#and my brother played basketball and was a big fan of the nba so i grew up around jocks

[cosmoseinfeld]

looking up punk pictures on google is so bad for me because it always ends up showing me the grainiest oldest baby punk pictures and i start hyperventilating and crying...

[nebuladreamerrr]

Kylian Mbappé imagine where he’s so nervous to meet your family. Especially nervous for your parents. Your family isn’t really a football family they’re more into basketball. They’re not that impressed by him.

Oooo and maybe when you get to meet his family,

And his mom tells him to the side that she has a real good feeling about you

I hope you enjoy it 💗💗

Lakers fan | Kylian Mbappé x Fem Reader

Summary: Despite being a confident man, Kylian can't help but feel insecure and nervous about meeting your family. But will everything turn out okay?

Warnings: English is not my first language

Kylian couldn't stop mentally going over all the plans he had been mapping out for months. When you mentioned that you wanted to spend your vacation in the United States so that your family could finally meet him, his mind started working overtime. He couldn't stop thinking about everything he needed to remember: not to mix up French with English, not to forget the gifts for your family (soccer jerseys for your younger brothers, flowers for your mother, and a bottle of wine for your father), and to make sure not to address your father too informally. All of this seemed like a simple plan, but the fact that everything was in English made Kylian very nervous.

From the moment you met him, you didn't hesitate to tell him that his English was very good and that he should be proud of mastering a language that wasn't his mother tongue. Still, a few lessons with you were enough to turn him into a professional in the language.

But this wasn't what made the French footballer nervous. It seemed unbelievable that before a match against the best players in the world, he had the strength and courage not to doubt his abilities. There's no denying that the young Frenchman is one of the best players in the world, but even the biggest stars tend to get nervous and review the matches of the stars they are going to face. However, Kylian wasn't like that. He could play in a big stadium with millions of fans chanting his name, and in his mind, it was as if he were playing a match with his childhood friends.

Without a doubt, that's what made you fall in love with Kylian: that ability to make even the most exclusive and extravagant events seem like a simple gathering in the park after school. Kylian always showed you that side of himself whenever he could, whether it was when you entered a clothing store and he mentioned how he used to have a shirt with the same pattern when he was little, when you ate at different restaurants and he always compared them to the ones in his hometown (which obviously always won), or even when he had a very important meeting with his representatives and afterward told you, "Phew, I almost fell asleep. For a moment, I was transported back to when my school principal gave talks that were supposed to last ten minutes and ended up lasting 100 hours."

But having to navigate in another language and meet your parents and entire family made him extremely nervous. Especially since he discovered that they weren't big soccer fans; in fact, they rarely watched soccer matches. Instead, it was rare for the TV not to be showing an NBA game. Kylian was a basketball fan too, but with so many matches, training sessions, and competitions, he couldn't watch all the basketball games he wanted or keep up with the big stars and promising future talents.

Kylian wasn't just worried about his own nerves; he was also focused on making sure you felt comfortable and happy. Although the United States was your home country, you hadn't been back in a long time. Since moving to Paris and more recently to Spain, your sense of home had spread across these three places. He knew you'd be thrilled to reunite with your family and make plans with all your friends, but he also understood it would be strange to return to a home that had changed since you last saw it. That's why Kylian planned every detail of the trip to the United States meticulously.

Kylian worked hard to learn a few phrases in English that might impress your parents and practiced how to behave in social situations that might be different from those in France, like not greeting your parents with the typical three kisses. He knew this visit was important to you, and he was determined to do everything possible to make it a success.

Additionally, Kylian had organized a special surprise for you. He had reserved a dinner at an elegant restaurant atop a skyscraper, with stunning views of the city. This was the perfect place for you to reconnect with all your childhood friends—those you had shared moments with since kindergarten, those you had spent so much time training with through cheerleading routines, and, most importantly, those you had shared countless laughs with. He wanted your family to see how much you meant to him and how much he valued every moment with you. He also thought it was a great opportunity for them to understand that he didn't want you to isolate yourself from your friends.

Furthermore, he had prepared a speech with the help of your best friend to express his feelings and gratitude for welcoming him into your home. This would demonstrate his commitment and dedication to both you and your family, making it clear that he had made a genuine effort to integrate into your life and roots.

On the day of departure, while waiting at the airport, Kylian took your hand and looked at you with a calm smile. "Everything will be fine," he confidently assured you. "We've planned everything, and most importantly, we're in this together." His words gave you the reassurance you needed. Together, you boarded the plane towards a new adventure, confident that whatever happened, you would face it with love and mutual support.

The arrival in the United States was emotional. Your best friends welcomed you with hugs and tears of joy, and Kylian introduced himself with the kindness and respect that always characterized him. The first few hours flew by with laughter, memories, and the joy of being together. However, you quickly headed to the hotel you had reserved for your stay to recharge for that special evening.

You had slight suspicions when Kylian warned you to dress elegantly that night because you were going to dinner at a city venue. You thought he might have something up his sleeve, but you quickly dismissed the idea because these spontaneous dates were normal in your relationship. Often, these getaways were the best way to relieve Kylian from stress.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, the waiters guided you to a reserved area. Your suspicions grew when you saw this area was covered by a curtain. Upon opening it, a loud "Surprise!" rang out, and you were greeted with a multitude of hugs and questions about how your recent years had been. Meanwhile, Kylian quickly adapted, chatting with some of your friends he had met that morning or conversing with their partners.

The dinner at the skyscraper was a resounding success. Your friends were surprised to see Kylian, and he quickly won their affection with his warmth and simplicity. The speech he prepared was emotional and sincere, eliciting applause and tears from everyone present. In his words, you could clearly see how much he loved you. He thanked you for following "this crazy head" and for never doubting him, even in his wildest plans. He promised to always make you the happiest person in the world, to take care of you, to be your unconditional support, and above all, to plan your future together with both of your interests in mind.

Kylian felt much more at ease knowing that your friends had accepted him. However, the great challenge of being accepted by your family still lay ahead. He had tried his usual routine to calm his nerves: a cold shower in the morning, a light breakfast, and an intense gym session. But it didn't seem to work today. So, when you informed him that you were going to take a shower to start getting ready, Kylian didn't hesitate to call his mother.

She had always been there for him, not only as a professional and great agent capable of negotiating with major clubs but also emotionally. She was the person who had been by his side during his first breakup, and luckily, she had already had the opportunity to meet you.

"Hello, mom," Kylian said softly as he sat on the hotel bed. "I need some advice… Today is the day I'll meet y/n's family, and I can't help feeling nervous."

His mother, with her usual wisdom and affection, reminded him that being himself was the most important thing. "They will love you for who you are, Kylian. You have shown yourself to be an incredible person, and take the opportunity for them not to be your fans but to fall in love with the real Kylian and not the superstar. Besides, y/n loves you deeply. Trust in that."

His mother's words gave Kylian the reassurance he needed, knowing that everything she said was true. Ten months ago, Fayza had the chance to meet you at a gala organized by Mbappé's association. She was completely captivated seeing you interact so naturally with young children, showing your genuine interest in ensuring everyone was happy and enjoying the day. When you finally made sure all the children were content and had received a small bag with the association's logo, including coloring books, crayons, and a soccer ball, you approached Fayza, apologizing for not being able to do so sooner. So when a child clamored for your attention again, Fayza discreetly approached Kylian to make sure to tell him that she knew you were the love of his life.

After hanging up, Kylian felt more prepared for the meeting. At the end of the day, it wasn't just about impressing your family but showing them how much you meant to him.

When you arrived at your parent's house, your mother opened the door with a big smile, politely greeting Kylian and enveloping you in a warm hug, welcoming you both into your childhood home with her natural charm. Entering the living room, you spotted your siblings with your father. After the initial greetings, you all managed to sit in different parts of the room before Kylian handed out the gifts he had brought, carefully considering your family's preferences.

It's true that your younger siblings weren't big fans of soccer and hadn't heard of Kylian before, but they knew he was a great athlete. Above all, they had seen in recent videos his dedication to the sport and the good values he promoted on the field, so they didn't hesitate to excitedly rush to put on their jerseys while shyly hugging Kylian.

Your mother was delighted with the flowers he had given her and asked about the florist where he had gotten them before quickly running to get a vase and put the flowers in water. But your father was different.

He had always been like this: very affectionate but also very overprotective and, above all, a joker. He had always taken every opportunity to scare the boys you brought home.

"A bottle of wine, Kylian, huh? Interesting. I hope this isn't an indirect way of wishing me to kick the bucket soon, young man. And I also hope this isn't in your regular drinks, because if it is, I'll doubt your sporting abilities."

Nervously, Kylian began to stammer, "Monsieur, I mean, sorry, sir, it wasn't my intention, I…"

"Dad, stop making him nervous and behave yourself. We have a cellar at home, I don't know who you're trying to impress," you replied annoyed, giving Kylian a reassuring look.

The tension had already set in, and even though you tried to calm Kylian by gently caressing his hand, you understood that this wasn't entirely calming him. With each passing minute, his discomfort became more evident.

A few minutes later, your father insisted again with another uncomfortable question: "So, Kylian, tell us, what makes soccer the best sport in the world for you?"

"Uh, well, there are many good sports and I appreciate several of them, but soccer has always been the sport I've practiced. I just enjoy it like a little kid when I play with my teammates. I really enjoy playing a team sport," nervously replied Kylian.

"Well, I value your opinion, but let me question what you've said. I'm not sure if you've considered that soccer is a sport where many people win titles, but only one player from the team stands out. That doesn't happen in basketball. Everyone must stand out, whether as a team, training hard individually, and respecting the coach's decisions. The latter you've had a hard time with in the last year, haven't you, Kylian?"

Kylian didn't know where to put himself. He didn't expect his girlfriend's family to criticize his sporting actions. He agreed that many times he hadn't had the best reactions, but he was working on that. "Yes, sir, I know it's something I need to work on and…"

"Dad, stop it. It's the last time I tell you," you responded firmly, with a challenging look.

"But if we're just having a conversation, right, Kylian?" your father said.

"Yes, yes, calm down, honey," Kylian replied, trying to smooth over the situation.

Taking advantage of the uncomfortable pause, your mother entered the room with a tray of refreshments and some snacks, trying to ease the tension. "Let's relax a bit, okay? We're here to have a good time and get to know each other better," she said with a smile.

Grateful for the change of subject, Kylian dove into conversation about some childhood memories and funny anecdotes from his career. Your younger siblings, fascinated, started asking him lighter questions about his training sessions and encounters with other famous athletes.

The evening continued with ups and downs, but gradually everyone relaxed. Kylian took the opportunity to show his more human and approachable side, which slowly won over your father's sympathy.

The tension continued to build in the room when your father, with a cunning smile, asked, "And tell me, Kylian, are you a fan of any basketball team?"

"Yes, sir, I'm a big fan of the Lakers," Kylian replied with a tentative smile.

"I can't believe it, the most wretched team of the season. Do you really support a team like that? If you consider yourself a great player, which I'm still not convinced of, you should support a great team like the Celtics," your father replied, not hiding his disdain.

Kylian had lost all the energy he had. He felt mentally exhausted and didn't know what to say anymore. He lowered his head, ashamed, feeling like he had failed to impress your father.

"That's enough, we've had enough. Kylian, let's go," you said, getting up quickly. Kylian was astonished, not expecting you to take his side and confront your father.

"No, honey, it's okay," Kylian tried to calm you, though he clearly appreciated your support.

At the end of the night, when the atmosphere had calmed down, your father approached Kylian with a softer expression. "You know, soccer may not be my favorite sport, but I see how hard you work and how much you mean to my daughter. I just want you to know that you have a family here that will support you, as long as you make her happy."

Kylian touched and shook your father's hand firmly. "Thank you, sir. I promise to do everything I can to take care of her and make her happy."

When you finally retired to the hotel, Kylian looked at you with a mixture of relief and happiness. "It's been a tough day, but I think we passed the test."

You smiled, feeling a weight lifted off your shoulders. "Yes, we did. Together, as always."

That night, as you prepared to sleep, Kylian was reflective. "You know, I always knew meeting your family would be a challenge, but I didn't expect it to be so intense."

"My father has always been protective, but over time he'll see how amazing you are," you replied, gently caressing his face.

"I hope so. I want them to know how much I love you and how much you mean to me," said Kylian, with renewed determination.

[ratatatastic]

"Local kid makes good. Matthew Tkachuk, Stanley Cup Champion. So how does that sound? Stanley Cup Champion?" "I think it sounds better and better each time I'm hearin' it. It's been—I think—almost 2 months, I don't even know? Time has been flyin' but it just—each day is more and more incredible thinkin' about it." "So you're here to throw out the first pitch with Jayson Tatum, you're both Chaminade proud, like, you knew each other back then, you were friends in high school, and you're still friends—tell me about that relationship." "Yeah, it's been really incredible watching him—I think we both started out in the league very similar years. I might've been a year before when he was at College but it's been absolutely incredible to follow along his journey, and his career. I still keep in touch every now and then. I know we've played Boston the last few playoffs and he's been to a few of the playoff games for me. I went to one of his playoff games last year when we were in Boston. So really, really cool just to watch him, it was really cool to see him play in person. I'm excited to see him, and throw out that pitch with him today."

los angeles dodgers @ st louis cardinals pregame | 8.18.24 (x)

"When you guys were younger—both obviously stand-out athletes—did you ever imagine you would be a Stanley Cup Champion one day? And he would win a NBA Championship with the Celtics? Did that ever cross your minds?" "No, I mean, he was way better at his sport than I was at my sport when we were that young... I think I had a pretty good idea that he was gonna be a star basketball player. I guess you don't really think about Championships at that time of your life. You always dream about it but do you really think its gonna happen? And for us to do it, you know, within a week or however long apart from each other, it just—what a great time for all of our friends and family, and people that are just supporting us in St. Louis. I feel like St. Louis with not having teams to—you know, in their city to root for, I feel like they really kind-of hopped on and rooted for us and the Celtics. That made us, especially being from here, made us feel really special." "City was behind ya, one hundred percent! Let's talk about the final. You guys were up three-zip, it goes to a Game 7. What's that like?" "It's not supposed to be easy! I feel like it wouldn't have made sense or worked if it, you know—wasn't that scenario. It was always gonna be a long series. For us to win the first 3 and then lose the next 3—I mean, that wasn't ideal but at the end of the day we were comin' back to our incredible fans in Florida for a Game 7 Stanley Cup Final. What an incredible environment! That is a dream game! You always talk about the Game 7s when you're younger, and those are the moments you dream of, and I got to live out a dream this year." "What was it like sharing it with your pop? You know in the postgame coverage, I see your dad all over the place, your brother, your sister, your mom—what was it like sharing it with them?" "It was amazin'! Just handin' the Cup to my dad on the ice afterwards was super special there—the moment where he was actually in the locker room after the game when, you know, friends and family were startin' to come down, and I got to hand it to him, we got to beer-shower him, he got to lift it up in front of all my teammates, they were all goin' nuts for him too! Because they know that he played such a long time, and unfortunately wasn't able to win one in his playing career but I think he would've, you know, traded that all and done it exactly the way it happened for one of his boys to win it. It was such a family—It was such an incredible time for our whole family and I'm so lucky to have such great support from them." "Fun to watch too! Last thing before we let you go. You look good in the Cardinals red, Cardinals cap—there was a time where your dad, Big Walt, liked the Red Sox... please tell me you're a Cardinal fan..." "I am a Cardinal fan! Yeah, that time is—I was a big David Ortiz fan so when he was on the team like he was...him and Albert [Pujols] were my two favourites so it's actually pretty cool I got to hang out with Albert over summer in a golf tournament—the ACC tournament out in Lake Tahoe. He was one of my sports heroes! Yeah, I've been a Cardinals fan ever since I can remember with Albert." "Congratulations on getting the Cup, thanks for the chat!" "Yep, thank you!"

[richincolor]

Review of Rez Ball by Byron Graves Heartdrum

Publisher’s Summary: These days, Tre Brun is happiest when he is playing basketball on the Red Lake Reservation high school team—even though he can’t help but be constantly gut-punched with memories of his big brother, Jaxon, who died in an accident.

When Jaxon’s former teammates on the varsity team offer to take Tre under their wing, he sees this as his shot to represent his Ojibwe rez all the way to their first state championship. This is the first step toward his dream of playing in the NBA, no matter how much the odds are stacked against him.

But stepping into his brother’s shoes as a star player means that Tre can’t mess up. Not on the court, not at school, and not with his new friend, gamer Khiana, who he is definitely not falling in love with.

After decades of rez teams almost making it, Tre needs to take his team to state. Because if he can live up to Jaxon’s dreams, their story isn’t over yet.

My Thoughts: Forgive me for a second, but I need to gush. I don’t often gush, but I really did love this book and Tre’s story. From the very beginning Byron Graves had me on the edge of my seat. We are dropped right into the final moments of a regional playoff game that means a lot to Tre, his family, and his community. The loss they’ve had makes them want the victory even more than usual. Byron expertly weaves that tension throughout Tre’s year to come and made it so putting down the book was almost impossible.

The structure of the story is that Tre is trying to make the varsity team with the ultimate goal being an NBA spot and one of his friends is making a documentary along the way. It was a clever bit of storytelling because Tre does several interviews for this film and we get to hear his answers to questions that might not be asked in typical daily conversations. The documentary frames the story well.

Aside from the way the story is structured, the setting and community is incredibly vivid. The rez, the high school, and the basketball courts are painted clearly and it feels like I stepped through into this space and time to see and hear the “beautiful chaos” of the game and can appreciate the relationships of everyone involved. This book is going to speak loudly and clearly to those folks who’ve played and/or watched rez ball.

Though Byron Graves was definitely writing to and for Native readers, this story can also speak to others because there are universal themes of pain, loss, community, love, survival, and people striving to thrive. There are difficult situations and many moments of intense pressure on and off the court. I appreciated that there are wins and losses and it’s hard to guess which one is coming. Above all, it all felt real. Life isn’t often as tidy as a Disney or Hallmark movie. Tre is making some excellent choices like his summer training plan and he’s also managing to make some poor choices that create dumpster fires.

He’s surrounded by friends, including one he’d like to have as more than a friend, and family who help him navigate life and bring love, laughter, and sometimes hard truths. HIs parents are still grieving the death of his older brother so it’s a struggle for all concerned, but they are steady. They don’t always see through to his pain, but they give him space and support when they do see past his armor.

Recommendation: Get this as soon as you can. Pre-order. Recommend it to your local library. Do all the things that will get it into your hands and into lots of other hands too. It’s a page turner with a lot of excitement and heart. I will be recommending this one to pretty much anyone. I watched basketball frequently with my father when I was a child, but am not interested enough to watch it on my own as an adult. Nevertheless, I cared about every single game in these pages. Graves pulled me in there and had me in the stands jumping and cheering with the Red Lake Warriors fans.

[serve-update]

Toni Kukoc Net Worth: Missed The Birth Of His First Child So He Could Play In The 1992 Olympics For Croatia!

Former NBA player and current Special Advisor to Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Croatian-American Toni Kuko. I am 54 years old and was born on September 18, 1968, in the city of Split, Croatia. One of the first established European talents to play in the NBA, he had a long and successful career on the continent.

Toni Kukoc Net Worth

Toni Kukoc, a retired professional basketball player from Croatia, is worth $30 million. Toni Kukoc was an NBA player who suited up for the Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, and Milwaukee Bucks. In the NBA, he was a pioneer for European players. https://twitter.com/NBAAllStar/status/1616864519376244737

Missed The Birth Of His First Child So He Could Play In The 1992 Olympics For Croatia.

During the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Toni Kukoc's wife Renata was pregnant with their first child. However, the player chose to keep playing and missed the birth of his first child. Before during, and after the game against Germany, he called, but his wife told him to stop. Toni Kukoc is a basketball legend who played for the Chicago Bulls and Croatia. He is known for his amazing plays on the court. But this time, he talked about a big event in his life that didn't happen on the court. This week, Kukoc was a guest at the Trento Sports Festival. There, he told a story about his time at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. You might also be interested to read about Gabrielle Union Net Worth. "I know my wife will be angry with me... She was carrying our first son, and he was born the day after we played Germany "The story began with Kukoc. Kukoc met his wife Renata when he was still in high school. They got married in 1986 and have been happy together ever since. He told his teammates, "She was in the hospital, and our son was supposed to be born. I asked them if I should go home or play." "What are you going to do when you get there?" everyone asked. That doesn't matter.' Check this Jenna Ortega Net Worth. Now, if you say you're going to play and won't be with your firstborn, they'll shoot you, but back then, it was really important for the country for people to be there and play the games "Kukoc told us. "I'm sorry, but that wasn't as important."

Toni Kukoc Net Worth It was the first big international tournament for Croatia after they broke away from Yugoslavia and became their own country. Drazen Petrovic and Dino Radja were two of the best basketball players in Croatian history. Kukoc was a promising NBA player who was drafted in 1990 but stayed in Europe to improve. Even though he chose to play for his home country instead of being there when his first child was born, Kukoc made sure he knew what was going on. "Of course, it was hard to get through on the phone. He was born on the day that the game with Germany was played. I called before, during, and after the game, "Kukoc went on. "Two hours later, my wife's brother called and said, 'You have a son.' I was happy, so we had a party and everything." Check this Mattress Mack Net Worth. "I got her on the phone, and she was crying and saying, 'You weren't here because you were at the stupid Olympics,'" the legend laughed. Croatia beat Germany 99-78, and Kukoc didn't get taken out of the game once in the first 40 minutes. The forward had 25 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, the final was between the Dream Team and the national team. The national team lost to the Dream Team. You might also be interested to read about Roy Disney Net Worth. Marin was the name of the first son. Stela is the name of the Kukocs' daughter (b. 1998). https://youtu.be/hN7DvLy4NDw Ending Words If you are a fan of the series “Toni Kukoc Net Worth,” this is a must-watch. The series is about a celebrity and his net worth details, which will make you go “Geeeeez” while watching it (even if you don’t like this expression). Its high-quality graphics make it mesmerizing, along with the animation effects. It will engage you for hours, so if you have not watched it yet, do so and let me know how much you like it in the comment section. If you liked this article, follow our website, serveupdate.com, and don’t forget to follow our social media handles. Read the full article

[jrueships]

Alternative jimmy butler ships go

ALTERNATIVE JIMMY SHIPS G O ‼️‼️

Alt jimmy ships that are NOT kyle lowry #1 (in NO particular order) Paul George

i feel like most of my ships for jimmy is gonna be asshole4asshole or the unlucky twink he's become infatuated with... but this one is like a combo so it's the most powerful one <3 THE SCREENSHOT IS FAKE BY THE WAY

but anyways!! they're both big broncos fans and the Olympics coach had to throw away the football just to make them stop playing. Paul's bigass sunglasses that don't fit his face.. Jimmy's jersey. They can dork with each other about The Epic Highs and Lows of NFL football (National Football League.... Football). They're both super stubborn but are willing to talk things over AS LONG AS the other party has the courage to ACTUALLY talk things over and Try. Which they both have because they both think they're the modern einsteins of the nba. PG also defended Jimmy's actions during his Minnesota Massacre, putting him over KAT, who he loves so dearly he makes funny basketball with starring Steve urkel as well. they'd be good for each other because they're willing to help stabilize each other! While thinking they themselves need no stability in return (which they Do. Desperately). man who thinks he is always right and man who thinks he is always right.... on paper it sounds terrible because it is BUT DUDE JUST TRUST ME !! Paul makes fun of jimmy for finding a new sport to want to play in (right now it's tennis.. for some reason) and Jimmy makes fun of Paul for ragequitting in Call of Duty. Their relationship is one people in highschool would give like. 2 days max. And they're right because they break up after 2 days.... then get back together in 5. Then break up in 3 and get back BACK together in 4 and etcetc. Dennis rodman was the son they would have had. This makes no sense and that's how they (and i) like it !

Alt Jimmy ships that are NOT kyle lowry #2: Kyrie Irving

The 'divas' of the nba... i think jimmy wants to put kyrie in a glass jar and observe him. Kyrie kind of wants to do the same to jimmy but also he's scared of him? WHAT I MEAN IS... jimmy watches kyrie douse all his relationships with gasoline and torches, shackles kd, and thinks (because he is insane), I Want That. i think.. kyrie can be Evil because it's Funny. He supports & encourages kyrie's girlbossing! He WANTS it. But he doesn't want 'normal' kyrie though, only the entertaining one. Meanwhile kyrie, who likes being normal kyrie it's just really hard to have that stability when being evil is an option, thinks of jimmy who's ONLY been around him when kyries girlbossing & is like. This guy is crazy. When the Timberwolves drama was about, everyone was talking about jimmy joining with kyrie and going somewhere. Because jimmy made it seem like they were such good friends. But then they asked kyrie about the teamup rumors and kyrie basically said 'we haven't talked since the Olympics. I don't know why this man thinks of me so much. These rumors make no sense'

In SHORT... they seem really funny to me 😭 two people who belong in glass terrariums to protect the public looking at each other and thinking 'THAT guy needs to be put in a TERRARIUM.' Will they work out? ....probably not

I think.... Andrew had/still has a LITTLE crush on jimmy. BMM (Before Minnesota Massacre), he was so positive on jimmy and even DURING and AFTER it he was still on his butler fanclub behavior. Even his brother's butler trade comments couldn't stop Andrew 'watz poppiin!!' Wiggins' love & admiration for jimmy! And now that he's finally free from kat's constant slandering of jimmy, he's achieved True Gay Greatness in the form of winning a warriors championship. He's experienced the movie trope of greatness (1st pick rave), turmoil (bust rumors), triumph, and now all that's left is getting The Girl. Jimmy ALREADY likes him i mean, he's had nothing but nice things to say about wiggs which is how you KNOW jimmy likes him because jimmy never has nice things to say about Anybody <- real other player analysis!!! Andrew just wanted to be the Scottie to Jimmy's mj and complications stopped that! BUT NOW THEY DON'T H A VE TO !! let JIMMY and WIGGINS kiss‼️‼️ that'll finally prove that jimmy only had beef with Kat because he was straight-coded so obviously that made him the enemy. We could finally tie the pretty bow that he Wiggins Fairytale DESERVES

Alt jimmy ships that are NOT kyle lowry #3: Andrew Wiggins

(And they WERE a problem.. just to their own team tho lmao)

Alt jimmy ships that are NOT kyle lowry #4: Russell Westbrook

imma be honest... this one was just cus i said so LMAO. It's kinda like marcus/giannis where I just like their personalities and think they'd be even greater put together. The two psychopaths in their primes of the nba? Together? yes PLEASE!!! also they both love fashion <3 i need them to match croptops... please. Russell i BEG of you i BEG. They're girlbosses and no one understands them BUT them! Bein fr though i think they could be surprisingly soft together mainly due to their known big personalities overlapping their genuine duality. I jusf wan them 2... cuddle 🥰🥰 p...lease. they both deserve it so bad . They could protect each other from The Horrors (str8 sports fans)

Alt jimmy ships that are NOT kyle lowry #5: Joel Embiid with Ben Simmons honorable mention

Now THIS one is DEFINITELY asshole4asshole. Everyone thought they'd tear each other apart, which they did yeah.... but they also LOVED each other FOR it. Joel was someone jimmy could push and would be grateful for it. A fellow natural competitor even when it came to something as trivial as hot wings eating. They could talk shit to each other then high-five the next day, they don't care. Not only do their competitive drives make for good chemistry in the bed... but also just really good in general. Because it's HEALTHY competition. No one took anything as negative, just fuel for being better. Something they both desire on unbelievable levels. That's how they GOT here, after all!! The two most popular mean girl cheerleaders who ruthlessly clawed their way up the highschool food chain & only entertain the dumb football players around them for fun, that's them... and then one of them had to move 😐. Years later they meet again at the highschool reunion to discover one is stuck in a dried up marriage with a dried up star athlete and the other is stuck CHASING marriages. WHEN WILL THEY DISCOVER THEIR TRUE LOVES WERE IN EACH OTHER THE WHOLE TIME???? we may never know..... they may never know.. until it's too Late 😔.

Also Ben is there because of that one sus comment

Alt jimmy ships that's NOT kyle lowry #6: Tyler Herro

Yall ready know bout this one but... yeah 😭.. honestly all of these ships reinforce the fact that jimmy is insane, but this is probably like the MOST ship ship for that . I have no words that have not already been said by your greatness on YOUR blog, dr ! ill just leave this here

Alt jimmy ships that ARENT kyle lowry #7: Bam Adebayo

bam and jimmy were smart-ass for smart-ass and i MISS them!!! Their lil headbutts.. their INTERVIEWS. They both HAVE to be right and HAVE to be smart and HAVE to be funny. Seeing them interact was 😭 smthin. They was always doin smthin!!!!

Insane.

I have some thoughts in relation to the bam herro kyle dynamic here vvv

so ill link that!! but BASICALLY.... smartass smartass dumbass GOOD. smartass smartass SMARTASS dumbass..... we have some work to do . .

[jccham]

❝  my  friend’s  cousin’s  best  friend  used  to  work  as  one  of  his  maids  and  she  said  that  his  step-mom  used  to  pay  him  to  keep  her  affair  with  his  uncle  a  secret  ❞  JORDAN  CHAMBERS  ,  who  resembles  KEITH  POWERS  and  is  the  PRESIDENT  of  BETA  TAU  RHO  ,  is  TWENTY-TWO  years  old  and  responds  to  HE  /  HIM  .  𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥  𝘣𝘺  𝘫𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘦  ;  𝘴𝘩𝘦  /  𝘩𝘦𝘳  .

what  up,  i’m  julie,  hailing  from  the  gmt-5  tz  &  i’ve  been  out  all  day  ,  so  i’ve  been  unfortunately  been  a  little  late  to  the  party  buuuut  i  am  here  now  &  i  am  so  excited  to  share  jordan  with  you  all  !  

BASICS  :   full  name  —  jordan  dominic  chambers  .  preferred  —  jordan  .  nickname  —  jd  .  titles  —  captain  and  power  forward  of  the  mens’  kingshill  basketball  team  &&  .  president  of  beta  tau  rho  .  dob  —  august  first  nineteen  ninety  eight  .  astrological  sign  —  leo  .  hometown  —  new  york  city  ,  new  york  .  current  residence  —  kingshill  ,  new  york  .   MAIN  BACKGROUND  :

the  nineties’  basketball  scene  was  dominated  by  the  six  time  nba  champion  chicago  bulls  and  one  of  the  greatest  men  to  ever  play  the  game,  jay  chambers,  led  the  charge.  jordan’s  father  couldn’t  go  anywhere  in  the  country  without  being  flocked  by  fans,  in  awe  of  the  six  nine  legend  in  the  making  .

unfortunately,  this  came  to  a  halting  stop  when  jay  suffered  a  career  ending  neck  injury  that  would  forever  change  his  life  .  coupled  with  an  unwanted  pregnancy  with  darling  socialite  carolina  blair  ,  within  a  year  ,  jay  went  from  basketball  hotshot  to  stiff  businessman  and  father  .  a  shotgun  wedding  meant  financial  stability  in  working  with  the  blairs’  insurance  company,  which  jay  needed  with  no  job  and  years  of  wasting  millions  on  partying  and  luxuries  with  an  expiry  date  .

neither  parent  really  wanted  jordan  and  it  showed  through  the  revolving  cycle  of  nannies  filling  their  roles  .  even  with  hours  on  hand  to  think  about  it  ,  jordan  would  not  be  able  to  share  one  heartfelt  anecdote  from  his  childhood  involving  either  of  them  .

new  york  city  will  always  be  jordan’s  home  ,  his  birth  place  ,  even  through  his  years  of  european  boarding  schools  and  californian  summer  camps  .

basketball  came  naturally  to  jordan  (  no  surprise  )  and  it  was  one  summer  after  returning  from  boarding  school  ,  where  he  had  learned  the  sport  ,  when  he  learned  who  his  father  was  .  he’d  been  bothering  his  father  all  day  to  come  out  of  his  office  to  show  off  his  new  skills  ,  when  he’d  been  barked  at  for  picking  up  a  basketball  at  all  .  

at  first  ,  the  last  thing  jordan  wanted  was  to  upset  anybody  ,  so  he  stayed  away  from  the  sport  at  first  .  however  ,  as  the  years  went  on  ,  his  resentment  towards  his  parents  and  especially  his  father  grew  ,  and  so  ,  continued  playing  basketball  out  of  spite  .  he  was  damn  good  at  it  .

his  mother  paid  for  his  basketball  camps  and  programs  ,  since  she  was  always  so  willing  to  throw  money  at  jordan  to  make  him  go  away  .  he  will  claim  to  this  day  that  he  found  himself  through  the  sport  ,  as  it  taught  him  the  abundant  rewards  of  diligence  and  how  to  be  a  leader.  basketball  made  a  man  out  of  him  ,  something  his  family  never  did  .  

she  left  jordan’s  father  when  he  was  fourteen  and  that  point  ,  he  didn’t  have  any  shits  left  to  give  .  they  barely  had  a  relationship  ,  which  was  honestly  better  than  the  hostility  that  jordan’s  father  showed  him  ,  but  it  wasn’t  enough  for  any  tears  to  be  shed  when  she  declared  she  didn’t  want  custody  .  meanwhile  ,  his  father  accumulated  enough  status  and  wealth  to  branch  off  from  his  ex  wife’s  company  and  form  his  own  .

this  meant  nothing  to  jordan  ,  though  ,  because  as  long  as  he  kept  getting  his  allowance  and  freedom  ,  there  wasn’t  a  change  to  begin  with  .  he  was  used  to  getting  paid  by  his  parents  for  the  little  things  ,  like  a  new  car  when  he  didn’t  bother  his  mother  for  an  entire  month  or  when  his  father  sent  him  on  a  “vacation”  to  the  maldives  with  his  friends  for  christmas  break  .  even  his  new  step  mom  gifted  him  exclusive  sneakers  when  he  put  in  a  good  word  for  her  to  some  tabloid  that  followed  jay  chambers’  new  marriage  .  however  ,  he  drew  the  line  when  his  parents  asked  him  to  attend  kingshill  .  

jordan  dreamed  of  making  it  as  a  professional  basketball  player  .  not  only  that  ,  but  he  was  en  route  to  it  ,  having  scouts  watch  him  since  the  beginning  of  high  school  .  he’d  played  at  the  national  level  and  won  gold  on  endless  occasions  ,  in  addition  to  mvp  trophies  and  other  accolades.  by  senior  year  ,  all  of  the  top  d1  schools  and  agents  came  knocking  on  his  door  .  

despite  his  parents’  divorce  ,  their  two  companies  continued  to  work  closely  together  and  saw  jordan  as  their  sole  heir  .  therefore  ,  they  needed  him  to  be  groomed  by  the  best  school  that  money  could  offer  and  they  saw  kingshill  as  the  perfect  and  only  match  .  

everyone  wonders  why  jordan  has  turned  his  back  on  the  draft  for  three  years  running  .  he  clearly  loves  the  game  of  basketball  and  is  one  of  the  most  hard  working  people  you’d  ever  meet  ,  a  born  star  on  the  court  .  instead  ,  he’s  a  senior  in  his  business  administration  major  and  despite  the  charming  smile  and  affinity  for  partying  ,  is  miserable  .

jordan  chambers  is  a  little  more  than  intimidating  ,  due  to  his  naturally  abrasive  attitude  ,  his  six  seven  stature  and  rumours  that  have  floated  around  his  name  since  freshman  year.  after  all  ,  it’s  safe  to  say  that  he’s  gone  a  little  bit  more  than  wild  since  first  stepping  foot  onto  campus  .  whether  it’s  lashing  out  at  his  parents  or  his  own  development  of  a  coping  mechanism  ,  beta  tau  rho’s  incredible  partying  legacy  has  lived  on  because  of  jordan  .  work  hard  ,  play  hard  ,  and  you’ve  officially  become  a  beta  tau  rho  brother.

PERSONALITY  :  

all  in  all  ,  jordan  is  a  little  bit  too  much  .  his  ego  is  a  little  too  big  ,  cares  more  than  he  should  ,  his  bad  habits  are  a  little  too  intense  ,  and  he  works  harder  than  anyone  else  .  

as  mentioned  before  ,  he  tends  to  be  intimidating  upon  first  impression  and  usually  rubs  people  the  wrong  way  .  he’s  learned  to  become  stoic  and  cold  over  the  years  when  dealing  with  other  people  of  the  same  wealth  ,  afraid  to  be  used  or  manipulated  by  showing  anything  that  could  be  used  against  him  .  

while  jordan  is  a  man  of  few  words,  he  is  quippy  and  sharp  when  he  does  speak  .  his  charm  is  subtle  and  dry  ,  a  blink-and-you’ll-miss  that  part  of  him  type  thing  .  

unsurprisingly  ,  jordan  keeps  a  small  circle  .  he  loves  beta  tau  rho  because  they  all  understand  the  value  of  hard  work  and  constantly  improving  yourself  ,  which  is  why  he  genuinely  cares  deeply  for  his  fraternity  brothers  and  would  probably  do  anything  for  them  ,  even  if  he  doesn’t  seem  like  the  type  .  he  will  always  help  his  friends  ,  no  questions  asked  ,  and  would  do  anything  in  his  power  to  do  so  .  since  he  has  been  mostly  independent  for  as  long  as  he  can  remember  ,  jordan  cherishes  moments  when  he  can  spend  time  with  people  that  he  cares  about  .

though  not  particularly  passionate  about  school  ,  jordan  is  ambitious  .  he  strives  for  greatness  in  everything  he  does  ,  no  matter  how  small  .  he  will  stop  at  nothing  to  achieve  his  goals  ,  sometimes  even  unknowingly  jeopardizing  his  relationships  in  the  process.  

obviously  ,  he  loves  partying  .  jordan  always  cared  about  his  body  and  health  because  of  basketball  ,  but  since  coming  to  kingshill  and  having  his  vision  of  making  it  in  the  nba  tarnished  ,  he’s  loosened  his  old  ‘  no  binge  drinking  ,  no  drugs  rule  ’  up  a  bit  .  he  may  or  may  not  blackout  every  weekend  .  he  may  or  may  not  smoke  a  little  too  much  weed  .  some  things  simply  cannot  be  helped  . 

WANTED  CONNECTIONS  :

i  have  this  page  up  ,  but  i'm  always  down  to  brainstorm  !  especially  since  my  wc  page  is  hella  under  construction  whoops  but  yes  throw  your  ideas  at  me  omg  like  this  post  and  i'll  come  to  u!  

[anewkaiju]

Deep Distance Dawn (a Premier League write up)

The pattern is always the same time after time. An international football tournament, the World Cup or the Euro (and maybe to a lesser extent the Olympics,) takes place and positively captures my imagination. For the entire length of the tourney, I'm rapt with attention on my couch. When it ends, I tell myself that that we keep it going and follow the action on the club level. It happens maybe one Sunday morning.

On many levels, the Premier League and I appear to be a dynamite match. To put it lightly, I am an NBA obsessive. I spend morning, noon and night pouring over an aggregated Twitter feed of basketball musings and rumors. It's not just the on-the-court aspects of basketball that I love, but also everything that surrounds it. The players. The uniforms. Coaching drama. Upset fans. The whole lot, I'm here for it. I noticed fairly early on that with the more hoops that I watched, the deeper that I got and the more I started to notice. The players are right there in front of you, no helmets or hats or pads. After enough time, you start to get a sense of their personalties (on-the court at least, I'm not trying to speak for anyone.) Correct me if I'm wrong, but everything in this paragraph could be applied to following the Premier League. The only thing holding me back is my lack of affiliation, I reckon. In the past, when I would timidly try to watch, without a real, rooted interest, the whole operation just steamrolled right over me. However, that ends today. The buck stops here, as some like to say. I'm diving in.

Since this is my first, honest foray into the Premier League, I'm acknowledging this head-on and am wondering in as a neutral. The only teams that I know for sure that I will not be supporting are: Millwall, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool.

Beyond that, I consider myself pretty open and have been conducting a fair amount of research. Admittedly, a lot of my research thus far has centered around who has the most notorious fans and why and who has the best looking uniforms (sorry, kits.) So far, I reckon that there are few early favorites but I still maintain that I will watch for weeks before I truly, know my club.

Years ago, I used to play FIFA with my brother and always ran with Aston Villa as they have fantastic kits (claret and blue, * chef's kiss *) However, first choice for video game competition doesn't exactly sound like the best basis for picking your football club. What if someone asks me? It's entirely possible that I end up a Villa fan at the end of the day, but I want to do the leg work first. The Crystal Palace home kit might be my favorite of everything I've seen heading into the season, I am enchanted by those slanted lines.

The other kits that caught my eye also carry a lot of history with them, and concerns two long-time rivals. Both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have exceptionally clean kits. Arsenal has also gone with some exceptional kits in years past too (bruised banana, baby.)

In terms of competing on the field (sorry, pitch,) Leicester City carries with it a certain amount of appeal. Squarely outside the so-called Top Four except when Arsenal and Spurs are competitive and then it's Big Six, Leicester City has crashed the party before and haven't gone away in recent years. Also, just today, they announced they had acquired my third favorite player from this past Euro, defender and, also giant, Jannik Vestergaard (unfortunately my favorite player from this past Euro, Paul Pogba is on Manchester United and my second favorite player from this past Euro, Raheem Sterling suits up for Manchester City.) Again, it's entirely possible that I end up here but still I need to do my due diligence.

There's part of me that suspects I may get caught up in Chelsea's march for the title. There's near unanimous consensus that Chelsea, City, Manchester United and Liverpool will finish in the top four of the standings with Chelsea and City duking it out. It's a possibility so I'm not dismissing it.

Anyway, Brentwood meets Arsenal tomorrow. This blog was (probably) never a blog worth blogging about and now it's a blog about football

[kainefloyd]

{ KJ APA . CIS MALE .  23 . HE/HIM }  did you see that { KAINE ‘KAI’ FLOYD } just pulled up in hidden hills with { LORENA RAMOS } sitting next to them in the passengers seat - isn’t that cute ! you know, for a { NBA PLAYER - LAKERS }, i’ve heard they’re really { INDECISIVE }, but that they make up for it by being so { CHARMING }. i see them all the time on snapchat && yesterday in US WEEKLY i read that they { HAVE } 2 sons - can you believe that ?!

some basics;

Kaine ‘Kai’ Floyd is originally from Hawaii. He is Samoan & Hawaiian.

Goes by the nickname K-9 in the NBA for his name and number.

Born August 19th

Most of his friends back home call him Kai.

There’s over 100 people in his immediate family. At this rate, he has lost count.

Oldest of 9 siblings.

Has the two most cutest, adorable baby boys with Lorena.

He’s a starting point guard for the LA Lakers

Attended UCLA for college where he got drafted out of. Never finished his degree.

Works with lots of children organizations and likes to give back to kids however he can.

Has endorsement deals with top athletic brands, drinks and his own branch/line off of everything he partakes in.

Him and Lorena were on basketball wives. They have a huge fan base of their relationship on social media thanks to the reality show.

Lives HERE currently

as a dad;

Father of Two Sons; Tide Alexander and Evian Reign.

Tide’s nickname  are Ty, Ty Guy, My Ty. And Evian’s are Evy but Tide calls him baby Evy

He wants as many kids as Lo will give him. He’s huge into family, loves being a dad and is very careful when it comes to sex. His goal is to only have one baby mama in life that he’s in love with, can spoil and get to tie down/be a stay at home mom which can be an argument/disagreement point that we can work on.

Tide and Evian are his parents first grandkids, his grandparents first great grands and he has a sister who is four. His parents were young when they had him and now only 45 & 44. and his grandparents are in their 60′s and 70′s.

He’s such a push over, his kids pouts and when they wrap their arms around his neck or want to be held makes him melt.

They literally are the light of his life. Nothing means more to him than those two little boys.

Has a play room for them that is extreme, full out little kid basketball court, swing set inside, slides, arts and craft sections, all the toys, everything.

Tells bad dad jokes sometimes. Okay most of the time.

Has their names tattoo’d over his heart

Kaine will also be there to babysit, help out single moms and do whatever whenever. He’s super caring and loves friends that can turn into family. There’s nothing more that this guy loves than throwing down a huge bbq for everyone, being behind the grill and when the kids go to bed, turning up with all the drinks.

lorena;

Love of his life.

Her smile and laugh are everything. Making her blush and their size difference. Huge turn ons.

They have an on again, off again relationship since Evy. which he hates for him and his sons but knows he is an ass and they have to figure their shit out before having another kid.

Kaine can be super romantic at times, makes sure to include things she enjoys like candles and pays attention to the little things she loves in life.

Still keeps her closet open at his place, buying her things to have there to try and get her to spend the night.

Compares every girl in his life to her.

Flirts around sometimes but that’s mostly his personality when they’re off cause she’s kinda hot when jealous?

Downfall is Kaine. entirely. they are set for life with money and their family’s shares in ebay, then the millions he makes from the nba, his endorsement deals, reality tv and all of that so he expects lo to want to be a stay at home mom?

He’s a dumb dumb but literally is the type to grab up on her butt and kiss her neck, very affectionate with her is his personality no matter what.

Expresses his appreciation and admiration for her frequently for their family, their sons and her, etc.

Wants to always provide for her, in lots of ways.

Never gives up hope they’ll be together forever. that’s why he hasn’t really laid down roots in his place? because he has his own ideas.

Wants to build an empire with her.

Knows how lucky he is and like, admits it but has big jerk energy sometimes when it comes to pride and needs to recognize her dreams matter too? like she is an amazing mom and wifey type. 100 percent. but she should get to live out what she wants to do just like he does.

His father is the terrible influence he learned things from and his mom really needs to speak to him about all of this.

his hawaiian family life;

His father was super unfaithful and always stepping out on his mom. They had a very toxic relationship, but in the culture, his mom was pretty much left to deal with it.

Christianity and church is an important aspect in Hawaii so is their image.

They are Hawaii’s most famous family.

Kaine is the oldest of 8 kids that he knows of? would love a half sibling.

Kaine’s Tutu and Tuma (what he calls his paternal grandparents) are the matriarchs of the family and own acres and acres of land. They are beyond rich and created their own compound beachside where they had custom homes built for their children.

Kaine’s paternal grandfather and father are part owners of ebay and billionaires.

Kaine’s mother, Maria came from nothing. She was a model in New York City when she met Kaine’s father, Elei - EJ for short who was there for business. Her parents didn’t approve of her running off to marry him, but it wasn’t a question in her eyes. It was what she wanted to do and thought he was going to provide her with a life of luxury that allowed her to continue to stay in the modeling world.

All of his brother’s and sisters carry on the Hawaiian tradition with strong, Hawaiian names that came from ‘dreams’.

Maria is always in town as often as she can to visit, stays usually at Kaine’s and brings some of his siblings. Her family is estranged and she is struggling with trying to reconnect with them after all of these years.

kaine’s personal life;

Super loaded & knows what he likes and doesn’t in this world.

Is pretty private about things, not super flashy. Isn’t one for suits and stuff like that, even on game day. He does dress up during the playoffs though.

He’s into surfing, skateboarding, the island life and living, four wheeling, going on adventures, tanning and living more relaxed when he can.

His home is super open planned which he fixes and gates up accordingly when he has his kids, don’t worry.

Loves a good beer, chilling outdoors, going to the beach or having a bonfire on a Friday night.

Listens to all kinds of music.

His party habits are kind of wild when he does go out, though.

Dark Liquor has him crazy, tequila makes him super duper horny.

Def sends Lo risky texts when he’s drunk and you can tell by the look on his face when it’s time for him to go home.

Kaine is into working out, very dedicated to his ab life, has a home gym and a half basketball court at his house outside but also a personal trainer he visits and has over. His work is never done.

Very strict with his diet and has a chef that cooks for him weekly, prepares meals and stacks his fridge and freezer.

Tattoos are life. Has 12 currently and his artist on speed dial.

Has a huge man cave, collects old school vintage band and sports memorabilia.

Also into buying arcade games for his home to play at any time.

Is best friends with lots of top named players in the league and has a close, big brother/big brother relationship with Lebron James. Kobe was his idol.

Cars. This boy has 8 in Hidden Hills alone.

The house he owns is massive, but hates living in it without Lo.

Family owns a few private jets.

Wants to get dogs, he has some back in Hawaii that are his family dogs but for now he’s waiting until him and Lorena lay grounds better? Plus, he knows she loves her pup and doesn’t want to try and one up her.

connections;

in between on and off times with his baby mama, he has had some dating flings featured in the tabloids. not all are true, some are just friendships.

he knows that people could use him easily for fame and clout, so he is protective of himself and who he lets in his life.

no one random their sons ever. he’s extremely protective of them and his privacy, but is trying to make sure to branch out more and make more parent buddies.

as for friends, he’s a guy’s guy. loves saturdays being for the boys. would love all the friendships.

you can count on kaine to show up and come through with helping you whenever you’re in need. he’s a good listener, doesn’t care much about drama so you don’t have to worry about him repeating anything.

[bentenharuki]

I am back home after a tearing up night(mare). Dad took me here from the rehab center, and we didn’t speak a single sound. Car was silent. Only the levity of the running electric car sound from the foggy morning outside.

Neither of us slept well after yeaterday’s tragic news that Kobe Bryant passed away and I still can’t cope.

So as soon as I could, I am here to write something to pour it all off my heavy chest.

It won’t probably be coherent and it’s gonna be full of typos because when I emotionally write I am a river unbounded.

But I’ll like it this way.

I’ll pour out this way.

Kobe Bryant was for me (and I think for practically the world, from what I am seeing these hours) THE EMBODIMENT OF SPORT EXCELLENCE.

That kind of sport peak excellence which transcends the limit of a field and transmigrates into every aspect of daily life’s conducts.

Kobe Bryant was a pinnacle. In his profession. But not only. He was a peak of a human. Not perfect. And just for that... even more perfect.

A vaste and undeniable talent matched with THE GREATEST PASSION and the GREATEST DEDICATION.

All that I think sport mentality has to be to define greatness... HE WAS THE ONE INSTILLING IT IN ME.

I am putting this personal pics on because I have ALWAYS been a total Kobe fan. I am putting Kobe’s quotes under the cards that I collected as a kid, the dvd of him I collected as a kid, and as I do this I keep crying.

It still doesn’t register with me that he’s gone.

Because he was GOAT (yeah, there’s Jordan I know... but I am too young for him and I didn’t grew with him and I couldn’t fully receive him... Jordan is monumental but he has not my heart. So for me... it’s always been Kobe. And now it will ALWAYS be Kobe), and he made me and my bro wake up as kids at 3 am to watch live the Lakers on ESPN. Mum and Dad never really able to banish us from that as long as we were performing excellently at school. Thing that we have always been able to do.

Kobe Bryant was an unique beast whose thirst and striving for perfection was brutally in your face.

More than his (enormous) talent and skill, you couldn’t avoid to realize his head and heart were even more enormous.

He had the maximum level of competitiveness, the highest reach of willpower, a kind of determination and dedication to his sport which cannot leave any soul bland. Which is why these hours there is no place in the world, no category of person, no fierce adversary or devoted fan who isn’t feeling torn out and left alone by his unfair passing away.

I can’t even begin to list why I loved him so.

Why I looked up so much to him.

The way he has inspired me in life are countless, and if you ever feel like your can’t do something, watch his stunning MUSE documentary.

This man was injured, and still so into it. So explicatively determined to come back. So aware of himself and yet so resolved he had to fight back to stand up again.

He could have given up but he knew that wasn’t the moment.

His brilliant brain KNEW.

His countless sporty achievements and the worldwide respect he acquired for the quality and quantity of his legacy are ALL underlined and enhanced by one of the greatest intellects ever.

Kobe Bryant was a sport philosopher as well as a warrior.

He has played with torn fingers, torn achille’s heels, with sprained limbs, and still he never put up excuses.

Was he difficult to deal with?

Only for the weaks.

The greats knew he was always standing right where he had to. Often the bravest of them all, always the most honest and the most standing out.

In Italy we are broadcasting tons of his interviews from here, the last one from this September an august; Kobe spoke Italian (and a lot of other languages) fluently because he lived here and his departure hits us maybe even harder for it.

I remember well how I got the shirt that I showed you yesterday.

I was a kid teen following her dad at work. Dad comes and say: “if you behave I can make you meet the great Kobe Bryant”.

Kobe was in Milanello and dad was having a session with one of the Milan AC players who was in rehab after dad himself had reconstructed his ankle and Kobe Bryant was visiting the complex (he was a Milan AC devoted fan).

I was shocked and immediately whined I didn’t want to disturb him (I never feel like famous people have to be bothered just because they are around... I content myself with their existence in general and I detest people thinking they own somehow those they admire just because they make them wealthy... I tend to think we shall be grateful to people who inspire us because they can make our lives better instead), but dad smiled and just said “you won’t. He’s a great guy”

I then said I couldn’t speak English well enough (a lie... I was very fluent in English at 10 already) but again dad said I shouldn’t have to worry.

Because Kobe Bryant spoke in Italian.

I just remember to be shocked because he was so... tall. So luminous when he approached us and his royal and often unapproachable face muted and l got blinded by his wonderful smile.

He’d looked so... “normal” in the sense you couldn’t feel there was any barrier but HE WAS KOBE BRYANT and I couldn’t realize he was in front of me asking me if I loved also basketball beside “calcio”.

All in Italian.

His voice was like a deep lullaby. He had a wonderful voice. I am crying like a fountain as I write this because right there and then I could only think that this enormous champion was asking a little girl in her language something so natural, like we could be friends.

I remember being all red; a flush of emotion uncontrollable showing from my pores.

And he WAS SO GRACIOUS he asked forgiveness for putting me in embarrassment but then i shook head and as my dad was beside me I could answer that I was a big fan of him. That even though my favorite sport was volley, he was an idol to me and that just because of him I was a devoted Laker fan and that alongside my brother I was often watching NBA games on cable or internet... just to follow him.

At that he nodded. He made a sort of giggle but not in any derogatory way... it was something sweet and precious and then he said he would have tried to win more so that I could be even happier the year after.

It was so wonderful to me.

Everything about him has always been wonderful to me.

I have learned all about life through his Mamba mentality.

There’s so much of that in me, but not because I had it into me: because I trusted him that I also could have developed that kind of life’s poignantly performing habit.

It destroys me that yesterday, as he realized he was going down, he had to endure the immense pain to not being able to protect his daughter Gianna from the same unfair fate.

Because “being unable” was so NOT Kobe Bryant.

He has always been the kind of champion who can DO ALL.

In sport.

And after sport.

He was just so excellent in everything.

My heart is broken and maybe all that I have written makes no sense to anyone but me but I couldn’t care less.

I was talking just the other day about what great speech of him we would have gotten to hear at Kone’s HOF induction... it was going to be maybe the greatest speech ever... and now we won’t hear a thing.

I just can’t stop crying.

This is a wound which is gonna stay with me forever.

ADDIO KOBE. COME TE NESSUNO MAI. GRAZIE DI TUTTO PER SEMPRE. PER SEMPRE CON NOI; A MOSTRARCI LA STRADA.

[purplesurveys]

649

Are you attracted to the last person that kissed you? Yeah, of course. What did you do yesterday? I spent the morning hungover because I drank the night before, but I had to be in class by 10 AM so I had no choice but to drive to school. My classes were thankfully pretty chill, and the most random thing that happened was my prof making us take a speed typing test in the middle of our class lol. Otherwise, it was a normal school day. Something you really want right now? More moneyyyy. I blew most of it last Wednesday when me and my girlfriend had drinks up in Marco Polo. Hotels obviously jack up their prices on everything, and alcohol is no exception so what I’d pay for a cocktail in my school’s area got quadrupled in Marco Polo. But I had a loooot of fun that night, so I can’t say I regret it even though I lost most of my allowance. If you could seek revenge on someone would you? [continued from yesterday because I just had suuuch a hectic week] Like I’ve said, the idea of revenge is something I daydream about just to feel internally satisfied, but I never feel the need to act on it. How long have you liked the person you like? Six, maybe even seven years.

Are you happy with the way things are going? For the most part. I could go with less worry/anxiety, but I mean I can’t say I’m miserable. Would you ever get a tattoo? Only if I feel like the time is right, which is a FAR cry from “get tattoos of all the things you love”-era Robyn lmao. Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now? Yes. April is my birth month, and I’d hate to be single by then lol. What plans do you have for tomorrow? I finally have my rest day tomorrow, which I’m fuuuucking stoked about. It’s been such a busy busy week and I’m just so relieved that all I have to do tomorrow is sit and lounge around. Has a friendship ended recently that you wish had not? Not really. I kinda cut off friendships with two guys because they annoyed me over some issue, but the thing is they’re part of our high school group so I can’t avoid them forever – I see them when we have reunions, but I don’t mingle with them. What are you listening to right now? I can hear the electric fan whirring in front of me but in my head Simmer by Hayley Williams is playing as loud as ever. Do you and your last ex hate each other? No. What are you afraid of? I hate uncertainty the most, but some other things I’m afraid of are failing in general, videos that make me stressed like footage of collapsing/fainting people or racist people making tirades on public transport, flying cockroaches, sharp objects, and fire. When was the last time you were sick? Some time last year, I got a fever for like two hours but I was totally fine after. But the last time I was SICK sick was sometime in 2017 – but even that was only an overnight thing. I don’t remember the last time I was sick for over a day. Do you tend to waste a lot of money? LMAOOO don’t even remind me. I literally have a single P50 bill left in my wallet – that’s less than a dollar to ya. Do you have trust issues? No, not at all. Do you think this year will be better than last? I’m genuinely unsure, and I’d rather not guess or mull over it. 2020 is going to be a year of so much change – graduating college, getting my first job, maybe moving out for the first time?, not knowing if my girlfriend is going to pursue a master’s abroad, what that means for us, etc. Big things are waiting, and I HATE the uncertainty of it all. I take surveys to forget, so please don’t remind me of things I go here to forget, haha. Have you ever regretted kissing someone? No. Are you a jealous person? I can be, but like I’m not obsessed with being jealous. When was the last time you got a haircut? 2018. I desperately need a dramatic haircut. Do you know anyone that smokes weed? Yeah I know people who’ve told me about it, but I’m sure there are more people I know that haven’t told me they do weed. Who is the last person you rode in a car with? I was with Luisa and Hannah and for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t the one driving! Do you look more like your mom or your dad? I ask people this and they always tell me I’m a perfect mix. Apparently the top half of my face looks like my dad, and the bottom half is all my mom. Are there any stressful situations in your life? Yep a little bit yep yep yep. If you were caught cheating would you fess up? If I was already caught, I’d be incredibly stupid to still deny it so yeah, I’d confess. The last time you honestly felt broken? Maybe Monday? Idk, I cried pretty hard that day, harder than I normally would. What do you really want right now? I want this stupid internet speed to be faster because I need to send emails ASAP, and I need some good fucking food. I am not the happiest camper right now lmao. Best thing about the last person you chatted on facebook? He’s literally the most reliable dude ever. I can always depend on him to help me out no matter how last-minute it is. Best thing about the last person you talked to in person? She’s generous. When was the last time you shaved your legs? Yesterday. Is there someone you wish you were closer to? At this point, not really. I’m happy with my circle and there haven’t been new people who entered my life recently. Have any addictions? Nope. Are you anything like your siblings? We’re all reserved, but then again out of all the three of us I’m still the biggest extrovert and I’m also probably the one who finds it easy to blend in with most groups. But yeah, we all definitely have a layer of extreme shyness in us. We’re also never upfront about our feelings, so when we cry we do it in the privacy of our own rooms, or if we’re upset we rant about it to our own friends. Have you ever had a stalker? I don’t think so. Have you ever received an injury from a hook up? LOL what? No I haven’t. That sounds wild though. What did you last eat? A brownie and a sip of coffee. What was the best concert you have been to? PARAMORE. UGH. THEY HAVE THE BEST CONCERTS. I’ve seen them twice and I plan to see them three, four, and the next bajillion times. Paramore forever <3 Who is the last person you hugged? I’m not 100% sure. Maybe Laurice. Do you have any good friends of the opposite sex? I have a couple, yeah. Are you keeping anything from your best friend(s) now? This survey is a big secret for one, lmao. Where do you get your clothes? It depends. I shop everywhere so I get my clothes from a variety of places. They’re mostly from independent shops/stalls that pop up once in a while at malls, though. Do you have a secret you've never told anyone? [continued YET AGAIN from last night because I am just one big exhausted bean] Again, this Tumblr is a pretty big secret. Is there one person in your life that can always make you smile? There are several people who meet this category. Would you rather sleep alone or with someone? I like sleeping with someone only if they’re my significant other. Otherwise, I like my own space when I sleep. Have you ever lived with a girlfriend/boyfriend? No, I haven’t. When was the last time something bothered you? I am bothered at this moment, hence the survey-taking haha. Who was the first male you talked to today? My dog. But if he doesn’t count, it was Andrew. Are you completely over your past relationships? I’ve only been with one person. Do you get attached to people easily? No, it only ever happens with select people. But when I get attached, it happens hard. Are you currently looking forward to anything? Uhhhh sure. I’m dreading most of this week but my high school’s annual school fair is happening this Friday and Saturday and that’s the only thing I’m excited for. Do you believe in love? Yes. Let's be honest, have you ever been played by someone? Can’t say I have. Have you ever played someone? Yes, this I’ve done. I still feel bad about it occasionally but I’m sure the person has long gotten past it. What is currently on your mind? How sad I am and that I have to focus on this survey so I can be distracted. Would it hurt seeing the last person you kissed, kissing someone else? Of course. How many piercings have you had in your life? Just two. Who else is in the room with you? I’m the only one in the dining room but my brother is also here downstairs. Have you ever been beside someone while they were throwing up? [It’s 12 hours later. This is the absolute slowest I’ve ever worked on a survey lmao] No, it was always the other way around HAHAHA Did you eat breakfast today? I haven’t yet but I’m not feeling hungry so I might just settle for a cup of coffee. When was the last time you cried? A few minutes ago watching a clip from an NBA game having a moment of silence for Kobe Bryant. I was never into basketball but we DID have a copy of NBA Live 2003, and whenever I played it I always used the Lakers team so that I got to play as either Shaq or Kobe, so I’m sad and shocked, to say the least. Do you like tea? Just sugary iced tea. None of that herbal stuff. When was the last time you took a nap? Yesterday afternoon. What song is stuck in your head? Simmer, by Hayley Williams. As has been the case in the last four days. Do you have a TV in your room? I used to, but my brother would always be the one using it to play his video games so I eventually just gave it to him. Have you ever broken a bone? Nope. And I’m always extra careful so that I never have to go through such an injury. Have you ever had stitches? ^ Same answer. Are you wearing a sweatshirt? No...it’s starting to get warmer for sweatshirts now :( Have you taken a shower in the last 24 hours? Yes. Are there things in your life that you'll never be able to get over? Of course. There’s been a fair share of deaths, betrayals, abusive family shit that I’ve had to go through and that aren’t easy to forget. Can you remember who you liked this time last year? Yes. What's one physical flaw you'd like to fix about yourself? Straightening my teeth. What do you do when you're feeling extremely nervous? Uh it depends on whatever helps me at that time. I’d pace around, fiddle with my eyebrows, breathe deeply, shake my hands rapidly, bite my nails, etc. Do you have a hard time letting go? Yes. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now? I doubt it. What do you plan on doing now? Making my cup of coffee and taking another survey to make up for the embarassment that is taking three days of finishing this one lmao.

[kevkesblog]

Felix Kroos (spring 2018)

Sorry for spelling or grammar errors. This was also recorded before the World Cup 2018 in Russia.

N:     Hello, nice to see you. Tell us: who are you?

F:      I’m Felix Kroos. 27 years old and Toni’s brother.

N:     So you grew up in Greifswald. You are slightly younger but nevertheless you are pretty close age-wise. How was that like? Has there ever been anything other than football at home?

F:      Yeah, I mean because of our small age gap we did almost everything together. The same interests; really we did everything together. Sports was always on top of our list. And it wasn’t necessarily always football. I guess we started with badminton. We even went to practice badminton, since our uncle worked as a coach. Our mother also used to play it. But in the end it came down to football very quick. We were maybe five or six years old around that time. So from that day on, for us it was only football. After a while we recognized both that we can play rather decent (smirks) and it’s even more fun if you successful doing it. So we committed doing it and now we are here…

N:     What turned you off badminton? It also a nice sport…

F:      Sure, but for me one reason was the fact that you were able to win more trophies why football was better.

N:     So it was all about winning…

F:      Yeah, maybe it was all about winning even back then… but I would say almost every boy played football on the streets before and it was just fun. So this automatically led us to football. My father worked as a coach as well… so we almost had no other choice. But we liked it (laughs)

N:     (laughs). Did he also directly coached you guys?

F:      Yeah, yeah. He basically followed everything over the years from the very beginning. He stopped once we got into professional areas of football. But he definitely followed our path for a very long time.

N:     Where you actually able to deal with him in a neutral way? Or did have moments sometimes where you would think „Oh come on dad! You saw I scored!“ How was that like?

F:      (smirks). Sometimes like this; sometimes like that. It wasn’t always easy. You didn’t want to be lectured by him all the time especially once you grew older. Because once you were getting home it was all about football again – so in that sense we never really had a breack (smirks). But in the end you can say that it helped us. I think thats one of the reasons why we are at the point we are today.

N:     Were you able to say for yourself, „I dont want to play football anymore“ Or was that something that never really reached your mind?

F:      I never really had any thoughs about that. It never reached me. I was rather successful and it was still fun. A great mixture success and fun. So thats why those thoughts never came up – no.

N:     What did you think, did you do different than your brother to be successful? Did you do things differently?

F:      I think so. Talent was there – but thats not the only recipe you need. We did a lot of extra stuff. Extra sessions. Which was something – again, we were able to do together. Everything around has was put aside – we had to renounce alot oft hings in life. But also because we wanted it. This – adding talent and hard work, brought us to were we are today.

N:     Were you able to give yourself some extra love and support because you did everything together?

F:      Yes, I think so. Like I said, we were always together since we were little kids. We were everywhere on the road together. And we became even closer once Toni left home for Munich at the age of sixteen. We became closer. We had almost daily contact with each other. We dont even need words anymore, we always know what one thinks the other is thinking. Support is always there. Regardless what happens. Thats something everyone knows from the other.

N:     But it is crazy isn’t it, if somebody leaves home so early in life? I mean you are still a child right?

F:      Yeah. I couldn’t imagine it at that age myself. It was definitely a brave step, but Toni was always a guy who made clear decisions. Sure he had some thoughts about it, but he always stood behind his decisions. And he always was striving for the best. It was the path which led to Munich (laughs).

N:     Sure. But until 2010 he was always the youngest player on the pitch. Thats something you have to accomplish right?

F:      Yeah definitely – he always was the best. Since he was little. In every team he played. Striving for the best was always something he was used to. The fact he beats records doing it – may not be normal, but forseeable.

N:     Does it maybe come from yourself. That you look into the mirrow and say to yourself „I’am the best“?

F:      I don’t. (laughs) I can’t speak for others. I don’t think Toni does it too – saying „I’am the best“. He is just convinced of his own strength. He knows he is good, if he performs well and shows his skills and does what he does best. That he doesn’t have to be afraid of something. And he knows it – every day. Without him standing in front of the mirrow telling himself everyday how good he is. (smirks)

N:     If you go back to your childhood. Do you remember your first football? How did it look like?

F:      Well that was very long ago. We have become older ourselves over the meantime (smirks).

N:     Was it like a real ball – or didn’t you start with a small, light rubber ball?

F:      No, I think it was a real one. Anyway we grew up very protected. We didn’t lack anything. Maybe because we didn’t need much – except a ball (laughs). But I think it was a normal football – even back then and you never let someone else take it away from you.

N:     Did you have posters of famous football players in your room?

F:      Yes. I was back then – because oft he geografical distance, Rostock fan. So in that regard I had posters of Rostock players, but I cant tell which players percisely. Toni was a Werder fan – Werder Bremen fan. But he had almost everything on his walls. Football players – but not exclusively from one club.

N:     But baskatball has also been a great deal. NBA, right?

F:      Yeah thats when basketball kind of came along – the older he got. „The older he got“ (rolls eyes) well were aren’t that old yet – you have to be careful saying that (laughs). But to a degree where we are watching more basketball on TV than football.

N:     Perhaps to get some distance…?

F:      Yeah I mean you deal with football almost every day. I think it’s important to see something different once in a while. And to focus your interest on other things. Without lacking your focus on your own performance – your own job, so to speak. But nevertheless I think it’s important to see other things as well.

N:     Did he lace up your shoes?

F:      I could be, yes (laughs). I really don’t have good memory on that one. But sure he did. He did quite some stuff being a „big brother“.

N:     Did you share food in a brotherly fashion?

F:      Ehm, well sure we did have arguments at home like you usually have as siblings but in the end nothing bad ever happend.

N:     Favorite food?

F:      With regards to Toni it’s very easy: a Schnitzel with potatoes. He even eats fried potatoes without anything - without onions. He is very simple on those terms.

N:     How about you?

F:      Back in the day it was – I don’t know if people remember them, but yeast-dough dumpling from grandma. (laughs). Really good – even today! (laughs) But I like to eat everything: sushi, meat, Döner, everything.

N:     Well it all tastes great.

F:      Yeah (smirks).

N:     Ok, back home. I would like to know, have there been like special agreements, code words, nicknames during your childhood? Something that bonded you together? Did you went off road with bikes… or…

F:      There was always a sort of competition between us two. We really made a competition out of nothing. Even then we did a bike tour, the question always was „who gets to the finishline first?“ We were always looking for competition. It was always about winning. And we were both different in that regard. I was the grimly guy that and Toni by contrast was always very smooth and easygoing. He had to laugh about everything I did, which (laughs) made me sometimes really angry. We were very different in that regard. Yet – we always wanted to compete. Almost everywhere and thats something that has bonded us together.

N:     How does he deal with loosing?

F:      Sure he doesn’t like it. But he has a very relaxed way of dealing with defeats….

N:     And you?

F:      It’s fine now. I would never say I like to loose, but you realize that there are more important things than loosing a football game.

        (10:00min)

N:     You are a successful football player yourself – If something doesn’t really go well, how do you deal with that? Do you speak with each other? I mean it is a lot of pressure… all the fans in the stadium… everybody watches every move you make very closely…

F:      Yeah sure. Both of us know how it all works. Everyone of us has experiences in that regard. So we both can feel how the other one is feeling. And that there is always support. But like I said: we don’t need a lot of words. We know from each other, what the other person is thinking. Sure we do have some words of encouragement occasionally. He uses them more for me than I do for him (laughs)… Since he wins more often. Just the fact, that each of us knows that the other is there for you – and that he knows how it looks like with the other brother, thats enough.

N:     And your mom? Do you have to go to your mom sometimes? (laughs)

F:      (laughs) No, you have to comfort her more sometimes than yourself… (laughs) But there is always support coming from them as well. They are rooting for us everytime… sometimes more than they anticipate. In some situations they are more upset than us. I mean they almost gave up everything for us. They have always been there for us and brought us to where we are today.

N:     Crazy unconditional love…

F:      Yeah… like I said, they did almost everything for us. Without reservations. We didn’t miss anything in our childhood, we had everything. And maybe you try to give something back in our age or our position now.

N:     Support…

F:      Yes, you know realize that there are things in life more important than football. Things that ARE more important. Sometimes you should never forget. Even now with Toni’s Foundation. We are doing a lot of things and try to support many people. People that weren’t as lucky as we were. You get to know that football is not everything…

N:     But I would guess it is difficult isn’t it? Because you have a certain amount of income… when you see a nice car. Do you think if you get to know a sick child or meet their family… I mean does that change something within yourself?

F:      Yes, absolutely! I remember going into one special hospital for the first time. I have never seen anything like this before. It’s really difficult, yet – I can recommend to everyone to take a look for themselves and see how strong these people are. How good these people cope with their fates and circumstances. You are nothing against that as a football player. Those are the real everyday heros! Like I said, I would recommend everyone to see this on their own. Because you quickly realize that your problems aren’t as bis as they seem…

N:     Yeah I can imagine. Will you be in Russia?

F:      I will definitely watch the first game live in the stadium. I have to look at my schedule after that. How long do I have vacation? But sure, I will at least see one game in Russia.

N:     Have you ever been there before?

F:      No.

N:     Are you excited?

F:      Well it wasn’t my number one travel destination. But if you can connect the two, it gives you an opportinity to see Russia. I look forward to it.

N:     It’s nice there.

F:      Yeah, we will see.

N:     I can recommend it. Do you have a special wish for your brother? Is there something you want to tell him?

F:      No, not really. Of course you wish him health and success - generally speaking. He should just enjoy it. I think not many football players are able to play at a world cup. And maybe in a few years you will look back and you start to feel sorry for not enjoying it. So that’s why I think he should just enjoy it.

N:     What about Real? Do you sometimes visit Madrid?

F:      I haven’t been to a game yet. It just doesn’t fit my schedule…

N:     …because you both are playing at the same time…

F:      Not being able to just go there for a short trip - it annoys me pretty much. I have been to Madrid a couple of times, just to see him. But I think at one point I’ll be able to watch one of his games live. Yet I follow every game via I-pad or TV.

N:     Well, I guess he watches your games as well…

F:      Yeah, yeah – if he doesn’t play at the same time as I do, he watches my games too. We always watch each others games.

N:     What about your future? Is there something you want to achieve?

F:      I just try to… ehm try the best under the current circumstances. So that I don’t have to regret something later. I don’t want to plan what I want to do in one year, two years. I want to do whats right now and what I think is right. So with that I won’t regret anything later on. (laughs)

N:     What I always want to know – I also have siblings. Two brothers who play in Croatia. What’s it like to go onto the pitch with everyone chanting your name?

F:      It’s a nice feeling – everytime. It’s never a daily routine. It’s always special.

N:     Are you nervous?

F:      Tense – yes. Nervous, yes maybe a bit. But not in negative way. Also positive…

N:     …motivating…

F:      Yes, motivating. It’s always something special – every time. It never became a daily routine and it never will be… And I think thats something which a lot of players will miss once their career is over. Those moments.

N:     Goosebumps right?

F:      Yeah…

N:     Once Toni got to play for Bayern Munich for the first time… How was that for you? Where you there?

F:      I was watching it on TV – yes. I think he was a subsitute player that game. And I can remember very vividly that he made to assists that game. I just went like it went before through his youth. It was the perfect first game… I think he played for some twenty minutes… but I think that was more emotional than his world cup win. Because it seems that you finally reached the place you always trained and worked to get to. That your dreams have finally come true… thats a moment you probably will never forget.

N:     Exactly, you are living your dream… but there are so many other players – so many others. And sometimes it just takes a few minutes and your spot on the team is gone. How can you motivate or calm yourself so you dont get discomfort or fear of not making it? Everybody is interchangeable. Do you really get away from that fear? Sure you finally fulfill your dream but it doesn’t mean anything…

F:      Yeah, I mean often dreams are different than reality. Sure, if you in the game for some ten years, you can‘t say „Now I have fulfilled my dream!“. Not everyday is going to be like that. It’s always hard work. Nevertheless there is always a sense of satisfaction. Because, I mean, not many people can say about themselves they fufilled their childhood dream. Thats why investing a lot in it is always worth the cost. Everybody should always believe in it – in themselves. Regardless whether it works at the first opportunity or the next. If you have a dream – you should follow it.

N:     Don’t you sometimes crave for a relaxed time with slippers and a beer in your hand… or not (laughs).

F:      Well sometimes I do have those thoughs (smirks)… just let everything go. Not to think about what do I have to eat now. Or can I stay up later than usual? The ability to just decide freely what you want to do… it‘s something you look forward to but maybe in a couple of years down the road. You know the time will come – someday…

N:     As long as your body can handle it…

F:      Yeah right.

N:     Do you have real close friendships with other players with teams you’re playing in?

F:      Yes, I do. Not many but…

N:     Is it because of the competition?

F:      No, No… I don’t think so… I think it takes a year to build a friendship. And… I mean I played in Bremen for about six years now… and it felt I played with over 100 different players. You can‘t build friendships with that, players have come and gone over that period of time it’s not possible. But there are one or two guys among the players who stayed there for six years like I did … where you have a stronger bond and you made friends with. It’s possible - but very rare.

N:     But do you still have a relationship to Greifswald, to Rostock?

F:      Yes Greifwald, because grandma and grandpa still live there. As well as uncle and aunts.

N:     Can they live in peace or are they…

F:      Yeah, they have their peace.

N:     Everyone knows…

F:      ….well yeah everyone knows them. Sometimes people ask. But no, uncle and anuts are still there. My cousin moved there with his small family lately. My parents still live in Rostock. Mostly family but not really friends still live there.

N:     You are in Berlin?

F:      I’m in Berlin, yes. I like it.

N:     Well thats not far from home right?

F:      No, thats fine. If we only had a good airport it would be easier to reach the city (laughs)

N:     (laughs) Hey don’t grouse about Tegel airport! The nice thing about Tegel airport is two steps you are out of the plane; two steps you get through the airport; two steps our out of it!

F:      Well, yeah….

N:     Ok, I see. You want the new international airport…

F:      (laughs) But I guess I won’t be in Berlin once its finished.

N:     So you do have dreams and you want to play somewhere else?

F:      No. But I won’t play for another ten years. Thats pretty clear to me. I already know I will be going back to Bremen once my career is over. And yes, if the new airport needs another ten years to get finished it will be difficult for myself.

N:     Thankfully you dont need an airplane to Bremen. (laughs)

F:      Yeah (laughs).

[blackkudos]

Stuart Scott

Stuart Orlando Scott (July 19, 1965 – January 4, 2015) was an American sportscaster and anchor on ESPN, most notably on SportsCenter. Well known for his hip-hop style and use of catchphrases, Scott was also a regular for the network in its National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Football League (NFL) coverage.

Scott grew up in North Carolina, and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He began his career with various local television stations before joining ESPN in 1993. Although there were already accomplished African-American sportscasters, his blending of hip hop with sportscasting was unique for television. By 2008, he was a staple in ESPN's programming, and also began on ABC as lead host for their coverage of the NBA.

In 2007, Scott had an appendectomy and learned that his appendix was cancerous. After going into remission, he was again diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and 2013. Scott was honored at the ESPY Awards in 2014 with the Jimmy V Award for his fight against cancer, less than six months before his death in 2015 at the age of 49.

Early life

Stuart Orlando Scott was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 19, 1965 as the son of O. Ray and Jacqueline Scott. When he was 7, Scott and his family moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Scott had a brother named Stephen and two sisters named Susan and Synthia.

He attended Mount Tabor High School for 9th and 10th grade and then completed his last two years at Richard J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, graduating in 1983. In high school, he was a captain of his football team, ran track, served as Vice President of the Student Council, and was the Sergeant at Arms of the school's Key Club. Scott was inducted into the Richard J. Reynolds High School Hall of Fame during a ceremony on February 6, 2015, which took place during the Reynolds/Mt. Tabor (the two high schools that Scott attended) basketball game.

He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and was part of the on-air talent at WXYC. While at UNC, Scott also played wide receiver and defensive back on the football team. In 1987, Scott graduated from the UNC with a B.A. in speech communication. In 2001, Scott gave the commencement address at UNC where he implored graduates to celebrate diversity and recognize the power of communication.

Career

Following graduation, Scott worked as a news reporter and weekend sports anchor at WPDE-TV in Florence, South Carolina from 1987 until 1988. Scott came up with the phrase "as cool as the other side of the pillow" while working his first job at WPDE. After this, Scott worked as a news reporter at WRAL-TV 5 in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1988 until 1990. WRAL Sports anchor Jeff Gravley recalled there was a "natural bond" between Scott and the sports department. Gravley described his style as creative, gregarious and adding so much energy to the newsroom. Even after leaving, Scott still visited his former colleagues at WRAL and treated them like family.

From 1990 until 1993, Scott worked at WESH, an NBC affiliate in Orlando, Florida as a sports reporter and sports anchor. While at WESH, he met ESPN producer Gus Ramsey, who was beginning his own career. Ramsey said of Scott: "You knew the second he walked in the door that it was a pit stop, and that he was gonna be this big star somewhere someday. He went out and did a piece on the rodeo, and he nailed it just like he would nail the NBA Finals for ESPN." He earned first place honors from the Central Florida Press Club for a feature on rodeo.

ESPN

Al Jaffe, ESPN's vice president for talent, brought Scott to ESPN2 because they were looking for sportscasters who might appeal to a younger audience. Scott became one of the few African-American personalities who was not a former professional athlete. His first ESPN assignments were for SportsSmash, a short sportscast twice an hour on ESPN2's SportsNight program. After Keith Olbermann left SportsNight for ESPN's SportsCenter, Scott took his place in the anchor chair at SportsNight. After this, Scott was a regular on SportsCenter. At SportsCenter, Scott was frequently teamed with fellow anchors Steve Levy, Kenny Mayne, Dan Patrick, and most notably, Rich Eisen. Scott was a regular in the This is SportsCenter commercials.

In 2002, Scott was named studio host for the NBA on ESPN. He became lead host in 2008, when he also began at ABC in the same capacity for its NBA coverage, which included the NBA Finals. Additionally, Scott anchored SportsCenter's prime-time coverage from the site of NBA post-season games. From 1997 until 2014, he covered the league's finals. During the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals, Scott did one-on-one interviews with Michael Jordan. When Monday Night Football moved to ESPN in 2006, Scott hosted on-site coverage, including Monday Night Countdown and post-game SportsCenter coverage. Scott previously appeared on NFL Primetime during the 1997 season, Monday Night Countdown from 2002 to 2005, and Sunday NFL Countdown from 1999 to 2001. Scott also covered the MLB playoffs and NCAA Final Four in 1995 for ESPN.

Scott appeared in each issue of ESPN the Magazine, with his Holla column. During his work at ESPN, he also interviewed Tiger Woods, Sammy Sosa, President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign. As a part of the interview with President Barack Obama, Scott played in a one-on-one basketball game with the President. In 2004, per the request of U.S. troops, Scott and fellow SportsCenter co-anchors hosted a week of programs originating from Kuwait for ESPN's SportsCenter: Salute the Troops. He hosted a number of ESPN game and reality shows, including Stump the Schwab, Teammates, and Dream Job, and hosted David Blaine's Drowned Alive special. He hosted a special and only broadcast episode of America's Funniest Home Videos called AFV: The Sports Edition.

Style

While there were already successful African-American sportscasters, Scott blended hip-hop culture and sports in a way that had never been seen before on television. He talked in the same manner as fans would at home. ESPN director of news Vince Doria told ABC: "But Stuart spoke a much different language ... that appealed to a young demographic, particularly a young African-American demographic." Michael Wilbon wrote that Scott allowed his personality to infuse the coverage and his emotion to pour out.

Scott also integrated pop culture references into his reports. One commentator remembered his style: "he could go from evoking a Baptist preacher riffing during Sunday morning service ('Can I get a witness from the congregation?!'), to quoting Public Enemy frontman Chuck D ('Hear the drummer get WICKED!') In 1999, he was parodied on Saturday Night Live by Tim Meadows. Scott appeared in music videos with the rappers LL Cool J and Luke, and he was cited in "3 Peat", a Lil Wayne song that included the line: "Yeah, I got game like Stuart Scott, fresh out the ESPN shop." In a 2002 segment of NPR's On the Media, Scott revealed one approach to his anchoring duties: "Writing is better if it's kept simple. Every sentence doesn't need to have perfect noun/verb agreement. I've said 'ain't' on the air. Because I sometimes use 'ain't' when I'm talking."

As a result of his unique style, Scott and ESPN received a lot of hate mail from people who resented his color, his hip-hop style, or his generation. In a 2003 USA Today survey, Scott finished first in the question of which anchor should be voted off SportsCenter, but he also was second to Dan Patrick in the 'definitely keep him' voting. Jason Whitlock criticized Scott's use of Jay-Z's alternate nickname, "Jigga", at halftime of Monday Night Football as ridiculous and offensive. Scott never changed his style and ESPN stuck with him.

Catchphrases

Scott became well known for his use of catch phrases, following in the SportsCenter tradition begun by Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann. He popularized the phrase booyah, which spread from sports into mainstream culture. Some of the catchphrases included:

"Boo-Yah!"

"Hallah"

"As cool as the other side of the pillow"

"He must be the bus driver cuz he was takin' him to school."

"Holla at a playa when you see him in the street!"

"Just call him butter 'cause he's on a roll"

"They Call Him the Windex Man 'Cause He's Always Cleaning the Glass"

"You Ain't Gotta Go Home, But You Gotta Get The Heck Outta Here."

"He Treats Him Like a Dog. Sit. Stay."

"And the Lord said you got to rise Up!"

"Make All the Kinfolk Proud ... Pookie, Ray Ray and Moesha"

"It's Your World, Kid ... The Rest of Us Are Still Paying Rent"

"Can I Get a Witness From the Congregation?"

"Doing It, Doing It, Doing It Well"

"See ... What Had Happened Was"

Legacy

ESPN president John Skipper said Scott's flair and style, which he used to talk about the athletes he was covering, "changed everything." Fellow ESPN Anchor, Stan Verrett, said he was a trailblazer: "not only because he was black – obviously black – but because of his style, his demeanor, his presentation. He did not shy away from the fact that he was a black man, and that allowed the rest of us who came along to just be ourselves." He became a role model for African-American sports journalists.

Personal life

Scott was married to Kimberly Scott from 1993 to 2007. They had two daughters together, Taelor and Sydni. Scott lived in Avon, Connecticut. At the time of his death, Scott was in a relationship with Kristin Spodobalski. During his Jimmy V Award speech, he told his teenage daughters: "Taelor and Sydni, I love you guys more than I will ever be able to express. You two are my heartbeat. I am standing on this stage here tonight because of you."

Eye injury

Scott was injured when he was hit in the face by a football during a New York Jets mini-camp on April 3, 2002, while filming a special for ESPN, a blow which damaged his cornea. He received surgery but afterwards suffered from ptosis, or drooping of the eyelid.

Appendectomy and cancer

After leaving Connecticut on a Sunday morning in 2007 for Monday Night Football in Pittsburgh, Scott had a stomachache. After the stomachache worsened, he went to the hospital instead of the game and later had his appendix removed. After testing the appendix, doctors learned that he had cancer. Two days later, he had surgery in New York that removed part of his colon and some of his lymph nodes near the appendix. After the surgery, they recommended preventive chemotherapy. By December, Scott—while undergoing chemotherapy—hosted Friday night ESPN NBA coverage and led the coverage of ABC's NBA Christmas Day studio show. Scott worked out while undergoing chemotherapy. Scott said of his experience with cancer at the time: "One of the coolest things about having cancer, and I know that sounds like an oxymoron, is meeting other people who've had to fight it. You have a bond. It's like a fraternity or sorority." When Scott returned to work and people knew of his cancer diagnosis, the well-wishers felt overbearing for him as he just wanted to talk about sports, not cancer.

The cancer returned in 2011, but it eventually went back into remission. He was again diagnosed with cancer on January 14, 2013. After chemo, Scott would do mixed martial arts and/or a P90X workout regimen. By 2014, he had undergone 58 infusions of chemotherapy and switched to chemotherapy pills. Scott also went under radiation and multiple surgeries as a part of his cancer treatment. Scott never wanted to know what stage of cancer he was in.

Jimmy V Award

On July 16, 2014, Scott was honored at the ESPY Awards, with the Jimmy V Award for his ongoing battle against cancer. He shared that he had 4 surgeries in 7 days in the week prior to his appearance, when he was suffering from liver complications and kidney failure. Scott told the audience, "When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live." At the ESPYs, a video was also shown that included scenes of Scott from a clinic room at Johns Hopkins Hospital and other scenes from Scott's life fighting cancer. Scott ended the speech by calling his daughter up to the stage for a hug, "because I need one," and telling the audience to "have a great rest of your night, have a great rest of your life."

Death

On the morning of January 4, 2015, Scott died of cancer in his home in Avon, Connecticut, at the age of 49.

Tributes

ESPN announced: "Stuart Scott, a dedicated family man and one of ESPN's signature SportsCenter anchors, has died after a courageous and inspiring battle with cancer. He was 49." ESPN released a video obituary of Scott. Sports Illustrated called ESPN's video obituary a beautiful and moving tribute to a man who died "at the too-damn-young age of 49." Barack Obama paid tribute to Scott, saying:

I will miss Stuart Scott. Twenty years ago, Stuart helped usher in a new way to talk about our favorite teams and the day's best plays. For much of those twenty years, public service and campaigns have kept me from my family – but wherever I went, I could flip on the TV and Stu and his colleagues on SportsCenter were there. Over the years, he entertained us, and in the end, he inspired us – with courage and love. Michelle and I offer our thoughts and prayers to his family, friends, and colleagues.

A number of National Basketball Association athletes—current and former—paid tribute to Scott, including Stephen Curry, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jason Collins, Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Bruce Bowen, Dennis Rodman, James Worthy and others. A number of golfers paid tribute to Scott: Tiger Woods, Gary Player, David Duval, Lee Westwood, Blair O'Neal, Jane Park and others. Other athletes paid tribute including Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Jon Lester, Lance Armstrong, Barry Sanders, J. J. Watt, David Ortiz and Sheryl Swoopes. UNC basketball coach Roy Williams called him a "hero." Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said: "We lost a football game but we lost more this morning. I think one of the best members of the media I've ever dealt with, Stuart Scott, passed away."

Colleagues Hannah Storm and Rich Eisen gave on-air remembrances of Scott. On SportsCenter, Scott Van Pelt and Steve Levy said farewell to Scott and left a chair empty in his honor. Tom Jackson, Cris Carter, Chris Berman, Mike Ditka and Keyshawn Johnson from NFL Countdown shared their memories of Scott.

During Ernie Johnson, Jr.'s acceptance speech for his 2015 Sports Emmy Award for Best Studio Host, he gave his award to Scott's daughters, saying it "belongs with Stuart Scott". At the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards and at the 2015 ESPY Awards, Scott was included in the "in memoriam" segment, a rare honor for a sports broadcaster.

Filmography

He Got Game (1998)

Disney's The Kid (2000)

Drumline (2002)

Love Don't Cost A Thing (2003)

Mr. 3000 (2004)

Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005)

The Game Plan (2007)

Enchanted (2007)

Just Wright (2010)

Television

Arli$$ (2000)

I Love the '80s (2002)

Soul Food (2003)

She Spies (2005)

I Love the '70s (2003)

One on One (2004)

Stump the Schwab (2004–06)

Dream Job (2004)

Teammates (2005)

I Love the '90s (2004)

I Love the Holidays (2005)

I Love Toys (2006)

Black to the Future (2009)

Publications

Scott, Stuart; Platt, Larry (2015). Every Day I Fight. Blue Rider Press. ISBN 978-0-399-17406-3. 

Wikipedia

[tkmedia]

Ray Flores paid his dues to become boxing’s new voice

Ray Flores paid his dues to become boxing’s new voice

18 Aug by Joseph Santoliquito As he walked out still damp from swim practice, the brush of a chilly breeze forced Ray Flores Jr. to clench his shoulders and yank his jacket tight to his neck. Little did he know he was stepping into a seminal life-changing moment. His father, Ray Flores Sr., was waiting for him in the warm, humming car out front of East Chicago Central High School one winter day in 2002. Ray Sr. was a Spanish teacher who wanted more for his three sons. He had a deep, baritone voice that could punch through walls. It commanded respect every time he spoke, especially to his boys. Ray Sr. had a way of being direct without being confrontational. So, when Ray Jr. tucked himself into the car for the 10-minute ride home that afternoon, he caught the brunt of it. Ray Sr. was transparent with his boys. Raising them, whatever was on his mind he said. As they drove home, Ray Sr. darted a look at his oldest son over a brewing concern and asked, “Listen Ray, are you going to become an Olympic swimmer? I hear you talking about swim practice and stuff, but what about your education? What about your future? You really need to apply yourself to something you can hang on to move forward.” A few months later, Ray Flores Jr. walked into ECTV, a local public access cable station in East Chicago, Indiana, looking for a summer jab. Ray Jr. can look back at that epiphany as to why he’ll play a central role in the broadcast of the Manny Pacquiao-Yordenis Ugas fight for the WBA welterweight title on the FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View this Saturday (9PM ET/6PM PT) from the T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada. “My father saw a critical moment where the swimming and my social life was becoming more important than my education and he wanted to shake me up a little bit, and I’m glad he did,” admitted Ray Jr., who will be calling the media press conferences for PBC this weekend, as well as the FOX international broadcast of the fight. “If it wasn’t for that particular conversation, I would have swum all four years in high school. I don’t think I would be where I am now if that talk never took place.” Ray Jr., who will turn 35 on August 30, would watch Julio Cesar Chavez fights with his father when he was a child, feet dangling from the edge of the living room sofa, mimicking what the fighters were doing on the screen. Ray Sr. would playfully chide him that he would only sit still for fights and Chicago Bears’ games. That was it. Otherwise, Ray Jr. was constantly moving. He still is. He easily travels 40 of the 52 weeks a year. Though he’s in his mid-30s, Ray still looks like he’s 16. He was actually that age when he walked into ECTV. Ray got an internship and worked an hour a week doing local community news and started a teen talk show. When the internship was over, he was impressive enough to be among a handful of students that the local station asked to stay on and work after school. He would do an hour-and-a-half a day during the week when school got out at 2:30. Soon after, the city of East Chicago, a hamlet in Northwest Indiana about a 31-minute drive from Chicago, bought ECTV, which allowed Ray to suggest broadcasting local high school basketball and football games. From there, Ray had a chance meeting with Miguel Torres, East Chicago’s only semblance of a sports star at the time. Torres was a World Extreme Cagefighting champion, who eventually graduated on to the UFC, before MMA was nationally regulated. Ray started following Torres and asked if ECTV could start covering his fights. Ray Sr. would make the short trek to the Ramada Inn in Hammond, Indiana, where Ray Jr., then 17, would conduct fighter meetings and then call Torres’ fights from the Hammond Civic Center, a quaint 4,000-seat arena. “I did so many events there that I grew up in that building as a commentator, and as a ring announcer,” recalled Ray. Jr. “Fight fans growing up in Philly had a legendary place like the Blue Horizon. I had the Hammond Civic Center. We were so low budget that I had to literally sit next to the camera, plug in my microphone in the upper deck of this 4,000-seat arena and called the fights next to the camera with my notes in my lap. “I think that’s where things started for me. In 2005, I began a new boxing and MMA radio show, but I wondered how I would do it, considered boxing is such a visual sport. I got a lot of help from old Chicago Tribune boxing writer Michael Hirsley would come on. But there were some obstacles. “From an MMA standpoint, I got a great start quickly from guys like Joe Goytia and Mike Davis gave me the chance when I was a sophomore at Columbia College Chicago (where he graduated with a BA in radio and television). Joe called me up to be the ring announcer for his fights that paid $200 a night. You’re a college kid, so $200 is a lot of money. “In boxing, Bobby Hitz, the Chicago promoter, gave me my opportunity a year later, in 2008, 2009. But the real breakthrough in boxing came in December 2011. Joe Martinez, who works for Golden Boy, did a local MMA fight that I was working, and I did the first half of the night and Joe did the second half of the fight. “I met Joe in the summer of 2011 and he took a liking to me. He called me out of the blue in November of 2011 and asked me if I could fill in for him in Indio, California, and I sent them a tape. I’m so blessed, because so many people are so great to me. From there, I started doing one show a month for Golden Boy since Joe was so busy.”

Ray was once a five-year-old kid watching the legendary Joe Goossen corner Gabriel Ruelas. Ray began announcing one card a month for Golden Boy and doing Floyd Mayweather undercards on large shows, like Mayweather’s fight against Canelo Alvarez in September 2013. During the Mayweather-Marcos Maidana undercard in September 2014, Sandy Goossen-Brown, Joe’s sister and Tom Brown’s wife, heard Ray and told Tom about him. In December 2014, Ray announced ESPN’s “Night of Champions” when he ran into Brown, who runs TGB Promotions. Brown asked Ray to do a Showtime ShoBox show the following week. In June 2015, Brown began bringing in Ray to host press conferences. Banner Promotions’ Artie Pelullo, Marc Abrams and Matt Rowland helped him take another step in April 2015 in getting the Lucas Matthysse-Ruslan Provodnikov announcing assignment on the HBO card. Ray received some pushback from some major network people, but he had strong allies in PBC, Brown, Kelly Swanson and Sam Watson pushing his cause. Eventually, when given the chance, he proved himself to the doubters. His talent spoke loudly. “I grew up when legends honed their craft, with Marv Albert and Bob Costas with the NBA doing Chicago Bulls games; John Madden and Pat Summerall doing NFL games; and Steve Albert, Ferdie Pacheco, Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward calling fights,” Ray said. “I remember watching the Julio Cesar Chavez beat Greg Haugen in 1993. I was watching the countdown show three hours before the pay-per-view and I wouldn’t move. “Watching the prelim fights, there was Azumah Nelson fighting Gabriel Ruelas, and the trainer for the Ruelas brothers happened to be the legendary Joe Goossen, who I work with now on FS1. I was watching Joe corner Gabe Ruelas 30 years ago, when I was five. Talk about life coming full circle.”

Ray made sure to create a good path for younger brother Miguel to follow. Ray Jr. could be the most viewed boxing announcer in the world today. He’s also the only ring announcer who then broadcasts the same fights as the blow-by-blow man. He handles PBC events as the media host, handling press conferences and grand arrivals, is the Triller blow-by-blow announcer and is the international broadcaster for the PBC fights on Showtime and FOX. Miguel Flores, 27, sounds just like his brother. And if not for Ray Jr., Miguel wouldn’t be where he is on the boxing broadcasting tree. Their goal is to be like the Buffer brothers, Michael and Bruce, one day. Miguel is heading in the same direction as Ray. “I’m very proud of Ray and I wouldn’t be where I am without him,” Miguel says. “He has a great, distinctive voice, he’s passionate about sports and anything to do with sports and boxing. He was there with Miguel Torres, and Ray would even use his own dime to cover some of his events. “Ray wasn’t handed anything. He started honing his skills at a young age. He did everything and loved it. A crucial part of his development and what you see now is the polished experience he got with ECTV and all of the things he did there. My dad really pushed that, and the voice definitely comes from our father.

Miguel (standing left) and Ray have a special surprise for their parents, Ray Sr. and Sandra, seated with younger brother Alejandro, this weekend in Las Vegas for the Pacquiao-Ugas fight. “If me, Ray and my dad were to all talk together, it would be tough to distinguish us. But if you were around us a lot, you could tell the difference. I remember Ray calling Bulls’ games standing in the living room watching games. I don’t remember my parents thinking Ray was nuts (laughs). They encouraged it. Teachers would tell my parents all of the time how special Ray was.” This weekend is a big deal for Ray Jr. personally. It’s not big because it’s a Pacquiao fight or for the attention the fight brings. It’s big because for the first time, Ray Jr. and Miguel get to treat their parents, Ray Sr. and Sandra, to a big fight in Las Vegas. “It’s something very special,” Miguel said. “Being in this industry, there’s a lot of running around and a lot of the work that goes into what we do. We’re on the road three and four weeks at a time, and it’s not a normal life, but sharing this with Ray and my parents will make this weekend special. “Ray is the one that started it. He set the path. It’s one of those weekends that we’ll never forget—and I get to share it with my parents and my brothers. It’s what makes what I do so much better. I have a brother like Ray.” Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on twitter @JSantoliquito. GET THE LATEST ISSUE AT THE RING SHOP (CLICK HERE) or Subscribe

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Bradley Beal knows the pressure Team USA has to win gold

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Choosing to play in the Olympics was a “no-brainer” decision for Beal despite the pressure on Team USA.

Team USA has a tall task ahead of it at the Tokyo Olympics, being tasked with rebounding from a dismal showing at the World Cup in 2019 to win the program’s fourth consecutive Olympic gold. The pressure mounted even further when the Americans lost their first tune-up game against Nigeria Saturday.

Bradley Beal has never been a part of Team USA at the senior level, and he hasn’t been on the biggest stages of NBA basketball in the past few years either. But his inclusion on the national team was a no-brainer. Jerry Colangelo and the USA brass felt confident that Beal was ready for the moment after a decade spent on junior teams, and Beal is eager to prove that he can do whatever it takes to win and come back home with the gold medal.

Beal spoke with SB Nation about what he’s learning from the USA experience and how his protein beverage partner Rockin’ Protein is helping in the process. He also talked about the crazy Wizards season, what he wants to improve upon in the offseason, and what he’s taking away from watching the NBA Finals.

Note: This interview was conducted before Team USA’s loss to Nigeria. It has been lightly edited for clarity.

SB Nation: Let’s start with Rockin’ Protein. What can you tell me about this partnership? Why did you pick this company in particular?

Bradley Beal: For one, I’m always big on doing my research and background, and who they’ve worked with in the past has been tremendous. I’m a fan of all those athletes and just their history. For me, their product is great. It tastes great, for one, which is always important, but it’s high in quality protein, very low in carbs, low in sugar, you know, versus a lot of products that have all that added extra stuff that your body doesn’t need to perform properly, recover properly, or give you the energy. Those three categories they have shakes in all of them: protein builder, which is my favorite, recovery shakes, and the energy shakes. They’re just unbelievable. The fact that they’re made with real milk is a bonus too, our kids love the Shamrock Farms milk, so that’s also a cherry on top. But more than anything, man, I stand by their product. They’re a very first-class company to work with, and their product helps me.

SBN: That’s what I was gonna ask next, what do you get out of using Rockin’ Protein?

BB: For me, I’m big on the recovery part of my body. Energy, I always feel like I have, I always generate energy. So I don’t necessarily migrate to the energy shakes. And the protein builder, like I’m always going to keep up my muscle mass, build up a little bit more. And then obviously, as an athlete, you break it down in your body constantly so you want to build back up that muscle recovery side of it, so those are my two go-tos, vanilla of the protein builder is my favorite.

Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images

Beal has been playing for Team USA since 2009 when he won gold at the U16 Championship.

SBN: Let’s talk USA Basketball. You’ve been part of USA Basketball since U16, right? Why has it been important for you to be part of the national team?

BB: Well, that’s a part of the beginning of it, you know, just a long history, lineage, I’ve been a part of this prestigious fraternity. They treated me well at 16, won a gold medal at 16, 17, played in the Hoop Summit, and went through the select team process as well, worked my way up, and now I’m on the big brother team. So it’s a blessing, you don’t take it for granted, you understand how hard and difficult it is to make the team and what you represent and the pressure behind it. We didn’t perform well last time out, so we have that feeling in the back of our head and we want to bring back the gold medal, nothing less.

SBN: What was that moment like for you when you got the nod that you were going to be on the Olympic team?

BB: It was special. When Jerry Colangelo calls you, you know it’s for either USA or somehow you go into the Hall of Fame. He’s very powerful in the basketball world, you know he is USA basketball. And it was just remarkable, you know, to hear his voice and he wanted me to be a part. You know, I want you there, I want you to play for the team. I want you to represent this country. That was big for us. I had to run it by my family, obviously, you know they won’t be able to attend, but it was like a no brainer. They said just go ahead and go live out your dream, we will be watching. So it was fun, it was an unbelievable moment for me. But it was definitely a no brainer at the same time.

SBN: So, this is something that you’ve dreamed of for a while.

BB: Of course, of course, I feel every player at least once wants to be an Olympian. Just to be called an Olympian is cool, to win a gold medal is even better. So, you know, to have both opportunities is special. Then to do it with so many talented guys is even a plus, learning from them, how we can gel and make this thing happen.

SBN: What has the environment been like at camp so far with the nine of you and the Select team?

BB: Camp’s been intense, it’s been tough. I mean it’s like NBA camp on steroids almost. it’s very attentive to detail, (Gregg Popovich) is excellent, like he is awesome to work with. And he just demands the best out of all of us, you know. And I think that’s what we all love and respect about him is there’s no favoritism, there’s accountability at every level, coaches, players, everybody, even himself. So I respect that heavily. He gets the best out of all of us. He demands it too, so his intensity, his ferocity is amazing. It’s contagious, it’s contagious.

SBN: I heard Pop called you thick the other day.

BB: Yeah (chuckles) he got away with loose language, but I embrace it, you know, I understood what he meant. I play against him twice a year only, but he’s always been a fan of how I play and I’ve always respected him. And happy that I get to share the floor with him. But I understood his comments.

SBN: How are you hoping to grow your game this summer and then how does playing for Team USA factor into that?

BB: Oh man, in so many ways. Obviously I always want to be better at everything, I say that every year, but in particularly I want to shoot more threes, deeper threes, and post up a little bit more. I feel like those are two areas I want to kind of dial in and focus in on more. I had a good year this year, but I’m always my toughest critic, I could have been better, for sure could’ve shot the ball a lot better from three than what I did. But more or less, even just shooting more of them is something that I could do better and be better at, too. So those are probably the two things and then, obviously, learning from so many guys on this team, you know their mentality going into the game, their preparation, the same with Pop. And just, you know, how guys really approach the game and how they play the game, with the intensity they have, focus they have. Like KD is crazy attentive to detail, to his body, to his game, his shot. At the end of the day, he just loves to hoop. That’s amazing to watch and to see. So to learn from everybody would be fun and exciting.

Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

One of Beal’s offseason goals is to take more threes, and deeper ones, which makes his USA backcourt mate Damian Lillard the perfect guide.

SBN: I imagine if you want to take more and deeper threes, then being around the guy like Dame Lillard probably make sense.

BB: Yeah! Just picking his brain, you know, how are you able to do it consistently, because a lot of people can’t do that. A lot of people probably won’t even hit the rim from back there. So how do you generate that much power, your legs, is it your upper body, what is it? So picking people’s brains 100 percent will help.

SBN: Shifting to the Wizards real quick, I think the season probably ended a little bit earlier than you would have liked, but what is it about this team that you have that excites you going forward?

BB: Oh man, guys getting healthy. That’s the biggest thing, Deni (Avdija) suffered an injury, I think he broke his foot at the end of the year. Thomas Bryant tore his ACL at the beginning of the year, so those two injuries hurt. But we acquired Daniel Gafford at the trade deadline, who’s been a tremendous athletic big for us. Russ (Westbrook), obviously, at the beginning of the year, he’s been a triple-double animal, Mr. Triple-Double now. But obviously we just have to be better at everything. Our three-point shooting has to improve, our defense has to drastically improve. But there’s so much that we have to be better at, because, like you said, it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, you know we won one game in the series. To me, that’s unacceptable. So, we got to be better, it starts with our coaching change, obviously we’ve got to find a coach, and go from there.

SBN: As one of the leaders of the team, how much are you involved in that process of finding a new coach?

BB: More towards the end. So, obviously, the higher ups, they go through the process and investigating, thorough background checks and whatever they need to do to figure out who they want their candidates to be. Then when they dwindle down to about two to four is when Russ and I will probably step in. They’ll ask you know, who do you like, what do you like, go from there. But hasn’t been too much, you know, we let the GM do his job, and trust him to find the right one.

SBN: You kind of touched on this earlier but I mean, how much can you take away from a season that was so abnormal in terms of the protocols and your whole team got COVID and everyone got hurt. How much can you really take away from it?

BB: It’s tough, because those things did happen, you know, we want to not ignore them. But, I mean, they happened. Half of our team got COVID. You know, we couldn’t practice and play for two weeks. That’s a setback. So that’s tough in a lot of ways, but at the same time, everybody had an unfortunate situation, like this whole year was unfortunate for every team. So I was happy and thrilled about the way that we kind of revamped it and turned it around, I have no idea what it was, but we flipped it around and we made a push for playoffs. But the frustrating part is we didn’t end it obviously the way we wanted to. And there’s so many things that we can shift blame for that for, which is kind of like the, I don’t know, but at the same time, we know we should have been better than what we were.

Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images

As the leaders of the Wizards, Beal expects he and Russell Westbrook will have a voice on who the team hires as its next head coach.

SBN: When you’re out of the playoffs are you one of those guys that’s watching every game when you’re done?

BB: No, I think this year may be the first time I’ve actually really dialed in to watch the playoffs. Usually I’m not watching, and maybe it’s because I’m with USA and I have to get myself back into like, basketball realm, but usually once I’m done, I’m done. I will take a month or two off, maybe sometimes two and a half off, and just decompress from basketball completely and just pick it back up ready to go come July, August before the season.

SBN: What are you getting out of watching it this year?

BB: Just like how we talked about how uncertain this year is and crazy it is. Like nobody expected Phoenix to do what they did. To see them thriving, they built up their team with what they had, they used their young talent, developed them, they acquire Chris Paul, and they’re flying, they’re flowing. Milwaukee built around Giannis, they re-signed him, brought it Jrue Holiday, they put pieces around him, brought in PJ Tucker, like they brought in valuable guys on both sides. So it’s very, very intriguing to watch this series because it’s two totally different teams. Phoenix is wiry, fast, and tough, and Milwaukee are like the Monstars, they’re huge. They’re tough too, so it’s a very unique series, you know, so I’m very curious to see what happens.

SBN: Are you keeping an eye on Jrue and Khris Middleton and Devin Booker for when they eventually get to join you guys?

BB: I am because I’m trying to see if there’s any tension. Cuz Book and Jrue are gonna be going at it for sure. But I don’t know, I keep thinking it’s going to be tough. I would be mad as hell if I lost and had to come over, like I would be mad. But at the same time understanding the opportunity you get from USA, not taking that away. But if I lost in the Finals man, I would need to get away for a minute.

SBN: Is there anyone in camp so far who has surprised you in terms of what you’ve seen from their game based on what you saw in the NBA?

BB: No, I mean we know what each other can do. I think the thing that does surprise me is how unselfish we are, sometimes we’re too unselfish. It’s like, KD shoot the ball, like we know you shoot the ball, shoot the ball. I think that’s what’s crazy, the sacrificing part of it, you know, what do you sacrifice. Because all of us can go score 30, like I don’t have to go score 30 like I probably would have to during the year. I can go defend the best player now and use my energy for that, right, versus coming down, having to try to create a play every single time. We have 10-12 guys that can do that too, so that’s very positive in a lot of ways. At the same time, it’s tough because we don’t play together, you know, that’s new. This isn’t like an All-Star game. We really have to be dialed in and locked in and can’t disrespect our opponents, because we remember what happened last time we did that.

SBN: What are you hoping that the world can see from Bradley Beal at the Olympics this year?

BB: Oh, I don’t know. I’m a fierce competitor, that’s obvious. I’m going to do everything I can to win, whatever it looks like. I’m very unselfish and just compete hard. I just love this game, and I want that to show. Obviously everybody’s going to generate an opinion, whatever it is, good or bad, but it won’t change my approach and my reasoning in playing the game.

[your-dietician]

Redrafting 2020 NBA lottery: Tyrese Haliburton rises

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Redrafting 2020 NBA lottery: Tyrese Haliburton rises

The 2020 draft class was labeled a weak draft class by many experts and surprisingly, 80% of players drafted in the first round saw solid playing time and were productive on NBA rosters this past season. 

Each year, we see a few players break out and play above their draft stock, causing some teams to regret who they drafted. If we could redraft the 2020 class, would Anthony Edwards still go No. 1? Where would James Wiseman fall, and would the 30th pick, Desmond Bane, sneak into the lottery?

After a few players outplayed their draft stock in their rookie seasons, here’s a look at Yahoo Sports’ redraft of the 2020 draft lottery. The 2021 draft lottery is 8:30 p.m. ET Tuesday on ESPN.

Actual pick: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves

Edwards’ draft slot: No. 1, Minnesota Timberwolves

2020-21 stats: 19.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.9 apg

Some think Edwards was robbed of Rookie of the Year honors since he played the full season and LaMelo Ball was out 21 games with a wrist injury. Despite not winning the top rookie honor, Edwards completely backed his No. 1-pick status this season. Edwards avoided the “rookie wall” and actually played better in the second half of the season, averaging 27 points per game in the month of May (including a 42-point performance May 5). He had one of the best dunks of the year on Toronto Raptors forward Yuta Watanabe and provided endless entertainment in postgame Zooms and media interviews. Edwards’ future is bright on this Timberwolves team as they try to rebuild. He told Yahoo Sports on draft night, “I just want to be the best player to ever play basketball.”

Anthony Edwards dunks over the Blazers’ Robert Covington on March 14, 2021. (Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Actual pick: James Wiseman, Golden State Warriors

Ball’s draft slot: No. 3, Charlotte Hornets

2020-21 stats: 15.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 6.1 apg

The news of Klay Thompson’s season-ending Achilles injury came one hour before the NBA draft on Nov. 18. That’s not a lot of time to make changes to your draft board, especially if the front office feels confident taking Wiseman at No. 2. After seeing what Ball did this season in Charlotte, Warriors fans can’t help but wonder, “what if?”

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Ball led the entire rookie class in assists (313) and was named the Rookie of the Year, despite missing six weeks with a wrist injury. He delivered amazing highlights night after night and made his teammates better with his phenomenal passing. Ball is the type of player you can’t help but wonder what he would have done as a stand-in Splash Brother playing alongside Steph Curry in Thompson’s absence. No one knows how many more years the big three of Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green have left in them and Ball could have been the future to build around for the Warriors.

Actual pick: LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets

Haliburton’s draft slot: No. 12, Sacramento Kings

2020-21 stats: 13 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.3 apg

Haliburton was the steal of the draft at No. 12 to the Kings, and it’s still baffling to see how many teams passed on the 6-foot-5 facilitator out of Iowa State.

“It all worked out perfectly, I’m in the perfect spot. Coach [Luke] Walton called me and just talked to me about playing fast and that he loves my game,” Haliburton said.

He was second in assists out of all the rookies with 309 for the season and second in 3-point field goals made with 121. Haliburton has been a seamless addition in the backcourt to De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield. If the Hornets couldn’t have Ball, Haliburton would have been the second-best option. We might not have seen the full-court, underhand passes like we saw from Ball, but Haliburton can be just as deadly in transition and would have been excellent alongside Miles Bridges.

What if Tyrese Haliburton played alongside Miles Bridges? (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Actual pick: Patrick Williams, Chicago Bulls

Williams’ draft slot: No. 4, Chicago Bulls

2020-21 stats: 9.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.4 apg

Williams was the biggest surprise of the draft and the Bulls front office must have known what they were doing when they took the one-and-done talent out of Florida State as a top-five pick. 

He had one of the most daunting tasks early on in his NBA career when he was assigned to guard LeBron James. Williams left an impression on James who said afterward, “I think he is going to be an exceptional talent. [He has] long arms. He has Kawhi-type of hands that I noticed out on the floor, so I knew I couldn’t play with the ball much. You can tell he is just laser-sharp on just trying to get better and better. I think Chicago has a good one.”

Williams was named to the the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie second team alongside Isaac Okoro, Immanuel Quickley, Isaiah Stewart and Desmond Bane.

Actual pick: Isaac Okoro, Cleveland Cavaliers

Okoro’s draft slot: No. 5, Cleveland Cavaliers

2020-21 stats: 9.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.9 apg

Just like the Bulls’ pick at No. 4, the Cavaliers got their pick right in the 2020 draft, too. Okoro might not have been the flashiest player in this draft class but defensively, he got the job done. His only double-double came late in the season in a loss to the Indiana Pacers where he put up 22 points (including three 3-pointers) and grabbed 10 rebounds. If Okoro can get more consistent from 3-point range, the Cavaliers will have a deadly backcourt with Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and Okoro.

Actual pick: Onyeka Okongwu, Atlanta Hawks

Stewart’s draft slot: No. 16, Detroit Pistons

2020-21 stats: 7.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 0.9 apg

Stewart led the rookie class in rebounds with 453 and was 31st overall out of the entire NBA. He was one of the most physically ready rookies coming in this season listed at 6-foot-9, 250 pounds and it paid off in a big way when he started to see consistent minutes on a struggling Pistons team.

“For me, I just want to continue to work and build on my game,” Stewart said after an April 16 win over the Thunder where he grabbed 21 rebounds. “That’s the most important thing for me. I watch a lot of film and am just trying to learn from all my mistakes this year and get better.”

Atlanta is in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since the 2014-15 season. Okongwu has been out for the majority of the season with a foot injury. Everything has worked out so far for the Hawks, but having a healthy player who could contribute right away like Stewart could have helped win some games early on when they went 4-11 in February.

Actual pick: Killian Hayes, Detroit Pistons

Bey’s draft slot: No. 19, Detroit Pistons

2020-21 stats: 12.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.4 apg

What a season for the 3-and-D guard out of Villanova. Bey was, by far, the best rookie on the Pistons this season. He set the record for most 3-pointers by a rookie in franchise history with 175 made threes, passing Brandon Knight, who made 106. Bey was named to the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie first team along with Ball, Edwards, Haliburton and Jae’Sean Tate.

Point guard Killian Hayes missed half of the season with a torn hip labrum, and it will forever be a mystery as to why the Pistons took Hayes at No. 7 and passed on Haliburton.

Actual pick: Obi Toppin, New York Knicks

Tate’s draft slot: Undrafted, Houston Rockets

2020-21 stats: 11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.5 apg

The 6-foot-4 wing has been one of the biggest surprises of the rookie class after going undrafted and playing for the Sydney Kings in Australia’s NBL last season. Yes, he’s 25 years old and significantly older than the other players in his rookie class, but he’s settling in comfortably in the NBA and proving to have a bright future on this struggling Rockets team.

The Knicks had a bounce-back season in the backcourt with RJ Barrett, Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley. Tate would have been just as productive off the bench after proving to be the best rebounding guard in this rookie class, grabbing 374 boards and shooting better than 50% from the field. He was named to the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie first team and will continue to be a key player as the Rockets start to rebuild in the post-James Harden era.

Jae’Sean Tate was named to the 2020-21 All-Rookie first team. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Actual pick: Deni Avdija, Washington Wizards

Wiseman’s draft slot: No. 2, Golden State Warriors

2020-21 stats: 11.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.7 apg

There were small glimpses of what Wiseman could be in a couple seasons with the Warriors. Unfortunately, Golden State is in a win-now mode and Wiseman looked a little lost on the court at times. He only played three collegiate games at Memphis and struggled to adjust to the pace at the NBA level.

His upside is still worth investing in with his 7-foot-1 frame and excellent shot-blocking mechanics on defense. There would be room for growth over time with the Wizards. The two stars of the team, Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook, are both ball-heavy guards and not a lot would be expected of Wiseman offensively. 

Wiseman is rehabbing a meniscus injury and will hopefully bring some presence in the lane with the return of Klay Thompson next season.

Actual pick: Jalen Smith, Phoenix Suns

Pokusevski’s draft slot: No. 17, Oklahoma City Thunder

2020-21 stats: 8.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.2 apg

The Suns are in the Western Conference finals for the first time since the 2009-10 season and their actual No. 10 pick, Smith, hasn’t been a factor in any of the postseason games. Pokusevski, originally from Serbia, had a slow start to his rookie season, but quickly picked things up for the Thunder toward the end of the season. 

The 7-foot forward can extend his game past the 3-point line, hitting six 3-pointers in his final game against the Los Angeles Clippers. At only 19 years old, Pokusevski could have given solid bench minutes for Deandre Ayton and has a sold pick-and-pop game that would have complemented veteran point guard Chris Paul.

Actual pick: Devin Vassell, San Antonio Spurs

Quickley’s draft slot: No. 25, New York Knicks

2020-21 stats: 11.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.0 apg

Quickley entered his rookie season and showed off exactly what he had been working on in the eight-month extended time leading up to the draft. His floater in the lane is definitely the best in the rookie class and one of the best shots for a small guard in the league. He exuded confidence early in the season, letting shots fly from all over the court and impacted the game no matter how many minutes he played each night.

Three years ago, he was coming off the bench at Kentucky and averaged only 5.2 points per game. Fast forward to his sophomore season in Lexington where he was the leading scorer in the SEC and then was a first-round draft pick. Quickley is a phenomenal shooter with a high release and would have been an excellent option on the wing alongside Dejounte Murray and Lonnie Walker.

Immanuel Quickley showed off how his floater in the lane is definitely the best in the 2020 rookie class. (Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports)

Actual pick: Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento Kings

Bane’s draft slot: No. 30, Memphis Grizzlies

2020-21 stats: 9.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.7 apg

Bane’s biggest criticisms coming into the 2020 draft were his size and length at the guard position. He’s listed at 6-foot-6, but has a 6-foot-4 wingspan. A lot of teams were worried about how he would defend the perimeter. Well, he did just fine in his first season in Memphis. Bane stole the ball 50 times and was a key rotational player for the Grizzlies during the postseason.

Bane complements Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks well, and he could have had the same impact in Sacramento playing alongside De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield. He finished the season shooting 43.2% from 3-point range and averaged less than one turnover per game for the season.

Actual pick: Kira Lewis Jr., New Orleans Pelicans

Anthony’s draft slot: No. 15, Orlando Magic

2020-21 stats: 12.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.1 apg

Anthony’s role in Orlando expanded immensely once Markelle Fultz went down with a season-ending torn ACL. Anthony rose to the occasion and hit two game-winners in his rookie season and had a season-high 37 points in his last game against the 76ers. 

Anthony is an extremely competitive guard who will have a long career in the NBA. He could have provided support to Lonzo Ball in the backcourt this season, and we would have undoubtedly seen some lobs to Zion Williamson in transition, where Anthony is most dangerous. With reports surfacing that Williamson’s family is unhappy in New Orleans, it’s up to the front office to make some changes and bring in some players who will turn around the franchise and keep their star player happy.

Actual pick: Aaron Nesmith, Boston Celtics

Maxey’s draft slot: No. 21, Philadelphia 76ers

2020-21 stats: 8.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.0 apg

Maxey was instrumental in the Game 6 win over the Atlanta Hawks that forced the Eastern Conference semifinals series to go the distance. He finished with 16 points and was a +12 coming off the bench. 

The former Kentucky guard was a little up-and-down at times this season, but he finished shooting 46.2% from the field and has a bright future as a shooting guard in the NBA. 

The Celtics took the Vanderbilt sharpshooter, Nesmith, at No. 14, but he struggled in his rookie season, averaging only 4.7 points per game. Maxey’s playmaking ability complements Jayson Tatum, and he might not have the shooting range of Payton Pritchard, but he could end up being a better long-term prospect down the road.

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