Tag: iab-basketball

Kevin Durant misses potential Phoenix Suns home debut after slipping during pre-game warmups and injuring ankle | CNN

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Kevin Durant missed the opportunity to make his home debut for the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night after he slipped and injured his ankle during pre-game warmups.

Ahead of Wednesday’s NBA clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Suns’ Footprint Center, Durant was seen on video slipping while going up for a shot near the basket, rolling his ankle in the process.

The 34-year-old was able to get up and continue his workout but moved gingerly throughout the rest of it, and minutes later, Phoenix announced he would miss the game, being replaced by Torrey Craig in the starting lineup.

After the Suns had comfortably beaten the Thunder 132-101, Phoenix head coach Monty Williams provided an update on Durant’s injury status.

“We don’t have anything official to report,” Williams told reporters.

Williams said there will be more tests done on Thursday and the team is calling it an ankle sprain for the time being.

“He’s out there working his tail off, getting ready for the game and he twists his ankle,” Williams added. “Can’t get frustrated about that. It’s life, you know what I’m saying? I feel bad for him because he feels bad. He feels like – I saw his face and I’ve been around him so many times. I know what he’s feeling.”

When Durant arrived in Arizona in February – in a trade from the Brooklyn Nets for a huge haul – he was recovering from an MCL sprain which had seen him miss more than a month of action.

The 13-time All-Star finally made his debut for the Suns last week against the Charlotte Hornets and the team has won all three of their games with Durant in the lineup – the 2014 MVP has averaged 26.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in those three games.

In his absence though, the Suns never had to get out of fourth gear to beat the Thunder, being led by a game-high 44 points from guard Devin Booker.

As a result, Phoenix improved to 37-29 and moved to within two games of the second and third seed in the Western Conference.

“Our group has adapted to a number of things all year long from the summer until now. This is no different. We will do our best to get him healthy and get him back out there on the floor,” Williams said.

Phoenix is next scheduled to host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday before heading on the road to play the Golden State Warriors early next week. The Suns then return home to host the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic on March 14 and 16 respectively.

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March 9, 2023
NBA star James Harden speaks with hospitalized Michigan State student paralyzed in mass shooting | CNN

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Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden spoke via video call Wednesday with John Hao, a fan of Harden’s and one of the Michigan State University students wounded in a mass shooting on campus last week.

A video shared with CNN by Harden’s management team shows the NBA star giving words of encouragement to Hao, who remains hospitalized.

“Everything will work itself out. You’re strong,” Harden says during their conversation. “Keep pushing and keep fighting.”

Hao was among those shot at Michigan State’s campus in East Lansing on February 13. The shooting killed three students and wounded at least five others, officials said.

A bullet severed Hao’s spinal cord and critically injured his lungs, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down, according to a verified GoFundMe started for his family.

Hao is pursuing a career in sports management, and Harden is his favorite basketball player, a representative of Hao’s family told CNN. Gifts from Harden to Hao include a pair of game-worn sneakers.

CNN has sought comment from Harden’s agent and the 76ers.

Classes and athletic events have resumed at Michigan State. In its first home game since the shooting, the men’s basketball team claimed an emotional victory over the Indiana Hoosiers on Tuesday, as the crowd wore white to honor those lost or wounded.

The US has had more than 80 mass shootings in 2023 as of Thursday, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that defines mass shootings as those in which four or more people were shot, not including the shooter.

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February 24, 2023
Brittney Griner signs one-year deal with Phoenix Mercury, according to reports | CNN

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After spending nearly 10 months imprisoned in Russia, WNBA star Brittney Griner is making her return to basketball in the upcoming season, signing a one-year deal with the Phoenix Mercury, according to ESPN and The Athletic, who cited multiple unnamed sources.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist was released in December – after spending nearly 300 days in Russian custody – in a prisoner exchange with Russia.

And as soon as she was back home, she vowed to play in the WNBA again.

“It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn,” she wrote in a December post on Instagram. “I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.”

“I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon,” Griner said.

Griner – who for years had played in the WNBA off-season for a Russian women’s basketball team – was arrested on drug smuggling charges at an airport in the Moscow region in February 2022. Her detention, which became an international cause during a tense time in relations between the US and Russia, was deemed wrongful by American officials.

And despite her testimony that she had inadvertently packed the cannabis oil that was found in her luggage, she was sentenced to nine years in prison in early August and was moved to a penal colony in the Mordovia republic in mid-November after losing her appeal.

The 32-year-old last played with the Mercury in 2021, helping lead the team to the WNBA Finals, which they lost to the Chicago Sky.

Before that, the seven-time All-Star had played all nine seasons with the franchise since being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft.

Phoenix are scheduled to open the season on the road against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 19. The team will play their first home game against the Sky on May 21.

CNN has reached out to Griner’s representatives and the Phoenix Mercury but did not immediately hear back.

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February 18, 2023
‘As special as it gets’: LeBron James solidifies legendary status by becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer | CNN

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It was a night of wild expectations and LeBron James, once again, delivered.

With a mid-range fadeaway bucket, his 36th point of the night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scoring, breaking a 39-year-old record to add another historic achievement to his already storied career.

After his shot had found the bottom of the net, the game came to a halt to allow James to savor his moment.

Amid the bedlam and a sea of cameras, James’ family – his wife, two sons and daughter – came out onto the court to celebrate the occasion with him. The great Abdul-Jabbar was also in attendance, later handing James the ball in an official passing of the torch.

It was the first time since since Abdul-Jabbar surpassed Wilt Chamberlain in 1984 that the scoring record has changed hands.

The debate surrounding who the greatest basketball player of all time is will undoubtedly rumble on indefinitely, but James has provided yet more ammunition for those fans who fight his corner.

Even for a man with four NBA titles and four MVP crowns to his name, James’ latest accomplishment will undoubtedly rank among his greatest.

What makes James’ latest feat all the more impressive is that many people, fans and pundits alike, do not believe scoring has ever been his best attribute.

In the Lakers’ victory over the New York Knicks last week, James surpassed surpassed Mark Jackson and Steve Nash to move up to fourth place on the NBA’s all-time assist leaderboard and is now the only player in NBA history to rank inside the top five in both all-time points and assists.

“I mean, he’s as special as it gets,” two-time NBA All Star Joakim Noah, who faced James multiple times over a 13-year career, told CNN Sport. “A great player.

“We had a lot of competitive moments and it was always about trying to get past ‘that guy.’ So there were good moments, bad moments, but overall what he’s doing at his age, at 38 years old, and still being able to dominate the game and be that invested in the work and what it takes to be at the top, you’ve got to give a lot of respect to that.

“What’s unbelievable about that is his scoring is probably not his best thing, you know, he’s a better distributor, he’s a pass-first guy so to be able to lead the NBA in scoring and be a pass-first guy, it says a lot about his dominance.”

Indeed, so dominant has James been in almost every other facet of the game during his near 20-season career, you will find his name in the top 10 of many of the NBA’s all-time leading statistics.

The 38-year-old ranks 10th in games played, fourth in assists, ninth in steals, second in field goals made, 10th in three-pointers made and fourth in free throws made.

It’s a testament to not only his incredible abilities as a basketball player, but also his remarkable durability that James at times still looks as explosive in year 20 at the age of 38 as he did in his prime.

But perhaps nothing speaks to his longevity and generation-spanning career than the number of father-son duos that James has played against.

In a comical moment caught on NBA TV cameras last month, Houston Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr was heard telling James: “Hey, you played against my dad in your first NBA game ever in Sacramento.”

“Why you do that to me?” James replied. “You feel old, don’t you?” Smith Jr. laughed.

In his post-match interview, James joked that Smith Jr. had made him feel “old as crap.” Despite his Cleveland Cavaliers losing on that night in Sacramento, James still posted 25 points, six rebounds, nine assists and four steals in his NBA debut.

Fast forward to the game against the Rockets, James scored a season-high 48 points to go with nine assists and eight rebounds.

Incredibly, Jabari Smith Jr and Jabari Smith Sr are the ninth father-and-son duo that James has come up against in his career, the others being Kenyon and KJ Martin, Gary Trent Jr. and Sr, Gary Payton Sr. and Gary Payton II, Rick Brunson and Jalen Brunson, Glenn Robinson Jr. and Glen Robinson III, Adrian Griffin Sr. and Jr., Glen Rice Sr. and Jr. and Samaki Walker and Jabari Walker.

Being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers straight out of high school, James was perhaps the most famous, most marketed and most publicized high school athlete in the history of sports.

Such was the unprecedented hype around James while he was playing for St. Vincent – St. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, that he signed a seven-year, $90 million contract with Nike on May 22, 2003, before he had even played an NBA game.

His high school basketball games were always packed to the rafters and regularly moved to the bigger home arena of the University of Akron, while some were even shown on national television and pay-per-view.

James’ popularity led to him gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated at the age of just 17, alongside the famous moniker ‘The Chosen One.’ It’s fair to say James has lived up to it.

“We gave the keys to the whole entire business to an 18-year-old kid, and now he’s 38 years old and he’s still dominating,” Kyrie Irving, James’ teammate in Cleveland from 2014 to 2017, told reporters last week.

“I don’t think we should be surprised. I think we should congratulate him and celebrate him as much as possible. Continue to enjoy the shows that he put on because it’s not going to be for too much longer.

“Whenever he decides to [not] play, but I’m enjoying the show and I wish we could have gotten a chance to play against one another, but who knows what can happen down the line?”

Whether or not one ranks James as the greatest player of all time is purely a matter of preference, but he is unquestionably in the top two.

Few things in basketball have been consistently as thrilling over the years as watching James drive down the lane, barrel past defenders and finish with a trademark tomahawk dunk.

He has also been a part of numerous iconic NBA moments; the “blocked by James” commentary from Mike Breen in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals; the ‘silencer’ celebration after a winner against Golden State in 2014; and the pre-dunk celebration photo of him and Dwyane Wade in 2010.

The list could go on.

James’ unique legacy has left an indelible mark on teammates, opponents, franchises and the league as a whole.

During his time in the league, James has played for the Miami Heat – the site of his first two NBA titles in 2012 and 2013 – the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers twice, the second stint bearing fruit to arguably his greatest triumph, as he led the Cavs to the Larry O’Brien trophy after falling to an unprecedented 3-1 Finals deficit against the Golden State Warriors in 2016.

“I definitely saw this when we were playing together,” Irving, who hit the championship-winning shot in Game 7, said. “His ability to prepare himself mentally, spiritually, emotionally, game to game, day to day.

“I’ve been quoted on saying it’s hard to be LeBron James, or any superstar, or any entertainment, sport, athletic or business industry, because all eyes are on you. But he’s handled it extremely well.”

James’ reputation and standing among the best to have ever played the game of basketball need no justification, but two-time NBA champion Joe Dumars – who played at the tail end of Abdul-Jabbar’s era of the NBA – says James’ new record only further cements his legendary status.

“I mean, LeBron is clearly an all-time great,” he told CNN Sport at the 2023 NBA Paris Game. “He’s a once-in-a-generation player and to become the all-time leading scorer when he’s not just a scorer, he’s a complete player, I just think it speaks to just how incredible he is.

“Once every 100 years, you see a guy like that and so I just think he’s an incredible player. I think becoming the all-time leading scorer is just going to just solidify him on the Mount Rushmore in America. Whoever those other three guys are, LeBron’s one of them.

“I don’t know who the other three are, but LeBron is one of them.”

It’s likely many NBA fans would have Abdul-Jabbar as one of the other three players on their NBA Mount Rushmore, with Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell making up the remaining spots.

While James and Abdul-Jabbar are two vastly different players from very different eras, Dumars says they have similarities as “very intellectual, highly intelligent players.”

“I think they both, besides just scoring points, they both had a drive to win to be a world champion, to be the best,” Dumars says. “So I think intelligence and the drive to win, besides the points, is what is similar about those two guys.”

What makes James’ record all the more astonishing is that he is still far from finished writing his legacy.

His current contract with the Los Angeles Lakers runs until the end of the 2024/25 season – James has regularly stated he wants to play at least one year with his son, Bronny, who will likely enter the NBA draft in 2024 – and this year he has continued to set personal and league records.

Against the Los Angeles Clippers last month, he hit a career-high nine three-pointers in a game, while his inclusion in this year’s All Star game takes his number of All-Star appearances to 11, tying Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time record.

Injury permitting, James is guaranteed to break that record next season.

With his 46 points in that game against the Clippers, the Akron native also became the first player in NBA history to achieve the frankly ludicrous feat of scoring 40+ points against all 30 teams in the league.

James’ personality, marketability and, most importantly, his electric talent as a basketball player have made his name synonymous with the sport. In the same way Roger Federer transcended tennis, Tiger Woods golf and Cristiano Ronaldo football, even non-sports fans know the name LeBron James.

For many years, Abdul-Jabbar’s record was thought to be one of the untouchable milestones in the NBA. Then, along came James to not only surpass it, but blow it out of the water.

Dumars has no doubt that players will come along with the technical ability to break the record once again, but the longevity of James and Abdul-Jabbar, who played until he was 42, means it will still be incredibly unlikely.

“Listen, the game evolves, things change,” he said. “They don’t stay. It may take a while, but can someone come and do it? Yeah, of course someone can come and do it. But they’re going to have to be great for 20 years and that’s the thing with LeBron and Kareem, like 20 years.

“You have to be great that long and so are there people who are talented enough to do it? Yes. Can they stay healthy for 20 years to do that? That’s what’s going to determine it.”

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February 8, 2023
Colorado State apologizes for ‘Russia’ chant at Utah State’s Ukrainian player during basketball game | CNN

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Colorado State University has apologized to Utah State’s Ukrainian junior guard after spectators chanted ‘Russia” toward him at a men’s basketball game in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Saturday night.

“We became aware that a small group of individuals in our student section chanted ‘Russia’ at a student-athlete from Utah State, who is from the Ukraine. On behalf of Colorado State, we apologize to the student-athlete and Utah State,” the school wrote in a series of tweets early Sunday.

The chant could be heard when Max Shulga, who is from Kyiv, went to the free throw line late in the game. Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, has been subjected to much of Russia’s violent assault on the country, from intense shelling to the killing of civilians attempting to flee and attacks on civilian settlements.

As of January 30, at least 7,110 Ukrainian civilians were killed and and 11,547 injured since the invasion began, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

“This is a violation of our steadfast belief in the Mountain West Sportsmanship Policy and University Principles of Community,” Colorado State continued. “Every participant, student, and fan should feel welcomed in our venues, and for something like this to have occurred is unacceptable at Colorado State.”

Niko Medved, Colorado State head men’s basketball coach, also apologized on Twitter saying, “I have so much respect for @USUBasketball and Max Shulga. We have amazing fans and students but this is not acceptable! My sincere apologies.”

The Mountain West Conference told CNN in a statement they are “aware of the situation and are currently reviewing the incident.”

Utah State University said in a statement “its athletics department fully supports Max Shulga, and his family, who reside in Ukraine.”

“The incident that occurred during our men’s basketball game at Colorado State last night was inappropriate and unacceptable,” the statement read. “We appreciate the Colorado State administration and basketball staff for not condoning such behavior.”

Shulga finished with nine points and six assists in Utah State’s 88-79 win against Colorado State.

February 24 will mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine’s front with Russia is at least 810 miles long. It’s moved back and forth as small villages have been suffering a Russian onslaught in the east of the country. There is talk now, from Ukrainian officials, that Russia is planning a major assault in the next few weeks.

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February 5, 2023
‘We got cheated’: LA Lakers furious after missed foul in loss to Boston Celtics | CNN

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LeBron James was left hunched on the court in frustration after referees missed a foul on his attempted game-winning layup, and the Los Angeles Lakers succumbed to a 125-121 overtime loss against the Boston Celtics.

With the game tied at 105 and less than three seconds on the clock, James drove in for a layup and was hit on the arm by Jayson Tatum, but the referees didn’t call a foul leading to overtime.

James hopped around the court, his head in his hands in complete disbelief, while Patrick Beverley got a camera from a photographer to show the ref a picture of the missed call and received a technical foul in return.

James had poured in a game-high 41 points, leaving him 117 points away from breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record, as well as nine rebounds and eight assists but was furious afterwards.

“I don’t understand,” he told reporters after the game. “I don’t understand what we are doing and I watch basketball every single day. I watch these games every single day and I don’t see it happening to anyone else. It’s just weird.”

The Lakers’ fury was magnified by a series of previous calls which they have seen as poor officiating during close defeats to the Dallas Mavericks and the Philadelphia 76ers.

“We got cheated tonight,” Lakers power forward Anthony Davis said afterwards. “It’s a blatant foul… It’s unacceptable to be honest. The refs were bad tonight.”

Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown added 11 points in overtime for the Celtics to help secure victory and snap their three-game losing streak. His 37 points in the game also included a three-pointer to tie it up with 4.1 seconds left of regulation time. Tatum contributed 30 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

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January 29, 2023
‘One of the greatest performances in the history of the game.’ Donovan Mitchell scores record 71 points for Cavs to join elite NBA group | CNN

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It was a high-scoring night in the NBA on Monday as both Donovan Mitchell and LeBron James set points records.

Mitchell scored 71 points – the highest single-game points total since Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant scored 81 against Toronto in 2006 – as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Chicago Bulls 145-134 in overtime.

His career-high total is a franchise record and, according to the NBA, Mitchell is the seventh player to score 70-plus points in a game.

Wilt Chamberlain owns the NBA record with 100 points for Philadelphia against New York on March 2, 1962.

“To be there in the record book with guys like Wilt is truly humbling,” said Mitchell, per ESPN. “I always believed I could be one of the best players in the league. I’m speechless and blessed to be in the company of that greatness.”

Mitchell was soaked with water by his teammates at the end of the game, while his coach J.B. Bickerstaff described his performance as “one of the greatest performances in the history of the game.”

“Every single play that he made was a play that was necessary,” said Bickerstaff, according to ESPN. “Donovan has never put himself above the team, so how can you not root for a guy like that? I told everyone else to get out of the way.”

Mitchell broke James’ previous Cavaliers record of 57 points in a game. James had jointly owned that record with Kyrie Irving, though the NBA great also put his name in the history books on Monday.

In scoring 43 points as the Lakers beat the Charlotte Hornets 121-115, James became only the second player aged 35 or older to record back-to-back 40-plus point games. The other being Michael Jordan.

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January 3, 2023
‘I’m tired as hell,’ says Luka Dončić after making NBA history with record-breaking triple-double in the Dallas Mavericks’ win over the New York Knicks | CNN

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Luka Dončić put up a historic triple-double in the Dallas Mavericks’ thrilling 126-121 overtime win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old recorded a career-high 60 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to go with 10 assists, helping the Mavericks come from nine points down with just 33 seconds of regulation time remaining.

It is the first time in NBA history that a player has reached that stat line.

“I’m tired as hell,” Dončić said after the game. “I need a recovery beer.”

In the past 20 seasons, all 13,884 NBA teams that have trailed by at least nine points with 35 seconds or fewer remaining have gone on to lose the game, according to ESPN.

However, in a dramatic final play, Dončić intentionally missed a free throw and then secured the rebound, before scoring the putback to tie the game and force overtime.

The Slovenian star scored 10 points in the final minute of regulation time and added seven more in overtime to pull off the most improbable of wins.

Dončić also joins James Harden as the only other player in NBA history to score a 60-point triple-double, and also becomes just the sixth player to record six or more 40-point triple-doubles after Oscar Robertson, Harden, Russell Westbrook, Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James.

“We just saw it on the screen right now,” Dončić said of his scoring feat. “We were watching NBA TV. I mean, it’s just incredible to be in those comparisons and just to be with those guys, at any stage. It’s amazing for me.”

Dončić’s 60 points also set a new franchise scoring record for Dallas, overtaking the 53 points scored by Dirk Nowitzki against Houston in 2004.

“Just with age, he has a birthday coming up here in the new year, I think he’s seen it all at the age of 23,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said of Dončić becoming a leader. “But just his competitiveness to win is at a very high level – and you saw that displayed tonight.

“Things weren’t going well. Give the Knicks credit, they were making a lot of threes that we didn’t think were possible. They were playing harder. We were down 10. We’ve been in this position earlier in the season, when you talk about giving up a lead or giving up a game like this.

“Just to be able to stay together and trust, Luka had a big part in that. He never was discouraged that the game was over. As you can see, he’s picking up full-court, we had a big jump ball. There’s a lot of things we’ve learned from our losses in close games like this.”

The Mavericks improve to 19-16 on the season and climb to sixth in the Western Conference, while the Knicks have now lost four straight to sit sixth in the East.

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December 28, 2022
Brittney Griner is back home and she intends to play basketball this season | CNN

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Brittney Griner departed a medical military facility in Texas on Friday and returned home, and she intends to play basketball for her team this season, according to her Instagram feed.

For the two-time Olympic gold medalist, who was released last week in a prisoner swap after nearly 300 days in Russian custody, the day marks another step in her reintegration into American life.

“It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn,” she said in an Instagram post. “I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.”

Griner said she was “grateful to each person who advocated for me” and she mentioned Paul Whelan, whose release could not be secured in the prisoner swap that brought her home.

“President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too,” she said. “I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you. I also encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home. Every family deserves to be whole.”

Griner took off from Kelly Field in San Antonio around 11 a.m. on Friday, CNN confirmed via her agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas.

As she boarded the plane, Griner was greeted by Phoenix Mercury GM Jim Pitman, Vince Kozar president of the Phoenix Mercury and her Mercury teammate Diana Taurasi, all of whom made a surprise appearance to welcome her home.

Griner is heading back to Arizona, though her representatives would not confirm exactly where, citing security concerns. CNN previously reported that Griner and her wife, Cherelle, had already made plans to move upon her return to the United States.

“I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon,” Griner said.

Griner’s detention, after Russian officials found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage, became an international cause during a delicate time in relations between Washington and Moscow. US officials deemed it a wrongful detention.

She had traveled to Russia to play basketball in the WNBA offseason and was arrested on drug smuggling charges at an airport in the Moscow region.

Despite her testimony that she had inadvertently packed the cannabis oil in her luggage, Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison in early August and was moved to a penal colony in the Mordovia republic in mid-November after losing her appeal.

The Phoenix Mercury center became a pawn in Russia’s war in Ukraine and returned to the US on December 9 after a prisoner swap for notorious convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner stayed at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for a week for routine evaluation. She has been staying with her wife, Cherelle Griner, in a residential facility on the base. Her arrest and conviction brought attention to the plight of other Americans in Russian custody, including Whelan and Trevor Reed, who returned to the US in April after a nearly three-year ordeal.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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December 16, 2022
Paul Silas, 3-time NBA champion player and coach, dead at 79 | CNN

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Former NBA All-Star and longtime head coach Paul Silas has died at the of age 79, the league announced Sunday.

“We mourn the passing of former NBA All-Star and head coach Paul Silas. Paul’s lasting contributions to the game are seen through the many players and coaches he inspired, including his son, Rockets head coach Stephen Silas. We send our deepest condolences to Paul’s family,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement Sunday.

Known for his defensive prowess, Silas was a three-time NBA champion in his 16 seasons as a player in the league. Silas was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks, who have since moved to Atlanta, with the No. 10 pick in the 1964 NBA Draft out of Creighton University.

Silas won two of his NBA championships while with the Boston Celtics in 1974 and 1976, and his third with the Seattle Supersonics in 1979. He was a two-time All-Star and five-time All-Defensive player.

As a college player with Creighton, Silas was a three-time All-American basketball player from 1961 to 1964, and became one of five players in NCAA history to average more than 20 points (20.5) and 20 rebounds (21.6), joining Bill Russell, Julius Erving, Kermit Washington and Artis Gilmore.

He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

After retiring as a player, Silas joined the coaching ranks, becoming the head coach of the then-San Diego Clippers in 1980 – a stint that lasted three years.

Following his time with the Clippers, Silas spent more than a decade as an assistant coach before returning to a head coaching position with the Charlotte Bobcats, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers and New Orleans Hornets.

While with the Cavaliers, Silas was the first head coach of superstar LeBron James.

In his coaching career, Silas finished with a 387-488 record and led the Hornets teams to the playoffs three times, reaching the conference semifinals twice.

Hornets owner Michael Jordan released the following the statement on the death of Silas, “Our Hornets family mourns the passing of Paul Silas. Paul was an incredible leader and motivator who served as our head coach on two occasions. He combined the knowledge developed over nearly 40 years as an NBA player and coach with an innate understanding of how to mix discipline with his never-ending positivity.

“On or off the court, Paul’s enthusiastic and engaging personality was accompanied by an anecdote for every occasion. He was one of the all-time great people in our game, and he will be missed. My thoughts, and the thoughts of our entire organization, are with his wife, Carolyn; his children, Paula and Stephen; and the entire Silas family.”

Stephen Silas is the current head coach of the Houston Rockets. Silas will miss the Rockets game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night due to the death of his father.

“The Fertitta Family and the Rockets organization are deeply saddened by the passing of Paul Silas, father of Rockets head coach Stephen Silas,” the Rockets said in a statement Sunday. “Our heartfelt thoughts are with Stephen and his family during this difficult time.”

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December 11, 2022
Opinion: Brittney Griner’s release is cause for celebration and reflection | CNN

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Editor’s Note: Amy Bass (@bassab1) is professor of sport studies at Manhattanville College and the author of “One Goal: A Coach, a Team, and the Game That Brought a Divided Town Together” and “Not the Triumph but the Struggle: The 1968 Olympics and the Making of the Black Athlete,” among other titles. The views expressed here are solely hers. Read more opinion on CNN.

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When Cherelle Griner, resplendent in joyful red, took the podium from President Joe Biden at the White House, she said all of the hard things.

Biden already had confirmed with a straightforward and powerful tweet — “Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home.” — that the basketball star’s nearly 10-month detention in Russia was, indeed over, and gave brief remarks verifying the news, as well as the fact that US businessman Paul Whelan, imprisoned in Russia on charges of espionage (which he has denied) since December, 2018, was not, as the US had hoped, part of the deal.

The emotional complications of such a moment were left to Cherelle Griner to express.

“So today my family is home, but as you all are aware, there’s so many other families who are not whole,” she told the press. “And so, BG is not here to say this, but I will gladly speak on her behalf and say that BG and I will remain committed to the work of getting every American home.”

As the pre-dawn whispers came to light that Griner had been released in a one for one prisoner swap for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, the so-called “Merchant of Death,” the undeniable elation of Griner’s family, friends, teammates and fans was indeed tempered by the fact that Whelan was not coming home.

While both Biden and Cherelle Griner emphasized the importance of keeping Whelan in the conversation, they did not — as they should not — let that vanquish the euphoria regarding Griner’s return stateside.

Yet upon Griner’s return, many questions remain. What does her ordeal mean and what comes next?

While the US State Department described the allegations against Griner as “wrongful,” public response to her detainment and subsequent trial and conviction for carrying vape dispensers containing trace amounts of hashish oil became a primer on so many things.

Responses to her plight were perhaps especially revealing about sexism and the role of women in elite sport, with reactions on Twitter ranging from those who claimed Griner had it coming — if you do the crime, you do the time — doing battle with teammates and fans who demanded her release.

Would the path to getting her home have been different if she played in the NBA instead of the WNBA? Would she have been in Russia at all — a place that until her detainment treated (and paid) her like the star that she is — if not for the excessive gendered chasm that exists in the paychecks of American professional athletes?

We know the answers to these questions. Now that she is coming home, what becomes of her legacy because of this time spent in the headlines off the court, off the sport page?

As Griner saw a wedding anniversary, a birthday and a WNBA season from behind the bars of a holding cell that could barely contain her towering figure, it became clear that much of the public knew of Griner only as a political pawn, rather than the generational athlete that she is — the first player to dunk in the WNBA.

Yet her Phoenix Mercury teammates, her coach, her fans and her family rallied around her, demanding that the campaign to bring her home safely stay center stage in the complex landscape of diplomatic imbroglios. At the WNBA All-Star game in Chicago last summer, players wore jerseys bearing her name and number — the historically significant 42 — during the second half of the game, while the league deemed Griner an honorary starter.

Seeing Griner’s name on that roster is part and parcel of a career with stats that are simply indisputable. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Griner is a seven-time WBNA All-Star. Her impact on the sport is the stuff that, well, legends are made of: in the gold medal game against Japan at the Tokyo Olympics last year, Griner hit 30 points on 14-of-18 shooting, adding five rebounds and three blocks to her card — a record for points scored by a US woman in a gold-medal game.

But now Griner’s legacy has taken a sharp turn, the magic she has conjured on the court replaced by images of her in that Russian holding cell, stories of the penal colony outside of Moscow where she recently was sent to serve the nine-year sentence handed down by the Russian court and repeated questions from those who still fail to understand why an elite American athlete chooses to play in Russia.

“If it was LeBron, he’d be home, right?” Griner’s coach, Vanessa Nygaard, asked last July. “It’s a statement about the value of women. It’s a statement about the value of a Black person. It’s a statement about the value of a gay person. All of those things. We know it, and so that’s what hurts a little more.”

Griner’s return, however, is no less political than her detainment. While properly deemed a victory for the Biden administration after a critical final midterm win in Georgia on Tuesday, and Griner’s freedom a joyous outcome worth its cost, the return of Bout also gives Vladimir Putin, who for months had been called noncommittal regarding a swap for Griner, a victory in a week when he likely felt he really needed one.

Amidst news that Russia’s campaign against Ukraine continues to fail on many levels, and Time’s naming of Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky as its 2022 Person of the Year, a statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about Bout celebrates the work to “rescue our compatriot” and affirms that the “Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.”

As for Griner, what comes next should be up to her, with questions of whether or not she will return to the court best left for another day. Instead of jumping into those narratives, perhaps we could pause, take a breath and think about how Griner’s nightmare has revealed so much about things that should never be glossed over. Cherelle Griner said it best at the White House: what must not be forgotten are those families, the Whelans especially included, who still are not whole.

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December 8, 2022