Articles by Phil Watson (170)
Joe Johnson doesn’t want to be forgotten when the Brooklyn Nets invariably retire the No. 7 jersey of Kevin Durant. Johnson also donned No. 7 while he was in Brooklyn from 2013-16.
Roy Tarpley of the Dallas Mavericks was a rising star before substance abuse destroyed his NBA career. He wound up playing just 280 games over six seasons and was permanently banned from the NBA in 1995.
Kyrie Irving stands to lose more than $16 million in salary over his COVID-19 vaccination status, but the financial stakes are actually much higher than that.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could have been the ABA’s biggest superstar if not for a huge mistake by an NBA legend. George Mikan’s blunder cost the ABA a chance to bring the best collegiate prospect in a generation home to New York.
Bill Walton turned down an enormous offer from the ABA to leave UCLA after his junior year. In his memoir, Walton said the maverick league offered him his own team.
Dwyane Wade owns a piece of the Utah Jazz. Now his son, Zaire Wade, is expected to join their G-League affiliate for this season.
Joe Dumars became a Detroit Pistons legend, but as a college freshman he had a poster of future teammate Isiah Thomas on his dorm-room wall.
Earl Monroe had a legendary NBA career with the Baltimore Bullets and New York Knicks. But what he’s done for kids and education in New York since retiring will be his real legacy.
Kyle Korver brings one of the best 3-point shooting strokes in NBA history to his role as a player development coach for the Brooklyn Nets. Pretty good stuff from a guy once traded for a copy machine.
LeBron James heard overtures from the Denver Nuggets while he was a free agent in 2018 but he opted to go to the Los Angeles Lakers. So we’re left to imagine the playmaking potential of a James-Nikola Jokić pairing.