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basketball February 16, 2018
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Ballers want to be rappers but which NBA players actually have bars?

All Star Weekend in LA has arrived & Lonzo just so happened to release his first major music piece as a rapper. Coincidence much?

We don’t think so. Well done BBB.

The long awaited debut of Zo is here, and we aren’t that impressed. He does sound a bit like 21 Savage, which can speak to his Issa Album > 4:44 banter last summer.

In a day and age where rappers want to be ballers and vice versa, we dug up some NBA ballers that can rhyme.

Peep some of the game’s NBA ballers below.

Shaquille O’Neal

We can’t talk about NBA rappers if we don’t mention Shaq, right? The Diesel has managed to dominate almost everything he’s touched from a young age.

He recently jumped in the booth again, dropping a diss track about the comedian Big Shaq. He obviously isn’t a fan of rappers using his name and felt mocked.

While he isn’t the best, he’s got bars and has even ventured into DJing

Ron Artest aka Metta World Peace aka Panda’s Friend

Who else remembers when Ron Ron dropped a track fresh off his championship with the Lakers in 2010?

He went on to release a few more singles but none top his banger “Champions” with a memorable visual.

The video is flames.

Lonzo Ball

So not only did Zo manage to seed wifey on his most recent trip to the IR, but BBB let the world know his first concert will take place in none other than…wait for it…Lithuania.

While the cover art for his debut mixtape Born 2 Ball is straight fire, the mixtape itself is not.

Hopefully his performance in Lithuania is better than his brother’s play out in Europe.

Maybe his jump shot continues to improve as well.

Dame Lillard

Dame D.O.L.L.A. is the undisputed best rapper in the league right now. Just peep his debut album CONFIRMED and see why.

If you’re a fan of his or the NBA in general, you’ll recall his #4BarFriday trend that took off on social. Draymond Green, Paul George and even Bron jumped on the wave.

https://www.instagram.com/p/fESCpjAuO2/

https://www.instagram.com/p/egR1MpnMlO

https://www.instagram.com/p/h4eqnpiTAd/

Dame, hailing from the West coast, earned his third All Star spot this season and dropped his debut album last fall.

It was well received an we’re a big fan of Dame’s hustle. He’s proven himself on the court and in the booth & should only get better with time.

Iman Shumpert

Founder of the #KnicksTape wave, Iman has always had the old school vibe. If you couldn’t tell, his flat top on the Knicks said it all.

He’s release his own work along with some freestyles and the dude can flow.

Iman has even went as far as calling himself a better rapper than Dame, which is a complete dub.

When it comes between these two, Iman can’t hang with Dame but he’s pretty nice with it.

KD & LBJ

Honorable mention goes to KD & Bron, as we’ve heard rumors that they jumped into the booth together once upon a time.

A snippet of the track dropped but the two are keeping said song under wraps…for now.

https://twitter.com/SpiderStudiosOH/status/871876840079732736

The two are teaming up in this weekend’s ASG and have been rumored to potentially link up in free agency this summer.

Maybe they’ll drop the track then? Who knows.

basketball February 14, 2018
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The Cavs are actually nice again but is it enough to keep LeBron in Cleveland?

Since LeBron James returned to Cleveland in 2014, Cavs fans have been whining about the makeup of the roster. The most common complaints were: We don’t have enough athleticism, we lack versatility, and we are so fucking old.

The brilliance of James carried us to a title in 2016 and we told ourselves that any success after that would be gravy. Then in the 2017 Finals, the Golden State Warriors ran us off the court and a few months later we traded away our second-best player.

For the first 50 games of the 2017-2018 season, it looked like the Cavs had no chance to compete with the Warriors or even the Houston Rockets.

The collective basketball world thought James had one foot in Los Angeles and the Cavs should shift their focus to building a team for the 2018-2019 season without The King. Cavs fans had begun scouting college players and living and dying on the outcome of every Brooklyn Nets game (the Cavs have the Nets unprotected draft pick in 2018).

But then a basketball miracle happened. Somehow, someway the front office wizkid also known as Koby Altman was able to reinvigorate the Cavs roster with youth, athleticism, talent, and versatility.

Most importantly, the trades have reengaged James so much so that he’s actually closing out on shooters and making multiple rotations on defense.

New look Cavs with the ball movement. 🔥

A post shared by House of Highlights (@houseofhighlights) on

Last year the Cavs rotation consisted of a lot of one-dimensional players who weren’t capable of creating their own shot or looks for anyone else. Let’s not forget that outside of James, Irving and Kevin Love, Ty Lue was relying on Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, Channing Frye, Iman Shumpert, and Deron Williams. Sheesh!
Immediately following the Finals, I texted a friend and said,

“We need to move Irving or Love, we can’t hang with the Warriors without making major changes to this lineup.”

I had my sights set on Paul George. I watched so much of Irving during his time in Cleveland and I didn’t think he could ever improve his game enough to reach that “next level” of point guards. “He’ll always just be that guy that pounds the rock and looks for his own shot,” I said to myself. For all of the love the media has heaped upon him this season, mostly deserved, he is virtually the same player he was in Cleveland.

Shocked Nba Playoffs GIF by NBA - Find & Share on GIPHY

He doesn’t defend much and he wants to create his own shot off the bounce. It’s hard to beat this Warriors team with that mentality. I always thought the Cavs would be better suited with a Patrick Beverley type of point guard — a player who can defend multiple positions and knock down an open shot — to slot next to James.

Now they have that in George Hill. He has no problem guarding the league’s best perimeter players and he is a premier shooter.

Without Irving, do the Cavs have enough firepower to beat the Warriors? The short answer is no. But, with the additions of Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, Larry Nance, and Hill, they have the pieces to make the Warriors’ lives more difficult on offense and defense.

They can switch pick and rolls, close out on shooters with length and crash the glass with some authority. On offense, the Cavs can attack close outs and knock down the open shots that James creates with regularity out of the high pick and roll.

The question of whether the Cavs can beat the Warriors this year isn’t that important to me. Through the trades, the Cavs front office regained the confidence of The King and now, as he heads into free agency, the Cavs have the brightest future of any potential LeBron destination.

The Nets are currently one game away from having the worst record in the league and if the ping pong balls bounce right way in the lottery it not only changes the perception of the Kyrie trade but it enters the Cavs into the Anthony Davis/Kawhi Leonard sweepstakes — both could be on the move this summer due to tenuous relationships with their current teams.

San Antonio Spurs Nod GIF by NBA - Find & Share on GIPHY

So as the Cavs continue to impress, and James makes a run at his 8th straight Finals appearance, I will spend my time refreshing Woj’s Twitter page and looking for the next disgruntled star who wants to be traded.

The Nets draft pick is the most valuable asset the Cavs have had in years and it might just be the one that gets The King to re-sign in The Land.

basketball January 15, 2018
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Kevin Durant wants to cop an NBA team which would actually be lit

Kevin Durant is one of the best basketball players on the planet, but he has some pretty lofty goals for himself after his playing career is over. One of these dreams includes NBA ownership.

One source close to Durant told ESPN that ownership is a “genuine goal of his after he retires, to add another African-American in the position of majority ownership.”

Durant pointed to Michael Jordan, the only Black owner of a major American sports franchise, as an example for him and his fellow players to follow, but KD also talked about how Jordan is a unique case and players should seek other avenues in front offices.

The Warriors swingman told ESPN:

“MJ was the first big Nike athlete, the biggest star of his time, but if you don’t have the trajectory, that path, that journey, it’s going to be hard to do what he did. But you can still affect the NBA and the game of basketball in a different way. You don’t have to be an owner. I think it should be more guys in the positions of power like general managers and scouts and coaches. Anything that involves the day-to-day operations of these franchises. I think more players and more experienced players should be in those positions.”

This is a fascinating perspective from KD. The NBA’s players are predominately Black Americans so it only makes sense that front office positions like general managers, coaches, scouts, and owners themselves would also be Black.

The NBA is the best league in America in terms of employing minority coaches, in 2012, half the coaches in the league were people of color, but there’s more work to be done.

Durant also talked to ESPN about his work in Silicon Valley and his investment strategy:

“We’re paid for what we can do on the basketball court and most players know these paychecks are not going to come on the first and 15th for the rest of our lives. If we get a big sum of money, why not try to help it grow? That’s what entrepreneurs and Fortune-500 CEOs do. They get a crop of money and they try to grow it. They get a product and they try to grow it. We’re our own business. Why not try to control that and why not try to leverage that to provide a better life after you’re done playing? That’s what it’s about.”

Whatever you think of KD’s decision to join up with the Warriors a couple summers ago, he’s a deeply thoughtful dude and his move to the Bay has benefited his life beyond the basketball court. We could use a lot more Kevin Durants in the sports world.

basketball January 11, 2018
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By mirroring the Premier League, the NBA’s period of globalization is upon us

Today, the Boston Celtics will take on the Philadelphia 76ers at O2 Arena in London in the latest attempt by the NBA to expand their brand across the pond and beyond.

The popularity of basketball has grown massively across the globe in the past decade. Preseason games in Asia, initiatives to open academies in Africa, and regular season games in London have granted fans who lives thousands of miles away from an NBA arena first-hand exposure to the sport.

The NBA only has real competition from soccer in terms of its global reach, powered by stars who transcend the game. The league is also aided by the recent emergence of foreign-born star players, like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who have catalyzed growth in other countries.

The comparisons between the NBA and the English Premier League, whose teams often embark on preseason tours of the United States, is clear to see. Seeing how Premier League players have received their NBA counterparts, and vice versa, over the last week has been pretty cool.

The NBA stars were out in numbers at last night’s Chelsea Arsenal match at Stamford Bridge in London. Celtics forward Jaylen Brown spoke about his younger dreams of being a Premier League star:

“I remember I had a dream when I was like seven years old and I played in the Premier League for, I don’t know — it was like [Manchester United], I don’t remember what team I was on,” he said, via Celtics.com’s Marc D’Amico. “But I had a dream that I was running onto the soccer field and they were all screaming and chanting my name. Hopefully that comes true, but I doubt it.”

Who you got Chelsea or Arsenal ?

A post shared by جيلن برون (@fchwpo) on

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry posed with 76ers players earlier this week.

And Joel Embiid, star center of the 76ers, who grew up playing soccer in Cameroon, was chilling with all the soccer players.

Surely, London-based Premier League games will be out in legion for tonight’s game.

For NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, London stands as a sort of entryway to Europe, people flock from all over the continent to come to the game.

In this way, the London game stands as a way to get the game to all of Europe, beyond the UK. But, for as successful as the game in London, Silver has no intentions to expand the league to Europe, at least until world transportation technologies are improved. Silver told iNews:

“As much as from the growth of the sport standpoint we’d love to see a franchise here until we either completely revamp our schedule or airplane technology changes, and it becomes that much faster to travel to Europe – which is very possible too – I think right now maybe we’d increase to two games or even three but you won’t see a major sea-change in regular season games in Europe. It just doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to us.”

While Silver isn’t convinced about expanding the league across the pond (Mexico City is apparently seen as a legitimate possibility for expansion), Silver sees youth player development as the best opportunity to reach fans in Europe.

The commissioner told i that the NBA is looking at Premier League models of youth development in which each team has an academy of amateur players. What Silver and co. need to figure out, however, is how to make it worth NBA teams’ time and money to invest in overseas player development. Silver told i:

“Something we’re constantly exploring is what is the best way to incentivize our teams to build basketball on a global basis? We’ve had lots of discussions with the Premier League to discuss the ways they do things differently to see what we can learn.”

It’s fascinating to see the NBA follow Premier League models of both reaching foreign fans as well as youth development. But not expanding the league to London does leave some opportunity for the NFL to monopolize the American sports market in Europe.

Silver spoke about this candidly, saying that the NFL schedule, where teams play one game a week, would be more appropriate for abroad expansion.

Despite the fact that the NBA can’t reasonably expand to London, it’s basketball, and not the NFL, that seems poised to grow further across the globe in the next decade.

basketball January 3, 2018
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How Kyle Kuzma went from having no shot in the NBA to the Lakers’ new star

Kyle Kuzma came into the league being known by many as “the other guy the Lakers drafted,” and has quickly made a name for himself in the NBA.

With all of the hype going to Lonzo Ball this season, Kyle has flown under the radar and has already proved that he may be the better rookie of the two.

At 25-years-old, Kuzma one of the best rookie scorers averaging the most points per game for any Laker right now with 17.4. His overall performance has even put him in the running for the Rookie of the Year Award (if he can beat out Ben Simmons).

Working hard for what he wants to accomplish and staying focused on his goals is in this man’s DNA. Born to a single mother, Karri Kuzma raised Kyle and his two siblings in Flint, Michigan which wasn’t the best of times for the family.

In an interview with CBS, Kuzma described Flint as “a very violent place, with a lot of social pressure for children to get involved in the streets.”

In fact Kyle went on to talk about how throughout his childhood he witnessed some of his close friends begin to get involved in the streets.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdZoMQBAFXw/

His home life throughout it all, Kuzma knew that basketball was his way out, he knew his skills could get him out of this volatile environment.

Kyle started to really excel in basketball at a young age after his mother bought him a Fisher Price rim to keep him out of the streets. In his hometown, he quickly became a regular at the YMCA playing and dominating people much older than him on the court.

He took his skills from the Y to his local high school varsity team. At Bentley High School he was a force to be reckoned with, averaging about 18 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks a game. Even with such a colorful stat sheet, Kuzma wasn’t getting the big time D1 looks he deserved.

This was due to the fact that he was playing at such a small school that wasn’t well known on the recruiting circuit. He didn’t receive offers so Kuzma and his mother decided it would be best for him to take his talents to a bigger name school, preferably a prep school.

So the summer going into his senior year of high school, Kuzma trained everyday and sent videos of his workouts to prep schools to find a new home to evolve his game.

Luckily, Vincent Sparacio, head coach of The High Rise Academy in Philadelphia took a liking to Kuzma. He found him to be a great raw talent and told Bleacher Report,

“He wasn’t a great defender, a great shooter or a great ball-handler… But you could just tell he had that special feel that’s hard to teach.”

Understandably at first, Kuzma struggled with the new level of competition. But as the season went on, he began to lift more in the gym and practice on weekends with his coach in between AAU games. His coach continued,

“During AAU weekends, Kuzma stayed on campus, alternating between lifting weights and playing pickup basketball from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.”

This extra work sparked a complete 180 in Kyle’s season finishing with an average of 22 points and 7 rebounds.

This strong performance brought numerous offers from some serious Division 1 programs, including: University of Connecticut, Iowa State University, University of Tennessee and many others.

Ultimately, Kuzma decided to commit to the University of Utah.

During the Ute’s 2014 campaign (Kuzma’s freshman year), he averaged 8.1, 10.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

After three years, Kuzma was averaging 16.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, while getting his sociology degree. Kuzma then decided it was time to take his game to the big leagues, and declared for the draft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lAv5b_Aehc

Contrary to where most draft experts expected, Kyle Kuzma was drafted as the 27th pick in the first round of the draft by the Brooklyn Nets. He was then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for D’Angelo Russell.

The Lakers have simply been Kuzma’s launching pad.

Whether it be preseason or actual NBA games, Kuzma has completely dominated. Kuzma has finally set out what he planned to do since he was just a kid. Guess you can say he’s always been destined for NBA stardom.

According to an article done by Bleacher Report, this is just the beginning.

“‘He’s still working out like he hasn’t gotten drafted,’ Sparacio says. ‘With the NBA money, guys take a break, and he hasn’t taken a break since he got drafted. It’s probably not going to stop.’”

If this is just the beginning, teams in the NBA should be nervous. In his short career, he’s turned the heads of Lakers greats like Magic Johnson and even Kobe Bryant.

He’s held his own against some of the best teams in the league right now, and isn’t slowing down.

The Kyle Kuzma story is extremely inspiring, and shouldn’t going unnoticed. And who else is going to roast Lonzo Ball like thison the team?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md4Nq2eDcmI

Going from growing up in a city where it’s still too dangerous to open your mouth in the shower, to NBA stardom is the perfect example that if you put your mind to something and stick to a plan. Anything is possible and Kyle Kuzma proved that.

At the end of the day, what inspires him is his own family, and a certain Laker legend who he looked up to his entire childhood. There’s no doubt that he’s making Kobe proud this season. Keep grinding Kuz!

basketball January 3, 2018
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How Kristaps Porzingis went from Latvian kid to King of New York

Even with all the different stars and personalities to play professional sports in New York City over the decades, none match up to the growing legend that is Kristaps Porzingis.

The guy who Knicks fans boo’d on 2015 draft day is now the king of the city and quite possibly the most lit Latvian to ever walk the earth.  At 7’3, KP is literally larger than life but aside from his insane skill set and promise for the future, it’s his story that makes him the man.

Growing up in a basketball family with both of his parents playing professionally in Latvia, his two older brothers did the same across Europe. He’s had the support system since a very young age but still had to overcome obstacles on the way to his greatness.

Before Kristaps was even born, his family tragically lost their 14-month-old son, Toms, and were devastated. The birth of Kristaps was very important to his parents and brothers alike after their tragic experience, so for him to achieve what he’s done has been more than a dream come true. He’s living the life for his late brother and himself.

When KP was just 15 he left home for Spain thousands of miles away to pursue his dream. Living on his own for three years, Kristaps perfected his craft and developed the mindset that makes him one of the smartest young players in the game today.

The real question is how did a kid from Latvia, a place that is not known for producing NBA players at all, become the future of the game? It was truly the work of his family, his insane genetics, and blessings from God that made him. His nickname “The Unicorn” perfectly described what he is: a mythical creature who is not of human descent.

In all seriousness, Kristaps has proven himself as not only the leader of the Knicks this season but a true New Yorker. He’s rocking Timbs, sliding into DMs all brazy, and embracing his city more than even OBJ or Aaron Judge has.

If he could bring a championship to MSG one day, Kristaps will literally become the biggest sports legend ever to walk the earth. This city loves its basketball more than anything and to have a player like Porzingis gives them the hope they haven’t had since the 70s, deadass.

It’s still early in his career, but New York got them a good one. Shout out to the Porzingod for making the Knicks lit again.

basketball December 15, 2017
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LeBron has some words of advice for Lonzo Ball, #NBATwitter has full meltdown

Last night, the Cavs and Lakers squared up in the first matchup between LeBron James and Lonzo Ball. Lonzo’s dad LaVar started a little beef with LeBron last year ending with LeBron getting heated that LaVar brought his sons into the disagreement, so everyone was hype to see what kind of interaction we’d get between the two.

But Lonzo himself has been full of praise for LeBron, he said back in November that LeBron was his favorite player and was his generation’s Michael Jordan.

After the Cavs’ 121-112 victory, Lonzo, who put up 13 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds, raved about playing against LeBron for the first time:

“Watching him doesn’t do him justice. It’s very hard to stop him with that size, that speed. That’s why I say he’s the best player in the world right now, and it’s hard to deal with.”

LeBron dropped a very light 25, 12, and 12, tying Larry Bird with 59 career triple-doubles, it makes sense that Lonzo was in awe of The King’s performance.

But all the headlines and reaction after the game centered around a little post-game exchange between LeBron and Lonzo.

https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/941512597668540416

Like a true veteran, LeBron covered his mouth with his jersey so no lip-readers could decipher his message to Lonzo but #NBATwitter had all the answers… or at least theories.

Some took an earnest approach

Who has more knowledge to drop than The King?

https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/941510375832514560

LeBron to LA though?

https://twitter.com/DAngeloRusseII/status/941511612699234304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F2749396-twitter-reacts-to-lebron-james-talking-with-lonzo-ball-after-cavs-lakers-game

WE NEED ANSWERS

LeBron knows exactly what he’s doing

https://twitter.com/PaoloUggetti/status/941517548951969792

WHERE MY ZO2’s AT?

When LeBron was asked about his message for Lonzo he told reporters, “None of y’all business.”

Bron then spoke about the speculation over a possible move to the West Coast next summer and how he took time to talk to Lonzo because of the Lakers point guard’s past comments about how he modeled his game after LeBron:

“I don’t see the reaction because I don’t get involved in it. I don’t do it to get a reaction. I do it because he’s said over and over since he was growing up who he modeled his game after, who was his favorite player. It was me. I was humbled by that. Me wishing him happy birthday [on Twitter] was kind of the salute back to him. I see all the stupid noise that happens. I can’t buy a place in L.A. I can’t live in L.A. It’s funny noise. But I don’t get involved in it. When I post things, I don’t look at comments. I’m so far removed from the white noise, and the noise, it doesn’t matter.”

Shoutout LeBron for always passing along knowledge, despite the fact that Lonzo’s own dad has tried to start beef between the two.

LeBron, and perhaps only LeBron, knows the kind of pressure Lonzo is under and to see him offer a word or two of encouragement or advice is pretty cool.

basketball December 9, 2017
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Chris Bosh’s Texas home is revealed to be a drug fortress, mother arrested

Chris Bosh has a drug layer cops say after raiding a Texas home owned by Bosh on Friday morning.

Using a search warrant approved for a drug trafficking investigation, cops came across iron gates, security cameras, and drug paraphernalia on the property.

TMZ reported that police sent an undercover officer to the home Tuesday to obtain trash bags that had been left out in front of the home. It’s likely that the drug casing they found in those bags led to approval for the search warrant.

But it’s Chris Bosh’s mom, Fredia Bosh and not Bosh himself, who is the focus of an alleged crack cocaine and heroin trafficking operation based out of a home owned by the former All-Star.

https://giphy.com/gifs/nba-joe-johnson-chris-bosh-Kze50EL00ZQys

Of the items found in the trash bag was mail with Freida’s name on it.

Cops also are saying that another suspect in the case has paperwork on them that includes an incident for allegedly shooting someone in the face during a drug deal.

TMZ Sports reports that Chris is not suspected of any wrongdoing.

Although Bosh isn’t officially retired, the NBA and the players’ union ruled that Bosh’s illness was career ending, which is why the two-time NBA champion has been away from the game.

Given the nature of the case, one can only assume more facts are due to come.

Update: Fredia Bosh spoke to TMZ and denied all claims that she was trafficking drugs, all while looking like the wild Queenpin. Get ya money Fredia!

basketball November 17, 2017
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The Celtics are officially for real, so will the Warriors see them in June?

Wooooohooohooo boy.

The Celtics beat the Warriors last night 92-88 for Boston’s 14th straight win. I don’t want to jump to conclusions or anything but this Celtics team may be the best basketball team every assembled?

Golden State looked in control for most of the game, jumping out to a big lead early on and held a comfortable 66-49 lead with less than 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

Then Boston went wild. They ratcheted up their defense, swarming Golden State with a collection of long, multi-positional athletes that were switching every pick and roll and stifling the Warriors flowing offense. By the end of the 3rd, the score was tied at 68.

The defensive lineup of Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, and Aaron Baynes gave the Warriors headaches.

The defensive effort was exemplified by the relentless Marcus Smart. While Smart may be erratic (at best) on the offensive end of the court, he leads the Celtics in plus-minus during most of their win streak.

Kyrie Irving didn’t even have an especially good game. He scored 5 points in the first three quarters before exploding for 11 in the 4th. Jaylen Brown was the star last night, playing with a heavy heart a day after his best friend past away in Atlanta.

Brown dropped 22 and 7 and was emotional after the game.

Brown told reporters after the game about playing so soon after his friend’s passing,

“I knew coming into today that he would have wanted me to play. It was hard getting my thoughts together, but after talking to his mom and his family, they inspired me to come out and play.”

While C’s coach Brad Stevens is known for his offensive gameplan and drawing up a flowing, multifaceted offense focused on ball movement, the Celtics are currently 1st in the NBA in defensive rating at a ludicrous 97.2 (the Spurs led the league last season at 100.9).

During their 14-game winning streak, the Celtics have held some of the best offensive players in the league way under their season averages.

Boston’s defense means that their offense doesn’t really even need to be that good.

In the absence of Gordon Hayward, the Celtics have become a stifling, tough defensive team that swarms the opponent, running teams of the 3-point line and into the teeth of the paint where Al Horford, Aaron Baynes wait to swat you away and Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown will snatch the ball away.

Every player on this Celtics team does their thing. Kyrie is the star who can struggle all game to come up with big baskets when needed. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are young stars in the making with wild athleticism, waiting to go off on any given night and defend 4 positions.

Everyone’s favorite uncle Al Horford does all the dirty work, constantly screening and quietly orchestrating on the offensive end while being the defensive anchor on the other side of the floor.

Aaron Baynes is a brick wall on defense. Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart annoy the shit out of opponents. Marcus Morris is a fucking treasure that can provide instant offense  whose role will continue to expand as he gets further integrated to the team.

Even rookie Semi Ojeleye, a mound of muscle, is bringing important minutes to this Celtics team. German rookie Daniel Theis can bang down low and shoot pretty well from 3.

After the game, the Warriors were slightly miffed at the free throw disparity and a couple of late calls (the last call on Kyrie was not a foul) but Steph Curry also offered a pretty interesting comment about seeing the Celtics down the road. When asked about possibly meeting the C’s in the finals in June, Steph offered a coy assessment of the situation,

“Very, very likely, right? They’re playing the best right now in the East. Obviously, until they beat Cleveland, who has done it three years in a row, we’ll see. I hear the weather’s great [in Boston] in June, so we’ll see.”

That’s some high praise for the Celtics, and also probably a thinly-veiled shot at the Cavs.

There’s a long way to go until June. It doesn’t seem possible that the Celtics could keep this defensive output up, but they’ve now beaten the champs despite not even playing well. They’ve beaten Oklahoma City, the surprisingly good Magic, Washington, Toronto, San Antonio, and the Bucks during their 14-game winning streak.

The 8-7 Cavs will most likely find their rhythm, they aren’t this bad. When Isaiah Thomas comes back he should bring them some much-needed playmaking and lighten the burden on LeBron’s shoulders (Iman Shumpert is the nominal Cavs point guard right now).

You can never count LeBron out and the Cavs have some ammunition to pull off another blockbuster trade if need be but there are some worrying trends with the Cavs right now, exemplified by their league-worst defensive rating.

The NBA season is a long and winding marathon and odds are the Cavs and Warriors are headed towards a 4th straight finals matchup. But the Celtics are real. Last night offered a glimpse into the potential of this team.

As Steph said, the weather in Boston is very nice in June.

basketball November 15, 2017
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Karl-Anthony Towns says marijuana should be taken off the banned list

Karl-Anthony Towns is one the most gifted young talents in the NBA. The 22-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves center is putting up a light 21 and 11 as the Wolves sit 4th in the Western Conference.

But Towns is doing some very cool stuff off the court as well.

In a recent sit down interview with ESPN.com, Towns addressed the topic of medical marijuana. He said he agreed with David Stern’s claim that the NBA should remove marijuana from the banned list because of the healing properties of the plant.

Towns comes from an unorthodox perspective on the issue. He’s never drank or smoked, but he’s observed the fact that there are truly helpful components in cannabis. Towns told ESPN.com,

“You don’t have to actually make it ‘Mary J’ [or] ‘Half Baked.’ You don’t have to do it like that, but you could use the [chemical] properties in it to make a lot of people better. That’s something that Adam Silver has to do, that’s out of my control, but maybe legalizing marijuana. Not fully legal where people are chimneys but using [marijuana] as a beneficial factor as an athlete, as a person living daily.”

The Wolves center does work at autistic schools in his free time and he’s seen first-hand that there are benefits for people living with certain conditions that can be alleviated with medical marijuana,

“I look at it from my experience with it. I’ve never smoked, I’ve never taken a strand, I’ve never taken properties of it, whatever the case may be. But I deal with kids all the time at autistic schools, Reed Academy in New Jersey. My girlfriend has an autistic nephew, and you realize those properties of marijuana can do a lot of good for kids and for adults. These guys, just because we’re NBA athletes, we’re not super humans. Some of us have conditions that could use [medical marijuana] to our benefit for everyday living, just taking care of our kids and our families.”

Towns also said that he’s naturally fascinated by medical topics because his mother is in the medical field and that if he weren’t a 7’0″ all-world athlete, he’d be studying kinesiology,

“If I wasn’t playing basketball, I wanted to be in the medical field. My mother’s in the medical field. I went to school to be a kinesiologist at Kentucky, which is the study of the kinetic movement of the body. So if I have patients, my job is to take care of people. The reason I brought that up is because there’s a lot of research that shows medical marijuana has benefits to help autistic children live their lives easier. Not smoking, but the properties of [marijuana] make his life so much easier, and he now feels like a regular kid.”

It’s cool to see someone like Towns use their platform to try and affect positive change. He’s not some stoner trying to get weed off the banned list in order to enjoy his games more (not that there’s anything wrong with that), he’s an incredibly thoughtful 22-year-old (!) that’s obviously looked into and read up on this topic.

This shouldn’t be a surprise, KAT penned an emotional essay for the Player’s Tribune after the white nationalist marches in Charlottesville in August.

Karl-Anthony Towns is not only one of the most exciting young players in the NBA, he’s a brilliant dude with an incredibly bright future on and off the court.

Big shouts to KAT.