Feb 10, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports With All-Star weekend in the rearview mirror, it’s a perfect time to reevaluate every NBA team’s standing in the title race. NBA All-Star weekend has officially
Oklahoma City Thunder
Dec 18, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Golden State Warriors center James Wiseman (33) dribbles the ball while sitting before warm up before a game against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports Tired of puny fake NBA trades that only include a handful of teams at a time? Boy,
We’ve seen an unusually high number of 30-point-per-game scorers this season. Who is in the lead for the NBA scoring crown? As of today, there are six players averaging 30 or more points per game and another, Kevin Durant, at 29.9. On the same date last season, exactly zero players were averaging 30 or more.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has exploded as a scorer thanks to his relentless drives, which no one has figured out how to stop yet. This was supposed to be another rebuilding year for the Oklahoma City Thunder, particularly after No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren was lost for the season to a foot injury. The Thunder had
Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports The Oklahoma City Thunder may not be ready to chase a playoff spot just yet. But a dominant preseason offers plenty of reasons for optimism. For a minute, it looked like this might be the year the Oklahoma City Thunder rebuild turned the corner. Chet Holmgren went beast mode in Summer
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a budding star hiding in plain sight. Is this the year the rest of the NBA finally takes notice? Arguably no young player experiences a starker contrast in their standing among mainstream and diehard audiences than one Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. To more casual observers, Gilgeous-Alexander is seen as just another young player consuming
As a rookie, Josh Giddey proved himself to be one of the best passers in the entire NBA. How good can he be as the Thunder roster around him improves? Few teams in modern NBA history have been as transparently focused on losing basketball games as the Oklahoma City Thunder. After four seasons of spinning
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant curates a Twitter debate on whether or not he has ruined the game of basketball by joining several different teams. Kevin Durant’s Twitter bio reads, “I’m me, I do me, and I chill.” Part of being Kevin Durant, aside from being one of the NBA’s best players, is infuriating many
Kevin Durant’s departure from OKC ended an era for the Thunder, but it also began one where young players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took center stage. In the summer of 2019, Sam Presti decided to tear everything down. In the three seasons since Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City for the Bay, the Thunder had remained competitive
It’s one of the biggest hypotheticals in NBA Draft history — What if Kevin Durant and Greg Oden had been selected in a different order? The 15th anniversary of the 2007 NBA Draft is here. Sorry, Blazers fans. Let’s get this over with and delve into the latest “What If,” courtesy of Strat-O-Matic, the Market Leader
Purdue guard Jaden Ivey shakes hands with Iowa forward Keegan Murray after a game Jan. 27, 2022, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. 220127 Purdue Iowa Mbb 044 Jpg Jaden Ivey, Keegan Murray NBA Draft rumors 2022: 5 targets for the Golden State Warriors by Rucker Haringey NBA Draft rumors are flying but things
With the start of the playoffs just a few days away, it’s time to hand out some awards for the 2021-22 NBA season. Amazingly, we are less than two weeks away from the end of the NBA season, which means it’s time to get to work on selecting 2021-22 award winners. I, of course, do
Kevin Durant expects for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors organizations to retire his No. 35 jersey shortly after he calls it a career. While Kevin Durant is one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history, his exits from both the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors were not exactly smooth. Now
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Assists can be one of the noisest measures of statistical performance because they require to players to make it work. The creator who makes the pass is the one
Skip Bayless’ feud with Russell Westbrook’s wife took a step in the right direction over the weekend, when Bayless address the interaction itself. This is not the first nor will it be the last public feud in the long, storied career of sports talking head Skip Bayless. At a certain point, you almost have to
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The NCAA Tournament starts this week shining the spotlight on, among other things, some of the best draft prospects in this year’s class. The consensus seems to be that
Feb 15, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch reacts to the technical foul assigned to him by the referees in the game with the Charlotte Hornets at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports UFC 272: The worst betting pick on Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal card by Byron Smith
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has added a new trick to his bag this season, and the Hawks’ offense has struggled to get off the ground. Much of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s career has unfolded in relative obscurity, but the absence of a spotlight has done nothing to stall his growth as a player. The 23-year-old made steady, substantive improvement