People complain that the NBA isn’t really about the basketball. Fans care more, critics assert, about highlight plays, transactional drama and 3-point celebrations than about who actually wins the games on the floor. It’s times like that when you have to remember what sports are, at their very core. They’re entertainment.
This weekend alone we had Jimmy Butler’s return to the floor amid a trade demand, the Ball brothers putting on a spectacle in Chicago and one player untying another player’s shoes in the middle of a game. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being an Xs and Os person, more concerned about Spain pick-and-rolls than players vacationing there. But there’s no reason to tisk-tisk those who find delight on the periphery, with the personalities, the oddities and melodrama.
That’s perhaps the most enthralling aspect of the NBA after all — there’s something for everyone. Hopefully you find a tidbit that piques your interest while looking through this weekend’s winners and losers.
If the goal this season is to tank and hold onto their top-six protected pick, the 76ers are doing a phenomenal job. But for a team that has two aging and oft-injured stars (Joel Embiid and Paul George) who have played a whopping 13 games together, the idea of wasting any seasons within their potential championship window seems ill-conceived.
It’s not just those two, however, as Sunday’s list of available players against the Milwaukee Bucks showcased just how devastated this team has been recently:
They hung in there for a while before losing grasp of the game in the second half, falling to a lowly 15-26 on the year. This team has been mediocre even when healthy (7-6 with Embiid this season), and they’re rapidly running out of time to even have a chance to avoid — at best — one of the final Eastern Conference Play-In spots.
Hey, at least the Eagles won.
Winner: The Ball family
This may not be exactly what LaVar Ball “spoke into existence,” but there’s no denying that all three of his sons have become stars in their own right. Eldest brother Lonzo Ball is in the middle of a comeback tour with the Chicago Bulls while LaMelo Ball, the youngest, has already been an NBA All-Star and is currently one of the league’s top scorers. And now LiAngelo Ball, the one brother who failed to make the NBA, is now a recording artist with a hit single that’s racked up over 10 million YouTube views and launched the phrase, “I might swerve bend that corner woah” (yes I had to look that up to make sure I got it right) into part of everyday basketball vernacular.
The success of all three brothers took center stage on Friday night, when Lonzo and LaMelo met on the court for the first time in over 1,000 days as LiAngelo watched from United Center’s celebrity row. The result of the game and individual battle went to LaMelo, but moments like this — when Lonzo hounded his little brother for a good 15 straight seconds — transcended wins and losses.
The next matchup between the Bulls and Hornets is scheduled for April 6, while LiAngelo reportedly signed a record deal with Def Jam worth up to $13 million, with $8 million guaranteed. It’s a good time to be a Ball brother.
Loser: Jimmy Butler in purgatory
Jimmy Butler is back playing for the Heat … but he still has every intention of being traded. Bleh. Butler suited up for two games over the weekend following his seven-game suspension, averaging a nondescript 13 points and 4.5 assists in just over 30 minutes per game. Other than a generically cryptic “the whole truth will come out” vow, his postgame comments were largely uneventful.
If you’re looking for any signs of Butler trending toward the nuclear path, he only took seven field goal attempts in Sunday’s win over the Spurs, compared to 15 in Friday’s loss to the Nuggets.
Continuing to take half as many shots as the previous game would certainly make this situation come to a boil very quickly. However, there’s no indication that will happen. For now, Butler is being a good soldier. But the closer we get to the Feb. 6 trade deadline, the higher the chance of him taking matters into his own hands — whatever form that takes.
Winner: ‘Severance’ guerilla marketing
We’re not saying that the marketing team behind “Severance” brought in a ringer to sink a halfcourt shot at Madison Square Garden and then hug Ben Stiller afterward. But we’re not NOT saying it, either.
Stiller, an executive producer and director of the show, seemed all too ready to congratulate the young man who came away with a car for his trouble. If you watch the show, you know much weirder things have happened. Just saying.
Jordan Poole made another return to the Bay on Saturday, facing his former Warriors for the second time since being traded to the Washington Wizards in the aftermath of Draymond Green punching him in the face a couple years ago. That incident seems to be a thing of the past now (OK, maybe not?), but a new issue came to the forefront on Saturday night: Shoelace-Gate.
While lined up in the lane for a free throw, Warriors guard Gary Payton II sat into a crouch, extended his left arm and untied the laces of Poole’s right shoe. Looking unamused, Poole immediately turned to tattle alert the officials about what happened.
When confronted by 14-year veteran NBA ref Josh Tiven, however, Payton deflected brilliantly without actually denying that he committed the heinous act: “He told you something and how you know he not lying? Maybe he lying. Why would I do that?”
Payton’s obfuscation of the truth might have saved him an unsportsmanlike conduct technical foul, which could have been costly in what ended up being a tight 122-114 Warriors win. Despite Poole’s stern protestation, it does appear that it was nothing but a bit of jocular banter between two friends, as Payton explained afterward.
“It’s always fun playing with Jordan, against Jordan. I was with him all summer,” Payton said after the win. “We’ve been at it all summer, so now it’s time to go to work, it makes it even more fun. I’m just messing around, trying to have fun. That’s it.”
