“He didn’t want to go. Didn’t know anything about [Nike]. Didn’t like the shoes. Didn’t want to go. The shoe wasn’t that great at the time and Converse was the dominant brand…Adidas had everybody else that mattered.”

LeBron James delivered one of the great moments of his career before the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Portland Trail Blazers Friday night, the franchise’s first game since the tragic deaths of Kobe and Gianna Bryant in a helicopter crash Sunday.

The Spurs could be willing to part with Gay, who re-signed with the team last summer and is averaging 10.1 points and 5.6 rebounds this season. “If they get a nice asset back, I think they would do something with Rudy Gay, but I think their asking price is too high,” said the league executive. “Rudy still has something in his tank,” said an NBA scout,

One night after a game head coach Frank Vogel called “definitely the heaviest game I’ve been a part of,” the Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t have looked lighter. The team started out the night with a 44-22 demolition of the Sacramento Kings in the first quarter, and despite a few third-quarter hiccups, they were able to coast their way out of the state capital with a 129-113 win.

Trae Young trounced the Celtics’ defense two days after 2020 began, pouring 37 on the C’s perimeter and only Daniel Theis could spoil him from reaching 40. His game-sealing block on a switch at the three-point line cut Young off in ways Marcus Smart and Boston’s back court couldn’t all night.

The Denver Nuggets didn’t go to sleep until nearly five in the morning and had to play the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee less than twenty-four hours after they defeated the Utah Jazz in Denver. Missing three starters, plus Mason Plumlee, and facing the top team in the NBA it seemed all but a foregone conclusion that they would lose. They did not. The Bucks, behind a great game from Giannis Antetokounmpo, got an early lead and looked to have the blowout but Denver fought back and, just like last night, they rode a huge third quarter to take the lead and never look back. Every single player who got minutes scored in double figures and a total team effort earned the Nuggets their biggest win of the year. Denver takes it going away 127-115.

A new winning streak has been started, as the Bucks took down the Phoenix Suns with ease, 129-108.

Despite the early tip time on a Sunday afternoon, neither teams looked too sluggish to begin this one (that’s always refreshing to see). Instead, the Bucks would ride a wave of eight points from Brook Lopez and seven from Giannis Antetokounmpo to conquer a 30-26 point advantage after one. The Greek Freak would also post seven rebounds in the opening 12 minutes.

All nine occupants have been killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Califonia, northwest of Los Angeles on Sunday morning.

Former American basketball champion Kobe Bryant (41), his daughter Gianna (13), a pilot and six other passengers were on board the helicopter at the time it crashed.