2025 NBA Canada Series is a reminder that a team returning to Vancouver would be fun

                                             (Rogers Arena. Credit: rogersarena.com) 

On Monday, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Toronto Raptors 112-108 in the 2025 NBA Canada Series game at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada. Christian Braun led the way for the Nuggets with 19 points while RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram each had 19 points for the Raptors. Given it was a preseason game, the outcome didn't really matter. The big storyline is that there was NBA basketball being played in Vancouver, the original home of the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies played in Vancouver from 1995-2001, leaving for Memphis after six poor seasons. 

Despite their lack of success in British Columbia, over the years there have been more and more people wondering about whether or not an NBA return to Vancouver is possible and if so, would that mean the Memphis Grizzlies give back the name. In many ways, the Grizzlies left Vancouver before really giving the city a fair shot. It takes time to establish a fanbase in a new city, especially one that historically hasn't had much basketball played in it. 

Had the NBA given it more time in Vancouver and allowed the Grizzlies to grow into a solid team, there's no reason to think they couldn't have become a popular and permanent fixture of the city. But alas, the declining value of the Canadian dollar at the time combined with poor results and lack of a true superstar led to the Grizzlies' premature departure. 

Touching more on the lack of a true superstar, the Grizzlies kinda sorta had one in Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Bryant Reeves a.k.a Big Country, but neither of those two could hold a candle to what Vince Carter was doing for the Toronto Raptors. In hindsight, the one that really got away from the Grizzlies was Steve Francis, whose refusal to play for the Grizzlies led to the Grizzlies trading him to the Houston Rockets before he ever played an NBA game. Had Francis decided to give Vancouver a shot, perhaps that would have saved the franchise's future in British Columbia. 

Looking ahead to the future, right now it still feels like a pipe dream for the NBA to actually return to Vancouver. They have 30 teams at the moment and odds are really good that if the NBA expands, it'll be to 32 teams with Seattle and  Las Vegas being the two front runners to get those spots. There's virtually no way of seeing one of the next two expansion cities being Vancouver. 

That said, if the NBA were to expand beyond 32 teams, then I think a return to Vancouver is possible. More specifically, I could see a Vancouver franchise returning to the NBA if the league were to expand to 36 teams. When looking at possible NBA expansion cities, one of the first places to look for is NHL cities that don't have an NBA franchise. Of that group of cities, once you go beyond Las Vegas and Seattle, Vancouver arguably makes the most sense. Especially since there used to be an NBA presence there and a small, but loyal fanbase remains. 

For now, the NBA Canada Series and the Memphis Grizzlies wearing vintage uniforms is as close as we can get to quenching our thirst for an NBA franchise in Vancouver. But perhaps in the not too distant future, we'll once again see an NBA franchise permanently call Rogers Arena home. 

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The NBA's "Heave Rule" should bring more excitement

 

                        (Stephen Curry heaving a shot. Credit: Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) 

The NBA has made a change to how they statistically record last second shots of 36 feet or longer. Rather than having such shots count against a player's field goal percentage if they miss, they'll only count against the team field goal percentage. If the player makes the shot, then it will count toward the player's field goal percentage as it normally would. 

Below are the conditions of the rule: It is for shots 36 feet or further and within the final three seconds of the first three quarters. The play must also originate in the backcourt. 

The purpose of this rule change is to encourage more end of quarter shots without players worrying about the impact it would have on their field goal percentage. Many players hesitated to take such shots given it would hurt their stats. If you were say 9-9 on the night, you might not want to throw up a prayer that will end your perfect shooting night. Now, players can heave such shots with no such worries. As a result, we should see more last second attempts and thus, more crazy shots, upping the entertainment level. 

All around, this is a great rule and one that has been long overdue. Not only is it unfair to a guy's stats to count those shots against him, but also when you think about it, the whole point of field goal percentage is to track shots that are well, shots. In many ways a last second heave of 36 feet or longer isn't really a shot. It's a heave. Hence the name of the rule. On those grounds, they really should be a different statistical category. 

On top of being more entertaining for fans, this rule change will also have an impact on fantasy basketball. Many fantasy basketball matchups have been affected by a last second heave and now they only will be impacted if the shot goes in. Fantasy basketball owners will no longer have to worry about someone on their team taking a last second shot that costs them a matchup. That more than anything might be the best part of this whole rule change. 

Finally, I think it would even be better if shots beyond half court were worth four points and not three. The half court line is an easy dividing mark and it's well beyond the 3-point line such that it would make sense to add an extra point for such shots. Imagine a team being down four points with three seconds left and attempting a four-point shot! That would be wildly entertaining. Or a rare five-point play! A guy getting fouled while making a four-point shot. Can you imagine? Not only that, but getting fouled from beyond half court while taking a shot would be worth four foul shots instead of three. This is sort of a next level rule suggestion, but I think it's one that the NBA should consider. Maybe try it out in the G-League first. 

While a four-point shot may not be coming to the NBA, it is good they have implemented this "Heave Rule." There's no downside to it and it will enhance the experience for all. It'll be fun to see the impact it has on this upcoming season! 

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What are John Wall's Hall of Fame chances?

 

                                              (Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images) 

Last month, former Washington Wizards star point guard John Wall announced his retirement after having not played in the NBA since the 2022-23 season with the Los Angeles Clippers. During his 13 year NBA career, Wall averaged 18.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 8.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. At his peak during the 2016-17 season, Wall finished 7th in the MVP voting averaging 23.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 10.7 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. Wall was also the number one overall pick by the Wizards in the 2010 NBA Draft after a stellar freshman season at Kentucky in which he averaged 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. Wall and the Wildcats fell to West Virginia in the Elite Eight of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. 

There's no denying the talent that Wall had when he came into the NBA. With Rickey Green type speed, Wall had all the pieces to be a legit franchise player and when he was healthy, he was just that. He could score at an elite level, he was electric in transition, could guard the top point guards in the game, and was a fabulous facilitator. He truly had all the tools and for five straights seasons starting in 2013-14, Wall made the All-Star team. 

However, his career was marred with injuries as he had to miss two of those 13 seasons in entirety. The 2019-20 season was missed due to injury while the 2021-22 season was missed due to the Houston Rockets wanting to prioritize the development of younger players while also unable to find a team willing to take on Wall's massive contract. 

On top of having a career marred with injury and setbacks, Wall only reached the second round of the playoffs twice in his career, never reaching the conference finals. For all his talent, he was never able to lead the Wizards or any team to serious playoff success. 

Something that will start to get debated in the coming months and years is what Wall's Hall of Fame chances are: 

On the positive side, I think his peak level was certainly Hall of Fame worthy. He was definitely not a bust. He backed up the number one pick hype that he received and on top of that, he had a strong single season at Kentucky. It should also be factored into the equation that the Wizards historically are a pretty bad team and he stayed loyal to the franchise, not jumping ship for greener pastures. He took it upon himself to be the franchise player and that's commendable. 

On the negative side, you'd like to see more than five All-Star selections for his career and the lack of playoff success is unfortunate. Also, you are judged on your production and injuries are a part of the game. It is what it is.

When you at it all up, I think it's hard to make a case for why John Wall should make the Hall of Fame. While he was one of the most talented players to come into the NBA, he simply didn't sustain Hall of Fame level play for a long enough period of time. If Wall does get in, it'll likely be after several years of being on the ballot but at some point, Hall of Fame cases lose steam and while I'm sure there are some that will try to lobby a case for him, I don't see him getting enough support to clear the threshold needed to get in. 

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The NBA needs to simplify its playoff system

 

                                             (Credit: Jesse Johnson/Imagn Images) 

The NBA playoffs begin later this month on April 19th. Before that, the NBA will hold the "SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament" from April 15th to April 18th. Click here to check the format out on NBA.com. 

In case the graphic the NBA has posted confuses you, you're not alone. I'm well versed in brackets and tournaments, but just looking at the graphic, it's kinda hard to figure out what exactly is going on. From what I can tell, it looks like the winner of the 7/8 game in each conference becomes the 7 seed while the loser plays the winner of the 10/9 game. The winner of that game becomes the 8 seed. The top six seeds are safe and locked into their respective seeds. 

While I love the idea of making things more exciting at the end of the regular season, I find the "Play-In Tournament" to be kinda clumsy. Like, upon looking at the bracket, you can figure it out, but during the game I'm sure there's plenty of confusion of what exactly the hell is going on in terms of what happens to the winner and the loser. 

What I propose is the NBA streamlines and simplifies things. If they want to make things more interesting than just sending the top eight teams to the playoffs from each conference, that's cool. But this play-in tournament just doesn't seem like the right way to do it. 

What I propose the NBA does is simply have a best-of-three game series decide the final two spots in each conference: 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9. If they want to reduce travel, they could have the lower seed be home the first game and then next for the two games (if a third game is necessary) the higher seed could get home court advantage. That would be easy for fans to understand while also rewarding the 7th and 8th seed with home court advantage. You could call it the "NBA Playoff Wild Card" round. You could get the three games done over the course of five days and then start the playoffs. 

What I like about my format is you get the extra playoff action you want, you make each game really intense, and you also have a format that fans can better understand. It's a simple tournament bracket. Top six seeds get a bye. Winner of the 7/10 series faces the the 2 seed. The winner of the 8/9 series faces the 1 seed. 

On top of that, I also propose the NBA brings back best-of-five for the conference quarterfinals. Best-of-five was way more entertaining as it made each game matter a bit more. Best-of-seven isn't ideal because a lot of times these top seeds advance rather easily. But if you make it best-of-five, especially if a team is coming in hot after winning a best-of-three series, you suddenly have a real possibility for some first round upsets, which the NBA playoffs could always use more of. 

Overall, I think my solution is better than what the NBA currently has. Heck, I think just keeping it top eight is better than what the NBA has. Top eight was easy to understand. This whole play in tournament thing that's double elimination is just kinda weird and feels gimmicky. Make it make sense. That's all I'm asking. 

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2025 NBA Paris Games are a reminder of how international the NBA has become

                                           (Victor Wembanyama. Credit: Stephanie Lecocq-Imagn Images) 

Back in 2020, the NBA had their first installment of the Paris Games, an extension of the NBA Global Games, which have been going on since the very beginning of the 1990s. I still remember the Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves playing in Tokyo in 1999. This past week, the NBA returned to Paris as the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers played a pair of games. The Spurs won the first game on Thursday by a final score of 140-110 while the Pacers got even in the second game on Saturday by final score of 136-98.

Of course, the big star of the event was Spurs 7'3" wunderkind Victor Wembanyama, who hails from Le Chesnay in the Paris region. The games were a homecoming for Wembanyama as he got to showcase his skills in front of an enthusiastic French crowd that included former Spurs star and fellow Frenchman Tony Parker. Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 3.0 blocks during the two-game showcase, putting up 30 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks in the victory on Thursday. 

The Paris Games are a reminder of how international the game of basketball has become. 30 years ago, if you had two NBA teams playing in Paris, there wouldn't have been any French players participating, let alone be the star of one of the teams. As a matter of fact, it was Tariq Abdul-Wahad (drafted as Oliver Michael Saint-Jean) who became the first NBA player to ever have been raised in France when the Kings selected him 11th overall in the 1997 NBA Draft. Soon thereafter, Tony Parker burst onto the scene for the Spurs and as they say, the rest is history. France is now a hotbed of NBA talent, producing some of the brightest stars in the game. 

As I occasionally mention, I cover Stanford for Rivals.com over at CardinalSportsReport.com. Their star basketball player is Maxime Raynaud, who also hails from France and has played with Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert as part of the French national team. After Stanford's dominant 88-51 victory over Miami last week, I asked Raynaud for his thoughts on the Paris Games. He was certainly excited to see how they played out and what kind of show Wembanyama would put on. 

"Yeah, I mean, it's amazing," Raynaud said. "I'm sure happy for Vic. I love the fact that he's able to take the league back to his hometown and I love the fact that he took the time to spend time with the kids in Nanterre where they worked out. I hope he's going to have an amazing game and just put French basketball on the, I don't even know how you say that, we're already on the map. 

"But yeah, no, super happy for him, super happy with the way he's playing this year, and I really hope he's going to dominate this game. I mean, that's what he does every night. So yeah. And at the same time, I hope they're going to enjoy the city a little bit. I mean, the City of Love, you know what I'm saying? Gonna have a good time." 

Overall, it seems like the Paris Games went well for the NBA in terms of their global outreach. It's a bit of a bummer neither game was close, but the main thing is that Wembanyama played well and reconnected with his roots. I'm sure the NBA fans in France were thrilled with the product and at the end of the day, that's all that really matters. 

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Derrick Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame

 

                                             (Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) 

The Chicago Bulls have made the decision to retire Derrick Rose's No. 1, making him the fifth player in franchise history to have his number retired: Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen are the other four. 

While he did last 16 seasons in the NBA, Rose's career is really divided into two parts: Before he tore his ACL (first four seasons) and after (final 12 seasons). 

Before he tore his ACL, Rose was the number one overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft out of Memphis and picked up Rookie of the Year honors, averaging 16.8 points and 6.3 assists per game. In his third season (2010-11) at just 22 years of age, Rose averaged 25.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game, guiding the Bulls to a league best 62-20 record. Rose became the youngest NBA MVP in league history and only the third player since the 1972-73 season to record 2,000+ points and 600+ assists in a single season. The other two were LeBron James and Michael Jordan. 

During those first four years and especially during that MVP season, Rose was one of the most electric and explosive players the NBA had ever seen. He could jump out of the gym with lightning quickness while having an amazing ability to finish and attack the rim. He had great court vision and was a true point guard all while having these amazing physical gifts. 

(Rose with the NBA MVP trophy. Credit: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune)

During the 2012 NBA playoffs in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers, Rose tore his ACL, forcing him to miss the entire 2012-13 season. From then on, Rose was never the same. He still had some productive seasons where he comfortably scored in double figures on average, but his days of being the most electric point guard in the game were done. After the 2023-24 season with the Memphis Grizzlies, Rose announced his retirement. Rose finished his career as a three-time All-Star (2010-12), an NBA Rookie of the Year (2009), and an NBA MVP (2011). 

Rose also finished his career with a ton of what ifs. He's arguably the biggest what if in NBA history, though I think Len Bias takes the cake for that distinction. At least with Rose we got to see what he was in peak form. Bias we never got to see due to his tragic passing just days after he was drafted. But still, there's a lot of questions about what Rose would have accomplished had he not torn his ACL. Would he have won an NBA championship in Chicago? Would he have won a second MVP? How many All-Star appearances would he have had? What other honors would he have garnered? We'll just never know. 

While there's a lot we don't know, if you just go off his first three seasons in the NBA, I think Derrick Rose has a strong enough resume to have a spot in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame: 

For starters, every NBA MVP has made the Hall of Fame after retirement. That alone makes a strong case for Rose. Secondly, he has the Rookie of the Year honor, which puts him in pretty elite company. And then third, he did end up playing 16 seasons in the NBA (15 if you don't include the 2012-13 season), averaging 17.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game for his career. 

It's not like Rose just hung up his sneakers after four seasons in the NBA. He kept playing and ended up scoring a career-high 50 points with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first game of the 2018-19 season, his 11th season in the NBA. He still had a solid NBA career even with the ACL tear. It's just that he could have had a special career and he was special for those first four seasons in the NBA. 

Switching gears from what should be a sure fire Hall of Fame case for Rose to the Bulls retiring his jersey, I think it's really cool that the Bulls are doing this. He brought an energy back to the Windy City that they hadn't had since the days of Michael Jordan and in the process energized the entire NBA. It's a no-brainer decision. Nobody else should ever wear No. 1 in Chicago Bulls history. That number belongs to Derrick Rose and now it forever will. 

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Would San Jose make a good NBA expansion city?

                                             (Credit: Ben Parker/CardinalSportsReport.com) 

In December, I covered the San Jose Tipoff college basketball event held at SAP Center, home of the NHL's San Jose Sharks. Specifically, I was covering the Stanford/Oregon men's game for CardinalSportsReport.com. Oregon won the game rather comfortably, but as I was there, it naturally got me to thinking about the possibility of the NBA having an expansion franchise in San Jose. 

                                             (Credit: Robert Edwards/USA TODAY Sports) 

For a bit of context, the NBA has 30 teams at the moment. With the NFL having 32 teams, there are naturally questions about when the NBA will follow suit and expand to 32 as well. There are rumblings that expansion could be happening in the near future with Seattle and Las Vegas being the front runners to be the next two teams in line to get a team. 

However, there is a possibility the NBA goes a different direction and only adds a team in one of those two cities. I think Seattle is more of a lock than Las Vegas as the Supersonics were really popular in Seattle. There's a built in fanbase there and with the NHL having a team in the Seattle Kraken, there is now an arena that is up to the NBA's standards (Climate Pledge Arena). Key Arena became too old and obsolete for the NBA, resulting in the Sonics moving to Oklahoma City. There is a lot of momentum to get Seattle a team again and I think if the NBA had to choose between Seattle and Vegas, they'd choose Seattle. 

Las Vegas has never had a team before, so there isn't a built in fanbase there and the NBA doesn't feel the same need to owe anything to Vegas. Especially since they play the NBA Cup championship there as well as NBA Summer League. The NBA already has a bit of a Las Vegas presence through those two events anyways. 

If the NBA were to add a team in Seattle and some place other than Las Vegas, several different cities would enter the equation such as Vancouver (original home of the Memphis Grizzlies), Montreal, Austin, Kansas City, Buffalo, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Louisville, San Diego, Mexico City, and San Jose. 

While I think all of those cities can put forth a strong case for why they deserve an NBA franchise, for the purposes of this blog post, I want to specifically focus on San Jose since I just covered a basketball game at SAP Center, the logical home arena of a San Jose NBA franchise. The experience of seeing basketball at that arena is fresh on my mind. 

As a quick side note, most of my memories at SAP Center have been going to watch the now defunct ATP Tour tennis tournament that used to be played there. I've only been to one Sharks game in my life and the San Jose Tipoff was the first time I had seen basketball played there in person since Cal men's basketball played against Syracuse in the 2013 NCAA tournament (Syracuse defeated Cal 66-60). Most of my memories at SAP Center have been to watch tennis, so it was fun for me to experience basketball there once more. 

Note: On my tennis blog ATPGuy.com, I share more thoughts on why the SAP Open should return to San Jose. Click here to check that out. 

Overall, SAP Center is a perfectly fine venue for basketball. You can tell that it's more designed for hockey with the way the arena is shaped. In order to fit more people in, they added an extension of seats behind the basket. Those seats looked okay, but if they were to have an NBA team playing there, they'd likely want to figure out a way to make those seats better than what they had the fans at the San Jose Tipoff seating on. They weren't bad seats, but they would need to make that experience look a bit more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. As for the seats that were courtside, those looked good.  

There'd likely need to be some adjustments made and discussions had to make the basketball viewing experience a bit better, but aside from that, it would work out well for an NBA arena. It's a really nice arena and has a capacity of 18,543 for basketball without any obstructions. The Delta Center, home of the Utah Jazz has a capacity of 18,306 for basketball while the Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors has a capacity of 18,064 for basketball. The SAP Center capacity-wise is easily NBA level. No issues there at all. 

As for the city of San Jose itself, it's the third most popular city in California after Los Angeles and San Diego and the 13th most populous city in the United States with a population of just under one million people. It's the largest city in the Bay Area and San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area. When you consider that, it's puzzling the Golden State Warriors didn't move down there when they decided to move from Oakland. The Warriors instead moved to San Francisco, which is where the Chase Center is located. 

When you look at the population of the city and the fact that it has an NBA level arena, the main hurdle to San Jose getting its own NBA team is the Golden State Warriors, who represent the entire Bay Area. At least they say they do (I'll get more into that momentarily). With the Warriors in nearby San Francisco and the Kings in Sacramento, which is about 90 minutes or so outside of Oakland, the NBA is highly unlikely to want to put a team in San Jose when there are other markets that don't have a team at all. They have two teams in Northern California and two teams in Southern California. One in the Bay Area, one in Sacramento, and two in Los Angeles. They can easily feel like they have California covered. 

That all said, I still think San Jose can make a strong case to have an NBA franchise despite the presence of the Warriors in San Francisco: 

The first point I would make is the Warriors I don't feel really represent San Jose. They say they're the Bay Area's team, but it's very clear that their marketing is geared towards San Francisco and Oakland. They have returned to San Francisco after a very long stay in Oakland and in truth really identify as more of an Oakland/San Francisco team. If you notice, they don't have any San Jose themed jerseys or logos. It's all "The City" for San Francisco and "The Town" for Oakland. Or just "Golden State", which represents the entire state of California. There is nothing for San Jose. The only true San Jose teams are the Sharks and the Earthquakes (MLS). 

Furthermore, while San Jose is close to San Francisco, it's also far away enough to be considered a different market. The two cities are 48.4 miles apart. That's further apart than the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are from each other (13.5 miles) and the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets are from each other (5.7 miles). 

Not only that, the San Jose metro area also includes cities like Los Gatos, Campbell, and Morgan Hill that are even further away from San Francisco. Los Gatos is 51.5 miles away from San Francisco, Campbell is 51.3 miles away, and Morgan Hill is 69.2 miles away. These are places with money and households that likely would be interested in attending NBA games if an arena was closer to where they lived. A fanbase could easily be cultivated out of the San Jose metro area. 

To wrap this all up, while an NBA team in San Jose is unlikely to happen, I don't think it should be ruled out. A Battle of the Bay for the NBA would be pretty fun and by expanding into San Jose, the NBA would get access to a market that has money and influence. A market that I argue they aren't fully tapping into. 

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Five takeaways from the NBA's Christmas Day action

 

                           (Victor Wembanyama taking a 3-pointer-Credit: Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports) 

On Christmas Day, the NBA continued their tradition of playing five games: Knicks 117 Spurs 114, Timberwolves 105 Mavericks 99, 76ers 118 Celtics 114, Lakers 115 Warriors 113, and Suns 110 Nuggets 100 were the final scores. Below are five takeaways I have from the holiday's NBA action. 

#1. The Knicks appear to be improved from last season: The Knicks took a step forward last season with their 50-32 record, finishing second in the Atlantic Division and reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second straight season. After their win over the Spurs on Christmas, they are now 20-10 overall with a better winning percentage than they had last season. Two players the Knicks have that they didn't have last year are Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns, both whom they acquired via trades. 

Bridges had 41 points and four assists while Towns had 21 points and nine rebounds, helping the Knicks overcome a phenomenal performance by Spurs' center Victor Wembanyama, who had 42 points, 18 rebounds, and four blocks. Even though the Spurs are now 15-15 and the Knicks were favored by 8.5 points, this game I think can serve as evidence that the Knicks are better than a season ago. Towns and Bridges appear to be really nice pieces around Jalen Brunson, who has become the star of the Knicks. Adding both of them seems to have made the Knicks better. 

#2. Will the Timberwolves finally get going: The Timberwolves had a huge 105-99 win on the road against the 4th place Dallas Mavericks. Anthony Edwards was fantastic with his 26 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, helping the Wolves stave off an impressive run at the end by the Mavericks, who outscored the Wolves 31-15 in the 4th quarter. The Wolves are coming off a season in which they reached the Western Conference Finals and yet as of now, they are 15-14 and 9th place in the West. Perhaps this win will light a fire in them and get them going. 

#3. Tyrese Maxey is the real McCoy: I first heard of Tyrese Maxey back when he was playing at South Garland High School in Garland, Texas. I was covering Cal for Rivals.com at the time (now I cover Stanford for Rivals) and the Golden Bears were recruiting him. He of course ended up going to Kentucky and the rest is history. Maxey would go on to get selected in the 1st round of the 2020 NBA Draft with the 21st overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers and from there, he has become one of the top talents in the NBA averaging 25.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game. 

Maxey's talent was on full display on Christmas as he led the 76ers to a 118-114 victory on the road against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics. Maxey finished with 33 points, 4 rebounds, 12 assists, and three steals. He was simply sensational. The 76ers might be having a down season at 11-17 overall, but Maxey's performance was a reminder that with him on their team, they have a very bright future. 

#4. LeBron James will play as long as he wants: LeBron James turns 40 at the end of December and he's still putting up all-star level numbers with 23.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per game. In a 115-113 win at Golden State, King James had 31 points, four rebounds, and 10 assists. It's ridiculous what this man is doing at his age. 

I'm still in the camp of Michael Jordan is the GOAT, but James is putting up better numbers than Jordan was putting up at the same age and James has more mileage on him having played in the NBA for more seasons. If there's a case one wants to make for James being the GOAT, it's the longevity card for sure. With the way he's playing, James could probably play in the NBA for at least five more years. The only question is does he want to? 

#5. The Phoenix Suns showed they have some depth: Despite their number two scorer Devin Booker (25.1 points) being out due to a groin injury, the Suns were still able to beat a good Denver Nuggets team 110-100. Kevin Durant of course led the way with his 27 points, four rebounds, and six assists, but other guys like Tyus Jones (17 points), Bradley Beal (27 points), and Monté Morris (11 points) all scored comfortably above their season averages. 

At 15-14, the Suns are squarely in the mix for a playoff spot and they showed in this game that when one of their top two players is out, they can rise to the occasion and still come out on top against a quality opponent. That should give them a lot of confidence going forward the rest of the season. 

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Middle Kingdom Monday: Dwight Howard has had an interesting time in Taiwan

 

                                             (Gene Wang/Getty Images) 

Former NBA All-Star Dwight Howard has had an interesting time in Taiwan, playing for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League. Last season was his first season with the Leopards and at the moment, he is slated to return to the team, though his future technically remains up-in-the-air. The Leopards proposed to give him a 65% pay cut because he missed 10 of the team's 30 games due to injury and they want to be as economical as possible. Howard isn't sure he's willing to play for the Leopards as a result of this pay cut, but for now he's still listed as a member of their organization. 

In the 20 games that he did play, Howard put up big-time numbers, averaging 23.2 points, 16.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game. He was an All-Star and one of the best players in the league. The Leopards however struggled, finishing in sixth place out of six teams with an abysmal 6-24 record. When you consider how terrible they were, it makes sense for them to maybe not want to throw too much money at Howard, considering he made over $1M last year and they made a special exception for him to get paid that much. 

On top of putting up numbers on a bad team and facing a pay cut, Howard also got in trouble for calling Taiwan a country in a promotional video with their vice president. The People's Republic of China (Mainland China) sees the Republic of China (Taiwan) as a part of them and refuses to recognize them as a country. Howard calling Taiwan a country is totally cool to do if you are in Taiwan, but in Mainland China, that's like one of the worst things you can say. So, he's also gotten in the cross hairs of Chinese politics during his time over there. 

Whether or not Dwight Howard returns next season to the Leopards remains to be seen. Unless he can find a way back to the NBA, I think him playing in Taiwan again next season would be cool. Taiwan loves basketball and having a former NBA star like Howard playing for one of their teams has to make the fans and people of Taiwan excited. It'll be interesting to see what happens and if he does return, whether or not the Leopards will be able to have a better season. 

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Saturday Slam: Klay Thompson's return is huge for the Golden State Warriors and fun for the NBA

 

                                             (Credit: Jeff Chiu/AP Images) 

The long awaited return of Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson is finally here. After being out for over 900 days due to a torn ACL and a torn Achilles, Thompson will make his return on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers at home. Thompson missed the entire 2019-20 season due to his ACL and then missed the entire 2020-21 season due to his Achilles. To say the least, it's been a while since we've seen him play in an NBA game. 

For the Warriors, the return of Thompson is huge. He's one of the greatest shooters the NBA has ever seen, cut out of the Ray Allen/Reggie Miller cloth as a lethal shooter in catch and shoot situations. He moves really well without the ball and if you give him any space, he'll hit a three in your face. In the 2018-19 season, Thompson averaged 21.5 points per game on 46.7% shooting from the field, 40.2% shooting from 3-point range, and 81.6% shooting from the foul line. He was an All-Star for the fifth consecutive season and he was just starting to enter the prime of his career before going down with two bad injuries. If he's able to get back to that form or close to it, he'll be a very nice boost to a Warriors team that is 29-9 and looking to get back to the NBA Finals. 

As for the NBA at large, it's just fun to have Klay back. He's a really fun player to watch and has one of the better personalities in the league. He has a bit of a dry sense of humor and is laid back while also being very lethal on the court. As good as Stephen Curry is, I think we've all missed seeing Curry play with Thompson by his side. The Splash Brothers as they have been called, are now back as a duo and the league will be better for it. 

In terms of what we can realistically expect from Thompson, it's probably fair to expect him to be a bit rusty at first. He needs to get back into game conditioning and it could take him a little bit of time to find his rhythm. But in time, I do expect him to get back to being one of the best shooters in the league and who knows, maybe he'll surprise me and get off to a great start on Sunday. Regardless, I'm glad he's back and I hope he's able to stay healthy going forward. 

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Saturday Slam: The NBA is taking social justice to another level

                                            (Credit: Ashley Landis/Pool/AFP)

 The Milwaukee Bucks' audacious decision to not play against the Orlando Magic in Wednesday's playoff game in protest of police brutality, specifically the lack of justice for Jacob Blake, sparked even more conversation about the Black Lives Matter movement and the need for change when it comes to better policing and racial equality. After a league-wide meeting, the league decided to resume the playoffs on Saturday, but there was reportedly serious talk about cancelling the season. As a matter of fact the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers were united in their vote to cancel the season. 

What prevented a cancellation was the overall consensus that the best way for the NBA to use their platform was to keep playing. Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown reportedly pressed players on this, saying that if they were to cancel the season, they better be willing to go in the trenches and not just head home and chill in their gated communities. President Barack Obama also advised players to finish the season for the same reasons. 

Personally, I think finishing the season is the right move for the NBA for all the reasons that Obama and Brown said. However, I do think it's pretty amazing that LeBron James and other players were willing to not finish the season because of how fed up they are with what's going on. The fact that a conversation had to take place on the matter says a lot.

For the first time in NBA history, players are starting to see themselves as more than just basketball players, but as agents for change. They recognize that they have an influence over society and they want to use their platform to the best of their abilities. I think this is great. 

At the same time, NBA players need to remember that without basketball, they have no platform to be agents for change. If they stopped playing basketball, they would also lose the megaphone that they are trying to leverage as much as possible. It's a tricky line to walk, but so far, the NBA seems to be walking it pretty well. It'll be interesting to see how the season finishes up and how players will use their platform going forward. 

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Saturday Slam: Will the NBA be able to pull of its restarted season?

With the NBA restarted season fast approaching and their schedule already set (click here to check that out), the big question that I think is on everyone's mind is will they be able to actually pull this off? The plan is for NBA teams to descend on the Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida and hunker down for a wild season in which players will be required to not leave the bubble created for them and be subjected to intense testing and screening.

Any player who tests positive for COVID-19 will be required to be in a period of self-isolation until they are cleared to return by medical professionals. As the league prepares for teams to fly to Orlando after the 4th of July and restart the season at the end of the month, I have a lot of questions about whether or not they will be able to actually pull this off. 

For starters, I wonder if the NBA will not run out of able bodies. If they're really going to strictly enforce these rules of self-isolation, it's entirely possible that the entire league at some point will need to self-isolate. At which point you are either forced to cancel the season or call upon G-League players and former And-1 Mixtape players to finish the season. Don't get me wrong, it would be entertaining as hell to see Grayson Boucher (a.k.a. The Professor) finally get his shot in the league, but it would also be really weird if we saw an NBA consist of non-NBA players. It just wouldn't work.

Going off that, if the NBA is going to pull off this season, they'll probably need to not freak the hell out over every single positive test and be a bit more lax about it. That isn't to say that they don't take the proper precautions, but they have to come to terms with the fact that guys will get the virus. Hell, they already have as 16+ players have tested positive within the past few days. Also, you all remember Rudy Gobert touching all those microphones, right? 

Another issue I have is whether or not the players will fully get on board. It's possible that the closer we get to the restart of the season, the more players we have bail for one reason or another. We've already seen a thinning of the herd a bit with guys choosing not to play to nurse an injury or just not deal with the risk of getting the virus. It's sorta like a Space Jam thing where the players didn't want to play after seeing Patrick Ewing, Muggsy Bogues, Shawn Bradley, Charles Barkley, and Larry Johnson lose their ability to play at an even functional level. If enough guys get cold feet, the league may abort their restart plan.

Finally, there's public pressure. The NBA is very socially conscious and wants to appear like they are on the right side of important social issues like public health and social justice. I don't think this is strictly a PR thing. I think commissioner Adam Silver sincerely wants to do the right thing and have his league be a force for good. If there's enough pressure to fold the season from people like Anthony Fauci, Silver won't fight it. He'll only give the season the green light so long as the optics remain good.

Ultimately, I remain skeptical that the NBA will be able to pull this off. I definitely think it can be done, but there's still a lot of hurdles that need to be cleared. It will be interesting to see how the league navigates these next few weeks as they attempt to conclude the most bizarre season in league history.

Note: I started a conversation about the NBA's restart efforts on Cake.co. Click here to check it out.

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Saturday Slam: How should the 2020 NBA champion be viewed?

The 2019-20 NBA season is tentatively scheduled to resume on July 31st with an NBA Finals ending on October 12th at the latest. The NBA Draft will be October 15th, free agency will start October 18th, 2020-21 training camp November 10th, and the 2020-21 season starting December 1st. These dates are per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The rest of the season is tentatively set to be played at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. All 16 current NBA playoff teams plus six additional teams that are within six games of the final playoff spot in their conference will make up a 22 team field. There is some discussion about what the other eight teams that aren't invited will be doing. At the moment, nothing is planned, but it is possible that they get allowed to do some joint workouts together or form their own summer league kinda thing. For more details on what the rest of the season will look like, click here.

The big question that I think is yet to be addressed much is how should the 2020 NBA champion be viewed? It's a unique season in that the champion will be determined at a neutral site location. Home court advantage won't be a factor. This of course means that lower seeded teams gain an advantage while higher seeded teams are put at a disadvantage. There is some discussion of giving higher seeds other advantages like an extra challenge or an extra foul for their best player, but let's be real, nothing the league can do can make up for home court advantage. Probably the best thing the league can do is give the higher seed a three point advantage in each game or something like that. But that would still feel kinda weird and artificial.

Personally, I think there's no way around the fact that there will be somewhat of an asterisk next to whatever team wins the 2020 NBA championship. Especially if it's a team that comes out of nowhere to win it. I think if one of the higher seeded teams wins it, there will be less of an asterisk, but if a five or six seeded team wins the title, there will be a greater asterisk for sure. I don't think it's totally fair as the playoffs will be played in a traditional best-of-seven format all the way through, but it is what it is.

On the flip side, one could argue that winning in this format and season is even harder and that it will require an even greater mental fortitude. Everyone is given the same set of challenges and whichever team prevails certainly will deserve credit. There also won't be the stink of home cooking from officials, so that in a way will make the games feel more legitimate.

Also, the NBA has had champions in unusual seasons before. The 1998-99 lockout season was a 50 game season in which the top seeded Western Conference team San Antonio Spurs defeated the eighth seeded Eastern Conference team New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. One could just as easily put an asterisk next to the Spurs' 1999 championship. At the time, I think there was some discussion about that, but as time has gone on, that championship has been viewed as legitimate. I think in part because of the fact that the Spurs went on to win four more NBA championships.

I think when it comes to how the 2020 NBA champion will be judged, I think a lot of it will come down to which team wins it and how that team does in subsequent seasons. If say the Milwaukee Bucks win the title and go on to win a few more afterwards with Giannis Antetokounmpo at the helm, I think the 2020 NBA champion will be still be remembered as an oddity, but there won't be much of an asterisk if any next to their name. If instead, a team like the Indiana Pacers shock the world, odds are greater there will be more scrutiny.

Regardless of how the 2020 NBA champion will be viewed, I think it's safe to say that this season will be one to remember and hopefully the most unique season in league history. While I do think odds are high that there will be at least a tiny asterisk next to the champion, I really don't think there should be one. Winning an NBA championship is not easy and if you are able to survive that grind and get across that finish line, you deserve to be remembered as a champion no matter how you got the job done.

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Saturday Slam: Is there a real possibility the NBA season gets canceled?

We are one month into the 2019-20 NBA season being shut down due to COVID-19 and with a return date still up-in-the-air, we have to start thinking about the unfortunate possibility that the season does not return. If it does return, I don't see the full 82 games being played. Rather, I see the league doing something like stopping at 72. That way teams get a few games in before the playoffs start. You wouldn't want to just dive straight into playoff mode after missing more than one month of action.

Further, I don't see fans returning this season. If the NBA does indeed return, I foresee a scenario in which only players, coaches, refs, and essential media personnel are allowed into the arenas. Something that was discussed as an alternative to the season getting shut down. I think that's how we'll ease back into things.

Back to the possibility of the season getting canceled, there are a number of reasons why I'm starting to think this will happen. The first reason is the NBA calendar. You gotta remember, the NBA operates year-round. It's not like during the offseason nothing happens. You have the NBA Draft, free agency, training camps, summer league, etc. That's not to say those things can't be rearranged for a year. They can. It's just that the longer things remained shut down, the more complicated things become.

The second reason why the season could get canceled is television. Television companies have built in contracts to broadcast certain events at certain times. ABC for example may have to choose between the NBA Finals and some other program they want to air and may not be willing to give up the NBA Finals to another company. Things like that.

Third, there's the issue of player safety. It's hard to go from not playing at all to playing high level basketball. Players will need at least a couple of weeks to get back in game shape before play resumes. It's possible that players decide that resuming play just isn't feasible if they want to have some recovery time in the offseason and resume things on time in the fall.

Finally and most importantly, the fluidity of this whole COVID-19 situation makes the possibility of a canceled season all the more real. I could see the season restarting in June, but what about July or August? At some point, doesn't it just make more sense to bag the season and restart in October?

I want the NBA to return as much as anyone. It's been a fantastic season with lots of fun stories to follow with the Lakers, Clippers, Bucks, Raptors, and much more. But, that all said, sometimes you have to acknowledge the writing on the wall. At best, I think there's a 50% chance the season resumes and the longer this goes on, the more I think the odds of a canceled season will go up.

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Saturday Slam: Now is the time for Adam Silver to push for his wacky tournament idea

                                                (Credit: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images)

With the future of the 2019-20 NBA season up-in-the-air due to coronavirus/COVID-19, now is the time for NBA commissioner Adam Silver to push for his wacky tournament idea. Maybe not right now since player safety and all that jazz should be priority number one, but right after that, Silver has to be licking his chops to make his idea for an NBA tournament a reality.

The reason why now is the time is because the whole season is in peril and it's unclear how it can be saved without ending the season in say August or September. The NBA shouldn't want to get too out of synch with their yearly calendar, making a tournament an exciting and efficient way to expedite the season, save it, and get things back to normal as soon as possible.

As it stands, NBA teams have played around 65 games at this point of the year. E.g. Milwaukee Bucks (53-12). The NBA could still aim to finish the full 82 games, but instead of having a best of seven series for each round of the playoffs, they could do something crazy like invite all 30 teams to a round robin tournament that culminates in a knockout stage that is single elimination until the NBA Finals. It would be a fun substitute for March Madness in a year that has deprived us of the most exciting tournament in sports.

Like, really think about that for a second. A single elimination NBA tournament! Think of how intense each game would be! Especially if you opened the doors for say the Cleveland Cavaliers to get a shot at the title.

Such an idea seems crazy, but given the current climate we are in, now is the time to try something of this nature and see how things go. I'm not saying the NBA should permanently switch to a tournament model in future seasons. But, what I am saying is that if Adam Silver is serious about that kind of format becoming a reality, what better season to try such an experiment than this year? The fans would love it, the players would love it, and it would make the 2019-20 season fun and memorable in a good way. Even if it's just a one-time thing that gets scrapped and never used again.

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Saturday Slam: Making sense of how coronavirus is affecting the hoops world

One of the main industries that has been affected by the coronavirus a.k.a. COVID-19, is sports. Especially sports that are in season. Basketball in particular has taken a hit as the NBA has suspended its season for 30 days while the NCAA Tournament has been canceled. What's been weird to see is how everything went from "we'll play the games and see how things play out" to "we'll play the games with no fans and only essential personnel" to "shut it down, let's go home" to borrow the words of Dirk Nowitzki.

I understand we need to take this virus seriously, wash our hands more often, stay inside if we feel sick, but what exactly accounts for the rapid change in approaches? Did the virus suddenly become more dangerous? Did the virus team up with the Black Plague? What happened? There's not really a good answer to that question.

The only thing that seems to have tipped everything is the news that Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert and Utah Jazz shooting guard Donovan Mitchell both have the coronavirus. It was actually Gobert testing positive that set everything in motion. It wasn't until later that we also learned about Mitchell. As soon as Gobert tested positive, the Jazz-Thunder game at Oklahoma City was suspended and then the NBA immediately decided to suspend its season.

From there, the Pac-12, SEC, Big East, and other NCAA conferences made the decision to cancel their tournaments. After that, the NCAA decided to cancel the NCAA Tournament, ruining that one shining moment that every college basketball player dreams about. From there, the NHL made the decision to suspend their season and now we find ourselves in a world where every major sports league from golf to tennis to soccer to baseball is suspended indefinitely. On top of that, the schools are all shutting down, etc.

One has to wonder if Rudy Gobert hadn't tested positive if the NCAA Tournament would still be planned to be played in front of no fans. I'm not blaming Gobert. It's not his fault. But it is a fact that his positive test for coronavirus seems to have been the one singular event that tipped everything over the edge both in the world of sports and the world at large.

It's a little ironic in that earlier in the week Gobert was joking about how the whole virus was being blown out of proportion, touching microphones and all to prove a point. I sympathize with his feelings, but there's a lesson here. If you think something like this is absurd, keep it to yourself. Otherwise, your actions may come back to haunt you.

But anyways, moving on from Gobert, we now live in a world where the NBA has been suspended for at least 30 days while the NCAA Tournament has been canceled. As a basketball fan, it's incredibly frustrating. The NCAA Tournament in particular is a special event and to have it called off just feels wrong. It's like a big part of our year has been sucked down the drain and there's nothing we can do about it aside from voice our complaints and hope somebody more important than us takes our complaints seriously.

Personally, I wish the NCAA Tournament would instead plan to resume in May or something along those lines. The NBA can change the date of its draft to accommodate those that want to play in the tournament while the NCAA I think can make a one-time exception given these unique circumstances. Jay Bilas expressed frustration about this very point earlier in the week. Like, why cancel? Why not postpone? Why not at least leave the door open for the tournament to resume? If canceling is necessary, why is that the only option?

The NCAA needs to give us an answer because so far, they've handled this whole thing very poorly. To go from "we'll play with no fans" to  "we're not playing at all" thing is just silly. It shows nobody knows what's actually going on and everyone is just hopping on the bandwagon to cancel stuff because it's the only course of action they can think of or are willing to follow through with.

Anyways, I hope this all blows over sooner than later. People are being affected in a very real way by this. They're losing money, losing work, etc. We as a society need to come together to mitigate the damage as much as possible. That's why it's nice to see Zion Williamson, Kevin Love, and many NBA and NHL team owners volunteer to pay the expenses of those who work at these games while they're out of work. It's a very nice gesture and is the kind of gesture that's going to get us through this.

For those that are reading this, my final piece of advice to all of you is to stay calm. Don't chug bleach and freak out. Wash your hands more, stay inside if you are feeling sick, and keep a safe distance from people. That is a good place to start. But don't be afraid to go outside and maybe help a small business in your neighborhood by buying a cup of coffee or a sandwich. Sanity and calmness will get us through this. Panic and hysteria will only make things worse. Be part of the solution and not the problem. If you know people that are freaking out, don't make fun of them. Help them. Try to calm them down. Simple acts of kindness will go a long ways.

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Saturday Slam: It's about time the WNBA started treating their players better

Earlier this week, the WNBA announced a new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) that gives its players an opportunity to make way more money ($250K+ salaries), paid maternity leave, an upgrade from coach to economy plus or comfort plus on flights, private hotel rooms, etc. Click here for a full breakdown.

What I wanted to quickly do in this blog post is express my happiness about this news and also frustration that it took this long for WNBA players to get treated better. Let me first talk about my happiness.

What makes me happy about this news is the fact that WNBA players are really really good at basketball. It's a ridiculously competitive league. When you are one of only 150 people or less in a profession, you should be treated really well. These WNBA players have made the same sacrifices as NBA players and deserve to get treated way better than they have as a result. They also grew up with dreams of playing pro basketball, practiced for hours on end, played on their travel ball and high school teams, played college basketball, etc. They've taken a very similar path to get to where they are and its about time they get better compensation for it.

Some of you know I also cover Cal men's and women's basketball for Rivals.com, so I've gotten to appreciate the women's game over the years. I've seen up close how hard they work. Trust me. They put in the same work as the men.

As for why I'm frustrated that it's taken this long, my frustration stems from the fact that the NBA makes LOADS of money and the NBA runs the WNBA. Why the NBA couldn't have used some of their revenue to give WNBA players a better situation years ago baffles me. It's good it's happening now, but once again, this should have happened a while ago.

Finally, I want to say that while I'm glad this CBA is being implemented, I feel WNBA players deserve even more than what they're getting. I don't understand why they can't fly private jets. Like, seriously? Give me a break! However, when you are hoping for progress, you gotta be happy when progress is being made and that is most certainly happening here. Hopefully this news will steer more young women into basketball and give them more reason to follow their dreams and become the best athletes and role models that they can be.

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Saturday Slam: Remembering David Stern

                                          (Credit: Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo) 


On New Year's Day, former NBA commissioner David Stern passed away after undergoing surgery to address a brain hemorrhage. He was 77 years old. In this blog post I want to quickly share my thoughts on Stern and the impact he made on both the NBA and the game of basketball.

David Stern was the NBA's commissioner from February 1, 1984 to January 31, 2014. In those 30 years, the NBA transformed itself from a league known for its rampant cocaine use (R.I.P. Len Bias) to a league that had global appeal and the biggest stars in all of sports. It's fitting that just a few months after Stern took office, Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton were drafted into the NBA. Those guys became the face of the post Bird/Magic NBA along with Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, and Shaquille O'Neal who were all drafted in subsequent drafts. Stern taking over as commissioner truly ushered in a new era of the NBA.

For me personally, David Stern is the NBA commissioner of my childhood. In some sense, he still feels like the commissioner even though Adam Silver I feel has done a wonderful job replacing him. I still feel like Stern's name should be on an NBA basketball. He's that ingrained into the fabric of the league. In a lot of ways, he was and still is the modern NBA.

While the players I just mentioned along with many others took the NBA to new heights with their talents, Stern gave them the platform by which they could do so. He cleaned up the image of the NBA, had a vision for where he thought it could go, and he took it there. He felt the NBA could become a global brand and he made sure that it happened.

What says it all I think, is the response from players around the league. Scottie Pippen was just one of many who tweeted about Stern's impact on the game.

Very sad day for basketball. We saw David Stern a lot in the 90s and I found him to be kind, thoughtful and almost always the smartest person in the room. He was an innovator who helped grow our sport into a global game and his impact will never be forgotten. RIP, Commissioner. pic.twitter.com/FzlJwnJmrK

— Scottie Pippen (@ScottiePippen) January 1, 2020

Pippen's words I feel sum it up the best. Stern was "an innovator who helped our sport grow into a global game and his impact will never be forgotten." Truer words could not be spoken about the subject. When we look back on what the NBA has become and the genesis of where it all started, in many ways it begins with Stern. Before he became commissioner, he took over as executive vice president for business and legal affairs under commissioner Larry O'Brien in 1980, the same year Larry Bird and Magic Johnson not only entered the NBA, but began to save it as well. Stern was primarily responsible for the marketing, media relations side, something he would continue in full force when he became commissioner.

If you are a fan of basketball and especially the NBA, David Stern has played a very important role in your life. Without him, the sport and game we all love wouldn't be what it is today. On behalf of all NBA fans around the world, I want to say thank you to David Stern. You will not be forgotten.

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Saturday Slam: Adam Silver's mid-season tournament idea makes no sense to me

                                         (Credit: USA TODAY Sports)


One of the more interesting stories floating around the NBA right now is commissioner Adam Silver's goofy idea of a mid-season tournament involving all 30 teams in some sort of round robin format that turns into a knockout tournament. The prize? $1M for each player on the winning team.

On the surface, it seems like a cool idea. I mean, who doesn't love tournaments, right? The problem with this tournament idea though, is it just doesn't make sense. How would it fit into the regular season standings as a whole? Would winning it guarantee a playoff spot? If not, why care? The NBA is all about June and winning the NBA Finals, something that this tournament doesn't seem to really fit into.

Adam Silver seems to think that having a tournament for the sake of a tournament is a good idea and I'm here to tell you that it isn't. Tournaments need to have meaning. Especially at the pro level. A cash prize isn't enough to give a tournament meaning.

Instead of adding a mid-season tournament, the NBA needs to look at tweaking the league format that they already have. For starters, eliminate conferences and give every team in the NBA a more balanced travel schedule. The Timberwolves, Thunder, Pelicans, and Grizzlies all have brutal travel schedules as the eastern most teams in the Western Conference. If you eliminate conferences, you could give those teams a travel schedule that is more fair and less imbalanced. I mean, the Timberwolves make three or four trips to Los Angeles every year and just one trip to Milwaukee. That's stupid.

As an extension of that, by eliminating conferences, that means the NBA could adopt a top-16 playoff format, making it so that the best teams in the NBA regardless of conference make the playoffs. A lot of fans have been pushing for this for a while and would totally embrace this change. It would create more playoff matchup possibilities and reward the better teams, creating a better playoff experience.

Another idea for the NBA is to do a tournament before the season starts and include teams from all across the globe. Add teams from Europe, China, Australia, New Zealand, and other parts of the world into one big maddening pre-season World Series of basketball kind of thing. Something like that might get eyeballs. If you're going to go creative, go creative to the max and really have some fun.

Lastly, the NBA can make the season more exciting by reducing the number of regular season games and the number of playoff games. Going back to best-of-five in the first round would be a great place to start. If each game had more meaning, that alone would make the season better.

Unless Adam Silver goes wild and adopts something like my World Series of basketball idea, he would be wise to look at more minor modifications to the season like eliminating conferences and going back to best-of-five in the first round of the playoffs. Sometimes less is more and simpler ideas are better.

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Saturday Slam: The NBA should not weigh in on Hong Kong

                                          (Credit: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) 

The big news of the week in the NBA was Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey weighing in on the Hong Kong protests, making a statement in support of their right to freedom. While Morey was well intentioned in his statement/tweet, it set off a firestorm that the NBA wants no part of. To his credit, NBA commissioner Adam Silver issued a statement saying he will support the right of all NBA employees to exercise their freedom of speech and that the league will live with those consequences. He didn't totally cave to China and say that Morey was wrong.

While I think Silver handled this as well as he could have, I think that overall, the NBA shouldn't weigh in on this particular issue. I've been studying Mandarin Chinese for the last couple of years and have grown to love Chinese culture. As part of my Chinese studies, I've spent some time learning about current events in China and the political layout of the entire region. I don't have time to get into all the layers of the Chinese geopolitical landscape, but let me just say in short that it's complicated.

Taiwan for example sees themselves as the ones holding down the fort for democracy in China as the Republic of China while Mainland China (known as the People's Republic of China) sees themselves as the one true China. In their eyes, the Republic of China in Taiwan is a rebellious government that must one day be reunited with them.

Taiwan has broken off from Mainland China and started their own thing, which in a lot of ways makes things simpler. They have their own democratic government that doesn't have to answer to the PRC. While there is the potential threat of the PRC coming in and taking over their land, such a move by the PRC would result in too much backlash from the rest of the world. While there is tension there, Taiwan can be comforted by the fact that the rest of the world has their back and will stand with them if something goes wrong.

I have arrived safely in Japan. I had a layover in Taipei (臺北) and saw James Harden rocking some #beats. #NBA #Rockets pic.twitter.com/1lIYKI4CGW

— NBA Lord (@nba_lord) August 8, 2019

As for Hong Kong, they're in some weird in-between limbo kind of state. They were under British rule as a colony until 1997 in which they were handed back to the PRC under a certain set of conditions that promised them total freedom for 50 years (until 2047). What's happening now is the PRC is starting to infringe on Hong Kong's freedoms prematurely, trying to expedite the transition. The reason why the PRC is doing this is because there's now a lot more cities that are on par with Hong Kong's economic power such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. In 1997, Hong Kong was by far the most economically powerful city in China, making it a valuable resource that made sense not to touch.

With that no longer the case, the PRC is asking themselves why not just bring Hong Kong back into the fold and get this all over with? Why delay the inevitable? From their perspective it's a totally fair question to ask.

As a result of this weird limbo state and seeing what's on the horizon, Hong Kongers are going through an identity crisis. For so long, they've seen themselves as Hong Kongers first and separate from the rest of Mainland China. They have their own unique culture and their first language isn't even Mandarin. It's Cantonese. Now, they see that in the near future, they're going to become grafted back into Mainland China and thus risk losing their Hong Kong identity. Their language risks getting replaced by Mandarin and their culture risks getting replaced by Mainland Chinese culture. It's a scary thing for them.

With all of this going on and so many layers to unpack, the NBA couldn't possibly address this issue in an adequate or fair way. Especially in a tweet. Instead of muddying the waters, the NBA should let Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Taiwan sort this all out by themselves. The best way they can help is to stay quiet about politics and bring harmony to the region through the game of basketball.

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