Hoops for Nerds

Kyle Kuzma sparked controversy last week when he argued his teammates LeBron James "should have been the MVP at least eight, nine, 10 times. Everybody knows that." James himself responded that he thinks he should have won more MVPs than the four he has, but avoided specifically mentioning which years he believes he should've won it. He went on to say " a lot of the greatest that played this game feel like they should have more as well, if you ask any one of those guys." There's definitely some credence to this: as great of a player Steve Nash was, should he really be a two-time MVP winner when both Shaq and Kobe only won one MVP apiece? (Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images) While LeBron has learned to be less incendiary with his comments ever following the backlash he received from NBA legends upon declaring himself the greatest player of all time, leave it to ardent LeBron supporter Nick Wright

The NFL world was finally put to rest as the two-year-long saga of  quarterback Dak Prescott’s contract negotiations with the Dallas Cowboys were concluded with him signing a four-year, $160 million deal. The NFL is a hard-salary-capped league: there's a set amount of money each year that is allowed to pay all its' players. Analysts and fans were concerned that Dak's contract could take up too much of the Cowboys’ salary cap in the coming seasons hindering their ability to sign free agents and resign drafted talent in order to surround Dak with the talent required to win games in the regular season and compete in the playoffs. I AM SO RELIEVED DAK VS JERRY HAS FINALLY ENDED. Yet as I've said from the start, my fear is Dak will take up so much of the cap, nearly a fourth, that they won't be able to fix the D or aging O line. I also worry that Dak will struggle to live up to this much $$$. — Skip Bayless (@Rea

Last season, despite being the oddsmakers' favorite before the regular season started, before the league was suspended due to COVID, and before the playoffs started, the Clippers choked in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Nuggets. Despite being up 3-1 in the seven-game series, they failed to win just one of the remaining 3 games and were sent home from the bubble.  Paul George (left) and Kawhi Leonard (right) in 2019 (Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press) Over the offseason, the team failed to address what many thought was their main need: a true playmaking point guard. Chris Paul rumors were short-lived before he was shipped to the Suns . Dennis Schöeder was reportedly in trade talks, but the Thunder were more willing to work with the Lakers . Then Lakers sixth-man Rajon Rondo was heavily reported to be interested in signing with the Clippers, but  he signed with Atlanta . Clippers fans were particularly salty about this on

As a Warriors fan, my team has been incredibly successful over the past decade. With the departure of Kevin Durant last year, another season-ending injury for Klay Thompson, and a depleted bench comprised of undeveloped young players, the two remaining Warriors' stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have lead the team to a 21-20 record good for 9 seed in the Western Conference (as of March 17th). After a 26-point blowout loss to the defending champion Lakers, Curry noted to the media that opposing teams remembered the dominance his team had and wanted their revenge. Steph: "Teams still want to beat us and beat us bad. They still have a lot of memories from the last five, six years." pic.twitter.com/81JALMG8bt — Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 1, 2021 Recently, I've noticed some players on opposing teams greatly outpace their normal levels of production against the Warriors:  Versus Ja

LeBron James has certainly logged a lot of minutes throughout his 18-year career. Prior to this season, LeBron played just shy of forty thousand minutes in the regular season alone. Factoring in ten trips to finals in his career and all those playoff games, you're up to a total of 49,796 minutes for the 36-year-old. That's good for 7th on the all-time minutes played leaderboard. (Sports Illustrated) With COVID and the delayed NBA bubble, the offseason was shortened to only 72 days, significantly less than the typical 130 or so days. This time is crucial for players to take a break from the wear and tear of the season, work on tweaking their game, and overall deal with any nagging physical issues that may have arisen through the year. LeBron is no stranger to taking care of his body especially at his age, i nvesting over a  million dollars a year  in trainers recovery therapy, and personal chefs. As a result,  LeB