Grind City Media’s Lang Whitaker and Kelcey Wright Johnson weigh in on the most pertinent news from around the NBA. What’s lit? What’s lame? Find out each week right here.
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Monday, February 15, 2021 9:37 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: IMHO
Kelcey:
While I try and thaw out from a trip this morning to gas up my car, I keep thinking back on last night’s Grizz/Kings game, and a play that happened down the stretch. Kings big man Chimezie Metu caught a pass in the dunker spot, then went up and dunked it over Jonas Valanciunas.
Then like thirty seconds later, Jonas immediately got some payback against Cory Joseph…
All this got me thinking about in-game dunks. Part of what makes an in-game dunk great is the embarrassment factor. And Jonas’s dunks both had that. Other than Vince Carter in the Olympics, my two favorite in-game dunks of all-time both have that touch of embarrassment.
First is Tom Chambers on Mark Jackson, when Chambers put his knees on Jackson’s shoulders…
Hand down, man down! And of course, there was Shawn Kemp on Alton Lister, which was so bad that the Reignman pointed at Lister…
(Years later I asked Shawn about this dunk, and very casually he said, “Oh, the Lister Blister?”)
What about you? What’s your favorite in-game dunk of all-time?
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Date: February 16, 2021 at 9:10 AM CST
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
Hey Lang,
I just came inside from playing in the snow — I love this weather! And honestly, so do Jonas Valanciunas and Cory Joseph, I bet, from their time playing up in Toronto together. I liked JV’s tenacity on that play but I liked even better that he joked with CoJo about it after the game.
When it comes to dunks, I have to agree; the Vince Carter Olympic dunk was the most epic. I had a huge poster of it in my room growing up. And Ja Morant tried to re-enact it last year jumping over Kevin Love and if that would have gone in it would have been at the top of my list. Actually, it probably would have been my entire list.
But because it didn’t … The first in-game dunk that pops up in my mind actually happened just yesterday in the G-League bubble. Did you see the Mad Ants’ Devin Robinson catch a body against the Austin Spurs?
But, the first insanely embarrassing in-game *NBA* dunk that comes to mind was in a game in 2013 between the Detroit Pistons and the LA Clippers, back when DeAndre Jordan could jump, float, jump some more and slam it down. Tell me you remember this one!
I have like 20 more that I could think of and they’re literally all Blake Griffin dunks. In the first four years of his NBA career, he had some of the most disrespectful, embarrassing, take your soul dunks ever. He was always out there looking for a defender to poster.
Who do you think was the best in-game dunker in their prime? I would maybe say Vince Carter because he had a bunch of really dope ones, but he just didn’t catch bodies the same way Blake did.
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2021 11:47 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: IMHO
Kelcey, this seems like a perfect time to bring up the Vince Carter Tape, as we at SLAM called it. The Vince Carter Tape was a mixtape, of sorts, featuring mostly Vince Carter in-game dunks, as well as the Olympic dunk from like a dozen angles, and a bunch of other random sports-related clips (Bruce Smith passing out on live TV, Mike Tyson press conferences, etc.) Someone who was a friend of SLAM at the time had procured this video, and we started watching it in the office, religiously. This was before the internet or YouTube existed, really, so this was as good as it got.
Now, of course, it’s on the internet. And it’s glorious…
We eventually did a story where Ryan Jones sat down with Vince and watched the tape together, which kinda brought it full circle.
I agree, Vince didn’t really catch bodies like the guys you mentioned, but watch that tape and tell me that when he was in his prime he wasn’t the best in-game dunker.
Kelcey, last night after the Warriors game, Draymond Green had some things to get off his chest. Draymond wanted to talk about trades, and double standards, and the way players are treated differently than teams are when it comes to trades. His overarching point—and I’m condensing here so excuse me if I over-simplify—was that teams are allowed to talk about trading players without repercussions, while if a player says he’d like a trade, there’s a fine attached. Draymond said players should have the same rights that teams have, and that it isn’t fair.
He covered a lot of ground in his soliloquy, and while I think he was correct about some of it, to me he also missed a few marks. For instance, the Cavs didn’t come out and just say Drummond was getting traded; Drummond and his agent presumably worked with the Cavs to put out a statement that they were looking to move him.
Anyway, what did you make of Draymond’s speech?
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Date: February 16, 2021 at 11:02 PM CST
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
Hey Lang,
Yeah, I watched the video of Draymond a few times to really take in what he was saying and honestly, I understand his perspective. I think anytime any human being can speak that passionately about an experience that they’ve personally lived through, it deserves ears because he’s speaking his truth. There is so much that goes on or doesn’t go behind the scenes that we, as the public, aren’t privy to, so it was pretty interesting to see his side of things. Even taking a look at what you’re saying; *presumably* the team worked with his agent but Draymond brought up a point about Boogie Cousins learning about his trade during an interview and not from his agent. But you’re right too; trades don’t just magically fall out the sky either so I’m teetering on the line on this one.
But I think his overarching point on the double standard of professionalism is what kicked off the rant. The part that really hit me was when he touched on the mental health and well-being of the players because I think sometimes we (just everyone in society haha) forget that athletes get affected by outside sources the same way non-athletes do. Whenever I talk about this, there is always a smarty-pants on Twitter that says, “Yes but they get paid millions, so they’ll be ok,” but money doesn’t mean your mind and body is not the same as everyone else’s.
All that to say, I get what Draymond was getting at. And if he felt so strongly that he needed to speak for five minutes and get it off his chest, I’m glad he was able to. In addition to that, almost every NBA player that I follow on Instagram shared that video, so it must be a common feeling among NBA players.
Anywho… it’s currently 11:30pm on Tuesday night and ‘Gasol’ is trending on Twitter. Without looking, any idea why?
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2021 8:54 AM
To: Kelcey W. Johnson
Subject: IMHO
(First of all, it’s fun to do a column that relies on email when your email goes down! Shoutout to you and me for figuring out how to make this happen without our beloved Outlook!)
When I got your email last night, I was watching the Nets (without KD or Kyrie) complete a ridiculous comeback against the Phoenix Suns. I thought I’d seen it all, until Kyrie walked in last night carrying a huge stick. Perhaps a tribute to Moses (Malone)?
As for why Gasol was trending, I wasn’t watching the Lakers because they were playing the L-Wolves, and like I told you a week or so, somehow every time I sit down and turn on League Pass, I get tricked into watching the L-Wolves, who are not a very good team. Especially with Russell and Towns battling injuries this season and missing time.
ANYWAY, I wasn’t watching the Lakers, but I can assume Gasol was trending for one of two reasons:
1. Marc was making ridiculous passes
2. Marc was making important three-pointers down the stretch
I looked this morning, and it seems like perhaps he was doing both? Which isn’t really a surprise, I guess. We’ve watched Marc from up close for a while and know exactly what he’s capable of doing. Now he’s surrounded by probably the best teammates he’s ever had, and so it’s no surprise that he’s doing exactly what he’s so great at doing. It’s really easy to root against the Lakers, except for the presence of that guy in the Gasol jersey.