Suns are a 'mess' that front office changes may not fix
Suns are a 'mess' that front office changes may not fix | Good Word with Goodwill
Yahoo Sports senior NBA reporter Vincent Goodwill is joined by the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn to discuss Phoenix's promotion of Brian Gregory to general manager, demoting GM James Jones to a senior adviser role and the problems the club still faces heading into the offseason. Hear the full conversation on 'Good Word with Goodwill' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Hall of Famer Don Nelson selected as this year's winner of Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Don Nelson has been invited to the NBA Finals countless times in recent years, always declining those opportunities. This time, his peers found a way to ensure he couldn't say no. Nelson — a Basketball Hall of Famer and three-time NBA coach of the year — was announced Sunday as this year's recipient of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the National Basketball Coaches Association. It will be formally given out Sunday night, about an hour before Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder. 'History has already reflected Don Nelson's staggering contributions as a cutting-edge innovator and visionary of the NBA game,' said Pacers coach and NBCA President Rick Carlisle. 'Back in the '80s and '90s, he made teams adjust to historic pace, liberal 3-point shooting, inverted offense, and disruptive defensive schemes. All this while establishing himself as one of the most compelling personalities in all of professional sports.' Nelson, 85, retired in 2010 as the NBA's career coaching wins leader with 1,335, just ahead of Lenny Wilkens' 1,332. Nelson kept that top spot for nearly 12 years before now-retired San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich passed him in March 2022. Popovich is part of the committee that selects the Daly award winners. 'One of my best friends in my life," Nelson said of Popovich. "So, I'm really, really proud to be here and to share this award. I made the Hall of Fame in 2012 and this is certainly as important to me as that award was.' Nelson is one of only two coaches in NBA history to have at least 250 wins with three franchises. He got to that mark with Milwaukee, Dallas and Golden State, and also coached New York briefly in his career. Nelson and Daly were close friends. They went head-to-head 41 times as coaches: Nelson's teams went 21-20 in those games. 'Chuck was an absolute genius in all facets of the game and life,' Nelson said. 'I'm glad I had the opportunity to coach against him, learn from him, and benefit from his knowledge. To say that I'm deeply touched to receive an award that bears his name would be an understatement. This is special.' Nelson took teams to the playoffs 18 times as a coach and won five championships as a player with the Boston Celtics. He started coaching in 1976 and what became known as 'Nellie Ball' soon created a buzz with him being generally credited for introducing what is now known as the point forward. His up-tempo offensive ways were probably best on display with Golden State in the 'Run TMC' era featuring Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin. But his defensive schemes — including cross-matching and even writing the rules on illegal defense at the league's request, he said — should be remembered as well, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. 'I do appreciate the fact that he seemed boundless in terms of what he was willing to do, and he wasn't really relying on what was conventional,' Daigneault said. 'So, I have unbelievable respect for him.' The award is in Daly's memory and celebrates his 'integrity, competitive excellence, and tireless promotion of NBA basketball.' Prior recipients are Rudy Tomjanovich (2024), Rick Adelman (2023), Mike Fratello (2022), Larry Brown (2021), Del Harris (2020), Frank Layden (2019), Doug Moe (2018), Al Attles and Hubie Brown (2017), K.C. Jones and Jerry Sloan (2016), Dick Motta (2015), Bernie Bickerstaff (2014), Bill Fitch (2013), Pat Riley (2012), Lenny Wilkens (2011), Jack Ramsay and Tex Winter (2010) and Tommy Heinsohn (2009).
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Texas Attracting Relatives of NFL and NBA Stars is Raising Eyebrows Across College Football
Texas Attracting Relatives of NFL and NBA Stars is Raising Eyebrows Across College Football originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Whether fans are ready or not, the next wave of athletes has a high chance of making one feel old. Advertisement The athletes that many of us grew up watching now have children set to hit the college or professional ranks. While these players are scattered throughout the country, there seems to be a hotbed forming in Austin, Texas, at the most important position in football. Following the departure of Quinn Ewers, who was drafted in the seventh round with the 231st overall pick by the Miami Dolphins, the Longhorns will turn to former five-star and No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class, Arch Manning. Although he has two starts under his belt, fans have long been clamoring for the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning to take over. While the Manning name has plenty of notoriety, the Texas quarterback room has a chance to be headlined by the son of a former pro athlete for years to come. The Longhorns hold a commitment from 2026 five-star Dia Bell, the son of former Phoenix Suns star and two-time All-NBA Defensive Team selection, Raja Bell. They are also in the mix for a 2027 four-star Gunner Rivers, who is the son of eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback, Philip Rivers. Advertisement With Steve Sarkisian and Texas having a chance to obtain so much potential star power with famous relatives, fans online are taking notice. "Which would be indicative of NFL QBs believing in Sark's QB development," pointed out one fan. "That'd be insane," said another. "I sense a pattern there 🤔," suspected a third. Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning takes the field before his team's College Football Playoff game against the Clemson Tigers at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Dec. 21, Miron-Imagn Images As it stands, Rivers doesn't hold an offer from the Longhorns, but the No. 1 player in Alabama did recently attend a camp. "My first time here, it went well, enjoyed, and good talking to all the coaches," Gunner Rivers told On3 about his Longhorns visit. "I had a great time." This past season for St. Michael Catholic, he threw for 3,927 yards and 36 touchdowns, leading his team to the semifinals of Alabama's 4A playoffs. As for Bell, he threw for 2,597 yards with 29 touchdowns while leading American Heritage to a 9-2 record before he suffered a season-ending injury in the playoffs. Advertisement While there's a chance this quarterback succession of relatives of former pros doesn't happen, Texas is clearly on track to attract the biggest names for years to come. Related: Rule of Legendary NFL Coach May Prevent Arch Manning From Entering 2026 NFL Draft This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
LeBron James on critics saying he doesn't have scoring skills
LeBron James on critics saying he doesn't have scoring skills LeBron James became the NBA's all-time leading scorer two seasons ago when he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in February 2023 during a game between his Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Since then, he has surpassed 40,000 points, and he currently has 42,184 points for his career during the regular season, as well as 50,473 points in the regular season and playoffs combined. Still, some don't consider him an elite scorer. He isn't quite as skilled as some of the other leading scorers in NBA history, such as Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and it has even led some to downplay his accomplishment as the all-time leading scorer. According to critics, James doesn't have "a bag," meaning that he doesn't quite have the skill-based moves that other superstars possess. He has indeed always relied heavily on his athleticism and physicality, although he has greatly improved his 3-point shooting over the last two seasons. During a recent episode of his "Mind the Game" podcast, which he co-hosts with Hall of Famer Steve Nash, James reacted to those critics and tried to downplay the importance of having a highly refined skill set (h/t Lakers Nation). 'When I was growing up, it wasn't talked about. The least amount of dribbles to get to where you need to get to was what I grew up watching. Michael Jordan wasn't dribbling 1,000 times to get to his spot and raise. Isiah Thomas, as great of a handle as Isiah Thomas had, Isiah would get to his spot and raise. All these guys that I grew up watching, Grant Hill can get to his spot and bury you. [Glenn] Robinson, I get to my spot and I'm burying you. Allan Houston, all these great players that I grew up watching and admiring, Penny Hardaway. They could dribble the basketball, yes. Tracy McGrady, even as great as Tracy was, it was I'm bigger than you, I'm gonna get to the spot in the least amount of dribbles. Kevin Garnett, just good footwork and getting over the top, if I'm bigger than you and I get you on my shoulder or get you on my hip, I'm gonna use my size. I see it all the time, I be on social media and it's like 'LeBron has no bag.' LeBron has no bag and I'm sitting over there with 50 billion points… Just play the game the right way. And I hope that our younger generation doesn't get swamped by saying OK, I need a bag, I need a bag. Work on your game, know what you're gonna be good at in order to help the team and prove the next year to be a better player. You come in as a guy that's offensive game is not developed, you come in and you defend, you get extra possessions, you get extra rebounders for the guys. OK, then next year you work on your game in the offseason. It's only one or two, three guys maximum that's gonna be handling the [expletive] hold anyways. We don't need you to have a bag. We have the luxury of having three guys with us two and AR, but not many teams have three guys that's gonna be handling the ball like that anyways. You can make $200 million in the NBA if you defend and shoot a corner 3-pointer.' Even at age 40, and even without the same level of scoring skills as some others, James has continued to excel. He averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds a game while shooting 51.3% from the field and 37.6% from 3-point range. With Luka Doncic now by his side, one can easily see the game becoming a little easier for him now that he has been playing off the ball more often since Doncic's arrival. Many have wanted James to play off the ball for years in order to lessen his workload and increase his efficiency. No matter how skilled or unskilled one thinks James is, many feel his career scoring mark will never be surpassed.
