My man Sekou Smith (@sekousmith01) reached out recently to invite me onto his NBA.com Hang Time podcast. We recorded Monday (I think) so I’m linking a little late (was away for work), but most of our 20-minute talk centers on topics with enough shelf life to make it worth a listen even a few days after the fact.
We talk NBA nicknames, NBA hip hop lyrics and try to decide what NBA player most reminds us of the late, great Guru of Gang Starr — which leads to a heavy debate on Dirk’s legacy. (BTW, I should have murdered Vince Thomas, co-host of Hang Time, for saying CL Smooth is better lyrically than Guru, but I let it go. My all-time comparison for Guru would without question be Scottie Pippen: another always-reliable Hall of Famer to run alongside the best that ever did it.)
I jump in at the 11-minute mark and serve as an opening band of sorts for Mike Fratello, so you’ve also got that look forward to. I’m sure The Czar is just as honored as I am to be included in this Episode 6 description: “The Czar, Mike Fratello and blogger Jared Wade join Sekou and Vince to break down the playoffs so far.”
Maybe someday Fratello will not only get the chance to have his name near mine in a sentence, but actually get to join me for real on my Talking About Practice podcast. Hey, he can dream.
Head on over to listen to Episode 6 of the NBA.com’s Hang Time Podcast.
And be sure to subscribe on iTunes.
Known Associates:
CL Smooth,
Dirk,
Gang Starr,
Guru,
Lyircs Project,
Mavs,
Nickname Project,
Sekou Smith,
The Czar,
Vince Thomas
Head over to Red’s Army to listen to this month’s episode.
We discuss how every Playoff series looks after one game and pontificate about Kevin Garnett, both in terms of the most recent incident that got him suspended for a game and, more generally, about whether or not he’s just kind of a dick. (Kelly Dwyer had a State of Union of KG-piece yesterday called “Why We Don’t Like Kevin Garnett Anymore,” which, while interesting and representative of the overall issue, delves way too far into armchair psychoanalysis for my liking.)
We also yell at each other about Amar’e/the Suns franchise, profess our love for Mavs/Spurs and make fun of Adam Morrison.
Ya know, the usual.
Here’s the line-up of this month’s participants:
Pretty handsome crew. Particularly the last one.
I don’t think I actually speak all that much on the nonbasketball KG stuff in the podcast — mostly because I lack the motivation to care. But, for the record, I think most of the KG backlash is nonsense. He’s most likely a bit of a dick when he plays basketball, sure, but so were MJ, Larry Legend, Reggie and dozens upon dozens of other Hall of Famers. That doesn’t mean you have to like the guy, no, but I’m not exactly sure when we as fans started wanting to watch sports played only by clean-cut, model gentlemen.
Shouldn’t we spend our time praising genuine role models like Dikembe Mutombo and Dave Bing and save our scorn for legitimate malefactors like Jayson Williams and Donald Sterling? We really need to debate this incessantly? I guess it’s interesting perhaps. He is one of the best 25 players of all time and we do have cool YouTube clips of all his theatrics/transgression. But, really, I don’t have the time nor the inclination to come to any actual decisions about whether or not another grown man yelling and acting a little weird while playing a sport is a negative thing. /soapbox
(Funny photo though, right? It comes us from to the fantastic Doc Funk. The one where he looks at his watch is even better.)
Known Associates:
2010 NBA Playoffs,
Adam Morrison,
Amare,
Celtics,
KG,
Mavs,
Spurs,
Suns,
The 8th Seed
