NBA
Basketball Insiders Week in Review 4/3
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Anthony Davis is No Guarantee
By Moke Hamilton
When you look back at some of the mighty legacies of players like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley and so on, you can see a common trend: they all had the ability to stay relatively healthy. Or, at the very least, they had the ability to stay healthy enough to stay on the court.
It’s funny how often we overlook one’s ability to stay healthy and withstand the grueling grind of playing 100 basketball games per year (including preseason and playoffs) as determinative of one’s legacy.
And now, unfortunately, it’s time to at least question whether or not Anthony Davis is built for it.
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Future Stars in McDonald’s All-American Game
By Joel Brigham
For the sixth consecutive year, the McDonald’s All-American high school All-Star games are taking place in Chicago at the United Center, and while most basketball fans are honed in on the forthcoming NBA playoffs or even their NCAA tournament brackets, the McDonald’s All-American game later this week is a good first nationally-televised glimpse of next year’s biggest college stars who could very well find themselves in the NBA just 15 months from now.
Any current NBA mock draft right now is absolutely loaded with potential lottery picks that played in this high school exhibition just a year ago. Both Brandon Ingram and Ben Simmons were there last spring, as was Jaylen Brown, Henry Ellenson, Deyonta Davis and Ivan Rabb, all players that could and probably will be selected in the lottery this coming June.
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Magic Looking to Finish Season Strong
By Cody Taylor
It’s been quite a disappointing season for the Orlando Magic. The team was supposed to end its playoff drought and return to the postseason in 2016.
Instead, the Magic now find themselves out of the playoffs for a fourth-straight season, tying a franchise-high for consecutive seasons without a trip to the postseason.
It was a 104-101 win by the Indiana Pacers over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night that officially eliminated the Magic from playoff contention. Although they were officially eliminated last night, the team seemed all but out of the race long ago.
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Kobe Bryant’s Place In NBA History
By Steve Kyler
It’s hard to believe that Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has just eight games remaining in his storied NBA career. His 20-year run has been historic in many ways and unless you look at his career next to others, it’s sometimes easy to forget how terrific his career has been compared to some of the greatest to have ever played.
Among pundits, it’s universally believed that Michael Jordan is the greatest player to have played the NBA game, and while there is a whole lot of evidence to support that claim, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird also creep into any greatest ever discussion because of their respective careers and their historical NBA Finals battles in the ’80s.
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Splitter Discusses Surgery Decision
By Alex Kennedy
Last month, Atlanta Hawks big man Tiago Splitter announced that he would be undergoing surgery on his right hip. He is expected to be out for approximately seven more months as he recovers from the surgery.
Immediately, some fans reacted negatively since they thought it was an elective surgery and they were disappointed the Hawks wouldn’t have Splitter available in the playoffs. However, it’s always important to remember that NBA players are people too. Splitter has done a great job of explaining his decision to have surgery and documenting this process so that fans see exactly what he’s going through and how hard this has been on him.
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Bucks Entrusting Offense To Antetokounmpo
By Lang Greene
The 2015-16 campaign has been one of disappointment for the Milwaukee Bucks, especially coming off a season that ended in a playoff appearance. The Bucks reached the postseason in 2015 despite a season-ending injury to promising forward Jabari Parker and the sudden retirement of center Larry Sanders.
So when the club signed big man Greg Monroe last summer and welcomed a healthy Parker back into training camp, most believed the Bucks would be one of the teams on the rise this season.
Didn’t happen.
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Ranking the Top Young Cores
By Ben Dowsett
Part of the mass appeal of the NBA is its cyclical nature. The postseason begins in a couple weeks, showcasing the league’s elite, but the calendar year has hardly stopped for the 14 teams on the outside looking in. Eliminated teams become free to make personnel moves even as the playoffs wear on, and the ever-vital NBA Draft takes place just days after a champion is finally crowned. Before anyone knows it, eyes will once again be looking ahead to the future.
With that in mind, before we reach playoff time, here’s a nod to the franchises – a few of whom will still be playing in late April – who have put themselves in the best position for sustained runs over the next half-decade or more. Let’s take a look at the top young cores in the NBA.
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What’s Next for the Lakers’ Core?
By Jabari Davis
Whether the Los Angeles Lakers organization or fans of the franchise wanted to fully admit it when the process of transitioning away from being dependent on the exploits of Kobe Bryant began, these current struggles and difficulties should have always been at least somewhat expected. Growing pains with a young core are not a surprise, especially when you have such a long-term franchise player moving on, but even more so given the special circumstances surrounding this 2015-16 Lakers group.
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Star Recruits Eager to get Kentucky Back on Track
By Jesse Blancarte
The Kentucky Wildcats’ season came to a disappointing end when they fell to Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, which was Kentucky’s worst Tournament showing since 2008. Fortunately for the Wildcats, they have a very strong class of recruits coming into the program who are looking to make up for this season’s disappointing finish.
On Wednesday, four future Wildcats participated in the annual McDonald’s All-American game. Basketball Insiders caught up with Edrice Adebayo and Malik Monk to discuss the significance of being a McDonald’s All-American, their respective decisions to commit to Kentucky and expectations for next season, among other things.
