Sports
'Don't move … improve': Can L.A.’s newest star revive a storied women's basketball program?
LOS ANGELES — JuJu Watkins’ hands didn’t feel quite right. They were tingling in a way that seemed unnatural, and when she looked down at them, though they were physically there (all 10 fingers — check; perfectly manicured nails — check) they didn’t feel like her hands. Not the hands that made her the No. 1 recruit in the country. Not the hands that made the marvelous seem mundane as a high school basketball player. Not the hands that signed the first Nike name, image and likeness licensing deal for any high school girls basketball player ever.
She scanned the hallway for a basketball — thinking that might be the one thing that could bring her hands back into her body — but none were in sight. Near her was the tunnel, where at the end awaited the start of Watkins’ college career. She knew the questions that had swirled around her for months would finally be answered once she stepped on it: What could she make of herself and a long-dormant USC program?
“You nervous, Ju?” teammate Rayah Marshall teased her repeatedly the past few days. “Yes,” Watkins admitted. “A little.” And now, it seemed, her hands were in on it, too.
From the court, Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff experienced his own sense of the unknown. His Buckeyes — with their intense pressing defense — were ranked No. 7, a popular Final Four pick with a bevy of returners and future WNBA players.
And yet, McGuff had spent the bulk of his USC scouting watching high school and grassroots game tape of Watkins, something he couldn’t recall doing before. Because it was clear from the moment Watkins signed her letter of intent at Sierra Canyon that she would be the sun around which USC’s every other piece orbited.
Watkins’ first bucket came a minute into the game; her first assist, 30 seconds later.
Whatever jitters existed, whatever happened to her hands in that hallway, dissipated somewhere between the tunnel and tipoff. She dropped 32 points on Ohio State in a nine-point USC win. WNBA legend Candace Parker, who provided commentary for TruTV, said: “USC is in for a treat with JuJu Watkins’ career.”
But the moment that stuck out to McGuff wasn’t Watkins’ scoring. Or her highlight reel plays. Or even when Watkins performed the popular “too small” celebration after finishing through three of his players.
It was when she went to the bench in the third quarter after picking up her third and fourth fouls. He watched as she jogged to the sideline, noting that she didn’t hang her head or throw her hands up about the calls. At the start of the fourth, with the Trojans up two, Watkins returned to the floor.
Maybe this moment would rattle the freshman, McGuff thought. Maybe this moment was too big. Maybe the trepidation Watkins had seemingly lacked would now appear with only one foul separating her and the bench for the rest of the game.
Wrong.
The Trojans scored 27 fourth-quarter points. Watkins had seven of those, and two assists, while playing the full 10 minutes without a foul.
“In your first game, against a ranked opponent, in a big event — that was the most impressive thing,” McGuff said. “And it leads me to believe she’s going to be an absolute superstar as much because of her talent, but even more so because of her mindset.”
As the No. 1 player in the 2023 class, choosing a program that has languished in mediocrity her entire life didn’t faze her. She doesn’t appear nervous when celebrities sit courtside to watch her play. She’s open about the fact that she doesn’t just want to — but plans to — win a national title before she leaves USC.
But don’t confuse her quiet nature for a lack of confidence. Because if there’s one thing Watkins will bet on, it’s herself and her ability to rise to the occasion. It’s her hands, her mind and her motivation that make her the best freshman college basketball has seen in a long time. Maybe since USC’s own Cheryl Miller.
“In my 20 years of coaching, I’ve never been talking about a player in these kinds of grandiose terms 14 games in. But she’s different,” third-year coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “It’s not subtle how good JuJu is.”
Gottlieb sat on one of the couches in her office across from Watkins, studying her, trying to glean any clues from Watkins’ body language.
Watkins had kept a tight circle through her recruitment. What could’ve been the most high-profile saga in women’s basketball was actually an air-tight chamber with no leaks. There weren’t social media posts announcing every offer and campus visit. Coaches were mostly in the dark about where she was leaning.
The L.A. native, then a junior, attended the USC-UCLA game in the Galen Center and now sat with Gottlieb in her office. It was Gottlieb’s first season at USC, a program that hadn’t made the NCAA Tournament in nearly a decade. She was a splashy hire after delivering Cal its first Final Four appearance a decade earlier and spending the previous two seasons on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ staff.
Gottlieb had always been cautious about which games exactly she’d invite Watkins. She knew the energy and environment in Galen Center had a good chance to damper the experience. It was late January, and Watkins had just watched the Trojans lose to UCLA by 10, dropping to 9-7. Watkins had lost 10 games total during her high school career at that point. She sat in a chair with a view of the hallway as USC players strolled through the office grabbing meals and shouting as they passed the open door, “See you tomorrow, Coach.”
Gottlieb remembers Watkins posing one question: Why are they smiling?
Gottlieb knew Watkins’ recruitment would likely hinge on this moment.
Gottlieb explained that three days earlier, USC lost to UCLA by 23. In the short turnaround, they watched film and implemented changes. In the game that night, they course-corrected. No, they didn’t win, but they moved forward. And progress was the goal right now, and the Trojans felt good about that.
“I had to explain that college basketball is a journey,” Gottlieb said. “And it wasn’t where we wanted to be, but there were baby steps to it.”
A year later, when Watkins announced her top three schools — USC, Stanford and South Carolina — it looked like a real one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-others scenario. Stanford and South Carolina had each won national titles in the previous three seasons. USC hadn’t even made the NCAA Tournament.
But that conversation in Gottlieb’s office stuck with Watkins. She always had a desire to build something, to help transform a place. Her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins Sr., founded the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) in 1965 as an initiative to improve the lives of those who called the South Central Los Angeles neighborhood home. When much of the country thinks of Watts, they think of the Watts riots of 1965. When Watkins thinks of Watts, she sees her neighborhood that surrounds the park named after her great-grandfather. She envisions the medical center and apartment complexes he brought to the area. As a child, she spent her summers working as a receptionist for the organization. During her “lunch breaks,” she talked about life and basketball in the office of her grandpa, Tim Watkins, who ran the WLCAC after Ted died in 1993. He took her on runs to the store to buy candy, and he let her shadow the teenagers who worked on the summer initiatives. Watkins, five years younger than her closest sibling, was the little sister who hung around and tried to jump in on everything with the big kids. When they wouldn’t let her, she’d observe and listen.
She noticed how much he invested into his relationships with others and saw that everyone who encountered her grandpa referred to him as a friend. At the WLCAC and at home, Watkins was constantly surrounded by the knowledge and influence passed down by her great-grandfather. “Don’t move … improve” was one of his quotes she heard countless times.
When it came time to decide where to attend college, those words stuck with her. She wanted to help build something. Sure, she could help Stanford and South Carolina stay on top. Or she could help change the direction of USC. Better yet, she could do it in an arena that she had driven past hundreds of times.
“In the end, this is my city, and USC hasn’t been hot since the ‘80s,” Watkins said. “But USC had a deeper meaning than just, ‘Oh, it’s home.’ Of course, that played into it. But coming to this school and really having a big impact on the trajectory of the program here — that was very important to me.”
When Cheryl Miller graduated from USC in 1986 — after winning two national titles and making a third trip to the title game — it seemed as though the Trojans’ dynasty was ready to anchor the West Coast of women’s college hoops. They had not only established themselves with elite ball players, but well before the NIL era, the players were well-known across the country.
After USC won its second national title in 1984, Sports Illustrated wrote: “The Trojan women … have never had a hard time getting a table anyplace in town. That’s thanks to the sports information department at USC, a.k.a. the University of Social Calendars, which believes more in personal appearances than press releases and works with the school’s women athletes on grooming and etiquette and critiques all interviews. No wonder Miller and the McGees are easily the most recognizable women athletes in L.A., and the Women of Troy the most visible team in women’s basketball.”
But for the next decade, the program went on a gradual decline. Across the country, other powers rose. Tennessee and Pat Summitt won three titles between 1987 and 1991; Stanford hired Tara VanDerveer in 1985 and the Cardinal won its first national title in 1990; UConn announced its ascendancy in 1995 when it won its first title over Tennessee, no less.
As for USC, it struggled to establish the coaching excellence and stability those programs enjoyed.
After winning two national titles with Miller, Linda Sharp retired in 1989 and the program hired Marianne Stanley, who won a national title with Old Dominion. Four years and an equal pay fight (and lawsuit) later, Stanley and USC parted ways. Miller returned as a head coach in 1993 and coached the Trojans, led by Lisa Leslie, to the 1994 Elite Eight — the furthest the program had gotten in March since her playing days — but she resigned abruptly after two seasons. USC then brought in Fred Williams, who made it two seasons before he was gone.
In the late ‘90s, USC finally established some head coaching consistency, but by then, expectations had fallen too far and others had filled the void. Only four times between 1997 and 2021, when Gottlieb arrived, did the Trojans finish among the top three teams in the conference.
In the 2000s, when national recruiting picked up in women’s basketball, USC remained very much a has-been. The Trojans’ 1983 and 1984 titles were long forgotten or completely unknown by players who were still in diapers (or not yet born) when USC hoisted those trophies.
From 2007 until 2022, California produced 16 top-10 recruits (10 percent of the nation’s total), but only one of those players went to USC while three apiece went to UConn and Duke.
Worse yet, USC was never even in the picture for the nation’s No. 1 recruits who hailed from California. In 2000, Diana Taurasi chose UConn over UCLA and Arizona. “I never thought I’d leave (California),” Taurasi told ESPN at the time. Three others — Haley Jones (Stanford), Katie Lou Samuelson (UConn) and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (UConn) — didn’t even have USC as finalists.
In the 15 years leading up to Watkins’ senior season, 14 of the No. 1 players nationally chose just four schools — UConn, Stanford, Baylor and Tennessee.
“There has been a small group of elite women’s basketball programs that the best players go to. And you’re obviously trying to become one of those, but it’s also hard to become one of those without the best players,” Gottlieb said. “It really takes an outlier of a person to go to one of those schools before they become that.”
But in 2014, A’ja Wilson — the nation’s No. 1 player from Hopkins, S.C., just 20 minutes from South Carolina’s campus — was that outlier. She chose South Carolina, a program in its sixth season under Dawn Staley. The Gamecocks made their third NCAA Tournament appearance during Wilson’s senior year of high school, but the program had never been deeper than the Sweet 16. But by her junior season in Columbia, she had delivered the Gamecocks their first national championship.
And in 2023, Watkins chose USC, a program that has won one NCAA Tournament game in her lifetime.
Like Wilson at South Carolina, there was a draw to staying home, to building something not only in their backyards but also for their backyards.
When Watkins looks into the Galen Center stands, she sees familiar faces — both the celebrities she recognizes from TV but also her grandfather, Tim, who has attended every home game. She sees her cousins and friends from Watts, her parents, former teammates and teachers.
Attendance for Trojans home games is up three-fold this year, and while those numbers aren’t driven entirely by Watkins’ friends and acquaintances, they are driven largely by what Watkins has already done for the program and the city. How she has excited a fan base that may or may not recall the could’ve-been-dynasty that was almost born in L.A. four decades ago. A team that — like this current group — entertained, had star power and featured players the city felt it could claim as its own.
“I just have such a relationship with where I’m from — it’s very important to me,” Watkins said. “It’s just ingrained. I feel like if I have to, I’m gonna leave, but I will always find my way back here.”
At the Trojans’ first home game this season, USC honored the 1983 and 1984 title teams. Candace Parker, Vanessa Bryant and 2 Chainz were in attendance. Girls and boys, grandpas, teenagers all lined the court to get Watkins’ autograph. A few weeks later, LeBron James sat courtside. Not long after, it was comedian Kevin Hart. For the UCLA rematch, rapper Saweetie sat courtside.
To Watkins, they’re all L.A. And, to them, she likely represents the city, too. At least, that’s Watkins’ hope. That as she builds this program for the city and its fans that she also represents and reflects the place that built her.
“She is your favorite NBA player’s favorite college player,” Gottlieb said. “She is the dude down the street who shows up in a game in a Watkins jersey — she’s his favorite player. She has kids screaming her name and waiting outside. It’s still at the beginning, but it’s very palpable already.”
Attendance for Trojans home games is up three-fold this year. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
On Sunday in Los Angeles, seven miles from where Watkins first learned to shoot a basketball, 10,657 people streamed into the Galen Center to see No. 9 USC play No. 2 UCLA. Two weeks earlier, the Bruins beat the Trojans by seven in Westwood. Watkins finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds in the first loss of her college career. In the postgame news conference, she drummed her fingers on the table and held back tears.
With Oregon and Oregon State coming to town soon after, Gottlieb decided to wait until closer to the rematch to show the team video from the loss. But two days later, she met with Watkins and McKenzie Forbes, a fifth-year grad transfer, to watch together. They dissected plays, examined moments that were fixable and discussed steps that needed to be taken. This is not the same team as two years ago when Watkins sat in Gottlieb’s office as a recruit, but the game plan hasn’t changed all that much.
After sweeping the Oregon schools, Watkins walked into the facilities with a different energy. She asked Gottlieb when they’d be watching the UCLA game film as a team. She wanted the corrections. She wanted the rematch.
Gottlieb stressed not to put too much on any single game. It’s a long season, longer so for a freshman who hasn’t yet learned the ebbs and flows, hasn’t felt the grind of March.
“Don’t worry,” Watkins reassured her with a smile.
In the rematch, USC’s Marshall — a 6-4 all-conference forward and future WNBA player — was sidelined with an illness. Even more was foisted onto Watkins’ shoulders.
In the USC locker room, Gottlieb felt an energized but focused intensity. At the center of it was Watkins. Her teammates not only listening to her, but following her. “When she’s telling us, ‘Come on, let’s go, make your free throws, we’re getting this win,’” Forbes said, “how do you not follow that lead?”
This might be the most impressive piece of Watkins’ success so far. A then-top-10 team featuring Marshall and Taylor Bigby (two third-year players who were top-30 recruits) and three Ivy League grad transfers not only look to an 18-year-old in these moments but want her to lead them.
“She’s such a competitor. She has this hunger to win,” Marshall says. “And it’s like, you thought you were a competitor, you thought you were hungry, but then you get out there with her.”
Against UCLA, Watkins finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. After the Trojans’ 73-65 victory, Watkins collapsed onto the floor, her calves instantly cramping, as if they knew exactly how far they needed to take her. Her teammates huddled around her, celebrating.
Watkins celebrated, too, but recognized it all as progress. And despite consecutive losses last week against ranked opponents at Utah and Colorado, progress remains the goal.
Because in Los Angeles, a city is watching a young star primed to lead a program out of dormancy. And there’s a team that knows exactly where it wants the ball — in JuJu Watkins’ hands.
(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; Photos: Brian Rothmuller / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Ohio State’s offense has hit the gas ever since the team lost 32-31 to Oregon on Oct. 12, going 6-1 and outscoring opponents 211-79.
A late penalty helped the Ducks run out the clock on a win, but the No. 8 Buckeyes will get a chance to avenge the loss when they face No. 1 Oregon during the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
“We’ve made adjustments coming off of that game. And we worked hard to make sure that we’re putting our guys in the best position to be successful,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “After the game that we played with these guys last time, you can see every week has gotten stronger and stronger.”
The strong stretch is highlighted by their explosive offense, led by offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who will return to the Rose Bowl to face his former team.
Kelly was Oregon’s head coach from 2009-12, leading the Ducks to national prominence and two Rose Bowl appearances (1-1) during his tenure. He was also on the Rose Bowl sidelines last season as UCLA’s head coach, a role he held for six seasons.
“[Kelly’s] now got a full understanding of who we are personnel-wise in the Big Ten,” Day said. “He has evolved. He has a great understanding of offensive football.”
In his first full season with the Buckeyes, Kelly has orchestrated the nation’s highest-scoring offense, averaging 42 points per game, while overseeing quarterback Will Howard’s development.
Howard has thrown for 3,171 yards, 29 touchdowns and nine interceptions this season.
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard carries the ball against Tennessee during the first round of the College Football Playoff.
(Jay LaPrete / Associated Press)
“I think he has good size, obviously, and he’s a big body,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said of Howard. “He’s hard to get down. More than that, I think he’s built a lot of confidence in the guys he’s able to throw the ball to, and even some confidence in the quarterback run game. I think you see him utilized a little bit more in the QB run game later in the season.
“But he does a good job throwing good balls. He certainly threw a lot of good balls the other night down the field and was able to target the wideouts for explosive plays down the field. Playing really good football right now. Certainly played really good football against Tennessee.”
Kelly said after the win over Tennessee that Howard has developed to the point the coordinator doesn’t need to finish the play calls because his quarterback knows them so well.
“Our challenge to Will going into the last game was that he had to be the best leader on the field,” Day said of Howard. “I thought he was. I thought he played well, got into a rhythm early on. But I think for Will, understanding exactly how we’re trying to attack defense is a critical part of being successful. And when the play caller and the quarterback are on the same page, … the minute they hear the formation, they can finish it. That means he’s got a great grasp of what we’re trying to get done.”
Etc.
Historically, the Buckeyes have been a hurdle the Ducks have struggled to overcome in the postseason.
Oregon lost 42-20 to Ohio State in the 2015 national championship game. The Ducks have also never defeated the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl, falling in 2010 under Kelly’s tutelage and in 1958.
All your favorite characters are competing for the same NBA award once again.
Nikola Jokić is the MVP favorite. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander follows him up. Two-time winner Giannis Antetokounmpo is on their tails, as are Jayson Tatum and Luka Dončić. Those five made up First Team All-NBA last season. Now, they make up the quintet atop the 2024-25 MVP race.
Christmas isn’t just Santa’s day. It’s also the marker of when NBA talk reaches the public sphere, which means it’s time to discuss the battles for the league’s most prestigious awards.
For MVP, the fight isn’t so bloody. Jokić is the obvious No. 1 today. He’s three-tenths of an assist away from averaging a triple-double; the advanced metrics (which have always painted him as a higher being) are greater than ever; and the shooting splits are out of a video game. On top of it all, he’s nailing a league-leading 51 percent of his 3-pointers.
If the season ended today, a fourth Jokić MVP would be on the way. Of course, there are still more than four months to go.
It’s difficult to infuse a team’s record into any reasonable candidate’s argument right now. Jokić’s Denver Nuggets provide the perfect example.
Denver is 16-11, fifth in the Western Conference. It is only two back of second place in the loss column. Yet, it’s only two up of ninth place in the loss column.
One bad week, and the Nuggets are in the bottom half of the Play-In Tournament, which would bump Jokić down a slot or two. It’s difficult to dub someone MVP if his team isn’t in the playoffs, even if Jokić somehow breaks mathematics as we know them and starts shooting 107 percent from the field.
Gilgeous-Alexander could become the favorite to win his first MVP in that case. His Oklahoma City Thunder are atop the Western Conference, and he’s the leading reason. Or maybe the Milwaukee Bucks go on a run, which inspires a third trophy for Antetokounmpo. Neither Tatum nor Dončić is out of the race, either.
As of today, my ballot would include those five. Let’s go with:
- Nikola Jokić
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Jayson Tatum
- Luka Dončić
But the MVP race is not done — nor are others.
The NBA is littered with interesting awards races so far this season. Here are four more of them:
Who finishes second and third in Defensive Player of the Year?
Just look at how the Philadelphia 76ers ended the first quarter Monday night.
All they wanted to do was get up a shot, any shot, before the buzzer sounded. Their only strategy was to pray. That was not enough.
Kyle Lowry rose for a fadeaway jumper with seemingly no one around him, but the San Antonio Spurs employ one man whose arms appear twice the width of the court. That man swatted Lowry, then trailed Caleb Martin, who recovered the loose ball, and knocked Martin’s shot out of bounds at the buzzer.
We don’t need to call any award race over yet, especially because players must participate in at least 65 games to be eligible for most of them, but there is an obvious leader in Defensive Player of the Year. If Victor Wembanyama is on the court, you don’t score on the Spurs. He has 18 blocks over his past two games alone. He’s pacing to become the first player to average four rejections a game since Dikembe Mutombo in 1995-96 — and keep in mind, it was far easier to block shots then, considering how many more were inside the 3-point arc. The Spurs defense is more than 10 points per 100 possessions better when Wembanyama is on the court.
He is the world’s greatest defender right now. But who could follow him on the ballot?
Could there be an all-French top two? Rudy Gobert, the four-time winner of this award, has still helped the Minnesota Timberwolves to sixth in points allowed per possession, despite holes elsewhere on the roster. Opponents stop attacking the paint whenever Gobert is around. His team allows 8.3 percent fewer shots at the rim when he’s on the court, the largest differential for any player in the NBA, according to Cleaning the Glass. Almost all of those layups turn into midrange jumpers, not 3s.
Could it be Bam Adebayo, who has a similar effect on the Miami Heat’s opponent shot profile? Could Jaren Jackson Jr. contend for a second Defensive Player of the Year? Could Evan Mobley re-enter the conversation he was in a couple of years ago, when he finished second? The Cleveland Cavaliers own the best record in the league, and opponents are shooting 9.3 percentage points worse at the rim when Mobley is on the court, by far the largest differential in the NBA.
Could a perimeter player vault to the spot behind Wembanyama? Defensive Player of the Year is usually reserved for big men, but Dyson Daniels might have something to say about that. Daniels is getting steals on 4.4 percent of his possessions, the highest steal rate for any player since Tony Allen in 2010-11. He has 72 more deflections than De’Aaron Fox, who is second in the league. For reference, that’s the same difference as the one between Fox and 147th place. Daniels isn’t just a gambler. He’s a pest on the ball. Dribblers can’t jolt past him. As long as he keeps performing like this, he’s a lock for All-Defense, but he has two main knocks against him.
First, a perimeter player can’t affect team defense like a big man can. And second (which may just be further proof of the previous point), the Hawks are actually better defensively with Daniels off the court. And that’s not just because Daniels plays many of his minutes alongside the defensively challenged Trae Young. When Daniels is on the court and Young is off, the Hawks defense is a sieve.
If not Daniels, does OG Anunoby, an off-ball maestro who can cut off an entire side of the court, have a case to slide onto the ballot? How about Amen Thompson, who comes off the bench in Houston but still inspires fury among opposing starters like few others? The Rockets may be the NBA’s most-physical team defending the perimeter. No one there is better in that aspect than Thompson.
Ballot, as of today:
1. Victor Wembanyama
2. Dyson Daniels
3. Evan Mobley
What is a most improved player?
Franz Wagner was the obvious choice here, but an oblique injury will likely make him ineligible to win. And because of that, debating who is the most improved will say more about the debaters than it will about the candidates.
Is a vast improvement in shot-making the way to determine the victor? If so, the LA Clippers’ Norman Powell is the current favorite, but it’s still early enough and Powell’s scoring numbers (24.1 points per game and 47 percent 3-point shooting on 8.1 attempts a night) are so through the roof that there must be some regression on the way — though it’s not like Powell is putting up empty numbers. The Clippers are winning more than anyone could have expected, and their offense is more than 10 points per 100 possessions better with Powell on the court, according to Cleaning the Glass.
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Payton Pritchard has a case. He’s nearly doubled his 3-point volume, is sinking a higher percentage than ever, is the planet’s sneakiest offensive rebounder and has gone from cutesie, full-court-shot specialist to Sixth Man of the Year leader.
De’Andre Hunter is another player who’s hitting jumpers like never before, though he’s developed in other ways, too. He’s getting to the line more than ever. Hunter used to avoid contact. Now he finishes through it, a big sticking point for Hawks head coach Quin Snyder.
Yet, there are other types of improvement to deliberate.
Another Hawk, Jalen Johnson, should be on the list. Atlanta has handed more opportunities to Johnson this season, who is a better facilitator than ever. He’s never created his own shot this much and has never set up teammates like this. The Hawks offense is not just the Young show anymore. And Johnson is putting up the counting stats we normally associate with winners of this award: 19.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists. He might be an All-Star this season.
RJ Barrett’s passing is worth a mention. Barrett has gone from looking for his shot first, second and third to learning how to change speeds in pick-and-rolls. He loves flinging cross-court zingers to shooters while leading the break. He had never posted a double-digit assist game coming into this season. He’s already done it five times in 2024-25. His assist rate right now is twice his career average.
Some other players who could sneak onto the list include Cade Cunningham (who is running an offense better than ever and should be an All-Star), Daniels (because of the defensive leap), Mobley (who is handling the ball more than ever in Cleveland) and Nikola Vučević (whose percentages put prime Dirk Nowitzki to shame and must be bound to come down but for now force his entry onto this list).
Ballot, as of today:
1. Jalen Johnson
2. Norman Powell
3. RJ Barrett
Who lands the final spot on the Rookie of the Year ballot?
As with M.I.P., one player had first place virtually locked up, and then that player (in this case, the 76ers’ Jared McCain) got hurt. Now, the race for Rookie of the Year has all the vibes of the one from 2017, when second-round pick Malcolm Brogdon won.
This season’s Brogdon is the Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells, a fellow second-rounder who is starting for a top-three team in the West and has been highly efficient in the process. The Pelicans’ Yves Missi is doing his best to make something of a lost season in New Orleans. Tune into the Pels each month and Missi, a ferocious finisher and top-flight athlete, is doing something new a bit better.
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As with M.I.P., your third-place choice might say more about you than it does about the candidates.
The Spurs’ Stephon Castle has started for a winning team and is already a feisty defender, but the shooting isn’t up to snuff yet. The Grizzlies’ Zach Edey has missed some time and isn’t playing loads of minutes but is a scoring machine already. The Hawks’ Zaccharie Risacher cannot make a shot but is one of a few long defenders Atlanta has lining its wings. The Trail Blazers’ Donovan Clingan isn’t playing much but would own the NBA’s second-highest block rate (behind only Wembanyama) if he qualified for the league leaders. The Lakers’ Dalton Knecht isn’t connecting lately but has started occasionally for a winning team and is liable to catch fire at any point.
The candidates are underwhelming. But you have to choose three.
Ballot, as of today:
1. Jaylen Wells
2. Yves Missi
3. Stephon Castle
The Coach of the Year race
There isn’t a coach with a more difficult job this season than the Spurs’ Mitch Johnson, who had to take over a young team that hasn’t finished above .500 in six years after Gregg Popovich suffered a stroke. Yet, as the Spurs await Popovich’s return, they are 15-14. Just about every player is performing at his capabilities.
And yet, it doesn’t matter when it comes to awards.
Toss Johnson’s résumé into the same bin that held Luke Walton’s in 2016, when the Golden State Warriors went 39-4 after Walton took over temporarily for head coach Steve Kerr, who could not patrol the sidelines during that time because of a back injury. Johnson is not officially the head coach of the Spurs and thus is not eligible for Coach of the Year.
But even without him, there are too many qualified candidates to choose from. At least six coaches could justify first-place votes.
Kenny Atkinson took over a team that underwhelmed a season ago and has helped it to the best record in the NBA. The Cavs are 26-4.
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Jamahl Mosley’s Magic have suffered injury after injury. Paolo Banchero, the team’s sole All-Star, has played five games all season. Now, both Wagners (Franz and Moe) are out. Yet, Orlando’s identity is distinct. Battle the Magic and, win or lose, you will leave the arena with a sore back, neck, shoulder, knee — you name it. Most importantly, they’re winning: 19-12, fourth in the East.
Taylor Jenkins has transformed the 20-10 Grizzlies. If you think NBA teams all play the same style nowadays, check out Memphis. Jenkins and assistant Noah LaRoche have implemented an offense based around quirky cutting, stuff few others around the league are running. The Grizzlies use an extended rotation and don’t run their guys for many minutes. No one averages more than 28. It’s working. Memphis is a contender.
After Paul George left in free agency and without Kawhi Leonard even playing a game yet, the Clippers should not be this good, sitting at 17-13 as they await the return of Leonard. They guard like maniacs. Such is the beauty of employing Ty Lue, who has somehow never won this award.
Ime Udoka has the most typical case. The Rockets are the NBA’s surprise team. Their identity could not have adjusted more from its one before Udoka arrived in town. Houston tosses hound after hound at its opponents. It plays as hard as any team in the league. It’s disciplined. No one wants to face the Rockets, who are young, yet are second in the league in points allowed per possession.
Let’s throw reigning Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault into the mix, too. The Thunder are in the process of running away with the West despite a significant injury to rising star Chet Holmgren.
Voters could justify including the Heat’s Erik Spoelstra whenever they want. The New York Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau helped a renovated, offense-first roster to a 19-10 record. Michael Malone is navigating injuries aplenty and the loss of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope out West.
This is unquestionably the most gut-wrenching ballot to fill out right now.
Ballot, as of today:
1. Kenny Atkinson
2. Ime Udoka
3. Jamahl Mosley
(Top photo of Jaylen Wells: Justin Ford / Getty Images)
The NFL is giving fans a present on Christmas, with two high-profile matchups between AFC contenders with a lot of playoff implications.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers play at 1 p.m. ET, and the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans play at 4:30 p.m. ET, with both games streaming exclusively on Netflix.
After many had streaming issues during the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight in November, Netflix is under a lot of pressure to ensure their viewers don’t have any issues watching the games.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is introduced prior to a game against the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Denny Medley-Imagn Images)
One Netflix subscriber even filed a lawsuit against Netflix for “breach of contract” because of constant glitches during the fight, per TMZ.
This will be the first time an NFL game has been streamed exclusively on Netflix, and no matter how the viewing experience is for fans on Wednesday, it won’t be the last game they see on the streaming service.
The NFL and Netflix announced in May that they agreed to a three-year deal where the streaming service will broadcast at least one Christmas Day game over the life of the deal.
Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president of nonfiction series and sports, said the company learned from what went wrong in the Tyson-Paul fight.
“The sheer tonnage of people that came to watch was incredible. And for all the testing that the engineering team had done ahead of that, and I think they’re the best in the business, the only way to test something of that magnitude is to have something of that magnitude,” Riegg said.
PATRICK MAHOMES PLAYS THROUGH ANKLE SPRAIN TO LEAD CHIEFS TO VICTORY VS. TEXANS
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson takes the field against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium. (Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)
“We never want to have technical issues or a disappointing experience for our members. There was a subset of people that were watching that struggled with that and we acknowledge that. The good news is they stress-tested the system to such a degree that there’s a lot of these fixes and improvements that they realized that they could make, and they’re applying all that stuff.”
Netflix’s first test will be a showdown between the Chiefs (14-1) and Steelers (10-5).
The Chiefs have already secured their ninth consecutive AFC West title and are now playing for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, which would grant them the all-important bye week.
If the Chiefs were to win on Wednesday, they would have the No. 1 seed locked up before Week 18, giving head coach Andy Reid a chance to rest his starters during the final week of the regular season.
The Chiefs are coming off a 27-19 win over the Texans on Saturday, where quarterback Patrick Mahomes played well. The star quarterback threw for 260 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 33 yards and a touchdown despite playing through an ankle sprain.
RAVENS’ LAMAR JACKSON EAGER TO WATCH BEYONCÉ HALFTIME SHOW: ‘SORRY FELLAS’
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens breaks through the Bengals defense for a touchdown reception at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Dec. 1, 2024. (IMAGN)
The Steelers, on the other hand, are coming off a tough 34-17 loss against their arch-rival Ravens on Saturday.
It looked like the Steelers were going to have a chance to come back after safety Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Lamar Jackson down 24-17 in the fourth quarter.
However, Ravens’ cornerback Marlon Humphrey thwarted any chance of a Steelers’ comeback with a Pick Six off Russell Wilson on the ensuing drive, putting the Ravens up 31-17 and effectively sealing the win.
The Steelers’ defense had a tough time handling running back Derrick Henry, who ran the ball 24 times for 162 yards in the win for Baltimore.
For the Steelers, their game against the Chiefs is crucial to winning the AFC North. Pittsburgh has already clinched a playoff spot, but their loss on Saturday was a big blow to their chances of winning the division, as the Ravens are also 10-5.
TEXANS COACH REVEALS EXTENT OF TANK DELL’S HORRIFIC INJURY
Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey returns an interception for a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium. (Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images)
Some good news for the Steelers is that wide receiver George Pickens has a “real chance” to play against the Chiefs, coach Mike Tomlin said on Sunday.
Pickens has missed the last three games, and he’s been sorely missed. In the three games without Pickens, the Steelers are averaging just 248.3 yards per game, almost 77 yards less than their season average of 324.9.
As big a blow as the loss was for the Steelers on Saturday, the Ravens win over Pittsburgh was just as big a boost for them.
The Ravens played well on Saturday, outgaining the Steelers 418-315 in terms of yards, with 220 of those yards coming on the ground.
Jackson threw three touchdowns in the win, and will have a chance to make his MVP case with the whole world watching on Wednesday.
The Ravens quarterback is having another fantastic year, as Jackson and Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen are considered the two favorites for the award.
TEXANS ADD PRO BOWL WIDE RECEIVER DIONTAE JOHNSON AFTER DEVASTATING INJURY TO TANK DELL
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson throws against the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium. (Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images)
A win for the Ravens on Christmas would go a long way in their race against the Steelers for the AFC North crown.
The Ravens (10-5) are taking on the Texans (9-6) in the second part of the NFL’s Christmas doubleheader on Netflix.
They are taking on a Texans team that just lost to the Chiefs. In addition to the loss, the Texans also lost second-year wide receiver Tank Dell for the season after he suffered a gruesome leg injury while catching a touchdown in the loss.
The Texans also lost wide receiver Stefon Diggs for the season after the star receiver tore his ACL, leaving what was once a strong wide receiving corps now thin.
A win over the Ravens on Christmas for the Texans would not only clinch them a playoff spot, but also the AFC South title and a home playoff game.
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud scrambles against Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images)
The Texans-Ravens matchup will also come with a special halftime performance by Beyoncé.
All four of the teams playing on Wednesday are playing their third game in 11 days.
With so many playoff implications, and a big halftime performance, Netflix will be under a lot of pressure from NFL fans and the “BeyHive” to make sure things go off without a hitch.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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