NBA News Update: James Harden, Rajon Rondo smash playoff records, Spencer Dinwiddie talks about Steve Nash and white privilege
In this edition of the NBA News Update, LA Lakers and Houston Rockets guards Rajon Rondo and James Harden are due for individual appreciation as they surpass some true greats in playoff statistics. James Harden scored a below-par 21 points in Game 4 of the LA Lakers vs Houston Rockets match-up of the Western Conference semi-finals but still managed to overtake as many as 3 NBA legends in playoff points scored. Meanwhile, Rajon Rondo of the LA Lakers who recently registered his 1000th career playoff assist, added a few more to his tally to beat a Boston Celtics great in that regard.
Elsewhere, Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie discussed the franchise's decision to give NBA icon Steve Nash the job of head coach. He talked about white privilege, and whether that played a part in the aforementioned appointment or not. Let us now head into the latest edition of the NBA News Update.
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NBA News Update: James Harden passes Stephen Curry, Rajon Rondo in touching distance of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant
James Harden was far from his usual best in game 4 of the Western Conference semi-finals between the LA Lakers and the Houston Rockets. He scored a mere 21 points on poor efficiency as 'the Beard' struggled to get going all night in what was a disappointing loss for the Houston Rockets. However, 21 points is all it took for Harden to overtake as many as three NBA superstars from the past and the present.
James Harden took his tally of playoff points to 2,974 with Thursday night's performance and steered past the legendary Clyde Drexler, Stephen Curry, and Reggie Miller in that process. He is now 26th in the list of players with most playoff points in NBA history. James Worthy sits on the 25th spot with 3,022 points, and Harden will fancy his chances of beating that sooner rather than later.
Also, Rajon Rondo came off the bench in the same game for the LA Lakers to good effect as he scored 11 points to go with 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Those assists took him past Boston Celtics great Dennis Johnson in 11th spot in the list of NBA players with the most assists made in playoff history. He now trails Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant by less than 30 assists.
NBA News Update: White privelege is real, but Steve Nash appointment isn't an example of it, claims Spencer Dinwiddie
Brooklyn Nets star guard Spencer Dinwiddie let his thoughts known about the franchise appointing former NBA MVP Steve Nash as their head coach. Talking to the Forbes' Shlomo Sprung, Spencer Dinwiddie said that he believed white privilege was 'a thing'.
"Obviously white privelege is a thing, 1000%."
However, unlikely many reputed NBA analysts and former players, Dinwiddie didn't believe that the hiring of Steve Nash was an example of it, and hailed the former great as one of the most qualified players of all time.
“But in this situation, he’s only one of the most qualified basketball players of all time and is friends with the stars of our team and the GM of the team [Sean Marks, who played with Nash in Phoenix]. It kind of makes sense beyond the fact that he doesn’t have coaching experience.”
It will be interesting to see how the former NBA guard utilises players of his position in the Brooklyn Nets, including Spencer Dinwiddie.
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