LEAGUE STORIES Who takes home the hardware for NBA MVP, ROY and DPOY awards?Zach Lowe, ESPN+ Top 50 USA Basketball players of all time: Ranking Kevin Durant, Lisa Leslie, Michael JordanJoe Vardon, The Athletic By the time [Lisa Leslie] played her last Olympic game, on Aug. 17, 2008 in Beijing, she had scored more points (881), grabbed more rebounds (431), or blocked more shots (54) in Olympic and FIBA competition than any man or woman to suit up for the Red, White and Blue. Those records, and two dozen others, still stand. Who is the League's Most Valuable Role Player?, What the Virginia Squ ..read more

LEAGUE STORIES NBA playoffs 2024: Which teams can make it out of the play-in tournamentStaff, ESPN LeBron James, Kevin Durant lead USA Basketball's national team rosterStaff, NBA.com The Roster: Adebayo, Booker, Curry, Davis, Durant, Edwards, Embiid, Haliburton, Holiday, James, Leonard, Tatum Eastern Conference Play-In PreviewsMarc Campbell, Low Man Help 2024 NBA playoff preview: Series breakdowns and predictionsBen Rohrbach, Yahoo Sports NBA bans Jontay Porter for providing info to bettors, gambling on basketball gamesJoe Vardon, The Athletic According to the results of a league investigatio ..read more

LEAGUEWIDE Play-in Tourney Preview Mike Shearer, Basketball Poetry 2024 NBA playoffs preview: Play-in predictions, first-round series guide John Hollinger, The Athletic Basketball Intelligence Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The Biggest Story Line for Each Play-In Game Zach Kram, The Ringer Play-In Tournament predictions Ian Levy, The Step Back NBA play-in teams’ chances of going on a to the NBA Finals, ranked Louis Zatzman, SBNation Kings vs. Warriors play-in game: Gary Payton II, Malik Monk ..read more

Mike Shearer and Ray LeBov chat with Nick Agar-Johnson of No Ceilings and Kings Weekly. They discuss a whole bunch of role players who have emerged unexpectedly to become key components of their team, including Miles McBride, Keon Ellis, Nikola Jovic, Coby White, Payton Pritchard, Peyton Watson, Derrick Jones Jr., and more. How did they get here? What’s been the key to their success? How sustainable is it? Tune in to find out ..read more

BOS: Pritchard powers up: Thoughts on his offensive surge over the past few months Adam Taylor, The Celtics Chronicle BKN: Cam Thomas made the most of third season — now he wants respect C.J. Holmes, NY Daily News BKN: Nets’ disappointing season ends with one final dud against 76ers Brian Lewis, NY Post BKN: A Curve-Free Grading Of The 2023-24 Nets Steve Lichtenstein, Steve’s Newsletter GSW: Warriors’ overachieving rookie duo set for intense play-in test Danny Emerman, East Bay Times GSW: Warriors take care of Jazz in finale, brace for tough postseason path Danny Emerman, East Bay Times GSW: C ..read more

TEAM-SPECIFIC BOS: A more consistent role spells success for Payton Pritchard Noa Dalzell, Celtics Blog DAL: Prosper's growth at G League evident in loss to Pistons| Eddie Sefko, Mavs.com DAL: 5 Biggest X-factors for Dallas Mavericks ahead of 2024 NBA Playoffs Noah Weber, The Smoking Cuban DAL: Mavs-Thunder preview: Much at stake for one of the teams in Game 82 Eddie Sefko, NBA.com DEN: Nuggets’ stunning collapse in San Antonio could cost them multiple playoff rounds of home-court advantage: “This is stuff we should have learned already” Bennett Durando, Denver Post DEN: Nuggets playoff scenar ..read more

TEAM-SPECIFIC ATL: Hawks lose to Timberwolves, drop fifth consecutive game Lauren Williams, AJC BKN: Sean Marks returning as GM for next season with pivotal coaching hire looming Brian Lewis, NY Post BI Note, This is a difficult statement to fully unpack, lacking internal consistency, even beyond the this/that muddled discrepancy: “ Joe and I will make this decision, and he has given me no reason to believe that I won’t be able to make that decision.” BOS: Pritchard breaks out for career night Brian Robb, Mass Live BOS: There is no substitute for winning, as Celtics prove by routing Hornets wi ..read more

TEAM-SPECIFIC BKN: Noah Clowney impressive in second NBA start Bridget Reilly, NY Post BOS: There’s no need to overreact, but loss to Knicks highlighted some of the Celtics’ weaknesses Gary Washburn, Boston Globe BOS: Behind the succession plan for legendary broadcaster Mike Gorman’s retirement Christopher Scarglato, NY Post BOS: The Celtics’ last two losses were a result of desperation. Just not theirs Jack Simone, Celtics Blog (The Celtics) ran into two squads fighting for their playoff spots while simultaneously not needing to care about the games’ results. The outcome was a brutal viewing ..read more

LEAGUEWIDE STORIES Picking Every Award on the NBA’s 2023-24 BallotMichael Pina, The Ringer David Thorpe’s contendersDavid Thorpe, Kram Session: Eight Numbers to Know Ahead of the 2024 NBA PlayoffsZach Kram, The Ringer The Warriors aren’t the NBA’s smallest team by weight, however; that would be the Thunder, with stringbean Chet Holmgren at center. Oklahoma City’s average team weight, based on B-Ref figures, is just 199.6 pounds, followed by the Warriors at 206.9 pounds as the only other team below 210. Interestingly, the Thunder have a top-10 defense, but none of the next eight lightest teams ..read more

LEAGUEWIDE Power Rankings, Week 25: 1 thing to watch for every team as season nears end John Schuhmann, NBA.com Power Rankings: Joel Embiid's return fuels huge 76ers jump, Bucks searching for answers in final week Colin Ward-Henninger, CBS Sports Joel Embiid, 76ers have tricky road out of Play-In + thoughts on Mavericks, Rockets and more John Hollinger, The Athletic The 2024 All-Dubin Teams: My favorite non-star players to watch this season Jared Dubin, Last Night In Basketball Zach Edey, Donovan Clingan beg question: Does NBA have room for behemoth centers? John Hollinger, The Athletic NBA Aw ..read more