We know this because Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks told us. It wasn’t exactly a news flash, especially when you compare the two men. Brooks has been in 20 playoff games; James surpassed that total when Brooks was 11 years old, in 2007.
But sometimes, age ain’t nothing but a number, and grown folks gotta put mouthy youngsters in their place.
The Los Angeles Lakers took a commanding 3-1 series lead against Memphis because James refuses to go gently into the night. Father Time is undefeated, but James is going the distance. On Tuesday he became the oldest player in NBA history with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game.
When a lotta folks think of “Stomp” in an R&B sense, the first tune that pops up might be Kirk Franklin’s gospel banger, especially the remix version with Salt from Salt-N-Pepa.
That’s definitely an all-time jam, kinda automatically though because it samples “One Nation Under a Groove.” But Franklin’s song didn’t come to mind Monday night when I saw what Golden State’s Draymond Green did to Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis in the NBA playoffs. (Technically I saw it Tuesday morning and the first time in slow-mo, because I can’t hang for West Coast games like before).
No, the song that instantly played in my head and kept looping through replays as Green intentionally and impactfully planted his right foot in Sabonis’ chest, was a No. 1 R&B hit by the Brothers Johnson.
We’re gonna stomp All night In the neighborhood Don’t it feel alright? Stomp, step down in it Put your foot where feel the fit Stomp, you don’t want to quit Put your heel where you’re feelin’ it
Daily soap operas were TV fixtures when I was growing up, and more than a few of us could sit with elders and dissect “All My Children” or cold-blooded Victor Newman on “The Young and the Restless.” Alas, production has ended on most of those dramas.
Our attention nowadays has shifted to “As the NFL Turns,” a reality show.
He isn’t the first heinous owner to become a detested villain among his team’s fans, but Daniel Snyder recast the mold in the district formerly known as Chocolate City. He purchased the highly regarded Washington franchise for $800 million in 1999 and has trashed it ever since — winning few games, losing many fans and sparking multiple scandals. Under intense pressure to sell, with at least four legal or civil investigations probing his hind parts, Snyder reportedly reached an agreement last week.
News flash: Regardless of how you perform as an NFL owner, a fat bag awaits at checkout. For Snyder, it contains $6 billion, crushing the record $4.65 billion that a Walmart heir paid last year for the Denver Broncos. Good for him as he exits the stage and D.C. celebrates an instant holiday.
The state of women’s basketball is similar to the dual
cities Charles Dickens wrote about: It’s the best and worst of times.
You couldn’t see the flip side Monday night if you
looked at Aliyah Boston. The All-America center from South Carolina was selected
first overall in the WNBA draft. You also couldn’t see cloudy skies later when four
of her former teammates were drafted, including first-round picks Laeticia
Amihere and Zia Cooke. Coach Dawn Staley and the bubbling mentees were all
smiles all evening long, rightfully so.
The joy is justified because they went 97-8 over the
last three seasons, reaching three straight Final Fours and winning a national
championship. South Carolina has become a familiar brand atop the rankings, drawing
heightened interest and new fans to the sport. The Gamecocks were riffraff
before Staley started cooking, but now they’re right comfy among bluebloods like
UConn and Tennessee.
Entering the Final Four a week ago, South Carolina was
undefeated and defending its national championship. Focus on the sport only intensified
from there, with ESPN reporting record-high ratings for LSU vs. Virginia Tech and Iowa vs. SC. Those games averaged 4.5
million viewers, up 66% from last season’s Final Four. The latter game, promoted
as Boston vs. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, had up to 5.5 million viewers, an increase
of 72% from 2022.
But the title match vaporized those numbers. ESPN deemed
it the most-watched women’s game on record, averaging 9.9. million viewers (103% increase)
and peaking at 12.6 million viewers. Sports Media Watch reported that more people watched LSU vs. Iowa than all the 2022 NBA playoff games besides the
Finals. The tournament also set an attendance record for the second straight season.
Nothing about that sounds like bad times. But neither does the quiet before a storm.
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association recently reached terms on a new collective bargaining agreement, a seven-year pact that should ensure labor peace throughout this decade. Fantastic.
Even better, the deal affects way more than the roughly 500 players each season who draw NBA paychecks.
Those guys are set atop the mountain. Their successful climb leaves new terrain for aspirants who hope to follow, including hundreds of thousands of Black boys. Unfortunately for 99% percent of those hoop dreamers, they’ll never reach the NBA summit, no matter how hard they try. Some come to the realization sooner than others, but eventually, all must accept the fact.
Thanks to the new agreement, none will be deluded and distracted by thoughts of jumping straight to the league.
Two Americas squared off over the weekend in the NCAA women’s Final Four. Each won a game.
Louisiana State beat Iowa for the championship Sunday, avenging South Carolina’s loss against Iowa on Friday. Both contests felt like expressions of this country’s culture war, a fight that has escalated since 2016 but has been waged from the start.
Racists and bigots love to talk about a “colorblind” society, misrepresenting MLK’s dream while pushing agendas that harm Black people. “We don’t see color,” they sniff as if adherence to that fantasy proves moral superiority.
But no one must lose their vision in order to achieve King’s dream.
Anyone who says they didn’t notice a glaring difference between LSU/South Carolina and Iowa is either lying or needs an eye exam. It was clear as a chief distinction between Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa.
The women of March Madness are hooping like it’s nobody’s business, Some of us have noticed.
They’re raising the roof and smashing records in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. ESPN set highs for viewership in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, bringing us to a Final Four with an unfortunate twist: The matchup everyone longed for is in the semifinals, Friday night.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston square off in what feels like the title game. Clark won this season’s award for Associated Press National Player of the Year; Boston won it last season. For those who don’t watch a lot of college basketball, Clark and Boston are worth paying attention.
Naturally, we’ve watched as Boston and coach Dawn Staley seek their second straight national title. Doing so would also give South Carolina the first perfect season in school history. The stakes are always high for Staley, the three-time National Coach of the Year whose program exudes HBCU vibes.
Like John Thompson and Georgetown were for a lotta Black folks in the ‘80s, Staley and South Carolina are the de facto squad if you don’t have a rooting interest. The Gamecocks get all our love for being an extension of their super-cool coach.
Clark gets her share of love with a “You see that?!” style of play, brilliance built for modern hoop heads and viral videos. She’s a showstopper with the attributes of fabled blacktop legends: unlimited range, audacious passing and dramatic flair. Her rank as the sport’s most exciting player was certified in the Elite Eight when she hit Louisville with a historic 40-point triple-double (41 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists). She’s the game’s new darling, garnering tweets from LeBron James, Isaiah Thomas and Magic Johnson, among others.
The contrast between Boston and Clark couldn’t be greater, adding another layer of intrigue, the punishing power forward versus flashy point guard. Both are dominant but do their damage in opposite ways.
Speaking truth to power isn’t for the faint of heart, especially when it can impact your livelihood. Blowing the whistle requires courage and resolve because it can lead to unemployment. Griping among friends and colleagues is far easier than complaining to the boss who approves your direct deposit.
Hired by the NFL to cover the NFL, veteran journalist Jim Trotter was unafraid, handing the league a mirror and braving the blowback.
He pointed out obvious disparities and asked pointed questions. He wondered aloud about Commissioner Roger Goodell’s thoughts on Black journalists in the newsroom and Black coaches on the sidelines. Trotter wasn’t satisfied to simply swallow the company line on diversity, how much the league desires equity and values inclusion.
Instead, he pressed the issue and referenced a James Baldwin quote in the process: “I can’t believe what you say because I see what you do.”
Trotter uttered that line in February at Goodell’s annual Super Bowl news conference. He asked about hiring practices within the league’s media division, which includes NFL Network and the NFL.com website. That made two consecutive “State of the League” press events where Trotter presented a mirror on diversity, having inquired about coaching hires in 2022.
The league has offered plenty of words, but actions keep speaking louder. Trotter is gone.
As a youngster in Brooklyn, my love affair with the
NBA and the New York Knicks hadn’t kicked in yet when Willis Reed created one
of sports’ most iconic moments. I was still getting used to white classmates in
a white neighborhood after being put on a school bus for second grade. But I
eventually grew to realize why May 8, 1970, stirred so many emotions, in the
city and elsewhere.
That’s when Reed limped from the tunnel onto the court
at Madison Square Garden for Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Hollywood draws inspiration from such scenes, a crowd erupting
as the injured star unexpectedly emerges from the locker room for a must-win
game. The Los Angeles Lakers were shook and never recovered. A legend was born and
Reed, who died Tuesday at age 80, was cemented in sports lore forever.
Not bad for a country boy from Hico, Louisiana, which he once described as so small, it doesn’t have a population.
Dawn Staley has been a boss on the sideline for 23 seasons and shows no sign of slowing as top-seeded South Carolina opens defense of its NCAA women’s basketball title on Friday. But as the only Black basketball coach with two Division I titles in women’s (or men’s) hoops, she always pays homage to the pioneer who won none.
“The strength of your shoulders allowed us to stand tall,” Staley posted on Twitter when C. Vivian Stringer retired last season. “We will forever keep your legacy in our hearts. Thank you, Coach Stringer.”
Stringer ended her illustrious career in April 2022 after 50 years and 1,055 wins as a head coach. She once was quite a fixture at this time of year, taking her teams to 25 of the first 31 tournaments from 1982 to 2012. The Hall of Famer’s journey began with a highly improbable run that remains a precedent.
The NCAA didn’t create the women’s tournament until 1982, more than 40 years after the men’s version. Stringer and her team at then-Cheyney State College (now Cheyney University) wasted little time making a statement on Black achievement against all odds: They advanced all the way to the finals before losing to Louisiana Tech.
No HBCU before or since has reached the Final Four, let alone the final game.
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