We have enough heads-up to plan the parade.
NBA playoffs, Finals dates revealed and other key dates | NBC Sports Northwest
Monday, the National Basketball Players Association held a conference call, which revealed several dates for the league’s plan to resume the 2019-20 season.
The regular season, which will include approximately eight games for the 22-teams, is scheduled to start on July 31.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the tentative postseason dates are as follows:
Aug. 16-17: Play-in tourney
Aug. 18: First round begins
Sept. 1: Second round tips off
Sept. 15: Conference Finals start
Sept. 30: Finals Game 1The 2019-20 postseason would’ve tipped off on Sunday, April 18 and end on June 21 had play not been suspended in the second week of March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, the NBA’s Board of Governors and the Player’s Association approved the proposed plan to restart the season with 22 teams. The Trail Blazers will be one of those teams heading to Orlando’s Disney World Resort.
Portland, New Orleans, Sacramento, San Antonio, Phoenix and Washington – are currently not in the NBA’s 16-team playoff bracket, but will all report to Orlando in addition to the playoff teams.
Tentative NBA postseason dates:
Aug. 16-17: Play-in tourney
Aug. 18: First round
Sept. 1: Second round
Sept. 15: Conference Finals
Sept. 30: Finals Game 1pic.twitter.com/Y2bL8CpkSL— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 8, 2020
The NBA Player Whose Family Marched With MLK – WSJ
Malcolm Brogdon had a megaphone in his hand and family history on his mind.
It was May 30 in his native Atlanta, and hundreds were listening to Brogdon address the fury that had swept America since the death of George Floyd. There were other NBA players at this peaceful demonstration, and there would be more athletes at more protests in the days to come. But he told the crowd something perhaps no one else in professional sports could have said.
“I got a grandfather that marched next to Dr. King,” Brogdon said. “He would be proud to see us all here.”
John Hurst Adams was born and raised in the Deep South, worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and preached in black churches across the U.S. He was known as a moral force of the civil-rights movement. Brogdon also knew him as Poppo.
“It dawned on me in high school that my grandfather had an amazing legacy,” the Indiana Pacers guard said in an interview. “It didn’t dawn on me until college and until I got to the NBA quite how amazing he was.”
Brogdon’s ancestors were not merely participants in the demonstrations that defined their generations. They were the leaders. And never has the wisdom of Adams, who died two years ago, resonated so much with his grandson.
“Malcolm is part of a long lineage of activists who, for over a century, have been committed to the cause of justice and equality in this country,” said Bobby Donaldson, a University of South Carolina historian and the director of the school’s Center for Civil Rights History and Research.
Eugene Avery Adams, Brogdon’s great-grandfather, was an AME Church minister, the president of his local NAACP chapter and a vocal crusader against police brutality. John Hurst Adams, his grandfather, was a bishop and brilliant strategist who implemented freedom patrols to hold police officers accountable for their behavior.
Brogdon is embracing his deeply personal connection to their struggle in the wake of another black man’s death at the knee of a white police officer.
“I think Malcolm is finding his voice right now,” said his mother, Jann Adams, a Morehouse College professor, who named her son after Malcolm X.
NBA has Orlando plan — and long list of unanswered questions – Los Angeles Times
The league hopes to have ways for players to keep themselves entertained. Once they’ve cleared quarantine, players will have access to common spaces at the resorts, including the pools. But for the true contenders, the grind will be too long to be broken up by a handful of days in the water.
In an effort to make what could be an epic battle with boredom and isolation more palatable, teams are exploring ways to make life “as much like home as possible” for their players, according to executives. That could mean options such as upgraded technology in hotel rooms, and the installation of better televisions and video game systems. One player agent questioned how tightly such creature comforts would be regulated by the league and, if not, how far teams with the deepest pockets or longest expected stays would go.
Stretching to find competitive advantages in such a situation might seem silly — some Orlando-bound executives think it is — but improving comfort is a primary focus.
Privately, teams are trying to find the right formula for their limited traveling parties — sources believe the number to be around 35, including players — working through scenarios that would bring the right mix of coaches, support staff, executives and medical teams to Orlando. The NBA still is discussing how much of a team’s travel party will be mandatory, according to people familiar with the talks.
Shared services are going to be a reality — an equipment manager could work with more than one team — but there’s uneasiness around the NBA when it comes to sharing medical services.
“If one of my guys gets hurt, there’s no … way I want another team looking at him,” one NBA executive said, using an expletive.
Centralizing some medical services will be necessary, according to one expert.
T.O. Souryal, the Dallas Mavericks’ team physician for 22 years who now serves as medical director of a Texas sports medicine clinic, believes the Disney World bubble could call for a “hybrid system.” Team orthopedists and primary care physicians would continue working, either on site or remotely, with their rosters as usual — all the better to closely guard sensitive information about players’ health. The NBA, meanwhile, would provide a pool of dentists, ophthalmologists and other consultants to work with the entire field.
NBA to open “transaction window” around June 22 for teams to sign players before restart
NBA GMs want as much roster flexibility as they can get heading into the restart of the league in Orlando.
They’re going to get some — and not just the GMs of the 22 teams headed to Orlando, all 30 teams can make moves in an upcoming “transaction window” reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks of ESPN.
Starting likely June 22 and lasting about a week (the details are not finalized and sent teams) there will be a one week “transaction window” where teams can do things such as:
• Convert two-way players to regular contracts
• Sign free agents to contracts (Jamal Crawford is the biggest name available)
• Convert players on 10-day contracts to standard contracts for the remainder of the season (the Clippers signed Joakim Noah to a 10-day just before the shutdown, for example).Not every team has a roster spot to make a move (for example, Boston is full up), but for teams with players out for the postseason — the Nets with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Dallas with Dwight Powell, Utah with Bojan Bogdanovic — it gives teams a chance to fill out their roster.
Teams still will only be able to bring 15 players to Orlando, any replacement player brought in later would have to go through a quarantine period.
NBA players we’re excited to see when season returns – Sports Illustrated
Fred VanVleet, Raptors
Kawhi Leonard took home his second Finals MVP last season, though Fred VanVleet was arguably the Raptors’ most important player in the Game 6 clincher vs. Golden State. And the diminutive point guard has kept the momentum rolling with a terrific 2019–20.VanVleet is averaging 17.6 points and 6.6 assists per game this season, and he’s shooting 38.8% from three. The Wichita State product’s impact extends past the box score. He’s a defensive pest and a legitimate floor general, serving as an extension of Nick Nurse on the floor. VanVleet projects to be an impact player in the 2020 postseason—one who will need to hold his own against oversized ball handlers in Philadelphia and Milwaukee—though the rest of the season will impact far more than just Toronto’s record. VanVleet will enter free agency in the offseason, and he could land a nine-figure deal if the market breaks right. He could seriously cash in with another strong playoffs, either with Toronto or another team (perhaps New York?) in need of point guard help.
Everything to know about the NBA’s 22-team restart at Walt Disney World
Toronto Raptors
2019-20 record: 46-18 (.719)
Vegas title odds: +1700The defending champions will enter the restart firmly in second place in the East, three games ahead of Boston, and should still be in second when the playoffs start.
How they got here
With Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green departing in free agency last summer, Toronto wasn’t expected to remain in championship contention. And yet, despite every member of the rotation besides OG Anunoby missing significant time with injuries, the Raptors have stayed near the top of the East and remain a threat to make another deep playoff run.What’s at stake?
Toronto’s interest in pursuing Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021 is no secret. Another deep playoff run would add to the sales pitch. In the shorter term, the Raptors will have to decide what to do with several key free agents this summer — led by guard Fred VanVleet and big men Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol.Big question after the layoff: Will the much-needed rest pay off?
The Raptors play a shortened rotation to begin with, and the cavalcade of injuries the team dealt with throughout the season took a toll on them. With a chance to enter the restart fully healthy and rested, Toronto will believe it can get back to a potential rematch with the Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals.Did you know?
Without Leonard, the Raptors have a better win percentage (.719) and average scoring margin (+6.5) than they did during last season’s run to the NBA title.
Raptors Uprising star ‘Kenny Got Work’ named player of the month – Sportsnet.ca
Raptors Uprising point guard Kenneth (Kenny Got Work) Hailey scored another first Monday when he was named the NBA 2K League’s player of the month for May.
Hailey is the first Raptors Uprising player to win the esports monthly award, as he was the first from the franchise to win weekly honours — which he did in both Week 1 and 3 this season.
The 30-year-old from Memphis averaged 32.9 points, 6.4 assists and 3.1 steals in May. He shot .608 (180-for-296) from the field and .520 (65-for-125) from three-point range as Toronto finished the month atop the 2020 NBA 2K League standings.
Raptors’ championship identity remains undeniable one year after title win – Sportsnet.ca
It might seem surreal now — millions of people crammed into every crevice of the city core, breathing the same air, celebrating the Raptors’ march through the Eastern Conference and win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals as one.
And as an added quirk, after waiting 25 years to win their first title, the Raptors will be the longest-reigning champions in NBA history as the league won’t crown its next champion until October at the earliest — presuming the league’s return-to-play plans go off smoothly after the season was paused on March 11 due to the novel coronavirus.
But the experience looms large in the memories of those on the floor and in the champagne-soaked locker room and on the bus, even if the details may be a little fuzzy.
“The bus ride was a blur,” says Norman Powell. “I was pretty drunk from drinking all the champagne and I don’t even like beer, but I was chugging beer, so I was pretty drunk from there… I just remember it being really loud. Everybody was trying to plan something really quick like, ‘Is this open? Is that open?’ And try to figure out what we were doing. But yeah, the bus ride was just crazy. Everybody was just celebrating.”
In some ways the celebrating has never stopped, although the intensity may have come down a few notches — along with the alcohol content.
Twelve months removed from the ultimate professional accomplishment, the moment continues to resonate.
VanVleet says he feels it when little kids give him drawings or send notes to commemorate the Raptors’ win. Powell says he still gets a buzz when random strangers call him “Champ” or when he goes for dinner and gets his desert comped from an appreciative restaurant owner.
“I still find it a little weird,” says Powell. “It’s like, man, I’m really a champion. That’s like a lifelong childhood dream and you accomplished it. So, it’s still weird, but it feels right.”
It’s the win that keeps on giving.
“The way people were talking to me when they saw me everywhere I went, it was like we changed their lives,” says Serge Ibaka. “You know, to us, it’s just a game. We love this game. But I didn’t know how impactful it was for a lot of Canadians. And going to the airport, to the restaurant or anywhere, the way people were talking to me, the way people were reacting, thanking me with my teammates, all those things, to me it was like, wow.
