Sources: Nick Friedell @ ESPN
What’s the buzz on Twitter?
#Nets star Kevin Durant in #NBA MVP conversation on way to leading East in All-Star votes nypost.com/2023/01/05/kev… Street @nypostsports – 10:49 PM
That’s a tough win on the road by Purdue…
Ohio state got some young hoopers over there, that big 10 is some good bump.. – 9:23 PM
Out of KD, Giannis, Tatum and Embiid, someone will be left out of the voting (and media voting) for the East frontcourt. Ohh, feelings will be hurt – 8:33 PM
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving led the East frontcourt and guards in the early All-Star fan vote.
And Nic Claxton cracked the top 10 for the first time in his career.
Story on the Nets trio that led Brooklyn’s resurgence: clutchpoints.com/nets-kevin-dur… – 6:09 PM
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving led the East frontcourt and guards in the early All-Star fan vote.
And Nic Claxton cracked the top 10 for the first time in his career.
Story on the Nets trio that led Brooklyn’s resurgence. clutchpoints.com/nets-kevin-dur… – 6:09 PM
Great read from ours @Alex Schiffer on how Kevin Durant has become a sounding board, conduit and tough love dispenser to other ballers who’ve suffered Achilles ruptures, as he did during the 2019 Finals. In @TheAthletic: bit.ly/3ierQL2 – 3:21 PM
In the first All-Star fan vote return, Giannis Antetokounmpo is No. 2 (2.99M votes) in the Eastern Conference frontcourt behind Kevin Durant (3.11M).
Antetokounmpo is third in overall voting as LeBron James (3.16M) leads all players.
No other #Bucks player is in the top 10. – 2:46 PM
LeBron James, Kevin Durant lead the NBA’s first 2022-23 All-Star fan voting returns sportando.basketball/en/lebron-jame… – 2:34 PM
Jayson Tatum on being fourth in Eastern Conference frontcourt voting: “I’m in a tough ass position. I’m behind KD, Giannis and Embiid. All four of us are averaging 30 and in the MVP conversation or whatever. So I know I’ve got my work cut out to beat one of those guys.” – 2:30 PM
LeBron James, Kevin Durant lead first round of fan NBA All-Star voting nba.nbcsports.com/2023/01/05/leb… – 2:23 PM
Efficiency vs. volume for NBA scorers
• Giannis is shooting or going to the line almost once per minute
• Jokic, KD, Steph, Lauri, AD, Zion 🔥
• Westbrook, Rozier, FVV, Barnes 🥶
What jumps out to you? pic.twitter.com/07Bpl5ky4D – 1:42 PM
LeBron and KD leading vote getters in first @NBAAllStar Fan returns. pic.twitter.com/Td8dYyEG5N – 1:22 PM
Kevin Durant leads the frontcourt and Kyrie Irving leads the guards in All-Star fan voting so far.
Nic Claxton cracked the top 10 in the frontcourt as well, one spot ahead of former Net Jarrett Allen. – 1:19 PM
Kyle Kuzma is in 7th place among East frontcourt players in the first fan-balloting returns for the 2023 All-Star Game, with 234,035 votes. The leaders — Kevin Durant, Giannis and Joel Embiid — are between 2.2-3.1 million. Fans account for 50% of the vote to decide starters. – 1:15 PM
LeBron And KD lead the early fan vote for the All-Star Game pic.twitter.com/CT3sk7fvDp – 1:08 PM
The NBA announced today that Lakers star LeBron James and Nets star Kevin Durant lead their respective conferences in the first fan returns of #NBAAllStar Voting presented by AT&T. – 1:03 PM
Pascal Siakam is 6th among East frontcourt players in the initial returns of all-star fan voting. He trails KD, Giannis and Embiid (who are currently on line to start), as well as Tatum and Butler. No other Raptors player is in the top 10 at their position. – 1:02 PM
Joel Embiid is third in EC frontcourt All-Star votes with 2.2 million, trailing Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo
James Harden is also third in guard votes with 1.1 million, trailing Kyrie Irving and Donovan Mitchell #Sixers – 1:02 PM
The first returns are in: Kevin Durant and LeBron James are the frontrunners to become All-Star captains after the first few days of All-Star voting. – 1:02 PM
Lakers’ LeBron James and Nets’ Kevin Durant lead the NBA’s first 2022-23 All-Star fan voting returns: pic.twitter.com/ObI4WQjnuH – 1:01 PM
LeBron James and Kevin Durant lead their respective conferences in the first fan returns of #NBAAllStar.
Fans account for 50% of the vote to decide All-Star starters. NBA players and a media panel account for 25% each.
The next fan update is Jan.12. pic.twitter.com/gOkqR4Hos5 – 1:01 PM
First returns for All-Star voting. LeBron James and Kevin Durant leading their respective conferences pic.twitter.com/iyhrxKTZ6T – 1:01 PM
LeBron James and Kevin Durant lead their respective conferences in the first fan returns of #NBAAllStar Voting.
Fans account for 50% of the vote to decide All-Star starters. NBA players and a media panel account for 25% each.
The next fan update is Jan.12. pic.twitter.com/aq0TzV3Rbx – 1:01 PM
KEVIN DURANT
Pre-Achilles injury: 27.0 ppg on 49.3 percent shooting
Post-Achilles injury: 29.0 ppg on 53.6 percent shooting
This guy… pic.twitter.com/1lxdzyomTf – 12:19PM
My segment on Ben Simmons from my Bulls recap pod:
Ben has been outstanding as a defender, rebounder, and facilitator as of late. But KD and Kyrie’s other-worldly performances have allowed him to fade into the background in the half-court offense.
That really showed last night. pic.twitter.com/USLHk6g7Vj – 11:31AM
Only 11 players are attempting 4+ mid-range shots per game.
KD is the only one shooting over 50% from that range (59.1%).
He is shooting 11% better than the next guy pic.twitter.com/7mln9lfsOn – 11:14 AM
Bulls’ Patrick Williams puts mistake aside, holds his own against Kevin Durant
Street @TheAthletic theathletic.com/4059611/2023/0… – 9:54 AM
When Kevin Durant tore his Achilles in 2019 Dominique Wilkins hoped KD would replace him as the face of the modern recovery. He has. He’s also embraced it by helping college, NFL and NBA players who tore theirs after him. Today’s story: theathletic.com/4055470/2023/0… – 9:19 AM
Bulls beat a Giannis 45 and 22, a KD 44 and don’t get me started on the Mitchell game! – 9:00 AM
More on this storyline
Why didn’t things splinter apart after all the Kyrie [Irving] stuff — why have you guys come back together now when things could have easily exploded? Kevin Durant: Because we were together regardless. I think coming into the training camp, we understood that it’s going to be a lot on us from a media standpoint, from just the noise in general around our team, so I think that made us tighter once camp started. I know we was able to take the Kyrie stuff and move in stride because we were already stuck together before that. We started to win some games, started to get better as a team, and do some things out there that work for us. And now it seems like everything was patched all together, but it felt like it was always cool, to be honest. -Street ESPN /January 6, 2023
Over the summer, when you decided to come back, why were you so confident that you guys still could compete for a title? I don’t even look at s— that way. My whole thing was like — are we, does the process matter to us? And that’s one thing I did know that people here enjoy, grinding. So that was the most important thing for me. Titles and stuff come with the process in which you — how you prepare. It was more so, “All right, are we going to practice harder? Are we going to pay more attention to detail?” Not just everybody else, all of us, me included. Is that going to be preached to us every day? I had the faith that that would happen because I voiced that throughout the summer as well. Even behind the scenes, like, “Yo, this is what I like to do. This is how I like to practice.” I’ve been saying that for the last couple years, so I figured at that point with me going through that, they understood what I value. That’s what I was hanging my hat on, the preparation side of it. -Street ESPN /January 6, 2023
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