NBA News Today: Pau Gasol has No. 16 jersey retired by Lakers, Charles Barkley slams Kendrick Perkins’ MVP voting racial bias narrative, and more
LA Lakers legend Pau Gasol had his No. 16 jersey retired by the LA Lakers on Tuesday night in an emotional ceremony.
In other news, NBA legend-turned-TNT analyst Charles Barkley slammed ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins following the latter's claim that MVP voting is impacted by race.
On that note, here is the latest news from around the NBA as of March 8, 2023.
Pau Gasol's No. 16 jersey retired by Lakers
Pau Gasol had his No. 16 jersey retired by the LA Lakers at halftime of their game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.
Gasol played six and a half seasons with LA from 2008 to 2014 as fellow Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s wingman. The star duo reached three straight NBA Finals during Gasol’s tenure in LA, winning back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.
Gasol averaged 17.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 blocks per game on 52.2% shooting over 429 games as a Laker.
Speaking before the game on Tuesday, Pau Gasol explained how grateful he was for the honor of being immortalized among LA’s all-time greats, especially Bryant:
“I think I’ve done as good as I could to really embrace it and savor it, but tonight really exceeds any dream or expectation that I’ve had,” Gasol said.
“It means so much, and obviously with Kobe up there, it just adds something meaningful and powerful and sad and happy and painful and joyful. It’s a lot of things.
“The excitement, the anticipation, the honor received, it’s just so big that it’s been hard to really take it in. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s a celebration. It’s great. It’s lovely. It’s just great that you can experience this in your life,” Pau Gasol concluded.
Gasol's jersey marks the 13th number retired by the Lakers, including both Kobe Bryant's No. 8 and No. 24 jersey numbers.
Also read this: When Kobe Bryant predicted Pau Gasol’s jersey retirement in 2018: “Pau will have his number in the rafters next to mine”
Or this: Which LA Lakers players have their jersey numbers retired? Looking at Hall of Famer Pau Gasol's jersey retirement
Charles Barkley slams Kendrick Perkins for pushing MVP voting racial bias narrative
Kendrick Perkins made headlines recently when he claimed that racial bias influences NBA MVP voting, during an episode of “First Take.” Perkins specifically indicated that White players like Nikola Jokic get a boost in voting, despite not being the top scorers in the league.
However, the former 14-year NBA veteran has received some pushback for his stance, most notably from basketball legend-turned-analyst Charles Barkley.
During a recent appearance on Denver’s “Altitude Sports Radio,” Barkley spoke about Perkins' comments. He first explained that Perkins' claim is not backed up by stats and then went on to call out ESPN as a whole for trying to be provocative.
"The numbers don’t make sense. … Does he know how many voters are White or did he pull 80% out of his a**?" Barkley said.
"My point is, if only five White guys have won MVP in the last 30 years, that makes zero sense — his argument. Zero sense. Because if that was the case, we’d have a lot more White MVPs. … Wouldn’t the numbers be way, way worse?"
He continued:
"I always talk about ESPN disease. A lot of these guys, when they get on TV and stuff, they’re like, ‘Well, I’m on ESPN, I got to say something provocative.’ And you know the thing about it, you’re always gonna get some fools out there, you guys probably get some fools calling in agreeing with him.
"That’s the thing that bothers me at times. I can promise you this, I’ve never said anything on television just to get clicks. That don’t mean I’ve been right or wrong, whatever. But I’ve never said something like, ‘Well, I know people are going to react and go crazy, let me say this.’
"And this is what bothers me also. Man, race is such a touchy subject because very few people have a pure heart. We can talk about race as much as you want to as long as you’re going to be fair and honest. But to slander this man (Jokic) in this situation is just total BS."
Charles Barkley blasts Kendrick Perkins and says he “crossed the line”
“I can promise you this, I’ve never said anything on television just to get clicks…We can talk about race as much as you want to as long as you’re going to be fair and honest. But to slander this man… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/BeLpIioric
Nikola Jokic is averaging 24.4 points, 11.8 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.7 blocks per game on 63.4% shooting this season. He has helped the Denver Nuggets (46-19) to the second-best record in the NBA.
NBA analyst says Golden State Warriors have "zero percent chance" of defending NBA title
The Golden State Warriors (34-32, sixth in the West) have taken a massive step back this season following their title success last season. With just 16 games remaining, the team finds themselves just two games over .500 and without home-court advantage in any potential playoff series.
According to FS1's Nick Wright, Golden State is not even a contender anymore and has no shot at defending its title.
On a recent episode of “First Things First,” Wright broke down how the Warriors have been a middle-of-the-pack team all season. Wright also explained that the team’s road struggles (7-25 away from Chase Center) don’t bode well for their playoff chances:
"The Warriors have a zero percent chance of winning the title. So every team that I think could do it has a better chance," Wright said.
"I want to actually go negative on the Warriors. The Warriors have been from before the year started when I have a hard time remembering that something weird happened with them. It was post-parade, pre-ring night.
"There was a, 'Oh yeah, their veteran leader (Draymond Green) slugged their new $100 million guy (Jordan Poole) in the face,' and we all saw it.
"And then 20 games in they were a .500 team. They were 10-10. And I asked (Chris Broussard), 'You worried yet?' He's like, 'No, they're my team.' ... So I said, 'OK, let's check in at 40 games.' 40 games in they were 20-20. And then 60 games in they were 30-30.
"And then there is this other problem, which is this, the road record (7-25) ... Because we know they're going to be on the road for every series, and that strikes me as a team that can't win four series in a row, all of which will start and end on the road."
"The Warriors have a zero percent chance of winning the title."
— @getnickwright on why the Lakers have a better chance of of being a title contender than the Warriors: https://t.co/eTTN62YHBc
The Golden State Warriors were able to prove doubters wrong last season after some ups and downs throughout the regular season. However, the team still finished 53-29 and third in the West. It remains to be seen if this year’s Warriors team will be able to follow a similar redemption arc come playoff time.
Klay Thompson passes Paul Pierce for 11th most 3-pointers in NBA history
Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson made NBA history on Tuesday night against the OKC Thunder. Thompson surpassed Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce (2,143) for the 11th most 3-pointers in NBA history.
The Warriors superstar entered the night with 2,142 3-pointers, needing to make only two shots from beyond the arc to pass Pierce. He finished the night with five 3-pointers and now sits at 2,147 3-pointers and counting.
It's also worth noting that Thompson has only played in 701 regular-season games compared to Pierce’s 1,343 career games. As a result, he is tied for second all-time in career 3-pointers per game (3.1).
Up next for Thompson to pass on the all-time 3-pointers list is former three-time Sixth Man of the Year, Jamal Crawford (2,221).
Congrats to @KlayThompson of the @warriors for moving to 11th all-time in 3-Pointers made! https://t.co/qUCjy30IsI
Thompson is averaging 22.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.7 steals and 4.4 3-pointers per game while shooting 43.2% and 40.8% from deep this season.