Friday, Feb 25, 2022

Sup with Zion? — DeMar! — Jerseys in Jeen-Yuhs

Friday, February 25th, 2022

  The Opening Tip

  • DeMar DeRozan strikes again 

  • Nostalgia for the Jeen-Yuhs days 

  • Are we sure the non-attendees of the NBA 75 ceremony aren’t being held hostage?

Tonight's must-watch games

James Harden will be making his 76ers debut tonight. If you don't have league pass you can watch it here.

 1. What the heck happened to this guy 

Earlier this week, JJ Redick went on First Take and ripped Zion Williamson for not reaching out to new teammate CJ McCollum.Redick, a former teammate who shares an alma mater, an agency, and mutual disdain for David Griffin, called him ‘detached,’ and his behavior ‘insane.’  

  • To be fair: An NBA star acting ‘detached’ and ‘insane’ is actually closer to the norm than an anomaly in the NBA these days. 

  • But! What is strange is what’s happened to Zion, who’s now played 85 games in three seasons and has had stories like this define his NBA career. 

This is the same guy who

, at Duke, rushed back from an injury to rejoin the Blue Devils in the NCAA Tournament, and almost went back for another season:

"I wanted to go back (to Duke)," Williamson said in 2020. "Nobody ever believes me. They think I'm just saying that. ... The money thing, that's money. I don't play this for money. I play this because I genuinely love the game."

He went from "I genuinely love the game" to a former teammate calling him "detached" in two years. 

 2. Daily GIF: DeMar, FTW, again            

DeMar DeRozan nailed another game-winner last night for the Bulls.

  • He finished with 37 points on 15-of-21 shooting. 

  • It was his eighth 35-point-plus, 50 percent shooting-plus game in a row, extending his own record.

If he keeps this up and the Bulls keep winning, he could mess around and win MVP. 

 3. Trivia time  

Three players from the 2004 draft are still active in the NBA. Who are they?Hint: LakersAnswers at the bottom.

4. ‘Jeen-yuhs’ documents Kanye’s inspiring rise, but more importantly the peak of sports jerseys  

This scene in the first episode of new Netflix doc ‘Jeen-Yuhs’ is mesmerizing because it shows the genesis of Kanye’s song ‘Family Business,’ but also because of what’s being worn.

  • Scarface (right) is wearing a No. 8 Kobe jersey and a black fitted Lakers hat.

  • Kanye is wearing an AstroTurf era Nolan Ryan Astros jersey. 

At various points in the first two episodes, we also see...

  • Jay-Z in a Mickey Mantle jersey

  • Kanye in a Cubs Bill Buckner jersey

  • Dame Dash in a Bucks Ray Allen jersey

  • Breyon Prescott in a Seattle Mariners jersey

  • A powder blue Expos jersey

  • A Red Sox hat and jersey combo

  • A Michigan pullover, and so on

Gone are the days when a sleeveless jersey and a sideways fitted hat equaled a no-questions-asked work fit. We need to bring those days back.[READ: Every sweater Kanye Wears In Jeen-Yuhs]

5. Tim, blink twice if you’re being held hostage  

The piece-de-resistance of All-Star Weekend was the NBA 75 ceremony during the All-Star Game halftime. 

  • We got to see everyone from Michael Jordan to 89-year-old Bob Pettit in the same building, which was cool, but the silliest thing was how the NBA decided to present those not in attendance.

The league could have done something cool, like a quick highlight montage, but they chose instead to make a prerecorded video of them fake-waving and fake-smiling in front of a green screen for an awkwardly long time.And now, we have video upon video of Hall of Famers looking like Bowe Bergdahl in a hostage video.

 6.  Quick Hits 

  • The Kings and Nuggets held a moment of silence in respect to Sacramento’s Alex Len last night, who is Ukrainian. 

  • De’Aaron Fox. NFTs. Crypto. Online scammers. You know you wanna click. 

  • You simply must watch this O.J. Mayo high school dunk. 

  • Look at this insane crossover by an Xavier player. 

  • Jayson Tatumdunked all over multiple Nets last night. 

 7.  Reads 

  • American basketball players struggle to flee Ukraine [Yahoo!]

  • The NBA’s one-minute club [Sports Illustrated]

  • ​​Kemba Walker’s Knicks homecoming wasn’t supposed to go like this [NY Post]

  • Unanswerable NBA questions with Zach Lowe [Bill Simmons Podcast]