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Man, the Blazers did not look good down the stretch last night. Hopefully they pull it out because if there's one current player above all that doesn't have a ring that I'd really like to see get one, it's Damian Lillard.
 
lol as someone whose team was never in contention here, this playoffs have been incredible. It's basically the Hunger Games. Whichever team is the healthiest left standing is going to win it, and who fuckin' knows who that will be. Also, all the teams left in the playoffs are not your usual suspects of perennial NBA champs, so that's been nice. And the choke jobs going on this playoffs have been legendary. I really hope the Sixers and the Bucks advance to the conference finals, because if that's a series, it'll be hilarious to see which team can choke the least and thus win by default. NBA basketball is incredible.
 

GettinMelt

HUGGBEES!!!
(he/him)
I would like to once again emphasize that I hate sports.

Ben Simmons should probably spend his summer learning Chinese.
 
Ben Simmons still has a lot of talent and is still very young and has plenty of opportunity to improve.

He definitely needs a change of scenery though, with a fanbase and local media that isn't so toxic, has lowered expectations, and a coaching staff that can actually help bolster his completely shot confidence.
 

GettinMelt

HUGGBEES!!!
(he/him)
Ben Simmons still has a lot of talent and is still very young and has plenty of opportunity to improve.

He definitely needs a change of scenery though, with a fanbase and local media that isn't so toxic, has lowered expectations, and a coaching staff that can actually help bolster his completely shot confidence.

no u

But seriously, this was probably the best hope the city had for a championship team since the Super Bowl the Eagles won, and Simmons being dead weight went and shot that all down. That and Rivers being a complete moron. Leaving Philly would be for their own good. No way this place forgives either one after this level of choke job.
 
But seriously, this was probably the best hope the city had for a championship team since the Super Bowl the Eagles won
As Ben Simmons said himself, he kinda is who he is, so their odds were honestly never going to be great. That team has always been flawed. Add to it the injury issues, even if Simmons were the player people wanted him to be, I don't know if Embiid's knee could endure the rest of the playoffs. Guy tore his meniscus and kept playing on it. That's kind of insane stuff. It sucks, but I think they were fated for this and were never really in contention. Made a decent run at it though.
 

Beta Metroid

At peace
(he/him)
Holy crap, the Pistons got the first pick of the draft! After being miserable for over a decade and never picking higher than seventh, it's nice to have some flavor of hope! And they've unloaded some of their bad contract burdens. Maybe one day they'll even win one of these "playoff" games this thread seems to talk so much about.
 
Happy for the Pistons. Hope Cade works out and can be the foundations for a lot of good basketball there in the future. My team didn't jump in the lotto; we're never allowed good things. This year's draft is gonna be stacked though so I'm at least hoping for a decent roleplayer with the #9 pick.

Last night's Suns/Clippers game was absolutely insane.
 
Today is media day for the pre-season for the NBA. And it's been a doozy. There's a lot of drama going on in the league (more than normal and that's saying something) and it's just *chef's kiss* just delectable. The small contingency of anti-vaxx players are just out of their gourd, and it's both hilarious and pathetic and deeply frustrating what some of these players are doing/saying. Especially for guys like Andrew Wiggins and Kyrie Irving who are great talents but have long had personality issues mire said talent for years. Both players are playing for teams whose home cities are mandating proof of vaccination to even enter their sports facilities, so Kyrie and Wiggins basically can't even participate in their team's training camps, their team's practices, or play in any of their team's 41 home games this year. It turns them into massive liabilities and distractions, and opens them up to massive fines by their teams/the league. Both are gigantic bozos about it. Wiggins applied for a religious exemption which got denied by local authorities. Kyrie is just dodging questions left and right, asking reporters to "respect his privacy" as if the media and fans don't have the right to ask Kyrie about his ability to do his job that they pay him to do, during a Q&A session that's mandated in his contract that he himself, as the NBA Player's Association's Vice President helped negotiate. And this doesn't even touch on the Ben Simmons saga that is just a gigantic disaster in Philly. The NBA is back, baybe! I'm so glad, I've missed this.
 
I'm glad for Chicago and Kent native/Gonzaga alum Courtney Vandersloot. But I am also glad that Taurasi is going to come up one ring short of Bird. Taurasi is a legend but also being a sports fan always involves some level of pettiness.
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
It's very stupid, but at least it's only replacing "rando company with enough money to buy it's name onto a stadium" and not something with actual local significance.

But making a $700 million bet that the name "crypto.com" will still mean something for 20 years is certainly... a thing.
 

Beta Metroid

At peace
(he/him)
It's very stupid, but at least it's only replacing "rando company with enough money to buy it's name onto a stadium" and not something with actual local significance.
As a Michigander, it still hurts to lose TWO arenas with non-corporate sponsor names to an arena called Little Ceaser's. I mean, the arena IS extremely nice with a ton of fun local iconography, and is in a location much better suited to pre and post-game festivities, so it's ultimately a significant net gain as a spectator, and the naming issue is really my only complaint. Not that the Palace was ever a name that really jived with the region, and in fact, was kind of thematically antithetical to the Pistons' identity (be it Bad Boys, Going to Work, or the struggling mediocrity in between and afterward). But arenas not named after corporate sponsors are such a rare breed that it will be missed just the same.
 
As a Michigander, it still hurts to lose TWO arenas with non-corporate sponsor names to an arena called Little Ceaser's. I mean, the arena IS extremely nice with a ton of fun local iconography, and is in a location much better suited to pre and post-game festivities, so it's ultimately a significant net gain as a spectator, and the naming issue is really my only complaint. Not that the Palace was ever a name that really jived with the region, and in fact, was kind of thematically antithetical to the Pistons' identity (be it Bad Boys, Going to Work, or the struggling mediocrity in between and afterward). But arenas not named after corporate sponsors are such a rare breed that it will be missed just the same.
I really would like to think that Fenway Park will get some corporate name slapped on it. You never know, unfortunately. No matter how one feels about the Red Sox, though, Fenway is the most iconic and historic venue name in all of American sports and it would be a travesty to have it called anything else.
 
As a Kings fan, watching the Lakers self-own like this and grind up their own invaluable branding like this is hilarious. Please keep doing this, Buss-kids.

As a Kings fan, I remember when our locally infamous "ARCO Arena" (nicknamed the 'The Gas Pump') had its naming licensing need to be renewed, in the middle of the completely financially destitute owners attempting to relocate the team so they wouldn't have to sell. The sold the naming rights to "Power Balance". If you don't recognize that name, it's a company that went bankrupt a little while ago after being sued into oblivion in Australia because they sold magnetic bracelets as a magical cure-all with completely unfounded claims. The deal was only for like, $1.5M, and the team had to eventually sue PB so that they could get any of the money.

And this makes me think about that. Just completely inept, stupid, relatively poor, and greedy owners, making dumb decisions and alienating all of their fans in the process, for something that likely won't even pay out in the end. (No way this random crypto trading website will still exist in 20 years.)
 

Rascally Badger

El Capitan de la outro espacio
(He/Him)
I'm a big LeBron fan, but I don't really like the Lakers. I hate to see this be the tail-end of the career of the GOAT. But also, if he was really pushing for the Westbrook trade, he's getting exactly what he asked for.

Hey, Creighton is through round one. Go Jays!
 
Great first day of March Madness, lots of close games, overtimes, and a few upsets. Great stuff.

LeBron's career is already defined as a ring-chasing mercenary, feels like a fitting end to me.
 
It's a lot more fun watching brackets get busted when you don't have one. Also screw Kentucky.

Here's hoping Duke also loses round one so that Coach K. can go out a loser like he should.
 
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