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, April 5, 2021 8:10 PM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: IMHO
Kelcey!
I meant to email you earlier today, but I was still recovering from the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four finish of Gonzaga against UCLA. I thought UCLA had no chance, but man did they play well, and they managed to keep it close right up until the second overtime. I thought for certain we were going to get a second overtime, but then Jalen Suggs knocked in that wild shot off the glass from just inside halfcourt.
I’ve been thinking about it ever since, and I can’t quite remember another buzzer-beating game-winner like that, especially in a game that mattered so much. I know everyone will invoke Laettner’s turnaround jumper, but can you think of a bigger buzzer-beating game-winner, college or pro?
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, April 6, 2021 9:12 AM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
Hey Lang,
No worries – I meant to reply to your email sooner but I was busy being sad about my Bulldogs getting their butts kicked in the final. Womp womp.
The only buzzer-beater that pops into my mind without using my good friend Google is *Memphis’ very own* Chris Chiozza‘s Sweet 16 shot over Wisconsin when he was at Florida.
There’s no way you can watch that and not get goosebumps. Obviously that was Sweet 16 and not Final 4, so I think Suggs’ shot gets the one-up on Chiozza. As much as I love re-watching these shots, it breaks my heart to see when they do close-up reactions of the losing team.
Do you have any favorite reaction videos from the NCAA or the NBA? Some of my favorite viral videos are of the benches reactions lately — they’re so funny sometimes!
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Tuesday, April 6, 2021 9:49 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: RE: IMHO
First of all, as a UGA guy, I hate Florida, so I had just automatically blocked this play from my brain the moment it happened. But watching it again this morning, the first reaction that my eyes were drawn to was number 3 on Wisconsin, putting his hands on his knees and sinking down in despair as the shot swished through. I have been there before, on the other side of that buzzer beater, and it is no fun. That’s what I feel for. Just last night in the NBA, Gary Trent Jr. hit a game-winner for the Raptors, which was a great shot…
But what did I focus on? Raul Neto getting shoved in the chest (without a call), and then all the Wizards players collapsing across the court, like toys whose batteries have simultaneously run out.
We had a Grizz Gaming game last season that ended with us losing on a three-point buzzer beater, and it still stings. (I can’t even bring myself to post a clip of it here.) The worst is when you’re on the wrong end of a play like that, and the play ends up getting included in random highlight videos. So you’ll be sitting there watching highlights and all of a sudden… oh hey, there’s the heartbreaking play you lost on! Yuck.
Anyway, let’s pivot to the NBA, where Zion Williamson had his first signature shoe announced. Did you get a look at these?
I am a sneakerhead, so I care very deeply about things such as these. And as for these shoes, well, I’m not really sure what to say. There’s certainly nothing subtle about them – they literally have ZION written all over them, and while I really like the Pelicans’ team colors, these have the color palette of a box of Fruity Pebbles. I hope they’re sturdy, because we’ve seen what Zion can do to a pair of shoes.
Anyway, these got me thinking: What’s your favorite pair of signature sneakers ever? I think Jordan 1s have to be mine, which is kind of a cop out, but man, those things are still so fire, three decades after they were introduced. Which kicks get your vote, Kelcey?
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, April 6, 2021 9:37 PM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
I do not love those Zion shoes. I don’t love a lot of the players’ signature shoes actually…. Dame’s shoe? No thanks. Kawhi’s shoe? I’m good. Donovan Mitchell‘s? Nope. Those weird shoes that Klay wears? No way.
So, moral of the story, maybe I’m just a hater. I like LeBron’s shoes and KD’s shoes though! I wore Jordans and Lebrons when I played in college – mainly because those are the only shoes that were available in my size back then, but I had a pretty good career so they couldn’t have been too bad!
As for all time though? Unfortunately, if you look at my shoe closet it is mostly Jordan 1s, 4s and low 11s. I think I’d go with a cop-out answer just like you and say Jordan 1s. We actually talked about this on the Vernon Show this week; which shoe would you want your signature shoe to be? I said I would want it to be a Jordan 1 after I saw that Zach Myers’ Jordan 1 is now going for like $200K.
I want my signature shoe to be a Jordan 1 (and I want them to only make like 50 of them in total) and I want them to have a sunrise orange sole that is ombre up a light pink at the toe. I want most of it to be white, and then sunrise shoelaces and Nike swoosh. Oh my gosh… is there somewhere I can make this myself?
What would the signature Lang Whitaker shoe look like?
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Wednesday, April 7, 2021 9:36 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: RE: IMHO
First of all, go mess around on NikeID and I bet you can make something similar to what you are referencing.
As for me and my own signature shoe, I could answer this question in many ways that would appeal to my fellow sneakerheads, perhaps referencing hiring people like Tinker Hatfield or Eric Avar to design my kicks, maybe throwing in a joke about how bad the SNKRS app can be. But it doesn’t have to be that serious.
My favorite basketball shoe? Well, I prefer lows to highs, so I’d probably start with the Air Jordan III, which is often overlooked in favor of the IV, but to me is such a great silhouette, plus doesn’t have the razor-sharp tab on the back that requires wearing long socks like the IV. If we are looking for something more current, I’d probably go with one of the Kobe lows, which never get mentioned in this conversation but to me are solid kicks.
But if we’re being completely honest? The Lang Whitaker signature shoe would be a pair of Crocs. I wear Crocs all the time. I’m wearing them right now, as I type this email to you. I have admitted my love for Crocs before in a public setting, and that still holds true. Perhaps even more now, after spending the last year at home, than it did then. I own at least fifty pairs of shoes. My Crocs are the most comfortable shoes I own.
Today I’m wearing a pair of tie-dyed Crocs that my son picked out, but normally I prefer camo, something like these, to show that at heart I’m a man at one with nature. I’ll let everyone else have their Jordans and Yeezys and whatever else are getting bids on StockX.
As for me? I’m a Crocs guy.
And there ain’t nothing wrong with that.