Prelude to real games by numbers
Let the (real) games begin. The NBA pre-season schedule wrapped up Friday night. Rosters will be finalized over the next few days, a process that has already started with teams in some cases waiving players with the hope of getting them to their G League affiliates. The champion Milwaukee Bucks will get their rings from commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday night before opening the regular season in Milwaukee against the Brooklyn Nets. Here are some numbers that came to light during the exhibition schedule:
18
San Antonio’s Josh Primo, the youngest NBA player to see pre-season action
41
Miami’s Udonis Haslem, the oldest
3
Quarters, a pre-season Grizzlies-Bucks game, which was stopped there after a fire alarm and sprinklers went off in Memphis
69
Three-point attempts by the Golden State Warriors in one game, a pre-season record. The regular-season mark is 70.
70
The Dallas Mavericks’ largest lead in a win over the Charlotte Hornets this past week
0-6
Final pre-season record for LeBron James and the Lakers, the worst exhibition mark by any team since the Mavericks went 0-7 in 2015. It didn’t matter much that season; Dallas made the playoffs. Said Lakers coach Frank Vogel: “You want to get a couple wins along the way, just to feel what that’s like ... But at the end of the day, it’s really about the practice work that we’re putting in.”
$111.2M
How much James is expected to earn in U.S. dollars this coming season, on and off the court, according to a pre-season report by Forbes, up 15 per cent from last year. That includes $41.2 million in salary from the Lakers, $32 million from Nike and payments from investments in Fortnite, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” and the home fitness brand Tonal.
$92.8M
For the Warriors’ Stephen Curry this season, second on the list, including revenue from his production company and endorsements with Under Armour and a cryptocurrency firm.
$87.9M
For the Nets’ Kevin Durant — whose company, Thirty Five Ventures, actually has investments in more than 80 companies.