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MILWAUKEE -- What would Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer be thankful for? Well, as far as basketball goes, a little more protect ion for his star player -- and, frankly, any player  who may be the recipient of a hard foul. Giannis Antetokounmpo was on the receiving end of a Flagrant 1 from Joel Embiid in the team's last game on Nov. 18, and on Monday night against the Portland Trail Blazers he was once again the victim of some hard contact. Budenholzer, who rarely strays outside the lines, made his feelings clear. "You guys have pool reporters, you can ask again," he said. "The shot the other night in Philly was a significant shot, they don't upgrade that. I just think sometimes the hits that Giannis is taking, the league needs to look at, the league needs to protect him. It's not just him, anybody takes those hits, the league needs to protect players." Rewind to the thir...

The NBA just opened fan voting for the 2023 All-Star Game set to take place in Salt Lake City, Utah on Feb. 19, so there's no better time than now to take a look at who will be the 10 starters suiting up for the annual contest. As usual, there will be three frontcourt players and two backcourt players starting for each conference, but some decisions are easier to make than others when you look at the pool of talent around the league. When you factor in individual performance, injuries and team success it could become the difference between a player named a starter versus a reserve. While there's still some time before the starters are officially announced, and things can certainly change between now and then, let's take stock of who the 10 starters could be come February. Western Conference Backcourt ...

On Tuesday, the NBA introduced a new award. The Jerry West trophy will be given to the league's Clutch Player of the Year, a fun if slightly ridiculous concept. Russell Westbrook led the NBA in clutch minutes last season, but those minutes represented less than seven percent of his total for the year. No player made more than 47 clutch field goals for the season, and nobody attempted more than 100. The season as a whole produced a meager 14 game-winning buzzer-beaters out of 1,230 games. That's a shade above one percent. We're dealing with preposterously small samples here, but that's what makes things interesting. In theory, small samples offer plenty of opportunities for chaos. Does a superstar have to win this award? Only one player has hit multiple game-winning buzzer-beaters this season... and it's Atlanta Hawks rookie AJ Griffin. Could a player with a notoriously non-clutch reputation buc...