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The good news just keeps pouring in for Carolina basketball and Coach Hubert Davis, the latest being Wednesday’s commitment from five-star Class of 2023 power forward Gregory “GG” Jackson. The 6–foot-9, 210-pound star announced in an afternoon press conference at his Columbia, S.C., school that he picked the Tar Heels over Duke, Auburn, Georgetown, South Carolina and Massachusetts. He also considered playing for the G League’s Ignite team.
The 283 players who have filed as early-entry candidates to the NBA Draft includes a player from Carolina, but not one you would expect. Kerwin Walton, a 6–5 wing who played sparingly down the stretch for the Tar Heels as a sophomore, submitted his name before the Sunday deadline and appears on the list that the NBA released late Tuesday night.
Cameron Johnson struggled with his shot on Tuesday night, but came up with a big driving dunk in the final two minutes to ignite a key 8–0 run in the Phoenix Suns’ 112–97 Game 5 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. Phoenix takes a 3–2 lead in their first-round series heading to New Orleans for Game 6 Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (TNT).
Every North Carolina national-championship team had two qualities that next season’s Tar Heels will share — veteran guards and at least three of the top five scorers returning. After having three starting point guards in three seasons (Joel Berry II in 2017–18, followed by freshmen Coby White and Cole Anthony), UNC will have the same backcourt duo for the third consecutive season. Like most freshmen, RJ Davis and Caleb Love had their struggles but showed marked improvement as sophomores. History tells you that seasoned backcourts are important, considering only one of Carolina’s six national champions started a freshman guard. Let’s throw in a quick asterisk: It was the greatest player in the history of the game. If you’re reading a story on this website, you should know who that is. If not, read on. With four starters and four of the top five scorers
Without All-Star Devin Booker, Cameron Johnson is starting for Phoenix. But the Suns’ series with the New Orleans Pelicans, who went 36–46 during the regular season, suddenly got a lot tougher for the team that had the NBA’s best regular-season record.. The teams split a pair of weekend games in New Orleans and the first-round series returns to Phoenix for Game 5 at 10 p.m. Tuesday (TNT) tied at 2. Booker is out indefinitely with a strained right hamstring after he scored 31 points in the first half of Game 2.
Caleb Love’s missed 3-point attempt against Kansas late in the national championship game won’t be his last shot as a Tar Heel because, among other hopes, he wants another shot at a national title. Love announced in a social media video Sunday that he’ll return for his junior season at North Carolina, giving the Tar Heels four of five starters back from last season’s Final Four team.
By R.L. Bynum A third Carolina starter officially announced Saturday afternoon that he’ll be back next season. In a post … More
If you don’t think that NIL money changes the equation for college basketball players, just listen to center Armando Bacot. Appearing on the Field of 68 “Goodman & Hummel” podcast with Jeff Goodman and Robbie Hummel on Friday, he admitted that his decision might have been different if NIL (name, image and likeness) money wasn’t available. Bacot announced last week that he would return to UNC for his senior season.
With Luka Dončić (calf injury) out for the first three games of their first-round series with the Utah Jazz, Reggie Bullock has produced the best playoff efforts of his career for the Dallas Mavericks. Bullock collected 12 points, six rebounds and three assists and in 44 minutes Thursday as the Mavericks won Game 3 of their first-round series with the Jazz 126–118 in Utah to take a 2–1 lead. He has three 3-pointers in each of the three games.
Carolina fans may not know by Monday if Caleb Love will return for his junior season but they’ll know if he’s decided to enter the NBA draft process. The deadline for players to enter the draft is Sunday at 11:59 p.m. and those who do so then have until June 1 at 11:59 p.m. to withdraw their names.
Danny Green always shows passion during games and that almost got him ejected Wednesday night as his Philadelphia 76ers took a commanding 3–0 first-round series lead on the Toronto Raptors. Late in the first half of the Sixers’ 104–101 overtime win Wednesday in Toronto, he got called for a questionable foul as he was positioning himself for a rebound. He protested the call to a referee and got whistled for a technical foul. This made Green even more upset and, if not for teammate Tyrese Maxey, then James Harden and Joel Embiid holding him back, he might have been ejected.
Reggie Bullock and Danny Green each scored 11 points and played big minutes as their teams won Game 2 first-round playoff games Monday night. The win for Bullock’s Dallas Mavericks, a 110–104 home triumph over the Utah Jazz, was huge because it evened the series at 1 as it shifts Thursday for the first of two games in Utah.
The Phoenix Suns, who had the league’s best record during the regular season, had no problem with the New Orleans Pelicans in their playoff opener, highlighted by Cam Johnson’s thunderous, highlight-reel first-quarter dunk. Johnson, a finalist for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, came off the bench to score 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting as the No. 1-seed Suns beat the No. 8-seed Pelicans 110–98 in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference series.
Garrison Brooks finished a productive three games at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament with 25 points and nine rebounds in leading his team to a victory in the fifth-place game on Saturday in Portsmouth, Va. Brooks made 11 of 15 shots, collected two assists and a block and was named player of the game as his K&D Round’s Landscaping team’s 96–86 victory over Portsmouth Partnership. Also on his team was former Miami guard Charlie Moore, who had 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Seven Tar Heels, and potentially an eighth, will begin play in the NBA playoffs this weekend. Cameron Johnson’s Phoenix Suns are a solid threat to win the title and the Dallas Mavericks, with Reggie Bullock and Theo Pinson, are playing like they could make a long run. Joining them in the playoffs are Danny Green of the Philadelphia 76ers, Coby White and Tony Bradley of the Chicago Bulls and Day’Ron Sharpe of the Brooklyn Nets.
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