Baby Brodie Is BORN!!

Shout Out to Russell Westbrook and his beautiful wife Nina Earl Westbrook on their new born son. Noah Russell Westbrook.

I GOT A AUTOGRAPHED CHARLES OAKLEY BALL.

First Time seeing a NBA Legend..

I got the opportunity to see a #Knicks legend at my job yesterday. Mr. Charles Oakley. (I was too busy working to get a flick of my own)

No Pain, No Play?

                   

                         Game time! The excitement can no longer be concealed. Your favorite player and team is in town. It’s the match up you have been waiting for all season. The two top teams of their respective conference come head-to-head in a competitive battle. You have been working hard all year for this moment and it is finally here. You begin to put on your favorite NBA player’s Jersey and make your way to the arena, becoming increasingly anxious by the minute. You finally make it to the arena and get to your seat as you watch the best athletes in the world prepare for an intense basketball game. Then you begin to notice something…YOUR FAVORITE PLAYER IS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND! Your heart becomes inflamed with rage filled with anger and regret,  as you find out the reason you paid hundreds of dollars for this game is sitting on the bench tonight. Neither due to an injury, nor a personal dilemma he is dealing with. He is just “resting”. How fortunate for you right? “What a waste of money” and “Does he even care about the fans?” are some of the thoughts that begin to race through your head. The unbearable beat down of your team result in a halftime exit of the arena. Feelings of distress and aggravation course throughout your body as you recognize a compromise needs to be reached between the NBA players and the League. Honestly, What can be done?

                          On March 18^th, 2017 the Cleveland Cavaliers were scheduled to play the LA Clippers in a 2 day road trip, facing the Lakers the very next day. Fans of both franchises came together to watch these Powerhouses face off, A LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love led Cavaliers team against Lob City themselves in Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan. For those who bought tickets to this game…It went a little unexpected. In fact, it was not the game these NBA fans came to see as James, Irving and Love were all benched due to resting. This resulted in a 108-78 dominating effort by the Clippers.  It is understandable that 82 games is a long NBA season, no average person could endure such fatigue whether its playing heavy minutes or the constant travel. That is not a pass. As a multi-million dollar professional athlete you have an obligation to go on the hardwood and play your heart out every night. As a dedicated NBA fan, the sight of LeBron James drinking a cup of coffee on the bench while his team is getting annihilated by the competition can only result in disgust. Not to mention this game in particular was nationally televised, delivering the feeling of disappointment to the viewers sitting comfortably at home.

                          Just rewind seven days earlier On March 11^th, 2017 the match up of the year came…So it seemed. The San Antonio Spurs go head to head against the Golden State Warriors. This match up brought excitement from fans all around the world. Unfortunately the Warriors would be without their superstar core, and with Kawhi Leonard in the NBA’s concussion protocol, this game would soon lack the star power that the fans in San Antonio had paid to come see. According to Jon Krawczynsk of The Associated Press, Coach Kerr stated “It's the right thing to do, so we're doing it." Just after announcing Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala will sit out. The Spurs finished the game with a commanding 107-85 lead over the Warriors. The newly established 24 billion dollar television contract which resulted in a pay raise for the majority of players may soon vanish due to the seemingly fragility of our NBA stars. Some people just can’t have nice things.

                          Commissioner Adam Silver has said in an attempt to limit the amount of players resting, he plans to start next year’s regular season early to reduce the amount of back-to-back games NBA teams have, which will expectantly result in fewer injuries. This whole concept of resting during the regular season resting comes from the belief that the healthier you are the further you will make it into the playoffs. Dwayne Wade once stated “If you want to go far in the playoffs, you need to be healthy." Coming from a three time NBA champion this statement must be true. That doesn’t mean to take away the significance of the regular season, by sitting out whenever possible. Many teams and NBA coaches see resting as a strategy to win as many games as possible. This unique strategy became popular due to legendary Coach Gregg Popovich. Popovich uses this strategy to get the most out of his aging Spurs team. If that is the case, why are the Brooklyn Nets  resting their players? The last game of the regular season the Nets decided to rest Brook Lopez, Jeremy Lin and Trevor booker. The idea of being a professional athlete is to be competitive every night. What is their excuse? Getting ready for the postseason? Not with a (20-62) record. This cannot continue, these players need to be penalized for their lack of commitment to their team. To put this into perspective, a 40 year old Vince Carter has played 73 regular season games this year, just one game less than LeBron James who played 74 regular season games. Do these players really deserve these multi-million dollar contracts?