The injuries just keep on piling up for the Milwaukee Bucks. Their All-Star point guard Damian Lillard aggravated his Achilles in a 121-118 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday and is now facing a race against time to be ready for Game 4 of the first-round playoff series between the two teams.

Lillard initially tweaked his ankle in the first quarter but returned to the court after a short visit to the locker room. But late in the fourth quarter, Lillard experienced issues with his Achilles, which limited his impact. He didn’t attempt a single shot in the overtime as the Pacers snatched Game 3 and took a 2-1 lead in the series.

Speaking with reporters after the game, Lillard said that he hopes he can bounce back in time to play in Game 4.

“It’s one of those spots on your body where you literally can’t, you can’t do nothing about it. If you can’t move, you can’t move. We have a couple of days to start and try to get ahead of it. Get it feeling better and get ready for Sunday,” said Lillard.

If Lillard is unable to go against the Pacers, the Bucks will be in a tough situation. They are already without their superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has been out since early April with a calf strain. Additionally, three-time All-Star Khris Middleton was dealing with an ankle issue and was questionable for Game 3 but managed to suit up and ended up delivering a 42-point performance.

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After earning his first All-Star selection, the Philadelphia 76ers’ point guard Tyrese Maxey received recognition for his outstanding 2023-24 campaign. On Tuesday, Maxey was unveiled as the recipient of the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.

Maxey received 51 first-place votes and a total of 319 points from the panel of voters. Chicago Bulls’ Coby White came in second with 32 first-place votes and 305 total points, while Houston Rockets’ Alperen Sengun had 92 points.

After the 76ers traded James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers in the early 2023-24 season, Maxey was trusted with the starting point guard role and ended up delivering his career season. He averaged career-highs across the board, finishing the campaign with 25.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.0 steals.

“I have had to take different steps,” Maxey said after being presented with the award. “In the offseason, I didn’t know what the situation was going to be with James, so my thing was I have to work on pick and roll every day, working on passing, working on reads … those little things excite me the most, because I don’t think I couldn’t have made the plays I’m making this year in recent years.

The award for Most Improved Player is the first regular-season award presented for the 2023-24 season. In the following days, more awards will be handed out, including awards for Coach of the Year and Clutch player of the year.

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The Brooklyn Nets have wrapped up their head coaching search. The franchise announced that they have hired Sacramento Kings’ assistant Jordi Fernandez for the position.

The Nets fired head coach Jacque Vaughn after a poor start to the 2023-24 season, with assistant Kevin Ollie taking over on an interim basis. Brooklyn finished the campaign at No. 11 on the Eastern Conference standings with a 32-50 record.

Fernandez has served as the Kings’ assistant for the past two years while also coaching Canada’s national team, with whom he won a bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He previously had a stint as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets and served as the head coach for the G League team Canton Charge.

The Nets considered a number of candidates for their head coaching vacancy, including the former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, but ended up deciding that Fernandez was the best option available.

“We’re thrilled to announce Jordi Fernández as Brooklyn’s new head coach,” said Nets’ general manager Sean Marks in a statement. “As we progressed through an extensive search over the past six weeks, it became increasingly clear that Jordi is the best coach to lead our team forward. Jordi brings a diverse set of experiences and basketball knowledge gained over the course of a coaching career that has taken him around the world.”

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The NBA announced the finalists for its regular season awards for the 2023-24 season, including Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. 

The list of finalists for the MVP award includes Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Jokic is looking for his third MVP award, while Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander are the first-time finalists.

Minnesota Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert is looking to add another DPOY award to his resume, having claimed the honor three times so far. He will be challenged by Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo and San Antonio Spurs’ rookie Victor Wembanyama.

Wembanyama is also in the running for the ROY award and is the overwhelming favorite to win it. OKC’s Chet Holmgren and Charlotte Hornets’ Brandon Miller are the two other finalists.

OKC’s Mark Daigneault, Timberwolves’ Chris Finch, and Orlando Magic’s Jamahl Mosley are in the running for the Coach of the Year award. Daigneault led his team to a 57-25 record and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, while Finch and Timberwolves finished just one win behind OKC with a 56-26 record. Mosley, on the other hand, guided the Magic to the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 47-35 record and the first playoff appearance since 2019–20.

The finalists for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award are Malik Monk (Sacramento Kings), Bobby Portis (Milwaukee Bucks), and Naz Reid (Timberwolves). Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers), Alperen Sengun (Houston Rockets), and Coby White (Chicago Bulls) are in the running for the Most Improved Player award, while the Clutch Player of the Year award will go to either Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), DeMar DeRozan (Bulls) or Gilgeous-Alexander.

The winners for each award will be announced during the NBA playoffs.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points as his team defeated the Orlando Magic 97-83 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff clash. This is Mitchell’s fifth consecutive game in which he scored at least 30 points, thereby tying 1 that Mitchell has scored at least 30 points, tying Alex English for the sixth-longest streak in NBA history. It is also the longest streak among active players.

“It’s all about setting a tone,” Mitchell said following his impressive performance. “This is exciting and I love it and it’s great but in the same token, this game is only one game. This is trying to set that tone but now we have to do it again and again.”

Throughout his first 45 playoff games, Mitchel has scored at least 30 points in 21 games. He played a pivotal role in lifting Cleveland to fourth position in the Eastern Conference standings during the regular season.

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Veteran small forward DeMar DeRozan has aired his desire to remain with the Chicago Bulls as he enters the twilight of his career. He emphasized his desire to win following the Bulls’ disappointing 112-91 loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.

“My stance on wanting to be here is still the same, but I just want to win,” DeRozan explained. The 34-year-old player proved to be a pivotal player for the Bulls during their final play-in tournament game, scoring 22 points in 41 minutes. The rest of the Bulls’ starters posted a combined 45 points.

DeRozan has enjoyed three promising seasons in Chicago, averaging 25.5 points on 49.6% shooting and contributing 5.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. He was named to the All-Star team in 2022 and 2023. Set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer, Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas has expressed a desire for DeRozan to remain with the Bulls due to his ability to mentor young upcoming players.

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The New Orleans Pelicans will have to try and secure a playoff berth without their star Zion Williamson. The Pelicans announced on Wednesday that Williamson is dealing with a hamstring injury and will miss the Play-In game against the Sacramento Kings.

Williamson was hurt with less than four minutes remaining in the Play-In game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. At that point, Williamson scored 40 points and added 10 rebounds, helping the Pels tie the score.

However, after Williamson went down, the Pelicans didn’t have enough firepower to complete the comeback and suffered a 106-110 loss. They can still make it to the postseason as the eighth seed if they manage to get a win against the Kings on Friday.

Even if New Orleans clinches a playoff spot, they won’t have Williamson at their disposal, considering he is ruled out for at least two weeks.

Injuries have been a recurring story for Williamson since he entered the league as the No. 1 overall selection in 2019. He played only 114 games in his first four years, a stretch that saw him miss the 2021-22 season completely.

However, when available, Williamson has played at a star level. This season, he appeared in 70 games, his career high, while averaging 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game.

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Six-time All-Star power forward Blake Griffin announced his retirement from the NBA on Wednesday. Griffin, who is best known for his time with the Los Angeles Clippers, walks away from professional basketball after 13 years in the league.

Griffin last played in 2022–23, when he appeared in 41 games with the Boston Celtics and averaged a career-low 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds. He remained unsigned throughout the 2023-24 season.

The former first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft made his retirement announcement via a statement shared on social media.

“I never envisioned myself as the guy who would have a ‘letter to basketball’ retirement announcement … and I’m still not going to be that guy. But as I reflected on my career, the one feeling I kept coming back to and the one thing I wanted to express was thankfulness,“ Griffin wrote in the statement. “The game of basketball has given me so much in this life, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

After sitting out his rookie season due to a knee injury, Blake Griffin made his NBA debut in the 2010-11 NBA season and immediately took the league by storm. He won the Rookie of the Year honors, was named an All-Star, and won the Slam Dunk Contest in his first year as a pro. Griffin would follow that by being an All-Star in each of the next four seasons while also finishing third in MVP voting in the 2013-14 season.

After this dominant five-year stretch, injuries derailed Griffin’s career and caused the Clippers to trade him to the Detroit Pistons midway through the 2017-18 season. Griffin briefly returned to All-Star form in 2018–19 before the injuries got the better of him once again. He was released by the Pistons during the 2020–21 season and played one-and-a-half seasons with the Brooklyn Nets before a stint with the Celtics.

Griffin retires with NBA career averages of 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game.

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U.S. Basketball is reportedly finalizing the 12-man roster for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. Team USA is expected to be headlined by superstars LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers), Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors), and Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns).

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, James, Curry, and Durant will be joined by Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Devin Booker (Suns), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jrue Holiday (Celtics), Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat) and Anthony Davis (Lakers). Wojnarowski adds that Team USA could opt to keep one spot open for the time being.

Team USA is looking for redemption after a disappointing run at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which saw them missing out on a medal with a third-place game loss to Canada. Out of players who were on the World Cup team, only Haliburton and Edwards will return for the Paris Olympics.

Curry will play at his first-ever Olympic games. He was close to playing at the 2016 Games in Rio but ended up withdrawing due to injuries. On the other hand, James returns to the Olympics for the first time since 2012, when he led Team USA to the gold medal.

Durant is the most accomplished Olympian on the team, having played in the last three Olympics and won gold each time.

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You are probably familiar with various promos offered by NBA teams during games. Some NBA teams will hand out T-shirts, others will offer discount codes, while some will treat their fans with free food in case of certain events.

The Los Angeles Clippers have a particularly interesting promo that states all fans in the arena will get free chicken if an opposing player misses two consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter. This promo came into play during the regular-season finale against the Houston Rockets, thanks to center Boban Marjanovic.

Both the Clippers and Rockets had virtually nothing to play for as teams were locked in their places on standings. So, when Marjanovic went to the line with 4:44 left in the fourth quarter and missed his first free throw, he decided to treat the Clippers fans with some free food. He intentionally missed his second free throw, telling the crowd: “It’s on me,” and prompted huge cheers from the stands.

While some players probably wouldn’t want to do any favors to opposing fans, Marjanovic had plenty of reasons to do this for the Clippers’ fans. The 35-year-old Serbian played for parts of two seasons with the franchise, and despite appearing in only 56 games, he became a fan favorite due to his lighthearted humor and contagious energy.

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The injuries just keep on piling up for the Milwaukee Bucks. Their All-Star point guard Damian Lillard aggravated his Achilles in a 121-118 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday and is now facing a race against time to be ready for Game 4 of the first-round playoff series between the two teams.

Lillard initially tweaked his ankle in the first quarter but returned to the court after a short visit to the locker room. But late in the fourth quarter, Lillard experienced issues with his Achilles, which limited his impact. He didn’t attempt a single shot in the overtime as the Pacers snatched Game 3 and took a 2-1 lead in the series.

Speaking with reporters after the game, Lillard said that he hopes he can bounce back in time to play in Game 4.

“It’s one of those spots on your body where you literally can’t, you can’t do nothing about it. If you can’t move, you can’t move. We have a couple of days to start and try to get ahead of it. Get it feeling better and get ready for Sunday,” said Lillard.

If Lillard is unable to go against the Pacers, the Bucks will be in a tough situation. They are already without their superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has been out since early April with a calf strain. Additionally, three-time All-Star Khris Middleton was dealing with an ankle issue and was questionable for Game 3 but managed to suit up and ended up delivering a 42-point performance.

The post Bucks’ Damian Lillard Dealing with Aggravated Achilles, Hopes to Be Ready for Game 4 vs. Pacers appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After earning his first All-Star selection, the Philadelphia 76ers’ point guard Tyrese Maxey received recognition for his outstanding 2023-24 campaign. On Tuesday, Maxey was unveiled as the recipient of the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.

Maxey received 51 first-place votes and a total of 319 points from the panel of voters. Chicago Bulls’ Coby White came in second with 32 first-place votes and 305 total points, while Houston Rockets’ Alperen Sengun had 92 points.

After the 76ers traded James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers in the early 2023-24 season, Maxey was trusted with the starting point guard role and ended up delivering his career season. He averaged career-highs across the board, finishing the campaign with 25.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.0 steals.

“I have had to take different steps,” Maxey said after being presented with the award. “In the offseason, I didn’t know what the situation was going to be with James, so my thing was I have to work on pick and roll every day, working on passing, working on reads … those little things excite me the most, because I don’t think I couldn’t have made the plays I’m making this year in recent years.

The award for Most Improved Player is the first regular-season award presented for the 2023-24 season. In the following days, more awards will be handed out, including awards for Coach of the Year and Clutch player of the year.

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The Brooklyn Nets have wrapped up their head coaching search. The franchise announced that they have hired Sacramento Kings’ assistant Jordi Fernandez for the position.

The Nets fired head coach Jacque Vaughn after a poor start to the 2023-24 season, with assistant Kevin Ollie taking over on an interim basis. Brooklyn finished the campaign at No. 11 on the Eastern Conference standings with a 32-50 record.

Fernandez has served as the Kings’ assistant for the past two years while also coaching Canada’s national team, with whom he won a bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He previously had a stint as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets and served as the head coach for the G League team Canton Charge.

The Nets considered a number of candidates for their head coaching vacancy, including the former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, but ended up deciding that Fernandez was the best option available.

“We’re thrilled to announce Jordi Fernández as Brooklyn’s new head coach,” said Nets’ general manager Sean Marks in a statement. “As we progressed through an extensive search over the past six weeks, it became increasingly clear that Jordi is the best coach to lead our team forward. Jordi brings a diverse set of experiences and basketball knowledge gained over the course of a coaching career that has taken him around the world.”

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The NBA announced the finalists for its regular season awards for the 2023-24 season, including Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. 

The list of finalists for the MVP award includes Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Jokic is looking for his third MVP award, while Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander are the first-time finalists.

Minnesota Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert is looking to add another DPOY award to his resume, having claimed the honor three times so far. He will be challenged by Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo and San Antonio Spurs’ rookie Victor Wembanyama.

Wembanyama is also in the running for the ROY award and is the overwhelming favorite to win it. OKC’s Chet Holmgren and Charlotte Hornets’ Brandon Miller are the two other finalists.

OKC’s Mark Daigneault, Timberwolves’ Chris Finch, and Orlando Magic’s Jamahl Mosley are in the running for the Coach of the Year award. Daigneault led his team to a 57-25 record and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, while Finch and Timberwolves finished just one win behind OKC with a 56-26 record. Mosley, on the other hand, guided the Magic to the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 47-35 record and the first playoff appearance since 2019–20.

The finalists for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award are Malik Monk (Sacramento Kings), Bobby Portis (Milwaukee Bucks), and Naz Reid (Timberwolves). Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers), Alperen Sengun (Houston Rockets), and Coby White (Chicago Bulls) are in the running for the Most Improved Player award, while the Clutch Player of the Year award will go to either Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), DeMar DeRozan (Bulls) or Gilgeous-Alexander.

The winners for each award will be announced during the NBA playoffs.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points as his team defeated the Orlando Magic 97-83 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff clash. This is Mitchell’s fifth consecutive game in which he scored at least 30 points, thereby tying 1 that Mitchell has scored at least 30 points, tying Alex English for the sixth-longest streak in NBA history. It is also the longest streak among active players.

“It’s all about setting a tone,” Mitchell said following his impressive performance. “This is exciting and I love it and it’s great but in the same token, this game is only one game. This is trying to set that tone but now we have to do it again and again.”

Throughout his first 45 playoff games, Mitchel has scored at least 30 points in 21 games. He played a pivotal role in lifting Cleveland to fourth position in the Eastern Conference standings during the regular season.

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Veteran small forward DeMar DeRozan has aired his desire to remain with the Chicago Bulls as he enters the twilight of his career. He emphasized his desire to win following the Bulls’ disappointing 112-91 loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.

“My stance on wanting to be here is still the same, but I just want to win,” DeRozan explained. The 34-year-old player proved to be a pivotal player for the Bulls during their final play-in tournament game, scoring 22 points in 41 minutes. The rest of the Bulls’ starters posted a combined 45 points.

DeRozan has enjoyed three promising seasons in Chicago, averaging 25.5 points on 49.6% shooting and contributing 5.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. He was named to the All-Star team in 2022 and 2023. Set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer, Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas has expressed a desire for DeRozan to remain with the Bulls due to his ability to mentor young upcoming players.

The post DeRozan Looks to Remain With Bulls Ahead of Retirement appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The New Orleans Pelicans will have to try and secure a playoff berth without their star Zion Williamson. The Pelicans announced on Wednesday that Williamson is dealing with a hamstring injury and will miss the Play-In game against the Sacramento Kings.

Williamson was hurt with less than four minutes remaining in the Play-In game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. At that point, Williamson scored 40 points and added 10 rebounds, helping the Pels tie the score.

However, after Williamson went down, the Pelicans didn’t have enough firepower to complete the comeback and suffered a 106-110 loss. They can still make it to the postseason as the eighth seed if they manage to get a win against the Kings on Friday.

Even if New Orleans clinches a playoff spot, they won’t have Williamson at their disposal, considering he is ruled out for at least two weeks.

Injuries have been a recurring story for Williamson since he entered the league as the No. 1 overall selection in 2019. He played only 114 games in his first four years, a stretch that saw him miss the 2021-22 season completely.

However, when available, Williamson has played at a star level. This season, he appeared in 70 games, his career high, while averaging 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game.

The post Pelicans’ Zion Williamson Diagnosed With Hamstring Injury, Will Miss Play-In Game vs. Kings appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Six-time All-Star power forward Blake Griffin announced his retirement from the NBA on Wednesday. Griffin, who is best known for his time with the Los Angeles Clippers, walks away from professional basketball after 13 years in the league.

Griffin last played in 2022–23, when he appeared in 41 games with the Boston Celtics and averaged a career-low 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds. He remained unsigned throughout the 2023-24 season.

The former first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft made his retirement announcement via a statement shared on social media.

“I never envisioned myself as the guy who would have a ‘letter to basketball’ retirement announcement … and I’m still not going to be that guy. But as I reflected on my career, the one feeling I kept coming back to and the one thing I wanted to express was thankfulness,“ Griffin wrote in the statement. “The game of basketball has given me so much in this life, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

After sitting out his rookie season due to a knee injury, Blake Griffin made his NBA debut in the 2010-11 NBA season and immediately took the league by storm. He won the Rookie of the Year honors, was named an All-Star, and won the Slam Dunk Contest in his first year as a pro. Griffin would follow that by being an All-Star in each of the next four seasons while also finishing third in MVP voting in the 2013-14 season.

After this dominant five-year stretch, injuries derailed Griffin’s career and caused the Clippers to trade him to the Detroit Pistons midway through the 2017-18 season. Griffin briefly returned to All-Star form in 2018–19 before the injuries got the better of him once again. He was released by the Pistons during the 2020–21 season and played one-and-a-half seasons with the Brooklyn Nets before a stint with the Celtics.

Griffin retires with NBA career averages of 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game.

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U.S. Basketball is reportedly finalizing the 12-man roster for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. Team USA is expected to be headlined by superstars LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers), Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors), and Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns).

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, James, Curry, and Durant will be joined by Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Devin Booker (Suns), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jrue Holiday (Celtics), Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat) and Anthony Davis (Lakers). Wojnarowski adds that Team USA could opt to keep one spot open for the time being.

Team USA is looking for redemption after a disappointing run at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which saw them missing out on a medal with a third-place game loss to Canada. Out of players who were on the World Cup team, only Haliburton and Edwards will return for the Paris Olympics.

Curry will play at his first-ever Olympic games. He was close to playing at the 2016 Games in Rio but ended up withdrawing due to injuries. On the other hand, James returns to the Olympics for the first time since 2012, when he led Team USA to the gold medal.

Durant is the most accomplished Olympian on the team, having played in the last three Olympics and won gold each time.

The post LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant Headline Team USA Basketball Roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics appeared first on SportzBonanza.

You are probably familiar with various promos offered by NBA teams during games. Some NBA teams will hand out T-shirts, others will offer discount codes, while some will treat their fans with free food in case of certain events.

The Los Angeles Clippers have a particularly interesting promo that states all fans in the arena will get free chicken if an opposing player misses two consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter. This promo came into play during the regular-season finale against the Houston Rockets, thanks to center Boban Marjanovic.

Both the Clippers and Rockets had virtually nothing to play for as teams were locked in their places on standings. So, when Marjanovic went to the line with 4:44 left in the fourth quarter and missed his first free throw, he decided to treat the Clippers fans with some free food. He intentionally missed his second free throw, telling the crowd: “It’s on me,” and prompted huge cheers from the stands.

While some players probably wouldn’t want to do any favors to opposing fans, Marjanovic had plenty of reasons to do this for the Clippers’ fans. The 35-year-old Serbian played for parts of two seasons with the franchise, and despite appearing in only 56 games, he became a fan favorite due to his lighthearted humor and contagious energy.

The post Rockets’ Boban Marjanovic Intentionally Misses a Free Throw So Clippers’ Fans Could Get Free Food appeared first on SportzBonanza.