All: I'm going to be posting far less frequently on this site. I'll link to stories, but that's about all. You can find my musings, photos and annual "It's A Wonderful Life" live streaming going forward on Threads/IG, at the same address: davidaldridgedc. Hope you'll join/follow.
Caitlin Clark is great.
Kamilla Cardoso is great.
Iowa is great.
South Carolina is great.
Bluder and Dawn are great.
This title game is great.
Paige is great. Aziaha James is great. JuJu is great.
ESPN's studio show is great.
This tournament is great.
Can we all stop hating on
Pat Riley is one win away from his 19th appearance in an NBA Finals as a player, coach or executive. Nineteen! That will mean Riley has either played in, coached in or been his team's top decision maker in 24.7 percent of ALL THE FINALS in NBA history!
I worked for Turner Sports, which operated NBA TV & in partnership w/the league, for 14 years. You know what David Stern did when I wrote or said something he didn’t like? He called me up and cussed me out. But he didn’t go to my bosses & try to fire me.
That was dreadful. Again. I am beginning to think this game is irredeemable. I am not sure why even minimal defense effort is beyond this generation of All-Stars. But it may be time to end this game if they can't give more of a damn than that.
Thunder-Rockets Game 7 most-watched NBA game since January 31, most-watched first round game on cable since 2018, most-watched first round game on ESPN since 2017.
Five of 11 most-watched NBA games since 7/30 restart have come since suspension of play:
I don't get this. I know he's 23. But Dalton Knecht had a top-10 grade for the last two months. I can't believe the Lakers get the SEC's leading scorer and Player of the Year at 17. That kid can play.
Ron Rivera is "perplexed, truly frustrated, beyond frustrated" that so many of his players remain unvaccinated. He pointed out that his cancer treatment last year has left him immune deficient, requiring him to put masks on in almost all gatherings with players.
Caitlin Clark to ESPN just now: “I don't think Angel should be criticized at all. No matter what way it goes, she should never be criticized for what she did. I compete, she competed.
“It was a super, super fun game. I think that's what's going to bring more people to our game”
Game 7 of the Nuggets-Jazz drew 3.385 million viewers on ABC. One of the most-watched games since the restart and very big for the NBA — a non-LeBron James game drawing robust numbers. Tops among all demos (Adults watching 18-34, 18-49 and 24-54.)
I hope those of you who have spent so much time on Twitter over the years killing KD for, basically, everything, can give him some props for putting it on the line for his team tonight and literally going until he dropped. (I know. It’s Twitter.)
You know what’s crazy? CP3 was great 15 years ago. Ten years ago. Five years ago. Today. With completely different teams, at different points in his career, with different responsibilities. Doesn’t matter. Just. Greatness.
Zero problem with Angel Reese, Caitlin Clarke or anyone as good as they are talking junk, because they back it up on the court. Some of y'all always have exceptions to your "rules" about "sportsmanship."
Hate all you want, for whatever reason you want. His teams have made eight straight Finals. He is a great, all-time level player. Forget the stupid "who’s better?" arguments.
@KingJames
is great, period.
After 30 years on planes…I’m coming home. I’ll be joining The Athletic D.C. as Editor in Chief: . And here’s how you can sign up for great D.C. sports coverage with a 30 percent discount:
I love my NBA media brethren. But if I have to read or hear one more “why doesn’t Nikola Jokic get any love?” piece/pod, I’m going to plotz. Jokic IS THE REIGNING MVP. He’ll either win again this year or likely finish a close second to Joel Embiid. For the love of God, stop.
“It’s amazing to me why we keep loving this country and this country does not love us back.”
Doc Rivers delivers an emotional message on the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
My dad was a mailman for 25 years. I say that PROUDLY. His labor helped provide shelter and food for a working class Black family. And hundreds of thousands of other families of all colors still are provided for by Post Office workers. I stand with ALL of them, & especially now.
The
@BrooklynNets
are back in the playoffs, in 3 years, w/a rebuilt team. Proof to all paying attention that you don’t need a top-three pick, or have to sign a monster free agent, if you have a strong organization and strong coaching, to quickly turn things around.
Let me say this about the Clippers. They didn't get a championship out of their pairing of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, but they shouldn't be clowned for the pursuit. They went after two of the top 10 players in the NBA, and got them. Ball(m)er move. It just didn't work out.
Last year the final eight teams in this year’s playoffs won an NBA title:
Utah: never
Denver: never
Phoenix: never
Clippers: never
76ers: 1983
Brooklyn: never
Bucks: 1971
Hawks: 1957
Asked about his recent travels the past few years, Howard has a ready-made answer: “I learned Magic for eight years. Went to La-La Land. Worked for a while with Rockets. Learned to fly with some Hawks. Got stung by the Hornets. And it all taught me how to be a Wizard.”
Chris Mortenson had no reason to know, or care, about me while I was at ESPN. But as I pestered him, more than once, about how he covered an entire league as amazingly well as he did, he was never anything but generous and kind with his time and advice. Blessings to his family.
The greatest reaction shot in TV history, for my money: Larry Bird, after Reggie Miller’s impossible shot, not smiling, looking up at the clock. Because he knew there was time. Because HE had made so many shots like that at the buzzer. The great ones knew.
This is a momentous night in L.A., obviously for
@MagicJohnson
and GM Rob Pelinka. But it is biggest, I think, for
@JeanieBuss
. She made a very, VERY difficult personal decision in ‘17 to shake up her front office to do just this: land a superstar. Her new FO did. Kudos to her.
For those of you who still are arguing that teams are crazy to try and get Kawhi Leonard, even for a year: Paul George, who everyone insisted would be going to L.A. come hell or high water, is going back to OKC. Because they convinced him to stay.
I don’t have a lot of tears left, so let me just say Black Panther was beyond uplifting. Can’t believe he kept working through cancer. For black kids to have a hero that looks like them…there aren’t words.
And, this was funny as hell.
Wakanda Forever.
Per league sources, Andre Iguodala is prepared to sit out the rest of this season if Memphis isn’t able to orchestrate a trade with one of the agreed-upon teams he designated by Thursday’s trade deadline.
(1/2)
Spurs and U.S. men’s Olympic team coach Gregg Popovich, asked about a potential scenario where he’d coach a Game 7 of the Finals, then have to go to Tokyo for an opening round game in the Olympics two days later: “I don’t think we’re gonna let the Finals go seven games.”
Vegas, 2019 Summer League. This dude keeps raving about the Clippers’ second-round pick, Terrence Mann. Will not shut up about him. Will not. Says he’s going to be a really, REALLY good player. And I’m like, ‘okay, Jerry West; I believe you.'
Harris turned down an $80 million extension from the Clippers last July, deciding to play out the last year of his previous deal and hit unrestricted free agency this summer. He got $100 million more for his year-long wait. Pretty huge haul for the Harris family.
Steve Kerr shouts out Devin Booker at the end of the U.S. press conference. "He was incredible this entire round. Just what he does, play to play to play. Rock solid. Completely changed his role from the NBA to now. He was kind of our unsung MVP. I just wanted to say that."
The NCAA will do whatever the power conferences want. But for the life of me, I don't know how you can watch the unadulterated joy of one-bid conference champions and their fans after they win their tournaments and think it's better to have more mediocre P6 teams in the Dance.
If this is Brett Brown’ last game in Philly, let me say this: he got that franchise through the lowest, worst years a pro team could endure, & did so professionally. If this group no longer responds to him, that’s the life of an NBA coach. Seven years is a LONG time in one place.
Told the players’ meeting ended "ugly," per a source, with uncertainty about what will happen tomorrow. The union will be present at the special Board of Governors meeting, per a source.
I love these "but Laettner was on the Dream Team" rebuttals. Yes, he was. Having one college player on the team was a condition for NBA player inclusion. And lots of people crushed that decision at the time. You don't compound one mistake by making it again because...marketing.
The Clippers will not be keeping Isaiah Thomas, acquired today from Washington in three-team deal with Knicks that brought Marcus Morris to LA and send Moe Harkless/picks to NYC, per league source.
Nuggets don’t want to hear this now, but running it back next year, with Jokic, Barton, Gordon, a returning Murray and Porter, Jr (and, i’m assuming, a re-signed Cousins)…they’re gonna go on a deep postseason run in ’23.
Good Lord.
One more time.
They were/are PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES. You are/were not. You can’t get a hit off deGrom b/c you played in high school. You can’t take a set off Serena b/c you play at the club. Stop it.
At the direction of his attorney, Raymond Brothers,
@MarkelleF
is scheduled to see a shoulder specialist early next week. Per Brothers, Fultz will not participate in team practices or games until after the the specialist has had a chance to evaluate him.
Grizz aren’t finished. Per source, they have waived veteran SG Avery Bradley. His 2019-20 salary ($12.9M) would have been guaranteed last Thursday. Memphis will have to pay Bradley his $2M guaranteed for next year. Grizz continue to get further below the cap line for more moves.
My dad was a mailman. He did it for 30 years. He did it when it was freezing cold, when it was ungodly hot, when it was snowing hard, when it was pouring rain. He got up every Monday thru Saturday at 3:30 am and did it for 10 hours a day. For 30 years. Thank you,
@paulwaldman1
.
I'd like to thank the president for giving me the opportunity to go on a little rant reminding everyone that the US Postal Service is a fricking marvel, and people's complaints about it are largely bogus. Strap in... /1
What Sam Presti does year in and year out to consistently keep the Thunder competitive in a very small market and give OKC future flexibility to bring in big-salaried talent if necessary/desired is remarkable.
I was a janitor. I was an usher. I was a temp in a bank. I worked at the Postal Rate Commission, making copies and sharpening pencils. I was never ashamed of my labor. Geoffrey Owens isn’t, either. Nor should he be.
"Cosby Show" star Geoffrey Owens tells
@GMA
backlash after "job shaming" could lead to a reevaluation of the "dignity of work."
"There is no job that's better than another job...Every job is worthwhile."
I asked Bradley Beal if he felt any less safe of late given the rash of fan-player incidents. He said no, saying he trusts security-while also pointing out that fans normally don’t confront players directly. "I don’t want to use my hood slang, but these hands work," he said.
I learned so much about basketball sitting at the bar with Jerry Sloan and his longtime assistant Phil Johnson. They were beyond patient with a young, dumb reporter. And Jerry never made excuses if his team lost-which wasn’t that often. RIP to a great, great coach.