I take your point, but Jokic can barely jump and he is a poor lateral mover (which the Lakers would do well to exploit). On an average NBA player scale these days, he’s well below average. He more than compensates for it by having one of the highest basketball IQs of anybody who has ever lived and an insane level of competitiveness.

The NBA should drop the hammer on him and suspend him for like half a season or something (it might actually wake him up), but they aren’t gonna do anything that substantial. Not when it will be long forgotten by next fall.

Or it's because the Grizzlies are a bunch of unlikeable players who do cringe shit both on and off the court.

Keep looking past Ja's wannabe gangsta shit all because he plays for the Grizzlies, boy-o

I’d be all for a half game suspension just to send a message to these kids that it’s stupid to post EVERYTHING on social media and that there can be consequences that come from what you’re posting. I really wouldn’t be surprised by a half season suspension either. Probably the most it will be and wouldn’t argue with the decision at all. Don’t think many Grizz fans would. I think most people just hope he has a real friend or can get one to straighten his life out before it’s too late for him and he actually does something illegal that he can’t come back from.

The league should just let nature take its course.

Plaxico Burress
Rae Carruth
Biggie/Pac
Belcher

Let Morant choose his own adventure

Sorry RealKaReN. I’ll let them know you don’t like them and see if it means anything to them. Maybe you should invest in a wannabe gangsta to get you back to the playoffs and not worry so much about what other teams are doing on social media.

So, that's the MVP? LMAO

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Embiid has always has been an injury prone, playoff fraud. He&#39;s also terrible to watch and his MVP was a pity award.<br><br>He&#39;s nowhere close to Jokic so stop comparing the two please.</p>&mdash; Barry (@BarryOnHere) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarryOnHere/status/1657862584840732675?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Still can't believe anybody here tried to defend those voters.

Can we just all admire how much you reached on that name call? You only used two letters of my username, had to switch them around, replaced one of them, and added two more letters, and then used weird capital/sizing to show how uncreative you were with coming up with that nickname.

No rhyming, alliteration, or even simple similar sounding words were used. You picked Karen and tried to pound that square into a round hole like a reeruned 3 year old who can't figure out the plastic shape puzzle toy.

Agreed but looking at the current state of the NBA you can't really find any interesting match-ups. There aren't any great teams.or story lines.

That is not true at all.

There’s a potential Lakers-Celtics rematch for the finals. Heat-Celtics and Nuggets-Lakers rematches from 2020.

Jokic and Tatum chasing their first ring.

LeBron trying to get another ring.

Those are all fun storylines to follow.

Yes...I want another Lakers-Celtics final.like I want to see Tom Brady in a Superbowl. I miss the Spurs/Lebron Super Team series. Those were fun.

Celtics-Lakers is one of the most storied rivalries in the NBA. I’d like new blood (Bucks-Suns was a fun series, as were all of the Heat series with LeBron, and Warriors-Raptors), but that is a storyline.

I don’t want the Celtics to advance, honestly don’t care for the Lakers either, but I have no qualms with watching any of these 4 teams.

The 76ers getting blown out and Harden no showing a Game 7 was the least surprising thing ever. You could see that coming from a mile away.

As far as Embiid is concerned, yes he is injury prone but I am not going to pile on him. He was playing on a knee that might require surgery. He clearly wasn’t playing like he was prior to the injury. He gutted it out when he probably shouldn’t have so I respect that.

Lakers would be going to the finals for the 32nd time. 1/3 of the NBA finals since 2000 have had the Lakers.

A Lakers/Celtics series would be the 13th time it’s happened.

The NBA is boring compared to the NFL. There’s so much more parity in the NFL and that makes is great.

Yeah, he's not going to win one without a team that is good enough in the regular season to let him load manage. This one certainly is not.

You picked Karen for yourself when you acted like waving a gun on social media was some sort of crime deserving reprehension and acted as if everyone else feels the same way as you. Not everyone has as many scorned lover emotional scars from that series as you little guy. Just get over it and move on. Try to find another piece to go with Ant and get back into the playoffs to get your chance at revenge. Otherwise you’ll just be stuck watching Ja and the Grizz every postseason getting that flashback taste of nuts in your mouth as you wish you never blew it all up for Rudy ****ing Gobert. Dry those eyes little buddy. Maybe next year they won’t **** up your chance at a lottery pick and you won’t be stuck in mediocrity too much longer.

Did you read about Mark Jackson leaving Jokic off his ballot altogether?

I don’t care. The NBA does. And they’re going to do shit that negatively affects Ja’s career and his team’s fortunes no matter how small it may seem.

Ja got slapped on the wrist and then did this shit again. He’s addicted to this shit. Just admit he’s a douche wannabe gangsta, man.

There's a #7 seed and a #8 seed in the final 4. It's just more evidence that the regular season doesn't matter in the NBA and he could have load managed all he wanted. It still wouldn't change the fact that he and that 76ers team have consistently underachieved in the playoffs (or that Jokic is a better player than him).

Yeah, he called it a "mistake" after it got revealed.

There's nothing illegal about what Morant did and the Grizzlies suspending him is stupid.

However, being shown on social media 2 months after doing dumb shit at a nightclub and then going on ESPN with Jalen Rose saying he learned his lesson after being in rehab, as well as the altercation with the Pacers in January and the allegations that he allegedly threatened a 17 year-old from a pick up game by pointing to a gun tucked in his pants, isn't exactly a great look.

Do you remember when Gilbert Arenas, who was ****ing stupid for bringing guns into a locker room that were unlicensed and was later convicted with a felony as a result, made a gun gesture in a pre-game huddle while the NBA and police were investigating him? Yeah, it wasn't illegal for doing finger guns towards the Sixers, but it was ****ing stupid to do it and a terrible look for the league.

KC Connection,

1. What's your opinion of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

2. How much stock do you put into the Player Efficiency Rating?

1. I think he's a top 5ish player in the NBA already with the capability of even more. Once OKC adds some more veteran players who can shoot and defend, they will shoot up the standings.

2. It has its value, but there are also significant flaws there as well (https://towardsdatascience.com/probl...a-fa0e611543e2, https://thedatajocks.com/player-efficiency-rating-per/). In particular, I don't think it measures defensive value well at all (there's to playing it that racking up steals and blocks in a box score).

I’ve admitted he’s an idiot for all the social media shit plenty of times already and just stated I hope he has a real friend that can set him straight. Now I’m just here to laugh at all the overreactions from the other Karen’s that will somehow think what he did is deserving of some HUGE response from the league to send a message. If we want to talk about punishments and criminals why are we not talking about Ant? The one who was actually cited for 3rd degree assault for hitting a security guard from pouting after his gentleman’s sweep. Let’s talk about the actual criminals in the league. Not the ones breaking your social media morals Karen.

LMAO

Would you say Ant "brutalized" that security guard, Ms. Pryor?

I don't know how to make it any more clear to you that I don't give a shit about the gun crap, and I don't care if Ja gets suspended or not. I know how the league operates, and they're probably going to do something about it. They don't want him doing this shit, they made it clear they don't want him doing this shit, and he does it anyway. Somebody already brought up Josh Gordon. This is no different. Ja has a problem, and you're pretty much hand-waving it by not being at least a little bit concerned that his behavior won't eventually lead to something that will have far more serious consequences.

Also, I’m high. Obviously meant half a season and not half game. Haha

Jokic is better than everybody. By a fair margin.

But just like LeBron for 15 years they’re not going to give it to him every year.

And Philly was refried ass when Embiid went out. They may have made the playoffs but they need a better team around him if they’re going to win with him.

:D

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ja morant every month: <a href="https://t.co/xsZ0KZjyU6">pic.twitter.com/xsZ0KZjyU6</a></p>&mdash; nina wit da nina ✰ (@ninakapri) <a href="https://twitter.com/ninakapri/status/1657850728990343170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

LA vs. Boston for 18, LA wins it all, the fellating of the kang gets outrageous. That is the agenda, you heard it here first. One of the all time greats but not the goat, but that is what is being pushed and has been pushed down our throats. I suppose a small price to pay for 18 over the hated celtics and I can stick it to my celtic friends.

Philly sports teams have had a rough time the last year or so.

You're really gonna keep up the gaslighting here, eh?

I spent months trying to convince you this was a solid team - an above .500 squad - without James. All the while you're out there making excuses for him quitting on the season.

Then I see Davis come out there and play active, aggressive defense and turn on playoff mode against Memphis and say that the Lakers should be no worse than the 4th spot in Vegas to win the championship.

I know YOU refused to pay attention to anything the Lakers around LeBron were capable of - but no, not all of us were. Even before the playoffs I said I thought LA could play their way out of the play-in bracket and at worst should still be able to advance out of the 1st round. Then once I saw them in the playoffs I said they were a top 4 squad in the NBA.

You were wrong about LA. And to whatever degree you attempt to argue that nobody else was 100% right (and even that's a stretch), NOBODY was nearly as wrong about them as you have consistently been.

But tell me more about how they 'mortgaged their future' by moving a 1st to get Russell Westbrook's trash-ass off the roster.

There's no gaslighting here.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">They laughed at Kendrick Perkins as he foretold what was actually going to happen, who’s laughing now? <a href="https://t.co/boxpB2pgbV">pic.twitter.com/boxpB2pgbV</a></p>&mdash; ²³��������������������������☄️���� (@BronGotGame) <a href="https://twitter.com/BronGotGame/status/1657494242418126849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


People were literally laughing at Kendrick Perkins for suggesting the team was going to make the WCF after the trades. Nobody (except him apparently) believed they would or could do this (no, not even you). You don't get to gloat here about something you never expected.

Once the Lakers looked like the clearly better team than the Grizzlies early in that series, you'll find I said much the same thing. That is not difficult.

Nah, I was exactly right about the Lakers needing to build a team with shooters and defenders around LeBron (which is how he's won all of his other titles) and needing to move washed Russell Westbrook off the team to move forward. The fact that they finally did it and are having success as a result can't be too much of a surprise.

DJ has been spot on about the Lakers since the trade deadline. Props to him.

I don't see any posts about the Lakers making the WCF there, do you?

That particular argument was about LeBron's on/off stats and the team being an absolute disaster this season without him on the court (at least prior to the trades):

The only part of this post that was incorrect from me was the "surefire 1st round exit" part. LeBron did come back and his return did propel them into 7th place. What I didn't see was them being better than the Grizzlies once the playoff started, but nobody else saw that here either. Once it was clear they were better than Memphis, we all did a reevaluation of them at that time.

They were well on their way to the play-in before LeBron came back and it was BECAUSE of that ascension that James decided he'd deign to honor the team with his presence.

He, like you, went into shutdown mode. Unlike you, he's admitted as such.

The Lakers were, as I said before James returned, a threat to advance out of the 1st round if he makes it back. And before the playoffs started I said the 5-6-7 teams are as good/better a bet to advance out of the West than the 1-2-3.

Once Davis established his defensive intensity, it was clear that of the 5-6-7 seeds, the Lakers were the cream of the crop since nobody had an answer for AD.

Quit trying to deflect from your idiocy. You were dead-ass wrong in your analysis of this team and are trying to somehow lump the rest of us in with your absurdity.

What part was incorrect?

I mean, apart from every single declarative statement you made being inaccurate, I'd say you were just spot on...

Lakers went 6-2 after James came back. They finished 5 games ahead the Mavericks for the play-in.

So they'd have had to have gone 1-7 without James to miss the play-in. They'd gone 8-5 without him after the deadline. 8-3 without him and with Davis.

Yeah - you were ALL over it. Even in hindsight you can't admit how unbelievably wrong you were. Because your very identity seems to in some way require making EVERYTHING about LeBron James. A squad who, without James, was putting up some of the best point differentials in the league for several weeks, was obviously just going to roll over and die if he hadn't come back when he did.

This team was playing well enough for James to at least attempt to earn his $44 million salary this season and you absolutely refuse to acknowledge it because you're doubling down on ball-washing. It's just bizarre.

Nah, that was because he got a third opinion from the "LeBron James of feet" in Europe after the first two doctors told him to shut his season down. He should be applauded for doing so.

You never once said this team had a shot at the WCF prior to the playoffs. Nobody here did or ever would have believed such a thing.

I wAs RiGhT aLl AlOnG!!1!!

Ballwasher.

I said they can advance out of the first.

I'm sorry I didn't give you a complete round by round breakdown when I have no idea what the bracket's going to look like beyond that. While you were busy cowering in fear at mighty Warriors, I was quick to point out BEFORE the post-season that the Lakers beat them while they were at full strength and the Lakers didn't have James. In what world would that have not extrapolated to a belief that LA couldn't beat them in the post-season?

This is pathetic, even by your standards.

The surefire 1st round exit part was certainly incorrect. The rest was right on the mark. It was thought there was a good chance at that time that LeBron wouldn't play the rest of the season, but he came back sooner than expected before the end of the month and his return propelled the Lakers into the position they are now.

They likely don't get through Memphis without his heroic effort in the 4th/OT of game 4 of that series and he was by far the best player in game 6 against the Warriors with the series on the line. Downplay his contributions all you want, but they needed him to return to do this.

Upon LeBron's return, the Lakers promptly won 6 of the 8 games he played in (and 7 of the 8 he started) to get into the play-in. They've also taken out the 2nd and 6th seed in large part due to his contributions.

These are irrefutable facts.

If you had said the Lakers were making the WCFs immediately after the trades, you'd have been laughed down just like Perkins was and you know it.

They weren't bad.

They weren't going to miss the play-in without James. They certainly won't a disaster without him and would've very obviously finished in the top 10 of the West even had he not returned.

Again, literally every single declarative statement you made was simply incorrect.

I said then and have said all along - the Lakers NEED James to do anything meaningful in the post-season (as would any team that allocates 1/3 of their salary cap to a single player) and yes, he's been very important to their post-season success.

I'm not downplaying anything - you're the one downplaying the efforts of the 11 other guys on this roster due to your standard insecurities when it comes to anyone who doesn't genuflect at the feet of the mighty King James.

I caught the latest ESPN update from Woj while having lunch and Ja sounds pretty ****ed.

I hadn't seen them play together. A month later I had and absolutely said they could do damage in the post-season. I stated why.

You, OTOH, continued to double down on stupid.

Getting absolutely hammered by the NBA may be all that keeps him out of prison.

That dude's gonna absolutely have some guy step to him in a bar someday and do something stupid. He cannot continue to carry himself like he is. It makes him a magnet for this kind of thing.

Well, as it turned out, they wouldn't have missed the play-in because the Mavs, Blazers, and Jazz chose to tank the final portion of the season to avoid it. This is something we couldn't have known at the time of the trades. If they hadn't tanked (and LeBron didn't return), missing the play-in was still a distinct possibility.

Because LeBron did return and decided to play through his debilitating injury, he was able to get them into 7th place rather than 10th (6-2 finish), very much increasing the likelihood they'd be able to make this kind of run.

We all knew the Lakers had a chance to advance far in the playoffs as soon as we saw that they were clearly better than Memphis. Unless you or anybody else suggested that before the playoffs started, you don't get to give me shit for not believing it.

Completely and his issues have apparently been on the NBA’s radar for at least the past year. I also hadn’t realized he was a prep school kid who didn’t grow up with financial hardship so this all seems like a fake tough guy act.

He didn't specifically mention the WCF but he has been steadfast and consistent in his statements that this was a good team with the new pieces with or without Lebron.

What does a "good" team mean in this context? Playoffs? Play-in?

For me, a good team is a contender and it only became apparent the Lakers were one during the series with the Grizzlies.

You would have to ask him. My feeling from his posts was that this was a much better team post trade deadline and he mentioned several times this felt like a "team" now.

For me, yeah it was Game 1 against Memphis and I was like they are going to be a problem if AD stays engaged and healthy.

I said they're above average team without LeBron James post-deadline; slightly above .500 quality with a healthy AD.

So a 45 win squad without LeBron - what's that make them, a 53 win team with him? What's that make them in the West? At least a top 3 seed, if not the #1 seed, right?

This is just militantly obstinate on your part.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;Underestimating LeBron is the worst bet in sports.&quot;<br><br>— <a href="https://twitter.com/getnickwright?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@getnickwright</a> <a href="https://t.co/UY31GZs19b">pic.twitter.com/UY31GZs19b</a></p>&mdash; First Things First (@FTFonFS1) <a href="https://twitter.com/FTFonFS1/status/1658207394428493829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

How am I supposed to infer that? Prior to the playoffs starting, you never called this team a contender with or without LeBron. I grant that you said they were a playoff team, but I said much the same thing (6th-8th best team in the West with both playing).

All of this was reassessed during the Memphis series.

If you or anybody else here predicted the Lakers were going to beat the Grizzlies before that series began, I'd totally be up for giving out credit. That never happened. Nobody actually believed that this team would do this (especially with LeBron impaired).

So does LA beat Denver?

Yes.

I have no obligation to state a position to your satisfaction as you've made quite clear that you're going to remain obstinate in defense of your hero regardless of what you're presented with.

I said they were a slightly above .500 team WITHOUT LeBron James. I said WITH Lebron James they can advance out of the 1st round. I made specific mention of the fact that they beat a healthy Warriors team without James.

I didn't give it to you in triplicate - so be it. But I'll leave it to you to determine how much value you place on the addition of James. I say it's about 8 games over an 82 game season - you'd no doubt say far more than that. So if I think a slightly above .500 team without James and you're unwilling to extrapolate 'contender' with the addition of James from that - well than that just speak to your never-ending equivocation and excuse making for James anyway?

Because if he is the superhero you hold him out to be, CLEARLY an above .500 basketball team that adds him is a contender coming out of a conference where nobody won 55 games...right?

You're deflecting again, as you do with all things James related.

Can Gordon defense James as well as Jackson/Wiggins did? And can Jokic play defense as well as Davis can play offense?

Because I think Davis/Jokic can largely hold each other at bay on the other side. Davis and Jokic have been easily the best defensive and offensive players in the west respectively this post-season. Ultimately offense beats defense in the NBA so Jokic will still present a slight edge on that side of the ball, but that's where the question arises - enough of an edge to where Davis O vs. Jokic D can't even it back out?

I think it's set up for a hell of a series.

a couple pages back I said I thought this would be a quick series for Denver, 5 games or maybe 6 mostly because they were the best team in the league all season long and showed that in the playoffs so far. They have probably the best player in the league and a big advantage playing in Pile High against an older Lebron. There is also the revenge factor.

But I wouldn't be surprised if they lost because I don't have a real good feel for this Lakers team. Game 1 will tell the story for me.

You beat Denver by limiting what Jokic can do (either his scoring or his passing, you've got to do your best to eliminate one) and by exploiting his movement on defense through screens and PnRs.

With respect to the former, the Lakers are more capable of that than any team in the league due to AD. With respect to the latter, it probably depends on how much LeBron has left in the tank.

Well that goes without saying.

I can concede that you thought they'd be better than I did, but you still don't get to give me shit after they made the WCFs when you nor anybody else thought they were making the WCFs (Kendrick Perkins not included apparently).

JJ Barrea doesn’t play for the Nuggets so yes.

I hadn't considered the altitude vs. James - that's a pretty good point.

Mostly I just think this is one of those years that 'best team in the conference' means about dick. Wasn't there a 50 win team out of the West several years ago that ended up an 8 seed? There just wasn't a truly great team out of the West this year so being the best of that lot doesn't mean a ton.

Now having the best PLAYER in the post-season probably does. On the flipside, having the one guy in the league who may be able to blunt that edge in Anthony Davis is a hell of an equalizer.

But yeah, the altitude thing is worrisome because my biggest issue is whether or not the Lakers have the legs for a prolonged series. And with that thrown into the equation, they flight might not...

Here's some more post trade analysis from kcc that he was apparently correct on.

Vanderbilt and Beasley have been effectively unplayable in the playoffs and Russell tried shooting them out of the Warriors series for most of it (I despise his game).

The stats still also showed at the time that the Lakers were nearly the worst team in the league without LeBron on the floor as well. It appears a lot of that unsurprisingly had to do with Russell Westbrook.

Miami that one team no one expected to be here.

Be cool if they won the Championship but would that really be enough star power for the league?

Doc Rivers fired. Lots of good coaches available for teams looking for one

Are you inferring that Doc Rivers is one of those good coaches here?

Absolutely. He is an excellent coach and most teams would be lucky to have him

I hope Toronto hires him.

Doc Rivers is a hack that's pissed away historic amounts of talent.

i believe this to be true compared to him being this great coach

That team is heading nowhere at this point anyway so he'd be a good fit. Not like he could do any damage.

I think that is a little harsh. He did win a NBA championship being a head coach and also lost one. He had some great players but those players have went on and continued to fail in the biggest moments without him (CP3 and Harden among others)

Heck everyone loves Spolestra but he hasn't won anything since Lebron over a decade ago.

That might be because he's taken the Heat to the East Finals twice and the NBA Finals once over the past four years with a roster of basically only Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and nearly washed 38 year old Kyle Lowry.