Male-vs.-female 3-point contest
With Caitlin Clark declining to participate, there will not be another male-vs.-female 3-point contest at All-Star this weekend. Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu were not interested in a 1-vs.-1 rematch, according to Joe Vardon and Anthony Slater of The Athletic. NBA spokesperson Mike Bass, via Shams Charania of ESPN:
"We weren't able to land on a plan we thought would raise the bar off of last year’s special moment. We all agreed not to proceed and will instead keep the focus on All-Star Sunday’s new format.”
As usual, the sequel likely would not have raised the bar from the original – not without Clark. But there was still room for the sequel to be less intriguing than the original and still be compelling. Steph vs. Sabrina was the biggest hit of last year's All-Star Weekend.
Curry won. Ionescu could have won. People would've tuned in for another battle of the sexes.
There was plenty of talk of expanding the competition with Clark and [insert less-consequential NBA player here, probably Klay Thompson). Not adding Clark and her star power to the event was a tremendous letdown for the NBA. Having the event fall apart altogether is another bummer.
All-Star teams
Whether or not there was collusion behind Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal drafting All-Star teams with strong identities rather than random rosters, the NBA is leaning into it, naming the teams:
- Chuck’s Global Stars
- Kenny’s Young Stars
- Shaq’s OGs
Definitely raises the conspiracy hackles. But maybe this gets the league one step closer to my idea of dividing All-Star teams by age.
This weekend, Chuck’s Global Stars will face Kenny’s Young Stars and Shaq’s OGs will get to face the Rising Stars winner in the other semifinal of the new All-Star tournament.
LeBron James
LeBron James' camp took note the Lakers traded for Luka Doncic's handpicked target, Mark Williams, after years of LeBron urging the team to trade future picks for immediate help, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Lest there be any ambiguity, Rob Pelinka made the trade (which was of course later voided) specifically in part to establish goodwill with Doncic, per McMenamin.
LeBron has sought short-term roster upgrades in Los Angeles. He hasn't applied pressure like he did in Cleveland. As he has aged, LeBron has favored longer-term contracts rather than shorter-term deals that threaten his team he could leave if not kowtowed to.
He can resent Doncic instantly gaining so much power. But LeBron probably won't do anything about it. And even if he requests a trade or leaves outright, the Lakers would no longer be completely heartbroken.
For the first time in his career, LeBron is not the franchise player.
Kyrie Irving
Wednesday, Kyrie Irving became just the second point guard EVER to score 42 points with zero assists.
Hard to call it the wrong approach. Irving led heavily injured Dallas to a 111-107 win over the Warriors.
Isaiah Thomas had 52 points with no assists in a 2016 Celtics win over the Heat. Otherwise, no point guard has ever scored on that volume without registering a single assist.
Irving, who shot 25 times against Golden State, missed the Mavericks' game Wednesday with right shoulder soreness (though Dallas still beat the Heat, 118-113).
Jamal Murray
After several months of slumping, Jamal Murray might finally be returning to form as the No. 2 the Nuggets need to contend for a championship. The best sign yet:
Murray dropped 55 points on the Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
The only player to score more in a game without ever making an All-Star team? Purvis Short, who scored 57 and 59 for the Warriors in separate 1984 games.
Brandon Jennings also had a 55-point game, famously as a rookie, in 2009.
Maybe Murray will eventually make an All-Star game and lose that distinction. But this is still the 10th-highest-scoring game by someone before his first All-Star season:
- Devin Booker (2017 PHO-BOS ): 70 points
- Joe Fulks (1949 PHW-INJ ): 63 points
- Devin Booker (2019 PHO-UTA ): 59 points
- Purvis Short (1984 GSW-NJN ): 59 points
- Fred Brown (1974 SEA-GSW ): 58 points
- Purvis Short (1984 GSW-SAS ): 57 points
- Calvin Murphy (1978 HOU-NJN ): 57 points
- Glen Rice (1995 MIA-ORL ): 56 points
- Earl Monroe (1968 BAL-LAL ): 56 points
- Jamal Murray (2025 DEN-POR): 55 points
- Brandon Jennings (2009 MIL-GSW ): 55 points
- Tiny Archibald (1972 CIN-POR ): 55 points
Paul George
No Joel Embiid. No Tyrese Maxey.
Barely any Paul George.
With Embiid and Maxey injured, George scored just two points in 37 minutes in the 76ers' loss to the Nets on Wednesday.
George is more prone than other stars to these duds. He also had a two-points-in-40-minutes game with the Thunder in 2017. At least in that game, George had the excuse of fading into the background behind teammates Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony.
With its other stars sidelined, Philadelphia needed George – and he faltered.
George is the first star* to play so much and score so little while playing without a star teammate since Marc Gasol in a 2012 Grizzlies game.
*Defined here as someone an All-Star that season or the prior season
James Harden
Mea culpa from those of us who laughed at James Harden saying before the season he was in his best shape in the better part of a decade.
Leading the Clippers' to a win over the Jazz last night, Harden (35) became the oldest player to play an entire second half and overtime to help his team win since Michael Jordan in 2003.
Darko Rajakovic-Tristan Thompson
With his Cavaliers up 21 in Toronto, the shot clock off and players just standing around or hugging, Canadian Tristan Thompson dunked with four seconds left. Jamal Shead confronted Thompson. Scottie Barnes put his hands on Thompson. Thompson was restrained as he tried to go back at the Raptors.
Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic:
"What Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful. I'm not going to stand for that, for sure."
"You wanna full court press with under a minute left in the game when you get cracked by 30 this will happen to you. Lose for draft lottery and be happy buddy boy. Hopefully you and most of your guys see the light at the end of Bobby and Masai long term plan. Bless up stay warm in MY CITY"
People are so touchy about something so ambiguous – when players should stop playing basketball during a basketball game.
As gray as the unwritten rules are, Thompson was pretty far outside accepted norms dunking there. I'm not personally offended, but I would be if a Toronto partisan.
I don't mind Thompson dunking. I don't mind the Raptors going after him. I don't mind Thompson firing back.
Just nice to see that fire.
Style of play
Excellent video from Ben Taylor of Thinking Basketball comparing the style of play from games in 1993, 2009 and 2025. This breakdown really showcases themes Nate emphasizes on the pod:
- Not all teams play the same.
- Teams aren't shooting too many 3s.
- Today's game is more complex and interesting than ever.
Mark Cuban
Former Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in aftermath of the Mavericks' ejection-fest, via Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com:
“There is a lot of hell you can raise without violating the specific code as written. The discretion is always to make sure the fans are safe. And they get to enjoy the game,” Cuban added to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “So let’s say you had an innocent fire [someone] shirt, if security thinks they could lead to someone reacting violently or belligerently, they can take action. We have asked people to turn a jersey of the other team inside out or give them a replacement shirt or whatever because we thought they could be in a difficult position because of it.
What?
-Dan Feldman