For The Win

Although some, such as Stephen A. Smith, would have you believe the NBA season was “ruined” before it ever even started due to Kevin Durant’s sudden defection to Golden State, that is absolutely not the case. Although the Warriors look like the odds on favorite to win the West and more than likely win the entire NBA championship, the play has been surprisingly competitive and thoroughly entertaining. What has been even more entertaining, however, is everything else that has been occurring around the league this season.

Although any rookie averaging 20 points, almost 8 rebounds, and 2 assists per game would garner a great deal of attention, the 76’ers “rookie” sensation Joel Embiid isn’t your typical rookie. On top of the fact that he was actually drafted in the 2014, The Process is a social media and marketing phenomenon. With it all being well documented here in this piece from our own Stone Strankman, Embiid not only has a fascination with asking others if they are virgins, but takes a cue from another great African born center — Dikembe Mutombo. As the rumor goes, Mutombo would stand in the middle of nightclubs and parties while screaming “who wants to sex the Mutombo?” Embiid shows a bit of sauce in his bird-call as he asks, “Who wants to sex the process?” Yes, he really says this.

On top of your rookie sensations, you have your ever-fascinating veterans. No party is complete without a little Boogie, am I right? See what I did there? When he isn’t out with Matt Barnes or deactivating his social media accounts due to a suspension, DeMarcus Cousins is simply out here dropping priceless sound bytes. Cousins is uber-talented, but can’t ever get out of his own way. If he continues, he will only be remembered as the ridiculously talented player who acted too ridiculous to realize his full potential and reach his ceiling. Until that happens, let’s go live to Demarcus Cousins for his take on how the league is approaching him as a player:

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California is ripe with stories — who could forget the Iggy Azalea, Nick Young, D’Angelo Russell saga of last season? Well this season, the biggest storyline in the Golden State actually originates out of the Bay Area. Remember this speech?

Yeah, the one where Kevin Durant poured his soul out about his love for Russell Westbrook? Well, that was obviously still the honeymoon phase, because this past offseason KD took his talents to the Bay and left Westbrook with nothing but a broken heart. The most interesting part of this whole scenario is the fact that they still have not spoken to each other in any capacity. This has only intensified by the Thunder’s struggles who, by the way, face Golden State this Saturday during the primetime slot on ABC. Hopefully Russ can channel his anger and ring in his 27th triple-double of the season, which would place him one step closer to the most in a single season — ever.

Whenever you think about KD, only a few names come to mind. Although one of them is Russell Westbrook, another has to be LeBron James. LeBron has found himself in his own entertaining situations this season. These situations range from his spat with Phil Jackson in defense of his “posse,” or lack thereof, to his public miscommunications with his own front office. None, however, have been any more entertaining than his recent and oh so very public feud with NBA HOF’er and current TNT analyst Sir Charles Barkley. It started over Barkley essentially challenging LeBron’s fortitude, albeit as a part of his job, but quickly turned into a back and forth trash talking contest once the responses began. This is within the last week or so, and is still not LeBron’s most recent act of entertaining aggression — he was quoted as calling famed New York reporter Frank Isola “trash” for a report he made during the Cavs win on Tuesday night. The name calling came as a result of a report made by Isola stating that LeBron wanted Carmelo Anthony to come to Cleveland and that he was willing to part ways with Kevin Love to help get him.

Although LeBron would go on to call the reporter and the report trash, the situation that the report was based on is a very realistic and entertaining scenario. Anthony has what you call a “no trade clause” in his contract, which basically means he must authorize any move attempting to be made involving himself. The sticky part about this situation is that the Knicks’ President, Phil Jackson, clearly wants to ship him away. With Jackson being extremely public about where he stands, Carmelo is doing his best to ignore the “shots,” but it has clearly affected his game. Some believe Phil is degrading Melo in an attempt to get him to want to leave town — but the reports actually say the contrary. Not only are Phil’s remarks reportedly swaying Melo to not want to leave New York, they are making him want to stay and do everything in his power to stay. Talk about hurting your own cause.

In other news, and again to speak about “hurting your own,” a former Knick was in the news recently. During a live, national broadcast of the Knicks game on Wednesday night against the Clippers, former Knicks favorite Charles Oakley was detained — or there was at least an attempt made to detain him.

It wasn’t clear what the situation was about, but it was clear that it involved Oakley and Knicks owner James Dolan. One thing is for certain: from what I have come to learn and understand about the man that is Charles Oakley, NO ONE wanted those problems. The latest reports have Oakley facing up to three criminal charges related to the incident, but in any event, it was pure comedy.

The players aren’t the only ones that get to have all the fun, as the sports media world may be on its heels. There have been multiple reports that NBA Scoopmaster himself, Adrian Wojnarowski, is switching teams and leaving Yahoo! for ESPN. This may not seem all that fun, breaking, or entertaining but if you knew the things people do to keep secrets away from this man, it would be. For example, the NBA has planted fake stories to see exactly where Woj, as he is affectionately called, gets his scoop — but of course fails to find any information.

The NBA season probably hasn’t gone the way many expected, but what it has been is very entertaining to follow. The Superbowl is over, and spring training is still a week away, so grab a pop and listen for the squeaks of sneakers on the hardwood as the NBA continues to help you drift away, into a sea of delightful madness.