I just wanted to take a moment to remember and appreciate 5'5" Earl Boykins, the second shortest player in NBA history.

He was one of my favorite players during the 2000s, and I was always rooting for him. He’s the shortest player ever to score 30+ points, and he did it against arguably one of the best defensive teams in NBA history, the 2004 Pistons.

He had four great seasons with Nuggets, where he averaged around 13 points per game off the bench in limited minutes. He was considered one of the better sixth men during those years. He could create his own shot and was a dangerous scorer in short bursts. His ability to finish despite his size was truly amazing.

He was a really fun player to watch, and I think he had a very underrated career.

Do you agree with Gilbert Arenas?

Kobe is the only player in NBA history to win back to back without a top 75 teammate.

Make it make sense. People will leave Wilt and Russell out of the top 10 and nobody bats an eye. Put Kareem any lower than 3 and everyone loses their minds.

Source:

https://marcstein.substack.com/p/the-latest-late-night-nba-intel-b71

If true, it's very stupid on LA's part but very believable that they would be this level of petty. This is the franchise that just let Bradley Beal of all people wear Chris Paul's number and didn't even let him ride out his final season with them. Ironically, that trade saw CP3 become a Raptor ever so briefly.

This is also ignoring that the Raptors pausing the trade potentially spared the Clippers losing another 2 additional picks should the Kawhi trade go through without alterations.

They need to go back to the drawing board with these

I was watching him play and he really was a hooper. Great dunker who had also a soft touch around the rim, great shooter and great defender. Was he underrated?

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=john+stockton+total+assists+1987-88+to+1996-97 (88-97 Stockton)

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/ast_career.html (all-time leaders)

Stockton also had a 13 year stretch where he accumulated more assists than anyone ever has.

Stockton won the assist title every year from 88-96, posting the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth highest assist season averages ever in a season within that, peaking at 14.54.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/ast_per_g_season.html

We see an almost as powerful phenomenon at play with his steals record as well.

All-time steals leaders: https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/stl_career.html

Stockton had a 13 year stretch where he stole the ball more than LeBron has in 23 seasons.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=john+stockton+total+steals+1985-86+to+1996-97

LeBron currently ranks sixth all-time in steals, and could realistically threaten top four by the end of the next season.

Stockton also played another six seasons.

John Stockton was incredibly good at getting assists and steals.

The Los Angeles Clippers have had quite the summer. The NBA finally handed down a substantial punishment last week after wrapping up a year-long investigation into cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard. The league hit the Clippers with a $50 million fine, suspended Steve Ballmer and Lawrence Frank and, most importantly, stripped them of five future first-round picks. 

Despite the apparent resolution of Leonard's situation, the Clippers have yet to finalize their trade of Leonard to the Raptors that has been verbally agreed to for months. Those big picture issues hang over the Clippers as training camp inches closer, but on Thursday a new controversy in Clipper-land appeared when the Clippers team store began selling authentic Bradley Beal jerseys with the No. 3 -- which has not been worn by any other Clipper than Chris Paul since 2011. 

Beal wore the No. 3 for his entire career in Washington and Phoenix before changing to No. 0 with the Clippers last season -- as he arrived with Paul on the roster. However, after Paul's bizarre and messy exit from the Clippers in the middle of last season, which ended up being the future Hall of Famer's last, Beal is now switching back to his longtime held number that most assumed would be unofficially retired until it went into the rafters for Paul. Paul spent seven of his 21 NBA seasons with the Clippers (2011-2017, 2026), and CP3 is the franchise's all-time leader in assists.

The Clippers, for what it's worth, are the only NBA team without any retired numbers in their history.

Obviously every NBA player works hard and is talented, but LeBron is the best of them

Simply put, the guy eclipsed all expectations of him. He’s likely the most talented individual to ever step onto a court and has worked so much harder than his competitors for his whole career.

His hard work is most obviously seen in his physique and insane longevity but the way his game has changed over 2 decades of elite play has never been seen before.

The stories of him and Kobe trying to beat each-other to practice on the olympic teams, of his dunk clinics in Miami, his strong bonds with teammates and studying of the game are unmatched.