The Stein Line

I began my journey in sports journalism by writing my first NBA piece back in 1989 while I was still in college. Since February 1994, I've had the amazing opportunity to cover the NBA closely and full-time. Following #thisleague has been the core of my career, and now I'm thrilled to embark on this new adventure and share my insights with you directly. Substack will serve as the platform for my work, offering independent and thorough coverage of the NBA — raw and personal. This is a fantastic chance for me to explore the league in a new and exciting manner, taking advantage of the freedom to write and connect with you like never before.

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Sunday Best: Our around-the-league latest on trade talk, free agency rumbles and draft-related discussion

4 days ago | marcstein.substack.com | Marc Stein

Around-the-league NBA notes on a Sunday? With our twice-weekly contributor, The People's Insider Jake Fischer, soon to arrive in Chicago to serve as an in-person witness in the drawing room for Monday night's draft lottery? As it should be!To the latest from our notebooks, both mine and Jake's, on potential trades, free agency matters and draft-related discussion:
Once again it's Season Preview Mag time ... WNBA edition

5 days ago | marcstein.substack.com | Marc Stein

We're inside a week now before the start of the WNBA's 29th season. There are three games on Opening Night next Friday — Lynx at Wings, Dream at Mystics, Sparks at Valkyries — and we know exactly how to get you prepped for them. Athlon Sports' hard-copy WNBA Season Preview magazine is out now!Regular readers know how sacred I hold the institution of the old school glossy preview magazine found at your local supermarket, Barnes & Noble, airport, etc.
A statistical ode to Pop

1 week ago | marcstein.substack.com | Marc Stein

Regular readers know by now that we love to assemble our weekly Numbers Game compilations filled with statistical goodness to anchor the Tuesday Newsletter Extravaganza. Yet we obviously needed to do something truly special, detailed and separate to properly reflect on Gregg Popovich's nearly 30 seasons on the bench as coach of the San Antonio Spurs.
Road Sweet Road

1 week ago | marcstein.substack.com | Marc Stein

Will the home team ever win another playoff game? The question is both an exaggeration and seemingly defensible after a circus start to the second round of the NBA playoffs. The 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers are down 2-0 to Indiana. The Minnesota Timberwolves couldn't win Game 1 against visiting Golden State even though Stephen Curry exited with a deeply concerning hamstring injury early in the second quarter.
Sunday Best: All of the NBA's latest personnel matters, coaching chatter and roster-building rumbles

1 week ago | marcstein.substack.com | Marc Stein

LOS ANGELES — Around-the-league NBA notes on a Sunday? At the end of a wildly newsy week in the NBA? As it should be! Jake Fischer and I have joined forces again to deliver the latest from our notebooks on the Lakers, Magic, Suns, Hawks and more. To the Intel …Luka Dončić is not extension-eligible with the Lakers until Aug. 2, but an illustration of the level of collaboration between the Dončić camp and his new team that is already underway unexpectedly emerged Saturday.
Pop

1 week ago | marcstein.substack.com | Marc Stein

If any coach in modern NBA history appeared destined to walk away from the bench in precisely the manner he wanted to, it figured to be Gregg Popovich. For nearly three decades, Pop seemingly controlled everything in the Alamo City. He joysticked the entire operation with a firmer grip on the franchise than any coach in the sport's history not named Red Auerbach.
On the (NBA) road again ... with What Next thoughts for the Bucks in the air wherever you go

2 weeks ago | marcstein.substack.com | Marc Stein

LOS ANGELES — First things first ... It's obviously not Tuesday. You guys know this happens to me sometimes and this is one of those times: My final Tuesday in April unexpectedly veered off track with some breaking news dribbling in about Steve Nash and his burgeoning broadcasting career ... followed by a DLLS Mavs podcast and then a flight to Los Angeles ... and then, well, your trusty Tuesday Newsletter Extravaganza had to be pushed into Wednesday.
Sources: Hall of Famer Steve Nash is joining Amazon's NBA coverage starting next season

2 weeks ago | marcstein.substack.com | Marc Stein

Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash is expanding his scope as a basketball broadcaster. And Nash, in the process, will become teammates again with a very close friend — fellow Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki — for the first time in more than 20 years. The Stein Line has learned that Nash is joining Amazon Prime's NBA coverage team starting next season when Prime launches Year 1 of its NBA coverage as part of an 11-year, $20 billion deal to join ESPN and NBC and NBA broadcast rightsholders.
This Week In 🏀 can only SMDH in wonderment ... because the NBA's Crisis Club has indeed expanded

2 weeks ago | marcstein.substack.com | Marc Stein

Phoenix. Philadelphia. Dallas obviously. You could probably throw Miami into the same division, too. Four teams that began the season with high payrolls and lofty aspirations and, thanks to injuries and internal chaos and their own questionable choices, failed to even muster a win total in the 40s and routinely get lumped nowadays into the same sentence of despair. It's a high-profile quartet that welcomed a new member to its Club of Considerable Woe on Sunday night.
Sunday Best: The latest on coaches, front offices and, yes, potential trades from the NBA grapevine

2 weeks ago | marcstein.substack.com | Marc Stein

Around-the-league NBA notes on a Sunday? On the day after the first buzzer-beating dunk in NBA playoff history? As it should be!And, no, we haven't gotten so swept up in Aaron Gordon's heroics at the horn Saturday night that we forgot about Deandre Ayton's Valley Oop (hat-tip to NBA TV's Matt Winer) that helped fuel the Phoenix Suns' run to the NBA Finals in 2020-21.