<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56bffee06e97c622048b7295-1920-960/snapshot_20160213_220955.jpg" alt="Snapshot_20160213_220955" data-mce-source="TNT" /><p class="source"><span>TNT</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Zach LaVine repeated as the NBA dunk champion, but thanks to some spectacular dunks by both LaVine and Aaron Gordon, it was a contest for the ages and suddenly TNT's showcase has become must-watch again.</p><p>By the end of the night, many were calling for co-champions in an event that was reminiscent of the Michael Jordan-Dominique Wilkins dunk contest back in 1988. That is, this one was spectacular and we were all winners.</p><p>Below, we recap the 12 best dunks of the night, via TNT.</p><p> </p>

The 12 best dunks from the best NBA dunk contest in years

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="218063" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Stephen-Curry">Stephen Curry</keyword> is having a dominant, all-time season for a good, but not great, Warriors team.</li><li>Curry will push the boundaries of the <keyword id="92009" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="MVP">MVP</keyword> award, which usually goes to the best player on one of the best teams in the <keyword id="6361805" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="NBA">NBA</keyword>.</li><li>Curry's season will test how much voters value a single superstar propping up a team to respectability.</li></ul><p>In the NBA, the MVP usually goes to the best player on one of the top two or three seeds in either conference.</p><p>Rarely is this formula broken. When Russell Westbrook won the MVP in 2016-17, he became the first player to win the award while playing on a team that finished lower than third place in their conference since Moses Malone won the award in 1980-81 for the Houston Rockets. Westbrook's Oklahoma City Thunder finished as the sixth seed, but he averaged a triple-double and carried the team after Kevin Durant's free agency departure.</p><p>Without fail, each year, this leads to a debate about who wins MVP and how we define "valuable." Is it simply the best player on the best team? Or should we expand the meaning of "valuable" to who means the most to their team?</p><p>This year, Stephen Curry is set to reignite that debate in a big way.</p><h2>Curry is on pace to have an all-time great season</h2><p>Through 26 games, Curry is second in the NBA in scoring at 30 points per game. He's shooting 49% from the field and 43.5% from three-point range. He's also averaging 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.</p><p>Curry's stats are remarkably similar to his unanimous MVP season in 2015-16:</p><ul><li>Curry in '15-16: 30.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 50.4% FG, 45.4% 3FG, 90.8% FT</li><li>Curry in '20-21: 30.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 49% FG, 43.5% 3FG, 93% FT</li></ul><p>Only four NBA players are averaging over 25 points per game with an effective field goal (eFG, a weighted stat that combines field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage) above 60%: Curry, Nikola Jokic, Zach LaVine, and Kevin Durant. Curry has the highest eFG of the group at 61.3% and is the only player to hit more than 100 threes on the season.</p><p>Curry is on pace to make history, again. Before this season, only four players have averaged over 25 points per game with 60% eFG for a whole season. Curry has done it three times, LeBron James has done it twice. Kevin McHale and Charles Barkley both did it, but neither did it with anywhere close to Curry's three-point shooting volume.</p><div type="image" title="stephen curry 2" height="1271" width="1695" msid="80903445" hostid="261"></div><h2>Curry is carrying an average Warriors team</h2><p>Of course, the major difference between Curry's 2015-16 season and this season is the '15-16 Warriors went 73-9, setting the record for the best regular season in NBA history.</p><p>The 2020-21 Warriors are 14-12.</p><p>What makes Curry's scoring prowess all the more impressive this time around is that he's playing without Klay Thompson, a lethal second scoring threat who stretches defenses thin. In fact, Curry has little help on offense at all. Draymond Green is a master orchestrator but is almost a non-scoring threat - he's averaging five points per game on 35% shooting. Kelly Oubre Jr., acquired via trade in the offseason, has mostly been a let-down on offense, though his shooting and scoring have ticked up in February.</p><p>Andrew Wiggins has been the second-best scorer for the Warriors and is indeed having one of his best seasons. The seventh-year forward is averaging 17.8 points per game on 47% shooting, 37% from three. Yet while his counting stats are nice, he has a Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of just 14.8 - 15 is considered league average. The Warriors have outscored opponents by just five total points with Wiggins on the floor this season.</p><div type="image" title="stephen curry andrew wiggins" height="1333" width="1777" msid="80903446" hostid="261"></div>Meanwhile, the Warriors are +66 with Curry on the floor this year. When Curry sits, the Warriors have been outscored by 33 points. For a team that is +33 on the season, Curry (and Green, who is a +90) is largely the difference-maker.<p>There is another illustrating on/off split: the Warriors have an offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) of 112.5 with Curry on the floor, a figure that would rank ninth in the league if it were sustained. With Curry off the floor, the Warriors have an offensive rating of 99.7 - a figure that is five points lower than the Cleveland Cavaliers' league-worst offense.</p><p>This year, opponents should theoretically have an easier time stopping and game-planning for Curry. He is by far the Warriors' biggest threat on offense, and the league has changed significantly since Curry lit it on fire in 2015-16. Defenses have a greater understanding of how to stop this game-bending force.</p><p>Instead, Curry wreaks havoc on defenses, still. Unlike most other superstars, Curry rarely gets his buckets in isolation situations. His movement off the ball is an art form:</p><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/1bud4w" width="700" height="394" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>And he creates points that he doesn't get credit for.</p><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/nb90bf" width="700" height="366" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>Two Mavericks players flocked to Curry to try and stop him, leaving Mychal Mulder (yes, this is one of Curry's Warriors teammates this year) wide open for a cutting dunk.</p><div type="image" title="curry_screen" height="517" width="1034" msid="80903447" hostid="261"></div><p>Simply put: the Warriors would be lost without Curry.</p><p>This is where Curry is going to warp this year's MVP conversation. How much do we value a single superstar propping up his team? The Warriors sans Curry would be a lottery team and likely one of the three worst offensive teams in the NBA. </p><p>With Curry, they're currently the eighth seed in the West. They figure to make the postseason, though it may have to be through the 7-10 seeds play-in tournament.</p><p>Arguably no single player is carrying his team to a greater degree. The usual MVP candidates - that is, the best players on the best teams - play on deep, loaded rosters. Damian Lillard is carrying an injury-riddled Blazers team that is in the playoff mix. However, their depleted roster is arguably as good if not better than the Warriors', and Curry's stats are still better.</p><p>Curry is having one of the best seasons in the entire NBA, and his team is <em>good</em> as a result, but not <em>great</em>. How much will voters value an all-time great talent keeping his team in the mix? In terms of who means the most to their team, there may not be a better answer than Curry.</p>

Stephen Curry is on fire and going to push the boundaries of who can be the NBA's MVP

<p><span>Good morning! Here are the plays everybody will be talking about Monday.</span></p><p><strong>Zach LaVine brought the dunk contest to a regular season game.</strong>&#xa0;One month after winning the best dunk contest in years, LaVine put on another show for the fans in Charlotte, throwing down a 360 dunk and throwing it down with authority. It wasn't enough as the Hornets won 108-103.</p><p><iframe width="800" height="451" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/3ckw?muted=1&amp;autoplay=1"></iframe></p><p><strong>A 24-foot shot for Stephen Curry is sometimes a layup</strong>. The Warriors beat the Magic on Monday night, 119-113, with Curry having a ho-hum 41 points, including seven 3-pointers. One of those 3-pointers was so certain to go in that Andrew Bogut actually left a potential rebounding position and started running up the court celebrating ... before Curry even shot the ball.</p><p><iframe width="800" height="451" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/3xh9?muted=1&amp;autoplay=1"></iframe></p><p><strong>He stopped what?</strong>&#xa0;The Lightning fell to the Flyers 4-2 with backup goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy in the net. But despite allowing three goals on the night, he also recorded the save of the night, going post-to-post and stonewalling a 2-on-0 point-blank wrist shot.&#xa0;</p><p><iframe width="800" height="451" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/ilwt?muted=1&amp;autoplay=1"></iframe></p><p><strong>Your obligatory Stephen Curry bonus play</strong>. Curry's sixth 3-pointer of the night was also his 300th 3-pointer of the season, becoming the first NBA player to ever hit 300 in a season. It was also classic Curry. After a defensive switch, Curry is bring guarded on the wing by the 6-foot-10 Ersan Ilyasova. Most players would have a hard time creating enough space to get a shot off over Ilyasova's outstretched arms. Curry isn't most players, making the slightest of moves and unleashing a pull-back three from about 28 feet. Unreal.</p><p><iframe width="800" height="451" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/uyeb?muted=1&amp;autoplay=1"></iframe></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/peyton-manning-money-broncos-sports-super-bowl-cash-2016-2">How Peyton Manning makes and spends his money</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Z5aWdtMDE6DhzZsYeqoQHnYALMPqXMn-" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'Z5aWdtMDE6DhzZsYeqoQHnYALMPqXMn-',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The 3 plays in sports everybody will be talking about today

<p>Zach LaVine's NBA draft stock is soaring right now.</p>
<p>After leaving UCLA, where he played limited minutes off the bench and got very little attention, the exceptionally athletic guard is now <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-2014-nba-draft-prospects-2014-5">the No. 18-overall prospect in the loaded 2014 draft</a>, according to the expert consensus.</p>
<p>LaVine worked out for the Los Angeles Lakers this afternoon. He showed off his athleticism, jumping a <a href="https://twitter.com/coachdavemiller/status/474265515288834048">46-inch</a> vertical leap.</p>
<p>Goodness (<a href="https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/474270618259431424">via @Lakers)</a>:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/538f75486bb3f75807722536-1023-682/zach-lavine-vert.jpg" border="0" alt="zach lavine vert" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/474270618259431424">@Lakers</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>

NBA Draft Prospect Jumps Freakishly High At Lakers Workout

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b4ca9624474db38008b47ab-1500/todd gurley.jpg" border="0" alt="todd gurley" data-mce-source="Rick Scuteri/AP" /><p class="source"><span>Rick Scuteri/AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley said NFL players are "mad" about the huge contracts NBA players sign.</strong></li><li><strong>Gurley said he would like $80 million on his next deal, which he said would pale in comparison to the $100-million-plus contracts some NBA players get.</strong></li><li><strong>Unfortunately for Gurley, running back is not asx valued valued as other positions in the NFL, as the current highest-paid running back is making $41 million over five seasons.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />As NFL players prepare for training camp and the start of the 2018 season, they have taken notice of how players in other leagues are getting paid.</p><p>In an <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-todd-gurley-20180712-story.html#">interview with The Los Angeles Times' Gary Klein</a>, Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley said NFL players are "mad" about NBA contracts.</p><p>Gurley had previously told TMZ that for NFL players to get guaranteed contracts, players would have to hold out in a lockout. He laughed about the comment to Klein but confirmed he would like more money.</p><p><span>"Us NFL players, we're just mad about NBA contracts right now, that's all," Gurley said. "I just want like $80 million. Those guys are getting like $150 [million]. It's crazy. It's insane."</span></p><p><span>Though NBA free agency was quieter this offseason, in part because few teams had the cap space to offer big contracts because of previous misspending, there were still some whoppers. LeBron James got $154 million from the Los Angeles Lakers, Paul George got $137 million from the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Chris Paul got $160 million from the Houston Rockets. Even restricted free agents like Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon signed $78 million and $84 million contracts, respectively.</span></p><p><span>Gurley, a top NFL running back, won't come anywhere close to those numbers. The highest-paid running back right now is the Atlanta Falcons' DeVonta Freeman, who signed a five-year, $41.2 million contract in 2017. </span></p><p><span>Le'Veon Bell is currently holding out from the Pittsburgh Steelers for a contract that would pay him like a top running back and top receiver. The highest-paid receiver is Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who signed a five-year, $82 million extension.</span></p><p>Defensive linemen and quarterbacks rival the salaries of the top NBA players, but even they fall a little short. Matthew Stafford signed a whopping five-year, $135 million contract, with an annual average of $27 million and as much as $92 million guaranteed. That's still far less than what James signed for with the Lakers this summer.</p><p>Gurley is not the first NFL player to have this gripe. In 2016, Washington Redskins cornerback <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/josh-norman-why-nfl-players-hate-franchise-tag-2016-7">Josh Norman told Business Insider</a> that NFL GMs were ripping off NFL players and that players in other sports only do 20% of the work that NFL players do.</p><p>"Look, we risk our lives and put our lives on the line to play this sport, because it's physical. It's the most physical sport that's played," Norman said. "You look at all these other sports and other teams, they're getting their players max deals, and they're doing half of what we do. I don't even wanna say half of what we do. They're probably doing 20% of what we do."</p><p>"Our life expectancy for the NFL is less than other sports. So, it's like, come on, man, we're getting the short end of the stick everywhere you turn."</p><p>Gurley has one more year left on his rookie deal before he's up for a new contract. Even if he repeats his 1,300-yard, 13-touchdown season in 2018, he's unlikely to get an $80 million deal next year.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/world-cup-referee-fifa-official-soccer-2018-7">What it takes to be a World Cup referee</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/C6mS5Lux-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

'I just want like $80 million' - Rams running back Todd Gurley says NFL players are mad about huge NBA contracts

<p><span>Good morning! Here are the plays everybody will be talking about Wednesday.</span></p><p><strong>King James really wanted a foul.</strong> The Cavaliers beat the Mavericks 110-107 in overtime, but they may not have gotten that far if not for LeBron James taking over in the final 30 seconds. After taking an inbounds pass, James took on the entire defense himself and slammed home a game-tying dunk that he really thought should have also produced a free throw. It did not. The Cavs won anyway.</p><p><iframe width="800" height="451" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/jhw9?muted=1&amp;autoplay=1"></iframe></p><p><strong>Now this is how you (almost) make a bucket and draw a foul</strong>. On a fast break against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves went up for a dunk and got fouled by Kevin Durant. At first it looked like a good foul to prevent the easy bucket. Instead, the ball went high up off the backboard and fell back through the basket. Alas, the officials reviewed the play and ruled the ball hit out of bounds and the basket was waived off. Disappointing. The Thunder won 101-96.</p><p><iframe width="852" height="480" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/a89p?muted=1&amp;autoplay=1"></iframe></p><p><strong>The Greek Freak! </strong>The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls 106-101 and none of the baskets were prettier than this alley-oop to The Greek Freak, Giannis Antekounmpo. He had 29 points and 10 rebounds and is still just 21 years old.</p><p><iframe width="800" height="451" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/rdgo?muted=1&amp;autoplay=1"></iframe></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-tiger-woods-spends-his-millions-pga-nike-golf-net-worth-2015-12">How Tiger Woods makes and spends his millions</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="gwdXV0eTrVXwksNJJprUiRvigWUNwbXQ" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'gwdXV0eTrVXwksNJJprUiRvigWUNwbXQ',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

<p><span>Good morning! Here are the plays everybody will be talking about Wednesday.</span></p><p><strong>Bringing the dunk contest to the regular season.</strong> One night after Zach LaVine threw down a 360 dunk, his dunk-contest rival Aaron Gordon seemingly responded with his own windmill dunk, and he did it in traffic. Next year's dunk contest will be a treat.</p><p><iframe width="800" height="448" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/1wsi?muted=1&amp;autoplay=1"></iframe></p><p><strong>Hockey buzzer-beater</strong>. The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators 4-3 in overtime. But the real excitement came at the end of regulation, as Jeff Skinner ripped a shot past several defenders and the goalie, crossing the line a split-second before the buzzer. It was so close that the refs had to go to replay to confirm that the game was not over.</p><p><iframe width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fc1_jyccc5A"></iframe></p><p><strong>Manny Machado</strong><strong> is still good at baseball</strong>. It's spring training and everybody is just getting warmed up, but Machado's glove is in midseason form.</p><p><iframe width="800" height="448" frameborder="0" src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=549156083&amp;topic_id=6479266&amp;width=800&amp;height=448&amp;property=mlb">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe></p><p><strong>A squash bonus</strong>. The fun thing about squash is that it is like taking the incredible speed of international table tennis and putting both players on the same side of the table, adding the extra degree of difficulty of having to avoid your opponent. This play comes from the Professional Squash Association as Paul Coll goes Superman, twice, to win a point. The second-best part of this play is his opponent's reaction afterward.</p><blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">RIDICULOUS!! @paul_col1 with back-to-back superman dives to win point against <a href="https://twitter.com/james_willstrop">@james_willstrop</a> OUT OF THIS WORLD! <a href="https://t.co/Xyvgg3Xtwr">https://t.co/Xyvgg3Xtwr</a></p>- PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) <a href="https://twitter.com/PSAWorldTour/status/707315463374569472">March 8, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/peyton-manning-money-broncos-sports-super-bowl-cash-2016-2">How Peyton Manning makes and spends his money</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Z5aWdtMDE6DhzZsYeqoQHnYALMPqXMn-" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'Z5aWdtMDE6DhzZsYeqoQHnYALMPqXMn-',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a39639ab0bcd5f7018b5f5e-1307/nikola%20mirotic.jpg" alt="nikola mirotic" data-mce-source="Kamil Krzaczynski/AP"><p class="source"><span>Kamil Krzaczynski/AP</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong>The Chicago Bulls are on a six-game winning streak that has coincided with the return of Nikola Mirotic.</strong></li><li><strong>Miroti missed the first 23 games of the season after being punched in the face by teammate Bobby Portis.</strong></li><li><strong>Mirotic is putting together a career year so far and has sparked a Bulls team that appeared to be tanking.</strong></li></ul><hr><p><br>The Chicago Bulls are one of the hottest teams in the NBA at the moment, riding a six-game winning streak that was extended on Monday with a 117-115 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.</br></p><p>The streak has coincided with the return of forward Nikola Mirotic, who returned to game action on December 8 and has been a catalyst since then.</p><p>Mirotic's season got off to a bumpy start when he got into an altercation with Bulls big man Bobby Portis. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nikola-mirotic-bobby-portis-fight-hospitalized-out-indefinitely-2017-10">Portis punched Mirotic in the face</a>, sending him to the hospital with a concussion and several facial fractures. The Bulls suspended Portis for eight games while Mirotic missed the first eight weeks of the season.</p><p>Everything in between the altercation and Mirotic's return was ugly. Mirotic's camp reportedly <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nikola-mirotic-bobby-portis-fight-bulls-trade-remand-2017-10">demanded the team traded him or Portis</a>. As Mirotic, who signed a two-year, $27 million deal this offseason, returned to the team from the hospital, he was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nikola-mirotic-not-talking-bobby-portis-fght-2017-11">still not speaking to Portis</a>.</p><p>However, once Mirotic got back on the court, something strange happened with the Bulls - they began winning.</p><p>Mirotic himself has been a spark, averaging 20 points and 7 rebounds per game on 52% shooting, 50% from three, all career-highs. Over that span, the Bulls rank 11th in offensive rating and fourth in defensive rating, outscoring teams by nearly eight points per 100 possessions, the fourth-best mark in the league.</p><p>Even more coincidental, the pairing of Portis and Mirotic on the court has been lethal for the Bulls, as they've outscored teams by 18.8 points per 100 possessions in 74 minutes together.</p><p>Both Portis and Mirotic are shooting career-highs from the three-point line. Put them on the floor together, and opponents have to deal with two pick-and-pop options.</p><p>The inside-outside versatility of both players works in some instances.</p><p>Head coach Fred Hoiberg praised the confidence Mirotic has brought to the Bulls.</p><p><span>"Niko has brought a confidence to this team," Hoiberg said. "You see our bench really rallying behind him when he's out there making plays. You see the guys on the floor celebrating together when he makes the big plays ... When you've got guys out there playing with confidence, that rubs off on the whole team."</span></p><p><span>Mirotic told reporters recently that he and Portis aren't speaking off the floor, though he publicly accepted Portis' apology when he returned to the team.</span></p><p><span>There are some who may not be happy about the Bulls win streak. The team clearly went into this season in rebuild mode, with the goal of getting a top draft pick. At 9-20, they're far from playoff contention in the Eastern Conference, but with several intriguing draft prospects this season, fans may not want the Bulls to climb too far out of the doldrums.</span></p><p><span>Mirotic's strong play only adds to a list of surprising developments for this Bulls team. The returns from the Jimmy Butler trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves look better and better with time. No. 7 pick Lauri Markkanen looks like a gifted scorer and Kris Dunn is putting together a solid second season at point guard after a miserable rookie year. The team is still waiting for the return of Zach LaVine from ACL surgery, but he figures to play into the team's long-term plans when he does return.</span></p><p><span>Suddenly, this Bulls team has a core of young, unique, and promising players to build around. Mirotic's scoring has suddenly given them something to rally around.</span><span></span></p><div><iframe src="https://streamable.com/s/z1o36/ayrmrq" width="720" height="405" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><iframe src="https://streamable.com/s/7gx43/vbtvjk" width="720" height="405" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-olympics-terrible-investment-host-city-china-rio-pyeongchang-2017-12">Why the Olympics are a terrible investment for the host city</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/vsJWGQ08-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div></hr>

Bulls player who was punched in the face by a teammate and missed the first 8 weeks has returned to the team and now they're on fire

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54d3d4c569beddaa6b8b456c-1139-854/tom-thibodeau.jpg" alt="tom thibodeau" data-mce-source="Christian Petersen/Getty" /><p class="source"><span>Christian Petersen/Getty</span></p><p class="caption">Tom Thibodeau is being tasked with making the Wolves contenders.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The Minnesota Timberwolves are close to making a giant move to get to the next level.</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/722837169727873026">According to ESPN's Marc Stein</a>, the Timberwolves are closing in on a 5-year, $50 million deal with Tom Thibodeau to become head coach and president of basketball operations.</p><p>It's not only a whopping figure in what's becoming an increasingly common move, giving coaches personnel control, it shows the Timberwolves are on the rise.</p><p>Minnesota already owns one of the most intriguing young cores in the NBA. Karl-Anthony Towns, the No. 1 pick in 2015, is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/karl-anthony-towns-taking-over-nba-2016-4">sure to be Rookie of the Year and a future superstar</a>; Andrew Wiggins, the 2014 No. 1 pick, looks likely to become one of the NBA's best two-way wings. Around them, they have Ricky Rubio, a great point guard when healthy; Zach LaVine, a young, high-flying combo guard; Shabazz Muhammad, a gifted scorer; and Gorgui Dieng, a solid, young center.</p><p>And they still have a likely top-4 pick coming in the draft this June.</p><p>There's talent to work with and develop in Minnesota, and with the league's salary cap exploding in the next two seasons, the Wolves will have cap space to bring in veterans. It's a perfect mold. The young, promising core is attractive enough, but add in Thibodeau, who had a 255-139 record as Bulls head coach, and they're sure to bring in free agents.</p><p>Though Thibodeau had an ugly falling out in Chicago, and he never reached the Finals with the Bulls, he also routinely crafted one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, even amid annual onslaughts of injuries. The Bulls, regardless of who was on the floor, were stingy and competitive every night under Thibodeau.</p><p>A team doesn't hire Tom Thibodeau, and throw everything but the kitchen sink at him in the process, to tank for another two or three years. The move shows the Wolves are looking to move up in the NBA world, and on the surface, Thibodeau looks like one of the best possible hires to take them there.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wwe-insider-behind-the-scenes-lingo-terms-kayfabe-mark-2016-4">This video will change the way you watch the WWE</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Q1NDdsczp4E6do27gAgWNP3DqcN9zpd7" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'Q1NDdsczp4E6do27gAgWNP3DqcN9zpd7',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The Minnesota Timberwolves are about to spend $50 million to take one of the NBA's most intriguing teams to the next level

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58da43dd2dfbdb63018b47f4-1867/ap17087118144304.jpg" alt="Russell Westbrook" /><p class="source"><span>LM Otero/AP</span></p>On Monday night, TNT will broadcast the first annual NBA Awards, celebrating the best performances of the 2016-17 NBA season. The show starts at 9 p.m. and can also be streamed live on the official <a href="http://www.nba.com/NBAawards" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NBA website</a>.<p>While the league has given out the award for Most Valuable Player since the '50s, the NBA is branding this as something of a new beginning for the award. Hosted by Drake and featuring a live performance from Nicki Minaj, the show is being marketed as something akin to the ESPYs to reward the best performances of the season.</p><p>After a postseason that lasted for almost two months, the regular season may feel like a distant memory, but you might remember a furious debate regarding triple-doubles and the definition of "value" that still needs to be settled. The nominees for each category have been widdled down to three finalists, the most notable omission being LeBron James left off the MVP final ballot of what was always a four-way race going into the last few weeks of the season.</p><p>The finalists for the traditional awards that will be distributed tonight are as follows:</p><p><strong>Most Valuable Player:</strong> James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard<br /><strong>Rookie of the Year:</strong> Malcolm Brogdon, Joel Embiid, Dario Saric<br /><strong>Sixth Man Award:</strong> Eric Gordon, Andre Iguodala, Lou Williams<br /><strong>Coach of the Year:</strong> Mike D'Antoni, Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra<br /><strong>Most Improved Player:</strong> Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, Nikola Jokic<br /><strong>Defensive Player of the Year:</strong> Rudy Gobert, Draymond Green, Kawhi Leonard</p><p>In addition to these standard awards, the NBA is mixing in a few new awards that will be awarded by fan vote. While these awards are of less consequence (I have yet to see an NBA contractual bonus for players that win "Dunk of the Year") they are good fun and help to ensure the show won't just be a slow spectacle of speeches.</p><p>These awards also provide us with some fantastic highlight clips to show off the nominees. You can watch them below courtesy of NBA on TNT.</p><h3>Dunk of the Year: Larry Nance Jr., Zach LaVine, Victor Oladipo</h3><h3>Assist of the Year: Draymond Green and Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic, Chris Paul</h3><h3>Game Winner of the Year: Tyler Ulis, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook</h3><p>If feels like we've lived a lifetime of basketball since the regular season ended, and with many teams already excited about their newly drafted players, it's easy to look ahead. But if you want to take one last look back at the highlights and moments the 2016-17 season have to offer, tonight's the night to do it.</p><p>Summer League is only two weeks away.</p><blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Another look at the 2016-17 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DunkOfTheYear?src=hash">#DunkOfTheYear</a> nominees! 🔨<br /><br />The winner will be revealed tomorrow night on TNT at the first-ever <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAAwards?src=hash">#NBAAwards</a> 📺 <a href="https://t.co/sC43CgTmvm">pic.twitter.com/sC43CgTmvm</a></p>- NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/879081913184604161">June 25, 2017</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Take another look at the nominees for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AssistoftheYear?src=hash">#AssistoftheYear</a>! 👀 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAAwards?src=hash">#NBAAwards</a> <a href="https://t.co/X5nuFH7z9V">pic.twitter.com/X5nuFH7z9V</a></p>- NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/878643907143188481">June 24, 2017</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Another look at the finalists for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameWinnerOfTheYear?src=hash">#GameWinnerOfTheYear</a> 🔥🔥🔥<br /><br />Don't miss the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAAwards?src=hash">#NBAAwards</a> Tomorrow at 9pm ET on TNT! <a href="https://t.co/em8kQj0S7G">pic.twitter.com/em8kQj0S7G</a></p>- NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/879051593395470337">June 25, 2017</a></blockquote>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/12-time-olympic-medalist-dara-torres-eating-habits-during-training-2017-6">A 12-time Olympic medalist reveals her eating habits during training</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video                    

The NBA is holding its first-ever show for regular-season awards -here's everything you need to know

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5846f711ba6eb6d3008b7b63-1362/undefined" alt="karl anthony towns" data-mce-source="Jim Mone/AP" /><p class="source"><span>Jim Mone/AP</span></p><p class="caption">Karl-Anthony Towns walks off the floor after his 47-point, 18-rebound effort against the Knicks doesn't lead to a win.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Above all, Tom Thibodeau is preaching hard work and consistency to the young Minnesota Timberwolves.</p><p>For stretches, the Timberwolves show why they're perhaps the most intriguing team in the NBA - an athletic, gifted outfit with the previous two Rookie of the Year winners, four other lottery picks, and so much young talent that logic dictates they'll eventually have to trade someone for financial and competitive reasons.</p><p>However, the Timberwolves have struggled to piece those promising stretches together, as evidenced by their 6-14 record.</p><p>After leading the Chicago Bulls to five straight playoff appearances, Thibodeau, who was hired in April, was expected to help the Wolves take the jump from lottery mainstay to playoff contender this year. It appears the climb has been steeper than perhaps he or the NBA world expected.</p><p>The Wolves are 13th in the Western Conference, losers of seven of their last ten games. Following a 118-114 loss to the New York Knicks last Friday night, in which the Wolves fell behind by double-digits, mounted a fourth-quarter comeback, then ultimately fell short (for the second straight game), Thibodeau said his team ran the "gamut" of issues on the court.</p><p>"We're gonna keep working at it, I can tell you that," said Thibodeau.</p><p>He continued, "That's gotta be our mentality: improve. We gotta learn. Winning is hard in this league, winning is hard. ... If you wanna win, you look at the teams that win consistently, they do all the dirty work and they put all the things that are necessary into winning. And that's what we have to learn."</p><p>Thibodeau takes issue with numerous aspects of the Wolves' execution: help defense, rotations, communication, "home run" shots, an over-commitment to three-pointers. For all of the combined talents of the Wolves' core of Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and Zach LaVine - improved shooting, ball-handling, and otherworldly athleticism - and others like Ricky Rubio and Gorgui Dieng, meshing these talents has been an arduous process.</p><p>Though they're a top-1o offense, they're 23rd in defense, allowing 106.5 points per 100 possessions. However, for a team that's currently eight games below .500, their -.5 net rating (difference between points scored and points allowed per 100 possessions), suggests they're a team knocking on the door of success.</p><p>"We're right there as a team," center Cole Aldrich told Business Insider before the loss to the Knicks. "We've been in 18 games so far, and really, every game but maybe two, we've had a chance or we've won."</p><p>The Wolves' temperamental quarter-by-quarter net ratings are indicative of a young, developing team, one struggling with minute-to-minute consistency. They have an 8.2 net rating in first quarters, a 10.8 net rating in second quarters, a <em>-26.6</em> net rating in third quarters, and a 4.6 net rating in fourth quarters. For 36 minutes a game, the Wolves are winners, outscoring teams significantly. For some reason, third quarters plague them.</p><p>"When you have young guys, it's understanding also what goes into winning, how hard it is to win in this league, and how hard you have to play all the time," said Thibodeau. "Not some of the time, it's all the time. This is a hard league."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5846f454ba6eb601688b6c26-1500/undefined" alt="tom thibodeau" data-mce-source="Jim Mone/AP" /><p class="source"><span>Jim Mone/AP</span></p><p class="caption">Tom Thibodeau believes in his team's character and work ethic.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Towns, Wiggins, and LaVine are all 21 years old. Though the Wolves are heavy on talent, they're short on experience. Last season, the Wolves' chasm between youth and veteran experience seemed to benefit the team overall, despite a 29-53 record. The '15-16 Wolves employed Kevin Garnett, 39 years old, Andre Miller (before a midseason trade), 39, and Tayshaun Prince, 35. <span>With Garnett, Miller, and Prince all out of the league, the Wolves turned to valuable role players, albeit ones with shorter resumes. </span>This year, the Wolves' veteran presence comes in the form of journeymen like Aldrich, 28, John Lucas III, 34, and Brandon Rush, 31.</p><p>Rush, who spent the last two seasons with the Golden State Warriors, said he's shared some of his experiences after making two straight Finals with the team, but is not concerned with the Wolves' slow start. </p><p>"I've been on winning and losing teams. I've been on teams where we started out bad and everything turned out to be great," said Rush.</p><p>"Things can turn around in a heartbeat."</p><p>One night after squandering a comeback against the Knicks, the Wolves managed to cobble together a win, overcoming another double-digit deficit to beat the Charlotte Hornets. The Wolves held Charlotte to just 36% shooting in the fourth quarter, showcasing the commitment to defense that Thibodeau preaches, while shooting 52% from the field, 60% from downtown themselves. They forced overtime thanks to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT0CjFQfOTk">a "home run" three-pointer from Wiggins</a> with 8.9 seconds left. They then took the game in overtime.</p><p>This is part of the "learning curve," as Thibodeau says. It's a long season, and all members seem to believe that this slow start is temporary.</p><p><span>"We have high character, good work ethic, and I think we will improve," said Thibodeau.</span></p><p>"It's a progression of just finding ways to get better each and everyday," said Aldrich. "And when you look back at the end of the season, you're like, 'Wow, we really improved.'"</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/countries-most-olympic-athletes-caught-doping-2016-11">New doping tests are stripping Olympians of their medals - here are the countries that dope the most</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="RlZ3FmNTE6eRVsvrZRQfM5Wmcf5lQjXI" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'RlZ3FmNTE6eRVsvrZRQfM5Wmcf5lQjXI',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The Minnesota Timberwolves - the NBA's most promising young team - are still a work in progress

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58f1138bcf6d8ffa3b8b45e8-1477/undefined" alt="aaron gordon" /><p class="source"><span>Jonathan Bachman/Getty</span></p><p class="caption">Aaron Gordon was eliminated from the dunk contest after two rounds.</p>On February 19, Aaron Gordon experienced one of the lowest moments of his young career.<p>Tasked with headlining the 2017 All-Star Dunk Contest after a jaw-dropping performance in 2016, the 21-year-old Orlando Magic forward simply couldn't get a dunk to go down.</p><p>On a big stage with thousands of people watching, Gordon repeatedly missed his dunks, falling out of the competition after just two rounds.</p><p>Afterward, Gordon was down on himself. In a hotel room in New Orleans, Graham Betchart was there to pick him back up.</p><p>"Guess what," Betchart told Gordon. "We're still talking. So that means you're not dead. ... You didn't die." It was just a dunk contest, Betchart stressed. There's more to life.</p><p>Gordon and Betchart didn't need to talk much, but for Gordon, having worked with Betchart, his mental coach, for many years, the experience of learning to pick himself up and move on helped him get over the incident.</p><p>Increasingly, around the NBA, other players are looking toward Betchart to learn those same skills.</p><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58f13bc6c75d4a1a008b472e-1200/undefined" alt="graham betchart 1" /><p class="source"><span>Via Graham Betchart</span></p><p class="caption">Aaron Gordon (right) has known Graham Betchart since he was 11.</p><h2><span>'We're not trying to save a 25-year-old, we're trying to train a 15-year-old'</span></h2><p>In today's era of the NBA, players are specializing every skill. Players might have a shooting coach, a ball-handling coach, a nutritionist, a strength coach - all to zero in on specific skills and enhance their careers. As the competition mounts across all areas of the league, players need new areas to gain an edge. The next step: mastering the mental side of things.</p><p>Betchart, 38, was intrigued by the idea of sports psychology in the early 2000s and sensed there was a developing market for mental coaching. He began his career by working with youth basketball teams, teaching the idea of being mentally strong, washing away nerves, pressure, and fear of failure at various camps. Betchart developed his own company, Play Present, even writing a book of the same title on the subject in 2015. In 2016, Betchart sold Play Present to Lucid, a Bay Area-based mental training app for athletes that costs $99.99 a year, for an undisclosed amount, <a href="https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/meet-the-sports-psychologist-training-the-minds-of-the-nbas-top-draft-prospects">according to Vice</a>.</p><p>Over the years, Betchart has built an impressive clientele in the NBA, the result of the tiresome job of preaching his ideas to young basketball players. Betchart now works with a list of players including Gordon, Philadelphia's Ben Simmons, Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and Zach LaVine, Boston's Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, Dallas' Dwight Powell, and many others.</p><p>Betchart said that early on, he stressed teaching young players who are more driven and focused. Then, as they worked toward being a professional, he was there to help them. Additionally, it's easier to teach these ideas to younger players, he said.</p><p>"We all go through stuff in life, right? Life is full of stuff that happens. We're gonna go through hard times, that's totally normal," Betchart told Business Insider. "But if they get to 25 years old or so, mid-20s, and they have a lot of these tools, and they've done a lot of the mental training and they're aware and they know how to be present and they know how to deal with feelings, then they're gonna deal with these situations that occur in life much better, and they're not gonna completely derail them."</p><p>He added: "We're not trying to save a 25-year-old, we're trying to train a 15-year-old, which is a much different philosophy."</p><p>Powell, like most of Betchart's clients, met Betchart at a young age when Betchart was speaking to his team at Stanford. Powell was skeptical of Betchart's ideas, but as his career went on, he, too, wanted to find another way to gain an edge on the competition.</p><p>"You realize there's only so much you can do as far as putting in time every day on the court or in the weight room or watching film," Powell told Business Insider. "You have to really maximize it, so the mental side helps you take full advantage of the time that you spend working on your craft. I think it's those periods in your career where you kind of see plateaus or even dips in development, I think that's when you start looking for answers or and you start kind of looking back through kind of your Rolodex of things you've done in the past."</p><p>Betchart's day-to-day routine has changed since getting acquired by Lucid. He says he works more on the promotional side of things and records audio lessons for the app at his home studio. After years of working in what he calls "start-up mode," he's thankful for the change, noting that trying to form relationships with players, traveling, and making a footprint in the basketball world had put a strain on his life.</p><p>However, Betchart still maintains relationships with those players and is there when they need to talk.</p><p>"My work with athletes is pretty random," Betchart said. "They'll just text you and wanna check in. They'll give you a call randomly. ... There's no real routine with the players I work with except that they know I'm here. ... It's just being available and being there when they call." </p><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58f1141531fdc73a008b4b5d-1500/undefined" alt="dwight powell" /><p class="source"><span>David Zalubowski/AP</span></p><p class="caption">Mavericks forward Dwight Powell was skeptical of mental coaching, but has embraced it recently.</p><h2>'Focus on things they can control and let go of everything else'</h2><p>Betchart's lessons vary, but they all seem to have one underlying message - don't stress over what you can't control. For NBA players, that can be a multitude of things.</p><p>"They'll come to you with a situation that's out of their control, like coaches, like referees, like a contract, or for the simple matter that nothing is fair in basketball. There is no fair. It doesn't work like that," said Betchart.</p><p>"So, what you're really helping them do is learn to focus on things they can control and let go of everything else. It's hard because you basically don't control anything. You control your ability to focus on this moment, be present, and then focus on the task at hand."</p><p>Gordon, who met Betchart when he was 11, was almost immediately intrigued by the idea of mental coaching.</p><p>"I was open-minded and inquisitive as a kid, so I was all for it," Gordon said. "I'm a very analytical and contemplative person, so sometimes that gets in the way of basketball. What I was looking for was to really think the game, as an intellect, but then once you get on the court, let that go, feel free and flow, and play the game."</p><p>Gordon said one of the lessons he values most is the idea of having a "next-play mentality" - whatever happened happened, so move onto the next play. That can be an important lesson off the court, too. Betchart said after LaVine tore his ACL in February, he was almost immediately on the phone with the young Wolves guard and his agent, plotting the surgery, rehab, and how to move on.</p><p>Powell said he enjoys the lesson of visualization - imagining a play or game beforehand, envisioning what he wants to do, then going out and trying to do it.</p><p>"When he first walked us through visualizations and talked to us about the value of them and how to prepare your mind ... I was very skeptical because I thought I'm just playing a movie in my head," Powell laughed. "But that's something I continue to even do on a more frequent basis, rather than just before the game. It's before each play, before each scenario, you kinda can walk yourself through it. It calms you down, it prepares you and I think it's something really valuable."</p><h2>'An iron fist and a velvet fist at the same time'</h2><p>Betchart's lessons must strike a fine line between compassion and competitiveness, as he puts it. There's room for understanding, but often times, players have to accept a "deal-with-it" type of mentality.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"You have to have an iron fist and a velvet fist at the same time, and you have to know when to use them both," Betchart said. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"You have to use these two words at the same time together: competitive compassion. And I try to teach them these two words. Competitive: you have to want that ball. You have to want to want it more than that person next to you if you want a rebound. And then you have to develop compassion, that if you go for it, you go all-in, whatever happens after that, who cares? Be at peace. Because you might go all in, do everything right, and that person next to you is simply better... If you beat yourself up after that and you're hard on yourself, you're not gonna make it."</span></p><p>The message seems to be resonating with players. Boston's Jaylen Brown says the training has helped him develop in his first pro season. Powell said he finds himself using the lessons more and more. Gordon says the lessons have helped him think about his future after basketball.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Lucid gives me the confidence to believe in myself enough to where after my career I have a capability and potential to be anything I wanna be," said Gordon, who is also a spokesman for the company. "And that goes with understanding who I am as a human being. So they go hand-in-hand."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Powell and Gordon both would recommend the idea of mental coaching to other players, young and old alike. However, perhaps Brown best summarized the impact of this emerging skill.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I wouldn't recommend it because I'm trying to beat some of those players out. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I don't want them to pick up on the stuff [that helps] me get a mental edge. But it's definitely helped me so far."</span></p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wwe-superstar-charlotte-flair-wrestlemania-fitness-diet-exercise-2017-3">WWE superstar Charlotte Flair reveals her WrestleMania fitness and diet plans</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video                    

A 38-year-old mental coach has become one of the NBA's premier resources for an emerging skill

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="56400" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="ESPN">ESPN</keyword>'s "<keyword id="9035239" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-jump">The Jump</keyword>" will return to air beginning Monday, April 13, resuming its afternoon time slot from 3-3:30 p.m. ET.</li><li>The network's leading <keyword id="6361805" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="NBA">NBA</keyword> show ordinarily operates out of ESPN's studio in Los Angeles, but the state of California's shelter-in-place order has made it impossible to do so.</li><li>Now, "The Jump" will broadcast live from its talents' in-home studios using software on a remote tablet instead of a control room.</li><li>Insider spoke with "The Jump" host <keyword id="740711" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rachel-Nichols">Rachel Nichols</keyword> and ESPN VP of Production Mike Shiffman about the ins and outs of creating the show without access to a studio.</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>After more than two weeks off the air, ESPN's "The Jump" will broadcast live in its afternoon time slot from 3-3:30 p.m. ET every weekday.</p><p>The network's leading NBA show, which ordinarily operates out of ESPN's studios in Los Angeles, was forced to shut down its regular production schedule when <a href="https://covid19.ca.gov/stay-home-except-for-essential-needs/">Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the state to stay home</a> or at their place of residence.</p><p>Without access to a studio or control room and with all cast and crew members isolated in their respective homes, it was impossible for "The Jump" to continue as a live show with the high-level production value fans know and love.</p><p>That is, until now.</p><p><div type="image" title="TJ At Home Danny Corrales" height="640" width="480" msid="75081276" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Thanks to special software, iPad cameras, adjusted WiFi speeds, volume control, and "incredible ingenuity," the "Live from Home" team — which comprises ESPN's Remote Ops, Production, Production Ops, Creative Services, Transmission, Network Engineering, and Media Engineering teams — were able to pull off the spectacular feat of creating a live daily show from their living rooms and basements.</p><p>"I am in such debt to the people who worked so incredibly hard on the technical side to make what I believe is still magic — there might be some elves involved, it is Disney after all," 'The Jump" host Rachel Nichols told Insider. "I can't believe that they were able to figure out a way to produce an entire television show with everybody at home, not a single person in our television facility."</p><p>"The fact that we are going to be able to go back on the air on linear television is amazing," she added.</p><p>Despite the expediency with which the team worked to bring "The Jump" back to live TV five days per week, the process of getting to that point was far from seamless. Just over a month ago, the show was still fulfilling its role as the ABC Saturday night pregame show.</p><h2>Rachel Nichols and "The Jump" were on site at the Warriors game in San Francisco days before the NBA shut down</h2><p>Nichols and company typically travel to the location of whatever Saturday-night game ABC has rights to for their broadcast. However, the Saturday, March 7 matchup between Golden State and the Philadelphia 76ers came with a unique array of questions.</p><p>The Warriors were scheduled to host the game at the Chase Center, their brand-new arena located in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco. However, the City by the Bay had just become the first in the country with a recommended limit on public gatherings.</p><p><div type="image" title="chase center warriors" height="1000" width="1333" msid="75081281" hostid="261"></div></p><p>"That recommendation was made on the Friday before the game and we were broadcasting live from the court on Saturday in San Francisco," Nichols said. "There had already been the beginnings of discussions of 'Do we have games with no fans?' We really didn't know if we were going to show up to the game on Saturday night, and maybe earlier in the day the NBA or the Warriors would have decided 'Hey, we're going to follow this recommendation and there will be no fans in the building.'"</p><p>The "twin storyline" of the evening, as Nichols referred to it, was that Golden State megastar Stephen Curry planned to sit out the game because he was feeling sick. With the country just beginning to teem with anxiety due to the increasing threat of the coronavirus pandemic, fans and reporters alike wondered if the two-time NBA MVP's illness could be <em>the</em> illness.</p><p>The chatter surrounding Curry's condition grew loud enough to force a statement from the Warriors communications staff. As it turned out, the sharpshooting point guard <a href="https://twitter.com/WarriorsPR/status/1236432791979446273">had tested positive for Influenza A, or a "seasonal flu."</a></p><p>Still, tensions were high enough to render the moment a "smack in the face" for Nichols.</p><p>"That was the biggest jolt to me at the beginning," Nichols said. "Wait, I'm going to work tonight in an arena — which is what I do for a living — and we don't know if fans are going to be there and one of the teams is having to issue a statement about whether one of the players has a potentially deadly virus. So that was the first 'Wow, this is a different animal' moment."</p><h2>Then, the NBA world stopped, and the rest of the world would follow soon after.</h2><p>"The Jump" returned to its regular weekly slot that Monday, but as the COVID-19 situation around the globe grew in intensity, the state of the NBA season began to shift. By Wednesday, what was once a considered far-fetched idea had become foregone conclusion; the league would soon start playing games without fans.</p><p>"There was a conference call with the NBA's board of governors that was supposed to decide whether they were just going to start playing without fans," Nichols said. "They had that conference call on a Wednesday. We were thinking that was the direction they were going to go."</p><p>But by Wednesday night, everything changed.</p><p><div type="image" title="rudy gobert" height="844" width="1125" msid="75081287" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Just minutes before the Utah Jazz game against the Oklahoma City Thunder was scheduled to tip-off, Jazz big man <a href="https://www.insider.com/donovan-mitchell-has-coronavirus-rudy-gobert-careless-before-diagnosis-2020-3">Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19</a>. With <a href="https://www.insider.com/3-nba-teams-faced-rudy-gobert-in-days-before-he-tested-for-coronavirus-2020-3">more than 20% of the league's players forced into quarantine</a> due to recent contact with the reigning defensive player on the year, the <a href="https://www.insider.com/nba-season-suspended-rudy-gobert-coronavirus-2020-3">NBA was left with little choice but to suspend its season</a>.</p><p>"The dominos came that quickly," Nichols recalled. "From everything being seemingly fine on Thursday, to Saturday night having the 'Are we going to have fans and is Steph Curry possibly infected with a deadly virus?' to 'Okay, the whole NBA probably isn't going to have fans,' to, four hours later, 'There's no NBA anymore right now.'"</p><p>"As all of those dominos fell in a four-day period and directly affected us at 'The Jump' so much because we were broadcasting throughout all of that, that was the biggest eye-opener of 'Wow, things are changing,'" she added.</p><p>Still, Nichols and the rest of "The Jump" crew had no real conception of just how much things would change. The team planned to continue broadcasting as usual from their studio in Los Angeles. Just because the NBA had stopped didn't necessarily mean they would have to, and they intended to do everything within their power to fill the hour.</p><p>Even as social distancing measures came into effect, "The Jump" crew adapted.</p><p><div type="image" title="The Jump Studio" height="1000" width="1500" msid="75081290" hostid="261"></div>"Literally, our crew took a tape measure out, put us six or seven feet apart, and we sat around our table and did our show that way," Nichols said. "We made a few other changes in the studio so that everybody was touching their own stuff and that nobody was getting near each other."</p><p>"That worked until the California governor issued a shelter in place," she added. "And so that next domino fell."</p><h2>Once California was placed under lockdown, "The Jump" crew had little choice but to cease production</h2><p>Unless deemed essential workers, individuals were forced to stay in their homes and places of residence starting Thursday, March 19. ESPN executives decided to close down the company's Los Angeles studio to condense the network's operations and function with as minimal an in-studio staff as possible.</p><p>For "The Jump," that meant no more access to the studio or control room.</p><p>For most broadcasts, that would mean no more show.</p><p><div type="image" title="Screen Shot 2020 04 09 at 4.32.53 PM" height="825" width="1484" msid="75081293" hostid="261"></div></p><p>"We started with a lot of very smart technical people brainstorming on how we can produce 'The Jump' with everyone from home," ESPN VP of Production Mike Shiffman told Insider. "A lot of shows right now have the talent on from home, but this is inclusive of the producer, the director, the control room people being from home, too."</p><p>While everybody who works for "The Jump" was trying to determine how to recreate its typical live broadcast from the comfort — or confinement — of their homes, the NBA was still churning out the <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword>.</p><p>"While all of that technical production stuff was happening, there kept being a crazy amount of NBA news," Nichols said. "There might be a thought of, 'Oh, well the NBA shuts downs, what is there to  talk about anyway?' It turned out that there was some sort of news almost every day, and some sort of need for a place to have those discussions."</p><p>And given the workhorse mentality that characterizes Rachel Nichols, that meant the show was still operating despite its limited capacity.</p><p>"We've been producing segments for our digital platforms throughout this whole time," Nichols said. "We've been trying to be there even though we haven't been on the air. We've still been trying to be a hub. We've been doing our regular style of segments with Scottie Pippen, Richard Jefferson, Kendrick Perkins, Brian Windhorst, and some of our talent ... That's been nice that the thread was never completely cut."</p><p>From the logistics of rebooting a league during a pandemic to the "fun stuff" like watching LeBron James streaming on Instagram Live, Trae Young posting on Twitter, or other stars posting clips to TikTok, Nichols and "The Jump" staff felt there was enough content to fill their regular hour-long linear television slot. They just needed to figure out how.</p><p><div type="image" title="lebron james" height="683" width="911" msid="75081295" hostid="261"></div></p><p>"I wonder if we were not in an age of social media how easy or hard a daily show with no NBA season would be to pull off," Nichols said. "But in some ways, we're trained for this because of when 'The Jump' shifted a few years ago from being a show that just ran during the NBA season to being a show that also ran throughout the summer. We're used to August and September when there isn't really a lot of NBA news and no basketball, but these players are still personalities and present to a lot of fans who want to know what's going on with them and want to know what they're doing. Fortunately, the gift of social media lets us in on that."</p><h2>"The Jump" began building back to full capacity through "a lot of trial and error"</h2><p>"That set off the scramble of 'How do we do this?' And the key really turned out to be the control room," Nichols said. "We can all broadcast from home, and you've seen network news anchors broadcasting from home and many of our other anchors on ESPN are broadcasting from home, but you generally have needed a control room in a studio to integrate all that and integrate the graphics and B-roll and everything else to make that work."</p><p>"We have the ability to edit video remotely from people's houses," Shiffman added. "They basically file transfer it to get it into the system. We can build graphics from people's homes, and then what's basically replacing a full control room is a touch-screen technology."</p><p>That's where Ty Frison comes in.</p><p>Frison is the coordinating director for the show, and of the "many MVPs on this project," he tops the list.</p><p><div type="image" title="Frison_Ty_3" height="2000" width="1500" msid="75081302" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Frison has touch-screen software in his house that allows him to manually control the video, audio, B-roll, and graphics. In essence, one man is operating a makeshift control room for an entire live production. And he's doing it from an iPad while sitting on his couch.</p><p>"He's a very special guy, and that iPad and couch are very special to me, too," Nichols joked.</p><p>Still, there were other issues to work out, one of which was how to maintain the conversational nature of the show when the talent couldn't be together in person.</p><p>"One of the things about 'The Jump' I always say is it should feel like you're sitting around in your living room with your friends talking about basketball, but what if one of your friends was Tracy McGrady?" Nichols said. "That was the defining ethos of the show, and that's a little bit harder to do if everyone's on a delay, and you can't see each other."</p><p>Lagging video or audio would disrupt the entire flow, so the technical staff was tasked with making sure everyone was moving at the same speed — literally.</p><p>"Obviously, WiFi plays a huge role here, in terms of the talents' home cameras," Shiffman said. "Not just the video quality, but the audio. Their ability to hear each other in real-time is clearly key for a show that's conversation-based. Our tech group was able to match their WiFi up to make it possible."</p><p>The talent also had to find a way to assemble in-home studios. In Nichols' case, one staffer was able to help get her setup in order before the shelter-in-place order was mandated.</p><p>"We were starting to set this up before the shelter-in-place went through, and there wasn't the same set of instructions of 'everybody stay in their homes and don't let anyone in,'" Nichols said. "Fortunately, ESPN is able to operate this with an impressively skeleton crew; it's one person who came into my house, and she was amazing and got my whole set up up and running. It's tremendous the skillset that all the people involved that had to make this happen — it's kind of bonkers."</p><p><div type="image" title="TJ at Home" height="1125" width="1500" msid="75081304" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Then there was the issue of actually <em>filming</em> the show without camera crews on site. Nichols said that the talents' replacement cameras are just iPads fixed to a stand six feet in front of them. And while it seems like a simple setup, some unforeseen technical difficulties arose along the way — like when Kendrick Perkins' camera suddenly went out without warning.</p><p>"Why did his camera go out? Oh my god, did we lose the signal? Where is it? What happened? Did something happen with his camera? Did something happen in his house?" Nichols recalled asking. "No, the battery ran out. We just had to learn that those iPads have to be 100% charged at the start of each show because if they're even 50% charged, you're going to run out of battery by the end of the show."</p><p>"It's that level of trial and error," she added. "How could anyone have known? We haven't ever tried to do an entire TV show like this before... It was definitely baby steps of crawling before you can walk."</p><p>And so they tried, and they errored. They started with one interview; Rachel spoke with Kevin Love, and they shared the conversation on social media. Once that worked, they set their mind to filming a segment that would fit in one block between commercials. They eventually got that right and moved on to stringing multiple segments together. Soon, they began incorporating all the different moving parts.</p><h2>Now, "The Jump" is ready to return to the airwaves</h2><p>"We've had rehearsals that I would've felt 100% confident through watching at home that you would have no idea it's being produced in a different way," Shiffman said. "The quality is just the quality you would expect on linear TV if we had full production capabilities in Los Angeles."</p><p>Nichols agreed.</p><p>"It got to the point where the last few rehearsals we did if we had put them straight onto television, I really don't think anybody watching at home would have known we were using a different system than we had always been using before."</p><p><div type="image" title="the jump" height="1000" width="1500" msid="75081309" hostid="261"></div></p><p>It's an incredible feat given that its only been a few short weeks since the world stopped, and the crew was ousted from its studio.</p><p>"When I look back at what we've accomplished as a collective group, and a group that came together very quickly, it will be up there in my top tier of accomplishments, memories, and things we've been able to do in my time at ESPN," Shiffman said. </p><p>Nichols said she takes solace in seeing "people rising to the occasion so consistently" all across the country.</p><p>"Obviously, the biggest example of that is our medical and frontline healthcare workers, but I see it all the time in all these other little ways," Nichols said. "And I see it at the place I work in such an impressive and tremendous way.</p><p>"All the stuff that you were used to doing, you're trying to relearn how to do from scratch in this brand new way, and I think that's true for everyone in all their jobs right now," she added. "Everyone in America is dealing with that right now, and we're just another group of people who's dealing with it."</p><p>"But we'll be showing you all of our mistakes and accomplishments on television," she added with a chuckle.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/nwsl-cannabis-policy-allows-cbd-use-rapinoe-backed-mendi-partnership-2020-4">Major professional sports leagues have been slow to embrace the cannabis revolution. The NWSL and the Rapinoe sisters are breaking the trend.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/floyd-mayweather-trash-talked-diana-taurasi-threatened-to-buy-wnba-team-2020-4">Floyd Mayweather once threatened to buy Diana Taurasi's team when she trash-talked him during a game, and it was 'the one time she's ever been silenced'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/kobe-bryant-dominated-basketball-camp-kevin-hart-left-handed-2020-4">Kobe Bryant used only his left hand to dominate an entire basketball camp — including comedian Kevin Hart — when he was in high school</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/espn-horse-competition-nba-trae-young-zach-lavine-twitter-exchange-2020-4">Trae Young and Zach LaVine had a hilarious Twitter exchange after learning they'd be facing off in ESPN's H-O-R-S-E competition</a></li></ul>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/espn-the-jump-return-live-from-rachel-nichols-house-2020-4">Insider</a>

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