Five-star gold for USA in Paris

Photo: Utah Jazz/Twitter The Utah Jazz power forward Lauri Markkanen has won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, the league’s communications department tweets. Markkanen averaged 25.6 points on 49.9% shooting and 1.9 assists. He also shot 87.5% from the free throw line and snared 8.6 rebounds per game in 66…

Photo: Barça Basket/X Jabari Parker has restarted his career with FC Barcelona, a European basketball powerhouse. After a bumpy start, including a loss to archrival Real Madrid in Supercopa Endesa, his team began the Liga Endesa Regular Season with a victory against Joventut Badalona. Now, they are gearing up for…

This story appears in the second edition of WSLAM 2. Get your copy here. Emma Meesseman admits it right from the jump. She doesn’t like change. “But it came to the point where I needed to change something and grow as a person,” says the 29-year-old Belgian. Meesseman made the…

Photo: Portland Trail Blazers/Twitter After a year with the Trail Blazers, Jerami Grant will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. The 29-year-old small forward addressed the media during the end-of-season press conference and answered questions about his future in Portland. “I definitely like it here,” Grant said. “Looking forward…

Metta World Peace makes Cantu debut. © MARTA COLOMBO/BASKETINSIDE Former NBA star Metta Sandiford-Artest just became a big Blake Griffin fan and it’s all a result of the new Boston Celtics forward’s decision to rock #91 in honor of the great Hall of Famer, Dennis Rodman. “That’s incredible,” Sandiford-Artest said…

ESPN’s analyst Brian Windhorst believes the Boston Celtics’ roster has the potential to win gold in the Olympics, suggesting they would have a strong chance if they participated in the tournament. “If the Boston Celtics were in this [Olympic] tournament, I think they’d have a very good chance to win…