20 Second Timeout

Joel Embiid, Marcus Hayes, and How to Deal with Irresponsible Media Members

Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes recently criticized Joel Embiid for missing so many games throughout his career--a factual and valid criticism--but Hayes veered from factual and valid to irrelevant and irresponsible when he asserted that Embiid's lack of professionalism dishonors Embiid's young son and the memory of Embiid's deceased brother. 

Embiid played in just 39 of 82 regular season games last season, he has never played in more than 68 games in a season, and he has missed all five of the Philadelphia 76ers' games this season--but he was in the locker room after Philadelphia's 124-117 loss to Memphis on Saturday night, and he told Hayes, "The next time you bring up my dead brother and my son again, you are going to see what I'm going to do to you and I'm going to have to...live with the consequences." Embiid and Hayes exchanged words, Embiid did not accept Hayes' apology, and then Embiid pushed Hayes on the shoulder/neck area. A 76ers' security official urged media members in the locker room to not report what Embiid had done, but Embiid declared, "They can do whatever they want. I don't give a ----."

The NBA is investigating Embiid's conduct, and the NBA will presumably consider not only that Embiid made physical contact with a media member but also that Embiid repeatedly stated that he does not care about the consequences of his actions. Embiid dared the NBA to punish him. When David Stern was the NBA's Commissioner, he would have accepted that dare, and levied discipline commensurate with the severity of Embiid's actions combined with Embiid's lack of remorse. It will be interesting to see how current NBA Commissioner Adam Silver handles this situation. One could joke that the appropriate discipline would be to force Embiid to play in games right now and to play in back to back games, but this situation is no laughing matter, and unless Silver fancies the idea of NBA players teeing off on every media member who they dislike he must suspend Embiid without pay for multiple games. It may be fun to joke about Kevin Durant punching Stephen A. Smith or LeBron James punching Skip Bayless, but if those things actually happened then the NBA would rapidly descend into a sideshow instead of being a professional sports league.

The fact that Embiid's actions are way out of bounds in no way justifies what Hayes wrote. Bringing up Embiid's deceased brother and Embiid's young son was not only cruel and heartless but it was also irrelevant: the issue that Hayes supposedly cared about is Embiid's professionalism, and that issue can and should be discussed without ever bringing up Embiid's family. Embiid has rarely if ever been in tip top physical condition during his NBA career, and it can reasonably be argued that this lack of professionalism--and not "luck," which is how Embiid explained his large number of missed games--explains why Embiid has been so injury-prone. If Hayes had stuck to discussing Embiid's history of missing games, not being in shape, and playing poorly in the playoffs then Hayes could have produced a timely, relevant column--but, instead, Hayes went for the cheap shot, the clicks, and the attention. 

In short, Hayes showed that he is unprofessional, and lacks the judgment that should be a requirement for a columnist.

Unfortunately, Hayes is far from an exception. I have documented many examples of writers and TV commentators who often demonstrate their lack of professionalism.

Justin Termine, one of Sirius XM NBA Radio's main hosts, has a website that declares that he is "an entertainer, not a journalist," and he consistently lives up to the low standard that he sets for himself, including but not limited to the false narratives that he applies to the careers of Rick Barry (who he adores) and Julius Erving (who he denigrates as being overrated compared to Barry); to be clear, Barry and Erving are both all-time greats, but Termine's descriptions of their respective careers are not accurate or objective.

Amin Elhassan and Zack Harper think that it is amusing to mock Bob Cousy and Russell Westbrook. It is fair to say that Cousy and Westbrook will be remembered as significant figures in basketball history long after Elhassan and Harper will be forgotten. A little humility, a bit of knowledge about basketball history, and a modicum of respect for sustained greatness are three traits that Elhassan and Harper lack.

Before parlaying his friendship with LeBron James into an opportunity to become coach of the Lakers despite having no coaching experience at the college or pro levels, J.J. Redick worked as a media member who repeatedly demonstrated his ignorance about basketball history, culminating in his disrespectful comments about Bob Cousy.

Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins regularly spout hot takes that are cold as ice and disconnected from reality. The problem is not just that many of their evaluations and predictions are wrong--no one is always right about evaluations and predictions--but rather that their evaluations and predictions have no logical basis. What qualifies them to be paid so much to pontificate about the NBA? The answer is that they are not hired to be journalists but--like Termine--to be entertainers, and their bosses apparently think that they are entertaining.

It is problematic that so many of the most prominent media members who receive credentials to cover the NBA do not even pretend to be qualified journalists. When Stern was the NBA's Commissioner, he would call out media members who did not have their facts straight and who acted in an unprofessional manner; this was not about censoring opinions, but rather about insisting that media members should be held to a professional standard. 

Hayes is just the latest example of a media member who has been blessed with an NBA credential despite lacking the judgment and professionalism that should be a prerequisite for receiving such a privilege. 

One might argue that the public is receiving the media coverage that it wants and deserves, but I would argue that media outlets have a professional obligation to hold themselves to a high standard regardless of what the public wants or expects. Contrary to what Termine explicitly states and what many of his colleagues implicitly accept as reality, it is possible to be entertaining while also being informative and professional. 

Jalen Rose was one of the few prominent commentators who would challenge Stephen A. Smith, Kendrick Perkins, Skip Bayless, and others when they made foolish and unprofessional comments--and we see where Rose's candor landed him: out of work.

It's your move, Commissioner Silver. Will you discipline Embiid sufficiently such that no NBA player will ever again make aggressive physical contact with a media member? Will you take a more active role in oversight of who receives NBA media credentials, and the ways that credentialed media members often sully the league's image and its proud history? Or will you attempt to sweep this Embiid/Hayes situation under the rug?

Labels: Adam Silver, Amin Elhassan, David Stern, J.J. Redick, Joel Embiid, Justin Termine, Marcus Hayes, Philadelphia 76ers, Stephen A. Smith, Zach Harper

posted by David Friedman @ 2:39 AM

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Heat Chill Knicks, Take 2-1 Series Lead

The Miami Heat never trailed, never stopped hustling, and never left a doubt about their superiority while beating the New York Knicks 105-86 to take a 2-1 series lead. Jimmy Butler missed game two because of a sprained right ankle and he was listed as questionable prior to the start of game three, but he proved to be the best player on the court not only because of his game-high 28 points but also because of his energy, defense, and playmaking; he was only credited with three assists, but this game is a great example of how a player can create plays without piling up a large number of assists. The New York defense had to shift to help out Butler's primary defender, which created passing angles for Butler and space for his teammates to cut; Butler consistently made the correct reads and the correct passes, even if the next pass after Butler's pass became the assist pass. This is a significant part of playing winning basketball, because there are many NBA players who prefer racking up assists to racking up wins, and those players hesitate to make non-assist passes: they either shoot or else they make a pass that they believe is likely to result in a shot attempt (which is not always the optimal pass for the team). The Heat's other double figure scorers were Max Strus (19 points), Bam Adebayo (17 points, team-high 12 rebounds), and Kyle Lowry (14 points).

Hubie Brown provided the color commentary on the ABC broadcast. I believe this was his first national telecast since he did game three of the Atlanta-Boston first round series. Even though Brown is no longer a lead color commentator doing every game in the most high profile series, it is obvious that he does his research and knows the strengths and weaknesses of the players and the teams. In the first quarter, Brown noted that the Heat already led 18-8 in points in the paint, and he said that was a bad sign for the Knicks. Brown repeatedly emphasized the importance of attacking the paint, noting that even if doing so does not result in points early in the game it has the effect of wearing down the opponent and creating easier shot opportunities later in the game (Lakers fans should hope that Anthony Davis and LeBron James take note). At the other end of the court, Brown pointed out that the Heat's multiple efforts on each defensive possession shut down the Knicks' halfcourt offense. Both observations proved prescient: the Heat outscored the Knicks in the paint 50-36--nearly matching the margin of victory--and the Heat shut down the Knicks' halfcourt offense, holding New York to .341 field goal shooting, including .200 from beyond the arc. 

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 20 points, but the Heat harassed him into 7-20 field goal shooting. Josh Hart added 15 points and 12 rebounds. Brown loves Hart's game: "Hart is like the maintenance man--he's everywhere." R.J. Barrett struggled to make a shot (14 points, 5-16 field goal shooting), and Julius Randle was more off target (10 points, 4-15 field goal shooting) than Knick fan "Screamin' A" Smith acting like he understands basketball; it would be wonderful if someone explained to Smith (1) no one cares which team he likes, (2) no one cares how much he wants to go to South Beach (he reportedly makes at least $12 million a year, so he can go there whenever he wants, and true basketball fans wish he would just go there and stay off the airwaves), and (3) having access to coaches and players does not confer basketball wisdom unless you use that access for the purpose of gaining greater understanding.

Smith and Mike Wilbon love dropping names, but no one watching cares who they met and who they know, particularly when it is apparent that having NBA legends on speed dial is not helping Smith or Wilbon understand the sport. It should be noted and emphasized that Wilbon has been an excellent general sports columnist for a long time (his tribute to legendary sports writer Shirley Povich is wonderful and he wrote a great remembrance of Sam Lacy as well)--but his NBA takes are often off target, and that has been true for a long time. Granted, Wilbon sounds like the voice of reason when sitting next to "Screamin A," but that is a bar so low that an earthworm could hurdle over it.

Recently, I listened to a Jeff Van Gundy radio interview during which he correctly noted that in-game adjustments and adjustments in general are highly overrated, a point that he often makes during telecasts. "Play harder" is Van Gundy's recommendation for the best "adjustment" that any team can make. I don't think that it is a coincidence that we rarely if ever see Van Gundy on the same telecast with Wilbon, "Screamin' A," McMenamin, or Windhorst, and I cannot ever recall listening to Van Gundy discuss/debate basketball on air with any of those guys--and the reason for that is evident: much of what those guys say that is supposed to be basketball wisdom would be contradicted by anyone who understands the sport and is not afraid to contradict them. I am not talking about the unwatchable exchanges between "Screamin' A" and Wilbon, nor am I talking about the restraint and diplomacy that the perceptive Jalen Rose employs when he contradicts "Screamin' A" and Wilbon; I am talking about someone looking Wilbon, "Screamin' A," McMenamin, or Windhorst in the eye and telling the full truth about in-game adjustments and about how to correctly evaluate/rank players. Listening to ESPN's "experts" during the pregame show and then listening to Brown or Van Gundy during games is as different as listening to a delusional person screaming gibberish versus listening to a subject matter expert calmly providing relevant analysis.

Speaking of "adjustments," the most important thing for the Knicks to do in game four is to match the Heat's energy and intensity. The Heat are missing Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo, and Jimmy Butler is not at full strength, but every Heat player plays hard on every possession, and that has been the biggest difference in this series.

Labels: Hubie Brown, Jimmy Butler, Julius Randle, Miami Heat, Mike Wilbon, New York Knicks, Stephen A. Smith

posted by David Friedman @ 8:24 PM

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Ben Simmons' Back Injury Required Surgery, but That is Unlikely to Silence his Critics

Ben Simmons is expected to need three to four months of physical rehabilitation after having a microdiscectomy surgery scheduled for Thursday to resolve the back injury that has bothered him for months. Will "Screamin' A" Smith and his similarly misinformed colleagues who questioned Simmons' toughness now apologize for demeaning an athlete who had an injury serious enough to require surgical intervention? Will they learn humility and behave better in the future? 

You know the sad answer to that question. Being paid $10 million a year to act like a loudmouth fool means, among other things, never having to say you are sorry, and never admitting that you were wrong.

I never took potshots at Simmons, nor did I speculate about mental and/or physical health issues about which I have no firsthand information. In other words, I stuck to the known and confirmed facts, and I provided analysis/commentary based on those known and confirmed facts. That is what serious, professional journalists do. It would be great if the largest media outlets hired serious, professional journalists, but don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

Labels: Ben Simmons, Brooklyn Nets, Stephen A. Smith

posted by David Friedman @ 10:45 PM

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Press Conference Follies

Imagine that the San Antonio Spurs, who are 31-44 this season, just lost a game by 18 points. This is the Spurs' third straight losing season, and they have not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2017. Coach Gregg Popovich is being interviewed at the post-game press conference, and a local reporter who regularly covers the team asks him, "What changes going forward?" 

What kind of answer would you expect from Popovich?

Suppose that Popovich replied, "Nothing man, nothing."

Then, our hypothetical reporter asked, "Why is that?" 

Suppose that Popovich calmly replied, "Because it doesn't. What does it change? We've still got games to play. Other teams still have got games to play. We still have got to play teams that are above us in the Play-In. Don't really change much. What do you think should change?"

Then, our hypothetical reporter said, "Winning."

How would you expect Popovich to answer that retort? Suppose that Popovich rolled his eyes, and calmly said, "OK, that's obvious. And what do you think should change?" 

Then, our hypothetical reporter said, "Winning. Winning games, playing hard. You asked a question, I gave you an answer."

Suppose that Popovich then got up to leave the press conference, and on his way out he said, "That's cool. Do you have the answer for winning?"

Then, our hypothetical reporter said, "I am not out there playing." The reporter then admitted that he did not have the answer for winning, and Popovich stated that he is just one member of the team, so he does not have the answer, either. Popovich then hugged the reporter and left the press conference.

Neither man raised his voice, or acted in a threatening manner. If you wrote the headline for an article describing the above interaction, would you describe it as "heated" or as an "altercation"? 

The exchange described above happened last night, word for word--but the person being asked the questions was Russell Westbrook, not Gregg Popovich. 

Unlike Popovich, Westbrook does not verbally attack reporters--but Westbrook does ask reporters to answer questions: that is Westbrook's way of showing that the question he was just asked was not particularly smart or insightful. The reporter interviewing Westbrook was Broderick Turner, and it is interesting how quickly Turner became defensive after Westbrook turned the spotlight on him. Turner proved that he asked a question that was so vague that any answer--or no answer--would have been appropriate. That was Westbrook's point, which is why he said, "That's obvious."

Was Turner asking Westbrook's opinion about roster composition, about coaching, about matchups, about effort level? We don't know, because Turner does not know. That is why all he could do after Westbrook asked him the same question was lamely answer, "Winning." Imagine if Westbrook had answered Turner's question by saying, "Winning." 

It is fascinating to watch media members in action, to watch how they respond to being challenged, and then to watch how their fellow media members rush in to bash Westbrook while defending their own. Skip "Clueless" said that he would not have been able to contain himself if Westbrook had answered him that way. What would he have done? Would he have slapped Westbrook in the face? Would he have called Westbrook a "clever" name like "Westbrick"? I generally refrain from name-calling, but I make an exception for "Clueless" and for "Screamin' A" Smith, because those guys get paid a lot of money for making fun of other people's names so they more than deserve a dose of their own medicine. At least Westbrook is an all-time great at his chosen profession; "Clueless" and "Screamin' A" are buffoons.

Turner's question is far from the worst or dumbest one that I have heard in an NBA press conference, because I have had the misfortune of hearing many stupid questions, but Turner's question was lazy. What kind of article was he planning to write, based on the question he asked? It sounds like he just wanted some filler material. If he really wanted to know specifically what Westbrook thinks about the Lakers, then he would have asked a specific question. Instead, Turner asked a variation of the ubiquitous "Talk about" question; lazy reporters often say, "Talk about...," which of course is not even a question. "Talk about tonight's game" is what passes for journalism today, as is "What changes going forward?"

I don't know Turner, and from what I've seen of his work he is far from the NBA's worst beat reporter, but this notion that Westbrook somehow violated protocol or attacked Turner is ridiculous. Turner asked a lazy question, Westbrook turned the question around on Turner, and at the end the two men hugged it out. It takes a fevered--or devious--imagination to twist this into an excuse to attack Westbrook.

If you watch Westbrook's press conferences live and do not base your opinions on how other people describe his press conferences, you will see that Westbrook is proud, but he is also respectful when he is treated respectfully, and he refuses to throw his teammates or coaches under the bus. If a reporter asks Westbrook a lazy or stupid question, Westbrook does not play along and give a boring, cliche-filled answer; Westbrook challenges the reporter. Reporters do not like being challenged, but that does not mean that Westbrook is wrong to challenge them. 

The notion that Westbrook cannot handle being in a major media market is ridiculous; he is handling it just fine, in the same way that he has always handled it. What Westbrook cannot handle is the way that General Manager/Coach/Team Captain/P.R. Director/Self-Proclaimed Greatest Player of All-Time LeBron James is throwing everyone else under the bus while he limps his way toward Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time regular season scoring record. The other thing that Westbrook cannot handle is that most media members are committed to protecting James at all costs, which means that Westbrook has become the convenient scapegoat for the Lakers' disastrous season.

Labels: Broderick Turner, Gregg Popovich, L.A. Lakers, Russell Westbrook, San Antonio Spurs, Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith

posted by David Friedman @ 9:59 PM

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Lakers Hit New Low With Overtime Loss to Rockets

The Houston Rockets have the worst record in the Western Conference and are just percentage points ahead of the Orlando Magic in the "race" to post the worst record in the entire NBA, but the L.A. Lakers lost to the Rockets in overtime on Wednesday night, 139-130. This loss will be tough to blame on everyone's favorite scapegoat, Russell Westbrook, but I have full faith and confidence that Skip "Clueless," "Screamin' A" Smith, and the rest of the village idiots will figure out how to trash Westbrook's name and Westbrook's game. 

The Lakers' overall problem, as Charles Barkley has repeatedly noted, is that without Anthony Davis they are old, slow, and lack defensive presence in the paint. The Lakers sometimes play well in stretches, but they cannot sustain good play for much more than a quarter or two at a time. Another Laker problem is that LeBron James has entered "We're not winning anyway so let me pad my stats" mode. "Lakers Lose Despite LeBron James' Triple Double" is the headline that LeBron James wants to see after the Houston loss, and most media outlets will bow to the self-proclaimed King and comply. Let's look a little deeper at that 23 point, 14 rebound, 12 assist triple double: James shot 9-26 from the field (.346), hoisting five more field goal attempts than any other Laker, he had five of the Lakers' 16 turnovers, and he had the worst plus/minus number (-17) of any player on either team. 

To top it off, despite jacking up more shots than any other player, James eschewed a potential game-winning layup at the end of regulation to pass to Carmelo Anthony, who missed a long jumper at the buzzer. When Ben Simmons passed to a teammate for a layup down the stretch of a playoff game last year, he was pilloried for being afraid to shoot, but there is no doubt that James passing up a layup for a long Anthony jumper will be portrayed as a heroic example of "making the right basketball play." Anthony shot 5-13 from the field, and his plus/minus number (-14) was second worst to James in this game, but we are supposed to pretend that the points the Lakers hemorrhaged with James and Anthony on the court do not matter, and we are supposed to pretend that a long jumper by an over the hill player is a better basketball play than a layup attempt by the player who cannot stop telling us that he is the greatest player of all-time.

After the game, Rockets rookie Jalen Green--who scored a career-high/game-high 32 points, including 10 in overtime--said, "Our game plan was just to attack Melo and find the mismatch on the floor. So when it came down to it, we were looking for Melo and I was attacking him every time."

Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook scored a team-high 30 points on 11-21 field goal shooting. He had eight rebounds, six assists, and just two turnovers in 40 minutes. His plus/minus number was -2, but it was in positive territory until the disastrous overtime that would not have been necessary if James had not been afraid to make a game-winning layup. The collective amnesia about Westbrook's prior accomplishments and the notion that he is washed up now are two of the most ridiculous basketball narratives that I have ever had the displeasure of reading and hearing. Hubie Brown is 88 years old and he does not do a full schedule of games, but he is still as sharp as ever, and it is fascinating to contrast his take on Westbrook with the dominant narratives. For example, during Sunday's broadcast of Milwaukee's 132-122 win over Phoenix, Brown noted that Giannis Antetokounmpo is on pace to become the first player to average at least 25 ppg, at least 10 rpg, and at least 5 apg in four different seasons. Brown mentioned that the record for such seasons is currently shared by Oscar Robertson (three, 1961-63) and Antetokounmpo (if the NBA counted ABA numbers--which should be counted--then Julius Erving's 1974-76 seasons would be included). Brown added that Wilt Chamberlain (1964, 1966) and Russell Westbrook (2017-18) are the only other players to accomplish this more than once, and Brown said of Westbrook, "A lot of people don't want to give him credit, but that's the company he's in." It should be noted that reigning regular season MVP Nikola Jokic is set to join that company as he is on pace to have his second consecutive 25-10-5 season.

Westbrook is one of the greatest players of all-time, and he can still play at a high level. Just last May, the Washington Wizards put the ball in Westbrook's hands, and he set records while lifting them from oblivion into the playoffs. Will Lakers' General Manager/Coach/Media Relations Manager/Team Captain/Heir to the Regular Season Scoring Crown LeBron James play defense, display championship-level leadership, and let Westbrook run the offense to give the Lakers a fighting chance to salvage this train wreck of a season? Why should he? He is chasing the all-time scoring record, his media friends and allies will cover for him, and he knows that Westbrook--and Coach Frank Vogel--are set up to be the fall guys.

Labels: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Houston Rockets, Hubie Brown, Julius Erving, LeBron James, Oscar Robertson, Russell Westbrook, Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith, Wilt Chamberlain

posted by David Friedman @ 1:36 AM

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ESPN's Clown Show NBA Coverage, Featuring Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins Being Wrong About Almost Everything

The NBA Finals were a treat, culminating in a performance for the ages by Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, ESPN's NBA Finals coverage was often nothing more than a clown show, from the Rachel Nichols/Maria Taylor controversy to the futile and failed attempts of Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins to utter a remotely intelligent sentence. 

Smith's loud and tired act has gone on for too long, and his shortcomings have been well documented here and elsewhere. It is sad that ESPN has sunk to branding a specific edition of SportsCenter with Smith's name, but this is not surprising, as I explained several years ago: "ESPN either hires people who are buffoons and instructs them to act like buffoons or ESPN hires people who used to be real journalists and pays them a lot of money to act like buffoons." Smith leads the pack in the first category.

Perkins is a former player who should know something about the NBA, and once in a while he makes sense, but he understands that he is being paid to provide headline-grabbing hot takes, not to provide intelligent analysis. Jalen Rose did a great job of listing just a few of Perkins' hot takes gone wrong about the Milwaukee Bucks and the 2021 NBA Finals:

Young folks like this that have been doing this job, like five years, they get one or two things right, they get one or two catchphrases, then they come over here with their Dr. Seuss lines wearing their 80s pastor suits and think all of their takes are going to be hot. So let me tell you a couple of things that I heard Perk say about this series. Didn't he just slander Coach Bud the entire year about not making adjustments? Hey Perk, the number one adjustment this year was giving the ball to Middleton the last couple of minutes of a game. Jrue Holiday isn't the best two way player in the NBA. Last night you saw the best two way player in the NBA. That's actually Giannis Antetokounmpo. And Khris Middleton is not Batman. That happens to be The Greek Freak. And don't try to flip it and say now he's Superman. You can just say that take was off. By the way, what happened to your guy Deandre Ayton? Is he still David Robinson? I didn't see him. Are the Suns still a dynasty? I don't see that with a 36 year old point guard. So again, it's great to come over here and talk really loud and have all of the catchphrases, but you were so very dead wrong about the Bucks as a guy who said that Giannis should leave Milwaukee. You said Giannis should leave Milwaukee. He stayed and he delivered.

Perkins was indeed "very dead wrong," and his attempt to respond to Rose was pathetic, focusing on Rose's hair line; Rose's joke about "Dr. Seuss lines" was funny, and he followed it with basketball analysis, but Perkins' jokes fell flat and were not followed by any basketball analysis. Rose may be the only ESPN commentator who directly calls out fellow ESPN commentators. As Kwame Brown recently noted, Rose deserves credit for attempting to set Stephen A. Smith straight years ago about using the words "bust" and "scrub" to refer to any NBA player. Rose has sometimes provided mixed or muddled messaging on racial issues but his basketball analysis is generally on point.

In addition to the foolish commentary that has become as much an ESPN trademark as anything else, the network also foisted on the public a soap opera pitting Rachel Nichols versus Maria Taylor. In my recap of game four of the 2021 NBA Finals I briefly addressed the Nichols/Taylor controversy:

Can anyone honestly say that either Nichols or Taylor consistently add something meaningful and profound to the telecasts? In 20 years, NBA fans and historians will still be talking about Antetokounmpo, Middleton, Booker, and Paul, but it is doubtful that many people will remember or care who served as the pregame and halftime host for ESPN/ABC's Finals coverage. It is worth noting that Taylor, ESPN/ABC's newly anointed NBA Finals studio host, was the only one out of 100 media award voters who did not select Anthony Davis for the All-NBA Team after the 2019-20 season (Davis made the First Team after receiving 79 First Team votes and 20 Second Team votes). Taylor's excuse for leaving one of the NBA's top five players completely off of her ballot for the NBA's top 15 players is that she forgot about him. Anyone can make a mistake, and one hesitates to make extreme and/or absolute statements, but it must be asked: How can a media member who "forgets" about one of the league's elite players be elevated to a job that makes her the face of ESPN/ABC's pre-game and halftime NBA Finals coverage?

Nichols is not bad at what she does, and she is better than Taylor, but both of them are quite replaceable. For those who are unaware of the basic facts of the controversy, a private phone conversation that Nichols had with one of LeBron James' advisors was recorded--unbeknownst to Nichols, which is illegal in Florida (where Nichols was staying at the time she participated in the phone call)--and then excerpts of that recording were intentionally leaked by at least one ESPN staffer who did not approve of what Nichols said. Nichols asserted that it is written into her contract that she will be the pregame and halftime host for the NBA Finals, and she declared that if ESPN wants to prove its wokeness by expanding Taylor's role then it should find a way to do so without violating that contractual obligation. Nichols praised Taylor's work and at no time asserted that Taylor is not qualified to be the pregame and halftime host; Nichols just claimed that ESPN has no contractual right to give those assignments to Taylor.

I have not read Nichols' contract, but assuming that she knows what is in her contract and that she stated those terms accurately, she has every legal right to feel wronged if her employer essentially demotes her without cause and in violation of a signed agreement. Nichols also has every right to feel violated that her private phone call was recorded without her knowledge and then broadcast to the public without her consent. All of that being said, there is not a little irony that Nichols is facing the cancel culture after she has been so outspoken and politically slanted during many of her basketball broadcasts. Self-proclaimed "progressives" now portray Nichols as a hypocrite, as someone who claims to be down with the cause but is really more focused on herself. Nichols opened herself up to such criticism by portraying herself in a certain fashion and then daring to utter private remarks that do not live up to others' expectations of her. It is never pretty when self-proclaimed "progressives" turn on their own, as we have seen throughout history (perhaps most notably in the Soviet Union, where a person could be a hero one day and literally cut out of state-controlled newspaper headlines the next day).

The problem--which neither Nichols nor Taylor nor most people who have commented about this acknowledge--is that once you accept the view that hiring practices should be based on any form of proportional representation as opposed to solely based on qualifications then you are going to open the door to resentment, to assumptions that certain people are not qualified for the positions they have, and to a host of other problems. ESPN spends more time and energy trying to act "woke" than it does trying to fill positions based on merit, and that is a bigger issue than Nichols' privately expressed resentment of ESPN's assignment shuffling.

Taylor took great offense to what Nichols said, and Taylor subsequently refused to appear on camera with Nichols. Nichols, who is often outspoken about being woke and certainly does not need a weather report to understand which way the wind is blowing, offered a public apology to Taylor that Taylor neither acknowledged nor accepted. Taylor probably correctly assumed that the apology was not sincere, because if Nichols were given truth serum she would most likely not think it necessary to apologize for privately griping that her employer is violating her contract. We are just watching an elaborate song and dance: Nichols' apology was a necessary damage control move, and Taylor's non-acceptance of the apology was an expected response from someone who feels entitled to be aggrieved despite being elevated to a position contractually promised to another person who has more seniority and experience on the NBA beat.

ESPN removed Nichols from its Finals coverage for a day or two, and then figured out how to ease her back in without having her ever appear on the same show as Taylor. Even though Taylor won the battle to be the pregame and halftime host, it was obvious that this would be her last assignment with ESPN. After the NBA Finals ended, ESPN and Taylor announced that they have mutually agreed to part ways. Taylor will no doubt grab adoring headlines--and huge dollars--regardless of where she goes next. 

No one would dream of putting together an NBA team based on some kind of proportional ethnic representation of the U.S. or world population, and it does not make any sense to put together any organization with such proportional ethnic representation as the goal. I don't care if the pregame/halftime host is White, Black, Asian, male, female, heterosexual, homosexual, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or belongs to any other racial group, gender, sexual orientation, and/or religion. All I care about is that the pregame/halftime host understands NBA basketball, and can be a "traffic cop" for the other participants in the broadcast. Bob Costas and Ernie Johnson are the gold standard for the past 30 years, if not all-time. We all know that Nichols and Taylor are nowhere near that level, and it is a reasonable assumption that ESPN bypassed more qualified candidates to put first Nichols and then Taylor in the role--and even if Nichols and Taylor are the best that ESPN has, the focus on "representation" will always leave lingering doubts about how they achieved prominence.

When the focus shifts from creating equal opportunities to creating equal outcomes, we all lose.

I cannot wait until the current NBA media contracts expire, and I hope that TNT will cover the NBA Finals under the next deal.

Just to put a bow on all of this, it should be mentioned that some ESPN basketball commentators/analysts are first rate, including Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, Tim Legler, and Jalen Rose. Hubie Brown's role has been reduced, but in his prime he was the absolute best, and he is still top notch even now. That is not an exhaustive list of qualified ESPN broadcasters, but the problem is that the unqualified ones are often provided the most attention, air time, and compensation.

Labels: ESPN, Giannis Antetokounmpo, hot takes gone wrong, Jalen Rose, Kendrick Perkins, Khris Middleton, Maria Taylor, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA, Rachel Nichols, Stephen A. Smith

posted by David Friedman @ 2:31 AM

4 comments

Stephen A. Smith Proves Kwame Brown's Point

In a steady stream of videos posted online, Kwame Brown has conveyed several important messages, including that Stephen A. Smith is not qualified to analyze basketball and that Smith has made a career out of personally attacking Brown.

Smith and his ESPN overlords decided that the best response to Brown is to give Smith over eight minutes to do voiceover narration of a selection of lowlights from Brown's career. During the narration, Smith repeatedly mispronounces Brown's first name. Smith is not intelligent or funny. He has demonstrated that he is a petty person who does not deserve a national platform to spread his ignorance and disrespect.

Brown last played in the NBA in 2013, so lowlights of his career are hardly newsworthy footage--and I am pretty sure that you could splice together a few minutes of lowlights from any player's career, including some of the greatest players of all-time (to cite just one example, Magic Johnson once dribbled out the clock in a tied game in the NBA Finals). There is no reason for ESPN to show Brown's lowlights other than to humiliate him. It is breathtaking that ESPN thought that this was a good idea.

Brown has posted a response video noting that it is easy to verify that the lowlights footage comes from games during which Brown was limited by various injuries, but that is not even the main point--though it does show how disingenuous Smith and ESPN are. The main point is that one of the NBA's primary media partners ran an eight minute video to mock a retired player. This is not Shaqtin' A Fool, Shaquille O'Neal's lighthearted clips of active players (and O'Neal often makes fun of himself as well); this is a video designed to prove that Brown was a bad player. 

Who appointed Smith to determine that Kwame Brown must be mocked as a bad NBA player?

Smith's 15 minutes of fame have lasted a lot longer than they should have. Brown has exposed Smith as the fraud that intelligent observers of the NBA always knew him to be. It is well past time that ESPN reassign Smith to a role befitting his qualifications, as opposed to placing him front and center of the network's NBA coverage. The longer that Smith is on the air, the more that he embarrasses himself and his employers. I don't know how NBA Commissioner Adam Silver handles his business, but former Commissioner David Stern made a regular practice of contacting media organizations that portrayed the league in an unfair or disparaging manner. Silver should consider calling ESPN and asking the network to focus its coverage on the 2021 NBA playoffs, not a blooper reel of a retired player.

Labels: ESPN, Kwame Brown, Stephen A. Smith

posted by David Friedman @ 7:26 PM

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Kwame Brown's Important Messages

Unless you are completely disconnected from any form of social media, you have seen, heard, or at least read about the videos that Kwame Brown has posted recently. Brown's first video included his reaction to an exchange on a recent episode of the "All the Smoke" podcast hosted by Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. During an interview with Jeanie Buss, Buss discussed the Lakers' trade of Marc Gasol and Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol when Barnes and Jackson interrupted Buss to assert that there was only one player on the other side of the Pau Gasol trade, as if Brown has no value. Brown has been the butt of insults dating back to when he was the number one overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft, and Brown fired back with an extended NSFW response. 

It is easy to dismiss Brown as angry or say that he is ranting; that is often the reflexive reaction of people who do not want to address the substance of another person's message. In the initial video and then a steady stream of follow up videos, Brown has delivered several important messages, which I will paraphrase here in no particular order and without the NSFW language:

1) The very use of "All the Smoke" in the title of the podcast endorses both marijuana use and a confrontational approach to life; Barnes and Jackson pride themselves on being marijuana users who do not back down from conflict.

2) Barnes and Jackson are delivering negative and destructive messages to youth in general, and specifically minority youth. Brown urged Jackson to pull up his pants, act like an adult, and stop spending all night smoking weed and playing cards. It should be noted that this is not about whether or not marijuana use is legal (or should be legalized) in a particular jurisdiction, but rather about whether or not that lifestyle is the best lifestyle to promote to youth. 

3) Jackson tries to portray himself as both a Black Lives Matter activist and a "gangsta," but Brown considers both stances to be inauthentic. Jackson's response on Instagram (since deleted), a veiled threat to meet Brown on the street, only adds to Brown's credibility while diminishing Jackson's credibility.

4) Brown questioned why certain people are given media platforms and asserted that to get a media platform you have to be willing to compromise your values and compromise truth. Stephen Jackson is best known for running into the stands to confront fans in Detroit, and he has revealed himself to be an antisemite who unapologetically endorses Louis Farrakhan, so it is certainly reasonable to ask why major media corporations are so eager to work with him, and why so many people are eager to associate themselves with him.

5) Brown noted that Jackson brags about how much money he spent on, shall we say, "entertaining" himself, and Brown asks why Jackson does not use his wealth and resources to help others. 

6) Brown said that the only jokes people have about him are basketball jokes and he asked when people will get tired of that same old joke. He made over $60 million playing pro basketball, so he does not consider himself a bust in life; he owns property, grows his own food, and answers to no one. 

Paraphrasing a line from the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer," I would note that when Kwame Brown played in the NBA he was better at basketball than the vast majority of people will ever be at anything. How many people rank in the top 350-400 in the world at anything?

7) Brown said that his frequent critics Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless are losers who never accomplished anything, and Brown asked what qualifies them to talk about basketball. Brown said that if he is a "scrub" and a bust like they asserted then he should be called "Houdini" for fooling so many teams into paying him to play basketball, and he asked if being a number one draft pick who plays in the NBA for over a decade constitutes failure then what are we to think of the athletic careers of guys like Smith and Bayless? 

8) Brown talked about how former player Jalen Rose tried to explain to Smith and Bayless that someone who plays for over a decade in the NBA is not a scrub and not a bust, but they just kept shouting Rose down.

9) Brown pointed out the NBA's double standard in punishing Lou Williams for violating COVID-19 protocols but not punishing LeBron James for violating the same protocols.

10) Brown praised his mother for her good advice, and he noted that he is a success story who overcame a difficult background. He is in no way a "scrub," and he contrasts his life path with what he termed the "degenerate" lifestyle afflicting minority communities, a lifestyle that he feels is encouraged and promoted by Barnes and Jackson.

I don't think that Brown is lashing out in anger. Ignore the NSFW language, and he has made a series of powerful statements. He is right about Barnes and Jackson not being good role models, and not being qualified for the huge media platform that they have been blessed to have. He is right that Smith and Bayless generally have no idea what they are talking about, and that they often take personal shots at people instead of just making a skill set analysis. Rose kept telling them that there is a difference between evaluating a person's basketball skills and just calling that person names, but Smith and Bayless disregarded what Rose said.

Brown is frustrated by the stupidity of so much that is said and depicted in the media. I share that frustration. Brown often predicts how his targets will respond to his videos, and he has been on target; he says that he is going to expose these people for who they really are, and to this point he has outsmarted them and made them look foolish. For instance, Brown has mentioned that people try to tear him down based on things that his family members did years ago, but Brown rightly noted that actions of family members when he was a young child have nothing to do with him and nothing to do with his message. Charlamagne tha God--and what person who has self-awareness gives himself such an outlandish name?--went on his podcast to talk about Brown's family history, and Brown just eviscerated the rapper, calling him out as a child rapist and asking why companies keep hiring him after the crime he committed. Charlamagne tha God, not quite understanding when to quit when he was only a little behind, had his lawyer send Brown a cease and desist letter stipulating that Charlamagne tha God pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of the minor, not rape. Brown read the letter during his next video, said that he retracts calling Charlamagne tha God the "r word," and then expressed his opinion (in words that I will not repeat here) about the character of a person who contributes to the delinquency of a minor. Brown said that he does not care about the lawyer's letter, that he will keep expressing his opinion about Charlamagne tha God, and that he appreciates the lawyer informing him the exact name of the crime to which Charlamagne tha God admitted his guilt.

Brown was living in quiet obscurity until Barnes and Jackson decided to crack sophomoric jokes on their big-time show. They had a chance to reach out man to man to apologize but did not do so. Every target of Brown's videos went after Brown first, often in personal ways. They asked for what they are getting, and it seems like Brown is going to keep giving it to them. 

Kwame Brown is speaking truths that many are afraid to speak, and it will be interesting to see what happens next.

Labels: Kwame Brown, Matt Barnes, Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith, Stephen Jackson

posted by David Friedman @ 9:52 PM

1 comments

Clowns Like Stephen A. Smith Ruin Things for Real Journalists

No one has ever mistaken Stephen A. Smith's overheated TV ramblings as real journalism but the most recent misadventure of ESPN's clown prince demonstrates how much harm fake reporters cause to real journalists. Smith asserted that if Kevin Durant does not re-sign with Oklahoma City then Durant could end up with the L.A. Lakers. Smith cited no source for his statement and Durant responded by emphatically declaring that neither he nor anyone in his camp spoke with Smith and that therefore Smith is lying. Durant has every right to publicly correct non-sourced reports about him and to make it clear that he does not provide information to Smith. Things went south in a hurry, though, when Smith took a bunch of ad hominem shots at Durant on ESPN before issuing a direct warning to Durant, "You don't want to make an enemy out of me."

My response to Smith is simply one word: "Why?" Why act like an idiot on national television (not that acting like an idiot is new for Smith, but the question is still valid)? Why threaten a pro basketball player just because he refuted the notion that he speaks with you and provides you with information?

One might be tempted to laugh at Smith's self-important cries for attention and his apparent belief that every NBA player must bow down to him but Smith's antics are the symptom of a deeper problem that is endemic at ESPN and also applies to many other media outlets; basically, ESPN either hires people who are buffoons and instructs them to act like buffoons or ESPN hires people who used to be real journalists and pays them a lot of money to act like buffoons. I don't want to paint everyone at ESPN with a broad brush. Hubie Brown is one of the greatest NBA analysts of all-time. Jeff Van Gundy is great, even if his knowledge of pre-1980 basketball history seems sketchy at times. Steve Young's NFL commentary is masterful. There are a few other ESPN reporters and commentators who do great work as well--but the overall trend is buffoonery and sensationalism, exemplified by the network's shameful coverage of the deflated football "scandal" that they helped to create and perpetuate.

Why does this matter? Athletes are understandably fed up with dealing with buffoons, so when a real journalist attempts to interview an athlete the real journalist is often met with resistance. When I first started interviewing current and retired players in the early 2000s, many of my subjects were initially reticent or even hostile because they had been through so many bad experiences with media members who misquoted them, took things out of context and just generally did not know what they were doing--and the situation is even worse now than it was a little more than a decade ago. I broke down those walls by proving that (1) I know my stuff and (2) I am trustworthy with my word and reliable when quoting their words.

During last season's NBA All-Star Break, Durant blasted the media for playing favorites and twisting people's words, indicating that he only spoke to the media now to avoid being fined. Durant also declared to the media members surrounding him at that moment, "You guys really don't know s---." Not surprisingly, many media members took offense and criticized Durant but Durant spoke the truth. Many people who are covering the NBA do not understand the sport, nor do they know basic principles of journalism.

I have interviewed Durant a few times, with my most extensive interview coming in November 2008, during the early portion of his second season in the league. He came across as an earnest and nice person, not yet cynical about media members. I asked him about Coach Scott Brooks shifting him back to his natural forward position after previous Oklahoma City Coach P.J. Carlesimo had inexplicably played Durant at shooting guard. My Durant article was both fair to Durant and informative to my readers. I did not misquote him or write anything sensationalistic but I provided a glimpse into how he and Brooks (who I also interviewed) felt about the situation. Now, thanks to clowns like Smith, it would be much harder to get that kind of access to Durant and conduct that kind of interview, because Durant rightly views with suspicion anyone who wears a media credential.

Smith's tired act is a disservice to real journalists everywhere.

Labels: ESPN, Kevin Durant, Stephen A. Smith

posted by David Friedman @ 10:35 AM

6 comments

Nuggets Eclipse Suns, 126-113

Wednesday night's ESPN game provided a good opportunity to check out two of the most enigmatic teams in the West: the perennially underachieving Denver Nuggets and the new-look Phoenix Suns. Phoenix arrived in Denver for the second half of a back to back after beating the Blazers in Portland 97-92 on Tuesday, while the Nuggets have been off since they lost 103-89 at Houston on Sunday. You can dismiss the concept of a "scheduling loss" if you insist but one of the big differences between playoff basketball and regular season basketball is the amount of time off between games. In any case, Phoenix led by as many as eight points in the first quarter but the Nuggets took control with a 16-0 second quarter run and cruised to a 126-113 victory, dropping the Suns to 3-5 since they traded Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat in exchange for Shaquille O'Neal.

Many people were skeptical of the O'Neal trade even before any games were played and now the doubters are out in full force. Before we even analyze what is happening on the court, let's do a "Woody Paige" and look at the schedule: the first loss of the Suns' Shaq era came at the hands of the Lakers, one of the hottest teams in the league; that was followed by a win against Boston--the team with the league's best record--and then a loss to Detroit, the second best team in the East at the moment. The third loss came in New Orleans in the second game of a back to back. Philadelphia delivered the fourth loss; that looks bad, because the Sixers are currently just 28-33--but the Sixers have won 10 of their last 13 (admittedly, several of those victories were against weak teams). The Nuggets, fighting for their very playoff lives in the super competitive West, provided loss number five of the Shaq era.

Before the Nuggets-Suns game, Hubie Brown assessed O'Neal's impact so far, pointing out that the Suns were the worst rebounding team in the league before acquiring Shaq but that they now have a positive rebounding differential. Brown noted that this advantage on the glass has been translated into improved fast break production. O'Neal had a season-high 18 rebounds against Denver and the Suns outrebounded the Nuggets 40-39. O'Neal also scored 12 points on 5-6 field goal shooting and looked more mobile and active than he has at any time this season. The problem for the Suns was that the Nuggets' guards and small forwards simply murdered them. J.R. Smith came off of the bench to score 20 points in 21 minutes. Allen Iverson had 31 points, 12 assists, five rebounds and 0 turnovers. Steve Nash may be a two-time MVP, but the only way he is even going to slow down Iverson is by tripping him with one of those trophies. OK, a lot of guys have problems checking Iverson and the Suns tried to "hide" Nash for most of the game by having him cover Anthony Carter--but Carter had 11 points and 11 assists, essentially canceling out Nash's production (12 points, 13 assists).

Small forward Grant Hill spent a lot of time chasing around Iverson, which left shooting guard Raja Bell to deal with Carmelo Anthony, who pushed Bell all over the court, snaring 13 rebounds--including six on the offensive glass--and scoring 30 points. At times, Anthony seemed to have a look of disbelief on his face that Bell was trying to guard him. Clearly, the Suns could have used Marion here but since the Suns no longer have him they have to take better advantage of the mismatches that are in their favor, such as O'Neal posting up much smaller defenders like Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin and Eduardo Najera. The Suns have another 21 games to get used to each other before the playoffs begin and in the postseason they will have at least a day off between games, so I still think that they can be a formidable playoff opponent. Swapping Marion for O'Neal may have cost them some regular season wins but by upgrading their size and rebounding they are better constructed for playoff basketball.

Even though the Nuggets looked great in winning this game, they may not even make the playoffs. Brown noted before the game that they are fourth in the league in scoring and have Camby--who he called the league's best defender--patrolling the paint but he stressed that the other four players must step up on defense. When Moses Malone won his first MVP largely on the strength of his offensive rebounding, he thanked his teammates for missing so many shots; Camby, who is gunning for his third straight shotblocking crown, could similarly thank his teammates for blowing so many defensive assignments. The Nuggets trail the Golden State Warriors by one game for the final playoff spot and they are just 14-17 against teams with plus-.500 records. They were obviously geared up to play a Suns team that they felt had run up the score on them earlier this season but the Nuggets are just 4-5 in their last nine games, hardly the kind of closing push that will earn a postseason berth.

The Nuggets have two All-Stars in Iverson and Anthony--and Brown said that he thought Camby should have made the team as well--but their team defense on a night in, night out basis is not good. Denver went 32-8 down the stretch in 2005 after George Karl took over as head coach and ever since then the Nuggets have fooled a lot of people into believing that they are on the verge of being legitimate contenders; they even fooled themselves, with several of their players saying before this season that they would win 60 games (they are 36-24 now, which means that 60 wins is mathematically impossible).

It is amusing to read or listen to mainstream media "experts" who have no idea what they are talking about; no one can predict everything correctly but many of these "experts" are so frequently completely wrong that they are fortunate that their salaries are not linked in any way to their statements actually making sense or being accurate. For instance, at the start of this season, Stephen A. Smith declared that the Nuggets would make it to the NBA Finals and that the Cavaliers would not even qualify for the playoffs. Here is what I wrote about the Nuggets in the 2007-08 edition of Lindy's Pro Basketball: "Each year we hear that this is the season that Denver will emerge as a legitimate title contender, but the Nuggets have consistently been a lower echelon playoff team for four straight years, winning between 43 and 49 games and losing in the first round of the playoffs each time." In my Western Conference Preview, I ranked the Nuggets seventh and wrote, "Carmelo Anthony is well on his way toward stringing together a Kevin Garnett-like run of first round playoff losses."

In order to win consistently in the NBA, you must rebound and defend. Those things are not glamorous but, as Pat Riley said decades ago, "No rebounds, no rings." Rebounding and defense are why the Spurs are always a very good team and why the Cavaliers' Finals run last year was not a fluke; rebounding and defense are why the Nash-era Suns have never made it to the Finals and why the Anthony-era Nuggets' playoff runs always end in the first round. To get over the top, a team usually also needs a star player who can create offense for himself and his teammates but Denver is proving that you can have two guys like that and still not be a great team if you don't also have a collective commitment to playing defense.

Labels: Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, Shaquille O'Neal, Stephen A. Smith

posted by David Friedman @ 4:25 AM

11 comments