#CourtsideColumn KING SURVIVES WARRIORS IN THE PLAY-IN

 

King's Ransom.

Let's be clear.

The skin of their behinds.

That's what the Lakers escaped the play-in in LA by.

From now on they just have to do better if the defending champions want to at least look like they could go back-to-back like Magic delivering on a Pat Riley promise ("yeah...YEAH!").

The seventh seed in the 2021 Playoffs faced off like Cage did Travolta against the eighth, Golden State in this classic California clash of champs. There was no chumps in this contest which really does make for a perfect Playoff precursor. Hate the play-in, or love it. But down 13, the Lakers first-half statistics for one of many of their big-three combinations (James, Davis and Dennis Schröder) looked like the percentage of a jock who didn't swot for his test.

14.3%

Meanwhile everyone's favorite for MVP not playing in Philly, New York or Colorado was putting on a clinic.

Forget "Steph Curry with the shot" boy. It was almost more like the forthcoming free agent the Lakers would love with the upset.

Splashing everything like he was back on his side of the Pacific across the Golden Gate, number 30 had everyone believing again in this former dynasty. Rocking those Oakland jerseys like his rookie year and the time Baron Davis dunked on Dirk and gave Oak Town a Playoff preview of the hope to come in contention.

This team knows all about upsets. You could see it on Anthony Davis' enraged face as Draymond Green had the clamps on him. Putting one of Hollywood's Supermen in the phone booth.

If the Warriors had Klay today they would have dubbed this "over". In a Chick Hearn refrigerator. They didn't even need Durant, but when (more like if) this Hollywood team meets a super one of KD, Kyrie, James Harden and more it could all be a closed door.

With 37 points the leagues scoring champion Curry was scorching hot with the shot, but it was Canadian Andrew Wiggins who really stepped up on this big stage with 21 points off many hard fought plays. Even though the Warriors are now going home after Ja Morant and Memphis said "thank you very much" , Stephen is still your MVP and Wig is no one to write off anymore.

This Warriors team is still nice. Even this Laker fan is thinking Steph stays this Summer. Despite hoping for the opposite.

No matter. The King did his best Chef impression in the waning seconds for those who say he isn't clutch. Hitting a rainbow beautiful, 34 foot three over the greatest of all-time from downtown himself to ice the game with 58.2 to go. Squeezing past as 103 to 100 was all she wrote, following a botched inbounds pass from former Laker Kent Bazemore which Bradley Beal we're sure loved to see.

LB with the clutch 3 J from the 'e' of the STAPLES Center logo may have started colder than the ice around Montrezl Harrell's neck (so much hustle and energy. The heart of this team), but he ended up with a triple-double like Westbrook with, 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his sixth of the season.

Never underestimate the heart of a champion.

Even AD was on the way in the end. The big-man scoring 13 of his 24 in the fourth and final quarter.

Unlucky for Dray and the Dubs.

Against the Warriors the Lake Show was the walking wounded. Especially 'Bron with a bum ankle and a poked eye. But he out all that to the sky with his dagger that even plunged the clouds for rain.

The bear was poked in the eye and a regal lion roared in return.

This will be in the highlight package of one of the GOAT's greatest moments.

“After the finger to the eye, I was seeing three rims and shot at the middle one. By grace, I was able to knock it down,” the Chosen One told all the Zoomed press microphones post game. That sounds like some Larry Bird stuff. Look it up. This long sword from the King like Arthur was his longest make of the season and any go ahead shot in the final 3 minutes of any game he's ever played.

Not bad for a man that along with his dynamic duo partner Davis went 3 for 19 in the first half.

Three lead changes and five ties marked a thriller of a fourth as Alex Caruso had 14 and Schröder stepped up in the end with 12. With the Lakers now booked into the Western Conference Playoffs they must ensure they are firing on all cylinders in The Valley. They face a scorching hot Phoenix Suns led by Devin Booker, who's Florida Bubble still hasn't burst, big Deandre Ayton and James' old friend Chris Paul.

If the Lakers want to stand this heat they better throw the kitchen sink at them. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

#TheLeBronSeries KING JAMES VERSION

The Basketball Bible.

By TIM DAVID HARVEY 

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth". Genesis 1:1.

August 23rd, 1978. Kobe Bryant is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the rest is hallowed, hardwood, hoops history. January 26, 2020. He tragically dies along with his daughter Gianna and several other friends and their family, and the rest of this year is just misery. December 30th, 1984. LeBron James is born in The Land. Monday the 5th October. Today. Tonight. Right now as we speak. Up 2-1 in the NBA Finals. Now let's see if they can be all about the 4-1 like Glen Rice, or every other series in their Western Conference reign. The kid from Akron has the chance to win the Lakers 17th championship in his 17th year all for Kobe. 23 for 24.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Peter 5:8.

"Lakers sweep Heat". The headlines of the Los Angeles Times won't read that no more, but that doesn't mean it's over. "You're in trouble", LeBron told Jimmy Butler in the first quarter. Buckets told the King the same thing in the fourth once the Heat cooled off the talents of a man who used to take it to South Beach. Just like when playground GOAT, Earl Manigualt responded to Wilt Chamberlain's, "welcome to the big leagues schoolboy" dunk taunt at the Rucker (as played by NBA legend and 'Uncut Gems' star Kevin Garnett in 'Rebound' starring Don Cheadle as 'Gault) by saying after hitting the big shot that iced the game in New York, "welcome to Harlem...motherf#####!" Now we have a series! Now we have a Finals. But still, I wouldn't bet against the LeBron James, like I said I wouldn't bet against Kobe Bryant. Especially when the King is doing it for the Black Mamba in the snakeskin he designed for the city with GiGi's number 2. All in for L.A. Doing it for what the graffiti reads on the highway like all those magnificent murals. 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

"Chosen One" carried on his back in everlasting ink. "What we do in life" and "echoes in eternity" bared on each arm where he carries the word he throws up to the heavens like chalk. Chosen like the Sports Illustrated cover (the first of libraries worth) back in high school where he was given the biblical nickname by royal appointment. 17 years and change ago. When this 35 year old like me was just a kid. When he had a 'fro like Kobe, before he started to lose it all like yours truly. But look at what he's kept. The will and skill of the greatest of all-time. Not even M.J. had it like this at 35. His 'Last Dance' was already swan sung years ago. And as we read his and Kobe's former coach Phil Jackson's 'Sacred Hoops' memoir for the NBA Finals like 'The Last Season' autobiography from the man who won 'Eleven Rings' searching for a soul. During the finals, LeBron (who constantly reads 'The Godfather' to stay motivated as The Don) continues to "chop wood and carry water" like an ancient Indian proverb as he dances with wolves (or former ones) like Kevin Costner in his hardwood field of dreams. Its all about the work. If you build it they will come. And if you work it will be done. 

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Proverbs 3:5. 

Bulldozer bullying his way to the rim like a sledgehammer. He won't be denied like a wrecking ball or someone taking your lunch money. Running through defenders like it was open season on the floor of a fast break. Twisting the night away like Sam Cooke. Bobbing, weaving and duking it out before dunking like an Ali pugilist in turning out the light and getting in bed before the bulb goes off. All before pumping and flexing under the basket like an Air Canada chopper. Goodnight! Now how's that for a flashbulb moment? Appreciate it whilst the divine light is still upon you. It won't be here forever as we are caught up in his hoops rapture, as basketball beautiful as a halo he enters like heaven. Spin cycle rinsing you and repeating until the uniforms are washed in the blood. Jesus is King and he walks with LeBron like Kanye. The red hat just reads different on the players entrance in Florida's Bubble like the tunnel. Make America...arrest the cops that killed Breonna Taylor. Say her name. Say her name. SAY HER NAME! 

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." James 1:22.

So why all the God damned hate?! No wonder he treats his press conferences with the Mamba Mentality mood Kobe did. Like Kevin Durant once said, "Erykah Badu is thicker than a Kindergarten Cray..." ah wait, wrong quote. "I don't trust none of y'all." What's with all these Twitter takes from sofa athletes who only share a hairline with LeBron...and not like the real GOAT, Alex Caruso? We are witnessing like it was all written in scripture one of the greatest this game or world has ever seen and we're throwing stones at something so divine? Is that really are intervention or intention? Is that really inspiration? What about his influence? Building schools and hopefully learning from his Hong Kong error. But we want to throw rocks at the throne like a Witness billboard because after losing one game we say he's done and coming down even after all he's won? You seen the amount of Finals he's been in since the last decade? And now you want to talk about the number he's won? This man has been making milestones every night like a Miles Davis album in this game that went from jazz to the boom bap of hip-hop in all its free flow. Just like this young King went from the Statue of Liberty dunks he held like the book of Basketball, to the castle building downtown shots he puts up like a quarterback. Throwing the big pass to his big man as LeBron James and Anthony Davis become the next Wilt and West, Magic and Kareem, Shaq and Kobe. The new Big Game James worthy of a cigar and clap. Banner and retired jersey. Put 'em up! 

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Matthew 7:7. 

The time is now. To do what's right and to do what under the light seems like destiny. It's been a truly terrible calendar like LeBron tells us when we lose the Black Mamba and the Black Panther in the same year. And it aint over yet. COVID-19 is still infecting 2020 when we were supposed to roar back like a DiCaprio Gatsby, once upon a time in Hollywood. But still we shout Black Lives Matter through the streets through masks, because there's something that matters more than our lives...the lives of others being persecuted by police brutality with the only finality being there mortality. No sentence for the ones who pulled the trigger or dug a knee. Just death for their victims. And they had a problem with Kap taking a knee?! Well this captain linking arms with his team is about to take it all back and win it all for his friend. Like a Hollywood ending, but one down south against his former Miami Heat in the Florida he took his talents to. Homecourt advantage to South Beach? Nah this is Kings court now. And Disney couldn't come up with a better avenger, star wars story in their world (word to the Warner Brothers 'Space Jam' too like Mike. That's all folks like an AD tee), even if they hold all the superheroes and iconic characters to marvel at. Not this one. Not 23. All for 24, infinite like 8. Wrapped around the ball and Spalding spinning world watching like a coiled snake. It's all meant to be and you're all about to see. Witness. Chapter and verse. Because right now we can't get closer to God than this. 

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13.

SUE BIRD Feature - IS IT A BIRD?

 

Like A Bird.

By TIM DAVID HARVEY

Glove fitting to Seattle as fellow Point God, Gary Payton was to the (save our) Sonics. As legendary as Larry when it comes to the name on the back of her jersey (and say the name of the other one under her number, until they arrest the cops). Better GOAT. Better GOAT. Right now, right now like Haim you are witnessing two greatest of all times in the Finals at the same time for the Bubbling WNBA and NBA champion deciders. The King and this Queen against the chips of the Las Vegas Aces, playing for all the cards. How lucky we are. What a time to be alive even in the worst year of our lives that took Kobe and GiGi and then gave us COVID-19 and even more cruel police brutality. But still Black Lives Matter like they always will beyond a trend or this year end. Just like the worth of womens work that is never "get back in the kitchen" like those told to "shut up and dribble" will never just stick to sports. And why should they Donald? Now when it comes to this woman in hoops after her ring part three album, looking to go fourth with the force, her legend is already certified. Engraved in the history books. All under the name, Sue Bird. Read all about it like a game changing SLAM cover. In Style as the new generation, power couple of this new world with World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe in celebration like a Statue of Liberty. Like justice for all. Better GOAT. Better GOAT. Part of the two best players this game has ever seen...regardless of gender. From the days of Lisa Leslie to the new Spark of Hollywood Defensive Player Of The Year, Candace Parker. Still at an all elite, All Star level pushing 40 with the Mercury rising of MVP Diana Taurasi with that screaming Mamba Mentality. All for what could have been with GiGi. But the Most Valuable Player isn't here right now trying to knock down Las Vegas' house of cards in the Florida Bubble. Instead it's the legend and the legacy making superstar Breanna Stewart doing it for Breonna Taylor. Say her name.

Stewie and Suey. The best dynamic duo in basketball, inside and out not called LeBron James and Anthony Davis. A legendary one, two punch like Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton. You see that picture of the pair of them looking bored during a Bubble blowout. They are just that good at making you look bad. And they could Ace Las Vegas like Venus or Serena serve. Now how about this for a backhand? They say the women's game is not the same. They're right. It's something else. Now head-to-head for a double header with the NBA like brother and sister you can see for yourself. It's no sibling rivalry. They're doing this together. Side-by-side, just as well. And just as good. The talent levels the same. The Florida project for a league that lead the world in corona response and the sisterhood that started the sports march for social justice like Maya Moore walking away from the game she loved like we all do. The Bubble hasn't burst. Stick a fork in it all you like but it'll never be done. Don't wait until Thanksgiving to be thankful. The season will be over then, but the parade maybe not. It will run this town, round and round like their son Macklemore pulling that camel 'Downtown'. The city of Seattle deserves this last dance this weekend. Joe Budden and others think this place needs a Basketball team again. Stewie will tweet and tell you they already have one. The best one. Sure the Sonics have a championship banner in their old Key Arena from 1979. But the Storm have reigned with two more recent ones. It's their house now. And guess whose holding the keys? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's Sue Bird. Who needs Superman when you have Wonder Woman?

Tossing salads and scrambling eggs like 'Frasier', Sue Bird has been stirring the pot since the days of Cafe Nervosa. But "it's all for the playoffs, not the payoffs" like Niles Crane said after Dame time draining from half court like WAP (put this guy on your celebrity Dream Team with Bill Murray and Michael Scott, 30 For 30). The state of Washington is still in a good one when it comes to Basketball...even if the White House in D.C. disagrees. Needling like the Space tower one, illuminated in electric bleeding, neon green for this team with her pocket passes, Bird flys like Nelly Furtado. Like the man that once played with the Space Needle on his chest fitting like a glove. Or the green day of a Celtic that shares that same surname and downtown game in Beantown. For all the grinds. From the UCONN college days with Taurasi, to winning gold medals for Team USA like her partner and then going against each other, GOAT for GOAT. Better for better. From 1st overall in 2002, to still number one in 2020. Wikipedia tells us the Israeli-American with a pure point prototype frame of reference has played for three teams in Russia, during the Summer WNBA players usually can't take off anyway (until the CBA had something to say about their salaries. Changing the game again), not just in corona cancelling games. Not to mention held a front office position for the Denver Nuggets with her best in the association basketball IQ. But right now like Jamal Murray she's mining more. The record books she keeps ripping and rewriting read into that way. You have to hand it to her for becoming second all-time in assists too. Now how's that for some Bird feed? Wait for the gold stonecutter. It's coming like the Storm. I hope you've got your umbrellas handy like the academy, because it's about to reign. 

#TheKobeSeries KOBE BRYANT & PAU GASOL Feature-BETTER FRIEND

16/8

By TIM DAVID HARVEY.

"Kobe taught us to be better. Better dreamer. Better waker. Better stretcher. Better walker. Better talker. Better walking the walk and talking the talk. Better blocker (what's up my DPOY?). Better sprinter. Better loser. Better winner. Just. Be. Better (GiGi...throat lump). Better form. Better focus. Better friend." Kendrick Lamar, Nike 'Better' #MambaForever commercial spot.

Perfect. Pau Gasol probably the most underrated Los Angeles Laker of all-time, especially in their legendary lineage of big men is also one of the NBA's nicest legends. The former second best European player ever until Luka came along (kid is just that good) was recently seen with his fiancée Catherine McDonnell on a boat like T-Pain with Vanessa Bryant and her children. His late teammate and best friend, Laker and NBA legend Kobe Bryant's three daughters. GiGi's three sisters. Striking a pose with his youngest like when the little one who looks so like Bean was lifted up by Pau a few weeks prior like 'The Lion King' for the Black Mamba's cub. Back when he visited the Bryant home like when Sabrina Ionescu's Tik Tok at the house of Mamba was adorably crashed, Pau even got a seat at the table. The doll tea party table like the man who needs to be brought back for one last go round with the Lakers before his 16 gets raised to the rafters next to 24 and 8 was about to lead the league in back trouble. Pau visiting the Bryant family on Kobe's 40th. Tears. It's the kind of sweet solidarity like support to the grieving Bryant's that we all need in this truly terrible and horrible and heartbreaking year were we've lost everyone from the Black Mamba to the Black Panther, whilst screaming Black Lives Matter in this coronavirus crippled calendar that began with the Kobe, GiGi and their friends family tragedy. Can you imagine a Basketball brotherhood and a bond more beautiful than the Spaniard and the kid from Italy?

Summer league, class of '96. Point role playing God, Los Angeles Sparks coach and clutch King, Derek Fisher from 0.4 told SLAM magazine that in their co-rookie year of 1996 he and Kob' balled out on everyone, rolling in Vegas. D-Fish and Bean Bryant went on to be one of the best backcourts from the Forum's of purple to gold in STAPLES. Three-peating together with Horry, Fox and the big fella, before reuniting half a decade after the death of a dynasty for a couple more. But when it came to big dynamic duos, friend or foe, nothing touched the greatest Laker and NBA one/two punch partnership of all-time in Shaq and Kobe. No L.B.J and A.D. or even Magic and Kareem, Wilt or West comes close like Common and Mary J. Blige. Even if the King can spike Westbrook with a dunk and then chase him down for a volleyball block, there's no Laker like the late, dearly departed, two fingers kissed in the air, "Mamba Out" Kobe. Besides H-Town still stomped the Lake Show in the Bubbling Game 1 of the West semis like a blazing first round almost knockout Portland. A team Shaq and Kobe used to throw alley oops on until Shaq pointed at Kobe and his son Shareef with two raised arms and wide eyes. Bryant and O'Neal dominated over twin towers of David Robinson and Tim Duncan like the storied Celtics to be the Lord Of The Rings. Jumping into each others arms before winning a Holy Trinity with Coach Phil Jackson like the G.O.A.T. M.J. with legendary back-ups like Horace Grant and Kobe's "mentor" Ron Harper. But Shaq and Kobe fell out like loose change in torn pockets and this Hollywood divorce lead to a script flip to the talents of South Beach and a Corvette meeting a brick wall like a purple Prince did a girl with a second hand raspberry beret. Still these two fond friends with as many similarities as differences (that's kind of why we all clash sometimes) got back together like 'Hotel California'. First as make friends, never ever break friends and then co-All Star Game MVP's in where else but the STAPLES of Los Angeles as everyone hoped for a Laker reunion which would of been the most compelling, closing chapter, but sadly like answering a Shakeapeare question was this time not meant to be.

So Kobe had a big hole to fill in the center of his Hollywood attention and even rolling with a magic versatile seven foot 'Six Man Of The Year' in Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum (for long) and Dwight Howard (yet) weren't going to quite cut it. Kobe needed more with all due respect to Brian Grant (the former blazing Portland Shaq battling dreaded rival, who was battling more on his way to retirement before his biggest and bravest fight against Parkinson's disease) and Chris Mihm (who smoothly down low we will always love). He found it when the Lakers traded a few spare parts and what would have been a big addition in drafted brother Marc Gasol for his bigger sibling from Spain, the power of Pau Gasol. "I'm not going to war with butter knives anymore", Kobe told press as he took through the tunnel with even more meaning following him and the gasoline of Gasol clicking quicker than switching on the gas. These two were cooking and to think the Lakers almost traded number 16 for the nixed, what would have been the best backcourt in future Los Angeles (Clipper) and maybe 'Bron banana boat teammate like 'Melo should have been, CP3. "WoW"! Kobe and Pau communicating in whatever language lost the opponent in translation as they went in transition even had their own Shaq sized Portland move at STAPLES in the pain for the canvas of their court artwork. Although this one was more subtle in its sympatico synchronicity. Pau's eyes as wide as Shaq but with animalistic animation as the man with the wild hair went crazy with those eyes that vision and those pupils that kind of look like the student of a certain way of thinking as these two on their way to two of their own took everyone to school (like Jordan said about Pippen in 'The Last Dance' Kobe, "doesn't win those rings without Pau"). Mamba Mentality. That's what it looked like and these two arm in arm from down court to downtown Toronto for their last meeting on the spotlight of the floor for Canada's All Star game appeared to be so much more. Better friend? No, Derek and Shaquille need their all due respect. Best friend? Forever.

#TheKobeSeries

RUI HACHIMURA Feature - BIG IN JAPAN

Rui In Translation. 

By TIM DAVID HARVEY 

2020 was supposed to be the one like Vanessa Bryant for Bean. The roaring return of the 20's like Gatsby a century later, old sport. Tokyo, Japan itself was set to host the 2020 Olympic Games this Summer and this Englishman in Yokohama, lost in translation came here this year after calenders of dreams about it. Especially to teach and write about Basketball under the cauldron which had also introduced a 3x3 tournament to the streets. But then January happened and we lost Kobe, GiGi and so many more to that truly tragic helicopter crash and cruelly it still doesn't seem real months later. Just like masks still on the Coronavirus that has not only crippled things on court, in cinemas and businesses beyond entertainment, door-to-door, struggling to survive, but taken the lives of so many loved ones from us around the world. And it's still not gone. Although worth the risk many of us have taken to the streets and risked our lives, because Black Lives STILL Matter and we must protest in peace before we finally have justice. Justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor (arrest the cops) and so many more. Countless casualties of callous cruelness. Some caught on camera, others lynched in the shadows of America's dark history, hidden under a white hood. Basketball is about to return as players are about to literally be in a bubble for a winners take all tournament at Disney World, but the time to play Mickey Mouse games is done. There's bigger things at stake like Kyrie Irving and the Los Angeles Lakers' Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley know...and we're willing to risk everything we have to prove it. Basketball may be back from lockdown like it never stops came back from the lockout, but nothing can bring back the lives of those we lost to police brutality and COVID-19. Just like we can't bring back Kobe and GiGi, as much as we would give anything to do so in the worst year of our lives since the towers dropped like our hearts. We must go forward in their honour. In love over the worst disease of hate. In peace. Practicing what the real King preached.

Under the MLK monument memorial of Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States of America's nation capital of Washington D.C. just a mall's walk from the Capitol Building or the Lincoln Memorial were this man had a promised land dream, another young man, face mask hanging has his fist raised next to the Washington Wizards best backcourt in the association of John Wall and Bradley Beal like the black gloved power and history of an Olympic podium. Like the change Sam saw coming after Marvin hollered, 'What's Goin' On' like "war is not the answer". For why? In a rookie year that sees the most hyped since the first name terms of LeBron, Zion comeback in the stunted second half to show he could still take home the R.O.Y. award other big names to be have gone relatively unnoticed. Even though jumping over everything from Love to even the rafters, Ja Morant's ruling name that seems destined for there like the Hall has been putting it down. You may not know top ten rook Rui Hachimura's name yet. But you will. It's big in Japan like a James or Harden after the Rockets and the Raptors did their thing in a Tokyo double-header last fall gone. And this Small Forward may just spell a big-three for the Wall and Beal street, House of Guards, Washington Wizards who could use a rise like Phoenix with their new rising son from the land of precisely that. The Toayama born Japanese sensation is about to take to the American streets like Toyota and foot on the gas you can't stop him pedal to metal now. Faster than a speeding you know what in a David Stern and Jerry Sloan sadly passing year were Washington have lost a legend of their own in the late, great Wes Unseld, this kid with a similar afro could be the next, great legacy maker. Before taking the Harry Potter like name, the Washington Wizards used to be called the Bullets like that iconic candy striped throwback, before the city wanted to distance itself from the plauge of gun violence. But like the New Orleans Pelicans we've always thought they could use a new name. Like turning their previously dodgy looking logo into a beautiful Black Power salute which should stay raised even when people's Twitter timeliness move on to something else, because this is more than trend, but a way of life that should always be and always matter. Rui could be so big for this team before his final swan song (that is a decade at least away) like a Houston Rocket Yao Ming that you could rename this team the Washington Shinkansen's for what one day could be this future franchise famous face. And this is a team that played G.O.A.T. Michael Jordan's real last dance. Don't miss this train.

Yokohama, Japan. The Memphis Grizzlies already made Japanese history a year prior. Yuta Watanabe is his name. And his game?Worthy more of a G-League hustle. But when these two met on court last December, swapping jerseys at the end of the game like a way of Wade and holding them to the camera for their first dance, real history was made. It's a match up set for ages, everytime Tennessee is in town. But when it comes to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto or even Kobe, the place Bryant was named after when Joe 'Jellybean' was so impressed with the beef, it's Hachimura's jersey that fits the sales like a Durant in the B.K., or Curry in California. Rui's name is in neon now. A great in Gonzaga. That wasn't the only time he was set to tear down nets like New Jersey to Brooklyn. This kids looks like a walking and dribbling 20 and 10 per threat already. The number 8, ninth pick, 6 foot 8, 230 pound for pound 'Zag's game is just that tall. All in all this young man could be everything to Washington and the watching world belong the rising sun as he ascends like Fuji, ready to blow. Bank on this SMBC sponsored stud to be that good...Watanabe a big name like Ken too. But this Bulldog that can power to the other forward position and in the salad of his college days won the Julius Erving Award is just the prescription the good doctor ordered with his J. The name Rui means "base" or "fortress". And although this former catcher and pitcher played a different time of ball in the end he's still going to build a foundation as traditional in its strength and permanence as a temple as he swings for the fences...or rafters. His name already carries that much weight. Now just you wait. Just read the logo behind the Tokyo of his tee in the Nike commercial with the playground of the whole city behind the second Japanese player in history to be drafted into the NBA after Yasutaka Okayama of the Golden State Warriors (and the first in the first round...ever). He's Jordan Brand. G.O.A.T. certified. Now take off the headphones and take the tablet. You want to write him off? That's fine. No problem. One day in about a year Rui Hachimura will no longer be a rookie, but an Olympian carrying the torch for his country and maybe even taking home the gold (he has the mettle for at least a medal, deserving of his podium place) as like BTS in neighbouring South Korea he will finally be big not just in the Far East of Japan...but the whole wide watching world like Osaka, Naomi. And unlike Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, that will be lost in no translation.

MALIK SEALY Feature-SEALY

21 Jersey Salute. 

By TIM DAVID HARVEY 

“Feel me, I’m loved like the great late Malik Sealy.” - AZ (Nas-The Flyest). 

"Just give me a second man", Kevin Garnett says softly, holding his index finger up like Deke. "Damn." His gigantic seven foot frame leaning forward on his couch as he crouches, head between knees brace like he's getting his wind back after a big play that just takes it out of you. 'The Last Dance' of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls on ESPN and Netflix may be over now, as the tablet passed memes and timelines have tweeted so much like former teammates Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen expressing their disdain about to lock horns, that the G.O.A.T 23 emoji has fallen off the hash-tag trend. But from all the 30 For 30's to 'The Carter Effect' on Netflix like 'Basketball Is Nothing', there's still plenty of hoop documentaries to play in your home hoop cinema like all the X and O movies there actually are. Like one of the best and biggest shots in Boston's own Ben Affleck's career for 'The Way Back' to redemption. One of the best docus simply being 'KG'. The story of Kevin Garnett. Filmed when the Big Ticket punched himself a Beantown stub to the Celtic pride of the NBA's most storied franchise in Boston, en route to a classic career as a champion on court, Garnett wore his new green number 5 on the polo at home with all cameras on him like there were eyes on 'Pac. But the backstory of this life and times knew that just like where he would finish his Hall of Fame career, Kevin's heart belonged in Minnesota with the Timberwolves like the number 21 raised to the retired rafters. But why he wore that number 21 forever means so much more. Stephon Marbury may have been the star like Starbury remade in China, but when everyone was talking about Showbiz and K.G. in the early days of Da Kid, Kevin Garnett's best teammate was also his greatest inspiration. And we aren't talking about one of the big three in Latrell Sprewell or Sam Cassell. No when it comes to Garnett's greatest teammate. The flyest of them all is the star of Whoopi Goldberg's Basketball movie 'Eddie' as a New York Knick. The great Malik Sealy.

"Ah well this is the Bronx. This is where I grew up. Um right here is Valentine Avenue. Basically where everything started for me," Malik tells cameras back in 1995 for his own documentary. Rocking the foundation of his own t-shirt, as he takes us on a playground tour like showing off your new friends to your mom. A place where he honed his skills like Jay-Z the kitchen table. The blueprint of his Basketball career were he would make K.G. believe this s### was real like Jaz-O. St. John's was were this kid would be a pre-NBA star like the late Len Bias, or the last member of that '92 Olympic Dream Team in Barcelona worthy of his own 30 For 30. If you want to talk about Wolves, there's a reason 'I Hate Christian Laettner'. Finishing his time as an alumni with a second all-time point total of 2,401 for John's, Malik named after Malik Shabazz, none other than political Malcolm X would follow in his footsteps of inspiration by any means necessary. Being good enough to be drafted by the Indiana Pacers with the 14th pick in the 1992 NBA Draft and inspire a young kid by the name of Kevin to wear the 21 in his honor, all the way until the day this biggest fan would meet his best friend. A 6 foot, 8 inch, 200 poung, Shooting Guard/Small Forward tweener who would play with the Clippers in Los Angeles and the Detroit Pistons in Motown. Malik rose to the occasion like a San Antonio Spur. But Sealy would truly find his home for his game and number 2 jersey in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis as a Minnesota Timberwolf. Throwing up a downtown prayer against the Indy team that drafted him, like he was pushing everything out his body for an epic experience the same as he clutched like Reggie Miller and hit the biggest ticket of a buzzer beating shot next to K.G. Right on target in the Target Center. Falling to the floor and lying on the court under the trees and pointing to the rafters he'd one day reside like Dikeme Mutombo Simba lifting the Spalding like 'The Lion King' to the ceiling in smiling, eighth wonder Nuggets knocking the top seeded Supersonics out of the first round of the playoffs with a sweep. Better get your brooms as Sealy shimmied like Antoine Walker. A pre-Paul Pierce teammate Kevin Garnett jumping on top of him with the game called on account of hugs.

"Malik had me wanting to go to St. John's", Garnett tells it. As in a news report a decade ago on the ten year anniversary, the late, great anchor Stuart Scott continues that in 1999 these two men bonded forever would become teammates. It started with dinner and then blossomed into a big brother mentorship to confide in and open up to. Idol to ally. Inseparable. Inspirational. "Malik and Kevin were brothers. Best friends," former teammate, future coach and always friend Sam Mitchell concurred. Adding a shy Kevin didn't want to go out much, until Malik coaxed him like, "screw that man let's go." Similar to what Steve Nash did for Dirk in Dallas, fresh off the flight from Frankfurt. Bringing him out of his shell, Mitchell believes Malik "taught Kevin how to be a superstar", giving him the seal of approval. In the new millennium 2000 night of number 21's 24th birthday Da Kid, Kevin Garnett felt on top of the world. SURPRISE! A party for the young star had everyone in attendance as Kevin, Malik and Sam snapped a beautiful photograph to mark the night. When Kevin got home and to bed he just thanked God for this beautiful day and night. But then what seemed like an incredible night would be marked for life in another way we would all never forget, even though we wish we could go back to before all that. Kevin's aunt almost kicked his door down. What's the matter? "You've got to get up!" Something happened to Malik. Sealy's SUV was hit by a pick-up truck going the other way on Malik's journey home. The driver drunk. Who years later would be arrested for another DUI. Sealy perfectly sober passed away that night as his life was cruelly taken by the fickle twist of tragic fate. "I just seen him" Kevin told his aunt in disbelief as time stopped for the man. Innocence gone with his friend. "That's what that was" he tells the documentary camera crew in the same disbelief as the weight of his arm gives out like the one that doesn't leave his shoulders. Shortly after Garnett's 24th, he and Sealy were meant to leave for vacation together, instead Kevin was a pallbearer for Malik's funeral. Carrying his best friends name and number above his locker for life. Like a Jerry West jersey we celebrated Da Kid, Kevin Garnett's 44th (WHAT?!) birthday yesterday. But one that is always bittersweet because of what he woke up to the next day. As today we mark the 20th anniversary of Malik Sealy's passing with a piece we should have wrote more than 10 ago. "I think everybody goes through something in their life that makes them who they are in the present. And that's what Malik was for me." Sealy like Charlotte Hornet Bobby Phills and the New Jersey Net superstar who started the European revolution before Dirk and Doncic and could have even given M.J. a run for his money (yeah I said it Mike...and you know it), Drazen Petrovic all lost their lives tragically to automobile accidents. And over the last year we have lost even more of our NBA family from Commissioner David Stern to and it's still so hard to believe and write this, Kobe Bryant. This year in Springfield when Kevin Garnett puts on that Naismith orange jacket like Tiger Woods does August's green one with Tim Duncan in the Hall of Fame, his friend Kobe Bryant should be with him like throwing it off the glass in the All Star game for the West. And as Kevin takes to the podium to make a speech as stirring as his play was passionate like no other. Like his late, great coach Flip Saunders, the man who wore number 2 for Sealy in Brooklyn like he does inked always in his arm only wishes his best friend Mailk could be there to introduce, or at least watch over him. But don't you know...he will be. Tragedy touches us all, but friendship is forever. Pick up the phone. Two decades gone and if they still wrote a book on his life, do you think anyone would read it? No f###### doubt! 20 years ago we lost Malik Sealy. Two decades later he's still the flyest. Stillmatic.

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: THE LAST DANCE

5/5

The Last Waltz. 

10 Episodes. Starring: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Phil Jackson & Chicago Bulls. 

Come fly with he. Let's fly, let's fly away. He being the G.O.A.T. The greatest of all-time like Sinatra. The chairman of the board. Sorry King and with all due respect to the late, great (what is this fate?) Kobe. But they all wanted to be like Mike. Hear it from forever 24 himself in one of the most sobering, emotionally blindsiding moments of this whole series (so thankful I was coincidentally cutting onions at the time) when talking about the original 23. M.J. a thriller like the other Mike, Jackson. Now who's bad? At its purest you best believe Basketball is an art form and Michael Jordan made the Spalding (whoops. Wilson now like Tom Hanks' best friend. WoW!) his instrument. 'The Last Dance' his symphony. All in a shrugs work (and wait until you see the real master of this). And now you can play it in every household he became a name in like the game in your backyard, throwing up shots like you believed you could fly, now shouting, "KOBE" in tribute. You better make it. Mamba mentality remember. Never out like the rumoured documentary footage from his last waltz we can't wait, or would love to see. As ESPN's latest top ten, 30 For 30 has been made available everywhere (i.e. Netflix) as chilling at home in lock down we no longer have to scroll through the streaming service for a show or movie to watch with cinemas closed. We have our top pick now...and we aint talking about Sam Bowie. Top ten across the world as our days go round in circles like the globe, or the spinning Spald...Wilson this guy owned and honed like he was from Harlem...close. This New Yorker made Madison Square Garden the World's Most Famous Arena like the Delta Centre or Byron Russell, (that push off move on the headline intro, 'Dark Knight' scored that we will never skip Netflix like the 'Stranger Things' one straight looking like a Bruce Lee move. After I wrote this news of his 39 For 30 'Be Water' came). When Money had the ball it was more than cash and profits for the post Bird and Magic golden era of hoop dreams which Netflix are about to see why and just how much for a show that even people that don't like Basketball are finding compelling due to this man's court creations. Remember those Converse you wear...Basketball shoes. Everytime you post a "Throwback Thursday"...that's a hoops reference. If you want to get better at something you should always study the greats. Jordan, Kobe, Ali, Prince, Springsteen, Scorsese, De Niro, Pacino and so on. The Beatles. The Chicago Bulls. And the most sought after, greatest thing on Netflix since 'The Irishman' is one of the only saving graces of this quarantine, like the BBC bringing forward their signature series, 'Killing Eve' starring Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh. But forget Eve. This is all about Mike and his last Bull run out the Bullpen. Because nobody had a killer instinct like Mike. The ultimate Villanelle like Jerry Krause the villain of this. This is history for our generations like world wars. But no one had a fight like this. You can see it in his eyes when he cries. No meme. "Break!"

Let's dance! The Bowie (not Sam) sampling classic 'Been Around The World' by Diddy ("if this is our last dance we need to practice our steps." Guess the song with Brandy) when he was the Puff Daddy and the Ma$e, Notorious B.I.G. Family plays like you just know this show is going to be a classic like the soundtrack that needs to be a Spotify playlist if it isn't already a number one, one. All to lay the Chicago town scene and introduce us to all the untouchable characters like Capone or Elliott Ness. Just like introducing Scottie Pippen and that iconic dunk over Patrick Ewing to the subwoofer of your speakers with all that bass in his voice. A man who was more than a Robin sidekick to Jordan's Batman, but maybe one of the most underrated and greatest ever. Even of at the time he was the 122nd highest player in the league. Do you know who the 122nd highest paid player in the association is today...exactly! And how about Dennis Rodman..."wassup!" Need we say anymore? The introduction takes care of all that. Is it because he's different? More entertaining than trying to find your best friend in Vegas after 'The Hangover'. BOOM...he's here. And then BOOM! He's back there. He's everywhere. And then of course there's the man who orchestrated this all in this last season for a team in search of it's soul, the Zen master Coach Phil Jackson. But is it bad that this Laker fan wanted a Ron Harper and Horace Grant episode in a laundry list of famous and not so teammates (but I'll settle for Harp's "f### this bull####" when as a Cav he couldn't get M.J. for the shot and Horace's Cosby like reaction to Magic teammate Nick "Choke" Anderson saying "45 isn't the same as 23" for that jersey change. Or how about Mike's friendly joking banter with Grant and a referee during the playoffs that he doesn't see Horace that much at this time of the year. Straight savage)? Or his interaction with the Hollywood G.O.A.T. A young Leonardo DiCaprio (I want to see a M.J. so petty that when DiCaprio corrects his "The Man With The Iron Face" comment he hops in a DeLorean, takes it back to '95 and hangs 63 on Leo's character from 'The Basketball Diaries'. "Okay, you want to correct me. That's fine, no problem." Imagine building a DeLorean just to go back 3 years. Hash-tag, "petty"). From big shot guards like Paxson and B.J. Armstrong. To some of the best courtside contributors in this documentary that has everyone from Nas comparing copping Jordan's to having a lightsaber off 'Star Wars' and some former Chicago resident called, Barack Obama (not to mention Bull, Bad Boy and our man John Salley amongst all the Ahmad Rashad's and David Stern's (Rest Peacefully) in Bill Wennington and Jud Buechler (who if they ever do a 'Last Dance' movie needs to be played by Ryan Reynolds himself). And who could forget Warriors coach Steve Kerr (but when they get to his episode and past, prepare yourselves. This guy really is the bravest beyond the game on the line. Which makes his trademark humour and heart that much more in the face of tragedy inspired) and his hilarious response to the reason why the Bulls are so good and maybe the big-three's real third man Toni Kukoc? One of the first and groundbreaking Euro players that have made the game what it is today. Word to the name on the back of Kevin Durant's black Bulls jersey. Seeing the forgotten outcome to when he was given the last shot instead of Pip has the nail biting excitement of watching a real live game during this lockdown were there's a chain on the gym like 'Coach Carter'. And then there's the love story that started in Paris without a hug and ended as the G.O.A.T. of friendships in Scott Burrell. But back to the music in this dance like the shifting time lines. Forget Oreo's, there's LL Cool J's 'Bad' whilst crushing the Celtics like a building on pink plastic for 63 like it was God disguised as Michael Jordan. 'Partyman' by the purple one like The Joker, Prince off his 'Batman' soundtrack for the King before the purple one. There's so many more classics like Chicago's own Alan Parsons project introduction dance that we don't want to spoil for this scoring soundtrack of a series like KRS-One and Eric B. and Rakim paid in full for a show that ain't no joke. But we know whose going to have the last laugh on 'The Last Dance' like handing an iPad to the greatest and showing him that the glove of Gary Payton (and how about David Aldridge talking about how we should save the Sonics (don't skip this. Or Breanna Stewart of the Storm's teacup reaction to Joe Budden saying Seattle needs a Basketball team...and that's the tea) thought he could fit when it came to his trash talking, Hall of Fame defence. It was all O.J. for M.J. No doubt about it. No one did it like Mike. The only one who really had a hold on him was his mother...and of course his father, James Jordan. One of the best and most beautiful moments of 'The Last Dance' (especially for this writer a thousand miles away from home in Japan) is where Michael lovingly watches his Mum read a letter he sent from college, apologising for the phone bill and asking her for money and stamps...you know typical student stuff from a man who could retire off one Jordan shoe alone (left or right). There won't be a dry eye in the house as it's all smiles. But then it becomes all too tragically heartbreaking. 

"Starts off with hard work, ends in champagne," says the man who was back like two words and how much that all means like reading more into this philosophical quote that should belong in his history like the rings and the book of Basketball accolades as more than a footnote for a documentary that's the perfect partner to Roland Lazenby's biography on 'The Life' of this man. Here comes the ball towards Michael Jordan. Its travelling faster than usual. Like a Magic past from a man he went to the Olympics with, making jazz like Bird in Barcelona '92 for something that was all a dream like B.I.G. said it was. But Pop! Mike still catches it...with a glove. And we ain't talking about Gary Payton. The ball comes back to Mike and this time he SLAMS! He slams it with a bat. Knocking it out the park like Wrigley Field. Wait...what?! Before 'The Last Dance' a Michael had one or his own a few calenders before as he walked away from the game and rightfully so after his father, James Jordan went missing and was later found brutally murdered. And whilst in mourning and trying to grieve in private the media were out trying to pin the murder on Michael's gambling addiction and false claimed debts. Now imagine what that would be like today in the cruel world of Twitter trolls and keyboard "warriors" who are about as brave as Trump. Mike took his ball home and picked up sticks, trying out for Baseball as that was what his father always wanted to see his son do. Now how beautiful is that? Changing his body Jordan earned his 45 and time on the diamond, asking for no special favours (the ESPN '30 For 30') goes into much greater detail. But still critics chose to hate like the time he came back for one last swan song as a Washington Wizard because this still scientist of the X and O lost a step of fresh air. Little did they consider that the man who said he was 99.9999% sure he wasn't coming back in 2001 played for free and donated his whole playing salary to the 9/11 relief fund (it's about time we mention he's not getting paid for this either. Donating his money made of this series (4 mill after just Episode I) to the Coronavirus relief fund) and you still want to talk about his "republicans buy sneakers too" quote. Michael could have made the majors with his baseball swing, going for the fences. But the only reason he "came back wearing the 4-5" like Jay-Z was because baseball was trying to exploit his name whilst he was standing up for the little men of the league going on strike. That was number 3 and M.J. was out of there (again little is made of that whilst a lot is made out of why Basketball's G.O.A.T. wasn't the greatest of all time trading the roundball for rounders). Not because he had a game to play with Bugs Bunny. But after 'Space Jam' Jordan came back and won it all again...on father's day. But face down crying on the floor, cradling the ball like a newborn child wasn't the last indelible, inspirational image of influence we'd have for the man with the gold necklace and cut cigar in a coffee cup as he swung a bat in a Bulls warm up. How about when "sidekick" Scottie really had his back in the "flu" game? Which we now know was 'The Food Poisoning Game'. When Michael sliced everyone up for 38 after some bad pizza. Or Slam Dunk Contest taking off from the free throw line and the human highlight film of Dominique Wilkins to all the air of Nike up there as he came and flew. No Michael would save us one last dance like you shouldn't in your Netflix list. Continue watching right now like all those treasure trove, golden age YouTube highlight videos that show you we can still wait for one of the best NBA seasons in recent memory to return...and this is a Lakers fan saying this. And it ain't over. Even if the dynasty was (their death coming premature. Imagine if the NBA never came back from COVID-19. No LeBron. Or Giannis. It was kind of like that would be). On the 20th of May ESPN will treat you to the curtain call of 'Game 6: The Movie', filmed on 'Last Dance' documentary cameras, to be seen for the first time. 'The Last Dance' represents the good ole 90's, pre-Trump cynicism of the American Dream that everyone wanted like Obama coming back wearing the 4-5. This is the greatest basketball documentary of all-time about to take home Oscar like Larry O'Brien. Dear Basketball. It doesn't get much better than this. Dance with me. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Come Fly With Me', 'Jordan Rides The Bus', 'Celtics/Lakers: Best Of Enemies'.