Most Clicked on 2014 Stories on Yahoo Sports

It's that time of the year when we look back 2014 to remember the sports stories we all came to love/hate.

Here is 2014 in retrospect byYahoo Sports

Knicks at 4-18 Developing an Adverse Mentality Says Phil Jackson

The President of the New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, sees something developing in his 4-18 team, a "losers" mentality.

When asked about the team's record thus far he had this to say. "Obviously, we're disappointed," said Jackson, who has won a record 11 NBA championships as a head coach. "... I think guys understand what we're trying to do. Hopefully, they're getting to be more compliant. There's some resistance to discipline and order and culture change and things like that. I will call it a crucible for what we're going through here. The process, maybe the heat, is going to refine some of the stuff so that we come out and be a pretty good team after all is said and done."

Before the season started, Jackson said that this Knicks team was a potential playoff caliber team. They now have the same number of loses as the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Kevin Durant To Make Return Against Pelicans Tonight

Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder will make his first start of the year tonight against the New Orleans Pelicans. Durant has missed the past 6 1/2 weeks with a broken foot.

"Just excited to get back out there with my teammates," Durant said Tuesday. "It's been a long 6½ weeks just trying to get better and get my foot right. The training staff did a great job, so I'm just looking forward to playing tonight.

As with any lengthy time off from a skilled position in a physical league, Durant may look rusty but he will be on the court going full bore.

When asked about the layoff in terms of his conditioning and team chemistry, Durant had this to say, "I know it's going to be a little bit different for me not having played ... and then going out there and playing the highest level of basketball. But I'm looking forward to going out there and seeing where I am and playing as hard as I can for my team."

Durant's return could not have come at a better time for the Thunder. Russell Westbrook is back and the Thunder are languishing at 5-12 early on in the NBA season.

 Royce Young has the ESPN story here.

 

Lakers Top Atlanta Hawks With 114-109 Win

The LA Lakers won their second game in 11 tries behind Kobe Bryant's 28 points on Tuesday night in Atlanta. Admittedly they only beat the 5-5 Hawks but they handed the Hawks their first loss at home. The Lakers need every confidence boost they can get.

Carlos Boozer had 20 points for the Lakers and Nick Young, playing in his first game of the year following a thumb injury, added 17 in the win.

Paul Millsap had 29 points for the Hawks while Jeff Teague chipped in 23.

The Lakers out rebounded Atlanta 44-38 with Boozer and Jordan Hill each grabbing 10 while Al Horford and Pero Antic had 8 boards apiece for the Hawks.

Jazz Top Cavs 102-100 on Buzzerbeater by Hayward

Gordon Hayward, of the Utah Jazz, hit a game winning jump shot at the buzzer that sent the Cleveland Cavaliers to their second consecutive loss, 102-100.

LeBron James had 31 points in the losing effort as Cleveland falls to 1-3 on the year.

The Jazz out rebounded the Cavs 41-30 and had 26 assists to the Cavalier's 6.

Kyle Irving had 34 points for Cleveland but the point guard had no assists. Kevin Love added 14 for Cleveland.

Hayward and Derrick Favors each had 21 points to lead the Jazz while Favors added 10 boards.

LeBron had this to say about the Cavaliers early season troubles.

''Rome wasn't built in a day and we understand that,'' James said. ''You have to continue to work the process. You hate to lose as competitors, but we felt like tonight we improved. We improved and proved in the second half we're capable of playing some good basketball.''

Read the Yahoo Sports article by Matthew Coles of the AP here.

Cleveland travels to Denver to face the Nuggets on Friday while the Jazz will host the Dallas Mavericks on the same day.

Lakers Fall to 0-4 With Loss to Golden State 127-104

The Los Angeles Lakers are in for a rough season if the first 4 games are any indication. Klay Thompson scored 41 points for the Warriors and Stephen Curry added 31 with 10 assists as Golden State easily defeated the Lakers. The Lakers begin the season at 0-4.

Kobe had 28 points to lead the Lakers with Jordan Hill adding 23. Jeremy Lin had 6 points with 6 assists. Ed davis came off the bench to score 13 points with 6 rebounds for the Lakers.

Check out the ESPN recap here.

LeBron and the Cavs Drop Opener to Knicks 95-90

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers lost their opener to the NY Knicks. Obviously the chemistry is not there and there is no way the Cavs can make the playoffs, let alone win the NBA Championship!

ESPN article

The OKC Thunder lost Russell Westbrook when he broke his hand, a small fracture of the second metacarpal in his right hand to be exact. As JA Adande of ESPN writes "(T)he Thunder are now winless and perhaps starless...". Let's write them off too!

ESPN article

We as fans are quick to jump on and off team bandwagons. Come on people, the NBA season is 82 games, to start 0-1 or 0-2 is not the end.

The end is already here for teams like the 76ers whos GM has said the team will not win until 2017. The Lakers, with no point guard and an aging Kobe are at the end too.

Do fans really think Cleveland will not challange in the East? Phil Jackson has said that the Knicks are "(N)ot ready for showtime...". Do we expect them to rise to the top of the East?

Allow the season to progress and we'll check back later. By the way, remember when LeBron first got to Miami? That team didn't start off so well either did it?

Spurs Receive NBA Championship Rings

The San Antonio Spurs received their NBA Championship rings on Tuesday night before opening their season against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Spurs beat the Mavericks 101-100.

Tony Parker had 23 points and 3 assists for the Spurs while Marco Belinelli added 15 and Tim Duncan had 14 points with 13 boards. Manu Ginobili came off the bench to score 20 points and had 6 assists.

Dirk Nowitzki had 18 points for the Mavs, Monta Ellis dropped 26 points with 6 assists and Devin Harris added 17 points and 5 assists.

Read the full ESPN recap here.

NBA 2014-2015 Season Preview

LeBron is back in Cleveland, Kobe is the 40th best player in the NBA, Kevin Durant has a broken bone in his foot...

These are some of the stories, above and below, to watch this season.

Blake Griffin seems to be saying "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore..."

Carmelo Anthony says he won't win the scoring title because of the triangle offense.

And let's not forget the reigning Champion San Antonio Spurs!

Mike Prada of SBNation.com has a wonderfully complete breakdown of the NBA's upcoming season. Be sure to read it all here. It's a little cumbersome but a great read.

NBA Owners Shoot Down Draft Lottery Changes

The NBA owners, by a vote of 17-13 in favor, failed to achieve the 23 votes required to change the way the NBA Lottery Draft is conducted.

The new changes would have given the 4 worst team an even 11% chance of receiving the 1st pick in the draft. As it stands now the worst team has about a 25% chance of getting the 1st pick.

The rules change was an effort to reduce the chance of "tanking" games at the end of a season to get that coveted 1st draft pick.

Commissioner Adam Silver said. "I think we all recognize we need to find the right balance between creating the appropriate incentives on one hand for teams to, of course, win, and on the other hand allowing for appropriate rebuilding and the draft to work as it should in which the worst performing teams get the highest picks in the draft."

Read the full ESPN article here.

Celtics, Pistons Swap Players

According to Chris Forsberg of ESPN, the Boston celtics have traded Joel Anthony to the Detroit Pistons for Will Bynum.

Read Chris' article here.

Blake Griffin "Could" Retaliate For Cheap Fouls

Blake Griffin , of the LA Clippers, is getting pretty fed up with hard, cheap fouls. In a preseason victory over the Utah Jazz, Griffin and Trevor Booker had to be separated after a foul by Booker led to Griffin grabbing the back of Booker's head. Griffin was pulled away by teammates.

"I was going to but then I thought its preseason," Griffin said when asked about retaliating. "It's not worth it, that's not the person I want to waste it on."

Read ESPN's story by Aresh Markazi here.

Kevin Durant Has Surgery Will Be Evaluated In 6 Weeks

Sean Highkin of probasketballtalk.com has this article on Kevin durant's foot surgery.

Mavs Coach Rick Carlisle says Chandler Parsons Should "Shed Some Weight"

Carlisle thought about what he said when he singled out Chandler Parsons for being overweight and out of shape following an exhibition game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.

Carlisle said in a statement, "I also made it clear to our players and staff this morning that this type of bad example is not acceptable and beneath the dignity of a championship organization like the Dallas Mavericks."

This is the second time this preseason that the Mav's coach has questioned Parsons' conditioning.

Read the ESPN article here.

Kevin Durant Fractures Foot - Out 6-8 Weeks

One could see this as a setback for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kevin Durant, the 2013-2014 MVP of the NBA has broken hi foot. He has what is known as a "Jones" fracture.

A Jones fracture is a fracture of the diaphysis of the fifth metatarsal of the foot, at the base of the small toe. The proximal end, where the Jones fracture occurs, is in the midportion of the foot. Those who sustain a Jones fracture have pain over this area, swelling, and difficulty walking.

Read the ESPN story here.

Chris Bosh Dishes on Playing With LeBron

According to a story by Eric Freeman in Yahoo Sports, Chris Bosh has warned that playing alongside of LeBron James can be "different". Of course when you are playing with a super star things will be different and players of lesser stature will have to adjust.

I always thought that the 3 "stars" would have a rough time playing together in Miami. They had tremendous success, that is a given, but they didn't live up to the hype. They didn't win the Championship every year. How dare they!

Eric Freeman who writes in "Ball Don't Lie" for Yahoo Sports has a very good article about Bosh and his trials with LeBron and the Heat.

Read it  here.

LeBron and the Cavs face Heat in Brazil

LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Miami Heat in Rio. This preason clash will be the first meeting between the Cavs and the Heat since the "2nd Great Departure" of James.

"They made sure it'd be the two teams I'd sign with," James said with a smile.

The NBA scheduled this game after Lebron made the move to Cleveland to get the most publicity possible. The people of South America, especially Brazil love basketball and LeBrom James.

The NBA got what it wanted. James is in Brazil for what surely will be an awkward five days. Rio is a world-class destination and many players have been looking forward to sitting on the beach and enjoying the nightlife in a rare training camp quasi-vacation, but James just wants to get it over with.


Read the Brian Windhorst ESPN article here.

Feel Good NBA Story of the Year - Bar None

I can't even try to explain this story. Read it and tell me you still think the whole world is going to hell in a hand basket!

Read the ESPN story here.