part two of the nba 2020-21 anything but regular season

https://www.cjr.org/criticism/nba-covid-19-risks-pandemic-bubble.php

Since the end of the bubble, though, much of sports media is content to get back to entertainment. Jackie MacMullan, a writer for ESPN, was dismayed to appear on a debate show last month that made no mention of recent news that four members of the San Antonio Spurs had contracted the virus. “A year ago, one player on one team tested positive, and all sports across the world came to a screeching halt.” Now, she says, “we can’t even get it on the air.”

The NBA has sought to have it both ways in recent years, not only associating itself with the Movement for Black Lives but hiring a record number of women as referees and coaches. The pandemic, though, has made the league’s real priorities unmistakable. “The NBA’s no different from any other league,” MacMullan says. “The bubble was a nice little story, but reality has hit, and the bottom line rules, as it always has in sports.”

saw that. pretty bad article.

it all seemed pretty self evident? what did you disagree with?

lol'd at these posts:

i even made Herro one of my keepers in my fantasy league bc i trusted you :(

― Heez, Wednesday, March 17, 2021 8:47 AM (fifty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i went back and found these posts... i have no recollection of posting any of this haha. this was the day after herro put up 37 in the east finals which, in my defense, is still a more meaningful performance than anything trae young has done in his NBA career so far. but certainly i was under the influence of his cherubic stylings.

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, March 17, 2021 9:09 AM (thirty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

guess who my other keeper was- Michael Porter Jr.

i do agree that the idea of the NBA as especially progressive is a myth and that has been proven out many times imo. i’m not sure if the league’s handling of covid shows much at all tho — the league wants its money yes but the players are showing up so they can get paid just the same. plus the bubble turned out to be the safest method of playing sports during covid. the idea at the end that journalists can hold the NBA accountable for being money hungry or whatever... not sure i really understand what that means, in reality. it’s kinda like saying journalists should write more articles about how the sky is blue

seems a lot more like CJR is saying journalists should write more articles about how the NBA says the sky is blue but it's been green for some time now and that bears repeating

i think that the framing in that article that NFL reporters are more adversarial to the league they cover is bizarre. i don't think there's any connection to be made between the racial justice stuff and the pandemic stuff, and i think the implicit assumption that sports media is supposed to work like political media is largely wrong.

the article's thesis that NBA journalists never criticize the league is undermined by all of its sources being NBA journalists criticizing the league

and NBA media was (rightfully) scathing about the decision to hold the all-star game, at least everywhere I saw

Source: Rockets big man Christian Wood is expected to return tonight vs. Warriors. Houston is 0-17 since Wood, the Rockets’ leading scorer and rebounder, went down with a sprained right ankle.

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) March 17, 2021

Kevin Porter looks good though

yeah he has had some nice games. talent not really the issue w him tho

The Thunder have traded Trevor Ariza to the Miami Heat for Meyers Leonard and a draft pick, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Leonard is signing his trade consent and the trade will go through.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 17, 2021

jeez

Former Maverick Shawn Bradley has just released a statement through the team announcing he was recently struck from behind by an automobile while riding his bicycle near his home in St. George, Utah, and suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed.

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 17, 2021

Sounds like from the neck down. Just horrible

ugh that fucking sucks

Man that’s rough

very sad to hear that

does trevor ariza have anything left? i have no recollection of what he looked like for portland last year. did he opt out of the bubble?

yah he opted out. he's got probably about the same as what iggy has left to offer.

Sources: Houston is trading PJ Tucker, Rodions Kurucs and Bucks’ 2022 first-round pick back to Milwaukee for DJ Augustin, DJ Wilson and 2023 unprotected first-round pick. Houston also gets right to swap its 2021 second-round pick for Milwaukee's FRP pick unless it falls 1-9.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 17, 2021

not sure i’ve ever seen a right to swap a second with a first trade before

seems good fo milwaukee

After going 0-17 in their last 17 games Houston had no further to fall anyway.

Very nice trade for Houston imo

tucker has sucked this year but seems like he cld stiil be helpful to a good team like the bucks

I could see Kurucs breaking out in Milwaukee

Very nice trade for Houston imo

― Matt Armstrong, Wednesday, March 17, 2021 7:14 PM (six seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah houston getting first for tucker who as mentioned has sucked is good, tho the bucks 1st pick and houstons 2nd that theyre swapping it for prob wont be separated by that many picks

really cool alley oops to Harris

philly looks excellent, great passing. some euro I don't know made a cool no look to simmons who hit a corner three

Woj says Ariza will go to the Heat and OKC gets Meyers Leonard in return. Leonard is damned lucky he's 7 feet tall.

you dont know korkmaz? feel like all i do on here is talk about furkan korkmaz xp

I Love Kurkmaz

sorry!!

were talking about freakin furkan korkmaz over here!

https://i.imgur.com/mDAEI2F.png

nice trade by the rockets. that high second for low first swap is a cool idea for a rebuilding team.

i guess the idea is that tucker gets a bunch of open corner 3s again in milwaukee. we'll see.

Philly's been winning a lot and I am not even sure how they are doing it, tbh.

its because of korkmaz

Trevor Ariza has been traded 11 times in his 16-year career, the most by any player in NBA history (via @statmuse).

2004 ➡️ 2021:

Knicks.
Magic.
Lakers, Houston (FA).
Hornets.
Wizards.
Rockets, Suns (FA).
Wizards, Kings (FA).
Blazers.
Rockets.
Pistons.
Thunder.
Heat. pic.twitter.com/Y54OHl1lRp

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 18, 2021

sounds like leonard is never playing for the thunder unsurprisingly

the PJ tucker thing feels like brooke lopez insurance to me bcuz you’re not playing giannis, PJ tucker, and brooke lopez together in important playoff minutes. and you’re not taking giannis off the floor, so.....

the headline to pelton's trade grades points out that they could also try more switching defense with tucker which i'm not convinced is really going to do much for them, but i guess it's nice to try it.

meyers had season ending surgery like a month ago, he was always just gonna be salary filler

yeah he will just get waived unless they need to put him in another trade for some reason

plenty of time to game

yah PJ doesnt do too much other than give them some defensive flexibility. i could see him finishing a lot of games tho.

gives them more variety of cooked guys who might have a good night to choose from

korkmaz baby!!