2024 NBA Season

[Kasabus]

I just saw the news about Ja Morant. Big contract, big endorsements, rising NBA career and he ends up doing silly things like this. I think he needs a good mentor before anything else.

After all, he is just a kid yet to be a man who got a huge contract worth $200 Million. So it's somehow expected that he will end up doing foolishness and buying some expensive things in just a whim or if he feels like it but I didn't expect that he would end up doing this. What he lack is a mentor that will guide him professionally and as an individual to avoid doing such thing again in the future.

[jakelyson]

About the Grizzlies, I think they survived even without Ja in the early season.

It is just a two-game suspension so they can weather this out until he comes back. Memphis is a strong team even without Ja Morant.

Couple of upsets tonight:

Bucks losing to Philly, ending their winning streak. Joel Embiid put a sensational defense on Giannis in the fourth quarter and then together with Harden, outscored them in the final quarter, 48-31.

Sacramento losing to the Wolves - very close game between the two, but Anthony Edwards and former Utah Mike Conley seal the win for them Wolves.

They both lost at home. Not really an upset since both of their opponents are tough opponents but these games are the legs of my parlay and they both lost. That is what upsets me.

That's not good for him, as he has lots of major sponsorships that gave him a lot of money. If he can't change his life, then I think his career with the NBA will be short. As a superstar, he has a big responsibility, which is to be a role model, and his actions have shown that he is not living up to that responsibility.

Well, he already posted an apology and admitted that he needs help. If he is sincere with what he posted, the should get help. It will be beneficial for his own career in the NBA if he gets straight. He got lots of potentials and it will be a shame if all that goes away just because of some silly mistakes.

[FanEagle]

For east I still think that Bucks and Celtics are way too better compared to everyone else. Sure the wins may not look like the difference is staggering, but it is actually much bigger than what it shows there. First of all Bucks missed Giannis and Kris for a long time, so that is one reason, and Celtics had a coaching change at the start of the season after a finals year so that was one of the reasons as well.

All in all I am guessing that the best thing to do right now is to wait and see how they will be during playoffs because during regular season it's obvious that they are one level above everyone else. This is for only east conference of course, there are some good teams coming from west too.

[Questat]

There was another player Gilbert Arenas years ago who was suspended for a year over bringing a gun to the lockerroom.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/arenas-suspended-after-bringing-guns-to-locker-room-1.531845

IMO the 2 situations are not the same, but I still expect the commissioner will likely step in and possibly issue a longer suspension or a very stern warning to Morant and the rest of the league over guns.

Yeah, I remember that. The incident with Arenas is a great example of how a stupid thing can ruin a player's career in the NBA. It's worth noting that Arenas was a very capable player, as he averaged 29 points per game in his prime. However, teams lost interest in him after that incident, and he ended his NBA career just two years later. As for Morant, you're right that the league management should suspend him for a longer period of time to discourage him from doing such things in the future.

Regarding Ja Morant's issue and suspension:

"I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being," Morant, who has deactivated his Twitter and Instagram accounts, wrote in a statement to ESPN and The Athletic.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/grizzlies/2023/03/04/grizzles-ja-morant-flashes-gun-instagram-live-nba-investigating/11398803002/

On the same article, it has been said that the NBA opened an independent investigation but it wasn't disclosed what will likely happen to Ja and what would be his punishment if he's proven guilty but some people are already speculating that it will lead to a much longer suspension. Poor kid, it doesn't have to be like this if only he wasn't surrounded by wrong people.

[yahoo62278]

As for Ja Morant, wrong set of friends, yeah he could be under pressure of the limelight but this is not the way to do it buddy.

You are destroying yourself, flashing guns. He really need help, specially from his families.

That's not good for him, as he has lots of major sponsorships that gave him a lot of money. If he can't change his life, then I think his career with the NBA will be short. As a superstar, he has a big responsibility, which is to be a role model, and his actions have shown that he is not living up to that responsibility.

He's still a kid himself. He might be under the mentality that he made some money, screw everyone else. I hope he isn't because he really is a superstar player. Super exciting on the court and the grizzly fans would be losing one hell of a player.

[wheelz1200]

For east I still think that Bucks and Celtics are way too better compared to everyone else. Sure the wins may not look like the difference is staggering, but it is actually much bigger than what it shows there. First of all Bucks missed Giannis and Kris for a long time, so that is one reason, and Celtics had a coaching change at the start of the season after a finals year so that was one of the reasons as well.

All in all I am guessing that the best thing to do right now is to wait and see how they will be during playoffs because during regular season it's obvious that they are one level above everyone else. This is for only east conference of course, there are some good teams coming from west too.

The Bucks are definitely on top and record says what it is but I think the Celtics have holes.  I don't like teams who are reliant on theor outside shooting.  Too many series to get through, a couple cold games and they get booted.  Will be an interesting game tonight Celtics vs knicks.  Knicks defense has been great as of late.  Might not have brunson which will be a huge loss for the Knicks.  East I think it's Bucks tier one.  Tier 2- Philly, Celtics, cavs and knicks.  Tier 3: Atlanta, Miami Toronto.  Then everyone else...yep including the Nets they will probably drop into the play in games.

[Baofeng]

For east I still think that Bucks and Celtics are way too better compared to everyone else. Sure the wins may not look like the difference is staggering, but it is actually much bigger than what it shows there. First of all Bucks missed Giannis and Kris for a long time, so that is one reason, and Celtics had a coaching change at the start of the season after a finals year so that was one of the reasons as well.

All in all I am guessing that the best thing to do right now is to wait and see how they will be during playoffs because during regular season it's obvious that they are one level above everyone else. This is for only east conference of course, there are some good teams coming from west too.

The Bucks are definitely on top and record says what it is but I think the Celtics have holes.  I don't like teams who are reliant on theor outside shooting.  Too many series to get through, a couple cold games and they get booted.  Will be an interesting game tonight Celtics vs knicks.  Knicks defense has been great as of late.  Might not have brunson which will be a huge loss for the Knicks.  East I think it's Bucks tier one.  Tier 2- Philly, Celtics, cavs and knicks.  Tier 3: Atlanta, Miami Toronto.  Then everyone else...yep including the Nets they will probably drop into the play in games.

I think Celtics holes could be their 3 point shooting, they fell in love with it, and so if their outside shots are not going in, they might have a problem with that. As for the Bucks, they obviously have Giannis, but if there is a player that can match his physicality like what Joel Embid did to him in their last game, putting a hard defense on him and bodied him specially in the 4th quarter, then they might lose a game which they did. The question is how many players in the league right now can match up against Giannis in the post?

[chaser15]

For east I still think that Bucks and Celtics are way too better compared to everyone else. Sure the wins may not look like the difference is staggering, but it is actually much bigger than what it shows there. First of all Bucks missed Giannis and Kris for a long time, so that is one reason, and Celtics had a coaching change at the start of the season after a finals year so that was one of the reasons as well.

All in all I am guessing that the best thing to do right now is to wait and see how they will be during playoffs because during regular season it's obvious that they are one level above everyone else. This is for only east conference of course, there are some good teams coming from west too.

Referring to the Eastern Conference, you are right that Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics are the considered team to beat and might likely end up in the Eastern Conference Finals or even reaching the NBA Finals once again. It's just a matter of what team will keep their consistency in showing good playing performance in the season and take it to the playoffs, and of course, being healthy throughout.

With that said about being healthy, the difference between the Bucks and Celtics is, if we will take out their main and key players, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for the Celtics and Giannis Antetoukounmpo and Khris Middleton for the Bucks, the latter having the much advantage. There are several games already this season where the Bucks still dominate their opponent even without their key players.

Let's hope that once playoffs come, no more injury reports will happen and teams will come at their 100% healthy status, not ruining the competition and won't take injury-related situations why is the team not able to advance in the latter part of the playoffs.

[Harkorede]

As for Ja Morant, wrong set of friends, yeah he could be under pressure of the limelight but this is not the way to do it buddy.

You are destroying yourself, flashing guns. He really need help, specially from his families.

That's not good for him, as he has lots of major sponsorships that gave him a lot of money. If he can't change his life, then I think his career with the NBA will be short. As a superstar, he has a big responsibility, which is to be a role model, and his actions have shown that he is not living up to that responsibility.

He's still a kid himself. He might be under the mentality that he made some money, screw everyone else. I hope he isn't because he really is a superstar player. Super exciting on the court and the grizzly fans would be losing one hell of a player.

The fame seem to getting to his head, I understand he's said to have a great work ethic and it is somewhat evident on the pitch with the way he react to losses especially when he's one of the reason they lost a game, but he's spending as much time as he spends practicing on social media and always often attracting the wrong attention to himself, he does a lot of trash talking, barely few minutes after any game, the next thing he does is to take it straight to twitter, but he's not done much that should make him think he's the next Kyrie Irving or Kevin Durant, players who have proved themselves for several years, it will be such a waste to throw away his beautiful career before it get started with these petty and stupid antics.

I just saw on ESPN that he's already deactivated both his Twitter and Instagram account, He's the face of a franchise and I think that might just be taking it way too far, he should instead have handled by a professional social media team, that can portray him as getting better and working towards redemption of his image, but if it's just a temporary break, then that's fine.

[harizen]

I don't like teams who are reliant on theor outside shooting.

But that was the thing now in the NBA that even big man is having a good outside shooting percentage.

It's not like before when "defense is the best offense".

However, comparing Bucks and Celtics, the former has the upper hand in terms of inside scoring and it's obvious that Giannis Antetoukoumpo's main forte' is always in the paint. Unlike in Boston Celtics, that mostly, their field goal always came from perimeter and rainbow area shooting. Now depends on how they will execute their respective strategy if they will faced each other in the playoffs.

[jakelyson]

I don't like teams who are reliant on theor outside shooting.

But that was the thing now in the NBA that even big man is having a good outside shooting percentage.

It's not like before when "defense is the best offense".

However, comparing Bucks and Celtics, the former has the upper hand in terms of inside scoring and it's obvious that Giannis Antetoukoumpo's main forte' is always in the paint. Unlike in Boston Celtics, that mostly, their field goal always came from perimeter and rainbow area shooting. Now depends on how they will execute their respective strategy if they will faced each other in the playoffs.

Everything will boil down to defense if these two will meet in the Conference Finals. The better defense will win. On this note, I like the chance of the Celtics being better than the Milwaukee Bucks. Sure, no one on the Celtics team will be able to pin down or even slow down Giannis alone. But good thing is, it is a team sport. The Celtics have a good defense, and they are on par with scoring with the dynamic duo of Brown and Tatum.

[OgNasty]

That Dallas Mavericks vs Phoenix Suns game might have been the best game of the year. Entertaining down to the wire and I’m glad the Suns got the win. Booker talking smack to Luka with 3 seconds left when they secured the sun was pretty weak, but still a great game.

Funny that Giannis gave himself a rebound at the end of the Bucks game for a triple double.

[danherbias07]

Another preview of the playoffs or the possible Finals in the East.
The New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics at their home in a double overtime game. Emmanuel Quickley, 56 minutes, 38 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. Talk about stepping up the game while Brunson is out, that's him.
Like I said earlier in my previous post, let's not take out of the picture this team and the Cavaliers. Those are Finals contenders too especially when the playoffs comes where it will be a different and tougher game.

That Dallas Mavericks vs Phoenix Suns game might have been the best game of the year. Entertaining down to the wire and I’m glad the Suns got the win. Booker talking smack to Luka with 3 seconds left when they secured the sun was pretty weak, but still a great game.

Funny that Giannis gave himself a rebound at the end of the Bucks game for a triple double.

All the stars did their work. Booker, Luka, Kyrie, and KD. Luka has something to say about the chirping or Booker, “Next time don't wait til three seconds left to talk.”   That's a very fun competitive game indeed.

[LogitechMouse]

That Dallas Mavericks vs Phoenix Suns game might have been the best game of the year. Entertaining down to the wire and I’m glad the Suns got the win. Booker talking smack to Luka with 3 seconds left when they secured the sun was pretty weak, but still a great game.

Funny that Giannis gave himself a rebound at the end of the Bucks game for a triple double.

"Everybody Acting Tough When They Up" - Luka .

With regards to Booker, it's his playstyle. Acting tough when they are winning, and for sure, he will talk trash even more with the Mavericks because they have KD on their team. I saw that trash talk of Booker with Luka on the final seconds of the game, and it is unnecessary I think. I mean what's the purpose of that trash talk? To show that they're a better team? Acting tough when in fact, they lose by a huge amount in their Game 7 match-up last season. Overall, I agree with you though that it was a great game, but a bit unfortunate for me because the game happened when I'm asleep (GMT +8 time zone).

Anyway, it's good to see Curry coming back, and play after missing games because of his shoulder injury, but his come back has been spoiled by the Lakers as they won 113-105. The awful record of the Warriors continues as they are now 7-24 on the road. I wonder how this performance of them on the road will affect them when it comes to playoffs. Davis lead the team with 39 points while Vanderbilt had a double-double. Splash Brothers Curry and Thompson lead the team scoring 27 & 22 points.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

Finally, the curse of Westbrook has been broken, he finally won as a Los Angeles Clippers with a 135-129 win against the Memphis. But it as a tough win, they have to come back again from this game, they were outscore 51-30 in the 3rd quarter.

But it was the opposite in the 4th as they make a huge run, 26-2 to turn around the game on their favor to finally get the sigh of relieved of winning after the all star break.

PG and Kawhi combined for 76 points.

[Oasisman]

As for Ja Morant, wrong set of friends, yeah he could be under pressure of the limelight but this is not the way to do it buddy.

You are destroying yourself, flashing guns. He really need help, specially from his families.

That's not good for him, as he has lots of major sponsorships that gave him a lot of money. If he can't change his life, then I think his career with the NBA will be short. As a superstar, he has a big responsibility, which is to be a role model, and his actions have shown that he is not living up to that responsibility.

He's still a kid himself. He might be under the mentality that he made some money, screw everyone else. I hope he isn't because he really is a superstar player. Super exciting on the court and the grizzly fans would be losing one hell of a player.

Yes he is, sometimes kids who have made a good amount of money tend to do stupid things, but there are those who are very disciplined on and off the court. A good example is LeBron James. He was making tons of money while he's still playing in highschool, but I have never heard of him (or maybe I missed something) having a scandal off the court. The things I really admire him the most is his self discipline and dedication to basketball and his family.
Morant on the other hand is still in a "cool kid" phase of his life, maybe this will teach him a lesson and his first step to maturity.

[yahoo62278]

As for Ja Morant, wrong set of friends, yeah he could be under pressure of the limelight but this is not the way to do it buddy.

You are destroying yourself, flashing guns. He really need help, specially from his families.

That's not good for him, as he has lots of major sponsorships that gave him a lot of money. If he can't change his life, then I think his career with the NBA will be short. As a superstar, he has a big responsibility, which is to be a role model, and his actions have shown that he is not living up to that responsibility.

He's still a kid himself. He might be under the mentality that he made some money, screw everyone else. I hope he isn't because he really is a superstar player. Super exciting on the court and the grizzly fans would be losing one hell of a player.

Yes he is, sometimes kids who have made a good amount of money tend to do stupid things, but there are those who are very disciplined on and off the court. A good example is LeBron James. He was making tons of money while he's still playing in highschool, but I have never heard of him (or maybe I missed something) having a scandal off the court. The things I really admire him the most is his self discipline and dedication to basketball and his family.
Morant on the other hand is still in a "cool kid" phase of his life, maybe this will teach him a lesson and his first step to maturity.

Are you kidding me? Lebron James is involved in all sorts of scandals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpUGYNHtsfA Look at the king of flops here lol.

[Jating]

That Dallas Mavericks vs Phoenix Suns game might have been the best game of the year. Entertaining down to the wire and I’m glad the Suns got the win. Booker talking smack to Luka with 3 seconds left when they secured the sun was pretty weak, but still a great game.

Funny that Giannis gave himself a rebound at the end of the Bucks game for a triple double.

In any case though, still a good game between the two, superstars in both side carry their team, but in the end it was Durant and Booker for the Suns, 37 and 36 respectively. And then that Luka missed, as they could tie the score that time.

As for the trashtalk, Booker has been trashtalking everyone I guess. And maybe he can forget what Luka did to them last year in the playoffs that he took it personally. And when he see that they are taking the W, then he has to make Luka pay for it.

[YuginKadoya]

He should understand that thing.

He's not getting any younger and as a pro he should first consider his action before doing anything, Like
what you mentioned if he will not change this kind of attitude and lifestyle, his career will be ruined.

The pressure will be there for him and with such action he might lose all those sponsorships, even he's good and classified as one of the
The hottest stars, but with such an attitude, it will be nothing.

Need to have good guidance, especially from his family now.

1st the punching incident then pulling a gun at a teenager, and now flashing his gun while partying hard, well I got a clear question for Ja Morant, does he wants to be Michael Jordan or Tupac Shakur? and I think Ja Morant really needed a Father, not a fan, he needs to straighten his ways because he is destroying his image as an athlete, and for me I think he needs to pick his circle of friends because this will surely destroy 1st his career and then himself,

After all, he is just a kid yet to be a man who got a huge contract worth $200 Million. So it's somehow expected that he will end up doing foolishness and buying some expensive things in just a whim or if he feels like it but I didn't expect that he would end up doing this. What he lack is a mentor that will guide him professionally and as an individual to avoid doing such thing again in the future.

Well what he needs is a Father figure I really don't want to judge his father and disrespect the way he raised Ja Morant I think this kid issue would surely start in his family if his daddy is like that and for me, I really don't see a father figure in him that mentor really needs to start with his parents

In any case though, still a good game between the two, superstars in both side carry their team, but in the end it was Durant and Booker for the Suns, 37 and 36 respectively. And then that Luka missed, as they could tie the score that time.

As for the trashtalk, Booker has been trashtalking everyone I guess. And maybe he can forget what Luka did to them last year in the playoffs that he took it personally. And when he see that they are taking the W, then he has to make Luka pay for it.

It was a clash of recent teammates and I think Kevin Durant got his revenge in this game, and the Phoenix Suns also got theirs on what Luka Doncic did to them it was a great tandem of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant that ignite them in getting this win but I think Chris Paul also did a great thing in making those plays, surely it was a great team play and for the Mavericks they should try a little harder,

[yazher]

That Dallas Mavericks vs Phoenix Suns game might have been the best game of the year. Entertaining down to the wire and I’m glad the Suns got the win. Booker talking smack to Luka with 3 seconds left when they secured the sun was pretty weak, but still a great game.

I hope we will gonna see them somehow compete in the NBA playoffs this year that would be a whole package of revenge for Booker and he can finally take good care of Luka this time. Anyway, this is not good for the Mavs because they are now down to the number 7 spot and no NBA team would really want to be playing in the play-in tournament, they really need to work hard in their remaining games to get out from there.

The Lakers are showing good signs when they win their game against the Warriors and they are one or two games away to get to the play-in tournament their not gonna sleep in their next few games because, of all of the teams in the NBA, they are the most hungry to get to the NBA playoffs because LBJ need to win more championship before his retirement.