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Good morning! The Cavs are presumably still playing basketball this evening which will hopefully provide us a nice outlet for a few hours.
The first sip
I have always found Cavalier legend Iman Shumpert really interesting. He is someone who is extraordinarily talented and creative in a way that gives him a different perspective on life and the game of basketball.
I found his recent comments in the below video interesting even if I don’t necessarily agree with them.
"Bron knows he ruined basketball. He thought he was making it better, i get it. Me personally, I love the NBA for the loyalty that I thought was there. He basically knocked the fourth wall down."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) December 21, 2021
Iman Shumpert on LeBron James pic.twitter.com/ss4WKH7DVR
The NBA is still a young league compared to the other three major sports so we don’t have the same level of historical context for it. They were still broadcasting playoff games on tape delay as recently as 1986 which is something you could’ve never imaged for an MLB or NFL playoff game at that time.
Michael Jordan didn’t get the sport off of tape delay, but he did popularize the game like no one else has and became the measuring stick for all who followed. The mythology built around Jordan helped basketball become what it is today and unintentionally started the ringzzz culture where we judge individuals solely on team accomplishments.
Treating basketball like it’s an individual sport where one person is responsible for a championship is what “ruined” it. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and the countless more who will inevitably follow them are just the byproduct of that thinking.
We don’t judge baseball or football players primarily on team accomplishments since we have a wider cultural historical context for what it takes to win a championship. The NBA may be 75 years old, but it is much younger than that in terms of it being a culture defining mainstay.
The NBA will stay “ruined” until we evolve past the ringzzz culture Jordan created by being a member of a great team.
Read this
More NBA Teams Are Using A Pick And Roll Hack: Sticking Two Guys In The Corners
Links of the day
Udoka playbook: Re-screen Hammers
The NBA Is Sending in the Replacements. Plus More Observations From Around the NBA
Adam Silver says there are no plans right now to pause the season amid COVID-19 surges
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