The Sport Superlatives - Issue No. 19

May 10, 2024

🏆 The Superlatives 🏆

The Best Attitude: Jalen Williams 

OKC Thunder’s Jalen Williams was recently asked during a post-game interview how he exudes joy on and off the court. He bluntly answered, “I make millions of dollars to dribble a basketball up and down the court. Hard not to be happy.” 

While we can all appreciate the rigor and discipline it takes to be an athlete at that level, it’s refreshing to see that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. Also… he’s not wrong… millions of dollars to do what you love would be a source of joy for us all, am I right? 

The Worst Attitude: Patrick Beverly

Patrick Beverly showed us what sore loser really means with his behavior after Milwaukee's loss during Game 6 on May 2nd. Now, we all know fans can get out of hand sometimes… but Pat decided it was a good idea to address that by launching a ball at a fan… twice. The NBA has recently announced that Pat will be suspended for four games due to his behavior. Tsk, tsk.

🏀 We’re [Still] Playing Bas-ket-ballll… We would now like to interrupt your breakfast to bring you back to our NBA Playoffs coverage. Here’s how things are shaking out:

East Coast Doing the Most

• Knicks vs. Pacers: The Villanova Knicks are up 2-0 against the Indiana Pacers, and it’s not looking so good for them boys in yellow. The two teams have battled it out in two pretty close games where the Pacers saw leads vanish before their very eyes like bad magic tricks. And you know the Pacers are sweating, because snitching on the refs to the tune of 78 complaints nestled in a strongly worded letter is giving…sore loser. 

  Maybe they could have used that film session for something a bit more constructive. Defense maybe? (How is Jalen Brunson eating y’all alive… on a bad foot)?! Either way, all hope is not lost yet. The teams will head over to Indiana for the next two games. Maybe a little hometown hospitality will help them even the score. Watch game 3 tonight, Friday, May 10 at 7 pm on ESPN.

• Cavaliers vs. Celtics: Everyone thought this was gonna be a quick series, but Cleveland obviously had other plans. We’re starting to see parallels with the Celtics losing at home in game 2 to inferior teams….hmm, they might wanna look into that. Either way, Donovan Mitchell and them Boyz said they’re not going down without a fight and have evened the series 1-1. The teams will head over to Cleveland now. I guess they don’t call it “Believe-land” for nothing…Watch game 3, Saturday, May 11 at 8:30pm on ABC.

West Side, Best Side

• Thunder vs. Mavericks: The OKC Thunder babies (ok ok enough with the youth jokes) looked like they had this series under control after solidly winning game 1, but a game 2 defeat had them looking every which way to see where the sucker-punch came from. Luka, Kyrie, and company rebounded after a subpar game 1 to deliver OKC their first playoff loss this season. All that barking the OKC pups (ok, last time we swear) have been doing was reduced to a whimper, as Mavs star, Luka Dončić, scored  29 points and sent them packing, tail between legs. Let’s see if OKC can shake off the bad juju (NOLA fans, we’re looking at you) as they head to Dallas. Watch game 3, Saturday, May 11 at 8:30pm on ABC.

• Timberwolves vs. Nuggets: UH OH, it’s looking like trouble for the reigning champs (that’s the Nuggets, in case you too didn’t watch last year’s finals). The Wolves are up 2-0 on the Nugs, and have obliterated their home-court advantage. Did we give Nikola Jokić  the MVP too soon? 

  Ant-Man has been living up to his hype and the Wolves are headed back home with a cushy lead. What could go wrong? (famous last words). They didn’t even have their four-time Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert, in game two (congrats on your new bébé), and still made a mockery of the Nuggets.  We don’t wanna jinx them, but this series is looking good for the Wolves. Might need to bring out those brooms for the incoming sweep. Harry Potter fans say “up”! Watch game 3 tonight, Friday, May 10 at 9:30 pm on ESPN.

🏒 Another Week, Another Round: Eight teams left in the chase, which means everyone left is battling for a spot in their conference finals. Let’s meet the contenders!

From the Western Conference:

• Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche:  Game 2 last night (Thursday) goes to Dallas with a score of 5-3. A little early for it to be a nail biter yet, so Happy AAPI Month to the Stars’ Jason Robertson!

• Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers: The Canucks took Game 1 on Wednesday with a thrilling come-from-behind win from a three-goal deficit, and Game 2 is tonight (Friday) at 10 PM EST. Here’s to an exciting Battle for Canada, eh, boys?

From the Eastern Conference:

• Florida Panthers vs. Boston Bruins: Panthers and Bruins are tied at a game apiece going into Game 3 tonight (Friday) at 7 PM EST. The Panthers and Bruins met in the first round last season, with the Panthers pulling out the win in Game 7 to send the Bruins home for the summer. Time will tell if second-round fortunes are still on the Panthers' side.

• New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes: The Rangers took Game 2 against the Hurricanes in double OT on Tuesday and continue their streak with a Game 3 win, 3-2. Is the President’s Trophy curse in the room with us right now?

🏒 Professional Hockey, but Make It Women’s Sports: The inaugural season of the PWHL is also in playoff mode. Four teams are battling it out for the (Tiffany-designed) Walter Cup, and games are streaming free on the PWHL YouTube channel.

• (1) Toronto vs. (4) Minnesota: Toronto took Game 1 of the series 4-0 to a sold-out crowd on Wednesday night and looking forward to a repeat tonight (FRIDAY). Natalie Spooner records the first-ever playoff goal in PWHL history!

• (1) Montreal vs. (3) Boston:  Last night’s game saw a 2-1 win in OT from Boston, but there are a lot more games where that came from. This series is sure to be an instant classic between Captains Marie-Phillip Poulin (Montreal) and Hilary Knight (Boston) who are also the captains of Team Canada and Team USA, respectively, in international play.

🏀 He Said What? Pat Riley was going off on his Miami Heat players in a press conference after their first-round exit. When asked about comments made by his star player (did you see the video?), Jimmy Butler, Riley said “Butler should keep his mouth shut if he isn’t playing,” and went on to call his second-leading scorer, Tyler Herro “fragile”. Can you say “friendly fire”?

The whole team is catching strays, and it’s got us wondering if Riley is planning on rebuilding. Either way, at 79, Petty Pat has clearly reached the age where he doesn’t give a… you know the rest.

🏀 Oh, This is Niiiiiice: The WNBA is finally pulling out some of the stops for the girlies. The WNBA announced that they will be committing $50M over the next two years so their player can fly charter flights throughout the season. Some would say that they should have been doing this the whole time… but I guess we'll just applaud the effort they are putting in now.

Speaking of women’s basketball, make sure you check out the 4-episode ESPN/ABC docuseries that follows former USC and current WNBA Chicago Sky rookie , Kamilla Cardoso, UCLA sophomore Kiki Rice, and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark now with WNBA Indiana Fever. Episodes 1 and 2 will air on Saturday, May 11th at 1 pm ET. Find details to watch the entire series here. 

🏀 Trophies, Trophies: The awards for the 2023-2024 NBA season have dropped, and the International players are winning! Some highlights: Nikola Jokić won his 3rd MVP, Rudy Gobert won his 4th Defensive Player of the Year award, and Victor Wembanyama won Rookie of the Year. None of this was shocking, so it seems like the NBA might need some new blood… or new voters. Regardless, I hope they enjoy their participation trophies…. Because we all know which trophy they really want!

Your sports term of the week is: inside-the-park home run.

IRL Example: Check out The Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz.

This year’s Met Gala’s theme may have been inspired by Sleeping Beauty, but we’re not sleeping on these looks from some of our fav athletes.

Angel Reese and Serena Williams sparkled in their glamorous ensembles.

Let’s give Nelly Korda her flowers for being the first women’s golfer to be invited to the Met Gala.

And we love a man in a suit and dressed on theme! Props to F1’s Lewis Hamilton:

And NFL OBJ:

We also think the NBA’s Ben Simmons may have confused Sleeping Beauty with Alice in Wonderland, but he still looked nice, so we’ll allow it.

And while Dwyane Wade may have retired from the NBA, we will never tire of seeing him and Gabrielle Union grace a red carpet! Although she too gave us a different Disney classic with this look. It's giving Little Mermaid, no? Wish we could be… a part of their worllllllld.

But alas, we’re just judging these looks in sweats from our couch. Thank you, Capitol for giving us lowly District folks (IYKYK) some extravagant entertainment. See y’all next week!

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