I always wondered why the NBA settled on Las Vegas for its big, annual summer league extravaganza. But now it makes sense.
Where else can you go every year and tell yourself not to get your hopes up, only to talk yourself into hitting it big every time?
- Put me down for Chet Holmgren to win Rookie of the Year.
- No one expected you to actually retire, LeBron James.
- “The Bear” starts slow, but it’s worth the wait. I love every member of the cast, but Massachusetts’ own Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richie is just brilliant.
- He’s no Grant Hill or Brandon Roy, but if Lonzo Ball never plays in the NBA again, he’ll go down as a headliner in the “what if”: role player category.
- Tacko Fall’s free throw looks like someone threw a hot coal at him. He’s shooting 71.4%, so maybe we’ve found a new training method.
- QUIZ OF THE WEEK: Who is the lowest-drafted NBA player to make the Hall of Fame? (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
- There isn’t a single soul who has had conversations with either side in Jaylen Brown’s extension talks who thinks the deal won’t get done fairly soon. At the same time, everyone who believes the deal will get done soon is wondering why the deal hasn’t been done yet.
- Is there a lake in Serbia where I can swim and become the level of elite athlete they seem to produce over there?
- Sam Cassell will be the best thing that happened to the Celtics in a while.
- If you open an anime and sword shop in Portland, Maine, Jordan Walsh alone will keep you in business.
- The New Orleans Pelicans leaking the possibility of trading Zion Williamson after sordid personal affairs became public might have actually worked.
“I'm at that point now, because of certain things, I'm putting back the wisdom around me.”
Finally.
- The last thing anyone wants to see is Shohei Ohtani on the Yankees.
- Grant Williams will do well in Dallas. He’ll also do well on the next three teams he plays for.
- Even after all this time, I still think Bill Withers’ drummer had the hardest job in music.
- The Detroit Pistons went 17-65 last season and said to themselves, “yeah, let’s run it back.”
Good luck, Monty Williams.
- Gregg Popovich’s extension with San Antonio is $1.5 million more than Williams’ record coaching contract in Detroit. Funny how that happened.
- Kyrie Irving might seem to be dancing on the edge of the flat earth, but $126 million from Dallas and a new shoe deal from Anta continue to prove talent > morals.
Or you can just ask Miles Bridges and the Charlotte Hornets.
- QUIZ ANSWER: Dan Issel, the 120th overall pick. Drafts were longer back then, and Issel would have gone higher if he didn’t choose to go to the ABA.
You might have said Ben Wallace, who was undrafted. Partial credit for that one.
- Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers are both right. That can make things ugly and drawn out.
- I couldn't be happier for Tony Dobbins, who sort of fell into the head coaching role for the Celtics at summer league. Regardless of circumstance, he earned the shot to patrol the sidelines and teach a bit. Dobbins has a great attitude and he has a bright NBA future.
- The WNBA is fun.
- The Western Conference is going to be ridiculous next season. OKC and New Orleans have a chance to be really good, but who gets knocked out of the playoff mix?
Sorry, Clippers, this could be the beginning of the end for you.
- The Milwaukee Bucks had to run it back, but there's not much tread left on that tire.
- Say a little prayer for Dick Vitale, who has vocal cord cancer and is starting radiation to treat it.
- Every Saturday growing up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, I’d get the Providence Journal to read Bill Reynolds’ “For What It’s Worth” column, written in this format. He was one of my biggest influences in sports writing. He passed away yesterday.
He was a legend. I hope I did him justice, Bunky.