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Huh? Like, wait, what? Shaquille O’Neal, one of the most legendary centers of all time and Hall of Famer, recently shared his all-time NBA starting five—and it didn’t include LeBron James, a notable omission given James’ status as one of the greatest players in basketball history.

These lists are getting carried away and this one is no exception.

Naturally and deservedly so, O’Neal honored his late Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant by placing him in the lineup, he chose Julius Erving and Karl Malone, another former Laker, as his forwards. O’Neal also, unsurprisingly, picked himself for his own squad.

Obviously LeBron James is often regarded by many as the greatest or one of the top two or three players in NBA history, was left off the list despite being the league’s all-time leading scorer and displaying unmatched longevity in the game. However, James’ 4-6 record in the NBA Finals and some criticisms of his performance in clutch moments might explain why O’Neal chose Erving over him—or even why he didn’t opt for a player like Larry Bird.

Yea, yea, finals yea, yea. They need to chill and look at the entire body of work. LeBron is going into year 22 as the oldest player in the league and still a top 10, easy. But we digress.

O’Neal has been vocal about his opinions on a variety of NBA-related topics. He recently criticized Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, labeling him as the worst player in the league, though he later clarified that his comments were influenced by Gobert’s large contract.

While O’Neal’s decision to exclude James from his all-time starting five raises questions, it also reflects the differing perspectives within the basketball world on what defines greatness.

Yawn.

The post Oh, Really? Shaq Leaves LeBron Off His All Time Starting Five List first appeared on .

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It’s Thursday night football tonight and here we go… The Dallas Cowboys will square off against the New York Giants tonight in a crucial Week 4 “Thursday Night Football” matchup in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This will mark the Cowboys’ first NFC East game of the season after playing two of their first three games against teams from the AFC. Meanwhile, the Giants will be facing their second divisional opponent, following a narrow 21-18 loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 2.

Both teams enter the contest with identical 1-2 records. Not the best shape in the hotly contested NFC East division but not the worst shape either. Interestingly, their lone victories came against the same team, the Cleveland Browns. The Cowboys opened their season with a win over Cleveland, while the Giants stunned the Browns on the road in Week 3, securing a massive upset as 6.5-point underdogs.

ICYMI, in that upset victory, the Giants unleashed an overwhelming pass rush that rattled Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. They recorded an impressive 10 sacks and generated 41 total pressures, 11 more than any other team managed in Week 3. This was a huge leap for the Giants’ defense, which had only managed 29 pressures combined in their first two games. If they can maintain this level of disruption, they could be a formidable force down the stretch.

The Cowboys, America’s team as they say, on the other hand, are coming off a disappointing loss at home to the Baltimore Ravens, where they struggled in multiple areas. Despite a late-game surge in the fourth quarter, it was too little, too late. One of the most glaring issues for Dallas has been its inability to establish a consistent running game. The Cowboys rank in the bottom five in explosive run percentage (4.8%) and yards after contact per attempt (2.2), making it hard to generate momentum on offense.

Dallas’ troubles in stopping the run are even more concerning but hopefully not the Giants from their perspective. Their first-round pick from 2023, defensive lineman Mazi Smith, has struggled, earning the lowest Pro Football Focus (PFF) run-defense grade at his position through three games (27.5). The Cowboys’ defense as a whole has allowed the league’s worst Expected Points Added (EPA) per rush at 0.261, nearly four times higher than the next worst team. These defensive struggles could make it difficult for Dallas to capitalize on their passing game, despite having star talents like Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.

Get this, if Cowboys are to bounce back, they will need to find balance on offense and shore up their defensive front. As the season progresses, they can’t afford to place all the pressure on Prescott and Lamb to carry the team.

Tonight’s matchup will be available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video for fans looking to tune in to “Thursday Night Football.”

The post Thursday Night Football Preview: Dallas Cowboys (1-2) At NY Giants (1-2) first appeared on .

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The 2024-25 NBA Season is almost here. Sheesh, that was quick and the Lakers are preparing for the historic moment when LeBron James and his son Bronny James play together on the same court. Wild!

Get this, while no firm decisions have been made, new Lakers coach JJ Redick said both LeBron and Bronny will be part of the conversation on how to approach the situation.

“We obviously have talked about it as a staff and we’ve gotten into some specifics of what that might look like,” Redick said. “But we haven’t committed to anything. And obviously, there’s a discussion to be had once we’re all together with Bronny and LeBron, too. They should be a part of that discussion as well.”

ICYMI, the Lakers drafted Bronny with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, setting the stage for the father-son duo to share the court.

As you may expect, fans are eagerly awaiting Bronny’s debut alongside LeBron, it’s uncertain when that will happen. The Lakers’ season opener is on Oct. 22 against the Timberwolves, but Bronny isn’t expected to play a major role early on, except perhaps in a ceremonial moment. If he does get playing time in the early games, it may be limited to garbage time unless he impresses during training camp. That’s fair and as it should be tbh.

Surprisingly, Redick isn’t worried balancing the situation. “I don’t look at it as a challenge,” he said. “It’s unique from any other challenge of coaching a player or coaching a relationship. Bronny, I feel very fortunate that I get to coach him because he’s young and he’s hungry, and he’s got a lot of inherent skill sets that we can really mold into a really good NBA player. On top of that, he’s a fantastic kid. He’s extremely coachable. He’s got the right spirit and energy every single day. So … it’s not something I’ve really thought of as a challenge.”

The post Lakers Planning For Groundbreaking On Court Debut of LeBron and Bronny James first appeared on .

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We just really need to know, why do people go after LeBron‘s game? At 39 he’s the oldest player in the NBA. Still playing at a high-level. Breaking records, still. We don’t get it… Help us understand. Maybe Kwame Brown can help us. Okay so LeBron recently responded to Kwame Brown’s weird criticism by sharing a video of himself executing flawless fadeaways and mid-range shots, showcasing his post-game skills. The 39-year-old NBA legend captioned the post with, “Another game of clips of me just running fast and running people over to the basket! No Skill,” a clear rebuttal to Brown’s comments.

Top-tier trolling, if you ask us.

LeBron has had so many of those performances we have to fill you in on what game that was way back when. The video was from LeBron’s 57-point performance for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Washington Wizards during the 2017-18 season, following John Wall’s claims that the Cavs had purposely avoided them in the playoffs. The next day, LeBron delivered a dominant showing. Maverick Carter initially posted the video on his Instagram story, which LeBron then reshared—an indirect but effective response to Brown.

ICYMI, on the Swish Cultures podcast, Brown had remarked that even at 39, LeBron is primarily a “cut-and-slash” player who lacks a developed post-game and mid-range shot. “His game really hasn’t evolved outside of a 3 and putting his head down and going to the basket,” Brown said. “He doesn’t go like Paul Pierce, getting to a spot, pulling up. Those are the things you normally see out of a superstar player.”

What’s wild is Brown also turned his attention to LeBron’s son, Bronny, who is preparing for his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers. Brown referred to Bronny as a “poor man’s Juan Dixon” and speculated that while LeBron’s influence through Klutch Sports might keep his son in the league for a time, Bronny would need to develop point guard skills to avoid fading out. “I think he’ll bounce around… but if he doesn’t learn how to play point, he’s gonna fizzle out,” Brown added.

Some might say that’s an honest take based on a prediction that nobody knows. Others might call it hate. You be the judge.

LeBron, who is also human, although he can appear superhuman, has acknowledged that criticism can sometimes get under his skin, responded indirectly through his social media post, but Bronny has chosen not to engage. According to LeBron, Bronny takes a different approach to criticism, explaining, “He doesn’t care.” Over his 20-year career, LeBron has become accustomed to public scrutiny, but it appears his son is unfazed by the spotlight.

The post Source Sports: LeBron Responds to Kwame Brown’s Weird Criticism by Trolling the Former Center: ‘No Skill’ first appeared on .

The post Source Sports: LeBron Responds to Kwame Brown’s Weird Criticism by Trolling the Former Center: ‘No Skill’ appeared first on .