Chuck, Shaq and Kenny Smith will be joining Jared Greenberg on NBA TV for their Finals coverage before and after every game between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.

6 Is the highest figure for an active coach. only Phil Jackson (13) Red Auerbach (11) and Pat Riley (9) made the NBA finals as coaches more than 6 times.

Doc Rivers, a top-15 coach of all time, made the finals twice, which is less than Tyronn Lue.

Coach Spoelstra is 52 years old.

EDIT: some people think i value Doc Rivers as a top-15 coach, i wouldn't let this idiot coach my kid's school team. I wrote he is a top-15 coach of all time because the league had him on this list for the 75th anniversary.

Link

TNT also said this was its most watched NBA Playoffs coverage in five years, with an average of 4.7 million total viewers. Up 14% vs. last year.

Looks like this years’ playoffs are doing very well, on TNT at least. Im very curious as to whether the Finals ratings because of the Nuggets vs Heat will be as bad as people are whining and joking about.

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The one occasional thought I've seen when it comes to the three big men are the following: Hakeem was the most talented, Shaq was the most dominant, and Duncan was the most accomplished. Maybe that's a decent description of them, maybe it's not. All I know is that these three bigs are all all-time greats and let's leave it at that.

For the sake of this comparison I counted shortened seasons where the team was on pace for 50-wins. Doc Rivers has done far less with far more.

Context about why I started with 1989: This is when the NBA started the two round draft. Previously, there were more rounds and there was a lot of noise in the data from prior years. I stopped at 2020 because there I aren’t any All Stars yet from the 2021 or 2022 drafts.

Goal: Use draft data since 1989 to identify the likelihood of drafting an All Star, All NBA Player, or MVP in a given draft, and at each draft spot.

Why: To understand the likelihood of drafting a top 40 player and to temper expectations for teams hoping to draft a future All Star.

Assumptions: If a player makes an All Star team, it means that, at one point in their career, they were likely a top 40 player (based on fan voting variance and injuries). An All NBA bid means that, at worst, a player is a top 25 player at some point in their career (same injury assumption). An MVP means that player was, at the very least, a top 5 player at some point in their career. Feel free to personally adjust these assumptions how you feel they should be treated.

Results:

All Stars: Between 1989 and 2017, each draft produced about 6 players who made an All Star team. Given their age in the league, I would expect the last 5 drafts to produce similar numbers.

Some notable All Star Stats by draft position: 69% of number one picks have become All Stars, followed by 41% at 2, 59% at 3, 41% at 4, and 38% at 5.

From 6-13, the odds of picking an All Star are basically flat at 16%, with notable outliers at 9-11 with 25%, 22%, and 19% respectively. On the negative side, there has only been one pick at 8 (or 3%) that has become an All Star.

Odds from 14-24 are again virtually flat at 9%. Notable outliers here are 5 All Stars (16%) at 17, and 0 All Stars at 23, the only spot in the first round without an All Star.

25-40 all have virtually equal odds of an All Star, at 3%, with a notable outlier of 3 all stars (9%) at 35.

Lastly, 41 through 60 have about a 1.5% chance of an All Star, and 3 players over the last 35 years made an All Star game after going undrafted.

All NBA Teams: Between 1989 and 2018, an average of 3.5 players per draft made an All NBA team. It’s worth noting that about 2 of these players from each draft have made at least 3 All NBA teams, so they can be considered as consensus top 15 players for multiple years in their career.

All NBA by draft position: Spots 1-5 dominate All NBA teams, with 53% of number one picks make and All NBA team, 28% of #2’s, 44% of 3’s, 22% of 4’s, and 28# of 5’s.

Spots 6-15 are basically flat at about 8%, with notable outliers at 9 (19%), 10 (16%), and 12 (no All NBA players ever, although Haliburton may change that soon).

16-30 are basically flat with 13 total All NBA players across those 15 draft slots since 1989.

Finally, there have been 10 second round picks who have made an All NBA team, basically exactly evenly spaced out through the second round. Shout out pick 35 for owning 3 of those picks. 1 undrafted player (Ben Wallace) made an All NBA team as well.

MVP’s: Two notable MVP stats. About every other draft has an MVP candidate. No MVP has been drafted since the 2014 draft, which just goes to show how long it takes for the top players (or any player for that matter) to reach their peak.

5 of the 32 draft picks at #1 have won an MVP. After that, only the 3 pick and 15 pick have multiple MVP’s, with 2 each. Nikola Jokic at 41 is the only player drafted in the last 34 years to win an MVP after being drafted outside of the top 15.

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Miller's camp says it is hoping he can do enough on his June 10 visit in Charlotte to convince the Hornets to give him assurances they'll pick him at this spot, something that might hinge more on how he performs in his interview than his workout. He sat down with 12 teams at the draft combine in Chicago, but arrived holding a legal brief written by his attorneys informing teams that he would not be able to comment on specific details regarding his involvement in the lead-up to the fatal shooting of Jamea Jonae Harris. It's the biggest factor holding him back from being the easy choice at No. 2, as many expect to be the case in Charlotte. Miller's fit with Charlotte's roster looks ideal, and he is considered the front-runner here if he can do enough to alleviate off-court concerns.

Sources say Scoot Henderson is also very interested in Charlotte's situation and would welcome hearing his name called second, as much due to geographic proximity to his hometown of Marietta, Georgia, as the excitement over new ownership that is potentially taking over the Hornets organization this summer.

Jonathan Givony on The Woj Pod recently: "Based on talent, [Brandon Miller] should be the #2 pick in the draft, and I believe if the draft was held tonight, he would be the #2 pick". Also mentions that teams did not like Miller's answers during interviews in regards to the gun incident

Brandon Miller answering questions about this topic at the combine:

“The message I’ve presented to them is just it’s all a lesson learned,” Miller said to a group of reporters at the NBA draft combine, according to USA Today. “You always have to be aware of your surroundings and what you’re surrounded by.

“I feel like that night could’ve changed my career in less that a heartbeat. Just always be aware of your surroundings.”

Asked a follow-up question if he would have done anything differently the night of Jamea Harris’ murder in Tuscaloosa in January, Miller responded, “Like I said, just be more aware of my surroundings and what I’m surrounded by. I think it could have changed the whole night.”

Miller had contact with then-teammate Darius Miles the night of Harris’ murder Jan. 15. Miles texted Miller to drive Miles’ gun to the scene, and it was later retrieved from Miller’s car before it was allegedly used by Davis to fire the shot that killed Harris. Miller is considered a witness and not a suspect in the case. Miles and his friend Michael Davis were both charged with capital murder and await trial.

Nikola Jović, born on June 9, 2003, is 19 and will be unable to legally share a winning champagne beverage with his teammates due to the drinking age requirement of 21.

Peyton Watson, born on September 11, 2002, is 20 which makes him below the legal age requirement as well.

Keep an eye on these two to see if they are breaking the law.

which is why Philadelphia has begun giving thought as to who could replace the former league MVP. According to league sources close to the organization, Raptors All-Star guard Fred VanVleet has emerged as a potential replacement for Harden this offseason.

https://twitter.com/brettsiegelnba/status/1663956149010415616?s=46&t=4ZntrIMASDK3oTWSgZlnJQ