Tag: Adam Silver

Top Prep Player Jaylen Green is Joining the NBA G-League Over College as One and Done NCAA Players Could Become History

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Yahoo – With Jalen Green announcing he’s bypassing college and joining the NBA’s G League for the 2020-21 season, he’s attempting to forge a new path for elite prospects.

The five-star recruit who is ranked No. 2 in the 2020 high school class by Rivals.com has reached a substantial six-figure deal, sources said, to partner with the G League for a year before entering the 2021 NBA draft, where he’s a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick.

I know I’m in the minority here, but I just have never been a big college basketball fan. March Madness is great sure, but I just could never get into college basketball and I think a big reason is because all the best players are only around for a season, maybe two. If you play all four years of college ball, chances are you’re not going to be an NBA player unless your name is Draymond Green.

This isn’t the NFL where athletes legitimately need time to physically mature to handle the league. No, 18-year-olds can physically play in the NBA no problem. Thats not to say many of them would be elite right off the bat, but Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James proved going to college is not required to be a successful NBA player. Not to mention the NCAA looks more and more crooked each and every year as it finds new ways to screw athletes out of money. So if a kid is good enough to play professionally, then why should anyone be able to tell him no you need to go to Duke to pretend to do homework for 6 months, then you can go pro. Cut the crap.

I blogged about this back in March 2018 as the NBA has long been considering a solution for grooming young players that don’t want to go to college, but aren’t exactly floored about playing overseas. What I said back then:

If you’re going to require that players are at least a year removed from high school and the NCAA continues to be the money grubbing scheme that it is, it only makes sense to make the G-League a legitimate alternative to college. A place where players can get actual NBA level coaching and make a little coin without getting athletic directors and coaches everywhere investigated by the FBI.

Chris Haynes continues in the Yahoo article and mentions the idea of a “Select Team.”

“The G League will create a “Select Team” in a designated city with a few roster spots for elite high school players who want to play professionally instead of going to college, sources said. The rest of the roster will be made up of veteran players.”

Go hang around campus in your iSlides, get your National Championship on, take down a couple co-eds…not a bad gig. Or go pro in the States making six figures a year with nothing but a high school diploma? Ok, still not a sweet enough deal?

“The G League is also offering Green a full scholarship if he wants to obtain his college degree.“

LOL kick rocks, NCAA.

Adam Silver will go down as one of the great sports commissioners for a lot of reasons (integration of social media, e-sports, progressive views on marijuana, ousting Donald Sterling), but he may make his biggest mark in history for righting the wrong that was his predecessor’s baby: the One and Done rule. The One and Done rule has been in effect since 2005 so it’s “only” been 15 years, but Silver may have just found the solution to this tricky question. Rather than throwing kids straight into the fire that is the NBA or forcing them to go to college, Silver and co. came up with the idea of giving athletes a legit salary to play in the G-League while they level up. If you ask me, 9/10 kids are going to take that offer over playing for free at college and risking an injury.

Another huge perk to going this route is that this “Select Team” will only play about 20 games instead of the usual 50 in the G-League or 30+ in college or 82 in the NBA. Workload is probably a bigger factor than anything else as young players can gradually get used to a longer schedule.

We’ve seen a lot of guys look for ways around the One and Done rule. Back in 2018 Darius Bazley actually passed on this exact idea of joining the G-League in favor of an “internship” (with a $1 million salary) right in my neighborhood at the New Balance HQ. Bazley ultimately went No. 23 overall in the following NBA Draft so while he earned some serious money in the short term, the argument could be made he hurt his longterm career earnings by not getting the on-court experience in the G-League (or college).

None of this will really matter if Jalen Green flames out in the G-League and drops in next year’s draft, but this could be the start of something big.

I Love a Good Conspiracy Theory

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It helps if you read the above tweet in the ESPN 30 for 30 voice, but this is the most outrageous yet completely based in logic conspiracy theory I’ve heard in a long long time. So from here on our I will act as if this is fact.

In reality I know the Lakers get generational superstar talent every few years like we’re living in Groundhog Day despite completely mismanaging their entire franchise. They just always have and always will. Players like to be in sunny Cali, near beaches and models and other famous elites. I get it. Doesn’t mean it won’t forever piss me off though.

Whether its AD or Dwight Howard (when he was good) or Pau Gasol or Chris Paul or Shaq and on and on we go. The Lakers always fall ass backwards into supreme talent because they were fortunate enough to move from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes.

But Magic Johnson has tampered his ass off for years while pretending to be a legitimate basketball executive for the Lakers. The league has gone pretty easy on him in my opinion, but I’ve already written too many words about Earvin being bad at his job to get into it all over again.

This theory goes right up there with MJ retiring to play baseball because of a gambling suspension and the Knicks using a frozen envelope to land Patrick Ewing. It just makes too much sense to not be true.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is Part Steve Jobs, Part Wizard

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This digital jersey witchcraft comes just a couple of days after ESPN reported how badly the NFL has been trying to convince him to sack Roger Goodell and become commissioner of the NFL.

Just look at the growth of the NBA under Silver:

“League revenues have increased from $4.8 billion to a projected $9.1 billion in Silver’s five years.”

and the growth of individual teams as well:

“Team valuations have increased by 267 percent, from an average of $509 million in 2013 to $1.9 billion in the latest Forbes Magazine valuations.”

The NBA has become the most popular sport in the world for anyone under the age of 25 and its not even close. The NBA and Fortnite are what kids care about and not necessarily in that order. I went to a youth basketball game last night and the effect is real:

A lot of that credit has to go to Adam Silver. Sure players not having to wear helmets that hide their face helps, but he’s made the NBA the most marketing friendly sport we’ve ever seen. It routinely embraces cultural trends, technology, and social media, and he’s had the NBA at the head of the line for two of the biggest opportunities in America: esports and legalized gambling.

I’m calling it right now. As the most progressive league in professional sports, the NBA will be the one to partner with the first national marketing campaign for recreational cannabis. Oh the NFL banned a marijuana commercial? Well Adam Silver will use that opportunity to make anyone even associated with the league even more money.

Just patently absurd how good this man is at his job and he ain’t resting. I still hate the advertising patches on jerseys and expect it to only get more distracting, but hey money talks.

NBA Considers Three Rule Changes for 2018-19, and It’s All About the Offense, Baby

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Image result for nba shot clock

Bleacher Report – The NBA is reportedly exploring potential rule changes involving the shot clock and foul calls that would trigger a replay review.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA competition committee is recommending resetting the shot clock to 14 seconds after offensive rebounds and expanding the definition of what constitutes a “hostile act” for the purpose of replay review. 

Wojnarowski added the NBA board of governors is likely to pass the rule changes at their meetings on Sept. 20-21 before going to the teams for approval. The measures will need two-thirds of the owners to approve in order to pass. 

Unlike the NFL, which has faced a lot of backlash for many of the rule changes they’ve implemented lately, what the NBA is trying to do here makes a lot of sense.

It’s pretty clear that the changes are being proposed in an effort to increase pace of play and promote more scoring chances for both teams on the floor each night.

First and foremost, decreasing the shot clock from 24 to 14 seconds after an offensive rebound should actually increase the amount of total shot attempts per game. Some may think that less time on the clock means less opportunity to take a shot, but in reality it’ll force teams to hoist it up more quickly, ultimately causing for more changes in possession and more opportunity for both sides to score the ball.

It’ll also force some of the old-school teams (i.e. San Antonio, Memphis) to get away from the traditional half-court style of play that seems to be becoming more and more extinct with each passing year. The NBA has been embracing the run-and-gun, fast-paced style of play for quite some time now, and teams that don’t start getting with the program are soon going to be left in the dust. Teams now need players at pretty much every position who can get out and run in transition (a la Golden State, Philadelphia, New Orleans, the Lakers), and who also display the ability to quickly adapt to abrupt changes in play. This rule change would only enhance the advantage those teams currently have.

tom cruise maverick GIF by Top 100 Movie Quotes of All Time

The rule is already in place in both the G League and the WNBA, and the NBA did actually experiment with the rule already in this year’s Summer League. Apparently the league was pleased with the results.

The expansion of what constitutes a clear-path foul will also only further aid transitional offense. No longer will the defender need to be between the offensive player and the basket to be in violation, as now the rule will penalize defenses from stopping the fast-break altogether. Per Wojnarowski:

Under the changes to the clear-path rule, a clear path to the basket would be in play in these three instances:

• “A personal foul is committed on any offensive player during his team’s transition scoring opportunity.”

• “When the foul occurs, the ball is ahead of the tip of the circle in the backcourt, no defensive player is ahead of the offensive player with the scoring opportunity and that offensive player is in control of the ball or a pass to him has been released.”

• “The defensive foul deprives the offensive team of a transition scoring opportunity.”

Finally, the league also wants to expand what constitutes a “hostile act” to now explicitly include interactions with referees and fans, instead of only concerning the players on the court. (I guess, even after all these years, the “Malice at the Palace” still weighs heavy on the mind of some NBA execs.)

My reaction to the news basically amounts to this:

joey tribbiani whatever GIF

Do I think it’s going to significantly increase the score of each game? I mean, I guess we might actually see the average total score in a typical game go up a few notches. But does it really matter? Teams are already putting up ungodly offensive numbers every night, and I don’t think the Steph Currys or James Hardens of the world need more opportunity for extra buckets.

But if the goal is to promote pace of play and a more exciting product that keeps fans on the edge of their seats all game rather than being bogged down by sometimes painfully dull half-court, turtle-paced offenses then I guess that’s fine. (This ain’t Saturday morning pickup ball at the Y, people.)

We’ll likely have the official word on all three proposed changes by early October at the latest. For now, stay tuned.

Celtics Have a 2 Percent Chance of Getting the Number 2 or 3 Overall Pick at the NBA Draft Lottery Tonight

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Lost in all the excitement of this unexpectedly deep playoff run for the Celtics is the fact that they are still sitting on yet another potential goldmine. The Celtics have an outside shot at having a Top 3 pick fall into their laps this year.

The NBA Draft Lottery is tonight before Game 2 and the C’s will be watching with great interest as they could walk away with Philly’s first round pick (via Los Angeles) tonight. Boston is basically riding a heater after landing the No. 1 overall pick for the first time in franchise history last summer. Tonight will be a heat check from Danny.

To recap last year’s draft day trade that got us here, Danny Ainge traded the No. 1 overall pick to Philadelphia (who drafted Markelle Fultz) in exchange for the No. 3 overall pick (C’s drafted Jayson Tatum) and a future first round pick, which could be Philly’s pick this year that the Sixers had previously acquired from the Lakers. There were some protections on that pick though. The Celtics will get the Sixers/Lakers first round pick this year if it falls at No. 2 or No. 3 overall, which has a 2.87% chance of occuring at the Draft Lottery tonight.

Those aren’t great odds, but imagine the chaos we’d see on NBA Twitter if the Celtics, who are already pushing the Cavs to the limit and are expecting both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward back next season, get a Top 3 pick? People would be screaming about frozen envelopes and crafting conspiracy theories about Danny Ainge having naked pics of Adam Silver to explain this great run of luck in Boston.

However, the Sixers (via the Lakers) are currently projected to get the No. 10 pick based on the Draft Lottery odds. We’ve seen teams make crazy jumps before (i.e. Cleveland jumping from 8th to 1st in 2011 to draft Kyrie Irving) so this wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility. If the Cavs somehow jump from their current spot at No. 8 to No. 1 with the Brooklyn pick the Celtics sent them in the Kyrie trade I’m gonna snap though. Cleveland has had the No. 1 overall pick 3 times in the last 7 years. So who’s rigging the league for who? It would be hilarious though to watch Trader Danny hoard those Brooklyn picks for YEARS and then jump off the bandwagon at the last second to flip his last Nets pick, only to see it fall all the way to No. 8. Seriously though, Danny should be a stock broker.

If the Philly/Lakers pick ends up being anything other than No. 2 or No. 3 then the Celtics’ return for the Fultz/Tatum trade gets kicked to next summer when the C’s will receive a first rounder from the Sixers. The Sixers have their own pick next year as well as the Sacramento Kings’ first rounder so the Celtics would get the higher of the two next year unless either lands on No. 1 overall then they’d get the other pick instead.

In case you were wondering, the Kings finished 27-55 this year, which was tied for the 6th worst record in the NBA, with no signs of improvement next year. So either way the Celtics could be nabbing another Top 5 pick if not this year then very likely next year.

After Yet Another NCAA Pay for Play Scandal, the NBA is Exploring Creating a League to Develop (and Pay) Young Players

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ESPN – In 2005, then-NBA commissioner David Stern celebrated a victory when he successfully created an age limit — a player had to be 19 years old or one year removed from his high school class graduation to be drafted — that accomplished his goal of removing pro scouts from high school gyms. Now, though, there is turbulence, as the underbelly in the youth and college basketball systems is being exposed. The NBA has watched it unfold. Seeing both a responsibility as the world’s leading basketball league and an opportunity to move in on valuable territory, the league is preparing to get involved again with elite high school basketball players, multiple sources told ESPN. Current NBA commissioner Adam Silver and several of his top advisers have been engaged in listening tours and information-gathering missions with an array of stakeholders for months. That has included formal meetings with the National Basketball Players Association about adjusting the so-called “one-and-done” age-limit rule. But Silver’s aim is much more comprehensive than simply re-opening the door for 18-year-olds to play in the NBA, sources said.

WHAT TOOK SO LONG? I gotta be honest, when I first heard that the NBA was seriously interested in a player development system alternative to the NCAA all I could think of was one thing.

Love him or hate him, LaVar Ball’s idea for a similar league was not the worst idea in the world. But, back to reality.

The NBA is the only major sport without a legitimate minor league system, which is ridiculous. Did you know not every NBA team actually has a G-League team? How is that even possible? If you’re going to require that players are at least a year removed from high school and the NCAA continues to be the money grubbing scheme that it is, it only makes sense to make the G-League a legitimate alternative to college. A place where players can get actual NBA level coaching and make a little coin without getting athletic directors and coaches everywhere investigated by the FBI.

How many of these 18 year old phenoms actually want to to go to Duke for 6 months? And notice I say 6 months and not a year because these guys ain’t showing up to half their classes trust me. So why do we continue the facade?

Well it seems like Adam Silver is working to create this alternative for young elite basketball players.

“A plan is expected to include the NBA starting relationships with elite teenagers while they are in high school, providing skills to help them develop both on and off the court. It would ultimately open an alternate path to the NBA besides playing in college and a way 18-year-olds could earn a meaningful salary either from NBA teams or as part of an enhanced option in the developmental G League, sources said.”

All of this sounds exactly like what major soccer programs have had in place in Europe for years. Create something like an academy where young players can train, learn, and most importantly get paid all while developing to play for the big league team one day. Makes sense right? Especially when compared to the shady aspects of NCAA basketball and the joke that is the G-League.

Later in this article though it is mentioned how the NBA was looking into establishing just those types of academies.

“Within the past year, league officials began canvassing teams on their ideas and interest in the NBA creating academies that would house and train dozens of the country’s elite high school basketball players, sources said. This academy concept has been floated for years, notably by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban…However, after discussions with teams and examining challenges and possible unintended consequences with establishing these operations in the U.S., the NBA has decided not to go down the academy path at this time, sources said.”

It seems like they have decided to go a different route and I can only think its because of some legality issues (since they have similar academies outside of the US) or simply theres a way to create this system for young players while also making money. As opposed to probably sinking capital into housing and training players at year round academies.

The G-League is ripe for improvement though.

“The NBA currently permits 18-year-olds in the G League, but the salaries are not competitive. Currently, G League players can earn a maximum of $26,000 per season. In recent years, prospects such as Brandon Jennings, Emmanuel Mudiay and Terrance Ferguson played overseas and earned as much as $1 million while waiting to be eligible to be drafted — which they all were in the first round.”

Jesus christ, no wonder nobody wants to play there. You can make more money playing at UNC.

Currently if you’re playing in the G-League you are either rehabbing an injury or a scrub. Theres no in between. There are no prospects working their way up, and thats unfortunate. You could probably do a lot to limit the massive busts we see by giving guys some grooming in the G-League instead of either instantly succeeding at the NBA level or flopping. Because as we all know, not all 18-year old phenoms are created equal.

“The NBA is focusing on getting involved in two important periods in which they currently have minimal contact with prospects: the high school years and the time between high school graduation and when a young player is physically and emotionally ready to join the NBA.”

I don’t know about 18 year olds being “emotionally ready” for anything besides buying cigarettes and scratch tickets because I remember how out to lunch me and all my friends were at that age. BUT, if there is one sport where young guys are physically ready to jump into the league its without a doubt basketball.

Now how will this effect the NCAA? It makes billions of dollars off these exact types of young athletes. The NCAA will say all the right things publicly, but it will be interesting to see how bitterly they fight this behind closed doors.

“In recent days, influential voices such as former President Barack Obama and LeBron James, a vice president of the players’ union, have called for the NBA to expand its G League to give teenagers another option besides the NCAA route. NCAA president Mark Emmert has said repeatedly he doesn’t believe players should come to college if only to use it as a pit stop toward being in the NBA.

That is a bold faced lie from Mark Emmert. If legitimate top level talent abandons the NCAA then theres no reason for me to watch it. Despite what the NCAA wants you to believe, nobody watches college basketball because of the values and kids chasing their dreams with their classmates. This ain’t Hickory High. We watch it to see the young studs dominate a few months before they become NBA Lottery picks.

Not saying we’re going to see a flood of NBA ready superstar teenagers like we saw with Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James etc. BUT if you’re not going to pay these guys and expect them to just eat shit for a year because David Stern put in an arbitrary rule a decade ago then you’re supremely naive. These guys are going to get paid what they’re worth one way or another. So if you’re the NBA why not strike now to get both the good will of helping young players develop and make a living, while also winning a potential land grab between the NCAA and overseas pro leagues. If the NBA doesn’t put a system in place someone will. Whether its the Australian National Basketball League or the LaVar Ball Big Baller Brand Basketball Association, someone will offer these young athletes what they’re looking for. Either way, one thing is clear; its time for change.

In an Effort to End Tanking, NBA Changing Draft Lottery in 2019, Which is Perfect Timing to Not Affect the Celtics!

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ESPN – The NBA’s board of governors voted to pass legislation on draft lottery reform and guidelines for the resting of healthy players in the regular season, league sources told ESPN…The lottery reform changes will be instituted for the 2019 NBA draft..The NBA needed a three-fourths majority to pass draft lottery reform, which is designed to discourage teams from tanking to pursue the best possible odds to select highest in the draft order.

This is great news for Celtics fans in the sense that we won’t be getting fisted out of the last of our coveted (hopefully) lottery picks. Not so much for small market teams that rely on tanking. Christ, Sam Hinkie wrote the book on tanking. Dude got canned by the Sixers, but they wouldn’t be where they are today without him. Trust the Process indeed.

Thankfully the Celtics have already pocketed all those Nets picks:

2018: No. ? – Traded to CLE as part of Kyrie Irving deal
2017: No. 3 – Jayson Tatum (Right to swap with Nets and BOS traded down from No. 1)
2016: No. 3 – Jaylen Brown
2014: No. 17 – James Young

Now the C’s will bank on the 2018 Lakers pick being a Top-2 pick next summer. Looking back, the Celtics “only” got two top-five picks from the Brooklyn trade. Imagine if they’d gotten none because of changes to the Draft Lottery?

Starting in 2019, when the Celtics no longer have top, unprotected, golden lottery picks, the rules change. Perfect. If this shit happened four years ago those Nets picks are DRASTICALLY less valuable and maybe Billy King still has a job.

Long story short, having the worst record in the league is no longer a one way ticket to a top pick. Things are a lot murkier now.

“The three teams with the worst records will share a 14 percent chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick, a change from the descending percentages of 25, 19.9, and 15.6 in the current system.”

So while it was always a nail biter for the team with the worst record because you still only had a 1/4 chance of getting the No. 1 pick; now thats down to a 14 percent chance for 3 teams. In theory that should deter a team from saying fuck it and just tanking down the stretch if the bottom three teams all have the same chance of getting the No. 1 pick. Teams will still tank to get down to the bottom 3, but I guess its a step in the right direction if the NBA truly wants to eradicate tanking (good luck).

“Four teams — increased from three — will become part of the lottery draw, which means the No. 1 lottery seed could drop no further than fifth, No. 2 could drop no further than sixth, No. 3 no further than seventh, and No. 4 no further than eighth.”

Imagine having the worst record and somehow dropping to the No. 5 overall pick? If I’m a fan of that team I’m drinking a bottle of whiskey on Draft Lottery night.

Gotta love the NBA though, they’re always pivoting, always changing shit. Remember back in 2006 when they tried to introduce a new basketball and reversed course like 2 weeks later?

Well virtually every player in the NBA bitched about the new ball. Why change the only piece of equipment that actually matters? Who the hell knows. But hey they tried it. It bombed. And rather than just forcing it down everyones throats because it was the league’s decision they said yup you’re right, fixed it, and moved on. Thats what keeps leagues relevant, adapting to the times, trying new things, and if it doesn’t working cutting your losses and moving along. Not burying your head in the sand (NFL vs CTE) or staunchly opposing evolution (MLB vs everything).

So good luck to all the Lottery teams in 2019, I’m just glad the Celtics will have no part of it because I can’t handle that kind of stress in my life.

Charles Barkley Just Roasted the NBA for Reducing Back to Back Games

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ESPN – Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is “angry” that the NBA moved up the start of the season to lessen the amount of back-to-back games and eliminate any teams playing four games in five nights. Speaking at Southern Methodist University on Wednesday, Barkley sarcastically said he wanted to “commend the NBA” for cutting the amount of back-to-back games. The 2017-18 schedule reduces the number of back-to-back games to an average of 14.4 per team, down from 16.3 per team last season. No team has more than 16 back-to-backs this season. “You know, these poor babies can’t play back-to-back games. They’re making $20, 30, $40 million a year. But we want to make it convenient for them. They’re making $40 million making a year, we can’t stress ’em out. So we’re just going to make it more comfortable for them. The private jets and four-star hotels aren’t enough,” he said, continuing his sarcastic tone.

God bless Charles Barkley, the guy just says whatever the fuck he’s thinking, which is truly a dying breed these days. Sure, a lot of players say he’s just bitter, which is on full display in his frequent near fist fights with Shaq on TNT. But he’s right.

I understand what the NBA is trying to do here; eliminate, or marginally disrupt, the practice of teams resting its top stars. Especially for nationally televised games. There was nothing worse than when the league hyped an upcoming Spurs game for weeks only to find out Tim Duncan and half the starters are in three blazers on the bench.

So if this helps reduce that, then fine. But to Chuck’s point he says the league is babying these players that are already making $20+ million per year. So if they’re complaining about back to backs now, what the hell are they gonna bitch about next?

Credit to LeBron James, who has really lead this revolution of giving the players more power than they’ve ever had before. He was really the first guy to ask why should I sign these long term contracts with Cleveland? How am I going to make sure they keep their promise to always be improving my team? As the best player in the league LeBron has created more leverage than any other player in American sports by signing the now common 1+1 deals. Basically a one year contract with a one year player option that subtly threatens he’ll leave in Free Agency if ownership doesn’t keep improving the team. Gotta give the dude credit for continuously putting himself in the best situation.

So I agree with what Chuck is saying here 100%, especially about road trips:

“It’s just sad because you’re just disrespecting the fans. You know they’re only going to get to see you one time a year in some of these situations, and you would think a guy was like, ‘You know what, they’re only going to see me one time a year, I’m going to play in that city.”

But I’m pragmatic and times are a changing. Guys don’t wanna play back to backs. Coaches want to rest their players. Look at the Cavs, they take half the regular season off because having the best regular season record doesn’t mean shit to them. So if this is what allows players to suit up for those random road trips then fine. I’d be bullshit if I paid $100 for a ticket to see Anthony Davis at the Garden, only to see he’s sitting out because he needs some R&R. Ultimately it’ll be good for the league, but keep spitting that hot fire Chuck. Say that shit.

Rapid Reaction to the Celtics Draft Night: #WycFireworks Postponed (Again)

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So after all the hype, the rumors, and the Woj Bombs I think a lot of people were expecting the Celtics to make a trade Thursday night, but ultimately they stood pat and drafted their guy Jayson Tatum at No. 3. Again.

Look I fully admit I’m not a college basketball expert so I wasn’t going nuts over who they should draft. It sounds like Tatum will be a good fit, a guy who can get to the basket and create offense on his own, which is exactly what the Celtics need.

But, now we’re hearing rumors about the Celtics STILL being in on a potential Paul George trade.

All I’m saying is, the last 3 years have been full of trade speculation and Wyc shouting from the rooftops to expect fireworks.

Well, I don’t know how much more of the “Celtics are in on player X” I can take. First it was Jimmy Butler (who got traded to Minny last night), then it was Paul George, then it was Kristaps Porzingis. In years past it was Kevin Love and Carmelo Anthony. Now everyone’s already got Gordon Hayward penciled into the starting 5 next season, despite the fact that he’d have to eat like $30-$40 million dollars to leave Utah. Its a merry go round and I’ve been on it way too long. I’ll keep my Woj notifications on, but I refuse to get hyped for anything until Woj tells me its happening. Anthony Davis is not walking through that door.

NBA 2K esports League to Launch With 17 Teams and I Will Watch the Shit Out of It

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And we’re off. It was officially announced that there will be 17 teams participating in the inaugural season of the NBA 2K esports League in 2018. Good looks by 2K on the official sponsorship, my sources are telling me they narrowly edged out the NBA Jam franchise.

To be honest, I’m surprised the NBA got this many teams to participate, but I for one am all about this. God forbid MLB tried this, it would take a decade of old guys debating how this would sully the history of the game. As a guy who plays far too many video games, breaking only to watch sports, this is a win-win.

I would watch the shit out a YouTube show documenting how the Celtics go about building their team, scouting, recruiting, training and competing.

Might have to call up Wyc and pitch that idea myself. Franchise that shit out as a vlog for every team…

We’ve all heard how big esports are becoming (hell even colleges are offering esports scholarships now), but it was mainly for games like League of Legends, which I’ve never even contemplated playing. But when you catch something a little more accessible like a Call of Duty tournament on G4, its just nuts how good the guys are. In the same way its nuts watching professional sports. The NBA knows a cash cow when they see it coming down the road, like ya know god damn La Liga patches on jerseys.

So a lot of people will say this is for nerds and nerds alone, but in the same sense its hard to appreciate just how good LeBron James is if you’ve never played competitive basketball. I am 5’8″ and didn’t make it past youth basketball so watching what that manchild can do resonates with me. I have a frame of reference as an average white guy with just how absurd LeBron is at basketball.

Here are the 17 teams that will be a part of the inaugural NBA eSports league.

  • Boston Celtics
  • Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Detroit Pistons
  • Golden State Warriors
  • Indiana Pacers
  • Memphis Grizzlies
  • Miami Heat
  • Milwaukee Bucks
  • New York Knicks
  • Orlando Magic
  • Philadelphia 76ers
  • Portland Trail Blazers
  • Sacramento Kings
  • Toronto Raptors
  • Utah Jazz
  • Washington Wizards

What I’m curious about is how the hell you can get 5 guys playing together on one NBA 2K team. Have you ever tried playing with a buddy on one team? Fucking impossible. You basically just end up playing iso ball and looking for running screens chucking up 3’s falling out of bounds because its impossible to try and run any semblance of a real play.

So yes, I will watch the shit out of this. Will I pay to watch this? Probably not, but I’ve bought dumber things. So, probably, yes.