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 19, 2021 9:23 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: IMHO
Well, the New York Knicks are hot again, which means it’s officially time for the New York media to start writing stories about players who could, conceivably, one day, maybe, leave their teams to come play for the Knicks. This is a tradition unlike any other, and for some reason the New York tabloids love to entertain the notion that players would love to come play for the Knicks, even when the Knicks aren’t very good. When they are kinda good? Whew. So after yesterday’s win over the Pelicans, Zion Williamson was asked how he liked playing in New York City. And to be honest, he did sorta light up a bit…
The truth is, of course, players sign with teams for a variety of reasons, from finances to family to even the culture of the city. This week the baseball video game “MLB The Show” dropped, and in that game I was faced with the choice of choosing a place to sign with during free agency. Since the offers I got were mostly equal, financially, I eventually signed with the Miami Marlins, because my IRL wife has a lot of family in Miami and I knew the weather would be great. In an interview this week, our own Kyle Anderson said when he got the free agency offer from the Memphis Grizzlies, his friend Rudy Gay told him he would love the city and the way the fans would root for him, and Kyle said he turned out to be exactly right.
So if you were an NBA free agent, what would be the deciding factor for choosing your next destination? Is it money over everything? Is it the players you would be playing with? Is it the history of the franchise? Choose or lose, Kelc!
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2021 6:22 PM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
That’s kind of like that age-old question; if you were an NBA player would you rather be a bench player who wins championships, or a superstar who never wins the whole thing?
Those types of questions are SO HARD to answer!
Here’s my take on it though, because I’ve put some serious thought into this over the years. It depends who I am as a player (haha duh, Kels). If I am a second-unit player or a fringe NBA guy, it’s got to be money over everything because I’d want to make the money while I can, and start to set my life. I remember I was talking to Solomon Hill last year and he talked about setting up financial stability for not only him and his wife and his kids, but his future grandchildren.
However, on the other end, if I’m a star — say LeBron — I want to win a championship. And yeah, it’d be even cooler to do it at a storied franchise like the Lakers or the Celtics. AND on top of that, if I get to play with some of my friends? Bonus.
I can say a couple of my friends have been in unrestricted free agency talks other the last few years, and not one of them has cared about their friends being on the team. You even hear Jaren and Xavier talk about how crazy it is for them to be on the same team; I don’t think many NBA players prioritize or even think about heading to a team just because of other players.
OH! But as I type that…do you go to a team that has LeBron after looking at his track record of heading to the NBA Finals? Oh man…I think I could go back-and-forth all day convincing myself on both sides.
My final answer, because I don’t think I’d be a superstar in the NBA, I’d chase the money.
Let me switch over to another superstar in the league; Mr. Curry. Steph has been having himself quite the week. As I write this, he’s made 36 threes this week (to help you compare; The Cavs have hit 35 and the Nuggets have hit 34), shooting over 50% from deep. I heard that if he goes 0/500 from beyond the arch over the next few years, he would still have a better career shooting percentage than Ray Allen. Like, are you kidding me?
So my question to you is…can we all finally admit that Steph is the best shooter of all time, or is there still debate?
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2021 9:48 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: RE: IMHO
Yeah, I’ve had one of the NBA’s biggest agents tell me, repeatedly, that whatever all the options are for an NBA player, you always choose the money. As a player your window is limited, so while it’s open you should try and get as much out of it as you can. At the same time, my friend Rick Fox was on the Boston Celtics, but took less money to go to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won three titles and set himself up for a career in entertainment. So…I dunno which way I’d go.
As for the best shooter? Of all-time? Well, that’s a tough one. I’d probably pick Steph right now, sure, but I also think it depends on the type of shot. Like, if you need someone to create a three and get a shot off the dribble, I think I’d go with Steph. If I had someone coming off a screen with a wide-open look, sounds crazy but I might go with Ray Allen over Steph?
While I was thinking about all time I went and looked up the best three-point shooters of all-time, and guess who was at the top of the chart? Steph’s coach, Steve Kerr!
And Seth actually has a better three-point percentage than Steph. Huh.
But speaking of Steph, last night the crowd in Philly was chanting MVP while he went nuclear. Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic was going nuts against the Grizzlies, and you can also make pretty good arguments for several other players, from Dame Lillard to Joel Embiid to, of course, King James. So Kelcey, who is currently atop your list of MVP candidates? (And don’t worry, this isn’t an ESPN Podcast, so no name-calling on here!)
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2021 2:20 PM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
Wow! You’re taking Ray Allen over Steph?! Things just got wild over here.
I mean I see what you mean about creating shots versus the catch-and-shoot, but I am Team Steph all the way with whatever shot you need at any time. I’ve thought for a while that he changed the way the game is played (in a great way) — he’s made a legitimate impact on the GAME of basketball. Not just the NBA, but the actual sport…that’s crazy to me.
Anyway – to answer your question Jokic may have been my number one choice. He’s been dominant this season…the only unfortunate factor for him is now without Jamal Murray, I’m not sure the Nuggets finish out the season as well as they could have which can affect MVP voting. Realistically, Bradley Beal should be getting more looks but he won’t because his team is struggling so badly this year.
So, I guess that leaves Joel Embiid who is leading the top team in the East and Giannis who leads the other top Eastern Conference team.
And on the West? LeBron will always get looks (and he deserves it) and I think Luka and Dame also have potential too. What’s crazy to me is that I’m thinking of top players in the West and I skip right over the Suns who are the hottest team in the league right now — does Devin Booker deserve to be in the MVP talks? He’s averaging over 25 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists this season on a team that had a massive turnaround from last year not even making the postseason. I know a lot of that has to do with CP3, but Booker has been hooping!
And last but of course not least, don’t sleep on Donovan Mitchell. Utah is the dark horse of this season. They came out of (sort of) nowhere have been dominant. They’re currently 1.5 games ahead of Utah for first place in the West and Mitchell is the leader of that pack averaging over 26, 4 and 5.
Do you think this is the year that the MVP award goes to a *new* name? Since 2008 LeBron has won four times, Steph has won twice, Giannis has won twice. It seems to always be the same guys over and over. What do you think — are we going to see something different?
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2021 2:48 PM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: RE: IMHO
I like that you mentioned Devin Booker, but as our boy Johnny Roser mentioned in the IMHO video component this week, Chris Paul actually might have a better case than Booker, to be honest. The Suns are better than they were a season ago mostly because of CP3, and his leadership is carrying them right now.
Unless Steph can maintain this white-hot streak he’s been on for a few weeks, I don’t think the best player on a 7-seed is going to get the MVP. That’s an award that historically goes to someone who has their team at the top of the charts, and I just don’t think the Warriors are going to get there, not this season, at least.
But I do think we could see someone new win the trophy this season, and to me the best two options for that happening are Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic. Embiid has to share some of the glory with Ben Simmons, of course, and he missed a chunk of games due to injury, but I think Embiid absolutely belongs in the top of the conversation. Jokic, to me, could nudge his way into the conversation, as the Nuggets without Jamal Murray will need to rely on the Joker even moreso than before. Can the Nuggets hang on and finish in the top half in the West? Perhaps, but if they do it’ll be because Jokic brought them there.