Good morning. Let’s basketball.
So that’s how Mario Hezonja gets down?
Good morning. We have that and more in Thursday’s NBA newsletter.
LAMAR ODOM UPDATE: There was a lot of celebrity trash reporting around Lamar Odom on Wednesday, but you can find that elsewhere. I’ll just link to the L.A. Times’ summary of what we know for sure. As for his health, there has been painfully little in the way of updates. Ramona Shelburne reports that while L.O. is not out of the woods and is breathing via a tube, he did make some small improvements on Wednesday. More, please.
WHAT MAKES DION WAITERS DION WAITERS: I wrote about the similar numbers but highly different reputations of Dion Waiters and Kemba Walker as an exploration of the cost of a bad attitude.
PREVIEWOPOLIS: Paul Flannery and I talk about the Thunder, who I remain enamored with. We’ll see what happens. Here’s Welcome To Loud City’s preview. We also covered the Pistons, who finally look like a Stan Van Gundy team. Here’s what Detroit Bad Boys has to say.
THABO IS BACK: Thabo Sefolosha made his preseason debut on Wednesday. I wonder if hardcore team fans around the nation have paid attention closely enough that Thabo will get fan pops when he checks into games the first time around.
DJ DIESEL: So, Shaq is a DJ now. This Vice Sports piece by Ian Frisch follows Big Aristotle to his biggest performance yet. What an interesting life. His outside interests and willingness to explore things that weren’t basketball were criticized during his NBA career, but it’s made him a far more well-rounded person than some of his contemporaries. (I’ll also note that Shaq has a pretty good Spotify playlist if you’re into EDM. The things you stumble across ...)
LOL: Rajon Rondo tricked a cub reporter and a swarm of non-local aggregators into thinking he has beef with George Karl. That’s so Rondo!
CHOOSING WISCONSIN: Brian Windhorst has the interesting story behind the Bucks landing Greg Monroe. Moose comes off really smart, which is not surprising because he’s a cerebral player.
DON’T ASK RUSSELL ANYTHING: You know how Russell Westbrook is really contemptuous of the media and refuses to answer most questions in a way that actually allows the media to do its job? He did a Reddit AMA and acted the same way. The man is consistent.
Happy Thursday. See you next time.
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