NBA

Greg Monroe is an evil genius. Minus the evil part. And maybe the genius part, too. People with nothing better to do—so, me—were up in arms when Monroe signed his qualifying offer in restricted free agency this past summer rather than ink an offer sheet with another team or long-term contract with the Detroit Pistons. [...]

Almost as soon as the Charlotte Hornets signed Lance Stephenson they wanted to trade him. That itself is almost a true story. Now that Dec. 15 has come to pass and NBA free agents who signed contracts over the summer can be traded, the Hornets are ready to move Stephenson, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein: [...]

It finally happened. Injuries delayed the occasion, but on Sunday night, Kobe Bryant passed Michael Jordan for No. 3 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. He clinched the honor with a pair of free throws midway through the second quarter and went on to tally 26 points in total, giving him 32,310 for his career, [...]

So this is why Byron Scott doesn’t have Kobe Bryant practice regularly. Here we all were thinking it was to offset the minutes that the 36-year-old Bryant is playing, yet totally shouldn’t be playing. Kobe leads the league in minutes played. At 36. Nineteen years into his career. For a six-win Los Angeles Lakers team. [...]

Ever imagine Stephen Curry, the greatest shooter in NBA history, playing alongside Ray Allen, who used be the greatest shooter in NBA history? Me too. I may or may not have tried such a pairing in NBA 2k for an entire dynasty. There was just something about the triumvirate of Curry, Allen and Klay Thompson that [...]

Rajon Rondo will not go gently into the good night. Whatever that means. Really, the All-Star point guard just won’t allow himself to be removed from the top-three NBA player conversation—which is weird, because, ya know, he’s never, ever been part of that discussion. “The top three NBA players in the league right now,” he said [...]

Shaquille O’Neal has some words of wisdom for the stumbling, bumbling, fumbling, potentially feuding New York Knicks. Trust Phil Jackson and the famed triangle offense. I’m paraphrasing, of course. That’s not Shaq’s message verbatim, but it’s close. The Big Aristotle went on  SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio channel on Tuesday and talked with Stephen A. Smith [...]

Pssst. Hey! You! Guess what? The Philadelphia 76ers are not the worst team in the NBA right now. True freaking story. Also, pssst! The Chicago Bulls amnestied Carlos Boozer and somehow regressed on the defensive end. Ignoring every other piece of context—Pau Gasol’s arrival, Derrick Rose’s return, Nikola Mirotic’s and Doug McDermott’s inexperience—that’s pretty funny. [...]

Dion Waiters’ trade value might be lower than yours. It was widely assumed that Waiters would struggle to function within the Cavaliers’ position-less offense that already included the ball-dominating Kyrie Irving and LeBron James as well as another superstar ego to placate in Kevin Love. Waiters has never been much of a spot-up shooter and [...]

When Phil Jackson first arrived at Madison Square Garden to assume control of the Knicks, he did so preaching patience, process and transparency. Most of what Jackson said then has held true. Most importantly, he hasn’t been invisible, hiding behind a crazy-strict media policy. But he hasn’t been incredibly visible either. Or rather, chatty. He [...]