We’re back to our regularly scheduled programming with the holidays mostly behind us. Hope everyone has had an enjoyable couple of weeks outside of the Charlotte Hornets losing basketball games. Let’s look at what else has been going on during this most recent week or so.
The Detroit Pistons won a basketball game
The Pistons set the record for single season losing streak and tied the record for total losing streaks with 28 straight losses that extended from late October all the way through the Christmas holiday. They finally snapped that losing streak with a two point win over the Toronto Raptors, who were playing shorthanded after completing a trade earlier in the day. The Pistons are now 3-29. They need six more wins to avoid beating the Charlotte Bobcats record in futility for a full season.
OG Anunoby has been traded to the Knicks in exchange for RJ BArrett and Immanuel Quickley
The Knicks have apparently wanted OG Anunoby for a while. They finally landed their guy, and it only took them giving up two very important pieces from their rotation! They gave up RJ Barrett, who’s averaging 18 points per game, and Immanuel Quickley, who’s a burgeoning sixth man of the year candidate. During the stories about the impending lawsuit the Knicks have against the Raptors, it was reported that James Dolan didn’t want to deal with Raptors GM Masai Ujiri anymore because he thought Ujiri was always fleecing his team. Apparently that embargo has been lifted, but the lawsuit has not been. The full details of the trade are as follows.
Knicks receive:
OG Anunoby
Precious Achiuwa
Malachi Flynn
Raptors receive:
RJ Barrett
Immanuel Quickley
Pistons 2024 second round picks (probably 31st overall)
LeBron James has a…weird relationship with the officials
LeBron has always been the beneficiary of some favorable officiating, and he’s not ashamed to take advantage of his elevated status in the basketball world. That’s made for some odd moments in the last week. First, on Christmas day, LeBron got a compliment from the official when explaining the results of a Lakers challenge.
“after review, it was a good block by lebron james…. HOWEVER” scott foster is such a troll lmaooo pic.twitter.com/bj2CLEjzLF
— Molly Morrison (@mollyhannahm) December 25, 2023
Then, a few days later, LeBron vehemently argued that he was behind the line on a 3-pointer by demanding that lead official Tony Brothers look at the replay while pointing at a replay monitor that was still turned to face the court for some reason.
LEAKED Audio Of LeBron James Getting Heated At Ref Tony Brothers👀:
— LegendZ (@legendz_nba) December 31, 2023
LeBron: “Look, look!”
Brothers: “That’s what the replay center ruled, not me”
LeBron: “That’s bullsh*t, look at the f*cking replay” pic.twitter.com/ITY3NmK1q1
Aaron Gordon is the next player to miss time with an odd off court injury
Earlier this season, Kelly Oubre missed a couple of weeks tending to injuries after he was hit by a car. In the NFL, David Njoku played through burns on his body and face resulting from a bonfire accident. Now, Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets will be out indefinitely as he recovers from injuries to his hands and face as the result of a dog bite on Christmas Day that required 21 stitches.
Mark Cuban has sold his controlling stake in the Dallas MAvericks
Cuban sold the majority of the Mavericks to some wealthy casino magnates in a deal that should have more off court impact than on. The new owners will provide an influx of capital and new ideas to the Mavericks operations. However, Cuban retains a hefty minority share (27% I believe) and will still function as the team’s head of basketball operations. For non-Mavericks fans, nothing will look any different from the outside.
Happy New Year everybody!
