Culture
Klay Thompson’s all-time legend moment, as remembered by the Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO — The pinnacle act that defines Klay Thompson’s Bay Area legend, which will be celebrated Tuesday night at the San Francisco palace his dynasty contributions helped build, came on the final night in Oracle Arena across the water in Oakland.
For three quarters, he was the best player on the floor in Game 6 of the 2019 Finals: 30 points on 12 shots. Four 3s in his typical flame-throwing fashion. Four makes inside the arc because of a blossoming off-the-dribble game. Ten free throws, all makes, because he was attacking the rim with some extra playoff ferocity.
“The peak of his powers,” Steve Kerr said.
Thompson was feeling it enough — 10 points in the first 10 minutes of a frantic third quarter — that he went skying for a rare transition dunk to punctuate a nuclear personal run. That’s when Raptors wing Danny Green met him up top with a physical contest, knocking Thompson off balance and forever altering his career.
“One moment,” Joe Lacob said. “One nanosecond can change everything.”
The aftermath is best remembered for Thompson’s determination to brush the pain aside and continue. Trainers forced him toward the locker room. Kerr sent a messenger down the tunnel to relay word that Thompson must shoot the free throws to remain eligible for a return. He hobbled back to the floor and ignited one of the loudest Oracle eruptions ever in its final night, a tease that maybe he would be fine.
“That roar,” Kerr still remembers.
Thompson made both free throws and tried to shamble back on defense. But that wasn’t the plan. Kerr called for a DeMarcus Cousins take foul, gifting Pascal Siakam two free throws so Thompson could finally go to the back and get his knee checked. As he walked past Kerr, Thompson told him: “Give me two minutes.” He was determined to return for the start of the fourth quarter.
“That’s when they did the ACL test,” Kerr said. “I tore my ACL in college. The trainer can tell right away. They just put it up on a table and twist it a certain way. They know instantly.”
Word filtered back to Kerr early in the fourth that Thompson was done. Thompson exited the arena on crutches and was taken to a nearby hospital for testing before the final buzzer. The Warriors, up 85-80 when he disappeared, lost the lead and the game and the title in the fourth quarter.
“I honestly think if he doesn’t get hurt, we win the series,” Kerr said. “But that’s just what we have to believe. No disrespect to Toronto. They were the better team and earned it. Injuries are a part of it. But I will always believe if Klay had stayed healthy, we would’ve found a way. Because that’s what that team did.”
There are those in the organization who believe had he not torn the ACL during one of the greatest games of his life, triggering a torturous domino effect, Tuesday night’s welcome back ceremony in the NBA Cup opener never would’ve been necessary because he never would’ve worn another jersey. But he returns as a member of the Dallas Mavericks and leftover curiosity remains about how it ever got to this point.
The Warriors won four titles in eight years. That much success isn’t attached to many what-if scenarios. But Thompson’s horrid-luck knee injury generates the most painful, not only for the possible three-peat that never was but, more sympathetically, for the tragic ramifications delivered to Thompson’s career.
He wouldn’t play another NBA game for 941 days, missing his ninth, 10th and more than half of his 11th NBA seasons on the heels of five straight All-Star appearances, returning as a productive but understandably diminished player whose body needed far more routine maintenance.
“How old was he?” Kerr asked. “Twenty-nine?”
Yes. Thompson turned 29 four months before the ACL tear. He was 30 when, at the end of his ACL rehab process, he tore his Achilles, sending him into 14 more months of tedious rehab.
“That’s just so devastating,” Kerr said. “To me, 28, 29, 30, that’s when everything comes together — your mind, your experience, your body, your skill. I didn’t think he ever looked better. So that injury clearly was the pendulum swinging the other way in his career. He was still good. Still really good. Helped us win a championship (in 2022).”
But …
“Those next couple years (after the ACL), I think, would’ve been his absolute prime,” Kerr said. “That would’ve been the very best version of Klay. I think part of the reason he struggled so much with it emotionally is that he knew those years were ripped from him by the injuries. He was really at the apex of his game. That’s why it was so tough to see him suffer. He was so distraught at times, even last year. It was sad. To me, he’s just had a really difficult time reconciling the injuries.”
Thompson signed a five-year max extension a couple weeks after the 2019 ACL tear, an earned commitment to a living legend who had delivered so much production (and financial value) to the organization. He spent a large chunk of that next season mostly away from the Warriors, rehabbing out of Rick Celebrini’s view. Celebrini is the team’s respected lead medical decision-maker.
That was a mistake, Thompson would later admit, telling The Athletic in February 2022 that he was about 10 pounds above his normal playing weight when his Achilles popped during an unsanctioned pickup game in Los Angeles a month before his presumed return in 2020.
“I tried to go off on my own and do my own thing, seek out my own thing,” Thompson told The Athletic in 2023. “That backfired. Very badly. So I came crawling back to Rick. Very apologetic.”
Thompson was more present, more diligent, more patient during the second rehab process. But the agonizing wait wore on him. Cameras caught him in tears on the back of the bench during an April 2021 game. Steph Curry came over to console him. In November 2021, two months prior to his return, he sat on the bench for a half-hour postgame with a towel over his head, overcome with emotion.
It’s now been about 20 minutes since the game ended and Klay Thompson is still on the bench with a towel over his head pic.twitter.com/5bvnXjQgCO
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 27, 2021
The work proved worth it. Thompson returned from a pair of catastrophic mid-career leg injuries about as impressively as imaginable. He averaged 36 minutes and 19 points in a 22-game playoff run to the 2022 title. He led the league in 3s the next season. He made the fourth most the season after that.
But Thompson maintained an ambition to regain his All-Star form, to chase down the ghost of his former self, to recapture those prime years lost. It led to a level of shot-hunting that sometimes hijacked the offense and off-court brooding that impacted the mood in the locker room, team sources said throughout the season. He had the “four rings” outburst ejection in Phoenix and several behind-the-scenes conversations with teammates and Kerr about throttling back the shot selection, centering himself and exuding better energy.
“I had a conversation (with Kerr) about just enjoying the last chapter of my career and how lucky I truly am to be playing this game,” Thompson said after a January 2024 game. “Being a better mentor for the young guys. Leading by example and having my energy right every game. He helped me realize I do have negative energy and how that affects the team in a poor manner.”
The contractual context didn’t help. Thompson never liked the narrative that he owed the Warriors something for signing him to a max contract after the ACL tear, considering all he’d done before it. Warriors leadership would privately note that half of that max contract (2.5 years) was spent rehabbing.
Extension talks stalled prior to last season. There are differing stories on the authenticity of the two-year, $48 million reported offer. Thompson never felt a level of genuine desire from the front office or ownership to ensure a franchise legend remained around. When the summer came, they prioritized other pursuits and Thompson decided to depart before giving them a chance to circle back.
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In his final season, bitterness had grown. Kerr began closing without Thompson on the floor on certain nights and replaced him with a rookie, Brandin Podziemski, in the starting lineup in February. These demotions stung and wounds still appear unhealed. When approached in Dallas back in the preseason, he declined to speak about it: “I’m not talking about the past,” Thompson said.
“There’s always stuff as a coach that, you know, you look back and you go, ‘Man, I wish I had done this or said that,’” Kerr said. “But there’s nothing that keeps me up at night. Everybody’s life and career arc is different. I think Klay made the right decision going to Dallas. Just seeing him the last couple of years, I think he needed a fresh start.”
As Kerr and Lacob made clear in separate interviews with The Athletic last week, nothing about the end should taint the greatness of Thompson’s run with the Warriors. He’s a statue player who will be welcomed with a celebration on Tuesday. The franchise is giving out Captain Klay hats to every fan in attendance.
Lacob’s first Thompson memory was in college. He’s a huge Stanford fan. He watched Thompson, a star at Washington State, drop 21 points in a road win in Maples Pavilion.
“My son Kent (currently in the front office) was young at the time,” Lacob said. “I remember him telling me: ‘If we don’t draft Klay Thompson, I’ll never talk to you again.’”
Lacob took control of the franchise in late 2010. Their first draft pick, 11th overall, came in June 2011. They’d just hired Jerry West to join the front office and consult on big personnel decisions. This was a major early moment. Lacob and West, among others, went down to Torrance, Calif., to watch Thompson work out.
“He did like maybe five minutes and Jerry said: ‘That’s the guy!’” Lacob recalled. “And I’m like: ‘You’ve only seen him for a couple minutes.’ Jerry said: ‘That’s the guy. That’s all there is to it.’ Maybe it was his shot. Maybe it was his footwork. It was so Jerry.”
West and Kerr were also among the strong advocates not to trade Thompson when Kevin Love became available in the summer of 2014. That’s considered one of the best non-trade decisions in league history. Thompson soon morphed into one of the best shooting guards in basketball and a perfect fit next to Curry. They won their first title the following June.
“Everyone knows the incredible shooting, kind of the unconscious nature of his play,” Kerr said. “He and Steph both share that. People know Captain Klay, China Klay, you know, the fun-hearted guy. But I don’t know that people understand what a killer competitor Klay is. Ultimately that’s what made him a champion.”
Lacob’s most memorable night is a predictable one. Game 6 in Oklahoma City. The Warriors were down 3-2 in that 2016 series and down eight heading to the fourth quarter. Thompson scored 19 in the fourth, hit 11 3s in the game and rescued the Warriors from elimination with a 41-point performance. As he returned to the locker room, Lacob famously bowed to him in the tunnel, a picture that Lacob sent to Thompson in one of his goodbye text messages after he departed for Dallas.
“The tunnel thing was sort of impromptu,” Lacob said.
Kerr’s favorite Thompson story to retell came during the 2017 Finals. JR Smith crashed into him during the first quarter of Game 1, causing a painful high ankle sprain. Thompson also took a knee directly to the thigh.
“He was wearing a sleeve or something and he takes the sleeve off and it was like black and blue and yellow and like, I mean, it was an injury that would have kept him out for at least two weeks in the regular season,” Kerr said. “And he didn’t miss a minute. To me, Klay’s competitive desire is his most underrated quality. At the peak of his powers, the way he guarded the ball and then moved off the ball year after year. He and Steph were one and two in most mileage per game in the NBA. His conditioning, his size, his ability to switch on to Kevin Love and big guys like that and guard them in the post. I mean you don’t do that unless you’re a great athlete, but also unless you care desperately about results and winning at the highest level.”
The Warriors’ charity foundation throws an annual poker event. At it, they put various items up for auction. In the lead-up to the event early this decade, they had the idea of offering a ride across the bay on Thompson’s famous boat from his house to the practice facility. Lacob called to ask. He was uneasy about the request.
“He was like, instantaneously: ‘Absolutely. I’d love to do that,’” Lacob said. “He actually was so enthusiastic about it. I didn’t know. That’s an invasion of someone’s privacy and personal space and time.”
On the night of the auction, the bidding went wild. Toward the end, two attendees were rocketing the price up, intent on acquiring this boat ride. While the bidding neared its final destination of $250,000 — a record for any item or offer at the event — Lacob approached Thompson.
“Would you be willing to do it … twice?” Lacob asked.
Thompson said yes.
“It was a half-million dollars to the foundation,” Lacob said. “He has a great heart. He’s a really good person. That’s what I’ll always remember about him.”
Thompson and Kerr had breakfast in Manhattan Beach in late June. Kerr made the drive up from San Diego. He wanted to reiterate to Thompson that, while everything was still in flux, he valued him and wanted him back. They talked a little about the contractual situation. Kerr laid out the reality of his future with the Warriors — it’d probably include a fluctuating role, perhaps off the bench.
“At the end of the breakfast, he said, ‘You know, I think it’s time. I think I’m going to go to Dallas,’” Kerr said. “I understood. I completely understood. Sometimes a fresh start can be healthy. I think it was the right decision for him.”
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Many within the Warriors had seen the move coming and had privately been predicting it for months. Lacob has maintained that it hit him as a surprise. The front office had hinted that the plan was to bring a market offer back to him later in free agency.
“To be honest with you, shocked,” Lacob said. “If you would’ve told me a few years ago, if there’s one person that I would have never thought that would ever leave the Warriors and would retire as a Warrior, I would probably (have said) Klay would be the highest likelihood.”
That reality never panned out. He returns to face the Warriors in a Mavericks jersey on Tuesday night.
“It’s weird seeing No. 31 (on it),” Curry said. “I hate that.”
“This will be as emotional as anything we’ve ever experienced, I think, in my time here,” Kerr said. “I think it’ll be even more emotional than his return to play. Obviously now there’s a finality to it and appreciation for everything he did hanging the banners, helping get the arena built, just being so beloved by everybody.”
“Some of the stuff we’re talking about here today is not a secret,” Lacob said. “People kind of understand from both sides some of the issues that, yeah, kind of happened. But I do think everyone still loves the history. You can’t take away what he meant to the franchise. Honestly, to me as an owner — very, very important. He’s the first guy we ever drafted. I’m not just saying this. I really did feel like he was a son … Regardless of anything — how it ended, didn’t end. Whatever. That doesn’t matter. It’s an important moment. An important day.”
What will Klay Thompson’s return on Tuesday be like?
Steph Curry: “I don’t know. We’ve had homecomings before, but nothing like this.” pic.twitter.com/NT34K1kKyg
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 11, 2024
Asked Klay Thompson about his return to San Francisco on Tuesday for his first game against the Warriors:
“It’ll be good to see people you grinded with obviously, but to me, it’s just another regular season game in November.” pic.twitter.com/Kf9KkUwfNP
— Mike Curtis (@MikeACurtis2) November 11, 2024
(Photo illustration: Meech Robinson/The Athletic; photos Sam Hodde / Getty Images, Gregory Shamus / Getty Images, Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
Culture
Each NBA team’s biggest concern a month into the 2024-25 regular season
We’re about a month into the NBA season, and while the injury bug has bitten nearly every team in one way or another, there are other worries that are worth … well, worrying about.
The Athletic asked its NBA staff for each team’s biggest concern at this point. The responses covered the full spectrum, from free-throw shooting and poor depth to well-known names not yet producing at the levels we’ve come to expect in recent years. (Stats and records are through Wednesday’s games.)
Atlantic Division
Boston Celtics
Rim protection: This is a fresh concern. It might be a short-term one since the Celtics ranked near the league leaders in rim protection last season and should soon welcome back 7-foot-2 shot blocker Kristaps Porziņģis. But Boston has been gashed for layups and dunks recently, especially in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks and an all-too-close win against the Toronto Raptors. Joe Mazzulla said his team needs to improve its individual defense and rebounding. The Celtics might just be suffering symptoms of a mild championship hangover. — Jay King
Brooklyn Nets
Nic Claxton’s back issue: The Nets got off to a surprisingly solid start, even as Claxton slowly worked his way into the rotation after a preseason hamstring injury. But now he is out again with a lingering back strain. The team wants to build an identity while the front office ideally wants to get the top pick in the draft. They’re achieving both at the moment, and there is a lot to be excited about if Cam Thomas is making a leap. But Claxton is one of the Nets’ cornerstones, and they need him to stay healthy and keep improving if this rebuild is going anywhere down the road. — Jared Weiss
New York Knicks
Lack of free throws: I could go with the defense here, but I think that’ll improve with more time and the eventual return of Mitchell Robinson. The Knicks rank 29th in the NBA in free-throw attempts per game (19.1). For a team that shoots a lot of 2-pointers — efficiently, I should add — and has a head coach who emphasizes shooting 3s, getting to the rim and free-throw attempts, it’s a bit concerning New York doesn’t visit the charity stripe more. Mikal Bridges has only taken 11 free throws this season, despite the majority of his shot attempts coming from inside the arc. — James L. Edwards III
Philadelphia 76ers
Can they get healthy and on the same page?: The Sixers are stuck in a spiral that seems inescapable at the moment. Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey shared the floor together for the first time Wednesday, a game that George left early because of an injury to the same knee he hurt in the preseason. Their only two wins came in overtime, so they are a few bounces away from being completely winless. They’re already at the team meeting stage of the season. The supporting cast has struggled to shoot and rebound. There simply has not been the spark to overcome adversity that defines a season. — Jared Weiss
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Toronto Raptors
No chance to build chemistry: RJ Barrett had an AC joint injury. Pelvic and elbow injuries have kept Immanuel Quickley to two and a half games. Scottie Barnes suffered an orbital bone fracture early in the second week of the season. The Raptors schedule was always going to be tough to start the year. However, the presumptive starting lineup, which also features Jakob Poeltl and emerging sophomore Gradey Dick, has played zero minutes. Even if you are rebuilding, you want your core pieces to get big minutes against good teams. The Raptors are missing out on that opportunity. — Eric Koreen
Central Division
Chicago Bulls
Team defense: After trading Alex Caruso this offseason, the Bulls knew their defense would suffer, but Chicago is on the cusp of ranking among the bottom-three teams in defense. Without a single elite defender, and absent appropriate size, Chicago knows its fortunes will be difficult to change. The Bulls are attempting to overcome their defensive limitations by playing faster and launching more 3-pointers. But they’ve compounded their issues with turnovers and cold shooting nights. — Darnell Mayberry
Cleveland Cavaliers
How about … none?: Seriously, they deserve this moment. Only a few teams have done what the Cavs did — win their first 15 games — and historically speaking, those teams wound up in the NBA Finals. It’s OK to say this team has no glaring concerns. Take a bow. If you insist, there are some issues to keep an eye on, like wing depth (the Cavs have a bunch of them, but will they hold up in the playoffs?), defensive rebounding and serviceable bigs off the bench. We just can’t, with a straight face, call any of these items concerns right now. — Joe Vardon
Detroit Pistons
Turnovers: The Pistons entered Thursday tied with the Bulls for 20th in the NBA in turnovers per game. Cade Cunningham is Detroit’s primary ballhandler and fourth in the league in assists per game, but he leads the NBA in total turnovers. Turnovers are to be expected with a team this young, but Cunningham is the head of the snake. Once he and the Pistons value the basketball on each possession, there should be fewer close games that keep Detroit fans on the edge of their seats. — Hunter Patterson
Indiana Pacers
Tyrese Haliburton: My guy can’t shoot right now. Haliburton is making just 37.5 percent of his shots overall and is chucking it at an abysmal 28.4 percent from 3-point range. These are both, easily, career lows, and for what it’s worth, his 82 percent shooting at the foul line also is a career worst. The Pacers have better players and more depth, and Haliburton’s ability to push the pace and find the open man are still paramount (his assists are down too). But for the Pacers to be good, he has to play at his usual All-Star level. — Joe Vardon
Milwaukee Bucks
Khris Middleton’s health: During training camp, Middleton told The Athletic that he needed to play in at least 70 games to consider this a successful season for himself. The Bucks are 15 games through their schedule and he has still not felt confident enough to get on the floor for five-on-five activities. The Bucks have rebounded well from their 2-8 start by winning four of their past five games, but it will be difficult to compete for a championship without a healthy Middleton. — Eric Nehm
Southeast Division
Atlanta Hawks
Trae Young: You can nitpick about Atlanta’s defense or the shooting on the wings or the backup point guard situation, but none of that matters if Young isn’t playing at an All-Star level. And while he’s leading the league in assists, he’s also struggled mightily to score, shooting just 38 percent on the season and failing to get off a shot in two last-shot situations that both ended in Hawks losses. While Young historically has been a slow starter, his Achilles tendinitis to begin the season adds to the concern level this time around. — John Hollinger
Charlotte Hornets
When will Mark Williams play again?: The Hornets are reaching an anniversary they don’t want: Dec. 8 will mark a year since Williams last played in a game. The 15th pick in the 2022 draft has played in just 62 games in his career. He missed most of last season with a back injury. This year, it’s been a left foot issue. Williams has been productive when he has played and could be a key piece for Charlotte in its rebuild, but the Hornets need to see him back on the floor to know that. — Mike Vorkunov
Miami Heat
Terry Rozier’s start: After their failed pursuit of Damian Lillard in the summer of 2023, Miami’s big move to bolster its backcourt was trading Kyle Lowry and a lottery-protected 2027 first-round pick to Charlotte for Terry Rozier. The 30-year-old got off to a decent start after his arrival in South Beach, but he missed the 2024 playoffs due to a neck injury, and he’s off to a rough start this season as the Heat have stumbled to a 6-7 mark. Rozier’s averaging 12.9 points and 3.7 assists on 38 percent shooting. Miami needs to be more explosive on offense to compete with teams such as Boston and Cleveland at the top of the Eastern Conference. Rozier has to play a key role in the offense taking another step. — Will Guillory
Orlando Magic
3-point shooting: Orlando has done an admirable job overcoming the absence of injured star Paolo Banchero. But the team still struggles to score in the half court and struggles to hit long-range shots. The Magic rank last in 3-point shooting percentage, making only 30.5 percent of their attempts. They remain competitive because of their outstanding defense, coaching, cohesiveness and home-court advantage. They have a lot of positives going for them. But as their shooting woes in last year’s playoffs demonstrated, their inability to convert from beyond the arc is an Achilles heel. — Josh Robbins
Washington Wizards
Can they keep players engaged?: Still early in their rebuild, the Wizards need to finish at or near the bottom of the NBA standings to enhance their 2025 draft lottery chances. It sounds ghoulish to say, but they’re on the right track with a 2-11 record. That said, for any team, losing a lot of games (and by wide margins too) can cause collateral damage, especially to veteran players who grow impatient with losing and potentially with young players who could fall into bad habits. Can coach Brian Keefe and the team leaders keep Washington’s older players positive and the young players on the right developmental track? — Josh Robbins
Northwest Division
Denver Nuggets
Same song: The Nuggets are going to win 50 games and be relevant come playoff time. But can they get over the hump this season? Do they have the quality depth to survive when all-everything Nikola Jokić is not on the floor? That’s what terminated their playoff run last season. Can it be different this time around? — Tony Jones
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Minnesota Timberwolves
Defense: The Timberwolves had the best defense in the NBA by a country mile last season, riding it all the way to the Western Conference finals. Rudy Gobert was Defensive Player of the Year and flanked by a trio of the best perimeter defenders in the league in Jaden McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Anthony Edwards. Of those four players, only Alexander-Walker has resembled what he was last season. Gobert has said he isn’t playing up to his standards at the rim, McDaniels hasn’t been anywhere close to the disrupter on the perimeter and Edwards has often looked inattentive and unfocused on that end. If the Wolves are going to overcome a sluggish start, those three guys have to get their defensive teeth back. — Jon Krawczynski
Oklahoma City Thunder
Alex Caruso’s shooting: Caruso scored a season-high 17 points during the recent win over the Trail Blazers. The Thunder are hoping that trend continues. For all the talk of the Caruso-for-Josh Giddey swap in Oklahoma City, neither side is seeing dividends yet. Giddey has struggled leading the Bulls offense and Caruso can’t find the net from beyond the 3-point arc, shooting just 21 percent from deep. And worse, defenders are straying all the way off him when he lines the perimeter. Caruso made more than 40 percent of his 3s in Chicago a season ago. If he continues to miss at this rate, he could become ill-fitting on a roster with shooting everywhere. But if he begins to look like himself again, at a bare minimum hitting open jumpers, the Thunder are in a better place. — Fred Katz
Portland Trail Blazers
Deni Avdija’s shot: The Blazers big offseason acquisition is off to a flat shooting start, which played a part in him losing his starting job 10 games into the season. After making a career-best 37.4 percent of his 3-pointers last season in Washington, Avdija has made only 13 of 50 in Portland (26 percent). With Shaedon Sharpe flourishing now that he is back from injury, Avdija’s minutes also have dipped slightly. He has provided value with his smarts, defense and passing, but when the Blazers gave up two first-round picks, two second-round picks and Malcolm Brogdon, they thought they were also getting a shooter on the rise. And maybe that is coming: Avdija in the last four games has made nearly half (7 of 15) of his 3-pointers. — Jason Quick
Utah Jazz
Will Hardy: The Jazz coach is so good at his job that, somehow, he still has a zombie roster competitive enough to only have the fourth-worst record in the league. It bodes well for when the Jazz have enough talent to win that Hardy will maximize that talent. He’s a phenomenal coach. But right now, the Utah front office needs about three more losses than the Jazz currently have. — Tony Jones
Southwest Division
Dallas Mavericks
Crunchtime conundrum: Who knew having too many closers could be this clunky? While the Luka Dončić-Kyrie Irving-Klay Thompson trio has mostly worked well, it’s still quite surprising to see these Mavs drop so many close games with all these elite shot-makers on the payroll. Six of their seven losses have been by seven points or fewer, including a stretch of four in a row (against Phoenix, Denver, Golden State and Utah) in which they lost by a combined eight points. While that’s counterintuitive, to be sure, it’s also a reminder there’s only one ball and their late-game chemistry will have to come over time. That process will be slowed a bit with Dončić sidelined for at least a week due to a wrist injury. The numbers, however, indicate Dallas has been better than its record. — Sam Amick
Houston Rockets
Murky offensive identity: There aren’t many concerns with an 11-5 Rockets team within striking distance of first place in the West, but Houston’s lack of an offensive hierarchy is puzzling. The Rockets want to control the glass, run the floor in transition and defend aggressively without fouling, but the absence of a true pecking order rears its head at the wrong times, especially in crunchtime. Four of their five losses have come in the clutch when their pace and ball movement grinds to a halt. It’s hard to be a pace-and-space unit when you’re 15th in pace and 27th in 3s made per game, and those issues could be fixed with an outlined structure. — Kelly Iko
Memphis Grizzlies
Health: The Grizzlies’ depth has vastly improved from a year ago, enabling Memphis to survive — and even thrive at times — without a full complement of players. That said, the core trio of Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. has played exactly one game together, with Morant’s most recent hip injury again raising the question of just how often the Grizzlies can unite their three stars. Morant only played nine games a year ago and just eight so far this year, while Bane has played 58 and 42 the past two campaigns and only seven so far this season. — John Hollinger
New Orleans Pelicans
Is it too late to make noise?: The Pelicans are going through an unprecedented stretch of bad injury luck that’s left the roster decimated the past few weeks. After starting the season 2-0, New Orleans only has two wins in its last 14 games. There will be a few key pieces getting back on the court in the next two weeks. There’s a good chance CJ McCollum, Jordan Hawkins and Herb Jones will all be back in the lineup before the end of November. The Pelicans may start turning things around very soon. But the West is so incredibly deep that it might not matter. This is the wrong season to be playing catch-up. — Will Guillory
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San Antonio Spurs
Lack of ball penetration: Nearly half of Victor Wembanyama’s shots are coming from the perimeter, up from just 30 percent as a rookie. The Spurs hoist the ninth-most 3s in the league, but to improve on their 20th-ranked offense, they’ll need to diversify their approach. Some of it is circumstantial: Rookie Stephon Castle, a physical downhill threat, is still learning; Tre Jones and Devin Vassell, San Antonio’s most frequent drivers last season, have only recently returned from injury; and Jeremy Sochan, who was fourth, has been sidelined since early November. Maybe reserve Keldon Johnson, who leads the way with 6.6 drives per game, gets more minutes, but it starts and ends with Wembanyama. The Frenchman needs to set the tone. — Kelly Iko
Pacific Division
Golden State Warriors
Free-throw shooting: The last time an NBA team shot below 70 percent from the line for a season was five seasons ago when the Knicks did it. The last time a team with a winning record did it was nine seasons ago, when the Pistons did it. The 11-3 Warriors have made only 69.5 percent of their free throws. Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Brandin Podziemski and Kevon Looney are all struggling from the line to varying degrees. They went 9 of 19 collectively in a three-point loss to the Clippers recently. In a conference where the standings margins are expected to be slim, a few free-throw-related losses in the middle months could be the difference between several seeding slots — the third to the seventh, for example — come April. — Anthony Slater
LA Clippers
Turnovers: One of the reasons the Clippers are hovering around .500 is because they donate possessions like a red kettle is on the floor. Only the Trail Blazers and Jazz average more turnovers per game. And it’s the wrong kind of turnovers, as opponents steal the ball from the Clippers more than any other team. The Clippers can be better than league average on offense if they take better care of the ball, especially in fourth quarters. — Law Murray
Los Angeles Lakers
Depth: The Lakers’ depth was a concern entering the season, and it has grown more problematic since training camp. Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood have yet to return from offseason surgeries. Jaxson Hayes is out with an ankle injury. Anthony Davis is battling plantar fasciitis, an injury that has bothered him since last season. Gabe Vincent and Max Christie have underperformed preseason expectations. Los Angeles is winning enough to stay competitive in the West, but it’s largely been because of production from the starters and D’Angelo Russell. Longer term, the Lakers need to get healthy and/or improve their roster via trade(s). — Jovan Buha
GO DEEPER
Dalton Knecht is on fire — and so are the Lakers
Phoenix Suns
Staying healthy: Through nine games, Phoenix looked great. Then misfortune hit. Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal suffered calf strains, and a team that opened 8-1 dropped six of seven. Completely healthy, this team looked like a title contender. Durant played like an MVP candidate. Beal excelled in his role. A rebuilt bench contributed. But it’s not even Thanksgiving, and the Phoenix injury report has become a main storyline. The good news: The Suns showed what was possible. They weren’t perfect, but they had something solid from which to build. The bad: As the league’s second-oldest team at 28.26 years, per NBA.com, the health factor may not go away. — Doug Haller
Sacramento Kings
Star workload: De’Aaron Fox is averaging 37.4 minutes per game. Keegan Murray is at 36.7. Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan are both at 36.5. That gives the Kings’ four out of the NBA’s top 14 players in minutes per game. That’s a ton to ask over the course of an 82-game marathon, especially with Sabonis (in his ninth season) and DeRozan (in his 17th season) already missing time due to back injuries. But that’s the trouble for the Kings, who have injured bench players (Malik Monk, rookie Devin Carter), questionable depth and a voracious hunger from Mike Brown and the organization to wrestle away every possible regular-season win to avoid the Play-In Tournament. Fox, Murray, Sabonis and DeRozan have been very durable players historically. That will be tested. — Anthony Slater
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(Top photo of Paul George and Joel Embiid: Bill Streicher / Imagn Images)
Culture
VersaClimbers, Tiger Woods and Houston’s plan to get Kelvin Sampson a championship
HOUSTON — Jamal Shead sat in his locker stall after Houston’s Sweet 16 loss to Duke with a towel draped over his head, trying to answer questions. The locker room felt like a wake: players talking in hushed tones, shocked their run had ended with their indestructible leader sidelined by a sprained ankle. Eventually, Shead couldn’t take it anymore and escaped to the coaches’ locker room.
Shead had grown up in this program, from an unplayable freshman to an All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year as a senior, and the injury forced him to watch the final 26 minutes of his college career from the sidelines as the Blue Devils ground out a 54-51 win.
“I always think about the investment those kids made and how hard I was on them and how hard I pushed them,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said months later. “That was Jamal’s last time. I had him for four years, and maybe I’ll have another one, maybe I won’t, but he won’t have another one.”
That night in the coaches’ locker room, head-coach-in-waiting Kellen Sampson, Kelvin’s son, looked at Shead’s ankle and shook his head. “This just keeps happening to us,” he said.
Each of the last three Houston teams since the program’s 2021 Final Four appearance have looked capable of finally bringing Sampson the title that has eluded him in his decorated career. In KenPom.com’s adjusted efficiency margin rankings, the most popular statistical shorthand for measuring college basketball teams, the Cougars have finished No. 2 three years running; this year’s team opened at No. 1. But every NCAA Tournament run since 2021 has ended with what-ifs attached because of deflating injuries.
In 2021-22, leading scorer Marcus Sasser was playing like an All-American when he broke the fifth metatarsal in his foot right before Christmas, a day after starting wing Tramon Mark had season-ending shoulder surgery. The Cougars finished the ‘22-23 regular season ranked No. 1, but Sasser suffered a groin injury during the AAC tournament and aggravated it during the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the same game in which Shead hyperextended his knee. Last March against Duke, when Shead rolled his right ankle going up for a layup, Houston was already playing without Jojo Tugler and Terrance Arceneaux, both lost to prior season-ending injuries. The Cougars were controlling the game before Shead’s injury, but they just weren’t the same after.
At 69, Kelvin Sampson is still one of the best coaches in the sport, validated by this late-career run of regular-season dominance.
“When you get to be my age, I think you look at it as, let’s keep doing what we’re doing,” Sampson said this fall. “We don’t need to change anything.”
But once the Sampsons returned home and started looking ahead, knowing they would have another team good enough to win a title — everyone of significance, minus Shead, was back — Kellen suggested to his dad they be proactive.
The formula obviously works, but it needed a tweak.
Houston is the most physical team in college basketball for a reason. “You don’t practice soft and play tough,” is the line that defines Sampson’s program, and the preseason sets the tone. Rebounding drills with a bubble on the basket; brick slides, in which players have to hold up bricks while sliding from lane line to lane line; loose-ball drills that resemble a football fumble scrum; inclined sprints in a parking garage.
Last season, all those practices added up. The Cougars started earlier than usual because of a four-game exhibition tour of Australia in August, which granted them 10 official practices in July. By March, Kellen could see the mileage showing: “I thought that our needle got pretty close to empty, a little quicker than we would have wanted.”
How could a perennial contender be better longer into the spring? Kellen looked to LeBron James, who credits low-impact training for his staying power at the top of the basketball world. James has said if he had only one piece of equipment to train with for the rest of his life, it’d be the VersaClimber, an upright full-body workout machine.
This spring Houston purchased five VersaClimbers — specifically modified for taller users — and they arrived in time for summer school. The head coach was receptive to a change but a little worried it’d go against his mantra. “This ain’t cheer camp,” he would say.
Then he saw his players try the VersaClimber.
“And I go, I like the VersaClimber, because they hate it,” Kelvin Sampson said, flashing a big grin. “That thing is a problem. And our guys, it just puts them on their knees.”
“It’s no fun,” senior L.J. Cryer said.
“It’s easily the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life,” J’Wan Roberts said. “Easily. I feel like it hurts more when you get off. When you’re on it, you’re pushing, you’re pushing. But when you get off, it’s like your legs burnt.”
The VersaClimber replaced incline runs in the parking garage. Houston stayed off pavement and spent a couple weeks training in the sand this summer. The staff also consulted with NBA teams on ankle testing protocols and bought a machine for isometrically testing ankle and Achilles strength.
Sampson also wielded time on the VersaClimber as a punishment for mistakes. One of the VersaClimbers has taken up permanent residence in the corner of the practice gym.
When the Cougars went through speed and agility tests this fall, this year’s group posted faster results than any of Sampson’s first 10 teams. With almost an identical roster to last year, it was obvious what the difference maker was.
Sometimes injuries happen, like Shead’s sprained ankle — “purely fate, luck, misfortune,” Kelvin Sampson said — but if these changes could help reduce the chances for injury by even a half a percentage point, then it was worth it.
During halftime of an October exhibition game, Sampson narrowed his gaze toward Oklahoma transfer guard Milos Uzan and implored him not to be afraid to shoot. Sampson’s suggestion that Uzan not act like he’s stealing candy from a five-and-dime store got a chuckle from the older folks in the back of the locker room, but it’s doubtful his players were familiar with the old-timey establishments he was referencing.
“Milos from Vegas?” Kellen Sampson said. “No chance.”
Some of his humor might go over the heads of his players, but the elder Sampson does not have any issue connecting with young people, demonstrated by the fact that his late 60s have been the prime of his career.
Sampson is aging like there’s a blockage in the hourglass. At practice, he often has a player stand off to the side as he takes his place and demonstrates what he wants.
“He’s probably the most consistent person I’ve ever met in my life,” said Roberts, who has been at Houston for six years. “Screams like he’s 30. Might be a little slow when he’s walking, but that intensity and fire is still there.”
“I never really thought about coaching at 70 until I turned 69,” Sampson said, chuckling. “Then I realized the next number.”
In 2019 after Houston made its first Sweet 16 trip under Sampson, Kellen worried that his father’s coaching days were numbered because his hips had impacted his quality of life.
“He was starting to have some negative thoughts,” Kellen said. “My grandfather had battled a lot of health issues. He passed when I was 28 (Kellen is 39 now), and I don’t remember my grandfather not having physical health issues. And I think some of that started to worry my dad. Am I following a similar path?”
The pandemic-canceled 2020 postseason provided an opportunity. The forced time away from the gym convinced Sampson he had a window to get surgery and recover.
“That changed everything,” Kellen said.
Now, Sampson rides scooters and bikes when goes to Kellen’s to see his grandchildren. He’ll go down slides in the park. “If you spend any time with him,” Kellen said, “there’s nothing about him which makes you think he’s slowing down.”
As a graduate assistant at Michigan State In 1979, Sampson and Tom Izzo used to roll out baskets to a parking lot, get some string and erasable paint and line off courts for summer camp. Early in his head coaching career, Sampson did everything because he didn’t have much help. At Montana Tech, his assistant coach (a volunteer) couldn’t even travel to road games because there wasn’t room in the van, which Sampson drove. Once he landed in bigger jobs at Washington State, Oklahoma and finally Indiana, he still wanted to be involved with everything.
Kellen is convinced his father’s late-career ascent was a direct result of being forced out at Indiana in 2008 and landing in the NBA as an assistant coach.
“A six-year recharge,” Kellen said. “Away from the cauldron, away from being the governor. He got off the hamster wheel where everything was just this endless cycle of perpetual work. He got a chance to spend some time without all of the intense pressure and scrutiny all the time, and the daily beatdown of being in the top tier.”
When Sampson returned to college, he surrounded himself with people he knew and trusted — including his son and the backcourt from his 2002 Final Four team — and the staff has seen few changes in 11 years. Lamar coach Alvin Brooks is the only assistant coach who has left, and eight of the staffers on his original staff are still at Houston.
“One of the signs of him getting older is that he just doesn’t care about things he can’t control anymore,” Kellen said. “I’m choosing not to worry about that. I’m choosing happy every day.”
Sampson’s zen-ish approach has also allowed him not to let the recent bad injury luck consume him. He quotes an old Tiger Woods line: “Keep getting to the back nine with a chance to win, eventually things will go your way.”
The Cougars get to the back nine just about every March. Their 2018 tourney team, the first under Sampson, was the only one not to make the second weekend, and it lost on a buzzer beater to eventual national runner-up Michigan in the second round.
Sampson believes almost every team he’s had since has been good enough to win the title, with one exception: the 2021 team that actually made the Final Four.
“We weren’t better than Baylor,” he said. “They were different. Best team we’ve played against in the 10 years I’ve been here. But this team, if this team stays healthy…”
Sampson’s mind wandered off to his rotation and how he’s trying to get Arceneaux, working his way back into game action after an Achilles tear, to trust that he’s going to be OK.
“I’ve realized it’s not good enough to be good enough,” he said. “You’ve got to be good enough and fortune has to smile your way sometime.”
The question is: How many more shots does he have left?
Sampson won’t give a number. “I think at some point all coaches have to think about what’s best for the game,” he said. “I want to be a good coach. I don’t want to be an old coach.”
Kellen has been the coach-in-waiting since 2023, which has kept him from even considering other opportunities that have arisen in recent years.
“Regardless of what’s waiting for me when I become a head coach. I’m never going to get these years with my dad back,” Kellen said. “I’m wagering big and I’d do it 100 times over that I’m going to cherish and love these years I’m getting with my dad way more than whatever extra years I would have had sitting in the big chair. I’m getting to extend time with my hero.”
Kellen’s sister Lauren isn’t going to give a number either, but the one change she’s noticed in her dad is that he smiles easier now. She saw Rob Gray, the star of the 2018 team, as the first senior who started to savor every moment once February hit. “I would say dad’s the same way,” she said. “You feel things more acutely. The joy is bigger. The heartbreak.”
The pain Sampson felt last March was not for himself, he said; it’s always for the players, especially his seniors.
Sampson gets another chance, and he would love to win that elusive title, but thinking about it won’t help.
“Just do the best you can, but do the best you can,” he said. “Do not not do the best you can. That’s important that you do that, because I owe it to these kids. I owe it to them. And that’s why, if it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, I’ve done everything I can to help them, put them in the best position so they can win.”
This summer on a lazy Saturday afternoon, Sampson was at his office with his grandchildren when someone stopped by and told him that his former players in town training for The Basketball Tournament were playing at the arena.
Sampson and his grandchildren hustled over to the Fertita Center for what felt like a reunion.
“It was like a picture of what this program is about,” he said. “Because that doesn’t happen at every school. But in some ways that’s your championship is the program you built. I know what stage we’re on and our opportunities that we have and I hope we make it. I just know how hard it is.”
This year again promises to be a grind — Houston is one of six Big 12 teams in the Top 25 and will play at least two Final Four hopefuls before conference play begins. Kellen, meanwhile, does not shy away from the urgency that is felt to make sure his dad cuts down a net on the final Monday of the season before he turns in his whistle:
“Every second, every day. One VersaClimber at a time.”
(Top photo: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
Culture
ESPN’s ‘Around the Horn’ ending in 2025 after 23-year run: Sources
One of ESPN’s longtime programming staples, “Around the Horn,” will come to an end in the summer of 2025, two sources briefed on the plans confirmed Thursday. The New York Post first reported the news.
The roundtable discussion show, which features notable panelists from the media world discussing the day’s top stories, launched in 2002 with Max Kellerman as host. Tony Reali took over hosting duties in 2004 and has remained in that role ever since. The show became a popular mainstay on the network in the 5 p.m. ET time slot, pairing with “Pardon the Interruption” and featuring sportswriters and media personalities from around the country, including Woody Paige, Mina Kimes, Bill Plaschke, Jackie MacMullan, J.A. Adande and Elle Duncan, among others.
Erik Rydholm, the creator and executive producer of “Pardon the Interruption,” has overseen “Around the Horn” since 2004.
The Athletic’s Stephen J. Nesbitt described the show in a story on Reali in 2022 as evolving “from a barrage of bombastic debate into a smarter show where banter and nuance can coexist,” and wrote that “Reali has developed from a facilitator, a pass-first point guard, into a host whose voice and vulnerability have made a glorified game show into a refreshingly genuine space.”
It’s unclear what will be next for Reali, 46. In terms of the show’s slot, the network and Rydholm’s team are exploring other shows but don’t have an exact plan yet, a source briefed on the matter confirmed.
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