Fighting Bees

<div>Every February, LeBron James has been wondering why he didn't participate in the Slam Dunk Contest for more than two decades, one of the NBA's great what-ifs. Fans have debated the topic in barbershops, on sports radio, and across social media.</div>
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<div>Brandon 'Scoop B' Robinson's recent interview with former <a href="https://bookmaker-ratings.ru/tip/sport-types/tip-nba-tips/">NBA </a>forward and 1992 dunk champion Cedric Ceballos has given new life to the conversation, even though some parts of the past need to be addressed.</div>
<div>Ceballos didn't just suggest that LeBron skipped the contest because he wasn't interested.</div>
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<div>He defined it as something deeper: the preservation of the brand.</div>
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<div>&ldquo;He had a chance his rookie year and he didn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; <a href="https://scoopb.com/2026/02/cedric-ceballos-talks-vince-carters-springs-anthony-edwards-rise-and-why-lebron-james-skipped-the-dunk-contest/">Ceballos told Robinson</a>. &ldquo;After that rookie year, anything after that would damage his credibility and his career. It&rsquo;s not really if he wins it &mdash; because he&rsquo;s supposed to win it &mdash; it&rsquo;s that if he loses it.&rdquo;</div>
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<div>According to Ceballos, the risk outweighed the reward. LeBron had already become too big, too famous, and too accustomed to dominating. Winning would be the standard operating procedure.</div>
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<div>Losing would be a headline that would follow him forever.</div>
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<div>To reinforce his point, Ceballos referenced LeBron's high school years.</div>
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&ldquo;He lost in the McDonald&rsquo;s All-American Game,&rdquo; Ceballos said, claiming that a then lesser-known Shannon Brown outshined LeBron in the dunk contest. &ldquo;Shannon Brown beat him, but he was a little bit not as famous as LeBron and they gave it to LeBron.&rdquo;
The story fits neatly into Ceballos&rsquo; narrative: LeBron experiencing early proof that even one loss could dent his aura.
The problem? It didn&rsquo;t quite happen that way.
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<h2 data-start="1601" data-end="1646">What Ceballos Was Really Arguing</h2>
Ceballos' fundamental basketball critique was evident, even though his memory was spotty. According to him, LeBron is a powerful power dunker - one of the best in live action - but not a specialist in dunk contests.
&ldquo;LeBron dunks on a lot of people,&rdquo; Ceballos implied, &ldquo;but trickery, suaveness &mdash; no.&rdquo;
<div>LeBron's remarkable abilities are attributed to his speed, strength, timing, and rim violence, not to his choreographed creativity. In the past, the Dunk Contest has awarded both flair and force equally.</div>
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<div>The basketball argument is fair. Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Vince Carter, and Zach LaVine were legends of the contest, blending athleticism and innovation.</div>
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<div>Windmills, free-throw line glides, props, timing, and theatrical moments all play significant roles.LeBron's game has always been about efficiency and dominance, not pre-planned artistry.</div>
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<h2>The McDonald&rsquo;s Contest Reality</h2>
Officially, LeBron James won the 2003 McDonald&rsquo;s All-American Slam Dunk Contest in Cleveland. The other finalists were Shannon Brown and J.R. Giddens.
However, the nuance matters.
Many recaps from that night noted that LeBron&rsquo;s dunks were solid but relatively basic &mdash; powerful, clean, but not jaw-dropping. Brown, on the other hand, pulled off one of the most impressive single dunks of the event but missed multiple attempts afterward, hurting his overall score.
LeBron benefitted from consistency, hometown energy, and others&rsquo; miscues.
So while Ceballos is wrong that LeBron &ldquo;lost,&rdquo; he&rsquo;s not wrong that the perception afterward was more complicated than a dominant victory.
Even as a teenager, LeBron was learning something crucial: when you&rsquo;re the most famous player in the building, expectations distort everything.
<h2 data-start="3213" data-end="3356">The Real Risk for Superstars</h2>
This is where Ceballos&rsquo; brand argument actually lines up with reality.
For a player like LeBron James, the Dunk Contest was always a high-risk, low-reward proposition.
If he won? Fans would shrug and say he was supposed to.
If he lost &mdash; especially to a smaller, less famous, more creative dunker like Nate Robinson, Gerald Green, or Zach LaVine &mdash; it would instantly become a meme, a punchline, a permanent footnote.
History backs this up. Dwight Howard&rsquo;s loss to Nate Robinson still gets referenced. Aaron Gordon losing twice despite incredible dunks became a running joke about being &ldquo;robbed.&rdquo; The contest doesn&rsquo;t forget.
And LeBron has essentially acknowledged this dynamic himself over the years.
He&rsquo;s said repeatedly that if he ever did the Dunk Contest, he&rsquo;d &ldquo;have to win&rdquo; &mdash; otherwise it wouldn&rsquo;t be worth it. That mindset alone shows how much pressure and perception factored into the decision.
<h2 data-start="4098" data-end="4298">LeBron&rsquo;s Own Explanation</h2>
Publicly, LeBron has always framed his absence in basketball terms rather than branding ones.
He&rsquo;s emphasized that his goals <a href="https://x.com/ScoopB/status/1668247108309118977">were championships</a>, MVPs, Defensive Player of the Year awards &mdash; not dunk trophies.
He&rsquo;s also consistently called himself an &ldquo;in-game dunker,&rdquo; explaining that he doesn&rsquo;t enjoy planning or practicing set-piece dunks. For him, dunking is about reacting in real time, attacking defenders, and finishing with force &mdash; not choreography.
That explanation fits his personality and play style perfectly.
But it doesn&rsquo;t exclude the brand reality either.
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<h2 data-start="5066" data-end="5370">So Was Ceballos Right?</h2>
Factually, no &mdash; LeBron didn&rsquo;t lose that high-school contest to Shannon Brown.
Conceptually? He was tapping into something very real.
From the moment LeBron entered the league as &ldquo;<a href="https://rg.org/news/basketball/phil-handy-jordan-kobe-lebron-goat-debate">The Chosen One</a>,&rdquo; every appearance became a referendum on greatness. The Dunk Contest, meant to be fun and experimental, would&rsquo;ve placed him in a situation where creativity mattered more than dominance &mdash; and where a single off night could live forever online.
For a generational superstar with nothing to gain and everything to lose, skipping it made strategic sense.
In that light, LeBron&rsquo;s absence doesn&rsquo;t look like fear or lack of interest alone. It looks like a calculated understanding of modern sports culture, expectations, and reputation.
<h2 data-start="5481" data-end="5659">The Middle Ground</h2>
<div>LeBron James' Dunk Contest absence was not only framed as a branding decision by Cedric Ceballos, but also by an associate of James' <a href="https://landonbuford-com-488060.hostingersite.com/lakers-lebron-james-associate-reveals-real-reason-he-skipped-dunk-contest/">Rob MC in the Walklikeus room</a> a few years back.</div>
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<div>They said it did not fit LeBron's image at the time and pointed out that the contest was less exciting after the best players stopped participating in the early 2000s.</div>
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<div>He answered those who questioned LeBron's drive by citing his famous 3-1 Finals comeback, and also reminded everyone that many great players skipped the contest.</div>
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<div>LeBron stayed out of the Dunk Contest, not because he was scared, but because he thought it could hurt his reputation more than it could help, choosing his long-term legacy over a show, according to their comments.</div>
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Cedric Ceballos explains how branding, risk, and legacy factored into LeBron James's decision not to enter the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

Ex-Laker Cedric Ceballos Weighs-In on Why LeBron Skipped the Dunk Contest

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.
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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>
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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 NBA App will stream the SLAM Summer Classic Vol. 5 on Saturday, Aug. 19, adding to the growing list of elite basketball programming available year-round on the new platform.&nbsp; 
The fifth annual basketball showcase at Rucker Park in New York City will feature 28 of the top high-school-age players in the U.S. Headlined by Jaloni Cambridge, Aaliyah Chavez and Kennedy Smith, the girls game tips off at 5 p.m. ET followed by the boys &ndash; featuring top high-school prospects Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Tre Johnson &ndash; streaming at 7 p.m. ET.&nbsp; Additionally, several members of the <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/jr-nba-court-of-leaders-mentorship-program-provides-youth-with-voice" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/news/jr-nba-court-of-leaders-mentorship-program-provides-youth-with-voice&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692371005985000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1FeYuKToXVUf2-KpS_2bVH">Jr. NBA Court of Leaders</a>&nbsp;will participate in the event.
The addition of the SLAM Summer Classic is part of the NBA&rsquo;s larger commitment to make the NBA App an all-in-one destination for global basketball programming. Over the past year, premier basketball content available on the app has included select WNBA, Basketball Africa League and NBA G League Ignite games, as well as Nike Elite Youth Basketball League&rsquo;s (EYBL) Peach Jam, Jr. NBA Showcase, LNB Betclic ELITE, top pro-am leagues such as the Drew League, Miami Pro League and AEBL, and more.
The NBA will produce and distribute the SLAM Summer Classic games on the free-to-download&nbsp;<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/global.nba.com/nba-apps/index.html?_branch_match_id=811567537499273278&amp;_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXTywo0MvJzMvWy0tK1EvOz9UH0kAxAF91y5sfAAAA__;!!KLCbKzk!n3wSjvNMSkYR4lKoKVgXircttWOLy-0rXgpTSo-D1MmKcmHzay-SwIoaQ0lokaPc1PDUxBHGW6sN$" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/global.nba.com/nba-apps/index.html?_branch_match_id%3D811567537499273278%26_branch_referrer%3DH4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXTywo0MvJzMvWy0tK1EvOz9UH0kAxAF91y5sfAAAA__;!!KLCbKzk!n3wSjvNMSkYR4lKoKVgXircttWOLy-0rXgpTSo-D1MmKcmHzay-SwIoaQ0lokaPc1PDUxBHGW6sN$&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1692371005985000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2emDiwi7_0lf1Yxd60aUby">NBA App</a>&nbsp;and on NBA.com. Below are the full team rosters.&nbsp;
BOYS ROSTER
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Ace Bailey (Powder Springs, Ga.)
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Jalil Bethea (Philadelphia, Pa.)
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*AJ Dybantsa (Brockton, Mass.)
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VJ Edgecombe (Brookville, N.Y.)
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*Isaiah Evans (Huntersville, N.C.)
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Cooper Flagg (Newport, Maine)
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Dylan Harper (Ramsey, N.J.)
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Jahki Howard (Atlanta, Ga.)
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Ian Jackson (Bronx, N.Y.)
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Tre Johnson (Dallas, Texas)
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Tahaad Pettiford (Jersey City, N.J.)
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*Jase Richardson (Las Vegas, Nev.)
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Meleek Thomas (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
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Robert Wright III&nbsp;(Philadelphia, Pa.)
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* Member of the Jr. NBA Court of Leaders
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&nbsp;GIRLS ROSTER
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Izela Arenas (Chatsworth, Calif.)
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Mikayla Blakes (Somerset, N.J.)
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*Jaloni Cambridge (Nashville, Tenn.)
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Aaliyah Chavez (Lubbock, Texas)
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*Kendall Dudley (Centreville, Va.)
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*Leah Harmon (Washington D.C.)
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Ariel Little (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
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Maddy McDaniel (Upper Marlboro, Md.)
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Me'arah O'Neal (Houston, Texas)
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Mackenly Randolph (Chatsworth, Calif.)
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Kennedy Smith (Etiwanda, Calif.)
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Chloe Spreen (Bedford, Ind.)
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Kennedy Umeh (Owings Mills, Md.)
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Allie Ziebell (Neenah, Wis.)
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* Member of the Jr. NBA Court of Leaders

The NBA App will stream the SLAM Summer Classic Vol. 5 on Saturday, Aug. 19.

NBA App to stream the SLAM Summer Classic Vol. 5

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Back when the NBA playoffs were always part of the springtime schedule at Madison Square Garden, this is what they looked like.
Tough to score. Even a little tough to watch.
And on Friday night, the fans loved it.
Jalen Brunson scored 21 points, RJ Barrett broke out of a slump with 19 and the New York Knicks held the Cleveland Cavaliers to the lowest point total in the NBA this season, rolling to a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series with a 99-79 victory.
The Knicks emphatically bounced back from a loss in Game 2 and moved halfway to their first series victory since 2013. They led by 27 points in the fourth quarter, when a sold-out crowd of 19,812 was so loud there was little chance of hearing much of what the public address announcer was saying &mdash; especially as seldom-used veteran Derrick Rose was checking into the game to a huge ovation.
&ldquo;It was what I expected for sure,&rdquo; Knicks All-Star Julius Randle said. &ldquo;A lot of, lot of energy and we were able to feed off it, so I love it.&rdquo;
Josh Hart added 13 points for the fifth-seeded Knicks, who host Game 4 on Sunday. They became the first team to allow fewer than 80 points during the regular season or postseason.
Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points for the Cavaliers, who never gave themselves a chance with their most inept offensive performance of the season, rattled perhaps by the Knicks on the court and the fans surrounding it.
&ldquo;Not being able to make shots definitely hurts as well, but it&rsquo;s one of those things where we&rsquo;ll be good,&rdquo; Mitchell said. &ldquo;Like, kind of breathe and relax and calm down.&rdquo;
Darius Garland, who scored 32 points in Game 2, managed just 10 on 4-for-21 shooting. Caris LeVert, moved into the starting lineup after scoring 24 in that 107-90 victory, missed all six shots in the first half before coming on late for 17 points.
Barrett was 6 for 25 in the first two games but his shot was falling and he aggressively drove to the basket to get himself going. Plus, some of the Cavs&rsquo; 21 turnovers sent Barrett and the Knicks off to easy transition baskets.
It was just the second time the playoffs came to Madison Square Garden in the last 10 years and it looked like something played by the beloved 1990s Knicks, who had the Garden rocking deep in many springs with their rugged brand of basketball.
&ldquo;As a basketball player you kind of grow up thinking about moments like these,&rdquo; Barrett said. &ldquo;It was electric in there and happy we get to come back Sunday.&rdquo;
Bodies crashed to the floor or into each other, and once in a while the ball went into the basket.
The Cavs had 13 baskets and 12 turnovers at halftime, when the Knicks&rsquo; 4-for-19 shooting from behind the arc looked practically hot compared to the Cavs&rsquo; 2-for-19 effort.
The teams combined to miss 20 of 23 3-pointers in a first quarter that ended tied at 17, and Garland (0 for 8) and Randle (0 for 5) couldn&rsquo;t hit from anywhere. The Cavs&rsquo; worst previous effort this season was also against the Knicks, 81 points on Dec. 4.
&ldquo;It was nasty, like a lot of games have been with them this season,&rdquo; LeVert said.
The Knicks ran off six straight points in the second to open a 38-27 lead when Brunson stole the ball from Mitchell and dunked it, then got the final five of the half on a 3-pointer by Immanuel Quickley and another dunk off a Mitchell turnover, this one by Barrett, to make it 45-32.
The offenses got going in the third quarter, with both teams shooting above 50% and LeVert scoring 11 points. The Cavs got within single digits before the Knicks closed the period on an 8-0 run to take a 72-55 lead.
It was a rough first playoff game back home for Mitchell, who was born in Elmsford, New York, not far from where the Knicks practice, and thought he might be a Knick last summer before Utah instead traded him to Cleveland.
He said he cut off communication with some friends who were Knicks fans and left some group chats so there would be no distractions. Usually warmly received in the arena, the fans even turned on the All-Star guard, loudly chanting &ldquo;airball! airball!&rdquo; when he was well off on a 3-pointer in the second quarter.
TIP-INS
Cavaliers: Garland left the game for a time in the fourth quarter after hurting his ankle when he stepped on a photographer behind the basket. ... The Cavs matched their worst first half in a playoff game, also scoring 32 in an 81-76 loss to the Knicks in Game 3 of 1996 playoffs. ... Isaac Okoro was benched for LeVert after shooting 1 for 7 in the two games in Cleveland.
Knicks: Randle and Quickley each scored 11 points. ... Backup big man Jericho Sims was out with a sore right shoulder. He hasn&rsquo;t played in the series.

The Knicks held the Cavs to the lowest point total in the NBA this season, 99-79, rolling a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.

Knicks romp past Cavaliers 99-79, take 2-1 series lead

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Reserve Jeff Green scored a season-high 24 points, Nikola Jokic notched his 21st triple-double of the season and the Denver Nuggets headed into the All-Star break with a 118-109 victory over the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
Nikola Jokic finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the Western Conference-leading Nuggets, who moved to an NBA-best 27-4 at home this season. Michael Porter Jr. hit five 3-pointers and finished with 22 points.
&ldquo;For us to continue to find ways to win and have different guys step up every night, I think it speaks to our chemistry, our depth,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a really good team in there.&rdquo;
Luka Doncic had 37 points in leading a banged-up Dallas team that was missing guard Kyrie Irving due to lower-back tightness. Doncic and Irving have played alongside each other in two games since Irving was acquired as part of a deal with Brooklyn on Feb. 6.
The Nuggets led by 21 in the fourth quarter, only to see the Mavericks cut it to 105-95 with 5:50 remaining on Christian Wood&rsquo;s layup. Soon after, Porter blocked a shot on one end, raced back and hit a 3-pointer on the other to gain some breathing room.
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Where it really got away from the Mavs, coach Jason Kidd conceded, was in the second, when the Nuggets broke open a one-point game with a 35-19 quarter.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re sitting in a good place against the best team in the West and so we have to look at doing a better job,&rdquo; Kidd said.
The two teams split their four-game season series.
View Denver as a favorite?
&ldquo;When you have a guy like Jokic on your team, you&rsquo;re the favorite,&rdquo; Doncic said.
Jokic joined some exclusive company by going over 500 assists and 500 rebounds before the All-Star break. The other NBA players to accomplish the feat were Russell Westbrook (three times, &rsquo;16-17, &rsquo;17-18, &rsquo;18-19) and Oscar Robertson (&rsquo;61-62).
Jokic, the two-time reigning MVP, remains on pace to average a triple-double this season.
&ldquo;He makes it look like a walk in the park,&rdquo; recently acquired backup center Thomas Bryant said of Jokic&rsquo;s ease with triple-doubles. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not easy at all.&rdquo;
Doncic&rsquo;s big night was his 65th career game with 35 or more points. Only LeBron James had more (87) before his 24th birthday. Doncic turns 24 on Feb. 28.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: F Justin Holiday was signed Wednesday. He played in 28 games for Atlanta this season and averaged 4.5 points. ... F Davis Bertans (calf), G Tim Hardaway Jr. (hamstring) and F/C Maxi Kleber (hamstring) were inactive.
Nuggets: Denver was without guard Jamal Murray (right knee inflammation) along with forward Aaron Gordon (bruised ribs).
FRIENDLY REMINDER
Malone made sure to remind his team the All-Star break didn&rsquo;t begin until 11 p.m. &mdash; well after their game. They listened.
&ldquo;Times have changed, guys get their private jets running, waiting to go somewhere,&rdquo; cracked Malone, who will coach Team LeBron at the All-Star Game.
COLORADO KID
Backup guard Reggie Jackson jumped at the chance to sign with the Nuggets and play close to home. Jackson, who grew up down the road in Colorado Springs, agreed to a deal with Denver on Tuesday. He wasn&rsquo;t in uniform against Dallas.
The 32-year-old Jackson&rsquo;s favorite player as a kid was Chauncey Billups, the Denver native who went to the University of Colorado before embarking on a long NBA career.
Jackson will wear No. 7 with Denver &mdash; a number Billups wore in 2009 while with the Nuggets.
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Reserve Jeff Green scored a season-high 24 points, and the Denver Nuggets beat the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 118-109.

Green helps Nuggets go into break with 118-109 win over Mavs

Over the next week, more than 200 high-school basketball teams and prep programs will travel to Las Vegas to compete in the 2022 Tarkanian Classic. The prep schools will compete from Dec. 16-18, while the high-school teams will play from Dec. 19-22.&nbsp;
Bishop Gorman High School will serve as the event's headquarters, but games will also be played at other local high-school gyms. Every game will be live-streamed on BallerTV.com.
The Tarkanian Classic is NBA-certified, meaning NBA executives and scouts can attend the games and evaluate players in-person. This is one of just three high-school-basketball events that the NBA certified this year, and most of the league has already requested credentials for their talent evaluators.
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23 NBA teams so far have requested credentials for 70+ team scouts for upcoming <a href="https://twitter.com/TarkClassic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TarkClassic</a> This year's Tark is 1 of only 3 HS regular season events that are NBA certified this season - permitting NBA teams to send their scouts <a href="https://twitter.com/FrankieBur?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FrankieBur</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DraftExpress</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RonMFlores?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RonMFlores</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/krystenpeek?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@krystenpeek</a>
&mdash; Dinos Trigonis (@Trigonis30) <a href="https://twitter.com/Trigonis30/status/1602528535872212992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>

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For over a decade, the Tarkanian Classic has featured top high-school teams and players. In recent years, top prospects such as Deandre Ayton, LaMelo Ball, Evan Mobley, Lonzo Ball, Jonathan Kuminga, Onyeka Okongwu, Marvin Bagley III and Jaden McDaniels have competed in the Las Vegas tournament.&nbsp;
This year, the event will feature 136 high-school teams from across the nation including host Bishop Gorman (NV), Liberty (NV), Mater Dei (Santa Ana CA), Oakridge (FL), Bishop O'Connell (VA), Rainier Beach (WA), Prestonwood Christian (TX), St. Augustine (CA), Calvary Christian (FL), St. Bernard (CA), Faith Family (TX), St. Raymond (NY), St. Ignatius (OH), West Ranch (CA), Douglass (TN), Durango (NV), Putnam City West (OK), St. Mary's (AZ), Rancho Christian (CA), JSerra (CA), Buchtel (OH), Coronado (NV), Bishop O'Dowd (CA), Crossroads (CA), Sheldon (CA), Kell (GA), Redondo Union (CA), Santa Margarita (CA), Coeur d'Alene (ID), Crean Lutheran (CA), Desert Pines (NV), Alta (UT), Mater Lakes (FL), Clovis West (CA), Monterey Trail (CA), Foothill (NV), Wilson (SC), Constitution (PA), Birmingham (CA), St.Paul (CA), Oakland (CA), Cypress Bay (FL), Bingham (UT), Miami Country Day (FL), Houston Christian (TX), Brentwoood (CA), Hillcrest (CA), Peninsula Catholic (VA), Sandra Day O'Connor (AZ), Valor Christian (CO), Arbor View (NV), San Gabriel Academy (CA), Valley (NV), Coral Glades (FL), Buckeye (AZ), Mother Teresa (Canada), Canyon Springs (NV), Jones (FL), Cheyenne (NV), Layton (UT), Spring Valley (NV), Roosevelt (CA) and Centennial (AZ).&nbsp;
There are also more than 60 prep programs participating including Prolific Prep (CA), SoCal Academy (CA), Dream City Christian National (AZ), Accelerated Prep (CO), Central Pointe Christian (FL), Dynamic Prep (TX), Bella Vista (AZ), NBA Academy I, II &amp; III, SCA Post-Grad (CA), Real Salt Lake (UT), Veritas Prep (CA),&nbsp; Skyline Prep (AZ) and Colorado Prep (CO).&nbsp;

Over the next week, more than 200 high-school teams and prep programs will travel to Vegas to compete in the Tarkanian Classic.

NBA-certified Tarkanian Classic set for this weekend in Las Vegas

NBA referee Bill Kennedy, who came out as gay in 2015, spoke out in an emotional video Tuesday in response to the weekend shooting that killed five and left 17 others with gunshot wounds at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
<a href="https://twitter.com/nbacares/status/1595230617687539713?s=20&amp;t=i1nz8BGLjzUF3JG7vtfEHQ">The 41-second video</a> was released on the NBA&rsquo;s social media platforms.
&ldquo;These types of heinous crimes, these hideous hate crimes, need to stop in this country,&rdquo; Kennedy said. &ldquo;We, we as the people, have to figure out a way to do this and to get it done. Godspeed to the LGBT community in Colorado Springs and abroad.&rdquo;
The shooting at <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-shootings-colorado-gay-rights-112e79c6886defbcc07e2c7cec32a246">Club Q</a> took place Saturday night. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/crime-shootings-colorado-gun-politics-denver-766baba4c80bb470eba9e6146c7b42aa">The suspect in the shooting,</a> Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, faces murder and hate crime charges. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance Wednesday by video from jail.
It&rsquo;s not the first reaction from the NBA to the incident. Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone spoke earlier this week, calling it &ldquo;another senseless mass shooting.&rdquo; The Nuggets also held a moment of silence before their home game Tuesday night against Detroit.
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/crime-shootings-colorado-denver-springs-79976bed902603de59bd7b6ba2b16aff">The victims were Raymond Green Vance, 22; Ashley Paugh, 35; Daniel Aston, 28; Kelly Loving, 40; and Derrick Rump, 38</a>.
&ldquo;I wanted to take an opportunity to reach out to the victims and their families and express my sincere condolences for those who were there at Club Q over the past weekend,&rdquo; Kennedy said.
In 25 seasons, Kennedy has officiated nearly 1,500 regular-season and playoff games.

NBA referee Bill Kennedy, who came out as gay in 2015, spoke out in an emotional video Tuesday in response to the weekend shooting.

NBA referee Bill Kennedy calls Colorado shooting 'heinous'

One by one the names of the NBA's greatest players were called, bridging basketball's past and present.
And as each walked onto the floor, LeBron James found himself in further disbelief.
The posters on his bedroom wall as a kid came to life.
&ldquo;Allen Iverson and Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson,&rdquo; James said, still trying to grasp the experience. &ldquo;To see those guys today and then be on stage with those guys &mdash; it&rsquo;s just crazy.&rdquo;
On Sunday night, the league celebrated its diamond anniversary with a sparkling tribute to honor 75 years on the hardwood floor.
During a moving halftime tribute at Sunday's All-Star Game, 45 members of the 75th Anniversary Team &mdash; including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James &mdash; stood elbow to elbow on a giant circular stage in the middle of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
This was a chance for the game's greatest to take a bow and be saluted for cutting the path for today's players.
For James, who made a fadeaway jumper &mdash; the kind Jordan made famous -- to send Team LeBron to a 163-160 win over Team Durant, the chance to be around players he idolized, was overwhelming.
&ldquo;Every time they would announce another name, I didn&rsquo;t even get an opportunity to like rejoice in the player that they had named,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was, like, Gary Payton. I was, like, wow.! Then J Kidd showed up, and then A.I. (Allen Iverson) showed up, and then it was D. Wade, C.P. (Chris Paul), and Steph (Curry). I was just tripped out.&rdquo;
James wasn't the only one.
Each wearing blue blazers with a 75th logo on their chests, the best of the NBA's best were introduced to huge ovations, with the loudest cheers going to Jordan, the last player to walk onto the raised podium at center court.
The forwards were brought out first with Charles Barkley leading the way. Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of six current All-Stars on the 75th team, changed out of his Team LeBron uniform for the on-court tribute.
During the TV broadcast, Barkley said being amongst the NBA&rsquo;s elite hit him harder than he expected. Antetokounmpo, one of the two Europeans on the squad, also was awed by being part of the ceremony.
&ldquo;When you start playing basketball when you are young, you never imagine to be next to all these all-time greats,&rdquo; said Milwaukee's star. "Your name being called, going out there to shake their hands and just stand next to them, interact with them, it was amazing.
&ldquo;I kind of teared up on stage because I&rsquo;m not supposed to be here, man. Being among those guys is &mdash; man, it&rsquo;s crazy.&rdquo;
Julius &ldquo;Dr. J&rdquo; Erving bowed to the sellout crowd, and the always entertaining Dennis Rodman strutted down the wine-colored carpet wearing a basketball cap and hooded sweatshirt under his jacket.
James was the last of the forward group to be welcomed, and the former Cleveland star spun in a circle to return the love coming from every corner of the arena. This was his homecoming weekend, and it coinciding with the 75th anniversary made it even more special.
Once James took his spot on the star-studded stage, he tried to soak in the moment.
&ldquo;It would be like going to your favorite musician&rsquo;s concert in the greatest stadium, and you are literally on stage with them while they&rsquo;re performing, and the sense of &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe that I&rsquo;m here,'&rdquo; he said. That&rsquo;s the best way that I can put it.&rdquo;
"I can&rsquo;t believe I&rsquo;m sitting next to Bruce Springsteen while he is playing in a stadium in London with 160,000 people. Or I&rsquo;m in the Garden with Jay-Z. I&rsquo;m sitting here with Whitney Houston on stage in a coliseum with 90,000 people.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s kind of what it felt like for me. I just couldn&rsquo;t believe it.&rdquo;
When it was the centers' turn to be welcomed, Shaquille O'Neal stuck out his tongue toward the camera and posed while Abdul-Jabbar, the league's career scoring leader, mimicked his signature &ldquo;sky hook&rdquo; before the 74-year-old took a seat at the stage's edge.
Iverson, who once scored 54 points in the building, led the guards out and was followed soon after by George &ldquo;Iceman&rdquo; Gervin, who made sure the crowd remembered his famed finger roll.
Before Jordan's entrance, Kobe Bryant's photo on the giant scoreboard touched off an emotional response and chants of &ldquo;Ko-be, Ko-be&rdquo; for the late Lakers superstar who died tragically in a 2020 helicopter crash with his young daughter, Gianna.
Even Curry, who got booed by Cleveland's crowd before scoring 50 points and winning MVP honors, got a nice hand.
Jordan's appearance was something of a surprise as the league kept a tight lid on any details of the celebration.
Following the game, James made sure to reconnect with Jordan, who inspired the young kid from Akron to chase greatness.
&ldquo;The way he wore his shoes, the way he wore his uniform, I mean, all the way down to some of the cars that he drove,&rdquo; James said.
The still living members of the 75th team who didn't attend were shown on video, with each saluting the fans with a wave.
This is the second time the league has honored its greats in Cleveland, after the 50th Anniversary Team was honored in 1997.

On Sunday night, the league celebrated its diamond anniversary with a sparkling tribute to honor 75 years on the hardwood floor.

NBA honors past, present with 75th tribute at All-Star Game

Nikola Jokic had 49 points, 14 rebounds and fed Aaron Gordon for a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in overtime for his 10th assist, giving the Denver Nuggets a 130-128 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.
Jokic drew a double-team, then whipped a pass across the court into the left corner. Gordon made his fourth 3 of the game to give him 28 points and Jokic his third straight triple-double and 10th of the season.
&ldquo;I knew the ball was going to come to me because Jok makes the right play, the right pass, even in pressure situations,&rdquo; Gordon said. &ldquo;He put it on time and on target. All I had to do was catch and shoot.&rdquo;
Nuggets reserve Devon Reed came onto the floor after Gordon's basket and received a technical foul. After Luke Kennard hit the free throw, Reggie Jackson's long 3-pointer bounced off the glass and rim at the buzzer.
Monte Morris added 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the Nuggets won for the third time in four games behind another masterful performance from Jokic.
&ldquo;When he gets in the mode, nobody in the world can stop him,&rdquo; Morris said.
Ivica Zubac had a career-high 32 points and added 10 rebounds. Jackson, who grew up about an hour away in Colorado Springs, had 28 points and 12 assists while often blowing kisses to hecklers in the crowd after made baskets as the Clippers lost their second straight to kick off an NBA season-high, eight-game road trip.
&ldquo;I love the hate,&rdquo; Jackson said.
A week after blowing a 25-point lead in the third quarter of a loss in Los Angeles, the Nuggets got their revenge by holding the Clippers without a field goal for 7 1/2 minutes in the third quarter while erasing a 15-point deficit.
It led to a frantic finish. After Will Barton's driving layup with 26 seconds left in regulation tied it for the Nuggets, the Clippers couldn't get a shot off before the 24-second clock expired. But Jokic's fadeaway at the buzzer was an airball.
Jokic got an assist from his coach that may have kept him around for the finish.
His follow shot tied the game at 72 with 4:40 left in the third, but he immediately picked up a technical foul for barking at the referee under the basket. He began to charge at the official, but Michael Malone ran onto the court, restrained Jokic and he avoided a second technical.
&ldquo;I was mad because he grabbed my leg when I was going up (for the shot),&rdquo; Jokic said.
Jokic, who has complained that he doesn't get enough foul calls for much of the season, stayed in the game and finished 14 of 16 from the foul line. The Clippers took just 12 free throws.
The Nuggets played hours after making official the three-way trade in which they acquired shooting guard Bryn Forbes from San Antonio. Injured players Bol Bol and P.J. Dozier went to Boston in the deal.
Dozier, a career 41.3% 3-point shooter, will give Denver needed outside shooting. He could play as soon as Friday.
The Nuggets needed him in the second quarter, when their maligned bench was on the floor at the start of the Clippers' 21-2 run. The spurt continued when the starters returned, as Jokic missed his first six shots of the period before his bucket cut it to 59-47 at halftime.
The Clippers frustrated Jokic last week with constant double-teams. This time, Zubac went at him defensively, hitting 15 of 19 shots.
&ldquo;I haven't had that much fun until before I came into the league," Zubac said. &ldquo;But unfortunately we lost the game.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Clippers: F Marcus Morris Sr. (personal reasons) was a late scratch. ... Kennard (COVID-19) had seven points in his first game since Dec. 31.
Nuggets: Jamal Murray (knee surgery) and Michael Porter Jr. (back surgery) continued to ramp up their pregame shooting drills before the game. Both hope to return this season. ... G Austin Rivers (non-COVID illness) returned after a two-game absence.
KEY CHALLENGE
Zubac avoided fouling out with 1:02 left in regulation when the Clippers won a replay challenge. Zubac had been called for a foul on Jokic. The Nuggets won the ensuing jump ball and Jokic's driving layup tied it.
FORBES ON FRIDAY?
Malone was hesitant to confirm that Forbes would play Friday. The Nuggets thought they had a deal to send Bol to Detroit rescinded when Bol failed a physical.
&ldquo;After what happened last week with trades, you never know what&rsquo;s going to happen,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s never an easy transition. Trade calls, physicals, and when you&rsquo;ve involved three teams, you&rsquo;re also waiting on other people&rsquo;s timelines as well.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Clippers: At Philadelphia on Friday night.
Nuggets: Host Memphis on Friday night.

Nikola Jokic had 49 points, 14 rebounds and fed Aaron Gordon for a tiebreaking three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in overtime.

Jokic has 49, triple-double as Nuggets edge Clippers in OT

Civil Rights attorney Lee Merritt discusses the power and influence the NBA has, and can continue to have &mdash; if the NBA continues using its platform, voices and resources to fight for justice.&nbsp;
Lee Merritt is one of the attorneys for Ahmaud Arbery&rsquo;s family &mdash; a 25-year-old black man who was murdered while on a run near Brunswick, in Glynn County, Georgia. A verdict of life imprisonment was just announced in the case, in which three men were convicted of murdering Arbery. While Lee Merritt is definitely relieved about the verdict, we discuss the long road ahead to achieve justice and equality for all. Merritt is running for attorney general in Texas and I would love to see the NBA duplicate what the WNBA did, when they threw their support behind Raphael Warnock, an Atlanta-area pastor who was running as a Democrat at the time for (and would eventually win) one of Georgia&rsquo;s seats in the U.S. Senate.&nbsp;
This was a great discussion.
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Etan Thomas: So this time last year, I interviewed a group of WNBA players, [including] Renee Montgomery and Elizabeth Williams, who both played for the Atlanta Dream at the time, [as well as] Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, Angel McCoughtry &mdash; and Eric Garner's daughter, Emerald. And <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-nba-kelly-loeffler-atlanta-dream-renee-montgomery-elizabeth-williams-swin-cash-etan-thomas-activism-black-lives-matter-activist-movement-vote-warnock-shirts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we discussed what the WNBA did to galvanize support for Raphael Warnock, and ultimately get him in office and Kelly Loeffler out of office</a>. And it was really amazing. Because for one, Raphael Warnock was polling at 9% before the WNBA got involved. And he won &mdash; in Georgia, of all places.&nbsp;
So I want to see how we can galvanize the NBA to duplicate that with you, as you're running for attorney general in the state of Texas. So that's why I reached out to you to have this interview with you. I've been following you for a long time and I'm a big fan of the work that you do. And so, I'm going to send this interview to the NBA, to the <a href="https://www.thesocialchangefund.org">NBA Social Change Fund</a>.
Which, for those that aren't familiar, it was birthed out of the Bubble season. After the NBA players went on strike, after Jacob Blake was shot multiple times in broad daylight, in front of his children. The NBA Social Change Fund was formed by Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, and is aimed to support critical issues in the black community.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/img_7183_lg.jpg" alt="" width="501" height="282" />
So that's why after speaking to Allisa Charles-Findley, who is Botham Jean's sister &mdash; and I actually interviewed her for my new book, &ldquo;<a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/police-brutality-and-white-supremacy-the-fight-against-american-traditions/">Police Brutality and White Supremacy: The Fight Against American Traditions.</a>&rdquo;
She was one of the people I interviewed, along with Atatiana Jefferson's family, who I know that you work with as well &mdash; so we came up with the idea of conducting this interview with you, to try to galvanize that support from the NBA. Some people are like, "Alright, you usually do basketball stuff. Why are you interviewing a politician right now?" But that's the reason why. So thank you for taking this time.
Lee Merritt: "Sure, I really appreciate that. During most of my career, I've enjoyed the support of the National Basketball Association. I can recall in 2017, a young man named <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2018/08/29/jordan-edwards-made-the-case-against-roy-oliver-unlike-any-murder-trial-dallas-had-ever-seen/">Jordan Edwards </a>was slain in Balch Springs, Texas.&nbsp;
"It was in the middle of the NBA playoffs &mdash; and Steve Kerr, who had suffered family tragedy as well, identified with that family, reached out, invited them to the playoff games [and] got his brothers to take their mind off of it for a bit.
"I actually used to coach basketball myself. I was a coach down at South Atlanta High School. I coached Derrick Favors, I coached against Cousins and Walls* when they were high school students. And I enjoy a relationship with them today, continuing to give back to the community of Atlanta.
"And yeah, the names that you mentioned that you work with, Chris Paul has supported the work and the families I represent. Dwyane Wade and his wife, Gabrielle Union, [have] been major, major supporters over the course of my career.
"And, just as I transition away from representing one family at a time and start talking about representing larger groups of people and going towards policies, I certainly think the NBA can play a major role &mdash; in not only the success of the campaign, but championing some of those issues that we're fighting for on a case-by-case basis, and taking it to one of the biggest states in the country and really impacting national policy."
Etan: So, let me ask you to review some of the cases that you've worked with before, and the people that you've represented. We could start off with Ahmaud Arbery.
Merritt: "Sure. I came to represent the Ahmaud Arbery family before the video was released of his brutal slaying in South Georgia. Many [...] will recall that he was a South Georgia jogger. On February 23, 2020, he was targeted by three white men who have now been each <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/jury-reaches-verdict-ahmaud-arbery-death-case/story?id=81353504">convicted of murder</a>, and are facing life sentences in the state of Georgia, as well as federal hate crime charges.
"I've also represented... Unfortunately, the list of families that I've represented is quite extensive. I represent over 67 families who have suffered misuse of force, that lost a loved one, as a result of the deadliest police culture in the world. Some of the names that your viewers may have heard of.
"You mentioned [...] <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article236198028.html">Atatiana Jefferson</a>.&nbsp;
"Of course, that case is ongoing. <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/death-innocent-man-timeline-wrong-apartment-murder-trial/story?id=65938727">Botham Jean</a>, who was an accountant eating a bowl of ice cream in his own apartment complex.&nbsp;
"<a href="https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-illinois-police-shooting-guard-20181112-story.html">Jemel Roberson</a> was a security guard in Chicago. Had just stopped a mass shooting, and was shot in the back by a police officer who must have mistook him for a gunman.&nbsp;
"<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/13/us/california-attorney-general-sean-monterrosa-shooting/index.html">Sean Monterrosa</a> in California.
"But the bulk of my work has been in Texas. I represent <a href="https://foxsanantonio.com/news/local/damian-daniels-family-responds-to-no-indictment-for-deputy-that-killed-him">Damian Daniels</a>, a veteran shot to death in his home.&nbsp;
"<a href="https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Family-of-woman-killed-by-Baytown-officer-13872709.php">Pamela Turner</a> in the Houston area.&nbsp;
"And like I said, we could probably spend the rest of this podcast going through the list of names."
Etan: Wow! So now you're running for attorney general in Texas. And for those that don't know, what exactly are the responsibilities of an attorney general?
Merritt: "The attorney general of Texas, and an attorney general in any state, is the legal voice for the people. They're supposed to serve as the spokesperson for what justice is in a municipality. And so we've seen it, in cases like Breonna Taylor, where we had a really bad attorney general interfere with accountability in that case, in the form of Daniel Cameron. We've seen the opposite end of that spectrum with Keith Ellison and the work that he's done in Minnesota. Prosecuting the officers responsible for the death of George Floyd and, most recently, Daunte Wright.
"But even beyond the criminal justice aspect, the attorney general&rsquo;s office, particularly in the state of Texas, impacts virtually every aspect of Texas life. So property taxes, school protection. And we've heard a lot recently in the news about the CRT [Critical Race Theory] scam, where they're trying to erase entire portions of our history in the name of not getting anyone upset.
"From the border crisis, to really economic empowerment in our schools. There's so many businesses that are attempting to get off the ground, but don't have access to the kind of governmental loans and support that our white counterparts do.
"All of those things run through the attorney general's office. It's a very, very influential office. More or less the second-in-command in the state of Texas."
Etan: Now, Ken Paxton, [is] who you would be running against, and who is the current attorney general &mdash; and has been since 2015. I want to talk about the stark differences between the two of you, because it's really night and day.
But I want to start off with this, because the Jan. 6 insurrection [anniversary] is upon us. And you know, I'm looking at him, looking at the footage, and I see him at a rally right before the insurrection, almost like leading the charge. Explain to me, let's start off with there, about the stark differences between you and Ken Paxton.
Merritt: "Well, there is a clear contrast. You know, Texas was in the national news because of [its] unique voter suppression laws. They passed some laws that would make it more difficult for the black and brown people in the state, people with disabilities and marginalized communities to vote.
"It was so upsetting that certain members of the Texas legislature left the state and went to DC &mdash; refused to participate in that session in order to fight for voting rights. Now, I was present with them. I thought that was a fight worth standing with people for, providing both legal advice and strategies, working with the labor community and others to take on voting issues in Texas.
"By contrast, the last sort of infamous trip of the attorney general, the current attorney general, to our nation's capital was on Jan. 6. And we don't know exactly what he did there, because he has not participated in an ongoing investigation in terms of his potential criminal liability for helping to incite a riot.
"But he was very publicly on camera, encouraging the soon-to-be riders and insurrectionists that the election was stolen, that they had a responsibility to fight. And he invoked the name of Texas when he did it. He said, "You all should fight, because Texans fight." And he laid out that he had fought to overturn the results of the free and fair election. And yeah, that's our top legal position in the state, advocating for the overthrow of our government."
---------------
We then went on to discuss particular differences between him and Ken Paxton such as his position on education, police reform, border, gun training before owning a gun, and we cleared up the misconceptions on CRT, being anti-police vs. anti-police brutality, Second Amendment rights, etc.
---------------
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Etan: So let's go to the NBA, and how important it is for the NBA to continue to promote, to continue to use their platforms, to be able to &mdash; I mean, this is the thing. It's important to do that part. But now we have to take it a step further.
And I think the NBA has been doing a great job of promoting, raising awareness. You saw it all especially during the Bubble season, after the entire country was promoting and demonstrating and protesting what happened with George Floyd, what happened with Breonna Taylor [and] Ahmaud Arbery.
You saw John Wall and Bradley Beal here in D.C. leading protests. You saw all the Ball brothers, you saw Russell Westbrook in L.A. You saw Jaylen Brown and Enes Kanter Freedom too, in Boston &mdash; of course everything that LeBron was always doing.
But now it's like, it needs to be a step further, like the next step. And I think that you, with what you are trying to implement in Texas as the attorney general, is that next step. Because you have to be able to have someone in place that's on the right side of wanting to be able to create something that functions properly. So just talk about that, how this is like the next step that should happen. Along with [...] raising awareness and protesting and everything like that.
Merritt: "Yeah. I can recall, we were in the middle of the NBA playoffs when Jacob Blake was repeatedly shot in his back by a Milwaukee police officer. And I was watching the game, and Chris Paul had just gone off, sort of a historic performance.
"And <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxcNbbyg0ZI">they interviewed him</a> right after the game. And they said, 'You know, Chris, you were playing...' I think he was playing his old team, the Houston Rockets. He was with the Oklahoma City Thunder [...], where Derrick Favors is currently.
"And they said, 'Tell us about this performance against your old team. You had a chance to really show them that you still got it.' And he said, 'Yeah, I don't really care about that. That's cool. And that's what I'm paid to do. But a law enforcement officer in my community has just shot someone in their back several times. He was unarmed and nonviolent. Let's talk about that.'
"I think it's on the players to stand up like Chris Paul did, and like you said, like people have done, in a systemic way across the National Basketball Association &mdash; where the pundits and the media might tell you, 'Could you just shut up and dribble.' We've heard that refrain before.
"It's important for the players to say, "No, actually I won't. This is my community. What's going on in our community, it's urgent. It's a crisis. It's not something that we want to put off for a later conversation or for the offseason. But where it happens, I'm going to stand up to it. And I will get involved in elections. And I will use my resources and time and attention to shine a light on these issues that must be addressed."
Etan: You know, it's interesting. In my book, &ldquo;<a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/we-matter-athletes-and-activism/">We Matter: Athletes and Activism</a>&rdquo; I interviewed Jahvaris Fulton, who is Trayvon Martin's brother. And in the interview, he told me how &mdash; and when he said this, it kind of threw me,&nbsp; because I didn't expect him to say it &mdash; he said that if it weren't for NBA players and celebrities and everybody like that, talking about his brother, he didn't think that anybody would know his name. And I was like, "Wow, that's kind of strong. Why do you say that?"
So then he explained to me how, when Trayvon Martin was first killed, his family was trying to get the local news people to cover it and they didn't want to cover it. They said, "Okay, another young black man was killed. That's not newsworthy."
And I was like, "That's what they told you?" He said, "Yeah," he was like, "We don't have no evidence. We don't have no video of it. Just your word saying that he [was] killed, that's not newsworthy." And he gave a shout-out to Roland Martin and some of the black news people, who were covering it. But he said, "But no local news people wanted to cover it."
So then he said, "But then, LeBron James started talking about it. And Dwyane Wade started talking about it. And then the entire Miami Heat team posed in the hoodies." So then he said, "So then you had everybody like, 'Okay, what is this that LeBron James is discussing? And why is Dwyane Wade feeling so passionate about this, and talking about his kids, and about this case?' Then everybody started to gravitate towards it and cover it and everything like that."
But he said [...] before, they couldn't get anybody to cover it. And that's just... It's unfortunate that it is that way, because people should have a regard for human life anyway, without an athlete having to speak about it. However, the athlete speaking about it is what drew the attention &mdash; and that just shows where athletes have to continue to do that, continue to use your voice and your platform to be able to speak to these causes.
And also to take it a step further by having laws being changed, and people who are in positions to fight for laws being changed, like [you are]. You know what I mean? And running for attorney general &mdash; [who] are in positions to actually implement some things so these things don't just continue to keep happening.
Merritt: "Yeah. I can remember in 2016, we saw two high-profile officer-involved shootings back-to-back, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. It was the same weekend, and it was almost like a dark cloud being hanged over impacted communities. And if you and I saw each other on the street, we would make eye contact and say, 'You know, man, this is becoming too much.'
"Dallas had a protest &mdash; I was living in Dallas at the time. And they had a protest downtown, where we marched and we discussed what happened, and started to talk about organizing police reform. And at the end of that protest, a vigilante named Micah Xavier Johnson, targeted law enforcement officers and shot five police officers and a couple of civilians as well. And you could imagine the national outcry about Black Lives Matter, and how they put law enforcement lives at risk.
"And everyone began to ignore the fact that people were there for protesting peacefully about police violence &mdash; that was back-to-back and overwhelming. And while it was a tragedy for our entire community that law enforcement officers were targeted by Mr. Johnson, there was also an ongoing crisis in our community, that was the reason that all those people had gathered and made targets of themselves.
"And it was Dwyane Wade. LeBron was still, I think, in 2016, with the Miami Heat. So it was Wade and LeBron who came forward at the ESPY Awards that weekend and re-centered the conversation. And said, 'That's terrible what happened in Dallas, and we back the blue. We stand for the law enforcement officers.'
&ldquo;But understand that our community is also under attack. And it's two sides of the same coin. We don't tolerate violence directed at law enforcement officers. And we cannot continue to tolerate violence directed at our community.
And it saved the national conversation so that we could get back to what had brought us all there in the first place. And so, yeah, members of the NBA have the opportunity, in [the] state of Texas, but [also] throughout the country, the voices of the NBA are critically important to that."
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Etan Thomas is joined by Lee Merritt on "The Rematch" to discuss social justice and the NBA's role in societal change.

Lee Merritt: The NBA could impact public policy and elections

In 2006, I worked as a summer intern for a sports agency called Wasserman Media Group. With that job, I had a wide range of tasks and responsibilities. One of my duties was being the travel companion and, essentially, manager for Joel Freeland, a British NBA prospect who ultimately became the No. 30 pick in the 2006 NBA Draft.
Among the many stops that Joel and I made together prior to that draft was Memphis, Tennessee. He auditioned in front of then-Grizzlies general manager Jerry West ("The Logo" himself) and his staff. That was the first time I ever made a trip to Memphis, and little did I know at the time that I would come back to visit many more times throughout my career.
Well, this past week, I traveled to Memphis yet again. This season, in addition to my typical draft coverage, I will also be providing some NBA rookie coverage for BasketballNews.com.
So the first thing on my agenda, other than stopping by Gus&rsquo;s to get their world-famous fried chicken, was to take in a preseason game that had the Milwaukee Bucks facing off against the Memphis Grizzlies. In that contest, Ziaire Williams &mdash; who was selected No. 10 overall by the Grizzlies &mdash; was the highest pick from the 2021 NBA Draft who was playing.
I must say, I really enjoyed watching him lace 'em up and play in NBA threads for the first time. I have been following Williams since he was in high school, and it is a joy to watch players as they gradually tip-toe toward accomplishing their goals. Williams didn&rsquo;t start, but he was put into the game pretty quickly and got a steal right away. He ended up with 4 points on 2-for-4 from the field, playing 18 minutes in total. He had some rookie mistakes, but overall, I&rsquo;d say this was a productive first NBA game for the rookie.
Also worth mentioning is Sandro Mamukelashvili, the No. 54 pick by the Bucks. Last year, &ldquo;Mamu&rdquo; was among the favorites among our BasketballNews.com scouting staff. At 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds, Mamu is a fun player to watch, as he is extremely versatile for a big man; he can handle, pass and shoot the ball. He also plays with a high motor and a great pace. In that game vs. the Grizzlies, Mamu scored 9 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 3 assists in 29 minutes of floor time. I&rsquo;ll admit I&rsquo;m a bit biased here (my dad is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/breakingnews/growing-up-a-buck-millewahque-milwaukee-bucks-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">director of player personnel of the Bucks</a>), but Mamu looks like a great pick considering he was taken at the tail end of the second round.
I'd be remiss if I didn&rsquo;t mention how incredible Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant was in this game, and in general. He scored a smooth 27 points in 24 minutes. I remember watching Morant score 27 points and dish out 12 assists at a Murray State home game against Southeast Missouri State a few years ago. In hindsight, even considering the lower level he was playing on, it was one of the most memorable performances that I&rsquo;ve ever seen by a draft prospect. It has been great to see Morant develop into the star that many of us thought and hoped he&rsquo;d become. It&rsquo;s crazy to think that he&rsquo;s still developing.
Perhaps the key storyline of the night was the game's abrupt end. Following the third quarter, the fire alarm went off, and the fans and teams subsequently evacuated the building, prematurely concluding the game. Although I attend games on a regular basis, that was quite different. Also, this was my first game of the 2021-22 campaign&mdash; certainly a strange way to kick the season off.
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I&rsquo;m set to watch many games throughout the 2021-22 season. The Bucks vs. Grizzlies game tonight was my first. It ended in an evacuation and cancellation after the 3rd quarter due to a fire alarm. And I thought things were getting back to normal&hellip; 😬 <a href="https://t.co/Fyh68OYWOs">pic.twitter.com/Fyh68OYWOs</a>
&mdash; Matt Babcock (@MattBabcock11) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBabcock11/status/1445586285368729612?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Although I enjoyed attending the Bucks and Grizzlies game, let&rsquo;s not forget that I&rsquo;m an NBA Draft Analyst first and foremost, so my main focus when putting together my travel schedule is to see NBA prospects. Well, with that strategy in place, Memphis was naturally a top-priority destination for me, as the Memphis Tigers are loaded with NBA talent.
I attended the Tigers&rsquo; pro day on Wednesday afternoon and walked away impressed. Here are my thoughts on a few of their top NBA prospects:
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/jalen-duren" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jalen Duren</a> | Center | 6-foot-11, 250 pounds | Freshman
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I have watched Jalen Duren for years. I first saw him at a USA Basketball camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado. At the time, Duren&rsquo;s physical tools instantly popped, and they still do. However, he has grown physically since then, as he is now 6-foot-11 and a chiseled 250 pounds while sporting an impressive 7-foot-5 wingspan. He has also grown as a player and seemingly as a young man. In high school, I first questioned his motor and approach, but he has improved in those areas significantly.
From a skill-set standpoint, Duren's key attributes are certainly his physical tools; he is an absolute brute. He will be most effective utilizing his physicality and explosivenss. Expect a lot of powerful dunks, blocks and rebounds. However, he continues to show flashes of skill as well; he has a good feel as a passer and a soft touch as a mid-range shooter. In fact, on one possession during live-play at pro day, he made an incredible move in the mid-post where he jab-stepped into a stepback turnaround jumper. I looked over and gave a staff member a look and simply said, &ldquo;Wow." Duren is currently slotted as the No. 4 prospect on our <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft Big Board</a>, and after attending that pro day, I can confidently say he&rsquo;s in a good spot.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/fivestar-recruit-emoni-bates-commits-to-university-of-memphis-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Emoni Bates</a> | Guard/Forward | 6-foot-9, 190 pounds | Freshman
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At this point I think anyone that follows basketball knows of Emoni Bates. I mean, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was 15 years old, with the headline being &ldquo;Born for This.&rdquo; In <a href="https://www.si.com/high-school/2019/10/29/emoni-bates-nba-draft-prospect-kevin-durant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the article</a>, it suggested that he was a prodigy next in line to follow in the footsteps of LeBron James. The hype surrounding Emoni has taken on a life of it&rsquo;s own. In the last year or so, Bates has seemingly become a target of constant criticism due to the unreasonable expectations of him. Following the Memphis pro day, social media platforms went crazy over Bates&rsquo; physical measurements and testing. Although he was measured at an impressive 6-foot-9, his wingspan was measured only 6-foot-7 1/4, and his standing vertical was only 24.5 inches. I&rsquo;ll admit those numbers are very underwhelming but let&rsquo;s not lose sight of Bates&rsquo; talent, versatility, and upside. He&rsquo;s 6-9 and is just a natural scorer and playmaker.
I believe that long-term Bates would be best used as a shooting and scoring wing, but it seems as if head coach Penny Hardaway is going to use him at point guard &mdash; at least some of the time. Although I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s his long-term position, it&rsquo;s impressive that at 6-9 they have the confidence to even try to use him that way. My biggest concern with Bates is not his short wingspan or his underwhelming vertical jump, it&rsquo;s his lack of physical strength. However, let&rsquo;s not forget Bates is only 17 years old; in fact, he is not even old enough to be eligible for the 2022 NBA Draft. Despite the criticism, I still think Bates is a big-time prospect. The good thing for Bates is that he has plenty of time to prove the naysayers wrong. Either way, I&rsquo;m looking forward to continuing to watch his development.
Earl Timberlake | Guard/Forward | 6-foot-6, 220 pounds | Sophomore
Although I had watched plenty of film of Earl Timberlake, I had not seen him in person prior to the Memphis pro day, so I was eager to see him. At 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, Timberlake has a strong and physical profile for a wing. Aside from his physical tools, he has what seems to be a knack for passing and playmaking; I expect for those parts of his game to be utilized greatly this year, as the Tigers&rsquo; overall guard play is questionable. We do not currently have Timberlake on our Big Board, as I&rsquo;m still working toward a more conclusive evaluation of him. But I am indeed intrigued, and will be tracking Timberlake closely.
Landers Nolley II | Forward | 6-foot-7, 220 pounds | Junior
I spent a lot of time watching Landers Nolley II while he was at Virginia Tech. I first saw him at the Maui Invitational, and then saw him in Blacksburg as the Hokies played Florida State, which included current NBA players Patrick Williams and Devin Vassell. At 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, Nolley's key attribute is a good one &mdash; he really shoots the ball well from outside. He&rsquo;s capable of putting the ball on the floor for mid-range pull-ups or straight-line drives; however, I view him as a shooter. Possessing a quick release, the issue has not been his ability, but more so his decision-making and shot selection. After watching him at the Memphis pro day, it seems as if he has improved his shot selection. He is not currenty on our 2022 NBA Draft Big Board, but like his teammate, Earl Timberlake, we will be tracking him closely.&nbsp;
DeAndre Williams | Forward | 6-foot-9, 205 pounds | Senior
If DeAndre Williams is able to put together another quality season for the Tigers, I would not be surprised at all to see him claw his way into the NBA somehow. As a senior, Williams will certainly be a high priority for the <a href="https://www.tampabayprocombine.com/">Tampa Bay Pro Combine</a> Player Selection Committee, which I am co-chair of alongside former coach and current ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla.
Lester Quinones | Guard/Forward | 6-foot-5, 208 pounds | Junior
A do-it-all glue guy, Lester Quinones is a great piece for the Tigers&rsquo; team. Since I first saw him at the Memphis pro day a couple of years ago, he has transformed his body; he looks great! I&rsquo;m looking forward to watching his progress this season.
Josh Minott | Forward | 6-foot-8, 205 pounds | Freshman
Josh Minott is a long and athletic hybrid forward worth keeping a pulse on. I&rsquo;m not certain of the role he&rsquo;ll fill for the Tigers this season, but I do like his upside long-term.
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During my time as a sports agent, I represented two former Tigers in D.J. Stephens and Chris Crawford. I came to Memphis multiple times to recruit each one of them, and I also had each of them train locally with my friend Frank &ldquo;Hell&rsquo;s Trainer&rdquo; Matrisciano following their senior seasons. I remember having dinner with D.J. at Itta Bena, a great restaurant above B.B. King&rsquo;s that is a speakeasy and can only be entered through a fire escape. I also remember signing contracts with Chris at the historic Peabody Hotel, which is known for their ducks that march throughout the hotel on a red carpet. I became fond of the city during that time.
Since leaving the agent business in recent years, I have continued to come back to Memphis as an NBA Draft Analyst somewhat frequently to scout NBA prospects. I attended the Tigers&rsquo; pro day a couple of years ago to see James Wiseman and Precious Achiuwa. In addition, I watched R.J. Hampton&rsquo;s team, the New Zealand Breakers, play an exhibition game versus the Grizzlies and Anthony Edwards&rsquo; Georgia Bulldogs play the Tigers. I also spent time with and watched local product Kennedy Chandler, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/tennessee-volunteers-point-guard-kennedy-chandler-intent-on-showing-size-isnt-everything">who is now a freshman for the Tennessee Volunteers</a> and is currently slotted as the 13th-best prospect on our <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft Big Board</a>.
Once again, attending the Tigers' pro day was certainly fruitful from a scouting standpoint. Memphis will certainly be a high priority for our scouting staff to keep an eye on moving forward.&nbsp;
I thoroughly enjoyed my latest trip to Bluff City: great food, great people, warm southern hospitality and even better basketball.
Until next time, Memphis.

Matt Babcock details his trip to Memphis for the Tigers' pro day and NBA preseason action, and what he took away from both events.

Babcock: Takeaways from a trip to Memphis for Tigers pro day

Led by now three-time Olympian Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets), USA Basketball unveiled today its official 12-member U.S. Olympic Men&rsquo;s Basketball Team.&nbsp;
Selected for the U.S. Olympic Team 2020, which is seeking a fourth consecutive Olympic title, were: Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Durant, Jerami Grant (Detroit Pistons), Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks), Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers), Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks) and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics).
The USA coaching staff is led by head coach Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs) with assistant coaches Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors), Lloyd Pierce and Jay Wright (Villanova University) and Jerry Colangelo serving as the USA Men&rsquo;s National Team managing director.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy for the selected players and looking forward to having the opportunity to work with this wonderful group when practice gets underway on July 6 in Las Vegas,&rdquo; said Popovich. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to represent the United States in our quest to earn a gold medal in Tokyo.&rdquo;
The U.S. Olympic Men&rsquo;s Basketball Team was approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors and is pending final approval by the United States Olympic &amp; Paralympic Committee.
&ldquo;We are excited about the 12 players who have been selected to represent the United States in the Tokyo Olympics,&rdquo; said Colangelo, who has served as managing director of the USA Men&rsquo;s National Team since 2005. &ldquo;This was an unusually challenging selection process for many reasons, including the year postponement of the Olympics and the issues related to the timing of the NBA regular season and playoffs.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Our roster features players who are experienced in the international game, and this team has outstanding athleticism, versatility and balance. We also believe we have excellent leadership which is a necessity in order to develop the needed chemistry. We still have a lot of challenges in front of us, but I believe these players will become a team that all Americans will be proud of.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The U.S. roster features the return of Olympic gold medalists Durant, Green and Love. Durant and Green were members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic gold medalist squad and Durant and Love were 2012 Olympic gold medalists. Durant and Love were also part of the 2010 USA team that went 9-0 and captured the FIBA World Cup title, and Middleton and Tatum were members of the 2019 USA World Cup Team.&nbsp;
&ldquo;USA Basketball selects players to represent our country in international competition with the skills, character, experience, and desire to win,&rdquo; said retired Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the USA Basketball Board of Directors.. &ldquo;We build teams that are versatile and resilient in the short, intense competitions we face. We&rsquo;re fortunate that this group of elite athletes has volunteered to represent us in Tokyo this summer.&rdquo;
With his selection to the U.S. Olympic Team, Durant becomes just the fourth United States male basketball player selected to three or more Olympic teams. Carmelo Anthony (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) has represented and medaled for a USA men&rsquo;s record four Olympics, while LeBron James (2004, 2008, 2012) and David Robinson (1988, 1992, 1996) each have three Olympic medals in as many appearances.&nbsp;
Durant, who also collected MVP honors in leading the USA to gold at the 2010 FIBA World Cup, has finished as the U.S. team&rsquo;s leading scorer the past two Olympics &ndash; the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics. Owning the top two U.S. Olympic scoring marks (156 points in 2012 and 155 points in 2016), Durant has 16 career Olympic games under his belt and with 311 total points in Olympic games (19.4 ppg.), ranks second all-time for points scored,trailing only Anthony (336) by 25 points.&nbsp;
Durant in USA all-time career Olympics statistics lists first for points averaged (19.4), tied for fourth for games played (16), fifth for rebounds (86), third for most field goals made (101), third for field goals attempted (191), first for 3-point field goals made (59), second for 3-point field goals attempted (108), fourth for 3-point shooting percentage (.546%), second for free throws made (50), fourth for free throws attempted (59), 11th for assists (49), eighth for blocked shots (9) and ninth for steals (21).
The average age of the 12 U.S. players at the conclusion of the Tokyo Olympics (Aug. 8, 2021) will be 28.2, the third oldest U.S. Men&rsquo;s Olympic Team in history, behind the 1996 Atlanta Olympics squad (29.4) and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Team (29.0).
Included among the named U.S. Olympians were 2021 All-NBA second team selection Lillard, and third team pick Beal. Additionally, Green and Holiday collected 2021 NBA All-Defensive first team honors, while Adebayo was a second team selection. Four USA players &ndash; Beal, LaVine, Lillard and Tatum -- were named as 2021 NBA All-Stars.
After opening training camp on July 6, the USA Men&rsquo;s National Team will tip off a five-game exhibition series against Nigeria on July 10 (5 p.m. PDT); followed by Australia on July 12 (5 p.m. PDT); Argentina on July 13 (3 p.m. PDT); Australia for a second time on July 16 (3 p.m. PDT); and Spain on July 18 (6 p.m. PDT). All of the exhibition games will be played at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay. Ticket information is available online at https://axs.com/USABasketball.
The U.S. men have collected a medal in all 18 Olympics in which they have competed, including 15 gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals. The American men own an impressive 138-5 (.965 winning percentage) all-time record in Olympic action. Since NBA players began representing the United States in 1992, the USA is 53-3 in seven Olympics, capturing six gold medals and one bronze medal. The USA currently enjoys a 25-game Olympic win streak that dates back to the bronze medal game of the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Tokyo Olympic Games 2020
The rescheduled Summer Olympic Games are being held July 23-Aug. 8 in Tokyo, Japan. Twelve nations will compete in the Olympic men&rsquo;s basketball competition that will be held at the Saitama Super Arena. In addition to host Japan, nations qualified for the Tokyo Olympics men's basketball competition include Argentina, Australia, France, Iran, Nigeria, Spain and the United States.&nbsp;
The final four teams for the Tokyo Olympics will qualify through four FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. Twenty-four teams will compete in the four men's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, which will be held from June 29-July 4, in Victoria, Canada; Split, Croatia; Kaunas, Lithuania; and Belgrade, Serbia. The winner of each qualifying tournament will qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Men&rsquo;s basketball preliminary play at the Olympics, which will see the 12 teams divided into three groups of four teams each, will be held July 25-Aug. 2. The quarterfinals, featuring teams placed first and second in each preliminary group and the two best third-placed teams, is scheduled for Aug. 3. Semifinal action will be played on Aug. 5. The gold and bronze medal games are scheduled for Aug. 7.
The draw for the Tokyo Olympics men&rsquo;s basketball competition was held Feb. 2, and the U.S. was drawn into Group A alongside 2019 FIBA World Cup bronze medalist France, 2017 Asia Cup runner-up Iran, and the to-be-determined winner of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Canada. The American men will open Olympic preliminary round play on July 25, against France (8 a.m. EDT), then will play Iran on July 28 (12:40 a.m. EDT) and will close out preliminary play on July 31 (8:00 a.m. EDT) versus the winner of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Canada.
A draw will take place following the conclusion of the group phase to determine the pairings of the quarterfinals. The winners of the groups and the second-placed team with the best result from the Group Phase are placed in one pot (D), while the two remaining second-placed teams and two best third-placed teams in another pot (E). Teams from the same group in the Group Phase cannot be drawn against each other in the quarterfinals. This stage of the competition is played in a knockout format, and the draw will produce an Olympic bracket for the road to the gold medal.
To be crowned Olympic champion in 2021, a team has to play six games - three in the group phase and three in the Final Phase (quarterfinals, semifinals, gold medal game), instead of eight games as in past Olympics.
2020 U.S. Olympic Men&rsquo;s Basketball Team
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About USA Basketball
Based in Colorado Springs, Colorado USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the U.S. by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic &amp; Paralympic Committee (USOPC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA national teams that compete in FIBA-sponsored five-on-five, 3x3 and esport international competitions, as well as for some national competitions and for the development of youth basketball initiative that address player development, coach education and safety, while promoting, growing and elevating the game.
Connect with USA Basketball at USAB.com and on Facebook (USABasketball, USABYouth), Twitter (@usabasketball, @USABJNT, @USABYouth, @USAB3x3), Instagram (@USABasketball, @USABYouth, @USAB3x3) and YouTube.com/usabasketball.

Led by now three-time Olympian Kevin Durant, USA Basketball unveiled today its official 12-member U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team.

USA Basketball announces U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 10, 2021) &ndash; USA Basketball and MGM Resorts International, a leader in the sports and entertainment industry, today announced an expanded, multi-year partnership, tipping off this July in Las Vegas. As part of the partnership, MGM Resorts will be the Official Training Camp Home of the USA Basketball Men&rsquo;s and Women&rsquo;s National Teams, as well as an Official Integrated Resorts Partner of USA Basketball and an Official USA Basketball Exhibition Tour Partner.
As the new Training Camp Home of the USA Basketball Men&rsquo;s and Women&rsquo;s National Teams, MGM Resorts, in partnership with USA Basketball, will host four additional countries in Las Vegas, creating a must-see international basketball competition prior to the teams&rsquo; departure for Tokyo.
Fans will have the opportunity to watch seven USA Basketball Men&rsquo;s and Women&rsquo;s National Team exhibition games July 10-18, as both teams take on top international opponents in preparation for this summer&rsquo;s historic competition. The lineup includes a rare opportunity to see both the USA Men&rsquo;s and Women&rsquo;s National Teams play live on the same day, July 16 and 18, as well as opportunities to see three additional matchups between the other foreign national teams. Each of the five days of exhibition games will be doubleheaders. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, June 16 at 10 a.m. PDT, and ticket information is available online at <a href="https://click.usabasketball-email.com/?qs=88fbd98d6fc9fe8449117206f0054af7511277b689768138d5a27e8e283fc46325163dd90d1c2b611380e5b94f4a9bb8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://axs.com/USABasketball</a>.
&ldquo;USA Basketball is proud to expand its partnership with MGM Resorts. We&rsquo;re excited to bring our national teams to their properties as we prepare for the challenging competition that lies ahead this summer,&rdquo; said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball CEO. &ldquo;Training camps are such an important foundation for our preparation and having such a strong commitment from MGM positions us for great success.&rdquo;
Lance Evans, Senior Vice President of MGM Resorts, Sports, said, &ldquo;MGM Resorts and Las Vegas have an extensive history with USA Basketball. This expanded partnership will allow us to showcase our resorts as we host multiple USA Basketball games at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay, as well as a variety of USA Basketball-related activities. We look forward to offering hoops fans another reason to visit the Sports Capital of the World.&rdquo;
After opening camp on July 6, the USA Men&rsquo;s National Team will tip off a five-game exhibition series against Nigeria on July 10 (5 p.m. PDT); followed by Australia on July 12 (5 p.m. PDT); Argentina on July 13 (3 p.m. PDT); Australia for a second time on July 16 (3 p.m. PDT); and Spain on July 18 (6 p.m. PDT).
The USA Women&rsquo;s National Team members will arrive from their respective WNBA teams at the start of the Olympic Break and are scheduled to face Australia on July 16 (11:30 a.m. PDT), immediately preceding the USA Men&rsquo;s National Team vs. Australia game, and then will take on Nigeria on July 18 (2:30 p.m. PDT), immediately preceding the USA Men&rsquo;s National Team vs. Spain game.
International teams also will play each other in Las Vegas, including the men&rsquo;s side Argentina vs. Australia on July 10 (8:30 p.m. PDT), Argentina vs. Nigeria on July 12 (1:30 p.m. PDT) and Australia vs. Nigeria on July 13 (6:30 p.m. PDT).
Comprehensive health and safety protocols will be in place, including mandatory and regular COVID-19 PCR testing, administered to athletes, coaches, officials and staff in accordance with FIBA and USA Basketball recommendations and CDC guidelines.
The rosters for training camps are to be announced, but they will be comprised of members of the USA Men&rsquo;s and USA Women&rsquo;s National Teams.&nbsp;
The USA men are led by head coach Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs) with assistant coaches Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors), Lloyd Pierce and Jay Wright (Villanova University), with Jerry Colangelo as the USA Men&rsquo;s National Team managing director.
The USA women are guided by head mentor Dawn Staley (South Carolina) and assistant coaches Dan Hughes, Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx) and Jennifer Rizzotti (Connecticut Sun president).
About USA Basketball
Based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and chaired by retired Gen. Martin Dempsey , USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the U.S. by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic &amp; Paralympic Committee (USOPC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA national teams that compete in FIBA-sponsored five-on-five, 3x3 and esport international competitions, as well as for some national competitions and for the development of youth basketball initiative that address player development, coach education and safety, while promoting, growing and elevating the game.
Connect with USA Basketball at USAB.com and on Facebook (USABasketball, USABYouth), Twitter &nbsp;(@usabasketball, @USABJNT, @USABYouth, @USAB3x3 ), Instagram (@USABasketball, @USABYouth, @USAB3x3) and YouTube.com/usabasketball.

USA Basketball and MGM Resorts International today announced an expanded, multi-year partnership, tipping off this July in Las Vegas.

USA Basketball and MGM Resorts announce expanded partnership

In San Antonio, iron is sharpening iron. It might not be coming in the usual form of an unprecedented playoff streak or championship gold, but it is instead manifesting itself through the development of its highly-touted young talent, as the Spurs transition from the old era to a new one.
Spearheading the evolution is a crop of late first-round draft picks from the past five years, all learning from the guiding hand of the legendary Gregg Popovich. One of those first-rounders is Derrick White, who had taken a significant jump in team responsibility before suffering a season-ending ankle injury on April 26 in Washington, D.C.&nbsp;
"I'm just staying with them. I told 'em when I got hurt that I was with 'em 'til the end,&rdquo; White told BasketballNews.com in a phone interview. &ldquo;We've still got a lot of talent on our roster, so I'm excited for these last couple games and hopefully, we finish strong and playing the right way for the play-in."
The Spurs are currently the 10th seed in the Western Conference at 31-34 with seven games left in the season and the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings on their heels.
Prior to another untimely setback, White posted career-high averages in points (15.4), field goal attempts (12.6) and minutes (29.6) over his 36 games of action. Alongside Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker IV and Keldon Johnson, White is a part of a core with the onus of keeping up with an ever-progressing sport, yet upholding the tradition of a first-class franchise with a stellar reputation.
"I wouldn't say [there&rsquo;s] pressure. You just want to go out there and compete,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;You're aware of the history and all that, but just going out there, competing, playing the game you love. San Antonio fans are great, so you want to do well for them... I mean, basketball as a whole is changing, so you kinda have to change with the times, and we're no different. So it's just exciting that this is the way that basketball is going. It's been entertaining and it's fun to play.
&ldquo;I'm just blessed to be a part of this organization. You kinda see the day-to-day, what goes into it. Just their great history, going back from '99 to where we are now. So I'm thankful to be a part of this organization and learning from Coach Pop, probably the greatest coach of all-time. So, it's been great.&rdquo;
Murray and White have a unique perspective that the others do not. They were taken under the sure-to-be Hall-of-Fame wings of Manu Ginoboli and Tony Parker, getting a firsthand look at the standard-bearers of professionalism and what it meant to be a Spur.
&ldquo;It was cool to be a part of that team and see them and just be around them and all they've done for San Antonio," White said. "And then now we've kinda got a lot of young guys and we're all trying to make a name for ourselves, so it's been a cool transition.&rdquo;
White, Murray and Johnson were all selected in the same exact draft position: No. 29 overall.
&ldquo;We're all, like, the &lsquo;29 Boys,&rsquo;&rdquo; White said with a laugh. Murray was the first to receive a contract extension. White said that once his backcourt partner signed his contract extension, Murray told him, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re next.&rdquo;
Sure enough, White inked a four-year, $73 million extension with the Spurs in December.&nbsp;
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That&rsquo;s back-to-back late first-round picks who earned deals past their rookie-scales, and their chemistry together is a big reason why. This season, according to NBA.com, the Spurs have scored 114.2 points per 100 possessions <a href="https://go.nba.com/3s26" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with White and Murray on the floor together</a>, just behind White and DeMar DeRozan as the Spurs&rsquo; top offensive duo (min. 650 minutes).&nbsp;
In the 266 minutes without either Murray or White on the floor (in games they&rsquo;ve played), San Antonio has a <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612759&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=1628401,1627749&amp;OnlyCommonGames=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">net rating of negative-25.7</a>, per PBP Stats. Needless to say, they&rsquo;re kind of important to the team&rsquo;s success, which is why White feels so grateful to be considered a cornerstone with Murray.
&ldquo;He's special. He's able to do a lot of different things on the court and he's gotten better each and every year that he's played,&rdquo; White said of Murray. &ldquo;That hard work and just wanting to be great. We just get along well off the court, and it makes it easy on the court.&rdquo;
Walker and Johnson have been added to the mix over the last three seasons, and are following a similar pattern. White sees that Walker is &ldquo;uber-talented and uber-athletic,&rdquo; while observing that Johnson &ldquo;plays his tail off every two seconds.&rdquo; The drive to improve and be great makes each of these four push one another in order to become the best they can.
There&rsquo;s also another aspect of White&rsquo;s approach that's undergoing maturation: vocalizing and teaching what he's soaked in from those before him.
White appreciated how productive Ginobili was at 40 years old. When he retired and Parker exited to the Charlotte Hornets, LaMarcus Aldridge played a pivotal role in helping White&rsquo;s development and keeping his head up during his second season. Similarly, then and now, he says that DeRozan will answer any question that gets asked.
&ldquo;All the vets that we've had here have been amazing. That's kinda the thing, is there's always great people around,&rdquo; White stated.
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The way leadership works is that you instill values into the people you&rsquo;re in charge of, so that when they grow older and wiser, they can impart the wisdom onto the next generation. White learned the proper lessons; being a fourth-year pro, it&rsquo;s his turn to move up the ladder.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The front office and Pop have been on me [about] trying to be more of a leader,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;It's something that I'm continuing to develop in. The more confidence you have, the more you're doing the right things, the more you can hold other people accountable. So it's a constant thing that I'm developing, and hopefully I just keep getting better and better at it."
White, an avowed introvert, admits it is an adjustment: "I'm pretty quiet at the start. But once I get to know people, I start talking more. (laughs)"
As White tries to blossom into a more vocal figure, his skill set can do the talking for now. Defensively, he is a thorn in everybody&rsquo;s side, sticking to his assignments, closing out hard on shooters and standing pat when the opposition tries to drive on him.
Get this: Among those playing at least 25 minutes and defending a minimum of three field goal attempts at the rim per game, there are only 14 NBA players holding opponents under 55% on those tries. White is <a href="https://go.nba.com/dxmv" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a part of that group</a>, and all but Miles Bridges and White are big men.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s not every day you see a 6-foot-4 guard averaging more rejections (1.0) than steals (0.7), either.
&ldquo;I always tell people I'm a shot-blocker,&rdquo; White quipped. &ldquo;I don't know. I'm just trying to get a stop. It's something that I've always kind of done is just be able to block shots. I just kinda have a knack for it, and I'm just trying to do whatever it takes to get some stops and get us the ball back.
&ldquo;[Strategically, my approach] depends on the matchup. There's a lot of talented guards and wing players that I've been guarding. Try to limit their touches, try to push them out of their spot. There's so many talented people in the league that they're gonna get their points. Just try to make it difficult for them."
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15882781_lg.jpg" alt="" />
White&rsquo;s offensive burden has ramped up more this season, sporting a career-high 22.7% usage rate, in addition to doubling his three-point attempts to nearly seven per game.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Coach [Pop] said if I was open or anything just to let it fly and, hopefully, I can continue to get in the gym, continue to get shots and reps up, and my percentage and everything will just continue to grow as my game grows,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I'm pretty confident [in my shot]. I mean, it was kinda a rough offseason and then getting hurt and then COVID and everything, so it was kinda inconsistent, I feel like, 'cause I just didn't really get a lot of reps in during the offseason stuff. But just staying in and staying confident, and I think good things are starting to happen."
Though the traditional statistics don&rsquo;t jump out and he&rsquo;s missed more shots than he&rsquo;s accustomed to making, White&rsquo;s advanced numbers indicate his effect on the game. As specified by Cleaning the Glass, San Antonio&rsquo;s offensive rating dips by 4.7 with White off the floor. He&rsquo;s also incredibly careful with the basketball, as the team has a <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4304/onoff#tab-team_efficiency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mere 11% turnover rate when he&rsquo;s on the court</a>.
Last week, Popovich expressed that White&rsquo;s season is over. It&rsquo;s been an unfortunate series of events that will hold back the 26-year-old guard from having the chance to be a part of the Spurs&rsquo; chase in the postseason play-in.
It&rsquo;s times like these when White leans on a support system that&rsquo;s been with him from the start. His mother, Colleen; his father, Richard; his sister, Brianna; his fiancee, Hannah; even his friends that he hooped with growing up -- all of these people cheer him on and keep him level-headed. White is grateful that he has them in his corner, keeping him &ldquo;boosted&rdquo; when he needs it.
Besides Russell Westbrook welcoming him to the NBA early his rookie year ("guarding Russ for the first time was pretty eye-opening. He didn't take it easy, that's for sure"), one of the favorite moments of White&rsquo;s embryonic career is when he burst onto the scene in the 2019 playoffs vs. his hometown Denver Nuggets, a series his parents witnessed up close and personal.
&ldquo;I grew up watching the Nuggets and everything, so to play them my first playoff round while really playing, it was crazy,&rdquo; said White, whose Spurs ultimately fell by four points in Game 7. &ldquo;It did a lot for my confidence, but it also showed that I had a lot of room to grow. So I was happy that I played well, but still wanted more out of it.
&ldquo;My mom and my dad went to every game in Denver, and then they were in San Antonio for Games 3 and 4. So they saw pretty much all of 'em. They were in San Antonio when I kinda blew up and scored 36, so it was cool to hang out with them after the game and just get dinner and get food with them after. It was nice to see and it was good to have them there."
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White&rsquo;s family saw his growth -- physically, mentally and professionally -- from when he was generously listed at 6-feet tall in high school, to catching eyes at Division II Colorado-Colorado Springs and, ultimately, landing at the University of Colorado for one year and being drafted by the Spurs in 2017.
&ldquo;It's kinda crazy,&rdquo; White said of his journey. &ldquo;UCCS kinda gave me a preferred walk-on, basically, and I just thought it was cool 'cause it had my major [sports management], but it actually worked out perfectly. I was able to start right away, and they kinda just gave me the keys to the whole program from like Game 5 on, so that did a lot for my development, confidence, everything. Three years there, and it was amazing. But Marcus Mason, my trainer, was like, 'I think it's time for you to go on.'&nbsp;
&ldquo;And so, I have an opportunity to transfer to CU, to the PAC-12, and compete at that level; I couldn't turn it down. So I transfer in there, redshirting and just working out for a whole year trying to get better and then, just competing that one year there, trying to make a name for myself as quickly as I could. So it was all pretty crazy. But I mean, I think everything happens for a reason, so it all works out for me."
When asked what he&rsquo;s most appreciative about regarding his unusual path to the greatest basketball league in the world, White pondered before responding.
&ldquo;I mean, just sticking with it, not giving up,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I could've just called it quits [and said], 'It is what it is.' But I just continued to work. Obviously, growing helped, but I worked harder than I had before and good things started happening for me."
If White's path is any indication, it&rsquo;ll take a lot more than a few bumps in the road to keep him from achieving whatever he puts his mind to.

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

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

It's been a long, long time since the New York Knicks played games in May that impacted anything other than ping-pong balls.
Yet, Monday's victory over the Memphis Grizzlies was the Knicks&rsquo; 37th win this season, which means New York will finish the regular season with a winning record for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign.
Remarkably, with less than two weeks remaining in the 2020-21 season, New York has an outside chance to finish Top-3 in the Eastern Conference standings (and no chance of finishing Top-3 in the draft lottery). Needless to say, Knicks fans are <a href="https://twitter.com/TommyBeer/status/1388472589035708417?s=20">excited</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/TommyBeer/status/1389623942160265223?s=20">enthusiastic</a> about the team's immediate future.&nbsp;
However, it's not just the rest of May that New Yorkers can look forward to. Considering the tantalizing young talent already on the roster, the organization's abundance of cap space, the coaching staff and front office captaining the ship, and the treasure trove of draft picks the Knicks possess, the future of the franchise is quite bright.&nbsp;
When discussing the pieces already in place, it makes sense to start with Julius Randle. As was noted <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/basketball-news-king-of-new-york-why-julius-randle-belongs-in-nba-mvp-conversation-ny-knicks">in this space</a> last month, Randle, shockingly, has played at an <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/basketball-news-king-of-new-york-why-julius-randle-belongs-in-nba-mvp-conversation-ny-knicks">MVP-level</a> for much of this season. When he got off to an incredible start, pundits predicted he'd slow down considerably as the season wore on. Instead, Randle has somehow become more effective and efficient. During the Knicks&rsquo; current scorching stretch, in which they've won 12 in their past 13 games, Randle is averaging 29.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 3.5 made three-pointers, while posting a True Shooting percentage north of 60%.
Randle, who was named the East&rsquo;s Player of the Month for April (joining Carmelo Anthony and Patrick Ewing as just the third Knick to win this award over the past 35 years), is just 26 years old.
Randle isn't the only player who has taken significant steps forward in 2020-21. R.J. Barrett's improved jumper has been arguably the most pleasant revelation in a season full of unexpected surprises.
Over the first 50 games of his NBA career, Barrett shot 39% from the floor, below 32% from behind the arc and 59% from the free-throw line.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Over his past 50 NBA games, Barrett is shooting 47% from the floor, above 45% from downtown and 74% from the charity stripe.&nbsp;
Dating back to late February, Barrett is one of only six players to average at least 18 points, five rebounds and three dimes while shooting above 45% on field goals and 42% on three-pointers. The other five? Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Nikola Vucevic, LeBron James and Julius Randle.
And Barrett still can't legally buy a beer, as the kid won't celebrate his 21st birthday until June. He'll be younger than many of the players selected in the first round of the 2021 draft.&nbsp;
Three days after Barrett's birthday, Immanuel Quickley will turn 22. The Knicks <a href="https://t.co/A1Mt9xY2Gn?amp=1">were knocked</a> for drafting IQ with the 25th overall selection last summer (CBS Sports infamously slapped the Knicks with a <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2020-nba-draft-grades-pick-by-pick-results-tracker-and-analysis-for-completed-rounds-1-and-2/">"D+" grade</a>), but the youngster has exceeded expectations since setting foot on an NBA court. Because he's spent the season coming off the bench, 13 rookies have logged more minutes than Quickley so far, but he still ranks inside the top-five among all first-year players in points, made free throws and made three-pointers, and inside the top-10 in dimes. (Despite having played fewer minutes than LaMelo Ball, Quickley has tallied more points, threes and free throws.) And the advanced analytics are even more impressive: according to <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/traditional/?sort=PLUS_MINUS&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;PlayerExperience=Rookie">NBA.com</a>, Quickley <a href="https://twitter.com/TommyBeer/status/1389313567388733448?s=20">leads all rookies</a> in Offensive Rating, Defensive Rating, and Net Rating.
The Knicks have outscored their opponents by <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/traditional/?sort=PLUS_MINUS&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;PlayerExperience=Rookie">171 points</a> with Quickley on the court this season. Only eight qualified rookies have posted a positive plus/minus this season. And, other than IQ, none have a plus/minus higher than +62. Quickley is on pace to become just the fifth rookie over the past decade to post a season-long plus/minus north of +200. The other four are Ben Simmons, Donovan Mitchell, OG Anunoby and Jayson Tatum.
Randle and Barrett are the franchise's foundational building blocks, and Quickley is already a solid NBA rotation player, which is quite rare for a rookie.
Coming into this season, Mitchell Robinson was also viewed as a critically important piece. However, limited to just 31 games due to a pair of serious injuries, Robinson's future is a bit murky. Yet, he's only 23, and the Knicks can exercise a team option for only $1.8 million to keep him in New York for at least one more year before making a long-term decision. (New York could also explore inking him to an extension this summer, possibly at a discount, if they feel he's their center of the future.)
Obi Toppin, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, has been relatively disappointing this season, considering he was 22 years old on draft day and advertised as "NBA-ready." However, it's important to note that despite his relatively advanced age, Toppin is a late-bloomer. He wasn't recruited out of high school and was a full-time starter for just one season at Dayton. In addition, Toppin has had some encouraging flashes over the past few weeks, as the Knicks coaching staff attempts to make better use of his rare combination of size and athleticism.&nbsp;
As far as what the rest of the roster may look like moving forward, there are more questions than answers.
Yet, that's partly due to the fact that the Knicks have a very clean cap sheet. New York will have the opportunity to enter the upcoming offseason with more than $60 million in cap space, the most of any team in the league.&nbsp;
Often the toughest jump to make for an NBA franchise is the quantum leap from a mid-tier team to a legitimate championship contender. Based on their success this season, the Knicks have the pieces in place to remain respectable in 2022 and beyond. But will they be able to enter the league's upper-echelon? To do so, they'll need to import a superstar.&nbsp;
Like Charlie Brown winding up to kick Lucy's football, Knicks fans have grown accustomed to their team clearing out massive amounts of cap space only to strike out in free agency, getting rejected by their top targets and overpaying for over-the-hill veterans. So, why would this summer be any different?&nbsp;
Well, in years past, the Knicks have entered free agency reeking of desperation. Free agents couldn't help but smell the stench. Coming off losing season after losing season, the Knicks could offer max money and a chance to play in New York City, but very little in terms of supporting talent already on the roster. This summer, the Knicks (especially if they can stay in that fourth or fifth seed and make some noise in the playoffs) will be viewed as a team on the rise, having continuously built positive momentum for the past four months. Their recruiting pitch will feature the opportunity to play alongside an All-NBA forward in his prime, as well as promising youngsters still locked into rookie contracts.&nbsp;
And the person now making that pitch is Leon Rose, a former agent who has represented and cultivated strong relationships with some of the biggest names in the sport. Rose has surrounded himself with a stellar staff, and the early returns on their first flurry of moves (signing Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel, trading for Derrick Rose, etc.) have returned impressively solid dividends.&nbsp;
The other factor in the equation is the head coach whom Rose hired. Tom Thibodeau is widely considered one of the favorites to take home the Coach of the Year award, and for good reason. The Knicks&rsquo; turnaround this season is even more remarkable when you recognize New York went 21-45 in 2019-20 and brought back much of the same roster. (Four starters in Monday's win in Memphis &mdash; Randle, Barrett, Elfrid Payton and Taj Gibson &mdash; also started the Knicks&rsquo; final game last season).
Consider this: New York's combined record over their previous two seasons was 38-110 (72 games under .500). New York's record this season is 37-28 (nine games over .500).&nbsp;
Thibs also has his team playing its best basketball at the right time. The Knicks have posted the league's best record (13-3) over the past month. Over this same stretch, they rank third overall in Defensive Efficiency (107.5) and lead the entire league in both Offensive Efficiency (119.0) and Net Rating, having outscored their opponents by 182 points over their past 16 games.&nbsp;
Circling back to the free-agency discussion, having a respected leader in control is typically appealing to players who want to win. Prospective free agents often search for situations where a principled culture has been established. Just across the river, the Brooklyn Nets proved they were a team headed in the right direction before they convinced Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to take them to that next level.
Under Thibodeau, and his highly respected assistant coaches, the Knicks are building a well-earned reputation as a collection of gritty, defensive-minded, team-first talent.
Additionally, New York isn't solely dependent on free-agent signings to infuse the roster with newfound talent.&nbsp;
The Knicks have maintained the rights to all of their future first-round picks and own the Dallas Mavericks&rsquo; first-rounder this summer (unprotected) and Dallas' selection in 2023 (top-10 protected) as a result of the Kristaps Porzingis trade.&nbsp;
Since we mentioned his name, it's important to note that the Knicks&rsquo; turnaround is tied, at least tangentially, to the Porzingis trade. New York trading away KP instead of inking him to a $158.2 million extension, and including Tim Hardaway Jr.'s massive contract in the deal, enabled New York to enter the summer of 2019 with money to burn. The Knicks obviously failed to lure in the free agents they most desired (Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving), but the front office pivoted by inking Randle to a three-year, $62 million contract which, in hindsight, looks like a stroke of genius. In addition, the Knicks used $15 million of that cap space to sign Marcus Morris, who was dealt to the Clippers at the deadline for a 2020 first-round pick, which turned into Immanuel Quickley. And this season, New York used Dennis Smith Jr. as a trade chip to acquire Derrick Rose, whose contributions have been critical to the Knicks&rsquo; recent run.&nbsp;
All told, the Knicks own the rights to seven first-round draft picks over the next five years. Only two teams in the league (the OKC Thunder and Houston Rockets) have more future first-rounders. New York also owns 11 second-round selections over the next six years.&nbsp;
Knicks fans are focused on the remainder of the 2020-21 campaign, as they should be. For this eternally tortured fanbase, no playoff game could possibly be taken for granted. Yet, whenever this unexpectedly entertaining season finally reaches its conclusion, fans can take solace, having faith they likely won't have to deal with another arduous, prolonged stretch of playoff-less springs. In fact, the franchise is properly positioned to continue its impressive push toward consistent contention.

The Knicks are winning for the first time in a long time, and their future is promising due to their young core, cap room and draft picks.

The Knicks are (finally) winning: Is this only the beginning of their run?

Chris Paul is teaching.
He's in a gym, much smaller than the NBA arenas he's used to electrifying. Instead of dealing with the league's elite pests, he's having a one-on-one with a player much younger than he is. There are no play calls, no stakes. The only thing being passed is knowledge. Granular details and tricks of the trade.
Paul poses a rhetorical question to the player he's working with: "If we're playing one-on-one, how would you guard me?
"I'm right-handed, so you'd probably try to force me to the left, right? But if that high foot is up, I may just sweep here."&nbsp;Paul pantomimes the rip-through move to drill home the point.
The exchange of information goes on -- subtle hand-swiping on the drive, jab steps to shift a defender's weight, and how to sell the jab with a ball swing. But then Paul is asked about getting pressured. He gives a couple of on-ball tips, then spreads the real gospel.
"It's all about keeping the guy guarding you off-balance. If a guy wants to get up into you and whatever and play you all aggressive, let him!&nbsp;But don't let that speed you up."
Paul continues.
"Good players don't get sped up. Even if you try to pressure me, I'm gonna stay at the same pace."&nbsp;
This exchange was captured over 10 years ago at Paul's <a href="https://www.positionsports.com/cp3-camps" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elite Guard Camp</a>.
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It's fitting that he's using the same ethos to dominate in Year 16. You can quibble about whether Paul or Devin Booker has been the Suns' best player this season; honestly, that the discussion is even being had is a testament to Paul. However you rank them, it's undeniable that Paul's play has helped transform the Suns from playoff hopeful to legitimate contender.
THE PUSH AND PULL
Paul is standing still.
Pounding the rock. Barking out orders. Pointing, waving with his free hand.&nbsp;
Deandre Ayton trots up to the side of Paul's defender and holds serve. Then, at the last second, he flips the angle.
Paul presses the accelerator, jetting off the pick before snaking in the opposite direction. The big's defender steps up to cut off Paul's airspace, but Paul is already rising for his fading 16-footer.
In a league that wows with James Harden or Luka Doncic stepbacks, Giannis Gyro steps, Zion spin moves and logo-launching from the Stephen Curry/Damian Lillard/Trae Young triumvirate, Paul's pull-up jumper from the elbow is just as much of a staple.
Among 33 players that have taken at least 100 "dribble jumpers" out of the pick-and-roll this season, only two -- Paul (51.4 percent on 247 attempts) and DeMar DeRozan (54.8 on 115) -- are converting more than half of those shots, per Synergy.
According to InStat tracking, Paul has drilled 67 of his 132 elbow-area pull-ups in pick-and-roll this season, a roughly 51 percent clip. Remove the pick-and-roll filter and you get a larger, yet equally impressive sample: 208 elbow-area pull-ups, 52.2 percent shooting (107-of-208).
And it's not like this is a single-season blip. Paul has converted at least 50 percent of his shots between 15-to-19 feet in five of the past six seasons, per the <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/shooting/?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*chris%20paul&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA's tracking data</a>.
It starts with getting his defender off-balance. Paul is a master at gear-shifting, mixing in hesitations, in-and-outs and crossovers to get to his spots. If he's able to get run his defender into a screen, or shift their feet so he can attack it, the possession's pretty much over.
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As deadly as Paul's pull-up is, it mostly serves as a complement to his playmaking. There isn't a read that Paul can't make in pick-and-roll. He remains an elite pocket passer; corner skips are second nature. It's fitting that Paul is in Phoenix now, because there have been plenty of Nash-ian probes that have led to kicks, dump-offs and lobs this season.
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CONTROLLING THE TEMPO
What's fun about watching Paul in-depth, as a scorer or passer, is the level of control. It's obvious -- the man still handles the ball a ton -- but you can&nbsp;feel&nbsp;it. There's a cadence to Paul's play that is entirely his own.
Good players don't get sped up.&nbsp;
Watch those clips again, and you'll see the same load-up. A hard duck on the drive and then...he decelerates. He may stop-and-go. He may stop completely, pulling up for a jumper or hitting a teammate because the help defender slid the way he wanted to. No matter the decision, Paul has his fingertips on it.
Even if you try to pressure me, I'm gonna stay at the same pace.
About that pace: the Suns rank towards the <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced/advanced/?sort=PACE&amp;dir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bottom of the league</a> in pace this season. They play roughly a possession-per-100 slower with <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/vs/advanced/#!?TeamID=1610612756&amp;VsPlayerID=101108" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paul on the floor</a>. That's not a coincidence. Paul teams have ranked in the bottom-10 in pace in each of the past three seasons, per <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced/advanced/?sort=PACE&amp;dir=1&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA.com tracking data</a>.
The absence of physical speed -- by cadence or by natural decline -- doesn't mean there's an absence of processing speed. Paul may set things up at his pace, but he'll capitalize on a mistake quicker than you can blink.
A fun staple of the Suns' attack: a lob off the opening tip. Ayton will tap the ball back to Paul. As Ayton trots down the floor, someone -- often Booker -- springs Ayton free with a back-pick. The chaos often creates easy buckets.
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Watch the Suns flow out of Double Drag -- a high pick-and-roll where one screener dives to the rim, while the other pops behind the three-point line -- and you'll be amazed by how quickly Paul picks out the open man.
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The same can be said for when the Suns get busy in "Spain" or "Stack" pick-and-rolls, where a big receives a back-screen after setting a pick for Paul.
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What you may lose in pure possession count, Paul more than makes up for it with the way that he maximizes each chance. In addition to making the right shoot-or-pass decision most of the time, he flat-out doesn't give the ball away that often.&nbsp;
That level of optimization manifests in two distinct ways. First, he's still a good enough engine to hold down the fort while Booker gets a breather. The Suns have a plus-8.5 net rating in the 511 minutes that Paul has played without Booker, <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612756&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=101108,1626164" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per PBP Stats</a>.
Second, you know when you&nbsp;really&nbsp;need to take care of the ball and execute? During clutch situations. Paul is able to use his know-how to grind out half-court possessions. He also doesn't mind deferring to Booker when needed, thanks to his ability to knock down outside shots.
What we're left with is Paul once again putting together an All-NBA caliber season, while lifting the ceiling of a playoff hopeful. A top-four seed for the Suns was an optimist's view heading into the season; they currently find themselves 2.5 games outside of the top seed in the Western Conference.
Making some first-round noise after a 10-year playoff drought would've been a success heading into the season. With the league's second-best record and net rating, a top-six ranking in half-court efficiency on both ends of the floor and an 18-7 record against opponents over .500, this team is aiming for more.
With Paul dictating the flow of things like this, a title run isn't out of the question.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the film of Chris Paul, exploring how Paul has made the Suns a legitimate NBA championship contender.

Chris Paul is always on (his) time

Thanks go out to the Miami Heat for keeping themselves relevant for three games and three quarters. They were clearly the second-best team in the NBA Finals last night in the fourth quarter, and they are all but cooked as we wait two days for the inevitable.
But the bright side in all of this is that we can start turning our attention to the rest of the NBA and what awaits us in the offseason, as everyone else in the league tries to better themselves through free agency, trades and the draft.
There are coaching vacancies in Houston, Los Angeles (Clippers), Indiana, New Orleans and Oklahoma City. There is a strong crop of free agents, but only four teams -- New York, Atlanta, Detroit and New Orleans -- with significant cap room (assuming the cap stays the same) to go after them. There is hope in Brooklyn where the Nets will eventually have Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Caris LaVert playing together, and across the East River at Madison Square Garden with the Knicks, where Tom Thibodeau is the new coach, Leon Rose is the new general manager and Worldwide Wes is the kind of behind-the-scenes operator who can sell skeptical players on the benefits of playing in the city that one day will no longer be a ghost town.
The West is loaded with capable teams who had the misfortune of going up against the Lakers and Nuggets, and a little tinkering here and there is all that the Clippers, Trail Blazers, Mavericks, Jazz and Pelicans need to have a better chance of keeping LeBron James out of his 10th NBA Finals in 11 years.
The biggest question mark in the Eastern Conference is whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will sign his super-max deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, and some clarity on that question may come if Bucks general manager Jon Horst is willing to consider moving Eric Bledsoe and/or Khris Middleton for a player (or players) who will not shrink from the spotlight as we saw earlier in the postseason.
Boston is perplexing, especially Jayson Tatum, but he and the remainder of the Celtics&rsquo; core were not all that far from advancing further than they did, and the Toronto Raptors (if they can keep Fred VanVleet) need to only find a center to replace Marc Gasol to make it back where they were just one season ago.
Of course, the LeBron factor will loom large with every NBA team, because as we saw in Game 4 of the NBA Finals last night, they are about as good of a team as James has ever been a part of. Even with Anthony Davis having another decent-but-not-spectacular offensive evening, the contributions of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso, Danny Green, Markieff Morris and Rajon Rondo added up to more than the Heat could handle, especially with Goran Dragic missing a third-straight game.&nbsp;
&ldquo;This was a throwback game and there were some moments of truth there at the end, and probably the bottom line is they won those moments of truth,&rdquo; Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Also, Davis&rsquo; defense on Jimmy Butler combined with another vintage fourth quarter from LeBron (11 points, five rebounds and two assists) put L.A. one win away from tying the Celtics for the most championships in NBA history.
"I felt like for me, personally, this was one of the biggest games of my career," said the 35-year-old James, the league's career leader in playoff wins. "I just wanted to relay that message to my teammates, the type of zone I was in, the type of moment it was and the kind of team we were playing against...
"They are just a gritty, so damn-well-coached team. I feel like if we're going to be a championship ball club, if we want to really be a championship team, we&rsquo;ve got to have that same grit and that same attitude. It was my mindset. I'm still in it."
We shall see what the Heat have left in the tank on Friday night, and in the meantime we have plenty to keep us interested in the world outside of sports. There is a vice-presidential debate tonight, there is a President with COVID-19, there are baseball playoffs, there is the ever-present specter of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, we&rsquo;ll eventually have The Masters -- and so on, and so forth.
The NBA pulled this bubble thing off, and priority No. 1 for Commissioner Adam Silver now is trying to find a way to get his fans back inside NBA arenas for the start of next season, whenever that might happen. The pandemic and the presidential elections are two factors that are completely out of the commissioner&rsquo;s control. And he will have to continue to change on the fly as events warrant. The league and the NBPA have to come up with a new set of rules to try to have a workable salary cap number and find ways to generate revenue to fund a league that needs fannies in the seats to be economically viable.
If Americans continue to stay locked up in their homes out of fears, real or imagined, it is going to be a long, long winter in which a night out at an NBA arena is no longer a possible diversion. But if the pandemic subsides and the arenas are opened, next NBA season should be special.
Even some of the outlier teams have hope: Minnesota has the No. 1 pick, Washington will have John Wall and Bradley Beal playing together with a healthy Thomas Bryant; Sacramento has a new front office chief in Monte McNair; Phoenix is coming off an 8-0 bubble performance that made Devin Booker fans out of a whole lot of people; Memphis has Ja Morant, the reigning Rookie of the Year; and let&rsquo;s not forget Golden State, who will have Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson back, playing with Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green and whoever Bob Myers and Steve Kerr decide to take with the No. 2 pick in the draft.
It is a day of mourning in Miami, and day of celebration in Los Angeles, and a day of hope in every other NBA city. We can all see the finish line, and from there we go to the starting line, where hope springs eternal for the 29 NBA teams whose seasons ended in failure. Yup, failure, because anything short of a championship constitutes the opposite of success.
There are 28 teams that have failed, and the Miami Heat are about to join them... unless you believe Spoelstra: &ldquo;You have two competitive groups and you just have to figure out how to make some plays at the end, and that's usually where we figure it out and usually where our group thrives. So I already know the heartbeat of what's going on in our locker room, our guys are just looking forward to Friday.&rdquo;

Chris Sheridan looks ahead to what comes next for the NBA once the Los Angeles Lakers end things with the Miami Heat in the Finals.

With NBA Finals now 3-1, other 28 teams become relevant again

Los Angeles Clippers music director Andrew Kinzel speaks with BasketballNews.com's Spencer Davies about being one of four DJs invited to the NBA Restart at ESPN's Wide World of Sports in Orlando.