The Pacers are the latest team to join the National Basketball Association “smallball” revolution. He’s got a gold medal, a couple rings and even a massive role in basketball’s small-ball shift. And this isn’t the first time he’s been in this position.
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When he spoke in English, Bryant talked about what an incredible career he has had.
CHRIS BOSH: It’s my expectation.
“We’re on the map with Canadians as Canada’s team”, said Jennifer Hosford, vice president of marketing and communications for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the Raptors’ ownership group.
NBA All-Star Media Day was action packed as usual, and we have rounded up the best soundbites from Friday’s gathering. I kind of set it past year before my whole ordeal. The talented swingman “broke out” in a big way past year, but he has arguably been better in 2015-2016, posting a career-best 21.9 PER while averaging 22.4 points per game.
CB: It’s gone well so far.
Besides their stats, these players are also regarded as the most important players on each of their respective teams.
With the league’s annual showcase weekend taking place north of the border in Canada this year, somewhat unsurprisingly, the celebrity game will see a team representing the United States square off against a team representing Canada.
The basketball world belongs to Bryant, at least for one more weekend. How does leadership work in that situation?
As you may have noticed, the Eastern Conference is actually trending upwards this year.
“We definitely want to send him off on a good note”, Durant said. It’s a culture here. “All-Star break will be judged whether it’s good or not by how we come back afterward. It starts with the talent, but now we’ve played together a little now”. There’s a reason that they wanted to play here, and it’s a reason that they chose to come here. We didn’t necessarily get the recognition as we might have deserved, but Toronto’s always had great players.
He may not be in the MVP conversation, which he’s okay with, but he’s re-established himself as one of the premiere two-way players in the league today and then some. Is there a comfort level still? “You can’t take yourself too serious”.
“I have no clue how we became cool or how we got cool or anything”.
IN also has a few line-ups that have CJ Miles, a wing, playing the power forward spot to provide another 3-point shooter even if he has to defend bigger guys on the other end. “It’s just bad timing because I know it’s going to be epic and I would love to be there”, he said. But I’m fine with it. Just trying to stay ahead of the curve.
Here’s a look at the Eastern Conference squad, the best that the resurgent conference has to offer.
SN: You’ve had such a fascinating journey.
It all made ideal sense. I didn’t expect to win a championship, let alone two.
Anyway, I digress from the main point of this post. “Unless you’re there to witness it, you don’t really know how it is”.
“I haven’t played [power] forward since the beginning of the season. So I’ve definitely learned a lot”, said the 25-year-old George. It’s been an awesome journey.
The other thing to keep in mind is prevalence.
Drake and Nash will oversee a team that features Jose Bautista, Milos Raonic and former players Tracy McGrady, Rick Fox and Tammy Sutton-Brown.
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“To see people feeling it now, emotionally and energetically, it’s precious”, he added. But yeah, I’ve been in some trends, had some cultural changes. What else would you want to be doing?
