NEWSLETTER
Today is a good day (Well, not so much for MLB … but for the NBA).
• AND WE BACK!
After a 141-day hiatus, the NBA is finally back. 🙌
Coverage begins at 5pm ET on TNT. pic.twitter.com/g6cu9mJgWQ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) July 30, 2020
• For the first time since March 11th, we can watch a live NBA regular-season game. Over the last few months, I’ve felt like Chuck Noland, but rather than being stuck on some island in the Pacific Ocean with a volleyball named Wilson, I’ve been stuck in my apartment wearing a mask and rolling around in a puddle of hand sanitizer with my basketball friend named Craig (Michael: Well that was an image). When the Jazz-Pelicans game tips-off tonight, life will feel that much more normal. The world might still be an absolute hell hole right now, but if basketball can safely return under these circumstances, I feel a glimmer of hope for the future.
• Anyway, for a look back on how we the NBA got to where we are today, watch Vincent Goodwill’s essay:
From David Stern, to Zion, to Kobe…from the virus that stopped the world, blood in the streets and attacking of racism…to the NBA making its way back. My essay: pic.twitter.com/LPve8MsCsX
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) July 30, 2020
• Welcome back, Thibs!
He's one of us now. Welcome to the Mecca, Coach Thibodeau! #NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/ehk3VU7s2y
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) July 30, 2020
• I’m happy to see the guy back where he belongs – in a head coaching chair – but I can’t deny that it’ll feel odd to see him at the helm of the Knicks. While the Bulls-Knicks rivalry is a shell of what it once was, I’d still feel rather irked if he’s responsible for finally turning things around for that franchise. The one thing the Bulls have had going for them over the past decade or so is that they weren’t the worst major-market team in the league. Any time GarPax would make Bulls fans cry, James Dolan and his crew would be there to make Knicks fans cry harder. But as this offseason has stretched on, New York has crept closer and closer to competency. They’ve added a praised front office of their own and already beat the Bulls to a new (very good) coach. Solid stuff. I guess we can still give Chicago the edge when it comes to the actual roster, but who knows how long it’ll stay that way. All Thibs has done is win basketball games. All Jim Boylen has done is lose.
• Fact of the Day: Thibodeau is the first person to serve as the head coach for both the Bulls and the Knicks.
• Boylen has so many cringe quotes that we can make a bracket.
Tournament Of Trash 2020
Worst Jim Boylen Quotes
Round 1. Thursday.#TOT2020 #BAWL #BSN@bawlsports1 pic.twitter.com/aYqE3oOY40— Big DAVE (@BawlSports) July 29, 2020
• He also has so many cringe quotes, I can think of several that were snubbed from this bracket, including the time he told reporters he coaches by faith and that he wanted to average 35 assists. In case you missed it, I went through a bunch of his quotes from this season the other week to stress just how unqualified he’s proven to be. Proceed with caution.
• I still laugh every single time I hear Stacey King’s reaction:
"Believe it or not, Jim Boylen said [Luke Kornet] reminds him of Robert Horry."
Stacey King: "Whaaaat?" 😂
(via @StephNoh)pic.twitter.com/4ZdppyTOif
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) January 23, 2020
• Robert Horry has seven rings. Luke Kornet has never appeared in a playoff game.
• I’ll give this a try …
Use your phone's predictive text to see how the rest of the NBA season will go.
Now that the NBA is back, the [team name] will …
— SB Nation (@SBNation) July 30, 2020
• The results: “Now that the NBA is back, the Bulls will play the best game I’ve ever seen.” Well, considering the Bulls can’t lose in the bubble, I guess this isn’t wrong!
• LaVine’s trainer said it’s basically only a matter of time before LaVine is “one of the best well-rounded players around the league.” *a bunch of eyeball emojis*
Zach LaVine is Out Here Looking Like an Absolute Beast Again (VIDEO)https://t.co/Itd5Fmjr2w
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) July 29, 2020
