She Is Seeing Red

this blog is dedicated to the Celebration Constables & the Smack Talk Sargents.   i am not sure who deputized you to police the behavior of athletes but you are relieved of your duties effective immediately. please turn in your badge. the Grizzlies are a young & fun team in the midst of a crucial playoff run. the star of the team and the league’s Most Improved Player, Ja Morant, has quickly become must-see tv. whether it’s plane celebrations, rapid tweeting, or griddying after wins, Morant & his teammates are having the time of their lives & deservedly so. the incessant need to “humble” the team & police what they can & cannot do in the midst of a successful season & playoff run is SILLY. who are you to set an arbitrary bar by which players must clear in order to be cocky or have fun? what exactly do players need to “accomplish” in order to outwardly express joy in what they do? if you see players enjoying their jobs & your immediate reaction is to judge

*groans very loudly* Yes, it’s that time of the year. The time where we all gripe and complain about All Star voting. If you’ve been sleeping peacefully under a rock since yesterday evening, you may have missed that Andrew Wiggins was selected as an All Star starter yesterday. Yes, *that* Andrew Wiggins. The one we just had to bully into getting vaccinated. For the first time in his career, he is an All Star starter. And for the billionth time in Wardell Curry’s career, he has an All Star teammate. (I’m sorry, my agenda is gonna agend, y’all.) The reaction to Wiggins’ selection was…what you’d reasonably expect from NBA Twitter. “Over CP3? Booker? KAT?” apparently so. Not to take away from Wiggins’ accomplishments this season, but every year there seems to be that one head-scratching selection that makes fans, media, and players alike say one thing: “we need to change the All Star Voting process.” It’s an exhibition game so it shouldn’t matter much right? Ehhhhh. Not really. Often times

  y’all. *deep, exasperated sigh* before i dive into my rant, i’d first like to highlight the REAL progressive league in professional sports- the WNBA. shout out to the W for nearing a 100% vaccination rate for players & staff. because of course the women are leading the way. we always do. in my January 18, 2021 blog, i asked Mr. Silver if he was even somewhat embarrassed for how poorly the NBA has handled the coronavirus pandemic. that was 8 months ago. EIGHT. and as we prepare for the start of the new season it’s apparent that if Silver doesn’t feel embarrassed, he should be.  to ME, it’s quite embarrassing that the loudest voices in the room are the misinformed ones. those voices are spewing misinformation found in the underbellies of YouTube and fuzzy Facebook posts. star players are outright refusing to get vaccinated, dubbing any type of mandate a “non-starter”. further, players are prepared to skip games in cities where vaccinations are mandated, thus affecting the on-court

it’s pretty incredible how much we allow talent to mask. as long as you can dribble, throw a ball, or kick one, there isn’t a personal mistake too big that will render you irredeemable. professional sports have perpetuated & aided in the violence against women for far too long. there are too many instances to name where an athlete’s cruel & violent actions towards women were merely a speed bump on his road to stardom. why do violent men continue to receive the grace the victims don’t? by allowing these men second, third, & fourth chances, we show victims that their suffering is not only expendable, but completely obsolete when their abusers are talented & have monetizable gifts. we remind them that their harm isn’t even a footnote on their abuser’s resume. it’s an addendum on a completely separate page that no one takes the time to read. what good does it make to hire a female coach if you show her that the veracity of her victimhood is contingent upon the relative skil

“ain’t nobody coming to see you, Otis.” -David Ruffin -Casual NBA fans in 2021. the scoffs of derision were heard worldwide. after the early playoff exits of the league heavyweights, LeBron James and Stephen Curry, disgruntled fans everywhere expressed their lack of interest in this year’s journey to the championship. “no one wants to see playoffs without Bron & Steph.” darling, you could not be more wrong. but- but- but- RATINGS! okay let’s be real, no one cares about ratings except for tv station owners and billionaires. the normal NBA fan rarely tracks the progression and regression of tv ratings. but in case you’d like numbers, playoff viewership is up 39% from last season. THIRTY-NINE PERCENT. & this time last season, LeBron was playing & we were all in the house. *slow whistles* that agenda can’t agend any more, friends.  we have complained & opined about the lack of parity in the league for years now. months ago, fans shook their fists to the sky as veteran playe

what. a. season. since this was truly the most unprecedented NBA season yet, i’ve chosen my 5 favorite events from this season that made it memorable for me. 5. The Dunk Heard ‘Round The World. Anthony Edwards may be the coolest rookie the league has ever seen. his post-game interviews are an incredible mixture of candidness, honesty, and absolute hilarity. however, his terrorizing baptism of Yuta Watanabe shook the foundation of the court floor- and NBA Twitter alike. the clip went viral in minutes, inciting another ground shaking dunk- the one on old-man-yells-at-cloud NBA writers. instead of praising the athletic feat, a few writers opted to instead comment on his poor shooting night, in hopes to dull the shine on an otherwise spectacular play. then the Montagues and Capulets of basketball discourse drew their swords. analytics versus eye test, part 94291. i won’t get into the finite details of that feud, but it’s unfortunate that such a fun play resorted to that tired debate. baske