Russell Westbrook Playing in Denver is Not a Good Idea

Russell Westbrook's time in LA has come to an end. About an hour ago he was traded to the Jazz, where he will be waived and he will eventually sign with the Nuggets. This was his endgame all along. He said a few weeks back that he wanted to go play in Denver. He knew he was done with the Clippers, he still wants to play and he wants to go to the Nuggets. He is getting his wish. But, I don't know if it is going to be as fun and entertaining as he may hope.

I adore Russell Westbrook. He is one of my all time favorite players. I have gone to bat for him on this very website. I banged the drum loud and hard for him to win his MVP the season he won it. A lot of people didn't think he was the rightful MVP, but I did. He did remarkable things and kept the Thunder relevant after Kevin Durant left for the Warriors. And I liked him before. I was a Thunder fan for a while. While rooting for them, KD was my guy, but Russ was a very close second. I loved the enthusiasm and energy he played with. He was going 100 percent at all times. It didn't matter if he was playing a random game in the middle of the season or a high intensity playoff game, he was always going full bore. He attacked the rim, he made good passes, he is one of the best rebounding guards ever and he talked a great game. I was all in. And even when he left, for Houston and both LA teams, I would still tune in to watch him play. Hell, I watched his lone season in Washington. He still seemed to have something to contribute. And while I saw his rough first round playoff performance last season, I was still rooting hard. But, you can see that his game is just not what it used to be.

Westbrook doesn't hit the elbow/free throw line jumper like he used to. He has never been a good 3 point shooter and it has only fallen off more. He isn't a starter anymore. He has become a role player that you never know what you are going to get from him on any given night. He is older and can't do the things he used to be able to do. That is the end game for all of us. As we get older we can't do those things as well anymore. And when it happens to pro athletes, it is very clear. Russ has been on this path for a few years now. You could see it with the Clips. And as more of their guys got hurt, and Russ was asked to do more, he just couldn't bring it all together.

Going to Denver is not going to be good for Westbrook. Some, Zach Lowe, like to say that Nikola Jokic is the "best player in the world". I disagree. He doesn't play a lick of defense. And he is apathetic. I think those two things are going to frustrate Russ, which will frustrate Jokic. Jamal Murray has never really been able to stay fully healthy his whole career. If he is the point guard, like he has been, Russ is going to be his backup, and when Murray gets hurt, that will thrust Westbrook into a bigger role he is not suitable for anymore. He and Reggie Jackson have already played together and it did not end well. Jackson couldn't wait to get out of OKC after a few years playing with Russ. That was a dumb move on Jackson's behalf I thought at the time, and still think is true. Michael Porter Jr is a zero on defense and follows some weird conspiracy theories. These are some of the core dudes that Russ is going to have to learn to play and practice with everyday. Russ is older now too. He should be ring chasing, which maybe that is what he is trying to do. But this fit in Denver is odd. The other spots made sense. In Houston he got to play with CP3. In Washington he played with a young Bradley Beal. In regards to both LA teams, that is his hometown. This move to Denver, for me, makes zero sense. I don't think he fits in with the team. He is almost assured to be a bench guy, but I don't know where the meaningful minutes are going to come and how he is going to really contribute. I don't want to see his career end like a bunch of these guys, where he just fades into obscurity and becomes a "oh yeah, I remember him" type of guy. But that is what I fear may happen in Denver.

All this being said, I am still going to be rooting for him because he is an important basketball player in my fandom and I want the best for him. I just don't like this fit at all. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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The White Problem in NBA Journalism

NBA award season is upon us. They have already given out Defensive Player of the Year, Marcus Smart, and more are to come. I have my choices for who I want to win, and who I think should win. And I have been very vocal about my want for Joel Embiid to win the MVP. He led the league in scoring, kept the 76ers afloat with Ben Simmons being a selfish child, kept doing his thing after the trade for James Harden and has been a defensive force all season long. He has also been a killer in the first two games of round one of the playoffs. He should be the clear favorite.

But he is not.

The NBA nerds and journalists and podcasters and bloggers all want their new hero Nikola Jokic to win the award for a second straight season. They have sung his praises up and down the floor. I was listening to "The Lowe Post" earlier today and Zach Lowe made every single excuse he could for Jokic playing poorly in the playoffs right now. So have all the other white NBA nerds on the internet. They have pointed out his VORP, his plus minus, his shot chart, his passes that lead to assists, and how he has become a "serviceable" defender. Again, nerd shit. What they are failing to point out, well it is actually a few things, is that Jokic is a dirty hotheaded player, and the exact same journalists and podcasters and bloggers and talking heads all slammed Russell Westbrook when he was the MVP favorite the year he averaged a triple double and won it.

I want to touch on the hotheadedness and dirtiness first. We have seen him implode in the playoffs so far. The Warriors, namely Draymond Green, are so inside his head. It is affecting his play. It is affecting his team. And instead of being a leader and showing MVP leadership, he got himself ejected and tried to chase Gary Payton Jr when he tapped him on the backside on his way off the floor. But he did stuff like this all year. He gets away with trips and elbows and griping all the time because the nerds love him. He injured Markieff Morris. He shoved him when his back was turned. He cheap shot him. Some, again the white journalists, have made excuses for Jokic. But what he did was childish and shows how easy it is to get under his skin. He is the classic "can dish it out but cannot take it". He thinks it is funny when he pulls his nonsense, but when someone fights back, he gets angry and dirty. Morris missed a ton of time, but people just let it go. They talked about it for a day and then it was gone, forgotten. That's nuts.

What irks me the most, why I wanted to write this piece, is the Russ comparison. When Russ won the MVP the Thunder went 47-35 and were the 6 seed in the West. Some of Russ' teammates, this was the season KD left for Golden State, included a very young and inexperienced Steven Adams, an oft injured Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis as a rookie, Alex Abrines, Norris Cole, Taj Gibson, Kyle Singler and Cam Payne, to name a few. The names may pop off, but this was before Adams was the dude he is now, before Sabonis was an all star, Oladipo didn't fit, Norris Cole was on his last leg, this was a team that Russ had to carry. He did all the things he did because his coach told him to. He had to carry the load. If he didn't, that team would have been a lottery team. And after he did his thing, and rightfully won the MVP, he had the Thunder playing tough, but the Rockets were a much better team that ousted them in five games. But people called Russ "selfish", a "stat hog", a "rebound seeker". They said people that voted for him were "basketball perverts", that we "didn't understand the game". They bad-mouthed fans that rooted for him and wanted him to win the MVP. We were all wrong and the white journalists and nerds were supposedly right.

Well, let's look at Mr Jokic this year. His teammates include Aaron Gordon, Bones Hyland, Jeff Green, Will Barton, Bryn Forbes, Boogie Cousins and Monte Morris. It is true that Michael Porter Jr and Jamal Murray have missed significant time. But the same nerds that love Jokic like guys like Hyland and Morris. I hear all the time that Will Barton can heat up at any moment. I see how athletic and versatile Gordon is when I watch him play. The teammates are similar, but I honestly think, even with the injuries, that this Nuggets team has more talent surrounding their star than that Thunder team did. And when you look at the record, the Nuggets are 48-34. That is one game better than the 16-17 Thunder. They are also the 6 seed. They are also being demolished right now by the Warriors. The parallels are insanely familiar, but no one is calling the nerds and journalists "perverts", saying they are "dumb" and "stupid". They find excuses for Jokic where they found flaws with Russ.

It is maddening that, in 2022, the NBA still has ignorant racists voting on these awards. It has never been more blatant than that this season. Joel Embiid should win this award. It should not even be a conversation. But when they announce Jokic as the winner, I am almost certain they will, the journalists and nerds, all of them white, will rejoice and still be quietly racist. It is frustrating. I feel for Joel Embiid. He is so much more deserving of this award. He is the clear MVP. But it is not up to him or me. Unfortunately it is up to the white journalists, a lot of which live in Boston. And that stinks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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The Lakers are a Disaster

At the start of the NBA I did my massive preview. I had the Lakers relatively high. I remember saying that I thought they would be a very good regular season team, but be running on fumes by the playoffs. I think I had them going to the second round of the playoffs. I assumed, with LeBron, they would win one series. And even though they started out kind of slow, I figured they would figure it out. I never put too much stock in early regular season NBA games. As the season wore on, and the injuries piled up, as did the losses, it seemed inevitable that they would not make it. They had been on the backend of the play-in tournament for a month, and then fell out completely. And with the Spurs beating the Nuggets, and Suns wallopping a LeBron less Lakers last night, they were officially eliminated.

To be honest, I am kind of stunned. This team has a very solid collection of talent. Sure, it is old. and tons and tons of people made the same joke over and over again, but still, tons of stars. They also got some solid guys on the buyout market and got some younger vets to sign for the league minimum, assuming they would make a title run. I wasn't crazy about the additions of Russell Westbrook, who I adore, and Carmelo Anthony. But I did like getting Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn for very cheap. I thought Dwight Howard was a solid backup center choice. I loved the shot they took on Stanley Johnson late in the year. Austin Reaves turned out to be hot and cold, but when he is hot, watch out. When healthy, Talen Horton-Tucker is a good creator. I thought that Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore and Trevor Ariza would bring good veteran leadership. And Avery Bradley is still a decent defender. But it never came together for this team.

LeBron got what he wanted. Three years ago they emptied the picks and young players to get Anthony Davis, which worked. They won a title with those two. But, in letting Alex Caruso walk, in trading KCP and Kyle Kuzma for Russ and picking Deandre Jordan at the start of the year was way, way off. Jordan couldn't get on the floor with any regularity. He was mercifully let go. It is clear they miss Caruso on the defensive end of the floor. They just do not have the guys to play competent defense. And Russ, again a player I love, has been downright bad this season. He just doesn't have the explosiveness that so well defines him. And he is not a shooter, especially a three point shooter. They could have had Buddy Hield. They had a trade ready to go. But LeBron wanted Russ. They could have had DeMar DeRozan. He wanted to play there. But LeBron wanted Carmelo. It was some bad choices I'm sure they wish they could have back. When the trade deadline came and went, and the Lakers did nothing, that clearly pissed him off. But I say again, these are the dudes he wanted to play with. He went to bat for these guys. He told the media to keep bad mouthing them and call them old, that he would get them to prove everyone wrong. Welp, the date is April 8th and the Lakers are 31-48 and officially out of the playoffs.

LeBron is not solely to blame. The front office did not do a thing, as previously mentioned, to help shore this team up at the deadline. And maybe the front office should have put their foot down when LeBron came to them and said give me a mid 30's Russ and late 30's Carmelo and Kendrick Nunn and Malik Monk. Those were poor, thoughtless moves. Injuries did not help this team either. LeBron continues to miss more and more time with each passing season. He is getting older. Anthony Davis has proven that, while an incredible player, he simply cannot stay healthy. He misses time every year. He gets cuts and bruises and sits out multiple games. Russ, while not hurt too much, is just old. Same with Carmelo. Kendrick Nunn has not played a single minute all year, and he is done for the year. It just never came together for this team. They never gelled. They openly fought and griped with the media. Frank Vogel never found a way to get these guys to play for him, and that is fully his fault.

I would love to be all hate and doom, like I was with Duke the other day, but this is really simply sad. This team should have been good. They should have been a playoff team. They should not be 17 games under .500. But here we are. It is a bummer that we will have no Lakers or Knicks in the playoffs this season.

No matter what anyone says, this season was a massive failure for the Lakers. They are, without a doubt, the most disappointing team in the NBA. And, quite frankly, it stinks. I wonder what will happen this offseason, but it cannot be much because this team has no picks and no really desirable trade pieces. Time will tell.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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The Lakers are Not a Good Basketball Team

Prior to the start of this NBA season I wrote my big preview where I rank all the teams. I had the Lakers near the top, somewhere within the top 10 I believe. I had faith that they were going to be a good regular season team, then due to the age on their roster, they would tire out and fall in the second round of the playoffs. I assumed with guys like AD, Carmelo, Russ and Dwight Howard, they would win somewhere between 45-50 games. I think I had them as a 3 or 4 seed.

Well, the Lakers have not been a good regular season team. Where we sit right now, with about 15 games left, the Lakers are 11 games under .500 with a record of 29-40. I read a stat this morning that said, "when LeBron doesn't score 50 points, the Lakers are 0-9 since the all star break". That is brutal. This team looks like they have straight up quit on the season. I watched a bit of the Toronto game the other night, and that thing was never in doubt. It got so bad that on one particular defensive possession, the Raptors were able to get to the basket unimpeded while the Lakers pointed and yelled at one another. In that same game, LeBron blasted a ball off of Scottie Barnes' face. Last night, they were playing so bad that Pat Beverly openly called them trash and held his nose as if to say they were playing so bad that it smelled inside the arena. The Timberwolves are having a good season, but they won by 20, over a LeBron James led team.

It has just not been happening for the Lakers all year. There has never been a moment watching them this season where I thought that they had it figured out. LeBron can only do so much, and while it is a ton, he is old and getting older. Anthony Davis is never healthy. Even when he plays he looks hurt. And all that shit he talked about Phoenix, that is ridiculous nonsense coming from a guy that is barely ever on the floor. Russell Westbrook has been a disaster. I love Russ too. He is my guy. But the fit on this Lakers team is just not there. He is not great without the ball in his hands, and asking him to be a spot up shooter is taking away everything that has made him so wonderful as a basketball player. Carmelo Anthony has been a zero for this team. When the Rockets beat the Lakers the other night, Jalen Green was asked by a reporter what the game plan was in the second half, and he said, "attack Melo". I mean, that speaks volumes. They have since cut DeAndre Jordan, but who cares. Dwight Howard barely plays. Austin Reaves is an okay shooter, but he is not going to win them any games. Stanley Johnson has played better, but nowhere near the lottery pick he was. And Malik Monk does not get enough touches. Also, Frank Vogel has made some head scratching coaching decisions this year. And when this team did nothing at the trade deadline, that was a sign to me that they were going to go in the tank. The front office essentially told LeBron and Klutch Sports, this is the team you wanted, so this is the team you are going to finish the season with.

That brings up another thing that bugs me as a basketball fan and a LeBron fan. I adore LeBron. I think he is the second greatest player of all time. I bought into the hype when he was a senior in high school. I was all in. But this is the team he wanted, the team he assembled, and now he is openly complaining to the media that it is not his fault this team is so bad? That is nuts. They could have had Buddy Hield, but LeBron wanted Russ. They could have kept Alex Caruso, but the front office wouldn't pay him and they went with Carmelo. They brought Dwight back and signed Deandre Jordan because he and LeBron have a friendship. Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn are Klutch clients I believe, so signing them wasn't even a second thought. This is just a very, very poorly constructed basketball team. They are too old. They have too many guys that need the ball in their hands to be effective. Their star big man cannot stay on the floor. They play poor defense. Everyone gives into whatever LeBron tells them to do.

The Lakers are a mess, hell, a tire fire. They might sneak into the play-in, but I would not be shocked if they get shellacked by the Pelicans or Timberwolves or, hell, even Portland. This has been a mess of a year for LeBron and the Lakers. And all this finger pointing needs to be directed at themselves. The media didn't bring this team together, LeBron and the front office did. The media isn't forcing Westbrook to airball wide open threes. The media didn't injure AD. The media is not the reason Melo has never been a good defensive player. It is the players and the people in charge. But man oh man is this team bad. And it is wild to see a LeBron led team give up before the season is even over. I hope they haven't, and they can still make a run to get in the playoffs. But the way they have looked since the all star break tells a story of a team quitting, or not even trying. That bums me out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Making Sense of the Lakers Offseason

I will get to some of my favorite free agent signings so far at the start of NBA free agency, but today I want to talk about the Lakers yet again.

I talked about the Russ trade last week and how I do not like the fit. You can go back and see all my thoughts on why. And since then they have signed Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore, Dwight Howard, Malik Monk and now Carmelo Anthony. They did lose out on the Alex Caruso sweepstakes, I think it is next to impossible for them to retain Dennis Schroeder and I would not be shocked if Talen Horton Tucker gets a better offer somewhere else. The Lakers are making moves, and they are making moves for former Lakers and former all stars.

At first glance of the new roster I thought this looks like a good roster for 2014-15. That is when all these guys were in their prime, with AD being the exception. Had this exact team been assembled back then they would have been better than the recent Warriors dynasty. It would have been a lock. Then, while on a run, I thought more about the roster. This team is old. Real old. Lebron will be 37 next season. Dwight, Carmelo, Russ, Trevor Ariza and, I believe Kent Bazemore will all be 30 plus at the start of next season. AD is young but never fully healthy. Marc Gasol is not really playable in crunch time anymore. And Malik Monk hasn't really hit since entering the NBA. I was less high after thinking about it while out this afternoon.

Then I thought more and more about it and came to an odd conclusion for me personally. I do not think this team is a title contender. I think they will be good. They will be really hard to rebound and score in the post against. They will be a playoff team. But I just do not think all these guys will coalesce and I think they will be worn out by the end of the season. But I am actually excited to watch this roster, this exact Lakers team, play basketball next season.

I am not a Lakers fan. Not at all. I do not like the Lakers or Yankees or Patriots or Alabama. I am not a front runner of a fan. Sure I love, love, love Michigan, but when was the last time they were relevant? Man that hurts my soul. And if someone asks who my favorite MLB team is I say the Cardinals, but I couldn't even tell you their record, and who besides Yadi is on the team right now. So for me to be excited to watch the Lakers, that is saying something. Maybe it is curiosity, or the fact that I want to see them stumble or that I genuinely like guys like Russ and Carmelo, but there is just something that is pulling me to want to watch. I really want to see how this all works. I'm curious who starts and who comes off the bench. If they retain Talen Horton Tucker, I want to see if he starts over Carmelo. I want to see if Dwight goes back to how he played for the Lakers in the bubble. I want to see who is taking the crucial shots. I want to see Russ' usage rate. I want to see if Malik Monk rediscovers his shot. I want to see if Ariza and Bazemore can bring the defense. There are so many intriguing things drawing me to this team. I also want to see how Lebron and AD make this work. They are the two holdovers. They also clearly put this team together, with some help from Rich Paul. These are the guys they wanted to get this offseason, and when CP3 was off the board, that opened up the Carmelo signing. I can genuinely say that I really want to see how all this works. Again, I do not think they are title contenders, but they will still be good. I think the Nuggets, Jazz, Clippers, Suns and maybe even the Mavericks are better and much younger. Those teams can run up and down the floor, and more importantly, do not necessarily need to drive to the hoop for points. They can shoot from distance. They all have younger and healthier stars too. There was clearly a shift in the most recent playoffs to younger stars, and the Lakers are going the total opposite direction.

Again, interested to watch, curious to see what happens, but do not think they are going to be the title contender that some other random fans may think. But it will be a blast to watch them play next season. That much I know.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Making Sense of the Lakers Trade for Russell Westbrook

I did my draft preview yesterday, and the draft went almost nearly as planned. Scottie Barnes going before Jalen Suggs was semi surprising, but Suggs was picked right after him. Josh Giddey at six seemed like a reach, but that kid has flown up draft boards. I do not know much about both Memphis picks, but that team is front loaded with talent. I think Charlotte got a steal with James Bouknight. He can fill it up. I love Kuminga and Moses Moody for the Warriors. Quentin Grimes will be fun as a Knick. Isaiah Livers got picked earlier in the second round than I thought, which ruled. Sharife Cooper in Atlanta makes sense to me. And Charles Bassey going to Philly looks sneaky good. The draft has tons of talent and I cannot wait to watch all of these guys play this upcoming season.

Yet the biggest news, at least for me, was the Russell Westbrook trade to the Lakers. I know Derrick Favors was traded to OKC, that Landry Shamet went to Phoenix, Ricky Rubio is now a Cav, Mason Plumlee is off to Charlotte, Aaron Holiday went to Washington and Charlotte traded up to get Kai Jones late in the first round. There are some solid trades there, but Russ going to the Lakers is the biggest.

I love Russell Westbrook. I am a fan. I have been a fan since OKC drafted him. I wasn't bummed when he asked to be traded when it looked like OKC was going full rebuild after trading Paul George. I thought he was going to be a better fit in Houston than he was, and I think he played pretty well in Washington alongside Bradley Beal.

This trade to the Lakers is a head scratcher for me though. I get the idea of teaming up three super stars. Teams will see Russ, LeBron and AD in the starting five, and that is scary. The Lakers will win a good amount of regular season games. They are going to be in the playoffs yet again. But what they gave up to get Russ, that is what baffles me. The trade was Russ and two future second round picks for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and two future second round picks. I do not think the Lakers have another first round pick for the next two or three seasons. But the picks are not what jumps out to me. It is the players the Lakers gave up to get Russ. Two of those three guys are/were their best three point shooters. With Kuzma and Caldwell-Pope gone they are left with Dennis Schroerder, who may not re-sign, Ben McLemore who has been a total bust, Markieff Morris who is fine but old and Wes Matthews who is often injured. They also have Talen Horton Tucker who has been fine in spurts, Marc Gasol who is too old and too slow and Alex Caruso, but I wouldn't be surprised if some irrelevant team gives him a ton of money this offseason. So when you look at this roster with the addition of Russ, I do not see much shooting.

With this trade I also see a ton of older guys and younger guys that get injured too much. AD has never played a full NBA season, and in the playoffs this year he looked very injured. LeBron's last two of three seasons have been interrupted by long injuries. Russ looks to have recovered from his torn ACL, but he is coming off COVID and shoulder stuff. And the bench is filled with injured dudes. I think they could've kept KCP or Kuzma. I do not think they had to put both in the deal. I'm sure when Washington saw both of them, plus Harrell, they jumped at the opportunity. I also think Brad Beal likes this deal. Washington didn't get better on defense, but he is now surrounded by dudes that can hit an open shot, which he will create many of with this team.

Again, the Lakers are going to be a very good team this year if healthy. But I do not think the addition of Russ, who again I adore and is one of my all time favorite players, makes them the favorite that Las Vegas has. I think the Bucks are better. I think if Philly can get some good shooters for Ben Simmons, they are better. I think the Suns are better. I think Utah can stop them from getting to the rim and force them to shoot outside. Denver is better with Jamal Murray coming back from injury.

I don't know, I just do not think this pushes the Lakers over the top. I could be proven wrong, and I wouldn't mind since I am such a big Russ fan, but this doesn't move the needle for me.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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It is Time to Give Russell Westbrook the Respect He Deserves

Sorry for no blog yesterday. I got some upsetting medical news, stress fracture in my knee, and our house addition was finally finished, so I had a busy/bummer of a day. But I’m back and I’m here to lavish praise on Russel Westbrook.

I’m a big, big fan of Westbrook’s. I’ve made no bones about it. He more than deserved his MVP. He is one of the most athletic players I’ve ever seen. He’s unfairly criticized by some lame publications and bad sports writers. He plays hard every night. He’s a good dude. And he’s an exceptional basketball player. The other night he made history. He surpassed Oscar Robertson’s triple double record, and he’s going to average another triple double for the fourth time in five seasons. I mean, that’s amazing. We are watching a once in a generation talent. There are not many people that have been as productive and plays as well as Russ has done his whole career.

Westbrook, along with Bradley Beal, have the Wizards in the play in. I thought the Wizards were going to be bad too. I put a nail in their coffin. I assumed they were going to be a lottery team. I liked the Westbrook trade, but I just assumed the rest of the roster was going to drag them down. And while they’re not even a .500 team, they still have won way more games than I thought, and a lot of that is due to Westbrook’s play as of late. He is putting up insane, video game esque numbers. The other night he had a triple double that included 24 assists and 21 rebounds. There are only two players that have ever done that. It’s Russ and Wilt Chamberlain. That’s it, that’s the list. To be in the same company as Wilt is incredible. And Russ has followed that up with a few more triple doubles, and has led the Wizards to some crucial wins while Beal has been out with an injury. Russ has been the dude. He’s willing this team to win. This is akin to his MVP season with OKC. Right now, without Beal, Russ is carrying a team with a bunch of random dudes. He’s crushing it too. He’s so good.

Yet we still have some of these hot take dummies saying it’s “hollow”, or calling him a “selfish star hunting player”. Most of it comes from the staff at The Ringer. First off the writers and podcasters there, for the most part, are Bill Simmons clones, and that makes for bad business. If it isn’t Boston, or an athlete they’ve befriended, they feel the need to trash them. That’s bad journalism. Also, I bet Bill Simmons would kill to have Russ on the Celtics, but he’d never admit it. We also have a writer like Kirk Goldsberry, who I believe works for ESPN, writing an article about Russ that only talked about his poor mid range shooting. He found a way to downgrade Russ’ awesomeness by writing a nonsense article about mid range jumpers. Who cares. There’s also someone I really respect, Zach Lowe, who barely talks about Russ because he’s too busy gassing up Luka Doncic. I just want to know when these “reputable” writers and podcasters, are going to realize and recognize Russ’ greatness. It needs to happen soon. I feel like Russ will continue to be chastised while he plays and then loved when he leaves. There is a lot of Allen Iverson in Westbrook. They’re so similar, and I feel like their careers, both during age after, are going to be the same. But I don’t want that for Russ, just like I didn’t want that for AI. Iverson is one of my all time favorite players, and it blows my mind that he didn’t get his much due respect until he retired. We need to bask in the greatness that is Russel Westbrook while he’s still playing and still doing exceptionally athletic things on a basketball court. I know I have his whole career and will continue to while he’s still playing and when he retires.

Russ is great. He’s a hall of famer. He’s one of the best guards to ever play the game. He might be the most explosive guard to ever play. He’s super human and he’s doing super human things on the floor. Russ rules and he will forever be one of my favorite players to watch. Stop slandering this men and recognize his greatness. He’s more than earned all the accolades he should be getting. Russ is awesome. He’s an timer. He is great.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Trying to Make Sense of the John Wall For Russell Westbrook Trade

Another major trade went down in the NBA a few days ago. Well, major if we just go by the names involved. The trade? Russell Westbrook was traded from Houston to Washington for John Wall and a pick.

When I saw the news first break, I audibly gasped, and exclaimed, "wow!! what a trade!". Then I kind of sat on it for a few days. I listened to well respected basketball writers talk about it on podcasts. I read some people who I like write about the trade. And after indulging myself in all of that, this trade doesn't really move the needle for either team, and it isn't as great as I first thought. The names totally blew me away, but then I was reminded that Russ is 32 years old, and not nearly as explosive as he was three years ago when he won his MVP award. I mean, he is still an all NBA caliber player, but he has definitely taken a step back. John Wall, well he hasn't played in a real game in two years, is coming off a devastating injury, and he was clearly overlooked as the new face of the franchise after they drafted Brad Beal. Now, I have got to tell everyone, I really like both these players, I have taken their side more than not and I feel like a ton of people are way, way too hard on them as players. I am a fan of both Russ and Wall. But facts are facts.

Russ is not a good shooter. He is not a three point shooter and he takes far too many mid range shots when he has guys open at three, or in the paint. He is also not totally committed on defense. He is as explosive an athlete as I have ever seen, he is a good teammate, although some people would try and tell you he isn't, and he goes all out no matter if it is game 1, 25, 45, 75 or the playoffs. He always plays hard. But he is not the same player. Leaving OKC was tough, but necessary. They moved on, and they tried to put him in the position he wanted. But Houston was an ill fit. When going to Houston, if you are not named James Harden, you have to learn a totally different style of basketball. Houston plays what they call "Harden ball". He dribbles out the clock and then decides if he wants to shoot, or throw a lob. It works for him, but other star players do not seem to like that style. Dwight Howard left, Chris Paul was next and now Russ is gone. The one common denominator, "Harden ball". I can see why Russ wanted out, and why they traded him. I just don't know how the fit works with Beal. Brad Beal is a star. He is a shooting machine. He has gotten better every year in the league, and he is more than ready to be the face of a franchise. I don't know that Russ will let that happen. Beal needs to be able to do all the things he can do, and he needs the coaching staff and front office to give him the leeway to do so. At least in Russ' case, he has played real games for the past two years, and is still very capable of bringing it every night. But the fit seems not so good.

As for Wall in Houston, I do not like it at all. It is probably the worst pairing of stars in the league. John Wall, as I stated, is coming off a horrible injury. He hasn't played a meaningful game in two years. He may not be in the best shape right now. And now he is going to be asked to play "Harden ball". That is like caging a tiger. When healthy, Wall is one of the fastest and most explosive athletes in the open court. He can fly up and down the floor. He can get the ball to open guys, and he can hit tough shots inside and out. I don't think he will be able to do that with Harden. He will be asked to do what every other star player has been asked when playing with Harden. He will be put in a corner to spread the floor, and he will basically be neutralized when on the floor with Harden. Now, Houston can do what they did last year, when they let Russ run wild and play more with the second unit, but Russ didn't have an ACL tear. He also thrived in that role, and he accepted that role. I think Wall wants to prove that he is fully back from his injury. He will not get that chance in Houston unless they trade Harden. Houston will not trade Harden unless he decides to not show up to camp. But, if they do trade Harden, Wall doesn't have much around him to re prove himself. Houston lost a lot, and only added Christian Wood. Wood is a solid player, but he is not a star. PJ Tucker is good, but he clearly wants out. Eric Gordon also seems to want out. I really do not know what Houston's plan is, and adding John Wall only further confuses me.

This seems to be a pointless trade. For two guys that used to be super duper stars, and again, Russ is still an all NBA player, this trade is not as wild and bonkers and crazy as I first thought. When you sit down and do the research, it is really a baffling trade, and it does not make either team better. Both will be in the bottom half of their conference, and they will be fighting to get in the play in tournament. It was an odd deal. I'll still be rooting for these two guys, but this trade makes no real sense to me.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Where Should Russell Westbrook Play Next Season

Russell Westbrook said the other day that he wants out of Houston.

This felt inevitable to me. He seemed to like playing with James Harden, but his role was so diminished, he isn't a very good shooter, remember I love Russ, and when he got hurt and the pandemic hit, it felt like his time with the Rockets was going to end sooner rather than later. They got blasted by the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs, Russ didn't do much, and then Mike D'Antoni decided to leave, and it just seemed like it was going to be a full reset around Harden. That is all well and good, and it works for a player like Harden, but Russ is also an alpha, and I just couldn't really see him taking another year where he isn't the top guy on the team. He even said as much when he said he wanted out of Houston. He wants the ball in his hands like he did when he was with OKC. I totally get it. This thing in Houston felt like a one, maybe two year thing from the start. They didn't win a title, so now he wants to move on.

I have already seen some spots that people are saying he will go to. Some I think might work, others, no way it would work. For instance, the Clippers came up. I do not like this fit at all. Russ wants to be the alpha, but the Clippers already have Kawhi and Paul George. Kawhi Leonard is one of the best two way players in the game, and when George and Russ were teammates in OKC, George came up bigger when they needed it most. It sounds nice on paper, three superstars, but these three just don't mesh. I kind of think George and Kawhi don't mesh well yet either. I think they will figure it out this year, but if they added Russ, that would throw a wrench in all of that. Russ is an exceptional basketball talent, but the Clippers would have to give up way too much, and I just don't think the three stars would fit. Similarly, I do not like the Clippers for Russ at all.

I have also heard the Knicks are a spot he might like to go. This, in theory, makes a ton of sense. But I do not like this fit either. He would be the alpha immediately. He would get every touch and every big shot and he would be in the biggest market. He could put up a triple double every night with insane numbers in New York. I think, when fans are allowed, they would love him there too. But, why I don't like this fit, the Knicks are going to be terrible for a while. Russ could put up all the numbers he wanted, but at the end of the day, the Knicks are, at best, a 20 win team next year if they sign Russ, and more like a 15 win team without him. They would have him and Mitchell Robinson, and not much else. I haven't given up on RJ Barrett yet, but he was very up and down last year. But Kevin Knox and Frank Knilitina, guys like that, I have given up on. The Knicks would also have to totally rehaul their roster to acquire Russ, and I think Houston would most want Mitchell Robinson. The Knicks need to keep him because he is really good, really young and getting better. He is a building block player. I also don't think Russ would be happy being on a lottery team.

The most recent team I heard, and I shockingly to myself really like, is Charlotte. The Hornets are not a very good team, but they are young, they could use a guy like Russ, who demands so much attention, and they play in the East. I think if they could find a way to get Russ, and keep their young core, he could vault them to the playoffs. I think if Charlotte could get off by only giving up picks, and a guy like Nic Batum or Terry Rozier or Malik Monk, they should absolutely do it. They could pair Russ in the backcourt with Devante Graham, and then they have hyper athletic front court guys like Miles Bridges and PJ Washington. And then they have Tyler Zeller, who is a very poor man's Steven Adams, whom Russ thrived with. I don't think this move would vault the Hornets to the top of the East, not by a mile, but I think it would put them ahead of teams like Orlando or Indiana, if they trade Oladipo. It would also make them instantly better than Atlanta, Cleveland and Detroit. I also think Russ thrives when he is in a smaller market. He won an MVP in OKC. He carried that team. Then he had to go play in a bigger market with a bigger star, and it just didn't work. I like Charlotte the most for him for so many reasons. He is also a Jordan guy, so it doesn't hurt that the team is owned by Michael Jordan himself. I think they should pull the trigger and make a trade for Russ, and I think he should accept it. It would be weird to see him in a Hornets jersey at first, but I think he would make them a 40 win team, and that could put them in the 6,7 or 8 spot in the East. They want to make the playoffs, and Russell Westbrook could help get them there.

We will see how this all plays out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Bad Basketball Bloggers and their Bad Russell Westbrook Takes

I written a good amount about Russell Westbrook recently. After the Paul George trade I talked about how, if he wanted out of OKC, they should let him go. Then, I wrote about the stunning trade to Houston the following Monday, and how much I disagreed with it, and how I do not think it will work out. I still do not think it will work, both Westbrook and Harden are so ball dominant, but I am sick and tired of the slander that is always thrown Westbrook's way.

This all comes about because I was listening to "The Mismatch" on The Ringer Podcast today. This is one of my favorite pods because I enjoy Chris Vernon. He is fun, has a good time, is right around my age and I usually agree with his takes. But, it is getting harder and harder for me to continue to listen to because of the other host, Kevin O'Connor. O'Connor is the prototypical "blog boy" for the modern NBA. All he cares about is analytics and drafting based on projected talent. He said on the show that I listened to today that Brandon Clarke slipped in the draft because he was "old". Clarke is 22 years old. That whole draft for projection thing is so stupid, and so is tanking, but that seems to be, when it comes to the draft, all that O'Connor cares about. And he did go on to say that he thought that Clarke was the steal of the draft, but I cannot get over him calling Clarke old. That is asinine.

When they got off the Summer League stuff, Vernon transitioned into the Westbrook trade. Vernon is a big time believer in Westbrook just like I am. He defends Westbrook and gives him all the accolades he has earned. But, whenever O'Connor talked about him, all he would say is "he is the worst elite point guard", and "he has easily fixable mistakes, if he would just put in the time to fix them".

First of all, I have never seen Kevin O'Connor play basketball. But, if I had to guess, the dude is a scrub. You can watch, and write and read all you want about the game, it does not make you a player. So, for a blogger to call out Westbrook's game, get the hell out of here. Westbrook is so much better than any single player that is on his beloved Boston Celtics team. I feel like he would kill to have a player as good as Westbrook in Boston right now. But, what makes his takes even worse, his takes that put him on a Skip Bayless, Colin Cowherd level, is how hard he goes to bat for Harden. James Harden is an elite, elite scorer. He is one of the best. No doubt about that. But, if you want to talk about easy to fix mistakes, Harden is a horrendous defender, he is a ball stopper and he is usually out of shape. Just because he scores 40 points on 30 shots, that doesn't make him the best player in the league. But the way O'Connor talks about him, you'd think he was the greatest ever. And what was so hilarious to me today, Vernon pulled up their playoff stats, because O'Connor inevitably went there with Westbrook, and they are nearly identical between the 2 guys. They both have nearly the same shooting percentage. They both have similar assists numbers. Westbrook is a far superior rebounder. And, they both have went exactly the same distance in the playoffs. They have both reached the Finals, when they were on OKC. Since Harden was traded, each have been to a conference finals. Last year, Houston lasted one more round than OKC. But if you only heard O'Connor talk, you would assume that Harden has been to the Finals multiple times, and was a champion and MVP.

Here is the truth on James Harden, and Vernon also brought this up, Harden is a known choker. He choked away a series to the Kawhi less Spurs, in Houston. He choked away game 7 of the West Finals last year, leading the charge in the 27 straight missed three point attempts. And this past season, after KD went down, Harden and Paul both choked away their best chance at a Finals appearance. So, don't give me the whole, all of OKC's problems are because of the way Westbrook plays Kevin O'Connor. And, he was insistent on Westbrook changing the way he plays to fit in with Harden. I wonder if he remembers that Harden was the sixth man on that OKC team that went to the Finals, and his job was to be the third option behind KD and Westbrook. I know things have changed since then, but I do not want to hear O'Connor talk about how "bad" of a player Westbrook is when O'Connor couldn't carry my jock on a basketball court.

This dude is just here to make shitty takes on a website that is the sports equivalent of Buzzfeed. The dude is a good writer, but I'm going to start referring to Kevin O'Connor as the "worst basketball blogger that gets paid to do it". That seems fair since he is always shit talking Russell Westbrook. His takes are god awful, and it makes it hard for me to listen to him and not yell at my phone. I feel for him for what he is going through with his dad, I too have a parent that had cancer, she is fine and clear now, and that sucks. But that cannot excuse his horrendous takes on professional basketball players.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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Russell Westbrook Should Have Waited for a Better Team

Yesterday I wrote a whole thing about why I thought Russell Westbrook deserves to play where he wants next season, and I even gave a list of teams that I thought fit his style of play. Well, he got traded, but it was to none of the teams I picked, or to any team that most thought was even a contender. I was at my rec league basketball game when I got the news that Russ was headed to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul, 2 first round picks and 2 pick swaps.

This is insane. I thought it was a joke. I did not think it was true. I could not believe that the Thunder added 2 more first round picks, and by all accounts, they are going to offload Chris Paul as soon as they can, probably for more picks, or tradable assets. The Thunder, once again, got a great deal for a super star. And yes, Russ is a bona fide super star.

Before I get into the nuts and bolts of what I dislike about this trade, I want to touch on CP3. Man has he fallen off a cliff this past season, and offseason. He was once a darling of the league. He was the diminutive point guard that could run an offense, shoot and play great defense. He was the building block for the "Lob City" Clippers. He was the man while in New Orleans. He was even considered a great get when he signed with the Rockets 2 years ago. Now he is an added on trade, who is soon to be offloaded for picks. Age always wins, and we are currently seeing a Hall of Fame player age, and age badly, right before our eyes. He may end up on a solid team, but at what capacity? Is he a starter anymore? Is he a legit defender anymore? Will he really help a contender in the modern NBA? I'd say no, no and no. He would be best fitted playing in Miami alongside Jimmy Butler, or just retiring and get into coaching. How the mighty have fallen.

Now, why I dislike this trade so very much for everyone involved. I understand that Russ and Harden both wanted this. I know they are still good friends. I know that Westbrook is a younger and much more explosive version of Chris Paul. But, this back court is going to be rough to watch. Westbrook has been the guy in OKC ever since KD left. Even when they acquired Paul George, he deferred to Russ. In Houston, that is James Harden's team. That much was made wildly clear after they offloaded CP3 last night. Also, both guys need the ball in their hands to be most effective, and Harden, as he has done since he has been in Houston, likes to pound the ball for 20 seconds and shoot a three or try to draw a foul. How will that work with Russ? It won't. Russ, as much as I adore him, is not a good outside shooter, and with Harden pounding out the clock, he won't have time to get t the rim like he can if he is running the offense. Also, he and Harden are going to make guys like PJ Tucker and Eric Gordon just sit there and wait to try and get a rebound, or shoot a three. That is definitely not Tucker's game, and while Gordon is a solid three point shooter, just asking him to sit and wait would bother any player. Clint Capela should have fun with these guys, but now he is simply a pick and roll player on offense. Nothing more, nothing less. All they will want him to do is come up and screen for either Russ or Harden, and roll if he has it, or get ready to crash the glass. That may be what he is best at doing, but this will totally stunt his growth as a player.

Then there is Mike D'Antoni's offense, of which he has tailored to a player of Harden's skill. Now he is going to have to find a way to get Westbrook into the flow of the game. That will be asking a lot of a guy that has averaged a triple double the last three seasons. Also, they will have to get him to take a step back if they want to be as good as they can be.

On defense, the Rockets backcourt is going to be one of the worst in the NBA. We all know Harden's problems on defense. It has been well documented. Well, Russ isn't much better. Sure, he will grab a steal here or there, and get a few chase down blocks a season. But, more times than not, he takes plays off and relies on the help. Teams with a good to great back court could match them evenly. For all that is wrong with his game now, at least CP3 was a threat on defense. Russ, who is a much, much, much better player than CP3, has never played defense like him.

Finally, we have Daryl Morey. The star chaser. The guy that wants big names no matter how mismatched they are with his current roster. He tried this with Carmelo last year. That was a disaster. He tried this with CP3, and while they had a shot to beat Golden State, they didn't, twice, and haven't sniffed the Finals under his direction. And now he is bringing in Russ.

I dislike this pairing so very much. This is the cliché of "there is only one basketball" come to life. No matter how much these 2 like each other off the court, they are going to have to learn to share the ball if they want to be a contender. Neither has shown they can do that since they took over their respective teams. The Rockets will still be a good playoff team. But, I am not as on board as some other people are with Russ and Harden teaming up. I think it is going to be a super clash, and it will not end well for someone, or possibly both guys and the coaching staff. We will see. At least this has made this offseason even more crazy. I'm down for that anytime. But, I am not a fan of this trade. Not one bit.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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Now We are Waiting on Russell Westbrook's New Team

On Monday I talked about Kawhi's decision, and my opinion of the current state of the NBA. I talked a bit about the Clippers not only getting Kawhi, but also getting Paul George. I mentioned that I had heard rumors that the Thunder were now exploring trades for Russell Westbrook. Today I want to talk about my feelings on that, and which team, or teams, I think would be a good fit for him.

First off, my thoughts on the idea of trading Russ away from OKC. I think the time has come for both parties to move on. Russ has done all he can do for that team and that city. He ran the show when it was him, KD and Harden. When Harden left, he changed his game to play with KD. Some people don't agree with this, they are wrong. KD is an iso guy, and the fact that Russ was so important to watch while on defense, he made it easier for KD to get his. Then KD left, and all Russ did was lead a terrible cast of players, with a new coach, to the playoffs, won the MVP and averaged a triple double. Again, idiots will say he was a stat hunter and only cared about himself. I say, he absolutely had to do this in order for that particular Thunder team to win.

Then they acquired Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. That did not work out, but they still made the playoffs, and Russ and PG seemed to like one another. They liked one another so much, Russ convinced PG to sign a deal with OKC that offseason. Last season, one of Russ' worst, as far as stats go, the Thunder made the playoffs again, Russ averaged a triple double for the third straight year, and helped PG become an MVP candidate, before he got hurt. But, they lost in the first round again, and it was all blamed on Westbrook.

Then the Kawhi stuff happened. I mean, what else, sans winning a title, can Russ do for the Thunder? He has really given them his all, has played through injury, willed this team back to the playoffs constantly, kept them afloat when KD left and is a blast to watch play. So, I think, if he wants one final chance to be on a competitive team, he has earned that right.

This leads me to which teams I think would be good fits for him. One, I would love, LOVE, to see him go to Phoenix. Sure, they aren't a title contender, but to replace Ricky Rubio with Russ, and put him next to Devin Booker, and an athletic big like Deandre Ayton, that would push them to a possible playoff team, even in the West. He would sell tickets there as well. Also, Phoenix could take on the last 2 years of his contract because they have so much young talent that is clogging spots for other players. They could make this deal happen, and I wish they would.

I like the fit with Chicago. He could go there, be a stop gap for Coby White, who I think is going to be really good, and help a team with Zach Lavine, Lauri Markenan and Wendell Carter definitely get into the playoffs in the East. The Bulls also have guys with easy contracts to trade, and they have picks.

Detroit was odd for me at first, but I think sending him there for Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard, plus picks, would make the Pistons fun. Russ and Blake Griffin, along with Andre Drummond could be a devastating pick and roll combo. And put him next to Derrick Rose, while not a great shooting back court, it would be explosive. I also think he would love to play for Dwayne Casey.

Then, my final team, the Miami Heat. I know the Thunder already have some of their picks, and trading Russ there would possibly take the picks out of the lottery, but they could get a good return of players, that they can turn into picks, and teaming Russ with Jimmy Butler could be a match made in heaven. Those 2 are cut from the same cloth, they will rip your will out of you, they would look cool as hell in those Miami vice jerseys, and Erik Spolestra has already shown he can coach mega stars to titles. Jimmy Butler and Russ may not be the duo you need to win a title, but in the East, who knows. I would love to see them playing against the Celtics or 76ers or Bucks. They would throw the hell down. This is what I hope, and want, to happen for Russ. I think it is almost too perfect.

Anyway, whatever what happens to Russ, I hope he gets a chance to compete, and that people stop blaming him for everything that has happened in OKC. It is not his fault. He has stayed tried and true to that team, and he can now do what he wants. He has earned that. I am fully team Russ.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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The Utah Jazz Have a Fan Problem

What in the hell is happening in Utah.

In the past week the fans of the basketball team, that go to games, for them banned for life for racial epitaphs spewed in Russell Westbrook's direction. This is highly disturbing to me, and a whole lot of other people. I mean, I am a rabid fan of all things University of Michigan, but I have never wished harm or said unthinkable things to their rivals. I have never been driven to racism because of an outcome of a game. I have never acted so egregiously that I have had to remove myself, or been removed from a stadium, or even watching in the comfort of my own home. So, why do these 2 assholes in the recent news think it was okay to do what they did.

The first incident I heard about was all stemmed around Westbrook being filmed saying that he would mess up the dude and his wife. I was taken aback, but then I heard the whole story. All I knew at first was what Westbrook said, and the interview with this racist ass where he played the victim. Only after reading the full story did I know that this moron was hurling racial epitaphs and that he told Westbrook to "get on your knees like you're used to". That is appalling. That is unsettling. It is frightening to hear that some people think it is okay to say something like that. It is simply wrong. No one deserves to be talked to in that manner, especially in the 21st century. After reading this, then hearing it for myself, I was fully on Westbrook's side. I have zero problem with what he said to this man and his wife, or whoever that lady was with him. In fact, I wish he took it further. Had this turned into a "Malice at the Palace" type situation, I would have fully understood. Just because Westbrook is a pro, who's team happened to be handing it to the Jazz that night, that doesn't give you the right to say whatever pops into your tiny little head. To sit that close to the players is a privilege, and this jerk totally deserves his lifetime ban for what he said.

The NBA really needs to look into player safety a bit more. I say that because after this story came out, more reports came out of fans doing similar things, or putting their hands on players. That is not cool at all. That is dangerous. Players have come out in big time support of Westbrook since the incident, as expected. And they have all said pretty much the same thing I am saying today. They stand with Westbrook. They want more protection. They want the fans that sit courtside, right next to the opposition's bench, to follow some kind of rules or conduct code. Even Donovan Mitchell, a Jazz player, has come out and said how wrong this whole thing is, and how it doesn't, or at the very least, shouldn't, portray the entire fan base.

Well, I just saw today that another Jazz fan got a lifetime ban, calling Russell Westbrook "boy", in last year's  playoffs. Two things, why do they hate Westbrook so much, and maybe this is what the majority of Utah's fan base is. Maybe they are a bunch of racist assholes. Maybe they don't care at all about a human being's feelings, and they think they are entitled to say whatever they want because they have fancy seats. The fact that is has happened twice in the past calendar year is not a one time thing, it is a trend, and a trend that might have been started in the early 90's. And to aim it at Westbrook, I just don't get it. Sure, he can be a divisive player, but the dude plays with so much heart and grit and gives it all he can every night, I respect the hell out of him. While you may not like him, you should at least respect him. You shouldn't be yelling racist nonsense at him.

I was so high on the Jazz before the season started. But, after hearing all this stuff recently about their fans has made me happy that they aren't as good as I thought they might be. And I know that the players have nothing to do with the fans. I do not wish them ill will. I'm just happy that their punk ass fans are going to see their beloved team get beat in the first round of the playoffs. The asshole fans deserve this. They stink, and I hope more of these racist idiots get lifelong bans. This is disgusting and disturbing. I totally side with Westbrook on this. He is right, the Jazz fans are very, very wrong.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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The NBA has a Superstar Sensitivity Problem

Recently, while listening to all the NBA podcasts I do, I have found myself being a bit irritated at how sensitive some star players in the league have become over the past decade. Now, I have to say at the top, I have no ill will for these guys wanting to go win titles, get paid and have fun playing the game. While I may not like "super teams", and I think the money is absurdly high among all professional sports, again, I have no problem with these guys doing what they want to do. They're human and allowed to lead the lives they want to live. But, I also think they should know, or at the very least expect, that they are going to be in the spotlight, and that a good amount of people are going to root against them for doing such things, and then going to the media, or their front office, to complain or demand a trade.

This irritation for me it all started with the Kristaps Porzingis trade. When it happened I was flummoxed. I wrote about it. I trashed the Knicks. But, about a week after the trade stories started to come out that Porzingis went to the front office and griped about the direction of the team. He complained that he had no help. Okay, fine, but have you played all year Porzingis? In fact, I don't think you've played a game in almost 2 years. So, while you want to be on a competitive team, that needs to start with you actually playing. You can moan and groan all you want, but you aren't even playing. In fact, I'd like to see you go a full season without getting hurt just once. Then, if you do that,, and lead a team to a conference finals, go ahead and complain all you want. Until then, don't yearn for things when you haven't really proved anything yet.

Then the Anthony Davis trade demand came out. I have been highly critical of this. This was done all wrong. From Davis' demand while still under contract for the rest of this season and all of next season, to Rich Paul leaking it to Adrian Wojnaworski before Davis could tell the Pelicans front office, to the handling of the Lakers offer, it has been a cluster. This has been a disaster all around. A GM lost his job over this. Davis, who up until now was beloved, is almost becoming a villain. When he did come back from his "injury", the Pelicans fans booed him. Then he decided to leave a game after trying to block a shot, and left the building, with Rich Paul. Now, he is going to be on LeBron's show, "The Shop", and he is also talking about his love for all things LA. He is handling this awfully. He is going to get traded to some team not in LA, other teams can offer so much more for the Pelicans future, and I blame it partially on him. He is talking to media, but saying stuff like, "all 29 teams are on my list", or, "I just want to win". Sure, that may sound nice, but the "29 teams" thing is a slap in New Orleans face, and the winning is nonsense. He wants to be in LA, and he wants to play with LeBron. If he just came out and said that, I would respect him so much more. But no, he is trying to be coy.

Then we have KD's endless fight with the media and journalists. Prior to the All Star break he chided a journalist who simply asked him about his impending free agency and New York. A very simple, non threatening question, right? Well, KD took this way, way too seriously and painted a very broad brush basically saying that all journalists are out to get him. KD needs to calm the hell down. Ever since he left the Thunder to ride on the Warriors coattails, he has become a curmudgeon, and it doesn't fit him. He is a hell of a player, one of the greats, but his whole "heel" turn is off putting. I mean, the journalist was just doing his job. If anyone should understand that it should be a guy like KD. He has changed so much, for the worse, since he signed with Golden State.

Then we have the Kyrie Irving interview yesterday of him chastising another journalist that simply asked him about the video that leaked of him and KD talking in the tunnel during the All Star game. Now, I do think people are making far, far too much of a video of 2 buddies talking, but for Kyrie to say that "you guys are making the league not fun" is a little much. Again, this person is just doing their job. You'd think, just like in KD's case, he would understand that. But nope, he just went off and said some crazy stuff. He is a super star, and the media is going to ask him questions like this. That is how they get people to come to their websites and read their stuff. While you think you may be winning, and knocking that person down a peg, you are actually helping them by going off like that.

Then last night I read a headline that said that James Harden is upset that his peers are critical of the way he plays the game. Newsflash Harden, you are a bore to watch. Again, you are a magnificent scorer, one of the best ever, but the way you do it is a slog. You foul hunt. You slow the game down. You shoot too many free throws, and you gripe to the officials too much. It is so boring to watch. You are my least favorite player to watch, and I know for a fact that I am not alone. A lot of people do not like to watch you play, and that most definitely includes your peers. Get over it. You are great.

It is frustrating to hear these multi millionaire super star players gripe about people calling them out for their sometime childish behavior. I mean, do you think Jordan cared what his peers or journalists said? How about Charles Barkley? Or maybe Hakeem Olajuwon or Shaq? They didn't give a shit. They just went out and played. Hell, there are even current stars that could care less what the media or other pro players say. Look at Russell Westbrook. He could care less what anyone thinks of him. Or Jimmy Butler. I may not like the way he handled his exit from Minnesota, but he never chastised the media for the way they handled it. In fact he did an interview for ESPN and Rachel Nichols on exactly why he wanted out. Joel Embiid doesn't give one shit what the media or Russell Westbrook says about him. Kawhi Leonard just continues to not talk, and that may be the best way to handle all this. And then we have Giannis. Could this kid be any cooler? Could he be more loved? Could he be more fun? Giannis is the best for so many reasons. He loves to play the game, he is a great interview, his teammates and the front office love him, and when questions of his impending free agency in 2021 come up, he takes the Kawhi approach and is silent. These are the dudes I respect. These are the dudes that handle it correctly. 

That is the point of my old man ranting. Some of these young star are far too thin skinned. They need to get over it. We need less Kristaps or KD's and more Kawhi's and Giannis' in the league right now. They know how to deal with all this stuff so much better.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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The Love for James Harden and the Hate for Russell Westbrook Makes No Damn Sense

Two years ago I felt like I was one of the people driving the Russell Westbrook for MVP debate.

What he did that season, with the roster that was put around him, was astounding. The fact that, a season after losing KD mind you, he averaged a triple double, with his best teammate being Steven Adams, was one of the most MVP worthy things I have ever seen. He was must watch TV that year. I watched more Thunder games than usual that year just to see what Westbrook would do. I have said, to people that will listen to me, I would not enjoy playing with him, but I LOVE watching him play. He is a whirling dervish of athleticism. It's like the most insane ballet that you could ever watch. And while he's not the greatest shooter, he is really bad in fact, the way he created shots for himself and others was awesome. To see a 6 foot guard rebound like that, again, amazing.

So when major journalists, some I like, some I dislike, were saying that he wasn't deserving of the MVP I was floored. I couldn't believe it. I didn't know what else he had to do to prove that he was the MVP. A lot of these journalists actually pushed for James Harden that year. LeBron was mentioned a ton as well, but he always is. When I listened to them, or read why they felt this way, it made me even angrier. They called Westbrook a "stat hunter". They said he was bad. They called him selfish. They said he wasn't deserving because he only led the Thunder to a 6 seed and something like 45 wins that year. They said the first round series proved that he wasn't the MVP.

Well, one Mr. James Harden is currently putting up absolutely ridiculous numbers, with his 2 best teammates out injured right now, and these same journalists are praising him. They are talking abut him "carrying" his team. They are saying what he is doing is something they haven't seen since Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan. They are calling him the MVP. And while I don't refute that, I do think he has surpassed Giannis as the MVP, why does he get so much love doing almost exactly what Westbrook did 2 years ago, when they were all shaming him?

Here are the facts. James Harden is one of the most boring NBA players to watch. If Westbrook is a "stat hunter", Harden is a "foul hunter". That guy gets so many calls in his favor, calls that are absolutely and utterly insane, that is drives me up the wall. The other night he shot 27 free throws. Not the Rockets, Harden himself took 27 free throws. How is that more fun, or any better than what Westbrook was doing?

Also, lets compare the rosters were they currently are right now with the Rockets to the Thunder from 2 years ago. As I said, Westbrook's best teammate was Adams. He then had guys like Victor Oladipo, before he was a star, Domantas Sabonis, when he was a rookie, Kyle Singler, Nick Collison, Dion Waiters and Terrance Ferguson, among others. Meanwhile, Harden has players like PJ Tucker, Austin Rivers, Eric Gordon and Gerald Green. Oh, and Chris Paul will be back soon, and Clint Capela will miss a couple more weeks before he is back. I'd take that Rockets roster any day.

While Harden is putting up okay assist numbers, he is as selfish a player as there is in the NBA. I saw a stat the other day that said on his last 150 points, he has been assisted on 0 of them. You may read that and say, well no one is passing him the ball, false, he is dribbling the clock down and jacking up threes that somehow are going in. He is a ball stopper and he is a ball hog. The records also, at this same time 2 years ago when Westbrook was the MVP, are almost exactly the same. But where Harden gets credit, Westbrook got blasted. That is so unfair.

The biggest shit talkers are every single basketball writer and podcaster at The Ringer, especially their owner, Bill Simmons. Look, I get it, you guys very much dislike Westbrook. But you have got to stop making excuses for Harden because you like him. These guys and girls have trashed Westbrook since he won the MVP, but when Harden plays the exact same way, they love it. It is clear this company hates the Thunder. I mean, Simmons won't shut up about the Harden trade, which seems like a million years ago. He has KD on his podcast so much, that was one of the reasons I stopped listening to it. Simmons is a star chaser, except when it comes to Westbrook. Other writers at The Ringer always bring up how great Harden has been this past month, then I think they feel like they need to trash Westbrook just because they can.

The biggest indictment of this whole Harden Westbrook debate is something that Simmons and his buddy Joe House kept saying 2 years ago. They said anyone that voted for Westbrook as MVP was "basketball pervert". Well, if you guys thought we who rode the bus for Westbrook are "basketball perverts". what does that make you guys this year with Harden? I think that makes you, in your own words, "basketball perverts". Oh, and I cannot forget that Simmons said on "The Lowe Post" that he is more impressed by guys that average 27 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds. I believe he called it "The LeBron". Well dip shit, Westbrook, and for that matter, your boy Harden, are averaging more in all three categories. How dumb are you? How out of touch do you have to be? What happened to you as a credible writer? I'd much rather have the guys that average a triple double, or 40 points per game.

While I think Harden, where we stand right now, is the MVP, I also think these journalists need to lay the hell off of Westbrook. It was 2 years ago. Harden won his MVP. And what Westbrook did hadn't been done since Oscar Robertson was in the league. Journalists are supposed to be unbiased, and a lot of you are being exposed now. Get over it. Westbrook deserved his MVP, and if Harden keeps this up, he will deserve it too. I just want you shills to admit that he is a pain to watch, that he is selfish and that he is a better scoring, but worse passing and rebounding version of Russell Westbrook.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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Let's Talk About the Future of the Disappointing OKC Thunder

With the Thunder officially out of the playoffs, and their season done, I want to reflect on what happened.

I was extremely high on this team coming into this season. I thought that they were finally giving in and teaming up stars and paying money to put out one of the best teams in the league. They lost KD and James Harden because they were too frugal, but Sam Presti finally decided that enough was enough. He traded, shockingly, for Paul George and went out and got Carmelo Anthony. They lost what they, and me, considered dead weight in players like Victor Oladipo, Damontas Sabonis and Enes Kanter. They finally addressed what was so glaring last season, and they got 2 bona fide super stars to team up with Russell Westbrook. How could this go wrong? I fully bought in, and so did many other people.

Then the season started. The Thunder came out of the gates sluggish. I figured, it takes time to get these 3 stars acclimated to playing with one another, and they would steady the ship. Meanwhile, Victor Oladipo was playing the best basketball of his life in Indiana, Enes Kanter was putting up solid number with the Knicks and Sabonis was contributing to a surprisingly good Pacers team. But, like I said, I figured it would all even out soon. But, the Thunder still struggled and the 3 "dead weight" players I mentioned continued to play well, especially Oladipo. There were occasional runs by the Thunder. They would go on 4 or 5 game win streaks, but those would be immediately followed by losses to teams like the Magic and Suns. The Thunder played great against the best teams, the Thunder and Rockets, but terrible against the bad ones. It was frustrating to watch because this team had so much talent, but they just weren't figuring it out.

Eventually the Thunder got enough wins to push themselves into a decent playoff spot, but, by all accounts, the regular season was a big time disappointment. And no, I do not blame this all on Westbrook. I feel like he tried and tried to change his game to fit with Carmelo and George, it just never worked. When they were entrenched in that 4 seed, I assumed that this was their time to shine. I picked them to beat the Jazz and to give the Thunder a tough series. And after game one, I looked right. Paul George was locked in. Westbrook was playing great, and Carmelo had been relegated to his proper role as a floor spacer and three point shooter. Then games 2-6 happened. The Thunder lost any kind of rhythm they had in game one so fast, I felt like I got whiplash watching them play. It was a sloppy mess. They just couldn't figure it out, and that was what plagued them all season. And letting Donovan Mitchell go off like he did was so unlike the Thunder. Mitchell is great, I have written as much, but the Thunder should have been able to, at the very least, slow down a rookie. Game 6 was an absolute nightmare scenario for the Thunder. Carmelo Anthony looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, and he only took 7 shots all game. Paul George scored 7 total points on 2-16 shooting. And while Westbrook had 46 points, he needed 43 shots to do it. He turned into the Westbrook from last season, and that was not what the Thunder needed in an elimination game. I know he has taken the brunt of the heat from the media, but I say again, I don't singularly blame him. Game 6 was tough to watch, but he was pretty good for the rest of the series. I know he got roasted one game by Ricky Rubio, but that was a flash in the pan. He was solid and he was a good distributor until game 6. Paul George had that magical game one, but after that, he turned into the playoff Paul George we have all come to know. He was inconsistent on offense and didn't play his normal hard nosed defense. He was one of the guys that let Mitchell go nuts. And Anthony, my god was he just dreadful all around. This might be the worst that I have seen him ever play basketball. He was so, so, so bad.

Now that the season is done, the questions have become, what will this team look like next year? Westbrook will be there. He signed a massive extension, and he will, most likely, be a Thunder for his entire professional career. He is the guy there, and they will build around him. They will get their best defender back next year, Andre Roberson, but how good will he be coming of a torn ACL? He is also a horrid offensive player. Steven Adams will look incredibly dominant at times, then disappear or get hurt. He has the potential to be one of the better centers in the league, he just has to fully commit. Then there are the younger guys and the role players that no one knows what they will do for the rest of their careers.

And then we have Carmelo and Paul George. Carmelo Anthony is done. He is not even a viable bench option, even if he thinks he isn't a bench player. He has fallen, and he has fallen hard. If I were a team, a contending team, and I needed shooting, Anthony wouldn't even be on my list. He wasn't just awful in the playoffs, he was terrible all year. He seems to have lost it on offense, and he was never a defensive player. I used to love watching him, especially when he was in Denver, but man has he gotten bad, and what makes it even worse, he doesn't seem to realize it. He is destined, if he thinks he is only a starter level player in the NBA, to be on very bad teams that just need to sell tickets. I'm talking about teams like the Nets, Mavericks and the Magic. He is just not good anymore.

What about Paul George? 

Paul George is awesome. Paul George can play really well at both ends. Paul George has moments. But, I feel like he isn't a guy you can build around. He will never be a "best player on a title contending team". They tried it in Indiana and they couldn't get any further than the East Finals. Then, he was teamed up with Westbrook this year, and he deflected more often than take over. He has the ability to be a star, I just don't think he has the instinct. He is so much more suited as a Robin to someone else's Batman. Unfortunately, Westbrook wants to be Robin, Batman, the Joker and the Butler. That is what I love about Westbrook. So, you look at some places he is mentioned to go, and I only see it if he teams up with a true star player. Say he goes to the Lakers, he better hope they get LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard. I've seen the 76ers mentioned. I hope that doesn't happen for 2 reasons, I like what the 76ers are doing now, and he would be the best player by ability and seniority, and that won't work. Besides those 2 teams, I don't know where he could go to be second fiddle to another star. Maybe he and LaMarcus Aldridge could team up, but they both are playoff chokers. Maybe teaming him up with Damian Lillard would work, but probably not. That would make the Blazers exactly what they are now, a middling Western Conference playoff team. Maybe put him with Giannis in Milwaukee, but I think he would think he is better than Giannis, and the Bucks should be his team. I honestly don't know what George will do, and it kind of bothers me. He has all the tools to be a star, but where is that killer instinct I mentioned before? It comes and goes far too often.

When I look back at this particular Thunder team, I will always see what I considered the biggest disappointment of the 2017-18 NBA season. They were so much better than a mid 40 win team and a first round playoff out. They had 2 of the 15 best players in the league on their team, and they never figured it out. Billy Donovan proved he is a bad NBA coach. Sam Presti made an awful decision to trade for Carmelo. The Thunder took a big swing, a homerun swing, and they whiffed big time. This was the worst case for this team, and next year, they will look totally different. At least they still have Westbrook. He will always keep them in the conversation.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on all the internet.

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It is Now Time for Some Thunder Panic in Oklahoma City

Usually I am not one to worry about a NBA team only 20 games into a season. I said as much a couple weeks ago in a piece detailing the "hot" starts of teams like the Magic, Bucks and Clippers. I also said that people shouldn't be worried about some teams off to a "slow" start, like the Jazz, Grizzlies and Spurs. And, while some of those teams have fallen into place, the Clippers are trash and the Spurs are righting the ship, still without Kawhi Leonard, I do have to say that, if I am/was a Thunder fan, I'd be worried.

The Thunder have not seemed to figure it out, and they have 3 of the top 30 players in the NBA on their team. Where we stand today they are 8-12, and they could be much, much worse than that. I was extremely high on this team going into the season. I figured they could challenge for the second or third seed in the West. I was willing to put them in the Western Conference Finals. I assumed Russell Westbrook was only going to get better coming off an MVP season. Adding Paul George and Carmelo Anthony were both home run moves by the front office. Getting Westbrook to sign that massive extension was icing on the cake. But, a quarter of the way into the season, they have not even come close to playing how I envisioned them playing.

What is wrong in Oklahoma City? They play great defense. That all comes with Paul George. That dude is a solid defender. Probably one of the top defenders in the league. But, their offense is very lackluster, and they cannot close out games. Every time I check their box score on my phone, they seem to hold a decent lead going into the second half, and when I check it later to see the final score, they are always on the wrong end. I think their "big three" are having trouble meshing right now.

Right off the bat I have to say that I do not think this is all on Westbrook. I know that he is an easy target, and a lot of other writers seem to like to attack the way he plays. But, he is not the sole reason this team cannot close games out. He isn't playing the way he played last year, but he isn't playing like trash either. He is second in the league in assists. He is still scoring 20 plus points a game. And, he has put in effort on defense this year. So no, I will not put full blame on him because that is way too easy, and kind of hacky if you ask me. I will say about Westbrook though, he is not being as explosive as he should/can be. He is deferring to his new teammates to a fault. He is trying to hard at times to get Anthony, George and Steven Adams involved. He is the alpha on this team, and late in games, he needs to take over.

I think Paul George has fit in okay, but he is struggling with his shot right now. I've heard some people say that the Thunder are just stashing him in a corner and letting Westbrook dictate what to do, but I do not buy that. George isn't the type of player that would just be happy with sitting back and waiting for open shots. He is a rim attacker, and that allows his jumper to become open. Like I said, the problem with him is that his shot is not dropping right now. That is something that can be fixed, but it needs to happen now. They cannot get much further back in the standings before it becomes a devastating blow to their playoff hopes.

I don't know what in the hell Carmelo Anthony is doing. He is shooting nearly as much as he did in New York. He is not making many of those shots though. I have not seen him pass the ball once whenever I tune into a Thunder game. And his defense, well it is Carmelo Anthony, so defense is not really an option. I wanted him so badly to be Olympic Carmelo. He is the player of the "big three" that should be standing in the corner waiting for the pass for the open three. He is so deadly when he has time to set and shoot. He can also be hidden on defense on this team. He is literally there just to make open shots. He is not the first or second option anymore, and until he realizes that, the Thunder will continue to struggle.

The rest of the team, I think, is still trying it adjust to having these 2 new all stars. Steven Adams has not really lived up to the hype from a few years back when he looked like one of the best up and coming centers. He still gets rebounds and throws down some alley oops, but they need more from him. Alex Abrines is too young and too green for the NBA right now. Patrick Paterson, another free agent signing, is hurt. The rookie Terrance Ferguson, he is playing like a rookie. Their best bench player is Ray Felton, and that stinks. I like Felton, but he cannot be your best guy off the bench. That hasn't worked for any other team that has tried to do that.

What also irks me about their very slow start is some of the losses they have taken. If they were 8-12 with losses to the likes of the Rockets, Warriors, Spurs and Cavs, that would kind of be justified. But, they have losses to the Kings, Mavericks and just last night, the Magic. That should not happen with three players as talented as Anthony, George and Westbrook. That makes absolutely no sense to me.

I'm already preparing to eat crow for thinking this team would be great. Billy Donovan has proven to be a very low rent pro coach. He has been handed some of the best players in the world, yet he can't seem to draw up anything of value late in games. Westbrook needs to be more alpha dog and less, let me get the new guys involved. George, while killing it on defense, needs to start hitting his shots and being way more aggressive. And Anthony, he needs to be that lethal outside threat that this team lacked last year. They still have time, we are only 20 game in, but the Thunder have absolutely been the biggest bust of the first quarter of the season. Lets se if they can turn it around.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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How Good will Oklahoma City be Next Year Now that they Added Carmelo Anthony?

Carmelo Anthony finally, mercifully, got traded this past Saturday. This was a long time coming. I was at work, and the news buzzed that Melo had been traded. Naturally I assumed it was to the Rockets. That was all the talk for the entire summer, so I figured both teams finally pulled the trigger.

Well, it wasn't the Rockets. My next thought was the Trailblazers. I knew they were a long shot, but at the "eleventh hour", it seemed like a deal was in the works. If this was the destination, I was actually on board. I didn't think it would make them a title contender, but I loved the idea of a McCollum, Lillard and Anthony backcourt. There wouldn't have been much defense, but they would have scored a ton.

Well, it wasn't the Trailblazers. The next team I assumed was the Cavs. I read that he had opened up to being traded to a few new teams, and the one team that was number one on that list was the Cavs. He could finally unite with is buddy LeBron, and he would add some much needed scoring now that Kyrie Irving is gone. He could also make that team a little bit harder to defend. They would have been horrendous on defense, but they could have scored 120 a night.

It wasn't the Cavs though either. Much to mine, and almost everyone else's surprise, Melo was traded to the Thunder. The OKC Thunder pulled off two of the most unexpected, crazy moves of the summer. I was floored when they traded Victor Oladipo and Domantis Sabonis for George. I was SHOCKED when they got Melo for Doug McDermott and Enes Kanter! Absolutely shocked. I didn't see this coming at all. The Thunder were never, ever in the mix for Melo. No one mentioned their name, especially after they pulled off the Paul George trade. My hat goes off to Sam Presti and the Thunder organization for what they did this summer. They may only have this "big 3" for one season, but in the process they were able to unload terrible contracts, Oladipo and Kanter, an unproven rookie, Sabonis and a poor man's JJ Redick in Dougie McBuckets. If they do lose all three of these guys after one lone season, they will have a ton of money to spend on free agents.

But, lets deal with that topic next summer. I want to look at this current lineup that the Thunder will trot out there this season. There assumed starting 5 will be Westbrook, Andre Roberson, Paul George, Carmelo and Steven Adams. That is a pretty damn good starting 5, if they can mesh. That will be the biggest problem they will face early on. I read a stat a few days back that said that George, Westbrook and Carmelo were numbers 1, 2 and 3 in isolation plays last year. This is a classic case of, "there is only one ball" talk. They will have to learn to share the ball. I'm pretty confident that they will figure it out, but Westbrook will have the toughest transition. He is coming of an incredible season where we won the MVP and averaged a triple double. But, he did those things because he had too. He didn't have many weapons at his disposal. He has those weapons now, and he will have to learn to share the ball. I think that Paul George is a perfect guy to play next to Westbrook. George is an awesome defender. He is one of the better ones in the league. He is also a good scorer, and I think he will thrive playing off the ball. He had to do too much while in Indiana. Now, with Westbrook running the point, he can roam and find open spots. He will eventually score in bunches. I'm very curious to see how Melo fits in. He has been "the man" in both Denver and New York. Now, he is the third option. He is older, a poor defender, but he can fill it up. He can score and score and score again. He will get a TON of open shots on this team. With Westbrook and George being more of the driving type player, he will get a lot of catch and shoot chances. That is when he is at his best. That is what he does on Team USA, and he always shows out at the Olympics. He is old though, at least in the NBA. He will be a liability on defense. He may get mad at the lack of touches he will get. But, he is a top 20 NBA player, don't buy that stupid ranking that ESPN, or whoever did prior to this season.

As far as the other starters, Steven Adams will be needed for toughness and rebounding, which is what he does already. And Andre Roberson won't have to worry about shooting and can strictly focus on defending one of the better players on the other team, which he is best at. They both benefit from these 2 trades. As far as their bench, the Patrick Paterson signing is great, but he will lose some minutes to Carmelo. It's not a big deal, but they will need Paterson in the playoffs. Jerami Grant will get a chance at being the backup point and 2, and he should do well in short bursts here and there. Alex Abrines will be a minor scoring threat off the bench. Semaji Christon was awesome in Summer League. I'd like to see that translate to the NBA. And who knows with Terrance Ferguson, their first round draft pick. He is a great scorer, but no one really knows all that much about his overall game.

This Thunder team will be all about Westbrook, George and Carmelo, as it should be. I think this team, once they figure it out, will be very good. I could see them winning 50-55 games. I think they could be the 2 or 3 seed in the West. That all depends on how well James Harden and Chris Paul mesh. But, the Thunder will be better than the Rockets.

With all this being said though, it does not matter. They are still nowhere near the level of the Warriors. The Warriors are the best team, by a wide, wide margin, in the NBA. I love that teams are trying to pull in stars and band together to try and beat the Warriors, but all their best players are some of the best at their positions, and they are all in their primes. The Warriors are too good. But, I love this trade and I'm super excited to watch the Thunder again. I'm still sticking with the Timberwolves and Spurs as my new teams, but these 2 trades make the Thunder must watch basketball for me this year.

I'm still shocked they got Carmelo Anthony.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Kevin Durant Just Needs to Let it Go

I think it is time for me to give my two cents on this whole Kevin Durant trashing the Thunder organization from a dummy Twitter account.

First off, how does something like this happen with someone this famous? Why doesn't he have people that can stop this, or stop him, from doing something this dumb and easy for hackers and computer people to figure out? Do these pro athletes think they need to be this open to their fans? No way. I think it is cool that some pro athletes want to be able to reach out to fans, but trying to troll trolls, come on, they are better than that.

It is a matter of fact that there will always be someone out there that doesn't like you, especially if you give your opinion. I've found that out by writing for the site. I do not care about the people that say mean or bad things about me, but I also do not engage it. I just let it go. I never return comments on Facebook, Twitter or any other website that has a comment section. It is a waste of time and effort. Same goes for the good comments. I love to hear people say they like my stuff, but I never comment back. Again, there is no need to. The only time I comment back is when I have made a mistake and I want to clear the air. That is it.

Since his last year in OKC and his first full year in Golden State, it seems like KD thinks it is his personal mission to get social media trolls. Anyone that has called him a snake, a traitor, a front runner, a ring chaser, anything bad, he feels the need to write back. Why? What good does that do? Who is he trying to impress? How does he have time to do all this? I have so many more questions, but unfortunately, there seem to be no real answers.

What I think it boils down to is, he has never really been someone that people have actively rooted against. He has always been a player that 99 percent of NBA watchers love. He plays the game so freely and fun. I wish I could play the game of basketball like he does. He is so god damn good. He has been that good since high school, his one year of college, and his entire NBA career. He is one of the best players in the game right now, and he is a sure fire hall of famer. So, for him to call out the "haters" or "doubters", stop it. No one hates your game or doubts your talent. You are a once in a generation player and I am grateful that I get to watch you play, at least, 100 games a year. That nonsense needs to stop from him. He has proven his greatness. He has been to 2 Finals and won one. He is a multiple league leading scorer. He has won a regular season and Finals MVP. He is a multiple All Star. He is always a first team all NBA player. He has done it all. So stop calling out a few dumbass trolls that don't think you aren't any good. You are great. I also love your stance on politics. Keep that up.

It's stuff like this recent Twitter thing and the new shoes that make me rethink my thoughts on you as a person KD. The new shoes, with all that garbage written on the bottom of the shoe is ludicrous. People only said that stuff about you because you joined a team that you couldn't beat, which is fine. NBA players have done that all the time. Gary Payton and Karl Malone joined the Lakers late in their career. Charles Barkley got traded to the Rockets near the end. Steve Nash and Dwight Howard also joined the Lakers. It happens all the time. Get over people calling you a front runner. You are a front runner and that is okay. You made the Warriors nearly unbeatable. I never thought I'd see a team destroy a LeBron James led team like the Spurs did in his last go round with the Heat, but due to your presence, the Warriors did just that, and they will continue to with you on their team. Yes you are a ring chaser, but you have a ring. Stop going after people for spouting out facts. It is the truth. You know, I know it and most of the NBA fan base knows it, including Warriors fans. But what you did with these comments about the Thunder and Billy Donovan and Russell Westbrook is straight up childish. You whined and complained when people bad mouthed you for leaving this organization to join the team that beat you and you didn't say anything about the Thunder then. You griped that people called you a snake or a traitor during the season, you didn't say anything about the Thunder then. You outplayed Westbrook in the regular season head to head matchups and you didn't say anything about the Thunder then. So why, one week before media day and 2 weeks before training camp kicks off, do you say this stuff? This is like when a high schooler breaks up with his or her boyfriend/girlfriend, dates someone more popular and trashes their ex to the whole school. This is some childish bull shit that you should be above.

You won KD. The Warriors are champs. The Thunder are a second round playoff team at best. Get over it. To publicly call out Billy Donovan and say that the roster was terrible is so whiny and conniving and just flat out wrong. This might be worse than some high school bull shit. This is like when my kid says he got into a fight with someone smaller than him and beat him up. That is unfair and he gets punished for that. And when it was found out that you did it, you tried to play it off all cool. I do not buy it for one second. You said you let your emotions at the time get the best of you, I say BS. These were clearly feelings that you had inside the whole season and off season. That doesn't just come out of nowhere. 

All in all, this childish behavior and "woe is me" attitude coming from a multi millionaire that gets to play basketball for a living is really making it hard for me to continue to root for you KD. You are a tremendous talent. Just let your game do the talking. Don't engage with dip shits online, no good will come of it. This will be something that you will always be remembered for the rest of your career. People will say, "multiple champion, 20 plus time all star, multiple all NBA teams, multiple MVP and weirdo that trashed his former organization on Twitter through a dummy account, Kevin Durant". That is crazy, but you brought this upon yourself when you decided it would be a good idea to throw the Thunder under the bus. Let this social media stuff go and just go out there and kick ass on a basketball court. You are better than this KD.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. He also spent one semester at a D 1 college like most of the players in the first round. When will his name be called?

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Some Thoughts on the Dumb NBA Awards Show, and the Awesome Big 3

The NBA finally handed out their regular season awards last night because who doesn't want to know who the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player are a couple of weeks after the season has already ended. The whole ceremony was stupid and pointless, and I didn't watch a single second of it. Whenever an award was announced, my phone buzzed and told me who the winner was. I didn't have to sit through any monotonous Drake monologues or sketches to find out that Eric Gordon was going to win 6th man of the Year. In fact, the only thing I watched, which I watched this morning, was Russell Westbrook's MVP acceptance speech. That was the only good thing about the whole proceedings last night. Go watch his speech because it is remarkable.

But, as I said, the awards went as everyone thought. Of course Eric Gordon was going to win 6th man. He was great all year off the bench for Houston. Of course D'Antoni was going to win Coach of the Year. Sure, his team faltered in the playoffs, but these are regular season awards, and the Rockets were great inhe regular season. Giannis was definitely Most Improved. The dude has gotten better every season, and now, he is on the precipice of being an MVP caliber player. I could argue Kawhi over Draymond for Defensive Player of the Year, but honestly, Draymond was incredible on defense this year. He truly did guard all five positions, and at a very high rate.

The MVP, god damn right is was Russ. He deserved it more than anyone else that was up for the award. He had the least amount of talent around him, lost Serge Ibaka and KD, averaged a triple double and led a very undermanned team to 45 wins. He was far and away the best player, and the most fun, to watch this season.

I also did not care about any of the new awards. That was a lame attempt at making this stupid awards show 2 hours long. Who cares about best dunk game winner or fashion moment? It was a complete waste of time. So, no, the NBA awards show is not what I want to talk about today.

I was getting my daughter ready for bed last night and RD texted me to ask if I was watching the Big 3. I had totally spaced out and forgot that it was on. So after my daughter had her PJ's on and her teeth brushed, I immediately turned it to Fox Sports 1 and watched the Big 3. It was sloppy. The guys looked winded. No one was trying the 4 point shot. Most of the players looked their age. They looked gassed playing only half court. And Jason Williams, AKA "white Chocolate", might be done playing basketball forever after his gruesome injury.

All that being said, I loved every second that I watched. It was so awesome to see former NBA players playing 3 on 3 basketball like I do almost every week. I wrote a couple weeks back about how excited I am for the 2020 Olympics because they will have 3 on 3 basketball. Last night was a glimpse into the future for me, and I have to say, it was tremendous. Yeah it was sloppy, but, when the guys did make a play, it brought me back to what made them so much fun to watch when they were in the NBA. White Chocolate, before his injury, had this great hesitation move to beat a bigger man to the hoop and I was flooded with memories of him doing that to great defensive NBA guys in his heyday. Kwame Brown, never a star but had a decent career, could barely get above the rim, but he was grabbing rebounds and swatting smaller guys shots with ease. Rashard Lewis looked best of the early games I saw. He was creating shots, making jumpers and playing some decent defense. He looked like he could still be a bench player for someone in the NBA. It was also oddly comforting to see a guy like Ricky Davis shoot 4 of 14. He was always a spotty shooter but kept shooting, and last night was no different. Mike Bibby looked a bit bigger than I remember, but he was fighting for rebounds and dropping some dimes here and there. Hell, even DeShawn Stevenson hit a game winner, and I was excited to see that outcome. I know Allen Iverson didn't play much in his first game, but it was still fantastic to see AI playing basketball with 15,000 people watching him. He was still rocking the cornrows, the shooting sleeve and the headband. Yeah he wasn't driving to the hoop as much, but he was making jumpers. I can't wait to see Kenyon Martin when I get the chance to watch this again. There are so many other players I want to watch.

The game I got to see the most of was the team that had White Chocolate and Rashard Lewis playing the Ricky David "led" team. And I will say it again, it was a total blast. I didn't see too many 4 point shot attempts, but as the season goes on, I'm sure more guys will start to try it. I also loved that they play to 60, counting by 2's, 3's and sometimes a 4 pointer here and there, and that halftime is when one of the teams gets to 30. The Big 3 has potential to be enormous. The stadium, for what the event was, was packed. I know that RD and I were watching, but I also know that a lot of people I play basketball with and coach with were watching too. I'm sure a lot of other people tuned in out of pure curiosity. We also got Michael Rappaport as the sideline reporter and Gus Johnson as the play by play guy.

Look everything started out wonderfully. I just hope it keeps up because I want the Big 3 to stay. This is the perfect thing to fill that sports void for me right now. Baseball is boring, I don't watch tennis or soccer, the NBA is done, Summer League is right around the corner though, and football is still a few months away. The Big 3 filled that need for watching sports that I had last night. I hope the Big 3 continues to grow and continues to get better. This could be the next big thing.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.