Even in the dog days of the NBA off-season, there’re a lot of interesting tidbits of news and stories worth reading we don’t get to here at NBC’s PBT. And we’re bloggers, so we have an instinctive love of the bullet point. So we’ve combined them into one post that can get you caught up some news and notes around the NBA quickly.
• Sixers’ coach Brett Brown still believes in the rebuilding course the franchise is on. Of course, what else is he going to say at this point? The better question is: Does ownership still believe in that course? And for how much longer?
• On a day where one Muslim youth has been singled out for being smart and creative, it’s good to read about how people of many faiths in Oklahoma City worked hard to make Muslim Enes Kanter feel welcomed as part of the community.
• Is Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning the Magic vs. Bird of this era?
• Michael Jordan also has a lawsuit going in China over unauthorized use of his image, but things there are not going as well for him as they did in Chicago.
• The NBA players union organized a players’ workout session. Their new facility in New York will have a full gym and other amenities that will make this far more common.
• I hope to see this go through — the Bucks are discussing a $15 an hour wage floor and allowing unions at their new arena. My experience is most arena workers are good, hard-working people, and many are scraping to get by.
• George Hill may be the bellwether for how things go in Indiana next season.
• This story talks about Giannis Antetokounmpo, but I’m generally a fan of the idea that playing up the positional scale (i.e.,., going small) is better than the alternative.
• NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post criticizing Donald Trump. Trump handled that with a level of maturity usually reserved for middle-school bullies.
• Zach Lowe spent way too much time and effort thinking about and ranking NBA logos, but you have to read it.
• Al Harrington is hoping to land an NBA coaching job.
• Memphis is headed to one of my favorite spots for training camp.
• Recent draft picks Kelly Oubre Jr. of the Wizards and Terry Rozier of the Celtics recently signed with Adidas. Both will be wearing their shoes mostly on the bench this season.
• Nikola Pekovic is about to be the new president of Partizan Belgrade’s basketball club.