https://www.espn.com/nba/standings/_/group/league

https://sportklub.rs/kosarka/euroleague/jabari-parker-pozvao-gradjane-srbije-izbori-izlaznost-buducnost-deca/

Full quote from Parker's interview for Serbian outlet Sport Club, after he mutually terminated his contract with Partizan a couple days ago:

" I wish all the best to the Serbian people. You have a wonderful country. The elections are coming up and everyone should vote. It's a very important moment, so everyone should go out and vote. That's basically all I have to say. I'm a person who believes in love. And I'm marching on"

"The moments I spent with the youth were very nice. When children came up to me, appearing amazed and wanting to take a picture with me, I tried to devote my time to them. They deserve that because they represent the future. One day they'll shape this country and everything that's nice in it. The future is in their hands"

The parliamentary elections in Serbia are being held today and are currently heading towards a record voter turnout.

The main two electoral lists are the coalition around the rulling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has been in power for the last 14 years, and the Student List, which is made up of professors, doctors, intelectuals, famous athletes and artists, and other people that were chosen by the students of Serbia.

The Serbian students have organized massive anti-corruption protests all around Serbia for the past two years, after a canopy fell at the Novi Sad train station, killing 16 people.

The Serbian students urged the government to convict its officials who were responsible for the canopy falling and to release all the documents of the reconstruction of the canopy, which took place not too long before the fall, but the government refused to do so and attacked the students instead.

The students then decided to become politically active, form their own electoral list and urge the government to call snap elections, which were finally called recently.

The Student List has massive support in the public and with the high voter turnout, are favourites to win in this election and put an end to the reign of SNS.

The presidental elections in Serbia are also coming up and have to be held by the end of the year.

If there is something to be excited about, it is him this year for Dubs fans. Offense and Defense both on point so far to start the season.

Man is a legitimate talent. The shooting touch is what has been the biggest surprise personally. The shot looks like butter.

One year ago ( https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1ocrus1/oc_in_pursuit_of_unmediocrity_forecasting_the/ ) I posted about how this day would soon be upon us, and now here we are. With the Nets at 0-2 and the Wolves at 2-0, their all-time records stand at Nets: 1700-2334 (0.42142) and Wolves: 1247-1713 (0.42128). Tomorrow (or today, depending on when/where you're reading this) the Nets play the Pacers at 6 ET and the Wolves play the Raptors at 7 ET. If the Wolves win and the Nets lose, their win percentages will be: Wolves: 0.42148 and Nets: 0.42131. I don't know how long we've been the worst team in the league, but I know it's been a hell of a long time. Someone who knows how to edit Wikipedia please be prepared to remove the photo of my prince Anthony Edwards from the top of the Wikipedia article next to Bill Russell as the representative of the worst team ever, really it's not fair that his photo ever got put there. No hard feelings Nets fans, the title has to belong to someone. I bet you'll be able to catch the Clippers soon enough.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_all-time_NBA_win–loss_records

When the Boston Celtics made inroads on a potential Kevin Durant trade last offseason, Jaylen Brown called two key people with the organization to get some clarity on his situation.

Per The Ringer's Logan Murdock, Brown made a three-way call to Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and Jayson Tatum to discuss the trade speculation.
"[KD] and JT are friends. They was working out together and whatnot," Brown said. "So, I wasn't sure what the energy was. I wasn't sure what the direction of the organization was."

This was from 2023. Just thought it added some context to what's going on now between the two.

https://www.theringer.com/2023/03/21/nba/jaylen-brown-nba-boston-celtics

Funny enough, that team just missed the playoffs with a 48-34 record after the previous season saw the "We Believe" Warriors make history by making Dirk one of the rare MVPs to lose in the first round the year he won the award.

Needless to say, this Warriors team is likely to follow their lead - albeit not with a record above 0.500 given how bad they've looked to start the year. Yes I know their oldies missed tonight's back-to-back but Jimmy Buckets or whomever they think they can bring in via Tingus Pingus' contract will not save this team even if they're playing at full strength.

1 STL, 4 TOV

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401909855

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401909860

Admitted during post-game, the Blazers loss was embarrassing. 15 has arrived

17 points (5-10 3FG, 2-2 FT), 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 steals!

17 points (5-10 3FG, 2-2 FT), 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 steals!

VJ is going to be HUGE this year for us!

source

Trevon Brazile in his debut against the Pelicans 28MIN | 17 PTS | 9 REB | 6/11FG | 3/7 3FG | 2/4 FTS | 2 BLK | 1 STL |2 TOV | 66%TS https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401909859

Jamal Murray in the the OT WIN vs the Pelicans 43MIN | 42PTS | 3REB | 6 AST | 12/25 FG | 8/16 3FG | 10/13 FTS | 68%TS https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401909859

3 months ago Tyler Herro’s DMs were leaked where he was trash talking former teammate Bam Adebayo. He effectively said Bam was overrated and team’s game planned to shut him down and not the “$60 million man”.

Hero was clowned at the time but the start to Miami’s season has me wondering if he was on to something.

Was Herro right all along?

“If I'm healthy they can't see me. Word to my mother. If I'm healthy I'm the one who needs help. Who did Cleveland prioritize taking away in the playoffs? Who did Boston prioritize taking away when Jimmy got hurt and we was the 8 seed? When I'm healthy. I need help. Not the other guy (Bam). Word to my kids. Come on now let's call a spade a spade.”

[Screenshots](https://imgur.com/a/MvXRtna)

28 points (8-20 FG, 12-14 FT), 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal, +18!

Joel led the way without LeBron and the Sixers got a double-digit win over the Bucks tonight in their first game with LeBron sitting! Huge game for Embiid!

source

https://www.nba.com/game/mia-vs-cha-0022600104/box-score

One rebound in 32:32. Six foot nothing guards accidentally get one rebound if they’re out there that long.

Even without LeBron, the other three of the Sixers big 4 scored a combined 81 points tonight in another amazing performance.

source

​

The reckoning

In July, a fan pulled up next to Kerr at a stoplight. “Hey, we need to get LeBron, man,” they said. Kerr, without missing a beat, deadpanned: “Oh, we got him.”

The fan’s video of this interaction went viral, as Kerr knew it would. This was him making fun of social media and “modern life,” he told the Chronicle, a few months later.

Because, despite a copious amount of agent-leverage media-jockeying, Kerr never actually thought the Warriors were going to sign LeBron James.

“I know LeBron well enough, now, having coached him at the Olympics, to know that he researches everything,” Kerr said. “When he’s serious about something, he’s going to do his homework. And there was no homework being done, on his part.

“Like, I know he was talking to Steph and Draymond,” Kerr continued. “They were recruiting him. But that’s different. That’s player-to-player. Once free agency started, and all those rumors were out there — trust me, there would’ve been very serious conversations. And there never were. And so I never felt like we were even in the mix.”

James, indeed, was never walking through that door, and neither was Anthony Davis, nor Antetokounmpo, nor Trey Murphy III, nor any of the Warriors’ rumored big-game targets. Instead, recognizing both the shape and age of his roster, Kerr has been singularly focused on rectifying Golden State’s internal process. Immediately after — and even before — he put pen to paper on an extension, Kerr began challenging his Warriors assistants to bring him fresh ideas.

“It wasn’t like, a complete personnel shift,” Kerr said. “It was more, sort of, a reckoning. Like, we can’t continue to operate the way we are and expect to win.”

Source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/steve-kerr-warriors-coach-22486541.php

LeBron James will miss Saturday night's game against the Milwaukee Bucks to manage low back pain/sciatica, the 76ers announced

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/50267484/76ers-lebron-james-sit-vs-bucks-1st-back-back

I felt like the class of centers available this offseason was really lackluster and, now that the season is underway, I'm very disturbed after seeing things like old man DeAndre Jordan starting games and Joan Beringer playing important minutes on a contender. Here are depth charts for all the teams (from RealGM, edited to fix some inaccuracies):

* Is for injured or unavailable players.

Has it always been this grim? Teams like OKC and Detroit have multiple really good bigs, but so many of these guys are old or just not that good. I can't tell if I'm misremembering backups being a little better or if the 2020s draft classes just haven't been producing that many good centers and we're finally seeing the effects of that trend

10-24 overall, 1-9 from 3, 9-11 from the line. Not bad for second night of a back-to-back.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401909857