Not much to say here other than “Nice job, SB Nation”. Except, maybe you should have included the Pau Gasol dunks? Whatever, it’s pretty clever and not that long. Enjoy the warm weather. More substantive content will be back at some point, I’m sure.
Controversial opinion: if the NBA were the Nation of the Gods and the Earths, Dwyane Wade would be the 10%. If anything, though, these playoffs have served to further the legacy of evil that Wade has propagated around the league.
From this fantastic Tim Duncan profile comes a little tidbit (emphasis mine):
“Duncan hates Kevin Garnett. Hates him the way liberals hate Sean Hannity. This information comes from very reliable sources, who talk about how KG has made a career of trying to punk Duncan, baiting him and slapping him and whispering really weird smack into his ear. They talk about how funny this is, because the worst thing you can do as an opponent is piss off Duncan. Then, as Malik Rose says, “he f——— destroys you.” Duncan’s lifetime numbers versus Garnett’s teams, by the way: 19.4 points per game, 11.6 boards and a 44—17 record, including the postseason.”
Here are the weirdest things* Garnett’s ever trash talked to Duncan:
The possibilities of this Warriors team were endless. Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin, Latrell Sprewell and of course, the number one overall pick, Chris Webber. The four never actually took the floor together, as Hardaway missed the 93-94 season with a torn ACL and Webber was traded after the season for butting heads with Don Nelson.
This is how Joey Barton’s season started. At the time, playing for Newcastle in a battle against an Arsenal team depleted by the usual slew of injuries, the sale of Cesc Fabregas and the pending sale of Samir Nasri, Barton attempted to grab Gervinho by the collar, apparently in protest of what he believed to be a dive by Gervinho. What follows is Gervinho throwing an open handed slap to the side of Barton’s head, followed by Barton diving (his moral stance on the practice having changed in the previous 7 seconds) and Gervinho being red carded.
I know, I know, we had a bunch of Game Sevens this weekend and the most thrilling end to a Premier League season…maybe ever? I’m not steeped enough in pre-2008 EPL history to know that. Two goals in stoppage time to win the title is enough for me.
Why is Blake Griffin so upset in this picture? Because he got called for a foul. What I can’t understand is why I find myself actively despising the Clippers.
Thanks to the always fantastic SLAM magazine, I learned that today is the 10th anniversary of the infamous Allen Iverson “practice” rant. I knew the basic gist of it but hadn’t actually watched it in some time, so I rewatched it and formed a few thoughts.
Far be it from me to moralize the bad behavior of athletes, but something about Cole Hamels admitting he plunked Bryce Harper on purpose rubs me the wrong way. Namely, his reasoning. Doing things because “that’s the way they’ve always been done” is the kind of mindless traditional torch-bearing we associate with conservative thought.
Welcome to a new thing where I show you random sports YouTube clips and you enjoy them. We totally invented this idea.
This clip is from the Warriors’ home opener in 2010, and it’s Monta Ellis going off. Which doesn’t sound all that unusual or exciting, until you watch how perfectly Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Grandma’s Hands” sync up with the slow motion replays of Monta’s incredible circus shots. At some point this becomes a highlight video you watch every night before going to bed, like I once did with Pink Floyd’s “Live at Pompeii” during one particularly unsettling three month stretch.
Perhaps most thought provoking is the end of the clip. Apparently from a pregame feature, Ellis gives his thoughts on his recent marriage—sounding similar to the way some might describe a baptism. His answer is simple and yet thought provoking.
—Whitney
