On Wednesday, Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle spoke about a number of players who defined their generations, from Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s to Michael Jordan in the 90s. He believes Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry remain the faces of the NBA for this generation. "Time will tell. But James and Curry, those guys are still the gold standard, really," he told reporters . "They're still it, and those guys have been absolutely beyond belief." He added that there are a number of younger, up-and-coming stars who "have personality, that are such great promoters of the game, simply by virtue of how they play the game. With their joy, with their love." Two of them will clash when the NBA Finals begin on Thursday, with Oklahoma City Thunder guard and league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander taking on Carlisle's Pacers, led by point guard Tyrese Haliburton.
LeBron James got very personal on Instagram Monday when he posted a story that seemed to extol the virtues of therapy ― with a little help from rapper Kendrick Lamar. In the now-expired post , the 40-year-old NBA superstar said therapy showed him "how to open up!" and added, "It also showed me I don't give a F😤" The caption is actually a Lamar line from a verse he did on the unreleased Clipse track "Chains & Whips": "Therapy taught me how to open up/ It also showed me I don't give a fuck." It's possible that James meant to support Lamar and Clipse, which comprises Pusha T and No Malice. GQ reported that Universal Music Group refused to release the track with Lamar's feature out of concerns of offending Drake, who has had beef with Lamar and Pusha T. Drake is also suing UMG over its handling of Lamar's Grammy-winning diss track, "Not Like Us," which suggests the Canadian rapper is a pedophile. However, si...