What's Next for Michigan Basketball?

After winning the national title in men's college basketball Michigan is looking for a new head coach. Let’s discuss.

In very shocking news to me, Dusty May has accepted the head coaching position with the Dallas Mavericks. I was kind of stunned by this news when it scrolled across my phone this morning. I was out doing my Monday grocery shopping, and as I finished loading my car with said groceries, the news was all bold coming across my phone, "MAVS HIRING DUSTY MAY". I couldn't believe it. I thought he was going to stick around the college game a little longer. He looked to be building something nice and powerful at Michigan. In two years there he brought them back from a very low point and turned them into a national title winner. May knew how to work the portal, he got players to play for one another as opposed to playing for themselves, he coached three guys that could be picked in the top 14 in tomorrow's draft and he brought in a nice haul in the portal and with incoming freshmen for this year's team. But now he is gone, off to the pros.

I fully understand that this is the end goal for almost anyone who gets into the coaching world. May started at the bottom, worked his way up to the head coach at FAU, took them to the final four, went to Michigan and won the whole damn thing. The NBA is the next and final stop for him. He had a meteoric rise and now he gets to coach what looks to be an up and coming team in the West. They have Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving, a high pick in this draft and a coach who looks like an offensive genius. May almost feels like a perfect fit for this team and it wouldn't shock me if he has them as a perennial playoff team within two years. And while it bums me out that he is leaving for the NBA, he doesn't owe Michigan or us fans anything. He took them to the pinnacle and gave them their first men's basketball title since 1989. I said it with Jim Harbaugh when he left for the Chargers after winning the title with the football team in 2023. He did what he set out to do. He doesn't have to prove anything else to anyone in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh and May will be celebrated forever in Ann Arbor, and will get the warmest of welcomes whenever they return. May's time was shorter than Harbaugh's, but the results are still the same. They did it. They brought glory back to a storied program. I wish nothing but the best for Dusty May, and with Doncic being out of Dallas, I may start rooting for the Mavs. Hell, if they take one of the Michigan guys, the Mavs may become my second team to root for in the NBA, behind Memphis, and until Seattle gets a team again.

Moving on, with May officially off to the pros, I am curious to see what Michigan does now. I wonder who they are going to target for this job. The current roster has 15 days to decide if they want to stick around or transfer out. I'm sure a few guys will leave. It always happens, and with the way modern college athletics are going, it is bound to happen. I would be bummed if guys like Trey McKenney and Elliot Cadeau leave, but it could happen. I do think, if Michigan wants to try and retain as much of the current roster as possible, they should just give the job to Mike Boynton. He is the reported choice for interim head coach while they do their search. I read that he went and met with every player on the roster after the news of May's departure. That gave me a sense of relief as a fan. He was May's first hire when he got the Michigan job, he was right next to him on the bench during their tournament run this year, he is a very good recruiter and he has been waiting his turn to coach. I'm a big fan of staying in house when it comes to moves like this. I know it blew up in my face with Sherrone Moore, but the football program rebounded with the hiring of Kyle Whittingham, and Boynton seems to have a good head on his shoulders. May wasn't the biggest name when Michigan hired him, but it clearly worked out. Boynton's name may not jump off the screen, but he would allow for continuity.

Some other names I've already seen floated around are Billy Donovan, Nate Oats, TJ Otzelberger, Josh Schertz and Ben McCollum. I fully believe the only name on this list that would make me happy is Billy Donovan. I'll explain why in a moment. Nate Oats is a good recruiter and a solid coach, but he is an asshole who would rub people the wrong way, including fans. Otzelberger knows the midwest and has made Iowa State a power. But he has been reluctant to take bigger jobs. Also I think he is quite content in his current position. Schertz would intrigue me, I have seen what he has done at SLU up close and personal. But I do think the lights may be way too bright for him in Ann Arbor. And McCollum's run with Iowa last season felt very fluky. Iowa didn't have the best season, and then went on a wild run. I don't know that he can duplicate that at Michigan. Other than Boynton, Billy Donovan would be an absolute homerun. The guy can flat out coach. He won multiple titles at Florida. He knows the college game. He did a solid job in the NBA without ever having a roster that was actually meant to win a bunch of games. He has more than proven his worth. My worry with him, I don't know that he will want to come back to the college game. He could hold out for almost any NBA job that will come open next season. He could also do tv for a year, and he may fall in love with that just like Jay Wright has. I think Billy Donovan would be the best possible guy they could get for the job, but it also seems very far-fetched at this point. And that is why I say they should just give the job to Mike Boynton. He has the best chance to keep this team rolling. He has been there since they hired Dusty May. The players are familiar with him. He knows how to put these kids in the best position to win. He can continue the dominance of this team.

Time will tell, and this is still wild to me, but I think, if they make the right choice, Michigan will be just fine in the long run. We will see. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Thoughts on Where Giannis Plays Next - Part 2

With each passing day, and with it getting closer to the NBA draft, it looks more and more likely that Giannis Antentekoumpo is going to be traded. He wants out and has done everything short of asking to be traded. A while back I went through some teams that made sense to me. That has changed since then.

I know Giannis has some leverage, but so does Milwaukee. This is an interesting case of a star that has won it big with the team that drafted him, but has fallen on hard times as of late. The Bucks have tried to rebuild around him since they traded Jrue Holiday to the Celtics. Damian Lillard was never fully healthy, and the fit with him and Giannis wasn't great. I was on board with that trade at the time, but it never materialized in the way I hoped it would. They went out and signed Myles Turner last season, but his success seemed tied to Tyrese Haliburton more than anything else, and with the Bucks having no real point guard, his skillset never fully translated to the Bucks. The Bucks also let Brook Lopez walk so they could sign Turner, and he and Giannis were great buddies and running mates. They were the anchors of the defensive frontcourt for the Bucks. As expected, the Bucks limped to a rough season and during the year it looked like they were going to move Giannis. That never came, but now it seems inevitable. As I said though, both parties have leverage. Giannis won a title in Milwaukee. He also won many awards, including an MVP. He seemed to love the city from the moment he was drafted there, and they loved him back. He did it all with the Bucks, and if he wants to move on and try to win a title before retiring, he has that right. What more could Milwaukee want from him? But, the front office also signed him to an extension two years ago. He is, technically, still under contract with Milwaukee. They don't have to trade him if they don't get a deal to their liking. He has two years left, and in the end, the NBA is a business, and it is cutthroat. It would be awful if they wasted two more seasons for Giannis, but they can if they want.

In looking at who may be left in the Giannis sweepstakes, it looks like it is only the Heat and Celtics. These seem to be the only two teams with either the picks or young players, or both, that can trade for Giannis and are places he'd be happy to play for.

I understand why he wants to play for the Celtics. They are championship ready right now. They won a few years back, they overachieved without Jayson Tatum for most of the season and they have picks and one blue chip young player they may want to move. Jaylen Brown is awesome. He was in the MVP conversation for most of last season. He was an All NBA  player. He is a wonderful defender. He can create his own shot. And he showed that he could lead a team as the number one option last season. I believe a team like the Bucks covet a player like Jaylen Brown if they decide to move on from Giannis. Brown would make the Bucks, at the very least, a play-in caliber team right away. The Celtics also have future picks they can trade. The problem, those picks may not be super valuable because the Celtics are going to be pretty good for a while longer. Also, the Celtics may need a third team to get this deal done. They may have to add some other team that can add more, and better picks to the deal. And that may end up with Brown going somewhere else. The Bucks may have to just settle for a ton of picks. They may like that, they may not. But it seems unlikely that the Celtics would pull the trigger on trading Brown after he proved he can lead a team and still play quality defense. The future picks may be too much for Brad Stevens to swallow as well.

The Heat seem like the most likely landing spot for Giannis. They have the picks and the young guys to get it done. The only question is, will the Heat be willing to give up some of the younger talent to get Giannis. If the Heat are serious, and they want to do it, they are going to have to part ways with one of either Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr or Ke'el Ware. They are also going to have to give up their first round pick this season and Tyler Herro. I think the Tyler Herro of it all is not a big deal to the Heat. He may be a good offensive player, but he is a sieve on defense and he has become oft injured. I think the Bucks would welcome him because he is from Milwaukee and he would be the number one offensive option. But the Bucks would want the first round pick, to keep their own first round pick, and one of the young guys I mentioned before. Nikola Jovic is raw, but has potential. He would get to play a ton, but it would be frustrating to watch him play. Jaime Jacquez Jr is a solid bench player, but a higher usage rate may be tough for him to handle. I'm sure he would welcome it, but that also comes with expectations. He may not be ready for that. The most ideal, and best fit for the Bucks, in my opinion, is Ke'el Ware. He has proven that he is a solid number 5 in the NBA. He can score in the post, and has shown that he is capable of stretching the floor. He is a good defensive player and a solid rebounder. I think he would end up being the best asset in this possible deal and he could flourish with the Bucks.

I think the only team that can trade for Giannis, that would make the most sense, that would make him happy is the Heat. He and Bam Adebayo would be awesome. They could keep Norm Powell and let him create and score. They have the young kid from Illinois that showed flashes. They would be able to keep Jacquez and Jovic and let them stay in their current roles, which fit them best. I think the Heat will get it done and do it before the draft. That is what I see happening in the long run. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

The Knicks are NBA Champs

After 53 years, the New York Knicks are your 2026 NBA champions.

This is wild to me. I honestly didn't think I'd see the day that the Knicks actually won the whole damn thing. The Knicks, even with being in one of the biggest markets, had kind of become a laughingstock. I grew up on really good Knicks teams that couldn't get over the hump. I genuinely liked the John Starks and Patrick Ewing Knicks. I was a Ewing fan from the time I remember starting to watch the NBA, and when John Starks dunked on Jordan, he didn't, I became an instant fan of his. I had that damn poster on my wall as a kid. I liked Allan Houston and Larry Johnson. Charles Smith will live in infamy, but he was fun for me to watch. Hell, I even tuned into their games when guys like Langston Galloway, Nate Robinson and Frank Knitilikina were a part of the team. They did have a solid little run with Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire in the mid 2010's. But the team just couldn't get the big win. Be it Charles Smith getting continually blocked at the rim, or Ewing missing wide open layups, or Hakeem Olajuwon blocking a starks three point attempt, or Carmelo not getting the team past the second round, the Knicks just looked destined to be good, but not good enough. Hell, even last season they couldn't get by the Pacers. The Pacers were on an all time heater, and that Tyrese Haliburton jumper was amazing, but the Knicks were the better team.

After that East Finals matchup, to be honest, I kind of gave up on this current Knicks roster. It seemed a lot like what they had always done. I'm a Grizzlies fan, but growing up in a house that rooted against the Jordan Bulls, I became a Supersonics fan, and always will be. But I also kind of rooted for the Knicks too. It was all about Ewing and RD being a fan. I have never hated or loved the Knicks. I tolerated them. I like their jerseys, I like MSG and I have liked a ton of their players. But they never won anything big, at least not in my lifetime.

Then the Knick had this playoff run. They looked so good after game three against the Hawks. For people that may have already forgotten, the Hawks held a 2-1 lead in the first round, before the Knicks woke up and blew the doors off of them in three straight games. After the Hawks took the lead it looked like typical Knicks playoff regression. Then something clicked and it clicked at the exact right time. They went on to obliterate the Hawks so badly that they had a 60 point lead in Atlanta in the closeout game of that series. They wiped the floor with the 76ers in the second round, and easily dispatched of the Cavs in yet another sweep. This Knicks team felt and looked different. But that didn't stop me from still picking the Spurs to win in seven games. I figured the long layoff for the Knicks, the youth of the Spurs, the home court advantage for the Spurs and the dominance of Victor Webanyama were going to be enough for the Knicks to get beat on the biggest stage. I was so very wrong. Every game in this series was great, and close. I know the Knicks won game one by 10, but that was some late free throws making the final score look a little off. Each game was back and forth. The Spurs would hold these big leads in the first half, but the knicks never wavered. They felt like they could win every game. I do feel the only reason they didn't win game three was because that monster was in attendance when no one wanted his punkass there. He soured that whole night for the Knicks. But even in that game the Knicks closed it to one with seconds left on the clock. The turning point for me, and everyone else I bet, was the comeback win in game four. The Spurs were up 29 at the half. Teams with that big of leads in the NBA don't usually blow those games. But the Knicks just kept chipping away. When they cut the lead to 13 going into the fourth quarter I told my wife I had to go watch just to see if they could fully comeback. And dammit they made the full comeback. That OG Anunoby tip in was incredible and I will never forget it. I was sitting in my living room jaw agape watching no Spurs player guard him and Anunoby rushing to the rim, out jumping everyone and tipping that ball in. It was an incredible game with an amazing comeback and my son was equally as stunned as I was when I told him the Knicks won. Game 5 kind of felt like a formality after that, but you still have to play the game. And the Spurs showed up for three and a half quarters. But so did Jalen Brunson. I'm not the biggest fan of how Brunson plays basketball, but he was determined to close out the Spurs in game 5. The dude was amazing to watch. Every shot that went in seemed crazier than the last one. He was otherworldly in that game. But he had help throughout the series. Anunoby was my personal pick for Finals MVP. He did it all. Literally. Karl Anthony-Towns played the best defense anyone has ever played on Wemby. Mitchell Robinson was the perfect bully. Josh Hart out hustled anyone in his way. Mikail Bridges did his role perfectly. Jose Alvarado stepped up when his number was called. This team was built for this and they won their title in pretty dominant fashion.

I found myself happy for the Knicks watching this series, but it wouldn't have mattered who won. I like both these teams. I was texting with a friend of mine and we both just wanted the series to continue because it was so much fun and so competitive. But in the end the Knicks are the rightful and deserving NBA champs. They went out there and beat everyone in their way. I was wrong, they were right to let Tom Thibodeau walk and hire Mike Brown.

Congratulations New York Knicks. You are the 2026 NBA champs. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Austin Reaves and the Nets is Not a Good Idea

The NBA draft and free agency are right around the corner. Not to worry, I will do a draft preview closer to the actual day of the draft. But with free agency looming, news stories about possible deals are already popping up in the media. Let’s discuss.

The "big fish" as of right now seems to be Austin Reaves. I'm very tepid on Reaves. I think if he were playing in almost any other market, and putting up the same stats, he wouldn't be viewed as the prize possession he is because he plays for the Lakers. This is one of the few cases that the name on front of the jersey is more important than the one on the back. I think he is showing a tendency to be more injured, he is an inconsistent scorer, he pops off way too much and he is a liability on the defensive end of the floor. I also think he thinks he is better than he truly is in the world of the NBA. But, because he is finding himself wide open, given open driving lanes due to who he is teammates with, and because he can hide on defense, he is going to get a ton of offers. I personally think he will stay with the Lakers, he'd be an idiot not to, but that won't stop teams from chasing him. Right after the Lakers season ended, teams already popped up as possible suitors. I've seen the Hornets mentioned. I have read that the Bulls may pursue him. I'm sure a rebuilding team in a "smaller" market, like Sacramento may go after him.

This morning I read that the Nets are preparing a max offer sheet for him. The Nets front office is willing to give him four years and 175 million plus to be their number one offensive option. It seems as if they are ready to build a team around Austin Reaves. I openly laughed at the headline when I read it. This is so perfectly Brooklyn Nets coded. The Nets cannot ever seem to make a right decision within the front office. They almost nailed it when they got Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to sign. And when they landed James Harden it seemed as if the Nets had done something right. But in true Nets fashion, it blew up in their faces. Kyrie Irving refused to get vaccinated. Kevin Durant couldn't stay healthy and demanded a trade. He also wanted the coaching staff and front office fired if he were to stay. And James Harden couldn't deal with the workload and asked to be traded as well. They couldn't get it together.

Even prior to this, the Nets have made some odd decisions in the past during free agency. Deron Williams seemed like a perfect fit when they lured him away from Utah. But he was never the true point guard leader they needed, and he was never able to stay healthy for a full season. They gave Andrei Kirlineko a bunch of money just to see him flame out in epic fashion. They signed Gerald Wallace to a nice offer sheet, but as much as I liked Wallace when he was on the Bobcats, he was not the frontcourt star they hoped he would be.

But, with the Reaves news dominating NBA headlines this morning, the only offer from the past that the Nets made that kept popping up in my brain was when they gave Tyler Johnson an offer sheet. Do you all remember that? Do you all even remember Tyler Johnson? For people who may not know who he is, or was at that time, Johnson kind of came out of nowhere as a member of the Miami Heat from 2014 to 2019. He had an up and down start to his tenure there, splitting time with the Heat and their D League affiliate, that's right, the G League used to be called the D League. But in 2016 through the 2018 seasons, something clicked for Johnson. He became this excellent bench scorer for the Heat. He played in 72 and 73 games both seasons, averaging around 12 points on 43 percent shooting. The media and Heat fans loved his energy off the bench and he became this niche basketball player that analytic people loved. He hustled, played his role and seemed destined to be a starter in the near future. The Nets saw this and decided he was ready to be given a sizable offer sheet. I want to say they offered him about 50 million for around four years. This was unheard of at the time for a bench player. He passed, the Heat gave him a one year deal and then he bounced around the league, never finding the success he found from 2016 to 2018. He went to Phoenix where he only played a total of 44 games in two years. He did find his way to Brooklyn eventually, playing a total of 47 games in two years. He then spent some time with the 76ers and Sant Antonio Spurs in the 21-22 season, playing a total of six games. I get mad Tyler Johnson vibes from this Austin Reaves news. Tyler Johnson should have stuck it out and played the role he was best suited for with the Heat. Hell, he could still be there if that was the case. But some other teams saw something, and a team like the Nets were ready to throw a bunch of cash at him and give him a bigger role.

It would not stun me at all, if Reaves were to sign with the Nets, if the same thing happens to him. Reaves would become another player who got paid and faded away. He is not a guy to build a team around. He is only successful because of the teammates he has around him. He will ot put up anything close to the same numbers with the Nets as he would if he stays with the Lakers. I find Austin Reaves to be incredibly overrated. And if he thinks that he is going to live up to a max contract, that is laughable to me.

The Nets need to stop with this nonsense of taking wild chances on unproven players. Do something right and pull this offer, or never even let it get out that you're thinking of doing it. Austin Reaves is not a player you can win a title with as your number one option. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty's 2026 NBA Finals Preview

The NBA Finals are set. The Spurs slayed the Thunder, and the Knicks easily dispatched of the Cavs. Lets preview the finals.

The Spurs-Thunder game seven was pretty great. I will fully admit, I was very wrong about the Thunder. They looked unbeatable to me. They were rolling when they got to the West Finals. SGA won his second straight MVP. The sidekick players were hitting their shots. They were winning without free throws and their defense looked ferocious. And the Spurs paid no mind to any of that. I loved how free and loose they played. The Thunder could not get anything in the paint when Wemby was in the game. He neutralized Isaiah Hartenstein and, to an even bigger extent, Chet Holmgren. The Spurs played better defense. They got more steals and blocks. They got the loose balls. Julian Champangnie was hitting his threes. Stephon Castle played fearless and free. Dylan Harper announced himself as a future superstar. De'Aaron Fox, when he came back from injury, ran the offense to perfection. The Spurs played a better series than the Thunder and they got the coveted game seven win on the road. I thought that they were maybe a year or two away from this type of contention. They proved me very, very wrong, and I love it. This Spurs team is young and fun. They fly up and down the floor and play exquisite defense. And Wemby is the most unique basketball player I have ever had the joy to watch play. He is from another planet. He does things at his size that shouldn't be possible. He makes the games fun and he seems to really care. This kid is amazing.

The Knicks, after a minor threat in the first round, have been on an absolute roll. They have won 11 straight playoff games. And it's not like the games are all that close. The Knicks are blowing teams out. I know in game one of the East Finals the Cavs took them to overtime, but the Knicks overcame a 14 point deficit in the second half, and I think they won that game by 9 points. They have been playing some of the best basketball in the entire playoffs. They are making threes at an outrageous rate. Landry Shamet has been on absolute fire since being reinserted into the rotation. Jalen Brunson is doing what he does, quietly I might add, and I think he has somehow become underrated for what he brings to this team. OG Anunoby, coming off his own injury, has been remarkable on defense, which is to be expected, but he has been equally as good on offense. That is such a plus for this team. Mitchell Robinson, who does have a broken pinky, has been a beast on the boards and is rim running with the best of them right now. Karl; Anthony-Towns has gone to a whole other level. He is still scoring like he usually does, but he is also passing at a high level and he is playing the best defense he has ever played in the NBA. Mikal Bridges got out of his slump on offense and is now the two way threat he was when he was on the Suns. Miles McBride is playing crucial minutes, Jordan Clarkson has bought in on defense and Mike Brown was the right choice to coach this team. I may have been a little critical of it when he was hired, I was wrong. He was the missing piece the Knicks needed to be where they are right now.

Ever since game seven of the West Finals ended I have been sitting and trying to figure out who I think is going to win. The backcourts are so different. Brunson and Bridges are a unique blend. Bridges is long and tall. Brunson is short and stocky and can get anywhere on the floor on the offensive end. Fox, Castle and Harper are a wonderful trio in the backcourt. Fox is the level headed veteran here. He is also lightning quick and he seems to be fully healthy. Castle is wildly athletic and can get to the rim with ease. Harper is a similar build to Brunson, but he is younger and a little more reckless in a good way. The front court battle should be interesting. The Knicks have a two headed monster here. Mitchell Robinson will be able to beat up the Spurs big men. But he may not be healthy. He is going to be very important in  this series. The Knicks need him out there. Karl Anthony-Towns should make the Spurs big men work a ton. He can score from anywhere on the floor and he is playing, as previously stated, the best defense of his career. Josh Hart is more of a guard, but the way he crashes the boards and attacks the rim makes me see him more as a frontcourt guy in this series. He needs to make shots, but Josh Hart could be another decisive player for the Knicks.

The Spurs have Wemby. Wemby is amazing. He can do it all and he can do it all at a very high level. There was a moment in game 7 of the West Finals where he caused a deflection that turned into a steal, got a pass about three feet behind the three point line, pulled up and splashed it. I audibly guffawed when this happened. He is incredible. Luke Kornet is playing solid basketball right now. Julian Champengie, as said before, can stretch any defender, and he plays good defense. And Harrison Barnes is going to be needed in the Finals if the Spurs want to win it all this year.

I'm still struggling with who to pick. I genuinely like both of these teams. RD is a Knicks fan and my dad roots for the Spurs when the Bucks are out or no good. I like a bunch of players in this series. I like both coaches and  both coaching staffs. I'm so pumped to watch the Finals this year. And we will have a new NBA champ for the 8th straight year. That rules and shows that the NBA has true parity.

As for my pick, give me the Spurs in seven with Wemby bringing home Finals MVP. They slayed the biggest dragon on the road, they're young, they seem to have the it factor right now and they have Wemby. Sorry RD, but this feels like the Spurs ring this year. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Chet Holmgren is a Liability, Not an Asset, for the Thunder

I'm so excited that we are getting game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. The Spurs and Thunder have been the two best teams in the NBA all year, so it only makes sense that they are going the distance to see which team will represent the West in the Finals. But that is not the crux of my piece today.

Chet Holmgren is a good basketball player. He has his limitations offensively, but he is a force on the defensive end of the floor. He proved that and then some in the Finals last season. He was an absolute menace. I was actually ready to eat crow after his defensive performance last season. I thought he was going to be more of a liability when he entered the NBA. I thought he was too skinny and too limited to be a real force. It didn't help that he missed all of his rookie year due to injury. I figured I had him pegged. But then he stayed healthy and played well. I believe he was in the all star conversation the past two years, and he has become a mainstay on the all defense teams.

In this series all of the stuff that had me worried when he was a prospect is coming back to haunt him. He has been an absolute nonfactor in this series. The Thunder won't even play him as the only big on the floor. Victor Webanyama has been absolutely eating his lunch all series. Wemby is on the fast track to being one of the top players in all of basketball. He is an alien unlike anything else we have ever seen. The things he does on the court should be impossible for someone his size. But he does it and he is doing it all against Holmgren. It is wild to me that people tried to compare the two of them when they were coming up in youth, high school and higher level basketball. There's no comparison, and Wemby is making sure we all know that. There's clearly some animosity from Wemby that people would even consider these two players on the same planet talent wise. I love that Wemby has taken that personally, and every time he faces Holmgren, he is making it a point to not just beat him, but humiliate him in the process. The modern NBA has too many friendships. We need more rivalries like I watched when I was growing up. And it looks like, at least from Wemby's point of view, that he does not care for Chet Holmgren.

The most glaring thing during this series, it's not just Wemby who is abusing Holmgren. Guards on the Spurs are going right at him. Devin Vassell, in the game last night, went right at him when he was the lone rim protector and scored an easy layup. Stephon Castle, who has no fear, doesn't think twice when rising up at the rim to meet Holmgren. Dylan Harper, who has been going hard at Lu Dort too, has zero fear when going to the rim against Holmgren. It has been a masterclass from the Spurs at attacking the guy who is supposedly on Wemby's level as a shot blocker or disruptor. That notion has to be gone now. Even the most loyal Chet Holmgren fan would have to agree that this is now the case. And maybe this is just a bad matchup for him. Maybe the Spurs have all the right answers to the things he is supposed to be elite at doing on a basketball court. But he has just not shown the capability to be anywhere near Wemby's level in this series. Wemby is, far and away, a better basketball player, on both ends, than Chet Holmgren. I like Isaiah Hartenstein,  but when he is the only big the Thunder trust against Wemby, what does that mean for Holmgren's future with this team.

These two teams are going to be at each other's throats for the next four or five years hopefully, and if Hartenstein is more reliable, maybe the Thunder need to look in a new direction for Holmgren. Maybe they can offload him to a team in need of a big center. The Thunder are going to have to make some hard decisions on key players soon, and maybe Holmgren will be at the top of that list now. He has not had a very good series. And maybe his luck changes, he hits some threes and blocks a few shots in game 7. But I would be looking into possible deals, which I'm sure Sam Presti is already doing, to see what the Thunder could get for Holmgren. He is simply not at the level he needs to be if he is going to be a formidable opponent to Wemby and the Spurs. And this series has shown us that tenfold. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Can the Knicks Actually Win it All

The New York Knicks are back in the NBA Finals. Let’s discuss.

This has been a long time coming. I remember the last time they made the Finals. I was 17 years old, the season was cut short by a strike, the Knicks were the 8th seed and they went on a magical run. It was awesome. I've bounced around being a fan of a few NBA teams. As a kid I was all in on the Seattle Supersonics. And the moment Seattle gets a new team, hopefully soon, I will be right back on the fan train. I'm all in for Seattle basketball. When they moved to OKC, I became a Thunder fan. It was easy enough to follow them there, and having a young Kevin Durant made it an easy transition. Then KD left and I was, again, looking for a new team. I toyed with the Suns, but Phoenix fans are an odd bunch. This was when I landed on the Memphis Grizzlies. They're close to Saint Louis and I liked what they were doing at the time. During all of this I have always quietly rooted for the Knicks. They're the one team from New York that I've always kind of liked.

I first fell in love with the Knicks when they had Patrick Ewing and John Starks. I had the famous John Starks poster on my wall when I was a kid. Patrick Ewing was one of my favorite players growing up. I was all in when they had Allan Houston and Larry Johnson. When they shifted to Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudamire, I still found it fun to root for them. There were some very lean years post Carmelo, but still, watching them play at Madison Square Garden was something to behold. Then they got Jalen Brunson. I was stoked to see him leave Dallas, and to go play on one of the biggest stages there is in professional sports, I found it easy to root for him. He took a chance on himself and it is paying off. I liked Mitchell Robinson the moment he declared for the draft. He is an old school NBA big man. He's mean and gruff and gets boards. He can also dunk a ball very hard. Mikal Bridges was one of the reasons I was contemplating being a Suns fan. Now that he is playing for the Knicks, it is so much easier to root for him. Acquiring OG Anunoby has been such a great deal for them and he is one of the best two way players in the game. I have always liked Karl Anthony-Towns. I liked him in college and when he was on the Timberwolves. I don't get the hate he gets on the internet. He is a very good offensive player, and it looks like he has finally learned how to play solid defense. Hell, I even enjoy the bench guys. Miles McBride is a bucket off the bench. I don't know if Landry Shamet has missed a three in the playoffs yet. Jordan Clarkson is getting minutes again and even he has bought in on the defensive end. This is a fun team to root for. And even the whole James Dolan of it all hasn't turned me off. Maybe it's due to him being less active or maybe it's due to Leon Rose being a bit more in charge. Dolan's awfulness hasn't hindered this team as of late. I thought they pulled the plug too soon on Tom Thibodeau. I was wrong. Mike Brown has been a perfect hire to get the best out of this team while also giving players proper rest during the season and playoffs. Josh Hart still seems like he could play 48 minutes every night this late in the year. That's due to Brown knowing when and where to give his players rest and to let them play.

Personally I like all three teams left in the playoffs. The Thunder are an absolute machine. They are well coached, have the two time MVP, have depth and play hellacious defense. I don't care about all the "foul baiting" and complaints. The Thunder are a legit dynasty in the making. The Spurs are young and fun and have an alien on their team that may be the best player in the world already. They're so unlike the Spurs of old, who I also liked, but still have that winning DNA. Stephon Castle is awesome, Dylan Harper has star written all over him, Julian Champenie can't miss and Wemby is amazing.

The Knicks are my personal favorite of the teams left. They're classic. They have the most iconic uniforms in the NBA. They have the best celebrity row. Nothing in the NBA makes me happier than seeing Spike Lee and Tracy Morgan courtside at a Knicks game. They are tried and true fans of that team. I like the guys on the team. They're playing beautiful basketball right now. It would be amazing if they could actually win the whole thing. They might have a good chance if the Thunder and Spurs keep beating each other up. The NBA is better when the Knicks are relevant. I remember when they hosted a first round playoff game in 2021, after not making it for years, and the Garden was rocking. Imagine how nuts it is going to be hosting a Finals game. I cannot wait.

I'm all in on the knicks for the Finals no matter who they end up playing. I want them to win it all now. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Giannis to the Lakers Doesn't Make Much Sense

I saw a headline on Bleacher Report this morning that said, "Giannis X Lakers trade ideas". Let’s discuss.

This took me back a little bit. I understand that Giannis' time in Milwaukee is pretty much over. He may return for all we know, but it feels like the writing has been on the wall for some time now. Giannis wants to go somewhere that he can compete right away for a title. He is older now, more injured and I'm sure he sees that his time left as a dominant force in the NBA is close to done. He was so awesome in his prime. He brought a title back to Milwaukee. He was the best player in the league, at least in my opinion, for a three or four year stretch during and post pandemic. but it feels like he is ready for the next chapter of his NBA career and he wants a change of scenery.

There's a few teams that make sense, if they can pull it off. The Warriors make the most sense to me. Sure, they're in the West, but put Giannis and Steph together, and I'd put them in the playoffs for sure. The Nets have all kinds of picks and young players they can move. And Giannis would instantly make the Nets a strong East team. The Raptors have always had eyes for Giannis, and if they could pull off a trade that doesn't involve Scottie Barnes, they could get a seat at the table. The Knicks may not go after him now that they're two wins away from the Finals. But if they were to rock the boat, that is where Giannis wants to play. The Cavs and Hawks seem less likely to trade for him now, but each has their own merits to go after him. The Hawks need a vet to keep that young team focused. And the Cavs need a force that is not afraid of any moment. And the Heat have always and will always be in the conversation for a star player. They have the means to get it done, and I wouldn't be shocked if that is where he ends up.

This whole Lakers addition is baffling to me. They would have to mortgage their future to bring him in. they would have to trade every pick they own. They would most likely have to add future picks. As far as players, I'd ask for the moon from the Lakers. I'd want Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, Bronny James and Deandre Ayton. Hell, I'd probably ask for more. If the Lakers want to be taken seriously, if they want a seat at the table, this would be my ask if I'm the Bucks. This isn't the Mavs giving up Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis. The Bucks front office is smarter and they have been playing this game with Giannis for over a year now. They don't have to trade him for scraps. They should get the farm, at the very least in picks, from whichever team or teams they're dealing with. With the Lakers, I'd want it all.

The 29 other teams in the NBA need to stop giving the Lakers whatever they want. Teams don't have to do that anymore. They are not the glamour franchise they used to be. Sure, they have new ownership coming in from the Dodgers, but the NBA has a salary cap. NBA teams can't just buy any player they want like they do in the MLB. The Dodgers get everyone and anyone because they can pay more. That's not the case in the NBA. There's so many more rules with the cap and I think the Dodgers people are going to find that out sooner rather than later, and that is going to drive them up the wall.

Also, if the Lakers were somehow able to get Giannis, what does that mean for LeBron? Is he already gone? Has he moved on? Or is he willing to take another backseat and be the third option again with the Lakers? I get it, he will be 42 next season, but he is still productive, and I think he still wants to win. And if Bronny is traded, would he follow him? Does he still want to wait and play with Bryce?

There's so much more than just the sensationalism of Luka and Giannis teaming up in LA. This would ravage the Lakers depth and youth. Luka and Giannis always seem to get hurt. JJ Redick is an overrated coach. He would have to do actual work to try and find guys on the cheap that could help this team. And vets who may want to play there would have to deal with taking on way less of a load based on what they excel at on a basketball court.

I hate this idea. I feel like any major media outlet is simply obsessed with getting star players, current and former, to LA. They want these big time players in big cities. They're so mad that San Antonio and Oklahoma City are going to be running the league for the next five to six years. That drives them up a wall. I would be stunned if Giannis ends up in LA. I would also despise it. I don't think it will happen, but I certainly hope it won't happen. This would not be good for the NBA. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ode to One of the Greatest Dunks in NBA History

I want to take some time today to talk about one of the greatest dunks I have ever seen.

Last night the Spurs and Thunder played game two of the Western Conference Finals. Two games in this has already been an epic series. I hope it goes the full seven games and each team plays their damn hearts out. Game one was one of the best basketball games I’ve ever seen. It had everything one could want as a basketball fan. It went back and forth, went to double overtime, had one of the best three's made I've ever witnessed and was just simple and pure joy for all basketball fans' eyeballs. Last night's game wasn't as epic, but it was still a good game that went down to the wire, for the most part. But we were still gifted an amazing play that will live in my head rent free forever.

I'm not fully sure when it occurred in the game, but there was a moment that Stephon Castle took Isaiah Hartenstein's body and soul on an in-game dunk. The Spurs set a few ball screens for Castle that left the middle of the lane open. Now, for the casual fan that may not know much about Steph Castle yet, he wants to attack. The three point shot was open, but if you give Castle a runway, he is going to absolutely go for it. This is one of the many reasons I have already become a Castle fan. This kid is not scared of anyone, plays the game with a cerebral attitude, makes silly mistakes but I give those a pass, and just goes for it. He is still young and still has incredible bounce. He is all about using what suits his game best, and that is an easy fan to get my fandom. And that is exactly what he did last night. I know the Spurs didn't win the game, and I do think OKC may have figured something out last night, but this play was one of the many reasons the rest of the NBA should be very afraid of what the Spurs are currently building. When Castle saw that he had this open lane, he didn't get cute or try to wait for a three point shooter to get open, he attacked. He saw that there was only going to be one player playing defense in the post, Hartenstein, and I'm sure he knew in his mind's eye that he could attack. Castle took the ball, took a few hard dribbles and elevated. He looked like he was going to jump out of the damn gym. It looked like he was going to stay floating in the air forever. Hartenstein, and I give him credit, slid over and looked to attempt to block the dunk, or maybe draw a charge. Once Hartenstein decided to try and block the shot, that meant he was about to end up on a poster and become a viral meme. Again, I give him credit for not backing away, but man oh man did Castle try to end his NBA career right then and there. As Castle started to jump, he also cocked the ball back. This was when we all knew he was going to attempt an all time dunk. As Castle cocked the ball back you could see that Hartenstein wasn't going to be able to meet him at the rim. Either he mistimed his jump or just simply couldn't get high enough to get his fingertips on the ball. As Castle started the dunk we all knew he was going to slam it down, we just didn't realize the authority he was going to use. It felt as if Castle summoned all the great, hard dunkers of all time as he flushed the ball through the hoop. It looked like a mix of a Shawn Kemp, Moses Malone, Darly Dawkins and Dominique Wilkins dunk. He combined all of these great dunkers into one monstrous dunk. As Castle crammed the ball through the hoop, I couldn't help but make a guttural sound. It was that damn impressive to me watching this dunk. Castle jumped so high, cocked the ball back so effortlessly and smashed the ball through the hoop so hard that it was one of the most beautiful combinations of athletic ability that I've ever witnessed. And as he yelled and stared after making the dunk, I couldn't help but clap in my living room, where I was sitting with my son who was equally impressed.

This was an amazing dunk. Seriously, go pull it up on the internet and watch it right now and you will find yourself as impressed as I was last night. I was already a Steph Castle fan before last night, but now I'm a superfan of him. He reminds me of a great mix of old school and modern basketball, and last night's dunk was the best homage he could pay to the old school dunkers.

What an amazing dunk. I'm still in awe. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Thoughts on the Mavericks Letting Jason Kidd Go

The Dallas Mavericks and Jason Kidd have parted ways. I don't know if this was truly a mutual decision, or if the new president of the team, the wonderful Masai Ujiri, wanted a change at the top of the team. Either way, Kidd is no longer the head coach.

This felt like it was coming the moment the Mavs hired Ujiri. Anytime a new GM gets hired, the whole coaching staff is usually in trouble. That's the way it has been and continues to be. When a new GM comes in, they are going to want to bring along their people and people they trust. That's why it is a little crazy that Nick Nurse was retained by the 76ers after they let Daryl Morey go. That was not the case in Dallas. It seemed like, from the moment Nico Harrison was let go, Kidd's time was not long for the Mavs. I thought he could have stuck around if they had a better year, but they were not very good and they "only" got the ninth pick in the upcoming draft.

This job opening should entice whomever the Mavs hire. I have read that they are targeting a few young assistants, and that makes perfect sense to me. The Mavs have the bones of a solid starting five. Cooper Flagg is a star. If he can stay on the floor he is going to be a perennial all star and an easy player to build around. Kyrie Irving is coming back next season, and that will be a major boost. While older, and a little off his rocker, Irving can still handle and shoot the hell out of the ball. He will give this team a true point guard and true floor general. Derrick Lively will return to the lineup fully healthy. He is a good, young rim runner and a solid defensive force. Daniel Gafford still has something left in the tank. Max Christie had an okay season last year. And they still have Khris Middleton and Klay Thompson, who could be used as trade chips. The Mavericks aren't great, but they aren't horrible either. This isn't like the situation in Sacramento or Memphis. This is a team that has a true budding superstar, a solid group of vets and a lottery pick in this year's draft. I believe that whomever they hire will be put in a solid situation.

I saw that the Mavs were targeting a Spurs and Timberwolves assistant. That makes sense to me. Those guys are young, have helped to coach young superstars and understand modern NBA offenses. I'd trend more towards the Spurs assistant simply due to how well the Spurs play defense. They made the right choice in giving Mitch Johnson the head coaching job last year after Popp left, and he seems to have hired the right guys to his staff. The Spurs look to be building another dynasty of sorts, and coaches are going to get poached left and right. That's the way of the world in the NBA right now. The Mavs should avoid really good coaches like Billy Donovan and Tom Thibodeau, and go young. Donovan and Thibodeau have more than proven themselves, but they're also old school and that may not mesh well with the Mavs current roster.

As for Kidd, I don't really know where he goes from here. He had gifted and great players in Dallas, but he also willed those teams to higher heights than I thought they could reach. He led them to a Finals appearance. Up until this season, the Mavs were perennial playoff threats. He held them accountable on the defensive end, save for Luka Doncic. But he was also super prickly with the media and front office. He seemed short with the people he didn't like there. And this past season showed that he is not a builder of a team. He needs stars in the room the moment he takes a new job, if he takes a new job as a coach. I could see him taking a year off, or being an assistant at some glamour team. I wouldn't be shocked if the Lakers were somehow able to hire him as an assistant for a year. I could see a team like the Hawks hiring him onto the staff to tweak their defense a bit. But, maybe a job opens up sooner rather than later and maybe Kidd will be at the top of that, or those, teams list. He could go coach the Kings or the Wizards. The Wizards even have some big names, and they have the top pick in this upcoming draft. He could go be an assistant with the Bucks if they retain Giannis. Kidd will have his choice out there, but if you were to ask me what I think his next move will be, I think he will take a year off, do some broadcasting and wait to see what jobs open up next year. I don't think he wants to be an assistant again, and there's always turnover in the NBA year to year. Some teams will be looking for a new head coach next season, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Kidd at the top of those teams wishlists.

Time will tell, but this seems like a good move for both sides. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

R.I.P. Brandon Clarke

Brandon Clarke has passed away at the age of 29. This is very sad and upsetting to me.

For people that may not know who Brandon Clarke was, he was a professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies. As most of you know, I'm a Grizzlies fan. And Clarke was a bonafide fan favorite. When he wasn't injured, you just knew that when Clarke entered the game, he was going to give it his all and maybe make a play or two during his minutes on the floor.

I first became aware of Clarke during his college career at Gonzaga. He was newcomer of the year the season after he transferred there, he had to redshirt, and he was a third team all american. He also scored 35 points in a tournament game, surpassing Adam Morrison's Gonzaga record. He parlayed all of this into being the 21st overall selection in the 2019 NBA draft. The Thunder drafted him, but traded him about two weeks later to the Grizzlies, where he would spend his entire NBA career. He was a first team all rookie player and he became a spark plug off the bench. He would get anywhere from 20 to 22 minutes a game and he was a double digit scorer and 5 rebound a game player. He would come in, ignite some kind of run, get the crowd into the game and he was a blast to watch. I was fortunate enough to go to a few games live, and when he would enter the game the crowd would give him a nice ovation and he always did something cool at the games I attended.

Then he got hurt. He tore his achilles, and when he went out, the Grizzlies suffered. They needed his tenacity and grit. He embodied the team and the chemistry that they enjoyed when they were winning a lot of games. Him being out hurt rebounding and defense. He did all he could from the bench, but his absence on the floor was noticeable. He only played in two games last season, and only six the season before that. He did appear in 64 games during the 2023-24 season, but you could just tell that he wasn't the same player. The injury had a real effect on his game and what he did best.

About a month ago Clarke was pulled over, after a chase, for possession of a controlled substance. I really thought nothing of it at the time. I read that it was CBD, which I have used before, and just kind of dismissed it. I shouldn't have done that. There has been no release of the cause of death, but early reports seem to say that it may have been an accidental overdose. I don't know if that is true, I'm not reporting anything at all, but if true that is a real bummer. I know that the scene of his death there was drug paraphernalia found, and that is never a good sign.

Twenty nine is too young to be gone. He was a professional athlete in tremendous shape. I know he had an achilles injury, but that did not change the way he looked or how he felt. I'm worried that there may have been some undiagnosed, or not released mental health issues with Clarke. Mental health struggles are real and upsetting and I just wish, if this were the case, that Clarke would have sought help. The possibility of an accidental overdose is scary as well. You never seem to know what may be put in some substances these days, and I worry that Clarke may have just been trying to take his mind off things and overdid it. I'm also very upset for his family. Having a family member go so unexpectedly and so young is tragic and devastating.

I'm going to miss him as a fan of the Grizzlies and a fan of the game of basketball. Clarke was the quintessential bench spark plug that the Grizzlies needed. Rest In Peace Brandon Clarke. I hope you have found peace wherever you may be right now. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Thoughts on Who the Grizzlies Should Draft with the Third Pick

The NBA draft lottery occurred last night and my favorite team, the Grizzlies, got the third overall pick. Let’s discuss.

I am stoked about this. The Grizzlies had a bad, bad season, but now they have a very high lottery pick. They traded Jaren Jackson Jr, I hope they trade Ja Morant next, and maybe get off some of the old contracts. I want this team to go young and start a small, but quick rebuild. If they can find a team for Morant, attach a player like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and maybe get a future pick or two, that would be ideal for me. I want them to move on from the older players, who had some success that I will be forever grateful for, and start building around Cedric Coward and Zach Edey, that would be the best thing moving ahead. And they can really kick start the fast rebuild with this third overall pick. And I don't want them to trade the pick either. I want them to keep it and take one of the three players I'm about to talk about. I know the idea of attaching the pick to get some win now guys is enticing, but don't give in Grizzlies. Keep the pick.

Looking at their roster, I'd like them to take a front court player or a taller wing player. The backcourt has, for now, Ja Morant, Scotty Pippen Jr and Ty Jerome. So, while a player like Keaton Wagler or Kingston Flemings may be desirable, I want them to stick with the current guys, and if they were to trade Morant, maybe try to get a point guard in return. I also think, that given a full season of health, and no expectations, Ty Jerome and Cedric Coward could run the offense. I'd love to see Coward, who is listed as a forward, but is 6'5, get some run as the lead guard. That would be interesting to me. As I get deeper into the roster, what they need is true front court talent. Brandon Clarke Jr is old and often injured. I still have hope in Zach Edey. O-Max Prosper hasn't lived up to his draft position. Santi Aldama is soft and more of a three point threat. They need beef. They need strength. They need a low post presence that can stretch the defense at times.

My top choice for this pick, the guy I want them to take with this pick over anyone else is Cam Boozer. He would start right away. He won't replace JJJ, but he will help in that area. He is big, 6'10. He is a good post scorer. He can shoot the three. He is a solid three point shooter. He is a decent rebounder. He does need to get leaps and bounds better on defense, but that can come with coaching. I don't want the Grizzlies to overthink this. It should be an easy and simple decision. Take Boozer, don't waste everyone's time. Do the right thing and do it fast.

If they go in some other direction, or Boozer is already gone, there are two other players I would like them to take here. Caleb Wilson had loads of potential, and he is a highly talented offensive prospect. He can get anywhere he wants on the floor. He is an excellent shot creator. He has no fear going to the rim and he can shoot from the outside. His defense leaves a ton to be desired, and he missed a big chunk of last season due to injury. You could tell that UNC missed him greatly when he went out with his injury, but that is good and bad. I think Wilson is a high risk, but also very high reward player. If he hits, Wilson could be a perennial all star. But there's also the possibility of him flaming out, and that frightens me a bit. And then there is my, if this kid is here for some unknown reason, and even if Boozer is still available, they would have to draft AJ Dybansta. Dybansta is my favorite prospect in the whole draft. I think he is the best overall player by leaps and bounds. He is primed and ready to play and contribute from day one. You can build an offense and a team around him. He works his tail off on defense and he will only get better. He made BYU a watchable basketball team last season. He has all the tools you want in a player, and if he "slips" to the Grizzlies at three, they need to snatch him right away. He would be the best thing that could happen to the franchise right now. I'd want them to trade Morant asap if they are somehow able to draft Dybansta. The team will be his from day one. But, since he is so good and coveted, I am sure that the Wizards are going to take him first overall. So that would leave the Grizzlies with Boozer or Wilson, and I'd want them to take Boozer.

This is my hope, but we will see what they do when the draft rolls around. 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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

The Lakers Need to Grow Up

The Oklahoma City Thunder are currently 6-0 in the NBA playoffs. And they haven't even looked all that dominant yet. They are still playing exceptional defense and players other than SGA have been showing up and showing out. Now don't take for granted that they played an overmatched Suns team in the first round, and have been matched up with an injured and older Lakers team. But the Thunder earned the number 1 seed, and outside of maybe the Spurs and Knicks, the Thunder will overmatch any team they play. They earned the right to have the easiest path to the Finals.

But what the Lakers resorted to last night, the gall they had, the nerve that their coach and team had, to question the refs was so unsightly for me as a basketball fan. For the Lakers, for JJ Redick, for LeBron James, and most notably, for Austin Reaves to have a beef with the refs, to wait and speak to them after the game, to call them names during the game, this is a horrific look for a team that gets pretty much everything handed to them.

For those that may not know, the Lakers seemed to have an issue with how the game was called last night. I didn't watch the game last night, it was too late for an old man like me, but I did read about it this morning. And the way the media covered it this morning, you would have thought that the Lakers were screwed by the refs. That wasn't the case when I dug a little deeper. I tend to look at stats after a game, especially when players openly complain. I went to the stats fully expecting the Thunder to have shot something like 40 free throws to the Lakers less than 20. That's usually the case when a team goes this far. That is what it is like whenever I see that Duke escaped a men's college basketball game. But, the stats told a different story. The Thunder went 21 of 26 from the free throw line. The Lakers went 18 of 21. Five free throws is not some kind of massive advantage. And while I may not understand my son's math, I do know how to add and subtract. And by my count the Thunder only shot five more free throws than the Lakers, and only made three more. So, if you look at the score from last night, 125-107, take away those three points and the Thunder still would have won by 15 points. That's quite a lot of points in the NBA.

So, while the Lakers may have this huge beef, and go and cry to the media about it, and have Austin Reaves calling the refs derogatory names, the refs are not the reason why they got beat by 15, and why they will most likely be ousted in the next two to three games from the playoffs. And it will only get worse after that.

JJ Redick is a crybaby and not the tough guy he portrays himself as. His gripes and complaints are so outrageous that it's funny to me. There's an episode of "Brooklyn 99" where Jake Peralta, played by Andy Samberg, tries to be the bad cop in an interrogation. He goes on this whole rant and lets it rip. And when he is done, the person being interrogated starts to laugh at him and compares him to a muppet. That is the exact same way I look at JJ Redick when he goes on one of his little rants.

LeBron James, who I adore, is one of the worst complainers the game has ever seen. He is an all time great, second greatest player of all time in my opinion, but he is a top notch flopper and complainer, and it has only gotten worse since Luka Doncic joined the team. I understand why he is doing it, at his advanced age he needs every advantage he can get. But for him to complain about not getting enough calls, or his muppet of a coach to say he has the worst whistle of any superstar ever, get over yourselves.

But the worst one, the one player who should keep his goddamn mouth closed is Austin freaking Reaves. This dude is a joke of a player. No one would know who he was if he was on the Lakers and not teammates with LeBron and Luka. Do you all remember Matthew Dellavedova? Yeah well, he's out of the league now. He thought he could thrive without LeBron and he was proven wrong very quickly. That's Austin Reaves. Remember PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford? They were the missing pieces when the Mavericks made a run to the Finals with Luka as their main guy. Now they barely play on a terrible Mavs team. That's Austin Reaves. I so hope that the Lakers overpay him and are stuck with his albatross of a contract. His offense, which is supposed to be his one thing, is inconsistent at best. He is a horrific defender as well. There were moments when he was literally hugging SGA while trying to guard him, and when SGA pushed off, Reaves did the flop of the year. I'm so over this dude and his fake tough guy attitude. If he were on any other team he would be a pure afterthought. And the only way his stats look any good during the regular season is because he gets the joy of having a Lakers jersey on and the refs calling phantom fouls for him all the time. So, for him to go at the refs, for him to lead this weird charge, for him to be the one waiting and speaking to the refs for the Lakers, that is laughable to me. He is such a middling NBA player. He is not even close to the superstar he pretends to be. He is fake tough and will be irrelevant in about a year or two.

This holier than thou attitude that the Lakers were showing last night is why the NBA is becoming borderline unwatchable. No one takes any accountability. It is always someone else's fault. And of course it was the Lakers showing the whole NBA watching world that this is becoming a big problem. I am not a Thunder fan anymore, but damn am I rooting hard for them to obliterate the Lakers in the next two games and send them home whining and crying. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Thank You Timberwolves for Ending Jokic's Season

I just want to thank the Minnesota Timberwolves for ousting the Denver Nuggets last night in game six of the first round of the NBA playoffs.

I have made it very clear how much I despise watching Nikola Jokic play the game of basketball. I find him to be boring, only plays one side of the floor, gripes too much to the refs and gets unwarranted recognition. Yes, he is a wonderful offensive basketball player. He makes incredible passes, makes some of the luckiest shots I've ever witnessed and rebounds the hell out of the ball. He gets the ball out of his hands very quickly to start fast breaks, and he is the hub of everything the Nuggets want to do on the offensive end of the floor. But the fact that he has three MVPs is nuts. The fact that some, namely Zach Lowe, have called him the "greatest basketball player in the world", is very far fetched. The fact that others within the media seem to think he will go down as one of the best to ever play the game is categorically wrong to me. He doesn't play defense. His holier than thou attitude towards basketball has grown tired. I'm so goddamn sick and tired of the people who seem to love his love for his horses. His attitude and actions in this series were gross and tired. When he tried to fight Jaden McDaniels for making a garbage layup was some of the fakest toughness I've ever witnessed on a basketball court.

And he has plenty of good players surrounding him on the Nuggets. He is not the only guy who contributes. Jamal Murray, who McDaniels had in shackles, is an all star and key cog to this team's offense. Aaron Gordon, when healthy, fits like a glove. Bruce Bowen is a solid 3 and d guy. Tim Hardaway Jr is a solid three point shooter. Christian Braun is supposed to be a lockdown defender. Peyton Watson had a great season and looks to be a solid starter on this team. So to heap all of this praise on Jokic feels unwarranted and unnecessary.

If he is this all world, all time great player, he should have led the Nuggets to a sweep in this matchup. Or at worst, a 4-1 win. The Timberwolves came into this series limping. I understand that Aaron Gordon has been injured all season. But so has Anthony Edwards. And Donte DiVencenzio tore his ACL at the beginning of game three. Ayo Dosunmu missed last night's game with a calf strain. Injuries are part of the game, but the Timberwolves got ravaged by injuries to very important players. DiVincenzio was the starting 2 guard. He made teams guard the three point line. Teams had to gameplan around him. Dosunmu was a perfect addition at the trade deadline. He was the sixth man they desired. He brought an energy and speed that this team sorely lacked. And Anthony Edwards is one of the better, younger players in the NBA right now. He has gotten better every year, is an all NBA caliber player, an MVP candidate and one of the most fun players to watch. All three of them were out last night. And while Gordon may have been out, the Nuggets had everyone else, and the supposed "best player in the world" all healthy.

Well, Rudy Gobert put Jokic in chains. He couldn't do anything. He would try and gripe and bully and do all of his moves, but it was to no effect. Gobert went back to his old days and completely locked down any and everything Jokic tried to do. He made Jokic so angry, so flustered, that he literally tried to fight dudes on the floor. That was what he was reduced to in this series. Murray couldn't do a thing, especially when McDaniels was guarding him. McDaniels did such an amazing job on him. It was a joy to watch. After McDaniels came out and said that everyone on the Nuggets was bad defensively, he had to back it up. And he did. So much so that McDaniels was the star of the closeout game last night. The lights weren't too bright for him.

I just loved seeing this Nuggets team get beaten and knocked out by a team that no one gave much of a shot, myself included. The Timberwolves seemed dead on arrival and the Nuggets were playing offense very well. I should have, and this includes others, taken into account how bad their defense had gotten though at the end of the season. They were horrendous on that end, and all the Timberwolves had to do was slow down the offense just a bit, which they were able to do. I don't care what the Timberwolves do from here on out in the playoffs. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't put up much of a fight against the Spurs. The Timberwolves, undermanned mind you, took out the media's darling team. They beat the team that all the white writers and podcasters over at The Ringer wanted to win it all. It was glorious to see Jaden McDaniels rip their heart out and show it to them. I loved seeing all these role players on the T'Wolves take it to this supposed title contender.

Thank you Minnesota. Thank you Chris Finch. Thank you Mike Conley, Naz Reid and mostly, Jaden McDaniels. The sheer fact that I don't have to watch or see the Nuggets and Nikola Jokic anymore during these playoffs is such a gift and I will be forever grateful to the Timberwolves. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

The Dillon Brooks Act is Getting Stale

Well, Dillon Brooks ran his mouth again, and his team paid the price again. Let’s discuss.

There was a time when I rooted for Brooks. I found him to be a fascinating college player. I loved his tenacity and want to win. I will always remember when he made a late shot in the NCAA tournament when Oregon played Duke. I thought nothing of it at the time, but then Coach K decided he had to say something. Brooks listened, but I'm sure he didn't care. I found it to be sour grapes from Coach K. His team got beat, Brooks didn't stop until the whistle and it was a meaningless shot that wouldn't have changed the outcome no matter what. Coach K is a punk, and I'm sure Brooks thought the same thing at the time. He ended up in Memphis, and being a Grizzlies fan meant I was going to root for him. That is the way I root. If you're on my team, I'm going to go to bat for you. But then he got kind of good at defense. He became the Grizzlies 3 and D guy. That was where he shined and he did his job well. But the Grizzlies got a little too big for their britches. They started talking shit when they hadn't won anything of importance. And Brooks was at the front of the line when it came to shit talking. The Grizzlies had a solid season awhile back and ended up playing the Lakers in the playoffs. And instead of trying to just win the series and go onto the next round of the playoffs, Brooks and the rest of the Grizzlies decided they had to talk. Brooks in particular must have thought his new job was to trash talk, and to call out the biggest and best players. He went after LeBron James. He said that he "pokes bears". This was not a good look. This scared me. And when the Grizzlies were easily taken out by the Lakers, Brooks was silent all of the sudden. During the series he would talk to anyone that put a microphone in front of his face. But when he couldn't hold up his end of the bargain, and LeBron clowned his ass, he was silent. That pissed me off more than when he first opened his mouth. The sheer fact that he would talk, but then not back it up, that is a punkass move. That is clown stuff. That is what selfish little kids do. He was finally traded to the Rockets, and that was all I needed to root against this dude. And he brought back the trash talking, which made it even easier for me to clown on him. He would do this nonsensical stuff where he would just stand in one spot and stare at the opposing team. I believe he thought he was being intimidating, but he just looked like an idiot.

I don't know why and how he decided this was going to be his new thing, but it didn't work. While Brooks isn't a bad NBA player, he is a role player who is a mid tier 3 and D guy. He doesn't strike fear in any opponent. No one is worried about what he may do on the scouting report. Teams don't gameplan around him when they go to face whatever team he is playing for. The Rockets wore tired of his schtick after a year and traded him to the Suns in the Kevin Durant deal. He had an okay season for the Suns, but when they ended up as the eighth seed, and had to face the Thunder, he started up with the shit talking. He called Shai Gilgeous Alexander "frail". He griped about the refs. He was back to his Grizzlies days when the media would show up in the Suns locker room. And he got his ass cooked in all four games. SGA was scoring so easily that, at one point after a made bucket, he smiled and pointed at Brooks as if to say, this dildo can't guard me. Lu Dort did something similar during a scuffle for a loose ball. When Brooks openly complained about the refs to the media, the Thunder decided they didn't even need free throws to win. In game three SGA went 15 for 18 from the field, with Brooks as his main defender, and scored a playoff career high 42 points. Brooks will be more known for getting crossed over time and again this series than for anything else he may have done. And when the Thunder finished off the Suns in a sweep last night, Brooks all of the sudden wanted to be best friends with SGA. He went up and hugged him. Brooks and Devin Booker talked about how good SGA was at basketball in their press conference last night. All of the nonsense that Brooks was saying for two weeks was suddenly gone and now he seems to love SGA.

Dillon Brooks is a fake tough guy in the modern NBA. He may talk shit, but he has yet to back it up. He keeps going after the best and he keeps getting thwarted. I would just prefer if he would go back to his early NBA days and play gritty and grimy basketball. He doesn't need to shit talk, he doesn't need to be in front of a microphone, he doesn't need "poke bears". He just needs to play hoops. But I'm stoked that he is no longer on my favorite team. He is so much easier to root against than for, and if that makes me a hater, as Kendrick Lamar says, "I'm the biggest hater". Dillon Brooks is a joke of a "menace" in today's NBA. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Thoughts on the NBA Future for LeBron

Some reports have come out this afternoon that LeBron James may retire or he may consider leaving the Lakers for three other teams, the Warriors, Cavs or Clippers. Let’s discuss.

This is not a shock to me. Ever since the Lakers traded for Luka Doncic, you could see that they were going to start building the team around him. He is younger and he is a star. That is the game the Lakers have always played. They picked Kobe over Shaq. They drafted Magic Johnson to replace Kareem Abdul Jabaar. They brought in Pau Gasol to play with Kobe. They tried getting Gary Payton and Karl Malone a ring. That didn't happen, but Payton eventually got his. They tried bringing in Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. The Lakers are the biggest game hunters in the NBA. So when they shockingly acquired Luka, I'm sure Lebron and his team saw the writing on the wall. I don't think that's fair to the second greatest NBA player of all time, but this is the modern landscape in the NBA.

I should mention that LeBron has also said he wouldn't mind returning to the Lakers. But, if he wants out, I think that retirement may be the best option. Sure, going back to the Cavs would make for a great final season. He could reap all the benefits of a "farewell tour" and be on a team that should be competitive next season, especially in the East. But he would have to take a tremendous pay cut, which shouldn't affect him at all. He has more money than he could ever spend. Also, the Cavs could look really different next season. James Harden said today that he will go into the offseason as a free agent. I read today that the Cavs would explore a trade for Donovan Mitchell if he doesn't sign an extension. Jarrett Allen is always on the trade block. Max Strus has barely played this season. And Evan Mobley hasn't taken the leap everyone expected he would on offense this year. Let's say the Cavs flame out of the playoffs earlier than they hope this year and there's some changes. I'll say they trade Mitchell and Allen for picks. And let's say LeBron takes the pay cut to play there. That would mean they would have a 41, soon to be 42 year old LeBron James. A year older Harden, Evan Mobley, who may just be a defensive force. And a bunch of young, unproven guys minus Max Strus. I know that they play in the East, and Harden and James could be fun. But that would not be a title contending team to me. I'd say, unless he gets real news that this team will mostly be intact next season, the Cavs would not be the best choice.

The Clippers mention doesn't make much sense to me. Paul George and James Harden are gone. Kawhi Leonard may be gone, and is often injured. Ivica Zubac is gone. LeBron will be teamed up with players like Ben Mathurin, John Collins, Derrick Jones Jr, Darius Garland, Kris Dunn and Brad Beal. That is not a contender. Not even close. Especially in the West. And even if Kawhi does comes back, LeBron would have to take a massive pay cut and still play the gauntlet that is the West. This one is the least likely to me. I mean, he wouldn't have to move, which would be nice. But I don't think he is going to move anyway. If he does leave the Lakers, he won't live in whatever city he gets traded to or signs with. But the Clippers makes no sense whatsoever. They are not in the best place, they just got beat by a team that didn't even really want to play the other night and who knows what is going to happen with Kawhi, on and off the court.

The Warriors makes the most sense of a team he would leave for in free agency or a trade. Stephen Curry and LeBron have amazing chemistry. They have shown that they love playing off one another, be it an all star game or in the Olympics. They compliment each other very well. They are both getting older though. I do think LeBron would buy into Steve Kerr's system as well. He would get to play fun basketball at an older age. He and Draymond Green are also buddies. They get along, which is wild to me. But Green is older, and looking like it. Moses Moody won't play next season, he is recovering from an injury, but when he comes back, he is a great cutter to the rim and he would get lots of dunks on passes from LeBron. Kristaps Porzingis, if he can ever stay on the court for an extended period of time, would open the lane for LeBron. And the Warriors have some bench guys, but they are an old, old team. And LeBron would be the oldest player on the team if he signs there. And they play in the West as well. But the chance to play with Steph may be too good for him to pass up. And then we have retirement. I think this makes the most sense.

LeBron has done it all in the NBA. He is an all timer. He has won everything any player could ever dream of. He has multiple rings. He is, as I mentioned before, the second best to ever play the game. And he has kids that he can watch and root for. Speaking as a father who's coaching career just ended, but his kid is still playing, it is so much more fun to watch and be a fan. It's the best. I get to root my face off for my kid. LeBron would get to do this at the highest level. And he is 41 years old. The time has come. Father Time always wins. And while he has looked solid this year, he has missed time with some older people injuries. So, whatever he decides, I think hanging it up is the best solution. He has nothing more to prove. He is an all timer and I would applaud his decision to walk away. 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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Is This it for Doc Rivers?

Doc Rivers has walked away as the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. Or they fired him. Or it was mutual. I have heard all three things being said since the NBA regular season ended. Let’s discuss.

Doc Rivers is an okay coach. He does have a championship ring. He started his head coaching career in 1999 when he took over the head job with the Magic. He was there for four seasons. He even won coach of the year in 2000. He brought the Magic back to relevancy. He had the Magic at or above .500 every season he was the head coach. He took them to the playoffs three times. He was let go after the Magic started the 2003-04 season 1-10. He did try to lure Tim Duncan away from San Antonio, but that didn't work. If it had, that would have been a real sliding doors scenario for the NBA.

He wasn't out of a head coaching job that long. He took over as the head coach of the Celtics in 2004. He had the most success while with the Celtics. The first three years only had one playoff appearance, but in year four they won the whole thing. This was when the Celtics got Paul Pierce some help trading for Kevin Garnett and adding Ray Allen via free agency. This was one of the first "super teams", and this team won it all. KG got a ring. Ray Allen got his first ring. Paul Pierce more than proved his worth. And the Celtics won it all with an excellent defense. They could have won it all the very next season, but injuries slowed them down in the conference semifinals. They made it back to the finals the next year, getting beat by the Lakers. But Doc Rivers had proven that he could win, and take teams to high heights, as long as he had a great roster.

Doc stuck with the Celtics for three more seasons, but in the 2013-14 season he took the head coaching job with the Clippers. The Clippers were supposed to win it all. They had all the players they needed, they just needed a proper head coach. Doc Rivers was supposed to be that guy. He was the missing piece. And while those Clippers teams were fun, they never made it out of the conference semifinals. They would have these wonderful regular seasons, only to see any hope of a long playoff run die in spectacular fashion. Those Clippers teams were full of arrogant assholes too. Blake Griffin was only a ferocious dunker, nothing more. Chris Paul was a pain in the ass, who would find ways to blow games at any given moment. Deandre Jordan couldn't stay out of foul trouble. The players would pour drinks on opposing teams fans. They allowed Josh Richardson to rain threes on them. They let the Thunder, led by KD and Russell Westbrook, beat them early in their run. These Clippers teams couldn't get out of their own way, and a lot of that falls on Doc Rivers. He did have to navigate the whole Donald Sterling thing, and I do think Doc Rivers did a good job with that fiasco. But the rings never came.

Next he took over as the head coach of the 76ers for the 2020-21 season. This seemed like a good fit too, but we have the whole Ben Simmons of it all. Simmons could have been great, but he got in his own head. And when Doc Rivers didn't take his side, he became known as not a players coach. The media ripped him for this and it made his time as the 76ers head coach fraught with criticism. He was blamed for Simmons flaming out. He was told he was taking Joel Embiid's side too much. He tried to bring on his type of players, but it didn't amount to much. Those 76ers teams were loaded with talent, but they never got out of the East semifinals. I do think that this team could have won a title if they had a better head coach.

Rivers was then assigned to take over when the Bucks fired their young coach. Apparently Giannis didn't like that coach and they gave the job to Rivers. I thought this was going to work. It did not and it did not to epic proportions. Doc Rivers never really had a hold on this Bucks team. He never had his full complement of players. Someone was always injured. They didn't get out of the first round of the playoffs the last two seasons. Part of that is due to injuries, other parts are due to Rivers coaching inadequacies. The Bucks were very bad this season, and it looks like Giannis is on his way out. This whole Doc Rivers Milwaukee Bucks marriage never worked. It did the opposite of that. This was bad on all counts. And no matter what Rives says or the front office says, the Bucks are not in a good place right now. This team may actually need a full tear down. I mean, they're paying two people, Damian Lillard and Doc Rivers, that don't even work there anymore. They still have Kyle Kuzma. They gave Myles Turner a humongous contract last offseason. More changes than just a new head coach may need to be made here. And this bums me out because my dad is a Bucks fan and I want him to be pleased with what his favorite team is doing and the direction they're headed in.

This may be the end of Doc Rivers as a viable head coach in the NBA. He may get a spot at one of the soon to be open head coaching spots in the NBA, but not with a big time franchise. Maybe the Pelicans or Wizards will target him. But teams in big cities or with big name players, I'm sure they will pass on Rivers. At least he has a championship ring. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty Predicts the 2026 NBA Playoffs

The NBA regular season wrapped up last night and the playoffs are officially set. I am going to give you my playoff preview and prediction. I'll go through the play-in games, pick a winner of those and then have my eight teams set in each conference. Then I'll go through the East and the West, pick the winner of the title and my Finals MVP.

Let's start with the East play-in games.

The 9-10 features the Hornets playing the Heat. Whoever wins this game has one more shot to get the 8th seed in the East. The Hornets have been on fire for months now. They are fun and fast and exciting to watch. The Heat are play-in vets. They have made it to the Finals from the play-in. They know what it takes to win in these games. But, the Hornets are better, younger and hungrier. They will win this game and end the Heat's season. The 7-8 game in the East features the 76ers and Magic. This is a puzzler. Both of these teams should have been better this year. Both teams had higher ambitions. I am going to go with the Magic to win this game and claim the 7th seed, but I have zero confidence. The 76ers may be fully healthy or they may be missing multiple starters. Who knows. That is why I'm going with the Magic. That would leave the Hornets and 76ers playing for the 8th seed, and I'm going with the Hornets. They're too fun to not pick. I want them in the playoffs. And as much as I like VJ Edgecombe, Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey, one of them will inevitably be injured for this game. The Hornets will get the 8th seed.

Now for the West play-in games.

The 9-10 features the Warriors playing the Clippers. These teams are both old and not happy to be in the play-in. Who knows if Steph Curry will play or not. This seems about the time of year that Kawhi Leonard seems to get hurt. The Warriors have been pretty bad during the entire second half of the season. The Clippers have been much better, but they have had to work extra hard to get here. But because they have had meaningful games lately, I'm going to go with the Clippers to win here. The 7-8 game has the Suns playing the Blazers. The Blazers are ahead of schedule. So are the Suns. Both of these teams have had much better seasons than anyone expected they would. I'm going to go with the Suns because they have been better all year long. The Blazers are building on something, but the Suns will get the 7th seed. So that would leave the Clippers playing the Blazers. Whoever wins this will have the honor of facing the Thunder in round 1. Congrats. I'm going to go with the Blazers just because I want to see them in the playoffs. I want to watch their guys play much more than the Clippers. That is why I'm going with the Blazers to win the 8th seed.

So, my East playoff teams from 1-8 are as follows, Pistons, Celtics, Knicks, Cavs, Hawks, Raptors, Magic and Hornets. The Pistons-Hornets matchup is going to be fun and exciting. The Pistons are having a great year. They won 60 games and look to be a perenial playoff team moving forward. I already talked about the Hornets and how fun they are to watch. But, the Pistons have a much better defense and Cade Cunnigham is back. I think the series will go six games and the Hornets will scare the Pistons, but the Pistons will eventually tire the Hornets out and win the series. The Celtics are going to obliterate the Magic. The Magic will have a lot of changes this offseason after the Celtics sweep them. They may have a new coach and some new players. The Celtics are the most professional professional basketball team. They play great basketball and make minimal mistakes. And Jayson Tatum is back and looks pretty damn good already. The Celtics seem to be on a mission. The Knicks lucked out in playing the Raptors. Nothing against the Raptors, but the Knicks are a much better team and they are a team that is primed for the playoffs. They have the better backcourt and frontcourt. They may struggle a bit with Scottie Barnes, but Barnes is not the type of player to win a series on his own. The Knicks have Jalen Brunson and a myriad of role players that are solid. They will win the series in five games. The Hawks-Cavs looks to be competitive, but I don't think it will end up that way. The Hawks have been so much better since they traded Trae Young. They play solid defense and their offense moves a ton, which I like. But the Cavs have been waiting for this time of year. They have to make amends for the past few years where they have crapped out in the playoffs. I think they will play much better and I believe they will beat the Hawks in six games.

That would leave me with a second round of Pistons-Cavs and Celtics-Knicks. All chalk. That changes here. I'm going with the Cavs to beat the Pistons in seven games. This will be the best series in the East in my opinion. It is strength on strength too. But the Cavs will pull it out in the seventh game. The Knicks-Celtics should be amazing as well. These two teams are fun to watch play one another. They will go at it. I'm going to go with the Celtics in seven games due to better defense and Jayson Tatum being back. They also have to make up for last season. T

hat means I have the Cavs playing the Celtics in the East Finals. And I believe the Celtics will win that in six games. The Cavs will be tired, but they aren't on the level of the Celtics. The Celtics are better, and they may be the best team in the East at this very moment. The Celtics will return to the Finals.

Now for the West. My West playoff teams, from 1-8, are as follows, the Thunder, Spurs, Nuggets, Lakers, Rockets, Timberwolves, Suns and Blazers. The Thunder are going to cruise over the Blazers. If the NBA could call it in three games, I think they might. The Thunder are that good, they are pretty much whole and they have a title to defend. The Blazers are on the come up, but they don't stand a chance against the Thunder. The Spurs will take on the Suns in the 2-7 matchup. The Spurs are the most fun team to watch this season in the NBA. Wemby is healthy. Stephon Castle is a star in the making. Keldon Johnson is a great sixth man. Carter Bryant brings a new dimension to this team. Dylan Harper could win rookie of the year. The Spurs are way ahead of schedule, but it is the Spurs and they are awesome. The Suns have Devin Booker, and that's about it. The Spurs will sweep this series and will officially announce themselves as a title contender. The Timberwolves and Nuggets series is going to be closer than expected. Nikola Jokic is back to himself, Aaron Gordon looks to be in game shape and Jamal Murray is having his best season in his career. The Timberwolves have been inconsistent, but they have Anthony Edwards, and he is a stone cold killer on a basketball court. Ayo Dosunmu has been a great addition. Jaden McDaniels is a defensive stalwart, but he is still injured. And Rudy Gobert is still a good defender. The Timberwolves also play to the level of their competition, and they have recent success against the Nuggets. That being said, give me the Nuggets in six games. The Timberwolves have been too inconsistent this season, and the Nuggets have been clicking lately. The 4-5 matchup, the Rockets and Lakers, feels like a real dud to me. The Lakers are injured and LeBron James, while still awesome, is 41. They also play little to no defense, JJ Redick is a mediocre coach and the Forum doesn't hold the weight it used to as a home court advantage stadium. The Rockets do play good defense, but they are horrendous offensively. They have no plan. They miss Fred VanVleet. Amen Thompson has to be better offensively. Alperen Sengun needs to be better defensively. This team has issues. I'm going to go with the Lakers in seven games because the refs will do some wild nonsense to help them win a crucial game 7. It always seems to happen that way for them.

My second round matchups are the Thunder playing the Lakers and the Nuggets playing the Spurs. The Thunder are going to be 8-0 after this series. They beat the Lakers by 40 when they were whole. They are going to obliterate them in this series. The Nuggets are going to beat the Spurs in seven games, and it will be brutal. This is going to be a fun back and forth series. Wemby and Jokic will be cinema. I'm excited to see Murray and Gordon go up against Castle and Harper and Johnson. I'm excited to watch these two young coaches battle. Look, the Spurs are coming, just not this season. I have the Nuggets winning in seven.

That means I have the Thunder and Nuggets in the West Finals. This is the true Finals for all intents and purposes. These are the two best teams in the NBA. I'm going with the Thunder to win in six games. The Nuggets will make it close. They play incredible offense. And even the Thunder, who have the best defense in the league, will struggle in a few games. But the Nuggets play zero defense and that will be their undoing. The Thunder are good, deep and will be well rested going into this series. That is why the Thunder will make it back to the Finals.

This leaves me with a Thunder-Celtics Finals. And as cool as it has been to see the Celtics be this good this year, and to see Tatum back in action, the Thunder are a better team. They are deeper, they are healthy, they have a true home court advantage. The Thunder in the midst of a possible dynasty. They will win their second championship in a row, and SGA will take home another Finals MVP. The Thunder will win a second straight title in six games. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty Predicts the NBA Awards

I listen to a good amount of basketball related podcasts. I like to nerd out on these shows. I especially like it when the hosts and guests go into deep dives about certain things. With the regular season winding down in the NBA, most of these shows have been doing their awards talk. They have been going through all of the awards, who they think will and should win and why they think these people will win. And, with the added 65 game rule, some of these awards are going to people who may have not been most people's first choice.

I personally think the 65 game rule is good and should stick around. I do not like that some players are trying to have certain stipulations put in place so they can be rewarded if they played only 60 games or so. These are the rules, the players union agreed to them and that is just the way it is going to be for the time being. I fully understand that this may dilute certain winners, and mess with some players' money, but they all agreed that this was the best way to go about handing out these accolades. With all that being said, I'm going to give you my picks for the major awards and why I think each player is deserving. I will not do all NBA, all rookie and all defensive teams. That's way too dorky even for me. But I do want to give out MVP, Most Improved, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. These are the big ones. These are the ones that I pay most attention to at the end of the season.

I'll start with Most Improved. I would give this to Jalen Duren. He has gotten so much better this year than previous seasons. He has made a leap to all NBA status. I remember when the Pistons drafted him and I thought, he has the body for the NBA, but does he have the game? He does and it has shown out tenfold this season. He's excellent defensively. He is a hellacious rebounder. And he has shown a great low post offenisve game and he is one of the better rim runners in the league. He has improved leaps and bounds and if this isn't your prototype for this award, I don't know who else it should go to. He has also surpassed the 65 game rule, so he's in great shape to win.

Next we have Rookie of the Year. This is going to go to either Kon Knueppel or Cooper Flagg. I was wrong about Knueppel. I thought the Hornets wasted a top 4 pick on him. But the kid can play. He is a lethal shooter and can get his shot off pretty much whenever he wants. He has partnered up well with LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller and they look like they will be an elite offense for many seasons to come. But Cooper Flagg is doing some highly impressive things on a pretty bad team. Flagg is all the Mavs have. He is their lone offenisve threat, he has had to be a ball handler for them, he is an astute passer and he tries hard on defense. He also has had two 40 plus point games recently, and one 50 point game. He makes the Mavs no fun to play, and I think he has pulled ahead of Knueppel this past week. It will be a close vote, and either guy is a great choice for ROY. I would give it to Flagg at this point.

Next we have Coach of the Year. Joe Mazzula should win. I was low on the Celtics and they are currently the 2 seed in the East. He has made guys like Luka Garza and Nnemas Queta viable frontcourt options. Payton Pritchard is having his best season. Jaylen Brown has become a viable number 1 option and proven to everyone that he can be a guy to build around. He had to find players to replace Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in the lineup and he did. He has helped get Jayson Tatum back in the groove in a proper manner. Mazzula is an insane person, but he knows how to coach this game and he has done an exceptional job this season. JB Bickerstaff should get some love, as should Mark Dagneault. But Mazzula has proven his worth this season and he should reap the benefits by winning Coach of the Year.

Now we have Defensive Player of the Year. Victor Webanyama, if he hits the 65 game mark, should be the runaway winner. I don't know how you vote for anyone else. Rudy Gobert is still good, but not on Wemby's level. Evan Mobley has been better defensively than offensively, but not on Wemby's level. There is no guard or forward that even matches what Wemby does on that end. I fully believe that the Spurs will get him that 65th game and he will walk away with this award, as he should. This is going to be one of many for him in what, hopefully, will be a long career.

Finally we have MVP. Luka Doncic is out. He will not meet the games requirement and he will not win his appeal. He also doesn't play defense. When you have to always put in a caveat of, "good for him", that means he is a liability on that end of the floor. He also whines too much. He is also a drag to watch play basketball. I would not give it to Nikola Jokic for his lack of defense as well. Look, I get it. He is an offenisve wizard. He makes unmakeable plays all the time. He is playing really well offensively to close out the regular season. But, for me, a MVP caliber player needs to play hard on both ends. Jokic doesn't even put forth an effort defensively. He has been a turnstile late this season. He never guards anyone that is close to his height or level. He often takes defensive possessions off. I know the analytic nerds love his numbers, but I loathe that he plays zero defense and gets rewarded with the whole, "good enough for him" treatment. That is just an excuse and until he puts forth effort on defense I will continue to dislike watching him play. The MVP comes down to two guys for me, Shai Gilgeous Alexander and Wemby. Wemby needs that 65th game, but I already said I think he will get there. He is the only defensive player I've ever watched that makes it impossible for teams to gameplan away from him. You can attack Jokic and Doncic. You can stay away from Kawhi Leonard's side of the floor. Gary Payton would only ever guard backcourt guys. Wemby guards everyone and guards them all equally well. He is a blackhole. He can be in the post guarding a big, and if that guy kicks it out to a shooter, he can close out and block that shot. He is amazing. And he is only getting better at offense. He has gotten stronger in the post and he can take guys out to the three point line. That's insane for a 7'4 guy with arms that are insanely long. Wemby is an enigma and I love watching him play. But I would go with SGA to win his second in a row. He is the best player on the best team in the league. His numbers and Jokic are pretty equal. He gets to the free throw. He is not the only "free throw merchant" in the NBA by the way. We just hear more about him because the Thunder are always on tv and won the title last season. He is efficient dynamic on offense. He is also a very solid defender. The Thunder win with defense and he has bought into playing on that end of the floor. He gets steals and blocks. He rebounds the ball. He gets into whoever he is guarding. He plays both ends, is on the best team and has numbers even the analytic nerds love. And he has played the most consistent of any of these guys all season long. SGA should win his second MVP in as many years.

That's it, that is who I have winning the major awards for the 2025-26 NBA season. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Bam Adebayo Had a Good Game Last Night

Bam Adebayo did something incredible last night.

The Heat have been a pretty run of the mill franchise since the pandemic. Yes, they made a run to the finals a few years back, where they were crushed in five games by the Nuggets. And they had a similar run to the Finals in The Bubble. Other than that, they've been a play-in team or a team that doesn't get out of the first round of the playoffs. They are in that same position right now. I believe that they're in either 7th or 8th place in the East, with no real sign of making that top 6.

Last night I guess Bam decided he was sick and tired of being an also ran. Granted they were playing the Wizards, but Adebayo's stat line was one for the ages. And I didn't turn on the game until late in the third to watch what was happening. I got an update on my phone that he had 31 points after the first quarter. He outscored the Wizards himself in the quarter. He went into halftime with 42 points and I remember thinking it would be cool if he went for something like 60 or 70 points. Not once in my mind did I think he would eclipse those numbers. Then I saw he had 62 after the third quarter. That was when I figured I had to see what was going to happen. Bam finished the game with 83 points, the second highest single game scoring record in the NBA. He surpassed the 81 Kobe Bryant had over a decade ago. The only player with more in one game is Wilt Chamberlain, who famously scored 100 in a game once.

For this to come from a modern big in the modern NBA is special. Guys like Bam don't score this in any game. Ever. This was wild. I didn't believe it when I saw it. I like Bam Adebayo enough as a player. He is an incredible defensive center. He's also undersized, but he hustles his ass off and plays hard. He is one of the few Kentucky players who I have grown to like in the NBA. I also like how understated and about his business he is when he has interviews or something of the sort. When the game ended I had to go and look at the stat sheet. I needed to see it with my own two eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming all of this. He shot almost 50 percent from the field, going 20-43. He took far too many threes for my liking, 22, and he made 7 of them. That's a lot for a player like Bam. I have to assume that when he realized he was on fire from the field, he decided he had to start bombing threes. But the biggest stat, the one that made my eyes bulge, he was 36-43 from the free throw line.

I have griped constantly on this site about fouls and free throws, and this stat should be exhibit number one on how bad it has gotten in the NBA. But when I saw this last night I simply didn't care. Sure, he took as many free throws as he did field goals. Yes, he took 14 more free throws than the entire Wizards team. And the Heat took 59 free throws in total. I'm sure this game lasted much, much longer than it needed to, but Bam was in his bag last night. And he made 36 of them. That is amazing, Just imagine if he was 100 percent from the line last as well. He would have had 90 points. And just for good measure, Bam added 9 rebounds and 3 assists. He also chipped in a couple of blocks and steals. And he only committed 3 fouls all game. That is an amazing stat line for a month of a season. Bam did it in one night.

I am just flabbergasted at this whole thing. Stuff like this doesn't happen all the time, and when it is a big man, that makes me so happy. And when it is a guy like Bam Adebayo, it just makes me happy. I can remember being mad when Kobe did it, thinking he was hogging the ball. I couldn't have been more wrong. When a pro is on fire like that, and when they feel almost unconscious from the floor, they need to be fed and they need to shoot as many times as possible.

This game is going to go down in history. Hell, it kind of already has. But people should not forget this game by Bam anytime soon. He scored 83 points. His team won by 30. They may move up the standings. He contributed rebounds, steals, blocks and assists. He embraced his girlfriend and mom after the game. I am so happy that this happened to a good dude like Bam Adebayo. I implore you, go look at his stat line and watch some of the highlights from this game. It was amazing and Bam Adebayo is now in the record books for all time. That's pretty cool. 

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.