Steve Francis: I Got a Story to Tell

Steve Francis writing for The Players’ Tribune:

I still live in Houston to this day, and I can walk around this city and no matter what, people got my back. Even when I was going through some dark times the past few years, and I got locked up, everybody in Houston still had my back. How many guys who only played in a city for five years, and only made the playoffs once, get that much love?
I think it’s because of the energy in the city when me and Yao were together. That was my guy. When he came to Houston, we were some Odd Couple motherfuckers, man. A dude from China and a dude from D.C., and it wasn’t even language that was the problem. That was just a part of it. I’m partially deaf in my left ear, and Yao is partially deaf in his right ear, and we’re trying to speak to one another in basic English.
He’s turning his head, Huh?
I’m turning my head, What? Huh?

A genuinely entertaining and well written short-form memoir by Steve Francis covering what amounts to his whole life – from the death of his mother and step father, dealing drugs and visiting prisons, to Hakeem, Yao, Gary Payton and Shawn Marion.

A must read for any NBA fan.

NBA Finalols

The best and funniest Tweets from the couple of hours after the 2016 NBA Finals.

Continue reading “NBA Finalols” →

Don’t Call It A Choke

Photo credit: ESPN

After The Oklahoma Thunder lost Game 6 to the Golden State Warriors, tying the series at 3 all, the “choke” echo chamber started firing up.

@jadande they lose a 3-1 lead it will go down as one of the biggest chokes ever by 2 of the top 5 players in the world.

— Desmond (@drgonzo777) May 29, 2016

@drgonzo777 @jadande not sure getting beaten in a series by the best regular season team of all time & back2back MVP wld constitute a choke.

— punyweakling (@punyweakling) May 29, 2016

Honestly, I’m completely over the ‘choking narrative’.

It’s lazy.

Why analyse the series when you can just yell “CHOKE”, right? Seven games worth of defensive rotations, pick and roll coverage, cross matches, game-to-game adjustments, shooting slumps – don’t worry about it. Just yell ‘choke’.

Durant: "They beat us from the 3-point line the last two games. We beat them from everywhere else … that was the series."

— Royce Young (@royceyoung) May 31, 2016

It’s dismissive.

The choke narrative completely ignores the fact that another team (The Warriors) was actively trying to beat them. And it completely minimises the sacrifice and hard work that the OKC players and coaches and staff made, not only for this series, but for the entire season.

Billy Donovan: "We were right there every step of the way with them, and this is a record-setting championship team."

— Royce Young (@royceyoung) May 31, 2016

It’s myopic.

Klay Thompson shot an NBA record 11 threes in Game 6. Klay and Steph beat the Playoff record for threes in a series, each. Yeah, OKC ‘choked’ though. The choke narrative ignores context.

Both Splash Bros. break the previous record for 3s in a series. ?????? pic.twitter.com/jyaE38XZjz

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 31, 2016

It’s arbitrary.

What’s an appropriate number of wins or losses before a team chokes? If OKC went up 3-2 after a 2-2 tie and lost, is that still a choke?

It’s dickish, and do we really need more dick behaviour in the world?

If you’re a genuine GSW fan you’re excused, but for the rest of you: ease up. You just witnessed an incredible series in which both teams laid it all on the line in a Conference Finals matchup for the ages. Maybe take some time to appreciate it.

Congrats to the Golden State Warriors, who rallied from 3-1 down to beat a valiant Thunder team. On to the Finals: a GSW-Cleveland rematch.

— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) May 31, 2016