Random Topics from the Past Week or Two

This past week, there have been several topics that have come up that I wanted to discuss but haven’t had the chance to.  In this post, I will discuss several topics that have emerged in the past few weeks.

 

Blake Griffin Buyout

On March 5^th, the Detroit Pistons officially bought out Blake Griffin after being unable to find a trade partner.  This did not surprise me given he was owed more than $75M for this year and next year, has struggled mightily, and doesn’t make sense with the rebuilding Pistons.  ESPN has reported that the sides agreed to a reduced payment for the buyout, which isn’t too surprising that they were able to find common ground.  Bleacher Report said that Shams Charania reports that the Nets are expected to be a favorite, while Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Warriors, Heat, and Trail Blazers are interested in him.  I have also heard the Lakers, Clippers, and Bucks thrown in as possibilities; I could also see the Celtics, Hornets, and Wizards reaching out about him as well.  That said, the Nets make the most sense for him as a small 5 off the bench where he can be a lead playmaker anytime Kevin Durant, James Harden, or Kyrie Irving are off the court; he also could fit offensively in select doses, but that could cause issues defensively.

 

All Star Mike Conley

We can no longer say that Mike Conley is the best player to never be named an All-Star, as Adam Silver has named Conley a replacement for the recently injured Devin Booker (who was replacing Anthony Davis).  He is averaging 16.1 PPG with a 42.2% 3P% and 55.5 eFG%, 5.7 APG, 3.5 RPG, and 1.4 SPG for the 27-9 Jazz, who hold the best record in the NBA.  Several advanced statistics have viewed him favorably as well, as he is 17^th in WS/48 (0.194) and 24^th in BPM (3.9).  While I would have chosen DeMar DeRozan over him, I am glad to see Conley finally named an All-Star after being stuck behind several other stars for years.

 

Lloyd Pierce Firing

On March 1^st, the Atlanta Hawks fired head coach Lloyd Pierce and named Nate McMillan their interim head coach.  While I’m uncertain McMillan will be successful this season with the team, I am disappointed that Pierce was fired.  He didn’t get the chance to truly utilize most of the new acquisitions, as Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kris Dunn, Rajon Rondo, and Onyeka Okongwu all dealt with injuries.  On top of that, break out player De’Andre Hunter got hurt right as the team skidded, as he got injured in game 19, when the team was 10-9; when Pierce was fired, the team was 14-20.  I think there are two factors contributing to his firing:  lack of support from the roster and pressure from management.  I expect that after giving up Luka Doncic in exchange for Trae Young (who has been inconsistent this year and still hasn’t shown he can be the star of a winning team) and Cam Reddish (who has struggled with his shot), General Manager Travis Schlenk likely has a shorter leash if the team misses the play-in game.  The Sacramento Kings already parted ways with Vlade Divac (likely after choosing Marvin Bagley III over Luka Doncic, a move that seemed like it was clearly a bad choice at the time even), so it wouldn’t surprise me if something similar happens by the end of this year.  I hope Pierce gets another job; I think he will be better with a team that, even if younger, is more mature.

 

All-Star Draft

The All-Star Draft occurred on March 4^th, where captains LeBron James and Kevin Durant selected their teams for the All-Star Game.  James had the first pick of the starters since he finished first in the fan voting, while Durant had the first pick of the reserves.  Since Durant will miss the game due to injury, he had the 8^th and 9^th selections of the draft.  The selections follow:

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (LeBron)
2. Kyle Irving (Durant)
3. Stephen Curry (LeBron)
4. Joel Embiid (Durant)
5. Luka Doncic (LeBron)
6. Kawhi Leonard (Durant)
7. Nikola Jokic (LeBron)
8. Bradley Beal (Durant)
9. Jayson Tatum (Durant)
10. James Harden (Durant)
11. Damian Lillard (LeBron)
12. Devin Booker (Durant) (will be replaced by Mike Conley)
13. Ben Simmons (LeBron)
14. Zion Williamson (Durant)
15. Chris Paul (LeBron)
16. Zach LaVine (Durant)
17. Jaylen Brown (LeBron)
18. Julius Randle (Durant)
19. Paul George (LeBron)
20. Nikola Vucevic (Durant)
21. Domantas Sabonis (Lebron)
22. Donovan Michell (Durant)
23. Rudy Gobert (LeBron)

LeBron James/Zlatan

In the last couple weeks, soccer superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic criticized LeBron James’ activism in particular (while criticizing athletes’ activism as a whole) with multiple statements.  He first said that "athletes unite the world, politics divide it.  Our role is to unite the world by doing what we do best. Athletes should be athletes and politicians should do politics."  He also said the following:

"[LeBron] is phenomenal at what he's doing, but I don't like when people have some kind of status, they go and do politics at the same time.  Do what you're good at. Do the category you do. I play football because I'm the best at playing football.  I don't do politics. If I would be a political politician, I would do politics. That is the first mistake people do when they become famous and they become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best, because it doesn't look good."

 James responded by saying he would continue doing what he was doing, and Zlatan doubled down on his statements.

With all of this, I agree with LeBron for a few reasons.  From a logic standpoint, Zlatan’s argument of effectively sticking to sports (which is common in today’s society) is a blatant case of a fallacious ad hominem, in which one individual attacks an individual making a claim and uses that as for why their point should be ignored.  In the “stick to sports” or “shut up and dribble” type of arguments, they are attacking by claiming the person should be ignored because they are not an expert and are not entitled to opinions regarding a matter.  This exact fallacy is frequently used in politics by people in both parties, especially with celebrities (think back to when the band now known as The Chicks were criticized for bashing George Bush or the backlash Kid Rock faced for criticizing Barack Obama).  The best way to combat this logically incorrect way of an argument would be to say something along the lines of “attack the opinion, not the individual” since the point of arguing is arguing a point and not the person, but people either get offended by that and resort to name calling or don’t understand this concept.  This argument is only used when people disagree with the point; while there is a difference in favoring the opinion of an expert (being careful not to fall into another fallacy though), using this is often used when somebody disagrees with the point and doesn’t want to (or is unable to) fight it.

The reason I agree with LeBron conceptually is twofold.  First off, people are entitled to have opinions and beliefs.  To tell someone they cannot fight for their beliefs is juvenile, irresponsible, and, in the case of Zlatan, arguably hypocritical whenever they opt to do anything other than doing what the said person is an “expert” at (in the case of Zlatan, people might view it as hypocritical if he does anything other than playing soccer, which is ridiculous but is a consequence of making a statement so ridiculous).  The other reason I disagree with Zlatan is the impact historically that athletes have had in fighting for what they believe.  Some notable examples in the U.S. include Mohammad Ali, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Bill Russell, Jackie Robinson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Colin Kaepernick, Kathy Switzer, Jim Brown, John Thompson, Arthur Asche, and the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.  In the past election, the WNBA and NBA both played a major role in getting people registered to vote; the WNBA played a major role in then Atlanta Dream owner Kelly Loeffler’s defeat in her senate race after she criticized the league’s support for Black Lives Matter, with Dream players wearing shirts saying “Vote Warnock”, endorsing her opponent.  The power and influence somebody in a position of public attention is remarkable, and it makes sense to discuss their beliefs.  Just as I think it is good for people to have hobbies outside of their career, I think it is good for people to have beliefs despite not being a go-to source of information related this.  Just because LeBron James is not a politician does not mean it is illegal for him to share his opinions on beliefs.

Zlatan, it’s okay to disagree with what somebody says; there will never be a person who you agree with everything they say and believe.  However, when that happens, rather than dismissing the person, discuss the argument.  If you don’t want to discuss the argument, don’t feel comfortable with the information you have, or don’t have an opinion, that’s okay too; you don’t have to discuss your beliefs if for whatever reason you would prefer not to.  That said, it is illogical to assume that others should follow the same mindset when they feel comfortable discussing it, especially after having been asked about it.

 

 

What do you think about these topics?  Was there anything that interested you in the last couple weeks?  Let me know in the comments!