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, March 05, 2019 9:28 AM To: Michael Wallace
Subject: #IMHO
Heavy lies the crown, Mike. And last night in Los Angeles, King James had his
biggest game in the gold and purple yet. The Lakers, who are fighting for their
postseason life, lost to the Clippers, 113-105, making a playoff run that
already seemed improbable even more implausible.
If the Lakers don’t make the postseason, this would be LeBron’s first spring
since his rookie season where he’d be relegated to the sideline. My question to
you is, what should we take away from this? Does it mean the Lakers just had
some bad injury luck in this postseason run? Does it mean the Lakers aren’t
really as good as people expected them to be?
Or does it mean that LeBron James, the once infallible, basically bionic man,
isn’t what he used to be?
From: Michael Wallace Sent: Tuesday, March 5, 2019 5:05 PM To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: RE: #IMHO
This has as much to do with LeBron missing 18 games in the middle of the season
than anything else. They were set on a doomsday course from there. Still, it
didn’t help that Lonzo Ball, one of the league’s top perimeter defenders, was
also sidelined for the Lakers for an extended period.
All that said, this is an embarrassment of a season for L.A. if the Lakers don’t
rally to make the playoffs. I said it the moment he got to Hollywood, LeBron
choosing the Lakers at this point was as much about him setting up his
off-the-court business ventures as it was about his pursuit of another
championship. He’s comfortable with his legacy, even if it doesn’t include
another trip to the NBA Finals. But to not even make the playoffs is a darn
shame. Period.
In the East, he makes eight straight trips to the Finals but then gets to the
West and can’t get his team into the postseason at all? Wow. Just wow.
Hall of Fame basketball writer Jackie MacMullan did an incredible piece on the
trials and tribulations of Gordon Hayward through his first two turbulent
seasons in Boston. Last season ended before it truly began with a horrible foot
injury, and this season is on track to be the least productive of his career
since he became a regular starter. If Hayward could rewind the time and go back
to that free agency decision two summers ago, does he stay in Utah or still go
to Boston?
From: Lang Whitaker Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2019 11:23 AM To: Michael
Wallace Subject: RE: #IMHO
OK, so I guess Hayward has you to thank. You sent me that email at 5:00 p.m.,
and roughly five hours later the Celtics crushed the Warriors, 128-95, and
Hayward stuffed the stat sheet: 30 points, 7 boards and 4 assists. Because of
course he did.
But that one performance shouldn’t obscure the season Hayward has been having.
His last four seasons in Utah, Hayward averaged 19.2 points per game. His last
twenty games with the Celtics (before last night’s game), Hayward has averaged
9.9 points per game. Now of course Hayward had that brutal injury at the
beginning of last season that derailed his transition, and in general the
Celtics have been something of a hot mess the last few weeks, but I was
expecting more from Hayward this season.
All that being said, I still think Hayward would leave Utah for Boston (and his
former college coach). But I wonder if Danny Ainge would do some things
differently?
Another big performance last night came from James Harden, who poured in 35
points in Houston’s big win over Toronto. The Rockets stumbled out of the gate
but they’ve won 6 in a row and have started getting everyone healthy and on the
same page. Mike, are these Rockets peaking at the right time? And to expound on
that, will these Rockets perform differently in the postseason instead of
flaming out?
From: Michael Wallace Sent: Wednesday, March 6, 2019 12:57 PM To: Lang
Whitaker Subject: #IMHO
I want to believe in James Harden. I want to believe in the Rockets as a team.
But to what extent? I’m still trying to figure out. I do believe Houston is now
elevated onto the ‘championship-or-bust’ level – lofty heights that only the
Warriors, Raptors, Celtics and Sixers realistically reside right now. Which
means if the season falls short of an NBA Finals at least, and a NBA title at
best, it’s been a waste of time, money and resources.
It’s reassuring to see Harden helped the Rockets weather the storm of midseason
injuries with a historic display of individual basketball. Now, reinforcements
have arrived, and the Rockets have done a solid job of adding to the rotation
with a couple of nice pick-ups. Am I ready to pick them to beat the Warriors?
Nope. But I wouldn’t be stunned if it happened, given they were up 3-2 in the
West finals last season before Chris Paul got hurt.
OK, Lang, let’s roll on this one: I know the NBA playoff races are tightening up
and there are plenty of intriguing storylines going down the stretch. But it’s
also college basketball conference and national tournament time. Take Zion out
of consideration right now, which player are you most looking forward to seeing
as we dive deeper into the madness of March? I’m going with Murray State’s Ja
Morant, who is on the verge of accomplishing the rare feat of averaging more
than 20 points and 10 assists in a college season. He’s a projected lottery pick
and has been compared, in one way or another, to just about every solid point
guard in the NBA. As great of a prospect as he is on the mid-major level,
Morant’s Racers might not even make the NCAA Tourney. So, I’ll tune in to the
Ohio Valley Conference tournament now – just to be safe.
From: Lang Whitaker Sent: Thursday, March 7, 2019 9:26 PM To: Michael Wallace
Subject: #IMHO
Well, Mike, even though I grew up in Atlanta being fed a steady diet of ’80s and
’90s ACC Basketball (shoutout to everyone from Duane Ferrell to Tommy Hammonds),
and college football is among my favorite sports, I don’t really watch much
college basketball. I have nothing against it! I just…don’t watch it.
I mean, look, I’m busy. I have a job and a family and a dog, and by the end of
the day, A) I’m tired, and B) I’m dealing with limited time. I’ve got a few
hours to play video games and catch up on cooking shows and “Dr. Pimple Popper”
and watch TV. So I’ve got to make hard choices, and for the most part when I
have the opportunity, I’m going to watch an NBA game over any other sporting
choice that is presented to me. And let’s be honest: college basketball as a
product is sub-par to NBA basketball. The players aren’t as good as NBA players,
and while college football surpasses the NFL to me thanks to imagination and
innovation, for the most part college basketball is just NBA-lite.
I could keep going firing off these hot takes, but with all that being said, the
other night with the NBA off, I did attempt to tune in to the UNC/Duke game to
get a glimpse of the much-ballyhooed Zion Williamson. And guess what? He got
hurt 30 seconds into the game, so I turned it off.
So to be honest, the entirety of my college basketball knowledge is based upon
watching highlights on Twitter. Zion seems amazing, as does Ja Morant, even if
they both sound like characters on “Game of Thrones.” The player I don’t know
enough about is RJ Barrett–heard a lot about him, just haven’t seen much about
him. Anyway, I’ll find out more about all these guys when the NCAA Tournament
rolls around. That’s when I watch college hoops, and that’s when I want to see
if these guys are able to produce at the highest levels.
Any other night, give me the NBA.
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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