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I would never outright advocate for overly physical basketball. I would simply hint at the idea that one of Caitlin Clark’s teammates should probably have her back in a big way.
NBA Finals Preview
My favorite narratives … listed.
We’ve got four newsletters (including this one) until Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics. Can you feel the tension in the air right now? I know I can! There is so much for us to break down about this upcoming matchup, which we’ll get to by Thursday’s action. Today, let’s rank my five favorite storylines:
5. Kristaps Porziņģis’ can impede old Dallas teammates. Porziņģis only played 134 games over roughly three seasons with the Mavericks, as he was returning from his ACL surgery and suffered other injuries. He admitted on JJ Redick’s podcast (the one without LeBron) that early on there was a bit of a “pissing contest” between him and Luka Dončić, though he and Dončić tried to make it work. Porziņģis also said he didn’t like the Mavs’ analytics angle but acknowledged he would have been open to it with a different presentation. He and Dončić were supposed to be the duo of the future for Dallas. Instead, Porziņģis has a chance to block the Mavs from a title if he can come back healthy (calf injury) in this series.
4. Boston could set record for NBA titles. When you scroll down, you’ll get my complete thoughts on NBA history and its championships. For now, the archrival Lakers and Celtics are tied for the most titles in NBA history with 17 each. That’s a hefty amount! That’s 44 percent of the championships in league history. A Celtics win would give them an 18th banner for their highly occupied rafters in Boston. It would also be their first since 2008, so it’s been a while.
We love the work cause we love the game 🙌 pic.twitter.com/KWzsuFUKO9
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 1, 2024
3. One of these coaches will be validated. While Jason Kidd and Joe Mazzulla have had two very different coaching careers so far, one of them will get the validation of guiding their respective team to the championship. Kidd had a rocky start to his coaching career in Brooklyn and Milwaukee before his time as a lead assistant on the championship Lakers in 2020 to revive his coaching career. Now in Dallas, he’s managed to find his groove. Mazzulla is in just in his second season and only 35 years old. But he took a lot of flak for the failures against Miami last year. A win for either would be massive.
It takes EVERYTHING pic.twitter.com/k6HW2ST0HG
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) May 31, 2024
2. A few stars can get their first rings. This Celtics group has been knocking on the door of a championship for the better part of eight seasons now. They’ve reached the conference finals six times and are enjoying their second NBA Finals appearance in that span. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown could very much get their “get out of narrative jail free” card by winning a ring. Not to mention, Al Horford was drafted the day before the first iPhone was available for purchase. On the flip side of that, Dončić’s coronation as the youngest face of the league could be fully realized by winning his first title at 25 years old. One way or another, legacies are being built in this series.
1. Kyrie’s return to Boston will be insane. The city of Boston seems to hate Kyrie. He said he wanted to re-sign there for the long term, retire in Boston, and have his number retired there someday. That was roughly nine months before he signed with the Brooklyn Nets. When Kyrie returned, he stomped on Lucky, the Celtics’ mascot painted onto midcourt. Celtics fans and media lost their excrement with him. Boston’s fan base has … let’s call it a reputation of being harsh to opposing players. It’s going to be an absolute circus, but Kyrie’s game is lethal enough to take the title from the Celtics.
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) June 2, 2024
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 #NBADraft, Kyrie Irving!
Kyrie will play in his fourth career NBA Finals starting Thursday, June 6th at 8:30pm/et on ABC 🏆#NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV pic.twitter.com/8ULCPkRuLl
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) June 2, 2024
Update The Numbers
The NBA should embrace ABA history more
I never thought I’d say this, but the NBA could learn something valuable from what Major League Baseball just did. The latter has decided to add Negro Leagues statistics to the MLB record books, and it’s the right decision to make. The Negro Leagues ran at the same time as MLB for 28 years before integration reached the majors. Enriching Major League Baseball history by including those stats is meaningful.
The NBA should do the same with the ABA. From 1967 to 1976, the American Basketball Association was a viable pro basketball league, even though some of the league’s stories might make you think otherwise. Some of the greatest players went to the ABA instead of the NBA before the leagues merged in 1976. The ABA brought us the slam dunk contest and the 3-point shot, along with the Nets, Pacers, Nuggets and Spurs.
On SiriusXM NBA Radio, Amin Elhassan and I have posited whether the NBA should embrace ABA history more and integrate stats. We also view the pre-merger era kind of like the NFL views its pre-Super Bowl era. We acknowledge the accomplishments of that pre-merger era, but they shouldn’t hold the same weight as any titles won since the league has grown. If the NBA is going to deny the ABA’s existence in the record books, its history should focus on 1976 onward.
In that case, that would mean the Lakers have the most post-merger titles with 11, followed by the Bulls’ six. In Boston’s case, such a tweak would change its ring count from the aforementioned, record-tying 17 to five, which would tie the Spurs for third-most since the merger. Regardless, the ABA’s run should be viewed on par with the NBA’s, so the ABA’s players and legacies should be celebrated officially by the NBA.
Caitlinsanity!
Caitlin Clark shows risks of expanded audience
The Caitlin Clark era is off to a rough start. The Indiana Fever are just 2-9 and can thank the Washington Mystics (0-8) for holding down the bottom of the WNBA. Clark has really struggled as well, which is not at all unexpected for a rookie picked by a really bad team, though she’s also averaging a respectable 15.6 points, 6.4 assists and 5.1 rebounds. She’s shooting just 35.7 percent from the field and 29.7 percent from deep while averaging over five turnovers. The Fever have been outscored by 111 points with Clark on the floor.
She’s getting knocked to the ground, seemingly on a nightly basis. And she has to be wondering when her teammates might want to stick up for her. Players are talking trash about her constantly and diminishing her presence in the W so far.
Clark’s slow start has also brought about a ton of new scrutiny for her and the WNBA, as she’s been pivotal in boosting the profile of professional women’s hoops in an era where the WNBA was already thriving. Clark’s young career has almost caused a mutation – rather than an evolution – for attention on the league.
With new eyeballs and untrained viewership parsing differences between the NBA and WNBA, you’re starting to see some bad takes and overly harsh criticisms. Overall, the worst of the sports internet is doing its best to comment on something it just discovered. It’s a gift and a curse for Clark and the league as a whole. I won’t pretend to be the most knowledgeable WNBA fan or pundit, but Clark will be fine. She’ll figure it out. She, along with current and future generations of players, will help elevate this league even more. At some point, all of those bad takes and tweets will get deleted, as skeptics soon pretend they always believed in her and the WNBA’s growth.
Caitlin Clark is only the second player to achieve 150+ PTS, 50+ REB and 50+ AST in the first 10 games of their @WNBA career. pic.twitter.com/IjcElakPh9
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) June 2, 2024
Bounce Passes
Does the NBA have sustainable parity, or is that about to be over?
Don’t buy the idea that Tatum and Brown are pitted against each other.
The Wolves’ future finances are a mess but could be worth it.
(Top photo: Boston Globe / Getty Images )
