She Is Seeing Red

val·u·a·ble /ˈvaly(o͞o)əb(ə)l/ MVP. no other award across all professional sports is more coveted than the one of Most Valuable Player. what does it mean to be the most valuable player in the league? what does it mean to be valuable? does it mean being the best player? does it mean being the most consistent? does it mean being the face of the best team? or does it mean being the overachieving underdog that no one saw coming? to be honest, i don’t think we know what it means. the criteria for MVP changes every season. most fans consider it merely a narrative-based award given to the player whose season storyline eclipses the others. other folks think it’s a purely quantifiable award that can *only* be supported by statistics and win shares. they wholly reject the narrative aspect and focus solely one what can be seen - and calculated. then there are those who feel that the award should go to the player who has etched his name in the history books. these folks overlook seeding & cali...

super team this. KD that. 73-9 & they lieddddd. this is the nucleus of NBA Twitter discourse. instead of making winning the goal, we make it the focal point of a career. we invalidate stacked resumes if “champion” is not etched somewhere between All Star appearances & retirement. this line of thinking creates the culture we see now: stacking the deck or forming “super teams”. & honestly, who can blame players for trying to strong arm themselves into a team positioned to win it all? the same people who consider Kevin Durant a “snake” for joining Golden State are the same people who scoff at players like Damian Lillard or Bradley Beal who want to remain in their markets. we can’t have it both ways. we can’t simultaneously spit on the careers of the ringless & also moan & complain when talented players decide to join forces. it’s also asinine to assert that rings or championships can be cheapened in any capacity. the trophy doesn’t have an asterisk, the history book do...

first, i want to start this off with an apology.   in “Legacies”, i wrote that we should do away with the broad strokes of Kobe’s legacy, & have an honest conversation about the stains.  however, i didn’t provide a solution on how we can achieve this goal or at least offer my opinion on what i think would work. i contribute to the problem when i offer dialogue that isn’t solution based. & to be honest, i don’t know what to do. nearly a year after his death, we are all too afraid to talk about that thing no one wants to talk about. & those who are willing to speak out are deemed insensitive & inconsiderate.  we don’t want to upset his widow. we don’t want to anger his fans. but we are perfectly fine with muzzling victims & reminding them that there is never a good time to address their pain. when will be the appropriate to discuss this? it wasn’t appropriate when he was still playing. it wasn’t appropriate when he retired. it wasn’t appropriate after hi...

when we discuss legacies, we usually brush broad strokes over the tapestry. we tend to emphasize the good, & minimize the bad. i mean, i get it. it’s fair to want someone’s legacy to encompass the good that they did or left behind. but legacies can be complicated. in our haste to brush a man’s legacy with broad black & white strokes, we hide the gray. the bad. the finite details that make a larger than life figure seem...fallible. when we set our intentions solely on magnifying the good, we simultaneously silence survivors by minimizing their experiences.  we can honor his legacy in basketball & also allow space to reconcile with the mistakes he made that have lasting effects on those he hurt directly & indirectly. to most, he is a sports icon, legend, & hero. to a select few, he is a painful reminder of their worst life experience, & how minute the consequences are for men, especially those of influence. his legacy is complicated. no more broad strokes.

the song stinks. Francis Scott Key was NOT in his bag when he composed this. yet, it’s the most important song in American history. it along with the American flag are prominent symbols of patriotism & love of country. for some, the song is just a little diddle they learned in school. for Black people, it’s a painful, frustrating reminder that the country’s infrastructure was built on the backs of slaves who have yet to be repaid or appreciated for the land they built. when Colin Kaepernick opted to kneel during the anthem in 2016, he was ostracized & blacklisted by the NFL. as racial tensions came to a painful head in 2020, the collective lightbulbs turned on inside of the heads of those who objected his stance (no pun intended). companies, brands, & leagues supported & funded by the black dollar were now in the hot seat. the NFL, NBA, & MLB are now on the Summer Jam screen.  “This is why Kaep kneeled for!” “Now we get it!” “We see you. We hear you. Black Lives...

YEAH I SAID IT.  🗣🗣🗣 this team is fun to watch. my first blog post was somber in tone because i had no clue what kind of team i would be rooting for post-Harden. there didn’t seem to be a clear direction of a team comprised of undrafted rookies & injury-laden rotation players. three weeks later, the Rockets are riding a 6 game win streak & have the second best defense in the NBA. they have also soared from the 13th seed to the 8th in a few week’s worth of time. please don’t ask me how. i honestly have no idea. i often watch the games in awe of the basketball being played by this group. Wood is gunning for Most Improved Player; Jae’Sean Tate is one of the funnest rookies in the league to watch; David Nwaba carries handcuffs in his back pocket; & Eric Gordon remembered that the ball goes inside the hoop. W.O.W- Wood, Oladipo, & Wall are finally able to establish chemistry on the court & orchestrate offense that involves everyone on the team. & we have yet t...

 n ow i’m not gone call no names, but- actually, that’s not true. Mr. Shaquille O’Neal, please step up to the podium. Shaq is a NBA Hall of Famer, with a resume as long as his feet. despite possessing illustrious credentials, Shaq insists on leaning into an oafish, get-off-my-lawn type shtick that makes his wafer-thin basketball analysis unbearable. just last night, after Donovan Mitchell scored 36 points to secure the win for the soaring Utah Jazz, Shaq stated, “you are one of my favorite players, but you don’t have what it takes to get to that next level.” To which, a sheepishly-grinned Mitchell said “aight” in response. hmm. this encounter comes weeks after Shaq told Christian Wood, ON THE “INSIDE THE NBA” STAGE, that he “wasn’t familiar with his game”, moments after incorrectly declared he wasn’t talented but he plays hard. i just- HUH????? Christian Wood correctly called him a casual, because that’s what he is. Shaquille O’Neal is a casual. i’m just curious as to how we are ex...