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Give Michael Jordan a Nobel Peace Prize
Good morning. We have that and more in Tuesday’s NBA newsletter.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
The NBA was apparently not pleased with the New York Knicks’ bungling of the Charles Oakley situation last week. Knicks owner James “Jim” “J.D.” Dolan exposed himself legally when he openly suggested Oakley has an alcohol problem; Dolan made his franchise look petty and foolish by banning Oakley from Madison Square Garden for life.
So Commissioner Adam Silver brokered peace. He summoned Oakley and Dolan to his office, and put the one and only Michael Jordan on the line. MJ is a close friend of Oakley’s and a fellow franchise owner, giving him some pull with Dolan beyond just being the Greatest Of All Time.
The end result? The ban is lifted and Dolan has invited Oakley to watch a game with him. Is there anything MJ can’t do?
[remembers the Hornets are seven games below .500]
Wait, don’t answer that.
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Scores Galore ...
PHI 105, CHA 99
SAS 110, IND 106
MEM 112, BKN 103
ORL 116, MIA 107
OKC 98, WAS 120
DET 89, MIL 102
BOS 111, DAL 98
GSW 110, DEN 132
LAC 88, UTA 72
NOP 110, PHX 108
ATL 109, POR 104
... And Plenty More
The All-Star Game is coming! In celebration, we have an incredible animated origin story on the current giants roaming the NBA, doing things they ought not be doing. As Paul Flannery writes, these so-called unicorns evolved from Kevin Garnett, who evolved from Ralph Sampson. Seriously, if you click one link in this newsletter, click this one. Trust me.
Now that the NBA’s new labor deal is done, expansion is becoming a hot topic. I wrote about what it would take for the league to add teams.
The Nuggets tied the regular season record with 24 threes to beat the Warriors. Golden State now has as many losses as they did all of last season. Juancho Hernangomez is a god.
G’s up! Ad Age reports that Gatorade is poised to become the title sponsor of the NBA D-League, and that the league will be re-branded the G-League. The league was once known as the NBA Developmental League before it was officially abbreviated to the D-League. It will have a record 25 teams next season as nearly every NBA squad moves to one-to-one affiliation. And now it has a ready-made theme song that is in no way problematic. (Very NSFW unless you work in the G-League front office, in which case, market research.)
The Jazz did something truly great with their jersey patch sponsorship. Kudos to the Jazz and Qualtrics.
Zito Madu on how Warriors vs. Thunder proves all a rivalry needs is hate. Marc Spears writes that OKC fans need to let the hate go (with some interesting comments from Draymond Green).
Be excellent to each other.
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