NBA Pickem Week 6: In-Season Knockout Edition: This week's NBA Pickem begins with the quarterfinals of the inaugural In-Season Tournament on TNT. On Monday, it's Celtics/Pacers and Pelicans/Kings. On Tuesday, it's Knicks/Bucks and Suns/Lakers. After that there's a Wednesday doubleheader on ESPN. I'm leading the pickem by 20. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 07:03 PM - 4 comments

NBA Pickem Week 5: Group Stage Edition: There are seven NBA games to pick this week, starting Tuesday on TNT when the Bucks visit the Heat. Next week's pickem will begin Monday so that the first two quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament can be part of this contest. Ufez leads the pickem by nine. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 04:44 PM - 7 comments

Draymond Green Chokes Rudy Gobert During Game: After two players on the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves begin fighting 100 seconds into Tuesday night's game, Draymond Green got attempted peacemaker Rudy Gobert in a chokehold. Gobert was not ejected. Green was ejected and just got a five-game suspension. "I do a lot of work -- meditation work, things like that," Gobert said. "So I was like, 'It's a good opportunity for me to show that I can overcome my emotions and then be the bigger man."

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:17 PM - 6 comments

NBA Pickem Week 4: Too Small Edition: There are six national games on TNT and ESPN this week, beginning Tuesday night on TNT when the San Antonio Spurs cross the Red River to visit the Oklahoma City Thunder. Our pickem has the third leader in three weeks, as NoMich scores 15 to lead Werty by 6. Make your picks and channel your smallness.

posted by rcade to basketball at 07:10 PM - 8 comments

NBA Pickem Week 3: In-Season Tournament Edition: There are six games to pick this week starting Wednesday night with an ESPN doubleheader of Spurs/Knicks and Warriors/Nuggets. Because the only other national TV games are a ESPN twofer on Friday, we're also picking two Thursday night games on NBA TV: Bucks/Pacers and Hawks/Magic. Enjoy the chance to pick an Orlando game, because that does not happen often. Our pickem leader is now Werty after a week-best 24.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:31 PM - 12 comments

NBA Pickem Week 2: Harden to Clippers Edition: There's a six-game slate of national TV games this week ahead of the in-season tournament that begins Friday. First up are the TNT doubleheader tonight of Knicks/Cavs and Spurs/Suns. I've opened in the lead over Werty. Make your picks and don't lose trust.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:41 AM - 9 comments

Enter the SportsFilter NBA Pickem: The NBA Pickem is back and there are eight national TV games to pick from Tuesday to Friday, starting with a TNT doubleheader tomorrow night of Lakers/Nuggets and Suns/Warriors. Make your picks and vie for a first prize of a Wilson Evolution basketball.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:12 AM - 13 comments

The NBA Board of Governors approves new Player Participation Policy to combat excessive load management.: The policy, which only pertains to "Star Players" (defined as any player that has made an All NBA Team or All-Star Team in the previous three seasons*) includes measures to ensure that healthy Star Players will play in all nationally televised games and the In-Season Tournament, and will balance rest nights between home and road games in favor of away.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 04:43 PM - 3 comments

Player Ratings Out for NBA 2K24: Basketball writer Cameron Tabatabaie has the overall player ratings for the upcoming videogame NBA 2K24. The 94-point players are Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard and Devin Booker; 95-point players Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum and Jimmy Butler; and 96-point players Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry. Above them all at 98 points is Nikola Jokic, who has never stood atop the game's ratings before a release.

posted by rcade to basketball at 02:04 PM - 0 comments

Anthony Davis Gets NBA Record Salary Extension: The Los Angeles Lakers and Anthony Davis have agreed to a three-year extension that keeps him in gold and purple through 2028 and amounts to $62 million a year, the largest contract extension in NBA history. Davis has averaged 25 points and two blocks in a season five times, behind only Shaq and Kareem.

posted by rcade to basketball at 03:06 PM - 0 comments

A Movie About Michael Jordan as NBA Owner Would Be Horror: Michael Jordan has sold his majority interest in the Charlotte Hornets, bringing to an end a disastrous 13-year reign as owner of the NBA franchise that included zero playoff series wins, no playoff trips the past seven seasons, selling second round picks for cash and being notoriously cheap. "He tried. He failed. The end," writes James Plowright of SI. "Overall, Jordan's tenure as an owner has been marked by poor decisions, failed coaching hires, underinvestment, disappointing draft picks, and unsuccessful free agency signings,"

posted by rcade to basketball at 04:47 PM - 1 comment

Bob Huggins Didn't Retire?: Former West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is doubling down on his claim that he never technically resigned from the school. WVU's lawyers insists that he did indeed retire.

posted by NoMich to basketball at 09:53 PM - 7 comments

In-season NBA tournament revealed: OK, but how does it work?

posted by NoMich to basketball at 10:27 AM - 0 comments

NBA to test in-game flopping penalty at summer league: A flop, which will be determined by referees at the game, will be penalized by awarding the opposing team one free throw. The player who commits the flop will be assessed a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul, which won't count toward personal fouls or lead to an ejection. Officials won't be required to stop live play to call a flopping violation.

posted by NoMich to basketball at 04:58 PM - 6 comments

Mavericks Re-Sign Kyrie Irving for 3 Years, $126 Million: The Dallas Mavericks reached a three-year, $126 million deal to keep Kyrie Irving, avoiding the disaster of losing him for nothing after trading two starters and three draft picks to get him from the Brooklyn Nets in February. "Irving’s talent is universally acknowledged, but it comes with various serious reservations," writes Matt Moore for Action Network.

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:40 PM - 3 comments

Paolo Banchero Chooses US over Italy for FIBA World Cup: NBA rookie of the year Paolo Banchero has decided to play for Team USA instead of Italy ahead of the FIBA World Cup this summer. U.S. coach Steve Kerr and exec Grant Hill worked for months to persuade Banchero, who had plans to play for Italy in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that were derailed by the Covid pandemic.

posted by rcade to basketball at 06:50 PM - 0 comments

Superhyped Prospect Victor Wembanyama Selected #1 in NBA Draft: After being hyped as the greatest prospect ever, we have to ask: is he really that great? The Sporting News ranks the hype of prospects in any sport. Is Victor freaked out by all of this hype? According to him, the answer is No. Yahoo Sports grades the first round of the 2023 NBA draft.

posted by NoMich to basketball at 12:11 PM - 1 comment

Bob Huggins steps down after arrest for DUI: Huggins was charged with driving under the influence on Friday night after his SUV had stopped in the middle of traffic...with a shredded tire and the driver’s side door open at about 8:30 p.m. Huggins allegedly blew a 0.21% bac on the scene.

posted by NoMich to basketball at 11:12 AM - 4 comments

NBA Playoff Pickem Champion: NoMich: NoMich has won SportsFilter's NBA Playoff Pickem by nine points over runner up Rumple. Ufez Jones claims the coveted Costanza by a single point over Howard T. Congratulations to NoMich, Ufez and Jeffrey Lynn Green of Cheverly, Maryland.

posted by rcade to basketball at 03:27 PM - 4 comments

Denver Nuggets Win First NBA Championship: After nine years in the ABA and 47 years in the NBA, the Denver Nuggets have won their first championship in franchise history, defeating the Miami Heat 4-1 with a 94-89 victory. League MVP Nikola Jokic was the series MVP. Not bad for a guy drafted during a Taco Bell commercial.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:04 AM - 4 comments

Kyrie Asks LeBron to Join the Mavericks: Kyrie Irving has reached out to LeBron James to see if he'd be interested in joining the Dallas Mavericks, The Athletic reports. There's a lot of skepticism Dallas could put that deal together and less skepticism that Irving could instead join James on the Los Angeles Lakers. "James to Dallas is possible, but incredibly improbable," writes Jovan Buha.

posted by rcade to basketball at 05:29 PM - 3 comments

Denver Has a Height Advantage Over Miami: When the NBA Finals tip off tonight, the Miami Heat will hear Denver Nuggets public address announcer Kyle Speller deliver an ominous message to the arena: "All visitors to the Mile High City be warned. High levels of exertion at this altitude may cause hypoxia with symptoms of fatigue, difficulty breathing, rapid heart rate, headaches and confusion." Kevin Garnett shared his reaction to hearing that in his career: "You're like in the layup line, did you hear that shit? Yo, hold on. Whoa! Whoa!"

posted by rcade to basketball at 04:19 PM - 1 comment

NBA Playoff Pickem: NBA Finals: The NBA Finals begin Thursday when the Miami Heat face the Denver Nuggets in the Mile High City. For this round pick the winner and games required along with seven props and a tiebreaker. NoMich has climbed to first after scoring 27 points in the conference finals, followed by five players within 10 points. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:38 AM - 10 comments

Celtics One Win from Making NBA Playoff History: No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game playoff series. The Boston Celtics would complete the feat with a win at home tonight against the Miami Heat, joining in that achievement baseball's 2004 Boston Red Sox and hockey's 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers and 2014 Los Angeles Kings.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:14 PM - 6 comments

Carmelo Anthony Retires from Basketball: Carmelo Anthony has announced his retirement from the NBA, which he leaves after 19 seasons as a 10-time All Star and the ninth-highest scorer of all time with 28,289 points. He also won a national championship at Syracuse, but never an NBA title, an achievement that would have been the capstone of a Hall of Fame career.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:03 PM - 2 comments

The San Antonio Spurs win the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery: The Spurs have landed the #1 slot and will presumably draft potentially generational big man Victor Wembanyama. They will be followed by Charlotte (2), Portland (3), and Houston (4). In a lottery that saw little movement, the Detroit Pistons are the lone losers, dropping from a three-way tie for the top odds to fifth.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 08:39 PM - 3 comments

NBA Pickem Week 3: Conference Finals : The conference finals are set: Lakers vs. Nuggets in the West beginning Tuesday night and Heat vs. Celtics in the East beginning Wednesday night. Jjzucal continues to lead the playoff pickem with 103, but Ufez scored a massive 49 points to trail by only three. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:45 AM - 12 comments

The WNBA is Kind of a Big Deal: Things are looking up in the WNBA, which begins its 27th season on Friday. Last season was the most watched in 14 years and the 12-team league is talking expansion. The women's NCAA championship game drew the largest audience in event history, creating future WNBA stars out of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:56 PM - 2 comments

Nick Gilbert, Son of Cleveland Cavaliers Owner, Dies: Nick Gilbert, who represented his father's Cleveland Cavaliers at the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery that gave the team the first-overall pick that became Kyrie Irving, died Saturday at age 26. Gilbert suffered from the genetic disorder neurofibromatosis. His sartorial style and sense of humor made him a fan favorite across the league.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:33 PM - 0 comments

NBA Playoff Pickem: Warriors vs. Lakers: The final semifinal playoff series is the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Golden State Warriors and can now be prognosticated in the NBA Playoff Pickem. The leader after the first round is JJzucal with 85 points. Howard_T and Rumple are in second with 69. Make your pick.

posted by rcade to basketball at 12:41 PM - 2 comments

Phoenix Suns and Mercury Cut the Cable: The Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury are leaving cable TV and coming to local broadcast TV. Every regular season Suns game will be free to watch with an antenna and games will stream online for a fee. Mercury games will be free over the air and online. The move triples their potential audience to 2.8 million households in Arizona. NBA games used to be on local TV through the 1990s before regional sports networks grabbed the rights.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:04 AM - 2 comments

NBA Playoff Pickem Round 2: Conference Semifinals: The Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets begin the second round of the NBA playoffs Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. Eastern, so it's time to make your picks in that series, the Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics. The fourth series will be decided by Sunday. As it stands now, Jjzucal leads the pickem with 40 points.

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:11 AM - 17 comments

Paolo Banchero Wins NBA Rookie of the Year: Paolo Banchero got 98 out of 100 first-place votes to become the NBA Rookie of the Year, the third time an Orlando Magic player has been thus honored following Shaq in 1993 and Mike Miller in 2001. He's the first No. 1 overall pick to get the award in his first season since Karl-Anthony Towns in 2016. The Magic, who improved from 22 to 34 wins this season, had everyone thinking on draft night they were going to pick Jabari Smith.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:33 AM - 2 comments

Bucks getting Jimmy Butlered right now: People are trying to make Playoff Jimmy a thing. "It's not a thing,...It's not. I just be hooping." Butler scored 56 against the Bucks for their 119-114 game four win.

posted by NoMich to basketball at 01:14 PM - 2 comments

Heart-Warming Moment Becomes Stomach-Turning Forfeit: "May couldn't help himself. He knew Kade West wasn’t officially on the team, but, at that moment, no one on the team was more important. May looked down to the praying figure. He motioned to the court. It was a gesture he knew West would understand. 'Get in there, Kade.'"

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:45 AM - 2 comments

Phil Jackson Yells at Cloud: Former NBA coach Phil Jackson said he stopped watching games when players wore slogans such as "Justice" and "Black Lives Matter" in 2020. In the past he's complained about rap music, Phoenix wearing "Los Suns" jerseys, players wearing clothes he called "prison garb" and LeBron James calling his business partners a "posse."

posted by rcade to basketball at 12:26 PM - 2 comments

Colin Cowherd Wants Sacramento's Beam Investigated: Sports radio host Colin Cowherd called the Sacramento Kings' beam "an egregious waste of energy" and urged California Gov. Gavin Newsom to investigate. The skyward lasers lit after victories only use as much wattage as a single run of a dishwasher. Overall the beam represents just 0.014% of the energy consumed by the Golden 1 Center arena, which is powered entirely by solar. The beaming Kings are two lightings from advancing over the Golden State Warriors.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:45 AM - 2 comments

Suns Beat Clippers, Chris Paul Beats NBA Referee: The Phoenix Suns victory over the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday night ended one of basketball's most infamous streaks. Chris Paul's team had lost 13 consecutive playoff games in which NBA ref Scott Foster officiated. Asked about breaking the streak afterward, Paul said, "I ain't notice."

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:50 AM - 4 comments

Zion Williamson's Health and Future Remain a Mystery: Zion Williamson participated in pregame warmups for the New Orleans Pelicans and did a windmill dunk but did not appear in the play-in game Wednesday, where the Pelicans season ended in a 123-118 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Williamson said he's physically fine but "now it's just a matter of when I feel like Zion. ... I don't feel like there are any specific benchmarks for being Zion -- it's just a matter of when I feel like myself. If it's in God's plan for me to be who I feel like I should be, then it's in his plan. If not, I'll live with it."

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:49 AM - 6 comments

Enter the SportsFilter NBA Playoff Pickem: With all teams set but the final two play-in victors, it's time for another NBA Playoff Pickem. First prize is an NBA 59Fifty cap of the team of your choice. Start by picking the eight series winners in this round and four prop bets. The playoffs begin Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern when Brooklyn visits Philly. Good luck!

posted by rcade to basketball at 06:43 AM - 8 comments