Don't be Kenny Smith; Redick blasts Rivers; the Knicks are back; How about that ASG?

Deadspin Bot|published: Sat 24th February, 09:00 2024

credits: ESPN | source: Getty Images AP

Kenny Smith ruined Sabrina Ionescu’s moment

Sabrina Ionescu source: Getty Images

You don’t have to put on the pom-poms for Sabrina Ionescu or women’s sports, but too many broadcasters are happy to communicate that women’s participation, or records, or fandom is somehow less than.

That’s not apathy, it’s full-on shade. - Jane McManus

Adam Silver source: Getty Images

You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. But the only way to improve your jump shot is through shot correction. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is realizing that a shot his league took a few years ago — that many thought looked good when it came off their hands — was always going to be an airball. - Carron J. Phillips

Head coach Doc Rivers of the Milwaukee Bucks speaks to the media source: Getty Images

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers has been at the center of an accountability conversation since taking over for Adrian Griffin before the All-Star break.

JJ Redick called out Rivers over his lack of accountability through the years, and it didn’t take long for the likes of Patrick Beverley and Doc’s son Austin to defend him. - Criss Partee

[object Object] JJ Redick credits: ESPN

Former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick is tired of Doc Rivers’ excuses. The First Take host went off on his former coach Tuesday morning, saying how he’s “seen the trend for years. - Criss Partee

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The New York Knicks won the NBA trade deadline, fleecing the Detroit Pistons for Bojan Bogdanović and Alec Burks. They added the backup playmaker and off-the-bench scoring they were missing to reach championship contention. Fully healthy, and despite their recent injury-induced hiccup, the Knicks can and will— you heard it here first — win the championship this season. Holy crap, Knicks fans, it’s happening. To fully appreciate the present reality of the New York Knicks as contenders and Jalen Brunson as the best point guard in the world, you must first accept what Knicks fans survived to get here. - Lee Escobedo

Ashley Scoggin source: AP

A former women’s basketball player at the University of Nebraska is suing the program for not stepping in and taking appropriate action when her relationship with an assistant coach became public. - Mackenzie Meaney

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As the NBA has observed its golden era of efficiency proliferate from more streamlined offenses to load management run amok, elements of the league have fallen by the wayside. Marquee hoopers play fewer minutes, fewer games and now they barely expend energy or cross halfcourt during All-Star Weekend’s showcase game. The Slam Dunk Contest’s main event has been a shallow kiddie pool for nearly two decades. Jaylen Brown was the first All-Star to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest since DeAndre Jordan in 2017. - DJ Dunson

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There have been as many takedowns of NBA All-Star Weekend as there were points in the All-Star Game. Everyone has a fix, a solution, or a diatribe over how disgusting it was to watch the best basketball players on the planet obliterate the game’s point total. It would take your average Y-league team four games to accumulate 397 points, and these guys did it in 48 minutes.

What’s not to like? - Sean Beckwith

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Michael Jordan will always be synonymous with the Chicago Bulls. Same thing for Magic Johnson with the Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Bird with the Boston Celtics.

But since the turn of the 21st Century, some teams have gone a decade without a face of the franchise. On the flip side, we have seen some generational talent represent teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Lakers and Golden State Warriors, becoming intrinsically linked forever. - Lee Escobedo

source: Getty Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder have executed one of the shortest rebuilding periods in NBA history.

Since the breakup of the Kevin Durant/Russell Westbrook pairing, leading into the current Thunder 2.0, only lasted three seasons of extreme tanking.

Those losing efforts netted them the sixth pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, the second and 12th pick in 2022, and the 12th pick last summer. Those picks landed them the problematic Josh Giddey, the future of the center position and Rookie of the Year favorite Chet Holmgren and future All-Star Jalen Williams, along with a draft-night swap with Dallas for Cason Wallace. Those four players are all crucial parts of the current core. - Lee Escobedo