The HoopsHype Daily: The Golden State Warriors are reeling
FORMER DYNASTY STRUGGLING: Thus far this season, the Warriors have yet to hold a single lead in either game, and have lost their two contests by a combined 47 points. Draymond Green had pretty graphic language to describe Golden State’s play this year, while a slightly more subdued Stephen Curry blamed the team’s horrid defense as their biggest issue to this point. As Steve Kerr said after the game, the Warriors must accept the reality of their situation: They had a ton of roster turnover and early injuries to all of their centers have not helped.
Speaking of which, the Warriors got more bad injury news this weekend when word came out that big man Kevon Looney suffered a setback in his recovery, and will miss more time due to complications with his hamstring. It looks like it could be a long year in the Bay.
WILDFIRES RAGE: Overnight, LeBron James, following a 20-point, 12-assist performance against the Hornets earlier in the evening, tweeted that he was forced to evacuate his home with his family due to spreading wildfires. Scary situation.
KEMBA CONSIDERED HOMETOWN TEAM: The New York Knicks were one of the teams many believed Kemba Walker could sign with over the summer, mostly due to the fact that the All-Star hails from the Bronx. Ultimately, though, Walker went with the Celtics, citing their winning history as one of the main reasons why. To the Knicks’ credit, Walker did consider them as a potential landing spot before making his decision.
INSANE GAME-WINNER: In what was an insane back-and-forth contest between the Grizzlies and Nets, Memphis picked up the victory on a wild buzzer-beating three from Jae Crowder. The game-winning dime came from Ja Morant, who finished the contest with 30 points to Kyrie Irving’s 37. Fun duel between the rookie and the vet ball-handlers.
OWNER WANTS RESULTS: Now in Year-3 of what has been a full rebuild, Hawks principal owner Tony Ressler wants to start seeing results on the floor, claiming that he’s less patient than any fan. Luckily for coach Lloyd Pierce and general manager Travis Schlenk, though, Atlanta has started the season 2-0 with Trae Young and John Collins looking absolutely fantastic.
BOOGIE RETURN POSSIBLE? Prior to Sunday night’s contest against the Hornets, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel told the media that the team hasn’t ruled out the possibility of DeMarcus Cousins returning at some point this season, potentially for L.A.’s playoff run. Although Dwight Howard has filled the backup-center role wonderfully thus far this year, getting Cousins back could be huge for Los Angeles’ chances in the postseason if he looks anything like his old self.
Of course, considering his injury troubles over the past few years, there’s a solid chance he doesn’t look like his old self ever again. And besides that, Cousins still has those ugly legal issues hanging over his head. So a lot has to happen for this latest update on the big man’s recovery to actually end up mattering.
EX-TOP PICK FINALLY PRODUCING: It took a while, but former No. 2 overall pick Brandon Ingram is finally starting to play like someone of his draft pedigree should be playing, averaging 27.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game for the Pelicans through three contests. Interestingly enough, Ingram, a former Laker, described his new team as being a better environment than where he used to be.
NEW RULE POTENTIALLY CHANGES OUTCOME: With under nine seconds remaining in a hotly contested contest between the Mavericks and Blazers, Dallas swingman Dorian Finney-Smith scooped up a loose ball and went up for a shot with his team down by one. He failed to get the shot off, as the refs whistled a foul on Damian Lillard, which should have put Finney-Smith at the line with a chance to give the Mavs a lead. That is, before Portland head coach Terry Stotts challenged the call, won the challenge and, pretty much, the game for his team in the process. Of course, the ever-outspoken Mark Cuban was none too pleased with how the end of the game played out.
It’s the first time we’ve seen the new challenge rule directly affect the outcome of a game, making the Blazers/Mavs contest feel at least slightly momentous.
BANG FOR THEIR BUCK: We did some research to find out which NBA players have earned the most money per game in their playing careers. A few names near the top of the list are pretty surprising, especially at No. 1.
DAME D.O.L.L.A.-SHAQ BEEF OVER? After an entertaining rap battle spanning over the course of various tracks, Shaquille O’Neal has officially declared his “beef” with Damian Lillard over, saying now that it was just for fun.
WINS WITHOUT RINGS: Currently, there are multiple active players with over 100 career playoff wins that don’t have an NBA title on their resume. Find out who those unlucky souls are.
STAR LOSES ENDORSEMENT: All-Star point guard John Wall signed a five-year endorsement deal with Adidas in January 2018. Since then, he’s suffered multiple major injuries that will force him to miss over a season and a half of action, if not more. Because of those unfortunate circumstances, Wall and Adidas are negotiating a buyout that will bring their agreement to an end.
SALARY QUIZ: WHO’S THIS NBA PLAYER?
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