Several players(and Kamala Harris husband)answering questions for the Athletic.

[Kblaze8855]

Why is he involved? Cant say. But here you are

Who is the best player in the league?

Nikola Jokić, Joel Embiid — 3
Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards — 2
Kawhi Leonard, Tyrese Haliburton, LeBron James — 1
Paolo Banchero, All-Star, Orlando Magic: “I gotta go between Joker, Embiid just got hurt. Luka is in that conversation.
Lauri Markkanen, 3-point contest participant, Utah Jazz: “That’s a tough one. Luka is one of the tougher guys for sure, and we always spend a lot of time preparing for that game.”
Dončić: “Come on with these questions.”
Edwards: “Right now? Me.”
Tyrese Maxey, All-Star, Philadelphia 76ers: “Can I say me? I’m gonna say Joe (Joel Embiid), of course.”
Karl-Anthony Towns, All-Star, Minnesota Timberwolves: “I’m going with my own people. I’m a loyal man. I’m gonna go with Ant.”
Doug Emhoff, husband to Vice President Kamala Harris and noted Laker fan who attended All-Star practice on Saturday and met with players: “I still gotta go with LeBron. And I’m not just being a homer. I mean, I maybe wouldn’t have even said it two or three years ago, but he actually has elevated his game as he’s getting to a 40. And it’s pretty stunning to see.”
Donovan Mitchell, All-Star, Cleveland Cavaliers: “It’s hard to go against Jokić, what he consistently does. We get bored with the level of greatness. You see that happen. In the past you’ve seen with Bron, you know, not getting certain MVP awards. And then you know Joel, what he was doing before he got hurt. I think it’s between those two right now.
If you could be Adam Silver for a day, what’s one thing you would change about the NBA?

Schedule changes (no more back-to-backs etc.) — 3
Wouldn’t want to be him — 2
Technical foul refunds, 4-point line, mandatory late-game reviews, alley-oop foul rule change — 1
Bam Adebayo, All-Star, Miami Heat: “I wouldn’t want to be Adam Silver for a day. I don’t want that job. That’s too stressful.”
Banchero: “I would say maybe the schedule, with the games and how much we are traveling and back-to-backs. Make it a little easier.”
Malik Beasley, 3-point contest, Milwaukee Bucks: “I’d add a 4-point line, so me and Dame could beat everybody.”
Devin Booker, All-Star, Phoenix Suns: “No back-to-backs.”
Jalen Brunson, All-Star, New York Knicks: “Everything under a minute, or two minutes, must be reviewed.”
Markkanen: “I mean, (it) would add scoring more, but I feel like the foul you get while you’re doing an alley-oop dunk — you get fouled, it’s always side out of bounds even though you’re clearly about to shoot it. But that would add more scoring. That’s an offensive rule, but that’s the first one that comes to mind.”
Maxey: “That’s not my job. My job is to go out there and follow the rule that is already set.”
Towns: “The schedule. If you’re playing LA, you just play LA again. You just get that out of the way. Maybe that could be cool.”
Jayson Tatum, All-Star, Boston Celtics: “If you get a tech for overreacting to a call and you were right, like they go back and look and the coaches do the challenge and they overturn the call, the tech should be rescinded. You should get your money back. If you get a tech for overeating to a call that was deemed incorrect, you should get your money back.”
Emhoff: “They literally made the change I wanted. I’m a huge European soccer fan, and I love the tournaments. The In-Season Tournament was awesome, not only because my team won it, but that was great. I mean, we were watching it, Kamala was watching it. We were all kind of into it.”
Do you still support the NBA’s 65-game mandate for awards eligibility?

Yes — 3
No— 2
Maybe — 3
Adebayo: “I feel like the rule is there for a reason. I don’t have anything to say against the rule because I love playing basketball. So I’m gonna try to play as many games as possible.”
Jaylen Brown, All-Star, Boston Celtics: “It’s tough. Because honestly, I do believe that if you win any type of award, I think you should have to play a significant amount of the season. We’ve got guys who play half the season and win MVP. I’m not a big fan of that. But maybe 65 games might be a little too severe. Maybe they lessen it to 58 or something like that or something a little bit less.”
Towns: “I mean, you’ve got to play. You’ve got to play to get what you want. I don’t know. I’m a guy who plays, so it’s hard for me to be like, ‘Yo, (they should change it).’”
Booker: “You know, it’s a tough situation. Obviously we’ve seen what happened to Joel. You want to see the best product out there at all times. That’s the point of the league. But we want to keep people safe at the same time. And you know, it definitely puts people at risk.”
Nikola Jokić, All-Star, Denver Nuggets: “I think I just don’t like it how it forces players to play, even if they are injured, to achieve something.”

[Kblaze8855]

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, All-Star, Oklahoma City Thunder: “There’s like a fine line in games played and availability. I think the league has the right intention in trying to make that line a little bit bolder and easier to make a decision. Now I try to be as available as I can every night, not only for that but just for the love of the game.”
Who is the best team you’ve played against this season?

Celtics — 5
Clippers — 4
Timberwolves — 1
Markkanen: “We’ve only played Boston once, but we got smacked, so they looked pretty good.”
Booker: “I mean, it goes in spurts man. The Clippers are playing great. Boston’s playing great. There’s a lot of good teams, a lot of talented teams. I think it’s about peaking at the right time and making sure your game’s right at the right time.”
Mitchell: “I would probably say outside of us (Cleveland), the Clippers are definitely, you know, one of the top teams in the league for sure.”
Myles Turner, Skills Challenge participant, Indiana Pacers: “Probably Boston. I mean, I feel like they have a lot of things clicking right now. You know, the’ve got a lot of things going the right way, but, you know, it’s all about getting hot at right time.”

…..

[Kblaze8855]

…

Is there too much offense in today’s NBA?

Yes — 5
No — 4
Maybe — 2
Booker: “Yeah, it was harder to get 70 back in my day, man (laughs). Now everybody (does it). Nah, it’s just crazy man. People are scoring the ball at a high level. The talent’s at an all time high, and the evolution of the game (means that) people just keep getting better and better.”
Beasley: “We definitely need to defend better. … The way we are scoring right now is crazy. But that just shows how great of players we are obviously as well. But you know, at the end of the day, defense wins championships, so we’re gonna see. I’m not worried about the rules. I just grind and stay ready, man.”
Dončić: “There’s plenty of defense, trust me.”
Towns: “I mean, the game’s evolving. You can’t stop people from scoring. (But) we’re helping offensive players for sure. Is there too much offense? Yeah, but I think that’s just people scoring the ball, putting the ball in the hoop. That ain’t up to me. But all I know is we’re No. 1 in defense. That’s all I know. Minnesota — we No. 1.”
Emhoff: “I’m not gonna be one of those old school people, ‘Oh, it was so great back in my day.’ You’ve got 7-footers who play like point guards. They can shoot, they can dribble, they can pass. So I think people want to see excellence. And these players are so good and they’re able to score and that’s great. So … if all of a sudden they come up with defense to stop this prolific offense, great. We’ll watch that too.”
Markkanen: “I think the talent level in the league has gone up. There’s a lot of guys who can put up big numbers. Obviously, the rules allow that. Everyone kind of has to try to be perfect on defense. But that’s the talent level of the offensive players too. They kind of know what you can get away with and what not. So it makes it difficult for sure.”
Maxey: “I think you can never have too much offense.”
Mitchell: “I don’t think it’s a bad thing. … There’s just so much talent and I mean, there’s so many different things. You look at the older days, it’s like, you know, the scoring was low and whatnot because there’s just so many guys scoring so many different ways, so many tricks … and that just happens. I don’t think there’s such thing as too much offense.”
Turner: “Good question, but I think offense sells tickets, so there’s not necessarily (too much). … As a basketball purist, I love defense. I love what it brings to the game, you know? But most of our fans are casual fans, people who just want entertainment.”
Young: “The talent is really high. Players are really smart. The defense isn’t allowed to do as much as they used to. If fans want change, they can (enforce) defensive three seconds — that’s what college basketball is. Scores will be 80 to 70 because the defense is allowed to do more. It’s not about the offense being better or what’s being played. It’s about the defense not being allowed to do what it needs to do.”

…

[FKAri]

Why is he involved? Cant say. But here you are

His qualifications are right there:

husband to Vice President Kamala Harris and noted Laker fan who attended All-Star practice on Saturday and met with players

Was Ja Rule available for comment?

“I still gotta go with LeBron. And I’m not just being a homer. I mean, I maybe wouldn’t have even said it two or three years ago, but he actually has elevated his game as he’s getting to a 40. And it’s pretty stunning to see.”

Never mind. He redeemed himself with this based take.

[FultzNationRISE]

His qualifications are right there:



Was Ja Rule available for comment?



Never mind. He redeemed himself with this based take.

^This guy gets it.

[Xiao Yao You]

Mitchell: “I don’t think it’s a bad thing. … There’s just so much talent and I mean, there’s so many different things. You look at the older days, it’s like, you know, the scoring was low and whatnot because there’s just so many guys scoring so many different ways, so many tricks … and that just happens. I don’t think there’s such thing as too much offense.”

shocking answer

[Akeem34TheDream]

OP has been spamming posts lately. Mods?

[ArbitraryWater]

Can we get the ****in avatars back