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December 23, 2024
 

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Sam Smith

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Sam Smith
Sam Smith covered the Chicago Bulls for the Chicago Tribune for nearly 25 years, including all six of the team's NBA titles with Michael Jordan. He is the author of the bestselling book "The Jordan Rules" and now writes for bulls.com. He was honored with the Basketball Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Media Award for lifetime achievement earlier this year.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 24, 2018
Victory over Trail Blazers shows why Pelicans must let DeMarcus Cousins go
For the New Orleans Pelicans, it's the elephant in the locker room.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 20, 2018
Dwane Casey has Raptors looking like the real thing
The Toronto Raptors through the 2016-17 season had been one of the best teams in the NBA the previous four years, averaging 51 wins, top 10 in the NBA in offensive efficiency every year, All-Stars in DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, a visit to the conference finals.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 30, 2018
Cavaliers, Bucks search for right formula in a tale of two cities
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 12, 2017
Time is now for Grizzlies to be all shook up
Memphis is a slow-moving city along the Mississippi River that dissects the United States. It is probably best known for its most famous modern resident, rock and roll icon Elvis Presley, whose Graceland mansion remains a major American tourist destination 40 years after his death.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Nov 14, 2017
Good defense has Celtics on 12-game win streak
It wasn't a great start for them — OK, the Warriors aren't going 80-2 — but Golden State is back at the top of the Western Conference, as expected.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jun 6, 2017
Cavs GM Griffin may be on way out; Clippers wise to get West
See, maybe the Cavs shouldn't have traded Andrew Wiggins after all. David Griffin may pay for that with his job, though it's highly unlikely it was his idea.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 23, 2017
Clippers should stay the course despite disappointments
Coach Doc Rivers: Headed back to Orlando where he began his NBA coaching career and where he still owns a home and where his family has remained. To run the Magic franchise.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 9, 2017
Injured Parker remains perfect fit for no-nonsense Spurs
Tim Duncan was the most famous; OK, maybe co-famous with David Robinson.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 25, 2017
Antetokounmpo no longer just a diamond in the rough
Giannis Antetokounmpo probably is the least favorite player of NBA writers.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 11, 2017
Russian influence on Nets leaves franchise in disarray
The United States is having a lot of problems with Russia.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA
Mar 28, 2017
Battles with Jordan, Pippen put Krause in tough spot
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame next week probably will announce that former Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause will be enshrined later this year. Perhaps it will wait another year.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 14, 2017
Wall has Wizards in chase for Eastern Conference top seed
The NBA's most unexpected and overlooked, if not undeserving, Most Valuable Player candidate this season has had perhaps the most unusual of career arcs.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 28, 2017
Magic will need luck, guile to help drama-filled Lakers return to glory
Magic Johnson learned a painful lesson as an NBA coach for 16 games, his Lakers went 5-11 at the end of the 1993-94 season. It was once most eloquently stated by Johnny Kerr, a star center from the 1950s and 1960s who coached the expansion Chicago Bulls: That's five guys running around with my paycheck....
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 14, 2017
Oakley's gruff manner has history of creating trouble
Diogenes would never have believed there is a Charles Oakley.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 31, 2017
Cavaliers paying price for LeBron's imperious actions
When you declare yourself the king, as LeBron James did and Henry VIII in England, and it looks like Donald Trump in the United States these days, then you'll probably act like the world is your kingdom — heck, LeBron calls it the (his?) Land — and your actions will be erratic and often damaging...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 17, 2017
Rose vilified for absence while LeBron given a pass
Derrick Rose last week missed one game, distraught and leaving suddenly without telling anyone after Knicks practice to attend to a family emergency back in Chicago. He returned the next day to team practice and to play the next game, was fined $200,000 and made public apologies to his teammates, the...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 3, 2017
Karl up to old tricks with new book
Many who know George Karl will tell you there's a good side, welcoming, generous, warm and funny, though George works very hard to hide it.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 20, 2016
High time for Kings to dump insufferable Cousins
I was talking to an NBA general manager earlier this season about DeMarcus Cousins, the best player in the NBA most likely to be traded, or at least so we'll hear for the next few months.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 6, 2016
Ex-referee Vanak helped improve job with courage
John Vanak was a quiet revolutionary.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Nov 22, 2016
Throwback DeRozan proving that old attitudes not necessarily outdated
When DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points last Friday in the Toronto Raptors' 113-111 victory against the Denver Nuggets, he matched Michael Jordan, Alex English, Nate "Tiny" Archibald and Rick Barry as the only players to score at least 30 points in 10 of their first 12 games.
Freed anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson, who was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, arrives with Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, near Paris, on Friday.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
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