An NBA-obsessed newsletter for the info-craved basketball mind.

10.26.18

  Written while listening to A Tribe Called Quest's Same Ol' Thing

This ain't it, Russ   

J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote, probably while wearing a Gandalf costume alone in his cosplay den, this nice sentence:“All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you."Do you think Russell Westbrook has ever heard that quote? Watched Lord of the Rings? Had an existential crisis? A moment of self-awareness since becoming an NBA star?We love Russ. He’s been a guilty pleasure since Kevin Durant bolted. But he’ll be 30-years-old in November. His prime years are burning. And he’s still doing stuff like he did last night.The career 31 percent three-point shooter bricked all six of his jumpshots in the final three minutes of last night’s loss to the Celtics. He didn’t try to get to the rim once in that time, and he was the lasting image again in a loss that dropped the Thunder to 0-4.Isn’t there some higher-calling for him? A moment of reflection? A day when he lets Paul George and Steven Adams out of the hostage room?Most NBA stars who don’t win early in their careers have a moment of clarity, when the end is in sight and they’ve already made generational money. Kevin Garnett had his when he accepted a trade to Boston. Like it or not, Durant did, too, and that decision looks more justified with each failed hero-ball lowlight by Russ.Will there be an awakening for Westbrook? Will he realize the clock is ticking, or is losing in the first round while being the face of an organization that walks on eggshells good enough?

David Stern, unplugged, on the Chris Paul-to-the-Lakers trade he vetoed in 2011:

"(New Orleans general manager Dell Demps) had agreed to (trade Paul to the Lakers for) Kevin Martin and Luis Scola or something, and I said we can do better than that.... And the next trade was (to the Clippers for) Eric Gordon and Al-Farouq Aminu and what we thought was a really great draft pick, the 10th pick, which turned out to be Austin Rivers. At least those three and someone else (center Chris Kaman). But Dell Demps is a lousy general manager and none of those players are currently with the team anymore, and he may lose Anthony Davis."

DAMN. Any response, Pelicans? As it turns out, yes, they did have a response.This came during a longform sitdown with Stern by Chris Ballard at S.I. The whole thing is worth reading.

When a fan pisses off a superstar…

During last night’s game against the Orlando Magic, Damian Lillard was looking like his playoff self again. He shot 2-of-8 from the field with seven points at the half.Then a heckler behind the bench got under his skin, which was a bad, bad idea. Lillard preceded to drop a franchise record 34 points in the second half on 11-of-15 shooting enroute to a victory over the Magic. He immediately called out the heckler during his postgame interview:Said Lillard: “He kept on talking, and in the second half I didn’t hear a word from him.”

  Quick Hits

• The Rockets and Daryl ‘Ted Stepian’ Morey offered four first-round picks for Jimmy Butler. Minnesota rejected the offer.

• The Lakers improved to 2-3 by beating the Nuggets last night, thanks in-part to Lonzo Ball hitting three-pointers like this. L.A.’s season is five games old and it's already exhausting.

• It’s early, but Ball is 40.7 percent from three on 5.4 attempts per game, and hey!, we haven’t heard from his dad in forever.   

• This bullet pass from Lance to LeBron may have temporarily removed him from LeBron’s trade deadline list.

• After Steph Curry’s ridiculous 51-point game on Wednesday, Andre Iguodala is practicing reverse psychology to try and get his teammate a third MVP.

• Curry’s 51-point game included 11 threes. He’s hit 11 threes six times. No one else has more than one such game.

• Steve Kerr is realizing just how ridiculous his thoughts are when he coaches Curry.

• TNT did ‘Who he play for?’ with Chuck last night, giving him the same five players he got last week.

• The “biggest threat in the East,” the Cleveland Cavaliers, are 0-5 and tickets are now being resold for two bucks.

• Paul George is Jayson Tatum’s first poster of the season:

 Concrete Reads

• The Lakers are adjusting to life with LeBron [Yahoo! Sports]

• Zach Lowe’s 10 things he liked and didn’t like [ESPN]

• Don't look now, but NBA teams are scoring like it's 1985 [USA Today]

  Podcast Pick

• Hasan Minhaj talks the NBA and other things with Bill Simmons [The Ringer]

Three games to see this weekend

Tomorrow, Reddit

Sunday, Reddit