Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Stephen Curry, man
Good morning. We have that and more in Thursday’s NBA newsletter.
KOBE FINDS A WAY: Kobe Bryant, shooting his way right out of the league, hits two key shots to ice the Wizards and give the Lakers Win No. 3. Wizards fans were chanting his name. This is going to be a thing.
THE EAGLE ELEPHANT: Jen Floyd Engel raises an important point about whether Kobe’s alleged rape of a Colorado hotel worker should be mentioned in discussion of his legacy. I think the answer is both obvious and difficult. Of course it is a major part of his legacy. Engel acknowledges that she feels guilt for having enjoyed Kobe’s career in spite of his awful crime against a woman. That’s the emotion I can’t fathom (not having the experience of being a woman). It’s a major philosophical issue, for sure, surrounding every conversation about R. Kelly, Mike Tyson and, for a time, Bill Cosby, until he became notorious enough to become a national villain. There’s an easy answer that’s not really easy to implement. Regardless, read Engel’s piece. It’s insightful and thought-provoking.
THE CHEF OF CHARLOTTE: Stephen Curry dropped 40 in three quarters in his hometown. Twenty-eight of those came in the third, and 14 of those came in the final two minutes of the quarter. So, yes, he had the Charlotte faithful cheering him like he wasn’t beating down their team. The Warriors are 20-0.
SCORES: In the interest of public service, I’m going to try a new thing to get the scores into the newsletter. Here goes ...
GSW 116, CHA 99
LAL 108, WAS 104
DET 127, PHX 122 (OT)
NYK 99, PHI 87
TOR 96, ATL 86
CHI 99, DEN 90
HOU 108, NOP 101
SAS 95, MIL 70
IND 103, LAC 91
WELL THAT’S UNFORTUNATE: Kent Bazemore gets a chasedown block ... that still bounces into the basket.
IN YOUR FAVORS: Rob Mahoney breaks down the growth of Derrick Favors.
BROKE THE JAH RULES: Jahlil Okafor suspended two games by the Sixers after that Boston fight and everything else. This was announced shortly after a video showing Okafor punching a second man in that incident was released.
DAMN: If the Warriors sweep their current road trip (six more games), they’ll tie the record for longest single-season road winning streak ever, at 16.
TONIGHT TONIGHT: Your TNT doubleheader features Thunder-Heat (7 p.m. ET) followed by Spurs-Grizzlies (9:30). The Kings and Celtics are playing Mexico City (10 p.m. ET, League Pass) if you like the possibility of chaos.
Happy Thursday. See you next time.
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