Editorial

What if Colin Kaepernick Played in the NBA?

- by Fox Doucette

NBA Twitter’s been in a bit of a tizzy today after former commissioner David Stern said that embattled quarterback Colin Kaepernick “would still have a job” if he played basketball instead of football or, along the same lines, if the NFL were as progressive as the NBA. Former NBA commissioner David Stern singes the NFL, saying that Kaepernick would still have a job if he played basketball instead of football. https://t.co/H4vNxHg50o via @novy_williams @soshnick — Nick Turner (@NewsyNick) February 14, 2019 Which…well, Stern is right…and Stern is wrong. I’m going to do my best here to try and make the …

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Editorial

Dell Dumpster Fire: Pelicans Finally Unload Dell Demps

- by Fox Doucette

The New Orleans Pelicans finally, like a woman going to divorce court after a bad marriage where the love was gone ages ago, parted ways with embattled general manager Dell Demps. And across the Big Easy, someone’s bound to set “Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is Dead” to a Louis Armstrong trumpet. Let’s have something clearly understood. Demps was one of the biggest reasons the Pelicans were completely unable to build a positive environment around superstar Anthony Davis, and it doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots to the massive Demps-ter fire that resulted when Davis, LeBron James, agent …

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Highlights

Breakfast Special: Limping into the Break

- by Fox Doucette

There were three games in the NBA Thursday night, and from the looks of them, the players on some of those teams were already dreaming of wherever it is they’re spending All-Star week, whether it’s at some travel destination, at the game itself, or just home with their families getting healthy and enjoying a brief respite from the long grind of the NBA season. The net result of all this was that we got some real stinker games. Like… Charlotte Fixes a Problem There are two ways you can fix the problem of having a positive point differential and a …

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Is He Any Good

Jeremy Lamb: Is He Any Good?

- by Fox Doucette

Jeremy Lamb has begun to evolve into not just Kemba Walker‘s safety valve in Charlotte’s offense that forces the defense to respect him but into a bona fide second or third option in Charlotte’s overall game plan. His scoring on a counting-stat basis is at a career-high level, and he’s taking a lot more shots to tie or take the lead in the close games Charlotte always seems to lose, one reason that the Hornets, with their +0.2 point differential, nonetheless carry a losing 27-29 record into the All-Star break, the third year in a row they’re posting a positive …

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Highlights

Breakfast Special: Super Greek Super Freak

- by Fox Doucette

Before taking an 86-76 lead early in the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Indiana Pacers were 33-1 when leading by at least 10 points at any point in the game. And after the Bucks outscored them 30-11 the rest of the way, the Pacers are 33-2 when leading by at least 10 points at any point in the game. (big hat tip to Pat Boylan of the Pacers’ radio broadcast team for dropping that stat on Twitter this week.) Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points, 19 rebounds, 11 assists, and one massively extended metaphorical middle finger at Thaddeus Young, …

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Highlights

Breakfast Special: Even the Spurs Can’t Lose to Memphis

- by Fox Doucette

The San Antonio Spurs bandwagon has been sliding around out of control like a Seattle driver in last Saturday’s snow traffic ever since the team left for the Rodeo Road Trip. The Spurs, before they beat Memphis 108-107 in the House That 24-Second Violations Built, had lost four in a row. But when the Grizzlies are running out the likes of Avery Bradley to start at guard (even though Bradley did have 33 points), Mike Conley is a DNP-CD, and Marc Gasol is in Toronto, even the Spurs, crashing back to earth as their antiquated style of basketball and your …

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Pacers Tuesday

Wesley Matthews is the New Lance Stephenson

- by Fox Doucette

What if I told you the Indiana Pacers have an unreliable shooter who will shoot you out of a game for three quarters, catch fire in the fourth, hit a dagger three right in the enemy’s face of a game that’s become closer than it needed to be, energize the crowd, and get everyone on Twitter to love him? “But Fox,” you might be saying, “Lance Stephenson is on the Lakers now.” Well, get ready for a Scooby-Doo ending of a reveal, because Wesley Matthews made his Pacers debut Monday, missed his first six shots, hit just 2-of-10 overall, but …

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Highlights

Breakfast Special: Paul George is Kevin Durant 2.0

- by Fox Doucette

How is it possible for a guy to average a triple-double for the third straight season—as Russell Westbrook has been doing—and somehow be thought of by near-universal consensus as the second-best player on his own team? The answer, as even a cursory glance at an Oklahoma City Thunder game will tell you, is “because Paul George is making a heck of an MVP case.” PG13 had 47 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, upstaging Westbrook’s record-setting 10th consecutive triple-double (21 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists) in the Thunder’s 120-111 win over the Portland Trail Blazers Monday night. Westbrook shot 5-of-19 …

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Editorial

The NBA Has a Drama Problem

- by Fox Doucette

by Zach d’Arbeloff On January 28th, Anthony Davis informed the New Orleans Pelicans that he would not sign his Designated Veteran Player Extension – also known as the supermax – and his agent, Rich Paul from Klutch Sports, officially informed the team that Davis “wanted to be traded to a team that allows him a chance to win consistently and compete for a championship.” This marked the biggest fish to land in the trade market since Kevin Garnett in 2007, and arguably, in terms of player value due to Davis’ age, the biggest player to hit the trade market since …

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Highlights

Breakfast Special: Ben Simmons Does the Unthinkable

- by Fox Doucette

Ben Simmons went 0-of-1 from the three-point arc in Sunday’s 143-120 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, as his Philadelphia 76ers finally saw their cowardly lion of a guard shoot a three in the run of play. Sure, he missed, but the shot rimmed out, looking at least as good as any horror show of a three-pointer that Russell Westbrook‘s attempted this season. Simmons had a terrible game—he hit just 3-of-13 overall for eight points, seven assists, and just three rebounds—but we may be seeing the beginnings of Simmons actually turning into a post-1979 NBA perimeter player. Take away Simmons’ …

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