Category: Basketball

At the All-Star break, it’s worth acknowledging something that felt unlikely just four months ago.

The Celtics are good, not just scrappy, feisty, or ahead of schedule — they’re all of those things too, don’t get me wrong.

They are in-your-face, out-in-the-open good.

At the not-quite-exact halfway point of the season, the Boston Celtics own the second-best record in the East. Fourth in offensive rating. Eighth in defensive rating. Third-best point differential in the league. Eleven wins in their last fourteen games. I’ll stop there, you get it. This isn’t smoke and mirrors.

If you predicted this exact outcome back in October, congratulations! The rest of us were bracing for something closer to transitional. Competitive, maybe. Entertaining, for sure. A development year while waiting for Jayson Tatum to return and the roster to settle into its next iteration.

Instead, the Celtics are forcing a different conversation.

In Boston, when a team starts looking like a contender, the expectations don’t stay modest for long. And now that we have a large enough sample to believe this is real, fans are reluctantly asking themselves – is it another championship or bust season for the Celtics?

There’s nothing flukey about this

A lot of my analysis is built on vibes, I’ll admit. So let’s strip away the aura and consider what the Celtics have done up through this point of the season by the numbers.

Through 54 games, the Celtics are 35–19. That’s a 53-win pace, only eight games off their 61-win total last year. Second in the East. Tied for fourth in the entire league. Their point differential suggests they’ve actually underperformed their record, with an expected mark closer to 38–16.

The offense? Fourth in the NBA in offensive rating. Third in three-pointers made. First in fewest turnovers.

The defense? Not elite by last year’s standard, but firmly in the top third of the league. Second in opponent points allowed per game. Top ten in defensive rating. They rebound better than they should for a team that plays small more often than not.

Since that 5–7 stumble in November, they’ve gone 30–12. That’s a 59-win pace over nearly three months.

This season was supposed to test whether Jaylen Brown could anchor an offense without Tatum shouldering that pressure. Instead of surviving that test, he’s thriving in it. The scoring leap is obvious, but the bigger shift is control. He’s dictating matchups, handling double teams way more calmly, and often defending the other team’s best player. When the Celtics need a bucket (or a stop), they know where it’s coming from.

Behind him, the role expansion has been everything you could hope for, and then some.

Payton Pritchard handled starter-level usage, then slid back into a sixth-man role without missing a beat. Despite the shooting inefficiency, Derrick White’s processing speed remains one of the quiet advantages of this team. Neemias Queta has stabilized the middle, while Sam Hauser continues to stretch the geometry of the floor. And when it’s time to bring in some combination of Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez, and/or Luka Garza, they’re actually winning their minutes, not losing them.

In other words, you don’t land in the top-five in net rating by accident. You don’t maintain a top-three offense for four months on good vibes alone. And you don’t bank 35 wins while missing a top-five player because you’re playing “harder” than everyone else.

Everything about this version of the Celtics says contender.

Whether we were ready to say that in October or not doesn’t really matter anymore.

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What the deadline tells us about Brad Stevens’ mindset

Often the best indicator of how a team views their season is the moves they make around the trade deadline. If the Celtics were indeed in a gap year, we likely would have seen Brad Stevens sacrifice the present in favor of the future.

Instead, he made moves that did two things simultaneously: improve the present and protect the future.

The Nikola Vučević addition was a calculated move for the now. Brad went and acquired a floor-spacing big who can pass, rebound, and operate within the existing structure. Much like Kristaps Porzingis before him, Nikola Vučević’s playstyle largely fits next to Tatum, not just in his absence.

In his recent press conference, Stevens said repeatedly that flexibility matters, and the Celtics now have plenty of that. Because of the moves Boston made, they head into the summer with:

• Their own first-round pick
• A favorable second-round pick
• A full mid-level exception worth roughly $15 million
• Multiple trade exceptions, including one north of $27 million

This means Boston can sign a rotation-level free agent outright. Or they could absorb a contract in a trade without matching salary. It also means they can consolidate young pieces if the playoffs reveal a clear need, or they could simply let the already-blossoming internal growth keep compounding.

Brad didn’t panic-buy at the deadline or mortgage future assets chasing a headline. He reshaped the roster while preserving optionality.

When you layer those decisions on top of a potential Tatum return, the signs become too glaring to ignore. Whether anyone says “championship or bust” out loud or not, the standard in Boston tends to arrive on its own once the path becomes visible.

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So what counts as success now?

If this were still considered a gap year for the Celtics, I’d be writing about vibes and development and moral victories that feel nice before switching gears to Draft prep. But the Celtics have dragged the conversation somewhere more stressful: they’ve played well enough for long enough that you can’t pretend the ceiling is just “fun season.” 

The East is messy. The path is real. Boston has already banked the kind of résumé that forces you to take them seriously. Add Tatum back into the mix, and it becomes harder to justify moving the goalposts lower just because it was convenient in October.

So here’s the bar. Winning one round feels like a must. Making the conference finals feels like a fair expectation. And if you somehow end up back in the NBA Finals, well…anything can happen in a 7-game series.

The point is, the Celtics didn’t ask for these expectations. They earned them, and those of us that bleed green are lucky (and stressed) because of it.

We're a month away from Selection Sunday, so you may be getting that March Madness itch already.

The men's basketball conference races are heating up and the bubble is getting crowded. We'll know soon enough who is in The Big Dance.

Here's an early look at what you need to know, including key dates March Madness dates and conference tournament schedules. Here's our latest bracketology.

Toppmeyer: One SEC conspiracy theory dies after Charles Bediako loses in court

When is Selection Sunday 2026?

The 68-team bracket for the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament will be unveiled on 6 p.m. ET, Sunday, March 15.

What channel is Selection Sunday on? 

• TV: CBS
• Streaming: Paramount+ | Fubo (free trial)

The 2026 NCAA tournament selection show will air on CBS, its traditional broadcast home. Streaming options include Paramount+, CBS's streaming site, and Fubo, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.

When does March Madness start? 

The first men’s game of the 2026 NCAA tournament will be on March 17 with the start of the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.

March Madness 2026 schedule 

The 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament will transpire over the next three weeks, which will end with the Final Four and the national championship game in Indianapolis.

Here’s a rundown of the schedule for the 2026 NCAA Tournament:

• First Four: March 17-18 (Buy tickets)
• First round: March 19-20
• Second round: March 21-22
• Sweet 16: March 26-27
• Elite Eight: March 28-29
• Final Four: April 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (Buy tickets)
• National championship game: April 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (Buy tickets)

Men's college basketball conference tournament dates, schedule

• ASUN: March 4-8 (Jacksonville, Fla.)
• Big South: March 4-8 (Johnson City, Tenn.)
• Summit: March 4-8 (Sioux Falls, SD)
• MVC: March 5-8 (St. Louis)
• OVC: March 4-7 (Evansville, Ind.)
• Sun Belt: March 3-9 (Pensacola, Fla.)
• SoCon: March 6-9 (Asheville, NC)
• Horizon: March 2-10 (Indianapolis)
• NEC: March 4-10 (on campus)
• MAAC: March 5-10 (Atlantic City, NJ)
• WCC: March 5-10 (Las Vegas)
• CAA: March 6-10 (Washington DC)
• Patriot: March 3-11 (on campus)
• Big Sky: March 7-11 (Boise)
• Southland: March 8-12 (Lake Charles, La.)
• America East: March 7-14 (on campus)
• Mountain West: March 7-14 (Las Vegas)
• SWAC: March 9-14 (Atlanta)
• ACC: March 10-14 (Charlotte)
• Big 12: March 10-14 (Kansas City)
• Conference USA: March 10-14 (Huntsville, Ala.)
• Big East: March 11-14 (New York City)
• Big West: March 11-14 (Henderson, NV)
• MAC: March 11-14 (Cleveland)
• MEAC: March 11-14 (Norfolk, Va.)
• WAC: March 11-14 (Las Vegas)
• Big Ten: March 10-15 (Chicago)
• American: March 11-15 (Birmingham)
• Atlantic 10: March 11-15 (Pittsburgh)
• SEC: March 11-15 (Nashville)
• Ivy: March 14-15 (Ithaca, NY)

Where is 2026 Final Four?

This year's men's basketball Final Four and championship games will be at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on April 4 & 6. Click here to buy tickets.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA tournament 2026 start date, Selection Sunday for March Madness

MUMBAI, India (AP) — The most-anticipated game of the T20 World Cup is set to attract over a billion eyeballs when India takes on archrival Pakistan at Colombo on Sunday with uncertainty aplenty still surrounding world cricket’s marquee matchup.

Political and diplomatic tensions between the two nations have often boiled over on to the cricket field. Sunday’s game will be the first time the teams have met since last year’s acrimonious Asia Cup tournament in the United Arab Emirates which was won by India and where players refused to shake hands.

West Indies makes it 3 in 3

At Mumbai, West Indies notched its third successive win in Group C when it thumped Nepal by nine wickets and qualified for the Super 8 stage of the tournament.

West Indies had already beat Scotland and England to take command of Group C.

Nepal showed plenty of promise in its first game when it lost narrowly to England, but then two heavy defeats against first-timer Italy and Sunday against West Indies saw it eliminated.

Fast bowler Jason Holder grabbed 4-27 and restricted Nepal to 133-8 after captain Shai Hope won the toss and elected to field. Hope then smashed unbeaten 61 off 44 balls and Shimron Hetmyer scored 46 off 32 balls as West Indies cruised to 134-1 in 15.2 overs.

Nepal had stuttered to 6-73 in 15 overs but Dipendra Singh Airee (58) and Sompal Kami (26 not out) contributed a 54-run stand in the death overs to give the total some respectability.

United States, which lost to both India and Pakistan before beating the Netherlands, takes on Namibia in its final Group A game later Sunday.

All eyes on Colombo

But Colombo remains the focal point on Sunday where the marquee game of the tournament begins at 7 p.m. local time (1400 GMT).

In the lead up to the match, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said he believed it was up to the Indian players to decide whether they will shake hands with his team before and after Sunday’s game.

Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav, for his part, was non-committal.

“Why are you highlighting that?” Suryakumar asked reporters on the eve of the game. “We are here to play cricket. We will play good cricket. We will take all those calls tomorrow. We will see tomorrow.”

Pakistan’s government threatened a boycott of Sunday’s match after the International Cricket Council kicked Bangladesh out of the World Cup for refusing to play matches in India, citing security concerns.

Pakistan only agreed to play after intense discussions with the ICC. The fixture is the major revenue earner for the ICC.

Tensions running high

Tensions came to a head in the Asia Cup when Suryakumar refused to shake hands with Agha. Heated moments followed between the two sides throughout the tournament, with Suryakumar and Pakistan’s Haris Rauf fined for breaching the ICC’s code of conduct.

India went on to win the Asia Cup but refused to accept the trophy from Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi.

“The game should be played in real spirit, the way it has been played since it started. The rest is up to them (India), what they want to do,” Agha told media on Saturday about the possibility of the players shaking hands.

Political and military tensions have meant the two teams have not played a bilateral series for years.

India has not traveled to Pakistan since 2008 and Pakistan visited India for the 50-over World Cup in 2023 but has since played ICC tournaments at neutral venues.

India has defeated Pakistan 12 times in the 16 T20 games they have played. It also has an impressive 6-1 record in the eight T20 World Cup matches since the first edition in 2007, with one being tied.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Another day, another write-up about LeBron James potentially joining the Cleveland Cavaliers after his current deal with the Los Angeles Lakers runs out this summer. This time, it was Cleveland’s current superstar, Donovan Mitchell, weighing in on the matter.

Mitchell told SiriusXM NBA Radio that being a teammate with James would be special, but that isn’t his focus right now.

Mitchell’s entire quote can be read below:

“As a Bron fan, to be able to be a teammate, that would obviously be special, but that’s not something in my control. I control what we got here. There’s always going to be reports, that’s natural, it’s gonna be a thing.

At the end of the day, to your point, my main focus right now is trying to get this championship. And whatever it happens, it happens. Like, that’s not up to me, that’s not up to anybody else in the locker room. So I’m big on believing what I can control. But yeah, it’s LeBron James, right?

At the end of the day, that’s not my focus. I’m not here to worry about that. I know I’m gonna get asked about that a bunch all weekend, but my focus is [with the current team]. We just traded for James Harden, Dennis Schroder, Keon Ellis, I would say, ‘Let’s try to find a way to get a ring,’ and go from there.

"It’s LeBron James, right?"

Here’s Donovan Mitchell’s thoughts on the rumors that LeBron could finish his career in Cleveland@TermineRadio | @Jumpshot8

Click here for more All-Star coverage – https://t.co/j3RPgmlH7epic.twitter.com/lm2My2U5HQ

— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) February 15, 2026

Questions like this are going to keep coming up, given the recent rumors and the fact that no meaningful basketball is being played during All-Star Weekend.

Mitchell has the right perspective. This isn’t something that he can control, and this Cavs team is good enough to win a championship this season with how open the Eastern Conference is.

At the same time, it’s also worth acknowledging that Mitchell seems open to it based on what he’s said here and the fact that he’s made it no secret that he grew up rooting for LeBron. And there have already been rumors that Mitchell and Harden have started recruiting LeBron back home.

There would be something poetic about Mitchell — who was one of the children in attendance at The Decision in 2010 — potentially leading a championship-level Cavaliers team with James 17 years later.

We’ll see how this all plays out. The team would need to make plenty of roster moves before James could sign with the Cavs for a third stint. However, if both Mitchell and LeBron want this reunion to take place, the Cavs will undoubtedly find a way to make it all work.

In our latest NBA Reacts poll, I wanted to see how good Jazz fans think the Jazz will be next season. With the addition of Jaren Jackson Jr. last week, the Utah Jazz became the center of NBA attention, but not for the right reasons. Adam Silver, in typical form, fined the Jazz for resting Jackson in the fourth because he doesn’t understand or care about the NBA or the small-market fans. Or any fans, really.

Anyways, what should have been focused on was how good the Jazz looked with Jackson on the floor. Utah’s defense looked incredible, and they had some impressive offensive flow that gave a preview of the Jazz next season. The question is, how far will the Jazz go next season with Jaren Jackson Jr.? Here’s what Jazz fans think.

The majority of Jazz fans think the Jazz will be a top-6 playoff seed, and I have a hard time not agreeing. The Jazz have the potential to be an elite defensive team with Jacon Jr. paired with Walker Kessler.

At FanDuel you can see for this season and next. Something tells me those odds fort he Jazz are going to be good!

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Dailyn Swain scored 18 of his 25 points after halftime, Matas Vokietaitis had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Texas pulled away in the second half to beat Missouri 85-68 on Saturday night.

Texas (16-9, 7-5 SEC) has won four straight and five of six.

Jordan Pope added 15 points, 12 in the second half, for the Longhorns.

Nicholas Randall threw down a put-back dunk after a missed layup by T.O. Barrett that made it 41-all with 14:39 left to play. Tramon Mark answered with a three-point play and Pope hit a 3-pointer a little more than two minutes later that gave Texas a six-point lead. Vokietaitis made two free throws to ignite an 8-1 spurt that made it 59-48 with 9:09 left.

Mark Mitchell and Jayden Stone each scored 16 points for Missouri (17-8, 7-5).

There were 41 personal fouls called. Texas made 21 of 23 (91%) from the free-throw line, where the Tigers shot 68% (26 of 38).

The Longhorns outscored Missouri 40-28 in the paint. The Tigers went into the game outscoring conference opponents in the paint by an average 10.4 points – the second-best margin in the SEC.

Mitchell and Swain went into game as the only players in the SEC — and two of just 11 in the country — with at least 400 points, 130 rebounds and 80 assists this season.

Tipoff was delayed about 20 minutes due to the late arrival of an official after traffic was snarled by a vehicle collision.

It was the first sellout of the season at the 15,061-seat Mizzou Arena.

Up next

Texas: Hosts LSU on Tuesday.

Missouri: Plays at home Wednesday against No. 19 Vanderbilt.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

SEATTLE (AP) — Hannes Steinbach scored 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting and Zoom Diallo scored 17 points and Washington beat Minnesota 69-57 on Saturday night and ended its three-game losing streak.

Despite just 4-of-13 (31%) shooting from 3-point range by Washington (13-13, 5-10 Big Ten), the Huskies found success overall shooting 29 of 46 (63%). Inside the arc Washington was 25 of 33 (76%).

Steinbach just missed his 17th double-double of the season, grabbing nine rebounds. He entered the game as the nation's fourth-leading rebounder at 11.4 boards per game.

Cade Tyson scored 22 points, Bobby Durkin scored 13 points and Isaac Asuma 11 for Minnesota (11-14, 4-10 Big Ten).

Washington went on a 14-0 run in the last 3:57 of the first half turning a one-point deficit into a 39-26 lead.

To start the run, Courtland Muldrew's step-back basket put Washington up 27-26. Steinbach followed with a layup before a Franck Kepnang jumper made it 31-26.

Washington went on to maintain the double-digit lead for all the second half and Steinbach's dunk with 2:59 to go gave Washington its biggest lead at 69-49.

Up Next

Minnesota: Slides down Interstate 5 to play Oregon on Tuesday.

Washington: Plays next Saturday at Maryland.

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Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Aden Holloway scored 20 points and Labaron Philon Jr. and reserve Latrell Wrightsell Jr. each scored 19 points and Alabama beat South Carolina 89-75 on Saturday night for the Crimson Tide's fourth consecutive win.

Holloway finished 6-of-9 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, Philon was 5 of 8 — 4 of 7 from 3 — and Wrightsell 6 of 11 and 3 of 7 from distance.

Aiden Sherrell scored 11 points and Amari Allen grabbed 10 rebounds and eight points for Alabama (18-7, 8-4 SEC).

Meechie Johnson scored 24 of his 26 points after halftime, Kobe Knox had 21 points and Mike Sharavjamts 14 for South Carolina (11-14, 2-10 SEC).

Holloway's 3-pointer with 9:56 before halftime ended a tie at 23-all, Jalil Bethea followed with a dunk on a fastbreak and Alabama (18-7, 8-4) led for the remainder.

Holloway and Philon made consecutive 3s in a 37-second span and Alabama took its first double-digit lead at 41-29 with 2:52 before halftime.

Alabama led 45-32 at halftime and maintained the double-digit lead until Johnson's 3 with 8:20 left capped his personal 11-2 run and reduced South Carolina's (11-14, 2-10) lead to 63-56.

Wrightshell made a pair of free throws with 2:48 remaining and Alabama stayed ahead by double digits the rest of the way.

Up Next

South Carolina: Travels to face 14th-ranked Florida on Tuesday.

Alabama: Hosts 21st-ranked Arkansas on Wednesday.

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Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Observations

• The NBA leaned in hard on the Hollywood bit with stars being brought into the arena among a throng of adoring paparazzi throughout the evening.
• The NBA ad where the singer spits out players names with the instrumentals for Tears for Fears’ ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ is catchy. Maybe someone will do a song about this year’s Spurs roster.
• The Dunk Contest is on its deathbed.

State Farm 3-Point Shooting Contest

In a league that continues to display the 3-point shot more, it was really nice to hear Reggie Miller provide the player-by-player analysis of how their respective forms could portend to success in this contest. The 4-point logo spot was a dead spot for nearly all of the participants tonight.

First Round

Donovan Mitchell had a blazing hot start on his first two racks, but faded late for 24 points. Jamal Murray could not find any momentum from rack-to-rack and languised with 17 points. Norman Powell looked like Rashard Lewis out there with a high release and finished with 23 points. Bobby Portis, like Murray, had a scattershot performance and ended up with a paltry 15. Tyrese Maxey has the makings of a Lillard-like easy-shooting form, but scored 17.

Kon Kneuppel (27 points) started the competition well, and the two last elder participants – Devin Booker (channeling his inner Klay Thompson with 30 points) and Damian Lillard (showing no visible wear from his myriad leg injuries with 27 points) finished in the top three for Round 1.

Final Round

Kneuppel faded in the bright lights of Intuit Dome and shot quite a good amount of back rim bricks and ended in third with 17 points.

Booker and Lillard staged a shootout for the ages. Lillard was consistently great on each rack and put tons of pressure on Booker with his 29 point performance.

I had a hard time believing Lillard in his congratulatory interview when he said that he knew it would be these three competitors in the finals, but he was a deserving winner tonight. Booker hit on 9 of his first 10 and had several opportunities to overtake Lillard on the final rack, but missed his final three – falling just two short of 3-time winner Lillard.

CHAMPION: Damian Lillard (Portland TrailBlazers)

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Kia Shooting Stars

The Shooting Stars event was brought back from the dead, with the team leads assigned to be designated passers for each round – it turned out that the leads / passers truly mattered to the final outcome.

Team Harper, led by 2 Chainz, had our favorite father-son(s) combination – Ron and Ron, Jr. along with Spur rookie Dylan.

Team All-Star, led by Druski, had Scottie Barnes, Chet Holmgren, and former Piston Rip Hamilton.

Team Cameron (as in Indoor Stadium), led by actor Anthony Anderson, had former Dukies Kon Knueppel, Hawk Jalen Johnson, and former Clipper Corey Maggette.

Team Knicks fielded Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Allan Houston and was led by Jalen’s dad, Rick Brunson.

First Round

Team All-Star: Druski as the designated passer, resembled the skit of the guy that couldn’t make any shots in an empty gym with some horrific passing displays. The team finished with only 16 points.

Team Cameron: Anderson took his duties more seriously and Kneuppel’s corner three surpassed Druski’s total with many seconda to spare. Cameron finished with 24.

Team Harper: Ron, Sr. missed an open lay-up! And the sons could not make up for dad’s lack of shooting touch. However, the Harpers finished with 18. Did you all know T-Chainz played Division I basketball?

Team Knicks: Allan Houston’s baseline three put the Knicks into the finals with a staggering 31 points.

Final Round

Team Cameron: Maggette played to the adoring home Clipper crowd and converted several key buckets on the way to a 38-point showing.

Team Knicks: The team rode a wave of momentum with the halfcourt shot to an emphatic 47 point victory. But we know that, just like with their Emirates Cup title, there’ll be a post-All Star swoon coming. So we Pounders are good.

CHAMPION: Team Knicks

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Between Competition Entertainment

Ludacris – in a Dominique Wilkins jersey – went through a quick set while the stage was getting set for the dunk contest.

First song was ‘Get out the Way” – a good euphemism for what the Spurs are doing to the other Western Conference teams so far.

Next song: “When I Move You Move” – a great analogy for the in-game movement of the Spurs’ cadre of excellent guards

CHAMPION: People between 35-50 years old who grew up on hiphop.

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AT&T Slam Dunk

The judges were: former Spur Brent Barry – resplendent in the Clipper warm-up jacket he wore when he won the 1996 contest in San Antonio, Corey Maggette, Dwight Howard, Dominique Wilkins, and ‘Doctor J’ Julius Erving. I really liked that the NBC telecast hyped up the players with walk-in videos. They staged the dunk set on the Wall side of the arena to create a solid background effect. Miami Heat president Pat Riley came to support his young player – resembling British actor Jonathan Pryce.

First Round

Carter Bryant – deemed ‘Carter the Kid’ – his first attempt was reminiscent of Vince Carter’s (2000) twist-in-the- wrong-direction for a one-handed jam. That netted him a score of 45.6. Bryant, with a chance to get into the top two, tossed a nice ball to himself and punched in a windmill slam that resulted in a 49.2.

Keshad Johnson – given the name ‘Flight 305’ (Dade County) – he sauntered in with Bay Area rap royalty E-40 and then followed it by doinking his first attempt. The second one involved leaping over E-40 for a one-handed jam with a hand to the side of the head for measure. His 47.4 score placed him first of the quartet. After two botched tosses, he converted a reverse two-handed dunk and, after dancing better than dunking, the judges gave him a 45.4.

Jase Richardson (son of Jason) – was not surprisingly coined ‘J-Rich Reignited’ – a milquetoast toss-it-to-himself and catch it mid-air for a two-hand reverse dunk. This type of dunk has been done too many times in the last decade-plus. He earned a score of 45.4 for this. After missing his next four – including one where he wiped out and fell on his backside – he threw down a 270 power dunk and received a 43.4.

Jaxson Hayes – the third best dunking big on the Lakers was assigned the moniker ‘Action Jaxson’ – then proceeded to fizzle out on a one-handed floating dunk from well within the free throw stripe. He deservedly got the 44.6 score he received (skewed higher by Howard’s 47). After a between-the-legs try (think Isaiah Rider) that bounced high off the rim, his next attempt went through mostly cleanly and got him 47.2.

Final Round

‘Carter the Kid’ (1st Round – 94.8)

Attempt #1: He one-upped Johnson’s try with a high toss to himself and a between-the-legs throwdown that impressed Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady and generated 50s across the board.

Attempt #2: After missing a Jamal Crawford backboard toss and Vince Carter combo multiple times, he was forced to do a 360 slam to beat the dunk-clock. This got him a 43.0 (and likely bringin back bad memories of missed dunks in San Antonio’s earlier games) and ceded the contest to Johnson.

‘Flight 305’ (2nd Round – 92.8)

Attempt #1: He converted the one that he unsuccessfully tried in the previous one – a baseline between-the-legs reverse that netted him a 49.6.

Attempt #2: Johnson started from deep in the backcourt and tossed home a one-hander that was outshined by so many of Zach LaVine’s prior ones from 2016-2017. His 47.8 score necessitated a 47.5 for Bryant on his final attempt.

CHAMPION: Keshad Johnson (Miami Heat)

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Now we can all look forward to Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox’s appearances in the All-Star Game tomorrow night.

Want to know how silly NBA All-Star Weekend can be?

Before we get into the (more) serious stuff, let’s start with dessert. The NBA’s signature event is a no-holds-barred opportunity to ask the league’s biggest stars some truly unhinged questions during their media availability Saturday ahead of Sunday’s game. 

Questions that would typically be considered shockingly inappropriate in any other context are fair game in this milieu. Here are some of the most chuckle-worthy things that came out of Saturday.

Anthony Edwards, who oozes charm and seemingly loved the odd-ball questions more than the basketball-related ones, was asked about a popular Instagram account (@nbaresdev) ranking him as the seventh hottest player of all time. 

His response?

“My mom and daddy did a pretty good job, but my old lady ain’t going to like that, though,” Edwards said. “She want me to suppress it. I be trying to hide it and be ugly for these folks. But they ain’t wrong, though. They probably got me a little low on that list, honestly.”

Edwards was also asked which All-Star he wouldn’t want his sister to date. 

“I’m going to go with JB,” he said of Boston’s Jaylen Brown. “He is from the city (Marietta, Georgia). He can’t date my sister.”

Then there was Kevin Durant, who was asked if he had to either give up X (formerly called Twitter) or video games, which one he’d choose. Durant, of course, is infamous for trolling his detractors on the social media app. 

“I’m going to go Twitter because they don’t deserve to hear this God-level talk I’m giving to them,” Durant said. 

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Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic was asked whether he’d rather win the MVP Award every year or have his horses win their races.

He picked his horses. 

Another highlight was when Luka Doncic was asked in front of Boban Marjanovic if the center was his favorite teammate. 

“Definitely not,” he said of Marjanovic, whom he played alongside on the Mavericks from 2019-2022.

Now that we’ve had our foray into the silly, here’s more relevant news. 

Victor Wembanyama said he wants to make the All-Star Game more competitive by making “exclamation-point plays, playing in a solid manner and sharing the ball with energy.”

Other NBA stars weren’t on the same page, including Edwards who balked at the idea that the U.S. versus World format could duplicate the intensity of the Olympic Games. “No,” he said. 

Durant, similarly, made it clear that he thought the intensity of Sunday’s game didn’t matter much. 

“I just feel like fans and media need something to complain about,” he said. “And the All-Star Game don’t make them feel like they felt when they were kids.”

Meanwhile, Brown made it clear that he’s in favor of a 1-on-1 competition to increase interest in the weekend. 

“Luka, Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), (Jalen) Brunson, Donovan (Mitchell) — I would challenge all them guys, 1-on-1,” Brown said. “We could donate to whatever charity. Let’s set it up.”

As for Doncic, who has missed the Lakers’ last four games because of a hamstring injury, he intends to “play a little bit” on Sunday. He said he feels “pretty good,” though he added, “No, I will not try to dunk on LeBron.”

On the subject of James, who’s the only All-Star holding a news conference Sunday, Edwards acknowledged that whenever the superstar decides to retire, he “might cry a little bit.”

Wembanyama doesn’t think he’ll tear up when James hangs up his jersey, but the future face of the league said he’d love to pick the brain of the guy who’s held that title for the last two decades. 

“I’ve never had the chance to spend time with him, to have full discussion, but I would love to,” Wembanyama said. “I don’t know how many millions of basketball players are on Earth, and all of them can learn something from LeBron.”

Meanwhile, when Edwards was asked if his interest has increased in becoming the eventual face of the league, he didn’t hesitate. 

“Man, them folks got Wembanyama,” he said. “They got Wembanyama. They’ll be all right.”

Welcome to February Daily Topics at Golden State of Mind. A question (almost) every day this month to give the community a prompt to talk about!

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There’s no denying it: the NBA All-Star Game isn’t quite what it used to be. Decades ago, it was a true showcase of the best basketball talent in the world, with players taking the game as seriously as a late regular-season game with playoff implications.

Now, things have changed, and the All-Star Game — while still packed with talent — resembles a serious, competitive basketball game about as much as the NBA Street franchise does. Sure, it’s not exactly Shadeur Sanders playing flag football on the seriousness scale, but it’s not what so many of us grew up watching, either.

So how would you propose fixing the game, and the weekend (the three-point contest isn’t what it once was, either, and the slam dunk contest has fallen all the way off)?

The bigger question might be: is it even fixable at all? There’s a lot fighting against making the game competitive. The schedule is more demanding than it used to be, so players are more eager to find time to rest. Players are pushing their bodies to the limit like never before, with injuries at a high; that, combined with a better understanding of medicine and science than we used to have, means players are far less willing to put their body on the line for a game that is ultimately meaningless. And players have grown so accustomed to the game being an uncompetitive dunking exhibition, that there’s no incentive to start playing differently.

So it might not be fixable. If I were in charge, though, I’d still make a change: just go back to how it used to be. It may not be as good as it once was, but it’s not broken, either. We don’t need the shenanigans of elam endings and Team USA vs. Team World and a never-ending carousel of changing rules and concepts. Just let the 12 best players from the Western Conference play the 12 best players from the Eastern Conference, and let the players hopefully cycle back to feeling competitive about the game at some point.

As for the dunk contest? That might be broken for good, in part because it’s nearly reached the limit of what the human body is capable of, and now it’s hard to stand out. It could use more star power, though, so if I were the commissioner, I’d negotiate in the next CBA to try to get the players association to commit to two All-Stars in the contest every year (though that’s obviously a very low priority).

What are your All-Star fixes?

Boston Celtics two-way player Ron Harper Jr. appeared twice in the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities, but fell short of leaving a mark on either competition.

The 25-year-old participated in the Castrol Rising Stars mini-tournament on Friday and the Kia Shooting Stars competition on Saturday.

Harper Jr. started at shooting guard for Team Austin in the first game of the three-game mini-tournament, across from his brother, San Antonio Spurs rookie Dylan Harper, who started at forward for Team Melo.

While Ron Harper Jr. logged the second-most minutes of any player on Team Austin, he finished the game as its only scoreless player.

The G League star shot 0-5 from the field and 0-2 from three point range, and spent the majority of his time on the offensive end uninvolved and standing in the corner without the ball.

Both three point attempts were particularly rough. One came early in the game, when Harper Jr. dribbled into a shot and got blocked. The other attempt came on the second-to-last play of the game, when he took a shot several feet behind the perimeter with plenty of time left on the shot clock… and missed everything.

Dylan Harper got the ball on the next possession, took it at his brother, made him dance with a couple moves, and sunk the game-winning shot.

Ron Harper Jr got gamed by his little brother Dylan Harper with their father Ron Harper sitting courtside

Such a cool moment for the Harper family pic.twitter.com/OHxGQdSiax

— Ian Inangelo (@iinangelo) February 14, 2026

Nevertheless, it wasn’t all negative for Harper Jr. While his stat line was not glamorous, he did a lot of the unsung dirty work for Team Austin.

He posted a team-high 7 rebounds, including 3 offensive boards, and 2 assists, displaying excellent effort while battling in the trenches. He got a good tip that led to another rebound he was uncredited for, recovered a ball lost by one of his teammates, and got the game started by assisting on an alley-oop dunk.

Since Team Austin lost the game, it did not advance in the mini-tournament and Harper Jr. did not get another chance to shine.

During the Kia Shooting Stars competition, Harper Jr. and his team — which consisted of himself, his brother, Dylan, and his father, Ron Harper Sr., as well as celebrity passer 2 Chainz — also failed to progress past the first round.

The competition had four teams of three players shoot from seven spots, from a layup to an elbow jumper to a deep three-point shot from the logo, in an attempt to rack up as many points as possible over 70 seconds.

Team Harper finished the first round in third place, with 18 total points. Ron Jr. hit 3 of his 9 shots for 7 points, while his brother and father finished with 9 and 2 points, respectively.

Still winners in our eyes 😂💫 pic.twitter.com/44wsIG7ceX

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 14, 2026

They were in second place following their performance, but Team Knicks — the eventual winner — came next and immediately unseated Team Cameron for the top spot in the competition, pushing Team Harper to third.

Only the top 2 teams made the final round, so Team Harper was left behind and Harper Jr.’s participation in All-Star Weekend came to an end.

The Celtics’ next participant in the festivities will be Jaylen Brown, who will start for Team USA Stripes in tomorrow’s All-Star Game, which will feature a four-game tournament between two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players.

Team USA Stripes will play in games 2 and 3, which are slated to begin at 5:55 p.m. and 6:25 p.m. EST. The two teams with the best records will advance to an All-Star Championship game at 7:10 p.m. EST. The games can be viewed on NBC or streamed on Peacock.

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Top-seeded Taylor Fritz beat Marin Cilic in straight sets and No. 2 Ben Shelton rallied past defending champion Denis Shapovalov on Saturday night, setting up a Dallas Open final between the world's highest-ranked Americans.

Fritz had 22 aces in his 7-6(5), 7-6(3) victory, while Shelton sparked his game with a scintillating crosscourt forehand winner while facing three break points early in the second set and going on to a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) win.

The 28-year-old Fritz is ranked seventh in the world, two spots ahead of Shelton, who is coming off an Australian Open quarterfinal appearance that ended with a loss to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.

Fritz, a 10-time ATP Tour champion, and Shelton split their first two meetings. Shelton has three tour titles.

“Are you guys telling me that's the final you want to see?” Shelton asked, prompting cheers from fans at the indoor football stadium that is also the practice field of the Dallas Cowboys at club headquarters. “I'm super-excited for that matchup.”

Shelton came back from a set down for the second consecutive match, after beating Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarterfinals.

The 23-year-old was down a set and facing three break points at 1-1 in the second when the crosscourt winner got him going. He later had two set points on the seventh-seeded Shapovalov's serve, and converted the second to force the deciding set.

Shelton won three of the last four points in the tiebreaker, clinching the victory with another forehand winner.

Fritz had three set points in the first tiebreaker and three match points in the second against the unseeded Cilic.

The 2024 U.S. Open finalist closed out the first with his third consecutive ace after Cilic saved two set points.

One of Cilic's eight double faults — Fritz didn't have any — gave Fritz an early opening in the second tiebreaker. Fritz won his first match point when the 2014 U.S. Open champion's service return went long.

The 37-year-old Cilic used his powerful serve to escape several tough spots in a match with 38 aces. Cilic, who was seeking his 600th career singles victory, saved all five break points against him, while Fritz didn't face any in his third victory in four meetings with Cilic.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis