12:57 AM ET PHOENIX — A season that started with championship promise for the Los Angeles Lakers ended with the pain of failing to even qualify for the play-in tournament. Tuesday’s 121-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns — coupled with a 116-97 win by the San Antonio Spurs over the Denver Nuggets — officially eliminated
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The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The 50-40-90 season is one of the rarest achievements in the NBA record books. It requires a player to shoot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 16: Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash instructs his team against the Dallas Mavericks during their game at Barclays Center on March 16, 2022 in New York City. The Nets aren’t going to enter the NBA Playoffs with a high seed, but that doesn’t mean they can’t defy the
Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis. (Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports) Cowboys got cold feet over drafting Jalen Ramsey by Alicia de Artola Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis still has hope of making the playoffs but he’s frustrated by “what we could’ve been” this season. The Lakers brought together a big three in Los
Former Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson chronicles how the offseason moves LeBron James wanted in 2021 hurt the team this season. Imagine if the Lakers were 43-33, which would have put them in the Western Conference playoffs, instead of 31-47. Perhaps that kind of record would have been possible if the Lakers did
2:26 PM ET PHOENIX — The Los Angeles Lakers will head into a potential elimination game without their leader, LeBron James. James was ruled out of Tuesday’s game against the Phoenix Suns with left ankle soreness, the team announced. It will be James’ third missed game out of the Lakers’ last four. The Lakers, who
Former Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut spoke on a recent podcast about how the refs let him get away with anything when it came to physical play. For over a decade, the face of illegal screens in the NBA seemed to be former NBA center Andrew Bogut. Bogut embraced this identity, saying in 2019
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 26: Paul George #13 of the Los Angeles Clippers reacts after a play during the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena on December 26, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting
8:00 AM ET Could the NBA regular season’s final week decide the 2022 MVP? While Denver Nuggets center and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic has the inside track at the award, both he and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid have plenty to play for down the stretch. (The Nuggets can still capture home-court advantage in the
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6): Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports The NBA Playoffs are right around the corner, but there is still a lot that must be settled before we get there. That doesn’t mean it’s too early to make some bold predictions about what’s going to happen. It’s been a wild NBA season.
7:37 PM ET Free-agent guard Luca Vildoza is expected to finalize a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks that’ll take him through the 2022-23 season, sources told ESPN. Vildoza — MVP of the 2020 Spanish ACB League finals — has fully recovered from foot surgery and will be activated for the Bucks in the playoffs, sources
Los Angeles Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook isn’t quite finished with hinting at disagreement with Frank Vogel and the Lakers coaching staff. When ESPN reported in early March that the Lakers organization was pressuring Frank Vogel to demote Russell Westbrook from the starting lineup, Vogel maintained that there was enough time for Westbrook to turn his
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – APRIL 02: Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat shoots in the first half against the Chicago Bulls at United Center on April 02, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. The Heat may have had some dysfunction on the sidelines recently, but they’re still a legitimate NBA title contender for these five reasons. Jimmy
2:35 PM ET NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant said he believes his team’s season got derailed when he injured the MCL in his left knee in mid January. “To be honest, I feel like our season was derailed by my injury,” Durant said after Monday’s practice. “So I’m not looking at it
Kevin Love is playing for a resurgent Cavaliers as LeBron and the Lakers drop out of the playoffs. Could LeBron be headed back to Cleveland again? The 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers that shocked the Golden State Warriors still keep in touch. Often. “100 percent, We have six of us on there.” Kevin Love told FanSided. “It’s
8:00 AM ET With one week to go in the NBA’s regular season, only three postseason seeds are locked in: The Phoenix Suns will have the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the Memphis Grizzlies will have the second and the LA Clippers are locked into eighth. The other 17 seeds remain up for
With the start of the playoffs just a few days away, it’s time to hand out some awards for the 2021-22 NBA season. Amazingly, we are less than two weeks away from the end of the NBA season, which means it’s time to get to work on selecting 2021-22 award winners. I, of course, do
10:23 PM ET LOS ANGELES — After the Lakers continued their free fall from play-in tournament contention with a sixth straight loss on Sunday, Anthony Davis looked back at a season gone awry and reflected on what “could have been.” “I think the biggest thing that I think about personally is what we could have
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. As the end of the NBA season approaches playoff and award races are narrowing. In the case of MVP, that latest straw poll at ESPN indicates that we’re likely
4:34 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar publicly criticized LeBron James once again Sunday, with the Los Angeles Lakers legend saying he believes the current Lakers star has a greater responsibility in how he conducts himself given his elevated platform. “Some of the things he’s done and said are really beneath him, as far
San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginobili. (Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports) NJPW: Starter’s guide to New Japan Pro Wrestling by Gerard Hennessy Who will be inducted into the 2022 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class? Reports are trickling in about the latest Hall of Famers. When it comes to individual honors in sports, it doesn’t
Mar 29, 2022; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (yellow hoodie) sits on the Laker team bench during the second quarter of the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports Trevor Bauer suing journalist & The Athletic for
12:15 AM ET ATLANTA — Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant scored a career-high 55 points that included a career-high eight 3-pointers on Saturday night — but those weren’t the numbers he was focused on after a disappointing 122-115 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Durant said he was frustrated that his team was “undisciplined” defensively, and
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the new all-time leading scorer in Milwaukee Bucks franchise history by surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It was only a matter of time, but it finally happened, as Giannis Antetokounmpo finally overtook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the all-time leading scorer in Milwaukee Bucks franchise history. Antetokounmpo is averaging a career-best 30.1 points per game in
1:02 AM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Warriors have been coy about how much they’ve been watching the Western Conference standings. Some have admitted to monitoring them. Others have said they’re an afterthought. But, heading into Saturday’s game against the Utah Jazz, there was not one person in Golden State’s locker
Apr 1, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; A man is carried off by security personnel after running onto the court during the third quarter of the game between the Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports Dolphins make Xavien Howard NFL’s highest-paid CB: NFL Twitter reacts by Scott
2:18 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN Four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili, five-time NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway, three-time WNBA champion and two-time gold medalist Swin Cash, and five-time WNBA All-Star and three-time NBA champion Lindsay Whalen highlighted the 13-member Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022 that was announced Saturday. Other honorees included two-time NCAA
After defeating the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night, the New Orleans Pelicans updated their Twitter bio in a savage way. Despite the return of Anthony Davis and a resurgent effort from LeBron James, the Lakers fell short against the New Orleans Pelicans. With the loss, the Lakers fell one game out of the play-in
8:57 AM ET Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has filed a grievance to challenge the nearly $20 million of salary withheld to him by the Philadelphia 76ers this season, setting up a potentially significant showdown, sources told ESPN on Saturday. The grievance — which will now go to an arbitration process — could have larger
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning.’ There are just nine days left in the NBA season and plenty of things still need to work themselves out. To break down some of the biggest questions in