Category: Basketball

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Draymond Green brutally claps back at Alperen Şengün's Warriors-Rockets remarks

Draymond Green brutally claps back at Alperen Şengün's Warriors-Rockets remarks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Even in the NBA offseason, Draymond Green won’t bite his tongue.

So when he came across Alperen Şengün’s recent comments about the Warriors’ first-round playoff series win over the Houston Rockets, Green had to fire back.

“That’s a tough thing to say after you lose,” Green wrote on Threads. “You have to win to [say] stuff like that.”

Şengün appeared on the “Socrates Dergi” podcast and candidly shared his point of view on how the physical series played out.

“They’re a very experienced team,” Şengün said. “They fouled a lot. In the playoffs, they don’t call it. But they were the ones crying all series about fouls not being called.”

The gritty seven-game series was filled with different fouls, from personal to technical, and even consisted of a number of ejections. But the Rockets never finished a game with more fouls called on them than the Warriors.

In Game 1, Golden State had 18 fouls, Houston had 15. In Game 2, it was 18 to 17. In the third game, the Warriors finished with 21 fouls, while the Rockets finished with 17. It was close in Game 4, but the Warriors had 22 and the Rockets had 21. Golden State had 27 fouls in Game 5, and Houston had 22. The largest discrepancy came in Game 6, when the Warriors had 12 more fouls called on them (30) than the Rockets (18). In the win-or-go-home Game 7, both teams finished with 14 fouls.

Overall, the Warriors were called for 150 fouls, and the Rockets were called for 124.

That didn’t matter for Golden State in the end, though, as Buddy Hield’s historic Game 7 helped lift the team to the Western Conference semifinals and ended Şengün and the Rockets’ season.

“Hold that L,” Green wrote in response to a post of Şengün’s comments.

The Warriors host Şengün and the Rockets on Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving, for their first regular-season matchup of the 2025-26 NBA season at Chase Center.

Get your popcorn, turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie ready.

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Why Warriors star Steph Curry now has greater appreciation for Paris Olympics

Why Warriors star Steph Curry now has greater appreciation for Paris Olympics originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steph Curry recently has been reflecting on his legendary one-and-done run with Team USA during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

And now that it has been roughly a year since he momentarily exchanged his Warriors threads for the Red, White and Blue, Curry is even more grateful to have had the international experience, particularly for representing his country while helping unify NBA fans everywhere. 

The gold medalist and four-time NBA champion further explained his Olympic reflection in an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson at the ninth annual Curry Camp on Friday in Menlo Park.

“One hundred percent, August 10, 2024, will always be a core memory,” Curry told Johnson, referencing Team USA’s win over Team France in the gold medal game. “A new experience playing with the guys who were on that team — the Avengers. 

“And the fact that it didn’t matter what NBA team you root for, you were a Team USA fan that day. So, [it’s] a very special memory for me, for sure.”

With LeBron James and Kevin Durant as two of his several big-name teammates, Curry led the Americans in the Olympic final with 24 points on eight made 3-point shots — including his iconic “Golden Dagger — with an underappreciated five assists and two steals.

Curry didn’t have much to tell Johnson about his iconic triple. The 11-time NBA All-Star knows you know what happened — and that France contemplated banning “Curry Sauce” at its national McDonald’s restaurants. 

“The [‘Golden Dagger’] is what it is now, part of the story,” Curry told Johnson.

Curry’s unreal Olympic run helped him complete his overflowing trophy case with the gold medal he was missing. And as he told Johnson, the memory of the international victory tastes sweeter with time.

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Former Miami Heat security officer pleads guilty to selling stolen memorabilia

MIAMI (AP) — A former Miami Heat security officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to transporting and transferring millions of dollars worth of stolen game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia.

Marcos Thomas Perez, 62, was a 25-year retired veteran of the Miami Police Department. The Miami resident worked for the Heat from 2016 to 2021 and as an NBA security employee from 2022 to 2025.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and FBI Miami, Perez stole more than 400 jerseys and other items from a secured equipment room and sold items through various online marketplaces. He had access because he worked on the game-day security detail at the Kaseya Center. He was one of a few employees with access to a secured equipment room that stored memorabilia the Heat organization planned to display in a future team museum.

Over a three-year period, authorities say Perez sold more than 100 stolen items for approximately about $1.9 million and shipped them across state lines, often at bargain prices. They say he sold a Miami Heat jersey LeBron James wore during the NBA Finals for approximately $100,000. That same jersey later sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $3.7 million.

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Where do things stand with restricted free agents Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey

August is the point in the calendar when there is no pressure on either side — the player or the team — to compromise when it comes to restricted free agents. Everyone can dig their heels in on their current offers — or rejections of said offers — because until we get closer to training camps opening at the end of September there is no pressure to get a deal done. The hard deadline to sign these extensions is Oct. 1.

That's why four restricted free agents still hang out there: The Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga, the Bulls' Josh Giddey, the Nets' Cam Thomas, and the 76ers' Quentin Grimes. This week there were updates that are not really much of an update on Kuminga and Giddey, let's break it down.

Jonathan Kuminga

There have been "renewed" talks between Kuminga and the Warriors, ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported on NBA Today. However, he said the offer from the Warriors has not changed: Two years, $45 million, with a team option in the second year and the Warriors are demanding Kuminga waive the no-trade clause that automatically comes with that contract. Kuminga, understandably, is not willing to give up his only real leverage in the situation with the no-trade clause, and he continues to point to the $7.8 million qualifying offer, which is not ideal for either side but would make Kuminga an unrestricted free agent next offseason. From Slater on ESPN:

"The word I've heard used from the Kuminga side is 'pawn.' He doesn't want to sign this two-year, $45 million deal with a team option where he is clearly just being used to be traded mid-season. That's not something he wants to sign up for. Now if you're talking about a three-year deal, if you're talking about something with a player option that shows him a little bit more commitment, that's something he'd be interested in. But as of now, the Warriors have been hesitant to do that, and because of that, Kuminga is signaling to those around him that he's very willing – and prefers – the qualifying offer."

Cooler heads likely will prevail, likely with one of three options: A third year (likely with a player or team option on that final season), a two-year contract with a player option on that second season, or a two-year deal with a team option but a hefty guarantee on that second season (say $15 million). However, of all the restricted free agents remaining, Kuminga — long frustrated with how Steve Kerr has used him in Golden State — is the most likely to sign the qualifying offer and just play out the season, looking to leave.

Josh Giddey

The update on Giddey is that there is not much of an update. The Bulls still have an offer at around $20 million a season for Giddey on the table, veteran Bulls insider K.C. Johnson reported on CHSN.

Another insider, Jake Fischer of the Stein Line, reported recently that the Bulls' full offer is around four years, $80 million. Giddey still wants to be paid closer to $30 million a season, the range of Derrick White, Tyler Herro and Jalen Suggs.

Giddey can point to his numbers in Chicago last season after the All-Star break: 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists a game for a Bulls team that went 17-10 in that stretch. The challenge is that Giddey is not a great defender, and while he was an efficient scorer during that post-All-Star run last season, he is not historically a good 3-point shooter nor a great finisher around the rim. Around the league he is perceived as an 82-game player, not a 16-game player (he can help a team in the regular season, but our last playoff memory of Giddey is him getting played off the floor for Oklahoma City). Giddey will need to change that perception to get the money he seeks.

Eventually, the sides will find a compromise and Giddey will put up stats this season as the fulcrum of the Bulls' offense — he is a good player (and one who is going to help a lot of fantasy teams this season).

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Former No. 1 pick, five-time All-Star John Wall announces his retirement from basketball

One of the fastest and most electrifying players with the ball in his hands the league has seen, John Wall officially announced his retirement after 11 NBA seasons.

Wall was the No. 1 pick of the Washington Wizards in 2010 out of Kentucky. He Dougied his way to 16.4 points and 8.3 assists a game as a rookie, making First Team All-Rookie (he was second in Rookie of the Year voting to Blake Griffin).

Wall played nine seasons for the Wizards and is a franchise legend, a lightning-fast player end-to-end with the ball in his hands but able to play under control at that speed. He averaged 19 points and 9.2 assists a game in that stretch for Washington, making five All-Star teams, one All-Defensive team, and he was All-NBA in his peak season of 2017 when he averaged 23.1 points a game.

In 2019, Wall suffered a torn Achilles and was never the same after that. He missed a full season, then came back with stints with the Rockets (he was traded to them for Russell Westbrook) and Clippers, and in Los Angeles, he played well off the bench when healthy (but he only played 34 games for them). However, his impact was never quite the same after the injury.

The Wall game I most remember came during the lockout in 2011, when a number of NBA players got together at The Pyramid on the Campus of Long Beach State (about a nice 3-iron shot from my front door) for an exhibition game. In that free-flowing, pickup-style game, the speed and athleticism of Wall overshadowed everyone else on the court. He was dynamic and one of the most entertaining players the league has ever seen.

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After run to NBA Finals, Pacers extend contract of coach Rick Carlisle

The Indiana Pacers have gotten better each year under coach Rick Carlisle. His first season in his second stint with the Pacers, the 2021-22 season, was a rough one with the team winning just 25 games, but the following season that improved to 35, then 47 and a run to the Eastern Conference Finals, then 50 wins and a trip to the NBA Finals this past season.

That led the Pacers to extend Carlisle's contract, a story first reported by Marc Stein and since confirmed by the Pacers.

"Since his return to the Pacers in 2021, Coach Carlisle has been integral to our success, which includes leading us to consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearances and our first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years," Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard said in a statement. "Beyond his coaching achievements that rank him among the best in NBA history, Coach Carlisle continues to embrace our community and give back to the state of Indiana with his Drive and Dish program. We are thrilled to have him continue leading our team and representing our organization well into the future."

The details of the contract are not known, but he signed a previous extension in 2023, and with this new multi-year extension, it's safe to say Carlisle will be coaching the Pacers for years to come.

Carlisle has coached the Pacers in two stints, the first from 2003-2007 and the current one, which started in 2021. In those eight seasons he has a 338-318 (51.5%) record and made the playoffs five of the eight seasons, including last season's Finals run.

With Tyrese Haliburton out for next season following a torn Achilles, plus Myles Turner bolting for Milwaukee, expectations are not high for Indiana heading into next season. Carlise, however, has a knack for getting the most out of teams that other people don't expect much from.

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Former NBA All-Star and No. 1 pick John Wall retires after 11 seasons

Former NBA All-Star and No. 1 pick John Wall retires after 11 seasons originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

John Wall has called it a career.

The five-time NBA All-Star officially announced his retirement after 11 NBA seasons with a video posted to social media on Tuesday.

“Today, I’m stepping off of the court, but not away from the game,” Wall said. “Basketball will always be in my life, and new opportunities present themselves. I feel now is the time to walk confidently into my next chapter.”

The Washington Wizards selected Wall first overall in the 2010 NBA Draft after he played one electrifying season at the University of Kentucky. He played nine seasons with the Wizards before being traded to the Houston Rockets in a deal that sent Russell Westbrook to Washington. Wall’s last NBA season came in 2022-23, when he played 34 games for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Wall made the NBA All-Rookie first team in 2010-11 while finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting. From there, he earned his first All-Star selection in 2013-14 and won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest the same year. He was named an Eastern Conference All-Star for five straight seasons through 2017-18.

Wall’s best season came in 2016-17, as he averaged career highs at 23.1 points and 10.7 assists per game while earning All-NBA third team honors and placing seventh in the NBA MVP race.

Injuries plagued the second half of Wall’s career. He missed two complete seasons: 2019-20 following a torn Achilles and 2021-22 with the Rockets after he reached an agreement not to play. Following his last All-Star season in 2017-18, Wall only played in 106 games over the next five years.

The Wizards congratulated Wall on his retirement, calling the point guard “one of our franchise all-time greats.”

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Kentucky Showing Interest in 2028 SG Kam Mercer

Kentucky is already taking some early looks at the 2028 class. Kam Mercer is a name now on UK’s radar. The 6-foot-5, 190-pound shooting guard from Overtime Elite (Atlanta, GA) has been in contact with the Kentucky staff, sources tell KSR+. College coaches can’t reach out directly to 2028 prospects until June 15, but the […]

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Celtics sale finalized as Bill Chisholm becomes owner of NBA's most-decorated franchise

Celtics sale finalized as Bill Chisholm becomes owner of NBA's most-decorated franchise originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The sale of the Boston Celtics was finalized on Tuesday, with private equity mogul Bill Chisholm taking over control of the NBA’s most-decorated franchise from a group led by Wyc Grousbeck that had owned them for more than two decades.

The team was put on the market last summer, soon after it won its record 18th NBA championship. Chisholm won the bidding in March with an offer that valued the franchise at more than $6.1 billion — a record price paid for an American professional sports team.

The NBA approved the deal unanimously last week, and the money changed hands on Tuesday.

Chisholm takes ownership of at least 51% of the team, with full control coming by 2028 at a price that could bring the total value to $7.3 billion. That’s the highest price ever paid for a team in the four major North American sports, though a piece of the Los Angeles Lakers changed hands this summer at a price that would value the entire franchise at $10 billion.

Grousbeck led a group that bought the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million. Under their ownership, the Celtics won two NBA titles, lost in the finals two other times and made the playoffs in 20 of 23 seasons.

In a press release issued Tuesday, the Celtics said Chisholm will serve as govenror, and Grousbeck and Aditya Mittal will serve as alternate governors. Grousbeck will be a co-owner and CEO, running day-to-day operations with Chisholm and the existing basketball and business managemetn teams.

Chisholm’s investor group is led by co-owners and members of the managing board of the Celtics, which include Grousbeck, Mittal, Bruce Beal, Andrew Bialecki, Dom Ferrante, Rob Hale, Mario Ho, and Ian Loring.  Global investment firm Sixth Street is also part of the investment group.

“This truly is a dream come true for me and my family,” Chisholm said in a statement. “I feel so fortunate to be here as part of this new investor group, who are accomplished, driven people who care deeply about the Celtics and the Boston community. On behalf of our group, I am thrilled to partner with Wyc, Brad Stevens and Rich Gotham to move this outstanding organization forward. We are committed to building on the legacy of the Celtics and raising banners, and I can’t wait for the team to get back out there this fall.” 

“The Celtics have been my life’s work for the past 23 years. This incredible ride is now continuing,” added Grousbeck. “I am fired up to be shoulder to shoulder with Bill as we pull every lever to go after another banner. There is nothing better than winning.”

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Celtics sale finalized as Bill Chisholm becomes owner of NBA's most-decorated franchise

Celtics sale finalized as Bill Chisholm becomes owner of NBA's most-decorated franchise originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The sale of the Boston Celtics was finalized on Tuesday, with private equity mogul Bill Chisholm taking over control of the NBA’s most-decorated franchise from a group led by Wyc Grousbeck that had owned them for more than two decades.

The team was put on the market last summer, soon after it won its record 18th NBA championship. Chisholm won the bidding in March with an offer that valued the franchise at more than $6.1 billion — a record price paid for an American professional sports team.

The NBA approved the deal unanimously last week, and the money changed hands on Tuesday.

Chisholm takes ownership of at least 51% of the team, with full control coming by 2028 at a price that could bring the total value to $7.3 billion. That’s the highest price ever paid for a team in the four major North American sports, though a piece of the Los Angeles Lakers changed hands this summer at a price that would value the entire franchise at $10 billion.

Grousbeck led a group that bought the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million. Under their ownership, the Celtics won two NBA titles, lost in the finals two other times and made the playoffs in 20 of 23 seasons.

In a press release issued Tuesday, the Celtics said Chisholm will serve as govenror, and Grousbeck and Aditya Mittal will serve as alternate governors. Grousbeck will be a co-owner and CEO, running day-to-day operations with Chisholm and the existing basketball and business managemetn teams.

Chisholm’s investor group is led by co-owners and members of the managing board of the Celtics, which include Grousbeck, Mittal, Bruce Beal, Andrew Bialecki, Dom Ferrante, Rob Hale, Mario Ho, and Ian Loring.  Global investment firm Sixth Street is also part of the investment group.

“This truly is a dream come true for me and my family,” Chisholm said in a statement. “I feel so fortunate to be here as part of this new investor group, who are accomplished, driven people who care deeply about the Celtics and the Boston community. On behalf of our group, I am thrilled to partner with Wyc, Brad Stevens and Rich Gotham to move this outstanding organization forward. We are committed to building on the legacy of the Celtics and raising banners, and I can’t wait for the team to get back out there this fall.” 

“The Celtics have been my life’s work for the past 23 years. This incredible ride is now continuing,” added Grousbeck. “I am fired up to be shoulder to shoulder with Bill as we pull every lever to go after another banner. There is nothing better than winning.”

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Why Steph Curry labels Warriors' 2025-26 schedule ‘interesting and different'

Why Steph Curry labels Warriors' 2025-26 schedule ‘interesting and different' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steph Curry is a few months away from beginning his 17th 82-game NBA gauntlet, and the 37-year-old Warriors star has a routine when the league unveils the schedule.

“You take a good amount of time just seeing the flow of the whole year,” Curry told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson on Friday at the ninth annual “Curry Camp” in Menlo Park. “I mean, there are certain cities I love to go to. You look at New York. You look at Charlotte for me. Toronto. Mostly where family is and you try to know when you’re going to have some planning to know when you’re going to be there. Long road trips. That type of stuff. But you don’t get too deep into it.”

The NBA released the full 2025-26 NBA schedule on Thursday, and it will be a grind for Curry and the Warriors.

Golden State has 15 back-to-backs, including a staggering five within the first 17 games of the 2025-26 NBA season. It also features two six-game road trips, one in November and the other in March, which includes one of Curry’s circled matchups.

The Warriors open that late-season trip against the New York Knicks on March 15 at Madison Square Garden.

Curry actually will kill three birds with one stone at the end of December, when the Warriors go on a three-game road trip to Toronto, Brooklyn and Charlotte.

The four-time NBA champion gets to ring in 2026 in his hometown, as the game against the Hornets at Spectrum Center is at 10 a.m. PT on Dec. 31.

But the difficulty of the Warriors’ schedule isn’t lost on Curry.

“Very interesting and different schedule than what we’re used to, just from the patterns of what I’ve noticed over the last 16 years,” Curry told Johnson. “But everybody’s got to play 82 and we hope to be able to get through it.”

Curry and the Warriors tip off the new season against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 21 at Crypto.com Arena.

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