Category: NBA

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.

"It's carried through the NBA."

–@Suns broadcaster @TomLeander on the impact of Mike D'Antoni's 7 seconds or less offense throughout the NBA pic.twitter.com/ZmbaDP3g39

— Bright Side of the Sun (@BrightSideSun) August 14, 2026

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.

Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg isn’t afraid to say what he thinks.

Lendeborg was asked if he was excited for the upcoming matchup with Dillon Brooks of the Phoenix Suns. The No. 11 overall pick wasn’t coy in his response.

“I’m finna give Dillon Brooks belt,” Lendeborg said on a Kick stream.

“I’m finna give Dillon Brooks belt.”

Yaxel Lendeborg speaks on whether he is excited for the matchup against Dillon Brooks

(via @Yaxel_Lendeborg /Kick) pic.twitter.com/Vyj1ax7Pph

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 16, 2026

Brooks has built a reputation for being one of the least-liked players in the league. His alleged dirty antics and constant chirping has warranted that notion. But that’s not the only player Lendeborg at one time had some disdain for.

After being selected in the first-round of the 2026 NBA Draft, Lendeborg openly said he used to hate Steph Curry.

“It’s a full-circle moment for me. I’ve been saying this every time I get asked this question. In 2016, I’m a big Kyrie guy, so I used to hate Steph Curry,” Lendeborg said. “So now that I’m actually going to be on the same team as him, play and actually learn so much from him, it means a lot.”

The Brooks comments appears to be the former Wolverine’s latest candid comments.

But the rookie will have to prove that he can indeed keep up with a pesky defender like Brooks once Golden State faces the Suns in their first matchup of the season on Oct. 24.

Lendeborg has already made a good first impression on head coach Steve Kerr after leading the G-League team to an NBA summer league championship. He finished the title matchup with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

The Warriors have entered the final years of Curry’s career and many feel as though the organization may be squandering their closing campaigns with the 38-year-old. Golden State was involved in the LeBron James sweepstakes, but hasn’t made a notable free agent signing this summer.

However, Lendeborg is expected to be a key addition for Curry and the Warriors this season.

There aren’t many great memories of the Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard era.

What was supposed to be another title window opening for Bryant ended up being a season referred to as the Dwightmare. There was tension between Kobe and Dwight, players couldn’t stay healthy and it ended with a torn Achilles and a first-round sweep.

Time hasn’t really made that season look any better, but there was a kernel of joy in the midst of a downtime for the Lakers.

With the chatter about infighting between Kobe and Dwight almost reaching the levels of the Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal feud, the team decided to have some fun.

Then Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni was caught in the middle of Kobe and Dwight, jokingly looking like he was trying to stop the madness while also crying out for help.

The mamba vs d12 !! It's on lol pic.twitter.com/cZQO5Avf

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) January 7, 2013

This past weekend, D’Antoni joined the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He sat down for a Q&A with Dave McMenamin of ESPN and this iconic picture came up.

How did it happen?

There were rumors that they had really gotten into it and they hated each other, and this was not going to work.

I was on the training table rehabbing my knee and Kobe was there, and Dwight and I go, “Can you believe this?” I don’t know how, but we just started talking and all of a sudden [the photo was shot].

In the moment, this image certainly cooled down the temperature in LA. There was still time to get things right, and with everyone clearly playing around, the reaction to this picture was positive.

Later in the story, D’Antoni revealed that Bryant made the picture happen.

Was it Kobe’s idea? Because obviously he posted it.

I think it was. I think it was Kobe. But it wasn’t an idea that, “Oh, let’s pose for a picture and get this out.” But it was more of a joke. And I guess maybe the trainer [Gary Vitti] had a phone camera or something.

Gary might have said something like, “You guys stand there and look like you’re fighting, which everybody thinks you’re doing every day, anyway.” Something like that. It was off the cuff. It wasn’t planned.

It was more or less just us responding with, “It’s not as bad as people say it is.”

As we look back on life, we sometimes feel nostalgia for moments that came even during bad times. This is one of those times.

Now that this is a story from well over a decade ago, we can all just laugh and shake our heads. In the end, this team couldn’t win, but the picture will live in infamy.

Bryant is a legend, Howard redeemed himself by helping the Lakers win the title in 2020 and D’Antoni is now a Hall of Famer.

This image won’t be hanging in the Louvre, but it would be appropriate somewhere inside a Lakers museum. Likely in the basement, though.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.

San Diego Padres (66-58) at Cleveland Guardians (60-64), August 16, 2026, 10:40 a.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Progressive Field – Cleveland, Ohio

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Sunday morning baseball. pic.twitter.com/tLZ1ARC8XM

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 16, 2026

Major League Baseball on a Sunday. Hard to beat it.#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/5KTHu0o4Hk

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) August 16, 2026

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When Mark Walter purchased the majority ownership of the Lakers last year, expectations for the franchise’s short- and long-term future soared.

After being primarily owned by the Buss family – first Dr. Jerry Buss and then his children, led by Jeanie Buss – for 46 years, which was the longest majority ownership tenure in the NBA, the Lakers were entering a dawn of a new era.

The Lakers, the league’s glamour franchises, were going from a mom-and-pop operation to a more traditional, corporate infrastructure under Walter. 

And Lakers fans didn’t need to look far to see the success that could be accomplished with Walter leading the franchise. 

The Dodgers, who Walter has been the majority owner of since 2012, have been one of the most successful MLB franchises in the last 14 years: Thirteen consecutive playoff appearances; 12 of the last 13 NL West division titles; five World Series appearances in the last nine years; three World Series titles in the last six years, including being the reigning back-to-back champs. 

Even with the understanding that Walter’s deep pockets wouldn’t impact the Lakers’ payroll for players in the same way it did for the Dodgers, there was optimism that modernizing and restructuring the Lakers in other ways – such as building out the franchise’s front office and investments in the infrastructure – would pay divendends. 

The Lakers made the type of expected progress in those areas over the last year. 

But Walter selling the majority ownership of the Lakers to businessman Josh Kushner and ex-Disney executive Bob Iger brought the end to an Walter-ownership era that was ultimately a disappointment.

Walter’s sad end to Lakers ownership

The succession plan for Walter to own the Lakers was essentially put in place when he became a minority owner in 2021, when he received a right of first refusal on the majority share of the team.

Why Walter chose to sell the Lakers now, just 14 months after agreeing to purchase the Lakers and 10 months since he officially became the majority owner, isn’t clear. 

There’s been speculation about the decision to sell now has something to do with Walter being under federal investigation. 

Walter hasn’t publicly commented on the sale outside of this statement: “Owning the Los Angeles Lakers has been one of the great honors of my life – an extraordinary investment, but what I will carry with me is the community, the fans, and a city that treats this team as family. I am grateful to Jeanie Buss, the Buss family, the players, and the staff for welcoming me into this chapter. The Lakers belong to Los Angeles, and I have every confidence the best is still ahead.”

Regardless of why Walter ultimately decided to sell now, his short tenure as the Lakers majority owner, whenever it officially ends, will be remembered as a disappointment.

In fairness, Walter didn’t have the time to make the impact on the Lakers like he has the Dodgers.

It took the Dodgers five years into Walter’s ownership to make a World Series appearance, and eight to win the title.

The Lakers didn’t even have a full year under the 66-year-old’s guidance.

But in that year, very few remarkable things happened.

Lakers changes under Walter

There were several hires on the business operations side, including Lon Rosen becoming the franchise’s president of business operations after leading the Dodgers’ business operations under Walter.

Season ticket prices were raised. The G League team moved to Coachella Valley. A second row of courtside seats were added. There were widespread layoffs in May. 

And there was a second-round playoff exit that preceded LeBron James leaving the franchise after eight years for the 76ers and a roster reconstruction around Luka Doncic. 

Not close to what was hoped for under Walter. 

Maybe Walter’s legacy as the Lakers’ owner will be remembered for how he set up the Kushner-Iger era.

The Lakers were revamping their basketball operations under Walter, and already started making more investments into their practice facility, which included medical equipment. 

There’s little-to-no evidence of what a Kushner-Iger-led NBA operation looks like.

But the valuation they paid for the Lakers, including their combined net worth, suggests they’ll be able to pick up where Walter left off with modernizing the franchise.

But so much more was hoped for under Walter, whose tenure with the Lakers will be remembered for much less than expected.

The people have spoken.

When posed the question of adding veterans to fill out the roster, the majority of voters (59%) felt it wasn’t necessary. This offseason has seen the loss of Mike Conley (Boston), Kyle Anderson (Toronto), and Joe Ingles (Australia) already, thus leaving Rudy Gobert, Donte DiVincenzo, and newly added Trey Lyles as the lone 30-year-olds on the roster.

Since Anthony Edwards joined the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2020-2021 season, there have been various “key locker room voices” that have helped guide the young star.

• 2026: Joe Ingles (38), Mike Conley (38), Kyle Anderson (32)
• 2025: Joe Ingles (37), Mike Conley (37)
• 2024: Mike Conley (36), Kyle Anderson (30)
• 2023: Mike Conley (35), Kyle Anderson (29), Taurean Prince (28)
• 2022: Patrick Beverley (33), Taurean Prince (27)
• 2021: Ricky Rubio (30), Ed Davis (31)

The community believes that it’s time for Anthony Edwards himself to be the “veteran voice” now. The 25-year-old is now entering his seventh season in the league and has demonstrated some of his offseason leadership. He has been as vocal as he’s ever been about building team chemistry over the summer, and he’s put his words into action. He spearheaded a trip to visit Rudy Gobert, who’s six years his elder, for team bonding excursion.

It should also be of note that LaMelo Ball, despite some of the negative perceptions of him, was known to be an outstanding locker room presence for the Charlotte Hornets as well. Many current players still on the Hornets have recently lamented his loss, saying that he was a great connector of people on and off the court. A bottle of optimistic energy that was a welcome presence on the team.

If the Timberwolves don’t fill out their roster with new “vets,” then who will be the final players that make the team? In the comments section, names such as Kevin Love, Ben Simmons, and Willie Cauley-Stein popped up. Even some of our own brave community members volunteered as tribute.

If you’re into sports betting and all that stuff, the Wolves odds currently sit at +1500 to win the Western Conference according to FanDuel, but that could change very quickly if CatalinaWineMixer (and his multiple aliases) makes the team.

Who ultimately rounds out the Wolves roster now becomes the final question as we barrel towards training camp next month.

Rudy Tomjanovich is the best coach in Houston Rockets history, but there’s a pretty good chance that the best skipper you ever saw run the team was Mike D’Antoni.

He’s the best coach I’ve watched lead the Rockets, and I’m 39. Although, fun fact, that is the exact average age of a human being in North America. So, using infallible math, we can deduce that 50.0% of you are older than me, and likely saw Rudy T in action.

Otherwise, D’Antoni is the guy. Now, he’s a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer. Jeff VanGundy is unlikely to earn that distinction as a head coach. Rick Adleman (rest in peace) already has, and rightly so – but not for his work with the Rockets. Kevin McHale is the best player to ever coach the Rockets, which is meaningless. Oh, half a season of J.B. Bickerstaff.

Stephen Silas…exists. Ime Udoka is thus far a divisive figure, but he’s not in D’Antoni territory. There’s a brief, complete history of Houston Rockets head coaches after Don Chaney:

And D’Antoni stands above the rest.

Former Rockets head coach earns Hall of Fame nod

D’Antoni’s offense was like the best Lil Wayne punchlines (e.g.: “I’m colder than B-R, add another three Rs”): It was less “how did he think of that?”, and more “how has nobody else thought of that”?

D’Antoni’s revelation, reductively, was that a lead guard’s usage could be higher if they were good enough. It still sounds insane if you’re old enough, but he decided that you don’t really need plays beyond pick-and-roll and/or isolation if your ball-handler is Steve Nash or James Harden (or Jeremy Lin for a month), your big man can catch lobs, and your wings can hit threes.

And he was right.

In Phoenix with Nash, it was seven seconds or less. In time, with Harden, it became something closer to 17 seconds or more. It was a full-on metamorphosis. D’Antoni initially realized that there were more points per possession (PPP) to be found early in the clock, only to realize that when James Harden was in isolation, the points could come at any time.

So, the offense was built around Harden in isolation in unrivaled volume. In 2018-19, Harden recorded 1, 280 isolation possessions. The next leader in iso volume was Russell Westbrook, at 353.

There’s a story that I always liked about Kanye West (before the antisemitism) and Rick Rubin. When West was working on Yeezus, he was said to have brought Rubin into the studio to collaborate. He told Rubin not to add anything, but instead to take away anything he thought was gratuitous.

That’s basically what D’Antoni’s offense was. A dribble hand-off? Why, so we can get the ball into Harden’s hands? Why not just put it there in the first place? Why employ some marginal table-setting floor general type to get the ball to Harden, only to burn precious seconds off the clock when Harden could have had it anyway?

Now, those philosophies are widespread. Nobody keeps a Derek Fisher or Mario Chalmers in their starting lineup. Those are reserves.

D’Antoni was not perfect. Rockets fans can’t see the number 27 in print without having heart palpitations. When Chris Paul got hurt in the 2017-18 postseason, D’Antoni did not adjust. He ran pure Harden ball, which had not won before, and would not win then.

Although…

The second-best player on that Warriors team was either Kevin Durant or Steph Curry. In Paul’s absence, the second-best Rocket on the floor was one of P.J. Tucker, Clint Capela, or Eric Gordon. None of them would have been the third-best player on the Warriors (one of Draymond Green or Klay Thompson). Would any of them have been the fourth (Andre Iguodala)?

Run that simulation 100 times, and the Paul-less Rockets lose to the Warriors in 90+ outcomes. They just don’t miss 27 consecutive threes. Still, it is fair to say that D’Antoni refused to adjust, and that might have cost the Rockets the best possible chance to win the series.

But that’s what D’Antoni did – refuse to adjust. That stubbornness got him pretty far in his coaching career.

He’s the best Rockets coach I ever saw, anyway.

Yes, Jordan Goodwin is dearly loved and not taken for granted by Suns fans. Even then, I make the case for him still being criminally underrated.

A hill I will die on is that Goodwin’s absence was the most critical absence of the first round matchup against the Thunder. They missed him more than they did Mark Williams or Grayson Allen. I firmly believe he was one of their most important and impactful players last season and deserves much more credit for their turnaround season from a cultural perspective.

The man in the mask was everything they could have imagined him to be and more last season. And he is not done.

The proof is right there in the numbers. Goodwin played 70 games for Phoenix in 2025-26, appearing in nearly the entire slate while logging meaningful minutes.

His production jumped across every meaningful category. He posted a career-high 8.7 points per game, up from his career average of 7.0. But here’s where it gets interesting for anyone actually watching rotations: his efficiency spiked to 51.4 effective field goal percentage, a real jump from his career 48.7 mark. On three-point shooting, he hit 37.1 percent from distance, a significant leap from his career 33.9% entering the season. That total rose to 34.6% after this season, of course. This isn’t even his specialty we’re talking about, it’s a luxury if you get offense out of him

For a player not expected to bring much offensively, he was visibly more confident and more reliable with his jumper last season. Let’s not forget when he turned into Steph Curry against the Thunder, draining 8 threes, which led to the eventual Devin Booker game-winner.

Now the Thunder series. This is where the story breaks your heart a little. Goodwin barely appeared in one playoff game against Oklahoma City. He played five minutes total before a calf injury sidelined him for the rest of the series. The Suns got swept 4-0. Was it the only reason? Of course not. But it matters significantly more than the national narrative gives it credit for. He would have been the one shading Shai all series long. Matching Caruso’s scrappy intangibles. Diving on the floor for loose balls. Hitting timely threes. All wiped away. That stuff stacks.

This is their best point-of-attack defender we are talking about here. He was their second-best offensive rebounder. Read that again. He’s 6’3”, 6’4” on a good day. Only Mark Williams had more offensive rebounds per game, and that’s kind of his job!

People talk about the offensive firepower Phoenix was missing. They rightly point to shot creation and spacing. What they miss is the fungibility of what Goodwin was doing for 70 regular-season games: he was reliable on-ball movement, he was executing the defensive switching schemes without fouling out, and he was hitting open threes at a clip that actually opened driving lanes for others. Not to mention how terrible of a time it looked to dribble a basketball against him. He picked up full-court. He made sure it was not an enjoyable experience to play against the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns’ turnaround season in 2025-26 was built on consistency and depth. Goodwin was part of that foundation in a way that doesn’t show up in isolation. He was available. He stayed healthy until the playoffs. He shot better. He ran the offense. He defended without getting punished for it. When you’re trying to overtake the Western Conference, that’s the kind of player you lean on.

Let’s all just take a moment to collectively thank the Los Angeles Lakers for Goody again.

What makes the Thunder series loss hit different is the ripple effect of losing a guy like that mid-rotation. You don’t just lose the steady, impactful minutes he would’ve provided. You lose the rhythm of your bench unit. You lose a decision-maker on the floor. You lose a guy who doesn’t need the ball to be effective. Goodwin’s value is in making everyone else’s job easier. Against the Thunder’s suffocating defense, that matters exponentially more.

Underrated players often stay underrated because their impact is collaborative, not individual. Goodwin’s 8.7 points and 4.9 boards won’t make the top headlines any time soon. His ability to move the ball, set his man up for better positions, and execute pick-and-roll coverage won’t trend on social media. But watch the tape from the regular season, then watch the Thunder series footage, and the lack of that third-unit glue. The difference is stark. Suns fans who paid attention last season know just how vital he is to this team.

And boy, are we glad he’s back at a team-friendly rate.

Free agent guard Jordan Goodwin intends to sign a three-year, $19 million deal to return to the Phoenix Suns, with a player option in the third season, sources tell ESPN. Goodwin made the Suns roster out of training camp on a non-guaranteed contract and emerged as a key reserve… pic.twitter.com/1AIhm2BuEL

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 21, 2026

Going into next season, Goodwin deserves to be in the conversation about core rotation pieces. He is not a star. But he is a star role player.

His presence or absence fundamentally shifts how the entire team functions. And in a league where depth and availability win championships, that’s the most valuable thing you can be.

The Suns know what they have. I just wish more people outside the building understood it, too.

The Mavericks just went through one of the strangest offseasons in the NBA. Dallas changed leadership, hired Dusty May, added several useful young players and role players, but never made the massive roster-altering move some expected. After months of debating what Masai Ujiri is building, whether the Mavericks have enough guards and which veterans could eventually be traded, it feels like the most important part of their entire outlook has gotten lost.

Cooper Flagg might be about to take a ridiculous leap.

It is easy to forget just how absurd his rookie season actually was. Flagg averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals while starting 70 games and winning Rookie of the Year. Those numbers alone put him alongside some ridiculous company. LeBron James averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists as a rookie. Kevin Durant averaged 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Luka Dončić averaged 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists.

Flagg did all of that while entering the season as the youngest player in the NBA.

And the counting stats almost undersell how crazy his season became. Flagg scored 51 points against Orlando, becoming the first teenager ever to score 50 in an NBA game. He finished his rookie season with the three highest-scoring games ever by a teenager at 51, 49 and 45 points and became the first teenager in league history with four 40-point games. He also became the youngest player ever to record three straight 30-point games and finished with back-to-back 51- and 45-point performances that tied Wilt Chamberlain for the fifth-most points over a two-game span by a rookie.

That isn’t just a great rookie season. That is historically great production from a player who was younger than almost everyone he played against.

And now he gets an NBA offseason.

That is the part I think people are underestimating.

Young superstars rarely develop linearly. Luka jumped from 21.2 points per game as a rookie to 28.8 in Year 2. LeBron went from 20.9 to 27.2. Durant jumped from 20.3 to 25.3. Those players entered their second seasons having already proven they belonged, then used another summer of physical development, NBA-level training and experience to take enormous steps forward.

Flagg is starting from essentially the same place.

Nobody should automatically pencil him in for 28 points per game or pretend improvement is guaranteed. But given what he was already doing at 18 and 19, a significant jump should probably be the expectation rather than some optimistic scenario.

That is why Dallas’ quiet offseason feels so strange.

We have spent months wondering if the Mavericks understand how urgently they need to reshape this roster around Flagg. Meanwhile, there is a very real chance Flagg himself speeds up their timeline.

He might not need three or four years before Dallas should worry about winning.

He might be ready to start doing it now.

Yaxel Lendeborg will give Dillon Brooks the ‘belt,' Warriors rookie declares originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Yaxel Lendeborg might be just a rookie, but he already is well aware of the Warriors’ long-standing history with Dillon Brooks.

The NBA veteran has had plenty of infamous incidents playing against Golden State, from clotheslining Gary Payton II and fracturing his elbow in the 2022 Western Conference semifinals, to swiping at Steph Curry’s injured thumb, among several other run-ins.

So, when Lendeborg was asked recently on his Kick stream if he’s excited to match up with Brooks this season, his answer was essentially music to Dub Nation’s ears.

“I’m finna give Dillon Brooks belt, man. Stop playing, bruh,” Lendeborg responded without hesitation.

“I’m finna give Dillon Brooks belt.”

Yaxel Lendeborg speaks on whether he is excited for the matchup against Dillon Brooks 😳

(via @Yaxel_Lendeborg /Kick) pic.twitter.com/Vyj1ax7Pph

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 16, 2026

Lendeborg’s first opportunity to do just that will come almost right away. In their third game of the 2026-27 NBA season, the Warriors are scheduled to face the Suns — Brooks’ current squad — on Saturday, Oct. 24 in Phoenix.

And just nine days later, the Suns will make a return trip to Chase Center to face the Warriors on Monday, Nov. 2.

If there wasn’t already enough anticipation for the first matchup between Brooks and Golden State this season, Lendeborg only has fueled it even more.

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It was fitting that this was the summer in which Amar’e Stoudemire became a Hall of Famer. 

For a generation of younger fans, he was the first star who made the Knicks relevant again after years of anguish. He was officially inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Springfield, Mass., just more than two months after the Knicks won the championship. 

At the moment, the Knicks are as relevant as ever. In many ways, the championship and Stoudemire’s induction completed the long-term journey that he started. 

“New York, the Garden, there’s nothing like it,” Stoudemire said in his speech. “When you hear MVP chants every night, they’re chanting your name, the arena is rocking, New York is the No. 1 place to play. And I know that as a player. But before I got there, no one else wanted to go to New York. So that’s why I was like, ‘The Knicks are back, and we’re gonna do this.’ It was good to see those guys win the championship this year.” 

As a 27-year-old superstar in his prime, Stoudemire signed with the Knicks in 2010 — after the Knicks had just gone 29-53. That same offseason, LeBron James and Chris Bosh went to the Heat. 

At the time, stars were avoiding the Knicks and their dysfunction. But Stoudemire, after emerging as one of the league’s best bigs with the Suns, embraced it. 

“You walked into the Garden when nobody else would,” Carmelo Anthony said in a tribute video posted by the Knicks, “and told the whole league the Knicks was back.” 

Stoudemire spent four-plus seasons with the Knicks, who made the playoffs his first three seasons with the team — after the franchise had reached the postseason just twice the previous 10 years. During his first year with the team, he was named to the All-NBA Second Team and set a franchise record by scoring 30 or more points in nine straight games. 

The Knicks traded for Anthony midway through Stoudemire’s first season with the team. The two led the Knicks to the second round in the 2012-13 season, but never quite reached the massive expectations for the duo. Stoudemire was plagued by knee injuries, which cut his prime short. 

Stoudemire was a six-time All-Star and rookie of the year. He made All-NBA First Team once and the Second Team four times. 

There was another lull for the franchise after Stoudemire and Anthony’s Knicks tenures were over, but they are now the place to be for stars. 

“I wanted to bring players to New York to experience what I experienced in the city,” Stoudemire said. “We were able to bring in Carmelo and I think the energy of having me there showed the rest of the league, hey, New York can be a destination place.” 

It’s poetic that Stoudemire was enshrined in the same class as Mike D’Antoni, who coached him with both the Suns and Knicks. 

D’Antoni spent four seasons with the Knicks, leading them to a playoff berth in 2010-11 — their first since 2003-04. 

“New York’s a special place,” D’Antoni said Saturday. 

Doc Rivers, Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Chamique Holdsclaw, Mark Few and Joey Crawford were the other inductees in this year’s class. 

As the Knicks continue to celebrate their championship, two important figures who helped put them back on the map are now enshrined in immortality. 

This offseason, it became increasingly clear that the Lakers and Dodgers were morphing into one brain trust. As more and more front office executives jumped from the baseball team to the purple and gold, it was clear that Walter envisioned a very collaborative approach between the two teams.

And then, in seemingly the snap of a finger, plans changed.

There are obviously lots of questions that will come with the sale to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, but little has been discussed about what becomes of the Lakers’ front office now. Will the multiple people who moved on opt to go back to the Dodgers? Will the team continue its plans for renovating the practice facility?

In a recent interview with Stephen A. Smith, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN discussed the team’s plans for the coming months.

The Lakers are Building an EMPIRE! pic.twitter.com/gmeUQIHwXD

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) August 13, 2026

Here’s a transcript of Ramona’s comments:

“They were in the process of ‘Dodgerizing’ the Lakers. All of the brains and all of the apparatus that had been installed with the Dodgers to make them the most successful franchise in baseball the last few years was being implemented with the Lakers…Until this goes through, that’s still going on, right? Like everyone who’s been hired, everyone who’s been put in place here, they’re still going to keep doing what they’re doing. So it doesn’t mean anything in the beginning here, but I think your question about Iger and Kushner about now running a team like the Lakers, I think it catapults it into the next stratosphere.”

To a certain extent, this makes sense. There will still be a number of months before the sale is finalized, so things have to keep running until then.

But don’t expect much more crossover between the two LA staples anymore. In fact, it wouldn’t be a surprise if there weren’t many — or any — hires at all until new ownership comes in. Generally in these situations, there’s a hiring freeze when someone new is coming in.

Will a ripple effect of that be that the Lakers don’t end up hiring a second assistant general manager for multiple more months? Will they hire one at all now with new owners?

It’s a laundry list of questions that I’m sure Walter put a great deal of thought into before selling the team.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.