Good morning. Let’s basketball.
THE WORLD OUTSIDE: On Thursday, Dwyane Wade and his mother participated in the important town hall on violence, race and athletes’ role in changing the paradigm hosted by The Undefeated on ESPN. On Friday, Wade’s cousin, Nykea Aldridge, a mother of four, was gunned down in Chicago. It happened at 3:30 in the afternoon. She was pushing her not-even-four-week-old baby in a stroller, on her way to register her children for school. She was hit by bullets intended for someone else.
After School Matters is a Chicago nonprofit offering after school and summer programs for at-risk teens. Keeping these kids engaging in enrichment activities outside of school improves their lives and keeps them away from tragedy around them, if only for a moment. Please consider giving to After School Matters or other charities working to fix Chicago one kid at a time.
THE REVERB: A sad little man running for President tried to leverage Ms. Aldridge’s murder into an asinine argument about why blacks should vote for a virulent racist with no conscience and no demonstrated interest in their plight to this point in his 70 years on the planet. Also, Colin Kaepernick, a football player, sparked the national conversation about "The Star-Spangled Banner" most didn’t know we needed. Bryan Curtis looks at both moments through the lens of the political athlete revolution of ‘68.
(And on the Kaepernick tip: when in doubt, read Marcus Thompson III.)
NOTED: LeBron is an Uno master.
THIS IS HOW IT’S DONE: Joel Embiid destroy a kid’s shot at a Sixers event. Now give him his Shirley Temple. Also notable: Embiid signs autographs with the message "Trust the Process."
PROBLEM SOLVED: The Kings were light in the point guard department. So they signed Ty Lawson. Third time’s a charm, right?
GOOD QUESTION: How is Josh Smith out of the league? He was so good!
LAST SHOT: Zach Harper with a smart, reasoned piece on DeMarcus Cousins’ last shot at NBA normalcy.
WELL: Kendall Marshall got traded again.
NEAT: You can play as 10 college teams -- and historically great college teams, too — on NBA 2K17.
THE SPORTIEST VMAS EVER: The VMAs were Sunday. It was very sporty. But let’s never discuss Jimmy Fallon’s Ryan Lochte skit again, OK? Iman Shumpert had the craziest VMA appearance, popping up nude and well-oiled with a baby (his baby?) and a flock of sheep in a premiering Kanye West video that starred his fiancée Teyana Taylor, who was also oiled up, scantily clad and, uh, dancing for four minutes.
AND FINALLY: Russell Westbrook singing Taylor Swift, again.
Be excellent to each other. See you next time.