LEBRON STEPS INTO THE MINEFIELD: LeBron finally spoke about the China-NBA spat. For many people, it did not go over well.
🗣️ “I don’t want to get into a feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke,” James said. “And so many people could have been harmed not only financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually. So just be careful what we tweet and say and we do, even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech, but there can be a lot of negative that comes with that, too.”
The very outspoken Enes Kanter was one of the first to react to his words in a rare display of criticism of LeBron within the NBA players’ fraternity. Expect the backlash to grow.
🙃 Speaking of the China vs. the NBA situation, in the middle of a monologue about the feud this week, HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver facetiously name-dropped Warriors big man Marquese Chriss, referring to Daryl Morey’s decision to trade him last season as the real mistake Morey made, and not his Hong Kong tweet that got this whole thing started.
THE DANGERS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION: Everyone knows about the dangers of not sleeping enough, including the NBA. Unfortunately, even with everything the league has done over the last few years to combat that and help players get more rest, including reducing back-to-backs and creating more off days, NBA players still do not get nearly enough quality sleep during the season. League execs know it, and realize it’s a major issue.
THE RINGER GOES TO TEXAS: The Ringer sent Kevin O’Connor to Dallas to talk to Mavericks players, coaches and front-office members, in order to preview their upcoming season, which will be an important one, as it’ll be the first that Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis – their two centerpieces – share the floor together.
RANDLE SETS GOALS: Knicks power forward and their biggest acquisition of the offseason, Julius Randle, has two goals he has set for 2019-20: To become the first All-Star for New York since Carmelo Anthony, and to help the team make the playoffs. One of those will probably be a bit easier to attain than the other one.
SERIOUS ABOUT D: Zach LaVine has taken a lot of heat for his defensive shortcomings… and with good reason. He wants that to stop.
SEASON PREVIEWS: The Memphis Grizzlies have a legit shot at the worst record in the NBA this season. We’re still excited about JJJ, though.
PODCAST ALERT: We discuss a bunch of teams that could surprise people this season.
TRADE RUMOR RANKINGS
These are the players with the most mentions in our trade rumors page the last seven days:
SALARY QUIZ: WHO’S THIS NBA PLAYER? 🤔
Click here for the answer.
📧 You can get this in your email inbox every morning. Just need to subscribe here.
