Two days after the Golden State Warriors lost Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Draymond Green strode into Scotiabank Arena with the aplomb of a powerful dynasty at his back. Wrapped in a grey Warriors zip-up hoodie, at around 1:30 p.m. — 15 minutes after he was scheduled to speak — the three-time champion walked towards a makeshift podium that was propped up on the far right corner of the court. In front of a dozen TV cameras, microphones, and digital recorders, the NBA’s most complex catalyst sat down for an array of questions about basketball, life, and everywhere those two subjects intersect.

If I told you a year ago that the Brooklyn Nets would be legitimately chasing superstars while the New York Knicks would be rebuilding from the ground-up, you would have written me off as a comic.

As we head into a free agent frenzy that’s guaranteed to transform the NBA, its offseason

Still absorbing the magnitude of his team's accomplishment, Raptors President Masai Ujiri is confident Kawhi Leonard and the rest of Toronto's core will reunite next season in a bid for another title.

Did you see that block Giannis Antetokounmpo had the other night? You know the one I’m talking about, when he snuffed Joel Embiid at the rim and started a Milwaukee fast break in the other direction. Actually that generic description doesn’t really do that block justice, so let’s rewind.

The nature of the Toronto Raptors’ title run makes it seem hasty. Kawhi Leonard wasn’t acquired until last summer. Pascal Siakam, the newly-minted Most Improved Player of the Year, started just five games in 2017-18 before staking his claim as one of the league’s most valuable two-way players this season. Marc Gasol only arrived in Toronto at the trade deadline, after more than a decade spent with the Memphis Grizzlies.

So many of the communal narratives attached to NBA franchises are tied to subjective but universal specifications on what teams ought to do. Consider the Los Angeles Clippers, who disintegrated a flawed contender and built around hungry players to stay afloat

He's just the second Milwaukee Bucks player to win the award in franchise history. The other was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who did it three times with the Bucks before winning three more with the Los Angeles Lakers. Also, according to ESPN's Stats and Info, Antetokounmpo is the lowest-drafted MVP in the lottery era along with Steve Nash.