Basketball Thoughts Diary #1
Boston, LBJ & Son, Luka, and more!
Welcome to the first edition of my irrational basketball thoughts diary! It was a wild opening week with lots of fun talking points.
But before we get to that, you may (or may not) have noticed the Basketball Shorts logo has been drastically improved! This is all thanks to the talented Bloem Loete. She is a wonderful illustrator and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for graphic design work or illustration. Check out Bloem’s website here to check out her portfolio and get in touch!
To the hoops!
On Opening Night, Boston drops 113 points on NY in three quarters loool. The C’s also matched the NBA game record with TWENTY-NINE 3s. If there’s ever been a game where a team put the entire league on notice, it was this one.
On Wednesday, the Sixers opened the season against the Bucks without franchise cornerstone Joel Embiid and free agent acquisition Paul George. Embiid is expected to miss at least the first three games of the season, which could mean all sorts of things. I, for example, expect to have at least three helpings of my kids Halloween candy. However, in all likelihood, I’ll have more. So..
The WNBA Players Association opted out of their CBA. With the increased interest and attention on the W, WNBA players have never had more bargaining power, so strike while the iron’s hot! Get paid, y’all!
Zach Lowe provided his only prediction on the season: https://x.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/1848695631952384216
Zach has also been sharing his thoughts on a number of players/games during opening week. Get your Lowe fix on his
TwitterX and Instagram!I still think Zach should bring his talents to Substack, but I’ll take what I can get for now #ZachStack
Gobert gets extended! The French Rejection declined his $46.6 million dollar player option for next year and signed a 3-year $110 million dollar extension. This gives the Wolves some badly needed flexibility to keep their roster at an elite level. Good on Gobert! I’d like to see the Wolves take their savings and use it to keep Randle, but I guess that they’ll wait to see how the season shakes out before they make any more decisions. Also, Mark Lore and Alex Rodriguez have $942 million in cash rn. Good lord.
LeBron and Bronny James become the first father/son duo to share the court in an NBA game! What an incredible moment! Plus, the Griffey’s were there!
Incredible ad for Adidas feat. Anthony Edwards. I’ll take a hundred more of these, please.
Luka knowing Klay’s three was good was probably my favorite moment from this week. I love this so much for two reasons:
Luka knows Klay isn’t going to miss a three-pointer that is that wide open and;
Luka knows that Klay is a perfect fit for this Mavs offense, giving Luka even more options during traps and double teams. Good luck with this one NBA defenses!
Also, for the record, I don’t intend to walk back my Lakers miss the playoffs (excluding the play-in) prediction, despite the fact that they’ve started the season 3-0.
Looking for more great hoops content? Here’s some of what I’ve enjoyed for the past week:
OKC has more horses than Jokic / Tom Ziller
A pep talk for Joe Mazzulla / Josh Gondelman via BASKETBALL FEELINGS
What’s Next After the NBA’s Era of Parity? / Neil Paine
Jason Concepcion and Shea Serrano give their unhinged NBA predictions