Playoff winners are expected to go back down, but their owner is optimistic and is investing in the squad
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 20th (NB: this is not necessarily Louise Taylor’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 6th (Championship)
Continue reading...After receiving public criticism for his physical condition, young Philadelphia Flyers star Matvei Michkov has left no doubts about his offseason training heading into Year 3 of his fledgling NHL career.
Michkov, 21, has trained relentlessly this summer, working out with fellow Russian standouts like Artemi Panarin, while also revealing a workout regimen that, at times, consisted of multiple sessions a day with the oversight of a Flyers coach.
The 2023 No. 7 overall pick has clearly taken the way his sophomore season went to heart, and there is some added motivation, we can assume, with Michkov heading into the last year of his entry-level contract.
In a new social media post made by Michkov, we can see the fruits of his labor thus far. Seriously, the kid is looking good!
Matvei Michkov apparently still training, recovering in a hot/ice tub pic.twitter.com/BHICeJHafe
— Jonathan Bailey (@ByJonBailey) August 16, 2026
It should be noted, too, that Michkov led the Flyers in scoring after the Olympic break, dedicating his time off to further training and catching up to his teammates in terms of physical conditioning and game conditioning.
Things came to a screeching halt in the Stanley Cup playoffs with one point in eight games, but without Michkov, there may not have been any playoffs for the Flyers to begin with.
With little in the way of offseason additions, the Flyers are hoping that the 21-year-old phenom, rejuvenated and even more experienced than before, can serve as one, in a way.
The Flyers and Michkov each have a lot riding on this season from their respective sides, and a strong season on the ice will reap mutual rewards.
Fortunately, things seem to be trending in the right direction, with Michkov impressively taking initiative to correct his perceived his lack of fitness.
Olympic tennis event begins three days after Wimbledon
Rybakina: ‘It’s crazy … hopefully something will change’
Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and a number of top tennis players have called for changes to the calendar in light of the “crazy” and “ridiculous” news that the tennis competition in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will begin just three days after Wimbledon ends.
The LA28 Olympics announced last month that the tennis event will take place between 19 and 28 July. With the Wimbledon 2028 men’s final on 16 July, the best performers at the tournament will have minimal time to fly to a different continent and adapt from grass to hard courts.
Continue reading...
If there was one certainty about the Lakers’ offseason, it was that change was coming. But no one could have expected change to this degree.
With several players going out — namely team cornerstone LeBron James — and several coming in, the roster looks drastically different from what it did this time last year. Even with the known probability that a makeover was looming, what was startling was that it was a teardown, not a renovation.
The shuffling of the pro personnel was radical on its own. However, what took everyone by surprise was the recent news that the franchise would also be changing ownership for the second time in just 14 months.
After only a little over a year since taking over the team from the Buss family (who previously controlled it for the past 46 years), Mark Walter sold the Lakers to former CEO of Disney Bob Iger and venture capitalist Josh Kushner.
Understandably, the news sent shockwaves throughout the NBA. It also raised serious questions. The suspicious timing of the sale amidst Walter’s ongoing FBI investigation was one thing, but seeing the league’s crown jewel flipped like a piece of real estate was another.
Before the sale, the Lakers seemed to have a fresh direction. They had clarity. With Walter and the ongoing Dodgerfication of the organization, the team seemed on track to finally catch up to the rest of the league in terms of modernization. The roster changes also supported this, with a clear emphasis on building directly around the new face of the franchise, Luka Dončić.
What was meant to be the first chapter of a new book suddenly was scrapped just months before it was set to hit shelves. And with new authors now in charge of the rewrite, the team’s fans are once again left uncertain about what comes next.
Natural questions such as: How invested will Iger and Kushner be in day-to-day operations? Is this just another business coup for a new set of wealthy investors? How deep actually are their wallets? What happens to the changes Walter began to implement? And perhaps most important for the fanbase, what impact will the new ownership have on the on-court product?
The Lakers were already heading into the year at a continuity deficit before all the changes at the top. With likely three new starters, a revamped bench, and a younger-leaning group overall, the team will have to find stability on the court in the face of all of the changes off of it.
While easier said than done, there may be optimism they will be able to expedite the chemistry process faster than a typical team of new players.
For one, the team’s new star duo remains intact with Dončić and Austin Reaves. Losing James obviously hurts, but he already began to take on a smaller role compared to his younger peers as the season progressed. Also returning are head coach JJ Redick and the rest of his staff, who have already shown an impressive ability to generate buy-in from new players previously.
Speaking of the new set of Lakers, it’s worth noting how many of them will arrive with some degree of built-in chemistry. Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton spent three seasons together in Utah. Quentin Grimes and Jaden Hardy both played with Dončić. And when looking further down the bench, Ziaire Williams and Bronny James were high school teammates at Sierra Canyon.
The importance of building chemistry right away seems to be a point of emphasis as Dončić is organizing a team-wide mini-camp in Slovenia this month. While not an uncommon occurrence in the offseason, it is an encouraging step towards bringing the group together, especially given how many of the new players signed multi-year deals.
For better or for worse, this is the core going forward. And if successful, it will be the backbone of bringing stability back to a franchise currently in limbo.
Ultimately, the fastest way to build cohesion and block the outside noise will be getting onto the court and, hopefully, winning.
There is no understating the sheer magnitude of the ripple effects that this summer will have for years to come. Time will reveal more details, and time will reveal the results. Yet for this group of Lakers players and their fans, shifting the focus back onto basketball itself will help make things feel less slimy than they currently do.
Owners, while important, should not be the beginning of a basketball conversation. The sooner we can get back to talking about the intricacies of a Dončić and Kessler pick-and-roll or the impact of Sexton’s driving ability instead of yet another rich person’s ROI the better.
All stats courtesy of Cleaning the Glass unless otherwise stated. You can follow Alex on Bluesky at @alexregla.bsky.social.
The Montreal Canadiens should be open to the possibility of bringing in a player on a professional tryout (PTO) agreement for training camp. There are some free agents left who could be interesting players for the Canadiens to take a look at with a PTO.
One specific UFA forward who could make sense for the Canadiens to sign to a PTO is winger Michael Bunting.
When looking at Montreal's current roster, it would not hurt for them to add more depth on the wing. A player like Bunting would be an intriguing player for them to take a chance on, as he has shown during his career that he can provide decent secondary offensive production. He is also known for his pesky style of play, so he could give Montreal's lineup more bite, too.
If Bunting impressed on a PTO with the Canadiens and earned a contract for the season, he could offer them another solid option for their bottom six. He could provide Montreal with more depth scoring, which would not be a bad thing in the slightest for the Original Six club.
Bunting appeared in 74 games during the 2025-26 season, where he recorded 14 goals and 33 points. This was after he posted 19 goals and 38 points in 79 games during the 2024-25 campaign. With numbers like these, he could give Montreal's bottom six a bit of a boost if signed to a short-term deal.
Buffalo Sabres prospect Stiven Sardarian was thought to be headed to unrestricted free agency. The 2021 third rounder did not sign an entry-level deal with the Sabres before August 15, but according to Puckpedia, the 23-year-old has to submit paperwork to NHL Central Registry “indicating that he is no longer an undergraduate college student”, which would allow him to sign with another NHL club.
There are no indications that Sardarian has filed the paperwork with the NHL, and that means the club retains his rights until he does.
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The 23-year-old Russian winger played in the USHL after being selected 88th overall and two years at the University of New Hampshire before using the NCAA transfer portal to go to Michigan Tech, where he led the club with 35 points (11 goals, 24 assists) in 35 games as a junior and 44 points (12 goals, 32 assists) in 37 games as a senior.
It is possible that the Sabres could sign Sardarian to an AHL deal, which would not take up an NHL contract slot, as they did with current Amerk forward Matteo Costantini after his senior season at Western Michigan. Clubs are limited to 50 pro contracts, but currently Buffalo has 44 players signed to NHL deals, so taking up a slot would not seem to be a concern.
The Amerks are in need of replenishment in terms of forward prospects since 2021 first rounder Isak Rosen and 2023 second rounder Anton Wahlberg were traded, and both Noah Ostlund, and Konsta Helenius are expected to be playing in the NHL full-time next season, so it is possible that Sardarian could be added before training camp. It is also possible that the former CSKA Moscow product could head back to Russia to play professionally.
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Former members of the Vancouver Canucks will take the spotlight in this off-season article series. From those skating with new NHL teams heading into the 2026–27 season to those who are now playing for international clubs, these featured players have skated in at least one game at the NHL level as a member of the Canucks.
Today’s segment will take a look at the former Canucks that are expected to play in the AHL’s Eastern Conference during the 2026–27 season.
As it stands, 20 ex-Canucks are projected to be playing in the AHL for the 2026–27 season. Seven of these 20 will be playing for teams in the Atlantic Division and five will play in the North Division.
Jiří Patera: Spent two seasons as a goaltender for the Abbotsford Canucks and started in one game for Vancouver in 2025–26, facing 40 shots and stopping 33 in a loss to the Florida Panthers. Signed a one-year deal with the Bruins in free-agency.
Brendan Gaunce: The 26th-overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Skated in 117 NHL games for Vancouver from 2015–16 to 2018–19, making his NHL debut on October 29, 2015. Signed with the Bruins in free-agency in 2019–20, also playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild before returning to Boston in 2026.
*Lukas Reichel: Acquired by Vancouver via trade on October 24, 2025. Played in 14 games with the Canucks before being sent down to Abbotsford and eventually traded to the Bruins. Listed on Boston’s roster but also spent time with Providence in 2025–26.
*Michael DiPietro: A third-round pick for Vancouver in the 2017 NHL Draft. Played in three games for the Canucks before being traded to Boston in 2022. Named AHL Regular-Season MVP in 2026. Listed on Boston’s roster for 2026–27 but played predominantly in the AHL in 2025–26.
Jack Studnicka: Joined Vancouver via trade for DiPietro and prospect Jonathan Myrenberg in October of 2022. Skated in 52 games for the Canucks in 2022–23 and 2023–24 before being dealt to the San Jose Sharks. Played for the Ontario Reign, Panthers, and Charlotte Checkers before heading to Philadelphia.
Justin Dowling: Played in 22 games for the Canucks in 2021–22, scoring two goals and two assists. Spent the 2022–23 season with Abbotsford, putting up 46 points in 56 games before heading to the New Jersey Devils the season after. Signed a two-year contract with the New York Rangers during the 2025 free-agency period.
Spencer Martin: Acquired by Vancouver via the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021. Faced 50 shots in his second game for the Canucks on January 25, 2022. Finished the 2021–22 season with a 1.74 GAA and .950 SV% in six games. Claimed off waivers by Columbus in September of 2023. Split 2025–26 with CSKA Moskva, Hartford, and the Rangers.
Ethan Bear: Traded to Vancouver from Carolina in October 2022. Scored three goals and 13 assists in 61 games with the Canucks in 2022–23. Signed with the Washington Capitals in 2023–24 and later the New York Islanders in 2025.
Matthew Highmore: Acquired by Vancouver in exchange for Adam Gaudette in April of 2021. Skated in 64 games for the Canucks through the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons, registering a career-high of 12 points in a single season in 46 games played in 2021–22. Signed by the St. Louis Blues in free-agency in 2022.
Jack Rathbone: Fourth-round pick for Vancouver in 2017. Made his NHL debut on May 4, 2021 against the Edmonton Oilers and scored his first NHL goal the game after on May 6. Averaged over a point-per-game with Abbotsford in 2021–22 (40 points, 39 GP). Traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in October of 2023.
Aidan McDonough: Selected in the seventh-round of the 2019 NHL Draft by Vancouver. Made his NHL debut on March 26, 2023 against the Chicago Blackhawks and played in six games for the Canucks that season. Signed a one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres for 2026–27.
Cole McWard: Free-agent college signing by Vancouver in 2023. Skated in five games for the Canucks during the 2022–23 season but spent the bulk of his time with the organization in Abbotsford. Won the Calder Cup in 2025 before signing with the Islanders organization. Signed a two-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2026 off-season.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, and the organization’s developmental model has begun to yield results, with 2023 first rounder Zach Benson making an impact in the playoffs, and 2024 top pick Konsta Helenius appearing as one of the AHL’s top prospects the last two seasons.
Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. These players are all 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 82 NHL games.
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23. Olivers Murnieks - Center (Saint John - QMJHL)
The Sabres top two picks in the 2026 Draft came as a result of trades. The fourth overall pick, used to select Daxon Rudolph, was acquired in the deal that sent Bowen Byram to Chicago. The 20th overall pick, used to select center Ilya Morozov, was part of the deal that sent defenseman Michael Kesselring to San Jose.
Buffalo did not have a second or third round pick, and in the fourth round, they selected center Olivers Murnieks. The 18-year-old Latvian has extensive international experience leading into his draft year, playing for his home country in the IIHF Wrodl Junior Under-18’s in 2024 and 2025, the Under-20’s in 2025 and 2026, and the World Championships last May in Switzerland.
After playing his youth hockey in Latvia, the 6’1”, 192 lb. forward came to North America in 2024-25 to play in the USHL with Sioux City, posting 35 points (15 goals, 20 assists) in 52 games. Last season, Murnieks shifted to the QMJHL, putting up 20 points (7 goals, 13 assists) in 31 games for the Saint John Sea Dogs. He is committed to Boston College after another year in the Q.
Elite Prospects says that Murnieks has “incredible off-puck awareness and a high-end compete level. He forechecks with intent, throws early hits to separate, gains inside positioning, climbs the wall, and drives the net.”
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As players keep signing huge contracts left, right, and center in the NHL, Noah Dobson remains the Montreal Canadiens’ highest-paid player with a $9.5 million cap hit, and some are starting to wonder if the Habs players won’t eventually regret signing those deals. However, when Juraj Slafkovsky was asked about that at the Hockey Player of the Year gala in Slovakia, his answer was pretty clear:
It’s not really about the money for anyone there (in Montreal). We all have the same goal on that team. Nobody really cares about the money at this point. I mean, all those contracts that the guys have, or even I personally have, it’s already made our lives easier enough. Nobody really needs more than that. We’d rather focus on collecting those (Stanley Cup) rings, because that’s a much bigger number, and I don’t think any amount of money can top that.- Slafkovsky at the Hockey Player of the Year gala
That’s the party line that has been established in Montreal, and there’s no denying that everyone seems to have bought in right now. For now, the Canadiens are in an excellent salary-cap position; we’ll see if they can stay there when their top players start needing new contracts. At the end of the 2029-30 season, in four years, captain Nick Suzuki will be up for a new contract; in five years, it will be Cole Caufield and Kaiden Guhle’s turn; then, in 2033, Slafkovsky and Dobson will be needing new contracts.
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That’s the reality of a salary cap league: no matter how well you build a franchise, nothing is eternal, and a GM’s job is never done. As of now, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have assembled a formidable group, but they have yet to make use of the money the players have left on the table to bring in extra reinforcements. If they can’t manage to do that, it may be harder to sell the players on the idea that they are increasing their odds of winning the Stanley Cup by accepting less money.
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Colorado enters today at 49-74, two games behind the 51-72 Giants for fourth place in the NL West.
The Rockies are bad. I know the Rockies are bad. But I am still completely invested in these guys.
And for all the ugliness in the standings, there is still plenty worth caring about today:
A win would give the Rockies the season series, finish their nine-game road trip with a winning record, and pull them within one game of San Francisco inside the division.
The Rockies took Friday night’s opener before dropping Saturday’s game 7-1 after one miserable fourth inning put the Giants in control.
Rookie right-hander Gabriel Hughes gets the ball for Colorado in his seventh major-league start.
Hughes enters at 0-4 with a 5.61 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 31 strikeouts across 33.2 innings.
He posted a 3.33 ERA across 24.1 innings through his first five major-league appearances, four of them starts. Over his last two starts, Hughes has allowed 12 earned runs in 9.1 innings.
The underlying contact numbers remain considerably better than the ERA. Hughes owns a 3.03 xERA, while hitters have barreled only 4.1% of their batted balls against him with a 29.6% hard-hit rate.
Hughes throws his four-seam fastball roughly 57% of the time. It averages a little over 92 mph, though his 6.9 feet of extension helps it play a little faster, and he works five secondary pitches around it.
The concern lately has been his strike-throwing and ability to get hitters to expand.
Hughes had been at or above a 50% zone rate before falling to 41% two starts ago and 45% in his most recent outing. His fastball velocity was also down nearly a full mile per hour last time out.
His ability to get hitters to expand outside the zone has slipped, too. Hughes generated only a 19% chase rate in his last start.
When Hughes gets ahead, the secondary pitches give him enough ways to finish at-bats. The question is whether he can get back into those counts often enough.
The Giants counter with the recently recalled Blade Tidwell, who enters at 0-0 with a 2.78 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 19 strikeouts across 22.2 innings. Today will be his 11th appearance of the season but only his third start.
The 25-year-old right-hander is attacking hitters very differently than he did during his 2025 debut: His sweeper has jumped from 22% usage last season to 38% this year, while the four-seamer has fallen from 39% to 34%.
So far, that change has shown up in how hitters are reacting to him. Tidwell’s chase rate has climbed from 20.8% to 28.1%, while hitters have made contact on just 38.9% of their swings outside the zone after doing so 62.5% of the time last season. His walk rate has also fallen from 12.8% to 5.5%.
The sweeper was especially effective in his last outing, accounting for 12 of Tidwell’s 16 swings and misses.
But today’s matchup adds another layer to that profile.
Tidwell has led with the four-seam fastball 39% of the time against lefties, followed by the sweeper at 31%. Against righties, the sweeper jumps to 45% while the fastball drops to 29%.
Jordan Beck is the only Rockies hitter who will bat right-handed today, giving Tidwell eight left-handed looks.
The early platoon results make that construction even more interesting. Left-handed hitters have an .836 OPS against Tidwell across 44 batters faced this season, compared with a .373 OPS from right-handers across 47. Those are small samples, but they give the Rockies plenty of reason to make Tidwell prove the split will not hold.
Colorado has been aggressive early in counts this season, but it cannot let that aggression turn into easy chases when Tidwell goes with the sweeper.
Hunter Goodman remains out of the lineup after being scratched Saturday with shoulder inflammation. Zac Veen gets another start in right field, while Adael Amador will make his first start in the field since returning to the majors. He pinch-hit Saturday but had not appeared in the field in the big leagues since last season.
The details…
First Pitch: 2:05 p.m. MDT
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
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Good morning A’s fans! The series finale is this afternoon as the A’s will look again for win #49 this year. The late collapse last night sent the Athletics into sole possession of last place in all of baseball so the club will need to get the win and get a bit of help if they’re going to climb out of it tonight.
Before we get to the game, the Athletics announced a somewhat major roster move. Left fielder Tyler Soderstrom is heading back to the IL thanks to that hip issue that’s bothered him this year, with infielder Darell Hernaiz coming up to take his roster spot:
The writing is on the wall that Sodey’s season is likely over, joining Brent Rooker and Nick Kurtz as season-enders. This was the first year of Soderstrom’s seven-year, $86 million extension and he took a step back in just about every category. Hips can be tricky and with the season lost and just six weeks left it’s time to shut him down. We need our Gold Glove-caliber, slugging left fielder to help lead this team next year and we can’t afford any setbacks.
If he’s really done for the year he’ll finish with a .245/.338/.472 slash line with 19 long balls. He was still roughly 20% better than the league average but the team was probably hoping for more growth from the 24-year-old. Chalk it up to the hip issue for now, and make sure it isn’t a concern that lingers into next year. He’s still got his entire physical prime ahead of him and the A’s will have him locked in for those years. Expect lots of Zack Gelof in left field for the remainder of the year.
Meanwhile Hernaiz will get another chance in the big leagues, but with all the highly-rated infield prospects coming up at this point it’s hard to imagine him being anything more than a depth piece for the club moving forward. There’s value in that, but we need to see as much of the younger guys like Tommy White, Max Muncy (and maybe Joshua Kuroda-Grauer if he’s able to return?) as possible over these final weeks. We know what we’re getting out of Hernaiz at this point.
Now, to the game. For today’s series finale it’s lefty Jacob Lopez on the bump for the Green & Gold and he’ll be looking to continue his strong return to the starting rotation. In his past four starts he’s been much more consistent and stable, looking much more like the arm that made an impression last year. The Athletics’ pitching depth is among the worst in the league but getting Lopez back to pitching well would help in offseason planning for the front office, even if they consider him to be a depth option at best.
Here’s how manager Mark Kotsay decided to line his squad up this afternoon for the homestand and series finale:
Shortstop Jacob Wilson returns to the lineup after the HBP on his hand in Friday’s series opener. Thank god. This team can’t afford anymore injuries, especially to the core guys.
We have a very similar lineup to yesterday, which as you may recall only produced a three-run home run off the bat of rookie center fielder Henry Bolte, who is back in the leadoff spot today. It’s Gelof, Wilson, Heim, White and Butler right behind him, with the only change being Wilson taking Jeff McNeil’s spot in the three hole. Muncy is today’s DH, making way for Hernaiz at third.
Facing them today is lefty Cody Bradford. Once considered one of the Rangers’ top pitching prospects, Bradford missed all of last year and only just recently returned a couple weeks ago from a tough elbow injury that required surgery. The 27-year-old doesn’t look like he’s missed much of a beat in his two starts since rejoining the Rangers, first going 4 1/3 shutout innings against the Giants before seven full frames against the Angels while allowing only three runs. How will the Athletics’ cool offense do today against an arm still possibly shaking off the rust?
And Texas’ starting nine this afternoon looks like this:
Gotta win today and we need some help to get out of last place. Not just in our division, but in all of baseball. We can’t end the year here. Start winning guys! Let’s go A’s!
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Texas Rangers @ West Sacramento Athletics
Sunday, August 16, 2026, 3:05 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)
Sutter Health Park
LHP Cody Bradford vs. LHP Jacob Lopez
Go Rangers!
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Former Phoenix Suns coach Mike D’Antoni and his longtime big man with Phoenix and the New York Knicks, Amar’e Stoudemire, are two of the nine inductees entering the Naismith Hall of Fame this weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts.
But as Stoudemire and D’Antoni become forever enshrined in basketball history, it was their willingness to be different that helped them forge legendary careers. After years of coaching in the NBA and Italy, D’Antoni implemented the “7 seconds or less” offense once Steve Nash came back to Phoenix. The system is considered the catalyst for the fast, three-point-heavy offense that many NBA teams run today, and Stoudemire was the All-NBA big man who manned the paint for it.
Going 31-4 to start the 2004-05 season, winning 54 or more games in four straight seasons and making the Western Conference Finals in two straight seasons, Phoenix separated itself from the competition through its willingness to play unconventionally. The “7 seconds or less” offense was designed to give players ample opportunities to score and make plays, which is why D’Antoni thinks players bought in.
“We went where everybody can eat. Instead of that guy posting up this guy all the time, or going to a specific spot with the ball every time, we let everybody feed, and boy, they just bought in and went with it,” D’Antoni said. “It’s easy also to put the team first when your stats are strong because everybody wants to earn money, and you got to earn money by having stats in a career year.”
Someone eager to play in the new offense? Stoudemire. Despite being one of the youngest players on the team and going from playing power forward to center, he wanted to set the tone for his teammates by accepting the change without any qualms.
“I wanted to be a team player. Obviously, I had goals and wanted to be the best and dominate and show the world how good I am, but I also was willing to be a team player, and I think for me as a leader, you want your teammates to be leaders also,” Stoudemire said.
That leadership, he credits not just to D’Antoni but also to his “throwbacks,” as he called them: teammate Scott Williams, Suns broadcaster Eddie Johnson and team security guard Kevin Tucker. In his early days, when he was too young to go out to bars and clubs, he would hang around them because they provided him with “positive leadership,” which he feels put him on the right path. That leadership helped make the first year of “7 seconds or less” a memorable one during Stoudemire’s NBA tenure.
In the 2004-05 season, Stoudemire arguably had the best season of his career, making the All-Star team, averaging a career-high 26 points per game and receiving All-NBA Second Team honors while helping the Suns secure the best record in the NBA. Stoudemire, Nash, who won league MVP, and Shawn Marion were the first trio of teammates in NBA history at the time to earn All-NBA honors. Stoudemire and the team’s open-minded approach to D’Antoni’s new offense helped the system gel early and often. He says that everything came naturally in training camp.
“We all were in top shape, ready to go. And from training camp, we saw something special. We saw the style of play and the speed we were playing with,” Stoudemire said. “I was at my athleticism peak, and we had Shawn Marion, who was a brilliant floor runner and Swiss Army knife type of player, and Nash was the pass-first guy who could get the ball to whoever was hot.”
Along with Nash and this year’s two inductees, Grant Hill and Shaquille O’Neal were also members of the Suns during the 2000s who are in the Hall of Fame. D’Antoni coached only Hill, but Stoudemire played with both of them.
While they didn’t win a championship and break the franchise’s title drought, their impact on the game hasn’t been forgotten by people who covered the team, including Suns broadcaster Tom Leander.
Even once D’Antoni left the Suns to coach the Knicks, his impact on the organization remained strong. When Alvin Gentry took over as head coach in 2009 after the team fired Terry Porter, he tried to keep the offense the same.
“I just remember that when I took over, the one thing that I was gonna do was we were gonna go back to what I call ‘Phoenix Suns basketball,’ the ‘7 seconds or less’ days,” Gentry said.
Playing D’Antoni’s style of offense, the team scored 140 points in each of Gentry’s first three games as coach.
D’Antoni doesn’t give himself the credit other people do, but he feels the offense he ran in Phoenix was validated by how the Golden State Warriors have run their offense for so many years and won four championships.
“They’re playing the way that we played because we did it kind of without analytics, and we didn’t have that knowledge yet, and so now they do it with analytics telling them that’s the way to go, and so it’s obviously satisfying,” he said.
D’Antoni never won an NBA championship, but as the NBA becomes more and more three-point-centric (teams shot 13 more threes per game this year than they did 10 seasons ago) and with his teams consistently leading the league in three-point attempts throughout his career, his name will be one to remember when telling the story of the three-point revolution. Players like Stoudemire, who were willing to play a role in spacing the floor for their teammates, will be a part of it.
The St. Louis Cardinals will wrap up their weekend series against the Chicago Cubs Sunday. Hunter Dobbins is the starter for the Cardinals. He’ll go up against Edward Cabrera who will start for the Cubs. First pitch is scheduled for 2:15pm central time and the game broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.
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