NBA
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NBA Will Allow Players to Return to Practice Facilities on May 8. But Will They?
Imbeciles like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman seem hell-bent on endangering millions of lives, but as the NBA seeks to resume its derailed season, it’ll be taking a more measured approach as cities throughout the country ignore a surging pandemic in favor of lifting stay-at-home orders. ESPN reports that after…
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Lakers Return $4.6 Million Loan From Program Meant for Small Businesses
The government stays fucking up; I don’t know how else you want me to put it. If it’s not the president telling folks to take a shot of bleach, it’s the botched rollout of programs meant to help the American people. Take, for instance, the Paycheck Protection Program. ESPN reports that the Los Angeles Lakers…
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Jordan’s The Last Dance Doc Prompts Conversation About Kobe Bryant’s Well-Documented Final Season With the Lakers
Everyone is talking about The Last Dance—a docuseries on NBA icon Michael Jordan and his final 1997-98 season with the Chicago Bulls. As of Sunday, four episodes of the 10-part miniseries have aired and have prompted a conversation about late NBA superstar Kobe Bryant’s final season with the Los Angeles Lakers and the unprecedented access…
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Love & Basketball, 20 Years Later: I Still Think Quincy Was Wrong and Monica Was Right—Let's Fight
Imagine being able to reflect and reminisce about a passion project about your own life 20 years later with tens of thousands of fans. Well, that’s what writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood got to do on Tuesday night when she and BET hosted a live-tweet watch party of Love & Basketball to celebrate the beloved film’s 20th…
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The Problem With Michael Jordan Mythology Porn
Michael Jordan’s 63 against the Boston Celtics in 1986 was the first time I saw him play a full game live. Except it wasn’t. I actually watched a VHS recording of that game, because it came on while we were out of the house, and my dad taped it. But that detail gets obscured in…
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Dion Waiters Reflects on Mental Health Struggles In Revealing New Interview: 'Depression Is Fake Happiness'
Dion Waiters can’t get right. Try as he may, the 28-year-old NBA star has yet to fully capitalize on his tremendous athleticism and natural scoring ability. As a result, he’s pinballed between the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers over the course of an eight-year career that’ll…
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It's Official: NBA Players Are Taking a Pay Cut That Could Cost Them $654 Million In Salary
With layoffs, furloughs and other financial struggles becoming increasingly commonplace, the NBA just became the latest company to buckle under the weight of our country’s economic collapse. In what could finally signal acknowledging that the rest of this NBA season will be cut short, ESPN reports that the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association…
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Jerry Krause is the Anti-Christ, and Other Takeaways From the First Night of ESPN's Docuseries The Last Dance
If you’re black and among the living, there were two events that demanded your attention this past weekend: the much-anticipated Teddy Riley vs. Babyface battle and the network premiere of ESPN’s The Last Dance, a 10-part documentary that explores Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls. While one of these had a striking resemblance…
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Karl-Anthony Towns Loses Mother to COVID-19: 'Her Energy Will Never Be Replaced'
Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, the mother of NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns, died on Monday after a lengthy battle with COVID-19. She was 58. “Jackie was many things to many people—a wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend,” a spokesperson for the Towns family said in a statement. “The matriarch of the Towns family, she was an…
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In the Midst of Their Feud, Shaquille O'Neal Once Offered a Teammate $10,000 to Beat Kobe Bryant's Ass: 'I Couldn’t Believe It'
For years, the feud between frenemies Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal dominated headlines, and for those interested in knowing just how nasty that beef was, former teammate Isaiah Rider has the scoop. On a recent episode of the All the Smoke podcast, hosted by NBA alumni Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, the former NBA Slam…