First things first—major congrats to Michigan for becoming this year’s NCAA Champions! That team truly deserved it, even if this Final with UConn proved trickier than the rest of their victories. They really were the best team in the March Madness college basketball tourney. (And a shoot-out to the ladies of UCLA, as well, for winning their women’s tournament over South Carolina.)

Yaxel Lendeborg looking serious after he got hurt. Photo by Karen Salkin.

That entire team did his part, but the stand-outs were little Elliot Cadeau, who won the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award, (MOP,) and very injured Yaxel Lendeborg, who played despite serious knee and ankle injuries he sustained in the penultimate game.

So many people ask me why I watch every second of this three-week event. The answer is that in addition to loving sports, in general, and basketball in specific, I absolutely adore the many personal human interest stories. Just about every single player has a fascinating life tale.

But I hate that college teams don’t stay together anymore. Back in the day, I looked forward to seeing the same guys for four years. Now, the players change teams seemingly every year! Who do they think they are—me? (I went to four colleges, because that’s where life took me, and I recently found-out that because of that wandering, Mr. X assumed that I didn’t graduate! Is he nuts? I have two degrees! How did he think I was able to teach in public schools without graduating college?!) At the beginning of the tourney, I was actually a bit worried about my memory because I didn’t recognize anyone! No lie.

This is my DVR during March Madness! (Price Is Right is there only because a game went long!) Photo by Karen Salkin.

But I calmed down by the second round, when I had gotten used to this crop of players and coaches. And I enjoyed it all. Except for watching the losing guys be miserable. But the reality is that sixty-seven teams will lose because, of course, there can be only one final winner. That’s life.

And here’s a note to all sideline reporters everywhere in all sports: You need to stop saying, “Get over here!,” to the people you want to interview after a win. It’s soooo creepy. And rude. Many are guilty of it, but Lauren Shehadi is the worst because she always says it!

Lauren Shehadi on the right, interviewing the Arizona coach and players who had just won their game, despite looking so sad! Photo by Karen Salkin.

I wish I could claim authorship of this alliterative quote, but it was studio analyst Clark Kellogg who said March Madness is “a mosaic of magic and memories and moments.” I love that guy! And I also appreciate that he’s always trying to keep the peace on the panel, and move things along.

Now here are some of my thoughts as March Madness went on, in the order that they occurred:

Penn’s coach Fran McCaffery has a wonderful full circle story. He grew-up in Pennsylvania, played college ball at Penn, and now, over forty years later, after a long coaching career, he’s their Head Coach! Love that!

Illinois player David Mirkovic gave the most thoughtful, intelligent answers, despite not even being really fluent in English. (But he did start with “I mean!” Oysh.) One of his teammates even told him, “Great job” after one interview.

Braden Smith indicating he’s #1 now that he has the record for assists. Photo by Karen Salkin.

And how interesting that he’s one of five Balkan players on that team!

Georgia’s Jeremiah Wilkinson gave a perfect, intelligent break-down of his team’s performance at halftime in the first round. Good for him! And St. Louis’ Dion Brown did the same thing for his team.

There are many great monikers in the tourney, but the best name, for me, is Kingston Flemings, who plays for Houston. (For now—he’s a freshman who’s due to get drafted early.)

Virginia’s Jacari White has quite the difficult life story. So I’m very happy for him. What a nice kid! (He lost his hair at age seven, and then lived in a car with his father for three teenage years. Here’s the link to a full story about his life: www.basketunderreview.com/inside-jacari-w.)

Skyy Clark’s broken front tooth. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Duke Brennan of Villanova should become a commentator later in life. Or, at the very least, a coach. He’s very well-spoken and intelligent.

We got to see a thirty-three-year-old record be broken!!! Purdue’s Braden Smith broke Bobby Hurley’s assist record from Duke waaaay back in the day! (If you’re curious, Braden’s new record is 1,103 assists.)

You can see the tooth being knocked out! Photo by Karen Salkin.

A few minutes after I had made a note to “look up Themus Fulks of UCF to see his strange tooth,” (because, as good as his chompers mainly looked, one side tooth appeared to be a tad wanky,) the guy…knocked-out UCLA player Skyy Clark’s front tooth!!! By accident, of course. He felt awful. As do I because I feel like, somehow, it was my fault for doing some sort of writer’s voodoo.

Mr. X finally noticed what I’ve been saying for years—that UCLA coach Mick Cronin is a dick! Even to his players! (So is very famous coach Rick Patino, by the way. I guess that’s why both coaches’ first names have “ick” in them!)

Canadian teen, Olivier Rioux–what can he possibly be looking up at??? Photo by Karen Salkin.

Canadian teen, Olivier Rioux, who plays for Florida, is the tallest player ever, (for reals,) at 7’9”. And I just read that he’s going to transfer schools to get more playing time. What kind of nutty coach doesn’t regularly play a guy who’s almost 8’ tall???

Tiny (5’10”) Dominique Daniels from Cal Baptist was so fun! I love that guy! I think now everyone does. And he and his team have the most fun fan base.

Master P’s son, Mercy Miller, plays for Houston! Who knew?!

Virginia’s coach, Ryan Odom, gave a great time-out interview. He actually answered honestly, (which is rare,) and gave a perfect breakdown of what was needed from his team.

Malik Thomas of Virginia showed that humanity matters more than competition when he picked up a Tennessee opponent, little Chance Mallory, he had just knocked down by accident. I loved that! (Mr. X is the one who actually noticed it first.)

Alvaro Folgueiras and his ecstatic mother after a win. Get out the tissues! Photo by Karen Salkin.

This story made me cry. It was only the third time ever that Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras’ mother had seen him play in college; they’re from Spain. And you can tell he loves his mom more than anything. Through tears, (his and mine!,) he said, “My mom is there after fighting for me her whole life.”

UConn’s Alex Karaban has played in nineteen March Madness games over his four-year college career!!! Do you know how unusual that is?! That’s just insane!

As I indicated earlier, I can’t stand UCLA coach Mick Cronin, but against UConn, he received a technical foul late in the game, for no apparent reason. He clearly didn’t say a word, but was clapping at something the ref did, which we know was sarcastic. But, I was shocked to learn that the ref doesn’t have to tell why he tee-ed him up!!! What??? He should have to! Viewers want to know. Not fair.

Bennett Stirtz’s still-glowing skin. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Bennett Stirtz still has great skin, a year after I first pointed it out, and so does much older Texas Tech coach, Grant McCasland.

Arkansas proved themselves to be true thugs in the Sweet 16 game against #1 Arizona. They were losing by twenty-three points, and started doing horrible things to their opponents. One guy got ejected, but two more really should have been, too. Douchebags.

Duke coach Jon Schuyer made me cry when he couldn’t even talk when asked about Caleb Foster playing in the Sweet 16 three weeks after foot surgery! That extreme accomplishment got us both choked-up.

Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter gave the least depressing losing coach speech I’ve ever heard! Good for him. I’m glad I rooted for him and his team.

This little girl in the stands is mirroring everything yours truly goes through during March Madness!!! Photo by Karen Salkin.

Studio panel host, Nate Burleson, can now add “and re-writer” to his credits. He kept making what Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith said understandable. Good for him. Their long-time co-panelist, Clark Kellogg, was probably happy to have the help!!!

Alex Karaban’s mom, in discussing how young men need to be prepared for the future, said, “At some point, the ball stops bouncing.” Brilliant. And English is not even her first language!

Good on Charles Barkley for bringing up how evil ICE is, in conjunction with some of the kids having immigrant parents. In this case, it was triggered by Karaban’s ‘rents.

I’m always happy when Grant Hill is on the call. He’s the most pleasant guy ever!

Just one of Charles Barkley’s ill-fitting jackets. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Danny Hurley (UConn) is one of only two coaches in history to have taken his team to multiple Final Fours with no losses. (The other one is Branch McCracken, who coached from 1930-1965!)

And to end on perhaps a shallow note, you know that I’ve always adored Charles Barkley, but now that he’s lost so much weight, I think it’s time for him to get a smaller suit jacket! Just sayin’.

Yes, the NBA Championship and Draft have been over for a couple of weeks now, but, with so much else going on in my life, (including reviews that needed to be published on time, and a fortnight of Wimbledon watching,) this is the earliest that I can share my thoughts on all of those proceedings.

The Champion Thunder. Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one above.

But basketball is actually still pretty relevant right now because the Summer League just began, so everyone can get good glimpses of the upcoming rookies I’m going to tell you about.

First, one general observation, which I really appreciated. And that is that the broadcasts of both the NBA play-offs and Draft, (and actually the tennis, as well,) featured great music! It made me move at least a little bit in the midst of all my couch potato-ing.

NBA CHAMPIONSHIP

Even though I really wanted the Finals to be contested between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets, I also thought it would be the most fair for the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the Championship because they were far and away the best team all year. So I was fine with that outcome.

The Pacers surrounding Haliburton when he went down with his tragic injury. Photo by Karen Salkin.

And even though I was happy that they beat the Indiana Pacers, I’m still sick for the Pacers’ main star, Tyrese Haliburton, who tore his achilles tendon during the very last game of the play-offs. It was devastating. Probably still is because that particular injury usually takes at least a year from which to fully recover. How incredibly sad. And it’s not just Tyrese who suffered that tear in the play-offs. Bucks’ star Damian Lillard and Celtics’ main dude Jayson Tatum did, too. I don’t think there’s a way to prevent it from happening time and time again, though—I think it’s just the luck of the draw. But it’s definitely something for the NBA medical staff to look into.

And by the way, I’m impressed with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, (more easily, for people in sportscasting, referred to as “SGA.”) He won both the Finals MVP and the overall season MVP titles, plus he led the league in scoring this year! And he did it all so peacefully! I’ve always been aware of him, but barely ever even heard mentions of him in the sextet of years he’s been in the NBA!

NBA DRAFT

This headline of the 2025 NBA Draft for me is that this seems to be the nicest group of guys ever! Mr. X, who usually doesn’t watch the Draft with me, but did this time, even noted that, as well. And the mind-boggling thing about it all is that most of these guys are basically still kids! (Seriously—the majority are still in their teens!)

ESPN sports analyst Brian Windhorst said, “For every team that is rising in the NBA, one must be falling.” And that’s basically how the Draft works—the lower teams each season get to draft the most promising new guys, so over time, there’s a shift in who’s at the top.

This is how it all unfolded over those two nights, including some of my random thoughts as they came up:

Luka Doncic good-naturedly showing his phone that he broke when he smashed it upon learning that he was traded from his beloved Dallas Mavericks. Photo by Karen Salkin.

I hate Dallas Mavericks G.M., Nico Harrison, for trading their star, my beautiful Luka Doncic, to the Lakers in the middle of the year. He even idiotically said later, “I did know that Luka was important to the fan base; I didn’t quite know to what level.” How does Nico still have a job?! But it was most likely saved by that team winning the Draft Lottery, which means they won the prize that is Duke’s Cooper Flagg with the #1 pick.

I’m so confused by who some of the family members were! I wound-up hours behind on the action because I had to keep looking everyone up on the internet, mainly to see if some of the women in attendance were mothers or girlfriends!

#3 pick VJ Edgecombe is darling—still a teen, he had already set-up scholarships for kids in his native Bahamas! So of course I love him. He also appeared to have the most grateful family, with his older brother seeming to be one of the two the happiest-for-their-bro siblings. (The next day, he said of his humble beginnings, “I won’t take anything for granted—every penny counts, every second on earth counts.” That’s a lesson for all of us!)

Ace Bailey and his dad were adorable together.

When Stephen A. Smith was going on and on, (all night, actually,) about how happy he was when Jeremiah Fears was drafted, fellow analyst Bob Myers said, “Okay, we got it; we’re well aware of how you feel.”

Collin Murray-Boyles and Chloe Kitts, (with a cameo from his grandma on the bottom left.) Photo by Karen Salkin.

Collin Murray-Boyles has a gorgeous *girlfriend! And it’s cute that he hugged his grandma before her. He’s also now the most grateful. *[Note: I found-out later that she’s more famous and feted than he is! She’s Chloe Kitts, a gold medal-winning college basketball player herself. Since I don’t follow women’s hoops, I had no idea of anything about her many accomplishments.]

The only one crying more than I was when Khaman Maluach was drafted #10 was Khaman himself. I love that he and Cooper Flagg are best friends, meeting for the past year at Duke. What a thing for them to share this life-changing experience. I’m shocked by just how darling he is. He’s eighteen and he hadn’t seen his mother since he was twelve!

Khaman Maluach upon hearing his name called when he was drafted. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Derik Queen must have lost thirty pounds since April!

Carter Bryant is the absolute sweetest.

Thomas Sorber was crying like a baby to have done this for his mother, who raised him and his bro from when he was six and his father died from cancer. He said, “I did this for you, Ma. Just know you might not have to work another day in your life.”

Frenchman Joan Beringer, another very sweet guy, just started playing basketball…three years ago!!! And even that is only because…his feet grew too big for his soccer shoes! So he had to switch sports to accommodate his tootsies! And now he was drafted #17.

Danny Wolf’s brother when Danny got chosen. The image of the 2025 Draft! Photo by Karen Salkin.

I can say this because they’re members of my tribe: With picks #25 and #26, the Brooklyn Nets took 2 Jewish guys! And they both played for Israel at one point. That’s all so perfect for my hometown. I’m glad that Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf will have each other in the tough world of sports. (Danny’s brother crying for him is actually the best image of the entire draft!)

After pick #30, the Draft moved on to the next night, for only the second year, for Round 2. Last year, they did it all in some very light conference room someplace, which made the guys who were drafted then have a much lesser draft experience, once that basically sucked. So I was absolutely thrilled that they let the second round guys have the same experience at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn that their higher-ranked bros had. They must have read my rant last year, and realized the error of their ways!

Rasheed Fleming appears to be a really nice guy. And what a gorgeous voice he has!

It always boggles my mind that, with sixty new guys being drafted each year, that means that the same number of current players need to be axed! How does that work? They never even get mentioned again.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

In case you were wondering, (which I’m sure most of you were not,) there were only fifty-nine picks this year, (as opposed to the usual sixty,) due to a “tampering penalty” for the Knicks when they got Jalen Brunson in 2022.

I’m surprised that, after watching the entire NCAA tournament, I don’t remember some of these guys! One example is Will Richard, one of the stars of the National Champions Florida Gators.

A lot of French guys got taken, along with a quartet of Aussies. Those four being in the NBA next year means that I get to torture Mr. X with a statement I make in my Aussie accent, which he detests, many times next season.

I have to say that after the two nights of the Draft, I did not keep up with the trades, retirements, etc. in the league. I had to move on right away to tennis; Wimbledon began four days later, so, because I’ve been watching it for about twelve hours a day, with the Yanks and Mets games peppered in, so I missed most other sports news. But I do know that some of the teams have now traded the guys they literally just drafted to other teams. So we’ll just have to see how it all shakes out next season. The only absolute definite will be Cooper Flagg helping those snake-bit-this-past-season Dallas Mavericks. I wish all of them the greatest of luck!

CAITLIN CLARK

Caitlin Clark, watching her fellow Indiana players, the Pacers, on her time off. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Just a quick word on WNBA star Caitlin Clark. I don’t watch women’s basketball for even one second, but even I am aware that the jealous idiots in the league are disgusting! She’s being targeted and ruffed-up by opponents. It’s hard to believe that no higher-ups are stopping that treatment. She should serve them all right by getting out of that biz. On top of all that, the creepy national selection committee even left her out of the Olympics! And then her fellow players have ranked her only 9th best in the league this year! Bi-atches.

UPCOMING SPORTS

Early next week, I’ll share my very many thoughts on the Wimbledon tennis tourney, which is coming to an end this weekend after the fortnight—it has been the craziest one ever!

And the specialty-sports-on-TV fun continues right from the jump next week. Monday features baseball’s Home Run Derby, Tuesday is Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game from Atlanta, (including a sort-of nutty Red Carpet show, where the male commentators compliment the players on their outfits!,) and then Wednesday is the ESPYs, which is the major awards show for what ESPN thinks is for all sports, but is really for just some of them. (Have they never heard of Figure Skating???)

Since I’ve done nothing but watch the NBA play-offs for the last three weeks, (when the postseason began with the idiotic play-in games,) basketball is on my mind more than anything else right now. So I figured this is a good time to laud some of my favorite current players. (As opposed to my All-Time Faves, a list to which this sextet has now been added.)

Giannis Antetokounmpo. Get a gander of his beautiful hands! Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one at the top of this article.

My modern-day fave players (in order of my love/admiration,) are: the Lakers’ Luka Dončić, the Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell, the Nuggets’ Jamal Murray, the Bucks’ “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, and the Hawks’ Trae Young. Actually, I published this same group exactly a year ago in this e-zine, adding, “…unless their teams are playing each other, I root for them all the way.” The order may have changed a tad, but the list is still the same. (I had already written the “new” one when I checked the INAM archives to compare them. And was glad to see that my taste hasn’t changed.)

I love these guys for the same reasons: they’re uber-gifted, fair, and clean players. And especially in the cases of Luka and Jokic, charming. As to those two, plus Giannis, English is not any of their native language, yet they express themselves sooo much better than most of the rest of the league. You know that my literate self loves and appreciates that.

I have a few more reasons why I adore three of those guys.

Adorbs Luka Dončić showing the phone that he threw when he found-out he was being traded. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Firstly, Luka’s face is beautiful. He’s the only NBA player I could have ever had a crush on. (I never even had one on Michael Jordan, whom I loved in his heyday…until I met him. But that’s a story for another day.)

On top of that, he did the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen anyone do in an NBA game. In the middle of the game, Luka asked one of the few female refs, Ashley Moyer-Gleich, “You didn’t see that foul?” So she asked him back, “What foul?” He charmingly answered, “I think I’m fouling in love with you.” How adorbs was that?! I was so jealous!!! I would have blown the whistle to stop the game, and then laid the mac on him right there!!! (And then been fired. But it would have been well worth it.) [Note: She’s married and he’s been with his girlfriend since they were teens, so he was just kidding around.]

And then just last week, when a mural of the late Laker great, Kobe Bryant, was desecrated, Luka stepped-up and paid the entire sum for it to be restored! What a guy; he’s been a Laker for just a couple of months and he did that!

A fuzzy pic of Jamal Murray (because it’s an action one.) I love his sneaks in my favorite colors! Photo by Karen Salkin.

Secondly, I have two extra reasons why I admire Jamal Murray so much. The first one happened in the 2020 pandemic play-offs that were held in the “bubble.” Someone with a camera and questions came upon him sitting by himself one day, and he was just so nice about his opponent, Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, who had scored fifty-seven points against his own Nuggets a few days before. He was so impressed with Donovan, which made me really like Jamal. And then just a few days later, Jamal scored fifty points himself against Donovan and the Jazz! I love that whole scenario.

The other thing that made me admire Jamal even more is that during the Nuggets’ victory parade in 2023, a fan sent a picture he had painted of Jamal up to him on the fire truck he was riding on, along with a sharpie for him to sign it. This was in the middle of the parade where Jamal was celebrating with his family and teammates, and so much was going on. And Jamal actually paused his own celebration to get that done for the fan and get it back down to him. That really impressed me.

Donovan Mitchell. (Gee–I wonder what he looked like as a kid!) Photo by Karen Salkin.

And thirdly, and much more recently, (last week, to be exact,) former Cleveland Cavalier and current Miami Heat, Kevin Love, lost his father. He hasn’t been playing, but still showed-up at the play-off game between the teams the next night. When Cavs’ star, Donovan Mitchell, was interviewed after finishing their sweep of the Heat, (which was a big deal,) instead of talking about their big win or lauding himself, the first thing he did was talk about Kevin’s loss, and send his best wishes to him. And in more than just one cursory sentence. I love that boy!

When I started working on this article, I was planning on writing about only my favorite NBA players. But while watching some of the disgusting shenanigans, (or, as some of the broadcasters refer to it, “extracurricular activities,”) by some of the more rotten players, I realized that I need to throw in a few other observations, as well.

So let me tell you which player I absolutely detest. We’ve all had to deal with his depravity for a long time. Can you guess who it is? Here’s a clue—he’s the dirtiest player I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It’s the always-violent, sneaky, morally reprehensible lowlife bully and hooligan, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors. I think the heads of the NBA are disgusting for allowing him to still play when he could really harm someone. I’m not joking about this—he’s dangerous. He should have gone into wrestling instead of basketball.

Look at creepy Draymond Green trying to eavesdrop on his opponents’ huddle! Photo by Karen Salkin.

Actually, at this point, the entire Warriors team is actually a bunch of villains. (I used to love Buddy Hield, and always rooted for him to finally have some success, but not with this team.) I will root for any team against them! They’re ruining my beloved playoffs for me.

It’s difficult to watch the games when you seriously hate some of the players. You want everyone to play their hardest, but not be hoodlums. I want to see good, honest, hard-fought competition, as is the brand of the Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers.  I’m sure the refs dread having to call a Warriors game with that reprobate Draymond on the floor!

Draymond Green, in the dark uniform, pulling yet one more scummy move–grabbing his opponent’s jersey when knocking him down didn’t work! Photo by Karen Salkin.

But enough those creeps. Let’s get back to the positive peeps. Out of all the sportscasters who do play-by-play and color commentating for the various games, I just feel better when I hear Grant Hill on the broadcast call. He makes me feel like everything’s okay.

I’ve never met any of the active players, (but life is young, even if I’m not,) but I’m happy to report that I’ve not only met some of the oldies but goodies, but have pix with a few of them, as well. (The ones I could find easily enough are at the bottom of this article, with my many looks over the years.)

And lastly, Coach Pop, Gregg Popovich, the most winning coach in history, just retired from coaching after thirty-three years!  I cried for hours when I heard the news and saw everyone paying tribute to him all during the day of the announcement and the next. He had a stroke a little over six months ago; I was hoping it was a mini one, as mine was almost a decade ago, but now that I’ve seen him on TV, I see that it was, very sadly, a major one. But he still has his sense of humor, and will now be the Spurs’ President of Basketball Operations.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

In March 2023, when I was writing about the upcoming NBA Draft, and we all knew that France’s Victor Wembanyama would be the #1 pick, I wrote, “Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is my favorite basketball coach of all-time, and beloved by everyone, even opponents and the media to whom he gives one-word answers. I seriously hope for Victor’s sake that he goes to the Spurs so that he can get coached by that wonderful man.” And it came to be! (I just wish that I could just manifest some goodness for myself, as I did for Victor, Pop, and everyone in San Antonio!)

There’s so much good about Pop. But what I’m going to miss the most with him no longer coaching is his epic interviews. For those who don’t know, his answers are quite often just a word or two. And many of them imply that the interviewer is an idiot. We all love what Popovich has to say, even the people on the receiving end of his disdain.

Nikola Jokic. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Now, with only three of my fave players, (Donovan, Nicola, and Jamal,) left in the play-offs, I’m a nervous wreck. I’ve wanted the Finals to come down to the Cavs and Nugs all along, so I’m rooting for them harder than ever.

All that being said, I really don’t see how anyone can beat the Oklahoma City Thunder this year. (Bite my tongue.) But a girl can hope, can’t she? [Note: Right after I wrote that, my Nuggets beat OKC in the very last second in Game 1 of their series! Wow.]

Karen Salkin and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Photo by Barry King.

Dr. J and Karen Salkin.

Karen Salkin and Doc Rivers. Obviously this was waaay back in the day! On both our parts! Photo by Leland Stein/Gary Montgomery.

Karen Salkin and Jason Kidd. Photo by Lauren Clarke-Bennett.

Old pals Marques Johnson and Karen Salkin. Photo by Lucia Singer-McCarthy.

Greg Oden and Karen Salkin. Photo by Lucia Singer-McCarthy.

Karen Salkin and Dwight Howard. Photo by Hillary Clark.

Karen Salkin and Charles Barkley. Photo by Lauren Clarke-Bennett.

Kenny Smith and Karen Salkin. Photo by Gwendolyn Osborne.

Laker great Norm Nixon and Karen Salkin. Photo by Roz Wolf.

Karen Salkin and Ron Artest. Photo by Marc Winer.

Former Laker A.C. Green and Karen Salkin. Photo by Roz Wolf.

The 2025 March Madness college basketball tournament wrapped-up last Monday night, but there’s a reason it’s taken me longer than usual to record my many thoughts on it. And that is because the Championship game was so soul-crushing that I just could not face writing about it. For perhaps the first time ever, I stopped watching about a minute after it ended, when I saw the look on the face of losing veteran coach, Kelvin Sampson. I had originally made a note that it “took me a while to get over it,” but the truth is that I am still not. I was so miserable for Kelvin, in fact, that I could not even watch the official wrap-up shows! Since I’m a big regretter, I don’t think I’ll ever get over that the refs neglected to call a real goaltend in the first half that would have made the results different in the end.

Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson on the right, with his assistant coach (and son) on the left. Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one at the top of this article.

But, since the NBA postseason actually begins tonight, I figured that I have to buck-up and get the college stuff out of the way right now.

As usual, I, of course, watched every second of the tournament. Trust me, on the days of sixteen games each, I had little sleep. I spent one of those weeks totally exhausted, and stayed in the house for two weeks straight.

And, also of course, I took copious notes each and every day. I pared them down here, so what follows are the highlights.

So first of all, let me congratulate the Florida Gators on beating the Houston Cougars for the Championship. I used to hate the Gators when they beat my UCLA Bruins about eighteen years ago, but I have to admit, even though I was almost desperate for the Auburn Tigers to win this year, as soon as I saw the Gators, and guard Walter Clayton, Jr.* in particular, play their first game this tourney, I told Mr. X, “I don’t see anyone beating them this year.” You know I love being right, but I would have still rathered any of the other three teams in the Final Four being the victor. Oh well. (Even though Houston was one of the top four teams, they were ranked the last of those.)

Photo by Karen Salkin.

*By the way, early on in my notes, I wrote, “Walter Clayton, Jr. is the new Steph Curry! I was half asleep when I first saw what he can do, but he woke me right up. Truly amazing.” And then later I wrote, “This is why I watch—to discover Walter Clayton, Jr.  (Even though I detested the Gators back in 2007 when they beat my UCLA Bruins.)”

Veteran coach Rick Pitino, whose team had already lost, comforting his granddaughter when the team headed by her dad, (his son,) was losing a day later. Photo by Karen Salkin.

But that’s the nature of March Madness; sixty-seven of the sixty-eight teams are going to wind-up miserable. I just wish that they could all remember the happiness along the journey, not just the misery when they inevitably lose. (Mr. X added, “And the longer you’re in it, the more it hurts.” Exactly.)

Now here are some of my happier thoughts:

Every year, some very unexpected person emerges from March Madness as the star. And it’s rarely a player or coach. For example, in 2018, it was Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the now-one-hundred-and-five-year-old Chaplain for the Loyola-Chicago team. She’s adorable, and is the most universally-beloved person I’ve ever seen. And she’s still working!!

Well, this year’s star is Amir “Aura” Khan, the student manager of the McNeese State University team. He leads the guys out of the locker room and onto the court carrying a boombox. and everyone loves him! He’s the only student manager who even has an NIL deal with a few companies, which means he gets paid for companies using his “name, likeness, and image.”

The McNeese team led by their student manager, Amir “Aura” Khan. Photo by Karen Salkin.

The tournament started-off on a few good notes. The first was Charles Barkley’s college, Auburn, was the overall #1 in the tournament! I’m still so happy for him! (But then they lost in the Final Four, which he was actually a very good sport about. I was not—I seriously wanted them to win!)

And then the tourney started off with a great game right away, one that came down to literally the last second, and was won with a baseball pass to the scorer!

I became a fan of Johni Broome of Auburn. But I hate that he’s pronouncing his name, which should just be pronounced “Johnnie,” as “Ja-nI.” Even worse is that studio host Ernie Johnson, who should know better, was pronouncing it “Ja-nI-a.” What???

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Sion James of Duke and Marcus Caldwell from Wisconsin should definitely become announcers, commentators, or analysts when they’re done playing. They speak beautifully! And Sion was the most well-spoken young man in the tourney! You know how much I love that!

A couple of the grateful UCSD guys after their loss! Photo by Karen Salkin.

Speaking of good guys, I love that Milos Uzan from Houston, (who is planning to enter this year’s NBA Draft,) said, “Excuse me” and “I’m sorry” when he didn’t understand the interviewer, instead of the usual “Huh?”

The UCSanDiego players are the nicest losers ever!  They almost won their first and only game, and then lost at the very last second, but they all still smiled and hugged each other. Those are guys who were grateful to just make the tourney in their first year of eligibility. And the smile never left their coach’s face, either, from start to finish. That’s a great group of guys.

Bennett Stirtz’s baby skin! Photo by Karen Salkin.

Drake’s Bennett Stirtz has the skin of a baby! If he doesn’t go pro, he should become a dermatologist or facialist because patients will think he really knows how to take care of his skin!

Memphis coach Penny Hardaway looks the same as he did when he first played pro ball…thirty years ago!!! I used to watch him on the Orlando Magic with two of my guy friends who loved him sooo much that they put a doll of him, (called “Little Penny,”) in front of the TV each time, for luck! Along with a giant toy penny, of course.

Penny Hardaway. Photo by Karen Salkin.

A star of Memphis has the odd moniker, Dain Dainja. How do parents choose to give their kid just about the same first name as his last? Oysh. It’s even worse for a guy on the Texas Tech team—Federiko Federiko! (That’s not a typo.) Actually, I once knew a guy named “John” who introduced me to his brother, “Jon.” And George Foreman (who passed away on the second day of this tournament, right after I had written this paragraph,) named all five of his sons “George Edward Foreman,” the same as…himself.  Some parents are just weird.

I love this: Analyst Clark Kellogg said about Kentucky Head Coach Mark Pope, who also went to med school, “A phenomenal portfolio of experiences.” What a great term! It made me think that all of my crazy situations can be bundled together into that same title. I hate borrowing other people’s words when I have so many of my own, but this one is so good that I just might have to at some point!

(L-R) Ernie Johnson, Clark Kellogg, and Kenny Smith. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Host of the studio shows, Ernie Johnson, said of the shortest-in-height team, “Shoot low, boys—they’re riding Shetland ponies,” which only Clark Kellogg, (and I, of course,) understood the humor of. I even had to explain it to Mr. X, (who usually gets odd statements,) at least ten times. I had never heard that expression before myself, but figured it out in a nano-second, and laughed along with the guys when Ernie explained it to them. (For the nesceints out there, “Shoot low, boys—they’re riding Shetland ponies” is a quote from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It wasn’t meant humorously; Sundance said it literally. It’s since become used to mean shorter people.)

Just one example of a player rocking MY old style of pairing two different-colored sneaks! Photo by Karen Salkin.

I’m still wondering how Arizona was allowed to have so many players??? Isn’t the team number regulated by the NCAA and other college entities? Each one cannot just decide for themselves willy-nilly! So what’s up with that?

At this point in the tourney, I was also amazed that so many players were copying my iconic old school look of rocking two different color sneakers! I know that these young guys could not have seen me doing it back then, but perhaps their parents told them about my famous and much-talked-about unique fashion.

Analyst, and former player, Kenny Smith, gave a great lesson about “finding the seams” on the ball, for maximum shooting effectiveness. That’s what I always used to teach my nephew, but I didn’t know how to do it as well as Kenny did.

The Richardson men—dad Jason, who was in the NBA, and his son, Michigan State’s Jase—are so adorbs! I love a father who’s more famous than his son, but the son is everything to him. Jason is so much prouder to be Jase’s dad than be famous himself.

The shells in Rueben Chinyelu’s hair. Photo by Karen Salkin.

How is Rueben Chinyelu of Florida allowed to wear shell beads in the front of his braids? I know players are not allowed to wear jewelry because it could be dangerous to them and everyone else on the court, so how is a decorative hair accessory allowed?

Of a player on the BYU team, the play-by-play guy, Brian Anderson, said, “He’s 6’6” and looks like a mini-Charles Barkley.” His on-air partner, Jim Jackson, added, “He may be short of stature, but not of heart.” Are they kidding??? They think that 6’6’ is short?! It’s not even short for a basketball player!

I haven’t had time to watch many commercials, but the ATT one about the former Villanova team, now mostly Knicks, actually makes me cry. Every time I see it!

I like Florida coach Todd Golden—he sounds like just a regular guy, so basic and honest.

Zvonimir and Tomislav Ivisic. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Zvonimir Ivisic from Arkansas and his twin brother, Tomislav, who plays for Illinois, pronounce their last names differently! That sounds so crazy, but Mr. X also has a Croatian last name, and he and his father pronounce it differently because Mr. X American-izes it, while his father was actually from the old country, so he used the original pronunciation. But it’s amusing for brothers to do that, especially when they’re the same age!

I absolutely adored that all four #1 teams made it to the Final Four this year! That has happened only once before, in 2008. (If you don’t know how the NCAA tourney works, there are four groups of teams, seeded 1-16. And they’re all chosen and ranked by a Selection Committee, which looks like geniuses this year! So there are a quartet of #1s, and even those are ranked. There’s an overall #1—which was Auburn this year—down to the fourth-ranked #1. And the tournament usually features several upsets, which is one of the reasons it’s March Madness.)

This was only the 2nd time in history that all four #1s made it to the Final Four! Photo by Karen Salkin.

Another interesting aspect of this year’s Final Four was that two of the coaches were…Jewish! When does that ever happen?! And Auburn’s Bruce Pearl and Florida’s Todd Golden not only knew each other, but have worked together twice before.

After the Gators won their penultimate game to get into the Final, sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson asked the celebratory team, “You lost in the first round last year, what’s different?,” to which Walter Clayton, Jr. replied, “We all just love each other.” But, the real difference is that last year…they didn’t have him!!!

Duke player Kon Knueppel as a kid at the 2015 Championship game with Coach K then of Duke walking in the background! Photo (off TV) by Karen Salkin.

I really wish that all the broadcasters would stop mispronouncing so many names!!! For example, Duke player Kon Knueppel’s last name is clearly “knUppel,” not the “knIpple” they all say!!!

When Houston beat Duke in the Final Four, color commentator, (and two-time Champion with Duke back in the day,) Grant Hill said it was “one of the most impressive comebacks I’ve ever seen.” That’s what I was thinking—through my tears.

I cannot believe that anyone beat Duke, (with their very young projected-to-be-the-#1-draft-pick, Cooper Flagg,) in general, especially after them being up by twelve! But Houston went on an 11-1 run at the end, and did just that.

And then Houston lost in the Championship game.

At the end of the Championship game, I told Mr. X of this image, “This is what I look like,” to which he  added, “Win or lose.” Touché. Photo by Karen Salkin.

As heartbreaking as that turned-out to be for me, I’m pulling myself together and moving on to the pro ballers play-offs now, where I’m sure there will be more misery for me! When will I ever learn?

I can’t believe that in the fifteen years of this e-zine’s existence, I’ve written about the NBA All-Star Weekend only once before! And it was basically to rant about the Slam Dunk Contest.

But I still wasn’t planning to “review” it this year, either. I like to just watch and enjoy, (hopefully,) without getting all judgmental (in writing) about the proceedings. But, as this fun and annoying one developed, and Mr. X kept laughing at my bon mots, and telling me to make sure “include” each one, (meaning in this article, which I was not planning on writing,) I finally decided to weigh-in. Briefly. I hope. (I know I know—I should have just live-tweeted my many thoughts, but I was always behind in my viewing, so I figured my thoughts were always a bit late.)

Slam Dunk Champion Mac McClung’s amazing first dunk this year.

I watched the proceedings all three days/nights, and these are what stood out to me, not in order that they happened:

The absolute highlight of the entire shebang, not just for me but I‘m sure for everyone, was Slam Dunk three-peat Champion, (and Roger Federer doppelgänger,) Mac McClung. (I love that someone there knew enough to play Return of the Mack when he won, as I had been yelling at the TV to do since he was first introduced that night!) OMG! He’s not even in the NBA! He’s in the G League, which is basically the “minors” for basketball players. I’ve watched him all three years that he’s been in the competition, and he gets more amazing each year. The first time he just surprised the heck out of everybody, and single-handedly revived the one time jewel of All-Star Weekend, the interest in which had been flagging for several years. The second year, he was even better, and this year, we all figured he’d be good, but what else could he do to surprise us? Jump over a car, that’s all! And grab the ball off the head of a pal who was sticking-out from the sunroof! I repeat—OMG. Give that guy an NBA contract already! Even for one day, so he can say he played in the League. He deserves it.

By the way—it’s pretty disgusting that no NBA star will compete in that contest anymore. Long gone are the days that Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins dominated. Viewers would prefer to see players like LeBron James, Zion Williamson, and Ja Morant do the dunks, but those guys don’t want to be embarrassed if they lose. Or even miss. Shame on them.

The other highlight of the weekend was seeing a teen-age college student from the audience, Jaren Barajas, win $100,000 shooting from the middle of the court against star Damian Lillard!!! The kid, (who, when asked how he’d spend the money if he won, answered that he’d help his family and use some for college,) had to get one ball in the basket before Dame could get three. Dame had two, and then Jaren did it! And the place went berserk with joy!!! As did I. I have a feeling that Lillard missed a few on purpose, but Mr. X thinks he did not. Only Damian knows.

Jaren Barajas in the middle, with Damian Lillard silently cheering him on, (with the ball in his hands.)

I appreciate that they spread the events out over multiple venues in the San Francisco area, (labeling everything as “San Francisco Bay Area,” as opposed to all previous years, when they just stated the name of the one arena the festivities were held in,) but it was also a tad annoying, especially because they never explained why they did that. I’d venture a guess for the motivation—because they know that people think that San Francisco is a cesspool of drug addicts and crime and unfortunate homeless people, so they wanted to show that there’s more than that—but I can’t figure it out for sure.

What I can figure-out is that they did sooooo much else wrong, as well! Most of the intros were done in not a great way, (except, finally, for the actual All-Star “game,”) they need to stop re-doing the dunk and skills competitions differently each year, and they totally screwed the Spurs duo—veteran Chris Paul and sophomore Victor Wembanyama, one of my all-time favorite players—in the Skills contest by not explaining the rules correctly to a young guy whose first language is definitely not English!!! Shame on them. They need to hire me already to make it all right next year.

The Friday night “games” were beyond weak. The celebrity one that kicked-off All-Star Weekend had only one real celeb—Shaboozey. The rest were mainly non-famous folks—working actors, WNBA players, supposed social media personalities—with a couple of old NBA players mixed-in. It was a joke. Mr. X pointed-out how empty that venue was.

LiAngelo Ball, aka Gelo, rapping on All-Star Weekend.

Then they moved on to the Rising Stars Game that I’ll describe for you in a sec. And it was held at another empty venue! Why couldn’t they have been held at the same site??? It’s all so head-scratching.

On Saturday night, as part of the presentation, player Lonzo Ball introduced a performance by his brother, rapper Gelo. The whole thing made me sad. It was like a high school talent show. I kept wondering where the Balls got a fourth brother from, because the other three—Lonzo, LaMelo, and LiAngelo—are all NBA players. Not super successful ones, (Lonzo hurt his knee and until this season, hadn’t played for two years!,) but still… So I looked it up, of course, to see just where Gelo fit in, and it turns-out—he is LiAngelo!!! There’s no fourth bro. His pro ball career didn’t pan out, so he became a rapper! Perhaps that’s why his All-Star performance was so weak. Seriously, I mean this with no snark; I feel bad for the dude. He was performing in front of his former fellow NBA players who were all aware that he didn’t make it in the league. I think we’d all be insecure in that circumstance. I actually feel bad for him. And for his bros, as well, to have the horrible father that they do. Growing-up could not have been easy for any of them.

I hate Draymond Green soooooo much!  It’s disgusting that TNT has him commentate. At all! And I think he has a contract with them for when he’s done playing. Ewww.

There was some incredibly rude woman who was sitting next to Oscar Robertson all weekend, but according to pix I researched, she’s not his wife, so perhaps a daughter. I really wish I could get to the bottom of it, (for all our sakes,) but no matter who she is, she never smiled once, (at least not when the cameras were on her,) and this is even worse—during the Three Point Shootout, she sat right next to the contestants, and…was chatting away on her phone!!! That is beyond rude! And so disrespectful to the sport that gave her first row seats throughout!

On the very left is that incredibly rude woman who was chatting on her phone in the front row, right next to the guys who were vying for the title of Three-Point Shoot-out Champion! Photo by Karen Salkin.

The rest of my thoughts here are about the actual new crazy All-Star Game set-up, which is actually an All-Star Tournament. And one of the four teams is not even composed of all-stars! It was almost entirely G League guys, who are the exact opposite of all-stars! (On top of that, only two of those half dozen players advertised in the image at the top of this column played in the main game!!! One wasn’t even there at all!)

The quick version is that on Friday night of the weekend, there was a four-team mini-tournament of “Rising Stars.” Three of the teams were comprised of rookies and second year players who are not stars by any stretch of the imagination. And one team was all guys from the aforementioned G League. The team who won then moved on to play on Sunday against one of the three teams made up of All-Stars. The twenty-four All-Stars were split into three teams—one of the older guys, one of the young guys, and one supposedly of the international guys—all who would play if there was a traditional All-Star Game. But the “old guys” team could’ve easily lost to the team of “nobody famous guys” because it’s not a real game; they played it just forty points. (For reference, usual All-Star Games final scores are around 184-172! So no guys this year can qualify for any records, which is just sad.)

As Cleveland Cavaliers star, (and another of my faves,) Donovan Mitchell said, I’m an East-West girl, so even though this format was a tad interesting, I prefer the old way. (I can’t wait to see what they decide to do with it in 2026!)

I hate to say it, but I agree with Draymond that the young Rising Stars guys do not belong in the “All-Star Tournament.” He kept ragging on it, even though his Warriors teammate, star Steph Curry, says that he, Steph, is the one who invented this new format! As Sunday evening went along, though, Draymond got more and more mean about it, taking shots at everyone. It was enough already. (Even Hall-of-Famer Oscar Robertson came out against his vitriol.) The mini-tourney was all interesting enough; I just don’t like change, especially in an All-Star situation. But some people, like even the great Charles Barkley, think it was necessary. Chuck said that if Draymond’s group of players hadn’t messed it all up, they would not have had to change anything. Mmmm.

Steph Curry rocking my two color sneakers style… Photo by Karen Salkin.

It was incredibly rude of LeBron James to have dropped-out of the games a few minutes before it all started! He should have done so the day before, to give someone else the chance to participate in what would have been special to them. And he screwed his eight-man team by making them play with just seven!!! He knew his ankle was bad last week.

And how did the team of “Global Stars” include three Americans???

The whole thing was, to use Mr. X’s word, mush.

By the way, why were two of the players—Matas Buzelis on Saturday night and Steph Curry on Sunday—rocking two different color sneakers, which is the style that I started back in the day?! Why does everyone copy me???

…and Matas Buzelis copying my style, too! Photo by Karen Salkin.

They really did need Kevin Hart, who finally showed up to try to save the day. But there was waaaay too much of the guys talking before the games. Get the games going already!!!

I hate to say it, but they need a lot less of the commentators. The entire All-Star Game needs it be the East versus West again, more pure game action, more Kevin Hart, and a lot less talking!

This new format wasn’t fair to the team that won the first game; they had to sit for about forty more minutes than the second team did before they played the “title” game! That is soooo not fair. They totally cooled down and then had to get their beings back up to compete again.

And then on top of that, all of the action was paused…in the middle of the final game… for “a tribute to TNT!!!,” because this is the last year that the Turner network will broadcast the All-Star Game. (NBC takes over next year.) And it wasn’t just a short-ish video—it was about twenty minutes of speeches and tomfoolery! Who organized this mess???

It’s in Los Angeles next year, so I’m repeating—they need me to fix it all for them right now!

The TNT team. (L-R) Shaq O’Neal, Ernie Johnson, Vince Carter (who was a guest on the show,) Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley. Photo by Karen Salkin.

I’ll end with something stupid that I hate to report because it’s Charles Barkley who said it, and I adore him. But I must. Near the end of the coverage, he declared, “If it wasn’t for the fans and the players, the game would never be the same.”  What???  Of course it wouldn’t—without the players, there would be no game! That about sums-up this extremely, (save for Mac McClung,) dull and depressing week-end.

So now, it’s on to baseball for me. Go, Yanks and Mets!

You would think that, since I’m in the middle of watching every second of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, that’s what I’d be writing about in the Sports category today. But you would be wrong.

Yes, I usually do publish a middle-of-the-tourney article, but I decided to just watch and enjoy this year, as opposed to my usual note-taking and tweeting. (It also might have a lot to do with the fact that my computer recently broke down, and my laptop expired, as well. So I’m sharing Mr. X’s laptop for a while, which means I don’t have round-the-clock access to it.)

The Milwaukee Bucks’ “war room,” where all the draft decisons are made on Draft Night. Photo by Karen Salkin.

All that explains why I’m a tad behind on discussing this year’s NBA Draft, which took place almost two weeks ago. And, let me tell you, it was the oddest one in the two and a half decades I’ve been watching it!

I didn’t take extensive notes on it all, but there are several people and issues worth discussing.

First of all, it’s absolutely ridiculous that they held the proceedings over two nights this year, as opposed to the usual one night. They broke it up into the two rounds, which is sooo unfair to the young men waiting on tenterhooks to find-out if they’d be drafted. (Most of the ones who are assumed to be drafted in the Top Thirty are invited to sit in a “green room” of sorts that night, and a few others who are confident they will be drafted, as well, dress-up and bring their families to sit in the close-by audience section with them. Those who are embarrassed by sitting there when that first round is over still usually get chosen in Round Two, and then get to hug their posse, walk up to the stage for their pic, and then get interviewed on camera.) to the stage for their pic, and then get interviewed on camera.)

My guess as to why they did it over two nights is to possibly not lose the TV audience’s attention by making it one long night, or for ratings somehow. I also think something else big was happening on TV that night with which they did not want to compete. But, no matter why, it was a horrible decision, one the hosting panel creepily kept congratulating themselves on.

The second day was sooooo depressing! Instead of the festive situation of the night before, these families were just in the television studio, with no audience to cheer for them and no interviews. Very upbeat the first day, projected high pick Kyle Filipowski didn’t even come back the next one. (But at least he did get taken second in that round.)

I hope they change it back next year—they need to think of the guys! They need to let them be in the proper atmosphere, even if they sit in the stands instead of the green room. And most importantly, they took away my crying for them all! Shame on them!

On a side note to that situation, I wonder why they changed the waiting area to having long tables instead of the usual round ones. And why tables  at all when it appears they don’t serve food or drinks outside of just individual plastic bottles of water.

As to the guys themselves, this was the sweetest draft class ever!

Some members of the 2024 NBA Draft class! Photo by Karen Salkin.

But the entire draft was like America’s Got Talent these days—it seemed to be mostly foreigners!!! Especially French dudes. Two of them were even the #1 and #2 picks!!! (That country will have a heck of an Olympics team in a few weeks!!! I have a feeling that they will definitely challenge the American men.)

Shockingly, I like Bronny James! He seems very nice and not at all obnoxious.

But…why is everyone so scared of his dad, LeBron James, and their agent, Rich Paul??? One of the panel members, former Warriors GM Bob Myers, who is very close to the people involved in that whole situation, broke the news that Paul called all the other teams who could have chosen Bronny before the Lakers #55 pick, (they weren’t going to choose him with their #7 one because they would just have embarrassed themselves,) and threatened them that if they did not let the Lakers have Bronny, he would play in Australia instead of on their team! And Paul also reminded them that he has several other players he’d keep away from their teams. That entire scenario makes me see red. I was rooting for the James’ to play together, but ugh to the tactics. No one really wanted Bronny and his heart issues, anyway, but still…

I like Bronny, but it’s crazy that the Lakers are pretending he was chosen for his skills, not because of a deal with his dad, when we all know that he was 100% chosen by them to keep LeBron on the team!!! With Bronny’s aforementioned heart issues and lack of college play, he would never have been chosen in this draft!

So, to sum up that particular situation, I’m happy for LeBron and Bronny, but not for the Lakers. That was so slimy of them. (I predicted it all weeks ago right here on INAM, by the way!) But I’m glad for all of us sports fans to witness history—it will be the first time a father and son have played together in the NBA! I also predict that LeBron will then retire at the end of next season. And become…the Lakers coach! That’s most likely why the organization hired Bron’s pal and podcast partner, JJ Redick, as their coach now! He has absolutely no coaching experience, so it’s all very suspicious.

By the way—Bronny is already injured! He missed a game of two (or three) in the summer league because his knee is swollen.

Now to the rest of the guys. There’s the popular TikTok guy, Jared McCain, who always wears nail polish! I wonder if they’ll let him still do that in the pros. They don’t allow any jewelry, except for rubber bracelets, but they do allow crazy hair-dos and facial hair, so I can’t wait to see their nail polish policy.

And Reed Sheppard is so sweet. If I had had a son, and he didn’t have to be a funny kid, I would love it to be this guy. He threw-out the first pitch at the Yankees-Mets game the day before the draft, and the catcher of that pitch was none other than…his mom!

Coach Hurley at the draft. Photo by Karen Salkin.

I love that college coaches John Calipari, (late of Kentucky, but starting now at Arkansas,) and Dan Hurley, (two-time champ at UConn,) show-up for their players in the draft.

I so appreciate that eighteen-year-old Ron Holland II said his fave music artist is…Teddy Pendergrass! Talk about an old soul.

I’d still love to know why Purdue’s Zach Edey, who wound-up being drafted ninth, wasn’t there. How can someone who had to know he’d be drafted high miss this amazing opportunity?

All during the NCAA March Madness tournament, the only potential draftee the analysts keep mentioning was Colorado’s Cody Williams, whose brother Jalen Williams plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder. And he did get drafted tenth. So now I’m curious to see him play more than the few minutes I saw I’m do so in college.

The Lakers chose Candace Parker’s favorite college player, Dalton Knecht. I like him, too, so now I may have to finally cheer for the Lakers. But just maybe.

Tristan da Silva on Draft Night. Photo by Karen Salkin.

My prediction is that Tristan da Silva will be gorgeous in a year or two.

The Bucks “war room,” (where the draft day decisions were made,) had so *many fewer people that the other rooms they showed, and almost half women. *(I know that “many fewer” sounds like incorrect wording, but there’s no other way to describe that sitch.)

While I was originally down with the hosting panel, they began to annoy me, especially on Day Two. They were bs-ing with each other so much that Jamal Shead and Antonio Reeves, (taken at #s 45 and 47,) didn’t even get to hear their names announced!!! Some others missed that honor, as well, some because ESPN apparently thought that commercials were more important than the most significant moment in these guys’ lives!

Johnny Murphy is so cute, and so young-looking!

Bobi Klintman is from Sweden and played in Australia, but sounds soooo American! Strange.

Why would teams choose players for each other when they have consecutive choices #43 and #44? It makes no sense at all. It’s not like there was a team in the middle who was going to steal their pick! Just pick for yourselves!

Cameron Christie will now be playing for the Clippers, while his bro Max Christie is already a Laker. So they could be roomies in L.A.! I love stuff like this!

That’s it for my thoughts on the draft, in general, and some of the guys. But I have a fun personal story relating to the attire worn by Monica McNutt, the woman who interviewed the draftees during Round One.

So about a dozen years ago, a new friend of mine, the classy Lauren, (who has since become one of my handful of best friends in the world,) invited me to spend a weekend at her house in the Hamptons with her family. So I packed what I thought was my cutest and/or classiest wardrobe, and the first night, we were going to review a well-known restaurant. (I would describe it as “upscale,” but even though people think that everything in the Hamptons is, eateries there are often pretty laid-back.)  This was in the days when I was still thin and cute, so I donned a black mini dress. It was nothing sexy; just a cute, black cotton dress that was short, as all my dresses and skirts were at the time. Not micro-mini, just a few inches above the knee. And it looked great.

Monica McNutt interviewing Reed Sheppard after he was drafted. See how the weird bottom of her “dress” does not go with the red part of it? Photo by Karen Salkin.

And then Lauren came into my room right before we were going to leave, and she said, “Oh sweetheart, you can’t dress like that in the Hamptons!,” because it was way too short, in her Hamptons opinion. So she gave me this wispy, long-ish, pink chiffon skirt to put underneath the bottom of my dress, which looked just like what this woman in the picture to the left did that night of the draft!

Getting back to my new fashion, I thought it looked really stupid, but we were just reviewing a restaurant, so I didn’t really care, and off we went.  Later on in the evening, as I was coming out of the restroom, I heard pounding music, and I walked around the inside corner of the area, and saw a big bouncer there. I asked what was going on, and he very derogatorily explained that it was a club in that half of the building. I couldn’t understand why he was talking down to me like that, as if I would have no idea what a club is, because it had been just a couple of years since I had stopped going to them and running some myself, and I still looked like I had back then. And then I realized that, with that crazy extra material under my dress, I looked like somebody who was too nerdy to have ever even been in a club! And this woman at the Draft looked like that’s what happened to her, as well—like she wore that red dress to the event, and then her bosses at ESPN told her that she needs to add some material to the bottom of it before she interviews the draftees. I swear, I really think that’s what happened there—the bottom material absolutely does not go with the rest of her dress!!!

There has been so much on my mind since yesterday that I feel the need to address it all right now. Some sad, some happy, some perplexing. But all of them interesting.

So here are a few of my recent thoughts:

DONALD SUTHERLAND DEATH

I was shocked when I read that Donald Sutherland had died. I had no idea that he had been unwell for a while. Even though the prolific actor was eighty-eight-years-old, my heart still sank.

Donald Sutherland.

I met Donald Sutherland only once, but he surprised me by just how sweet and intense he was. It was at the opening night after-party for a show he was starring in in L.A. The single and attractive friend I had brought along really wanted to meet him. So even though I really do not like to bother the toast of a soiree, I went over to laud him, just so she could chime in. And he did not take his eyes off mine for the next ten or fifteen minutes! He asked me everything! He was not trying to hit on me at all—he was just a nice person who seemed to be interested in others. I really appreciated my very brief time with the man.

And I have to apologize to Donald Sutherland for something. And that is thinking he was going to be the killer in my favorite TV show in years, The Undoing. But that’s how good of an actor he was—he tricked even my honed detective skills!

And now, my heart goes out to his family, fans, and friends, especially our great mutual pal, Elliott Gould, who has had a forever-bond with Donald ever since they starred in the classic movie M*A*S*H together. I’ll ask him to tell me a story or two about the Canadian legend this week.

R.I.P., Donald Sutherland.

JJ REDICK

New Lakers coach JJ Redick, speaking nicely with a ref in the past, which will most likely not be the case now!

As I predicted on Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers hired former NBA player JJ Redick as their new Head Coach, despite the fact that he has never served in that capacity anywhere before. Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who just shepherded that team to the NBA championship, is perhaps the youngest coach ever at thirty-five, (he’ll be thirty-six at the end of this month,) but he had been an assistant coach in small colleges forever, and he come up through the ranks to sort-of luck into the Celtics head coach position a couple of years ago. That’s the hard coaching path that he took, and most pro coaches have similar ones.

As I stated just a few days ago in this e-zine, (in my article about Danny Hurley turning the position down, which you can still read here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/basketballkarens-thoughts-danny-hurleys-excellent-decision,) JJ Redick has never even coached Little League, let alone anywhere else. He’s never even been an assistant coach in college! He’s never done anything more than play ball in high school and college and the NBA. And he’s been a commentator for the past couple years. But, again, never any kind of coach. (And trust me, I researched him quite a bit to make sure I was correct!)

Part of Joe Mazzulla’s coaching history.

So, I don’t really predict great things for him in the pro league. His contract is for four years, but I have a feeling that the Lakers will suck at the beginning of the season, and JJ will be gone by December. I really feel that they needed to hire a veteran coach, such as Jeff Van Gundy or Mark Jackson or Mike Brown, but oh well. As many of you know, even though I love Los Angeles, in general, more than anyone else I’ve ever met, I just have never gotten behind the Lakers. So there you have it.

BRONNY JAMES PREDICTION

Now to continue on the Laker tip, here’s what I think will happen here. I feel that LeBron James struck a backroom deal* with the Laker powers-that-be to make sure that his son, Bronny James, gets on the team with him. And if they do not choose him in the draft, (or even after the draft because he’s not really a hot commodity, and for sure not one of the sixty best players coming into the league, so in a fair world, he would still be available after the draft ends,) then LeBron and his son will go elsewhere. *[Note: I just read that their agent is declaring that they are not a “package deal,” but I beg to differ. So we’ll see.]

LeBron and Bronny James.

So, to any NBA teams who are reading this, here’s what you need to do: Unless you have first, second, or third pick in the Draft, if you’re ahead of the Lakers’ #17 choice, you should choose Bronny just to be able to trade him to the Lakers. Even though he doesn’t seem to be a great player himself, (which means that a team couldn’t get much in a trade for him,) I feel that the Lakers will do anything to get him, to keep LeBron James on the team. So if you choose Bronny before the Lakers can, you can basically write your own ticket of just whom and what you want in exchange for the kid! That would be a genius move, (even if I do have to say so myself.)

By the way, I really do want to see a father and son play together in the NBA, and this will be our best chance for that. I applaud LeBron for being such a dedicated father. Even though he’s still a great player, I don’t know if he would still be playing if it were not for the opportunity to play on the same team as his son. So I really hope that it will come to pass, and in this upcoming season, for sure. (But what’s LeBron going to do when his second son comes up in the world??? I’ll ponder that question some other time. As you can see, I have enough on my mind for one day!)

CAITLIN CLARK

I’ve honestly never seen anything like this in pro sports before—opponents being allowed to harm a fellow player with no repercussions from the league! It’s disgusting. By that I mean both the treatment of Caitlin Clark and the non-calls and no fines for the offenders.

Caitlin is not only the best player in the WNBA in quite awhile, but she’s also the only reason that any of the other players in the league are having people see them play. Just about no one has been interested in seeing women play basketball before this season, and now they finally have someone who is so good and intriguing that she’s selling out the previously empty arenas!

Just one recent incident against Caitlin Clark, (on the left,) as she’s about to get battered by a 235 pound opponent!

Plus, the teams have had to fly commercial all these years, (and I highly doubt it was even in Business Class,) but because of Caitlin, they are finally having charter flights. They need to be grateful for the girl, not evil to her!

It’s bad enough that she’s been left off the Olympics team, which, of course, she’s been more than gracious about, but she’s getting thrown around by bigger women, on purpose. And no one is doing anything to help her.

I hate to say it, but I agree with everyone else that it’s about race. (I would say that if it was the other way around, too.) And jealousy. All those other women, especially the ones Caitlin played against in college, (yes, you, Angel Reese,) are so jealous of her that it’s making them extra-crazy. And they need to stop it this very second before someone gets really hurt.

The refs need to really take charge. And, very shamefully, Caitlin needs to have a bodyguard with her.

But most importantly, the WNBA Commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, needs to issue a warning. She can make it generic, such as, “If any player harms another player, they will be suspended indefinitely, effective immediately.” Dot, dash, end of story.

LOS ANGELES JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

Photo by Nina Herzog.

I hope you all read my preview of this local annual film festival the other day, (here’s the link, in case you missed it: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/upcomingmovies-los-angeles-jewish-film-festival-2024-preview,) and that many of you were at the Opening Night Gala the other night. I wasn’t planning on also doing a review of it, but the event was so excellent, that I just have to tell you a little bit about it. And remind you that the festival is happening right now, and advise that, if you’re in SoCal, you should check out all their other offerings.

My friend Nina and I were overwhelmed by the number of people who turned out for the opening night. It was at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, which has a massive auditorium, and it was absolutely packed! We got there a little bit before 7PM, when it was due to start, and the line of well-dressed ticket holders was already around the block.

The reception came first; I really didn’t know what to expect in the way of food, but it was all delicious! And plentiful. The buffets featured several kinds of finger foods, and Nina and I loved it all. There were mini knishes, (of course,) hotdogs in “blankets,” chicken fingers, beef “cigars,” and vegetables on one table, and on another was Chinese food, (also of course.)

In addition to cut-up fruits, the desserts were marble cake and some mini pastries, such as cheese danishes.

The snack table! Photo by Karen Salkin.

And then, we made the most incredible discovery at the other end of the spacious lobby-–a whole table full of all kinds of packaged treats! It was a snack bonanza. There were tiny chocolates, crunchy quinoa chocolates in several different flavors, and Hawaiian sea salt macadamia nuts. That was my favorite area, of course.

There were also different alcoholic beverages. I don’t drink, but I believe I saw bottles of wine and vodka.

And the movie itself, Guns and Moses, was very good. Even though I knew it was a crime drama, it had me jumping several times. There were fun surprises and even a bit of humor. I’m going to try to attend some of the other films in the Festival, and I hope to see many of you there.

I was glad to see a serious security force all over the venue. And we had to go through metal detectors, which, in this day and age, I really appreciated.

www.lajfilmfest.org

BLUE BIRDY SPORTS BAR AND CAFE

Blue Birdy in WeHo. Photo by Karen Salkin.

My glowing review of this new eatery on the Sunset Strip is coming on Monday, so please be sure to look for it then. Here’s a quick preview: The picky Mr. X loved what he ate there! And you will not believe what his favorite dish is. You can try guessing, but I doubt you will get it. So remember to check back early next week to see how you fare.

And not to brag, but I totally predicted it! Actually, I definitely am bragging.

For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m going to tell you. If you do know, please bear with me a second while I quickly describe the situation.

Danny Hurley and his UConn team.

Danny Hurley, (my fellow Capricorn,) is the Head Coach of the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team, which has won the last two college championships. I cannot tell you what a big deal it is to win even one, but two is amazing. And two in a row puts you in the highest echelon there is. Very few teams and coaches have been able to achieve that.

So now he has the possibility of making it three in a row next year, which only the amazing Coach Wooden of the UCLA teams of yesteryear has achieved. (His teams actually won seven in a row!)

Darvin Ham and Doc Rivers will be coaching together in Milwaukee next season.

Meanwhile, after the Lakers made it only as far as the first round of the NBA play-offs this year, their coach, Darvin Ham, was fired pretty quickly. The Lakers actually have a recent history of not giving coaches a lot of time to get the job done. (On a side note, I’m thrilled that Darvin is back with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he is beloved by the players, as the top Assistant Head Coach. I have a feeling that if they don’t start next season perfectly, they will dump current Head Coach, Doc Rivers, for Darvin! Mark my words.)

So the Lakers have been on the hunt for a new coach, and the only name that was being bandied about in public was JJ Redick. I thought they were nuts to look at JJ; he’s been a college player and an NBA player, and is now one of the color analysts on NBA games, (including being on the broadcast team who was chosen to call the Finals, which is a big deal in that field.) But…he has never coached on any level! He has not been a college coach, nor an assistant coach in the league, nor even a high school one. At first I couldn’t figure-out why the Lakers would even look at someone with zero experience for the job, and then the answer came to me—JJ is the podcast partner of none other than…Lakers star LeBron James. Of course.

A trio of Hurleys: (L-R) Danny, dad Bob, Sr., and brother Bobby.

Then all of a sudden, about a week ago, it came out that the Lakers were going after Danny Hurley, which takes us back to the beginning of this article which explains that he’s the coach of the very successful UConn team. And he’s surrounded by other successful coaches in his own fam. His father was the storied Head Coach at St. Anthony High School in their native New Jersey, and his older brother Bobby was not only a star at Duke, then a player in the NBA, (whose career got a bit derailed by a bad car accident,) but is now the coach at Arizona State University. So I’m sure that Danny has received a lot of good advice from them.

The Lakers talked to him, and are purported to have offered him a six-year $70 million contract. One of the things that recommended him to coach not only an NBA team, but one of the most successful ones of all time, (even though he had never even been an assistant coach in the league,) is that his team strategies are so successful that NBA teams have been examining them to adopt for themselves.

So Danny just came out here to meet with the Lakers powers-that-be last week. And it seemed that just every sports analyst, commentator, and pundit said that he would take the Lakers gig.

But I said he would not. And I have Mr. X as my witness.

Victorious Danny Hurley.

So here are my thoughts on why I thought Danny Hurley would choose to stay in Connecticut, which is exactly what he wound-up doing.

First of all, he’s the biggest fish in a much smaller pond than being a coach in the NBA. Second of all, he is a god to that school; I am sure that he is not put upon by the people who run the University, as he would be by the Lakers owners and management personnel. Not to mention the L.A. fans would be all over him every second if the Lakers lost even a few games. He would have peace as an NBA coach only if he was constantly winning. At UConn, they will love him for the rest of his life, no matter what happens from here on out.

Also, in college, his players absolutely adore him! They feel they’re in the presence of greatness, and consider themselves super-lucky to be coached by him, (which they actually are.) Do you think there’s even a small possibility that NBA players are going to feel like that? Not a chance. He’d have to deal with all the personalities of every player who feels that he should have more or different playing time, or think that the coach shouldn’t say anything to him, or whatever. To manage those kinds of personalities takes someone very special and patient, such as Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley, or even the Mavericks current coach Jason Kidd. Danny Hurley would not be able to deal with any of that. He’s just a different kind of guy.

Danny Hurley appears to be a very intense guy. During the college tournament, (March Madness,) he even wears the same pair of underpants to every game. (His wife has to travel with a portable washing machine to help with that unique situation!) He also travels with a picture of the championship trophy so that his guys look at it every day. He has all kinds of other little peccadilloes, as well. I have no judgment on those because I’m very superstitious myself, (although I could not imagine wearing the same anything every day. But oh well.)

Danny Hurley and his UConn winning one of their two NCAA Championships.

As of now*, his contract at UConn gives him $31.5 million for six years, so he’s taking a lot less than the Lakers offered him. But I have a feeling that Danny feels about things like this as I do—that money is not everything. It would be nice to have that kind of income, of course; however, happiness and comfort for yourself and your family are of paramount importance at all times. *[Note: But I believe that UConn is planning on upping his salary to $50 million for that same time span now, saying it’s because of his Championships, but it’s most likely also to make staying there more attractive to him. That’s still $20 million less than he would have made with the Lakers, though. Not a financial discrepancy to sneeze at.]

So I totally applaud Danny Hurley for making the decision that he did. By staying at UConn, he’s going to have the chance to three-peat his college championship. And that, to Danny Hurley and yours truly, is worth more than gold. [Sidebar: I predict that the Lakers will now go back to JJ Redick for the coaching position. And that they will also sign LeBron’s son to play for them this year. Mark my words on this prediction, too.]

But now I have to decide how this will affect me. After all these years that I’ve been rooting for UCLA, Gonzaga, and URI, (where Danny coached for six years, but I cheer for them because it’s my favorite of the four colleges I attended,) I finally feel that I have to go with UConn next year. You go, bulldogs.

The Yankees Juan Soto and Aaron Judge.

One last sports note that’s more in my rooting arena: I just hope that the Yankees new star, Juan Soto, will feel the same way as Danny Hurley does when it comes to his new contract next year! There will definitely be a mega-bidding war for him, and we fans are all just hoping and praying that he remembers how much he’s enjoying playing with Aaron Judge and company, even if the Yanks can’t offer him the absolute biggest contract. From my mouth to God’s ear!

I had already started writing this third installment of my NBA 2024 Postseason series before my heart got broken when the Denver Nuggets lost Game 7 in such an awful way on Sunday night. So, my soul really isn’t into writing about the play-offs right now. But, ever the disciplined professional, on I plug. (And if you missed the first two parts, here are those links: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/basketball-nba-2024-postseason and itsnotaboutme.tv/news/basketball-nba-2024-postseason-part-ii.)

Stephen A. Smith. Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one at the top of this page.

On this topic, though, there I was on Sunday evening, after just having watched the New York Knicks lose their own Game 7 to the Indiana Pacers, and feeling absolutely awful for sports analyst Stephen A. Smith, who was downright giddy reporting from Madison Square Garden before that game. All postseason, with his beloved Knicks being the number two team in the East, he’s been so happy, and proclaiming that his team would be going to the Finals this year.

And then just three hours later, I unfortunately was right there with him in our horrible sunken feelings. I could not sleep that night nor get of bed yesterday morning to face getting ready for Round Three (of four) of the rest of the play-offs. Of course I know there are sooooo many worse problems in the world, (like, actually, all of them!,) but I just can’t stop feeling miserable for the Nuggets, especially to have been beaten by the little punk Timberwolves like that.

Okay, enough venting, let’s get on to the other basketball thoughts I had prior to this past week-end. And thanks for listening.

Beautiful Luka Doncic, whose Mavs I hope will win the Championship. Photo (and drooling) by Karen Salkin.

Here are my new thoughts on the NBA this year:

~ It’s time that I explain to y’all just what “MVP” means!!! In this case, it stands for “Most Valuable Player,” and is awarded to the guy who the voting sportswriters deem to be just that. To his team. Valuable to his team. Not necessarily the best player in the league, although the winner often is. (Nicola Jokic, aka The Joker, from the Denver Nuggets won it for the third time in four years this month, and he is acknowledged, by just about everyone, to be the best player on the planet.) However, I reiterate, the purpose of the important award is to honor the dude whom the writers feel is the most valuable to his team! Simple enough concept, right?

So how do none of the panelists on Inside The NBA know the word “valuable,” not even grown-up host Ernie Johnson!!! Even The Joker, who is from Serbia, and speaks far from perfect English, understands the concept! He tried to explain it to the guys on the show, but they still didn’t get it!

Worse for that panel is that right after they announced the award on the show, and Johnson said that Nicola was standing by to chat with them remotely, idiot Shaquille O’Neal kept declaring that someone else should have won! Knowing they were about to talk to Jokic! And then, during the interview, he went so far as to tell Nicola to his face that the honor should have gone to the second place finisher! That is one of the rudest things I have ever seen on TV!!! It was incredibly uncomfortable, but, of course, lovely Joker handled it like the Champion he is.

The producers of Inside The NBA were incredibly stupid to not have the panel talk to Nicola first, before they gave their opinions on whom they believed should or should not have been the winner. That is such dreadful planning. How did they not see the debacle coming??? Shaq has been touting his choice all season!

The Inside The NBA panel. (L-R) Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley. Photo by Karen Salkin.

~ On a technical note, I never knew why the home teams were no longer wearing the lighter color uniforms, which was the way the league had been my whole life. I thought this change-up was just for the past two or three years. But when I researched the situation, it turns-out that the rule had changed…six years ago! When I finally noticed it, I figured that the change was because the league thought it politically incorrect these days to have the “good guys” wear white, while the “bad guys” wore black. (Or dark colors.) That could still be the rationale of the league to have changed it, but the rule now is that the home team decides if they will be wearing the light or dark uniforms. But so far this postseason, I’ve seen all but *one home team choose their dark ones. A bit nutty. *[Of course, my most hated team this year, Minnesota, is the only one who chose to wear white at home, perhaps to trick viewers into thinking they’re the “good guys.”]

The team towels at every seat at one of the cheap-o arenas. Photo by Karen Salkin.

~ This is something I don’t understand. Some of the arenas furnish each guest with a special play-off T-shirt, which is fun and generous, while other stadia give their ticket holders only…little towels to wave! (Let’s face it—I’d be happy with either, but my druthers, of course, would always be attire.)

By the way—Mr. X didn’t know the arenas do this during the play-offs, and the first time he noticed the crowd all dressed alike, he pointed it out to me, saying something like, “Look–they’re all dressed alike!”

~ I love some of the dramatic descriptive words the commentators have been using, such as:

Mike Breen saying the Pacers were “bludgeoning” the Knicks in Game 4.

The rest that of the quotes that I took particular note of are all about Denver, before they fell:

“The Denver Nuggets decimating, eviscerating, disemboweling the #1 defense in the NBA!”—Mark Jones

“Once again, Denver sucking the life out of Minnesota.”–Reggie Miller

Regarding Jokic: “He’s putting together a masterpiece!!! Another one!”–Kevin Harlan

And my favorite, about one of Jokic’s utterly amazing shots: “He let God touch it first. He shot it high enough to let God touch it and let it rain down.”–Jamal Crawford

USA Olympics Basketball Team…for now. Photo by Karen Salkin.

~ As the Olympics inch ever closer, (they begin on July 26th,) I have a couple of more thoughts on the USA basketball team. As I said in my previous NBA article, I feel that the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard should bow out soon if his knee isn’t significantly better than it was in the first round of the play-offs, (which is as far as the Clips got this year.) And I assumed if that happened, he would be replaced by the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson because he’s who all the commentators thought should be the twelfth man on the roster to begin with! But then on Sunday, in Jalen’s last game of the season, he hit his hand on an opposing player’s knee and…fractured it! (His hand, not the other guy’s knee.) These dudes are falling like flies, so now the coaches will most likely have to think of someone else. Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, perhaps? He has my vote! Always. (Of course, many of the very best players in the NBA—Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander—are playing for their own home countries, so we can’t have them for the Olympics!)

~I love when guys from other sports show up to support their fellow sportsmen, (such as footballers being front and center at basketball games, and several Yankees being there for the Knicks.) Even a few guys from teams that have been eliminated, (like Tyrese Maxie from the Philadelphia 76ers being at the Nuggets-TWolves game, and most famously, LeBron James showing-up in Cleveland,) have been there!

A few Yankees cheering on the Knicks: (L-R) My fave Giancarlo Stanton, Gleybor Torres, Nestor Cortez, and retired great Mariano Rivera. Photo by Karen Salkin.

~ What I’ve hated the most about this entire postseason, (outside of my Nuggets losing in Game 7 of Round Two,) is the young OKC Thunder players insisting on doing all their post-game interviews together, like twelve-year-old idiots rather than grown-ass professional men!!! Creepy. And rude to the sideline reporters.

The idiotic OKC Thunder players crashing a teammate’s post-game interview, as usual. Photo by Karen Salkin.

I’ve also hated all the idiotic headgear their starting power forward, Jalen Williams, rocks. He looks insane walking in and out of the arenas!

Jalen Williams of the OKC Thunder, rocking one of his dreadful headpieces. Photo by Karen Salkin.

And now, let’s go, Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks!!! I’m praying for you guys to win the whole thing. Knock on wood.

Now that the first round of the NBA’s postseason is finally over, I figured it’s time for me to weigh-in on this season of the pro basketball playoffs a bit. I’ve just spent the last month watching every second—I repeat, every second—of the games, (including the half dozen first “play-in” ones,) so I have a lot of thoughts on all of the recent goings-on in the National Basketball Association.

Beautiful Luka Doncic walking into a first round game. Photo by Karen Salkin.

For some sports, such as baseball, I’ve kept the same teams for most of my life. I will always be a Mets and Yankees girl. (Which is why I can never watch them play each other.) But for basketball, I go with the seasonal personnel of each team, (always a fluid situation,) which means my allegiance can change from year to year, as new guys come into the league, and players, (except for some stars,) always get traded. And I have my perennial favorites, (Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Trae Young,) so unless their teams are playing each other, I root for them all the way.

But the questionable behavior of some of the players I’ve witnessed this postseason has made me change teams mid-2024-play-offs, which is a new wrinkle for me.

For example, because of my intense dislike for the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant, I rooted for the Minnesota Timberwolves to beat them in Round One, (which they did.) But when I saw how creepy the T-Wolves star, Anthony Edwards, was while playing the Suns (whose star, Kevin Durant, has been Edwards’ idol his whole life,) I rooted for the Suns in Game Four, so that they would not be swept. Ant-Man is obnoxious enough—I didn’t want him to have the added conceit of sweeping a team. (But my rooting did not work.)

And to remind all the commentators and fawning analysts, who have never once mentioned what I’m about to tell you: Last year, when the T-wolves lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round, Anthony ran off the floor and did not stick around to shake hands with the opposing team, as every pro player is supposed to do at the end of a series! It’s called sportsmanship! It was so classless of Anthony. So I’d really like him to lose again now to see if he knows how to behave professionally this year. (But, so far, they’re beating the Nugs, and if they win this series, I can guarantee you that every Nugget will stick around to congratulate the younger team!)

So now, here are some of my random thoughts on all of the proceedings, including several predictions:

~ Mark my words about this: All year, I’ve been saying that the only reason LeBron James is still playing at almost forty years of age is that he’s hanging-on so he can live his dream of playing in the NBA with his son, Bronny, who is now eligible to play professionally next season, after one year at college. He’s not even close to being as great as his father, and would probably not even be considered to be drafted by a team, but I believe that LeBron is going to tell the Lakers that he’ll stay with them for one more year if they take his son, as well. It looks like LeBron is baiting the organization now by saying that he’ll decide his basketball future later. He’s also saying that his son is “considering” the draft, even though he already declared for it! If the Lakers don’t accommodate the Jameses, I predict he’ll tell them that he’s “taking my talents” elsewhere.

By the way, Bron should really talk to Giannis to find out how to get the nepotism going—Giannis somehow got the Milwaukee Bucks to bring his two not-very-talented bros onto that team with him.

Giannis Antetokounmpo in the center, flanked by two of his Bucks teammates–Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard– who are NOT his biological bros! Photo by Karen Salkin.

Last thought on LeBron for now: When his team was losing very badly in Round One, in one of his post-game press conferences, he said, “It’s only basketball.” He is correct about that, but he doesn’t always indicate that he feels that way. If the Lakers had won, his quotes would have been very different.

~ Right now, I’m rooting very hard for the Denver Nuggets; they’re all nice guys. (But after going down 0-2 to the T-Wolves last night, I have to admit that it’s looking grim for the reigning Champions.)

~ One the flip side, as I said before, Anthony Edwards and some of his Timberwolves teammates are obnoxious. And that’s who Denver is playing right now, which makes me sick. In that same West grouping, the #1 team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, is also full of King Obos. I hate seeing creepy people do well.

~ So in the West, in addition to the Nuggets, I’m also rooting for Luka Doncic and his Dallas Mavericks. (I was rooting for the Bucks in the East, but with Giannis being injured, so not able to play, they were a no-go.)

~ Back to the Lakers for a second. I’m far from a fan of D’Angelo Russell, but it was disgusting how the team threw him under the bus and kept blaming their first round losses on him. Their losing was definitely the fault of the entire team!

The other thing with them is that two days after their postseason ended, their two-year Head Coach, Darvin Ham, was fired. Even the analysts were aghast at that development, (which I predicted, by the way.) They said the Lakers’ lacks were due to the higher-ups, not Ham. (But I have a feeling the Bucks will fire Doc Rivers next season, and hire Darvin because he used to be their Assistant Coach who was very popular with the players.)

The Lakers (in yellow) losing to the Nuggets (in blue) 4-1 in the first round. Photo by Karen Salkin.

~ Speaking of the coaching carousel, the best thing that ever happened to Minnesota’s Assistant Coach, Micah Nori, is that one of their players ran into the Head Coach, Chris Finch, during a game last week, requiring immediate knee surgery, which means he can only sort-of coach on the side while Nori leads them in this round. His team is doing great, (much to my chagrin,) so I predict that Micah will get offered a head coaching position somewhere when the play-offs are over.

~ I went from rooting for Russell Westbrook of the Clippers to hating him because of his insane behavior near the end of Game Two in the first round against the Dallas Mavericks. He actually punched a player, and got kicked-out only because it was his second technical foul in that game, not because of his disturbing behavior in general. All of the commentators said the league should have suspended him for at least a game, as did I, but it didn’t happen. He has such anger issues that I’m always afraid he’s going to really harm someone, (an opposing player, referee, or even a fan,) one of these days.

Dereck Lively II and his late mother, former college basketball player, Kathy Drysdale. Photo by Karen Salkin.

~ Now here’s the most heartbreaking news of the year. The beloved mother of twenty-year-old Mavs rookie, Dereck Lively II, died of cancer just one week before his play-off career began. I remember that heartwarming duo on Draft Night last year, and loved them. Derek’s dad had died when Derek was only seven, so now he’s an orphan. My heart has been breaking for the young guy. I have no idea how he’s been playing so well this postseason.

~ There are a lot of other young players I like, as well, such as Zion Williamson, and even Ja Morant, and the Sacramento Kings.

That’s it for my basketball thoughts this week.

Desolate Zion Williamson, who had to sit-out the play-offs because of getting injured after racking-up a huge 40 points in his Play-In game. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Mr. X is already sick of the games. I admit it is intense to watch them all. The competitors have thinned-out a bit since we’re now into the second round. (For those who don’t know—there are eight teams involved in the “Play-Ins,” and then sixteen in the first round of the actual play-offs, which means there are eight seven-game series to start. Each subsequent series is also a best-of-seven affair. Which means the play-offs are going on until the middle of June!

By the way—I am not even close to complaining about all my sports-watching—I love this stuff! I choose to stay in the house, and often be up all night watching the games I’m always behind on. On both of the first two week-ends of the play-offs, there were four games each day, from early (for me) morning until late at night, and I watch even when Mr. X just can’t do it with me.

I’ll have more thoughts on basketball next week. I already do, but you’ll have to wait for the non-time-sensitive ones.