Robin Lopez admired Goran Dragic as a role model

For three decades we’ve covered many amazing basketball characters, but some stand above the rest—not only because of their on-court skills (though those are always relevant), but because of how they influenced and continue to influence basketball culture, and thus influenced SLAM. Meanwhile, SLAM has also changed those players’ lives…

Photo: Usman Garuba/Twitter According to Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic via Twitter, the Golden State Warriors have reached an agreement to bring on board Usman Garuba, a free-agent center, by signing him to a two-way contract. Usman Garuba, who is 21 years old and was selected as…

Photo: Metropolitans 92/Twitter Should the Houston Rockets fail to land a top three odds to pick in this year’s NBA Draft, expect the club to become “aggressive” in trading their first-round pick, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “They’ll be disappointed if they don’t get the No. 1 pick (again)….

The Boston Celtics finally clinched the 2024 NBA Finals victory. Jayson Tatum reminded his teammates to stay focused and not let the celebration carry over into the next season. “I’m of the mindset that after ring night, in a weird way, we got to put that behind (us),” Tatum said….

AP Photo/Nate Billings According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, free agent guard Austin Rivers has agreed on a one-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Rivers played 67 games for Denver a year ago, where new president Tim Connelly signed him in consecutive seasons. This past season, Rivers, 29, averaged 6.0…

The Miami Heat seem to be figuring it out after their slow 1-3 start to the new NBA season. Even though the team is 3-5 in their first eight games, there is still a ton of optimism surrounding this Heat team because it’s still so early and no team in…