![\"Giannis](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screen-Shot-2025-04-30-at-2.45.41-PM-e1746511806717.png\")
<\/a>Giannis Antetokounmpo. Get a gander of his beautiful hands! Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one at the top of this article.<\/p><\/div>\n
My modern-day fave players (in order of my love\/admiration,) are: the Lakers\u2019 Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/strong>, the Cavs\u2019 Donovan Mitchell<\/strong>, the Nuggets\u2019 Jamal Murray<\/strong>, the Bucks\u2019 \u201cGreek Freak\u201d Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/strong>, the Nuggets\u2019 Nikola Jokic<\/strong>, and the Hawks\u2019 Trae<\/strong> Young<\/strong>. Actually, I published this same group exactly a year ago in this e-zine, adding, \u201c\u2026unless their teams are playing each other, I root for them all the way.\u201d The order<\/em> may have changed a tad, but the list<\/em> is still the same. (I had already written the \u201cnew\u201d one when I checked the INAM<\/em> archives to compare them. And was glad to see that my taste hasn\u2019t changed.)<\/p>\n I love these guys for the same reasons: they\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n I have a few more reasons why I adore three of those guys.<\/p>\n Adorbs Luka Don\u010di\u0107 showing the phone that he threw when he found-out he was being traded. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Firstly, Luka\u2019s face is beautiful. He\u2019s 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\u2026until I met him. But that\u2019s a story for another day.)<\/p>\n On top of that, he did the most adorable thing I\u2019ve 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<\/strong>, \u201cYou didn\u2019t see that foul?\u201d So she asked him back, \u201cWhat<\/em> foul?\u201d He charmingly answered, \u201cI think I\u2019m fouling<\/em> in love with you.\u201d How adorbs was that<\/em>?! I was so jealous!!! I<\/em> 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\u2019s married and he\u2019s been with his girlfriend since they were teens, so he was just kidding around.]<\/p>\n 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\u2019s been a Laker for just a couple of months and he did that!<\/p>\n A fuzzy pic of Jamal Murray (because it’s an action one.) I love his sneaks in my favorite colors! Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n 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 \u201cbubble.\u201d 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<\/em> scored fifty points himself against Donovan and the Jazz! I love that whole scenario.<\/p>\n The other thing that made me admire Jamal even more is that during the Nuggets\u2019 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<\/em> celebration to get that done for the fan and get it back down to him. That really impressed me.<\/p>\n Donovan Mitchell. (Gee–I wonder what he looked like as a kid!) Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n And thirdly, and much more recently, (last week, to be exact,) former Cleveland Cavalier and current Miami Heat, Kevin Love<\/strong>, lost his father. He hasn\u2019t been playing, but still showed-up at the play-off game between the teams the next night. When Cavs\u2019 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\u2019s loss, and send his best wishes to him. And in more than just one cursory sentence. I love that boy!<\/p>\n When I started working on this article, I was planning on writing about only my favorite<\/em> NBA players. But while watching some of the disgusting\u00a0shenanigans, (or, as some of the broadcasters refer to it, \u201cextracurricular activities,\u201d) by some of the more rotten\u00a0players, I realized that I need to throw in a few other observations, as well.<\/p>\n So let me tell you which player I absolutely detest. We\u2019ve all had to deal with his depravity for a long time. Can you guess who it is? Here\u2019s a clue\u2014he\u2019s the dirtiest player I\u2019ve ever seen in my entire life. It\u2019s the always-violent, sneaky, morally reprehensible lowlife bully and hooligan, Draymond Green<\/strong> 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\u2019m not joking about this\u2014he\u2019s dangerous. He should have gone into wrestling instead of basketball.<\/p>\n Look at creepy Draymond Green trying to eavesdrop on his opponents’ huddle! Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Actually, at this<\/em> point, the entire Warriors team is actually a bunch of villains. (I used to love Buddy Hield<\/strong>, and always rooted for him to finally have some success, but not with this<\/em> team.) I will root for any<\/em> team against them! They\u2019re ruining my beloved playoffs for me.<\/p>\n It\u2019s 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.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure the refs dread having to call a Warriors game with that reprobate Draymond on the floor!<\/p>\n 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.<\/p><\/div>\n But enough those creeps. Let\u2019s 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<\/strong> on the broadcast call. He makes me feel like everything\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve never met any of the active<\/em> players, (but life is young, even if I\u2019m<\/em> not,) but I\u2019m happy to report that I\u2019ve not only met<\/em> 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.)<\/p>\n And lastly, Coach Pop, Gregg Popovich<\/strong>, the most winning coach in history, just retired from coaching after thirty-three years!\u00a0 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<\/em> one, as mine<\/em> was almost a decade ago, but now that I\u2019ve 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\u2019 President of Basketball Operations.<\/p>\n Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n In March 2023, when I was writing about the upcoming NBA Draft, and we all knew that France\u2019s Victor Wembanyama<\/strong> would be the #1 pick, I wrote, \u201cSpurs 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\u2019s sake that he goes to the Spurs so that he can get coached by that wonderful man.\u201d And it came to be! (I just wish that I could just manifest some goodness for myself<\/em>, as I did for Victor, Pop, and everyone in San Antonio!)<\/p>\n There\u2019s so much good about Pop. But what I\u2019m going to miss the most with him no longer coaching is his epic interviews. For those who don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Nikola Jokic. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Now, with only three of my fave players, (Donovan, Nicola, and Jamal,) left in the play-offs, I\u2019m a nervous wreck. I\u2019ve wanted the Finals to come down to the Cavs and Nugs all along, so I\u2019m rooting for them harder than ever.<\/p>\n 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.]<\/p>\n Karen Salkin and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Photo by Barry King.<\/p><\/div>\n Dr. J and Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Karen Salkin and Doc Rivers. Obviously this was waaay back in the day! On both our parts! Photo by Leland Stein\/Gary Montgomery.<\/p><\/div>\n Karen Salkin and Jason Kidd. Photo by Lauren Clarke-Bennett.<\/p><\/div>\n Old pals Marques Johnson and Karen Salkin. Photo by Lucia Singer-McCarthy.<\/p><\/div>\n Greg Oden and Karen Salkin. Photo by Lucia Singer-McCarthy.<\/p><\/div>\n Karen Salkin and Dwight Howard. Photo by Hillary Clark.<\/p><\/div>\n Karen Salkin and Charles Barkley. Photo by Lauren Clarke-Bennett.<\/p><\/div>\n Kenny Smith and Karen Salkin. Photo by Gwendolyn Osborne.<\/p><\/div>\n Laker great Norm Nixon and Karen Salkin. Photo by Roz Wolf.<\/p><\/div>\n Karen Salkin and Ron Artest. Photo by Marc Winer.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>