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bongaboi · 2 months ago

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New York Liberty: 2024 WNBA Champions

The long wait for the Liberty is over.

After 28 years and five previous Finals appearances, New York are now champions.

In front of a raucous Brooklyn crowd at the Barclays Center, the Liberty defeated a relentless Minnesota Lynx team 67-62 in overtime in a winner-take-all Game 5 of the Finals.

It wasn’t so joyful for the Lynx, as a debatable foul decision left the team’s head coach, Cheryl Reeve, fuming after the final whistle.

With the Lynx up 60-58 and under six seconds remaining in regulation, officials whistled a foul on Minnesota’s Alanna Smith on Liberty forward Breanna Stewart. The two-time league MVP was driving to the hoop and appeared to have minimal contact with Smith as she took a shot.

The Lynx challenged the call, but the decision was upheld after a video review.

“I’m sorry but that wasn’t a foul! Let the damn players dictate the outcome of a close battled tested game,” NBA superstar LeBron James posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Reeve said the call “decided the game,” adding the game – and WNBA championship – was “stolen from us.”

“The officials during the game should have a third party because that was not a foul. That call should have been reversed on that challenge,” she told reporters.

“I know all the headlines will be ‘Reeve Cries Foul.’ Bring it on, right. Bring it on,” Reeve said. “Because this sh*t was stolen from us. Bring it on.”

When asked about Reeve’s complaints, Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello told reporters that she respected both her counterpart and the entire Lynx team.

“I thought they were pretty fair,” she said laughing, when asked what she thought about the officials. “I have so much respect for Cheryl and I have so much respect for that Minnesota Lynx team because, man, it was ugly, but we found a way to win.”

Brondello had been highly critical of the officiating after a Game 4 Liberty loss that forced the title decider.

The face of the NY franchise still needed to come up big to force overtime.

Without Stewart, the Lynx may have found themselves dancing to their famed celebratory “Electric Slide” at the buzzer had it not been for two-time Finals MVP.

Stewart stood at the free throw line with nerves of steel-like composure and calmly stroked both charity stripe buckets like no one was watching.

Nyara Sabally was New York’s unexpected star.

Coming into Sunday, she averaged 2.8 points per game in the Finals but came alive to score a crucial 13 points in Game 5.

The former Oregon star made an impact beyond her unforeseen offensive impact. She grabbed seven rebounds and had a key block in OT, stuffing Lynx star Napheesa Collier at the hoop when Minnesota attempted to tie the game late.

The rejection was not lost on anyone after the game. After all, Collier led the WNBA playoffs in points, rebounds, blocks, and steals.

Her teammate Stewart praised Sabally after the game.

“We were trying to do whatever we could. We needed, like a spark and she was that. She continued to trust the process and we are so proud of Ny. So proud,” she said.

How valuable was the German national team member? The typical roleplayer was often matched up to guard Collier and played the entire overtime session.

“That’s what I’ve been working for my all my career - moments like these,” she said after the game during the trophy presentation.

“And to be able to come in here and do this in a Game 5 at home, it just means the world.”

The new star then hugged her sister as tears started to well up in her eyes.

Regardless of the foul controversy, Stewart was a force on the boards, grabbing 15 rebounds to go with her 13 points.

The Liberty’s other big star, Sabrina Ionescu, struggled mightily in the game, scoring just five points on 1-of-19 shooting.

New York’s Jonquel Jones was named the Finals MVP.

The Bahamian was steady Sunday while her teammates couldn’t find their rhythm.

She scored 12 points in two quarters, nearly half of the Liberty’s production. Jones finished with 17 points and six rebounds.

Jones was modest after being handed the prestigious award and the crowd shouting ‘MVP.’

“None of this happens without my teammates and without the people that have poured into me,” she said while acknowledging her mother, her fiancé and others.

The Lynx were up 34-27 at the half. If not for Jones, NY would have been in serious trouble.

The Liberty started stone cold with the Lynx opening the game on a 6-0 run. Jones finally hit a bucket to settle New York’s nerves.

Collier started hot with slashing moves to the basket for several lay-ins. After a Collier bucket to stretch the lead to 19-10 in the first quarter, Brondello called a timeout to stop the momentum. Collier finished the opening quarter with 8 points and a game-high 22 points overall.

With the Lynx up 10, Stewart finally scored her first points in the second quarter.

Despite her shooting woes, Ionescu never relented and dished out key assists.

After the Lynx emerged from their locker room cold, the former University of Oregon guard found Sabally for back-to-back buckets - the second of which put the Liberty up 40-38 and the team’s first lead.

Ionescu was pumped up after the moment – flexing as the buoyant Brooklyn crowd showered her with support.

After the win, Ionescu gave credit to her team.

“[I] just did whatever it took to win. [I] believed in my teammates, believed in this entire organization. It takes everyone; you don’t do this alone.

“God, we did it in New York,” she screamed, much to the delight of the fans.

Those same supporters have a parade to attend.

After the Liberty’s 3-2 series win, New York City Mayor Eric Adams posted on social media that “City Hall and other city buildings will be lit up seafoam in their honor. But that’s not all. We’re throwing these incredible athletes a parade to celebrate all their hard work this season.”

The first WNBA Championship in franchise history will get a ticker tape parade, which is set to start at 10 a.m. ET Thursday.

Organizers said the procession will begin at Battery Park and run north through lower Broadway’s so-called “Canyon of Heroes.”

Following the parade, City Hall will host a ceremony before the team hosts a fan event at Barclays Center that night.

#2024 #wnba #women's national basketball association #new york liberty

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cerastes · 2 years ago

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Alright, let’s do the Arknights Personality Quiz and Retrospective.

We’ll start with the Quiz. Closure, off the record, please leak Kal’tsit’s results, thanks.

Oh, that’s really cute, so this is why it asks you to log in! It actually shows you a record of how you actually cleared the Operation/Boss related to the question at hand, very neat. You can tell this is super early because Savage, Skyfire and Zima are in my party. On the other hand, Specter, Platinum, Perfumer, and Nearl have been in my squads since practically forever, and that won’t change. This is about Crownslayer, by the by.

Bob!

Big Bob was the game’s very first event’s boss, and it’s really funny to think how far we’ve gone from “This guy has a chainsaw and hits hard” boss fights to things like Andoain and the Endspeaker. Much like the latter, this game has truly evolved a lot. Specter, Platinum, Perfumer and Nearl still hanging in there, joined by another individual who would become a stalwart presence in my stratagems: Saria.

(The rest of the post will be under a cut)

For Pompeii, I love that one of the options was “Specter with S2 and Ptilopsis with S2″, which is literally how I did it. Let’s go, Shark and Windows XP!

Huh? By March -- Mephisto and Faust -- I was still using Skyfire and Zima? Interesting, I actually thought I’d dropped them far earlier. Siege and Lappland make an appearance here, since I got them around that time! Myrrh is also going to be here for a while, now that I think about it.

Rat King! Immensely fun boss and the boss that got me thinking, wow, ok, they actually have very good ideas and potential for future bosses! The strat was very simple: Angelina S2 and Eyja S3 to kill his shield, Schwarz S3 to end his life. Simple.

LMAO 51% of people chose Warfarin S2 Exia S3 for FrostNova. It’s not quite what I did (no Warf back then), but I instead had Blue Poison also trained on Nova, absolutely ruining her Christmas off the gate. I remember I also used Angelina to slow her down with S2 while the next charge of Exia S3 went online. Specter held the mob line, Saria smack in the center keeping everyone alive with fat S2s.

“Pretty neat to win with strength” LMAO yeah about right for the most unga bunga of the options. Thing is, the other options were the obligatory canon Operators option and one that had a trillion people I’ve never touched in my life. Funnily enough, I didn’t use any of the actual Operators in the option selected (Schwarz, Eunectes, Surtr), but the strategy was still very power-heavy, as you can see from my selection of Operators. Shark, SA and Eyja were putting out real LeBron James numbers. Angie was also very useful to keep him in place! You may have noticed I like Decel Binders a lot, haha.

12%! Really? Mudrock could be brute forced, yeah, but it was so much less work to actually just use the Gramophones, lmao. You actually were expending more effort brute forcing her. Eyja and SilverAsh were there just to clear her up alongside a bunch of fodder that gathered at the same time on the upper left if I recall correctly, otherwise, the Gramophones more or less take Mudrock to very low HP provided you can maintain them and keep a decent Caster on her (Absinthe in my case). Also, the sole time I didn’t use Specter. Shark was taking a break.

Final results and closing thoughts in the reblog!

#dreamknights

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biblepercent · 6 months ago

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Dear, Adonis

I'm sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest

It takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive

I look at him and wish your grandpa would've wore a condom

I'm sorry that you gotta grow up and then stand behind him

Life is hard, I know, the challenge is always gon' beat us home

Sometimes our parents make mistakes that affect us until we grown

And you're a good kid that need good leadership

Let me be your mentor since your daddy don't teach you shit

Never let a man piss on your leg, son

Either you die right there or pop that man in the head, son

Never fall in the escort business, that's bad religion

Please remember, you could be a bitch even if you got bitches

Never code-switch, whether right or wrong, you a black man

Even if it don't benefit your goals, do some push-ups, get some discipline

Don't cut them corners like your daddy did, fuck what Ozempic did

Don't pay to play with them Brazilians, get a gym membership

Understand, no throwin' rocks and hidin' hands, that's law

Don't be ashamed 'bout who you with, that's how he treat your moms

Don't have a kid to hide a kid to hide again, be sure

Five percent will comprehend, but 95 is lost

Be proud of who you are, your strength come from within

Lotta superstars that's real, but your daddy ain't one of them

And you nothing like him, you'll carry yourself as king

Can't understand me right now? Just play this when you 18

Dear, Sandra

Your son got some habits, I hope you don't undermine them

Especially with all the girls that's hurt inside this climate

You a woman, so you know how it feels to be in alignment

With emotion, hopin' a man can see you and not be blinded

Dear Dennis, you gave birth to a master manipulator

Even using you to prove who he is, is a huge favor

I think you should ask for more paper, and more paper

And more, uh, more paper

I'm blaming you for all his gambling addictions

Psychopath intuition, the man that like to play victim

You raised a horrible fucking person, the nerve of you, Dennis

Sandra, sit down, what I'm about to say is heavy, now listen

Mm-mm, your son's a sick man with sick thoughts, I think niggas like him should die

Him and Weinstein should get fucked up in a cell for the rest they life

He hates Black women, hypersexualizes 'em with kinks of a nympho fetish

Grew facial hair because he understood bein' a beard just fit him better

He got sex offenders on hoe-VO that he keep on a monthly allowance

A child should never be compromised and he keepin' his child around them

And we gotta raise our daughters knowin' there's predators like him lurkin'

Fuck a rap battle, he should die so all of these women can live with a purpose

I been in this industry 12 years, I'ma tell y'all one lil' secret

It's some weird shit goin' on and some of these artists be here to police it

They be streamlinin' victims all inside of they home and callin' 'em tender

Then leak videos of themselves to further push their agendas

To any woman that be playin' his music, know that you're playin' your sister

Or better, you're sellin' your niece to the weirdos, not the good ones

Katt Williams said, "Get you the truth, " so I'ma get mines

The Embassy 'bout to get raided, too, it's only a matter of time

Ayy, LeBron, keep the family away, hey, Curry, keep the family away

To anybody that embody the love for they kids, keep the family away

They lookin' at you too if you standin' by him, keep the family away

I'm lookin' to shoot through any pervert that lives, keep the family safe

Dear, baby girl

I'm sorry that your father not active inside your world

He don't commit to much but his music, yeah, that's for sure

He a narcissist, misogynist, livin' inside his songs

Try destroy families rather than takin' care of his own

Should be teachin' you timetables or watchin' Frozen with you

Or at your eleventh birthday singin' poems with you

Instead, he be in Turks payin' for sex and poppin' Percs, examples that you don't deserve

I wanna tell you that you're loved, you're brave, you're kind

You got a gift to change the world, and could change your father's mind

'Cause our children is the future, but he lives inside confusion

Money's always been illusion, but that's the life he's used to

His father prolly didn't claim him neither

History do repeats itself, sometimes it don't need a reason

But I would like to say it's not your fault that he's hidin' another child

Give him grace, this the reason I made Mr. Morale

So our babies like you can cope later

Give you some confidence to go through somethin', it's hope later

I never wanna hear you chase a man 'cause his failed behavior

Sittin' in the club with sugar daddies for validation

You need to know that love is eternity and trumps all pain

I'll tell you who your father is, just play this song when it rains

Yes, he's a hitmaker, songwriter, superstar, right

And a fuckin' deadbeat that should never say "more life"

Meet the Grahams

Dear, Aubrey

I know you probably thinkin' I wanted to crash your party

But truthfully, I don't have a hatin' bone in my body

This supposed to be a good exhibition within the game

But you fucked up the moment you called out my family's name

Why you had to stoop so low to discredit some decent people?

Guess integrity is lost when the metaphors doesn't reach you

And I like to understand 'cause your house was never a home

37, but you showin' up as a seven-year-old

You got gamblin' problems, drinkin' problems, pill-poppin' and spendin' problems

Bad with money, whorehouse

Solicitin' women problems, therapy's a lovely start

But I suggest some ayahuasca, strip the ego from the bottom

I try to empathize with you 'cause I know that you ain't been through nothin'

Crave entitlement, but wanna be liked so bad that it's puzzlin'

No dominance, let's recap moments when you didn't fit in

No secret handshakes with your friend

No cultural cachet to binge, just disrespectin' your mother

Identity's on the fence, don't know which family will love ya

The skin that you livin' in is compromised in personas

Can't channel your masculine even when standin' next to a woman

You a body shamer, you gon' hide them baby mamas, ain't ya?

You embarrassed of 'em, that's not right, that ain't how mama raised us

Take that mask off, I wanna see what's under them achievements

Why believe you? You never gave us nothin' to believe in

'Cause you lied about religious views, you lied about your surgery

You lied about your accent and your past tense, all is perjury

You lied about your ghostwriters, you lied about your crew members

They all pussy, you lied on 'em, I know they all got you in 'em

You lied about your son, you lied about your daughter, huh

You lied about them other kids that's out there hopin' that you come

You lied about the only artist that can offer you some help

Fuck a rap battle, this a long life battle with yourself

75% of these words are in the bible, and I do not hate myself enough to mark which.

#asks!#Anonymous #over 75%#submissions!#bible%

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onlyinnba · 1 year ago

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💥MY TOP 5 GREATEST NBA PLAYERS OF ALL TIME💥

#EMTECH

#1STBLOG

1. MICHAEL JORDAN - "THE GOAT"

This man is arguably the Greatest Basketball Player to ever set foot on Earth. Wins 3 rings in a row then retired and when he came back, they win another 3 rings. So this man have a 6-0 record in the Finals. He won a Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1988 along with his 5 MVPs, 6 FMVPs with his 10 Scoring Titles and was named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team and if I mention all of MJs accomplishments and achievements it's gonna take years.

2. LEBRON JAMES - "THE KING" "THE CHOSEN ONE"

They are only 2 players who are in the conversation of being the "GOAT" or the Greatest Of All Time. It's Lebron and Michael, You can't hate someone when they put Lebron in their Top 1 because when you say greatness it's a crime to leave The King behind. For me what secured his spot in the "GOAT CONVERSATION" with MJ was his performance in 2016 when he led the Cleveland Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit against the 73-win Golden State Warriors. He was a 4x Nba Champion, 4x Nba Finals MVP, 4x Nba MVP, 19x Nba All Star, 19 All Nba Selection and was named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. He also surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the All Time Leading Scorer. Greatness.

3. KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR - "THE TOWER FROM POWER"

The former NBA's All Time Leading Scorer and the inventor of one of the most iconic move in Basketball History, the "Classical Sky Hook" it was his move on his road to 38, 387 career points. He was an 6x Nba Champion, 2x Nba Finals MVP, 6x Nba MVP, 19x Nba All Star, 20x All Nba Selections and was named to the 75th Nba Anniversary Team. Old but Gold.

4. EARVIN JOHNSON - "MAGIC"

The Best Point Guard of All Time. Just think about how incredible it is that in his first season in the legue, Magic startd Game 6 of the NBA Finals at center and dropped 42 points. He won 5 NBA Championships, 3 Nba Finals MVP, 3 Nba MVP, 12 Nba All Star Appearances and 10 All Nba Selections. He also was named in the 75th Nba Anniversary Team. Magic. Showtime.

5. KOBE BRYANT - "THE BLACK MAMBA"

First of All, Rest in Peace to the Mamba himself Kobe Bean Bryant. He is one of the most iconic names in all Basketball History. Many kids idolized him for his Mentality and I can't hide the fact that I am one of those kids. We see the accomplishments in Kobe as he won 5 NBA Championships , 2 Nba Finals MVP, 1 Nba MVP, 18 Nba All Star Appearances and 15 All Nba Selections. He was also named to 75th Nba Anniversary Team. Mamba Mentality. Mamba Out.

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dnowit41 · 1 year ago

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Dirk Nowitzki's journey from Germany to Dallas to the Hall of Fame

By Steve Aschburner

His shot became his signature, that signature became a statue. It’s planted there now for the long term, emblematic of Dirk Nowitzki himself, who came to the Dallas Mavericks a quarter century ago and never left.

Resplendent in white bronze, 24 feet high, over on the right wing of Victory Plaza outside the American Airlines Center, Nowitzki is immortalized in the shooting form that earned him so many of his 35,223 points (regular and postseason). It earned him a bevy of admirers, too, among peers and rivals like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron James who adopted the big German sharpshooter’s one-legged fadeaway as both a tactic and an homage.

“The Dirk,” as that shot has been dubbed, is here to stay. Both as a weapon – “the equivalent of what Abdul-Jabbar did with his sky hook,” one opposing coach said the other day, both awed and irritated by its effectiveness – and as a tribute, frozen in time, the distillation of 21 seasons and 1,667 games logged with the only NBA team for which he ever played.

One city, one franchise? Only Utah Hall of Famer John Stockton (1,686) ever played more.

It’s funny, though, how a player celebrated for staying planted in one place for more than two decades could have traveled so far and covered such ground in the process. It showed in his game, the way he developed, refined and tweaked his unique style until he had dragged the whole position with him.

“Watching him play, I remember thinking, he’s just getting better and better and better,” said Hall of Famer Kevin McHale, one of the NBA’s greatest power forwards. “And he really changed things around the way the position is played.”

It showed in Nowitzki’s influence, a European prospect who came over younger than most of the imports who preceded him and shined so brightly that, well before he was done, he was regarded as the best player ever from that continent. Fifty-one Most Valuable Player trophies had been handed out in NBA history before Nowitzki won the 52nd as the first Euro. Now guys from Greece and Serbia have taken home four of the past five.

“Every tall kid around the world saw Dirk,” Mavs owner Mark Cuban said, “and realized they could play basketball and not have to be a back-to-the-basket center. Dirk paved the way for players of any size to be multi-positional and have a variety of in-game skills.”

Certainly Nowitzki, 45, moved geographically in a career that spanned half his life, from Wurzburg, Germany, to Dallas and now to Springfield, Mass., where he will be inducted Aug. 12 into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with the Class of 2023. He has been there once before, in 2018 when a pair of his point guards – Steve Nash and Jason Kidd – were both enshrined. This time, those two will be official Hall presenters for their tall teammate. Nowitzki’s guest list for the weekend – after wife Jessica and their kids Malaika (10), Max (8) and Morris (6) – ran “a couple hundred, I think” at least in invitees, if not attendees.

His speech is pretty much done. “It’s been fun,” Nowitzki told NBA.com recently by phone from Germany. “Really what you’re doing, you’re reflecting on the whole journey. Who’s meant the most, who’s done what. I’ve actually found it cool to sit down in the evening after everyone’s in bed and I sit here for an hour and think about that stuff.

“There will be a little nervousness. But I’m also going to enjoy standing up there and looking out at this amazing crowd of family and friends and great athletes. I’m going to try to enjoy it as much as I can.”

From Germany To Dallas

His father, Jörg-Werner, competed internationally in team handball. His mother Helga and his older sister Silke played basketball.

“Growing up I was always in gyms,” said Nowitzki, who mostly played handball and tennis. “I was tall, and I played basketball in school. I had a cousin who was with a club team, so I went one time to practice and I got hooked. I wasn’t very good but I could move pretty well for a big guy and I had decent touch for my size. It didn’t come that hard for me, and I loved it from Day 1.”

After joining DJK Wurzburg, Nowitzki was spotted by Holger Gerschwindner, a former national team player turned physicist, trainer and coach. Gerschwindner offered to work with the lanky lad, got the family’s permission, then began to hone every aspect of Nowitzki’s game.

One part guru, one part Svengali to Nowitzki’s Trilby, Gerschwindner favored unorthodox techniques and drills to coax out his players’ abilities. For instance, he would invite an old friend who played the saxophone to the gym, then instruct Nowitzki and other teen players to dribble and move in rhythm with the music (“dance the game,” he termed it). He gave them books and swapped out weight training with morning rowing on a local lake.

“Holger was a little bit mystical figure in Dirk’s orbit who thought completely out of the box,” said Golden State assistant coach Ron Adams, an international scout for Portland in 1998. “He’s a little full of himself and some people look sideways at him, but they let Holger do his thing for the most part in Dallas.”

At 19, Nowitzki had developed enough to be invited to the Nike Hoop Summit, an All-Star event pitting the top international prospects against a squad of U.S. high schoolers. The game was held in San Antonio, but the foreign players convened and practiced in Dallas.

Donnie Nelson, son of Mavericks coach Don Nelson, served as a volunteer assistant coach for the overseas team. A stint with Athletes in Action playing internationally during his time at Wheaton College piqued the younger Nelson’s interest in the NBA potential of foreign-bred players.

“We scouted Europe more than anybody, really,” Don Nelson told NBA.com last week, calling from his home in Maui. “Donnie got the international team to work out at the YMCA in downtown Dallas. So for a full week, I’m watching Dirk work out. He was the most unbelievable young player I’d ever seen.”

Other teams perked up after Nowitzki scored 33 points with 14 rebounds to spark his team’s upset of the Americans, including Al Harrington, Quentin Richardson and Rashard Lewis. But as the 1998 NBA Draft approached, the Nelsons were ready.

“We hid Dirk for several weeks before the draft,” Nelson said. “We made a commitment that we were going to draft him. We just wanted to keep him from going anywhere else to work out. He was going to be ours. He was happy with that. So he hid for a week in Donnie’s basement.”

The Mavericks held the No. 6 pick that year but had more ambitious plans than simply taking Nowitzki at that spot. They arranged a deal with Milwaukee at No. 9, in which Dallas picked Michigan’s Robert (Tractor) Traylor and the Bucks took Nowitzki. They knew Boston had interest, leaving the Celtics to draft Paul Pierce at No. 10.

The Bucks also sent the No. 19 selection, Pat Garrity, to Dallas, which promptly packaged Garrity to Phoenix for a young point guard named Steve Nash.

The Early Years

The 1998-99 NBA season is one that lots of folks would like to forget. First of all, there was no 1998; a labor lockout wiped out training camps and the season’s first two-plus months. The new CBA that was wrangled in January was followed by a frenzied 50-game schedule that began in February. Summer leagues, orientation, September individual work and scrimmages, everything an incoming rookie needs for that first difficult season was off the table.

Then there was Nowitzki, who had just turned 20 and, by his and Gerschwindner’s admission, was probably one or two years ahead of schedule in trying the NBA.

“It was right after they drafted me,” Nowitzki said, “that I had the doubts. Should I go to the NBA? I was skinny, I had played second division in Germany. Can I make this jump?

“I talked to Nellie and Donnie. I got to meet Steve and Mike [Finley], and they all assured me, being a young team, we could grow together. So before I left from home, I said I’d come. But I wasn’t able to sign a contract because of the lockout, and that worked out kind of perfect for me.

“I got to stay home. I got to train with Holger. I got to play first division in Germany for a couple more months and really developed my body a little more, my game. Then I got the call in late January from Donnie. ‘Hey, the season is on. Get your butt to Dallas!'”

Let the record show, in his NBA debut on Feb. 5, 1999, Nowitzki shot 0-for-5, made two free throws, got no rebounds and passed for four assists in 16:20 of an overtime loss to Seattle. That first season, he averaged 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 40.5% overall and 20.6% on 3s. The Mavericks finished 19-31 but the Nelsons made good on their commitment, using Nowitzki in 47 games and starting him in 24, including the final 14 when his minutes doubled to 32.9 per game.

“Super nervous and anxious,” he recalled. “I didn’t know what to expect. We had a week of training camp maybe. I didn’t know all the plays or the defensive calls. Then we had five or six games in a week? It was insane. Looking back, it was good for me to get adjusted and learning. But it was tough to go through.”

There was one bright side: Nash. The unheralded playmaker from British Columbia by way of Santa Clara had been buried in the Suns backcourt his first two seasons. He and the German rookie clicked instantly.

“Well, they both loved to drink beer, so I’d say they clicked,” Nelson said, laughing. “They hung out. They both were single at the time.”

It was a lot more than that, Nowitzki said.

“We came to Dallas on the same day,” he said. “We didn’t have any friends. We lived in the same apartment complex. His family is from Europe, and he loved soccer. So we had that and we completely bonded. We went to dinners. I was feeling homesick so he’d take me to movies, out to eat.

“On free nights, we’d go back to the gym, train, lift, run, shoot, play 1-on-1. We just worked our way to be better and better every year. Steve knew the league, the routines and how to get ready. So I learned a lot from him.”

In his second season, during which Cuban bought the franchise, Nowitzki doubled his output to 17.5 points and 6.5 boards while shooting 46.1% overall and 37.9% from range. He averaged 21.8 in 2000-01 as he and Nash became a devastating pick-and-pop combo, and the Mavericks won 53 games in the first of 11 consecutive years of 50-plus victories. The next season, the guard and the forward were All-Stars.

“The crazy part still is, when he got to the NBA, people were upset that he didn’t play like a traditional center,” Cuban said. “They asked why he wasn’t a rim protector. It’s insane to look back at that now.”

Nash went back to Phoenix in free agency in 2004. Finley was gone a year later. Jason Terry came in, and later Kidd. Their coaches changed, from Nelson to Avery Johnson to Rick Carlisle. But Nowitzki was the cornerstone and he was on a roll. He went to 11 All-Star games in a row and 14 overall. He was a 12-time All-NBA selection. In 2006 he led Dallas to the Finals for the first time. The next season, the Mavs won 67 games and Nowitzki won his MVP award.

The coaching changes, never easy, panned out for him. Nelson tapped into Nowitzki’s rare combo of size and ball skills, using him as a lengthy small forward. He was 26 when Johnson took over, demanding more toughness, post work and even defense from his offensive star. Carlisle, who coached him from 2008 until Nowitzki retired in 2019, was a combination, wanting “a lot of free-flow offense and a lot of structured, detail-oriented defense.”

“I always thought, what if I had gone someplace else? Bulked me up and just put me under the basket and made a center out of me. With Nellie, that never happened,” Nowitzki said.

Johnson perfected Dallas’ use of Nowitzki at the “nail,” the center of the free-throw line where he posed the maximum threat to opposing defenses. It enabled him to punish smaller defenders that would switch onto him, without the time and grind to work into the low post, and likely draw a doubling big man.

“The spacing was good,” he said. “I wasn’t the greatest passer, but at least this way, I knew where my spot-up shooters were. I knew the big guy was in the dunker spot underneath. And if nobody came to double, I was going to just shoot over the little guy.”

As for Carlisle, that partnership produced the highlight of their careers and Cuban’s tenure, Maverick fans’ warmest memories, one of the city’s happiest sports celebrations and a reason so many junior-high kids named Dirk are running around.

“I came in the fall of 2008,” Carlisle said last week, “and the main thing was, ‘Dirk’s got about 4-5 years in his prime. We’ve got to figure out a way to win a championship."

‘Now I’m The Old Guy’

Nowitzki was 14 years old when Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and the rest of the Dream Team colonized the basketball world during the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

“I was already an NBA fan and with Jordan winning his first championship in 1991, I became a huge Bulls fan,” Nowitzki said. “Then obviously ’92 happened. I had posters in my room of [Charles] Barkley, Shaq later on, Jordan of course, Bird.”

He had a poster, too, of Detlef Schrempf, the native of Leverkusen, Germany who was drafted eighth overall in 1985 by an earlier Dallas regime. Schrempf, a 6-foot-10 forward, grew up in Centralia, Wash., and spent four years at the University of Washington. He played 16 seasons, averaging 13.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Later playing for Indiana, Seattle and Portland, Schrempf made three All-Star teams, one All-NBA squad and twice was named the NBA’s top Sixth Man.

Of the 27 NBA players born in Germany, Schrempf is the closest precursor to Nowitzki.

“Of course, Detlef was also one of my favorites. Everybody in Germany knew how good he was,” Nowitzki said. “And then my first game in the league, it was against Seattle and Detlef. The way he treated me there, introduced me to his family, he couldn’t have been nicer. He gave me his phone number and told me to call if I ever had any questions.”

Other notable European players have made their marks before or since. Players such as Sarunas Marciulionis, Drazen Petrovic, Vlade Divac, Andre Kirilenko, Rik Smits, Toni Kukoc and Tony Parker right on to Domantas Sabonis, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.

Now Nowitzki is their flag bearer, a role that makes him almost as proud as when he carried Germany’s flag in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“I got to play with [Mavs forward] Maxi Kleber my last two years. How special is that, a kid from my hometown comes to us? We spent a lot of time together, before the season we trained together and he had a lot of questions,” Nowitzki said.

“And [Toronto guard] Dennis Schröder, when he got in the league, he actually worked out in Dallas before the Draft. I went there, got to see him, got to meet him and gave him my number. Told him when he had any questions to call me up. So we’ve basically been in contact his entire career.

“Now I’m the old guy. It changes so fast. Twenty years have flown by.”

Dirk Stays With Dallas, Wins 2011 Title

This bond of Nowitzki with Dallas, Dallas with Nowitzki, is something to savor now, full of giddy moments and fuzzy nostalgia. But it was forged in hard times, ordeals that are only appreciated in retrospect and even then with a wince. The early days with the Mavericks had been a challenge for Nowitzki, but nowhere close to what he and the team’s fan base endured a few years later.

In 2005-2006, Dallas won 60 games. Nowitzki averaged a career-best 26.6 points, finished third in MVP balloting and – with teammates such as Terry, Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse – once again was the lone All-Star.

“Dirk played with Jason Kidd near the end of his career and Jason was still a great player, but he did not play with a bunch of Hall of Fame players in their prime,” Carlisle said. “Nash left before he really hit his stride. Dirk carried an amazing load with the Dallas Mavericks over a period of two-plus decades that may never be rivaled again.”

Nowitzki was his usual stellar self in leading the Mavs in the 2006 playoffs to series victories over Memphis, San Antonio and Phoenix, with his Game 7 work to beat the Spurs overtime in the West semis most remarkable. He and the Mavericks took a 2-0 lead over Miami in the Finals. Then Dwyane Wade happened, the young Heat star binging at 39.3 points and shooting 73 free throws over the final four games.

The Mavericks regrouped to win 67 games in 2006-07. They were so good, with Nowitzki as MVP, they dragged Howard to his only All-Star selection. Heavily favored against small-ball, eighth-seeded Golden State, Dallas was upset in six games, including defeats by 12, 18 and 25 points. Their old mastermind Nelson was working the Warriors’ sideline at that point, and his insider defense on Nowitzki saw the Mavs star score just eight points on 2-of-13 shooting in the elimination game.

“It would have been unbelievable to win in ’06,” he said. “And then losing in the first round in ’07 to the Warriors, those were some tough, tough losses. Gut-wrenching, to the point where I was embarrassed and disappointed and didn’t want to leave the house for a couple weeks.”

In fact, the only thing that blocked him from a hasty retreat to Germany that spring was the NBA, asking him to stick stateside for a couple of weeks until the MVP presentation.

Another first-round loss in 2008, to New Orleans this time, cost Johnson his job. Carlisle came in but two more abrupt exits followed, to Denver in the 2009 semis and to San Antonio in 2010.

Nowitzki was 32 and, for the first time in his career, a free agent. Three years earlier, a perennial All-NBA forward had accepted a trade in hopes of winning a championship elsewhere: Kevin Garnett left Minnesota after 12 years and insufficient help to finally win in Boston. Was Nowitzki next?

“I always wanted to make it happen,” Nowitzki said. “I met with Mark [Cuban] and we both got a little emotional about what we’d been through together. And he said, ‘Let’s finish this together,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t want to be anywhere else.’ I ended up signing a four-year deal and we won a championship in the first year.”

The 2010-11 Mavericks did more than that. They delayed and possibly altered the trajectory of LeBron James’ grandiose Super Team plans in Miami. The “not one, not two, not three…” hubris of that initial public appearance of James, Wade and Chris Bosh became the thud of “not one” when Dallas and Nowitzki beat the Heat in six games.

Said McHale: “Kidd was really, really smart. Just knew how to play. Some of the guys were older, too. They had a blend of guys who just played so well together. They would do this 2-3 zone when I was [visiting Carlisle] in camp and I told Rick, ‘Your zone sucks. You’ve got to stop using that.’ Hell, they played that zone in the Finals. They had a bunch of high-IQ guys. And pro’s pros. They were not going to beat themselves.

“But the thing I remember the most was Dirk making these unbelievable shots down the stretches of games. He’d make a crazy shot to give them breathing room all the time.”

At this point, Nowitzki believes the elation of 2011 never happens if not for the heartbreaks that came before.

“In 2011, I was the finisher I needed to be in the final moments,” he said. “In ’06 and ’07 I just wasn’t quite there yet to make the big baskets. It wasn’t fun to go through those years when we were favorites but it’s part of my journey and it made me a better player and person for sure.”

Nobody quibbles with that last part. Nowitzki’s lack of drama and pretense drew mentions time and again from people contacted for this story.

“He was the greatest superstar teammate that I’ve ever seen,” Carlisle said. “He had a really humble demeanor, he knew who he was, he knew what his responsibility was.”

Shawn Marion, the 2011 teammate who refers to Nowitzki as the “7-Foot Rainbow Assassin,” also said: “His ego never got in the way of what the biggest goal was. He’s a quiet leader. And he had a bit of a joker side to him too.”

And over the years, with Nowitzki now focused on family, a low-demand Mavericks consultancy and a relaxed TBD future, those close to him have reconciled the global icon vs. Mavericks fixture split.

“Dirk became very Americanized,” Carlisle said, “where Germany and Europe could feel like he was theirs, and the people of Dallas could feel like he was theirs. And no one needed to fight about it.”

#Mavs

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jacksonmarchant · 2 years ago

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The Memphis Grizzlies Are All Bark

The second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies just lost to the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in six games. What's ironic about this is the amount of trash they talked about before the series and during the series to end up losing by 40 points in their final game of the season. Their star player, Ja Morant, previously stated "We're fine in the west", referring to the western conference, when in fact it appears they were not fine in the west. Dillon Brooks, another starter on the team, called his main matchup in the series with LeBron James "old" and proclaimed that he wishes he played against a younger version of him for it to be more of a test. What's confusing about both of these statements is that they have no reason to believe either of them. The current Grizzlies team has never made it out of the West, and Dillon Brooks has averaged 12 fewer points, 6 fewer rebounds, and 5 fewer assists while playing 250 fewer playoff games than LeBron has.

#basketball #nba #memphis grizzlies #lakers #ja morant #lebron james #dillon brooks

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classictshirt · 2 years ago

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LeBron James credits Lakers' supporting cast for Game 1 win

LeBron James credits Lakers' supporting cast for Game 1 win The Los Angeles Lakers entered the fourth quarter of Sunday's Game 1 of their first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies clinging to a six-point lead. In the first 11 minutes of the final frame, LeBron James and Anthony Davis attempted just one shot apiece. And yet L.A. ran away with a 128-112 victory as a bench player and a guy who went undrafted out of college just two years ago took over. Rui Hachimura scored nine of his 29 points in the fourth, tying Mychal Thompson's Lakers franchise record for most points by a substitute in a playoff game. Austin Reaves went 5-for-5 in the fourth, including scoring nine straight points late in the quarter, en route to 23 points total. "It was our supporting cast that won us the game tonight," said James, who had 21 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. The Lakers needed the extra effort from their roster with things looking dicey at halftime. Davis, who finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 7 blocks and 3 steals to become the first player since Tim Duncan nearly 20 years ago to put up that type of postseason statline, suffered a stinger to his right shoulder and had to exit the game late in the second quarter. The Lakers trailed by six at the time. Then Hachimura went 4-for-4 from 3 in six minutes of playing time in the third quarter and L.A. was back in control. The fourth-year forward, acquired in a trade with Washington in late January, said they were all shots he specifically practiced coming into the series, with Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy scouting the gaps in the Grizzlies' defense that Hachimura could target. "The way they guard me, they're going to be in the paint so I got to be ready to shoot those kind of shots," Hachimura said. Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane confirmed as much, while directing a challenge toward Hachimura for Game 2. "That was our game plan going in -- make him hit shots and he did," Bane said. "Tip your cap. It's probably the best game he's had in his career. It's a seven-game series. Let's see if he can do it again Wednesday." Reaves, who signed a two-way contract with the Lakers in the summer of 2021 after he went undrafted out of Oklahoma and was later converted to a full-fledged member of the team before the season began, closed things out. "You dream about being on a stage like this," Reaves said. "And I got hot late and I had fun." It was the first time the Lakers had four players score 20 or more in the playoffs since May 15, 1988, when James Worth, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Byron Scott did it. And D'Angelo Russell (19 points, seven assists) nearly made it five. While L.A. won 10 of its past 12 games, including Tuesday's play-in win over Minnesota to secure the No. 7 seed against No. 2 Memphis, there were signs of slippage. The Lakers didn't look sharp in their final four regular-season games, which included a loss to the Clippers, and their effort against Minnesota was disjointed at best and undisciplined at worst. Lakers coach Darvin Ham said his team used the four-day break between the win over the Wolves and Game 1 against Memphis to recalibrate. "The last week of the season or so, the play-in game, possessions got away from us," Ham said. "We threw away possessions with no pass or one pass and then shot." L.A. locked in after a team address by James and Davis about the increased intensity that the playoffs require, and seemingly has recaptured the momentum that got it to the playoffs in the first place. "How can we best extract the most production as we can out of this group?" Ham said, explaining the aim of the time off. "And this is how. This is what's going to work against this team and what we need to explore; this is what we need to leave to the side. I thought it was a combination of all of that -- being fresh and taking a deep, hard look at our offense and what's been good and what's been bad." While the Lakers started the series off with a statement win, stealing home-court advantage from the Grizzlies as they attempt to become the first No. 7 seed to pull off a first-round upset since San Antonio in 2010, James focused on some of the bad from Sunday. He pointed out that L.A.'s 16 turnovers led to 15 points for the Grizzlies and took responsibility for the five he had himself. "I thought the guys definitely understood that assignment and were really good tonight," James said. "But I think we can be even better." Read the full article

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caleb-phillips · 2 years ago

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Phillips - Well, that was Embarrassing

The Warriors played the Lakers in Los Angeles, and it didn't go well for the Warriors.

The injured Curry still hasn't set foot on the floor, but Andrew Wiggins was another missing piece in Thursday night's game.

Wiggins, one of the three all-stars for the Warriors last year, has been a big influence on the game through his offense and defense. His presence was definitely missed as the Lakers won because of their role players, players Wiggins would have guarded.

This is what made this loss so embarrassing, LeBron James didn't even have a good night. He shot 25% from the field, with only 13 points. Anthony Davis didn't have that good of a night either as he only had 12 points. It was a loss because the Lakers' role and bench players played better than the Warriors'.

But, there is still some upside to this game.

Kevon Looney, a fan-favorite center for the Warriors, played exceptionally well in Thursday's night loss. He had a total of 10 points and 15 rebounds in only 20 minutes of playing time. But what was so exceptional was that he had seven offensive rebounds, the most of any player of the night.

As shown in the video (taken from the NBA YouTube account), Looney is working harder and getting more rebounds than anybody else. His presence helps the team have a chance to win.

Curry is the overall missing piece, and as Joe Reedy of AP states, "The Warriors are 9-12 this season without All-Star Stephen Curry. They have dropped four of six since Curry suffered a left leg injury on Feb. 4 against Dallas."

Let's see how the Warriors do tonight against the Houston Rockets, still without Curry.

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letsprufrockandroll · 9 months ago

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this is genuinely one of my favorite things to do. every so often my brother infodumps me LoL lore, talks about football team histories, tells me his gaming and shows me the memes i missed because we usually hang out in different parts of the internet (this week the meme was “you are my sunshine” lebron one). my 12 yo cousin enjoys talking about her fave music bands, her paintings, her crafts and random ocs. our youngest cupcake neighbor (just turned 4!) randomly comes up and shows me the rocks he found and the shapes of clouds. often what people say mean nothing to me, but the people themselves mean everything. every single time i listen i feel my heart expanding with love and feel as if i am rewinding time, talking to the young curious me, just looking for someone who listens with care. i hope i’ll be a good audience to kids and teens and everyone who wants to share their interests for a long long time

people are way too comfortable being dismissive of children and teenagers. if a toddler comes up to you and starts explaining skibidi toilet lore or if a 13 year old asks you if you want to hear about their mha ocs you have to listen with utmost sincerity or at least pretend to. this is the only way you will get into heaven.

#life #ramblings #listen to kids yall they are good eggs and they are here to talk

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obedfanuel · 2 months ago

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References

1. Almeida, D. (2017). Why Procreative Beneficence? We Should Select the Best Children. Ethics and Genetics Journal, 14(2), 183-188.

2. Chowdhury, S. (2018). Designer Babies: Evaluating the Ethics of Human Gene Editing. Ethics in Medicine and Technology, 22(4), 50-54.

3. Doudna, J. (2021). The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race. Simon & Schuster.

4. Doudna, J. (2024). Jennifer Doudna: Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and CRISPR-Cas9 Co-Inventor. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved from https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/jennifer-doudna

5. Gouni, M. (2020). Prenatal Human Modification, Designing Babies and the End of Homo Sapiens. Reproductive Biotechnology Review, 27(1), 1-5.

6. Pew Research Center. (2018). Public Views of Gene Editing for Babies Depend on How It Would Be Used. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2018/07/26/public-views-of-gene-editing-for-babies-depend-on-how-it-would-be-used/

7. Redman, M., King, A., Watson, C., & King, D. (2016). What is CRISPR/Cas9? Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed, 101(4), 213-215. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2016-310459. Epub 2016 Apr 8. PMID: 27059283; PMCID: PMC4975809.

8. Savulescu, J. (2019). Designer Babies: From Mythos to Ethos and Beyond. Journal of Reproductive Ethics, 18(2), 410-415.

9. Steynberg, L. (2021). Border Crossing between Sociology and Bioethics. Journal of Bioethics and Sociology, 34(3), 413-419.

10. Steynberg, L. (2021). Human Enhancement: Genetic Engineering and Evolution. Bioethics and Technology Review, 19(3), 184-190.

11. The Day. (n.d.). Debate Rages as First Designer Babies Born. The Day. Retrieved from https://theday.co.uk/debate-rages-as-first-designer-babies-born/

12. Volokh, E. (2018). In Defense of Designer Babies. Reason. Retrieved from https://reason.com/volokh/2018/11/11/in-defense-of-designer-babies/

13. Vice. (2021). Reddit User Thinks LeBron is a Genetically Modified Test-Tube Baby Created by the Government. Vice. Retrieved from https://www.vice.com/en/article/reddit-user-thinks-lebron-is-a-genetically-modified-test-tube-baby-created-by-the-government/

14. Sauce, B., & Matzel, L. D. (2018). The Paradox of Intelligence: Heritability and Malleability Coexist in Hidden Gene-Environment Interplay. Psychological Bulletin, 144(1), 26-47. doi: 10.1037/bul0000131.

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racingtoaredlight · 4 months ago

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Accordion is a VASTLY underrated instrument Plus Jesus Molina

youtube

This is not a joke.

When you find someone that can play one of these well? Holy shit. This guy below is absolutely un-fucking-real. This shit blows my fucking mind. It's got the entire spectrum covered, multiple voices working as much counterpoint as you can throw at it.

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More after the jump.

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There are things that are impressive in "real" situations...for example, LeBron's block in the Finals against Golden State. Just un-fucking-believeable to see something like that in the flow of a game. The reason I love jazz so much is because of things like that inside a musical context, rather than athletic.

But, if you've ever spent time with someone at a preposterously high level in practice...in any walk of life...you're likely to witness some routine shit that goes to a level of not being believed. Sticking with basketball, here's Steph Curry hitting 105 3 pointers in a row.

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You'll never see this in a game or "real" situation. But personally, I find that hitting 105 straight 3's in practice is as impressive as anything he's done on TV.

Another sports example is hearing about all the Larry Allen weight room stories. Does that translate to the field? Well, it certainly did. But watching some absolute freak talk bugeyed about Larry Allen throwing extra plates on a bench and then hitting it for reps is next level. It's not that it's just superhuman...it's that it's routine.

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At high levels of music, there are things that are considered as routine as practicing shooting 3's and hitting the weights...namely high levels of technique, knowledge of music theory and a deep repertoire.

To those outside this bubble, these things can be incredible, but those inside understand the gulf that exists between high-caliber musicians and the true freaks. I've talked about Molina before...he's as true a freak as it gets.

What we have here is Molina just having fun. He's taking one of the most difficult sets of chord changes in jazz history...Coltrane's "Giant Steps"...and taking it through all 12 keys in time. Each chord change, he's fucking around with the chords using different themes, constantly changing it.

But the part where I queued it up to is when when he really starts fucking with shit. He's changing styles...going from swing to bossa nova to lo-fi. He's fucking with the tempos, keeping the drummer on his toes.

Then...3:10...this is the shit that would have me...wait, it currently has me...going absolutely fucking apeshit. Forget the difficulty of "Giant Steps" and the fact he's playing with this song through all 12 keys like a cat plays with a mouse...at 3:10 he starts playing Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" (another viciously difficult song) OVER THE TOP of "Giant Steps"...and somehow making it fit.

They're not songs in the same key, the chords have almost no relation to each other. And yet, he fits in the Bird test piece into the Coltran test piece like they were meant for each other all along.

I absolutely cannot stress enough how fucking INSANE this is. How highly of a level he's operating on here. I can play "Giant Steps" and can transpose it into other keys...but not like this, and certainly not in real time. I can quote other songs inside other songs...but not like this, not songs this difficult, and again, not nearly as smoothly in real time.

It's unreal.

Does this have any real musical value? Meh, not much. But there's more glimpses of what makes Jesus Molina such a monster in this 90 second clip than anything of him on a "real" stage would provide.

#Youtube

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sa7abnews · 5 months ago

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LeBron James draws backlash on social media over stern interaction with young fan

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/12/lebron-james-draws-backlash-on-social-media-over-stern-interaction-with-young-fan/

LeBron James draws backlash on social media over stern interaction with young fan

Fresh off a gold medal victory at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, LeBron James caught flak on social media on Sunday after an interaction with a young fan in France.A video posted to TikTok showed James walking behind his wife, Savannah, and a young fan with his phone approaching the Team USA star. James was dressed down in some Team USA gear as he walked around the front of the car.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMAs the kid approached James, the Los Angeles Lakers star could be heard saying sternly, “Stop.” One person in James’ entourage nudged the kid out of the way as the group entered a restaurant.James was met with congratulations from photographers and did a little dance as he entered the restaurant.But the interaction with the kid is what caught social media users’ eyeballs.JORDAN CHILES SCORE INQUIRY WAS MADE IN TIME AND THERE’S VIDEO EVIDENCE TO PROVE IT, USA GYMNASTICS SAYSJames and Team USA defeated France in a close game to win a gold medal. He now has three gold medals in his Olympic career on top of four NBA championships. It was the fifth straight gold medal for Team USA.”Super humbled that I can still play this game,” James said. “Played at a high level, played with 11 other great players and a great coaching staff and went on and did it for our country. It was a great moment around.”He scored 14 points in the win.James didn’t appear to address any of the backlash on social media. Fox News Digital asked his representatives for a comment on the issue.Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

#ccf9ed65-69dd-5e96-976d-3099bbde1b62

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news4usonline · 5 months ago

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USA men's basketball faces stiff test

After failing to medal during the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, USA Basketball is sending one of the greatest teams ever assembled to Paris. The 2024 Summer Olympics will be an interesting test for a team that, on paper, should dominate. The United States is still undoubtedly the best basketball country in the world, but even after putting together their version of The Monstars, this will be the toughest competition they have ever faced in international play. The American squad should take home gold, but it would not be a shocking result if they were to be upset. The USA participated in five warm-up games and convincingly beat Canada 86-72 in their opening International Friendly matchup. Led by All-NBA First Team combo guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and 2023 NBA Champion Jamal Murray, Canada is viewed as the biggest threat to Team USA, with 11 of its 12 players having NBA experience.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards soars to the basket. Photo courtesy of USA Basketball After a relatively easy win over the country to the North, it appeared that the United States team would have nothing to worry about. However, that is not the case. Three of the team's next four games came down to the wire. They beat Australia by six, Germany by four, and narrowly escaped with a one-point victory over South Sudan. The only team they handled comfortably during the stretch was Nikola Jokic's Serbia team, who they beat 105-79. "Our game is global now. All these guys are huge stars in their own ways," said Kevin Durant. "We are playing against 69 other NBA players now, and they are all the best of the best in the world." Team USA entered their matchup with South Sudan favored by over 40 points, and it took a LeBron James driving layup with eight seconds remaining, followed by a tough defensive stand, just to come out with the win. If that game was any indication of how Paris will go, the United States could be in some trouble. https://twitter.com/usabasketball/status/1814768964578185599 Sure, these were practice games that did not actually count, and the team is trying to build chemistry, but how hard the opposition is going to come at Team USA will remain the same. If South Sudan can give them a run for their money, a team like Canada or Serbia could easily bounce back with a better performance the next time around, and a player like Jokic or Gilgeous-Alexander might be able to deliver the knockout blow. "When we play against teams, it is the biggest game of their lives, and we have to expect everyone to play like that, so it is on me and my staff to have everyone prepared," said head coach Steve Kerr. The two oldest players on the roster, LeBron James and Stephen Curry, ignite the starting unit and have already shown they were a match made in heaven. James plays the point-forward position, running the offense and overpowering defenders, while Curry, the most lethal shooter in basketball history, runs off screens, needing just a slimmer of an opening. If only these two played together in the NBA.

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (15) represents Team USA for the USA men's basketball squad in Paris. Photo courtesy of USA Basketball "His game speaks for itself what he has been able to accomplish on the court. His style of play matches well: a guy who can dribble, pass, and shoot. Being able to work off of him has been pretty seamless; you just try to make the right play, and something good will happen," Curry said about playing with James. James is the team captain and was selected as the United States male flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony. He was voted the best player by his teammates and coaches during the USA's Olympic training camp and staked his claim as the closer for Team USA by coming through in the clutch several times, including scoring the team's last 11 points in their final win over Germany. "The enthusiasm and energy (James) has for the game is just contagious, and the more you are around him as a teammate, you can see why he is considered the best player to ever play," said Durant. Joel Embiid and Jrue Holiday have been the other two constants in the starting lineup, with several other players rotating in and out of the fifth spot. Durant has yet to play this Summer, and the USA's all-time leader in Olympic scoring will likely take over the position if and when he returns. Holiday has been a difference maker up to this point. He is an elite defender who has no problem taking a back seat on offense. Holiday was the fifth-leading scorer for the Boston Celtics this past season but is fully capable of getting a bucket any time his team needs him to. He represents the glue guy who will do a little bit of everything for a team that is full of superstars. https://twitter.com/usabasketball/status/1814287228392165574 The second unit is just as deadly. The 2024 assist leader in the NBA, Tyrese Haliburton, has the luxury of setting up two assassins on the wing in Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker. Haliburton hit back-to-back clutch threes to seal the win over Australia, and both Edwards and Booker showed they could take over at any moment during the International Friendlies. The backbone of the team is the combination of size, speed, and athleticism that Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo provide off the bench. The two big men playing alongside each other is an unfair cheat code for Team USA. Good luck trying to drive or grab a rebound against this second unit. This is not the 2004 USA team that took home bronze. That team only had two All-Stars from the previous NBA season and was missing many of their biggest stars. This team is much better, but it would not be as epic of a collapse if they did not win gold, as the rest of the world is also a lot better. Read the full article

#basketball #LeBronJames #Olympics #TeamUSA

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golden--goofball · 6 months ago

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Dear, Adonis I'm sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest It takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive I look at him and wish your grandpa would've wore a condom I'm sorry that you gotta grow up and then stand behind him Life is hard, I know, the challenge is always gon' beat us home Sometimes our parents make mistakes that affect us until we grown And you're a good kid that need good leadership Let me be your mentor since your daddy don't teach you shit

Never let a man piss on your leg, son Either you die right there or pop that man in the head, son Never fall in the escort business, that's bad religion Please remember, you could be a bitch even if you got bitches Never code-switch, whether right or wrong, you a black man Even if it don't benefit your goals, do some push-ups, get some discipline Don't cut them corners like your daddy did, fuck what Ozempic did Don't pay to play with them Brazilians, get a gym membership

Understand, no throwin' rocks and hidin' hands, that's law Don't be ashamed 'bout who you with, that's how he treat your moms Don't have a kid to hide a kid to hide again, be sure Five percent will comprehend, but 95 is lost Be proud of who you are, your strength come from within Lotta superstars that's real, but your daddy ain't one of them And you nothing like him, you'll carry yourself as king Can't understand me right now? Just play this when you 18

Dear, Sandra Your son got some habits, I hope you don't undermine them Especially with all the girls that's hurt inside this climate You a woman, so you know how it feels to be in alignment With emotion, hopin' a man can see you and not be blinded Dear Dennis, you gave birth to a master manipulator Even using you to prove who he is, is a huge favor I think you should ask for more paper, and more paper And more, uh, more paper

I'm blaming you for all his gambling addictions Psychopath intuition, the man that like to play victim You raised a horrible fucking person, the nerve of you, Dennis Sandra, sit down, what I'm about to say is heavy, now listen

Mm-mm, your son's a sick man with sick thoughts, I think niggas like him should die Him and Weinstein should get fucked up in a cell for the rest they life He hates Black women, hypersexualizes 'em with kinks of a nympho fetish Grew facial hair because he understood bein' a beard just fit him better

He got sex offenders on hoe-VO that he keep on a monthly allowance A child should never be compromised and he keepin' his child around them And we gotta raise our daughters knowin' there's predators like him lurkin' Fuck a rap battle, he should die so all of these women can live with a purpose

I been in this industry 12 years, I'ma tell y'all one lil' secret It's some weird shit goin' on and some of these artists be here to police it They be streamlinin' victims all inside of they home and callin' 'em tender Then leak videos of themselves to further push their agendas

To any woman that be playin' his music, know that you're playin' your sister Or better, you're sellin' your niece to the weirdos, not the good ones Katt Williams said, "Get you the truth, " so I'ma get mines The Embassy 'bout to get raided, too, it's only a matter of time Ayy, LeBron, keep the family away, hey, Curry, keep the family away To anybody that embody the love for they kids, keep the family away They lookin' at you too if you standin' by him, keep the family away I'm lookin' to shoot through any pervert that lives, keep the family safe

Dear, baby girl I'm sorry that your father not active inside your world He don't commit to much but his music, yeah, that's for sure He a narcissist, misogynist, livin' inside his songs Try destroy families rather than takin' care of his own Should be teachin' you timetables or watchin' Frozen with you Or at your eleventh birthday singin' poems with you Instead, he be in Turks payin' for sex and poppin' Percs, examples that you don't deserve

I wanna tell you that you're loved, you're brave, you're kind You got a gift to change the world, and could change your father's mind 'Cause our children is the future, but he lives inside confusion Money's always been illusion, but that's the life he's used to His father prolly didn't claim him neither History do repeats itself, sometimes it don't need a reason But I would like to say it's not your fault that he's hidin' another child Give him grace, this the reason I made Mr. Morale

So our babies like you can cope later Give you some confidence to go through somethin', it's hope later I never wanna hear you chase a man 'cause his failed behavior Sittin' in the club with sugar daddies for validation You need to know that love is eternity and trumps all pain I'll tell you who your father is, just play this song when it rains Yes, he's a hitmaker, songwriter, superstar, right And a fuckin' deadbeat that should never say "more life" Meet the Grahams

Dear, Aubrey I know you probably thinkin' I wanted to crash your party But truthfully, I don't have a hatin' bone in my body This supposed to be a good exhibition within the game But you fucked up the moment you called out my family's name Why you had to stoop so low to discredit some decent people? Guess integrity is lost when the metaphors doesn't reach you And I like to understand 'cause your house was never a home

37, but you showin' up as a seven-year-old You got gamblin' problems, drinkin' problems, pill-poppin' and spendin' problems Bad with money, whorehouse Solicitin' women problems, therapy's a lovely start But I suggest some ayahuasca, strip the ego from the bottom

I try to empathize with you 'cause I know that you ain't been through nothin' Crave entitlement, but wanna be liked so bad that it's puzzlin' No dominance, let's recap moments when you didn't fit in No secret handshakes with your friend No cultural cachet to binge, just disrespectin' your mother Identity's on the fence, don't know which family will love ya The skin that you livin' in is compromised in personas Can't channel your masculine even when standin' next to a woman

You a body shamer, you gon' hide them baby mamas, ain't ya? You embarrassed of 'em, that's not right, that ain't how mama raised us Take that mask off, I wanna see what's under them achievements Why believe you? You never gave us nothin' to believe in 'Cause you lied about religious views, you lied about your surgery You lied about your accent and your past tense, all is perjury

You lied about your ghostwriters, you lied about your crew members They all pussy, you lied on 'em, I know they all got you in 'em You lied about your son, you lied about your daughter, huh You lied about them other kids that's out there hopin' that you come You lied about the only artist that can offer you some help Fuck a rap battle, this a long life battle with yourself

uhhhh 25

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