Kobe Bryant

NBA Finals 3-Point Shooting, A History

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We didn’t get an official prediction for this year’s Finals out publicly, but I was pretty much on board with the conventional wisdom that Oklahoma City was a prohibitive favorite over the Pacers.  I expected OKC’s defense to match up well against Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam.  I also expected that the Pacers’ lack of a physically dominating center would allow Chet Holmgren to be quite effective.  In other words, I thought this would be yet another 4-1 win for the favored team in the … [Read more...] about NBA Finals 3-Point Shooting, A History

Examining the 50-Point Explosions

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March 2022 has featured eight 50-point games so far.  According to NBA.com, this month has had the most 50-point games since there were nine in December 1962 (six by Wilt Chamberlain and three by Elgin Baylor).  In the early 1960s, with the fast pace and the existence of Wilt, 50-point games were quite commonplace.  But now we have seen 50-point games emerge more often and, sometimes, from more random players like Saddiq Bey, a good player but quite surprising 50-point guy.  … [Read more...] about Examining the 50-Point Explosions

Playoff Quick Thoughts (West Edition)

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Let’s continue with Part 2 of our First Round review, the Western Conference (Part 1 can be found here)…. -Jazz v. Grizzlies:  The Grizzlies have hung tough but are down 2-1, despite shocking the Jazz by beating top seeded Utah in the first game.  That got me wondering how often a top NBA seed has dropped Game 1 of a First Round series and what happened thereafter.  We will limit the inquiry a bit to span from 2002-03, when the NBA changed the First Round to the seven game … [Read more...] about Playoff Quick Thoughts (West Edition)

Quick Thoughts

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1. All-Star Game A Mistake?:  It looks like we will have an  NBA All-Star game this year even though the pandemic has made things more complicated.  Even in the best of the times, the All-Star game was of dubious utility to more hardcore fans.  We have written repeatedly about our ambivalence towards the All-Star game, as the defensive effort, has noticeably waned over the years to the point where the NBA finally tweaked the rules last year to get a competitive fourth quarter … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

Q&A With Jeff Pearlman on Three-Ring Circus, Kobe, Shaq, and More

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On September 22, 2020, Jeff Pearlman released “Thee-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty.”  Jeff is a prolific sports writer who has written books on the 1986 Mets, Walter Payton, the 1990s Cowboys, Brett Favre, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens.  On the basketball side, he wrote the well-received “Showtime” in 2013 about the Magic Johnson Lakers, for which he sat down with me for a fun interview.  The book was a fascinating and detailed account of … [Read more...] about Q&A With Jeff Pearlman on Three-Ring Circus, Kobe, Shaq, and More

The Kobe FAQ

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It’s hard to fully process the terrible circumstances surrounding Kobe Bryant’s death last week.  Yes, there are other tragedies in the world that are worthy of note (as well as eight other people, including young children who died with Kobe) but this was horrid on many levels.  Rather than dwell on this terrible part of his story, I thought this would be a good time to do a detailed FAQ (as we have with a bunch NBA greats who have retired), remembering his story and some of the forgotten … [Read more...] about The Kobe FAQ

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