Around the League

[Coolbreeze44]

I hate watching the Lakers. I see all these entitled fans who don't deserve a team like this and it pisses me off. They get a steady stream of franchise players coming into the franchise because of the market and brand. They should never have to rebuild, but when they do they simply write a couple checks and rebuild is complete. What's the point? Does a title under those circumstances mean much at all?

[TAFKASP]

That is pretty much why I quit following baseball. The best the Twins can hope for is to make the playoffs and then get their asses kicked by the Yankees.

At least in the NBA they have a cap to somewhat equal the playing field. The Wolves are at a disadvantage to be sure... And yet that isn't remotely their biggest problem or cause of their ineptitude.

[thedoper]

Zion and Lonzo are fun to watch together. Long term I think they're a great match.

[WildWolf2813]

That is pretty much why I quit following baseball. The best the Twins can hope for is to make the playoffs and then get their asses kicked by the Yankees.

At least in the NBA they have a cap to somewhat equal the playing field. The Wolves are at a disadvantage to be sure... And yet that isn't remotely their biggest problem or cause of their ineptitude.

the Twins lose to the Yankees because we have mind control over you guys, not just because we outspend you.

The Royals went to back to back World Series this past decade and won one. The Royals!

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I hate watching the Lakers. I see all these entitled fans who don't deserve a team like this and it pisses me off. They get a steady stream of franchise players coming into the franchise because of the market and brand. They should never have to rebuild, but when they do they simply write a couple checks and rebuild is complete. What's the point? Does a title under those circumstances mean much at all?

I'm not a Lakers fan at all, but they did have back to back to back number 2 overall picks and they turned that and a smart late round pick in Hart into Anthony Davis. They may not have built it the OKC way through the draft, but they used the assets they had to get a superstar. Frankly you should be able to build a contender out of 3 straight number 2 picks so while they got some help with the market with Lebron, they only got AD because of their rebuild efforts before Lebron got there.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I hate watching the Lakers. I see all these entitled fans who don't deserve a team like this and it pisses me off. They get a steady stream of franchise players coming into the franchise because of the market and brand. They should never have to rebuild, but when they do they simply write a couple checks and rebuild is complete. What's the point? Does a title under those circumstances mean much at all?

I'm not a Lakers fan at all, but they did have back to back to back number 2 overall picks and they turned that and a smart late round pick in Hart into Anthony Davis. They may not have built it the OKC way through the draft, but they used the assets they had to get a superstar. Frankly you should be able to build a contender out of 3 straight number 2 picks so while they got some help with the market with Lebron, they only got AD because of their rebuild efforts before Lebron got there.

Based on what's happened in LA the past few seasons... they lucked into Davis as much as anything else.

They've been mostly an embarrassing organization for most of the past decade with one controversy after another. If not for James choosing to live and play in LA (for branding reasons), the Lakers had no chance to use those #2 picks on Davis.

At the end of the day, Davis still chose to go to LA. And the LA market had more to do with it than the Lakers current management team.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Around the League... according to the media:

ESPN.com -- Zion vs. Lebron mentioned twice on main page.
theringer.com -- Two stories out of 9 on the front page about Zion vs. LeBron.
Yahoo.com might be the worst... two prominent features on Zion Williamson... and the most featured story about the Bucks is one that discusses GSW making the trade with MN to land Giannis down the line...

Meanwhile... Milwaukee (winners of 17 out of 19 and the #1 seed) vs. Toronto (winners of 17 out of 18 and the #2 seed) is not mentioned on TheRinger nor on the front page of ESPN.com... nor found on si.com.*

I'm generally not all that interested in player movement. But I really really really want Giannis to stay in Milwaukee. According to the national media, I'm literally the only person in the world who wants it.

*Granted, I think si.com is currently being written by bots.]

[Coolbreeze44]

I hate watching the Lakers. I see all these entitled fans who don't deserve a team like this and it pisses me off. They get a steady stream of franchise players coming into the franchise because of the market and brand. They should never have to rebuild, but when they do they simply write a couple checks and rebuild is complete. What's the point? Does a title under those circumstances mean much at all?

I'm not a Lakers fan at all, but they did have back to back to back number 2 overall picks and they turned that and a smart late round pick in Hart into Anthony Davis. They may not have built it the OKC way through the draft, but they used the assets they had to get a superstar. Frankly you should be able to build a contender out of 3 straight number 2 picks so while they got some help with the market with Lebron, they only got AD because of their rebuild efforts before Lebron got there.

If it wasn't this way they would just find a way to clear cap space and sign the next great player who wants to play in LA. The assets helped in this case but they don't need them to reload.

[Coolbreeze44]

Around the League... according to the media:

ESPN.com -- Zion vs. Lebron mentioned twice on main page.
theringer.com -- Two stories out of 9 on the front page about Zion vs. LeBron.
Yahoo.com might be the worst... two prominent features on Zion Williamson... and the most featured story about the Bucks is one that discusses GSW making the trade with MN to land Giannis down the line...

Meanwhile... Milwaukee (winners of 17 out of 19 and the #1 seed) vs. Toronto (winners of 17 out of 18 and the #2 seed) is not mentioned on TheRinger nor on the front page of ESPN.com... nor found on si.com.*

I'm generally not all that interested in player movement. But I really really really want Giannis to stay in Milwaukee. According to the national media, I'm literally the only person in the world who wants it.

*Granted, I think si.com is currently being written by bots.]

Indeed, spot on.

I heard an NBA pundit on the radio the other day who said the league wants Giannis to stay in Milwaukee. They fear if he leaves it would be a dagger the small market franchises wouldn't be able to overcome. While listening to it, my thought was since when does the league care about the small market clubs? I'm sure they would love him in New York or Miami to keep those markets relevant. It just seemed like a really backwards take to me. The league listens to the media, and the media is campaigning for his departure on a daily basis.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Around the League... according to the media:

ESPN.com -- Zion vs. Lebron mentioned twice on main page.
theringer.com -- Two stories out of 9 on the front page about Zion vs. LeBron.
Yahoo.com might be the worst... two prominent features on Zion Williamson... and the most featured story about the Bucks is one that discusses GSW making the trade with MN to land Giannis down the line...

Meanwhile... Milwaukee (winners of 17 out of 19 and the #1 seed) vs. Toronto (winners of 17 out of 18 and the #2 seed) is not mentioned on TheRinger nor on the front page of ESPN.com... nor found on si.com.*

I'm generally not all that interested in player movement. But I really really really want Giannis to stay in Milwaukee. According to the national media, I'm literally the only person in the world who wants it.

*Granted, I think si.com is currently being written by bots.]

Indeed, spot on.

I heard an NBA pundit on the radio the other day who said the league wants Giannis to stay in Milwaukee. They fear if he leaves it would be a dagger the small market franchises wouldn't be able to overcome. While listening to it, my thought was since when does the league care about the small market clubs? I'm sure they would love him in New York or Miami to keep those markets relevant. It just seemed like a really backwards take to me. The league listens to the media, and the media is campaigning for his departure on a daily basis.

The other take to it is that games aren't the top priority.

Player movement.
Big games from individual players.
Cool plays from players (Caruso's block on Ball was featured more prominently than the Bucks win)
Player fashion. Drama. Comments. Et al.

All of it is given more credibility (and clout) than actual wins and losses. And amid the constant onslaught of these types of stories being championed by the media... the media (and subsequently the fans) claim that the regular season is boring and too long and unnecessary.

Is this truly an organic take from fans... or as rabid consumers of all forms media... are we simply rehashing what we've been told and shown repeatedly?