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 12, 2021 10:12 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: IMHO
Kelcey,
I’ve been thinking a lot the last few days about DMX, the incredible hip-hop artist who we lost over the weekend at just 50 years old. He had such a singular style and sound – the gruff voice, the ability to speak to so many people from so many backgrounds. And DMX put out a litany of songs that made people get turned the heck up. What person from our generation didn’t, at least once in their life, hear “Party Up” somewhere – at a party, in a club, even in a dang grocery store – and get fired up?
Last night at the Grizzlies game against the Pacers, the Grizzlies ran out on the floor to the sounds of DMX’s “What’s My Name,” and it felt genuinely exciting. In baseball, batters get to pick their own walk-up music, which is a great way of getting focused (and getting the crowd amped).
If you were in the NBA or WNBA and could pick your own song for pregame introductions, what would you choose? (For me, no doubt, it would be OutKast’s “Bombs Over Baghdad.” Yee-uh!)
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Monday, April 12, 2021 11:49 PM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
Hey Lang,
Yes – let me start off by saying RIP to DMX, and sending prayers to his family.
To answer your question; it’s funny you ask this one to me because it’s really, really easy for me to answer. Let me tell you why.
During my five years of collegiate basketball, I listened to the same two songs on repeat before EVERY! SINGLE! GAME! since my freshman year. That’s kind of crazy to think about looking back, but these two songs just got me pumped up and locked me in mentally.
First up was “Run This Town” by Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West. There was something about ‘running’ the town, especially on road games.
The second song was “I’m On The Rock” by Mavado and Jay-Z. There was one line right at the beginning: “if you see me in a fight with a bear, fight for the bear.” Even typing that out right now gets me ready to go run through a wall! Woo!
There were also a few teams in my conference that had their signature songs. For example there was a school called St. FX and they always played “X Gone Give it to Ya,” or Waterloo (whose jerseys were black and yellow) would always play Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow.” It was annoying to me at the time, but if I was on one of those teams I probably would have thought it was pretty cool.
What do you think the Grizzlies signature song would be? Grit and grind era and now?
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2021 10:37 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: RE: IMHO
Well, I remember being here in Memphis six or seven years ago covering some Playoff games, and when the crowd got pumped, the DJ started playing “Whoop That Trick” by Memphis’s own Three 6 Mafia, and as the crowd at FedEd Forum began singing along in unison, I remember thinking, “Well ain’t that something?” That’s a really good Memphis song – killer beat, a message proclaiming dominance, and also lyrics that could be considered slightly inappropriate, at least by those not from Memphis. These days? I’m guessing something by NLE Choppa or Yo Gotti or Moneybagg Yo. There’s a lot of music coming out of Memphis at the moment, so it shouldn’t be hard to find something that works.
Let’s pivot north and west, out to Denver, where the Nuggets got some awful news this morning. Denver seemed ready to leap into championship contention, and they went all-in at the trade deadline, making a big move for Aaron Gordon from Orlando. And then last night against the Warriors, Jamal Murray went down with a non-contact injury to his left knee. This morning, it was worst fears realized: Murray suffered a torn ACL and will be out for the season, if not longer.
So what does Denver do now? Nikola Jokic is still one of the best and most creative bigs in the game, but to me it was the ability to have Murray play off of Jokic that made Denver so tough to guard. How does Denver rebound from the loss of Murray, and do they still have a shot at contention going forward?
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2021 11:22 PM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
Man! What a huge loss for Denver. I felt sick watching Jamal in agony during last night’s game. Having worked with Jamal for many years I know how tough he is (ie. watch him refuse the wheelchair yesterday) so I just knew it was going to be something bad.
As devastating as that is for Jamal, it’s just as devastating for the Nuggets’ title chances. Although the offense runs through Nikola Jokic, and Aaron Gordon is starting to find his place; Jamal is still the best perimeter scorer and still the go-get-a-bucket-whenever-we-need-it guy. Jamal is the leader on and off the court, so it’s going to be interesting to watch this Nuggets team try to navigate their play, and also their mentality.
I guess the way to go is just throw Aaron Gordon more into the fire; give him an increased role. Will Barton will need to play more minutes and be more solid in the guard spot, and then spread out the extra minutes a couple second unit guys.
To answer your question: I think their championship shot is out the window, especially with how top heavy the Western Conference is. I see them probably in the 7-10 play-in range now.
What a tough situation.
Another tough situation? The Timberwolves. They’re currently 14-41, give me your prediction… Do they win 20 games this season? And while we’re here, how hilarious is Anthony Edwards?
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2021 8:32 PM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: RE: IMHO
I don’t know if the T-Wolves get to 20 wins, but I think they’ll be close. They’ve been without D’Angelo Russell for so much of the season, and I know they expected him to be a huge part of that they were going to do this season.
But that being said, you’re right about Anthony Edwards, who has rocketed up the Anthony Edwards Power Rankings, recently zooming ahead of former “ER” star Anthony Edwards. He dunked all over Yuta a few weeks ago, and has had his share of big plays where he was able to show off his athleticism. He’s gotta be the front-runner for Rookie of the Year, right? But he’s also been amazing all season in press conferences. When asked recently about reports that Alex Rodriguez might be involved in a bid to buy the Timberwolves, Edwards said he didn’t really know who A-Rod was, and it’s even funnier when you watch this clip where Ant Man explains how little he knows about baseball, other than stating he would be an amazing baseball player…