Scottie Pippen On The Michael-LeBron Debate

With all due respect to Isiah Thomas … I don’t see a debate on this issue. The debate I think which could be in play is if NBA play is resumed this season and the LA Clippers with Kawhi Leonard beat LeBron’s Lakers in route to Kawhi’s third ring with three different teams. Then we have a real debate.

In 2014, Kawhi’s San Antonio Spurs shocked the world by dismantling the Miami Heat Super Team. Kawhi was Finals’ MVP. Not LeBron, not D Wade. Not Timmy Duncan

Kawhi then went on to win his second ring with Toronto last season and another Finals MVP trophy.

This is why I want Adam Silver if nothing else to put in place a four team tournament with the Lakers, the Clippers, the Bucks, and the defending champion Toronto Raptors. I could care less if the Oklahoma City Thunder play another game. The Thunder aren’t a contender beyond the first round and it was a nice little feel good season with the Thunder going 40-24 in a season in which we all thought they’d be tanking after the departure of Jerami Grant to Denver.

I’d pay extra cable fees to see this four team tournament.

As a passionate NBA fan who’s been watching the league since say 1963 or so when I was six years of age….. I want to see LeBron, Kawhi, and Giannis square off. I don’t care if there are fans in the arena or not.

As far as Isiah…he was a feisty little shit of a terror on the floor. I have him No. 15 on my all-time list ahead of Scottie, ahead of Charles Barkley, even ahead of Cupcake for the time being. But Isiah was a train wreck as a GM later in his career.

There is no way in hell I would take LeBron over Michael. No way.

As Scottie Pippen accurately states in this video he took away from Michael’s assist totals because Scottie was the Bucs’ point forward. Michael would run the break with Scottie dishing the ball.

Michael Jordan was 6-0 in NBA Finals play.

Isiah, please. Enough already.

Michael Jordan On Russell Westbrook

As I watch this film on Michael Jordan….I can’t help but keep thinking of Russell Westbrook.

What was it in Michael which allowed him to give the ball to John Paxson and Steve Kerr in those two critical championship windows which Russell couldn’t quite come to terms with in Oklahoma City?

Maybe just too much of the competitive dog in him. Maybe. I laughed last night watching Michael pitching pennies. My best man in my wedding is like that. We almost got in a fight once skipping rocks on an Illinois River float trip. We were betting on most number of skips.

I like Westbrook. I want him to win a championship. I want him to cement his legacy. He was good to the people of this city even if he wouldn’t answer Berry Tramel’s questions at the end. BTW…I like Tramel as well and he’s the one guy in this market who in retrospect Russell should have opened up to from a media standpoint. The nonsensical way Russell handled that whole Little Nick Gallo fiasco was Little League and that’s on Russell. Kind of like me finally getting banned on Daily Thunder.

I’ve thought about Russell in Houston all season long as he tries to find that missing piece of his game.

I truly think Bennett and Presti did the right thing by moving Russell to Houston, but I like the way they put Russell in a place where he still has a chance to flirt with a championship. He earned that much by what he did for this city.

Michael Jordan: The Greatest Ever

Isiah Thomas put out a little list this week where he asserts Michael Jordan was No. 4 on his list of all-time NBA greats. Isiah was a great player with two rings and a college national championship at Indiana, but I don’t put much stock in his little list this week.

Michael Jordan was easily the greatest player of all-time and his game would easily transcend to the present because of his ungodly athleticism coupled with his equally awesome will to win.

That will to win with Michael puts him in rarified air. In fact, on my list it is what pushed Michael past both Kareem and Bill Russell.

Michael won six NBA rings and was 6-0 in NBA Finals play. Bill Russell won nine NBA championships in eleven seasons of play. Kareem won a title with the Bucks then went on to do his iconic thing with the Lakers.

These are the top three players on my Pantheon of all-time…. 1 Michael, 2 Bill Russell, 3 Kareem, 4 LeBron, 5 Kobe, 6 Magic, 7 Bird, 8 Hakeem, 9 Timmy, 10 Dr. J, 11 D Wade, 12 Shaq, 13 Dirk, 14 Kawhi, and 15 Isiah

One of the things I genuinely wanted to see this season was the eventual clash of Lebron vs. Kawhi in the Western Conference Finals. I wanted to see if Kawhi could move up on my list.

Next season I want to see where Kevin Durant’s game is in the East after the rehab from the Achilles injury. Klay Thompson is my favorite player in the game currently—same thing with him. I want to see if his defense will remain top notch after the ACL injury. Same thing with little Steph…can his body stay intact after this season of rest?

Westbrook and Harden? Can they learn how to bring their usage down and become championship players? I was seriously interested in watching the Rockets in post season this spring.

But maybe we’ll still get a tournament albeit without fans in the arenas. I’m still hopeful of a post season.

But for right now…it’s living in the past with Michael Jordan—the greatest ever.

The Last Dance resumes tonight with parts 5 & 6.

After Dark Karaoke

It’s been fascinating these past two in Oklahoma watching people attempting to get back to living. Even in rogue red Oklahoma where gravity is fake news…you can see the fear in the faces.

To me…that’s the stunning thing here…most of these people voted for Trump, but you can tell they believe Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx.

I’m very rigid on my spacing. Very disciplined. I even have a special orange Thunder mask to wear in certain settings.

And as much as I want to go to the Waffle House or the Lake Hefner Grill or Vito’s….I don’t see that happening with me just yet.

I’m a Libra. We’re cautious. We watch. We take it in slowly before acting.

This is a great song. Maybe my favorite by Sting.

Be kind to others. Go that extra inch. Even if they banned you from their human rabble message board. Be like Michelle Obama and go high.

Smerconish Saturday

A very solid show this morning with two scientists from Stanford giving their takes on how to move the U.S. economy into a re-boot mode using the data available.

Again…I will write this—you have to get the U.S. economy going again if you want to continue programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. It will be the lower segments of our economy who now more than ever will need these social safety net programs to get thru this pandemic.

You have to pinpoint and calibrate who’s most at risk and to isolate those specific segments as opposed to cratering the very economy which funds the three programs I mention above.

Like it or not the $23 trillion GDP U.S. economy is based on human consumption of goods and services. Just be smart about it and use the science in a smart way.

The Smerconish question of the week was one which I saw coming earlier this week with my disdainful view of Elizabeth Warren’s trashing of Michael Bloomberg and Al Franken.

Should Joe Biden be required to give full access to his archives at the University of Delaware to search for anything related to Tara Reade?

The results:

55% voted yes

45% voted no

I voted yes and just so we’re clear the NY Times Editorial Board voted yes as well.

You can’t play it both ways. The standard was set when the Elizabeth Warren faction removed Al Franken from the U.S. Senate.

Have a nice week-end as we all explore our new normal.

After Dark

This song was sent to me from the Daily Thunder zealot who banned me for a seemingly innocent comment. She must be reaching out in a pang of confused guilt and remorse. It’s a beautiful song and when I’m sent a beautiful song… I in good conscience feature it on the After Dark segment of my blog.

My personal growth since the banning at Daily Thunder is almost biblical. It was the best thing which could have happened to me. I now at times even amaze myself with my new found emotional inner peace.

Thanks for the song. I’m flattered you sent it to me instead of Little Nick Gallo or Low Energy Royce Young or one of the dimwits who now run what used to be my iconic blog. Que sera, kid.

Donald Trump’s Great Depression Dashboard Numbers

As the U.S. attempts to reboot its economy I think we should fairly judge Trump’s dashboard numbers moving forward into November as far as the economy.

I’ll call this Trump’s Economic Dashboard.

Trump’s Dashboard as of May 1, 2020:

Dow 24,345.72

Job loss in the past six weeks 30 million

Approximate unemployment 17%

GDP 1st quarter -4.8%

Debt added to the U.S. Treasury so far 4 trillion coronavirus related-7 trillion overall to date

There won’t be any need for snarky comments. The data will speak for itself in the coming months one way or another. Next week we’ll get into the U.S. ratio of current outstanding debt in relation to 2020 projected GDP. It was at 107% in December 2019.

Coach Bill Laimbeer Would Bring Much Needed Toughness to the Thunder

Billy Donovan is a really nice guy, but since this isn’t the Daily Thunder here– and I’m not owned by Clay Bennett, Sam Presti, and Little Nick Gallo… I write honestly on my modest blog.

The Thunder are going nowhere with Billy Donovan. He’s too nice. He’s the Ward Cleaver of NBA coaches. He’d be a good HOA president in North Edmond, but I don’t think he’s what the Thunder need.

What the Thunder need is for someone to transform Steven Adams into a stretch five who can shoot threes and can bring some genuine nasty to this Thunder team of guys who are too nice.

Why not hire Bill Laimbeer? He was one of the innovators of the stretch fives who can shoot the three. Laimbeer and Jerry Lucas of the NY Knicks were both ahead of their times.

Sam Presti has to get beyond this bullshit where he puts an NBA team on the floor who all attend the faux evangelical white churches in Edmond. Deep down these make believe Christians in Edmond who all do whatever Trump tells them to do would love to have a team like the Bad Boy Pistons.

Get some shooters and get some brawlers would be my advice and allow Coach Laimbeer to show these white people in Oklahoma how you win championships in the NBA.

Why not?