Is "Baller" Trademarked Yet?

The NBA Trade Deadline passed on Thursday, and now that the dust is settled and I have figured out where everyone is going (and almost all the assets being moved), I have my trade grades!  This year was a very busy and exciting deadline, including several big names being moved, headlined by Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, De’Aaron Fox, Brandon Ingram, and Zach LaVine, as well as several other moves involving very good players.  As a note, I didn’t grade the rescinded trade involving Mark Williams.   Even though Charlotte is planning on disputing it, I’m not even touching that trade at this time.   Luka & AD Los Angeles Lakers receives :   Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris Dallas receives :   Anthony Davis, Max Christie, 2029 1 st round pick (LAL) Utah receives :   Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2025 2 nd round pick (LAC), 2025 2 nd round pick (DAL)   Los Angeles Grade:   A+ Simply put, if you can get one of th...

Since the start of WNBA free agency, there have been several big moves, including 3 massive sign-and-trades that included 4 stars.  In this post, I am grading these trades for each team involved.   Kelsey Plum & Jewel Loyd Trade Los Angeles receives :   Kelsey Plum, 9 th pick in the draft, 2026 2 nd round pick (SEA) Las Vegas receives :   Jewell Loyd, 13 th pick in the draft Seattle receives :   Li Yuelu, 2 nd pick, 2026 1 st round pick (LVA)   Los Angeles Grade:   B Los Angeles deserves a lot of credit for being in a situation where they are appealing to a superstar like Plum.   She is the type of star who fits with any team that has an interest in winning due to her shooting, playmaking, ability both on and off the ball, and competitiveness.   The biggest question is how ready this team will be to compete; in particular, are their younger players going to be ready to compete?   A team doesn’t make this move wit...

In general, I hate conspiracy theories.  In many situations, I find them to be a waste of time while most are not true.  That said, there are a few things in the WNBA that I can’t explain, so I have 5 conspiracy theories.  This is one of the few times I will even entertain conspiracy theories, so godspeed…and have fun!     What if Connecticut is starting a rebuild this season? I’ll start off with the caveat that this is probably a bit less likely now that Alyssa Thomas has been cored, but they could still use her rights in a sign-and-trade.   With several of their stars being free agents and their coach being fired for not so subtly flirting with Indiana’s head coaching job while still being under contract (while Indiana’s coach was also under contract, which felt a bit slimy), there was the big question about what Connecticut’s next plans were going to be.   Despite having immense success in the regular season and making the Conference Finals ...