Rolling Stone article on NBA ant-vaxer player. Nothing new but this, if true, is so out there.
"Irving, who serves as a vice president on the executive committee of the players’ union, recently started following and liking Instagram posts from a conspiracy theorist who claims that “secret societies” are implanting vaccines in a plot to connect Black people to a master computer for “a plan of Satan."
The issue of Jordan Bell’s knuckleheadedness brings to mind one of the many reasons I’m excited about Kuminga and Moody, who both appear to be mature beyond their years. It seems to me like you can be a knucklehead and be successful, but it’s quite a needle to thread.
It’s always seemed so crazy that NBA franchises depend so heavily on being able to determine how teenagers are going to perform under pressure, on and off the court. When I think about who I was at 19 and how I would have handled it….oh man.
I don't know, if we could trade Wiggins, Kuminga, Wiseman, Moody, Poole and a future 1st for Bradley Beale, couldn't we just sign Mulder, Payton, Thomas, Galloway AND BELL!!!!! #Curry'sPrime LMAO
Throw in whatever future draft picks needed to make people happy. Simmons, Wiggins, Bagley are all headaches for current teams. Addition by subtraction, each team gets to wave bye-bye to a problem. No one can argue that the talent trade for all teams is at least in the neighborhood. Perfect scenario, PHI meets GSW in finals. Wiggins can't play in San Francisco. Simmons is reborn, and SAC misses the playoffs, a match made in Heaven
“The Warriors connected Wiggins and Kuminga with a doctor in Oakland to help them further understand the vaccination and the benefits of getting it versus not getting it. Kuminga listened to the doctor and got the vaccine while Wiggins’ stance has not changed.”
@Apricot: :You answered your own question about Bell. He's talented enough, but he's a knucklehead. Given that he's show flashes on court, he must be a HUGE knucklehead to make teams think he's not worth the trouble.
Still, I'm always glad for a guy to get a second chance, and he's older now, so maybe he's matured?
Completely off topic but I have a question - I've got a potential bet for this upcoming season that, if Andrew Wiggins gets vaccinated, remains on the team and is able play 65+ games, that hell have a Defensive year close to what he did in 2020-21.
A Wolves fan thinks last year was an anomaly for Andrew and that he will revert back to his Minnesota days defensively.
I have some ideas of my own but wanted to ask you all.....what is the cleanest way, at the end of the season, to judge this?
Defensive Win Shares? Defensive Opp Field Goal Percentage? Do we take the average/median of his Minny stats as a baseline compared to last year with the Dubs?
I know this could be all for nothing if he doesn't get vaccinated, which would mean the bet is off if he doesn't suit up for the Dubs (or gets injured) but would appreciate your input nonetheless!
Stephen Curry when asked if he's talking to Bob Myers about Ben Simmons' availability: "Let's say, if you're not having those conversations, then you're not trying."
Seems like a reasonable group to compete throughout training camp and I feel like any one of them (or maybe none, though I think that's less likely) could qualify for that 15th roster spot.
I like GP2 especially because he's so specialized that you can see Kerr subbing him in for high-leverage quarter-closing defensive possessions. That's already more guaranteed value than other guys in this group.
The other time this 15th roster slot becomes relevant is when you have multiple injuries to the same position, and that's when it feels like we will desperately need another big. Like, imagine if both Looney and Green can't play a game; are you gonna see Wiseman, Bjelica, and Kuminga collectively play 48 minutes at C, maybe JTA in there too? Sounds like a struggle to me. I'm not sure Jordan Bell can do any more than the other guys on this list against the Steven Adams, Plumlee brothers, or Dwight Howard type players in the league, but he at least has the bounce to get rebounds, and his defense had potential last I saw. Honestly I am less frustrated with his inefficient tendencies than I was with Willey Cauley-Stein.
It's the same question if, say, Steph and Poole are both out: do we have the playmaking and ball-handling to manage without them? GP2 can definitely contribute there, though so can Chiozza, apparently.
It feels like this set of dudes is positioned to handle the scenario where Klay and Lee are both out; which, yeah, is more likely given Klay's start of season status. But it feels like that role is already well covered up and down the roster. Poole, Moody, JTA, Wiggins* etc. can probably do an adequate job filling in, though obviously those gold Antas are big shoes to fill [a bathtub with]. Regardless, I'm not sure a guy like Bradley does that much to move the needle there. (*Speaking of needles, I hope someone can move a needle into a certain Canadian player's arm so I can remove that asterisk above.)
Assuming they fill the final spot, I think it’ll be Bradley. Former 1st Team All Defense, can hit shots, can be a bit of a playmaker and has the most proven “NBA chops”. With all the youngsters, I think they don’t want to be in a position to have to depend on them.
I don’t think Mulder gets the final 2-way spot, but rather they pick up an emergency big body to stash with SCW.
I say, A. Bradley in the 15th spot, because basically is a good player, GP2 in 2way, because of his defense, say goodbye to Mulder, i wish he can dunk more and his defense is horrible, J. Bell is a good guy but he’s not exactly the big i think we need, i don’t know who is Galloway and Chiozza is already on a 2way contract , i haven’t a clue why 🤷🏻♂️
Unless they can come up with a magician with the ball, or a knock down shooter who can handle the rock, I'm going with D. Who's got the D without any question marks? GP2.
Rolling Stone article on NBA ant-vaxer player. Nothing new but this, if true, is so out there.
"Irving, who serves as a vice president on the executive committee of the players’ union, recently started following and liking Instagram posts from a conspiracy theorist who claims that “secret societies” are implanting vaccines in a plot to connect Black people to a master computer for “a plan of Satan."
https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEE3bNE5QkFjsCf5-YGLDIxoqGQgEKhAIACoHCAow9MSGCzCKpYQDMKGt7wY?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen
The issue of Jordan Bell’s knuckleheadedness brings to mind one of the many reasons I’m excited about Kuminga and Moody, who both appear to be mature beyond their years. It seems to me like you can be a knucklehead and be successful, but it’s quite a needle to thread.
It’s always seemed so crazy that NBA franchises depend so heavily on being able to determine how teenagers are going to perform under pressure, on and off the court. When I think about who I was at 19 and how I would have handled it….oh man.
I don't know, if we could trade Wiggins, Kuminga, Wiseman, Moody, Poole and a future 1st for Bradley Beale, couldn't we just sign Mulder, Payton, Thomas, Galloway AND BELL!!!!! #Curry'sPrime LMAO
SAC gets Simmons,
PHI gets Wiggins, Davion Mitchell,
GSW gets H Barnes & Bagley
Throw in whatever future draft picks needed to make people happy. Simmons, Wiggins, Bagley are all headaches for current teams. Addition by subtraction, each team gets to wave bye-bye to a problem. No one can argue that the talent trade for all teams is at least in the neighborhood. Perfect scenario, PHI meets GSW in finals. Wiggins can't play in San Francisco. Simmons is reborn, and SAC misses the playoffs, a match made in Heaven
From https://sports.yahoo.com/report-warriors-jonathan-kuminga-now-182229935.html:
“The Warriors connected Wiggins and Kuminga with a doctor in Oakland to help them further understand the vaccination and the benefits of getting it versus not getting it. Kuminga listened to the doctor and got the vaccine while Wiggins’ stance has not changed.”
Maybe when javale retires as a player then dubs can hire him as a nuklehead player development coach for bell
@Apricot: :You answered your own question about Bell. He's talented enough, but he's a knucklehead. Given that he's show flashes on court, he must be a HUGE knucklehead to make teams think he's not worth the trouble.
Still, I'm always glad for a guy to get a second chance, and he's older now, so maybe he's matured?
Completely off topic but I have a question - I've got a potential bet for this upcoming season that, if Andrew Wiggins gets vaccinated, remains on the team and is able play 65+ games, that hell have a Defensive year close to what he did in 2020-21.
A Wolves fan thinks last year was an anomaly for Andrew and that he will revert back to his Minnesota days defensively.
I have some ideas of my own but wanted to ask you all.....what is the cleanest way, at the end of the season, to judge this?
Defensive Win Shares? Defensive Opp Field Goal Percentage? Do we take the average/median of his Minny stats as a baseline compared to last year with the Dubs?
I know this could be all for nothing if he doesn't get vaccinated, which would mean the bet is off if he doesn't suit up for the Dubs (or gets injured) but would appreciate your input nonetheless!
***
Stephen Curry when asked if he's talking to Bob Myers about Ben Simmons' availability: "Let's say, if you're not having those conversations, then you're not trying."
https://twitter.com/thewarriorstalk/status/1441799356324061190?s=21
Seems like a reasonable group to compete throughout training camp and I feel like any one of them (or maybe none, though I think that's less likely) could qualify for that 15th roster spot.
I like GP2 especially because he's so specialized that you can see Kerr subbing him in for high-leverage quarter-closing defensive possessions. That's already more guaranteed value than other guys in this group.
The other time this 15th roster slot becomes relevant is when you have multiple injuries to the same position, and that's when it feels like we will desperately need another big. Like, imagine if both Looney and Green can't play a game; are you gonna see Wiseman, Bjelica, and Kuminga collectively play 48 minutes at C, maybe JTA in there too? Sounds like a struggle to me. I'm not sure Jordan Bell can do any more than the other guys on this list against the Steven Adams, Plumlee brothers, or Dwight Howard type players in the league, but he at least has the bounce to get rebounds, and his defense had potential last I saw. Honestly I am less frustrated with his inefficient tendencies than I was with Willey Cauley-Stein.
It's the same question if, say, Steph and Poole are both out: do we have the playmaking and ball-handling to manage without them? GP2 can definitely contribute there, though so can Chiozza, apparently.
It feels like this set of dudes is positioned to handle the scenario where Klay and Lee are both out; which, yeah, is more likely given Klay's start of season status. But it feels like that role is already well covered up and down the roster. Poole, Moody, JTA, Wiggins* etc. can probably do an adequate job filling in, though obviously those gold Antas are big shoes to fill [a bathtub with]. Regardless, I'm not sure a guy like Bradley does that much to move the needle there. (*Speaking of needles, I hope someone can move a needle into a certain Canadian player's arm so I can remove that asterisk above.)
Stone-cold lead-pipe lock prediction:
Assuming they fill the final spot, I think it’ll be Bradley. Former 1st Team All Defense, can hit shots, can be a bit of a playmaker and has the most proven “NBA chops”. With all the youngsters, I think they don’t want to be in a position to have to depend on them.
I don’t think Mulder gets the final 2-way spot, but rather they pick up an emergency big body to stash with SCW.
I'll guess it ends up being GP2 and then Mawugbe or another eligible big on the two-way. Decently sized standard errors on both predictions.
How many 2way contracts can we have?
I say, A. Bradley in the 15th spot, because basically is a good player, GP2 in 2way, because of his defense, say goodbye to Mulder, i wish he can dunk more and his defense is horrible, J. Bell is a good guy but he’s not exactly the big i think we need, i don’t know who is Galloway and Chiozza is already on a 2way contract , i haven’t a clue why 🤷🏻♂️
How long until they fix Iggy's birthdate on that official roster?
Unless they can come up with a magician with the ball, or a knock down shooter who can handle the rock, I'm going with D. Who's got the D without any question marks? GP2.