July 8, 2019
Congratulations to the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard for completely bamboozling the entire NBA. For all the jokes I’ve dropped on here about the Clips being a punching bag over the years, they really are front runners for an NBA Championship next year. Frankly, the only thing surprising is that Kawhi didn’t make his announcement on PBS or just by updating his LinkedIn profile. The combination of Kawhi and Paul George gives the Clippers 2 of the top 10 players in the NBA, and one of the best perimeter defenses in the league. This really shouldn’t be surprising though because the Clips did things the right way by hiring Jerry West to consult for them, and built out an experienced front office that had stability. Ultimately, making the sensible moves paid off for them. With that being said, I sure hope Kawhi Leonard and Paul George like getting booed in LA, because they are going to see a lot of that playing for the Clippers. It’s going to take more than one championship to make this a Clipper town. However, it potentially sets up a nice rivalry with the Lakers.
Speaking of the Lakers, I give credit to Rob Pelinka for recovering from the Kawhi decision with the signings he made. The Lakers are definitely championship contenders, albeit with some questions about durability and perimeter defense. I also have some questions about Jared Dudley, who looks like he should be selling Falafel on the corner of Olympic and Fig instead of playing for the Lakers. They are contenders. However, Jeanie Buss, Rob Pelinka, and Magic Johnson are fools for their behavior the last 6 months, and completely responsible for the monster competitor that was built down the hall at Staples. Jeanie could have brought back Jerry West as a consultant, but she said no. She could have brought more front office experience around Pelinka after Magic quit, but no. She continues to drink her own Laker Kool-Aid. Then there’s Magic who probably cost the Lakers getting Kawhi by blabbing about his meeting with Uncle Dennis to the media. Meanwhile, Pelinka had to perpetuate the backstabbing image by talking badly about Magic in front of the team. The Lakers almost had Kawhi and could have crushed the league for years. Instead their own arrogance and foolishness cost them, and now life is going to be a lot tougher.
If there’s one thing we learned from this whole Kawhi drama, it’s that Chris Broussard, Jalen Rose, and this Ayre Abraham kid don’t know crap about what’s going on in the NBA. If you believe anything they say, you should probably go buy a ticket to next years Fyre Fest. If Broussard told me he had pepperoni on his pizza last night, I wouldn’t believe him. Dude claimed that not only was there a 94% chance he signs with the Lakers, but that the Clippers were out. If Fox Sports is keeping this guy employed for his “sources”, they are even dumber than I thought. Next time I hear something his sources say, I’m calling the Feds myself. Any pro insider with half a brain like Woj, Ramona, David Aldridge, or even Brian Windhorst would never speak in absolutes. Free agency was absolutely wild, and these four minutes sums it up quite nicely for NBA fans.
To baseball, where the Dodgers have reached the All-Star break with the best record in baseball. Cody Bellinger has been absolutely amazing. He’s easily the MVP of the National League, and other than Mike Trout, he’s the best player in baseball. Hopefully Andrew Friedman’s computer reminds him to lock him up to a contract extension soon. The Dodgers should also be getting reinforcements back soon with Corey Seager and AJ Pollock coming off the DL shortly after the break. They’ll need it because Joc Pederson has decided he’s going to suck in the 2nd half of the season since he’ll be participating in the Home Run Derby. The last time Joc did this, he disappeared like Hodini for the rest of the season. Scary moment the other night seeing Russell Martin get hit in the head with a fast ball. He got hit so hard, you had to wonder if he would remember that he was once an all-star player in this league. Meanwhile, this was a friendly and playful competitive exchange between Manny Machado and a fan last week.
I want to offer my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Angels’ pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who tragically died last week. By all accounts, everyone that knew Skaggs had nothing but amazing things to say about him as not just a competitor on the field, but also as a wonderful human being. It feels like these types of tragedy’s have historically hit the Angels organization. From Nick Adenhart, to Lyman Bostock, and Donnie Moore, this is a sad and unexplained trend surrounding the organization. At this point baseball can’t be at the forefront of everyone’s mind in the organization, yet it’s probably one of the few things that can be somewhat therapeutic during a difficult time.
Seeing Paul George and Jerry West stab the Lakers in the back this weekend wasn’t the only dagger thrown in SoCal the last few days. In hockey, the Ducks hired former Kings Coach Darryl Sutter as an advisor. That’s right the greatest coach in Kings history who won two Stanley Cups is now advising their cross town rival. Meanwhile, the Kings are going through coaches like Kardashians go through boyfriends. Wait until the Ducks hire Dean Lombardi next and stick it to the Kings even more to accelerate their rebuild.
Finally, the Bachelorette is back on ABC tonight, and we’re getting closer to the end. I think the producers of the show are testing the viewers inner strength. They know that every time Hanna selects Luke P you want to hurl yourself off the roof of a building. This has to be an inside job. Hanna must be getting paid to keep him around, or it’s gotta be in her contract. Garrett must have never seen an episode of The Bachelorette. In every season the dude that confronts the dude nobody likes and talks badly about him is the dude that ends up packing his bags and going home. You can’t win an argument with an idiot. Best-case scenario, you prove yourself as smarter than the idiot—an assumption everybody had when you walked into the room. Worst-case scenario, you lose the argument. That’s how Garrett spent his last moments on The Bachelorette, slinging baloney with a doofus. Luke, Tyler, Jed, and Pete are the final four. All white guys, trying to be with a girl from the south. Who could have predicted this one?
