Free Republic

Robbie Avila has heard the chants. He heard the fans inside of Thomas & Mack Center shouting “We Want Rob-bie!” during the second half of the Lakers’ summer league game on Friday against the Thunder. SNIP Cream Abdul-Jabbar — a nickname popularized by Kentucky Sports radio host Matt Jones in 2024 while Avila, who wears protective goggles like NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was playing at Indiana State before he transferred to Saint Louis for his junior and senior seasons. “It’s one of the most unique nicknames I think I’ve ever seen,” Avila told the Post. But Avila’s personal favorite nickname...

Newly released bodycam footage is shedding light on the final weeks of NBA player Brandon Clarke. The video shows the 29-year-old’s April arrest in Arkansas on speeding and drug possession charges—just six weeks before he was found dead in Los Angeles, reported CBS. Police say Clarke was carrying kratom, a leaf-derived supplement frequently sold as an energy booster or pain reliever— better known as “gas station heroin.” While Clarke’s official cause of death is still under investigation, the footage has renewed national scrutiny over the safety of kratom, a substance the FDA has repeatedly warned the public about. He was...

Mark Cuban is accusing Dallas Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont of freezing the team's former majority owner out of business opportunities in a proposed move of the club out of downtown, according to a newspaper report. The Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday that Cuban alleges Dumont has engaged in "adversarial business practices" in his bid to move the team about 10 miles north of downtown to the former site of a Dallas mall. A Mavericks spokeswoman and Cuban declined to comment to The Associated Press. The billionaire businessman sold his majority stake in 2023 to the families of Miriam Adelson and...

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, has criticized comedian Jerry Seinfeld after he told a streamer that "Palestine doesn't exist" as he walked out of an NBA Finals game after he was repeatedly asked to say "Free Palestine." While being interviewed by TMZ on Capitol Hill, Omar called Seinfeld's comment "disgusting," "disturbing," and "genocidal language," and argued that the remark is intended to erase Palestinian existence. "Jerry Seinfeld has been a really horrific human being and an example when it comes to talking about the reality of the genocide that Israel has carried out," Omar told TMZ. "And I think when people...

An NBA Finals watch party in Manhattan descended into violent chaos on Monday night as fans brawled and police deployed pepper spray in a desperate attempt to disperse the crowds. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a short-notice big-screen viewing at Bryant Park after the visit of president Donald Trump to Madison Square Garden forced the cancelation of a previously-planned event outside the arena itself. 5,000 free tickets were dished out to Knicks fans to watch Game 3 of the NBA Finals, but scenes turned ugly midway through the night, leading to riot police being deployed. It is understood...

Multiple Knicks fans were arrested Wednesday night while celebrating their hometown team’s thrilling NBA Finals Game 1 victory at Madison Square Garden’s first outdoor watch party permitted by the city in weeks. The celebratory sea of Knicks fanatics packed the streets surrounding the Garden, where they cheered the team’s 105-95 win against the San Antonio Spurs as hundreds of cops looked on — and a waving Mayor Zohran Mamdani was driven by in a black SUV, according to social media clips. The outdoor event had been scrapped for weeks after the city pulled permits over concerns of unruly fan antics....

New York City was a picture of pandemonium on Saturday night as the Knicks' NBA Championship celebrations descended into bloody violence and a teenager was shot. Across the city, riot police were deployed to quell the madness and videos showed the party turning ugly in Times Square as fans literally ripped apart a school bus while the driver begged them to stop. At around 2am, a 17-year-old boy was shot in the left foot at 42nd St and Broadway, according to details from the NYPD. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in a stable condition. In Brooklyn, meanwhile, a 44-year-old...

It was bedlam on Broadway as the New York Knicks won their first NBA championship in 53 years on Saturday night, with exuberant celebrations marred by mayhem and violence, including gunshots in Times Square. Outside Madison Square Garden, a crowd watching on a big screen roared as the Knicks rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat the Spurs in San Antonio in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Soon after, rowdy fans were clashing with police, smashing windshields, scaling scaffolding, light poles and a statue, climbing into and atop school buses in Times Square and trying to hitch a ride...

New York was a picture of pandemonium on Saturday night as the city's rowdy NBA Championship celebrations culminated in police officers tackling manic fans as they clambered on top of cop cars and school buses. Thousands of the Big Apple's raucous citizens invaded the streets to celebrate the Knicks' first NBA Championship in 53 years. The Knicks completed a fairytale playoffs with the ultimate prize as they produced another epic comeback on the road to beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in a dramatic Game 5 in front of a star-studded crowd that included even Prince Harry. The Knicks won...

The New York Knicks are NBA champions. In a Game 5 of the NBA Finals Saturday night that looked much like the previous four, the San Antonio Spurs took a double-digit lead in the first quarter. But like in three of the previous four games, the Knicks rallied — this time from a 16-point deficit — to secure a 94-90 Game 5 win and a 4-1 series victory in the NBA Finals. Jalen Brunson led the way with a legacy-securing 45-point effort as New York’s only reliable source of offense on a night in which both teams struggled from the...

The San Antonio Spurs slapped a ticket restriction on NBA Finals games in a pathetic bid to keep New York fans from flooding the Frost Bank Center — sparking outrage from Big Apple pols and Knicks fans alike. Knicks faithful trying to get into tonight’s Game 5 contest – which could hand New York its first NBA title in 53 years – are being greeted with a warning from Ticketmaster. “Frost Bank Center is located in San Antonio, Texas . Sales to this event will be restricted to customers residing within a 150-mile radius of Frost Bank Center,” the note...

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A teenager was beaten so badly during the celebrations outside Madison Square Garden earlier this week that he's in a coma. It happened following the Knicks Game 4 NBA Finals win against the San Antonio Spurs. The 17-year-old victim was approached by a group and then attacked during a verbal dispute outside 235 West 35th Street around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday. The fight apparently began with a content creator allegedly provoking Knicks fans. Detectives have reviewed cellphone video that shows the content creator interviewing a member of the crowd. The content creator asked members of the crowd,...

The New York Knicks‘ return to the NBA Finals has created one of the hottest ticket markets in sports history, and the prices fans paid to attend Game 3 at Madison Square Garden have left many stunned... One fan revealed she paid an astonishing $20,000... For many supporters, the biggest frustration is how quickly lifelong Knicks fans have been priced out of the building... "It’s unfair to us true Knicks fans. I feel like a peasant outside the castle.” A different fan echoed those concerns. “I think the price of tickets is kind of outrageous. You see a lot of...

As he nears the end of his storied NBA career, LeBron James continues to stand as arguably the greatest basketball player of all time. James was asked about the inevitable GOAT debate surrounding him and Michael Jordan during a recent interview with Time. "I'm not taking nobody over me," James told Time as part of a wide-ranging profile published Monday. "There's no question." James acknowledged that the NBA's other all-time greats, including Jordan, likely think that they are the GOAT. "But I think Mike will say the same thing," James said. "Rest his soul, Kobe will say the same thing....

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama will not receive a flagrant foul for his shove to the upper body of Knicks guard Jalen Brunson in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, a league spokesperson told ESPN's Shams Charania on Tuesday night. Wembanyama will stay at two flagrant points in the postseason. Players who reach four flagrant points are subject to an automatic suspension. The play occurred with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter of Monday's game. Brunson attempted to set a screen on the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama around the free throw line, and when the center turned around, he shoved the...

🚨 JUST IN: CROWDS CHEER as President Trump's motorcade just ARRIVED to Madison Square Garden in NYC for NBA Finals Game 3, after he flew in from Marine One There he is, waving! Some liberals booed, but patriots began to drown them out 🤣 LFG! First sitting president to do this! Stay safe, Mr. President 🙏🏻

The city pulled the plug on a planned Knicks watch party outside Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals Monday night with President Trump expected to be in the house. The move comes as security for the game will be amped up with TSA-level surveillance and scrutiny – and widespread street and sidewalk closures around the arena, officials said. “The permit for the Plaza33 Game 3 watch party was denied by the city’s permitting office in consultation with the NYPD,” an MSG spokesperson said in a statement to The Post. “However, the White House will confirm that...

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has accepted an invitation from New York Knicks owner James Dolan to attend an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden next week. "The answer is yes," Trump said. "[Dolan] has invited me, and I'm going. I'll be there. It could be Monday. Maybe I'll do both [Game 3 and Game 4]." The Knicks, who are playing in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, hold a 1-0 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs before Friday's Game 2 in San Antonio. New York's 14-point comeback victory in Game 1 on...

The biggest sneaker free agent in basketball history didn't sign with Nike or Adidas. Golden State Warriors' Steph Curry just signed with a Chinese brand. After mutually parting ways with Under Armour in 2025 (corrected) and ending a 13-year partnership (with the Baltimore sportswear company), the four-time NBA champion has signed a massive 10-year deal with Chinese sportswear giant Li-Ning.

The defending champs have been dethroned. Facing a hostile crowd in Oklahoma City, the San Antonio Spurs showed no sign of nerves, using a balanced attack, excellent 3-point shooting and a stingy defense to pull out a 111-103 victory in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals Saturday night. The Spurs now advance to the NBA Finals for a chance to win their sixth NBA championship — and the first since 2014. They’ll have to get past the New York Knicks to do so, with Game 1 set for Wednesday in San Antonio. Victor Wembanyama, named the Western Conference finals...