2026 NBA Season

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

NBACentral (not centel) posted a picture of Glen “Big Baby” Davis serving time in prison for his role in the insurance scam that players were pulling a few years ago. You can view the picture on NBACentral’s X account which I have linked to the post below. Sad to see how Big Baby went from a superstar to being broke.

https://x.com/thedunkcentral/status/1870617209929617909

I didn’t know that, thanks for sharing. It’s surprising how a player who earned millions of dollars throughout his career could end up in prison.

based on his record ; https://hoopshype.com/player/glen-davis/salary/

Earnings: $34,716,665 ($47,723,554*)

That’s a huge amount of money. If he had invested it wisely, he could have been successful even after his NBA career. One player I really admire is Luol Deng as he was incredibly smart with his finances, and now he has a net worth of $200 million.

That is the sad reality not just for basketball players, for any other sports athletes that play during their primes and have million dollar contract. But when they retired, they don't have money left in the bank and filed bankruptcy and worst like in this case of Davis, going to jail.

Well you might have or for sure who hasn't been alive during the 80's to watch Detroit's Bad Boy, Vinnie "the microwave" Johnson,

He famously only earned around $6 million during his basketball career between 1979 and 1992.

Now, the 67-year-old is worth an estimated $500 million, meaning he's richer than Lakers legend Shaquille O'Neal ($400 million net worth) as well as current stars Steph Curry ($180 million) and Kevin Durant ($300 million).

https://talksport.com/basketball/1906476/vinnie-johnson-detroit-pistons-net-worth-billion-steph-curry/

I'm not sure though if he is richer than Shaq as the Diesel has a lot of investments.

Same with Curry, his Under Armor Armour contract will go beyond his basketball career.

[danherbias07]

Detroit Pistons snatched another win and it's now against the Lakers. Damn, this team is strong although the fact is they need more chemistry as new guys are filled in their roster. Beasley, Harris, Hardway Jr, and these guys have been really helpful with Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey. That's now their 2nd win and they have won 5 in their last 10 games which I think is a good thing.
They will grow their chemistry as they play with each other and will probably end up in either the play-in tournament or the safety 6th spot. They have 13 wins tied with the Bulls and Miami has 14 wins. They are not far from the Bucks at 5th spot with 16 wins.

[Fredomago]

As for the situation on the Wolves, it's obvious that there is something wrong with the team right now. ANT has a different vibes and energy, unlike before the end of their playoff wherein it looks like they are the team of the future. And then we have the Gobert-Randle saga of Julius not passing the ball when Rudy is open under the basket. Or during their last game if I'm not mistaken, wherein he was triple team and he was holding the ball for too long.

Randle is different, has a superstar mentality, and he’s really good, but with so many talented players on the team, he just needs to play within the system. I get why he didn’t pass to Gobert because Gobert isn’t much of an offensive threat. He’s more about defense, and that’s his main strength.

Honestly, I don’t even see why they keep Gobert and would even consider trading ANT. ANT is the more complete player. They could just hire another big man to pair with ANT and trade Gobert instead. That move would make more sense for the team’s future.

You are in the offense, Gobert is under the basket with just a small player guarding him? Why would you think of not passing because he is just liable to play defense? I do not get that reasoning though. ANT passes to Rudy when he knows that he is in the post or even alley-oop for easy two.

Randle though is know to be a passer in New York right? So I don't know what he shouldn't do that in Wolves to make them a better team. And he should change that mentality of being the superstar because he is just new to the Wolves. If ever there is a franchise player here, it should be ANT.

Yeah, it's better to embrace the culture of the team and fit yourself instead of keeping how you play the game and let the team adjust for you, it's not good since he just new and even the system might dictate something that pointing the offensive side to him it's always better to blend with your teammates and let them feel that you are willing to adjust, The point of having that mismatch and entrusting your teammate is very important.

Though still a long season to play together maybe they'll find something that will lead them to get that good players combination and push their way to move up and still reach the next round.

[Japinat]

You are in the offense, Gobert is under the basket with just a small player guarding him? Why would you think of not passing because he is just liable to play defense? I do not get that reasoning though. ANT passes to Rudy when he knows that he is in the post or even alley-oop for easy two.

Randle though is know to be a passer in New York right? So I don't know what he shouldn't do that in Wolves to make them a better team. And he should change that mentality of being the superstar because he is just new to the Wolves. If ever there is a franchise player here, it should be ANT.

There was one game I noticed where Randle didn’t pass the ball to Gobert even though he was open inside. But it’s just one game, so it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ignoring him. The thing is, Gobert doesn’t have great skills when it comes to creating his own shot. He’s mostly effective with alley-oops or when he’s not closely contested. For a center of his height, I feel like he’s missing that killer mentality that could make him more dominant.

[arwin100]

You are in the offense, Gobert is under the basket with just a small player guarding him? Why would you think of not passing because he is just liable to play defense? I do not get that reasoning though. ANT passes to Rudy when he knows that he is in the post or even alley-oop for easy two.

Randle though is know to be a passer in New York right? So I don't know what he shouldn't do that in Wolves to make them a better team. And he should change that mentality of being the superstar because he is just new to the Wolves. If ever there is a franchise player here, it should be ANT.

There was one game I noticed where Randle didn’t pass the ball to Gobert even though he was open inside. But it’s just one game, so it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ignoring him. The thing is, Gobert doesn’t have great skills when it comes to creating his own shot. He’s mostly effective with alley-oops or when he’s not closely contested. For a center of his height, I feel like he’s missing that killer mentality that could make him more dominant.

Situation like that would really happen in a game and we cannot expect those players to execute good plays and do good decisions while they are in court.

Maybe they should learn from those mistake they encounter and provably that next time they will do more better and learn from those past mistake they have done. Randle is I think still adjusting and as you said that is just a one game for sure that he can improve and work together with his teammates. We know Randle is a good player so for sure that there would be an improvement next time and the only thing he need is to trust his teammates so there would be no issue of miscommunication and other can affect them would happen in the scene.

[jossiel]

I don't like Dame but when I've read this, I think that I like him now. That's a good job for him when he's distributed his $500k prize for the NBA cup to the regular staff and employees of Bucks.

Damian Lillard Sticks to His Word As He Splits His $500k NBA Cup Cash Prize with Bucks Cleaning Staff and Regular Employees

Lillard should be commended for doing this and sticking to his word. Actually, $500k for any top NBA player isn't that much money. Especially in the case of Lillard, as it is additional money for winning the NBA Cup, and it's only 0.5% of his current contract. However, by doing this, he will clearly endear himself to the Bucks staff.

I agree that amount won't be that much for players that have huge contracts. But this means a lot to the people that are given with their share from his prize money.

It is a nice gesture that he sticks to what he said and he truly cares for their people.

A person that would receive $20-$50 would already be happy if it's given to them without conditions. While for the others, this is totally a lot during this holiday season and will help them out for whatever purpose they'd use it.

[ingiltere]

The Bucks were able to win in tough Chicago away game without their superstars both Lillard and Antetokounmpo. In fact, it's clear how deep their roster is. Middleton, whose name has been in trade rumors, had a pretty good game. Add Portis and Lopez and the Bucks were able to get the result with their big guys. They will be one of the teams that will cause problems in the East again, that's obvious.

[btc_angela]

The Bucks were able to win in tough Chicago away game without their superstars both Lillard and Antetokounmpo. In fact, it's clear how deep their roster is. Middleton, whose name has been in trade rumors, had a pretty good game. Add Portis and Lopez and the Bucks were able to get the result with their big guys. They will be one of the teams that will cause problems in the East again, that's obvious.

Wasn't able to watch the game, but I was surprised that even without those 2, they were able to beat the Bulls? Probably the Bucks are experimenting, but it seems that they are really back and the line up is intact.

With Middleton back, and then Portis and Lopez, I do not think that the Bucks management will have to think and trading either of these players as there are rumors that they are before when the Bucks are struggling.

[ajanwalker]

I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said the Lakers couldn't get a hold of Detroit.

The game was even from start to finish and Detroit won.
Detroit beat the LA Lakers in both games this year.
LeBron also had a good game. He had a triple-double but couldn't avoid the loss.
Neither the Lakers nor Detroit have been able to get on a consistent winning streak this year.

[avp2306]

The Bucks were able to win in tough Chicago away game without their superstars both Lillard and Antetokounmpo. In fact, it's clear how deep their roster is. Middleton, whose name has been in trade rumors, had a pretty good game. Add Portis and Lopez and the Bucks were able to get the result with their big guys. They will be one of the teams that will cause problems in the East again, that's obvious.

Middleton is a good player and its crazy that they are thinking about trading him. What Bucks need is to make everything work according to what they plan and they need to sync well on the system presented by their new coach since if they struggle especially on their roster rotation maybe that this team cannot win a championship this season.

Although its good that they win the NBA cup since it boost their morale so let see if they would perform more better in their future games.

Also better to keep their current player to avoid committing more mistakes again.

[dwyane36]

I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said the Lakers couldn't get a hold of Detroit.

The game was even from start to finish and Detroit won.
Detroit beat the LA Lakers in both games this year.
LeBron also had a good game. He had a triple-double but couldn't avoid the loss.
Neither the Lakers nor Detroit have been able to get on a consistent winning streak this year.

Yeah, it was a close game. LeBron certainly performed well in that game, but he probably should have played differently in the final seconds. I mean, the Lakers had a chance to tie the game at the end of the fourth quarter, but LeBron decided to throw a crucial three-pointer from too far away.

[TravelMug]

You are in the offense, Gobert is under the basket with just a small player guarding him? Why would you think of not passing because he is just liable to play defense? I do not get that reasoning though. ANT passes to Rudy when he knows that he is in the post or even alley-oop for easy two.

Randle though is know to be a passer in New York right? So I don't know what he shouldn't do that in Wolves to make them a better team. And he should change that mentality of being the superstar because he is just new to the Wolves. If ever there is a franchise player here, it should be ANT.

There was one game I noticed where Randle didn’t pass the ball to Gobert even though he was open inside. But it’s just one game, so it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ignoring him. The thing is, Gobert doesn’t have great skills when it comes to creating his own shot. He’s mostly effective with alley-oops or when he’s not closely contested. For a center of his height, I feel like he’s missing that killer mentality that could make him more dominant.

I've seen two games and there could be more as I was not able to watch the whole of season games so far. And it's very obvious that maybe ANT has notice this. I do agree that Gobert can't create his own shot, but if he is under the rim with and being guarded by small player, it's easy two.

And this could be the downfall of the Wolves and so I'm not seeing him going into the playoff just like what they did last season. They are somewhat in disarray, unless this solved this issue on Randle not passing more to his team mates and not fully doing isolation play or not switching.

[Dave1]

The Bucks were able to win in tough Chicago away game without their superstars both Lillard and Antetokounmpo. In fact, it's clear how deep their roster is. Middleton, whose name has been in trade rumors, had a pretty good game. Add Portis and Lopez and the Bucks were able to get the result with their big guys. They will be one of the teams that will cause problems in the East again, that's obvious.

Middleton is a good player and its crazy that they are thinking about trading him. What Bucks need is to make everything work according to what they plan and they need to sync well on the system presented by their new coach since if they struggle especially on their roster rotation maybe that this team cannot win a championship this season.

Although its good that they win the NBA cup since it boost their morale so let see if they would perform more better in their future games.

Also better to keep their current player to avoid committing more mistakes again.

Yes, he was part of their core team, he just got injured that's why he can't play that much and him this season. But he is still reliable for them, although what they lack is the second unit. They are not that deep like their previous years, but the good thing is that they were able to catch up right now and winning a lot of games lately including the NBA cup.

Hopefully it will not be a curse for them, just like the Lakers last year, when they won, they went nosedive after that and can't build a momentum from that series. Next for them is against the Nets so I think they can also win this game.

[OgNasty]

Nothing quite like Christmas Day basketball in the NBA. Strap in sports fans, today we have some good ones. I’m most excited about the Timberwolves and Mavericks facing off. That should be a great game to watch. The rest of the games are great too (except maybe the Spurs and Knicks). A great day of basketball ahead.

[Harkorede]

Nothing quite like Christmas Day basketball in the NBA. Strap in sports fans, today we have some good ones. I’m most excited about the Timberwolves and Mavericks facing off. That should be a great game to watch. The rest of the games are great too (except maybe the Spurs and Knicks). A great day of basketball ahead.

Yeah, and I love how the games are scheduled, there is no need to keep switching between streams... It's about 12 hours of uninterrupted basketball.

I think I'm actually looking forward to Spurs vs Knicks game, you know the Garden is going to turn up massively, I'm excited to see how Wemby would fare for his Christmas day debut, it should be an interesting matchup against KAT.

[Fredomago]

The Bucks were able to win in tough Chicago away game without their superstars both Lillard and Antetokounmpo. In fact, it's clear how deep their roster is. Middleton, whose name has been in trade rumors, had a pretty good game. Add Portis and Lopez and the Bucks were able to get the result with their big guys. They will be one of the teams that will cause problems in the East again, that's obvious.

Middleton is a good player and its crazy that they are thinking about trading him. What Bucks need is to make everything work according to what they plan and they need to sync well on the system presented by their new coach since if they struggle especially on their roster rotation maybe that this team cannot win a championship this season.

Although its good that they win the NBA cup since it boost their morale so let see if they would perform more better in their future games.

Also better to keep their current player to avoid committing more mistakes again.

Yes, he was part of their core team, he just got injured that's why he can't play that much and him this season. But he is still reliable for them, although what they lack is the second unit. They are not that deep like their previous years, but the good thing is that they were able to catch up right now and winning a lot of games lately including the NBA cup.

Hopefully it will not be a curse for them, just like the Lakers last year, when they won, they went nosedive after that and can't build a momentum from that series. Next for them is against the Nets so I think they can also win this game.

Yeah right though there's nothing impossible with how the owners and the management treat their players, they are all aiming for the business side, if they'll trade him then maybe just like Holiday he's more reliable after being traded, unless Middleton went to a non competitive team then he might end his career without any competitive achievements.

Though if it's still possible to work with their chemistry they are still competitive and like what you mentioned after winning that NBA cup might be giving them a good boost to play harder.

[SquallLeonhart]

Bucks definitely has a deep squad, and with Lillard they actually got that second super star they need to win a title too, so they should in theory be good enough to actually go for a title. For a while at the start of last season it was hard to get used to each other, but this season they should have been even better. In any case, I am sure they will do fine, not sure how deep their playoff run will be, but they need to fight for the finals, there is a possibility in that team.

Between Ante, Lillard, Middleton, Lopez, Portis etc etc, they really have a good squad that is worthy of a championship. At that point, if they fail with such squad, I would just fire the head coach and get someone else because they really should be there. Look at Celtics, they did so great, and only had Brown and Tatum, the rest aren't that great, Holiday and White and maybe an old Horford? Not really a big deal, so Bucks definitely has what is required to win at the moment for sure.

[Baofeng]

Bucks definitely has a deep squad, and with Lillard they actually got that second super star they need to win a title too, so they should in theory be good enough to actually go for a title. For a while at the start of last season it was hard to get used to each other, but this season they should have been even better. In any case, I am sure they will do fine, not sure how deep their playoff run will be, but they need to fight for the finals, there is a possibility in that team.

It's more of the adjustment on their end, and I think they start the year as not healthy as like now, so it's a bad start for them and then we all put the blame on Doc Rivers. For sure Rivers have read all the critics and then he comes back and silence him with a good performance by winning the NBA Cup and Giannis and Lillard doing it all along. Specially Lillard who seems to have settled down in the Bucks already as like his old self with hitting those 3 points like a prime Dame Time.

Between Ante, Lillard, Middleton, Lopez, Portis etc etc, they really have a good squad that is worthy of a championship. At that point, if they fail with such squad, I would just fire the head coach and get someone else because they really should be there. Look at Celtics, they did so great, and only had Brown and Tatum, the rest aren't that great, Holiday and White and maybe an old Horford? Not really a big deal, so Bucks definitely has what is required to win at the moment for sure.

Middleton, Lopez and Bobby Portis are part of their core that won their ring the last time. So they have the experience to pull through again if they remain healthy and then their second enough also playing hard and giving them good quality minutes while the starting five in resting. They are in the 5th position in the East, so that is good enough for another playoff run or they can improved it as high as 3rd place in the standing.

[ultrloa]

Yes, he was part of their core team, he just got injured that's why he can't play that much and him this season. But he is still reliable for them, although what they lack is the second unit. They are not that deep like their previous years, but the good thing is that they were able to catch up right now and winning a lot of games lately including the NBA cup.

Hopefully it will not be a curse for them, just like the Lakers last year, when they won, they went nosedive after that and can't build a momentum from that series. Next for them is against the Nets so I think they can also win this game.

Yeah right though there's nothing impossible with how the owners and the management treat their players, they are all aiming for the business side, if they'll trade him then maybe just like Holiday he's more reliable after being traded, unless Middleton went to a non competitive team then he might end his career without any competitive achievements.

Though if it's still possible to work with their chemistry they are still competitive and like what you mentioned after winning that NBA cup might be giving them a good boost to play harder.

They already made a mistake for trading Holiday and now they want to repeat the same situation with Middleton? Crazy that they already have those good players that can help them win a championship. But they let those good guys go away and start rebuilding with new player. if Bucks really aiming to win a championship they better create a solid second unit since as being mentioned this is what they actually need. They have a good team already and I think what they need is to make theirselves comfortable on how the coach handle their team so that everything goes well to them. Its good that they win the NBA cup since this will solidify their belief that their team is capable to win more games and hit their championship goals.

[OgNasty]

Well, so far it looks like Wemby is going to have the stat line of the day after helping his team upset the New York Knicks. The Philadelphia 76ers also destroyed all my parlays by beating the Boston Celtics. That’s what we have so far. Now it looks like we’ll get to see Steph and LeBron face off, followed by seeing what Durant can do…