Hoodie Melo and Woke Pop ruled NBA media day

Most NBA teams held Media Day on Monday. Carmelo Anthony arrived in Oklahoma City in the, uh, nick of time, and thankfully he didn’t lose his hoodie in transit. So he posed for some official NBA photos wearing it, feeding the meme machine. I would like to join the call for the NBA to allow Melo to play in a hoodie this season.

Meanwhile, down I-35, Gregg Popovich held court on President Donald Trump and racism in America in 2017. Go read the transcript or watch the video. Just do it.

LeBron James was as forceful as ever in expanding his comments from Saturday. Lots and lots of other players commented on the most important story in sports -- protests of police brutality and racism by athletes -- as well. John Wall called out Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Bradley Beal called the president a clown.

Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo is over here telling Dad Jokes.

Preseason basketball begins Saturday.

Eight takeaways from Sunday’s Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. Game 2 is at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 with the Sparks up 1-0.

ESPN announced Monday that Doris Burke will be a full-time game analyst for the network. She’s the first woman to get such a role in the NBA. She’s overqualified and overdue. Congrats, DoBu.

Must-read from Kevin Arnovitz on why Gregg Popovich is so bothered by President Trump.

Nathaniel Friedman on the power of U Bum.

Kristian Winfield writes that Carmelo deserved better from the Knicks. I wrote about Carmelo being miscast by his teams and being judged against something he could never be. Carmelo wrote a love letter to New York as his farewell. Jason Concepcion says goodbye to Melo. Harvey Araton considers how much of the Knicks’ failures were his fault. (Melo’s, not Harvey’s.) Ian Begley sums up the era.

Meanwhile, Carmelo has a fundraiser for Puerto Rico relief set up. Our friends in San Juan and beyond are going to need every bit of help we can offer for years to come.

Something else LeBron waxed on Monday: his relationship with Kyrie Irving.

Zach Lowe’s most intriguing players going into this season.

T.J. Warren earned a nice, big extension from the Suns. Four years, $50 million. This could be a huge bargain in a couple years.

Paul George sure is saying all of the right things about staying in Oklahoma City so far. Of course, our friends in Indiana are right to be skeptical ...

Will Nerlens Noel be a starter on the Mavericks after taking the qualifying offer? Rick Carlisle isn’t commiting to that. Get your popcorn.

Shea Serrano on Patrick Beverley’s journey to Los Angeles.

While we thought Quincy Pondexter was recovering from two microfractures, he was actually cheating death.

And finally: praise be to Dirk Nowitzki.