Back in the day—say, the 1970s and 1980s—NBA teams had two jerseys. One for home games and one for away games. The home games were always white, to distinguish on television and in person who was the home team, and the away games were darker and more colorful. That’s just the way it was.
Read MoreTwo-time NBA All-Star Reggie Theus remembers the 1981 playoffs. In a “big time” opening round series, his Chicago Bulls faced the New York Knicks. The first game tipped off in one of the world’s most famous arenas, Madison Square Garden, and it included stars such as Artis Gilmore, Bill Cartwright and Michael Ray Richardson. The Bulls won game one and went on to win the series, playing Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics in the next round. Theus scored 37 points in the clincher against New York, an overtime victory in the Windy City. But it was a thrill he never quite felt again.
Read MoreWow. That’s the only word that can be used to describe what happened Monday night in the National Basketball Association.
To start the night, the Dallas Mavericks, after trading away generational superstar Luka Dončić, won the 2025 draft lottery, giving them the right to take Duke standout Cooper Flagg. Then, just two hours later, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum injured himself so badly that it’s likely he’s out for a long time. Things happen quickly in the NBA.
Read MoreWelcome to Act III of the 2024-25 NBA season. It was a rough start for the league this year. People came out of the woodwork to criticize it, offering wild solutions, and pointing out the low early season TV ratings. But then the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers and things got real interesting in Act II.
Now, though, we’re in the third portion of the season and it couldn’t be more exciting. Indeed, we seem far away from those calls for sweeping change. Let’s look at five players who have wowed us and taken us to the edge of our seats in this third act.
Read MoreWhen Tarik El-Abour was in middle school, his teacher asked him and his classmates a simple question. What do you want to be when you grow up? When it was time for him to answer, El-Abour gave a reply that thousands of children have said before. He wanted to be a baseball player. But his teacher shot back with something less than encouraging: “You’d better have a Plan B.” El-Abour, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, remained undeterred. Rather than listening to his pessimistic instructor, he distanced himself from her.
Read MoreThis weekend, the NBA playoffs officially begin. After 82 games, the in-season tournament and the play-in games, it’s been a long trek to get here. But the reward is a rollicking couple of months of top-notch competition between some of the best athletes in the world. Incredibly, though, the field is as wide open this year as its ever been.
Read MoreThe business of sports is about winning. But that, of course, doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of losers out there. That’s most evident every year in the NBA around the first day of spring. With about a dozen games left in the regular season, it’s obvious which teams are also-rans – and they have probably known that for some time. But when a team are losing and losing often, how does that affect the roster? How do the players deal with the constant lows?
Read MoreSporting artifacts are a booming market. It’s no surprise that collectors and enthusiasts will pay a significant amount for a part of the big moments on the court or playing field: they are buying a piece of personal and collective history, putting the ‘memories’ in memorabilia.
Read MoreOn Sunday afternoon, two of the best teams in the NBA’s Western Conference faced off on national television. When it was over, the Oklahoma City Thunder had routed the Denver Nuggets 127-103, pulling away in the fourth quarter thanks to a barrage from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 40 points on the day. But because it was the NBA, the game was less about the teams and more about the stars at the center of the action – who just so happen to be the league’s top two MVP candidates.
Read MoreIt was December 2012, and Heart was on the road when they got the unexpected call. The offer? To perform as a surprise guest at the Kennedy Center to honor their rock and roll heroes, Led Zeppelin. No pressure, right? It would be a quick stopover—with giant ripple effects. “We didn’t have more than one rehearsal before the actual day when the show happened,” Heart’s vibrant lead guitarist, Nancy Wilson, tells American Songwriter. During that practice, the chill had set into her bones. Nancy remembers that it was “snow cold” in winter and that their sole rehearsal “didn’t go well for me because my hands were frozen.” The song the band was set to play was “Stairway to Heaven,” perhaps the most iconic rock song of all time for perhaps the most iconic rock band in history. What could go wrong?
Read MoreHave you ever opened up a social media page with a clear intention of what you’re doing and then instantly become distracted? You end up fiddling around and then closing the page and realizing you didn’t even do what you’d originally logged on for? Yes, the internet is a place full of distractions. TikTok, Instagram, whatever Twitter (X) is? It’s hard to remember what you had for breakfast some days. The same, of course, goes for NBA history.
Read MoreIt’s funny—there are so many websites and devices and other efforts to bring people together these days. Yet, in some ways, it feels as if people are more divided than ever. It’s not connection to someone through a phone or email. Instead, it’s chance meetings. Face-to-face interaction. Spontaneous creative acts. Trust and empathy. You know, the tried-and-true things that have always bonded human beings. And an excellent example of that today is the collaboration between Reggie Watts and CAPYAC. Together, they are set to release a new EP, Songs From Celestial City, on February 28. And for the members of the collective, their bond feels like family.
Read MoreWhen news broke earlier this month that Bryce James had signed on to play basketball at the University of Arizona in the fall, many wondered: Who is Bryce James? For a family that seemed to promote their eldest son Bronny early and often, to find out that parents LeBron and Savannah James also have another son who is a talented athlete may have surprised some of even the most ardent NBA followers. Let’s explore the young career of the budding star, whose high school regular season career winds down this week.
Read MoreWhen four-time champion Robert Parish played in the NBA, there was no such thing as load management. While the idea, which was born in San Antonio as the Spurs managed the twilight years of stars like Tim Duncan, has since become widespread, Parish, who played the most regular season games in NBA history, says he doesn’t like it. Indeed, ridding the NBA of load management is one of the many tweaks a chorus of fans and former players have been suggesting lately. As conversations continue about why early season ratings have been down, fixes galore have been suggested. Below, we wanted to share some more ideas from five distinguished NBA vets.
Read MoreOur writers give their verdicts on the new season, which tips off Tuesday night. Can New York or Oklahoma City thwart a Boston repeat? And will Bronny James make it to the show?
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