You won’t have Sam Hinkie to kick around anymore

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

THE SAM HINKIE ERA, JUNE 2013-APRIL 2016: On Wednesday Sam Hinkie resigned from the Sixers via a 13-page letter that quotes Abraham Lincoln, Warren Buffett, Amos Tversky and Jeff Van Gundy. It’s every bit as amazing as that sentence indicates. It’s so amazing I posted it on Genius so we can all annotate it together. (I got in like two jokes before Hinkie’s Volunteer Army started calling me names in the comments to the annotations.)

In an interesting twist of fate, the notoriously press-shy Hinkie made a long appearance on Zach Lowe’s podcast this week. (WARNING: link has autoplaying audio.) It’s fascinating listening in terms of what had been clearly (in retrospect) going on behind the scenes. I also enjoyed this early column from Derek Bodner on trusting the process and mistrusting management.

SHOALS ON A.I. I don’t really need to sell you on Bethlehem Shoals writing about Allen Iverson’s basketball immortality, do I?

HAIKU MOCK DRAFT.

WHOOP[S]: Matthew Dellavedova wore a high-tech activity tracker in 15 games before someone tipped off the NBA. Wearables are banned for game action. Tom Haberstroh explains the interesting situation the league’s in with the Whoop tracker and other wearable tech.

HOW DALLAS BEAT HOUSTON WITH TWO KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYS.

SCORES GALORE ...

CLE 109, IND 123
DET 108, ORL 104
BKN 103, WAS 121
NOP 97, BOS 104
CHA 111, NYK 97
HOU 86, DAL 88
OKC 115, POR 120
LAC 91, LAL 81

PLAYOFF PICTURE: Indiana and Detroit are both real close to clinching playoff spots after big wins. The Rockets blew an important one. Our standing playoff picture post breaks down the magic numbers for teams on the fringe.

BRUTALLY ACCURATE ANALYSIS.

THE OTHER STREAK: Yaron Weitzman on how impressive the Warriors’ now-ended streak of 114 games with a 15-point lead without a loss really was.

BEST WISHES: Jerry Sloan has Parkinson’s and a form of dementia.

NEEDLESS TO SAY: Hiring Kurt Rambis full-time would be indefensible.

DAILY ISAIAH: It’s just cruel to do this to what is left of the Pelicans.

HOW NOVA SPRUNG KRIS JENKINS: Really cool breakdown of how Villanova got Kris Jenkins his shot at the end of the national title game.

YEP: Charles Barkley says that the NBA should move the 2017 NBA All-Star Game out of North Carolina.

AND ANOTHER ONE: Thabo Sefolosha is indeed suing the NYPD and five individual officers involved in the incident last spring where his leg was broken as he was arrested on charges a judge later determined were horse manure.

HMM: Has 73-9 begun to haunt the Warriors?

Happy Thursday. See you next time.