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, December 11, 2018 10:38 AM To: Michael
Wallace Subject: #IMHO
Mike,
As we creep closer to the Christmas bonanza of big-time NBA matchups, there was
something earlier this week that caught me off guard. The Lakers hosted the
Heat, and the Lakers ended up getting a 108-105 win, which kept them firmly in
the playoff race in the Western Conference.
But I was unprepared for the level of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade hype
manufactured around the game. There was an official hashtag(!), and headlines
included phrases like “one more special moment” and “square off for a final
time.”
Um, did I miss something? I know you covered them in Miami and spent plenty of
time with them. Every NBA fan is aware that those two have been friends forever,
vacationing together and drinking wine together and even playing together on two
different teams. They’re buddies, we get it.
So what was the deal with the lovefest over that game earlier this week? Are
they never going to see each other again? Did they have a lot of classic duels
in the past that I missed? LeBron and Wade are Hall of Famers, but this wasn’t
Magic vs. Bird, was it?
From: Michael Wallace Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2018 11:05 AM To: Lang
Whitaker Subject: RE: #IMHO
Lang, this was indeed modern day social media inflation of a special and unique
friendship as if it were the greatest bond between men that ever existed. I
grant you that. The coverage of it made me think back to that Finals kiss
between Magic and Zeke, and what that would have been like if it happened in
today’s media landscape instead of the late 1980s.
The crazy thing about the LeBron-Wade ordeal is that although they’ve faced one
another as opponents 31 times, they’ve never squared off in a playoff series
over their 14-year NBA careers. That said, being in the bubble every day for
their four years as teammates in Miami, you’ve got to give respect where respect
is due. Publicly, they orchestrated the biggest power moves among players the
league – or perhaps any professional sport – has ever seen when they united in
Miami for four straight Finals and two titles. They were also at the forefront
of the modern social justice and sports movement, with the justice for Trayvon
Martin hoodie stance, the outspoken campaign to rid the NBA of Donald Sterling
and also the ESPYs segment on the fight against police brutality.
So there’s a lot there to that deep and authentic LeBron-Wade friendship.
Speaking of friendships, the newest member of the Warriors’ Superfriends squad
appears closer to making his Golden State debut. The Warriors had already
slipped back into first place in the West before DeMarcus Cousins got back on
the court. But do they take off and run away from the rest of the West now with
him in tow? Am I wrong to assume that most, if not all, of their worries and
issues are likely solved?
From: Lang Whitaker Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2018 12:56 PM To: Michael
Wallace Subject: #IMHO
Well, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about the Warriors over the last few
years it’s that they understand the NBA season is a marathon and not a sprint.
After that 73-win season (and Finals loss) a few years back, the Warriors seem
way more pragmatic about leaning into the process versus celebrating the
results. Adding Boogie should make them better, no doubt, but it will take them
some time to get him completely integrated into the offense. And actually, I
think the think that will actually make the Warriors a better team will be
getting Draymond back, who is their middle linebacker on defense. As great as
they are offensively, to me it’s their defense that so often spurs runs and gets
them going.
Back to the LeBron/Wade thing, I’m glad you agreed with me, but one other thing
there I thought we should note: At the end of the night, LeBron kinda casually
dropped that he knew their last game would always be either at Staples Center or
at “the Garden.” Which of course immediately sent Knicks fans into a tailspin.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst seemed to confirm on Twitter that the Knicks were at
least in play at some point as a final landing spot for LeBron.
He was PROBABLY always going to go to LA. But after the way Phil treated Melo,
it was sealed.
Since LeBron’s words came straight from LeBron’s mouth, I’m guessing we can’t
completely discount it, even though LeBron walked it back postgame and said that
he just meant it had to be somewhere with a lot of history, such as MSG.
LeBron James said in reference to his “here or the Garden” comment that no other
venue could have held this final duel between LeBron and Wade other than those
two venues. (Not that he was thinking of signing with the #Knicks)
So what do you think? Was LeBron to the Knicks ever close to really happening?
Or were the Lakers really the perfect situation for King James?
From: Michael Wallace Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2018 4:45 PM To: Lang
Whitaker Subject: #IMHO
I’m not sure if the Lakers or the Knicks were perfect situations for LeBron,
especially as it relates to basketball. But from a business and entertainment
vantage point, of course those two markets make perfect sense. That just
confirms to me that LeBron is looking beyond basketball. To me, he’s accepted
the fact that he may never make it to another Finals again. He’s secure with
where his legacy stands on the court. He’s set his sights on the next 20 years
of his life more so than the final four or so years of his basketball career.
And that’s completely fine, considering what he’s accomplished. I think New York
was also a much stronger possibility the last time around in 2010 when he first
left Cleveland. But Miami made far more basketball sense, because there was
still plenty of unfinished basketball business LeBron faced. All things
considered, he’s in the right spot.
Speaking of the right spot, Lang, let’s end on this: I’ve always been taught
that Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon nearly 50 years ago. But, apparently,
Steph Curry doesn’t think that was the correct landing spot, based on his
comments during a recent podcast. So, if you were forced to co-sign with one
outlandish concept or the other, which elite NBA point guard’s theory are you
rolling with? Steph’s take that no one has ever landed on the Moon? Or Kyrie’s
assertion that the Earth is flat?
From: Lang Whitaker Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2018 9:37 AM To: Michael
Wallace Subject: #IMHO
When Kyrie said he believed the earth was flat, my first thought was that it was
an interesting reflection on the value of a Duke education.
Jokes aside, I am disappointed that Kyrie and Steph have publicly embraced
anti-intellectualism. Mike, as journalists, you and I can appreciate the pursuit
of truth. And while I am terrible at math and my science experience is basically
limited to pouring vinegar into baking soda (hey, it’s a volcano!), I understand
that there are certain certainties we can rely on to make life easier for
everyone. For instance, while we had only supposition that the earth was round
five hundred years ago, these days we have things like actual photos of the
earth to show that the darn thing is round.
But sometimes and to some people, facts apparently don’t matter. Just to indulge
Steph, let’s say we did not land on the moon. So I assume that means nothing
NASA has done over the last sixty years was real? So where did all those
hundreds of billions of dollars go? How did the hundreds of thousands of people
who were involved in going to the moon not all just come out and say it was a
lie? If we were going to fake a moon landing, wouldn’t we just fake it once and
move on instead of six times? If we faked a man on the moon wouldn’t we fake
sending someone even further, like Mars? If we faked the moon landing, how can
we take high definition photos of the moon’s surface and see the flags we left
behind and astronaut footprints and lunar rover tracks? How were the Mythbusters
able to bounce lasers off the reflectors that Apollo 15 left on the surface of
the moon? Oh, and I guess “Hidden Figures” should now be classified as fiction?
To be clear, I don’t know if Steph and Kyrie are intentionally embracing
anti-intellectualism, but that’s really what they are doing. I love being
curious and questioning things, and I believe the pursuit of knowledge and
information should be a lifelong activity for everyone. Steph can say whatever
he wants, but at least give me some facts to go along with it.
In other words, don’t just yell “Fake news!” and expect me to believe you.
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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