PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 04: Gunnar Henderson #2 of the Baltimore Orioles looks on during the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Monday, August 4, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Phebe Grosser/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
After a 2024 season where Gunnar Henderson was one of the best players in all of MLB, Orioles fans could be hopeful he’d be able to repeat at that elite level. It didn’t work out that way, with Henderson having a still pretty good but nowhere near MVP-level season. We know now, from Henderson’s own telling, that he battled through a shoulder impingement that was likely a factor in his diminished power.
Here’s what two big projection systems, ZiPS at FanGraphs and PECOTA at Baseball Prospectus, see as the 50th percentile outcome for Henderson this year:
ZiPS: .272/.352/.491 with 29 home runs and 22 stolen bases
PECOTA: .265/.347/.476 with 28 home runs and 20 stolen bases
Each of these represents a sizable improvement over what Henderson was able to do last year and would place Henderson back among the best players in baseball. The ZiPS projection, particularly, has Henderson tied for the sixth-best WAR projection of any position player in MLB. Pretty good!
The projections believe a young player like Henderson can bounce back to an elite level after what he’s shown in his career so far. What do you think is coming from Henderson this season?
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 12: A general view of Oracle Park and Mission Bay in San Francisco, California, United States on July 12, 2025. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images) | Anadolu via Getty Images
Good morning baseball fans!
As we approach Spring Training and the beginning of the season, we’re going to be doing some questions for y’all about your thoughts about the San Francisco Giants and baseball in general!
Today’s question: Who’s to blame when things go wrong?
This isn’t necessarily a predictive question on the 2026 team, more of a philosophical question about who you think bears the blame for seasons that don’t pan out as well as we’d hoped they would. Some might assign that blame squarely on the players, others the coaching staff, and others might blame the front office or ownership.
Personally, I’ve never seen the point of blaming players. I don’t believe for a single second that any player has gone out on the field and thought “Eh, you know, I’m just going to suck on purpose today” despite what many fans of sports betting might believe to the contrary. Sure there are things like conditioning, practice, preparation, etc. that are within an individual player’s control, but that’s really about as far as it goes.
I’m of the belief that problems start from the top. If the owners are committed to having a competitive team, they will approve whatever it takes to make that happen. If the owners are more interested in profits and real estate development, the on-field product will reflect that. That trickles down to the decisions made by the front office to build a roster, and then to the coaching staff to do the best they can do with the roster they have.
Which means that there really isn’t much that anyone below the ownership level can do to change the organizational priorities, so in my book, the buck stops with the owners. No matter how many managers and front office staff they throw under the bus at the end of every season to deflect that.
But that’s just my opinion, and I’d like to hear yours!
Who do you think is to blame when seasons go wrong?
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 05: Nathan Eovaldi #30 of the New York Yankees delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on September 5, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) | Getty Images
When remembering the numerous pitchers throughout the history of the New York Yankees, it’s easy to recall plenty who spent only a couple of seasons with the club. Some names were excellent throughout their careers before finishing with the Bombers; others found themselves with the Yankees earlier on and then moved on to do great things with other MLB teams. Of all of these names, there’s one who has always stuck out to me (and many others within the vast array of Yankees-faithful) from the mid-2010s: Nathan Eovaldi.
Despite not wearing the Yankees uniform for very long—and having better years following his time in New York—“Nasty Nate” remains synonymous with that odd in-between era of Yankees baseball, following one icon’s retirement and another’s ascent.
Nathan Edward Eovaldi Born: February 13, 1990 (Houston, TX) Yankees Tenure: 2015-16
A Houston area native, Eovaldi first caught the attention of big-league scouts as a hard-throwing righty from Alvin High School, which just so happened to also produce Nolan Ryan, arguably the most famous hard-throwing righty in MLB history. In fact, he and Ryan are the only two Alvin High graduates to make the majors.
The Dodgers picked up Eovaldi in the 11th round of the 2008 MLB Draft, forgoing a commitment to Texas A&M. Promoted fairly aggressively for his age, Eovaldi made his big-league debut against the Diamondbacks on August 6, 2011, at 21 years old. He pitched five innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. He came away with the win as well. As an added bonus, he singled off Joe Saunders in his first career at-bat and scored a run — and it all came with the legendary Vin Scully behind the mic.
Eovaldi made 10 appearances during that inaugural campaign, starting six of them, and then spent the first couple months of 2012 at Double-A Chattanooga before returning to the majors. His Dodgers career would only last 10 more starts though, as LA made a Trade Deadline splash by landing three-time All-Star Hanley Ramirez and lefty specialist Randy Choate. Eovaldi was off to the Marlins, as was fellow pitcher Scott McGough.
After getting his feet wet in Miami with a so-so second half, Eovaldi suffered shoulder inflammation that put him on the shelf to begin 2013. But at age 23, he took off upon returning to health, recording a 3.39 ERA and 3.59 FIP across 18 starts. Eovaldi had his most durable year yet in 2014, starting 33 games and tossing 199.2 innings. However, he also led the National League in hits allowed with 223.
It was in wake of the 2014 campaign that Eovaldi’s career would change course, and he would head north to the Bronx. Spotting Eovaldi’s potential and hoping to land another fine young starter to join Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda at the front of the rotation, the Yankees traded Martín Prado and David Phelps to Miami in exchange for Eovaldi, Garrett Jones, and prospect Domingo Germán. Eovaldi would pitch in the first game of his Yankees career against the Red Sox in what would turn out to be a chaotic 19-inning contest that Boston would take 6-5.
Through 27 starts in his first season as a Yankee, Eovaldi would finish with the highest winning percentage in all of MLB at .823. His 14-3 record, 4.20 ERA, and 121 strikeouts in 154.1 frames made for a very nice start to his Yankees career. Eovaldi’s finest day came on August 24th, when he dialed his heater up to 100 mph in blanking the future playoff rival Astros for eight (yes “just” eight, sorry to to reporter Nate) innings in a 1-0 victory.
Elbow inflammation had him on the shelf from September 6th onward, however, and the Yankees never recaptured the AL East lead from Toronto. Consigned to the Wild Card Game, they were shut out by Houston and quickly eliminated.
2015 could have been the launching pad to a strong career in pinstripes for Eovaldi, but the barking elbow turned out to be a portent. He was inconsistent and often frustrating for an unimpressive Yankees team in the first half of 2016, ending it with an unsightly 5.18 ERA and a demotion to the bullpen. Eovaldi briefly returned to the rotation beginning July 19th. He left his start at Fenway Park on August 10th with elbow discomfort and ultimately had to undergo Tommy John surgery.
Eovaldi’s season was over, and soon enough, his Yankees career was over as well. With the news that Eovaldi was expected to miss the entirety of the 2017 season due to the procedure, which would have put him into free agency at the end of the year, the Yankees elected to release him rather than working out a rehab-focused extension. So Eovaldi continued his career elsewhere.
In 2018, Eovaldi joined the Tampa Bay Rays and was then traded to the Red Sox following some more injury news, and pitched in just 10 games. With the Sox, he pitched well down the stretch and helped them win a World Series in five games against the Dodgers. That October was when he really began to turn the narrative of his career around, as he notched a 1.61 ERA in 22.1 innings. He got vengeance against the Yankees with seven sterling innings in his playoff debut, ALDS Game 3 in the Bronx. Boston eliminated New York the next day, and Eovaldi beat the Astros in ALCS Game 3 as well. The Game 3 that everyone remembered though was in an 18-inning Fall Classic marathon in LA, when despite a loss, Eovaldi earned moxie points with six gutsy innings of relief on just one day’s rest.
Eovaldi re-signed with the Red Sox and would spend another four full seasons with Boston, posting a 4.15 ERA and 111 ERA+ in 407.2 innings pitched. He tallied 420 strikeouts in those innings, and in 2021, he came in fourth in the American League Cy Young voting and 15th in AL MVP voting while earning his first All-Star nomination. Oh, and he got to tweak the Yankees’ nose once more in postseason play, outpitching Gerrit Cole in the 2021 AL Wild Card Game at Fenway Park.
After his time in Boston, Eovaldi became a free agent and joined the Texas Rangers in 2023, and has had the three best years of his career numbers-wise at ages 33-35. His ERA in those three seasons sits at 3.14 with an ERA+ of 125 and 427 strikeouts in 444.2 innings pitched. Eovaldi also stood out in October again while helping lead the Rangers to their World Series victory in 2023, winning at least one game in every series for them (beating the nemesis Astros twice) en route to the first title in franchise history.
Eovaldi’s 14-year career has been full of injuries and moving from place to place, but it’s hard to deny that he and his game have aged well. His fastball shape improved upon leaving the Bronx and his secondaries got a boost as well, including a cutter that wasn’t added until just before he went under the knife in 2016. Could he have fared better under a better Yankees pitching infrastructure? We’ll never know. A two-time champion and major part of those two World Sereis teams, Eovaldi may have only spent two seasons in New York of his soon-to-be-15-year career, but they put him on the path to bigger and better things.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
BROOKLYN, NY - JUNE 25: Shams Charania looks on during the 2025 NBA Draft - Round One on June 25, 2025 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE(Photo by Evan Yu/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The NBA Celebrity Game has become a staple of All-Star Weekend to kick off the festivities on Friday night. This year’s 22-person roster includes an NBA owner, one famous reporter, several NFL stars, and then a bunch of people I need to Google as a childless 38-year-old man who is mostly out of touch with popular culture.
The 2026 NBA Celebrity Game features an obvious hook: Shams Charania will be playing for a team coached by Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brothers Alex and Thanasis Antetokounmpo. Charania has been pushing Giannis trade rumors hard since the summer, and especially so at the trade deadline, but Antetokounmpo remains with the Bucks. Will Giannis give Shams a hard time for his reporting? Tune in to find out.
The NBA Celebrity Game will go down on Friday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. ET from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. Here’s a look at the full roster, with introductions to every celebrity below.
Team Antetokounmpo
Giannis, Alex, and Thanasis Antetokounmpo will coach this team along with Dodgers star Mookie Betts.
Keegan-Michael Key: Hey, I know this guy! A 54-year-old actor and comedian, he’s probably best known for Key & Peele. This gives me another excuse to link one of the best sports skits ever.
Rome Flynn: The 34-year-old actor is best known for his work in How To Get Away With Murder and The Bold and the Beautiful.
Dylan Wang: A 27-year-old Chinese actor and singer best known for his role in Meteor Garden. He has 6.2 million Instagram followers, and his Wikipedia page says he’s a huge fan of LeBron James!
Shams Charania: If you follow the NBA, you know Shams. He has replaced Woj as the guy who gets all the scoops. Charania is 31 years old, and a native of suburban Chicago.
Jenna Bandy: Bandy is a popular sports content creator. Look at this throw!
Rick Schnall: Schnall is the 57-year-old minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks
Tacko Fall: Wow, Tacko Fall! I used to write about him often. Fall is a 7’6 big man who went undrafted in 2019 but played for the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers before going on to have a career playing in China.
Jeremy Lin: Linsanity is back! Jeremy Lin is a former NBA player who rose to stardom with the Knicks. He’s 37 years old, and most recently played in Taiwan.
GloRilla: A 26-year-old rap star from Memphis. You may have heard “TGIF.”
Cafu: A former Brazilian soccer star, and one of the greatest fullbacks of all-time. He’s 55 years old.
Amon-Ra St. Brown: Detroit Lions superstar wide receiver.
Team Anderson
Actor Anthony Anderson, social media influencer Lethal Shooter, and NBA trainer Chris Brickley will coach this team.
Simu Liu: A 36-year-old Canadian actor and stuntman. He’s best known for the Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Jan 20, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, left, and Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong are seen during the first half of the game between the Chicago Bulls and the LA Clippers at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images
State Farm is hosting a celebrity 3-point contest on Friday night during NBA All-Star weekend. The contest will take place at the NBA Crossover in Los Angeles.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is set to take part in the contest, joined by internet personality Druski and streamer PlaqueBoy Max. The event will feature a mix of professional athletes—such as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jared McCain—alongside various online personalities and entertainers, with Williams headlining the group.
I think it should be noted to make things clear, this is a State Farm event and not NBA. Lol https://t.co/0o1fFAjXEP
Scotland will throw everything at the visitors but I love Steve Borthwick’s decision to start Luke Cowan-Dickie in the Six Nations at Murrayfield
The Six Nations is a cruel mistress. Two days before the tournament started for Scotland, Gregor Townsend said this was the strongest playing group of his tenure. Two days later, one bad half of rugby, some abysmal weather and he is facing calls for his head. If you take your eye off the ball in this competition for half an hour on the field your campaign can be over for another 12 months.
England will know that heading to Murrayfield. They only need to reflect on their most recent visit to Edinburgh. They began with a bang but Scotland seized momentum and England just couldn’t get it back, whatever they tried. Make no mistake, however, Steve Borthwick’s side know what is at stake on Saturday. Pull off a first victory in Edinburgh for six years and there will be conversations about going all the way. They will not be public conversations, but I’ve been in squads and camps before and, when the opportunity for silverware is genuine, you cannot help but discuss it.
Manager’s unconventional techniques are designed to bring fun as well as results and he has West Ham in his sights
“At times the players must think I’m bonkers,” says Gary Bowyer, the Burton Albion manager, volunteering the time he walked into the dressing room with a tennis racket and ball. It is one of the unconventional techniques he has used to convey his message and tap into their psyche. Every week he explores different themes and stories with his squad – be it bullfighting or UFC – and brings them to life through imagery and props, everything from dragons to toy tigers.
He has leaned into boxing and particularly Mike Tyson during an FA Cup run that has led them to a fourth-round tie at home to West Ham on Saturday. “The theme for this week is The Ultimate,” he says, referencing Tyson’s 1987 bout with Tony Tucker to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. “We’ve created this idea of climbing into the ring, the pitch, and away you go. We’re fighting West Ham and we’re going to have to take some blows. What do you do if you get knocked on to the canvas? Get back up or lay there and take it?”
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 17: Donovan Mitchell shoots the ball during the Starry 3 point contest as a part of State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on Saturday, February 17, 2024 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Cleveland Cavaliers will have two representatives at All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles with Donovan Mitchell and Jaylon Tyson. Mitchell will be participating in the 3-Point Contest and All-Star Game, while Tyson will be in the Rising Stars game.
The format of these events changes seemingly every season. Let’s get into what we can expect this go around.
Rising Stars
When: Friday, Feb. 13 at 9 PM
TV: Peacock
The Rising Stars game will feature first and second-year NBA players and a handful of G League participants. The 21 NBA players have been broken up into three teams. The G League players are on a team of their own.
The four teams will participate in a mini-tournament of three overall games. There will be two semi-final games. The first team to 40 points in the semi-final games will advance, and the loser will be eliminated. The two winning teams will face off in the finals. The final game will be won by the first team to reach 25 points.
Tyson is on a team drafted by Tracy McGrady. His team is as follows:
Tre Johnson
Kon Knueppel
Ajay Johnson
Alex Sarr
Cam Spencer
Jaylon Tyson
Kel’el Ware
3-Point Contest
When: Saturday, Feb. 14 at 5 PM
TV: NBC and Peacock
The 3-Point Contest will be the first event of All-Star Saturday. This is a change from their normal order of activities. Considering this is the best event of All-Star Weekend, and it features Mitchell, it’s worth watching.
This will be the second time Mitchell has been in the 3-Point Contest as a Cavalier and the third time overall. In his most recent showing, he wore a number 5 Cavs’ jersey with “Money Merrill” on the back in honor of Sam Merrill. He said on Wednesday that he plans on doing that again this time around.
Here are the participants for the 3-Point Contest:
Devin Booker
Kon Knueppel
Damian Lillard
Tyrese Maxey
Donovan Mitchell
Jamal Murray
Bobby Portis Jr.
Norman Powell
NBA G League Next Up Game
When: Sunday, Feb. 15 at 2:30 PM
TV: NBA TV
The Charge will have two representatives at this year’s version of what is the G League All-Star Game with Killian Hayes and Norchad Omier
Hayes has had an incredible season so far. He’s averaging 23.5 points, 8.3 assists, 4 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game on .467/.323/.795 shooting splits in 26 outings with the Charge.
Omier is a candidate to get the two-way spot that Nae’Qwan Tomlin recently vacated by signing a standard deal. Omier is averaging 18.5 points and 11.1 rebounds on .601/.270/.790 shooting splits.
The Next Up Game is consistently a pretty solid event. There’s generally a real competitive level to this game that isn’t there in most of the other All-Star Weekend activities. Like the other events, this will also follow the same mini-tournament format.
NBA All-Star Game
When: Sunday, Feb. 15 at 9 PM
TV: NBC and Peacock
The All-Star game is once again trying a new format. This year, the All-Stars were broken up into three teams. Two teams are made of U.S. players, while the third is the international team.
The three teams will play in a round-robin tournament, with each team playing each other. The mini games will be just 12 minutes long.
The teams with the top two records after the three games will face off in the final game.
Mitchell’s team will consist of the veteran U.S. players, as seen below.
Jaylen Brown
Jalen Brunson
Stephen Curry (not participating due to injury)
Kevin Durant
Brandon Ingram
LeBron James
Kawhi Leonard
Donovan Mitchell
Norman Powell
We’ll see if the new format changes make the game more competitive.
Let us know in the comments what event you’re most excited to see and whether you think the new format will change anything.
Welcome to Inside the Suns, your weekly deep down analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team. Each week the Fantable — a round table of Bright Siders — give their takes on the Suns’ latest issues and news.
This week, I hope everyone will join me in welcoming Diamondhacks as the newest member of the Fantable!
Fantable Questions of the Week
Q1: With two-thirds of the season behind us, the Suns are a borderline playoff/Play-In team. Which side of that line do you think they will ultimately fall on at the end of the regular season?
Diamondhacks: It could easily go either way, with the Wolves, us, and the Lakes all facing tougher-than-average remaining strength of schedule. But since Rod threatened to revoke my BSOTS cafeteria privileges if I didn’t answer the question, I’ll guess Play-In. Some of our key guys may be wearing down, and we’re not surprising opponents much anymore. Coaches like Lue, Kerr, and Nurse are more aggressively targeting emergent difference makers (ie, Collin, Oso, and Goody). Everybody, even Anthony Edwards, knows who “they” are now.
Jalen Green is still the wild card, but unless he can reliably turbocharge this offense, my worry is that most of our structural and surprise upside this season has already been realized. If Ott can get Jalen to do that, reasonably efficiently, on top of everything else the Suns have accomplished, then I think we have the Coach of the Year.
Ashton: It really does depend on injury reports. Yeah, hot take.
Tankathon ranks the Suns’ remaining strength of schedule as the fifth-hardest in the nation. The good news is that Denver, Thunder, and Wolves rank above them. Dallas and Clippers are in the tank, right? And LeBron is fighting arthritis in his left foot.
Six seed seems to be correct to me.
Rod: I think they have a really good chance of ending the regular season as the 6th or maybe the 5th seed and avoiding the play-in games…IF they stay relatively healthy between now and then. And by that I mean no serious injuries that keep key players out for more than a game or two at a time. If everything falls just right, I could even see them finishing the RS as 4th seed, but that’s a ‘best case scenario’ that I consider unlikely.
At worst, I really can’t see them falling below the 8th seed in the play-ins unless something bizarre happens to completely derail the rest of the regular season. I really doubt that happening, but I also can’t just write off that possibility.
I’m not much of a betting man, but I’d go with the over on the playoff/play-in line for the Suns right now. I think the AS break will be good for them, and they return rested and re-energized to make a strong run to the regular season finish line.
Q2: Jamaree Bouyea’s stats have taken a big hit lately. In November, his averages were 5.8 ppg (per 36 = 19.3) while shooting 55% from the field and 54.5% from three in 10.8 minutes per game. In February, his stats dropped to 4.5 ppg (per 36 = 9.9) with shooting percentages of 40% from the field and 9.1% from three in 16.4 minutes per game.
Why do you think his performance has dropped off lately?
Diamondhacks: JB’s month-by-month decline could be for tangible competitive reasons, like teams are defending him better. A more abstract (and hopeful) take is that his seasonal rate stats still align very closely with (admittedly limited) career numbers. So maybe the fast start and subsequent decline are more of a passive or random statistical variation; thus, he’ll bounce back from the latter a little. It’s hard to say, because his sample sizes are still so small. We don’t really know what his established level is yet, but it seems increasingly unlikely to me that he’ll reprise his captivating November.
Ashton: He didn’t even play in the game against the Mavs. So, let’s go with the obvious clue here: playing time. And in order to get that playing time, he needs to pack his bags for Tempe and let Amir Coffey cook a little with the NBA minutes.
Bouyea stats in G League are actually pretty good. I can’t link G League stats in my write-ups, but the guy is averaging 20.2 points per game over five games played! So, do I think his performance has dropped off? It depends on the context.
Rod: Probably the biggest reason is simply that he’s no longer a surprise to other teams, and they have added him to their list of players to game plan for. The Suns have also played some tough teams since he returned after missing 10 games with a concussion. The ‘rust’ from his downtime while recovering combined with the tougher competition was likely a double whammy that hurt his stats. Hopefully, he’ll be back closer to his normal self following the AS break.
Q3: What are your thoughts on Amir Coffey and his possible role with the Suns?
Diamondhacks: He’s Royce’s backup and Ryan Dunn’s three-point insurance. Like O’Neale, Coffey pours in 40+% on corner threes. Coffey’s gritty and earned 1700 minutes under Ty Lue. The caveat is that this year’s stint with the Bucks has been more of a grind.
Ashton: This may be the shortest Fantable write-up I have done yet, based on word counts. We do not all know, and this question is way too early to ask. I waited for the Mavs game to try to answer this question, and I still have nothing. He was +1 in that game, and maybe he does something more against the Thunder (yikes!) tonight, but that is not a good introduction for him jelling with the team.
What can I say? He was solid with the Clippers, but the Bucks treated him like a red-headed stepchild (with respect to red-headed stepchildren), and I find that a little bit worrisome. Of course, it is the Bucks, and I have not watched one of their games since 2021.
Rod: I have a feeling that Coffey may have just been a bad fit in Milwaukee and will do better in the Valley. In most of his seasons with LAC, he was a three-point shooter, nailing 38.4% there, and close to 50% of his FGAs were from three. With the Bucks, his playing time was way below his career average, as was his FGAs. I wish I’d seen more of Milwaukee this season so I’d have a better idea of why he was pretty much buried at the end of their bench, but I think he may get more of a chance to play here, especially if his three-point shooting returns to form.
With the Suns so reliant on the three, he could carve himself out some rotation minutes, especially if GA remains sidelined for a while. But more than that, he’s going to have to fit in defensively to stay on the court. I don’t think he’s going to completely move anyone else out of Ott’s player rotation but he should be at least a solid insurance player at both SG and SF. He looked pretty good in limited minutes against Dallas and OKC without much practice time with the team so I’m currently happy with him.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Quotes of the Week
“I think this (All-Star break) is a time where we can evaluate exactly who we are, how we’ve been. I think even in this last stretch without Book (Devin Booker), I just don’t think we’ve been as good defensively, honestly. That’s where we got to get back to.” – Jordan Ott
“Our focus has to be really high. Especially in this West, a differential of two to three games where you can get in that playoff hunt and you can be a four or five, even three (seed). You have to be real focused in the gym when we come back, and move these last 25 games with some purpose.” – Dillon Brooks
“I think it (the OKC loss) is motivation to be better the next 25 games. The last game we had no Book (Devin Booker), no Jalen (Green), no Grayson (Allen). We get healthy and put it together and we will go at these 25 games like we are trying to prove something like we did in the beginning of the year.” – Dillon Brooks
“I got a lot of stuff to learn, a lot of stuff to go over but at the end of the day, you still got to do your job. So, that stuff will come. But still got to go out and compete.” – Amir Coffey
Suns Trivia/History
On February 16, 2009, the Suns fired head coach Terry Porter after 51 games and replaced him with assistant Alvin Gentry. The Suns had a 28–23 record, ninth in the Western Conference, with Porter. Under Gentry the Suns would go 18-13 to finish the season with a 46-36 record and miss the payoffs for the first time after four straight appearances and two trips to the Western Conference Finals under former head coach Mike D’Antoni.
On February 18, 1990, Tom Chambers had the first 50+ point game in Phoenix Suns history, scoring 56 points in a 131-113 win at Golden State. The previous record of 49 points belonged to then assistant coach Paul Westphal scored 10 years earlier on Feb. 21, 1980 in a 125-116 victory against the Detroit Pistons. Head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons left Chambers in the game until there was only 3 minutes left hoping he would reach 60 points.
On February 19, 2015, after Goran Dragic publicly announced that he no longer trusted the Suns front office and wanted to be traded, the Suns made a flurry of in-season moves at the trade deadline including:
A 3-team trade in which Phoenix traded Goran Dragić and Zoran Dragić to the Miami Heat for Danny Granger, a 2017 1st round draft pick and a 2021 1st round draft pick plus John Salmons from New Orleans.
A second 3-team trade in which the Suns traded a 2018 1st round draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers and Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee to the Milwaukee Bucks for Brandon Knight and Kendall Marshall.
And a third 3-team trade in which the Suns traded Isaiah Thomas to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Marcus Thornton and a 2016 1st round draft pick. The third partner in the trade, the Detroit Pistons, acted as a facilitator in the trade and had no direct dealings with the Suns.
The trades did not work out for the Suns who were 29-25 before they happened and went 10-18 the rest of the season to finish 39-43, missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season in what would continue to grow into a 10 year playoff drought.
This Week’s Game Schedule
Thursday, Feb 19 – Suns @ San Antonio Spurs (6:30 pm)
This Week’s Valley Suns Game Schedule
None.
Important Future Dates
March 1 – Playoff eligibility waiver deadline March 4 – Final day to sign players to two-way contracts March 28 – NBA G League Regular Season ends March 31 – 2026 NBA G League Playoffs begin April 12 – Regular season ends (All 30 teams play) April 13 – Rosters set for NBA Playoffs 2026 (3 p.m. ET) April 14-17 – SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament April 18 – NBA Playoffs begin
There’s a debate to be had about the NBA’s ring culture.
Some spoilsports say it spoils the sport. They’ll argue that the emphasis on championship pursuits causes fans to lose sight of the forest for the trees. A season should be measured in increments. Winning five more games than expected is worth celebration. Beating a rival on the road is a season high.
It all sounds like what you’d say if your team had no chance to win the NBA championship.
What else is this about? What is the existential impetus if not for ultimate glory? The game is about the NBA Championship. Anything else is, to be blunt, loser talk.
Having established that, the Houston Rockets will not win the NBA championship in 2025-26. It’s simply not going to happen. As far as real contenders go, they’re on the outside looking in:
Especially in a bloody Western Conference.
Rockets can’t survive the Western Front
Before we talk about the competition, let’s talk about the Rockets.
They have two All-Stars. That’s good! They’re deep. That’s good too!
Let’s get more granular. The Rockets are deep: with talented but fundamentally flawed players. It’s always something. Amen Thompson can’t shoot (neither can Sengun). Reed Sheppard can’t defend. Jabari Smith Jr. can’t create. Tari Eason can’t stay healthy.
Look at the Oklahoma City Thunder. Seriously, as a psychological exercise, just try to set aside your fandom for a moment and marvel at the structural integrity of the basketball Death Star they’ve built. Almost everyone can shoot. Everyone (and I do mean everyone) can defend.
Their 118.1 Offensive Rating ranks fourth. Their 106.1 Defensive Rating ranks first by a considerable margin. Unsurprisingly, their 12.1 Net Rating serves to tell the world that, barring catastrophic injury luck, this team’s next NBA title is already portended.
Heading into 2025-26, we knew this. Ostensibly, the Rockets were next in line. They were meant to have a puncher’s chance in case something awful did happen to the Thunder.
It’s been said ad nauseam, but the “something awful” actually happened to the Rockets. Some will parrot the sentiment that “if the Rockets were that reliant on Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams, they weren’t going to win an NBA title anyway”. Bad argument. Those are structural pieces. We’ve seen superteams fail to win NBA titles because they didn’t pay attention to the role players you need to assemble a game plan. Every (contending) team has talent. It’s best to have a plan outside of “out-talent the talent”.
The Rockets planned to control the possession battle by minimizing turnovers (VanVleet) and dominating the offensive glass (Adams et al). With VanVleet missing the entire season, their 15.7% Turnover Percentage ranks 27th. They still lead the league in Offensive Rebounding % (39.9%) by a healthy margin, and they probably will throughout the entire year, but that part of their plan is less sound with Adams on the sidelines.
All of which is to say: They aren’t better than the Spurs either. San Antonio’s 6.1 Net Rating paces Houston’s 5.0 mark. Much of that owes to Victor Wembanyama, aka The Bogeyman, aka The Croque-Mitaine. He is nightmare incarnate for everyone who doesn’t live in what I, as a Canadian, understand to be a worse part of Texas than Houston.
(Take that, Tim Duncan!)
How about the Nuggets? That’s where it gets interesting. Their 4.1 Net Rating is worse than Houston’s. The Rockets have a deeper roster. Still, it would be hard to deny that Nikola Jokic is the most effective player between the two squads. Even in the age of parity where teams are trending towards depth, having (by far) the best player in a series is a distinct advantage.
Otherwise, the Rockets are right there. Unfortunately, sitting with two or three teams ahead of you in the conference does not a contender make. Even by Stone’s stunningly frank admission, this is not their year.
How is next year looking?
Rockets need better luck next year
Time will tell.
The Rockets have problems. There is a laundry list of needed improvements:
Sengun needs to be more efficient. He just does. It’d be nice if the defense were consistent, too, but at least he’s permanently upgraded from “permanently bad status.” Next year, we need to be able to point to one (1) spot on the floor and say “that’s where he butters his bread”.
Thompson needs more offensive utility. If the on-ball experiment still looks like an experiment, get him cutting, screening, and rolling more frequently.
Sheppard. I’m not sure what to prescribe. Grow? Is that a fair request? Could he just grow taller? He needs to find a way to survive defensively.
All of these flaws, and yet, the Rockets are fourth in the West without two foundational veterans. With some internal growth and the return of those guys, they could be in the mix for the 2026-27 NBA championship.
Coach Tyronn Lue and All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard remain with the Clippers, who are in another round of rebuilding after recently trading guard James Harden and center Ivica Zubac. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The Clippers’ days as the biggest losers in professional sports are long gone, and this NBA All-Star weekend was supposed to be a time to celebrate it.
The team that spent its first four decades of existence as a punch line and a purgatory has now had 14 consecutive winning seasons with a succession of basketball greats wearing its uniform. After decades of playing in dingy gyms from Buffalo to San Diego to downtown Los Angeles, the Clippers now hold court in a lavish, futuristic new arena built by the richest owner in professional sports, Steve Ballmer.
Yet perhaps it’s cosmically appropriate for this crowning All-Star moment to arrive in the middle of a profoundly chaotic season for the Clippers, whose newer fans have been getting a taste of the bad old days from a team that once spent almost every year mired in some kind of mess.
“We’ve dealt with a lot this year,” said Clippers guard Kris Dunn, whose team closed the first half of the season Wednesday with a 105-102 victory in Houston. “Our whole mentality throughout the year has just been to try to find a way. It’s been tough.”
The season began under the cloud of an NBA investigation into a suspicious endorsement deal for superstar Kawhi Leonard which might have been a way for the team to circumvent the salary cap — and which infuriated front offices around the sport, no matter what the league eventually decides. Leonard, Ballmer and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank all deny wrongdoing, but the Clippers could face penalties if the league disagrees.
The Clippers then got off to a shambolic 6-21 start during which they kicked franchise icon Chris Paul off the team just six weeks into the 40-year-old point guard’s much-anticipated farewell season. A couple of weeks after Paul’s banishment, coach Tyronn Lue’s Clippers improbably started winning again, with former league MVP James Harden and veteran center Ivica Zubac stepping up alongside Leonard to lead a 16-3 surge into the playoff race.
But then Frank blew up his roster last week, trading Harden to Cleveland and Zubac to Indiana. The moves probably improved the long-term outlook for a team that began the season with the NBA’s oldest roster, but they might have ended an era. They still have Leonard, who scored 27 points, including a three-point play in the final seconds, in Wednesday’s win.
“As hard as these moves are, we’re extremely excited about where we’re going,” Frank said. “We want to win now.”
The Clippers’ current streak of 14 winning seasons was pretty much unthinkable only 15 years ago, when this franchise had managed only six winning seasons in 40 years. They’ve made the playoffs 12 times and won their first three Pacific Division titles in this stretch.
But the Clippers’ past five months have contained enough drama for a decade around many clubs, and the All-Star weekend will be a welcome opportunity for the team and its fans to catch their breath. This is the first All-Star weekend hosted solely by the Clippers, who shared the honor three times previously with their eternal older brothers, the 17-time champion Lakers.
The Clippers (26-28) once had to cover up the Lakers’ banners when they both played at the former Staples Center, but they don’t have those problems in their new $2-billion palace that puts the Lakers’ aging arena to shame.
And at least Clippers fans won’t have the bittersweet experience of watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is injured and won’t play in Inglewood. The reigning league MVP and NBA Finals MVP began his career with the Clippers in 2018, only to be traded to Oklahoma City a year later along with a jaw-dropping bounty of draft picks for Paul George.
The entire future beyond All-Star weekend is murky for the Clippers, between the looming investigation and uncertainty across the roster. But after the league marvels at the wonders of Intuit Dome, Frank and the respected Lue will continue working to keep the good times going.
“Yes, this is where I want to be,” Lue said. “Having an owner like Mr. Ballmer, who’s unbelievable, it does so many things for me. ... I want to be here.”
Tipping off the festivities on Friday is the time-honored fan favorite NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, where novice players with varying levels of fame — and athletic ability — face off against each other. Public personas in past editions of the games have ranged from actors and musicians to retired athletes, to politicians.
So, who will be playing in this year's Celebrity All-Star Game, and how can you watch? Here is everything you need to know.
Who is playing in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game?
The All-Star Celebrity Game rosters are headlined by actor and comedian Keegan-Michael Key, actor Simu Liu, rapper GloRilla, "Love Island USA" star Nicolas Vansteenberghe, Grammy-award winning producer and LA native Mustard and ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania.
Also in the mix are current professional athletes such as Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen alongside retired legends such as Jason "White Chocolate" Williams and two-time FIFA World Cup champion Cazzu.
The teams will be coached by the Antetokounmpo brothers, Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, Anthony Anderson, Lethal Shooter and NBA player development trainer Chris Brickley.
You can find the full rosters and coaches for the Celebrity Game here.
The best basketball players in the world meet up once again in the NBA All-Star Game this weekend from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, home of the Los Angeles Clippers.
After tweaking the format again due to players over the years showing an utter disregard for playing hard, the league introduced a USA vs. World competition to make the game more competitive.
Last year's game was divided up into four teams: Team Chuck, Team Shaq, Team Kenny, and Team Candace. Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who played for Team Shaq, was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
The 3-point contest, the slam dunk competition, and the shooting stars game are back in All-Star Saturday.
Here is what to know about the 2026 NBA All-Star weekend:
What is the new NBA All-Star format?
Each team will be divided into three teams with at least eight players each. Two of the teams will be made up of players from the United States (USA Stars and USA Stripes), and the third will feature international players. (Team World).
Games will be 12 minutes long, and each team will play every other team in the elimination rounds. If all teams end up with 1-1 records, teams with the highest point differential will play for the championship
In the sport of college basketball, about the only thing that is certain is uncertainty. The final NCAA men's tournament bracket still won’t be announced for over a month, and it will in all likelihood look quite different from this latest projection from our USA TODAY Sports team of bracketologists.
In just the last few days since our most recent effort, we’ve seen half the teams that were projected as top two seeds lose. That includes Arizona, though the Wildcats are still comfortably on the first line. Iowa State, which lost to a TCU team much farther down the Big 12 standings, will slip back to a No. 3.
The Big Ten shook things up as well. Purdue replaces Nebraska on the No. 2 line as the Boilermakers outlasted the Cornhuskers in overtime. Also falling back is Illinois to a No. 3 seed after the Fighting Illini lost in overtime for the second consecutive game.
In the ACC, Virginia is back in the top 16 as a No. 4 seed, while North Carolina slides a line after losing at Miami. Virginia Tech inched closer to the bubble with a win at Clemson but still has work to do to make the field.
Bracketology: NCAA Tournament projection for March Madness
March Madness Last four in
Miami (Fla.), Southern California, San Diego State, UCLA.
March Madness First four out
: New Mexico, Virginia Tech, TCU, Missouri.
NCAA tournament bids conference breakdown
Multi-bid leagues: Big Ten (11), SEC (10), ACC (8) Big 12 (7), Big East (3), West Coast (3), Mountain West (2).
It might have taken slightly longer than usual, but we have at last reached the point in the men’s college basketball season when the grind is finally catching up to even the best teams.
Several top-10 squads and numerous other ranked teams have already been beaten this week, including the No.-1 team in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll tasting defeat for the first time. Those Arizona Wildcats return to action on another busy Saturday, as well as the team that handed them that first loss.
We begin the day in the ACC, where the Tigers are coming off an unexpected home loss to Virginia Tech and must now brave the Cameron Crazies. The Blue Devils for their part were able to shake off last weekend’s setback at North Carolina with a business-like win at struggling Pittsburgh despite the absence of center Patrick Ngongba, who sat out with a wrist injury and might still be unavailable. Clemson spreads its scoring wealth but often lacks a true takeover guy, which could again be a problem against a Duke squad that appears to have figured out its defensive issues.
No. 9 Kansas at No. 4 Iowa State
Time/TV: 1 p.m. ET, ABC
It has not been a good week for basketball in the state of Iowa. The Cyclones cracked the top five only to squander a late lead at TCU. All that will be forgotten, however, if they can defend their home court and avenge last month’s loss to the Jayhawks, who are fresh off that Arizona victory but have not been as reliable on the road. As usual, much of the pregame chatter concerns KU’s mercurial freshman Darryn Peterson, who missed Monday’s win due to flu symptoms. Whether or not Peterson is available, the Cyclones will have to figure out their own offensive inconsistencies, starting with facilitator Tamin Lipsey finding his own shooting touch.
Kentucky at No. 14 Florida
Time/TV: 3 p.m. ET, ABC
Florida’s quest for a repeat championship didn’t begin well. But the Gators seem to have found their winning formula just in time. Their modest winning streak could get a test here, however, as the Wildcats got a few days off to recharge after outlasting Tennessee last Saturday. It will be a homecoming of sorts for UK’s Denzel Aberdeen, who was part of Florida’s title team a season ago before transferring to Lexington. He and Otega Oweh could give the Wildcats the edge in perimeter fire power, but there might not be answers for Florida’s inside trio led by Thomas Haugh.
No. 12 Purdue at No. 25 Iowa
Time/TV: 5 p.m. ET, Fox
Like their in-state counterparts from Ames, the Hawkeyes also return home from a subpar road outing. Iowa’s loss at Maryland dinged an otherwise solid body of work, but a win against the Boilermakers would help repair the damage. Purdue is coming off a valuable victory at Nebraska, though the result was nearly a catastrophic collapse. The game features two of the league’s top floor leaders, Purdue’s Braden Smith and the Hawkeyes’ Bennett Stirtz. Both teams can be overly reliant on three-pointers, though the Boilermakers are better equipped to compensate with rebounds if the shots aren’t falling.
No. 16 Texas Tech at No. 1 Arizona
Time/TV: 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
The prime time headliner finds the Wildcats looking to bounce back from defeat for the first time. The Red Raiders were all business in their midweek tuneup against struggling Colorado, but the environs at the McKale Center won’t be nearly as friendly. Texas Tech’s inside-out tandem of J.T. Toppin and Christian Anderson will need someone else to help with the scoring load against Arizona’s balanced lineup. Wildcats forward Koa Peat will look to find his rhythm early after Monday’s rough outing against Kansas.
