My top 25 NBA players of all-time. What say you?
While watching the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team in Paris, and with the recent death of Jerry West, my mind drifted to the great players I have seen in my lifetime.
Thoughts on ’24 Olympics: Steph got hot, Sabrina got hosed, U.S. track and field foes got hammered
I have to say, the 2024 Summer Olympic Games held my rapt attention almost from start to finish.
On Blazer moves, Durant, Morant and the Jail Blazers, Hakeem nemesis Brickowski, LeBron and much more
Bouncing the ball around on a load of sporting topics …
On Nike Hoop Summit, transfer portal, Drew Eubanks, Ben Petrick, Pete Ward, Jon Spoelstra and high school hoops
Touching on a number of subjects as we head into the weekend …
My thoughts on the NBA’s Top 75, the dozen greatest players ever, and another 10 for good measure
The All-Star Weekend’s cavalcade of events in Cleveland will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the NBA.
Ben Golliver’s Travels From Inside the ‘Bubble’
Bubbleball: Inside the NBA’s Fight to Save a Season
By Ben Golliver
Abrams Press
Ben Golliver didn’t just write the first book of his career. He lived it.
The Washington Post’s NBA writer was one of the select few who spent the entirety of the league’s post-shutdown portion of the 2019-20 season in the isolation zone — called the “Bubble” — at Disney World.
In “Bubbleball,” Golliver chronicles the three-months-plus experience of being inside the Orlando Bubble that allowed the NBA to complete its season and saved the league more than $1 billion in revenue.
On Aldridge’s retirement, the Trail Blazers’ lot in life, Tinkle’s contract, OSU women’s hoops, Transfer portal, Duck and Beaver baseball and other things on my mind …
Some (relatively) quick hitters about subjects on my mind in the sporting world …
• Item: LaMarcus Aldridge retires after 15 NBA seasons after experiencing a heart irregularity.
• Comment: Aldridge had played five games with Brooklyn after a buyout by San Antonio and signing as a free agent with the Nets. He had played well, starting and scoring 22 points in 23 minutes in a blowout win over New Orleans.
But after experiencing an irregular heartbeat during the Nets’ game against the Lakers last Saturday and some complications the following day, Aldridge chose to call it a career.
Thoughts on Tyler Shough, Ryan Crouser, Paul Castro, the Hops and Volcanoes, NBA-All-Star Weekend and the real G.O.A.T
A wintry weekend? Snow way!
Thoughts on some sporting subjects:
• Item: Oregon quarterback Tyler Shough enters the NCAA transfer portal.
The new guys look good as Beavers open 2020-21 slate with win over Bears
I liked a lot of what I saw Wednesday night in our first look at Oregon State in the post-Tres Tinkle era, a 71-63 non-conference win over California in a mostly empty Gill Coliseum.
A few observations …
• Coach Wayne Tinkle unveiled most of the recruiting class he has been so excited about, and the newcomers not only didn’t disappoint, they shined.
On Pac-12 football, Pat Casey and Bud Ossey, MLB to PDX, Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat and Chad Doing and the Denver Broncos …
The Pac-12 football schedule was (finally) announced Saturday, with Oregon fans happy with the Ducks’ lone crossover game, Oregon State fans not so much.
The Ducks, ranked 14th in the latest AP poll, play host to Chip Kelly’s UCLA Bruins on Nov. 20. The Bruins were 4-8 a year ago. The Beavers’ only game against a South Division opponent, meanwhile, is at defending South champion Utah on Dec. 5.
My take on the NBA boycott, and why players were wise to not go dark the rest of the season
I’m glad NBA players decided Thursday not to boycott for the rest of the season.
Not because something like $1 billion in national television rights is riding on the playoffs, though that’s certainly a consideration, too.
Blazers-Lakers should be an intriguing matchup. And my pick for the series winner is …
A few observations as the eighth-seeded Trail Blazers take on the challenge of facing the top-seeded L.A. Lakers in a seven-game first-round playoff series to which everyone across NBA circles will be paying attention …
• In a word, watching the Blazers’ nine-game run-up to the NBA playoffs has been fun.
Not because they made it — after 45 years in the sportswriting business, I’ll probably never think like a fan — but because Portland’s seeding games have been so watchable.