EA Sports for the Naismith Hall of Fame

These days, it's common to hear people, even young YouTubers, talk about how the NBA didn't really blow up until the Jordan era.  But it's something you would have had to live through to really appreciate.  And to give an example, I'd like to point out a phenomenon that was intrinsic to the NBA blowing up, yet all basketball historians tend to overlook.  But I know it was important to the propagation of the league, before it really became mainstream, because I was there.

THE CBS YEARS

As a backdrop, yes, there was a time that NBA games were shown only sparingly, in undesirable timeslots on CBS, aka the lowliest of the American major (i.e. antenna) television networks.  I literally can't think of a single show I watched on CBS.  That channel was so boring that as a teenager, I'd watch PBS, i.e. an educational network, more.

And by the time the 1990s hit, there were only a handful of players with national name recognition, i.e. dudes who you not only knew their names but also how they looked.  That would be, really, like Magic, Bird, Kareem, Dr. J and Jordan, as well as a few peripheral dudes, such as maybe Barkley since, you know, he had a real unique look.  But in a nutshell, you had to either be a champion or on commercials, like Isiah Thomas, who wasn't on commercials, but you at least knew his name.  It wasn't like today, where every tom-dick-and-harry NBAer at least has a social media account

So those are the parts of the story everyone knows.  The Magic vs. Bird rivalry pumped fresh blood into the league, but again, it wasn't enough to get the NBA pass CBS.  Basketball was the most-popular sport (alongside American football) in the 'hood, even back in those days.  In cramped urban spaces, it ain't like you can setup a hockey rink or soccer pitch.  But even though kids had some idea how to play, it wasn't from watching basketball on TV per se.

I remember my big bro trying to teach me to play when I was kid, and I was totally disinterested.  This was before the days of Jordan, before the NBA eventually made its way to NBC, and everyone started watching.  And as for big bro, he's what I was would call a basketball head.  He played on his high school team and was one of those types who would actually like check the TV Guide to see when CBS was broadcasting games, set that time aside and actually watch.  He was different from the rest of us.

ENTER EA SPORTS

And now, we're getting to the part of the history that people always overlook, how when things happen that change the world, it's rarely the result of just a single factor.  It's hard to become fans of a league when you don't even know who most of the players are.  And I'm not talking about just five or six dudes you occasionally see on TV or on a cereal box.  That's not going to cut it.

Jordan had mass appeal, and everyone wanted to see him win.  We all know that.  During the Bulls' first threepeat is when the NBA really started catching on.

Concurrently, there was the first "Dream Team", which helped the game go global.  We all know that also.

And concurrently, circa the Bulls' first threepeat, EA Sports started releasing NBA videogames, which were instrumental in popularizing the league.  That's the part of the story those who were too young to be there could never appreciate.

And I mean yeah, it's sorta understandable.  The NBA Live franchise wasn't even able to maintain dominance for a solid decade.  These days, when it comes to basketball videogames, only one name comes to mind - NBA 2K.  They may be the superior product, but they weren't the first respectable NBA videogame franchise.

And this is important because, again, we're talking pre-internet.  So in those days for instance, the only way you knew every man on a team, 1-12, is if first of all you were a diehard fan, usually of a single squad or two.  Then, whatever team was most popular in your area, in the United States, usually would have their boxscores published in the local newspaper, on the nights they played.

Occasionally, I think on Sundays, some newspapers would publish boxscores from around the entire league.  Reading boxscores in a newspaper is even more cumbersome, imo, than doing so on the 'net.  And since this was pre-internet, readers weren't privy to like season averages and shit like that.  And also - this is perhaps the most important point I'm trying to make in context - reading stats doesn't let you know how dudes look, nor how they actually play, like their playing styles.  You can see a dude like, say, Clyde Drexler putting up 20+ppg, but you don't know how he got it.

And that's where EA Sports changed everything.  The first game they put out was Jordan vs. Bird One on One (1988) which, as its name implies, wasn't a team-basketball outing.  But, it was a start.  And it's kinda odd, I guess you can say, that even back in 1988, Jordan was already being shown more love (as the Black face of the league) than Magic, who actually won the championship that year, besides winning four prior, while MJ hadn't won any by that point.

Then came the follow-up, Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs (1989), which featured 8 teams, full 12-man rosters if I remember correctly, as well as the All-Star squads.

This was then succeeded by Bulls versus Lakers and the NBA Playoffs (1992), which had all 16 posteseason team, i.e. over half the league.  And please forgive me if I don't remember everything exactly, but I do recall each team having a full 12-man roster, besides being able to view their season averages and stuff like that.  So now, you not only knew the names of most of the guys in the NBA but also their strengths, weaknesses and playing styles.

Granted, these earlier games may not have been the most realistic   I remember for instance something like Charles Barkley being able to dunk from the three-point line, and Tom Chambers also having some kind of unstoppable move.

But again, being able to read stats like that at your own convenience really made a difference, and it still does.  Just think of EA Sports as the primary NBA stat source before Wikipedia or Basketball-Reference.

Later down the line, EA introduced the NBA Live franchise with (virtually) every team and player being represented.  This is the franchise upon which NBA 2K went on to be more or less based, when you look at the similarities in cover art for instance.

So just like you always have to give Jordan credit for introducing basketball to the entire world, even if Lebron is the better player, you also have to give Electronic Arts their props for first making NBA rosters known to general public, even if 2K is better.  The homeys played all of those EA Sports games, including Team USA Basketball (1992), and that's how we really got to know the NBA.  And it wasn't the same with the NFL videogames because in that league, there's like too many guys to memorize.

CONCLUSION

Looking back at those days, it's hard for me to imagine the NBA catching on the way it did if not for EA Sports.  Even during the Jordan years, when the league transitioned to NBC, games were only shown on the weekend, and only those of the most-popular teams.  And even then, you know what I'm saying?  If you weren't like MJ or Shaq or the Knicks or some shit, no layman was going out of his way to watch you play.

But what laymen were doing was playing those EA Sports' games.  And I mean, yeah.  Do they even make NBA Live games anymore?  Like somebody needs to give these dudes their props, in helping to propagate the league. 

2025 NBA Playoffs Ruminations (May 24)

INDIANA PACERS (2) vs NEW YORK KNICKS (0)

I didn't even include any exclamation marks in the above subtitle, because I personally am not surprised that the Knicks are in a 2-0 hole, even if they do have homecourt advantage.  Indiana disappointed me in the last round, in that they won even though I predicted and was rooting for the Cavs.  But it's like, fool me once type shit.

As for NYK, I'm not going to get ahead of myself and say okay, they're going to lose to series, even if it does very much look that way.  When they took those two games in Boston, it was on last-second plays.  But the Pacers are like straight up beating these dudes, you know, making history against niggas type shit.

I've been saying all season that the Knicks are overtalented, that Miles Bridges was a better acquisition for this roster than KAT, and as such they should have given the Bridges experiment more time before running out and chasing Karl.  James Dolan has obviously not been incepted.  If he were, he would have known that the era of impromptu superteams is over.

In the whole history of the NBA, an instant superteam only worked once in terms of instantly producing a championship.  That of course was the 2008 Celtics, and it was because it's star were actually compatible (and very hungry).  If the Knicks were actually thinking instead of starchasing, they would have went after a defense-first C instead of KAT.  And my further argument is that, dickridin' a player who isn't compatible with your roster isn't becoming of a professional braintrust at all.

So with that in mind, lol @ NYK.  I can't help but to get at least a few 'I told you so's in.

Beating the up-and-coming Pistons and the limp Celtics (and more or less struggling on both occasions) was not proper preparation to face Indiana, and Thibs is overrated.  The Pacers are like an entire team that has caught the Steph spirit.  Tyrese Haliburton may also be overrated, so to speak.  But he has arguably the most-overachieving supporting cast in the NBA.

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (0) vs OKC THUNDER (2)

I don't feel like digging back right now, but I'm pretty sure I said at the beginning of the season that, if healthy, the Thunder are likely to bring home the gold.  A lot of other people probably said the same thing, like that isn't actually a bold prediction.  Sometimes the team that's supposed to win actually does.

OKC are the exemplary braintrust right now, because they've been clear contenders throughout the season yet not paying any luxury tax, and even with SGA, you know, he may be a consensus superstar now, but they took a flier making him the leader of this squad when they did.

Meanwhile the Timberwolves, who do have one of the higher tax bills, are not contenders, regardless of what any pundit says.  There's nothing they've done throughout this entire postseason that screams champion.

I'm not trying to place the blame on anybody, but if I were to make one change to that roster, it'd likely be minimizing its dependency on Mike Conley.  Again, I have nothing against Conley.  You may not hear his name come up in those father time conversations, but he's actually one of the older players in the league.  Dude was deadass teammates with Allen Iverson and is still around, in 2025, logging like 30 mins/game in the postseason.  You have to respect that.  It ain't like he's an old dawg who's been relegated to cheerleading.

But if you're going to pay the luxury tax, you know what I'm saying?  I don't mean dumbing out like the Suns, but I already said at the end of last season, after they lost to the Mavs, that Minny needed to upgrade from Mike.  Trading KAT for Randle and DiVincenzo was a sound move but not all that they needed to do.  More than anything, they needed to upgrade at the point.  Duh.

Conley is like an anachronism in today's NBA.  The Timberwolves play that kind of position-less basketball that most teams do.  So, you know what I'm saying?  Maybe they need to spend extra and get a player more compatible with that style, a more appropriate backcourt running make for Anthony Edwards.  I'm not going to jump off a ledge and say the Pacers are going to beat the Knicks, but I will say that about OKC's chances over Minny.

It's probably better like this anyway.  If the Knicks make it to all the way Finals and start doing that Laurel & Hardy shit, some New Yorkers, like those who aren't used to being disappointed like that, may have a heart attack or something.  Oh, the drama.  And speaking of Laurel & Hardy yes, it did kinda seem that NYK really gave Indy a chance to come back at the end of the Game 1.  Man, the NBA.  The type of anomalies that back in the old days no one would expect from professional athletes or that they would get chastised for are now so common that they can happen multiple times in a single postseason alone.  Ben Simmons truly was a scapegoat.

Big Shot Bob, an All-Time Great?

Yesterday I was watching a game from that controversial 2002 Western Conference Finals series between the Kings and Lakers.  At first, (spoiler alert?), Sacramento was on the verge of blowing the Lakers out, in Los Angeles.  But by the time all was said and done, the day was saved by a clutch shot made by Robert "Big Shot Bob" Horry.  In fact at the end of the game, he was the one who the broadcaster interviewed, not Shaq or Kobe.

Robert Horry has more championship rings than any player in NBA history outside of the 1950-60s Celtics, who won like every year.  He has more than Jordan, more than Magic, and by looks of things, neither Lebron or Steph are going to catch up with Big Shot Bob.  Yet, you never hear Horry's name mentioned when it comes to all-time greats or even in terms of being considered for induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, where even the likes of Tim Hardaway, who like never won jackshit, have made it.

I think part of the reason is because Horry was never a franchise player or even considered like the second-best player on the various teams he played for.  But if you don't know his history and see this relatively-unknown dude's name up there higher on the championship list than Kareem or Pippen, you'd probably think that he was riding the bench and was jut fortunate enough to find himself on good teams.  But even then, how many benchriders have seven championships, in any sport and furthermore amongst three different teams?  If such a person exists, you'd have to conclude that he or she is at least a good luck charm or something.

But that wasn't the case with Big Shot Bob.  He was a starter with the Rockets when they won championships in 1994 and 1995.  He was primarily a bench player during the Shaq + Kobe threepeat, as he was when he won championships with the Spurs in 2005 and 2007.  But he played a key and sometimes even savior-like role with all of those franchises.

For instance, it is widely considered that the NBA rigged Game 6 of that 2002 series between the Kings and Lakers.  But let me say, if that is in fact the case, that the NBA would have never been in a rightful position to do so if Horry didn't make that clutch shot in Game 4.  Because if he had missed it, Sacramento would have had a 3-1 lead over LAL.  And you know, it's a lot easier to pull off the rigging of one nationally-televised game that everyone is watching than having to do two in a row.

Horry may not have gotten sneaker deals and commercials and allstar nods and shit like that, but he was one of the more popular players of his day to actual NBA fans, as he was the most clutch shooter of the 2000s.  And his ability to make clutch shots was, I believe, founded in his overall fearlessness.

It takes a high degree of courage, for lack of a better way of putting it, to consistently make three-pointers during some of the most-crucial moments in NBA history.  But that same 'fearlessness' sometimes resulted in Big Shot doing dumb shit, like that time he threw a towel in the face of Danny Ainge, who's not only respected in NBA circles but also was Horry's coach at the time.  And it's like to this day, he still doesn't give AF.

CONCLUSION

So we may never see Horry in the Hall of Fame.  If you were a superstar player, you'll definitely make it into the Hall.  If you were a player with mainstream name recognition  who hasn't won any championships, you can also make it.  But if, as a key role player, you won two championships with one team, three championships with another and yet two more with a different franchise, obviously that's not good enough.

How Steph Curry Saved the White NBA

Sometimes I be sitting around thinking about how the NBA has seemingly turned its back on quality players like Dwight Howard, Hassan Whiteside and DeAndre Drummond.  The argument is supposed to be that, despite easily averaging double-doubles when given enough playing time, they are too slow and cumbersome for "today's NBA".  My opinion is that if you average a double-double of anything combination of mainstream stats in the NBA (except for turnovers), then no one in their right mind should be trying to say that you don't belong in the league.  Like this is something that has been bothering me for a long time, why it seemed like the media and some other entities just suddenly turned on these centers.

Then recently, while peeping out a Steph Curry documentary, I remembered this joke I once came across once on a comedy site.  The writer was writing about the 1960s' NBA or some shit and made this crack about 'before you had to be at least 6'6" and Black' to play in the league.  It was actually a pretty funny joke, the way he presented it.  And it's also true in a way, that all of these athletic Black NBA players were on the verge of almost making White counterparts obsolete.

In fact circa the turn the century, i.e. the first decade of the 21st century, White-American NBA players were all but extinct.  In the last 25 or so years, to my (limited) remembrance there's only been one White-American all-star, that being Gordon Hayward.  He's a still a fine player but, you know, obviously couldn't endure the continuous rigors of the NBA .  All of the other recent White allstars have been from Europe.  So it's like if the Dream Team hadn't graced the Olympics in 1992 - the event which is credited with making basketball a truly-international phenomenon - then who knows how the league will look these days, if Europeans hadn't gotten interested like that.

And you know, niggas be hatin, and by niggas I mean racists.  You can never underestimate the pettiness of a true racist.  For instance just yesterday, according to the news, some racist dude in Florida killed three innocent Black people before taking his own life - a total and complete waste of life, including his own.

So it's like White Americans were on the verge of being phased out of the NBA, with basketball being a game that they invented, in a manner of speaking.  And you couldn't really say anything about it because at the end of the day, teams want to win.  The one thing Whites could unanimously do better than any other race, when it comes to basketball, is shoot.  But it started to reach a point where it was hard to rationalize having someone on the squad who could just shoot but not do much else.

Then, enter Steph Curry.  One thing I learned from the storyline of Underrated was that Steph was doing all of that crazy shit on the court, i.e. consistently making shots that no one else in their right mind would even take, well before hooking up with Klay.  Lebron himself took the time out to come and personally watch Steph play in college, along with Rich Paul, as if they wanted to sign him, which goes to show that LBJ really does have a high basketball IQ.

HOW STEPH REVOLUTIONIZED THE NBA

Steph revolutionized the NBA, because he took the focus from the inside (of the paint), where it has traditionally been, to the outside.  Now all of the sudden every team could rationalize having at least one player on their roster who can shoot and do nothing else.  Back in the old days, it was only contenders who tended to take those kinds of risks, i.e. squads with defenses that are good enough to make up for regularly playing someone who can only shoot.

So now, in an NBA that focuses more, if not primarily on jump-shooting in the name of hopefully beating Steph and the Warriors, it's like White players have found a place again.  Even some of these European MVP types, they wouldn't have had it as easy back in the days when coaches actually demanded players to exhibit some consistent level of defensive efficiency, like the Thibodeau types who would even bench Evan Fournier.

CONCLUSION

A few years back I was walking down the street in Odumase, which is like this obscure community in the Eastern Region of Ghana.  And I seen this dude that looked just like Steph Curry.  When I say he looked just like Steph, I mean that he looks more like Steph than even Seth does.  I was even tempted to ask dude for a picture, just so I could show the peeps back home like 'yo, I ran into this guy in Africa that looks just like Steph Curry' - an indigenous African, not someone who is mixed which, even for an 'educated' person like myself, was shocking.  Before that, I never even imagined that there was like a tribe of Steph Currys out in the world somewhere.

Do I believe there's some kind of skin-color component behind being able to shoot a basketball better?  Well, the best shooters in NBA history are people like Steve Kerr, Reggie Miller, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, and this is besides the fact that Whiteboys in general tend to shoot better.  That's something I've learned from personal experience, not just watching the NBA.  So yes, I can logically hypothesize that (lighter) skin tone has someone to do with being to shoot a basketball.

That said, I know that Steph Curry isn't White.  But the way he has come and shot the lights off year after year after year has reminded people that yes, a team can be successful without a big, imposing Black guy in the middle and/or super-athletic Black guys on the perimeter - a realization I'm sure has made a lot of people happy.  He reminded the world that White people, i.e. jump shooters, actually have a place in NBA basketball.  So don't be surprised if into the foreseeable you see even more of the bigger (Black) guys being phased out for White shooters, like European centers, even if the latter can't particularly play defense.

2023 Western Conference Play-In Predictions (Round 1)

TIMBERWOLVES (42-40) VS. LAKERS (43-39)

FAIR & SQUARE

Even if the Lakers did respect hard work and continuity, which they apparently don't, the Timberwolves would still have a better roster.  Lebron is no joke on offense but is a defensive liability.  And watching AD play, I feel like he's constantly in pain but taking one for the team.  Like he's still an exceptional player but isn't the AD of old.  For instance, you never hear anyone saying he's one of the best centers in the game these days.  And whereas the Lakers are now one of the deepest teams in the NBA, it isn't necessarily that the role players adequately complement a chuckin Lebron and a hobbled AD.  Maybe it would be if, once again, they had continuity.  But the way LAL rotates players in and out of the starting lineup, even the ones who have been around since the beginning of the season, is disheartening.

WHAT WILL THE NBA DO?

But they're probably still going to prevail against the Timberwolves away because, lucky for them, Minnesota has been experiencing all types of misfortunes of late.  First was Naz Reid, who's an absolute beast, breaking his wrist.  Then during the last game of the season Jaden McDaniels, another important and effective player off the Minnesota bench, broke his own hand punching a wall, which ain't something you hear everyday.  And then, lo and behold, the one T-wolves opponent the Lakers would have to worry about most, Rudy Gobert, decides to punch his own teammate, even though doing so would undoubtedly result in him getting suspended, you know, right before his team is about to play the most-important game of their entire season.

So I personally believe the script for this one has already been written.  The Timberwolves, imo, weren't favored during last season's playoffs, and they aren't favored now.  The Lakers, at or near full strength, barely beat the tanking Jazz the other night.  So in my mind there's really no way they could beat a healthy Minnesota squad at full strength in such a critical game.  But the Timberwolves are down three key players, i.e. a starter and two regular-rotation guys, so we will likely witness LAL getting their asses bust by Memphis in the First Round instead.

THUNDER (40-42) VS. PELICANS (42-40)

FAIR & SQUARE

I believe that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Brandon Ingram will end up counteracting each other, even though the former tends to have a greater impact on games, especially close ones, overall.  So then, it's up to the other players to decide who wins this game, and I think New Orleans has the edge there, especially if McCollum plays.

You can argue that if Zion were playing it would be no contest, but he and Ingram don't play particular well together anyway, and if the Pelicans were smart they'd trade Zion and get another star or two who's healthy and actually complements Brandon's skillset.

WHAT WILL THE NBA DO?

I can imagine that the NBA would be more inclined to have SAG and Josh Giddey in the playoffs than the Pelicans, and I wouldn't be surprised if OKC even give the Nuggets a run for their money, even in a seven-game series.  But the Pelicans made it out of the play-ins last season and can probably do so again.  Or at least that's what I believe, that they're a better all-around team than OKC, though again with Shai, miracles are possible.

CONCLUSION

I can understand how the NBA is favoring Lebron again.  He just broke Kareem's record, which is the biggest (American) sports' story of the year, and also these days he doesn't make as many political statements as a couple of years ago.  But it's going to be sad when the Lakers run into a really good, healthy team, unless they're really expecting the likes of Malik Beasley and D'Angelo Russell to win a series for them.

And personally I think OKC would stand a better chance against Denver, but it's hard for me to imagine them beating the Pelicans, which is a deceptively-deep squad.

Does Adam Silver Hate Kawhi Leonard (and the Clippers)?

When I was in college, I had this mentor who's successful in the world and like 1000x wiser than I am.  This is back in the days when your boy was young, hot and always bitching about the system.

So one day, I can't remember exactly what the occasion, but she was like warning me against talking too much shit.  And the way she did so was by dropping some jewels that go 'people do favors for those they like', or some like that.  She was into politics also, and her point was that as for those who are higher up on the organizational ladder, you're more likely to receive their favor - in other words move up yourself - if they actually like you.  That's like some "duh" type shit.  But the reason she was letting me know is because sometimes, you know, when niggas get emotional and shit, like we can even forget something that basic.  You know what I mean?  We start thinking that all we need is talent or aggressiveness or whatever to be successful, but the world isn't that simple.

That's the kinda shit that I think of when the plight of Kawhi Leonard comes to mind - and by extension that of the Clippers.  We all know that public perception matters, especially when you're a celebrity.  But we also know that most celebrities are fuckups just like the rest of us.  So it takes something pretty extreme - like say Kobe being accused or rape, or Josh Primo flashing his dong, i.e. criminal activities - to like permanently run the risk of scarring your image.

Then besides for the illegal there is also the immoral, like that shit Ime Udoka did.  Morality is a lot more subjective than breaking the law, especially in today's world.  But still, it matters.

But then, what about the unethical?  That's the kinda shit that no one can say you broke the law, nor can say you did something wrong per se.  But still, it's like the shit you did just wasn't right.

That's how I felt when Kawhi Leonard forced himself off the Spurs.  None of us out here in internet land really know what he was going through within the organization or even within himself.  What we do know is that he no longer wanted to play for San Antonio, and you know, niggas empathized, because many of us know also know how it feels to be stuck working for an employer you've grown to hate.  But it's like damn, all things considered at least try to play out your contract.

Dudes back in the days, like Scottie Pippen, deadass signed for 7 years (though it was actually five years).  And I believe that may be one of the main reasons why they stopped hastily signing longer contracts, just for scenarios like this, i.e. either party growing discontent along the way.

Before Kawhi, the closest I can remember an NBA player pulling some shit like that was when Carlos Boozer swankydanked the Cavs, or whatever you wanna call what he did.  If he had stuck around, like who knows.  LBJ may have been able to win a championship the first time around, and NBA history of the last 15 years would look vastly different.  Maybe David Stern was pissed at Boozer, but it didn't really matter, because with Carlos, the Jazz never went on to really accomplish shit anyway, and the Cavs still managed to thrive even without him.

The same cannot be said concerning Kawhi's departure from the Spurs.  He forced himself out of SA, went to the Raptors and instantly won a championship.  Kawhi is arguably, at least imo, the most-impactful player in the entire NBA.  If he were healthy, there's no reason not to believe that the Clippers will win a championship(s), because they're damn near contenders even without him (i.e. when George is healthy).

So my conspiracy theory, for awhile now, is that Leonard's injuries are being overexaggerated, because the powers-that-be don't want him going down in history as one of the greatest players ever, which he actually is and will universally be recognized for if he's able to lead three different franchises to the Larry O'Brien.  Why are they hating on him?  Because that shit he did to the Spurs was grimey.  Like everybody loves Pop and respects the Spurs.  But Kawhi bouncing fuckedup their dynasty set this team back probably for decades.  And it would be one thing if they were contending without Leonard, or if Kawhi ended up sucking without them.  Then there would be justice, as with Carlos Boozer.  But neither has been the case, so you know, shadow government time.

CONCLUSION

So unfortunately, based on that theory, it's like the Clippers got caught in the crossfire.  They have one of, if not the best team in the NBA but not the blessing of the league itself, is what I believe.  And if all of that is true, as weird as it may sound, the only way Kawhi may be able to correct the situation is to return to the Spurs.

Now That Robert Sarver Has Been Sanctioned...

 ...maybe the Suns will win a championship.

And what I mean by that is, anyone who has been reading this blog would know that I've held the belief over the last couple of seasons that the NBA simply does not want the Suns, as good as they may be, to win a championship.  Well, it wasn't until all of this Robert Sarver shit tipped over this past wedk that I finally came up with a viable conspiracy theory as to why, which is the powers-that-be not wanting a team with a controversial owner to win it all.

That said, I won't make like I'm intimately aware of Sarver situation, nor am I particularly interested even now.  The NBA is too parochial or patriarchal or however you want to put it, which is something I've been intending to write about for some time but prolly never will, because fukit.  You have these dudes making all this money, and if part of the deal is that you can't speak freely, I mean it doesn't look like they really have a problem with it.  And really all jobs are like that anyway, like there's only so much shit you can talk, even if with the NBA, sometimes their restrictions seem a bit extreme.

One thing I will say is this - I do know how it feels to work directly under a jackass.  What I don't really understand though it why people like Lebron James or even Chris Paul are chiming in on the matter.  Well, it depends on how close Paul and Sarver actually are, though I would presume that they don't really interact too much.  In other words, I would imagine that the people who really had to deal with Sarver's racism, misogyny or whatever are those who worked directly under or dealt with him like on a daily basis.  And the reason why Paul and Lebron wouldn't see $10mil as much of a penalty is because they've already been making that type of money since they were teenagers type shit.

CONCLUSION

Now, the Suns holding onto DeAndre Ayton and not actually making any upgrades this offseason doesn't seem as bad as it did before, because they already have arguably the best team in the NBA (tho they'll likely miss JaVale).  I wouldn't be surprised that if people keep at it, Sarver is removed from the organization altogether, besides maybe being as an investor.  Or, whatever it's going to take to put the Suns in good enough standing that they could represent the NBA as champions.

Jonathan Kuminga - Rising Stars' Snub

The Rising Stars Challenge, to my understanding, is an even bigger joke than the All-Star Game itself.  And it ain't like anybody is expecting dudes to go out there and kill themselves in the name of winning an exhibition.  But it's like players tend to take the game so lackadaisically that after a few minutes, by the second half, it becomes unwatchable.

So that then begs the question of why Jonathan Kuminga got snubbed.  This year there's four Rising Stars' teams, 28 players in all.  A handful of them I never even heard of.  Some others, even though I may have coming across their names before, like I never really heard of them representing on the court.  And to some extent, that includes Cade Cunningham.

Meanwhile Jonathan Kuminga was a lottery pick who came into the NBA with additional fanfare since he lucked out being drafted by the Warriors.  Then after that, he actually represented in Summer League.

Earlier in the season, he wasn't getting a lot of run.  But as of late, with Draymond being injured, he's been starting for the Warriors and has been representing in that regard also.  He's sorta developed into what the Dubs were hoping James Wiseman would be.

CONCLUSION

Even though Kuminga has been one of the most-popular rookies all season, perhaps the NBA didn't consider him for the Rising Stars Challenge because, up until recently, he wasn't really getting a lot of playing time.  But I would venture to presume that some of those other dudes they chose for the event hadn't really done anything exceptional up until that point either.  In fact whereas some, such as Desmond Bane and Evan Mobley, may have surprised us all with how good they are, others not so much.

In fact I'm almost tempted to cry racism, considering that Kuminga is from the Congo is not one of those Africans, like Giannis, who spent his life living in a White country.  But no one can stop the times, and I can still foresee the NBA being 50%+ African by the year 2030.

I do believe I heard one commentator recently say that getting snubbed has inspired Kuminga to play harder, like he has something to prove, which may be why he's been on such a tear as of late.  And it's true, that some people may react to lack of appreciation by even going harder than they had before.