- The Grip
- Posts
- Friday, Jan 3rd, 2020
Friday, Jan 3rd, 2020
Is Luka the first perfect human? — MPJ goes off — Uncut Gems is NBA nirvana
Friday, January 3rd, 2020
Why and how is Luka Dončić so perfect?
Uncut Gems is full of basketball nostalgia
Is Tacko Fall better than Wilt Chamberlain?
We have a good podcast for you on David Stern
This weekend's must-watch games
1. The Lead: We are disgustingly enamoured by Luka Dončić
As a general rule, it’s good to hate everything before liking anything. It’s how you avoid getting hustled into buying a mixtape in Times Square, or getting vacuumed into your high school friend’s great opportunity he’d love to talk to you about, or almost getting scammed out of expensive Air Jordans by some guy in Nigeria … not that that’s ever happened to us.But Luka Dončić's Thursday night might have been the very first perfect thing that’s ever happened.It played out in three parts:
Before Thursday’s home against against the Nets, Mavs assistant Darrell Armstrong introduced a young fan with epilepsy who had apparently been seizure-free for nine months to Luka. Luka shook his hand at the free-throw line during warmups, took a picture with him, and sought his family out after the game, taking more pictures and signing his own sneakers to give to the kid. “I’m actually going to meet Luka?” he asked Armstrong. Hell yes.
During the game, Luka dropped a casual 31 points, seven rebounds and 13 assists in a 123-11 win, scoring 15 points over the final seven minutes. (He’s 20.)
During the final 1:30 of the game -- slightly before making the young fan’s day again -- Luka was busy trying to force feed Josh Reaves, making his debut, into scoring his first NBA bucket. (There’s also a rumor that he sought out the ref and got the game ball to give to Reaves, but we can’t confirm that. That’s what happens with legends, though -- we make up larger-than-life fables.)
That’s a pretty good day for him … on an unrelated note, yesterday qualified as a pretty good day for one of us because one of us didn’t have to pay for lunch because one of us used his $25 Subway gift card, received as a Christmas present from his step-grandmother, for a free lunch.At least neither of us drafted Trae Young over a future all-time great, though.[READ: Luka Dončić met a 9-year-old fan whose doctor said watching Mavs star helps his epilepsy]
2. Michael Porter Jr. arrives, dazzles
Michael Porter Jr. with a crafty reverse layup in a 124-116 win over the Indiana Pacers last night. He put up 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting in 22 minutes of play in perhaps his best NBA game yet. [
]
[
READ
:
]
3. Three great (and spoiler-free) basketball references in Uncut Gems
Uncut Gems is a movie that is driven largely by the 2012 NBA playoffs. The nostalgia factor alone makes it worth seeing. Especially if you’re a Celtics fan.Three NBA nuggets from the film:
1. When Kevin Garnett (Kevin Garnett) enters Howard Ratner’s (Adam Sandler’s) diamond shop, Ratner asks if there was or wasn’t time on the clock when Amar’e Stoudemire shot his 3-pointer.This is a random but splendid reference to a buzzer-beater by Stoudemire against the Celtics, that was disallowed for being shot clearly after the time ran out.2. During a family dinner, someone suggests the Knicks should bring back Jeremy Lin; Ratner agrees, but promises that won’t happen, because James Dolan knows how happy Linsanity made everyone, and Dolan doesn’t like fun.3. When a business associate asks Ratner why Jews have such an intense relationship with basketball, Ratner reminds him that the first basket in NBA history, for the Knicks in 1946, was scored by Ossie Schectman, a Jew.
(FWIW: Many of the league’s
were Jews.)
4. Podcast Pick
In the latest Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons discusses the immense impact David Stern had on the NBA, referring to him as the “NBA’s dad.”The whole thing is worth a listen, but this passage stood out:
“When he took over in the ‘80s, the owners are just a bunch of jackasses for the most part. You might have three smart ones. You have Dr. Jerry Buss, maybe two others. Most of them are Ted Stepian, Donald Sterling, they’re just dumbasses who bought into a team because it seemed like a good place to put their money. They didn’t really care what was going on -- they’re trading first round picks. (Stern’s) gotta put all these rules in place just to save these idiots from themselves.”
5. Quick Hits
Everyone laughs at Tacko Fall’s All-Star candidacy, but his per-36 minutes are undeniable: 42.6 PPG | 22.9 RBD | 6.5 BLK | 35.3 PER
Wilt Chamberlain's best per-36 season: 37.4 PPG | 19 RBD
Buzzkill Brad Stevens, on Tacko’s All-Star candacy: "I don't love it. I don't love the idea.”
Jonathan Isaac, among the league leaders in blocked shots, will miss the next two or so months with a severely sprained ankle.
Kyle Kuzmais getting some trade interest around the league.
Ken Griffey Jr., Deion Sanders, Barry Bonds, Mike Conley’s dad and Chris Carter had an impromptu dunk contest in 1992.