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It was a night when in reality I think most in the NBA would have preferred not playing games if possible. In fact, the emotion is still so raw in LA the Lakers-Clippers game tonight has been postponed. All across the league even in culturally regressed Oklahoma City—there was a hushed awkward feel as the game went on with the exception of Chris Paul.

Chris Paul sat and we saw what the Thunder looked like without their best player and easily their MVP this season.

What we saw was a group of young players missing their veteran point guard MVP who without him would have been the No. 11 or No. 12 seed in the West.

Such a bizarre week for Oklahoma. Kobe passes. Both Oklahoma senators prove me right with their cowardice not even considering witnesses in the Trump impeachment trial. Then new Tea Party governor Kevin Stitt bans any state funded travel to the state of California.

So I’m just sitting here wondering in reality should Oklahoma even have an NBA franchise in the first place. I don’t write this like some goofball extremist, but rather I sit here wondering how it is a place like Oklahoma even has an NBA franchise in a league in which around 75% of the players are black and 70% of the state voted for a president who was endorsed by David Duke.

Hypocrisy much?

I don’t know. One week removed from Martin Luther King Day something has gone off in me which says this isn’t right. Even in diversity challenged Utah they have politicians like Mitt Romney and Mike Lee who have openly challenged the grifter racist Donald Trump.

But in Oklahoma with the exception of Kendra Horn and former OKC mayor Mick Cornett… not a whisper, not a word. Not a hint of even a thread of any moral outrage at what is transpiring in our country.

Nothing.

What would happen if owner Clay Bennett a Heritage Foundation Republican to the core came out in public and torched Donald Trump as any reasonable person should have done by this time? What would happen if he showed that type of courage to have his black players backs in a market dominated by the racist Tea Party mentality?

I wonder if the young black Canadians Shai Alexander and Lu Dort think this is awkward and makes no sense whatsoever. I can’t imagine at this point being black and from Canada or even California wanting to play in a city like Oklahoma City.

At some point somebody in this market needs to show some courage and in reality it needs to be Clay Bennett. You won’t lose the tax cuts and the two uber right Supreme Court justices, but you need to say something publicly.

Mitt Romney from Utah is going to vote to hear John Bolton later this week in the trial. My guess is five or six other Republicans could do so as well. We sure as hell know the two cowards James Lankford and Jim Inhofe from Oklahoma won’t be two of those—but somebody in Oklahoma beyond a first term congresswoman needs to step up. If for no other reason than to show the two young black Canadians what kind of city they’re playing in?

This ain’t no Toronto for sure, we know that, but even the Deep South had Atticus Finch. Please say something, anything…Clay Bennett.

This was beautiful. This will be a good place for me to bring my tribute to Kobe to a pause for the time being. This interview speaks for itself.

It was a tumultuous relationship at times. Kobe the stubborn colt who refused to change in the beginning almost chased coach Phil Jackson off the Laker bench. The Kobe-Shaq thing was almost too much for the coach who would eventually win eleven NBA championships combined with Michael and Kobe.

Phil was a different coach. He wanted his players to be readers. He wanted them to meditate. He clearly equated winning with being a smart team and a clutch team. From a book I read on Phil he would give each player on his teams a book he specifically wanted that player to read and they would discuss the book in private as the season moved along.

At the ceremony I genuinely hope Phil speaks of what his relationship with Kobe taught him as far as life and his journey as a coach.

Kobe was not stupid. He didn’t buy in just to buy in. He was too prideful to walk that road.

I would love to hear Phil talk of this relationship when the emotion isn’t this raw.

I was thinking about Kobe last night after my post on here until I fell asleep. What memory do I most want to take with me in regards to Kobe and his life?

And the conclusion I came to was Kobe was completely his own man. He wasn’t Michael, he wasn’t Magic, and he wasn’t Tiger.

He was just Kobe.

This crazy driven brash kid who navigated the multiple stages of manhood for all to see.

The most compelling part of Kobe’s story is how he grew as a man. We all witnessed it. He wasn’t easy to play with at times. He probably should have won seven rings truth be told. There were times when Phil Jackson could only shake his head and hit the reset button. But in the end…Kobe Bryant got it.

If you look around the landscape of contemporary sport my guess is Kobe’s legacy as a man will dwarf those of Michael, Magic, Kareem, Tom Brady, LeBron, and Tiger Woods ten years from now.

Here’s why…because through the bad which happened in Colorado to the present as we mourn his death…Kobe allowed all of us to be a part of his life and share his journey.

In the end we loved what we saw even though we don’t get to see the second half of the story.

But in our hearts… I think we know how it ended.

Like everyone else I’m stunned. The next phase of Kobe Bryant’s life was one I was looking forward to with keen interest. Not as a coach or a basketball exec, but more to the point… where Kobe would take his life and what goals he would pursue as a man.

From the basketball part of me … Kobe is clearly one of the best ten basketball players who has ever played the game. In twenty seasons– five NBA championships and eighteen All-Star selections.

Every part of his game was excellent. Like Michael, he not only scored, but he defended, rebounded, and made plays all over the court.

Kobe is in every basketball junkie’s Top Ten Pantheon. Period.

But as his career moved along his game wasn’t what endeared me to him….it was his smarts as a human and his desire to become a better person.

Of the four stars who have played for the Thunder…three of the four list Kobe as the most influential player in their youth. Westbrook, Harden, and Paul George, all California kids, cite Kobe as the basketball role model they aspired to be.

But for me, as a fan, it was what Kobe said off the court which made this even sadder for me today. Kobe went straight to the NBA from high school in Philadelphia and yet he turned out to be one of the most interesting athletes of my life-time.

He was a smart, intuitive guy. He could speak intelligently about politics, movies, sports, ….whatever. He was interesting. Never at a loss for an opinion.

It wouldn’t have surprised me a bit if Kobe one day had run for mayor of LA or maybe even considered a bid to become a senator from California. Lord knows—that great deliberative body (sarcasm) could use some new blood.

I watched him once do this movie review of the Quinton Tarantino movie Django and he just floored me. He had me wanting to listen to his other takes on the society we live in currently. He was a rare contemporary athlete who’s skills as a human ascended as his skills as an athlete went into decline.

Very sad and tragic. My prayers are with his wife and three surviving children.

Kobe wasn’t perfect, none of us are. But what we saw was a human with a heart who aspired to be something special beyond the lines of play as a man.

God bless, Kobe Bryant.

For undrafted rookie guard Lu Dort the road to Oklahoma City started in Canada went through Arizona State and now the power hybrid guard finds himself in the starting lineup for the Thunder.

It’s kind of a magical story for a Thunder team which now stands 27-19 for the season while in reasonable pursuit of the No. 5 or No. 6 seed in the West in a year in which they were supposed to be tanking.

Five games ago after a sluggish homestand in which the Thunder showed little effort on defense—Billy Donovan inserted Dort into the starting lineup after a brief stay in the G League. The Thunder haven’t lost in those five games and head into Monday evening with a home game against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavs.

Dort has shown unique physicality, smarts, and toughness on the court for a rookie. And with each game you can see parts of his offensive game growing with confidence. You can call Dort a hybrid guard or you can call him a small power forward or you can call him a small forward. His defensive flexibility is a key to his career moving forward.

In reality–Dort has Russell Westbrook’s body with the role player’s game Westbrook had in college at UCLA. Dort is the perfect compliment to the three headed guard set Billy Donovan implements with Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schroder.

I don’t know…you look at this team and every time they need someone to step up…someone steps up whether it be Lu Dort, Diallo, fellow rookie Darius Bazely, Nerlens Noel, or veteran Mike Muscala.

With the trade deadline getting closer everyone expects Danilo Gallinari to be traded in the coming days, but amazingly this team just keeps finding a way moving forward and winning games in the rugged West.

What makes it even more astounding this team is doing it on the road with a 13-10 road record to date on the season after starting 1-7 on the road. Stick that stat in your back pocket.

Thunder host Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavs on Monday night. I would say this is the most consequential game of the season so far.

I’m not sure it does. In fact, I would write for a significant number of Americans character doesn’t matter.

In truth this goes beyond impeaching Donald Trump even if you had the votes. I completely disdain everything about Donald Trump. There is not one part of him I admire or respect. But just getting rid of Donald Trump doesn’t in itself solve all of this.

It would be a starting point perhaps. A signal of hope that what made America great is still there begging to be exposed again. But just getting rid of Donald Trump in and of itself isn’t the only issue.

This starts with making sure we never lose sight of what a unique privilege it is to be an American. To be a part of the greatest experiment in human freedom the world has ever experienced.

To be part of the last standing barrier between freedom and fascism.

If not for America who do you think is watching guard? You Trumpers think it’s China, Russia, or a European Union which is in disarray? Good luck with that.

Is Donald Trump guilty?

Of course he is. All his lawyers have to do is call Donald Trump, Mick Mulvaney, and John Bolton to the stand if he’s innocent. Those three witnesses could by themselves put an end to this.

But Trump’s Dream Team can’t do this because the truth isn’t on their side and it would be legal malpractice if they did so. Trump would sue his Dream Team if they were stupid enough to do this.

In reality the American public is the jury since an election is nine months away. There is no voir dire in a real election. There are no challenges made to excuse jurors or no legal tactics to prevent one from voting.

It is that unique time in American democracy when we the people are the jury.

This trial of sorts is still clearly rigged. In a real trial at the minimum Mulvaney and Bolton would be called to testify.

This requires only four Republican senators vote to do as such.

Just four. If these two witnesses take the stand it won’t matter if the Senate convicts Donald Trump. It won’t matter because nine months from now I do think the American public would do such unless Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren are the Democratic nominee.

Each of us should hope in our own unique manner that character does still matter in American democracy.

But for it to matter we have to participate and vote in an intelligent way.

Frank Galvin.. closing argument from The Verdict.

Justice in our hearts. The fervent hope for justice in our hearts.

Maybe the Trump evangelicals will riot and set a major American city on fire this week-end. Gosh….who could have seen any of this coming?

I wonder if this means Mike Pence won’t compare Donald Trump to Teddy Roosevelt again?

Nah…it’s okay, Donald. Just f–k her right there in the parking lot. It doesn’t matter. Give those stupid motherfuckers a tax break and two Supreme Court Justices and Hitler would have a 90% approval rating with them. No foul , no harm.

Yeah, I already knew he a star. My father from heaven whispered in my ear one night, ” Michael, me, boy—you’re watching Hakeem aren’t you?’

Of course I was. He stands out in a courtroom like Michael Jordan did on a basketball court.

He was born to be a trial lawyer. It’s like turning the lights low and listening to Tony Bennett.

I cried for a moment today when Hakeem challenged our character as a country. I did. I know my father did as well watching from above.

It was breathtaking.

Adam Schiff is a very accomplished trial lawyer, but the lawyer who has caught me eye so far is Hakeem Jeffries. He was brilliant yesterday as he deadpanned Trump’s version of The Perfect Call. He was brilliant. As soon as I can find it … it will be on my blog.

Hakeem gets it. No bullshit. He knows how to examine a witness. With Dan Goldman not present for this Senate trial… Hakeem should clearly be the second lawyer up after Schiff. In fact, from this point forward I’d sit the other five House lawyers down for the remainder of the trial. I didn’t see anything special in those five. My father would have run circles around these five….not even close. Kid you not.

There is an art form to witness examination. There is a beauty to it when it’s done the right way. Hakeem is a natural. I’d limit the Dem’s cross-examinations to Schiff and Hakeem only. This is like basketball when you sit the second unit down for the night. Cross-examination is when a trial is won. This is the time your two best lawyers have the ball in their hands.

Call it mens rea. Call it corrupt or criminal intent. It should start to be getting somewhat clear for all to see at this point unless you’re an utter dimwit.

Here’s Hakeem from this summer with Bob Mueller. You can tell from Mueller’s manner he was relieved someone excluding Schiff finally ‘got it.’

To me, observing a good trial lawyer is like watching an elite athlete. It takes my breath away.