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Anyone trending? I can see waiting it out to fill the last roster spot. But you think they would be pining to add a vet quick. And you don't need to see a vet in Summer leagues. (Baynes aside.)

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

Weird stat:

If Iguodala retires, the Warriors would temporarily have the same number of players 20 and under (5, counting Gui, so cheating a bit) and 30 and over (3) as OKC. The median age is not surprisingly higher for GSW (~25.5 Warriors, 23 OKC). Bonus: Looney is about 2 1/2 years older than SGA and three years older than Lu Dort.

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022Liked by Eric Apricot

Anthony Slater

@anthonyVslater

The Warriors are promoting assistant coach Jama Mahlalela to the front of the bench, per sources. He fills the Mike Brown vacancy. Kenny Atkinson bumped to lead assistant on Steve Kerr’s staff. Mahlalela was hired last summer. He runs the player development program.

8:50 AM · Jul 7, 2022

Edit: The front office was one of the most important priorities this off-season. Not surprised it was done so quickly and efficiently after Atkinson recommitted, but still good to clear up early.

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Jul 7, 2022Liked by Eric Apricot

Happy for Jama. I happen to know his family eSwatini. I should use that to get us inside information.

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That's awesome! Mahlalela was a huge steal - he could end up being the Ron Adams of the next phase of the dynasty (important signing that was recognized at the time, but national media forgets about him because he's not front-and-center all the time).

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So with the shocking revelation of Porter's true marital status (next on TMZ!), none of the offseason losses are 'inexplicable':

(Bjelica - back to Europe after a ring, more playing time/more offensive involvement; GPII - Northwest very appealing to him, more playing time; JTA - still in CA, more playing time, Klutch)

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GP2 and Porter left because the Warriors didn't want to pay them, the other explanations are just why they chose their specific post-Warriors destination.

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Based on Dray's pod I linked below Bjelica went back primarily for family reasons.

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I was fascinated, in '19, by the five-all stars-lineup. I don't mind trying it again next season: Steph-Klay-Wiggs-Melo-Dray. It looks one hell of an offensive lineup, to use cautiously and in critical moments.

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Melo? Carmelo Anthony????? This must be a joke. He was never as good as his hype and he is now one of the worst players in the NBA. There isn't anyone he can guard, he doesn't pass or rebound. The one thing he can do is score and he's gotten much worse at that. I'd much rather have Gui Santos, and I'm not kidding.

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Ha, agreed 100%

Although I’d *almost* look forward to your first post after Kerr benched Kuminga to bring in Melo’s old, slow ass, as it would bring new meaning to the phrase “EPIC RANT.” 😂

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If you don’t agree, say so. Politely. This is a social environment, and you don’t seem so young to need me to explain to you how to behave.

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It seemingly would, you do understand me well; except for the part where Kerr benches Kuminga. He does that a lot, for all kinds of reasons that are probably quite wise but are mysterious and infuriating to me. I kind of expect him to yank Kuminga after twenty seconds at this point -- but you're right, if it was in order to put Carmelo Anthony I would indeed chuck something at the screen. Like maybe Steve Kerr and his clipboard.

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Dray weighs in on FA signings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no5p4G9VOvc. Back half is well-wishes for departing Warriors, praise for Loon, and a welcome to DDV. Nothing earth-shattering there but some insights that are worth hearing IMO.

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GPII officially gone :( Good luck, Gary, we'll miss you!

Contract is 3/26, 3rd year is a player option.

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Ug. That's a bit lower than was reported earlier. I just can't escape the feeling that we're really going to regret that penny safe pound foolish decision.

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It's not penny safe though. You can't get mad at an owner who spends so much already for not spending 70m/yr on Gary Payton.

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OT: Who's gone first? update - Durant doesn't want to be with the Nets anymore, and he's technically gone because he's requested a trade, but he's stuck with them until a solution can be found. No one wants Boris Johnson, and he's technically gone because he resigned, but everyone's stuck with him until a solution can be found.

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OT, but I was reading about the "Players Only" NFT racket on the Athletic and I'm still trying to figure out why anybody would spend anything in "real money" to get an NFT and then complain when they didn't actually get anything.

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A transfer of wealth from later adopters to early adopters.

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Because they don't understand what an NFT is. To be fair, not many people really do. It's a really bizarre concept of trying to blend intellectual property (which by definition is typically infinitely replicable) with physical property (which is only a single, tangible item).

We're going to see a lot more misunderstandings and angry people who have lost a lot of money on NFTs before it's all said and done.

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I don't know if NFTs started out with the intention to essentially become a Ponzi scheme but they certainly feel like one now.

> Typically, Ponzi schemes require an initial investment and promise above-average returns. They use vague verbal guises [...] to describe their income strategy. It is common for the operator to take advantage of a lack of investor knowledge or competence, or sometimes claim to use a proprietary, secret investment strategy to avoid giving information about the scheme.

>

> The basic premise of a Ponzi scheme is "to rob Peter to pay Paul".

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I mean, a better metaphor would be penny stocks. You are buying ownership of an item that fluctuates up and down based on market demand, with little to no intrinsic value based on things like revenue and cashflow that traditional stocks have.

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I know he’s earned his fair share of hate for his behavior two years ago, but for the right prize (i.e. 50% cut on his salary, that is 6 mln.) wouldn’t Kelly MF Oubre be a good fit for our team? I mean, instead of collecting millions SGs?

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He’s making $12M. You’d have to trade something like Poole, Kuminga and Moody to get him.

That’d be cray cray.

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I’ll take the Tsunami Papi on my 3on3 team cuz I’ll just give him the ball, but I don’t think the dubs is the place for him to shine.

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He just doesn’t fit into the golden state box.

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Given we're the gold-blooded champs more like a guilded cage. 😄

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One man’s gilded is another man’s golden. 😊

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Next year?

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Yep, he is UFA, isn’t he?

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Then no way. Thanks Sabrina.

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I suspect we're down to vet minimum players. If the FO was going to spend more, we'd still have either OPJ or GP2.

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I believe we have a little cap space, around 10 millions, but don’t rely on me, I’m hopeless with contracts. Does someone shed some light on obscure maneuvers in the NBA hieroglyphical regulations?

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

We are way, way WAY over the cap. The cap is $123,655,000. The luxury tax threshold is $150,267,000.

If I have this right (some numbers are changing), our total taxable salaries are $173,304,092 but that does not include almost $12.5M for Looney and DiVincenzo because those deals are still pending. They make it close to $186M.

So we are more than $35.M above the luxury tax threshold with Loon and DDV, which, if we sign nobody else (and obviously we have to), will cost $79,246,192 in tax alone, plus more tax for Loon and DDV (not sure how much that is but a lot). We are in the repeater tax so it's really, really expensive.

We do have a Taxpayer Mid-Level exception for just under $6.5M but we'd have to pay a whopping big tax on that if we use it.

Hence, I conclude we probably won't use that TPMLE and will stay with vet minimum and/or rookie signings for the final roster spaces. I of course might be wrong but that's my guess.

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

Pretty close. I have the Dubs at $190M for next season. $324M total outlay.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JKTDRR_YbjX8S_xebph8qIEDd6b1-dBvlbeUHc1lD04

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

Joe and Peter basically own a baseball team...like they wanted with the A's at one point...man, could you imagine? A's could have kept all of their players for once lol

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We must take in account a sum for the extension s of JP and Maple Jordan. That’s very prudent to do soon.

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That won't take effect this season though.

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I'm pretty sure we used most of the TPMLE to sign DDV. So we only really have vet mins.

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The Immortal gets 3 mln/yr. Doesn’t he?

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

DiVincenzo’s contract is 2 years, $9.3M. Which means the amount left over from the $6.4 TPMLE is the same as a vet min, so effectively negligible.

As Attila notes, the Warriors are **over $60M over the cap** which is rather different from having $10M in cap space, haha. Fortunately, they don’t need cap space to re-sign Poole or Wiggins since they have Bird rights on both (and they don’t need to worry about either of them till next summer). But they do need to be wary of luxury tax penalties that could add $300M+ in taxes to a $200M-ish payroll.

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He’s getting paid 12.6million this year 2022/2023 season by the hornets. If he does well he’ll get paid even more the following year. I doubt very much Oubre is a possibility.

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Which is just a bit less than the $18-20M he was hoping for after leaving the Dubs. And he's not a starter for the Hornets either, which was another reason he didn't want to stay in the bay.

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10 days or whatever in and very little free agent action for the dubs. I am starting to wonder if we might sign Gui to a rookie deal (which I think would be like 5M cheaper than a vet min), or maybe roll into the season with 13 players and rotate guys through 10 days. I also am still a fan of signing Whiteside, but it’s pretty clear most of the minutes are allocated to our top 10 players and anybody that takes one of the remaining 3 spots doesn’t have a lot of NBA options.

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Can we sign Bazemore please? The other options in FA seem very uninspiring right now.

Also, can Marc Gasol come back? I wonder if he'd be slower than Loon lol.

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I agree. Isn’t the recipe sign Bazemore + let him walk = championship the next season? We just recycle this process a couple more times… especially when this year is a quasi down/developmental year.

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Will inviting him to training camp [getting his hopes up] and then not signing him to the 15th spot work too?

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I'm not trying to humiliate the guy. He did a good enough job of that himself. But I have no desire for him on this team. I could make space if the Ws decide he's the best option left. But I have to think that there are lots of guys with his skillset and he's already tarnished his biggest asset, which was the relationship with the franchise and other players (notably Steph). I just don't see what he brings that the Ws couldn't get in a younger, cheaper guy.

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The Bazemore era is over. He played reasonably well in his second tour with Golden State and parlayed it into a chance to play with LBJ. Goodie for him. But he's 33 and wasn't all that when he was younger. Ws need someone better.

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Marc Gasol? From Spain, that guy? Used to be in the NBA, a few years ago?

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I've been wanting Gasol on the Warriors for so long now

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"Waiting for Gasol"? I love Samuel Beckett

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Well, we did get Pao...

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

I always thought Pao - that coward - should have played in Sacramento.

Then their fans could have rooted for Kangz Pao Chicken.

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Probably, when you started wanting him, it was a good idea...but now, not good at all (it's because he's slower than molasses at 1° K.)

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BBIQ, shooting, and 7 footer passing all age well

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Baze has some good moments when he was with us, but I think we can do better

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Bazemore couldn't stay in the rotation with a bad Lakers team last season. He was kinda alright with us the year before but not all that good. Lots of turnovers, as I recall. Yes I think we can do better.

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And all of the excessive fouls when he wasn't turning the ball over. Drove me nuts. And then when he was asked about it, he didn't think he fouled a lot. Totally unaware.

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Damion Lee was better than Bazemore and we didn’t even keep him at the vet Min.

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Who on the market interests you right now?

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Awaiting release of JaMychle Green. Failing that I would take Juancho or even consider Blake Griffen. Bigger bodies than Baze

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When you can't even get on the floor playing on that Laker team, as bad as it was last season, I think it's time to move on from Baze.

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He's a limited player and he wasn't able to function in a pretty bad team. We can cover up his flaws much more.

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

His bad team was much, much worse with him on the floor than on the bench (-7.0 net points per 100). He’s a Steph backstabber, and he’s probably washed at 33. No thanks.

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Not debating that he was bad last year, but that we as a team can hide his flaws (low IQ) much more and accentuate his strengths (wide open corner 3 pt shots, on-ball defense).

He was good in his age 31/32 season, so I don't think he'd have a severe drop-off in just a year.

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

Yeah, it’s possible he’s not fully washed, but he’s definitely a Steph backstabber.

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If he's not washed he's in the (down)spin cycle.

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I 100% agree but I'm just petty like that. Also I never really liked Baze's game and didn't think he really fit our system on the court honestly. That's just me though.

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That I don't particularly care about lol.

I think racking up DNPs while watching the Warriors win the title is punishment enough for me.

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

Are you saying you find Bazemore inspiring?

(for what it's worth I think they are waiting for either an unknown they discover in Summer league - e.g. Yurtseven for Miami last year or a player who gets bought out once the FAA dust clears. pretty sure Baze burned his bridges here)

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More so than the other options, yes. If we get anything close to 20-21 Bazemore, that's a steal for a vet min.

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

Well, I don't think it looks very likely. If the front office is interested in him at all it is clearly as a last resort behind some other unknown outcome they are currently hoping for, because they could sign him now if they wanted (assuming he wants)

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Holy smokes; Mac McLung can freaking fly! 6’2” with a 47-inch vert. Check out these dunks: https://youtu.be/PePUaQ6789k

(No, I don’t think he makes the team.)

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He’d fight for minutes with splash bros, Poole party, MM, the Immortal Poet, even with Quinones… mmmh, doubtful move.

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These really make him seem like a GWH, but watching him against the Sea Dubs, he seems like an actual decent player. No way he makes the big squad, but he could conceivably get a 2-way if they convert Quindarry. Still a long shot tho, probably keep grinding in G League.

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He looked pretty good in his NBA debut with LAL vs. DEN. Check out the dunk at the end https://youtu.be/DRXRCy7uI_E

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

Yeah, exactly! He looks like a real player. Only problem for getting some traction with the warriors is the glut of guards and the already booked 2 way contracts. If things change, I like McLung tho.

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He is a high school mixtape legend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2NIZXzCviM

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He was wearing number 0 !

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Serious hops.

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Why has noone mentioned bledso, or did i miss it

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Eric bledso

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

Talented basketball player but a bit redundant on this roster and on the wrong side of 30. He would essentially be competing for minutes with Poole and Moody (ironically his wife's last name is Poole).

Using a slot for a backup big is a larger priority or another wing.

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If we’re targeting another smallish combo guard: give me Pat Beverley.

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If Beverley becomes available we need to do whatever it takes to get him.

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Is he available?

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No.

At least not yet since he was traded to Utah.

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Jul 7, 2022·edited Jul 7, 2022

Yeah, my assumption was that Utah is tanking for Victor and that he’ll be bought out. We shall see…

Donovan Mitchell is one of the many shoes that need to drop before the market fully settles down and teams can survey the buyout or TPE trade wire.

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Football player. Retired a long time.

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What's Josh Giddy doing playing so much in B2B summer league games... OKC taking very different approach than Warriors do.

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It's cold in Adelaide right now.

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Because there's no danger of ruining the tank process in Summer League. :D

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author

I assumed they just wanted him to build chemistry with the new guys…

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https://twitter.com/juanonjuan10/status/1544829372003012608

Don't you miss 580/880 now JTA?

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That's why you drive a beat up car with "uninsured" painted on the side.

People will get out of your way.

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My dad and his brothers grew up in LA, and when they'd drive in traffic, the two non-drivers would stick their head out of a window on each side of the car and call out when the driver could merge so he could do it instantly instead of checking the mirrors. Not exactly proper driving technique, or entirely legal, but apparently they could zip through traffic pretty nicely that way.

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My dad used to say the reason he drive an SUV was cuz he had to take 880 to get to the warriors games. The road is in “slightly” better shape now.

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Wow - this reply was brutal:

If you're an NBA player you have no excuse to be in traffic. Dozens of neighborhoods west of the 405 where traffic is nominal. Be better.

That's a nice welcome.

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Hahah love the MJ reference to top it off

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580/880 both kinda suck too but not as much as LA traffic.

Now 280, that's a highway I might actually *miss* driving on if I hadn't in a while. Sooooo picturesque.

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Bay Area traffic is bad but it makes sense. LA traffic makes no freaking sense to me. It'll be clogged up at random times of the day without an accident or an upcoming merge/exit/bridge

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Lol. That’s spoken like a true NorCal local. One of they key things to learn as a small child from the bay is that the traffic sucks in LA.

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Technically Orange County. A whole other 50 miles from LA

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