#thisleague of comebacks
Preseason games in the NBA, especially early in October, aren't exactly known for generating tremendous amounts of fanfare. Monday was an exception
There is obviously no precise way to measure this, but I sensed an unusually high level of anticipation Monday evening for a five-game slate of exhibition basketball.
An abnormal amount, frankly, of early October hoopla.
Kawhi Leonard — back.
Jamal Murray — back.
Michael Porter Jr. — back.
Damian Lillard — back.
Ben Simmons — back.
Also on show on top of all the comebacks: The NEW LAKERSSSSS. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley all played in the Lakers’ preseason opener against Sacramento under rookie coach Darvin Ham.
Monday Night Football never had a chance.
OK, OK: You have to have a pretty NBA-centric brain to even pretend to believe that, but I do. So I definitely reveled in the intriguing glimpses we saw of Kawhi and Ben and the Lakers’ considerable corner of NBA Twitter getting wildly excited about a solid first half for the purple and gold in what gradually devolved into a 30-point defeat in Ham’s debut.
It’s too soon for sweeping conclusions about anything we saw. I simply came away identifying strongly with the feeling my Cal State Fullerton alumnus pal Harrison Faigen of SB Nation smartly captured in this tweet:
Another comeback of note looms on Tuesday night’s four-game slate when New Orleans visits Chicago. (For the record: I will not be tuning in because Yom Kippur, holiest day on the Jewish calendar, starts at sundown.)
I’ll be back on the desk Wednesday night and, as I enter this solemn 24-hour period of reflection and atonement, have included links for supplemental reading to my last three pieces of note: 1) Monday’s look at the marketplace for the up-for-sale Suns; 2) my latest around-the-league notes compilation; and 3) a mashup of basketball storytelling and industry talk through the tale of my ESPN exit and a corresponding lost opportunity to take a “coaching” job with the Slovenian national team during its Cinderella summer of 2017.
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Shoe Surgery
I greatly enjoyed my recent foray into sneakerhead coverage with this piece on the looming return of Nike's Mac Attack mesh masterpiece from the mid-1980s, so I'm going to veer into that lane one more time to see how I fare.
Texas heat and humidity, as I've painfully learned over the past quarter-century, are no friend to sneakerheads. I'd estimate that I've lost five to seven glorious pairs from my collection in the past 25 years to what I can only suspect were unfriendly weather conditions that attacked the helpless foam midsole of cherished sneaks which I mistakenly thought were being stored safely.
Example:
At least that was an older pair of Air Trainer 1s that had some wear on them. I am gradually getting over that loss. I took it much, much harder a few months ago when I discovered a pair of unworn Air Trainer 1s in the original Chlorophyll colorway that were similarly corroded in a seemingly pristine box.
I was crushed. I didn't want to accept it. Then I had what seemed like a crazy idea: What if I could at least save the soles and have them transferred onto a supremely beat-up pair of Air Trainer Lows that I simply could not bring myself to say goodbye to.
Fortunately I know an incredible cobbler in Plano, Texas, who runs my go-to shoe hospital: Rico Shoe Care Center. I asked if he could transfer the soles from unwearable Air Trainers 1s to my dying pair of Air Trainer Lows.
Complicating the procedure: I always wear an 11 in Nikes and this pair of Air Trainer 1s, for reasons I can't recall, was only a 10. But Dr. Rico did it. He completed the sole transplant with results that left me giddy. Happy days.
Numbers Game
🏀 43
In the NBA's annual survey of its GMs, Milwaukee was picked as this season's title favorite, earning 43 percent of the vote. Golden State (25 percent) and Boston (21 percent) were next in line.
🏀 9
The full survey, compiled annually by NBA.com's John Schuhmann, can be found here. The GMs, as Schuhmann later tweeted, have correctly picked the champion only nine times in the 20-year history of the survey.
🏀 3
In the aforementioned survey, GMs voted Dallas’ Luka Dončić as the league’s second-best point guard behind Golden State’s Stephen Curry, its No. 2 shooting guard behind Phoenix’s Devin Booker and its third-best small forward behind Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant and Boston’s Jayson Tatum — three different positions. Dončić was the GM’s top choice to win MVP honors (48% of the vote) over Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (34%).
🏀 8
Denver's Calvin Booth received a contract extension Sunday to formally cement him as the lead shot-caller in the Nuggets' front office after the departure of Tim Connelly to Minnesota. Booth is one of eight Black top decision-makers in the NBA alongside Cleveland's Koby Altman, Dallas' Nico Harrison, Phoenix's James Jones, Houston's Rafael Stone, Toronto's Masai Ujiri, Detroit's Troy Weaver and San Antonio's Brian Wright.
🏀 35
After joining the Bulls on a four-year, $85 million contract in the summer of 2021 via sign-and-trade, Lonzo Ball appeared in just 35 games and recently underwent a second surgery in the past nine months on his left knee. The latest projections suggest Ball is unlikely to return to the lineup for Chicago until the calendar flips to 2023.
🏀 71
We don’t do birthday or On This Day items too often, because there are zillions to keep track of, but I couldn’t resist this one when I saw it Tuesday morning as I was assembling this week’s Extravaganza. Young Marc Stein absolutely loved Truck Robinson … for his name as much as his rugged rebounding. Happy Birthday, Truck!
🏀 200
An estimated 200 scouts from throughout the NBA will be in attendance Tuesday and Thursday when top French prospect Victor Wembanyama and Metropolitans 92 from France’s LMB Pro A play two exhibition games in suburban Las Vegas against the G League Ignite and star guard Scoot Henderson. (Yom Kippur observance has prevented me from attending but I, too, will be eagerly awaiting the reviews from front office representatives leaguewide.)
🏀 20
If it's 20 seasons for the guy pictured below, that means it's (gulp) No. 30 for your humble correspondent. #dang
OK, if we're going to talk about basketball shoes...
I have big feet. Size 13, quad E width.
Every time I go to look for a fashionable basketball shoe to wear, I cannot find shoes in my size. But I wonder- is it because I'm unschooled in what to look for? Is there a secret code for buying basketball shoes when you've got big feet?
G'mar v' chatima tova. This newsletter has been very enjoyable