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As our Marcus Thompson chronicled recently, it was Drew who starred at Archbishop Mitty High in San Jose, Calif., before Aaron, and Drew who shined for the AAU’s famed Oakland Soldiers. His little brother learned from him all along the way, but Drew’s hoops journey would eventually become a vagabond’s existence. He played at UCLA and New Mexico before going undrafted in 2012, then spent the next decade as an actual globetrotter professionally, going from Russia to Sardinia, Turkey, Sardinia (again), Philadelphia, Delaware, France, Lithuania, Russia (again), Long Island, Poland, Russia (again), Ukraine and Japan. “I’m living through him at this point,” Drew continued. “I’m just so happy that he was able to put his mind to what he wanted to do. And now we’re here.”
Preseason scheduling has changed. Teams used to play around eight games. Now, they’re limited to five or six. That’s led to fewer unique environment exhibitions. The Thunder no longer go to Wichita. The Warriors are having a tougher time fitting in a San Jose game. Proximity has also gained increased importance. Coaching staffs, particularly ones with more organizational sway, will nudge the preseason schedule makers to keep them as close to home as long as possible. And they’ll listen. Because it’s the franchises who put together the preseason schedule, not the league. “Teams have gotten smarter,” Kerr said. “We used to go all over the place for years. … We don’t want to travel. We have plenty of travel ahead.”
During the final preseason game in San Jose, Shaun Livingston played in some old Hyperdunks. He regrets that shoe choice. After the game, the outside part of his right foot felt sore. More than two weeks later, it still feels sore. So Livingston has temporarily shut it down. He missed the final two games on this road trip and, pregame, told The Athletic that he’s likely to miss a few more and may go for an MRI in the coming days. It’s precautionary, Livingston said, a minor issue he wants to get resolved now so it doesn’t become a major one at an inopportune time.
Anthony Slater: Shaun Livingston tells The Athletic that his foot issue started in the last preseason game in San Jose. It’s been bothering him since. May get another MRI soon. He expects to miss a few more games, but thinks it’s a minor issue. Wants to get it rested/healed now.
Ryan Ward: LeBron James on if playing Weds. vs. #Warriors around 15-16 minutes is the plan: "That's the plan." On Friday in San Jose? "I only know about Wednesday right now. I don't really look that far into the future." #Lakers
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James will likely sit out the preseason finale Friday in San Jose against the Warriors, multiple sources told ESPN, giving the 16-year veteran a full week's rest without a game before the Lakers open the regular season on Oct. 18 on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers. As for Ball, the second-year point guard has been cleared to play and participated in full-court 4-on-4 with contact this week, but the team is remaining cautious with his reintegration to the lineup. "He's close. He's close," Walton said. "And again, it's just us playing it safe right now. ... So it just felt like the right thing to do. So, he's getting real close."
Logan Murdock: Warriors just announced their preseason schedule. First game is Sep. 29 against Minnesota at Oracle. -They’ll play LeBron and the Lakers for the first time Oct.10 -They’ll also finish against the Lakers Oct. 12 in San Jose at 7:30pm pic.twitter.com/uljOk7z8qX
The San Jose, California, native is open-minded about ending free agency quickly if the Magic makes a strong offer. Gordon is just 22 years old, but the Magic could be bidding against themselves by rushing.
Clifford and Gordon didn’t know each other when the team hired Clifford on May 29. But Clifford soon traveled to Gordon’s hometown of San Jose, Calif., and spent time with Gordon.
OS: You went out to San Jose to see Aaron Gordon. You could’ve just called him up on the phone. Why go out there? And how did that go? Steve Clifford: It was very good for me because I got to see him work out. When I first got here the first day, the three of us sat down — Jeff, John and I — and they gave me a good evaluation on all the players, where they’re at. So it was a great starting point for me. And they had told me what a great worker Aaron was. So when I went out there I watched him work out in the weight room and then also on the floor. And then we had a good chance to talk, too. So it was good. Obviously, there’s a big difference between talking to someone on the phone and meeting them face-to-face. In order to build the right type of player-coach relationship, which is so critical in this league, I just feel like the face-to-face part is much more beneficial.
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Mike Bresnahan: Lakers announced six-game pre-season schedule: Denver in San Diego, Sept. 30 Denver at Staples Center, Oct. 2 Sacramento at Staples, Oct. 4 Clippers in Anaheim, Oct. 6 Golden State in Vegas, Oct. 10 Golden State in San Jose, Oct. 12
The 2017 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors announced today that the Warriors and their partners, along with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, will celebrate “Warriors Week,” starting tomorrow, Tuesday, April 10 through Saturday, April 14 to encourage the entire Bay Area to show their Strength in Numbers for the Warriors 2018 Playoffs, presented by Kaiser Permanente, which start as early as Saturday, April 14.
Tim Kawakami: I'm proud to officially say that I've joined The Athletic as editor-in-chief of the new San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose vertical.
Marc J. Spears: Kings put out preseason schedule that includes early Warriors game in San Jose. https://t.co/s0qvmu0NYG
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