Nobody has done more to improve their roster than the Minnesota Timberwolves since Golden State captured their second NBA title in June over Cleveland. After the team finished 31-51, missing the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season, Tom Thibodeau and Scott Layden took their time, rolled up their sleeves, and worked the system. Suddenly the […]
Timberwolves/NBA
A space for local and national sports news, with emphasis on stories pertaining to African Americans.
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‘Haywood Rule’ overturned NBA age restrictions
You won’t hear NBA legend and Basketball Hall-of-Famer Spencer Haywood bemoan the state of today’s pro hoops players. “Basketball is at its best right now,” Haywood said in a recent MSR phone interview. Today’s players “are so conditioned in what they do. It’s a different style. The evolution of the game is so much better.” […]
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Timberwolves get a new beginning
It finally has arrived after 13 years of absolute failure, four different head coaches in four years, and four team presidents. In 2017-18 the Timberwolves will return to the NBA living. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on renovating Target Center. The three-time WNBA champion Lynx have been sent to St. Paul this year while […]
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Talking 2017 NBA Draft
The 2017 NBA Draft is no different than the previous one — a lot of youngsters and foreign-born players. Since I normally don’t pay attention to the mock drafts, we instead went to two people who have a better pulse on what may happen Thursday night, as opposed to mock predictions. ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla and […]
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The Warriors — simply the best!
OAKLAND — It’s no secret, start spreading the news: the Golden State Warriors are the champions of basketball. They completed the greatest playoff run to a championship in the 71 years of the NBA Finals. The Warriors 129-120 win in game five gave them an NBA best-ever 16-1 record. Need I say this Warriors group […]
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Golden State wins second title in three years — a new dynasty?
“They’ve been the best team all season long statistically,” stated Mark Jackson, who coached the Warriors for three seasons (2011-2014) before becoming a full-time NBA analyst for ESPN. He has called more league Finals (nine) on television than any other Black NBA analyst. The new champions didn’t become this ‘super’ team overnight, despite last off-season’s […]
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There’s no stopping Golden State!
OAKLAND — The Golden State Warriors are on a mission, and that mission is to cement themselves as among the greatest teams in NBA history. They are halfway to the greatest Championship post-season run in NBA history. After smashing the defending NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers 113-91 and 132-113 in the first two games at Oracle Arena […]
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NBA Finals will feature historically diverse coverage
The historic third consecutive NBA championship meeting between Golden State and Cleveland as the 2017 NBA Finals starts Thursday — some have dubbed it the “three-match.” During Tuesday’s conference media call, the MSR asked about the possibility of fans and media being letdown by the long-anticipated match-up. “No,” said Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. “I’m […]
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NBA Finals take center stage
Documenting history is a wonderful thing if you keep an open mind and you have a passion for it. We are almost six months into this 2017 year, and so far it’s been amazing. January saw the NCAA National Championship rematch between unbeaten defending champion Alabama vs. Clemson. In February’s Super Bowl 51, Atlanta vs. […]
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2017 NBA playoffs update with Jalen Rose
Is the Western Conference Finals all but over? Is the Eastern Conference Finals, in essence, a final round tune-up for the prohibitive favorite? Both semifinals series put the respective conference’s top two teams in head-to- head match-ups — Golden State (1) vs. San Antonio (2) in the West – the Warriors leads 2-0; and Boston […]
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Golden State and Cleveland on collision course
LeBron James says there is no rivalry between him and Stephen Curry of Golden State. They are not Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird, Los Angeles vs. Boston. I disagree, and every playoff game played this post season by these two superstars has proven my point. James is chasing another championship. He has three already to […]
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Making the case for NBA MVP
OK, by a show of hands, your choice for NBA MVP is Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, right? He led the NBA in scoring with 31.9 per game. He averaged a triple double for the season — 31.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists over 80 games. He broke Oscar “Big O” Robertson’s 55-year-old record of […]
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Analysts preview the 2017 NBA Playoffs — the ‘real season’
The 2017 NBA Playoffs begin Saturday — “the real season,” declares former NBA great Reggie Miller. Miller and fellow NBA Analyst Kevin McHale on Thursday talked to the media, including the MSR, about the upcoming post-season. They will work Turner Sports’ playoff coverage on TNT — it’s the network’s 33rd consecutive year of NBA coverage. Sunday’s TNT tripleheader features two East […]
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Preview: Golden State vs San Antonio
Saturday’s nationally televised Golden State at San Antonio contest now has a lot more at stake than the top two teams in the West meeting for only the second time this season. Both clubs now are separated by a single game in the loss column. “Every time we play them, it’s like a playoff atmosphere,” […]
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66th NBA All-Star Game — for better or worse?
The NBA All-Star Game is wide open, and in my view it’s difficult to determine the level of intensity when one player with that much talent on the West All-Star team takes 39 shots. West All-Stars 192, East 182 made it the highest scoring NBA All-Star Game ever with 374 combined points. We should not […]
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NBA family takes on Donald Trump
Times are changing and the NBA, as we approach the 66th All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, had taken a strong stand. The game was moved a year ago, remember, to New Orleans from Charlotte because of the controversial House Bill 2, the law known as the bathroom bill of North Carolina. It’s no secret that […]
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Wolves’ Thibodeau shouldn’t get a pass
The NBA has now completed a third of its season. A year ago, some criticized former Minnesota Timberwolves coach Sam Mitchell for the team’s dismal record at the time. A year later, with virtually the same roster Mitchell inherited from the late Flip Saunders, the Wolves’ season record isn’t that much better under new coach […]
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Christmas Day NBA games preview
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Since its second season in 1947, the NBA has played on Christmas Day. The 1998 lockout was the last time without league games scheduled or played. Over a decade later in 1983, NBA Christmas Day telecasts became traditional as NFL Thanksgiving Day games and New Years’ Day college bowl games. Five […]
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Draymond Green plays rough and offers no apologies
Now in his fifth NBA season, Draymond Green has his name forever linked with some of the game’s all-time greats. The 6’-7” Golden State Warriors forward earlier this season recorded his second-straight triple-double performance in a game against Sacramento, becoming the first Warrior since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964 to do so. Last season Green joined […]
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Pension woes plague retired ABA player
It was recently reported that the NBA and its players union are nearing a new collective bargaining agreement that would avert a players’ strike or an owners’ lockout. But Arvesta Kelly doesn’t see it resolving his long-standing battle with the league. “I wait[ed] 30-some years to receive my pension,” says Kelly, a longtime St. […]