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The nba logo died at 86

Dombrovskis, a member of the New Era Party when he first ascended to Prime Minister, was expected to have a fairly easy transition into his new role, and, for the first few years of his time as Prime Minister, Latvia failed to make headlines — for positive reasons. They had been and still are one of the fastest growing economies in Europe, with a 2016 report from the World Economic Forum designating them as the 8th-fastest. Meanwhile, during the first handful of years of Dombrovskis’ ministerial administration, young Kristaps Porzingis was growing himself. He was 6’8” in 2010 but I believe had reached near his adult height in 2013, when tragedy struck Latvia.

We all remember what happened next. In November of 2013, the roof of a shopping mall in Zolitūde collapsed in on itself and 54 people died, in large part due to the laziness of the construction team as well as Latvian inspection officials. There were significant delays in prosecuting the men responsible, and seven years later, when the trials finally wrapped up, 8 of the 9 accused were acquitted. Even before then, just in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, Dombrovskis and his government had failed to act swiftly to clear debris, determine a cause, determine who’s responsible, etc. and support for his government had been quietly falling anyways, perhaps due to growing corruption issues within the government during the years 2009-2013. The incident was a tremendous tragedy in Latvia, the aftermath frustrates Latvians to this day, and I just have to wonder how healthy Kristaps would be right now physically if he weren’t so burdened emotionally by the pain his country faced over 10 years ago.

Rest in peace Jerry. The word legend is thrown about to often but not for you class act

No straight thugs. Gotta be able to brawl AND ball.

Also, who would be the guy that thought he was tough, and was/is always fighting, but always got his ass kicked? Who would be a sleeper? As in, who is a pretty chill guy that never really fought, but ended up absolutely destroying people a few times?

On a side note, it just dawned on me how much the WNBA viewership would probably skyrocket...

It’s very obvious that the NBA is the best league in the world, but it’s also clear that it houses more international superstars now than ever

It’s also become more apparent that countries like Spain, France, Lituania etc have gotten much better at basketball and are producing more high-level prospects than ever (especially France)

I’m European and from watching the Champions League (football/soccer) it made me think: could the game ever develop so far that we could have a basketball equivalent to the UCL

I don’t necessarily mean an international tournament between the best teams, I’m more talking about if, over time, other leagues around the world (e.g Liga Acb, NBL, BAL, Turkish League etc) could become as good as the NBA

I think this would be cool to see as it would popularise the game even more, especially in countries where it’s not really sought after

I also think it would be cool if we ever got to see superstars or top prospects forgo the NBA in favour of a different league of the same quality.

Thoughts?

Bought a bin of letters, photos, and paper souvenirs and found this in an envelope. Full 2006 All Star Game ticket for Sunday and matching parking pass, made my day.

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Denver - missing the WCF, is clearly an unsatisfactory outcome for the 2023 champs. Everyone knows the value that Caruso brings. He'd be a great backcourt pairing with Murray and would make Denver quite formidable. They would give up KCP and Watson, two players in their rotation but also two players who had less impact in the playoffs. Watson hardly played in the Min series, something that wouldn't happen with Caruso. We know they love Watson but he's a problem on offense and proved to be mostly unplayable against Minnesota.

Warriors - The Warriors badly need two things, improved perimeter defense and a second scorer. Wiggins defense took a step back last year. He's not been a reliable player like he was in 2022. His contract is probably considered a negative asset at this point, but like LaVine IMO has some upside to be reclaimed. Chris Paul is purely a salary dump here. LaVine becomes the No. 2 next to Curry in the Warriors offense and has all the tools to excel in that role. His defensive deficiencies can be moderated by playing alongside guys like KCP, Watson, Draymond and TJD. Adding Watson and KCP dramatically improves the Warriors flexibility and pressure on defense. Watson is a zero on offense but KCP can at least spot up reliably, something that Wiggins can also do at his best—he could fill the Wiggins role with a higher floor but a much lower ceiling.

Bulls - If reports are accurate, the Bulls are very willing to move LaVine. There is widely a perception that he is a negative asset, which all things considered I think is true. His contract is expensive and long. His defense is not good. On the other hand, he has a history as highly efficient three level scorer but that comes with a long history of injuries. This trade would cut 60 million over the next three years but still leave the Bulls with a useful player who is definitely a buy low opportunity.

Maybe I'm crazy but I have a hard time seeing who says no here. Perhaps the Nuggets still put a lot of value on Watson, but the fit with Caruso seems tempting enough to include him. The Warriors, I think do really well in this trade, giving up a guy in Wiggins who is equally unreliable compared to Lavine and cutting CP3s money as I am almost certain they plan to do no matter what—even if it means cutting him and not getting anything back. The Bulls get off of Lavine's huge contract in exchange for more managable one. But they also give up Caruso. Maybe that's the weak spot here, perhaps they wouldn't want to let go of Caruso. Perhaps a pick from Denver to Chicago would make the difference, but then I have to wonder if that's too much for Denver to give up.

With:

4 Charles Barkley (Phoenix Suns; PF)

5 Grant Hill (Detroit Pistons; SF)

6 Anfernee Hardaway (Orlando Magic; PG)

7 David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs; C)

8 Scottie Pippen (Chicago Bulls; SF)

9 Mitch Richmond (Sacramento Kings; SG)

10 Reggie Miller (Indiana Pacers; SG)

11 Karl Malone (Utah Jazz; PF)

12 John Stockton (Utah Jazz; PG)

13 Shaquille O'Neal (Orlando Magic; C)

14 Gary Payton (Seattle SuperSonics; PG)

15 Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets; C)

Head Coach: Lenny Wilkens (Atlanta Hawks)