figures about the 2021 NBA All-Star Weekend.

2021 NBA All-Star Weekend: By the numbers

They have the NBA&rsquo;s leading scorer, Bradley Beal, a guy who has dropped 30 or more points in 20 of 29 games. They Russell Westbrook, who has posted a league-leading 10 triple-doubles in just 24 games.
Not only that, but being a quarantined league laughingstock not so long ago, the Washington Wizards have won six of their last seven games, including two victories over the Nuggets, one against the Lakers and another over the Celtics prior to a 16-point victory vs. the Timberwolves last night. They play Boston again on Sunday, followed by the Grizzlies and Clippers on the final night of a five-game, nine-night road trip. Sweep those three, and they go into the break 16-18.
In that case, we would be talking about a team that is just two games under .500 with only three teams sporting winning records in the East.
That&rsquo;s right, three: The Nets, Sixers and Bucks. Everyone else, more or less, is not at that level.
The Raptors and Knicks are tied for fourth at .500, the Heat and Celtics are a game under .500 and the Bulls, Heat and Pacers are two games under .500 as play begins Sunday. This is not imbalance; this is the conference normal right now -- three good teams.
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So &nbsp;there is room for a fourth, which means we have to start looking at unlikely candidates. We shall today, toward one team with two very good players.
The Wizards got hit hard by COVID and had six consecutive games postponed, which means their schedule is going to be extra tough from a wear-and-tear standard the rest of the way. They have eight remaining back-to-backs, but they will play six games in nine nights coming out off the All-Star break, including two with the Sixers, one with the Bucks and one with the Jazz. After that, they get a matchup with the Nets, then play three games in four nights four times over the remainder of the season.&nbsp;
This makes the strength and conditioning team 10-times more important than anyone in D.C. not named Biden. The franchise will not have Thomas Bryant this season, nor is the organization getting what it expected from five-year, $80 million man Davis Bertans. Still, Sheppard has gone blue in the face telling anyone who will listen that Bradley Beal is not being traded anywhere. &nbsp;
What Sheppard and Brooks need to try to do is find a third key player on the trade market before the March 25 deadline. They have a few decent role players in Rui Hachimura, Robin Lopez, Raul Neto and Deni Avdija, but this roster would be hard-pressed to win a single playoff series, much less two, as presently constructed. But if you assume that recently-starting center Moritz Wagner, Jerome Robinson and Isaac Bonga are expendable and their expiring salaries can be packaged, their salaries add up to roughly $7.5 million. If Troy Brown Jr. were to get added to the mix, that is roughly $11 million, which can get you something. And they have Detroit&rsquo;s second-rounder (likely No. 31 or 32) as a trade sweetener.
A big man would have to be prioritized, because you will need one to defend Joel Embiid if you face the Sixers, and to be used offensively in the low post if you play the Nets or Celtics. If you face the Bucks, you wish &ldquo;good luck&rdquo; to Hachimura and have Alex Len use all six of his fouls if Giannis gets anywhere near the rim.
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So what can $7.5 or $11 million get you? (And remember, the salaries will have to match because Washington has a $132 million salary, the league&rsquo;s ninth-highest, and is only $813,000 below the luxury tax.) Only a bad team would give up on a big, and among those who could be presumably acquired and fit into these two salary spaces include JaVale McGee of Cleveland, Mason Plumlee of Detroit, Jabari Parker, Hassan Whiteside or Richaun Holmes of Sacramento and Dwight Powell or Willie Cauley-Stein of Dallas (not on a bad team, but superfluous). DeMarcus Cousins is also a free agent.&nbsp;
Washington ranks 29th in defense in terms of points allowed per game (119.3), so a rim defender such as Whiteside could help, in the abstract. He was having a career season with Portland last year before Jusuf Nurkic returned in Florida and was All-Bubble material.
It has been three years since the Wizards won a playoff series, and Beal is the only holdover from then. Andrew Nicholson was on the team at that time, and he is putting up numbers in China (24.4 ppg on 66.9 percent shooting for Fujian, whose season ends April 13. Maybe a reunion could be in order afterward?
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Scott Brooks did not acquire Russell Westbrook in order for the Wizards to be a middle-of-the-road team, and the season-ending torn ACL injury to Bryant was devastating.&nbsp;
But the East is three deep right now, and therefore somebody has the opportunity to rise up and be a conference semifinal team. There are more likely candidates, but it has to be somebody. &nbsp;
Of the Wizards&rsquo; 41 remaining games, 11 are against the Pistons, Cavs, Hornets and Kings. They've got three more until the All-Star break; if they come out on top in those, the noise will start to get louder.
Why not Washington? They could be one deal away from being that team.

Chris Sheridan believes that the Wizards could end up being the surprise team of the East, especially if they make one more move.