Andrew Lawrence

5 days ago | theguardian.com | Claire de Lune |Bryan Armen Graham |David Lengel |Andrew Lawrence |AR Shaw

Is the regular season in crisis? Absolutely not. Could it stand to be a little shorter? Sure. Do the referees need to be more judicious with when they intervene? I’d argue they do. But the real problem the NBA faces is, in my opinion, a PR one. Its loudest voices should spend less time pearl-clutching and more time celebrating. Claire de LuneStar players sit, games blur together and offense is unchecked.

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Andrew Lawrence

Who would win in a fight between LeBron James and Stephen A Smith is a question only Stephen A Smith would think to ask. There has been little avoiding the question since the Los Angeles Lakers superstar confronted ESPN’s No 1 personality during a recent game against the New York Knicks. The player was venting his displeasure at Smith for his pointed comments about James’s eldest son, and Lakers teammate, Bronny – the 55th pick in last year’s NBA draft.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Andrew Lawrence

Late in the first half of Duke’s recent game against Georgia Tech, Blue Devils star Cooper Flagg suffered an ankle sprain so gruesome that he had to be helped off the court in a wheelchair. Five years ago, losing college basketball’s biggest draw to a heart-stopping injury on the eve of the NCAA Tournament would have had Duke fans death-spiraling along with the game’s corporate stakeholders. So why do those fans seem so relieved?

1 month ago | msn.com | Radheyan Simonpillai |Andrew Pulver |Charles Bramesco |Andrew Lawrence |Pamela Hutchinson |Scott Tobias | +1 more

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1 month ago | theguardian.com | Radheyan Simonpillai |Andrew Pulver |Benjamin Lee |Charles Bramesco |Andrew Lawrence |Pamela Hutchinson | +2 more

The French ConnectionAlmost five minutes go by in The French Connection before we get a good look at Gene Hackman. Various other operators come and go in William Friedkin’s gritty and unsettling procedural – based on a real heroin sting – before Hackman’s Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle emerges from behind an ill-fitting undercover Santa Claus outfit, like a background player busting into his first lead role.