Blog Archives
Just Keep at It
In the era when athletes and their BFF sports commentators promote every single shot, assist and human movement as the greatest feats the sport and world have ever seen, it seems fitting essential to travel back in time to the ’90s for a reality check.
The year was 1999, the sponsor was this small upstart called Nike, the advertising agency was Wieden+Kennedy and the player was Michael Jordan. Yes, arguably the greatest basketball player ever.
For a star athlete to look at basketball, sports and life that way would be quite the leap these days.
Happy Throwback Thursday.
Happy Monday!
From Lake Erie to the Lakers of Los Angeles.
With LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time–now to the LA Lakers for a small pile of gold coins worth $153.3 million over four years–that means a few things:
Cleveland fans are bummed yet again, LA Lakers fans are ecstatic and Keenan Thompson of SNL will keep making lots of ‘Weekend Update’ appearances as LaVar Ball with Lonzo Ball set to be a teammate of Mr. James.
Are you sure you made the right decision, LeBron? Have fun listening to the obnoxiously real and less funny LaVar Ball (not the hilarious Keenan Thompson featured below)…
EVERY
SINGLE
DAY.
Have a Better Week Than Last Week.
The Power of (Impossible) Positivity
It’s time to turn on the “weekend swagger.”
Do people still say the word “swagger” out loud?
The short answer is no. The longer answer features many sources for this term’s cultural collapse, most recently damaged by a middle-aged father in Los Angeles who has the promotional ego of Mt. Everest and the ROI of, well, his mediocre NBA son Lonzo Ball. It would be too easy (and obnoxious) to listen to the nonsensical, yet very real rants of patriarch LaVar Ball. Instead, watching the hilarious character actor Kenan Thompson of SNL do an impression of the aforementioned father is the perfect comedic escape.
If the Ball family has taught us anything, it’s best to check ourselves before we shoplift in China wreck ourselves.
KD with the KO?
118-113.
“I gave it everything I had both mentally and physically, so obviously I’m drained right now, I’m ready to get home.”
–Lebron James, after Game 3 of the NBA Finals
It’s not surprising that Lebron James, the favorite son of Akron, OH/the Cleveland area, is exhausting all that he has for his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. What is surprising is that his Energizer bunny-like effort has not translated to any wins in the championship series versus the stacked (under statement) Golden State Warriors.
And, for Cavs fans, the possibility of a 4-game sweep increased greatly last night. Not simply because the Warriors have a 3-0 series advantage, but because of one person:
Kevin Durant/KD.
The Golden State Warriors are playing great basketball. However, the Cleveland Cavaliers (truthfully) have a squad equipped to handle and defeat the Warriors. True story. But that’s regarding last year’s Warriors team that the Cavs defeated 4-3 for the NBA title.
If the first three games in the 2017 NBA Finals has revealed anything, it’s that Kevin Durant is the prized x-factor and the one player the Cavs have no answer for. Not only does Mr. Durant score a lot of points, block a lot of shots and generally influence Cleveland’s play in myriad ways, but he simultaneously takes pressure off of his teammates (who may be struggling) and stretches the Cavs defense far too thin for 4 quarters.
Odds are very, very high that the Golden State Warriors will win this year’s NBA championship. And Cleveland’s personnel deficit against Kevin Durant is proving to be too costly thus far in this series. Still, the Cleveland Cavaliers came back from being down 3-1 to win the series 4-3 in last year’s NBA Finals. The question is whether the Cavs can strategically figure out how to minimize Kevin Durant’s impact on the court.
Stopping Kevin Durant seems unlikely, but anything is possible. And yes, that sentiment that “anything is possible” does include a chapter in which a professional sports team in Cleveland won a league championship in the 21st century with a surreal, magic run. If a 3-1 series comeback was magical, how would a 3-0 series comeback be described?
Thanks to the 2016 NBA Finals, people in Cleveland, OH have a legitimate reason to dream such wild things. And that’s part of the underlying magic of sports:
Why not?
Jimmy's Daily Planet 