Grind City Media’s Lang Whitaker and Michael Wallace have been covering the NBA
since shorts were short and socks were long, but their opinions about the League
don’t always mesh. #IMHO is their weekly chance to weigh in on the most
pertinent news from around the NBA. What’s lit? What’s lame? Find out each week
right here.
From: Lang Whitaker Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2019 9:08 PM To: Michael Wallace
Subject: #IMHO
Mike,
And then there was one. Well, in the Western Conference, at least. While Toronto
and Milwaukee continue trading haymakers in the Eastern Conference Finals, the
Golden State Warriors have clinched the Western Conference, and a fifth
consecutive trip to the Western Conference Finals. No KD, no Boogie Cousins, no
problem for the Warriors, who swept the Portland Trail Blazers in the Conference
Finals to advance to the final round.
But while we wait to see who Golden State will face off against, let’s consider
the fate of the vanquished Portland Trail Blazers. They had a good offseason
last summer, adding Amara Baptist, but this year they lost Josef Nurkic to what
seemed to be a catastrophic injury, and while they made it to the Conference
Finals without Nurkic, they got knocked out in a sweep, for the third year in a
row.
The Blazers seem to have responded quickly, agreeing to a contract extension
with coach Terry Stotts, and also apparently readying a four-year contract for
Damian Lillard worth just under $200 million(!). So the Blazers seem to be
doubling down on what they’re already got going. Mike, do you think they should
stay the course? Or after being swept three years in a row, could it be time to
shake things up in Rip City?
From: Michael Wallace Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2019 8:44 AM To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: RE: #IMHO
Lang, there’s a lot about this Blazers team. They remind me of the Core Four
Grizzlies squad that made seven straight playoff appearances, galvanized the
city and was appreciated by the national media for doing it with gritty team
ball and great guys who are easy to root for in the postseason. And,
unfortunately, there’s only so far those teams were able to go. The Grizzlies,
like the Blazers, fizzled out in the 2013 Western Conference finals via a sweep
to the Spurs, the West’s previous juggernaut before the Warriors took the
throne.
Sometimes, you just come along in the wrong decade. Just ask the Karl Malone’s
Jazz, Patrick Ewing’s Knicks, Kevin Durant’s Thunder, Paul George’s Pacers and
even James Harden’s Rockets. All that said, I do believe the Blazers have
another legit run or two in this core anchored by Damian Lillard and C.J.
McCollum. They weren’t even at full strength, as you mentioned, because of the
season-ending Nurkic injury. The additions of Rodney Hood and Enes Kanter along
the way, and the emergence of Seth Curry all helped. But if they remain intact,
it’ll be nice to see that team build with a training camp and full season
together.
Portland has proved to be a legit top-four team in the West. But this series was
all about the Warriors reestablishing their dominance and proving they were
capable of being who they were before Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins landed
on the Bay. Five straight Finals appearances. First time that’s been done in
more than 50 years. Now, here’s my question, Lang: Is Durant essentially in a
no-win situation? If he comes back and they win it all, they were on course to
do it without him. If he comes back and they lose in the Finals, the narrative
would be his return disrupted what they had going.
KD has come a long way to end up facing the same issues he did when he arrived,
hasn’t he?
From: Lang Whitaker Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2019 10:56 AM To: Michael Wallace
Subject: RE: #IMHO
You talking about the Blazers coming along in the wrong decade reminds me of
when I was an Atlanta Hawks fan growing up. Those Hawks teams had so many very
good players (Dominique Wilkins, Kevin Willis, Doc Rivers, Randy Wittman, etc),
but they came along at the same time as Michael Jordan and the Bulls. I mean,
talk about a road block. We knew the Hawks were good, but they were never going
to get past that goat-shaped bottleneck. Sometimes, I guess, you just shrug and
keep after it.
Regarding the Warriors, I saw a clip the other day of Jason Williams on one of
the ESPN morning argument shows, and he was bothered by the Oakland crowd
chanting “MVP” while Curry was at the free throw line.
There was something that bothered @RealJayWilliams last night during Game 2 of
Warriors vs. Blazers.Here’s what it is: pic.twitter.com/DCjnY29WZr
Williams’ reasoning was that the Warriors are actually KD’s team, but fans see
it as Curry’s team. Now, I was not invited to join the argument, but I wish I’d
been there to point out that the fans are correct. Curry was there during the
Mark Jackson era, and Curry revitalized that franchise and that fan base. Curry
won two MVP awards along the way, got them to a couple of NBA Finals, won a
title, and made the franchise a place so desirable that Kevin Durant left
another title-worthy franchise and joined up on Curry’s team.
The Golden State Warriors are Stephen Curry’s team. Kevin Durant is probably the
best player on the team, but Kevin Durant is the best player on Stephen Curry’s
team. Doesn’t matter if KD stays or goes, the Warriors are Curry’s team. Durant
got some titles and Finals MVP awards, but he will probably forever be primarily
defined by the career choices he’s made instead of his basketball greatness.
Which isn’t exactly fair, but that’s just the way it is, shouts to Bruce
Hornsby.
Speaking of morning argument shows on ESPN, Magic Johnson popped up one earlier
this week and threw more shade at Lakers GM Rob Pelinka than a set of velvet
drapes. What in the world was going on there, and how do the Lakers make their
way out of this mess? When the face of your franchise is critical of the front
office, how do you repair that rift? Or can you even mend it?
From: Michael Wallace Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2019 7:50 PM To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: RE: #IMHO
Magic channeled his inner Nas and went Ether. He conjured up his inner 2Pac and
went ‘Hit ‘Em Up.’ He summoned his inner Ice Cube and went ‘No Vaseline.’ I
could go on and on and on with the greatest dis tracks in hip-hop history. Magic
certainly didn’t hold any punches in knocking out Pelinka, rolling Jennie under
the bus (again) and making sure LeBron knew that not even King James could stop
Magic from going Magic when Magic wants to go full Magic.
The dysfunction is real in L.A. This was worse than a reality show. They’ve made
LeBron a bit of a sympathetic figure in terms of the choice he made to join the
Lakers. And I didn’t even think that was possible. The only way the Lakers get
out of this is to figure out a way to get the stubborn Pelicans to finally deal
Anthony Davis to Los Angeles and replace the Brandon Ingram element of the trade
with the No. 4 pick going back in the package to New Orleans. From there, the
Lakers can chart their path to one of the free agent wings on the market or even
figure a way to scrounge up enough cap space to acquire another top-tier player
this summer. But that seems like a longshot at this point. No one seems willing
to help the Lakers.
Magic spoke his truth, as he said. And there are few people in business or
basketball who can get away with doing it the way he did it. That freedom had to
be refreshing on many levels. Now, one of the most storied franchises in NBA
history is left to pick up the pieces – again.
Lang, we’ll get out of here on this: For the first time since 1984, all five of
the first picks in the draft made the All-Rookie First Team, which was announced
this week. Jaren Jackson Jr. joined Deandre Ayton, Luka Doncic, Marvin Bagley
III and Trae Young. There’s no chance that group will be as good as the one
anchored all those years ago by Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and Hakeem
Olajuwon in 1984. But does this group have the potential to rival the 2003 class
highlighted by LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh?
From: Lang Whitaker Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2019 9:27 AM To: Michael Wallace
Subject: RE: #IMHO
The short answer, Mike, is nope. As good as last year’s draft class has shown
themselves to be – and they’ve looked very good, to be certain – there is no
LeBron in that class, which is to say a player where the ceiling is the roof, to
paraphrase Michael Jordan himself. As great as Jaren and Luka and Trae were this
season, I don’t know if there is a player in their class who projects as an
all-timer. Like, as great as Jaren is, and he clearly could become a great power
forward, but I don’t know if he will become arguably the greatest player of
all-time.
To me, that’s what made all those players you mentioned so memorable. They
weren’t just good, they all became great. And I feel like for the players of the
2018 class, that should be their goal. That’s how good they could be. Those guys
are all already basically NBA rotation players or better. Now it’s time for them
to set their sights even higher.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Memphis
Grizzlies. All opinions expressed by Lang Whitaker and Michael Wallace are
solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of the Memphis Grizzlies or its
Basketball Operations staff, owners, parent companies, partners or sponsors.
Their sources are not known to the Memphis Grizzlies and they have no special
access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being
an NBA accredited member of the media.
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