05/29/09: Kobe and crew knock off Carmelo’s best team
On this day 11 years ago, the Lakers beat the Nuggets in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, 119-92, to clinch the series and knock...
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- May 29, 2020
- 2 min
The All-New York native team
New York City and basketball go together like pandemics and $1,200 checks. It is the unquestioned mecca -- especially for point guards....
- May 29, 2020
- 1 min
The Grip Asks: Is this Reddit user onto something?
A few days ago, this year-old Reddit post resurfaced. It asked, simply, and ingeniously: “Serious question: why can’t 4 Warriors...
- May 29, 2020
- 3 min
Michael Jordan is the poster boy for the great player-bad general manager paradox
As a player, Michael Jordan had too many memorable moments to count. As an owner/executive for the Wizards and then the Bobnets/Horcats,...
- May 22, 2020
- 2 min
The Grip’s equation for deciphering the all-time top-10 list
We have good news. We’ve created a simple but foolproof equation for deciphering the 10 best NBA players of all-time. Here it is: A...
- May 22, 2020
- 1 min
Biggie Smalls’ contribution to NBA history
Biggie Smalls would have been 48 yesterday. The great rapper didn’t have much connection to the NBA -- not that that’s stopped today’s...
- May 22, 2020
- 1 min
05/22/2006: The Mavericks squeeze by the Spurs
On this day 14 years ago, one of the great second-round series ever wrapped up, with the Mavericks defeating the Spurs in San Antonio in...
- May 18, 2020
- 1 min
Some of the best times hip hop name-dropped MJ
A great barometer for how popular an NBA player is can be answered in one simple metric: Has he been name-dropped in a hip hop song? For...
- May 18, 2020
- 1 min
"The Mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays"
The 1998 NBA Finals was memorable enough that it often overshadows the 1997 NBA Finals, which also featured a six-game series between the...
- May 18, 2020
- 2 min
MJ’s final (Bulls) moments are why he’s untouchable
The reason Michael Jordan will always be the Greatest of All-Time is because he had a sense of the moment that no one in the history of...
- May 13, 2020
- 1 min
The Double-A Southern League of the mid-’90s dug the long ball, especially when hit by the greatest
Sunday’s episodes of “The Last Dance” covered Michael Jordan’s foray into baseball after his first retirement. Decades later, this...
- May 13, 2020
- 1 min
The NBA is inching toward a consensus plan to bring the season back
Adam Silver had a conference call last night with all of the important people, which went pretty well, according to Woj: “Owners and...
- May 13, 2020
- 1 min
No one murdered defenders like Dr. J
The NBA version of Dr. J (1976-’87) had glimpses of his mystique, like the dunk above, but the ABA version of Dr. J (1971-’76), fresh off...
- May 13, 2020
- 2 min
New York’s last basketball title
Three years after the Knicks won their second title, in 1973, New York basketball won another title, when the ABA’s New York Nets beat...
- May 8, 2020
- 1 min
Toni Kucoč’s 1994 buzzer-beater over the Knicks
GIF’d above is the game-winner Toni Kucoč hit in Game 3 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Knicks, in the first...
- May 8, 2020
- 2 min
“The Last Dance” is basically a commercial for Michael Jordan. Should that matter?
In an interview on the Dan Patrick Show earlier this week, “The Last Dance” director Jason Hehir said this, about episodes seven and...
- Apr 24, 2020
- 3 min
Prepare to enter the terrifying mind of Dennis Rodman
We’ve almost made it to Week 2 of “The Last Dance,” or as we like to call it, “Week 2 of content-wringing from ‘The Last Dance.’” At one...
- Apr 24, 2020
- 1 min
The Grip asks: Is this the greatest buzzer-beater ever?
The shot alone is a worthy candidate for greatest buzzer-beater, but the surrounding circumstances elevate it to another level. Four...
- Apr 24, 2020
- 1 min
Coronavirus symptom-free after contracting James Dolan
(A screenshot from the time James Dolan promised a “successful offseason,” then signed four power forwards instead of Kyrie Irving and...
- Apr 20, 2020
- 3 min
The background characters of “The Last Dance,” episodes one and two
The first and second episodes of "The Last Dance" premiered on ESPN last night. [WATCH: Episode 1|Episode 2] Though a little bit...
- Apr 18, 2020
- 2 min
The 2016 mega free agency disaster flow chart
(This is a condensed version of our 2016 mega free agency disaster flow chart. The full spread is simply too big for one email. Click...
- Apr 17, 2020
- 1 min
The NCAA’s G-League problem
Jalen Green, the No. 2 overall high school prospect in the class of 2020, announced on Thursday that he would be skipping college and...
- Apr 13, 2020
- 2 min
Five thoughts from last ESPN’s H O R S E competition
Results... Chauncey Billups beat Trae Young, H O R S E to H O R Mike Conley beat Tamika Catchings, H O R S E to H Zach LaVine swept Paul...
- Apr 13, 2020
- 1 min
That time Mike Conley’s dad dunked from behind the free throw line
On the subject of one-off televised basketball events, GIF’d above is a video of Mike Conley Sr. dunking from behind the free throw line....
- Apr 13, 2020
- 1 min
04/13/2016: Kobe’s final 60
On this day four year ago, Kobe Bryant destroyed the concept of underindulgence, reason and, for one night, age, by scoring 60 points in...
- Apr 10, 2020
- 2 min
H O R S E is the gimmick we finally need
The NBA is going to televise a H O R S E competition this Sunday at 7 p.m. There will be four matchups, with the winners moving on to the...
- Apr 10, 2020
- 1 min
04/09/1978: The greatest scoring day in NBA history
Yesterday marked the 42-year anniversary of one of the best single-day things to ever happen in the NBA. On the final day of the regular...
- Apr 10, 2020
- 1 min
The final Tankathon standings
We have some bad news: The regular season is 1,000,000,000 percent over. BUT! With that reality comes the crystallization of the NBA...
- Apr 8, 2020
- 2 min
How much weight will this potential title hold?
The NBA has far too much at financial stake not to do everything in its power to salvage some sort of postseason. As such, it would...
- Apr 8, 2020
- 1 min
The Grip asks: Is this the most important shot in NBA history?
If Ray Allen didn’t hit this shot, which tied Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals and led to the Heat eventually beating the Spurs in seven...
- Apr 8, 2020
- 1 min
4/8/1987: Moses Malone gets 50
On this day 33 years ago, Moses Malone had his last 50-point game of his career against the Nets while playing for the Washington...
- Apr 2, 2020
- 1 min
4/1/2009: Kevin Martin decides to light it up
On this day 11 years ago, Sacramento Kings guard Kevin Martin went off for 50 points in a 143-141 loss to the Golden State Warriors. He...
- Apr 2, 2020
- 1 min
The Grip asks: Is this the best pass ever?
Not the most important. Not the most clutch. Not the best by the best passer. But is this pass from Peja Stojaković to Bobby Jackson the...
- Apr 2, 2020
- 2 min
Remembering the exceptionally unexceptional 2000 NBA Draft
The Ringer is rolling out a series of podcasts on every draft from 1996 on. Here’s the ‘96 one, the ‘97 one and the ‘98 one. The idea has...
- Mar 31, 2020
- 1 min
Last night’s witching hour thought: has anyone seen Harrison Barnes?
Harrison Barnes made a promise to the world back in December that he wouldn't cut his hair or shave his beard until either the Kings...
- Mar 31, 2020
- 1 min
James Dolan has coronavirus
Come on, how could you think that is funny? This is a serious subject. NOTHING is funny about the worst, least self-made owner in sports,...
- Mar 31, 2020
- 1 min
Is this the most disrespectful dunk in NBA history, or the most respectful dunk in NBA history?
The dunk above, one of the iconic slams of Shawn Kemp’s career and of all-basketball-time, happened during the 1992 NBA playoffs. The...
- Mar 31, 2020
- 2 min
The scummy business of recruiting in Africa
(West Virginia’s Blessing Ejiofor was told she’d be attending a school in North Carolina upon leaving her native Nigeria, but was instead...
- Mar 28, 2020
- 1 min
3/27/1971: A 6-foot-6 power forward grabs 36 boards
On this day 49 years ago, Atlanta Hawks forward Bill Bridges pulled down 36 boards in a 113-104 playoff victory over Walt Frazier’s New...
- Mar 28, 2020
- 1 min
The Grip Reads: The soul of basketball
TSOB chronicles the 2010-11 NBA season from the perspective of four people from the four most important teams du jour: Kobe’s Lakers, Doc...
- Mar 28, 2020
- 2 min
If the NBA does return, it’s going to look weird
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst dropped an interesting piece today on how the Chinese Basketball Association’s drive to cable-jump its season...
- Mar 26, 2020
- 1 min
03/25/2006: Andrei Kirilenko’s 15-14-3-3-10 night
On this day 14 years ago, Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko recorded a triple-double the extremely hard way against the Kings, finishing with this...
- Mar 26, 2020
- 1 min
The NBA COVID-19 infection masterlist
Since Rudy Gobert’s positive diagnosis on March 11, the virus has reached most corners of the league. Here’s the running list, via...
- Mar 26, 2020
- 2 min
That time Joel Embiid guilted the 76ers’ ownership into paying its employees in full
Yesterday, on day No. 13 without basketball, or anything, really, we all witnessed the power of two formidable entities: Joel Embiid and...
- Mar 13, 2020
- 2 min
It feels like this all happened very quickly
For an idea of how shockingly quick this -- the cancellation of every sport and every league across the country -- happened, in our last...
- Mar 13, 2020
- 1 min
The last bucket of the men’s NCAA basketball season
While every other conference in college basketball was announcing the cancellation of its tournaments, the Big East Tournament briefly...
- Feb 29, 2020
- 1 min
The all-leap-year-day team
Every four years, for some reason that maybe five people in the entire world could actually explain, we all get an extra day at the end...
- Feb 28, 2020
- 2 min
The Harden-Giannis is officially sizzling
A week ago, we wrote about Giannis’s apparent disdain for James Harden. During All-Star Weekend, Giannis took consistent shots at him:...
- Feb 24, 2020
- 1 min
2/24/1978: Kevin Porter’s 29 dimes
On this day 42 years ago, New Jersey Nets guard Kevin Porter set a then-record with 29 assists in one game in a 126-112 win over the...
- Feb 24, 2020
- 1 min
The Pelicans are coming
Zion Williamson destroying Are these people current NBA players, or prime ministers of the former Yugoslavia? contestant Alen Smailagić...
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