Nets news: Kevin Durant is expected to miss the entire 2019-20 season while recovering from a torn Achilles he suffered in Game 5 of the NBA Finals last season when he was still a member of the Golden State Warriors. There have been ongoing debates on whether KD should have returned in series, especially since he was still dealing with a strained right calf which he suffered in the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets.

The two-time Finals MVP has stated on multiple occasions that no one from the Warriors pressured him to return, and he’s saying it again.

“Like I told somebody before — Rick Celebrini, it was him and I every day just working, building. It was more than just rehab with him and I, it was a tight relationship that I formed with him through that time. There was nobody else in my ear, none of my teammates said anything to me. I’m one of the best players on the team, I’m sure when we’re losing in The Finals, I’m sure in the back of their minds they’re wondering when I’m going to come back to play — but nobody said anything to me.”

The Warriors were down 3-1 to the Toronto Raptors in the Finals when KD declared that he’d return to action in Game 5. He immediately made his presence felt by scoring 11 points in the first 14 minutes of the game, but then he went down on a non-contact play. He was seen leaving Scotiabank Arena on crutches and less than 24 hours later, it was announced that he suffered a torn Achilles.

Durant then left the Warriors to join the Brooklyn Nets this offseason, ending his brief three-year run with the Warriors. There have been conflicting reports on whether he will be able to return for the Nets in the playoffs, but with what happened to him last season, it would be wise for Brooklyn to let him fully recover.

The Nets aren’t good enough to win the championship without Durant. Although Kyrie Irving is one of the best players in the league, he has yet to prove himself as someone who can carry a franchise on his own. But once KD returns next season, Brooklyn will start competing for championships.

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Pelicans news: Brandon Ingram’s tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers has ended and he’s beginning a new chapter in his career with the New Orleans Pelicans. The former second-overall pick has been impressive so far this season, putting up 26.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in five games with his new team.

It wasn’t long ago when BI was being dubbed as the Lakers’ next superstar, especially when he was able to average close to 20 points per game while playing alongside four-time MVP LeBron James. The Purple and Gold actually had a nice start into the 2018-19 season, but injuries and trade rumors derailed their campaign and they ended up missing the playoffs.

Ingram shared his thoughts on what happened to the Lakers last season, and he said that a lot of their struggles happened because they were thinking of things that had nothing to do with playing basketball.

“People get caught up about thinking outside of basketball and what comes with it. L.A. wasn’t too fast for me. But we, the team, got caught up with all the extras that come with outside of basketball.”

The Lakers have always been known as a franchise that’s surrounded with drama, whether they’re competing for a championship or not. Last season was no different. A lot of people believe that the trade rumors that made it waves on social media impacted some of the players on that team, but BI said he wasn’t one of them.

“I had good people around me. I had a coach, [former Lakers assistant coach] Brian Keefe, who stayed on me all the time. I had a weight room trainer who stayed on me all the time. I just had good people around me. They would tell me to keep going. No matter what is going on, keep going.”

“I just take stuff differently. Trade rumors, whatever, I always know it is a business. To be in trade rumors, that means someone wants me in this league. I just continue to play hard. I have a routine that I meet every day. I know it was a process and I was going to get there. The process helped get me to where I wanted to be before the injury. I was on the up-and-up, I got hurt. But now I am in a good situation. Everything happens for a reason.

Ingram did keep playing until he was diagnosed with a blood clot in his shooting arm, which was removed after a successful surgery last March. After he was cleared to play, he immediately showed up and became one of the Pelicans’ best players.

But if Ingram has any takeaways during his time with the Lakers, it’s everything he learned while playing with a guy like LeBron.

“Just learning what it takes to be great. Just taking advantage of different situations on how can I be effective off the basketball. Off the ball. On the ball. Playing different positions.”

Ingram is no longer in the bright lights of LA, but he has a great opportunity to shine with the Pelicans. Now, he’s ready to take his game to a different level in New Orleans, and so far, he’s off to a good start.

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Pelicans news: The deadline to re-sign players on rookie contracts to extensions has passed and one of the most notable players who didn’t get a deal done with his team is Brandon Ingram.

The former second-overall pick was part of the trade package sent by the Los Angeles Lakers to the New Orleans Pelicans this summer in exchange for All-NBA forward Anthony Davis. Ingram is coming off a career-threatening injury last season as he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT). A blood clot was found in his shooting arm and he needed surgery to remove it. The procedure was a success and now, BI is back on the playing court.

In five games this season, BI has averaged 26.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. He’s also shooting the ball very well with a 51 percent clip from the field, including 50 percent from beyond the arc.

Given these numbers, why didn’t the Pelicans re-sign Ingram? There are several possible reasons. But the 22-year-old forward doesn’t seem too focused on thinking about his future.

“I grew up playing basketball. I never thought about how much money I was going to get in the league. “I always just said, ‘I just want to play basketball.’ I think everything is going to handle itself out. Me and Griff [David Griffin, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations] have had conversations and I just came off a major injury that could have taken me out for the rest of my life, which was a blood clot.”

Pelicans General Manager David Griffin knows that Ingram is a special player, but he probably needed to know how well BI will play after the injury. If he can sustain these numbers for the rest of the season, he’ll definitely get a massive pay raise next summer, when he will become a restricted free agent.

The Pelicans are playing without their prized rookie Zion Williamson, who’s expected to be out for six to eight weeks with a knee injury. As unfortunate as this is, it’s also a great opportunity for Ingram to show what he can do. A lot of people believe he’s been held back during his time with the Lakers and that he’s bound for a breakout season in New Orleans.

And now is his time to shine.

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Spurs news: San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili has left fans with tons of memorable highlights, from fancy layups to clutch baskets that helped the franchise win four NBA titles. The future Hall of Famer decided to call it a career in 2016, and there is no denying that his number will soon be hung in the rafters of the AT&T Center.

But did you know that Ginobili almost died in 2004? Yes, the Argentinian star revealed that he was involved in a car accident that almost ended his life that year.

“In 2004… during my honeymoon, I got a car in the front of me that passed a truck on a curve. I threw myself on the shoulder and began to skid. I could have killed someone. I could have slammed against a tree. I could fallen on a cliff or hit the driver head on. There would have been no Olympic games. There was no more career. It was a flip of the coin in the air. Luck.”

The NBA has seen several careers cut short by accidents, including Drazen Petrovic, Len Bias, and Malik Sealy. Ginobili was fortunate enough to survive and he went on to have a great career with the Spurs.

Ginobili averaged 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 1,057 games with the Spurs. He made the All-Star team two times and won the 2008 Sixth Man of the Year Award. He’s also widely recognized as one of the greatest non-American NBA players of all-time. We were fortunate enough to see him play, whether we liked San Antonio or not.

The Spurs built their dynasty around Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Ginobili. They each had a ton of contribution in the franchise’s success. Without them, who knows how good San Antonio will be?

There’s still one icon that remains with the Spurs, and that is head coach Gregg Popovich, who recently set the record for the longest tenure in coaching one franchise. Once Pop is gone, it will officially be the end of an era in San Antonio.

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Cavaliers news: It has only been two years since the Cleveland Cavaliers snapped their NBA Finals streak to four, as their superstar back then, LeBron James, chose to leave and join the Los Angeles Lakers. Still, they had a memorable title run back in 2016, and Kevin Durant was quick to recognize how great that team was.

Durant was asked to rank the worst losses of his career, and in his answer, he said that blowing a 3-1 lead against the 2016 Golden State Warriors team wasn’t part of his top five.

“It doesn’t rank in the top five. I mean, we lost Game 2 at home in 2012 to Miami — that was a tough loss. We lost Game 5 against Memphis at home. It was a 2-2 series, and they went up 3-2. Those are tough losses to me.”

However, KD did admit that he felt that the Oklahoma City Thunder had the momentum back in 2016, especially after they eliminated the 67-win San Antonio Spurs in the second round of the playoffs. The two-time Finals MVP thought that his Thunder had the chance to face the Cavs in the Finals, the team he dubbed as the best in the league that year.

“I really, really, really felt like we had an opportunity, we had some momentum. We were playing against a 73-win team in the Warriors and the Spurs, who were a 67-win team that year. And then the Cavs were the best team in the league — the most talented team. So I’m like, ‘Wow, an uphill climb. Let’s see what we can do.'”

The Warriors also blew a 3-1 series lead against the Cavaliers in the Finals, and after losing the title, Golden State signed Durant in the offseason. This allowed the Dubs to win two straight championships at Cleveland’s expense.

2016 was indeed a great year for the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland. Although the team is rebuilding right now, what they’ve done during that year will forever be remembered as one of the greatest moments in the history of sports. Only time will tell if the Cavs can replicate that success in the near future. They have a couple of young pieces to build around in Colin Sexton and Darius Garland, and if both guys turn out to be superstars, they might be able to compete for a championship sooner than what most people expect.

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Suns news: Veteran point guard Ricky Rubio is coming off an impressive stint in the FIBA World Cup wherein he successfully led the Spanish national men’s basketball team to a gold medal finish. Now, he wants to keep the momentum going as he intends to make a positive impact with the Phoenix Suns.

Rubio signed a three-year, $51 million deal to join the Suns this summer, and he confidently declared that fans will see him play at him play the best basketball years of his career over the next couple of seasons.

“I’m fully expecting to play the best game, the best play of my career in these next two or three years. I’m going to hit my prime mentally and physically and I’ve been working super hard for that.”

Even before Rubio led Spain to the World Cup title, he’s already claiming that he’s in his prime, and given his performance in the Suns’ 124-95 win against the Sacramento Kings (he put up 11 points, six rebounds, and 11 assists), there’s no reason why Suns fans shouldn’t be excited about him.

Suns assistant coach Steve Blake is a fan of the Rubio signing, and he’s excited to see how well the Spanish star will make his teammates better.

“Ricky Rubio is an ultimate point guard, pass-first guy that’s gonna create and make guys have fun when they’re on the court.”

But Rubio didn’t join the Suns just to prove himself. He also wants to help the younger guys on the team take their game to the next level, particularly Devin Booker.

“I want to see how good a scorer he is, and how good a player he has been. And if there are some areas where I can help [Booker] become an All Star, I will try to do that too.”

Rubio has had a steady NBA career, and while it is unlikely for him to become an All-Star, he’s still one of the best pure point guards in the league. Only time will tell if he will indeed have a career season in Phoenix, but his confidence alone should already tell you that he intends to help make the Suns become a better team.

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Nuggets news: A lot of people are expecting great things from Nikola Jokic this season. After an impressive 2018-19 campaign which saw him lead the Denver Nuggets to the second-best record in the West, he’s now widely recognized as some of the league’s best players, and to some, it is only a matter of time before he starts competing for the MVP award.

But Jokic has no intentions of going after the MVP honors, as he prefers to help the Nuggets win rather than chase an individual accolade.

“It’s not something you chase personally. I just work to get wins, that’s the most important thing.”

The seven-foot All-Star added that he’s not setting any personal goals because it creates unnecessary pressure, and he doesn’t want that kind of distraction.

“I never have goals just because I think goals, they make you feel pressure, make you feel nervous, stress, whatever, like if I don’t make it I’m going to die,” the Serbian big man said. “I just go out there and try to win it, game, practice, a set, even in the weight room.”

Although he’s starting to make a name for himself in the NBA, Jokic remains one of the humbest guys in the league. Even when he received the news of people saying that he’s the face of the Nuggets, he refused to take all the credit and said that his teammates also helped bring Denver to where it is now.

“I think the media and guys outside of basketball put me in front of the team. Denver Nuggets is team basketball. There are no individuals. We are winning and losing as a team. It’s not me or anybody in front of the team.”

The Nuggets are one of the favorites to win the NBA championship this year, and Jokic is the biggest reason behind that. As the 2019-20 season progresses, we’ll see how well the team measures up to some of the NBA’s top contenders, and we’ll see if Jokic can raise his game to yet another level.

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Suns news: Veteran point guard Ricky Rubio is coming off an impressive stint in the FIBA World Cup wherein he successfully led the Spanish national men’s basketball team to a gold medal finish. Now, he wants to keep the momentum going as he intends to make a positive impact with the Phoenix Suns.

Rubio signed a three-year, $51 million deal to join the Suns this summer, and he confidently declared that fans will see him play at him play the best basketball years of his career over the next couple of seasons.

“I’m fully expecting to play the best game, the best play of my career in these next two or three years. I’m going to hit my prime mentally and physically and I’ve been working super hard for that.”

Even before Rubio led Spain to the World Cup title, he’s already claiming that he’s in his prime, and given his performance in the Suns’ 124-95 win against the Sacramento Kings (he put up 11 points, six rebounds, and 11 assists), there’s no reason why Suns fans shouldn’t be excited about him.

Suns assistant coach Steve Blake is a fan of the Rubio signing, and he’s excited to see how well the Spanish star will make his teammates better.

“Ricky Rubio is an ultimate point guard, pass-first guy that’s gonna create and make guys have fun when they’re on the court.”

But Rubio didn’t join the Suns just to prove himself. He also wants to help the younger guys on the team take their game to the next level, particularly Devin Booker.

“I want to see how good a scorer he is, and how good a player he has been. Suns news And if there are some areas where I can help [Booker] become an All Star, I will try to do that too.”

Rubio has had a steady NBA career, and while it is unlikely for him to become an All-Star, he’s still one of the best pure point guards in the league. Only time will tell if he will indeed have a career season in Phoenix, but his confidence alone should already tell you that he intends to help make the Suns become a better team.

Follow ClutchPoints for the latest Phoenix Suns news and updates.

Clippers news: The 2018-19 season has officially begun and fans were able to get a glimpse of some of the league’s top contenders. One of the biggest storylines this year is the formation of superstar duos around the league, highlighted by the Los Angeles Clippers’ acquisition of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

And for George, super tandems are the new dynamic for this generation’s NBA..

“Everybody was looking for a Big Three. It didn’t work for a lot of teams, so now this is a new dynamic for the new generation of this league.”

George was traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Clippers this summer after the All-Star forward finally decided that he wanted to come home. And while he’s still a couple of weeks away from making his much-anticipated debut with his new team, a lot has been said about the Clips being the favorites to win the championship this year.

But it wasn’t long ago when superstars recruited two other players in the same level as they are to form a superteam. The 2008 Boston Celtics and the 2010 Miami Heat were two of the pioneers of the Big Three era, and while PG acknowledges their contributions and accomplishments, he admits that he likes the idea of teams building around two stars.

“I think what Boston did was special. I think what Miami did was special. But I think it goes back to you have two guys that are the guys and then you have a group around them that supports them to the highest level, and that foundation is around a lot of guys in this league.”

It will be interesting to see if the NBA will continue with this two-superstar-per-franchise craze or not. History shows that every decade, a superteam has always dominated the league. In fact, one could argue that a blockbuster trade could turn one of these Big Twos into a Big Three. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens moving forward.

But for someone like George, competition matters, and playing in a league where majority of the contenders have a legitimate shot at winning the title is what will keep him motivated all season long.

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Bucks news: Reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo determined to get better as a leader for the Milwaukee Bucks this season.

After a heartbreaking loss in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals, Giannis Antetokounmpo knows he has something to prove with the Milwaukee Bucks this season.

The Greek Freak is pretty much confident with who he is as a player. After all, he won the 2018-19 MVP award against tough competition from Houston Rockets superstar James Harden. However, he acknowledged that he has plenty of room for improvement -- especially as a leader.

“Mostly, you just gotta be more vocal. You gotta lead by example. You gotta be able to accept criticism by your coach, by your teammates, and be OK with it. That’s what a leader does,” Antetokounmpo said. “I know that my team knows who I am. They trust me. They know I’m going to put my body and everything I have on the line for this team. By doing that, everything else will take care of itself.”

Antetokounmpo added that while the Bucks’ primary goal is to win a championship, they need to focus on what they need to do right now rather than look too far in the future.

“We are going to have the same hunger, but what I want to say is: the Eastern Conference Finals, I’m not going to lie, it’s like six, seven months away from now. It’s about tomorrow. It’s about how can we get better tomorrow.”

Unlike the past five years, the NBA looks like an even playing field this season, as half of the teams in the league have a legitimate shot at winning the championship.

The Bucks are one of the top favorites to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy, but they might find it more difficult to win games this season compared to the previous one.

Most of the contenders have significantly upgraded their rosters in preparation for this campaign. The Bucks didn’t make a big splash this summer, though in reality, they didn’t have to.

Milwaukee has one of the five best players in the world in Giannis, and they have provided him with a great supporting cast as well.

In fact, they just showed everyone just how good they are in their showdown against the revamped Houston Rockets, a team that paraded two former MVPs in Harden and Russell Westbrook. The Bucks still won 117-111 behind Antetokounmpo’s triple-double of 30 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists.

From this point forward, every game counts, and it’s time for the Bucks to prove that last season was no fluke. It’s time for Giannis to show the rest of the opposition why he’s the reigning MVP.

So far, they’re off to a good start.

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