NBA

Interesting article I just saw posted on the Cal Bearinsider forum regarding a course taught to prepare athletes about financial planning considerations when one becomes a pro. (Seems that now, one could add managing NIL money to the equation too).

Shortly before Layshia Clarendon, BA 13 (American studies), was drafted into the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the Cal senior attended a pre-draft orientation. Clarendon raised a hand and inquired about matching 401(k)s. The people fielding questions were floored. They weren’t used to college students knowing what a 401(k) was, let alone being savvy enough to ask about matching contributions.

“I remember going to that meeting and thinking, ‘Oh, wow, I already know some of this,’” Clarendon recalls. When it came to financial literacy, Clarendon was miles ahead of most of their peers—all thanks to an independent study course they’d taken with Haas professional faculty member Stephen Etter, BS 83, MBA 89, called Financial & Business Literacy for the Professional Athlete.

For more than 20 years, Etter has helped scores of UC Berkeley athletes prepare for the financial realities of turning pro. Everyone from football great Marshawn Lynch and quarterback Jared Goff to Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin and golf phenom Collin Morikawa, BS 19, have learned about navigating contracts, choosing advisors, investing, and more for their post-Berkeley lives.

I’m serious. Go back and watch game 1 and 2 vs Knicks. So many crazy calls that kept them in those games and ofc the end of game disaster.

Game 6 was also absurd. Brunson throwing himself backwards, hooking people etc.

I’m old enough to remember them rigging games for lakers in early 2000s and I also feel strongly about heat victory against Mavs (Cuban actually hired a PI but dropped it) and even Moreys rockets vs warriors.

It’s WWE

Have any of you ever been recommended psychotic Facebook pages like "NBA Greatest Debate Room" where posts posit that LeFraud is a product of referees or that Jordan is overrated because never won a series without Pippen? While this is definitely bottom-of-the-barrel dreck, it's amazing to me that so much of the NBA fan experience -- not just there, but on NBA television, NBA Twitter, NBA Reddit, NBA conversations with people in real life, just everywhere -- is hearing about how fraudulent the world's greatest players are, so much so that even the two greatest basketball players in the history of the world are not immune to it. I feel like this doesn't happen, at least not to this degree, in other sports.

I grew up watching LeBron's first stint in Cleveland and heard eight years of #discourse about how he wasn't a winner. 4 titles and 40,000 points later, what a fucking waste of breath.

Some clown on here posted a thread about Jokic being exposed and overrated because of the Minnesota series. Just wait until Anthony Edwards has a couple bad games or struggles in a series and people turn on him too. If Giannis ever leaves Milwaukee, I'm sure there will be people who call him a running and dunking merchant. Some people already do.

Somehow there are people who watched Victor Wembanyama this year whose first thought was to check his Basketball Reference page and nitpick his efficiency. What joyless weirdos.

And then there's the Durant discourse. Holy shit. All anyone can say about him is that he's a bitch. I didn't like him going to the Warriors either, but everyone who calls his rings fake would have called him a fraud if he'd stuck it out with Westbrook in OKC, where not winning a ring was probably the likeliest outcome. That so many in the chorus of Durant mockery pretend they're above ringz-tier discourse is fascinating. One of the 15 greatest players ever and an absolute aesthetic delight on the court is still rolling in his mid-thirties, and NBA fans are collectively incapable of saying anything positive about the guy. Just look at the recent Durant threads on here. You're all embarrassing morons.

(And by the way, it's interesting to see the Anthony Edwards lovefest happening right now because it reminds me so much of when Durant was that guy, the beloved up-and-comer who was arriving, like when he scored at will against a juggernaut Spurs team on the way to the Finals. But now he's a "bus rider" or whatever. If Edwards gets outplayed by SGA or Luka in the next round or the Nuggets come back and win the series, just watch how dumb it will get.)

Anyway, I'm not against talking about players' shortcomings (Doris Burke's hype fest on the broadcasts is an overcorrection), but it can at least not be completely braindead, and the predictable cycle that every player goes through -- exciting young player becomes a darling, then gets picked apart, then has an asterisk unless they win a ring, but only if their championship run meets certain nebulous criteria lest it be dismissed as a Mickey Mouse ring (literal in 2020, figurative otherwise) -- is exhausting and makes following the league so much less fun. Basketball is such an artful game and to see it reduced to this shit all the time is a bummer.

”That opened a lot of eyes around the NBA… My phone was lighting up during the Riley press conference. They are ground zero for the NBA offseason, starting right now.”

Since dikit naman talaga ang kultura ng Hiphop at Basketball, katuwaang topic lang, break from the usual battle rap talking points dito sa sub. If you are to explain Fliptop in NBA terms, how would you do it?

Loonie = Michael Jordan
(Battle Rap Goat. Strongest peak. Fans and Co players agrees he is the GOAT.)

Shehyee = Kobe Bryant
(Killer mentality. Binitbit daw ni "SHAQ/SMUGG" kahit di naman talaga. Nagawa niya rin mag champion without smugg/shaq to prove himself/ Siya lang din hindi takot kay Loons from the newbies that time, also mentor niya din. Just like how Kobe was to MJ/ Loons)

Invictus = Tim Duncan (Dito nagsimula idea ko about sa post. hehe)
(Most boring champion. Mastered the Fundamentals/rhyming. Yung puntos pa dos dos lang pero di mo pansin ang dami na. Again, effective, minsan may "Whoa"s pero most of the time boring.)

GL = Steph Curry
(Nagsimulang promising, pero it took some time to mature. But when he did, he changed the game. Mas relatable din and easy to follow from non-hardcore hiphop or Fliptop fans.)

BLKD = Charles Barkley
(Best player to not win a Ring. Unstoppable during his MVP year kaso yumuko parin kay Jordan/Loonie when they faced each other. Game declined when he gained weight LOL. Although kay Charles may kinalaman talaga yung decline sa game kay BLKD wala. Lastly, just like Charles, BLKD was a fan favorite because of his personality and exciting style of play.)

PS: Kung champion na si BLKD sa Isabuhay, DR. J sana being the game changer he was. Kaso uncrowned King parin talaga din kasi eh. Game changer parin naman si Chuck.)

Abra = Allen Iverson
(Most influential Battle rap personality during his era. Abra, similar to Iverson, helped bridge the gap between the underground scene (FlipTop) and mainstream recognition. Mukang hindi rin nagpapraktis. Kaya ayan, while kaya niya tapatan si Kobe/Shehyee sa 1v1, hindi siya nag champion katulad nung isa. LOL)

Mzhayt = Anthony Davis
(Just like AD, Champ din si Zhayt sa bawat tuntungan niyang level. NCAA/FIBA/NBA/OLYMPICS. Si Zhayt naman, Sunugan Kalye, Tryouts, Isabuhay and Dos por Dos.

AD is also best known for his defense and blocks, as for Zhayt, his Rebuttals.)

Sino pa sa tingin niyo? Add yours!

3/42 for a 6'9 dude who can hit 3s at an elite clip, attack mismatches in the paint, attack closeouts like a guard and hold up pretty good defensively is ridiculous value. A team would kill to have 1 one of those players. The Wolves got 2 in him and Towns

Presented without comment…

QUESTION: Upon review, was the kicked ball call against Aaron Nesmith deemed to be correct?

ZARBA: On the floor we felt that would be a kicked ball violation. Post game review did show that it hit the defender’s hand, which would be legal.

solid night only because of show down. bubbled on main slate without josh hart and a jokic basement game so what can you do. nuked show down so overall profit on the day. hope you guys had a great night. beginning of 2 new series tomorrow and OKC is clearly my favorite team to target on the slate.

If discord is something you are interested in, Will have a link below where i have in-depth content going over each slate, player pools for cash/gpps. cores and much more.

Edit: allen out - love mitch, garland solid, mobley very good. strus bump. caris good value. okoro firmly in play

A common example people usually point to for this type of player is Mike Conley:

He was a key member of the Grit N’ Grind Grizzlies that took the franchise to it’s first and only Western Conference Finals and is recognized as one of the better two-way guards in the NBA, but only has one All-Defensive selection and one All-Star team (which was an injury replacement selection later in his career).

4 of the last 5 NBA champions have already been eliminated (Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors), and the 5th, the Denver Nuggets, are down 0-2 and are likely to lose their series. If they do lose their series, we will now have a sixth unique champion in six years.

This has only happened once in NBA history: between 1975-1980. The Golden State Warriors won in 1975, the Boston Celtics won in 1976, the Portland Trail Blazers won in 1977, the Washington Wizards (then Bullets) won in 1978, the Seattle Supersonics won in 1979, and the Los Angeles Lakers won in 1980. (The Boston Celtics won in both 1974 and 1981, so we can't extend the streak further).

There's just an unparalleled level of parity in the league right now, which is crazy.

The reason why it’s funny is literally for 40 plus years the knicks have ALWAYS been on the wrong side of officiating. You can go back to the knicks playoffs in 1984 against the C’s all throughout the jordan era, all the way to the heat series and the suspensions that cost them, it’s on an on, this is not even counting the hundreds of regular season games lost by the knicks not getting the benefit of the whistle. Even if last night the calls went the knicks way, knicks franchise as a whole aren’t even close to the calls being even

REMINDER: NBA #REFWATCHPARTY | EAST SEMIFINALS GAME 2 TOMORROW 🏀

Experience the playoffs like only an NBA Referee can! Tune in to our LIVE NBA Ref Watch Party for expert commentary on real-time calls and interactive discussions. It's the ultimate viewing experience for the true basketball fan.

And don’t forget we’ll be doing it all over again Thursday night for the Western Conference Semifinals Game 2.

RT to share with other basketball fans and we’ll see you tomorrow right here on X.