New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

Steve Williams · Jul 7, 2020

I am impressed by Dwight this year ad this article proved no exception.....

Dwight Howard to join Lakers for season restart

NBA.com staff and Twitter reports

Citing both his contractual obligations and desire to pursue a championship, Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard confirmed Monday that he will join his team for the season restart later this month in Orlando.

"I feel like we have a great opportunity, the Lakers do, for winning the title this year," Howard said in an interview with CNN's Don Lemon. "I have an obligation. I have a contractual obligation. To my teammates, to my fans, the Lakers, the organization and everyone, but at the same time I also have an obligation to my family and my community.

"Yes, I will be joining my team in Orlando, but during that time we will be getting a lot of work done."

Howard's announcement ended weeks of speculation that he would skip the restart after expressing concern that basketball could distract from nationwide activism in the wake of George Floyd's killing earlier this summer.

Howard, who has been a valuable reserve contributor for the Western Conference-leading Lakers this season, said he will donate his game checks from the restart to his "Breathe Again" foundation.

Steve Williams · Jul 7, 2020

and of course there is JR Smith who is depressed .........need I say more

LOS ANGELES (AP) — JR Smith was not ready to wrap up his 15-year NBA career when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers in late 2018, and the ensuing 20 months were not much fun for the veteran shooter.

“I went through a very depressed state for a long time,” Smith said Monday. “I’m a big video gamer, (but) I didn’t even play (NBA) 2K anymore. I don’t want to hoop, I don’t want to work out, I don’t want to play 2K, I don’t want do anything with basketball.”

Thanks to a call from the Los Angeles Lakers, Smith is getting another shot on basketball’s biggest stage. He joined the Western Conference leaders for workouts last week before they head to Florida for the conclusion of the NBA season.

The 34-year-old Smith was added to the roster because Lakers starter Avery Bradley declined to return for the rest of the season, citing family concerns. The Lakers needed a depth replacement who could immediately fit in alongside LeBron James while playing solid wing defense, providing a 3-point threat and meshing quickly as a teammate.

Nobody in recent NBA history fits that job description more perfectly than Smith, who reached four NBA Finals and won the 2016 title while playing alongside James in Cleveland. Known for his ebullient behavior on and off the court, Smith was overjoyed to get back in the show.

“I was gone for a while,” Smith said. “Being somebody who has been around the league predominantly for most of their adult life, when that’s taken away from you, it kind of gives you that culture shock. You obviously don’t understand what you’ve lost until it’s gone. I just want to appreciate the moment for what it is, and whether it be next year or never again, I just want to enjoy every possible moment that I get.”

Smith tried out for the Lakers in February when they had another roster spot available, but the team chose veteran Dion Waiters for that slot. Waiters never got to play for Los Angeles before the season was suspended, and now both veterans are headed to Orlando with the Lakers.

Coach Frank Vogel was impressed by the way Smith kept himself in shape despite being without a team for an extended period.

“I think this is really a great story,” Vogel said. “When you look at a guy who could potentially be out of the league and was a starter on a Finals team a couple years back, a champion, for him to have the perseverance to stay ready and give himself this opportunity, I think is to be commended.”

It’s too soon to tell whether Smith will get significant playing time behind Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso, who are likely to fill the majority of Bradley’s minutes.

But Smith’s particular set of skills is exactly what the Lakers sought — particularly his career 37.3% shooting on 3-pointers. With James setting up Anthony Davis as their primary scoring option, the Lakers have plenty of opportunities for well-spaced shooters to get open looks.

“Hey, his nickname is ‘Swish’ for a reason, right?” Vogel said of Smith. “He’s a shot-maker, a big-time shot-maker. I think he’s really going to help us.”

Smith is also uncommonly familiar with James, and he knows what to do when LeBron’s competitiveness ramps up in the postseason. Smith and James have played together for years in the NBA’s most difficult situations — and this time, they won’t have to face the Golden State Warriors.

“There’s people that are not going to know how to deal with it,” Smith said of James’ competitiveness. “It comes off in the wrong way sometimes, and you need that bridge as a player to be able to go to the next player and be like, ‘Listen man, it’s nothing personal. (It’s not about) who was right, who was wrong.’ It’s just a good balance, I think, between myself and him, because he knows just as well he can challenge anybody else, I’ll challenge him, and vice versa.”

jadis · Jul 7, 2020

Steve Williams said:
and of course there is JR Smith who is depressed .........need I say more

LOS ANGELES (AP) — JR Smith was not ready to wrap up his 15-year NBA career when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers in late 2018, and the ensuing 20 months were not much fun for the veteran shooter.

“I went through a very depressed state for a long time,” Smith said Monday. “I’m a big video gamer, (but) I didn’t even play (NBA) 2K anymore. I don’t want to hoop, I don’t want to work out, I don’t want to play 2K, I don’t want do anything with basketball.”

Thanks to a call from the Los Angeles Lakers, Smith is getting another shot on basketball’s biggest stage. He joined the Western Conference leaders for workouts last week before they head to Florida for the conclusion of the NBA season.

The 34-year-old Smith was added to the roster because Lakers starter Avery Bradley declined to return for the rest of the season, citing family concerns. The Lakers needed a depth replacement who could immediately fit in alongside LeBron James while playing solid wing defense, providing a 3-point threat and meshing quickly as a teammate.

Nobody in recent NBA history fits that job description more perfectly than Smith, who reached four NBA Finals and won the 2016 title while playing alongside James in Cleveland. Known for his ebullient behavior on and off the court, Smith was overjoyed to get back in the show.

“I was gone for a while,” Smith said. “Being somebody who has been around the league predominantly for most of their adult life, when that’s taken away from you, it kind of gives you that culture shock. You obviously don’t understand what you’ve lost until it’s gone. I just want to appreciate the moment for what it is, and whether it be next year or never again, I just want to enjoy every possible moment that I get.”

Smith tried out for the Lakers in February when they had another roster spot available, but the team chose veteran Dion Waiters for that slot. Waiters never got to play for Los Angeles before the season was suspended, and now both veterans are headed to Orlando with the Lakers.

Coach Frank Vogel was impressed by the way Smith kept himself in shape despite being without a team for an extended period.

“I think this is really a great story,” Vogel said. “When you look at a guy who could potentially be out of the league and was a starter on a Finals team a couple years back, a champion, for him to have the perseverance to stay ready and give himself this opportunity, I think is to be commended.”

It’s too soon to tell whether Smith will get significant playing time behind Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso, who are likely to fill the majority of Bradley’s minutes.

But Smith’s particular set of skills is exactly what the Lakers sought — particularly his career 37.3% shooting on 3-pointers. With James setting up Anthony Davis as their primary scoring option, the Lakers have plenty of opportunities for well-spaced shooters to get open looks.

“Hey, his nickname is ‘Swish’ for a reason, right?” Vogel said of Smith. “He’s a shot-maker, a big-time shot-maker. I think he’s really going to help us.”

Smith is also uncommonly familiar with James, and he knows what to do when LeBron’s competitiveness ramps up in the postseason. Smith and James have played together for years in the NBA’s most difficult situations — and this time, they won’t have to face the Golden State Warriors.

“There’s people that are not going to know how to deal with it,” Smith said of James’ competitiveness. “It comes off in the wrong way sometimes, and you need that bridge as a player to be able to go to the next player and be like, ‘Listen man, it’s nothing personal. (It’s not about) who was right, who was wrong.’ It’s just a good balance, I think, between myself and him, because he knows just as well he can challenge anybody else, I’ll challenge him, and vice versa.”

Should we say JR now owes his life to Lebron? He got that fat contract from Cleveland before Lebron bolted out, rumors pointed to the Lebron/Rich Paul tandem. Ok, let's just believe James and JR have some unfinished business.

Steve Williams · Jul 7, 2020

I just hope that this reboot by the NBA as well as the reboot by the NFL and MLB while in the bubble. So much money is on the table and the owners are keen to recoup their losses while any spurious outbreak of the virus while in the bubble will bring it all to a crashing end

Stay tuned

I still believe upsets will occur if there are no outbreaks and the season continues as planned

I also believe that LeBron's last best chance at another championship is "now" so it will be interesting to see what, if anything, J R Smith will contribute to the Lakers as well as LeBron

Steve Williams · Jul 8, 2020

and so it continues...I continue to wonder what will be the straw that breaks the camel's back......

Report: Taurean Prince tests positive, won't play in Orlando

From NBA.com Staff

Brooklyn Nets forward Taurean Prince tested positive for COVID-19 and will sit out the NBA's restart in Orlando, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Prince is the seventh Nets player who will not travel with the team to Orlando, joining Kyrie Irving (shoulder), Kevin Durant (Achilles), Spencer Dinwiddie (coronavirus), DeAndre Jordan (coronavirus), Wilson Chandler (opted out) and rookie Nic Claxton (shoulder surgery).

In his first season with the Nets, Prince averaged 12.1 points and a career-high 6.0 rebounds in 64 games.

Brooklyn enters the restart as the No. 7 seed in the East, with No. 8 seed Orlando a half game back.

Steve Williams · Jul 8, 2020

Adam Silver admits more COVID-19 cases in NBA's 'bubble' could shut down season again

NBA teams have begun flying to Orlando to restart the season at Disney World, where they will isolate for two days and undergo more coronavirus tests before playing again.

At that point, the NBA will hope it has set up a “bubble,” a concept endorsed by Dr. Anthony Fauci in which a league plays games in isolation to prevent players from being exposed to the virus.

Per ESPN, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said at a virtual conference that the league expects to see more coronavirus cases as teams arrive. If the league encounters more cases after that, though, the situation could apparently grow dire:

“We won’t be surprised when they first come down to Orlando if we have some additional players test positive,” Silver told Fortune Brainstorm Health. “What would be most concerning is once players enter this campus and then go through our quarantine period, then if they were to test positive or if we were to have any positive tests, we would know we would have an issue.
“... We would know that there’s, in essence, a hole in our bubble or that our quarantine or our campus is not working in some way,” Silver added later. “So that would be very concerning.”
Silver said any significant amount of positive cases inside the protected campus could result in a second shutdown of the NBA season.

That last sentence is obviously the NBA’s nightmare.

Just one coronavirus case could turn into dozens if a player enters a game not knowing he could transmit the coronavirus to other players, and dozens of cases would be more than enough to endanger the entire league. Ideally, a bubble league would prevent any players from contracting the virus, but, unfortunately, we already know the NBA’s Disney World setup won’t be a true bubble.

Steve Williams · Jul 9, 2020

Hmmmm

Is Kawhi up to old tricks and using a bit of load management before the reboot???

Reports: Kawhi Leonard’s arrival at Disney will be delayed

Tim Reynolds | The Associated Press

A person with knowledge of the situation says that Kawhi Leonard did not accompany the Los Angeles Clippers on their flight to Central Florida on Wednesday night for the restart of the NBA season.

Leonard’s absence was excused and he is expected to join the team at the Disney complex near Orlando sometime in the next few days, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not publicly disclose the matter.

Yahoo Sports first reported that Leonard was not on the flight to the Orlando area.

The Clippers are scheduled to spend Thursday and part of Friday satisfying quarantine requirements, and are expected to practice for the first time at Disney on Friday night. They will resume game play on July 30, matching up with the Los Angeles Lakers in the second game of a re-opening night doubleheader.

Leonard is averaging a team-best 26.9 points this season for the Clippers, who are currently second in the Western Conference behind only the Lakers. He is the reigning NBA Finals MVP, after helping Toronto win the title last season.

The Clippers are 38-13 when Leonard plays, 6-7 when he doesn’t. They’re also 17-3 in games where he scores at least 30 points this season.

Steve Williams · Jul 9, 2020

Tough loss for Pacers

Pacers move forward without Victor Oladipo
Indiana will be without the two-time All-Star in Orlando as he continues to recover from injury

Steve Aschburner NBA.com

Steve Williams · Jul 9, 2020

reports on Kawhi was he had to deal with a family matter. I wonder if he was meeting with his uncle

Steve Williams · Jul 9, 2020

I can remember this story vividly. Truly the only black spot in the NBA (except perhaps Wilt's book

)

From the archives: How former ref Tim Donaghy conspired to fix NBA games

a good read on an otherwise boring day

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25980368/how-former-ref-tim-donaghy-conspired-fix-nba-games

WLVCA · Jul 9, 2020

Steve Williams said:
Hmmmm

Is Kawhi up to old tricks and using a bit of load management before the reboot???

Reports: Kawhi Leonard’s arrival at Disney will be delayed

Tim Reynolds | The Associated Press

A person with knowledge of the situation says that Kawhi Leonard did not accompany the Los Angeles Clippers on their flight to Central Florida on Wednesday night for the restart of the NBA season.

Leonard’s absence was excused and he is expected to join the team at the Disney complex near Orlando sometime in the next few days, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not publicly disclose the matter.

Yahoo Sports first reported that Leonard was not on the flight to the Orlando area.

The Clippers are scheduled to spend Thursday and part of Friday satisfying quarantine requirements, and are expected to practice for the first time at Disney on Friday night. They will resume game play on July 30, matching up with the Los Angeles Lakers in the second game of a re-opening night doubleheader.

Leonard is averaging a team-best 26.9 points this season for the Clippers, who are currently second in the Western Conference behind only the Lakers. He is the reigning NBA Finals MVP, after helping Toronto win the title last season.

The Clippers are 38-13 when Leonard plays, 6-7 when he doesn’t. They’re also 17-3 in games where he scores at least 30 points this season.

I wasn't certain Kawhi would make an appearance in Orlando....maybe he won't.

Steve Williams · Jul 10, 2020

everything coming out of Orland suggests the Raptors are stone face serious about defending their title
They still have a great team

Steve Williams · Jul 10, 2020

The first blemish on Zion's image.....

Affidavit alleges $400K payment to Zion Williamson, stepfather before he played at Duke
Jason Owens

https://sports.yahoo.com/affidavit-...williamsons-stepfather-in-2018-210016884.html

Steve Williams · Jul 11, 2020

so one has to continue too guess about the reboot to the NBA season. It seems meticulous daily testing of virtually everyone will take pace with the looming fear that one case inside the bubble could very well cause Adam Silver to close the entire thing down. The only way I could explain the possibility of a positive case would be from transgressions on the part of the person who tests positive because it would suggest that he escaped out of the bubble to come in contact with someone carrying the virus. We've talked about the asterisk which would come after the name of this year's champion but just consider the player or person who tests positive and this becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back to close it all down. The asterisk I'm sure would come after the name of that individual.and that sure would be a life long blotch on the legacy of how that player will be remembered

jadis · Jul 11, 2020

Steve Williams said:
so one has to continue too guess about the reboot to the NBA season. It seems meticulous daily testing of virtually everyone will take pace with the looming fear that one case inside the bubble could very well cause Adam Silver to close the entire thing down. The only way I could explain the possibility of a positive case would be from transgressions on the part of the person who tests positive because it would suggest that he escaped out of the bubble to come in contact with someone carrying the virus. We've talked about the asterisk which would come after the name of this year's champion but just consider the player or person who tests positive and this becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back to close it all down. The asterisk I'm sure would come after the name of that individual.and that sure would be a life long blotch on the legacy of how that player will be remembered

I read that Gordon Hayward will leave the bubble when his wife gives birth to his son around September, if the Celtics are still in the playoffs. Who know who else will have some important family situations before the tournament ends.

Steve Williams · Jul 11, 2020

Game on......

Report: Kawhi Leonard joins LA Clippers in Florida

From NBA Twitter and media reports

WLVCA · Jul 11, 2020

Steve Williams said:
Game on......

Report: Kawhi Leonard joins LA Clippers in Florida

From NBA Twitter and media reports

Glad to hear it!

Steve Williams · Jul 12, 2020

Why Charles Barkley expects the Bubble To Fail

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=29442782

Steve Williams · Jul 12, 2020

I'm Shocked...here's the big news of the day

Report: ESPN suspends Adrian Wojnarowski for emailing 'F--- you' to Sen. Josh Hawley
Jack Baer

With the NBA’s return looming in Disney World, ESPN has suspended star reporter Adrian Wojnarowski after he replied “F--- you” in an email to a U.S. senator, the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand confirmed on Saturday.

The suspension is reportedly without pay. Its length is currently unknown.
The email, sent from Wojnarowski’s professional account, was in reply to a press release from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announcing the senator had sent a letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver that decried the NBA’s relationship with China and accused it of censoring support for law enforcement and the military.

Hawley’s office wasted little time in posting a screencap of the two-word response (six words if you count “Sent from my iPhone”).

Hawley has since publicly invited ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro, who has tried to make ESPN as apolitical as possible, to fly to Washington for an in-person meetingdiscussing the network, the NBA and China during a global pandemic.

Wojnarowski posted an apology hours after Hawley posted the exchange, calling his reply “disrespectful,” “a regrettable mistake” and “unacceptable.” He apologized directly to Hawley, as well as his ESPN colleagues. ESPN also tweeted a condemnation of Wojnarowski’s email and said it would address the matter internally.

Wojnarowski has not tweeted since, even as NBA players land in Orlando to play at Disney World and the league prepares to play games for the first time in four months. Games are scheduled to begin again on July 30.

jadis · Jul 12, 2020

Steve Williams said:
Why Charles Barkley expects the Bubble To Fail

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=29442782

He talked sense here. 3 months is a long time in the number 1 hotspot in the US. Silver really was going up against very big and serious odds here. Makes the term 'swimming upstream' seem like an understatement.

New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

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