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Deep and Versatile, Warriors Show How to Build a Champion

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Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, left, holds the championship trophy and Andre Iguodala holds the series MVP trophy as they celebrate winning the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland, Wednesday, June 17, 2015. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 105-97 to win the best-of-seven game series 4-2. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, left, holds the championship trophy and Andre Iguodala holds the series MVP trophy as they celebrate winning the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland, Wednesday, June 17, 2015. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 105-97 to win the best-of-seven game series 4-2. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer

CLEVELAND (AP) — Andre Iguodala was more than just a key player on a team that beat LeBron James and Cleveland.

Turns out he used to beat up on Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

“We beat the first unit more times than they beat us, and I think it was by a landslide,” Iguodala said.

So good, so deep that the MVP of the NBA Finals never started a game all season, the Warriors built the kind of squad that can compete for many NBA titles.

And when they were in trouble trying to win this one, down 2-1 in the series, they inserted Iguodala into the lineup. He responded with the same defensive effort he had been providing against James along with unsuspected offense, including 25 points Tuesday in the Game 6 clincher.

“He was great the entire series. But he saved this season for us,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “I always say Andre’s a pro’s pro. He’s a professional guy, and it showed, and that’s why he’s the MVP of this series, and that’s why we’re champions.”

One of the reasons, anyway.

There’s also Curry, the regular-season MVP who delivered a couple of big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that helped the Warriors build a big enough lead to withstand Cleveland’s late comeback. And there was Green, the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up who bounced back from a poor start to the series to finish with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists Tuesday.

Throw in 10 points apiece off the bench from Shaun Livingston and Festus Ezeli, or David Lee re-emerging earlier in the series after falling out of the rotation, and the Warriors still had plenty of firepower off the bench even once Iguodala was no longer part of it.

Iguodala was the primary defender on James, but as James said, “It’s never 1-on-1.”

“But I think his ability to play multiple positions for their team along with some of those other guys allowed their team to be so dynamic,” James added.

Iguodala was a former No. 1 option in Philadelphia who won gold with the U.S. Olympic team in 2012. Lee has made multiple All-Star teams. Livingston was a one-time No. 4 pick in the draft who has become a valuable and versatile player after overcoming a devastating knee injury earlier in his career.

“Well, it speaks to the character of the players more than anything. (General manager) Bob Myers and his staff have done an incredible job of putting together this roster,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I was well aware of the versatility that the roster had, but as I got to know the players I realized they had what it took spiritually, emotionally. They were united. They wanted to win.”

They are good enough to do it again, provided they keep Green and Harrison Barnes once they are eligible for free agency, and if they can find a way to overcome the rugged Western Conference. Plenty of teams that looked great one year couldn’t do it the next on the stronger side of the NBA bracket.

But not many of those teams had what these Warriors had, a team that ultimately won 83 games, more than any team other than Michael Jordan’s Bulls.

“I think we definitely are a great team, and a team that should go down in history as one of the best teams from top to bottom,” Curry said. “We have a lot of things to be proud of this season.”

Including, perhaps, showing how the NBA is won nowadays. The old ideas about teams that play small and rely on outside shooting not being able to win an NBA title — the ones Charles Barkley has promoted for years — are gone now. Golden State shot them down with 67 wins in the regular season and a powerful run through the postseason.

Maybe now a team built in that style will show other teams how they have to construct their rosters.

“Well, I mean, we’ll see,” Curry said. “We found a recipe for success, and that’s the most important thing for us.”

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Arts and Culture

Gov. Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom Host 2024 Hall of Fame Ceremony

Former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and three other African Americans were among 10 luminaries inducted into the 2024 Class of the California Hall of Fame on Feb. 8. The 17th Annual California Hall of Fame ceremony was held at the California Museum.

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Willie Brown, Former California Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor, was proud to be among the Hall of Fame inductees. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.
Willie Brown, Former California Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor, was proud to be among the Hall of Fame inductees. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

By California Black Media

Former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and three other African Americans were among 10 luminaries inducted into the 2024 Class of the California Hall of Fame on Feb. 8.

The 17th Annual California Hall of Fame ceremony was held at the California Museum.

“The California Hall of Fame is one of our families’ favorite traditions as it is a time to come together to celebrate remarkable Californians as well as their loved ones because we know that it is about partnerships,” Siebel Newsom said. “The governor likes to say that California is a dream factory because it doesn’t matter what zip code or background you come from, the California dream is alive and well to everyone who calls this state home.”

The other Black honorees were filmmaker Ava DuVernay; Federal Judge and civil rights leader, the Hon. Thelton Henderson; and basketball Hall of Fame player and broadcaster Cheryl Miller.

“It’s what I’ve been waiting for and to be among a great group of individuals that also deserve the honor,” Brown told California Black Media on the event’s red carpet before the ceremony began. “No, I never thought someone from Texas would be recognized this way. But here I am, and it all happened in the great state of California. It’s a fantastic feeling.”

Other 2024 inductees are: master chef and “mother of fusion cuisine” Helene An; computer scientist and “father of the internet” Vincent A. Cerf; all-female pop punk band The Go-Gos; Chicano Rock band Los Lobos; former U.S. Secretary of Defense and Congressman Leon E. Panetta; and artistic director and choreographer Brenda Way.

This year’s honorees join a history-making club with over 150 inspirational Californians previously inducted for their groundbreaking achievements and personifying the state’s innovative spirit.

“It’s just a humbling experience. I want to thank the Governor and First Partner. Who would have thought 100 years ago (that I would be inducted?) It’s incredible,” Miller said after her induction. “I want to thank the governor and First Partner for an incredible event.”

During his acceptance speech, Henderson said he was deeply honored.

“You know, it really would have been a really big deal to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in the area where I grew up, for example, South Central Hall of Fame, or the Watts Hall of Fame, or the Straight Out of Compton Hall of Fame,” he said. “But being inducted into the California Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame of the greatest state in the country in this great nation is something else.”

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Community

El Cerrito High Senior Jayvon Bolds Named to Blue-Grey All-American Bowl

El Cerrito High School senior Jayvon Bolds is set to play in the Blue-Grey All American Bowl game at Cowboy Stadium in Dallas on Jan. 8. Bolds, an 18-year-old scholar athlete whose favorite subject is history, was nominated for the honor by Rodney Alamo Brown, founder of Soulful Softball Sunday who also serves as an announcer for the Texas bowl game.

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Jayvon Bolds (No. 4) is headed to Cowboys Stadium to play in the Blue-Grey All American Bowl. (Photo courtesy of Rodney Alamo Brown).
Jayvon Bolds (No. 4) is headed to Cowboys Stadium to play in the Blue-Grey All American Bowl. (Photo courtesy of Rodney Alamo Brown).

By the Richmond Standard

El Cerrito High School senior Jayvon Bolds is set to play in the Blue-Grey All American Bowl game at Cowboy Stadium in Dallas on Jan. 8.

Bolds, an 18-year-old scholar athlete whose favorite subject is history, was nominated for the honor by Rodney Alamo Brown, founder of Soulful Softball Sunday who also serves as an announcer for the Texas bowl game.

“It’s a real honor,” Alamo Brown stated about Brown’s selection for the bowl game. “This makes him an All-American.”

Bolds will play three positions for the Eastern team: kr, slot back and special teams—i.e., kickoff and punt return.

“The plan is to line up Bolds all over the field and let him do his thing. He’ll be a weapon for our staff,” said NFL veteran Tampa Bay Buccaneers standout and All-American Bowl Coach Dick Bell. “In a game like this, with the platform being an NFL facility with former professionals as assistants and mentors, he’ll have a chance to shine on one of the biggest stages around.”

Recently, Bolds received a scholarship offer to continue his higher education at Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa.

Bolds maintains a 3.3 GPA and is heavily involved in leadership as he is the vice president of the Black Student Union.

Blue-Grey Football launched in 1989 by founders Gus and Erik Bell with the aim of helping prospects gain national exposure so that they can improve their chances to secure college scholarships.

Some of the nation’s most talented young football players compete in the annual game, with Fox Sports, CBS Sports and USA Today regularly providing coverage, as well as ESPN.comScout.comRivals.com and 247Sports.com.

Bolds’ family is planning on traveling to Dallas on Friday and is seeking donations from the community to offset the enormous cost. Those who are willing to donate may do so by sending their donations to this cash app, $Juanita Towns.

Rodney Alamo Brown contributed to this report.

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Book Reviews

Book Review: “Who Got Game? Basketball”

A little less than two feet. That’s how far you can get your two feet off the floor if you’re an average kid doing an average vertical jump. Not quite twenty-four inches, but don’t worry: the taller you grow, the higher you could be able to jump. Practice some, dribble a little, shoot more three-pointers, and you might jump right into a book like “Who Got Game? Basketball” by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Jez Tuya.

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“Who Got Game? Basketball” Author Derrick Barnes Courtesy of EyeSun Photography (Charlotte NC). Book Cover Courtesy of Workman Publishing c.2024.
“Who Got Game? Basketball” Author Derrick Barnes Courtesy of EyeSun Photography (Charlotte NC). Book Cover Courtesy of Workman Publishing c.2024.

A little less than two feet.

That’s how far you can get your two feet off the floor if you’re an average kid doing an average vertical jump. Not quite twenty-four inches, but don’t worry: the taller you grow, the higher you could be able to jump. Practice some, dribble a little, shoot more three-pointers, and you might jump right into a book like “Who Got Game? Basketball” by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Jez Tuya.

Here we are, football season’s almost over, and your mind has turned to other things – namely, hoops set high over your head, and a round bouncy basketball. Kids like you who “got game” have had it for more than a century. Yes, the game of basketball was created by Dr. James Naismith in 1891 in Massachusetts.

In the years since, basketball has changed a lot, thanks to what Derrick Barnes calls “pioneers.” Julius “Dr. J” Erving improved the dunk. Before that, in 1950, the NBA first allowed Black basketball players on the teams. There have been super-tall players (Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muregan were both seven feet, seven tall) and smaller b-ballers – five-three Muggsy Bogues had a vertical jump of nearly four feet! – and just two years after the game was invented, America had its first women’s team.

A lot of off-court people poured themselves into the game, too. Barnes writes, for example, about Pat Summitt, hoopster, leader, and “one of the greatest coaches in all of sports history.” Her record of 1,098 wins ranks her at first-place in coaching women’s basketball, and as the coach with the second-most wins overall.

You can probably guess that in a book about buckets, there are bucketfuls of stats. Barnes includes a list of NBA players who jumped to a team right out of high school. He writes about the greatest basketball park ever, he explains why winners cut down the net, how Title IX changed the game, why backboards rarely break into a zillion pieces anymore, high scores, bad injuries, “hoops movies,” and where in the world you can pick up a game today.

So, your 9-to-13-year-old loves basketball so much that they dribble a ball in their sleep? They think their favorite jersey is church wear? Then you’ll be the hero of the day when you bring home “Who Got Game? Basketball.”

But first, there’s one big thing you need to know: this is not a how-to book. There aren’t any instructions inside here, no rules or plays to follow. Instead, author Derrick Barnes makes young b-ballers happy by sharing little-known info about the game they love so much, short lists, great stories about great players, wins and losses, and phrases they should know to talk the talk. All this knowledge is supported by colorful illustrations by Jez Tuya that kids will enjoy alongside the facts.

This book is for die-hard young b-ballers, but don’t be surprised if an adult finds a thing or two to learn here. “Who Got Game? Basketball” is a book any fan will want to jump on.

“Who Got Game? Basketball” by Derrick Barnes, Illustrated by Jez Tuya, c.2023, Workman Publishing, $16.99, 172 pages.

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