The Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award “recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and a role model to other players, and commitment and dedication to team,” per the NBA.“It’s 2-2. You give credit where credit is due. They handled their business at home. That’s it,” Mitchell said. “It’s upsetting we didn’t respond, but we’ll find a way to do it at the crib like we did the first two games. Or else we will be home early. But they did for two games. We did it for two games. It’s best of three now.”
LeBron James‘ desire to play with his son Bronny James next season may be overstated, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN said during an appearance on NBA Today on Tuesday (YouTube link). Citing his conversations with agent Rich Paul, Wojnarowski suggested that if Bronny decides to remain in the 2024 draft, the James family is more focused on getting him into the right developmental situation rather than steering him toward the Lakers.
“The idea of them playing together is not a priority. It’s not foremost – at least any longer – in LeBron James’ mind,” Wojnarowski said. “… If (Bronny) does go in the draft, he very likely would spend next year in the G League.
“… I think that’s the priority for them as a family, what’s best for Bronny James. And if it ends up them together, that would be great, but I don’t get a sense it’s playing much – if any – role in LeBron James’ decision on next season.”
Wojnarowski’s comments on NBA Today represented the latest in a series of reports about LeBron’s motivations and potential player option decision entering the offseason. James, who shut down that line of conversation following Monday’s Game 5 loss to Denver, took to Twitter on Tuesday in another attempt to quell the speculation about his contract situation.
“I’ve seen, heard a lot of reports about my future,” James wrote. “I said it last night and I’ll say it again. I do not know yet as I’m only thinking about spending time with my family and friends! When I know after speaking with the fam, my counsel, as well as my representation about it then you guys will know.”
Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:
- The Lakers are spending the day on Wednesday conducting exit interviews with their players, sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPN, who tweets that the team is still going through the process of evaluating its season — and evaluating head coach Darvin Ham. Reporting earlier this week indicated that Ham’s job is very much in jeopardy but that the team will take a few days to finalize a decision.
- Appearing on ESPN’s Hoop Collective podcast with Brian Windhorst (YouTube link), Ramona Shelburne identified the Magic as another team (along with the Sixers) that is “paying very close attention” to Paul George‘s contract situation entering the 2024 offseason. Teammate Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers agreed to an extension worth a little less than the max earlier this year, but George has yet to reach an agreement on a similar deal and could become a free agent in July. “It’s just a matter of whether the Clippers are gonna give him the max, which is something they don’t want to do because they didn’t give it to Kawhi,” Windhorst said (hat tip to NBC Sports).
- Weighing James Harden‘s underwhelming playoff history against his poised, disciplined performance during the Clippers‘ first four games against Dallas this spring, Jim Trotter of The Athletic considers whether or not it’s time to start believing in the postseason version of the veteran guard.
- With Tyronn Lue seemingly unfazed by the absence of Leonard for much of the first round so far, Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times explores how the rest of the Clippers have adopted the steady, even-keeled demeanor of their head coach.