The Basketball Section

December 9th, 1977 saw one of the most brutal punches in the history of non-punch-centric sports. In a match-up between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets, a battle for a rebound between the Lakers' Kermit Washington and Rockets' Kevin Kunnert escalated into a full-on fight at half-court. As Washington's teammate, the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, attempted to break up the fight (something both Abdul-Jabbar and Kunnert attest to) by holding Kunnert back, Washington landed a punch on Kunnert. There are details of the fight that have multiple, conflicting accounts, but what happened next is not up for dispute. Rockets' star forward Rudy Tomjanovich ran toward the fight in an attempt to break it up. Washington, not knowing Tomjanovich's intentions, delivered a vicious punch directly to Tomjanovich. The results were devastating. Tomjanovich suffered a facial fracture so severe it detached from his skull, a cerebral concussion, and a broken jaw & nose, a...

The NBA season is upon us again, and with the first week (well, five days) of the season in the books, in the pocket, and out of sight, it's time for me to give my thoughts on the best players of the week. WIth that short intro out of the way, here are the 10 best players from the past week of the NBA season. Joel Embiid Following up on a great season that ended in disappointing fashion last year, the Philidelphia 76ers are looking to rebound and potentially take the top spot in the Eastern Conference now that LeBron James has gone west. A 2-1 start through their first three games isn't perfect, but it's still a strong start, and the person they can thank the most for this continued success is their start player Joel Embiid. For the past week, Embiid averaged 28.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, and two blocks per game while shooting 51% from the field and 33% from three-point range. Don't be surprised if the 76ers find their way into the Eastern Conference Finals this ye...