No. 1: Bryant says he’s willing to help NBA’s stars (if they ask) — Kobe Bryant is the Los Angeles Lakers’ all-time leading scorer and one of the best all-around players ever in NBA lore. His cold-blooded scoring mentality and overall basketball acumen aren’t easily taught or learned. As Jackie MacMullan of ESPN.com reports, though, Bryant recently gave pointers to Boston Celtics star Isaiah Thomas and is willing to do more of that upon request for others:
Kobe Bryant might be retired but he hasn’t stopped watching game film. He tells ESPN.com he keeps his personal laptop handy at the offices of Kobe Inc. and continues to make it readily available when he arrives home in the evening.
“You never know who might call,” Bryant chuckles.
Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas revealed last week that Bryant has been texting him before and after each playoff game and has engaged in a film session with him. Bryant took to Twitter to declare IT had a “Mamba mentality” and nicknamed him “Mighty IT.”
Bryant confirms he has had “many conversations” during the playoffs with Thomas, but says the Celtics star is just one of many current NBA stars who have reached out to him for advice.
Bryant says he also talks regularly with Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving, MVP candidates James Harden and Russell Westbrook, and Utah Jazz star Gordon Hayward, whom Bryant spent three days training with in Orange County last summer.
“I’m around for all the guys,” Bryant tells ESPN.com. “Anybody can reach out. It’s an open book.”
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When Bryant learned of the death of Thomas’ sister Chyna in a car accident just before Game 1 of Boston’s opening-round playoff series against Chicago, he called to offer his condolences.
Thomas, overcome with emotion during the call, shared with Bryant his struggles over whether he should play or be with his family.
“I told him, ‘Listen, I don’t know whether you should decide to play or not play. Obviously none of us can begin to fathom what you are going through right now,'” Bryant said. “But then I told him, ‘The one bit of advice I would give you is, if you are going to play, then you gotta play. Maybe you can find some peace in moments out there.'”
Bryant says he ended the conversation by telling Thomas, “If you ever need anything, just reach out. I’m here for you.”
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“I was happy to help him. He had the courage to ask. I did the same thing with Michael Jordan when I was a young player.”
Bryant says pop star Michael Jackson gave him some treasured advice in his rookie season during a visit to Neverland Ranch: Reach out to all the greats in your profession and learn from them.
So Bryant did, tapping everyone from resident Lakers legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West and Magic Johnson to Bill Russell, Hakeem Olajuwon, Larry Bird and his childhood idol Jordan.
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No. 2: Jazz wait on next moves from Hayward, Hill — Fifty-one wins, a division title, a first-round playoff series win (by taking a Game 7 on the road, no less). All of that made for a wildly successful season for the young Utah Jazz, whose prosperity was fueled often by All-Star forward Gordon Hayward and veteran point guard George Hill. Both are free agents this summer and could leave Utah, but according to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune, the Jazz feel like they’re in a solid spot to keep both players:
“I’m going to take some time off,” Hayward said. “I’m going to enjoy some time with my family and reflect on the season. I want to get my body back to 100 percent….and after that, obviously deal with the next chapter.”
For Hayward, that means opting out of the last year of his current contract and entering unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career, where he will have plenty of suitors besides the Jazz.
Hayward has developed into one of the best small forwards in the NBA. He was an All-Star for the first time this season. He averaged 21.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game this season. He was even better in the playoffs, averaging 24 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 11 games — including one game in which he played briefly before leaving with food poisoning, or else those averages would have been higher. He out-dueled Los Angeles Clippers star Chris Paul in the first round, and was the only Jazz player that looked comfortable offensively against Golden State’s swarming defense in the second round.
Because of this, Hayward will be one of the most coveted free agents on the market and sure to receive a max contract. Simply put, Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey’s meticulous rebuild falls apart if Hayward leaves town.
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Behind the scenes, it is believed the Jazz have an advantage in the battle to keep Hayward. Utah has a young core that won 51 games, despite being one of the most injured teams in the league. Hayward and his wife, Robyn, have settled down and started a family. The Jazz have a deep, improving roster, and they can offer more money than any other team on the open market. Utah already has Rudy Gobert locked up with a long-term contract, and he has established himself as an All-NBA candidate at center.
“We feel as if we’ve made a compelling case for Gordon to stay,” Lindsey said in early April.
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Hayward said Tuesday he hadn’t yet thought much about his free agent status. He also said he didn’t want to draw the process out after July 1, when the free agency period begins.
His situation will serve as a domino, either way. Point guard George Hill said Hayward’s decision will affect his impending free agency. Ingles and Hayward have the same agent in Mark Bartelstein, and Ingles is a restricted free agent.
Hayward said he has enjoyed Utah, and values his time with the Jazz. He acknowledged the crowd on Monday night when they were chanting his name. He repeated his fondness for Utah on Tuesday as well.
“It’s been so much fun for me here in Utah,” Hayward said. “I’ve grown up here and started a family. I’ve grown from a basketball standpoint and from a man standpoint. Still, these opportunities don’t come around very often.”
If nothing else, Hayward’s free agency will keep Utah’s front office honest. The Jazz have two first round picks in June’s draft. They have $13 million cap space that has to be used by July 1, or it will be lost. If the Jazz want to improve the roster, their best chance to do that may be before free agency begins.
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No. 3: Ujiri wants ‘culture reset’ for Raptors — Whether or not it is time to blow up or restart the Toronto Raptors’ roster is up for debate. What isn’t, in the eyes of GM Masai Ujiri, is staying the course that has led to consecutive playoff series losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun has more:
Ujiri, now team president but still handling the GM duties in regards to media interactions, grudgingly carried out his annual year-end address Tuesday. We say grudgingly because he knew coming in there were very few definitives he could provide and, quite frankly, he didn’t see the point.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t tip his hand at all.
Ujiri confirmed he wants unrestricted free agent Kyle Lowry back. But Lowry, not Ujiri, has to decide if he wants to come back.
Ujiri did NOT say he wanted Dwane Casey back as his coach, but he didn’t say he didn’t want him back either. There was a level of commitment there to Casey, but the commitment didn’t feel super strong.
Ujiri is clearly still in conversation with the head coach who he calls “a phenomenal part of our success here, you know, and in some ways we owe that to him.”
But at the moment it feels like a 50-50 proposition that the Raptors bring Casey back. It could go either way.
Whether Casey comes back or doesn’t, you can say farewell to the brand of basketball Toronto has played the past four years.
“We are going to hold everybody accountable because we need to,” Ujiri said. “We need, after that performance (the Eastern Conference semifinal series sweep to Cleveland), we need a culture reset here.
“We need to figure it out. Yes, there’s been some success, but at the end of the day we are trying to win a championship here. To me making the playoffs is nothing. That was back in the day. Now we have to figure out how we can win in the playoffs. That’s the goal.”
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“The style of play is something that we need to change, and I’ve made it clear,” Ujiri said, referencing the early post-season talks with Casey. “And coach has acknowledged it and he’s already thought about it. Just some of the things that we do, it’s not working anymore.
“And I’ve just made it clear that it’s going to be difficult to me for keep changing players, just because of the way the (Collective Bargaining Agreement) is.”
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“I am just not one of those guys (who just gives up). We are here to compete with them and find ways to compete with them. Yeah, it is easy to say but it’s the same question we asked in the beginning four years ago. I am not saying this is what we have done, but at least we tried to compete and tried to go out there and compete with the big boys and be there instead of just making the playoffs.
“We have to find a way. To me, those are all excuses. We have to find a way to find those players or develop our own into being winners on a high level.”
In short, change is coming.
How much change will be determined by, in no particular order:
whether Lowry wants to return
whether Ujiri feels Casey can adapt to a different style
whether the trio of unrestricted free agents (Serge Ibaka, P.J. Tucker and Patrick Patterson) return
One thing is for sure: Ujiri will not be lacking is options.
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No. 4: Green, Thomas snipe at each other over Olynyk — Draymond Green’s Golden State Warriors won’t see Kelly Olynyk or the Boston Celtics this season unless both teams make The Finals. Green has made news of late for recently going out of his way to call Olynyk “dirty”, which drew the ire of Olynyk’s teammate, Isaiah Thomas. The back-and-forth has become a mini snipe-fest between Thomas and Green in the media, writes Des Bieler of The Washington Post:
On his podcast Monday, Green accused Olynyk of “flopping” on the play, in which Oubre knocked down the Celtics forward in Game 3 of their playoff series, receiving an ejection and a Game 4 suspension. “That man took a charge on a push,” Green said. “Like, c’mon bro. Kelly Oubre hit [the official] harder than he hit Olynyk. Like c’mon man, how you gonna take a charge like that?”
Green then got to his most highly charged comments, which he began by calling Olynyk “a dirty player.” He added, “I don’t respect guys like that. I know he’s not the greatest basketball player of all time, so maybe you feel like you’ve got to do that, but you don’t. Just dirty. I don’t respect that man. He’s dirty. … Dude’s dirty. … Like, this dude be out there trying to hurt people. I don’t rock with [guys] like that.”
Thomas came to the defense of his teammate, and he took the opportunity to note that Green himself has earned a reputation for dirty play. Green’s blow to LeBron James got him suspended for Game 5 of last year’s NBA Finals, and his penchant for striking opponents with his arms and legs in odd ways (and in sensitive areas) caused the league to institute a rule this year that encouraged referees to look out for players committing “unnatural acts” with their limbs.
“It’s a joke that [Green] said that [about Olynyk],” Thomas said Tuesday (via ESPN). “The playoffs, everything somebody says is blown out of proportion. Everything somebody does is blown out of proportion as well. We can’t worry about what others are saying or doing.”
“I don’t know how he can call anybody dirty,” Thomas added of Green. “It is what it is. Everybody’s got a comment or something to say. That’s all it is.”
Green had a comment, it appeared, in response to Thomas’s remarks, posting a tweet with a message, “Just get through that series bro …,” that would have seemed cryptic except for the obvious context. After winning the first two games of the series, the Celtics have dropped the past two in decisive fashion to the Wizards, with Game 5 set for Wednesday.
Just get through that series bro….
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) May 9, 2017
Another Boston player, Avery Bradley, also stood up for Olynyk, saying: “I think Kelly is far from a dirty guy. I’m pretty sure some guys might have their opinion on Draymond with some of the plays that he’s made in the past.”
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