Monday Morning Coffee

February 6, 2023

Now we can hopefully move on from this Kyrie nonsense. Kyrie Irving was traded to the Mavericks yesterday after demanding a trade last week, and of course Joe Tsai had no intention of doing a deal with the Lakers. Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss have their faults, but you can’t blame them for not getting this done, assuming that’s what you wanted. The Nets were never going to trade Kyrie to the Lakers and give him what he wanted, as Marc Stein reported. So those of you on your soap box on Twitter that wanted Pelinka fired and Jeanie to sell the team for this, you probably owe them an apology. Nevertheless, they do have their faults for having Russell Westbrook on the roster. I sure hope that they aggressively try to trade him and a draft pick or two for the likes of a Bojan Bogdanvich, Buddy Hield, Malik Beasley, or a Gary Trent type of player. Those are the type of players that will move the needle for the Lakers at this point. They never needed a player of Kyrie’s skillset, and certainly not one that is as much of a headcase as he is. However, since the Lakers are so focused on these types of star players, my fear is they will still try to open cap space this summer to try and sign Kyrie instead of trying to improve the team now.

Meanwhile, Lebron is chasing the NBA’s scoring record. I really don’t think Lebron is getting the proper credit he deserves for breaking this record. Longevity is a skill, and it’s a huge part of LBJ’s legacy. Some of you are die hard Kobe fans and just can’t accept Lebron. Some of you are die hard Michael Jordan fans and don’t want give Lebron the credit he’s due. However, he has an incredible story. This man has a case as the greatest player of all-time and scoring isn’t even his greatest skill, yet he’s going to be the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Not to mention he’s won championships with every team he’s ever been on. Give the man his due!

Somebody keep Dave Roberts away from the microphone. Roberts basically did what he did last year over the weekend, which was guarantee a championship. Maybe not as emphatically as last year, but he probably shouldn’t have said anything at all. He also said that he plans to make Julio Urias a workhorse this year in terms of number of innings pitched. I can’t tell if that means they will run him into the ground because they know Scott Boras will get him to the highest bidder next year, or because they just don’t want to pay him. Either way, the Dodgers are capable of paying both Shohei Ohtani and Urias next year.

I don’t know what happened to UCLA for the past week, but it was nice to see them getting a “get-well” game against Washington State. For a few games they looked like a lazy, turnover prone, limited offensive group. That suddenly changed against Washington State on Saturday. The return of Amari Bailey has also allowed UCLA to get themselves another playmaker and somebody who can improve their offense significantly as well. If only he can learn to shoot that would make them even better. Still, the Bruins returned to looking like a team that can make another deep postseason run and at +1200, not a bad value to win the title this year. That’s for all you gambling degenerates out there.

UCLA's Jaime Jaquez Jr. reaches for a rebound in front of Washington State's Mouhamed Gueye.

I still have no idea why they are playing the Pro Bowl. It’s a total disaster and an embarrassment. I was in Vegas over the weekend and I ran into a guy who’s brother was playing in the Pro Bowl. He did not want to tell me who his brother was mind you, which I respected. However, he did indicate that the entire event was ridiculous and that the players want no part of it (other than to just be named a Pro Bowler). Flag football? Why are we even playing football at all at this point. Just take this thing out back and shoot it.

Finally, it’s here for real this time. Tom Brady is retiring. What the hell took you so long? This man loves football so much that he actually sacrificed his family for an 8-9 season. There is absolutely nothing left for this man to prove. He is indisputably the Greatest Quarterback of All-Time, and no matter what else happened, it would changed that. Also, I realize that he is still playing well at at 45, and looks like he has a few years left that he could play. However, what people fail to realize is that it’s ok to retire with something left in the tank. You don’t have to keep playing until you just can’t play anymore. In fact, it’s almost better when don’t.

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