Arena The NBA Thread

Noone in here or anywhere else knows if any of these athletes are too good, but ok. We don't know how they are in their personal lives (of course I am not talking about the ones who make the news for all the wrong reasons, aka wife beating, brawls in bars, all kinds of trouble with the law).

This map obviously portrays negativity that all these athletes have because of their choices while playing sports, not because of how good or bad they are as people. And it is obviously limited to the people who get a lot of time in the limelight, otherwise it would only have the criminals (and there are a few NBA players that have been such). So when it comes to how people judge them, I would bet it's because of 1) behavior on the court and 2) social media behavior.

Kyrie gets the cake because of the latter.... with the flat earth, the antivaxxer status and now the antisemitism signs, it's just too much. LeBron gets the 2nd piece because of his narcissism and probably also because of his fans. I really can't ever think of a narcissist egomaniac as "too good of a guy". Draymond gets his "hate" because of his very intense personality which has caused negative incidents for him too. Durant's tweets and interviews also make him somewhat unlikeable. Simmons.... I feel bad for him honestly, especially knowing he has had mental health struggles. People hate on him for the sole reason that he was pushed by the media to be a game changer, and he turned out to be a role player. As soon as people accept this, then they should stop "hating" him, even if they are from Philly or NJ and they think he destroyed their otherwise good teams (LOL he didn't, they still suck).

 

I like the Atlanta city court better than the uniform. Love the peach that is made out of a basketball at center court.

And you just reminded me with the demise of Twitter Durant won't be able to make burner accounts to argue with his "haters".

 

crypto.com better be next?!

 

LOL delay of game violation on Draymond Green because the ball hit his shoulder clearly unintentionally after a made basket. Following a completely unreal flagrant foul on Jordan Poole even though LaVert's feet went forward after he shot. And following two fouls on Curry that were ridiculous. It's been a while since I saw officiating this bad.

UGH Donovan Mitchell rolled his ankle, and it looked bad.

And the most ridiculous call of the game against Draymond even after the challenge LOL

 

Listened to Christmas music for the first time this season this morning on my way to Saturday morning run. Every time I hear lyrics about "the newborn king" I picture LeBron James in my head.

 

Embiid carried his team past Utah about as thoroughly as one can, with 59/11/8/7, on 20-24 free throws. PJ Tucker scored 0 points in 30 minutes. Tobias scored 8 points on 4-12 shooting. Maxey scored 18 on 8-24. The team went 4-23 on threes. Embiid actually helped their percentage just by going 1-5. The only other guy on the team to even attempt a free throw was Danuel House.

 

Enjoyed the evening with my son, but no Ja and no Bradley Beal. Kristaps Prozingis shot a lot of 3's he had a good night. Pretty much no vegetarian choices at Capital One Arena was also a real let down.

 

Vintage AD performance last night against the Nets: 37pts/18 boards; Lonnie Walker, too, impressed with 25pts. Good to start my weekend with a Laker win, and to see James Worthy on the postgame show smiling/in a good mood!

 

I'm shocked... SHOCKED...

The Ben Simmons Addition Is Not Working Out the Way the Brooklyn Nets Hoped It Would

 

I don't think there is a more unlikeable team than the Suns this year.
Sorry to any Arizona residents who are fans, nothing personal

Seeing the score in Dallas, win for the Rockets. I immediately assume Luka didn't play. Indeed.

Shai Gilgeous Alexander is wasting his talent in Oklahoma. Then again, maybe they will build around him.
They have a lot of young talented players. And I love Josh Giddey.

 

Don't insult OKC. I'm the resident Thunder fan. For reasons you don't want to know. But Josh Giddy could be an Abercrombie and Fitch model that's for sure. Lu Dort and now Pokusevski are also impressive players.

 

1. The nets have definitely been more unlikable than the Suns.

2. I kind of love the bragging and posturing that the Suns were doing in the Warriors’ faces last night, because the warriors have been doing it to teams for years and it was looked at adoringly by the NBA media.

3. They are actively building around SGA. He’s not wasting his talent; I feel like he’s honing his skills in the small market while they see what they have in Chet and the wealth of draft capital they have over the next few years.

 

Meh, I specifically didn't mention the Nets and the Lakers, because they are both a joke and I am actually amused by everything that is happening to them this year (and not only this year). Can't really have any strong feelings for these two teams, both are somewhat of a guilty pleasure.

Literally every team in the NBA does that when they are winning. There was nothing that the Warriors did that was over the top, especially if you compare their players to some other far more arrogant players. Steph Curry brought out his "petty side" as he said for literally one year, last year, because the media was pushing the narrative that they suck and they are never going to win without KD. As much as the media has been "adoring" the Warriors, they have also been crapping on them by the same amount. No Warrior player has bragged more in the face of other players than players like LeBron, Westbrook, KD or even Damian Lillard (who I actually love). It's part of the game.

That's not why I called the Suns unlikeable. I could not care less for their bragging after a good play, as I said, it is part of the game. I just cannot stand Devin Booker, he's a spoiled little **** , and apparently he has rubbed off on players that used to be alright, like Mikal Bridges and Ayton. Suddenly half of this team is a bunch of provocative flopping drama queens who occassionnally play dirty too.

 

tell me you don't watch the NBA without telling me you don't watch the NBA

 

I watch a lot of the NBA. And certainly more than you, if you disagree with that.
Every one hates a winning team, it is what it is. Selective quotes be selective, nice.

I just remembered the play with 1 minute left in the game last night by Cameron Payne.
Nice. Dirty foul against a player that has spent 2 years out with injury, when you're up 18 points.

 

honestly the suns don't even rate for me as far as unlikable teams. this is actually a weird year for me in that i'm finding it hard to find teams to actively root against. i think a big part of that is the warriors winning last year and, after that pressure was lifted, just being able to enjoy the sport with no stress no matter who is playing. i guess my least liked team this year is probably boston, but that's mostly because they're scary good.

 

The team to pick in that regard, @tom.



.

 

I don’t particularly care about the Suns one way or the other, but I do think the coach Monty Williams deserves a lot of credit for the success the team has had over the last few years

 

Nah bruh. The warriors were overboard. It’s fine. But let’s not act like it was a normal amount of showboating.

 

i think i could probably find six gifs of any star player celebrating a play. maybe not the best way to prove your point.

 

Celebrating and frontrunning (or “hotdogging” in the words of the MACHO MAN) are different things.

Celebrate a play or two? That’s normal.

A lot of the Warriors frontrunning was done when they were blowing teams out by 25+ points with a super loaded team. I’m not mad about it; in the words of the great American poet Future “You do what you want when you poppin.” But it was more than any other team I’ve ever seen.

And you don’t have to believe me, but players themselves on podcasts, interviews, and with their on the court play show you that yea… some of these guys rub it in against the warriors because it feels like payback.