birdman:


Arent you in the atl area? Its open season right now, nowhere is exempted, not even buckhead.

I think that is the local effect khanben cannot get. That gun flashing image is a no-no in the NBA. In fact there are corporations and fans that will never touch Morant again, barring some major image cleanup. If Morant were playing in any other city than memphis, they would have released him. I think the grizzlies will try to manage him, because memphis itself may very well be the worst hood in the country right now. So like begets like I guess.

Release him in America for owning a gun and having it with him will on a video call on social media. Dude will sue and he will certainly win. Be real this is the USA if the commissioner oversteps it will become a 2nd Amendment issue before anyone can say Jack.
People who were expecting a harsher sentence are just projecting their bias. Again if it was Real madrid or man utd in Europe then a full season suspension might be visible, but in the USA, give me a break

A40:
Typical. They will wait till tragedy happens and will start to cry abamo, had it been I know

Like i said they're free to wait till the matter is out of Adam Silver's hand. If he continues in this trajectory it will get there.

So you are suggesting he should be punished for what might happen in a hypothetical future not for what he has done. This is the issue with talk like this, the commissioner can only punish him for what he has done, nothing more.
When did we as a society start punishing people for what they might do ?

birdman:


its not just the flashing gun on social media. He has waved the same gun in several fights, with bouncers, security guards, high school kids. Anyone of those could have turned deadly. if its just the insta, it would not have this level of play. But Ja is showing up repeatedly at fights with his boys. What could possibly go wrong?

shey they should kuku not suspend him at all?

Nobody is saying they shouldn't punish him, I just have a problem with someone saying the commissioner was being PC that is why he gave him only 25 games. Precedent and the way the rules are written shows that the commissioner went for the harshest punishment he could get

birdman:


That is why the players association was consulted and they agreed to a stricter punishment. Or you think players association is wrong as well.

The stricter punishment was the 25 games without pay. My point is that those calling for him to miss games up until the allstar break are unrealistic, what he is been punished for is for showing a gun on social media. No matter how we want to play it that is a way lesser offense than bringing 4 guns into the locker room, and pointing it at your teammate. If the later punishment which not only broke nba rules but also state and federal laws was 50 games, then Ja's punishment at 25 games is as harsh as it can be.

For those who are interested this is the exact nba bylaws that the commissioner used as a guideline alongside precedent.

PS:
(d) The Commissioner shall have the power to suspend for a definite or indefinite period, or to impose a fine not exceeding $50,000, or inflict both such suspension and fine upon any Player who, in his opinion, (i) shall have made or caused to be made any statement having, or that was designed to have, an effect prejudicial or detrimental to the best interests of basketball or of the Association or of a Member, or (ii) shall have been guilty of conduct that does not conform to standards of morality or fair play, that does not comply at all times with all federal, state, and local laws, or that is prejudicial or detrimental to the Association.

A40:
Didn't Alec Baldwin accidentally kill someone on set? I think it's dangerous the way people try to downplay this issue. From the way Ja is carrying and holding the weapon you can easily tell he has no clue on how to handle firearms

He's being a danger to himself and others. That's what needs to be stressed

Didn't ESPN fire Paul Pierce for partying with strippers and smoking Igbeaux on his day off? Did he break any laws?

We are talking legal stuff here not what we think it should be and because of that the nba is a different legal entity to ESPN

A40:
They're trying to save that boy from tragedy and disaster and people are trying make this a PC situation. I miss commissioner Stern. He don't play that

It's not about the gun alone it's the accumulated bad behavior and stories. This was an important moment to send a message and more importantly get him to understand the privilege of getting paid generational wealth to bounce a basketball.

With what is happening in Chiraq and everywhere else you simply cannot represent a family organization like the NBA and be dealing with guns so irresponsibly. It's not a damn toy (pun intended)

Why do people like to wait for disaster before doing the needful

This punishment is in line with precedent Arenas got 50 games for his gun stuff and in his case it was him and a teammate pulling guns on each other. They not broke nba conduct rules but they also broke star and federal laws, heck arenas plead guilty to felony charges because of that issue.
In Ja's case he flashed a gun on social media, like I said he didn't break any laws, I have heard some people calling the nba PC for denying an American the right to bear arms freely and openly, now I am hearing others calling them PC for not punishing him more severely.
We sometimes forget that punishment like this are subject to pushback from the players association if precedent is not followed, so IMHO if the Arenas case with all the felonies attached to it is 50 games then Ja's punishment is as firm as it could be.

felix00:
BREAKING: The Washington Wizards are trading three-time All-Star Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns for Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, a handful of second-round picks, and multiple pick swaps, league sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

Nba offseason off to a hot start.

birdman:


Its part of the contract. All the talking heads and pro athletes know this. Even the amateur athletes have rules, things that are legal, but you cannot participate in. And its for good reason - how would the headline NBA superstar murdered father of four in clold blood play out? The press would be all over the court proceedings, corporate sales of tickets would tank and NBA would absorb a billion dollar loss easily. So its not out of the ordinary to have conduct codes on things that others can do freely.

I get that it's part of the code of conduct, but if we are going through a list of agregious things a nba player can be accused of flashing a gun in an ig post in way down the list especially since it's the USA. My point is I heard some people say the 25 games without pay was too light a sentence and IMHO the nba actually got it right.

birdman:
Ja is getting only 25 games suspension. So by December guy man will be back in the league. I hope the behavioral requirements are stricter this time.

I think many folks will be dissappointed as they were expecting like a 40+ game suspension at least. But Im ok with it, even though I think its a little light. Lets hope the young man grows up quick and gets back to good things. even though I know his family is partly the reason he is in this situation, and those guys will likely not change

https://www.nba.com/news/ja-morant-suspended-25-games

When people where talking 40+ games it surprised me a bit, yes he broke rules but this is the USA, owning a gun is not a crime. This is the country where politicians use guns in election campaign adverts.

Nba finals ratings best in 5 years.

A40:
As a rule of thumb I always blame the man before involving woman. If na your wife influence you na you dey at fault for not using your God given leadership. E follow for wetin God take punish Adam.

IMO it was probably Melo's dream to put on Knicks uniform. I don't really understand the allure of the Knicks but I guess I'm not a New Yorker so I don't really know. All I see is another overpriced capitalist hellhole city but what do I know

With Melo I think the fit, finding a fit might not have been easy. I think they paired him with Stoudemire for a bit but it didn't work. The Knicks didn't build or couldn't construct a roster of matching parts to complement Melo. Neither did Melo evolve as a player to be able to get the best from his teams sometimes

There are just people whose personalities are just Homer's, I once knew a guy who had the opportunity to stay in Abuja who turned it down to stay in one small village in Taraba of all places. When I heard his decision I couldn't fathom it at all but that was him.
So it is possible that Melo has that type of personality, although on the business side after basketball the move paid off for him though, if you observe during this playoffs some of his products were been advertised up and down. Good for him

PS: By the time Amarie came to NY his knees were gone, he was another player the Knicks overpaid to come and do squat.

A40:
He wanted to fight KG for her honor as well

She's the mother of his kid sha so I can respect it.

Moving in with a woman or leaving your city to her city only makes sense if you don't have your own agenda and at that point the question now becomes why do you not have your own agenda and how quickly can you rectify it.

He did go to Syracuse so I understand his familiarity with NY. Plus he was born there. I won't put it all on her

Lol. It's a no brainer. The only 15 retired would be Jokic's and that's if they don't build him a statue outside the arena as well

That's the thing, the whole New York move was not all on his wife, did she prefer NY yes, it was closer to her place of business. but we are forgetting that Melo also was from that area and he on his own without his wife would have made the same decision.
His one failure IMHO is that he didn't want Denver to get nothing in return for him. If he had kept his mouth shut and left in FA, the Knicks might have had the pieces to build a real contender around him

A40:
Butler will fight you when he sees you're not serious about winning. In my dealings I've come to realize I would rather deal with someone like Butler who let's me know how he really feels about me than the passive aggressive teammate that will smile in my face and go behind my back telling people how he really feel about me and try to get me traded

Does Noah seem like a serious individual?

Isn't this what we praised Jordan and Kobe for??

Look at Timberwolves, you can see how soft KAT still is since he left 5 seasons ago

Oya look at Sixers. 4 years since he left they can't pass second round while Butler with less talent has made multiple Finals. Butler even beat them to boot

Look at the Embiid now, I'm sure if he was still in Philly he would fight Embiid too for his bad conditioning. And is he not justified for the Tobias Harris comment? With time it is abundantly clear they made the wrong choice

So you see. I don't agree that he's some villain. In Butler I see a guy desperate to win and maximizing his limited talents and squeezing the most from it. I pick one or two lessons from it as well

Thank you for this, I did not see this before writing my own epistle about the situation. Can Jimmy sometimes be a hard head yes, but so was a lot of other players with winning mentality. Have we forgotten when kobe told Shaq, if I miss grab the rebound and Phil had to reel him in.

Roland17:


From what we have seen Butler has a unique personality and thrives ONLY in certain situations that is catered towards that personality. He has the tendency to be disruptive in the locker room in certain situations

Chicago Bulls
He wasn't regarded as a good locker room guy in Chicago, he had issues with Rose and Noah which ultimately led to him being traded to the Sixers. He tried to usurp the leadership of Rose and Noah causing disruption and a divided locker room. Infact, he asked that players not interact around certain members of the coaching staff/ leadership.

Sixers
The same issue plagued him in Philly. He couldn't get along with other players except Embiid and had several disrespectful arguments with coach Bret Brown. Remember the 'Tobias over me" comment? while legitimate, buttresses the point about him being disruptive in the locker room.

His issues with the bulls was not with Noah and Rose it was with the new coach Fred Hoiberg, who had a more laid back approach than Tom's fiery style which Jimmy preferred, add the bulls cap situation and the fact that at that time he was not even a perennial all-nba caliber player, management chose the coach over him.
As for Philly he was right, they should have paid him instead of Tobias, they should have fired Bret Brown for coddling Simmons, the 6ers would be in a better position now if they had Embiid and Butler instead of who they have right now.

Butler has spoken endlessly about how his nba personality was developed. He came into a Bulls team where the leaders Rose, Noah and co were outspoken and held each other accountable with a coach who not only coached hard but also policed any and all laid back behavior.
Every team that has claimed he was a problem all have the same issues, they lack toughness. We have seen him have loud and aggressive bust off with Spoelstra but you know what they still are tight.

birdman:


When I mentioned this 2 or 3 weeks back, you were arguing with me tho. These cats have regressed this season big time. Tatum plays like he did year 3, year 4. Jaylen is essentially a streaky jumpshooter. Udoka really brought out the diamond in those two

We only talked about Tatum and there was clear improvement in his game. Jaylen on the other hand I did not see any, that is why I asked incase someone noticed what I did not

chic2pimp:


The greatest offensive Big in NBA history. Duncan, Shaq,Hakeem,Wilt,Russell,Dirk better watch out. He is coming for the throne of Best Big Man in NBA history.

IMHO he his already the greatest offensive big man in nba history. Offensive ability is in 2 categories for me scoring and playmaking.
He his as great a scorer as all of them especially if you add his shooting. His playmaking blows away any big man that has ever played. No big man is grabbing a rebound and pushing it full court to run a set, no big man ever is the primary playmaker on their team.
The more complex conversation is where he ranks on the greatest playmaker rankings irrespective of positions. Now legit arguments can be made that for and against this

A40:
A part of me wonders if the Celtics can go for a guy like CP3. Just someone to run that offense the proper way.

I don't know that Brown is going to develop a handle overnight and Tatum has committed to 3pt spamming. The reason I hate 3pt spamming so much is because of how much it hurts the rest of your game.

Just like the death of tiki taka the league is slowly moving away from 3pt spamming.

Can you imagine if the Nuggets had relied on 3pt shooting this series? They would lose

Just look at Tatum and MAGA Mike as you said. These are guys that are big but cannot post, no footwork. All they do is jump and shoot, catch and shoot. Once their 3s don't fall they cannot do anything else.

Jaylen did not improve anywhere either. This dude cannot go left. You just wonder what new wrinkle he can add to his game this late, maybe they just get a proper PG so there's less scenarios where Brown is forced to handle the ball and make things happen.

CP3 to the Celtics will make sense if he is ready to take a huge paycut and the coach understands he his there only for the playoffs and load manages him accordingly. If CP3 wants huge money for 1 year the 2 teams who should be interested are Spurs because of Wemby and Houston because Green and co just play losing basketball

A40:
Some of it is also mentality. He's more skilled than Bam and yet he's been outperformed by Bam and most other bigs he faces. I think he gets coddled getting all those whistles in the regular season that come playoff time he doesn't know how to act when calls don't go his way.

He's also low on accountability which makes it hard for him to do better and stop taking those dumbass jump shots. I see he talks a good game but when it's crunch time he folds

The only positive for Philly fans is that maybe seeing someone who people say you used to be better than not only surpass you but also lead his team all the way can light a fire within him. If I am the 6ers front office, I will set the table again for him next year if he doesn't step up, they should target a draft with a generational talent and hit reset

A40:
He's not serious. Someone that wrote off the Nuggets all year and worse kept questioning Jokic's ability. For someone that prides themselves on being smart and a basketball kinikankinikan how could you not tell that Jokic was an incoming HOFer.

From the first day I saw him 16/17 he was can't miss. The talent was unmistakable. Even if I was a pundit paid to talk badly about him I wouldn't cos you would be phuckin up my credibility when he easily proves me wrong

The one popular pundit that was on the Denver and Jokic hype train for like 4 years now is Jalen Rose. I remember always watching him on Jalen &Jacoby talking about the Nuggets winning it all.
Jokic is that dude

A40:



40stradamus

Embiid needs to learn what it means to have a mismatch. If you are playing against guys like Jokic, Lopez and Gorbert I have no issues with you taking 10 jump shots. But if a team is leaving AL or Bam on you 1v1, dude get your ass into the post and eat

A40:




I want to hear what that charlatan Nick Wright has to say later on

He already said if he wins he automatically dethrone Giannis as the best player in the league

A40:

That's on offense. Me I know the drill. Any big that can even stand in the middle and can make smart decisions with the ball will easily crush the zone

What of defense? You could see apart from Game 2 in this Nuggets series they had really few uncontested 3s. I struggle to remember any point the Heat had any transition buckets.

On paper the Celtics have the better defense than Denver and yet in 5 games they were held under 100 4 times.

The Jaylen and Jayson dynamic IMO was a bigger problem. Especially with Jaylen's school boy handles.

Now on paper you would think two big two way wings the perfect scenario but the more I look the more I have to ask if it's a Kawhi and PG scenario. Two guys that basically do the same thing and cannot play off each other. Jokic and Murray had more assists to each other in Game 3 than Tatum and Brown did to each other the entire series. That was another huge problem

Tatum and Brown have a lot of growing to do, Brown needs either develop a tighter handle or if he cannot learn how to score with less dribbles. As for Tatum this is the 2nd year in a row the team has struggled in zone coverage, if non of the big men can do the inside work, he has no choice but to learn how to post up, he needs to take one for the team.
Watching that Heat vs Celtics series I truly believe if you switch Luka and Tatum the Celtics will win in 5, because you are not deploying that zone with such success against Luka


PS: can you see anywhere Jalen improved from last finals appearance to this season, I cannot see any? He had the same handling issues in the conference and nba finals last year

A40:
They have that Watson kid on the bench. Super athletic, not sure he's as good a ball handler as Brown but he has really really good potential. Brown is a second rounder I wouldn't fault him for maximising his earnings now that he has championship pedigree he will be hot cake

That pick from OKC might not be ready immediately. It's a late rounder but then again it's the Nuggets

It's number 30, but with what Braun and those undrafted guys in the Heat have shown this playoffs. I see a return of teams picking 3-4 year college starters late in the 1st round

A40:
That's why I said I wouldn't dispute anyone having Jokic over Malone but Malone was a 3x MVP that got to multiple Finals and swept the Lakers (might have been a different Story if Worthy played)

I just go off the back of what Malone did with what he had

For me oh. I think he has passed KD. Had it been the Warriors never won another title his record would have been bullet proof. However the fact that they won again inside 3 seasons. Now KD can still pass Joker. But if you ask me now. This dominant showing from Joker without an MVP or All star teammate (even though we know Murray is an Allstar caliber guy) tops anything KD has done

The argument about him and KD is sound

A40:
The size made a huge difference in this series. But I thought the Celtics had a bit of size advantage as well, how come they failed to use it is my question

Defense is really about effort. Even MAGA Mike when he shows some effort he looks like a half decent defender. Defense is 20% skill 80% will

Brown is a key player but he will not be an irreplaceable loss. Winning a title means they will definitely get willing veterans that will play under their market value for a shot at a ring

Same opinion, also they just made a trade to get some future 1st from OKC, which if they continue to hit at the rate they've been might net them another rotation piece.

A40:
The size made a huge difference in this series. But I thought the Celtics had a bit of size advantage as well, how come they failed to use it is my question

Defense is really about effort. Even MAGA Mike when he shows some effort he looks like a half decent defender. Defense is 20% skill 80% will

Brown is a key player but he will not be an irreplaceable loss. Winning a title means they will definitely get willing veterans that will play under their market value for a shot at a ring

The zone was the Celtics Achilles heel. Zone defense can negate size differences (that is why it is a Shaq rule), and also make penetrative dribbles hard because players can easily collapse, that is why guys like Jalen who don't have tight handles always lose the ball in such situations.
Also the Celtics had no big man that could receive the ball in the low block or in the paint who is a capable scorer and passer. Whenever the Heat went Zone against the Celtics and AL got the ball without nobody within 3 ft of him, he could not even look at the rim and was just looking for someone to hot potato it to. When they tried it against Jokic, he just looked to score, if they collapse he passes out of it, if they leave him 1v1 it was barbecue chicken .

You cannot play zone against a player who is an excellent passer and who is comfortable taking both a 12-15ft midrange and also backing you down.

A40:
Jokic has passed KD IMO. Anyone with even a ring as the undisputed top dawg head honcho is ahead of KD. So that means guys like Dirk, Giannis, Jokic

KD is dropping like stone rn especially with his lack of success without GSW and Golden State winning that title without him was just the worst possible outcome for his legacy

Centers
Kareem
Russell (I don't like counting that era ngl)
Shaq
Wilt
Olajuwon
Malone
Jokic

Now if Jokic theoretically gets another ring. He jumps ahead of Malone. If you say he's ahead of Malone now I won't argue but I still have Malone ahead for now. If he hits 3 rings and is FMVP all 3?? He will skip a lot of people and I'd put him right behind Shaq

Your centers list is same as mine, you can argue Malone and Jokic, I personally will take Jokic because he is easier to build around. As for him and KD, IMHO projecting forward, if he wins another ring and KD retires with just 2, then there is no argument, Jokic is absolutely better. But as it stands now, I say it's a toss-up

PS: I have the same issue with Bill Russell era of basketball. 8 teams and even some of your bench players are in the HOF.

Roland17:


They need volume scoring from somewhere, preferably the guard position.

Seriously, the person does not even need to be a great defender, just someone who is willing to put in effort on D and score efficiently at high volume.

A40:
This Nuggets team injury permitting will be a problem for years to come. Personally I don't think they even played at their best in this series.

Their balance of size and shooting is very difficult to top. It will ultimately come down to their motivation and then injuries. Does Jamal Murray want to be Allstar All NBA, does MAGA Mike want to improve and get to All star level and does Jokic want to be like Tim Duncan.

It's rare to find a team where the smallest guy is 6'4. Which means finding mismatches will be difficult all their guys are mobile and big enough to guard multiple positions

Their size is seriously underated. Personally that is why prefer tall players who can move their feet on defense, with just great effort that kind of player can automatically be an average defender, with coaching he can become a plus defender easily. We can see it in MPJ, Jamal and Jokic, not known for defense but their size and ability to move laterally for their position already gives them a huge starting point on turning into good defenders.
Going forward I doubt they can keep brown but I like what I saw from the rookie Braun, so that helps them there. If in FA all you are looking for is a 6th to 8th man, as a team you are good

larride:
First in NBA history.

The boy is a beast

Roland17:


Great points but only few people will look at it that way.

It has to be said that he was poor in this series and the final games of the Celtics series. He looked out of sorts and played below his level and that would be talked about in the future.

Agree totally, there was reports of Ankle stuff during the Celtics series like game 5 or so. The Heat needs another guy, whether it is Dame or whoever they just need someone who can on their own create high quality offense