Tim Hardaway Jr. passes Kobe Bryant in three-pointers

Lee Zeidman, the only person to ever run Crypto.com Arena and LA Live, is stepping down once the Lakers and Kings’ postseason runs conclude. Zeidman was the first employee hired at Crypto.com Arena in February 1997, following 10 years overseeing the LA Forum. He estimates he worked 6,500 events during his 40-plus-year career, including nine NBA Finals, five WNBA Finals, three Stanley Cups, five all-star weekends (NBA and NHL) and 22 Grammy awards, as well as dealing with the countless celebrities that frequented the arena and even orchestrating the high-profile funerals of Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant held at the arena. One of Zeidman’s final acts was to help oversee the arena’s three-year, nine-figure renovation. -via Sports Business Journal / April 2, 2025

LeBron James: Even when you do become a champion if you able to become a champion at 20 or 21 or 22, you’re still not tapped… I mean when Kobe Bryant came in he had a couple years and then Shaq came to the team, and I think he won his first one at like 21 or 22, but he wasn’t the Kobe that we all saw in 2008, 2009, 2010, when he was really able to define his game and hone in on his skill, his efficiency, his mind. We saw the complete Kobe Bryant then, so I think it just takes time. -via YouTube / April 1, 2025

Their win over the Bulls moved them to 28-1 against the Eastern Conference. That broke the record for the most cross-conference wins in league history. They could beat the Pistons on Wednesday and finish up 29-1. Or they could lose and still finish 28-2, better than these three previous record holders. • 2015-16 Golden State Warriors: 27-3
• 2006-07 Dallas Mavericks: 27-3
• 1999-00 Los Angeles Lakers: 27-3 That’s the famed 73-win Warriors team, the greatest of those Lakers teams with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant and a Mavericks team that had MVP Dirk Nowitzki but were unceremoniously eliminated in the 2007 first round. -via New York Times / April 1, 2025

Omari Sanfoka II: Cade will miss his second-straight game with a left calf contusion. THJ is available after spraining his right ankle on Friday -via Twitter @omarisankofa / March 25, 2025

But the Mavs opted not to act on inquiries about Brunson — including from New York — leading up to the February 10 trade deadline. Dallas discussed dumping injured shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr.’s fresh four-year, $75 million contract, which would have required attaching future draft compensation, a move that would have created enough cap space to offer Brunson a larger extension. Brunson’s agents passed on word that a five-year, $87 million offer would be accepted. However, Dallas didn’t deal Hardaway. Instead, they meekly offered Brunson the four-year, $55.5 million extension. Finney-Smith excitedly signed his identical extension offer at the time, but Brunson turned it down, rightly believing that he had “outgrown” that number. “That was a 30-second conversation,” Rick Brunson said. “I wasn’t on the phone, but how I got the message was, ‘You guys wouldn’t be interested in that deal now, would you?’ That’s how it was said to me. I just laughed.” -via ESPN / March 24, 2025

Keith Langlois: Tim Hardaway Jr. is out for the Pistons-New Orleans Pelicans game tomorrow afternoon with a right ankle sprain. Zion Williamson, Yves Missi and Jose Alvarado all questionable for the Pelicans. -via Bluesky / March 22, 2025