Good morning. The Triple Flop is real.
That and much more in Tuesday’s NBA newsletter.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
IMPORTANT BASKETBALL NEWS IN LIKE 30 SECONDS! The Grizzlies and Rockets remain undefeated! Chandler Parsons is still scoring out of his mind (29 vs. Boston in a nail-biter). The Kings are 3-1 (and are totally maybe possibly the new Suns). Reggie Jackson is back but the Nets beat the Thunder by 31. The Clippers had another close win against an inferior team and might be the least impressive 3-1 team ever.
NEED MORE? You can get fuller info on any and all of those games at our NBA Scores hub.
KABOOM: The elusive triple flop made an appearance at Kings-Nuggets: DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Kenneth Faried all exaggerated contact in hilarious fashion at the same time. I’d like to note for the record that all three played on Team USA last summer. What sort of dark sorcery is Coach K teaching out there?
AHAHAHA: Mikhail Prokhorov went on the Nets’ broadcast on Monday to talk about Jason Kidd (who he dissed) and explain why he shouldn’t get married this year. The way he talks about George Clooney (like a fallen comrade) makes me think there’s a secret cabal of rich single men who cavort together.
SIXER UP: Watch Nerlens Noel erase James Harden.. Philadelphia lost by 11.
TOO MUCH GOOD STUFF: Oh dearie me, Rudy Gobert. Read the macro before jumping to defend a DeAndre Jordan alley-oop finish!
VIEWING GUIDE: Paul Flannery sets up the week of basketball to come. It’s huge frame for the Warriors.
PAU! Kevin Durant says that during Pau Gasol’s OKC free agent meeting, the Spaniard was more concerned about whether he could see fine performing arts in Oklahoma than basketball. Pau is the best.
SO MUCH POWER: Drew Garrison’s Power Rankings have been super impressive. Even moreso that poor D.G., a Lakers fan, has to consider them in the context of the broader NBA while putting the rankings together.
FINALLY: Kendrick Lamar, the L.A. rapper who dubbed himself the “King of New York” and announced his intentions to sonically murder all other rivals in a verse on Big Sean’s “Control” last year, has apologized to Phil Jackson for a reference about the Zen Master in the song. On the track, K-Dot claimed that even Phil Jackson couldn’t coach him. That’s clearly false. Phil coached Dennis Rodman and Andrew Bynum to championships, after all.
This has been Tom Ziller Overexplaining A Rap Thing.
MYTH OF THE SHORT CORNER Interesting study on why corner threes are shot at a higher efficiency. It’s more about the openness of the shot than the length.
THE POWER PACK: Rob Mahoney has an early look at the Suns’ three-PG lineups. Also, motion to refer to the trio as the Power Pack. Do I hear a second?
MORE LIKE WEST-IONS: Sam Amick has five early questions about the West.
TO LIVE AND DIE WITH T.A.: Pretty great Tony Allen piece by Joe Mullinax.
PERRY YAY: Danny Chau on Perry Jones III.
WELP: Kevin Durant confirms he pulled out of Team USA due to Paul George’s horrific injury. Alanis Morissette thinks his eventual injury is ironic.
Happy Tuesday. See you next time.
