“The NBA–Do You Like It?”

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NBA basketball is at an all time high in popularity .  There are superstars lots of places, phenomenal athletes most everywhere, and a skill set that we have never seen before.

Back in the day we had George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers.

There was Wilt-Jerry West-Elgin Baylor with the LA Lakers.

The Boston Celtics delivered us Bill Russell, Cousy, Heinshohn, Satch Sanders and the Jones Boys.

The Lakers reigned with Showtime, Magic Johnson and the year by year talent level headed by Jabbar, Worthy, Cooper, Fisher and so many others.

The Boston brilliance was a marquee roster led by Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and more.

San Antonio had David Robinson-Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli era.

Today’s NBA allows us to see Giannis in Milwaukee, Butler in Miami, the Splash Brothers-Curry-Thompson with the champions in Golden State.

The difference though today to yesterday is this:  the great teams of the past decades, kept their players intact, rosters had continuity.  There was a loyalty and a pride factor for all the superstars back in the day.

The game has changed in terms of firepower and talent.  It has also changed in terms of dollars and cents, and thus player movement.

The old NBA box scores would show you the starting center, the point guard, the shooting guard and the bigs who played at the 3-4 forward position.

Today, players change teams year by year.
Players sit out seasons for a wide variety of reasons.
Players get dealt because of the payrolls.
And there is ego and attitude so much more now than ever.

Points-rebounds-shooting percentage have been replaced by talking points  about luxury taxes, salary caps, trade exceptions, the Bird rule, mid level exceptions, opt out and opt in clauses,  and no trade clauses.

Meet the new breed NBA, and as free agency begins on Thursday afternoon, meet the prime example of players who have changed the game.

The NBA headlines this week were all about players on the move, veteran big money players, guys who want out, dudes who want to be paid.  Max this contract.

The Association is now dominated by mercenaries, Soldiers of Fortune, guys who drive deals because of who they are, what they want, max contracts

RUSSELL WESTBROOK…He just opted in to retain his (47.7M) salary, because no one wants him in a trade.  What was a great talent with the Oklahoma City Thunder has long disappeared.  He is an erratic shooter, not much of a defender, and teams around him have become losers.  Shall be interesting to see how tough new coach Darvin Ham is on Westbrook, and whether he can mold him to be a better fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, or will this year, be like last year, a failed chemistry test.  His track record, 4-teams in the last 4-years, now no one wants him, and the Lakers are stuck with him

JAMES HARDIN…How many teams can he play for.  He puts up big stats, but recently his teams don’t win either.  Age catching up to him?  An inability to become a scorer and a distributor night-in and night out.  He just opted out of his (47.7M) deal with the 76ers to try and negotiate a multi year extension with the Sixers and give them cap space to add people around a team that has yet to win  Hardin’s track record is like the others here, brilliance in Oklahoma City, great years in Houston, then an ill-fitting season with Brooklyn and the trade to Philadelphia.

JOHN WALL…His career rocketed, then he got hurt, then his Washington Wizards team fell apart.  On he went to Houston, dragging injuries, attitude issues and a massive contract with him.  He sat out all of last year by mutual agreement.  Houston just reached a 36M-buyout for Wall, and he is headed to the LA Clippers on a 6M deal with the chance to sign a big money multi year deal to team with Paul George-Kawhi Leonard.  His career is not as troubled as the other two.  Stay tuned to see where the road to LA takes him.

KYRIE IRVING…Love me, love me noty.  He’s had great opportunities in the NBA to get rewards, is highly paid, and is highly troubled.  He remains in Brooklyn, after being given permission by the Nets to work out a sign trade deal with another club, that club the Lakers.  They did not have cap space.  Brooklyn did not want Westbrook as a take back in the deal.  And LA refused to give up future #1 picks as sweeteners to make a trade.  Irving, gritting his teeth, opted in for the final year of his (47.7M) max contract with the Nets.  This is the great talent who has become a great problem.  Did not want to play any longer in Cleveland with LeBron James.  Went to Boston and was hot and cold trying to fit in with the Celtics  talents Tatum-Brown.  On to Brooklyn to join forces with Kevin Durant, and that did not work out.  Added into to this, his decision to take time off for social causes, during the George Floyd tragedy.  A major injury.  and then last year, his refusal to get vaccinated meant he could not play home games in New York, could not practice, and then played mostly road games.  He missed more than half the schedule and the season collapsed.  All is well with him as long as he gets his points and his money, even while he leaves wreckage behind.

Welcome to the new NBA.  It’s a players league, run by guys like this, not Commissioner Adam Silver or your favorite GM.

The NBA, a different type of super star now, Mercenaries, and Soldiers of Fortune.

Wonder if you like it?

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‘Watching Sports–Watching Society’

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Some day watching-reading-reacting to what we are dealing with…in sports-in society.

The 1/6 Committee hearings  have led us to a ‘historic threshold’  as to whether the Department of Justice goes after former President Trump on sedition charges, with the mountain of evidence in testimony that the globe has seen in these hearings.

Asking you to react to what you are following as June turns to July, in sports and society.  Tell me what’s important:
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‘Let them in..they’re not here to hurt me’…Trump responding to intel that his rally members had AK15s and a wide variety of firearms at his public rally.

…PADRES-DODGERS-BATTERED BY INJURY PREPARE FOR FOUR GAME SERIES IN FIGHT FOR FIRST PLACE.

‘People are chanting-hang Mike Pence…Mike deserves it’

…PHIL NEVIN HIT WITH 10-GAME SUSPENSION AS PART OF BENCH CLEARING BRAWL.

‘Threw a plate of food at wall when William Barr told him there was no fraud in the election’

..MANNY MACHADO TAKES FULL INFIELD PRACTICE AND FULL BP-WANTS TO RETURN TO PLAY NOW

‘He grabbed steering wheel then put his hand on Secret Service agent’

..FERNANDO TATIS CLEARED TO BEGIN SWINGING BAT OFF A TEE..THEN  10-DAYS HITTING OFF PITCHING MACHINE..THEN REHAB ASSIGNMENT

‘This will be a bad day 1/6..Mark Meadows
‘Are you excited about 1/6..Rudy Giuliani
‘I take the 5th..Michael Flynn
‘People are going to die-blood on your hands..Peter Cippolone

..WALKER BEUHLER-MOOKIE BETTS-BLAKE TREINEN REMAIN OUT WITH INJURIES.

‘I’m fuc**** President-take me to the Capitol

..LA CLIPPERS SIGN HIGH SCORING GUARD JOHN WALL…LAKERS FAIL TO GET KYRIE IRVING DEAL DONE…RUSSELL WESTBROOK OPTS IN TO KEEP HIS (47.7M) CONTRACT WITH LAKERS.

”9 people including Mark Meadows-Rudy Guiliani-asked Trump for pardons’

..ANAHEIM DUCKS HAVE 4-OF-TOP 53 PICKS IN NEXT WEEKS NHL DRAFT

‘Texts surface with insinuations demanding those testifying be loyal to the party-.witness intimidation allegations”

..SERENA WILLIAMS LOSES FIRST ROUND MATCH AT WIMBLEDON..RAFAEL NADAL-COMING OFF FRENCH OPEN WIN-GETS FIRST ROUND WIN TOO.

‘The 1/6 Committee has written Trump’s obituary
‘This is bombshell testimony
‘This us utterly devastating
‘He acted like a mad king
‘He tried to stage a coup

..PHIL MICKELSON TEES OFF IN LIV-PORTLAND OPEN ON THURSDAY AMID PROTESTS FROM GOLF FANS THAT PGA PLAYERS ARE TAKING BLOOD MONEY FROM THE SAUDI SUPER LEAGUE.

‘This is Un-American..This is unpatriotic’.

…WAITING ON SUSPENSIONS OF DESHAUN WATSON AND TREVOR BAUER.

Life goes on.  will our lives ever be the same.
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Just asking.
What’s important to you?
What are you following right now?
What do you think about our Country?

Sports-vs-Society..what a couple of weeks we are living with

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‘Deshaun Watson-vs-NFL’

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Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is fighting a war on two fronts.

A year after the sleazy stories of his approach to have sex with massage therapists in Houston, the first lawsuit by a therapist against him, and the Houston Texans as his enabler, has been filed.

In addition, the quarterback, the NFL Players Association and the NFL itself will make proposals infront of the NFL Disciplinary officer on Tuesday,  as to what the penalties against him should be, for incidents with 26-different women.

The Union stance, no suspension, because he has already settled 20 of the suits out of court.

The NFL says it has the right for an indefinite suspension and fine because of the depth of the transgressions, and the fact more women keep surfacing, four io the last two weeks alone, joining the 20-initial complaints.

And on Monday, the first official suit was filed by Victim #1-refusing an out of court settlement.

Watson is getting blitzed off the field, and looks to be going down.

A closer look at what happened on Monday…courtesy of NBC.

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Getty Images
When the news broke last week that Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson had reached settlements in 20 of the 24 civil cases pending against him, many wondered whether attorney Tony Buzbee would proceed with his vow to sue the Texans for their alleged role in enabling Watson’s alleged misconduct. An answer has arrived, in the form of the first lawsuit against the Texans arising from the Watson situation.

“Today we filed the first case of what will likely be many against the Houston Texans related to Deshaun Watson’s behavior,” Buzbee said in a press release. “Suffice it to say, the overwhelming evidence collected indicating that the Houston Texans enabled Watson’s behavior is incredibly damning. We believe the Texans knew or most certainly should have known of Watson’s conduct. Beyond that, we believe the filing speaks for itself.”

The lawsuit, filed by Toi Garner against Houston NFL Holdings, L.P., contends that Watson requested a massage from her in November 2020 via social media, and that he brought with him a nondisclosure agreement provided by the Texans.

“During the massage session, Watson assaulted and harassed Plaintiff by aggressively exposing his naked body to her, purposely touching her with his penis, and ultimately ejaculating onto her,” the petition alleges.

The petition alleges that Watson consistently refused to have massages performed at the team’s facility, and that he refused to utilize the services of the team’s selected massage therapy provider, Genuine Touch. At page 2, the petition alleges that, in June 2020, the owner of Genuine Touch “complained to the Texans that Watson was seeking out unqualified strangers for massages via Instagram,” and that “Watson was putting himself in danger of contracting Covid, or getting himself sued.”

The petition at page three accuses the Texans of turning a “blind eye” to Watson’s behavior, and that the team actually enabled it by providing the NDA, by providing a room at The Houstonian in which Watson underwent massages, and by giving him a massage table to utilize for these sessions.

“Watson was a Houston Texans’ employee; individuals within the Texans organization knew or should have known of Watson’s conduct,” the petition contends. Surprisingly, the petition contends at page four that multiple employees of Genuine Touch were aware that multiple Genuine Touch therapists had sexual relations with Watson during massage sessions.

The Texans never investigated Watson, per the petition. Instead, the Texans gave him a nondisclosure agreement that would protect him against the random massage therapists he was hiring via social media.

The lawsuit seeks to impose liability on the Texans in various ways. It argues that Watson was acting within the scope of his employment when seeking these massages, making the team directly responsible for his behavior. (That is a very aggressive position, since it’s difficult to envision how or why Watson was doing anything other than acting in his own capacity in seeking these massages.) It also argues that the Texans failed to prevent Watson’s ongoing misconduct, once the team knew or should have known that he was engaged in questionable behavior. Finally, it contends that the Texans and Watson engaged in a civil conspiracy that resulted in Watson’s alleged assaults.

The Texans have issued the following statement regarding today’s development: “We are aware of the lawsuit filed against us today. Since March 2021, we have fully supported and complied with law enforcement and the various investigations. We will continue to take the necessary steps to address the allegations against our organization.”

At the risk of reading too much into the statement, it’s a far cry from the NFL’s knee-jerk “without merit” response to any and all allegations against it. Given that Watson already has testified that the NDA came from the Texans, the team may realize that it has a problem. The ultimate defense for the team may reside more in legal arguments (for example, it had no legal duty to protect the individuals Watson allegedly mistreated) than in factual ones.

Regardless, the settlement of 20 cases, with four still remaining, should not be regarded as a sign that the legal cases are ending. For the Texans, they’re just getting started. And, for Watson, he still may find himself testifying at multiple trials of the cases not filed against him but against

‘Spraying Shots to All Fields’

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PADRES…Sitting and waiting on this MANNY MACHADO ankle sprain.  He hasn’t run yet, is taking stationary ground balls, limited batting practice, no side to side running, no baserunning, no planting and turning.

FERNANDO TATIS..Waiting too for another CT exam in the slow healing situation with his fractured left wrist.  We are headed to July in what I thought would be a long term rehab.  Once cleared to swing a bat, take BP, and play on the field, we have to see how his wrist reacts to the torque in his swing.  And of course we wonder about this left shoulder separation situation that has flared in recent years.

BLAKE SNELL…What an enigma, what a telent, what a 5-inning pitcher…what a mystery as to why he goes in and out of bad innings.  He found himself the second half of last season with 7-quality starts.  He’s done nothing of that quality since last year and didn’t do much prior in his first year in San Diego.  He’s a far cry from the guy that was (20-4) in Tampa years ago.

SCOREBOARD DOES NOT LIE…The Padres batting average since Machado got hurt (.215)..Runners in scoring position batting average (.207)…Friars are just (19-18) against teams with winning records…Hard to believe Phillies are (40-18) in games at Petco Park.

ROLE PLAYERS…Good seasons so far from Jurickson Profar, free agent pickup Jorga Alfao and just promoted Nomar Mazaro.  Credit Padres scouts taking a look at other teams fringe players and players in other teams farm systems.  Hate to think where the Padres would be without those three.

LINEUPS…Eric Hosmer’s (.200) bsatting average is mystifying considering its length and the fast start he had.  No Wil Myers, a sub .200-Trenth Grisham, and you can understand how they had a (.207) average with runners in soring position since the Machado injury.  And there’s still half a season to play on the summer schedule.

ON THE FARM…Jose Castillo’s rehab after 3-years of injuries is nearly complete.  He’s waiting for the phone to ring to come back to the Padres, with an (0.89-ERA) in AAA this eason.  Waiting and hoping too is Dinelsoh Lamet, who has a (2.08-ERA) in El Paso after a slow start as they converrted hi to a long reliever.

DODGERS…They are in disarray.  No Walker Beuhler for 8-weeks with the bone spur elbow surgery.  No Blake Treinen till August with the shoulder issue.
Now you lose setup reliever Daniel Hudson with a torn knee ligament for the season.  And Andrew Heaney has restrained his left shoulder just one start after coming off the injured list.  Dustin May’s year long recovery from elbow surgery has not gotten to the point he will be ready rejoin this team yet.  Maybe September.

TREVOR BAUER..What a burden this whole investigation and appeal process is creating.  The arbitrator’s decision could come in the next two weeks.  Then the Dodgers decision moves front and center.  Release him?  Use his 32M salary to go find a pitching rental?  Do they dare bring him back considering the roster situation they are in?  It has been exactly 1-calendar year this week since his last start.  What do they do?

ANGELS..19-losses in 23-games heading into the weekend, a threadbare starting rotation, an over worked bullpen, and injuries to Mike Trout, Jarrod Walsh and the season ending surgery to Anthony Rendon.  The failures of #1 picks Jo Adell and Reid Detmers.  Shohei Ohtani has been magnificent, doing things we have ever-ever seen before, but he cannot carry the whole team.  The ugly beanball brawl on Sunday afternoon seemed to unify the team.  A quagmire of problems for interim Manager Phil Nevin.
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“NBA Draft Recap”

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The top phrases you hear from NBA people at the draft:

I can’t believe he was there.
He was the guy we wanted all along
Can’t wait to get there and start working out

So the NBA draft is history, with beauty in the eye of the beholder, once we got beyond the top 3-draft picks.

Orlando surprised people by taking Duke F-Paolo Banchero-explosive-active-dynamic scorer, now we see what he does against qualifyt pros.  He might be the second coming of Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee down road

Oklahoma City has a really good night, starting with the tougher than nails 7-center Chet Holmgren of Gonzaga, but they also added a shooter from Santa Clara-Jalen Williams-, and a prospect from France in 6’7-Ousmaine Dieng via a trade.

Houston got a gem in Jabari Smith, the do-everything forward from Auburn, who dropped from the top slot.  They also got a couple of grinders in forwards Tari Eason of LSU and Wendell More of Duke.

Sacramento kept the 4th pick and took Keegan Murray, a superb guard from Iowa.

Detroit, building towards great things, took G-Jaden Ivey of Purdue, a lightning fast guard, and then traded for Memphis F-Jalen Duren-a huge undeveloped athlete..

From then on, it was who you liked, who fit best with what you needed.

Among the other picks I liked:

Indiana, yet to make trades, got Arizona G-Benn Mathurin
Washington got gifted Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis
Cleveland got a shooter in kansas guard Ochai Agbaji
Charlotte picked Duke shot blocker Mark Williams.
Chicago took an underrated guard in Dalen Terry from Arizona
Denver got a tough guy guard in Kansas star Christian Braun.
Memphis got bigger with a rim protector in Walker Kessler of Auburn and then traded for Colorado State F-David Roddy.
Miami may have the steal in the draft in Serbian teenage star Nikola Jokic.
Golden State drafted at the end of the round, and what they got has upside in 6’7-Milwaukee forward Patrick Baldwin.

The Lakers trade a future 2nd to get Orlando’s pick and took young Michigan State G-Matt Christie, who averaged 9-points per game but was not a great outside shooter but a good defender.  Bypassed a bunch of big bodies, but maybe a player that fits the Darvin Ham mold.

Still to come, all the uncertainty about the big name players with opt-out clauses in theri contracts, and the potential of some sign and trade deals.