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Good morning. It's Friday! Let's basketball.
THE SPECIAL MAN: Paul Flannery spent time in New Orleans. The end result: this marvelous piece on Anthony Davis and the legitimacy of basketball in the Big Easy. What a wonderful story. It exudes New Orleans.
REST IN PEACE, EARL LLOYD: It feels as though we're losing major basketball figures at a painfully rapid pace. Earl Lloyd is a giant among them, the first black player in the NBA. Lloyd broke the color barrier with the Washington Capitals in 1950, and the league rather quickly integrated. (In fact, two other black players, Boston's Chuck Cooper and the Knicks' Sweetwater Clifton, appeared in games the day after Lloyd's debut.
To learn more about Earl Lloyd's story, I recommend listening to a 2010 interview with Lloyd and Claude Johnson from the Black Fives Foundation as well as reading Marc Spears' Denver Post profile on Lloyd from 2005.
ENTER THE CAVS: Well that's one helluva statement. The Cavaliers beat the Warriors on national TV thanks to 42 from LeBron. Confidence builds in The Land. The Warriors had the best highlight, though, as the Warriors tend to do. This one? Andre Iguodala with an extremely rude crossover, sending Matthew Dellavedova careening into space, and finishing with a behind-the-back dropoff.
THE LATE GAME WAS GREAT, TOO: The Thunder beat the Suns in a thriller because Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka insisted upon it.
YOU KNOW WHO ELSE IS NOT NICE? This dude snubbing Kevin Durant's dap request.
AND I HAVE A HOUSEBOAT TO SELL YOU IN THE GOBI: Derrick Rose will have a procedure to repair his meniscus on Friday, and could return this season.
SURPRISE! ESPN Dallas' Tim MacMahon reports that it's quite unlikely that Rajon Rondo will be a Maverick next season. It's really quite unfortunate this hasn't worked out between Rondo and Rick Carlisle. Speaking of Rondo ...
OF COURSE: Ken Berger reports that the Lakers are Rondo's team of choice in free agency. Because his Celtics legacy isn't weird enough already.
WELL: The Spurs are 2-5 on this year's Rodeo Trip. That ensures that with two games remaining it will be the worst Rodeo Trip ever.
THE NEW TEMPEST: Michele Roberts did an interview with espnW's Kate Fagan, and talked about how weird it is that there's always a bunch of reporters hanging out in the locker room after a game, not asking questions. She implied some reporters eavesdrop on her conversations with players in the locker room, or the players' conversations among themselves. She acknowledged that suggesting a restriction on media access to players is "very dangerous," but did express concern for the current setup.
Some reporters (men and women) blasted her. Some were simply dismissive. I'm not linking to any of them because that could only distract from the issue -- there's been some thoughtless language, to be honest. We're back to the debate we had a bit when Russell Westbrook was Marshawning the media: if fans pay the NBA players' salaries, don't players owe it to the fans to respect the media and give them all the time and access they require? My position: media coverage is complementary to actually basketball games, not vital. There's a reason I pay $200 a year for League Pass and $40 a year for Sports Illustrated, you dig? I'm glad good reporters spend hours in locker rooms and I do pay for that coverage. But as a fan, I'm primarily interested in what happens for the two hours between the tip and the buzzer ... not what is said an hour later.
Of course, take whatever I say with a grain of salt because I don't actually cover games. I have little to no first-hand knowledge of that situation and how it can be improved for all sides.
KOBE ON DWIGHT PART 17: Kobe says Dwight Howard resented the serious locker room culture he had enforced in Los Angeles, a mood Kobe says is vital to winning a title.
THE ANALYTICS DEBATE: Good pieces from Bryan Curtis (looking beyond the NBA) and Howard Beck (focusing on the league).
THE BEAS IS BACK! 10-day with the Heat.
HEY YO: Llamas.
Happy Friday. Take it easy this weekend, alright? See you next time.
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