Friday, Jan 22nd, 2021

  The Opening Tip

• Shaq is entering prime hater mode against the Jazz. 

• LeBron and the Lakers are still perfect on the road. 

• 15 years ago, Kobe Bryant had his best individual game.

Tonight's national TV games

 1. Shaq’s beef with the Utah Jazz, explained  

The Utah Jazz, winners of seven straight after last night’s victory over the apathetic Pelicans, are in a lukewarm standoff with Shaq, which went from a mostly one-sided affair to a tango last night with an uncomfortable postgame interview. (We’ll get to that.)How it started: Shaq has been on a month-long crusade against Rudy Gobert for signing a massive extension that Shaq deemed him unworthy of. Here was his initial quote: 

“I’m not gonna hate,* but this should be an inspiration to all the little kids out there,” he said in early January, later posting a drawing of him dunking on Gobert on Instagram. “You average 11 points in the NBA, you can get $200 million.”

(He has a long history of questioning the merits of other big men.)Yesterday, Shaq set his sights on fellow Jazz star Donovan Mitchell, saying before the game, “He needs to be a second or third option.”Mitchell, who is averaging a career-high 24.3 points this season, followed that up by scoring 36 points, which earned him a postgame interview with the fellas on Inside the NBA, which led to this exchange between he and Shaq:

Shaq: “I said tonight that you are one of my favorite players but you don’t have what it takes to get to that next level. I said it on purpose. I wanted you to hear it. What do you have to say about that?”Mitchell: “ …….. Aight. ………… That’s it.” Shaq: “That’s it? OK, cool.”

(Context considered, that’s probably the best response Mitchell could have given.)The standoff prompted Jazz point guard Mike Conley to weigh in, which is how you know things have gotten piquant: 

“I don’t know how you can make a statement like that regarding his progress at such a young age,” he said. 

That may sound tame, but that’s Conley’s version of the Berlin Wall Speech.*He's gonna hate.

 2. Daily GIF: LeBron James. LeBron James. LeBron Jaaaaaames.   

LeBron hit the dagger 3-pointer above against the Bucks last night -- and called his shot, if you look closely.The Lakers are now 12-4 and hold a half-game lead over the Clippers and Jazz for the No. 1 seed in the East. They’re also 8-0 on the road, their best start away from home in franchise history.As a team, they’re shooting 40 percent from deep, led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s preposterous 56.9 percent mark on 4.3 attempts per game.

3. Trivia time

Yesterday’s Lakers-Bucks game featured a matchup of LeBron and Giannis, who boast a combined six MVP awards. They’re two of five players who have won back-to-back MVP awards since 2000. Who are the other three?Hint: Western Conference.

 4. Where’s Bernie? 

You may think the Bernie meme is already played out. In response, we would like to point you toward these NBA x Bernie photoshops.(While we’re on the delightful crossover subject of Bernie and basketball, we must direct you toward this Guardian story profiling his days as a pick up player.)

5. 01/22/2006: Kobe Bryant’s 81

On this day 15 years ago, Kobe Bryant reached his self-fulfilling prophecy by shooting the ball 46 times and scoring 81 points. (He reached 50 shots in his final game.)Here’s his final stat line:

• 42 minutes, 28-of-46 from the field, 7-of-13 from 3, 18-of-20 from the line, 81 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 TOs. 

It remains, for our money, the most impressive single-game scoring output in NBA history for a couple of reasons:

1. Wilt’s 100 was a gimmick by the fourth quarter. He played the entire game* despite the Warriors being up 19 after three periods.

2. Kobe got his 81 in the flow of a modern NBA game -- and every point was needed. The Lakers trailed against the Raptors by seven after one and by 14 at halftime. Entering the fourth quarter, L.A. was only up six. 

Since his 81, only one person has reached 70 (Devin Booker in a 10-point loss). It’s hard to imagine anyone approaching 81 again.*He played almost every minute of every game that season.

 6.  Quick hits 

• Draymond Green got ejected from last night’s Golden State-New York game because the ref thought Green was yelling at him and not a teammate. (The Knicks also reached the bonus 55 seconds into the fourth quarter, for an idea of how ugly the game was.)

• Without Green, the Knicks blew out the Warriors to improve to 8-8. RJ Barrett is averaging 21.8 points and 51.4 percent shooting over the Knicks’ last five games. 

• Through 15 games, the Clippers are shooting 44.1 percent from deep as a team. Paul George has made 55 of his 109 attempts from 3. 

• ICYM Collin Sexton’s 42-point game against Brooklyn’s Big Three on Wednesday, here are some highlights.

• And here’s Cole Anthony’s buzzer-beater against the poor Timberwolves on Wednesday. 

• Remember that time a little kid got Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving’s attention at a game?

 7.  Off the press 

• It's time for New Orleans to play Zion Williamson at center [Sports Illustrated]

• Zach Lowe’s 10 NBA things [ESPN]

• Eight NBA rookies who have struggled, soared, or surprised [The Ringer]