Today's slate of NBA rumors surround two star players from the playoffs and one star player who can't help but attract the wrong attention.
The NBA playoff bubble is back. Stare into its iridescent gleam and find a hierarchy of stars, each trying to climb on top of each other to reach undisputable glory (whispers *the bubble was still a joke*).
At the bottom, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown humbly trying to find their form in fourth quarters. Slightly above them, LeBron James has fallen and can't get up; an emo Austin Reaves extends his rock guitar to help him onto his feet. And at the very top, Jimmy Butler in his bear cave cackling over his media day dreads photos alongside a stoic Nikola Jokic. Jokic doesn't talk much, and the media doesn't talk much about Jokic either.
Let's start with LeBron, shall we?
NBA Rumors: LeBron James gives Lakers chance of 0-2 comeback in spite of history
The chances of the Los Angeles Lakers advancing to the NBA Finals are very slim. According to ESPN stats, teams have a 6-56 all-time record when trailing 2-0 in a Conference Finals.
Everyone knows about 3-1 LeBron James, but how about 2-0 LeBron? James won two of those six series wins back in 2007 and 2018, and with his help, the Lakers just might be able to pull off the statistically near-impossible comeback.
In Games 1 and 2, the Lakers put up good fights against the Denver Nuggets, but The King ultimately fell to The Joker in a series that has been anything but jesting.
Los Angeles has yet to find a viable answer to bottle up Jokic. The Nuggets' answer to James has been….letting him orchestrate his own downfall, apparently. A few missed open buckets, that god-awful flop, and ice-cold shooting from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter — LeBron James just happens to LeBron James' biggest enemy.
People are already calling him washed and calling this series over.
If the Lakers do find a way to outwit Jokic and the Nuggets, they'll need their aging superstar to put on his cape and try not to trip on it.
NBA Rumors: Jimmy Butler reveals Heat plan to beat Celtics in the clutch
In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics poked the bear. The bear roared back.
Jimmy Butler scored 27 points to help the Miami Heat erase a double-digit deficit in the fourth-quarter and overpower the Celtics to a 111-105 victory. After Butler's headbutt with Boston's Grant Williams, Butler led the Heat on a 23-9 run to give his team a five-point lead late in the game.
It was a classic Playoff Jimmy performance. In a post-game interview, Butler told reporters about the Heat's plan to defeat the Celtics in clutch time:
"Our game plan is kind of simple in the fourth quarter, if I'm being brutally honest. It's like, "Gimme the ball to move," and I'm tasked to make the right play."
Has Joe Mazzulla been watching too many late-night movies when he should be drawing up a game plan to stop the hottest player in the league right now? Instead of being inspired by Ben Affleck's performance in "The Town", maybe he should watch Ben Affleck as Batman, because Boston need a superhero to compete against Butler's heroics this series. And humbly, Tatum ain't it.
NBA Rumors: Grit and Grind Grizzlies legend sends stern message to Ja Morant
Tony Allen a.k.a. The Grindfather is one step away from leaving a severed horse's head in Ja Morant's bed.
In the wake of Morant's second run-in with the league in which he flashed a gun on a live feed, Allen wants to steer the Memphis Grizzlies point guard in the right direction.
Allen said on Kevin Garnett's show:
"I'll definitely tell him the guns are not one of those things you play with. I just think if he got that fear of holding a gun, he should be in much need of security."
So, basically, common sense. Allen is trying to instill in Morant some basic common sense.
Allen added that Morant "might not need to be going to those places" where "you think you need a gun," which is a rambling way of telling him to quit being sketchy. The two-time All-Star isn't some undercover cop trying to bust a drug cartel. He's a professional basketball player. And simply put, he should not be waving around guns in his free time. If he has to ask why, he'll never get it.
Allen reportedly contacts Morant's father, Tee Morant, quite often and has also tried to reach out to the young Grizzlies star to likely offer some guidance.
The Grit-and-Grind legend ended his career in Memphis as one of the most impressive defenders in franchise history, though his life is not without controversy, either. Allen was charged in October of 2021 for his alleged role in a multi-million dollar health insurance fraud scheme, and the case is still ongoing.
Allen is no doubt one of many in Morant's support group trying to show Morant that his actions have consequences. Fool the league once, he gets a slap on the wrist, fool the league twice, and he's about to get suspended big-time.