LeBron James responds to Brooklyn forming Big 3 after acquiring James Harden

The Brooklyn Nets started the 2020-21 season listed among the favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, led by the All-Star duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving supported by a robust supporting cast of talented player. After acquiring another All-NBA player in James Harden from the Houston Rockets, the expectations for the Nets to win the championship have only spiked. As Stephen A. Smith said on ESPN’s Get Up, “it’s the NBA Finals or bust” now for the Nets. Prior to the trade, the Nets trailed Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Lakers in BetMGM’s NBA championship odds. Now with Harden, the Nets only trail the Lakers as the No. 2 listed team. LeBron James, who often gets credit for launching the superteam era after leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 free agency to join fellow All-Stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach, was asked to shed his thoughts on the trade. James didn’t have much to say, and admitted that he’s focused primarily on what’s happening regarding the Lakers. “Obviously, trades and things happen every year, and for me, my main focus is on what we do here and how we can continue to get better, and that was the case today,” James told reporters. “The trade happened today, but I couldn’t allow myself to indulge in that knowing that we had a team that we had to play tonight, so my main focus was the Thunder.” LeBron and the Lakers will meet the new-look Nets for the first time on February 18th at Staples Center. Basketball stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

Messi sent off, Athletic beats Barca in Spanish Super Cup

Lionel Messi lost his cool after another Barcelona collapse on Sunday, hitting an opponent away from the ball and being sent off for the first time while playing with the Catalan club in the team's 3-2 loss to Athletic Bilbao in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. Inaki Williams' goal in extra time gave Athletic the lead and a come-from-behind win. Barcelona had little chance of recovering when Messi swung his right arm toward the head of an Athletic player while trying to free himself. Messi was shown the red card following a video review. The card came in his 753rd appearance with Barcelona. He has been sent off twice with Argentina, including in his national team debut in 2005. The other red card with Argentine came in the 2019 Copa America. Messi could face a lengthy suspension for his ejection on Sunday. After Athletic scored in the 90th minute to seal a 2-2 draw and force extra time, Williams netted the title-clinching goal with a neat curling shot from just inside the area, with the ball hitting the far post before going into the top corner. ''Because of what it meant for the team, this is the best goal of my career,'' Williams said. The goal three minutes into extra time secured Athletic its third Super Cup title, and first since it beat Barcelona in the 2015 final. The Basque Country club also won the title in 1984. Barcelona was seeking its 15th Super Cup title, and third in the last five seasons. It was also looking to end its title drought after going without a trophy last season, something that hadn't happened since 2007-08. The team got off to a slow start this season and trails Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the Spanish league. Messi, who asked to leave Barcelona in the offseason but had his request denied, had been doubtful to play in the final because of an unspecified fitness issue that had caused coach Ronald Koeman to leave him out of the semifinal against Real Sociedad on Wednesday, when Barcelona prevailed in a penalty shootout. He helped set up Antoine Griezmann's first goal on Sunday but was far from his best throughout the match at the La Cartuja Stadium in Seville. Barcelona opened the scoring with a shot from the middle of the area by Griezmann in the 40th minute but Athletic equalized two minutes later with a close-range strike by Oscar de Marcos after a well-placed cross by Williams. Griezmann put Barcelona ahead with another shot from inside the area in the 77th but Athletic evened the match again with Asier Villalibre finding the net following a set piece in the 90th. Villalibre was the player hit by Messi in the final minutes as the players tangled together outside the area. The ball was already on the left side of the area when the incident happened. Athletic, which beat defending champion Real Madrid 2-1 in the other semifinal, had a 57th-minute goal disallowed by video review because of offside following a header by Raul Garcia, who had netted twice in the semifinal. The final was the third match in charge for Athletic coach Marcelino Garcia Toral. His debut had been against Barcelona in a league game at home, when Messi scored twice to help the Catalan club recover from an early goal by Williams and secure a 3-2 victory. ''The players deserve all the credit for this achievement,'' the new coach said. ''They defeated Real Madrid and Barcelona to be able to win this trophy.'' Accompanying the Athletic squad in Seville was Aritz Aduriz, the club's former striker who was forced to retire last season because of a hip injury. When Athletic defeated Barcelona in 2015, the Spanish Super Cup final was still played in two legs between the Spanish league and Copa del Rey winners. This year's edition was moved to southern Spain after the coronavirus pandemic stopped it from being played in Saudi Arabia for a second straight season. The tournament's revamped Final Four format includes the top two finishers in the Spanish league and the finalists of the Copa del Rey from the previous season. Football stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

James Harden responds to criticism from John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins

Harden responds to criticism from Wall and Cousins originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington Friday was James Harden's introductory press conference with the Brooklyn Nets, which gave him his first opportunity to explain his side of what went wrong in Houston following one of the more eventful, and entertaining, exits for a star player in recent memory. Part of his end there included his new teammates John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins throwing some shade in his direction, as they complained in subtle and overt ways about him giving up on the team and wanting out. Wall complained of Harden not buying in and said that hurt the team. Cousins went as far as to say Harden's actions were "disrespectful." Harden was asked about it and took issue with what Cousins said in particular. "I wasn't disrespectful to anyone. Those guys had just got there to Houston. I'd been there for a very long time," he told reporters in a teleconference. "I've been through all the ups and downs with that organization and I wasn't disrespectful to anyone. I just made a comment that the team as a whole wasn't good enough to compete for a title and, at the stage in my career where I am now, that's what I would love." Harden went on to admit he didn't handle his end in Houston the best way he could. "There were some things I felt were out of my character, but the ultimate goal was to get somewhere where I could compete. Here I am in Brooklyn," he said. Harden, though, also referred to himself as an "elite player, an elite teammate, an elite leader," defending his final days in Houston as not indicative of the bigger picture of his career. Now, the Nets will find that out for themselves. Certainly, the talent is intriguing now that he's playing with Kevin Durant (again), Kyrie Irving and what remains a fairly deep roster despite the trade. Whether they can actually make it work and win a championship is the big question and both Harden and Irving will need to show their recent issues are behind them to actually prove their doubters wrong. Basketball stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

NBA players react to massive James Harden to Brooklyn trade

James Harden got what he wanted — and the NBA world flipped out. Harden had been pushing for a trade out of Houston to Brooklyn since before the season started, but the two teams could not find common ground. The sides were not even close a week ago. But things picked up a lot of momentum in the last few days, and Wednesday a massive four-team trade went down, sending Harden to the Nets, Caris LeVert to Indiana, Jarrett Allen to Cleveland, and four unprotected first-round picks, and four pick swaps, to Brooklyn. Basketball stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

No word on Irving's return to Nets after he misses 3 games

NEW YORK (AP) -- The timing of Kyrie Irving's return to the Brooklyn Nets remains unknown, with coach Steve Nash saying Monday he had no update on the point guard's status. The Nets listed Irving as out for their game Tuesday against Denver, which will be the fourth straight he misses for personal reasons. Nash has said it's a private matter and has refused to discuss Irving's absence in detail. He did say that he believed Irving was tested for the coronavirus on Sunday, though he wasn't sure about Monday. Whether Irving has continued to be tested during his time away could determine how quickly he would be eligible to play upon his return. The Nets have lost two of their three games without Irving. Kevin Durant missed two of them because of the NBA's health and safety protocols for COVID-19 before returning Sunday in a 129-116 loss to Oklahoma City. Basketball stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

Manchester United trio Paul Pogba, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw suffer injury setbacks ahead of cruch week

Paul Pogba, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw missed Manchester United’s FA Cup third round tie with Watford through injury, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed. The trio played no part in United's win at Old Trafford on Saturday evening, having all started in the EFL Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City three days earlier. Solskjaer made nine changes against Watford, naming Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford on the substitutes bench among others, though Pogba, Lindelof and Shaw were not included in the matchday squad. The United manager confirmed that all three were missing through injury in his post-match press conference, though was optimistic about Eric Bailly after the defender was forced off during the first half. Bailly was substituted for Maguire after a collision with goalkeeper Dean Henderson left him dazed and requiring assistance to leave the pitch. Solskjaer did not know the full extent of Bailly's problem but believed the issue to be with the 26-year-old's neck and did not suspect that Bailly suffered concussion. "He got a good whack," he said. "I don't think it's concussion, hopefully a muscle injury and we'll have to check it tomorrow. Fingers crossed he won't be out for too long." After the final whistle, Bailly confirmed his injury was only minor. "Good job by the team to advance in the FA Cup. I am OK, it was just a knock," he tweeted. Football stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

Steve Nash has texted with Kyrie Irving, whose status for Sunday's Nets game is unknown

Nets guard Kyrie Irving missed the team's game on Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers and did not travel for Friday's game on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies due to personal reasons. Head coach Steve Nash told reporters on Friday that he has texted with Irving and would like to keep the details of that conversation private. "I'm just going to keep it between us," Nash said. Nash would go on to say that Irving's status for Sunday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder is to be determined. Basketball stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .