Game Threads Index (March 22, 2023):

Source: https://twitter.com/ringer/status/1638292146049490945?s=46&t=M6nw1fphrYt7D09rfArM8g

“I love (Nikola) Jokic, but the two times I played against Joel this year, I think he got 60 the first time we played him in Philly. Then he did similar to us in Minnesota. I think he didn’t even have to play in the fourth quarter but had like 40. I haven’t seen anybody be as dominant as him with my own two eyes this season. He’s been doing it (for) a while. I think Joel has a real chance to be there.”

As a Lakers fan our toxic fanbase really is just unbearable and they flip around so much, it’s probably nice for these players to be treated like human beings who aren’t just flamed endlessly after a tough game

Pat Bev praises Bulls fans : “I play a bad game with Chicago, I aint gotta look on twitter and hear ‘he’s a bum, get him outta here!’ Like I was hearing that sh!t in L.A.”

He said this on his podcast

Zach LaVine on Embiid’s MVP candidacy: “I think he shoulda won one already. I think Jokic has been incredible too. He’s won back-to-back, so you don’t take anything away from him. Obviously, Giannis is incredible. But I think Embiid has it wrapped up this year. He’s that good.”

https://twitter.com/KCJHoop/status/1638578270412087296?t=vmQwXBi2I6w8w6u0froGKw&s=19

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I don’t vote any more. It’s in a lot of ways because of this. I didn’t feel comfortable voting for awards that affect money and my name being on it. I wanna call it the “Howard Beck Rule” (he pushed for the writers to have their name on it for transparency) but it’s because of this that makes it tough.

I remember an NBA coach telling me, “Well, you better vote for James Harden over Russell Westbrook because James Harden is gonna give you more interviews than Russ does. He’s gonna see who voted for him, and if you didn’t vote for him, he’s going to shun you.”

I had another player — who I’ll leave nameless — tell me “So-and-so didn’t vote for me, he asks for interviews all the time. I’m not doing nothing with him.”

Anonymous player in the last paragraph is definitely Bradley Beal talking about Zach Lowe lol

Source: https://twitter.com/FAN590/status/1638230237959041024

Since that Fred VanVleet rant, the NBA has actually demoted Ben Taylor in his assignments. So in the last five games Ben Taylor has only been the crew chief once, he's been the referee 2 four times ... which is a real abnormality with Ben Taylor.

If you look at his previous 52 games this season, Ben Taylor was the crew chief in 41 of those games. Basically 4 out of 5 games he was the crew chief, but in the last 5 games since that rant, the NBA said, you know what, you're gonna be the referee 2 in this one, and then again referee 2. He was the crew chief against the Celtics vs Houston game the other night, and then Ben Taylor was the referee 2 for the next 2 games.

To put it in perspective Ben Taylor hadn't been a referee 2 in back-to-back games all season. After the Fred VanVleet [rant] it's happened twice.

I don't know if that's intentional or whether that's just luck of the draw, but certainly the NBA has taken a different tact when it comes to Ben Taylor's assignments, whether that's punishment, or that's just 'hey, you need to chill out a little bit'.

Averages:

• 1. Sabonis 12.5 (Lithuania)
• 2. Jokic 11.9 (Serbia)
• 3. Antetokounmpo 11.9 (Greece)
• 4. Gobert 11.5 (France)
• 5. Vucevic 11.3 (Montenegro)
• 6. Capela 11.1 (Switzerland)
• 7. Embiid 10.3 (Cameroon)
• 8. Randle 10.2 (US)
• 9. Ayton 10.1 (Bahamas)
• 10. Zubac 10.1 (Croatia)

Kuzma says he has also enjoyed playing and living in Washington, D.C. The geographic location is a big positive for him.

Kuzma loves how he can fairly quickly fly home to see family in Michigan, to Miami where he has a house or even to Europe or the Caribbean for vacation.

"It's central and it's low-key and chill. I love where I live. People are not really bothering me too much. It's an easy pace of life out here, it's nice," he said.

Bro think he Dame 💀 but at least he has a ring. Will the Wizards lock in their 12th seed core by giving Kuzma over $100M? More importantly (to Kuz), where will he go on vacation next month?

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