Cleveland Cavaliers

LeBron James and his son LeBron James Jr. made NBA history Sunday night when they shared the floor in the Lakers&rsquo; preseason game against the Phoenix Suns.&nbsp;
The duo made their much-anticipated debut together at the start of the second quarter of the game in Palm Springs, California.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Bron x Bronny 👑 The father-son duo officially shares the court, becoming the first to do so in NBA history! 🙌🏽<a href="https://t.co/TjQwe3JAw7">pic.twitter.com/TjQwe3JAw7</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1843113805439709496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2024</a>
<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</blockquote>
Although they did not have many basketball moments in their time on the court together, it was such a cool moment for the Los Angeles superstar as his longtime dream of playing together with his eldest son came to fruition.
&lsquo;Bronny&rsquo; James, as he&rsquo;s fondly called, was picked by the Lakers at the 55th overall selection in this year&rsquo;s NBA Draft.&nbsp;
The elder James notably expressed his desire to play with his son a lot of times in the past. LeBron mentioned it again recently on their team&rsquo;s media day citing it has given him joy and a new lease in his illustrious 22-year NBA career.
&ldquo;It's a lot of excitement, a pure joy, to be able to come to work every day, put in hard work with your son every day, and be able to see him continue to grow," James said. "We push each other. He pushes me. I push him. We push our teammates, and vice versa. So it's just a very joyous moment not only for myself but for our family. So it's pretty awesome. Gives you a lot of life.&rdquo;
LeBron was his usual dominant self despite being the oldest player in the NBA with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks at the half for the Lakers while Bronny logged in 1 rebound and 3 turnovers, going 0/1 on his shot attempts.
The Suns eventually won the game in a tight affair, 118-114, as LeBron only played the first half with Anthony Davis who also had a good game with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Phoenix was led by their bench unit with 4 players scoring in double digits &ndash; rookie Oso Ighodaro, Damion Lee, Collin Gillespie, and Josh Okogie.&nbsp;
The Lakers had one last shot to win the game with new head coach JJ Redick drawing up a play for Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht. However, he missed on the potential game-winning three with fellow rookie Ryan Dunn of the Suns all over him, and Dunn leaked out for a transition dunk in the ending moments for the final score.
The younger James is expected to take his time in developing at the Lakers&rsquo; G League team South Bay as he continues to build his NBA career after suffering a career-altering condition last year. Bronny suffered a cardiac arrest while playing college ball for the USC Trojans and has been trying to get back on track since.
LeBron and the Lakers open the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves on opening night with championship aspirations still on the horizon for the 2nd winningest franchise in NBA history.

LeBron James and his son LeBron James Jr. made NBA history Sunday night when they shared the floor in the Lakers’ preseason game against the Phoenix Suns.

LeBron James, Bronny James become the first-ever father-son duo to play together in the NBA

The 2024 NBA Las Vegas Summer League is officially underway with the league&rsquo;s brightest rookies and young stars put to the test to hone their games and develop their wares to be ready come the official NBA season. Here are some of the players who stood out on the 1st day of action.
Anthony Black and Jett Howard, Orlando Magic
The duo was the Magic&rsquo;s first-round picks just a year ago and just in their first game both Black and Howard showed some promising developments that could catapult them into the team&rsquo;s rotation moving forward.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Magic's Summer League backcourt today: Anthony Black 📊 20 PTS | 6-9 FG | 4 STL Jett Howard 📊 22 PTS | 5-10 3P | 4 AST Bright future ahead ✨ <a href="https://t.co/vYVp2HvkzS">pic.twitter.com/vYVp2HvkzS</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1811892100755259632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2024</a></blockquote>

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

Reed Sheppard, Houston Rockets
This year&rsquo;s third overall pick showed out against the Lakers dropping an efficient 23-ball alongside manning the offense for the Rockets. Sheppard looked like he has all the makings of a solid PG in the NBA, which locks in Houston&rsquo;s core for the foreseeable future alongside young studs Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, and Cam Whitmore.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Reed Sheppard tonight: 🟥 23 PTS 🟥 9-17 FG 🟥 4-6 3P 🟥 5 AST 🟥 4 REB 🟥 3 BLK <a href="https://t.co/RZNq6fOpOG">pic.twitter.com/RZNq6fOpOG</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1811942641644503138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2024</a></blockquote>

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

Dalton Knecht, Los Angeles Lakers
Over three summer league games since the California Classic, Knecht has looked like the Lakers&rsquo; best player and continued to do so in Vegas. The 23-year-old shot the ball particularly well and looked confident in taking catch-and-shoot jumpers as well as some on-ball creation at times.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Dalton Knecht despite the loss: 🟨 25 PTS 🟨 9-18 FG 🟨 5-11 3P 🟨 6 REB 🟨 4 AST <a href="https://t.co/J928gQBS1U">pic.twitter.com/J928gQBS1U</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1811943377371623610?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2024</a></blockquote>

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

Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks and Alex Sarr, Washington Wizards
The top 2 picks in this year&rsquo;s draft went on a duel with Sarr and the Wizards coming out on top to down Risacher on the Hawks. The French duo both showed great potential on both sides of the floor which explains why they were picked where they were picked in the draft: the talent is clearly there.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Zaccharie Risacher tonight: 🟥 18 PTS 🟥 7-16 FG 🟥 3-9 3P 🟥 5 REB 🟥 2 AST <a href="https://t.co/Rw198OUtv0">pic.twitter.com/Rw198OUtv0</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1811985256419065994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2024</a></blockquote>

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

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Alex Sarr NBA Summer League Debut: ◻️ 12 PTS ◻️ 7 REB ◻️ 4 AST ◻️ 4 BLK (‼️) A young defensive juggernaut for the Wizards 🔒 <a href="https://t.co/DdAj3naXZ9">pic.twitter.com/DdAj3naXZ9</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1811986265841295766?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2024</a>
<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</blockquote>
Jordan Miller, Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers&rsquo; second-round selection in last year&rsquo;s draft, Miller went off with a 30-bomb against the Denver Nuggets to lead LA to the win. He went 6-10 from three and 8-8 from the FT line, which was impressive from a player who played mostly in the G-League the past season. With Paul George&rsquo;s departure, Miller could have a real chance of fighting for a rotation spot if he continues racking up performances like these.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Jordan Miller WENT OFF tonight: 🟦 36 PTS 🟦 11-18 FG 🟦 6-10 3P 🟦 8-8 FT A masterclass performance by the 48th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft 🤯<a href="https://t.co/aWuzdriUdE">pic.twitter.com/aWuzdriUdE</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1811986702832926912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2024</a></blockquote>

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

The 2024 NBA Las Vegas Summer League is officially underway with the league’s young stars putting their games to the test.

2024 NBA Summer League: Day 1 Standouts

The 2024 NBA Free Agency underway. Here's everything you need to know about the makings and the moves around the NBA.

2024 NBA Free Agency Tracker: All the signings and deals in the offseason

The first round of the 2024 NBA Draft is done and dusted, and the second round will start today at 4 PM Eastern at ESPN&rsquo;s Seaport District Studios in New York. This will be the first time in NBA history that the draft will be separated into two days, with the first round being at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.&nbsp;
Here are all the first-round selections courtesy of the NBA: (article to be updated with the second-round picks)
<ol>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/zaccharie-risacher">Zaccharie Risacher</a> (JL Bourg-en-Bresse) to the Atlanta Hawks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/alexandre-sarr">Alex Sarr</a> (Perth) to the Washington Wizards</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/reed-sheppard">Reed Sheppard</a> (Kentucky) to the Houston Rockets</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/stephon-castle">Stephon Castle</a> (Connecticut) to the San Antonio Spurs</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/ron-holland">Ron Holland II</a> (G League Ignite) to the Detroit Pistons</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/tidjane-salaun">Tidjane Salaun</a> (Cholet Basket) to the Charlotte Hornets</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/donovan-clingan">Donovan Clingan</a> (Connecticut) to the Portland Trail Blazers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/rob-dillingham">Rob Dillingham</a> (Kentucky) to the San Antonio Spurs &mdash; traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/zach-edey">Zach Edey</a> (Purdue) to the Memphis Grizzlies</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/cody-williams">Cody Williams</a> (Colorado) to the Utah Jazz</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/matas-buzelis">Matas Buzelis</a> (G League Ignite) to the Chicago Bulls</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/nikola-topic">Nikola Topic</a> (KK Crvena Zvezda) to the Oklahoma City Thunder</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/devin-carter">Devin Carter</a> (Providence) to the Sacramento Kings</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/carlton-carrington">Bub Carrington</a> (Pittsburgh) to the Portland Trail Blazers &mdash; traded to Washington Wizards</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/kelel-ware">Kel&rsquo;el Ware</a> (Indiana) to the Miami Heat</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jared-mccain">Jared McCain</a> (Duke) to the Philadelphia 76ers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/dalton-knecht">Dalton Knecht</a> (Tennessee) to the Los Angeles Lakers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/tristan-da-silva">Tristan da Silva</a> (Colorado) to the Orlando Magic</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jakobe-walter">Ja&rsquo;Kobe Walter</a> (Baylor) to the Toronto Raptors&nbsp;</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylon-tyson">Jaylon Tyson</a> (Cal) to the Cleveland Cavaliers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/yves-missi">Yves Missi</a> (Baylor) to the New Orleans Pelicans</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/daron-holmes-ii">DaRon Holmes II</a> (Dayton) to the Phoenix Suns &mdash; traded to the Denver Nuggets</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/aj-johnson">AJ Johnson</a> (Illawarra) to the Milwaukee Bucks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/kyshawn-george">Kyshawn George</a> (Miami) to the New York Knicks &mdash; traded to Washington Wizards</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/pacome-dadiet">Pacome Dadiet</a> (Ratiopharm Ulm) to the New York Knicks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/dillon-jones">Dillon Jones</a> (Weber State) to the Washington Wizards &mdash; traded to Oklahoma City Thunder (via Knicks)</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/terrence-shannon-jr">Terrence Shannon Jr.</a> (Illinois) to the Minnesota Timberwolves</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/ryan-dunn">Ryan Dunn</a> (Virginia) to the Denver Nuggets &mdash; traded to the Phoenix Suns</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/isaiah-collier">Isaiah Collier</a> (USC) to the Utah Jazz</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/baylor-scheierman-2">Baylor Scheierman</a> (Creighton) to the Boston Celtics</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<ol start="31">
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jonathan-mogbo">Jonathan Mogbo</a> (San Francisco) to the Toronto Raptors</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/kyle-filipowski">Kyle Filipowski</a> (Duke) to the Utah Jazz</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/tyler-smith">Tyler Smith</a> (G League Ignite) to the Milwaukee Bucks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/tyler-kolek">Tyler Kolek</a> (Marquette) to the Portland Trail Blazers &mdash; traded to the New York Knicks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/johnny-furphy">Johnny Furphy</a> (Kansas) to the San Antonio Spurs &mdash; traded to the Indiana Pacers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/juan-nunez">Juan Nunez</a> (Ratiopharm Ulm) to the Indiana Pacers &mdash; traded to San Antonio Spurs</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/bobi-klintman">Bobi Klintman</a> (Cairns) to the Minnesota Timberwolves &mdash; traded to the Detroit Pistons</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/ajay-mitchell">Ajay Mitchell</a> (UC Santa Barbara) to the New York Knicks &mdash; traded to Oklahoma City Thunder</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylen-wells">Jaylen Wells</a> (Washington State) to the Memphis Grizzlies</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/oso-ighodaro">Oso Ighodaro</a> (Marquette) to the Portland Trail Blazers &mdash; traded to the Phoenix Suns (via Knicks)</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/adem-bona">Adem Bona</a> (UCLA) to the Philadelphia 76ers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/kj-simpson">KJ Simpson</a> (Colorado) to the Charlotte Hornets</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/nikola-djurisic">Nikola Djurisic</a> (KK Mega Basket) to the Miami Heat &mdash; traded to the Atlanta Hawks (via Heat)</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/pelle-larsson">Pelle Larsson</a> (Arizona) to the Houston Rockets &mdash; traded to the Miami Heat (via Rockets)</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jamal-shead">Jamal Shead</a> (Houston) to the Sacramento Kings &mdash; traded to the Toronto Raptors</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/cam-christie">Cam Christie</a> (Minnesota) to the Los Angeles Clippers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/antonio-reeves">Antonio Reeves</a> (Kentucky) to the Orlando Magic &mdash; traded to the New Orleans Pelicans</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/harrison-ingram">Harrison Ingram</a> (North Carolina) to the San Antonio Spurs</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/tristen-newton">Tristen Newton</a> (Connecticut) to the Indiana Pacers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/enrique-freeman">Enrique Freeman</a> (Akron) to the Indiana Pacers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/melvin-ajinca">Melvin Ajinca</a> (Saint-Quentin Basketball) to the New York Knicks &mdash; traded to the Dallas Mavericks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/quinten-post">Quinten Post</a> (Boston College) to the Golden State Warriors &mdash; traded to Thunder, then to Blazers, then to Warriors</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/cam-spencer">Cam Spencer</a> (Connecticut) to the Detroit Pistons &mdash; traded to the Memphis Grizzlies (via Timberwolves)</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/anton-watson">Anton Watson</a> (Gonzaga) to the Boston Celtics</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/bronny-james">Bronny James</a> (USC) to the Los Angeles Lakers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/kevin-mccullar-jr">Kevin McCullar Jr.</a> (Kansas) to the Phoenix Suns &mdash; traded to the New York Knicks</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;

The first round of the 2024 NBA Draft is done and dusted, and the second round will start today at 4 PM Eastern at ESPN’s Seaport District Studios in New York.

2024 NBA Draft: Full results

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

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

Exploring the 5 best draft classes in NBA history

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&rsquo;s Nikola Jokic now knows how Philadelphia&rsquo;s Joel Embiid felt during two previous NBA award seasons.
Second in the MVP race &mdash; but only second-team All-NBA.
Embiid&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-mvp-joel-embiid-philadelphia-76ers-f7a108fd3c0ce1b42c1433c0beda275d">&mdash; the newly crowned MVP &mdash;</a>&nbsp;headlined the All-NBA team unveiled Wednesday night. He was the first-team center, while Jokic was the second-team pick at that position. It was a reversal of the results from 2021 and 2022, when Jokic was MVP over Embiid, who then had to settle for the second-team All-NBA center spot.
And this should be the final time such a quirk happens. Starting next year, the All-NBA team will no longer be broken down by position &mdash; meaning the presumed second-best player in the NBA one season, such as Embiid in 2021 and 2022 and Jokic now, will not have to be relegated to second-team anything.
Joining Embiid on the first team were Boston&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum and Milwaukee&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo at forward, and Dallas&rsquo; Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at guard.
On the second team along with Jokic were Miami&rsquo;s Jimmy Butler and Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown at forward, and Golden State&rsquo;s Stephen Curry and Cleveland&rsquo;s Donovan Mitchell at guard.
The third team center was Sacramento&rsquo;s Domantas Sabonis, with the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; LeBron James &mdash; now a 19-time selection, extending his record &mdash; and New York&rsquo;s Julius Randle getting the forward spots and Sacramento&rsquo;s De&rsquo;Aaron Fox and Portland&rsquo;s Damian Lillard the guard selections.
Omitted this year after making it last year: first-teamer Devin Booker; second-teamers Ja Morant, Kevin Durant and DeMar DeRozan; and third-teamers Karl-Anthony Towns, Chris Paul, Trae Young and Pascal Siakam.
James is a 13-time first-team, three-time second-team and now three-time third-team pick. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were all 15-time selections, tied for the second-most in NBA history.
The picks were made by a panel of 100 reporters and broadcasters who cover the NBA.
Antetokounmpo was the only unanimous selection this season as a first-teamer. Tatum got 92 first-team votes, Embiid got 87, Gilgeous-Alexander got 63 and Doncic got 60.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell, Brown, Sabonis and Fox all made All-NBA for the first time. Embiid was first-team for the first time, while Butler made the second team for the first time after four appearances on the third team.
The league has utilized the current format of picking three All-NBA teams, by position &mdash; two guards, two forwards, one center on each &mdash; since 1989. From 1956 through 1988, there were two teams picked by position; from 1947 through 1955 there were two teams picked, but with no regard for position.
More often than not, the system works without a glitch. The top finalists for MVP typically have found their way onto the All-NBA first team.
But there have been notable exceptions &mdash; often involving centers, who are vying for just the one All-NBA first-team spot instead of the two that have been available to guards and forwards.
Embiid was second in the MVP race but only second-team All-NBA in the most recent two seasons. Other examples:
&mdash; 1994-95, MVP David Robinson got the first-team nod and runner-up Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal wound up as the second-team center pick.
&mdash; 1993-94, Hakeem Olajuwon won MVP and was first-team at center, while Robinson was No. 2 in the MVP race and on the second team.
&mdash; 1976-77, Bill Walton was No. 2 in the MVP race, then second-team All-NBA behind MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
&mdash; 1975-76, Bob McAdoo was second in the MVP race and didn&rsquo;t even make All-NBA, with the center spots that season going to MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and third-place finisher Dave Cowens.
There have also been some split votes, albeit none under the current voting methods, where the MVP somehow didn&rsquo;t make the All-NBA first team. It happened to Bill Russell in 1958, 1961 and 1962, and then to Cowens in 1973.

The All-NBA teams were announced on Wednesday evening, and the First Team was headlined by MVP Joel Embiid.

MVP Embiid leads All-NBA 1st team; runner-up Jokic lands on 2nd team

DENVER (AP) &mdash; At times, the Denver Nuggets were easy &ndash; sometimes, too easy &ndash; to love, with their rainbow uniforms, their rumpled grumposaurus of a coach and a defense-optional game plan that kept the scoreboard clicking into the 120s and 130s night after night.
At other times, loving them was more difficult, say, during those 50, 60 and 70-loss seasons in the &rsquo;90s that installed a revolving door on the coach&rsquo;s office, or even during a decade-long resurgence in the 2000s when they were led by a fickle superstar who ultimately bailed for New York City.
And even now, with the Nuggets the top seed in the Western Conference, Denver has yet to be mistaken for much beyond an NBA novelty. Such is life in a league driven by superstars who are on a first-name basis with fans &mdash; Magic, Michael, LeBron and Steph &mdash; but never by a team that doesn&rsquo;t win titles, doesn&rsquo;t even play for them, and doesn&rsquo;t get much love even when&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-mvp-jokic-embiid-antetokounmpo-award-finalists-befc47525340c68c47b50cf5ddcfdee5">the two-maybe-three-time MVP</a>&nbsp;is on its roster.
And yet, as any Denver fan of a certain age will tell you, there is something special about the Nuggets. While Denver may obsess over the Broncos, love the Avalanche and tolerate the Rockies, only one team really placed this dusty old cowtown on the map. That&rsquo;s the basketball franchise the NBA plucked from the dying ABA in 1976 to officially turn Denver into not just a major-league city, but a winning one.
&ldquo;There was always a sense of pride that that was the other professional sports franchise in town,&rdquo; said Ron Zappolo, the longtime Denver sports and news anchor, in recalling a long stretch when Denver&rsquo;s big-league teams were the Broncos and the Nuggets. &ldquo;And they never took a back seat to too much. And, yeah, they weren&rsquo;t champions, but they won a ton of games in the &rsquo;80s, and they made it entertaining for everybody.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Their welcome to the NBA came a year before the Broncos &mdash; still B-listers at best and seven years from landing John Elway &mdash; made their first Super Bowl. Denver&rsquo;s biggest sports star at that time: a gap-toothed undersized center with an awkward-but-effective head fake named Dan Issel.
Issel, Bobby Jones and the Skywalker, David Thompson, lost to the Blazers and Bill Walton in the conference semifinals that season. Ever since, part of the price of loving the Nuggets is that the fun always ends early. The Nuggets have been to the playoffs 29 times in their 47 years in the league. They have never played in the NBA Finals.
The player who could change that is Nikola Jokic, a 6-foot-11 force of nature from Serbia who finished 0.2 assists short of averaging a triple-double this season &ndash; something only guards Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson have done.
Yet, the national debate this season centers around whether the Lakers, Warriors or Denver&rsquo;s next opponent, the Suns, will win the West. Those discussions feel more like a rite of passage than a true insult in Denver.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been here since the &rsquo;70s, and there&rsquo;s always been a national feeling that what happens in Denver, it&rsquo;s in the Rocky Mountain time zone out there, it&rsquo;s kind of quirky, it&rsquo;s kind of crazy, but, ehhh,&rdquo; Zappolo said.
By 1980, Doug Moe had returned to Denver to take Larry Brown&rsquo;s spot on the sideline. He, along with high-scoring Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe, made the Nuggets eminently watchable. They averaged more than 120 points a game for five straight seasons. They traded in their &rsquo;70s logo &mdash; a gold-digging mountain man named Maxie Miner &mdash; for those multi-colored rainbow threads with the outline of the Denver skyline. Today, those are among America&rsquo;s favorite throwback unis.
Moe was worth watching all by himself &mdash; a coach whose wry basketball brilliance was on par with his need of a good dry cleaner for his sports coats and a bar of soap for his mouth. Ten years into the gig, he popped champagne at the news conference on the day he was fired. He is still the team&rsquo;s most successful coach, with 432 wins.
What his team could never overcome was the unfortunate fate of sharing the Western Conference with the Lakers. The best Denver team of that era was the 1984-85 squad that fell 4-1 to Magic and Showtime in the conference finals.
Moe&rsquo;s firing led to the indignities of irrelevance that, it could be argued, have bled into today.
There were 12 coaches over the next 14 years. Twice, Issel manned the bench. The first time, Dikembe Mutombo helped the Nuggets rally from 0-2 against Seattle to become the first 8 seed to beat a 1.
George Karl, like Moe and Brown before him a product of the Dean Smith-North Carolina motion system, coached the Nuggets from 2005-13 and made the playoffs every year, including in 2009. That season, they lost to the Lakers and Kobe Bryant in Denver&rsquo;s third trip to the West finals.
Karl&rsquo;s tenure was marked by an uneasy alliance with Carmelo Anthony -- with Kenyon Martin, Chauncey Billups and even Allen Iverson making appearances in attempts to get the Nuggets over the hump. That group made news, but not the finals, and &rsquo;Melo eventually forced his way to the Knicks.
What put the Nuggets in the headlines again is a second-round draft pick whose selection barely registered across basketball or in Denver.
Title or no, the selection of Jokic &mdash; a two-time league MVP and a finalist for a third award &mdash; already&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nba-sports-nikola-jokic-6b7dc34c311b6810ec67c76ee2208c2d">goes down as one of the best personnel moves in the history of the league</a>. Still, the Nuggets have won five and lost four playoff series since Jokic started taking the Nuggets to the playoffs in 2019.
So, as Denver prepares for Kevin Durant and Phoenix, some Colorado natives might be bracing for the worst. Few, however, will turn their backs completely.
&ldquo;There has always been a soft spot for this team,&rdquo; Zappolo said.
And if, after all these years, there really is gold at the end of all those rainbows, a real Nuggets fan would have to see it to believe it.

The top-seeded Denver Nuggets are flying under the radar, but that's nothing new.

Nuggets searching for NBA gold at the end of the rainbows

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Draymond Green dribbles the ball up court and takes charge of Golden State&rsquo;s backups, directing two-way teammate Anthony Lamb on the wing, dishing the ball to Donte DiVincenzo or finding Jonathan Kuminga down low.
The move Warriors coach Steve Kerr made with Green in November to boost the defending champions&rsquo; then-struggling second unit has worked out well, especially considering those players have been needed in a big way due to injuries over the past month.
Green, who continues to play significant time with the reserves, is regularly praised by coaches around the league for his willingness to sacrifice his starter minutes to help the overall balance, something other stars are also doing around the NBA.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the modeling part for those guys that&rsquo;s very helpful for them in their game,&rdquo; said Rockets coach Stephen Silas, who called Green &ldquo;one of the most cerebral players in our league who has a voice that those guys will listen to.&rdquo;
In Dallas, Luka Doncic is relied upon to play key stretches with each unit. With Nets star Kevin Durant sidelined by a knee injury, Kyrie Irving is also spending more of his minutes with the Brooklyn backups as coach Jacque Vaughn is forced to get more creative with his lineups.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Some nights we&rsquo;re going to put points on the board very easily, guys are feeling good,&rdquo; Irving said of adjusting without Durant, &ldquo;and some nights we&rsquo;re going to have to really rely on our poise, really rely on our defensive pressure, and let that lead us to wins.&rdquo;
Rick Carlisle recalls fondly how former Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki also used to play with the backups. And when Carlisle played, the now-Pacers coach always cherished the minutes Hall of Famer Bill Walton played with him and the Boston backups.
Hawks coach Nate McMillan took on that role at times, too. McMillan used to play key stretches with the youngsters &mdash; and the stars -- in Seattle, taking great pride in making the others shine, &ldquo;because that was the strength of my game.&rdquo; Gary Payton would move to the wing and McMillan might run the point on the floor with Hersey Hawkins, Sam Perkins and Detlef Schrempf.
&ldquo;I was the guy that would come in and really be that coach out on the floor,&rdquo; McMillan recalled. &ldquo;I was that guy who was initiating and making sure that we set up. Very similar to Draymond, I wasn&rsquo;t providing a lot of scoring but the defense was going to be there, moving the ball, getting the ball to those shooters, all of that.&rdquo;
Those versatile players mean so much, to both the starters and the backups, for their ability to make everyone on the roster better. The Warriors are counting on the experience gained by the young players now making them a far better team come playoff time in April and May.
To this day, Carlisle treasures the time he spent on the court with Walton.
&ldquo;When I was a young player we traded for Bill Walton when I was in Boston and I was a hell of a lot better player when I was on the floor with Bill Walton,&rdquo; Carlisle said. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t very good but now when you&rsquo;ve got a chance to be on the floor with a Hall-of-Fame-type player like that who has major impact on defense and offense, it&rsquo;s going to change you.&rdquo;
Green gets that. He wants to be part of helping his teammates build a better NBA future by serving as an on-court guide. He has the championship pedigree.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely very important and I think guys do appreciate it. Ultimately, you have to understand a guy&rsquo;s situation and how they fare in their minutes. How the team fares in their minutes can determine their future, so for me I take it very seriously, because how that group turns out is very important,&rdquo; Green said.
&ldquo;So I just view it from a different standpoint of life. I honestly view those minutes even more important than my starter minutes because those guys aren&rsquo;t just set in what their careers are going to be.&rdquo;
These rotations don&rsquo;t work everywhere. Depth is a key part of the success if you ask Hornets coach Steve Clifford &mdash; not to mention the ability to adapt on the fly over the course of a long season with all the ups and downs and tough travel days.
&ldquo;To have long playoff runs like that you&rsquo;ve got to be versatile and flexible in your lineups. I think also part of it has to do with what kind of team you have and what kind of depth you have,&rdquo; Clifford said. &ldquo;You have to have good players, like really good players off the bench, if you can play with only one starter. Usually it&rsquo;s more veteran that way, when you&rsquo;re playing a lot of younger guys usually you&rsquo;re going to have to have a couple starters out there when they&rsquo;re in the game.&rdquo;
Warriors assistant Jama Mahlalela credits Green for doing whatever is needed for the betterment of the team.
It&rsquo;s not a chore for the 11th-year veteran Green.
&ldquo;The way I look at it is you can help impact someone&rsquo;s life,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and I take that seriously.&rdquo;

Draymond Green continues to play significant time with the reserves and is regularly praised by coaches around the league.

Warriors’ Draymond Green, others sacrifice minutes to boost backups

CLEVELAND (AP) &mdash; The shots splashed through the net like they almost always do for the Golden State Warriors.
However, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson didn't launch any.
Jordan Poole scored 32 points, Ty Jerome added 22 and the Warriors dropped 23 3-pointers while Curry and three other starters sat on the bench in a 120-114 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.
Poole (5) and Jerome (3) combined for eight 3-pointers as the defending NBA champs ended a five-game trip with an improbable win.
&ldquo;We kind of hung on for dear life down the stretch, but got it done,&rdquo; Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "It was just one of those nights. You play 82 games, so you know you&rsquo;re going to have a few of these.&rdquo;
Following Golden State's stinging three-point overtime loss Thursday night in Boston, Kerr rested Curry along with fellow first-teamers Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins.
It didn't matter. Even with their top players on the bench in street clothes, the short-handed Warriors came out firing and barely slowed down.
&ldquo;The biggest thing is, even without our guys, we expect to win,&rdquo; said Jerome, who is on a two-way contract with Golden State and Santa Cruz. "Everyone that played was good tonight and that&rsquo;s awesome for us.&rdquo;
Darius Garland scored 31 points to lead the Cavs, who were without star Donovan Mitchell because of a strained groin and suffered their most embarrassing loss this season. Caris LeVert added 22 points and Evan Mobley 17 for Cleveland.
Afterward, Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff didn't mince words in describing his team's dismal performance.
&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t respect the game. It&rsquo;s that simple,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got champions over there, and we thought some of those guys were out so we were going to take it lightly and we got what we deserved."
Golden State made a season-high 14 3-pointers in the first half &mdash; tying the most ever by a Cavs opponent for a half &mdash; to take a 64-59 halftime lead.
Although Bickerstaff stressed limiting Golden State's outside attack at halftime, his team didn't get the message as the Warriors made five 3s in the first five minutes to open a 20-point lead.
The Cavs, who have 11 comeback wins when trailing by double digits, fought back and pulled within 114-110. But Jerome dropped the Warriors' final 3-pointer with 1:39 left.
&ldquo;They&rsquo;re good basketball players, and if you&rsquo;re going to disrespect them, they&rsquo;re going to make you pay," Bickerstaff said. "We came out of the gate soft and disrespectful and they were out there shooting warmup shots with no contest, no challenges, nobody in their space and they gave us what we deserved.&rdquo;
MEMORY LANE
Kerr has an emotional attachment to Cleveland.
He played in the city from 1989-92 and his oldest son was born here. It's also where he won NBA titles as a coach in 2015 and 2018 as the Warriors and Cavs met four straight times in the finals.
&ldquo;This building will always be special for us,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Just coming in here, feeling the vibe, feeling the juice from those days. They were incredible games. Just an amazing rivalry, two great teams. The level of play was just so high. I will always think of those Finals when I come in here.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Warriors: Donte DiVincenzo added 17 points and Kevon Looney had 17 rebounds. ... Golden State opened 7 of 8 on 3-pointers. ... The 23-year-old Poole reached 500 career 3-pointers, surpassing Thompson as the youngest player in team history to reach the plateau. ... F Jonathan Kuminga (right foot sprain) returned after missing eight games and scored 10. F JaMychal Green (right lower leg infection) saw his first action in 15 games and had 13 points.
Cavaliers: G Ricky Rubio got the night off as part of the maintenance plan for him after returning from knee surgery. He's averaging 5.3 points and 13.1 minutes in four games back. ... Mobley is one of three players averaging 14.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocked shots while shooting better than 50.0% from the field. 76ers C Joel Embiid and Lakers C Anthony Davis are the others. &hellip; Cavs assistant coach Luke Walton went 39-4 as Golden State&rsquo;s acting head coach in 2015-2016 while Kerr recovered from back surgery.
&nbsp;

Jordan Poole scored 32 points, and the Golden State Warriors earned a 120-114 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Without Curry, Warriors make 23 3-pointers and beat Cavs

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Bryce Hopkins scored 27 points and Providence dominated the second half and knocked off fourth-ranked UConn 73-61 on Wednesday night for its eighth straight victory.
Noah Locke added 17 points to help the Friars (13-3, 5-0) earn their second win over a ranked team this season and remain unbeaten in the Big East. It was Providence&rsquo;s first win over the Huskies at Amica Mutual Pavilion since Feb. 20, 2012, when the Friars won 72-70.
Jordan Hawkins led the Huskies (14-2, 3-2) with 15 points, and Donovan Clingan added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Huskies have lost two in a row after opening the season with 14 straight wins and winning their first three conference games.
GEORGIA TECH 76, NO. 12 MIAMI 70
ATLANTA (AP) &mdash; Lance Terry scored a season-high 24 points, Miles Kelly added 20 and Georgia Tech snapped Miami&rsquo;s nine-game winning streak.
The Yellow Jackets (8-6, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) closed the game on a 12-0 run that ended with a pair of free throws by Kelly with 16.5 seconds remaining. That ended the scoring.
Miami (13-2, 4-1) didn&rsquo;t score over the last four-plus minutes. Jordan Miller and Norchad Omier each led the Hurricanes with 17 points, and Nijel Pack had 13.
NO. 13 ARKANSAS 74, NO. 20 MISSOURI 68
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Ricky Council scored 25 points and Joseph Pinion scored 13 off the bench as Arkansas rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat Missouri.
The Razorbacks (12-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) didn&rsquo;t lead until back-to-back fast-break buckets from Council and guard Devo Davis provided a one-point advantage with 14:24 left.
Missouri (12-2, 1-1) had stifled Arkansas and built its lead to 17 points with its zone defense in the first half, limiting the Razorbacks to 36% shooting from the field and 2 for 12 from 3-point range.
Sean East led Missouri with 13 points, while Nick Honor and Kobe Brown added 12 and 11, respectively.
N.C. STATE 84, NO. 16 DUKE 60
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Terquavion Smith scored 24 points and N.C. State jumped all over Duke from the opening tip.
Jarkel Joiner added 21 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Wolfpack (12-4, 2-3 ACC), who scored the game&rsquo;s first 15 points and led by 22 by halftime in a shocking romp.
While the Wolfpack pounced, the Blue Devils (11-4, 2-2) watched early shots roll off the rim or be swatted away. They compounded their problems by piling up turnovers in a game that quickly got away.
Freshman Kyle Filipowski scored 14 points to lead Duke, which shot 40% and just 5 of 15 from 3-point range. Duke also committed 21 turnovers, many fueling the Wolfpack&rsquo;s 25 fast-break points.
NO. 17 TCU 88, NO. 19 BAYLOR 87
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Chuck O&rsquo;Bannon made a jumper with 4 seconds left and TCU rallied to beat Baylor, extending the Horned Frogs&rsquo; winning streak to 11 games.
The Frogs (13-1, 2-0 Big 12) got the ball back after a missed 3-pointer by Baylor&rsquo;s Jaylen Bridges that went out of bounds with 10 seconds left. Mike Miles Jr., who scored a career-high 33 points, had the ball, but passed to O&rsquo;Bannon in front of the TCU bench.
Baylor freshman Keyonte George scored a season-high 27 points, but he missed a contested drive to the hoop as the game ended.
Damian Baugh and Eddie Lampkin both had 15 points for TCU, which has come back from double-digit deficits in each of its first two Big 12 games. Lampkin had five points in the final 1:45.
Adam Flagler and LJ Cryer had 13 points each for Baylor (10-4, 0-2), which had its 13-game home winning streak snapped.
GEORGIA 76, NO. 22 AUBURN 64
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) &mdash; Terry Roberts overcame early foul trouble to match his career high with 26 points and Georgia made first-year coach Mike White&rsquo;s Southeastern Conference debut with the Bulldogs memorable by beating Auburn.
Auburn (11-3, 1-1 SEC) trailed most of the game despite Johni Broome&rsquo;s 22 points and 12 rebounds. The Tigers couldn&rsquo;t stage a serious late comeback, pulling no closer than eight points in the final 3 minutes.
Kario Oquendo had 17 points for Georgia (11-3, 1-0), which celebrated its SEC opener after a strong nonconference showing under White, the former Florida coach.
NO. 23 CHARLESTON 92, N.C. A&amp;T 79
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Dalton Bolon tallied his first career double-double with 22 points and 10 boards as the College of Charleston won its 14th straight game by notching a victory over N.C. A&amp;T.
Charleston (15-1, 3-0 Colonial Athletic Association) is off to its best single-season start since joining the Division I ranks in 1991.
Bolon &mdash; who was one of five Charleston players to score in double digits &mdash; made 10 of 16 shots for the Cougars and also dished out two assists. Ante Brzovic and Pat Robinson III each scored 12 points, while Raekwon Horton and Ben Burnham both had 11.
Kam Woods scored a career-high 30 points to lead N.C. A&amp;T (6-10, 1-2). Duncan Powell added 20 points for the Aggies, while Marcus Watson had 12 points and 12 boards.
NO. 25 IOWA STATE 63, OKLAHOMA 60
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Caleb Grill scored 20 points and Iowa State held on to beat Oklahoma.
Osun Osunniyi added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Cyclones (11-2, 2-0 Big 12).
Jalen Hill scored 16 and Tanner Groves had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Sooners (9-5, 0-2). Oklahoma was coming off a 70-69 home loss to No. 6 Texas.
Oklahoma&rsquo;s Grant Sherfield, who was averaging 18.3 points per game, finished with four points on 1 for 7 shooting.

A recap of Wednesday night's men's college basketball slate includes the Friars staying red-hot against a top-five Huskies team.

Providence beats No. 4 UConn 73-61 for 8th straight win

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; As Stephen Curry approaches his mid-30s, Steve Kerr marvels at the superstar's fitness and his ability to continue to take over games.
&ldquo;You run out of adjectives to describe Steph&rsquo;s play," Golden State's coach said.
Curry hit a tying 3-pointer with 1:18 to play, a go-ahead layup moments later off a perfect, long pass by Kevon Looney, then one more dagger 3 on the way to 40 points, rallying the Warriors past the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-101 on Friday night.
Donovan Mitchell had 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Cleveland, but went down hard grabbing at his right ankle in the waning moments. He got up and hit a pair of free throws with 12.4 seconds left.
Curry extended his NBA record to 200 straight regular-season games with at least one 3-pointer and shot 6 of 11 from deep.
&ldquo;He's just amazing night after night. He's in such great shape,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;If there's one area that he's dramatically better now than when I first got here eight years ago it's just his strength and conditioning."
&ldquo;He's much bigger and stronger, much more capable of defending at a really high level and sustaining two-way basketball for an entire game and just knocking down shots from all over and finishing at the rim. He's unbelievable,&rdquo; he said.
A rarity: Curry missed two free throws over the final 17.6 seconds, but delivered a second straight 40-point performance.
Evan Mobley had 20 points and 12 rebounds as Cleveland dropped a third straight following an eight-game winning streak.
Andrew Wiggins' short jumper with 8:48 remaining tied the game and Looney's layup the next time down put the Warriors ahead. Wiggins delivered a big dunk with 6:06 to play and finished with 20 points.
Klay Thompson struggled with his shot and went 3 of 13 for nine points for the Warriors. His 3 with 2:53 left made it 96-95.
&ldquo;I feel like we had a great game plan going up until the last three minutes, we didn&rsquo;t execute it the way we wanted to,&rdquo; Cleveland's Caris LeVert said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re playing the Warriors you want other guys to beat you but I think Steph had eight, nine points down the stretch in the last in the last 2-3 minutes. So we obviously can&rsquo;t let that happen.&rdquo;
Golden State's Draymond Green had 13 assists and 10 rebounds with two points. He was hit with a technical shortly before halftime and Kerr also received a T.
Jordan Poole came off the bench to score 18 points for Golden State, which is still trying to find the right combinations to get in sync consistently.
&ldquo;I think it was our best defensive game,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I think we were all locked in on that side of the ball.&rdquo;
PROTECTING THE PAINT
Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff&rsquo;s team scored 52 points in the paint and helped keep the Warriors in check.
&ldquo;They break you down and they break your back with points in the paint,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As long as they&rsquo;ve been on this run, I know there&rsquo;s this huge fear of the 3-point shot but they kill you with layups.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Cavaliers: Former Warriors top assistant Luke Walton returned as a Cavs assistant to face his former franchise. He spent time catching up with Warriors coaches and executives before the game. ... Cleveland hasn't beaten the Warriors in the regular season since a 109-108 victory on Dec. 25, 2016.
Warriors: Curry's 3-point streak dates to Dec. 1, 2018, at Detroit. ... G Donte DiVincenzo returned from a 10-game absence with a strained left hamstring that he hurt Oct. 23 against Sacramento. DiVincenzo played 16 minutes. ... Golden State is 5-1 at home and 2-0 vs. the Eastern Conference. ... The Warriors have won the last 11 in the series &mdash; their longest active streak against any opponent &mdash; and eight straight at home. Including playoff meetings, Golden State has won 19 of the last 20.
UP NEXT
Cavaliers: Host the Timberwolves on Sunday.
Warriors: At Kings on Sunday for the second matchup between the Northern California rivals in seven days. The Warriors have won the last seven vs. Sacramento, two in a row on the road.

Steph Curry made several clutch players, rallying the Golden State Warriors past the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-101 on Friday night.

Curry scores 40, Warriors rally past Mitchell, Cavs 106-101

Oscar Tschiebwe was the consensus men&rsquo;s college basketball player of the year last season, an accomplishment usually followed by a jump to the NBA.
Kentucky&rsquo;s big man decided to take a different route. He&rsquo;s coming back &mdash; and he may be even better this season.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a better passer. He&rsquo;s a better dribbler. He has a better feel. He talks,&rdquo; Kentucky coach John Calipari said. &ldquo;Offensively he knows the plays better. And he&rsquo;s authentic.&rdquo;
Tshiebwe was a unanimous selection along with Gonzaga big man Drew Timme in The Associated Press preseason All-America team released Monday. They were joined by North Carolina forward Armando Bacot, Houston guard Marcus Sasser and Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis on the team selected by a 59-person media panel that votes on the weekly AP Top 25.
Tshiebwe is the ninth AP national player of the year &mdash; Bill Walton and Ralph Sampson did it twice &mdash; to return for another season, according to Sportradar, and the first since Tyler Hansbrough came back to lead North Carolina to a national title in 2009.
The fourth-ranked Wildcats are hoping Tshiebwe can do the same for them.
The 6-foot-9, 260-pound forward from the Congo led the nation in rebounding at 15.1 per game while averaging 17.4 points. He shot 60% from the field, had 60 steals and 55 blocks, and finished the season with 16 consecutive double-doubles on the way to a school-record 28.&nbsp;
Instead of taking his game to the NBA, Tshiebwe opted to return when projections had him going in the second round of the 2022 draft.
&ldquo;They (NBA scouts) want my game to expand a little bit,&rdquo; said Tshiebwe, who started his career at West Virginia. &ldquo;They want me to be able to make one or two 3-pointers, They want me to catch the ball, drive and finish, and get better in dribbling.&rdquo;
Timme made a similar decision &mdash; two years in a row. The 6-10 senior was one of the nation&rsquo;s best big men each of the past two seasons, leading the Zags on deep NCAA runs, including a trip to the national title game in 2021. He was a second-team All-American for the second straight season a year ago after averaging 18.4 points and 6.8 rebounds.
Timme still had areas of his game he wanted to work on before heading to the NBA and hoped for one more shot at winning a national title with the second-ranked Zags. The NCAA&rsquo;s name, image and likeness deals made it an easier decision and, besides, college life is a lot of fun.
&ldquo;We have a chance to do something special, I wanted to get my degree, there&rsquo;s things I want to work on, I want to build on,&rdquo; Timme said. &ldquo;It was a culmination of a lot of things, but I really enjoy being a college kid.&rdquo;
Bacot also has a chance to do something special with the Tar Heels.
The 6-11 forward tied the NCAA record with 31 double-doubles last season and became the first to have six in the same NCAA Tournament while leading North Carolina to the national title game. The Tar Heels lost to Kansas, but are No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 and among the favorites to win it all with Bacot back.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t go a day where we&rsquo;re not like saying, man, we can&rsquo;t wait to get to that,&rdquo; Bacot said of winning a national title. &ldquo;Maybe that&rsquo;s not the best approach, but I mean, we&rsquo;re human.&rdquo;
Sasser was a key cog two years ago during the Cougars&rsquo; first Final Four run since the Phi Slama Jama days, averaging 13.7 points while playing menacing defense.
The dynamic 6-2 guard got off to a strong start last season, but was limited to 12 games after breaking a bone in his left foot. He was named the American Athletic Conference preseason player of the year and a big reason the Cougars are ranked No. 3 in the AP preseason poll.
&ldquo;It puts a target on your back every night, but it also gives me motivation every day in practice to go out there and work harder,&rdquo; Sasser said.
Jackson-Davis was a preseason All-American last season and led the Hoosiers in scoring (18.3) and rebounding (8.1). The 6-9 forward also helped Indiana reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years, but the run ended with a first round loss to Saint Mary&rsquo;s.
With Jackson-Davis back, the No. 13 Hoosiers are the favorites to win the Big Ten and, they hope, make a deep March run.
&ldquo;I think I have kind of set the stone of my individual legacy, being an All-American and doing all of those things, but those don&rsquo;t really matter if you don&rsquo;t win something here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Winning is a big thing here, so winning a national championship and also winning a Big Ten title, those are my two main goals this year.&rdquo;

Oscar Tshiebwe's coming back to Kentucky — and he may be even better this season.

Oscar Tshiebwe, Drew Timme top AP preseason All-America team

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

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

NEW YORK &ndash; The NBA debuted its new 2022-23 season tip-off spots, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1bcZhEytR8&amp;ab_channel=NBA">The Nonstop NBA</a>&rdquo; for its brand campaign and &ldquo;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Z0gm8K1uI">This is HAPPENING</a>&rdquo; for the new NBA App. Both are now streaming across all <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA">@NBA</a> social platforms and on the <a href="https://pr.nba.com/nba-launches-reimagined-app-the-all-in-one-destination-for-nba-fans-of-every-team/">new reimagined NBA App</a>.
2022-23 Brand Campaign &ndash; &ldquo;The Nonstop NBA&rdquo;:
Told through the lens of the ultimate NBA superfan, nicknamed &ldquo;Non-Stop&rdquo;, and featuring an All-Star lineup of NBA players, coaches and legends, the spot celebrates the return of the NBA, showcasing how the game and its culture is constantly evolving.
&ldquo;We got sneaks-on-the-ground on four coasts&hellip;
From a Serbian Serpent moving like Mamba&hellip;
To A Greek-Nigerian-Milwaukeean changing the face of the game&hellip;
to an ice-cold Trae in the heart of Hotlanta&hellip;
To a couple brothers in the Bay with wet jays splashing their way back to try to go back-to-back&hellip;&rdquo;
Reigning NBA Champion Stephen Curry headlines an illustrious cast of NBA talent starring Jayson Tatum, Tyler Herro, Paul George and Joel Embiid, who remind fans about all the exciting on-court elements that they can look forward to this season. From a potential Warriors repeat for Curry to another shot at the Celtics claiming a league record 18th title orchestrated by Tatum, the drama known as the NBA is about to begin its next act.
&ldquo;The Nonstop NBA&rdquo; also features a fan debate at an outdoor basketball court on whose team will be this year&rsquo;s champ, with Embiid proclaiming that it&rsquo;s the 76ers&rsquo; year.&nbsp; From exciting matchups and captivating crossovers to breathtaking buzzer beaters, the nonstop energy of the league extends far beyond the baseline to culture, fashion, music, the metaverse and more &ndash; whether it&rsquo;s Damian Lillard recording in the studio, DeMar DeRozan showing off his impressive sneaker collection or Luka Dončić coming to life in NBA 2K23.
Finally, &ldquo;Non-Stop&rdquo; makes one thing clear &ndash; the NBA has something for everyone, and fans better keep up because &ldquo;in the NBA, what&rsquo;s happening next is happening now.&rdquo;
Click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1bcZhEytR8&amp;ab_channel=NBA">HERE</a> to view the full campaign video, &ldquo;The Nonstop NBA&rdquo; 
Full cast includes:
<ul>
<li>NBA Players: Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), DeMar DeRozan (Chicago Bulls), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Paul George (LA Clippers), Tyler Herro (Miami Heat), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)</li>
<li>NBA Legends: Tim Hardaway Sr., Bill Walton</li>
<li>Coaches: Tyronn Lue (LA Clippers)</li>
<li>Influencers: Crissa Jackson</li>
<li>Non-Stop: Actor Keyon Bowman</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;Created in conjunction with independent creative agency <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.translationllc.com/__;!!PMETyfE!OjCxd7kYYWMkE8rEg5x37IScA9s0eCuMCphhqiO_2s6vv2xXlqzc9MuGTeKdwcXvc35DQRP8iUZZ33Ew1KYRjrg$">Translation</a>, the spot was directed by Calmatic (&ldquo;House Party&rdquo;, &ldquo;Entrepreneur&rdquo; by Pharrell Williams ft. Jay-Z and &ldquo;Old Town Road&rdquo; by Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus).&nbsp; &ldquo;The Nonstop NBA&rdquo; is currently airing on television networks, with additional :30, :15 and :10-second versions running on social and digital channels.&nbsp; The spot will also be translated in 14 additional languages to reach fans globally.
Check out action from behind-the-scenes <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwBjdHqXRcs&amp;ab_channel=NBA">HERE</a>, detailing the making of &ldquo;The Nonstop NBA&rdquo;, featuring soundbites from DeMar DeRozan, Paul George, Tyler Herro, Damian Lillard, Tyronn Lue, Jayson Tatum, Bill Walton and &ldquo;The Nonstop NBA&rdquo; director Calmatic.
&nbsp;2022-23 NBA App Campaign: &ldquo;This is HAPPENING&rdquo;:
Ahead of the 2022-23 season, the league launched the new reimagined <a href="https://global.nba.com/nba-apps/index.html?showNav=false&amp;showFooter=false&amp;adobe_mc=TS%3D1602716228447%7CMCMID%3D02995697633469209167976945683217902546%7CMCORGID%3D248F210755B762187F000101%40AdobeOrg">NBA App</a> to be an all-in-one destination for fans of every team. To celebrate the new app, the league released its campaign, &ldquo;This is HAPPENING,&rdquo; to get fans excited about all the NBA App has to offer.
In the spot, LaMelo Ball and Jordan Poole take fans on a journey through the NBA App, showcasing its capabilities and all it has to offer, from every play on the court with real-time highlights, behind-the-scenes access, press conferences, and all-access shows, because &ldquo;If it&rsquo;s HAPPENING, it&rsquo;s HAPPENING in the NBA App.&rdquo;
Click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Z0gm8K1uI">HERE</a> to view the full spot, &ldquo;This is HAPPENING&rdquo; 
Full cast includes:
<ul>
<li>NBA Players: LaMelo Ball (Charlotte Hornets), Jordan Poole (Golden State Warriors)</li>
</ul>
Created in conjunction with full-service creative agency, Mekanism, the spot will air across TV networks and stream on NBA social and digital platforms throughout the season. Download the <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/nba-live-games-scores/id484672289">NBA App</a> and Sign Up for NBA ID today.
The 2022-23 NBA season tips off on Tuesday, Oct. 18 with a doubleheader on TNT.&nbsp; The Philadelphia 76ers will visit the reigning Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics (7:30 p.m. ET) before the NBA champion Golden State Warriors receive their championship rings and host the Los Angeles Lakers (10 p.m. ET).&nbsp; A full schedule of the season&rsquo;s game is available on <a href="https://www.nba.com/schedule">NBA.com</a> and the NBA App.

Both are now streaming across all @NBA social platforms and on the new reimagined NBA App.

NBA debuts tip-off spots: 'The Nonstop NBA' & 'This is HAPPENING'

The Phoenix Suns are likely to sell for at least $2.5 billion, according to sports bankers who spoke to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2022/09/21/sarvers-phoenix-suns----will-be-sold-for-at-least-25-billion-bankers-say/?utm_source=TWITTER&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=7683720708&amp;utm_campaign=sprinklrSportsMoneyTwitter&amp;sh=642886ba3faa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forbes</a>. This would be the second-largest sale in NBA history behind only the Brooklyn Nets, who sold for $3.2 billion to Joe Tsai in 2019.
Following a 10-month investigation into claims of racism, sexism, misogyny and workplace misconduct, the NBA suspended Suns owner Robert Sarver for one year and fined him $10 million. Shortly after &mdash; and facing pressure from the NBPA, sponsors and star players &mdash; Sarver announced that he would sell the team.
<a href="http://www.BetOnline.ag" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BetOnline</a> has the over/under for the Suns' sale price set at $2.75 billion.
They also have odds on who will be the next majority owner of the Suns, with the favorites being Jeff Bezos (2/1), Bob Iger (3/1), Larry Ellison (4/1), Laurene Powell (7/1), Elon Musk (8/1), Arte Moreno (10/1), Michael Bidwill (10/1), Lukas Walton (12/1) and Bill Gates (16/1).&nbsp;
The Suns are a contender with a talented young core in a great market, so don't be surprised if there's a significant bidding war to purchase the franchise.

The Phoenix Suns are likely to sell for at least $2.5 billion, according to sports bankers who spoke to Forbes.

Forbes: Phoenix Suns are likely to sell for at least $2.5 billion

MILAN (AP) &mdash; The stars showed up at EuroBasket on Tuesday in a big way.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 41 points in 27 minutes for Greece, Luka Doncic had 36 points for Slovenia and two-time reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic scored 29 points for Serbia &mdash; three of the world&rsquo;s best players all leading their teams to big group-stage wins at the European championships.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Ain&rsquo;t nothing but a little Luka Magic 🪄 36 PTS 10 REB 4 AST<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroBasket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroBasket</a><a href="https://t.co/hIo3xZOABm">pic.twitter.com/hIo3xZOABm</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1567255650132004865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

There&rsquo;s one more group-stage game left for each to play, and then a trip to Berlin awaits since Greece, Slovenia and Serbia have all clinched spots in the 16-team knockout round that begins Saturday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Nikola Jokic had himself a night at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroBasket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroBasket</a>. 🃏👀 29 PTS, 11 REB, 5 AST<a href="https://t.co/yqgLLMI2AS">pic.twitter.com/yqgLLMI2AS</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1567261660729032706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s point total was the most in a EuroBasket game since Dirk Nowitzki had 43 for Germany in 2001. And when he heard that stat, all Antetokounmpo did was nod.
&ldquo;I try not to rate my performance,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said. &ldquo;I just try to go out there and have fun as much as possible, try to focus as much as I can on what I can control, try to bring energy any way possible. ... But I&rsquo;ll say this: I think this is one of the years where I feel very, very excited to go out there on the court and play with my teammates.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Giannis went OFF today in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroBasket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroBasket</a>. 41 PTS 9 REB 72% FGM On fire. 🔥<a href="https://t.co/XRF620yKBK">pic.twitter.com/XRF620yKBK</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1567208097826963458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

As Antetokounmpo did, Doncic also deflected credit after the game. Told that Germany&rsquo;s postgame reaction was &ldquo;Luka Doncic happened,&rdquo; Doncic replied by saying &ldquo;Slovenia happened.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The whole team was ready,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;Everybody who stepped on the court was fighting, whether they played one minute or 30. I&rsquo;m really proud of this team.&rdquo;
Doncic was asked after the game if he or Antetokounmpo was in a better position to break the EuroBasket single-game scoring record.
Doncic didn&rsquo;t hesitate with his answer: He picked Antetokounmpo.
&ldquo;I would bet on Giannis,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;Why? Because he&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo.&rdquo;
GROUP C
GREECE 99, UKRAINE 79
At Milan, Antetokounmpo simply overpowered Ukraine and ensured that Greece would finish atop its group.
Antetokounmpo &mdash; who got Monday off to rest &mdash; had his 41 points and nine rebounds in just 27 minutes to lead Greece (4-0).
He was 13 for 18 from the floor, 15 for 18 from the foul line.
&ldquo;It was very easy to prepare the team because it is absolutely clear what Greece does when Giannis is out there,&rdquo; Ukraine coach Ainars Bagatskis said. &ldquo;They play really aggressive basketball. And if you don&rsquo;t put against them the same aggressiveness, even higher aggressiveness, then you have big problems.&rdquo;
Nick Calathes and Tyler Dorsey had 13 apiece for Greece.
Issuf Sanon and Svi Mykhailiuk each scored 16 for Ukraine (3-1), while Alex Len and Illya Sydorov added 10 apiece. Ukraine led by seven at the half, before Greece won the third quarter 32-11.
ESTONIA 94, GREAT BRITAIN 62
Henri Drell scored 20 points, Siim-Sander Vene added 18 and Estonia had no trouble on the way to its first win of the tournament.
Maik-Kalev Kotsar scored 15, Kristjan Kitsing added 14 and Janari Joesaar finished with 11 for Estonia (1-3).
Myles Hesson scored 14 for Great Britain (0-4), with Carl Wheatie and Patrick Whelan each scoring 12.
ITALY 81, CROATIA 76
Simone Fontecchio and Nicolo Melli each scored 19 points to lead Italy (2-2).
Bojan Bogdanovic led Croatia (2-2) with 27 points, while Ivica Zubac scored 13 and Dario Saric added 10.
Both teams are headed to the knockout round.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
GROUP B
SLOVENIA 88, GERMANY 80
At Cologne, Germany, Doncic&rsquo;s 36 points came with him making 14 of 25 shots. He also had 10 rebounds for Slovenia (3-1).
Goran Dragic scored 18 points and Mike Tobey added 10 for Slovenia.
&ldquo;We showed what we are made of,&rdquo; Dragic said.
Dennis Schroder scored 19 points, Andreas Obst had 14 and Maodo Lo added 13 for Germany (3-1).
LITHUANIA 87, HUNGARY 64
Lithuanian basketball is known for a lot of things, including passionate fans.
They go everywhere to cheer for their national team. And Tuesday, they even cheered for France &mdash; for good reason.
Lithuania topped Hungary and that, combined with France&rsquo;s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, means the last qualifying spot out of Group B is still unclaimed. It&rsquo;ll be decided Wednesday when Lithuania plays Bosnia and Herzegovina, the winner moving on to Berlin and a round-of-16 game, the loser heading home eliminated.
&ldquo;Lithuanian fans are the best,&rdquo; France guard Evan Fournier said.
If France had lost Tuesday, Lithuania would have been eliminated. Instead, those Lithuanian fans serenaded the French with cries of &ldquo;Merci!&rdquo; for keeping their national team&rsquo;s hopes alive.
&ldquo;It feels amazing,&rdquo; Lithuania forward Domatas Sabonis said. &ldquo;They travel to every championship to support us. It&rsquo;s sad we couldn&rsquo;t give them a win over the weekend, but we&rsquo;re glad we could give them one today and the goal is to give them another one tomorrow.&rdquo;
Jonas Valanciunas scored 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting and Sabonis added 19 for Lithuania (1-3).
Marius Grigonis had 15 points and Rokas Jokubaitis added 10 for Lithuania. Zoltan Perl scored 16 for Hungary (0-4), while David Vojvoda and Rosco Allen each finished with 10.
FRANCE 81, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 68
Thomas Heurtel&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 5:49 left put France ahead to stay and started a game-ending 22-7 run for the winners, who were already assured of a spot in the round of 16.
Guerschon Yabusele scored 15 for France (3-1), while Heurtel and Fournier each had 14 and Rudy Gobert posted an 11-point, 12-rebound performance.
Jusuf Nurkic, Miralem Halilovic and Dzanan Musa all had 14 for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-2), while John Roberson had 13 and Edin Atic finished with 10.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
GROUP A
TURKEY 78, BELGIUM 63
At Tbilisi, Georgia, Alperen Sengun scored 24 points, Furkan Korkmaz had 16 and Turkey (3-1) remained tied atop Group A.
Ercan Osmani added 12 for Turkey.
Haris Bratanovic scored 15 for Belgium (2-2) and Hans Vanwijn scored 11.
SPAIN 82, MONTENEGRO 65
Spain (3-1) clinched its berth in the round of 16, with Dario Brizuela leading the way with 18 points.
Willy Hernangomez scored 14 for Spain, while Jaime Pradilla and Lorenzo Brown added 12 apiece.
Vladimir Mihailovic scored 18 for Montenegro (2-2), which got 11 from Marko Simonovic and 10 from Kendrick Perry.
BULGARIA 92, GEORGIA 80
Dee Bost had 33 points and 12 assists, Aleksandar Vezenkov finished with 28 points and 14 rebounds, and Bulgaria kept its hopes alive.
Pavlin Ivanov scored 17 for Bulgaria (1-3).
Goga Bitadze scored 21 for Georgia (1-3), while Thaddus McFadden had 19, Alexander Mamukelashvili scored 13, and Giorgi Shermadini and Duda Sanadze scored 10 apiece.
GROUP D
SERBIA 89, ISRAEL 78
At Prague, Jokic was 11 of 13 from the floor and also grabbed 11 rebounds for Serbia (4-0), while Vasilije Micic added 19.
Nikola Kalinic and Ognjen Jaramaz each scored 10 for Serbia.
Yam Madar scored 20 for Israel (2-2), while Deni Avdija had 14 and Roman Sorkin added 11.
POLAND 75, NETHERLANDS 69
Poland was down by 13 in the third quarter before closing the game on a 39-20 run to tune up for its knockout-stage appearance.
Michal Sokolowski scored 24 for Poland (3-1), which got 16 from Aleksander Balcerowski and 10 from Jakub Garbacz.
Charlon Kloof led the Netherlands (0-4) with 26, and Yannick Franke scored 13.
FINLAND 98, CZECH REPUBLIC 88
Lauri Markkanen continued his strong tournament with 34 points and 10 rebounds, and Finland clinched its berth in the round of 16.
Sasu Salin scored 23 and Petteri Koponen added 14 for Finland, with Elias Valtonen finishing with 11.
Vojtech Hruban scored 22 for the Czech Republic, with Jan Vesely adding 15 and Patrik Auda and Jaromir Bohacik scoring 13 apiece. The Czechs play Israel on Thursday and, according to FIBA, could reach the knockout stage with a win.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
WEDNESDAY&rsquo;S SCHEDULE
First-round play in Groups A and B concludes, with Groups C and D getting the day off before they finish their round-robins on Thursday. Friday is an off day and the knockout round in Berlin starts Saturday.
Group A: Turkey (3-1) vs. Spain (3-1), Bulgaria (1-3) vs. Belgium (2-2), Georgia (1-3) vs. Montenegro (2-2). The Turkey-Spain winner will win the group. Bulgaria and Georgia are in must-win scenarios.
Group B: Lithuania (1-3) vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-2), France (3-1) vs. Slovenia (3-1), Hungary (0-4) vs. Germany (3-1). France, Slovenia (which wins the group with a victory) and Germany have already qualified, Hungary is eliminated and the Lithuania-Bosnia game is the one that matters most.

Antetokounmpo scored 41 points in 27 minutes for Greece, Doncic had 36 points for Slovenia and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic scored 29 points for Serbia.

Stars shine bright: Giannis, Luka, Jokic lead at EuroBasket

For the first time in his soon-to-be-six-year professional basketball career, Derrick Walton Jr. will not be suiting up for an NBA team come training camp. Instead, in three weeks, he will pack his bags and head to Australia, where he&rsquo;ll begin to get acclimated with the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League.
&ldquo;It is new. I kinda came to grips with it probably about two weeks ago,&rdquo; Walton told Basketball News in a phone interview. &ldquo;This is different. I'm usually not really geared all the way up back until September or so. But it's a good setup, I have no complaints. Whatever the situation [or] the schedule is, just know I'mma go in with a wide smile and be ready to go for real.
&ldquo;Overall, just the good things I've heard [from] a lot of people that have already experienced it and just the love that they showed me, I couldn't not acknowledge it. It was very prevalent, and [the Kings] put it on display. So [what I&rsquo;m looking forward to] for the most part, just obviously the style of play, the lifestyle I've been told about and then just people that value me. And we've got a complete, good understanding, so [the decision] was kind of easy for me to be honest.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Walton officially inked a one-year deal with the NBL&rsquo;s reigning champions on July 4 after hearing nothing but good things about the Aussie league from people he&rsquo;s close with and trusts.&nbsp;
R.J. Hunter, a former NBA first-round pick in 2015 by the Boston Celtics who played for Sydney last season, direct-messaged him a while ago about it. Friends from the Detroit area such as Brandon Jenkins and Walton&rsquo;s longtime trainer, Jermaine Jackson, have also given the stamp of approval, while Louisville hero Peyton Siva has done the same.&nbsp;
Walton&rsquo;s motivation to make the move across the world is simple, and not about boosting his stock just to get back to the NBA. He wants to be wanted.
&ldquo;I think, being transparent, I feel like obviously I know I'm an NBA player. I feel like I would be a really good backup point guard. But at this point, I just want to go somewhere where I'm valued,&rdquo; Walton said. &ldquo;And if that comes back full circle, then I would take it. But as far as now, I want to just make sure I'm enjoying the game as much as possible, being in the best situation every single chance I get a chance to be and then overall, I let stuff take care of itself.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I would be lying if I said that's not in my wheelhouse, that I wouldn't be drawn to that, but honestly when I go to Australia, that's my main priority. I don't really want to put my mind anywhere else."
This offseason has been all about staying in the gym to become &ldquo;as dynamic as possible&rdquo; for Walton, who has spent the majority of his career setting up others primarily first and foremost.
&ldquo;Being a floor general is cool, but I think I'mma try to just be a little more diligent and trying to display how I can score the ball,&rdquo; Walton said. &ldquo;I've been working on that a lot more, just trying to be more aggressive for the most part."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Still 🖤 <a href="https://t.co/BuHsqmjKxY">pic.twitter.com/BuHsqmjKxY</a>
&mdash; Derrick Walton (@DerrickWalton10) <a href="https://twitter.com/DerrickWalton10/status/1529290265877520384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

"There's a time in some people's careers that they just go play. I mean, just go play. And I think being in Australia is going to give him that opportunity to just go run a team, 'cause he's as good as there is at running a team," Pistons senior player development advisor and former Michigan head coach John Beilein told Basketball News. "And he can analytically build up some stats that may make him very appealing as he comes back because he's still young. He did it in the G League and he really proved himself while in the G League.&nbsp;
"Roster spots are so rare. And so, he's gonna go over there [to Australia] and make the most of this opportunity. And who knows where it'll lead. It may lead to 10 more years overseas, or it may put him right back to the NBA in a stronger position."
Though forward-looking, Walton appreciates his time in the NBA. For him, being blessed enough to live out a dream he set out for himself as a child is something he is grateful for. Having had stints with the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons in different capacities, he appeared in 45 regular-season games and drew four starts. (He also averaged 15.9 points, 8.0 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals across 59 career games in the G League.)
"Everything comes with growing. The older I got and each time I dealt with a different situation, I handled it with a little more maturity,&rdquo; Walton said. &ldquo;Probably earlier in my career, I was a little more 'reactive,' but overall I just think I'm a very even-keeled guy for everything I've been through. So it's not too much that's gonna throw me off or knock me off my square now...
"...Be where your feet are and then just try to have as much fun with it. I know me, I'm a completely different player when I feel like the outside factors outside of the court [are] handled. So as much as I just get to focus on what I do on a day-to-day basis, I think my performance only rises. So that's what I pretty much learned for myself."
Three of those NBA starts came with his hometown Pistons last season between Dec. 26 and New Year's Day, when Walton amassed a total of 19 points, 21 assists and 7 blocks on a 10-day contract.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was dope,&rdquo; Walton said of playing for his city. &ldquo;My family, we all went to my mother's house to eat afterwards. That's a dope feeling. It more so was really dope for me to see my family get to experience it more so than myself, to be honest... As a Detroiter, we're just prideful of our city. I can say I'm prideful to be from here.&nbsp;
"It kinda made me who I am. They show me ridiculous love. And then, it's home. People love me here. It gave me love, so I show love back."
Having a familiar face around the franchise also helped with Beilein being in Detroit. Together, the pair won the Big Ten Tournament twice &mdash; Walton was the 2017 B1G Tourney MVP &mdash; and took home regular-season honors once too.&nbsp;
&ldquo;[Michigan] pretty much allowed me to be a professional before I was,&rdquo; Walton said. &ldquo;Just how to carry myself, the edicate and overall just the ins and outs of being a pro every single day.&nbsp;&ldquo;[John]&rsquo;s a guy that knows my game in and out, so if he'd watch the game or anything, just the nuances or like little, small stuff... It was always good to just get back to home and just know a guy that had seen me at the very purity of the game with being collegiate, just knowing he got my best interest at heart was always dope. And then, we got a good relationship. We won a championship together, so it's always good to see somebody that you raised the banner with."
"There are so many moments with him," Beilein said. "He was the one, of all those guys (former Michigan point guards), I think we had the most fun. But it was also &mdash; we held each other accountable. He wouldn't let me get too programmed. And I wouldn't let him get away with anything but believing in himself and playing with great confidence."
Beilein outlines how amazing Walton played and led the Wolverines during that 2017 conference tourney, particularly after a <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2019/03/07/michigan-basketball-plane-crash/3095406002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">frightening plane crash prior to takeoff on the way to Washington D.C</a>.
"That should tell you everything you need to know about Derrick Walton. He's helping others get off the plane before he dove out the window and cut his knee (and got six stitches). And then, to get up the next day and lead us for four days of incredible basketball. [Everybody needs to see] how special he was for those four days," Beilein said.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wASKoSSVIIU" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
"So there's times when leadership is taken for granted. That one was not what it was &mdash; like, so needed, and he knew it. And he stepped up. He was the best guard in the country for those four days without question. He did the same thing to Louisville, to Donovan Mitchell and people like this. We're playing [against] Louisville; [Walton] commanded that whole game, Oklahoma State, same thing. And then, we lost with real adversity at the buzzer with Oregon in the Sweet 16, so he put on a show there. That was incredible. And he's capable of doing that. He's so unselfish that he'll pass up shots that he can make. But everybody loves coaching him. I know Coach [Dwane] Casey loved coaching him. We won a game or two with him as our point guard last year."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Now, Walton is poised to hang another in Sydney with a squad looking for back-to-back NBL titles. Despite the new challenge, Walton is not worried about transitioning into a new league. He feels at this point of his career that he can get along with anybody when he makes the move to the Land Down Under.
&ldquo;It's all about me just sitting and getting around the guys for probably days at a time. I'm an easy-going guy, man,&rdquo; Walton said. &ldquo;I'm a point guard first, I'm good with people. I'm not really too nervous about adjusting. It's just more so just trying to get down everyday life quick. It's not really a huge adjustment, just a different scenery for me I would just say."
(That change of environment also includes Australia&rsquo;s large habitat of snakes, to which Walton will have to reluctantly get used to: &ldquo;Wait what? They need to keep that away from me! Don&rsquo;t put me near no snakes! Hell nah!&rdquo;)
With so many players going to and from the NBL, Walton is eager to be the next transfer that makes a big impact.
&ldquo;I'm a winner man. I put winning before all,&rdquo; Walton said. &ldquo;I want to win. I want to be a part of winning. I want to be a pivotal part of winning. And I feel like everything else will take care of itself. Individual goals fall in line with winning for me honestly...
&ldquo;... Some situations like this one (that) presents itself, you just can't turn down. So it's like, everybody's situation is different and then, the basketball (competition level) being what it is always makes it better. But I think it's a good combination of both for me."

Spencer Davies speaks with Derrick Walton about the motivation behind his decision to head overseas to the NBL and more.

Wanting to be valued, Derrick Walton Jr. makes no-brainer move to NBL

Former Los Angeles Lakers player Slava Medvedenko is selling his two NBA championship rings to raise money for his native Ukraine.
Medvedenko was a power forward on the Lakers&rsquo; championship teams in 2001 and &rsquo;02, playing alongside Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal.
SCP Auctions is donating the entire final sale price of both rings to Medvedenko&rsquo;s Fly High Foundation. Its goal is to support Ukrainian children by restoring the sports infrastructure of the war-torn country&rsquo;s schools and launching a network of social sports clubs.
&ldquo;We want to restore gyms because the Russian army bombed more than a hundred schools,&rdquo; he told The Associated Press by phone on Sunday. &ldquo;Our country, they need a lot of money to fix the schools. Sports gyms are going to be last in the line to fix it. In Ukraine, we have winter and kids need to play inside.&rdquo;
The auction runs from Wednesday through Aug. 5. The Laguna Niguel, California-based company estimates both rings will raise at least $100,000.
Medvedenko said he decided to sell the rings after going to the roof of one of the tallest buildings in his Kyiv neighborhood and watching rockets launched by Russian forces streak through the night sky.
&ldquo;In this moment I just decided, &lsquo;Why do I need these rings if they&rsquo;re just sitting in my safe?&rsquo;&rdquo; Medvedenko said. &ldquo;I just recognize I can die. After that, I just say I have to sell them to show people leadership, to help my Ukrainian people to live better, to help kids.&rdquo;
Medvedenko spoke from Warsaw, Poland, where he staged a sold out charity basketball game to raise money for Ukrainian refugees who crossed the border to escape the war.
&ldquo;In Ukraine, you&rsquo;re just feeling it&rsquo;s war, rockets, air alerts. You&rsquo;re so used to that kind of pressure,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As soon as you cross the border and see how people live normal life, it&rsquo;s a different world.&rdquo;
The 43-year-old is married with two daughters, ages 16 and 11, and a 10-year-old son. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Medvedenko sent his children to live with their grandmother in another part of the country.
&ldquo;After they stay for 1 1/2 months, they were all the time calling me and asking, &lsquo;Papa, can we come home? We want to be with you and Momma,&rsquo;&rdquo; he recalled.
Five months into the war, Medvedenko has reunited his family in Kyiv.
&ldquo;We have air alerts almost every day. Sometimes it&rsquo;s three or four times a day,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The kids are so used to it. They play in our backyard. They not even stop playing they are used to it.&rdquo;
Medvedenko has served in Ukraine&rsquo;s territorial defense forces during the war.
&ldquo;We were defending our neighborhood, doing checkpoints and duty patrol. I&rsquo;m not the best solider, I&rsquo;m not the best shooter, but I can give them support,&rdquo; he said, adding that he carried an AK-47. &ldquo;I shoot it a couple times, not at people. I&rsquo;m happy I don&rsquo;t have a chance to shoot somebody. Our army did a great job to defend Kyiv. I want to thank them.&rdquo;
Medvedenko was a candidate for Kyiv City Council in the 2020 election. He was 11th on the election list and his party only managed to win nine seats.
Beyond his humanitarian efforts during the war, Medvedenko has long-term goals to help his country.
&ldquo;After the victory, we will definitely return to that question of quality changes in sport,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Ten years in the United States, I saw how it works. I hope I have ideal model in my mind to change Ukrainian sport.&rdquo;
Medvedenko joined the Lakers in the 2000-01 season. He had his best season in 2003-04 when he started 38 games in place of injured Hall of Famer Karl Malone, and averaged 8.3 points and 5.0 rebounds. Injuries later slowed him and Medvedenko was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in 2006-07, his final season in the league.
Medvedenko said he texts with former Lakers Mark Madsen and Luke Walton. The team has sent sports equipment for use in Ukraine.
&ldquo;The Lakers family always help me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The Lakers are always in my heart.&rdquo;

Former Lakers player Slava Medvedenko is selling his two NBA championship rings to raise money for his native Ukraine.

Former Laker Slava Medvedenko auctions NBA title rings for Ukraine

During a break between Golden State's Western Conference finals games against Dallas, then-Warriors top assistant Mike Brown jumped on a plane to San Diego to watch his new star De&rsquo;Aaron Fox work out and take the Sacramento guard and his family to lunch.
Brown got right back on a plane afterward to rejoin Golden State for playoff preparations.
At last Tuesday, Brown was formally introduced as the Kings' new coach, just one day after celebrating the Warriors' fourth championship in eight years with a victory parade through San Francisco.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been heavily involved,&rdquo; Brown said of getting going with the Kings as the schedule permitted. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve talked to every single player on multiple occasions.&rdquo;
Sacramento hired the well-traveled Brown in May but he stayed with the Warriors through their postseason run that ended with the franchise's fourth championship in eight years last Thursday night in the clinching Game 6 at Boston.
&ldquo;First of all, I&rsquo;d like to start out by thanking everyone in Warrior land,&rdquo; Brown said.
The 52-year-old Brown will be tasked with ending the league's longest playoff drought ever at 16 years. He takes over for previous Warriors top assistant and former Lakers coach Luke Walton, hired by the Kings in 2019 before his firing last November. Alvin Gentry took over on an interim basis before the Kings finished 30-52.
Sacramento's .366 winning percentage was its worst since the 2017-18 season.
Brown is determined to build a consistent winner in the state capital.
&ldquo;One of the main reasons that I was brought here was to bring some leadership in a lot of different areas,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been with a lot of different teams in my 30 years. I&rsquo;ve experienced something that I believe can get organizations over the top, not just in one year but year in and year out, and that&rsquo;s having a winning culture. My job is to lead in that area. Every organization out there, in my opinion, has a soul. The stronger that soul is the better that organization will be.&rdquo;
Brown previously had two stints as head coach in Cleveland, where he guided the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007, and also coached the Los Angeles Lakers.
Since moving to Sacramento in 1985, the Kings have had only one stretch of success, making the playoffs in all eight seasons under coach Rick Adelman from 1999-2006. Adelman was fired in 2006 and remains the only coach in the Sacramento era to post a winning record in any season.
&ldquo;We conducted in the front office here a very robust, thorough, comprehensive process," Kings general manager Monte McNair said. &ldquo;We wanted to ensure that we found the right coach. We did a lot of research and it came down to three key things for us: experience, successful head coaching experience, relationships, the ability to build relationships across the organization, and leadership &mdash; leadership as a head coach and leadership for everything that we're trying to do here.&rdquo;
On several occasions, Brown stepped in for Warriors coach Steve Kerr, most recently when Kerr dealt with COVID-19 and missed three playoff games.
Now, it's time for a new chapter that he hopes will produce a regular contender much like where he has been.
And when someone congratulated Brown on the Warriors' title, Brown showed off his signature warm smile and cracked: &ldquo;Can you say that again?&rdquo;
&ldquo;I've got four,&rdquo; he added, holding up four fingers and chuckling.

“I’ve been heavily involved,” Mike Brown said of getting going with the Kings. “I’ve talked to every single player on multiple occasions.”