Silver: No plans to change the logo
Trojans again struggle with free-throw shooting, including key misses late.
While the NBA is expecting arenas to be filled again next season with a return to its normal calendar, commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday during a news conference there are no plans to change the NBA logo.
In response to a question about widespread support to update the logo with a likeness of Kobe Bryant replacing the silhouette of Jerry West, Silver said “The logo is iconic,” adding that it doesn’t feel it’s the moment to change it.
Silver said the league could revisit updating the design, but reminded reporters that the NBA renamed the All-Star game’s most valuable player honor after Bryant.
“I appreciate the sentiments, but it feels like the logo is appropriate right now,” Silver said.
Silver cautioned that every plan is contingent on continued progress in the ongoing fight against the coronavirus.
There are no plans for the NBA to travel overseas next season for exhibitions or regular-season games, Silver said, meaning recent preseason trips to foreign markets such as China, Japan or India won’t be repeated until 2022.
Otherwise, things may largely appear back to normal — with the NBA eyeing a return to the 82game schedule, starting in October and ending in June.
“I’m fairly optimistic, at this point, that we will be able to start on time,” Silver said. “Roughly half our teams have fans in their arenas right now and, if vaccines continue on the pace they are and they continue to be as effective as they have been against the virus and its variants, we’re hopeful that we’ll have relatively full arenas next season.”
Also
Silver addressed many other topics, including:
8 Coaching diversity: Many believe hiring processes need to be more transparent, and the coaches’ association wants to work with the NBA on initiatives that will improve future coaching searches. Silver wants those as well, but doesn’t want them to simply exist and be hollow.
“I don’t want to create a process in which people are checking the boxes, and that someone becomes ‘the Black candidate who got interviewed, but didn’t get the job.’ Everyone knows that person wasn’t really going to get the job, but somebody went through a process to appease the league office or somebody else,” Silver said.
COVID vaccine: Silver said he was not aware of any players who got vaccinated yet. Some coaches, including San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, got the vaccine. Silver also said it’s not a prerequisite that players get vaccinated in order to achieve the goal of having fans back in arenas next season.
Before Tahj Eaddy came free and his fading, corner heave miraculously fell, the final, slim hopes of USC’s first conference title in 35 years nearly faded away at the freethrow line.
One minute 26 seconds remained as Chevez Goodwin stood at the line with a chance to cut UCLA’s lead to one. Here was a perfect dress rehearsal for the drama to come in March, an ideal audition for an unexpected run potentially still to come.
But Goodwin missed. Another trip, with just 19 seconds remaining, led him back to the line. Goodwin made one before missing the second, leaving UCLA with the ball and USC still down two.
Had it ended there, it probably would’ve been a fitting conclusion for USC. All season long, the Trojans have struggled mightily from the stripe. Among likely NCAA tournament teams, no one has been worse than USC, which has hit just under 65% of its free throws, good for 322nd nationally.
Still, in spite of its freethrow woes — and its equally confounding issues from long range — a stunning game-winner from Eaddy allowed USC to upend UCLA 64-63 at Pauley Pavilion, completing a second consecutive season sweep of the crosstown rivalry and keeping the Trojans’ hopes for a Pac-12 title alive.
It was a fortunate escape, one that might wind up more memorable still if Oregon State beats Oregon on Sunday night. The Beavers have won four out of five in the instate series, and if they can defeat the Ducks again, USC would claim its first outright conference title in 60 years.
But that history won’t mean much if USC is upended in the first round of the NCAA tournament. And on Saturday, the Trojans were reminded of the shortcomings that might leave them vulnerable to an early exit, even if those issues haven’t cost them quite yet.
“We need our big guys to shoot free throws, especially coming up next week and in the NCAA tournament,” USC coach Andy Enfield said. “We’re expecting a lot of close games coming up.”
On Saturday, those issues came back to bite the Bruins instead. With 44 seconds left, Jaime Jaquez Jr. was fouled by Goodwin on an offensive rebound. With a chance to push the lead to two possessions, Jaquez missed the front end.
Only 11 seconds remained when Jules Bernard was fouled on the ensuing possession. He missed the front end too, leaving USC down just two, and the Bruins on the brink of blowing their third straight game in the final seconds.
The Trojans had hit a paltry three of 15 shots from three-point range when Ethan Anderson stood at the baseline with three seconds remaining. The inbounds pass was meant to find Evan Mobley for a quick dunk or an alley-oop, but UCLA’s defense blanketed the freshman 7footer. So as USC scrambled, Eaddy sprinted for the corner.
After a scorching-hot stretch through February, the Trojans’ transfer point guard had cooled by the start of March. Eaddy was just four for 13 from the field against UCLA and one for six from threepoint territory when he caught Anderson’s pass in the corner and fired away. He made the shot with 1.4 seconds left and was mobbed by his teammates shortly after.
“You always want someone on the court that can stabilize things, bring energy, bring confidence without even scoring the ball,” Eaddy said. “I feel like I do that for this team.”
He has also been perhaps the Trojans’ only consistent three-point shooter this season, a trait that should make him especially valuable this time of year. Eaddy is shooting just under 40% from long range this season, and he also has more than double the three-pointers (53) of the Trojans’ next-most prolific longrange shooter this season, Drew Peterson (26).
No other Trojan has been more reliable at the line either (78%). But if Eaddy goes cold, it’s unclear where USC would turn for points on the perimeter. USC won Saturday even with 10 misses in 20 freethrow attempts.
“This team could win some games in the NCAA tournament,” Enfield said, “but at the same time, we’ve had games this year where we just didn’t make shots and we’ve struggled. Nothing is taken for granted. If we can make shots, we’re usually very good.”