West region breakdown: Weak and wide-open

Stephen Curry is one of the best, most well-respected, and most popular players in the NBA, but his quick rise in the league reportedly rubbed some of his peers the wrong way. In 2017, Marcus Thompson of The Athletic, author of the book “Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry,” explained to “The Big Lead with Jason McIntyre” that Curry is not all that popular with some of the league’s biggest stars, including LeBron James. “There’s this thing there with he and LeBron that’s a little weird,” Thompson said. According to Thompson, James and Curry were close from Curry’s days at Davidson to his early years in the league. Thompson said James was “like a mentor” to Curry, but as Curry’s game improved,

Two former allies who were key players in the NFL national anthem protests that dominated the league’s attention during the 2017 season almost came to blows before today’s game. Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid and Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins had to be separated during the coin toss after their pre-game jawing escalated. Reportedly their dispute centered on the NFL Players Coalition, an ad-hoc organization that was in talks with the NFL to end national anthem protests if the league donated $90 million to causes related to social inequality.