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As a two-way player, Kawamura splits his time between the NBA and the Windy City Bulls in the G League. In his rookie season with the Memphis Grizzlies, he earned $578,577, according to HoopsHype. Before coming to the NBA, Kawamura made around $2.5 million in Japan during the 2023-24 season, per Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.
“Man, just a sea of blue, a sea of orange. Every game we play, it’s a sea of the other team. And I saw it here when I was on the Celtics. But being here, it’s like, I’ve got nothing but respect for the real fans, the real Brooklyn fans. Shoutout to them, because I know it’s tough being outnumbered every single game. But I really feel like what we have here isn’t bulls–t. We have pieces here. I’ve seen it. That’s what this ‘rivalry’ meant to me.” Yes, Minott really used “air quotes” with his hands.
Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Friday. Rodman, a five-time NBA champion with the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls, has a four-match pro wrestling career, with three of those coming in WCW. He made his WCW debut in 1997 and famously skipped a practice during the 1998 NBA Finals to appear on "WCW Monday Nitro," where he set up a tag team match in which he partnered with Hulk Hogan to face Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone.
Lonzo Ball never looked right after the Bulls traded him to Cleveland for Isaac Okoro last offseason, leaving the Cavs no choice but to finally move off of him with a trade to Utah in February. The Jazz promptly waived him as he now sits at home hoping to get another chance in the NBA. “I loved him as a player and a guy, and he was so cerebral,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said of Ball on Thursday, reflecting on the frequently-injured point guard. “He was so selfless, that’s really one of the things I admired. To see him have to go through what he went through, to fight to get back, see what he’s going through now, that’s tough for me because it’s almost like what could have been, how good could he have been?” The big what if with Ball after a serious knee injury back in 2022 cost him over two-and-a-half seasons. Even when he returned, he only showed glimpses of the player he was before the knee betrayed him.
The Rockets host the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, then the Miami Heat on Saturday. Houston then travels to Chicago for a game Monday against the Bulls. The 16-time All-Star and 2014 NBA MVP accomplishing a milestone so revered at the United Center — “The House That Jordan Built” — would make for a new core memory. “Michael Jordan has always been my inspiration. There’s a reason why I wanted to be able to knock down those shots,” Durant said in a one-on-one interview with The Athletic. “He was always unstoppable, but when he became a midrange maestro, you never knew how he would attack you. You never knew what MJ was going to do. “He scared defenders every night, and I wanted to put that same kind of fear in the defender who’s guarding me.”
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The Heat's win streak ended a week later in Chicago, on March 27, when the Chicago Bulls jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter and prevented the Heat from going on one of their patented runs. The crowd at United Center celebrated heartily after their team held on to a 101-97 victory to end the Heat's quest for history. Only one team since has won more than 20 in a row, when the 2015-16 Warriors opened the season 24-0 on the way to their record 73-win season.
Josh Lewenberg: The Raptors beat Chicago wire-to-wire. They led by double figures for 41:26 of the 48 minutes (mid 1st quarter on), 20+ points for 26:47 (late 2nd Q on) and 30+ for 14:06. So much for the trap game. No let up after a couple of their best/biggest wins. All business.
Dane Moore: Here's Ayo Dosunmu talking about what he's reading in pick and roll coverage and why he's taking more midrange shots in Minnesota after those were prohibited in Chicago. "In Chicago, midrange shots was really prohibited. It was 3s and layups, no midrange shots unless it's the end of the shot clock. Here, we got Rudy, he's setting big screens. So if you can set up pick and roll, you come off Rudy, you open." Dosunmu took 4 "long" midrange shots in 45 games in Chicago this season before being traded to Minnesota. And he's taken 12 in 15 games for the Wolves. Dosunmu has also nearly doubled the frequency in which he's taking shots from floater range. Dosunmu took 86% of his shots in Chicago at the rim or from 3. In Minnesota, he's becoming a three-level scorer. And his eFG% has stayed almost exactly the same.
Here's Ayo Dosunmu talking about what he's reading in pick and roll coverage and why he's taking more midrange shots in Minnesota after those were prohibited in Chicago.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) March 18, 2026
"In Chicago, midrange shots was really prohibited. It was 3s and layups, no midrange shots unless it's the… pic.twitter.com/LtGKsRjVqN
Donovan was asked about Dosunmu’s comments – which he said didn’t see – and in a roundabout way said he was not anti-midrange, he was anti-midrange for players that weren’t efficient at it, which is basically the entire roster that his front office has given him. “To me, I think we let the guys play freely,” Donovan said. “I think when you look at some of the analytical stuff and I was on board with probably this a couple years ago; Zach (LaVine) played in the midrange, Vooch (Nikola Vucevic) played in the midrange, and obviously DeMar played in the midrange. And as great as all those guys are offensively we didn’t necessarily have an elite offense. Their shot making, all three of those guys, had the best shot making of their careers while they were together at different points and time. So I’m not opposed to the midrange. “I think you have to play to players’ strengths, so I’m a believer in the first part of the shot clock you certainly want to try and get something downhill to the basket, and generally what happens is when the ball gets into the paint and the ball gets sprayed out that’s when the threes are going to go up. Most of the time the midrange stuff is coming off iso situations. It’s late clock, a guy is stuck with the ball, and at that time you’ve got to manufacture and generate shots.”
This certainly isn’t the Rob Dillingham that arrived to the Bulls back at the Feb. 5 trade deadline. This isn’t even the same Dillingham from a week ago. “I’m renewed,” the guard said with a proud grin.
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In his last three games, Dillingham has averaged 13 points, including a 15-point performance in the Memphis win, while averaging five assists and shooting 6-of-15 (40%) from three-point range. “I’m just thankful for Coach, honestly,” Dillingham said after his latest showing. “Giving me that leash, it’s like I’m renewed. I’ve been able to play freely. My mental when I’ve been out on the court has been bad like for the last couple months, so I’m just thankful that I’m able to play, able to add confidence, able to help us win, and really, I’m just thankful to learn and keep growing.”
Jones’ angle game when it comes to attacking bigs is an artform, and Dillingham is all in on learning it. “I had just said that to (Jones), ‘Brah, how do you finish like that?’ “ Dillingham said. “Then the crazy part about it is he’s not even finishing left-handed. He’s finishing right-handed over every big. That’s a big help. Even (against Memphis) I had some missed layups, but I know I can get in the lane. It’s the finishing part. I know I can finish but it’s not 100% there. Learning from him, keep asking him questions will help me for sure.”
Ayton averaged 13 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in wins over the Knicks, Timberwolves, Bulls and Nuggets after coming back from a one-game injury absence. When Jaxson Hayes and Maxi Kleber were sidelined for games against Minnesota and Chicago, Ayton starred with back-to-back double-doubles. “Felt like I picked up my energy and my focus,” Ayton said. “I finally caught up with the team.”
