Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Nerlens Noel no longer trusts the process
Good morning. We have that and more in Monday’s NBA newsletter.
EXPIRED TICKET: Kevin Garnett announced his retirement on Friday after 21 glorious years in the NBA. The crazy stories came out immediately, so we collected the best ones. Canis Hoopus said thank you to the Big Ticket. Karl-Anthony Towns’ tribute was sweet and a little sad.
DENIED: The Heat announced on Friday that they have not cleared Chris Bosh for training camp. That said, there’s no indication that Miami is prepared to waive him, either, despite anonymous Heat officials thinking he’s done with the franchise. (In interesting news, Bosh also fired CAA as his agent.)
SOMEONE ISN’T TRUSTING THE PROCESS: Nerlens Noel is mad about the Sixers’ frontcourt logjam, and the preseason hasn’t even started yet. He tells Keith Pompey about how he finds the coexistence of himself, Joel Embiid, and Jahlil Okafor “silly” and argued the franchise needs to figure this out sooner rather than later for everyone’s benefit. He’s right, but there’s a real reason for the team to drag its feet: Embiid is still a question mark.
NOT SILLY: The Sixers this weekend became the first major North American sports franchise to buy into eSports.
ANOTHER YEAR OF TRUTH: Paul Pierce announces he will play one more season in the NBA, then retire. PLOT TWIST! He’s playing for the Sacramento Kings. (Just kidding, it’s the Clippers again.)
PLAYOFFS: The WNBA semifinals are set: Sky vs. Sparks and Mercury vs. Lynx. Both best-of-five series tip off Wednesday. Swish Appeal has your coverage.
ANOTHER ERUDITE NBA COACH: Stan Van Gundy speaks out against police violence and in support of players who may protest.
UCONN’T BE SERIOUS: Kevin Ollie’s UConn team has a stacked backcourt, writes Ricky O’Donnell.
WARM FUZZY LUKE WALTON TIME. He really gets on with his millennial players!
L.A.’S OTHER TEAM: Blake Griffin on what it’s like to be a Clipper in a Lakers town.
PODCAST WORLD TOUR: The Grizzlies are up next on the Limited Upside preview schedule.
MMM, RING JUICE: Zaza Pachulia explains why he gave up a bunch of money to sign with Golden State, using a very odd analogy.
THAT’S DISRESPECT: Klay Thompson’s dog uses the third-base line at Dodger Stadium infield as his personal bathroom.
THE SUMMER OF STEVEN ADAMS: Steven Adams understands completely if you don’t want him to hold your tiny baby. In other news, Adams claims he once avoided receiving trash talk from KG by claiming to not speak English.
AND FINALLY: Our NBA team previews start on Monday. As we did a year ago, Paul Flannery and I are previewing each team with a conversation on a topic or three. Plus, SB Nation NBA’s team sites will have previews for y’all. Two per day, every weekday for the next three weeks. Let’s go!
Happy Monday. See you next time.
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