May 17, 2021
The NBA play-in tournament is here! There has been a lot of discussion about the new playoff concept.
The format
The play-in tournament will begin Tuesday, May 18, and conclude Friday, May 21. The teams with the seventh-highest and eighth-highest winning percentages in each conference will each have two opportunities to win one game to earn a playoff spot. The teams with the ninth-highest and 10th-highest winning percentages in each conference will each have to win two consecutive games to earn a playoff spot.
Schedule
• No. 8 Wizards at No. 7 Celtics (9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 18, TNT)
• No. 10 Hornets at No. 9 Pacers (6:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 18, TNT)
May 15, 2021
The 2021 Naismith Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 15. The class of ’20 inductees are headlined by Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. WNBA legend Tamika Catchings, FIBA executive Patrick Baumann and coaches Eddie Sutton, Rudy Tomjanovich, Kim Mulkey and Barbara Stevens round out this year’s class.
The Crossover staff picks one word to describe this iconic group.
Howard Beck: Eclectic
One word? Eclectic. If we’re just focusing on the NBA peers Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan I cannot imagine a more wildly diverse trio of personalities, styles and talents. Kobe was feisty, KG fiery, Duncan sedate. Kobe wanted to dazzle the world; Duncan just wanted to blend in. KG was a transformational figure the first modern-day big man with guard skills, the first unicorn, the Big Ticket; Duncan was stubbornly conventional, a maestro in the low post, the Big Fundamental. Kobe, especially in his later years, was relentlessly chatty and o
May 13, 2021
Welcome to the Morning Shootaround, where every weekday you’ll get a fresh, topical column from one of
’s NBA writers: Howard Beck on Mondays, Chris Mannix on Tuesdays, Michael Pina on Wednesdays, Chris Herring on Thursdays and Rohan Nadkarni on Fridays.
We all know the NBA season was hanging in the balance about a year ago. But even before the league’s coronavirus-related stoppage, Cam Payne’s NBA career seemed to be hanging by the flimsiest of threads, too.
By the summer of 2020, it had been almost a year and a half since the point guard had played in an NBA game. His last stop had been a January 19 stint with the Cavaliers, where he was let go after a pair of 10-day deals. Leading up to that point, between foot injuries and poor, inconsistent play, the former first-rounder had been an inefficient disappointment, washing out with both the Thunder and the Bulls.
How the Charlotte Hornets have become the most captivating watch in the NBA this season
When you re trying to decide what teams to watch on any given night, what are some of the deciding factors? As the combination of close games, intriguing players and a captivating narrative make for a must-watch product, look no further than the Hornets. With LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward and company, Charlotte has quickly become the League Pass darling of the 2020-21 NBA season. https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/NBA Global CMS image storage/1f/66/irvgotti 1cfldr6xwy73t1tkyk0ey4t3wq.jpg?t=1378242313&w=500