Tag: nytimes.com

Stars are playing like role players. And a role player is performing like a star. Let’s open the notebook to run through three NBA trends that have caught my eye this week. The Jokić defense The greatest swing skill for the NBA playoffs resides in Colorado. Will Nikola Jokić’s defense sink as low as it…

There’s accepting your role, and then there’s accepting that it will always be your role. Take the Atlanta Hawks’ Nickeil Alexander-Walker, for example. Former teammates and coaches say he blossomed with the Minnesota Timberwolves partly because he accepted his role as a secondary weapon rather than trying to be a high-usage scorer, something he struggled…

For the first 25 Most Valuable Player awards in NBA history, it was the league’s players, not the media, who determined the winner. All that changed with the 1980-81 season, when “a panel of 69 writers and broadcasters” selected Julius Erving as MVP and a system was installed that has been in place ever since.…

The NBA cleared Doug Christie of tanking accusations levied at the Sacramento Kings coach after he instructed his team to intentionally foul Seth Curry in the fourth quarter of the Kings’ loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. The coaching decision — in which Christie directed Kings guard Doug McDermott to foul Curry…

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will undergo surgery this afternoon in Houston, the team announced Thursday. Embiid reported feeling ill earlier in the day, per league sources, and the Sixers ruled him out for the game against the Houston Rockets. While the team said further updates will be provided…

The Bounce Newsletter  | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. On this date in 2019, both Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade played in front of their respective home crowds for the last time. Each player scored 30 points. There was one more incredible feat that happened…

With Luka Dončić’s injury, the Los Angeles Lakers saw their odds balloon to a rather stunning number. At least for a franchise as storied and still star-studded as L.A. Dončić and LeBron James have never been this big of long shots on their own — and even paired up, a 500-to-1 title bet feels much…

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It feels like it was only about 10 seconds ago that the SEC was widely considered the most dominant college sports conference in the land. In the blink of an eye, everything appears to have changed. The Big Ten has been flexing its muscles of late, a point made clear by the conclusion of the…

We’re at the end of the NBA regular season, and this is the final Awards Watch for 2025-26. As I write this, I have not submitted my official ballot, nor have I committed to any actual votes. But I’ll use this space to think out loud and try to figure out some conclusions before it’s…