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On his "Byron Scott's Fast Break" podcast, the Los Angeles Lakers legend claimed that while the 76ers look good on paper with James' addition, expectations must be tempered about Philly easily winning it all. Using the ill-fated 2003-04 Lakers as an example, Scott said the new-look 76ers with James are still not assured of claiming an NBA title. ‘I mean we can go all the way back to the early parts in the 2000s. You got Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant, Shaq [O'Neal], and you still got [Derek Fisher], you know, you still got an unbelievable starting lineup. And on paper, everybody said, 'Oh, they going to win a championship.' What happened? They played Detroit Pistons, who was a team, much better team, a much better cohesive group of guys who wanted nothing more than to win. And you had friction on that Laker team with Gary Payton and some of the other guys. And then you had the Peacemaker Karl Malone. And then Karl got hurt which really killed their chances of winning the championship and Detroit went through them four games to one. Right? So talent on paper don’t mean a whole lot.’
Bryon Scott on LeBron James with 76ers: “I mean we can go all the way back to the early parts in the 2000s. You got Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, and you still got D Fish, you know, you still got an unbelievable starting lineup. And on paper, everybody said, “Oh, they going to win a championship.” What happened? They played Detroit Pistons, who was a team, much better team, a much better cohesive group of guys who wanted nothing more than to win. And you had friction on that Laker team with Gary Payton and some of the other guys. And then you had the Peacemaker Karl Malone. And then Karl got hurt which really killed their chances of winning the championship and Detroit went through them four games to one. Right? So talent on paper don’t mean a whole lot. It means you got talent. That’s about all it means. It doesn’t mean or guarantee that you going to win the championship.”
Crazy Stats: This season, Kevin Durant became the oldest player in @NBA history to score 2,000 points in a single season. At 37 years and 195 days old, he surpassed the previous mark of 36 years and 270 days held by Karl Malone (2,095 points during the 1999–00 season). Moreover, the Rockets are the fourth team with which Durant has recorded a 2,000-point season. No other player in league history has accomplished this with more than two teams.
Carl Herrera on Rudy Tomjanovich: Hakeem (Olajuwon) was the star, everyone comes to see him play, he's the team's leader and then he told me you’re gonna be the sixth man. I guarantee you 24 minutes. But I need you to guard whoever you have to guard. Karl Malone, all those number fours, Charles Barkley, that you have to guard. Change the pace of the game. I don't need you to score 20 points, although I know you have the ability to do so. Grab rebounds, block shots, run the court and give yourself completely to the game. Of course, I would ask him, "But why do I have to do the dirty work?" He tells me, "Because you have the ability to do it and I know it."
HoopsHype: James Harden is finishing the season as the player with the most playoff wins without an NBA title. Tied at 98 with Karl Malone.
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Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: People often make it an MJ vs. LeBron debate, but some feel Kobe is being left out of that conversation. Tracy McGrady: I felt they were disrespecting Kobe by not having him in the conversation. Just because he patterned his game after MJ, he can’t be in that conversation? LeBron is a GOAT in his era; MJ was the best in his. My GOAT is MJ because I grew up watching him, but LeBron is in that conversation. There’s nobody like LeBron—6’8”, 260lbs, fast as anybody. He’s Karl Malone with a lot more skills. We all have to appreciate what we’re seeing from this dude.
Crazy Stats: Last night, Kevin Durant became the oldest player in @NBA history to score 2,000+ points in a season. The 37-year-old Durant has 2,026 points this season. He passed Karl Malone, who had 2,095 during the 1999–00 season when he was 36. Durant also became the first player to reach 2,000+ points in his 18th season or later.
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.
ESPN Insights: KD drops his 432nd game with 30 PTS to pass Kobe He now trails only Malone (435), Wilt (515), MJ (562) and LeBron (575)
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ClutchPoints: Most games with 30+ points by a player in NBA history: 575 — LeBron James 562 — Michael Jordan 516 — Wilt Chamberlain 435 — Karl Malone 431 — Kobe Bryant, KEVIN DURANT (via @NBAonPrime )
Charlie Villanueva: There's only five players in NBA histories with 17,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals, and a thousand blocks: Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James and Shawn Marion. All those guys are Hall of Famers, except Shawn Marion.
LeBron James began Thursday night's 124-104 win over the Dallas Mavericks with something he had never done before and finished it with something no player his age had ever done. James scored or assisted on the Los Angeles Lakers' first 23 points of the first quarter, his longest such streak to begin a game in his 23-year career, according to ESPN Research. By the end of the night, he had 28 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to become the oldest player in NBA history to post a triple-double. At 41 years, 44 days old, he passed Karl Malone (40 years, 127 days) for the record.
The 41-year-old Lakers star LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, recently recorded an episode of his podcast ‘Game Over’ with Max Kellerman and spoke about whether this is James’ last NBA season, and made an eye-opening claim about it. He also addressed LeBron James’ floor right now, which means the least he can contribute to the Lakers, even on a bad day. He compared that to the Jazz veteran Karl Malone, who was second in the league’s history in scoring behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar before James took over the record from them both a few years ago. “I made a comment before I said that obviously the ceiling is who he is, or who he has been for his career. But the floor is Karl Malone,” said Paul. He went on to explain how efficiently James could produce if he played the same role as Karl Malone did for most of his career, which is setting screens for John Stockton and rolling to the rim.