NBA Central: Austin Rivers talks about the time an unranked Kyrie showed up to Deron Williams’ camp and gave buckets to the top ranked HS players in the country “He wasn’t even supposed to be there…Guys were like ‘Who the f*ck is this guy?’” (🎥 @uninterrupted ) pic.twitter.com/2YHYeXx0AM
Brooklyn Nets Rumors
Last week, ESPN came up with the all-time starting five for every NBA team. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Wilt Chamberlain made the cut for the Warriors. Hey Rick Barry — does that bother you at all? “Everybody’s entitled to their opinion,” the Hall of Famer said Tuesday on 95.7 The Game. “And that’s all it is — the opinion of some people. It is what it is. I know who I am. I know who I was as a player, and that doesn’t change. Who cares. “Bottom line is — I have my championship ring sitting on my finger that I’m looking at right now.”
In 1975, Barry helped bring the franchise its first NBA title since it relocated from Philadelphia to the Bay Area in 1962. He averaged 29.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 steals in the NBA Finals that year, as the Warriors swept the heavily-favored Washington Bullets. “We won as a team. We didn’t win because of any one individual,” Barry explained. “We won because we made a commitment to playing the game the right way, and everybody was a major contributor. “That’s what made it so very special. We were like a family.”
When those bets were made, the gamblers were perceived as radicals in Vegas. But since the NBA season went on hiatus in March, the Brooklyn Nets have been one of the hottest teams in the league — in the eyes of sports gamblers. The belief that Durant and Irving could return this season has made its way to Las Vegas as sports betting organizations have seen a spike in wagers for Brooklyn to win the NBA Finals, if the league resumes this summer. Since the season was suspended, only the Lakers have had more bets placed on them to take home a title. “It’s kind of a speculative bet, but nothing compares to this situation,” said Dave Mason, the sportsbook brand manager at BetOnline.ag.
Sportsbooks currently don’t have odds for when Irving and Durant will next play, which is why bettors have used the futures odds as a way to make their own predictions. South Point took down its NBA futures odds when play stopped, but the Nets odds’ to win the title have changed considerably to 75-1 (BetOnline.ag) and 60-1 (DraftKings). A week ago, BetOnline.ag had Brooklyn’s odds at 66-1. Still, analysts said the Nets’ odds are significantly less than teams that have been considered contenders all season, such as the Lakers (2.1-1), Bucks (2.75-1) and Clippers (3-1). Teams such as the Heat (20-1 odds) and Raptors (18-1), who have been among the top four in the Eastern Conference all season, have some distance between their odds and the Nets’.
A point Cuban emphasizes is that all but two teams — the exceptions being the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors — would have a mathematical possibility of qualifying for the postseason under his proposal. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks, the teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, are four games behind the 10th-place Charlotte Hornets. “It’s fair. It’s entertaining,” Cuban told ESPN.
Nets center Jarrett Allen returned to the team’s recently reopened practice facility in Brooklyn on Tuesday wearing a face mask. The team opened its facility for voluntary workouts followingGov. Andrew Cuomo’s Sunday announcement that said New York sports teams can hold in-state training camps. “I believe sports that can come back without people in the stadium, without having people in the arena, do it. Do it,” Cuomo said. “Work out the economics if you can. We want you up. We want people to be able to watch sports to the extent people are still staying home. It gives people something to do.”
