SMALL BALLERS GON LOOK NBA 23-24: SLENDERMEN ROY BATTLE

silverwheels

Thudner Up
Kinda felt like that news was a given now that expansion talks are heating up. Bennett & company don't care about the Sonics' history. They just wanted a team.

Bud Adams probably put it in his will that the Texans will never be the Oilers.
 

adchester

Naz Reid
Don't love it, don't hate it. All going to depend on how well Randle fits in and I have to admit I haven't watched him play that much.
 

Wuf

Desensitized and Willing
Fuck.

Always been a huge fan of rim protectors and I gravitated to Mutombo on that 2001 Sixers team big time. Becoming a Nuggets fan, he is obviously entrenched in the lore with the comeback against the Sonics in 94. Many long timers I've talked to will say they never should have let him go. My throwback Skyline Mutombo shirsey is my favorite Nuggets piece of clothing despite it being tattered in holes and no longer fit for public consumption.

Sad stuff. Finger wags all day
 

adchester

Naz Reid
Still to be seen how the trade plays out, but it's impossible to deny KAT is a class act. Will miss him in Minnesota


Not even 15 hours after having his socks knocked off by a trade that ended his nine-year run in Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns strolled onto Field 49N at the National Sports Center, a sprawling youth soccer complex that was playing host to over 300 teams from across the Upper Midwest for the Fall Cup. He had a promise to keep.

His world had been turned upside down. His phone had not stopped pinging with text messages. The trade that brought Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a protected first-round pick to Minnesota was still being finalized. And yet, there Towns was because long ago he had told one of the girls on the green team that he would watch her play one day.

He thought there would be plenty of time for that. Suddenly, there wasn’t. A flight was scheduled for the next day to whisk him away to New York, so he piled into the car with his father and his friends and headed to the field about 20 minutes north of downtown Minneapolis.

Dozens came by to pay their respects, all of them knowing he was on his way to New York. The kids smiled nervously and told him they were sorry to see him go. They said they wished he was staying.

“Maybe one day you will come back,” a young girl wearing a white jersey and bright green cleats told him.

Towns smiled widely. He encouraged them to focus on having fun and laughed when one of them told him he would see her on TV one day, just like him. He seemed like he needed this after a wild night that few saw coming.

And those fans who gnashed their teeth through the lean years started to rally around him in recent seasons. They pushed back at the “soft” label, pointing out that there was nothing soft about a player enduring what he endured on a personal level and never opting for the easy way out. They started to stand up for him when the pundits made jokes at his expense and they celebrated his return to All-Star form last season.

Off the court, the appreciation has never been in question. His coat drive every winter kept thousands of underprivileged kids warm. He would host families in need for movie screenings at the team facility around Christmas and everyone would leave with gaming systems and Beats headphones. He once saw a social media post that launched a fundraising drive for a man who had his car stolen for the third time in a calendar year. KAT just bought him a car.

Last season a local pizza place gained wide acclaim for putting a sign out front that said, “Honk if you love Naz Reid.” When the sign maker’s mother died in May, he posted a GoFundMe looking for help with costs incurred. KAT saw it and donated $1,500. After news of the trade spread, the sign was given a temporary new look.

I told him Nita had a tournament, and he said he would be there. They only had a few brief meetups over the years, but KAT would ask often about how they were doing, especially when Owen was experiencing some health issues that kept me from a few road trips in the playoffs. He vowed to come see them play one of these days.

“I gotta see my little ones,” he wrote. “Just reciprocating love.”

I didn’t expect him to make it. Not with so much to do in so little time. But he did. Much like his first day in Minnesota, his second-to-last day was spent decked out in Wolves gear and mingling with fans who couldn’t believe their luck to run into him. He took every picture that was asked of him, politely chatted with kids and grownups and gave hugs when they were offered. He told Owen he was proud of him for overcoming everything he had been through. The smile never left his face.

As Nita’s game ended, she came over to us in the corner of the field. He pulled her aside, wrapped her up in a hug and whispered in her ear for a minute.

There are two things I did not do that day. I did not ask him for an interview. It was easy to see he was still processing the news and the emotions were still raw. And I did not ask Nita what he said to her.

That was just for them.
 
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