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Brad Rowland: A little #reporting from me… Asa Newell is traveling with the College Park Skyhawks today. College Park is on a 3-game West Coast trip. Newell could conceivably return during the trip if needed, but he’s en route to California with the team now.
Immanuel Quickley had a night on Tuesday. Not just any other night, but a Wilt Chamberlain kind of evening. The former Kentucky Wildcats star put on a show in the Raptors’ 145-127 win over Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., leading Toronto with 40 points on 11-for-13 shooting from the field to go along with 10 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals in 34 minutes of action. Quickley’s performance made him just the second player in the history of the NBA to have at least 40 points and 10 dimes, while shooting 80% or better from the floor in a game. Chamberlain was the first one to do it, and he accomplished that monster stat line three times, according to ESPN Insights.
A record streak of longevity achieved by LeBron James will officially come to an end this year at the NBA's reimagined 2026 All-Star Game. The Los Angeles Lakers star was not voted as starter for February's NBA All-Star Game at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, next month, after 10 players – five from each conference – were revealed during the league's MLK Day coverage on Monday, Jan. 19. It breaks a record run of 21 consecutive All-Star Games in which James has been selected as a starter, dating back to his second season in the league.
Logistics-wise, Houston had come from Portland on Friday and needed to stay at least two nights in northern California. While it’s not clear to me what shut them out over the weekend since the Lakers and Knicks didn’t arrive until Sunday, I’ll note one other thing: The Rockets likely stayed in the hotel of choice for NBA teams in San Francisco, the St. Regis, and that place is niiiiiice. Teams also typically get in a practice at a health club two blocks away when they stay in San Francisco. Houston likely made this decision several months ago. Teams typically book all their rooms for the season as soon as the schedule comes out; they also sign contracts with all their preferred hotels in their own conference that guarantee playoff availability and, thus, avoid mad, chaotic scrambles in April and May.
Gary Payton II is a co-founder of the Skateboard Association (SBA), a new co-ed, equal pay professional skateboarding league based in Big Bear, California, with the intention of platforming career skaters and compensating them for their talents. An endeavor a couple of years in the making, it's the next step in Payton's journey as he looks to use his platform to support the things that are important to him. “Me growing as a person, a businessman, and an athlete– just to intertwine both of those and be able to do cool things like this– and be a part of dope things that you know will change the outlook of a sport is unique. I'm very grateful to be a part of it.”
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James Wiseman said he had spent the last three weeks in Irvine, Calif. working out and getting pickup opportunities to stay in shape. "He's been in California, working out," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "He's been finding pickup games out there. We worked him out early this morning. He looks great. He's not in NBA game shape by any stretch, no one can be, but for somebody in his situation, he's got the best head start you can probably have." It's not clear exactly how much opportunity Wiseman will have. Jay Huff and Isaiah Jackson still occupy the top two spots on the Pacers' depth chart a center and Bradley will be listed as active.
– With all of these, what did the drills and day-to-day look like? Lovell: Proactive out in West Lake (near Thousand Oaks, Calif.) at the ProActive gym. He spent a lot of time on the sand dunes just doing a lot of PT stuff and making sure that he recovers right. With the day-to-day, K is the first dude in the gym. He really took it seriously like it was year one for him. He’s a worker. He was really pushing himself. That’s what it looked like day-to-day: weight room, sand dunes doing high knees, defensive slides and sprinting up the hill. There was the courtwork. He’s a guy that has been in the league for so many years. And he still has the right mindset when it comes to approaching his day-to-day to get better as a player.
Mobley once almost quit basketball. He was in sixth grade, and having consistently played up two grade levels, growing up in Murrieta, California, he was tired of being beaten on by the older, stronger boys. He was an easy target: tall but lanky. Skinny. Young. To make matters worse, Isaiah, 20 months his senior, was racking up all the accolades. Evan was just an afterthought. “Dad, I don’t want to play basketball anymore,” Evan said. “Hold on,” Eric said. “Pump your brakes. You’re just not on your right team [for your age group]. You are really, really good, and you just don’t even know it. So, let’s try first to put you in your own age group and go from there.” Evan reluctantly agreed, but soon realized his father was right. He dominated on his new team, scoring 30 points in his first game. Soon, he fell in love with the game. He began even asking his dad to take him to the court at 5 a.m. each day to practice.
Steve Nash: We went to play these guys preseason in like Ontario, California, or somewhere. I don't even remember this. I'm guarding Stephen Curry. I think they put up like 50 in the first quarter. Maybe it was 45, but it felt like a 50-piece, right? He's running everywhere. I'm like, back is broke. I couldn't have probably stopped him even if I were 100%. And now I'm like dragging around Steve Kerr putting me in every action. I'm looking over at Steve like c’mon Stevie. He's over there smiling, too. They're laughing at me. Alvin Gentry over there laughing at me like, ‘No, let’s see what you got’. I'm like, man, literally like three, four more days of thinking on it, I was like ‘Yeah, I think it's time (to retire). And that was it. I called Mitch Kupchak.
Ayton spoke to reporters on Sunday following the Lakers’ 127-120 win over the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. The former No. 1 overall pick revealed that several of his teammates have made it a habit to “troll” him off the court as a motivational tactic. “They all have their own little things to get my head all mixed up,” Ayton said. “[Austin Reaves] is my guy. [Luka Doncic] is my guy. But my wings and my forwards? Yeah, they be trying to get me ticked off before these games just to get me rolling. I’m starting to see it as a trend because I don’t get a break until we’re on the court. Then it’s all seriousness. “I’m like, ‘Oh, this is a thing y’all want to do. Y’all want to get me on edge. Y’all want me fired up.’ I like it. … Dudes really care.”
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The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether to file formal DUI charges. Under California law, a first-time misdemeanor DUI conviction can result in fines, probation, mandatory education programs, and up to six months in jail.
A California woman who worked as a personal assistant to former NBA star Chris Bosh is suing the Basketball Hall of Famer and his wife, claiming the two created a work environment so toxic, she now regularly suffers “debilitating panic attacks.” For starters, Olga Kirpicheva, 34, says her interactions with Bosh’s wife, Adrienne, consisted largely of “yelling,” “screaming,” and “offensive language,” according to a wide-ranging employment discrimination lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
The Raptors believed there was a real chance he would return instead of going to the Clippers despite the lure of Leonard’s home state of California. Leonard didn’t want to play with LeBron James, so the Lakers were a third wheel in the sweepstakes. Jimmy Butler, a preferred partner, was headed to Miami. And Leonard recognized that Toronto was the best basketball situation, all told.
"Many years ago, before you guys were even born, I was playing on this playground at probably your age or a little older," Payton told a group of children gathered at the court. He recalled how this very park shaped his game and his character. "Especially being here from Oakland, California - in my day it was really, really rough to come out here and try to play friendly," Payton said. "People would want to get you and things like that, but you had to have that gut and that toughness."