NBA News Update: Shaq and Chuck involved in hilarious banter, Coach Pop addresses his future, playoff schedule revealed
With the seeding games finally ending, all the NBA news is currently focused on the play-in tournament. We look forward to seeing the Memphis Grizzlies take on the Portland Trail Blazers.
With all the excitement about the play-in tournament, many NBA news updates might not have caught your eye. With the Spurs and the Suns eliminated and the NBA playoff schedule finally out, here are some NBA news updates that you might have missed.
Shaq and Chuck bring on the banter
Former NBA stars Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal, who now work as NBA news analysts on 'Inside the NBA', once again had some back and forth banter. Shaq believes that role players need to step up on the defensive end and let the star player focus on scoring.
Charles Barkley cheekily pointed out that Shaq himself was poor on defense and needed Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade to carry him to a championship. With the NBA playoffs right around the corner, we expect more hilarious banter from our favorite NBA news show in the coming days.
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Coach Pop says he will be back next season
With the San Antonio Spurs failing to make it to the playoffs, there are doubts about coach Gregg Popovich's future as the coach of the team. Coach Pop is 71 years old now and many believed that he may retire at the end of this season.
Coach Pop put all speculation to rest during the press conference after the final game of the season. When asked whether or not he would be back next season, he said:
"Why wouldn't I be?"
Coach Pop, known to have fun with reporters during press conferences, showed off his mimicry skills. When asked about the Spurs' 22-year playoff streak ending, he put on an excellent impersonation of Donald Trump saying that it was 'fake news'.
The San Antonio Spurs had made it to the playoffs every year since 1998. Coach Pop does not seem too disappointed with the streak ending and seems to be looking forward to the challenges ahead. He has a lot to work on with this talented, young San Antonio Spurs squad.
In other NBA news.......
In major NBA news, the league has finally released the schedule for the first round of the playoffs. The detailed schedule of the first four games of the first round has been declared. For games 5-7 only the dates are known, and the broadcast and timing details will be declared as the playoffs progress.
The first-round of the playoffs will have each team's games played on alternate days. A total of four games will be played on each day, provided that no team has already been eliminated.
The first playoff game will be the Denver Nuggets taking on the Utah Jazz on Monday at 1:30 p.m. ET, and the match-up will be broadcast on national television on ESPN.
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