Joel Embiid & Hassan Whiteside Get Into Epic Twitter Beef After Sixers/Heat Game

Joel Embiid & Hassan Whiteside Get Into Epic Twitter Beef After Sixers/Heat Game

Featured

by | Oct 14, 2017 | Featured, NBA

The Philadelphia 76ers faced off against the Miami Heat last night in the final preseason tune up for both teams. While the game didn’t really matter much, it wound up providing us with elite levels of entertainment well after the game was over.

It all started when Embiid drew a foul on Whiteside early in the game and proceeded to tell the Heat bench to get Whiteside out of the game because he can’t guard him.

As you can see, the gesture by Embiid had everyone laughing, Whiteside included. After the game however, a twitter defender of Whiteside attempted to remind Embiid that he was only 1-7 shooting in the game. The war was on from there.

Embiid was quick to fire off some more shots of his own.

Then in an apparent ode to Kevin Durant, Embiid explained what happened.

Whiteside had one final burn to send to Embiid before he was done for the night.

But you didn’t think Embiid was going to let him have the last word, did you? He took to Instagram with his final shot and you must notice his location.

Rudy Gobert noticed the two young centers going at it and decided to add his two cents to the situation.

Andre Iguodala and CJ McCollum, also took notice of the back and forth.

This was all just a reminder of how great NBA twitter is no matter the time of year. We unfortunately have to wait until February for the Sixers and Heat to play each other in the regular season and we can only hope the post game entertainment is as good as it was this time.

Written By Joe Casey

Twitter: @IamJoeSports

Oct 14, 2017 No Comments
Eminem Goes Off On Donald Trump During BET Cypher, Lebron James & Colin Kaepernick Approve

Eminem Goes Off On Donald Trump During BET Cypher, Lebron James & Colin Kaepernick Approve

Celebs

by | Oct 11, 2017 | Celebs, Featured, NBA, NFL

In case you been living under a rock for the past 12 hours or so, you missed Eminem completely go off on President Donald Trump during “The Cypher” at the BET Hip-Hop awards.  It was the first time we heard from Em in quite a while and it was also the first time we really heard how he feels about the president and the current situation in our country.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, give it a watch below.

Em made it clear he is here to support guys like Colin Kaepernick and to support the social injustices that have been occurring in higher volumes since Trump took office. He even made sure to mention the love and respect he has for the military so nobody could try and twist his words about that. While you may or may not agree with the stance he is taking, Em is drawing the line with his fans who also support Trump, which I’m sure has plenty of them feeling conflicted.

Two guys who were definitely fans of what Eminem had to say were Lebron James and not surprising, Colin Kaepernick, who both took to twitter to show their support and thanks.

While I’m sure Em’s bars upset some people around the country, it’s also fair to say that many more athletes besides Lebron & Colin are in full support of him. It’s also fair to say he doesn’t care what anyone thinks and I wouldn’t have expected anything less from him.

Written By Joe Casey

Twitter: @IamJoeSports

Oct 11, 2017 No Comments
Michael Jordan Donates $7 Million Dollars For Health Clinics In At-Risk Charlotte Communities

Michael Jordan Donates $7 Million Dollars For Health Clinics In At-Risk Charlotte Communities

NBA

by | Oct 10, 2017 | NBA

Charlotte Hornets owner, Michael Jordan, is stepping up to help out the city his team calls home. The “GOAT” is using $7 million dollars of his own money to fund medical clinics that he hopes will help at-risk Charlotte communities. The donation is the largest ever by Jordan.

The two clinics, which will be called the Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics, are slated to open in 2020.

“Through my years of working with Novant Health, I have been impressed with their approach and their commitment to the community,” Jordan, a North Carolina native, said in a release Monday. “It is my hope that these clinics will help provide a brighter and healthier future for the children and families they serve.”

Jordan’s spokesperson Estee Portnoy said the legendary player was motivated to donate the money by a study that found poor children in Charlotte have the worst odds of those of any of the top 50 cities in the United States to lift themselves out of poverty.  A release from Novant said the clinics will provide an avenue to affordable, high-quality care — including behavioral health, physical therapy, social work, oral health and family planning — to individuals in the community who have little or no health care.

The Clinics will reportedly give care for roughly 35,000 kids and adults who currently do not have access primary doctors or preventive care. “We are thankful to Michael for his generosity. The gift will remove barriers to high-quality health care in some of the most vulnerable communities,” said said Carl Armato, president and CEO of Novant Health.

This is a great move on Jordan’s part and something that will absolutely have a great impact on the city as a whole and sounds like it will truly help people in need. Salute to him.

Written by Joe Casey

Twitter: @IamJoeSports

Oct 10, 2017 No Comments
Sixers & Joel Embiid Agree On Five Year, $148 Million Dollar Max Extension

Sixers & Joel Embiid Agree On Five Year, $148 Million Dollar Max Extension

NBA

by | Oct 10, 2017 | NBA

 

The Philadelphia 76ers are going all in with “Trusting The Process” as they have agreed on a massive new contract extension for Joel Embiid that will pay him $148 million dollars over five years. The announcement on Monday took the NBA and twitter by storm as most people were shocked that the Sixers would commit so much money to a player who has only appeared in 31 games over three seasons. Considering how great Embiid’s potential is, the move is still somewhat baffling but there are some protections for the team should the injury bug continue to haunt Embiid.

There are incentives in the deal that could actually bring the total amount of dollars up to $178 million over the five years. Some of those would be if he earns an All-NBA first-, second- or third-team selection, or is named MVP this season, as per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

As you might expect, Embiid was pretty happy when he heard the news.

Sixers coach, Brett Brown, had some extremely high praise for his young star.  “He does things on a court that remind me of, you know, somebody that’s able to hear music and just play the song,” Brown said. “You know, he will study [Tim] Duncan, or study KD, or another player, and all of a sudden it’s a part of his game. He’s very unique, very unique.”

The potential for this deal to be a massive disaster is unfortunately a real possibility. For as much phenomenal potential that Embiid has, if he can’t stay healthy and be on the court, none of that will matter. Most people around the league believe the Sixers should have held off another year before talking long term but the contract shows the belief they have in him and at only 23 years old, still having plenty of great years left as the cornerstone of the franchise.

Salute to Embiid for getting paid and securing the future of his family. As a fan of the league in general, I hope he stays healthy for many years to come so we can really see how good he is.

Written By Joe Casey

Twitter: @IamJoeSports

Oct 10, 2017 No Comments
OKC Thunder Block Party Leads To Victory Over Melbourne United (86-85)

OKC Thunder Block Party Leads To Victory Over Melbourne United (86-85)

Featured

by | Oct 9, 2017 | Featured, NBA

The Oklahoma City Thunder finish up their home preseason run against Melbourne United on Sunday afternoon. This is the first time the Thunder new Big 3 (Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, and Paul George) were going to play significant minutes together. Russell Westbrook doesn’t want the media to worry about chemistry but that is one of the most important things that will lead to the success of the OKC Thunder all season. The Big 3 showed that they can play together and make each other better along the way. Paul George led the way for the Thunder with 22 points against the Aussies and looked amazing out there with the first unit. Coming into the season Paul George stated that he would love to have a crack at MVP and his play in the preseason looks promising. Melbourne United didn’t know how to contain Russell Westbrook as he was able to get 9 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds in 28 minutes. Westbrook was focused on learning his new teammate’s hot spots and where they want the ball. It’s going to be a process but the Thunder have embraced that overall. Carmelo Anthony has been able to get to his spots and create his jumper any time he wanted against the Aussies. Melo finished the game with 19 points on the day and showed a lot of promise on the defensive end as well.

Coming into the season with the additions of Melo and PG everyone expected the Thunder to be great offensively but they want to be great on both ends. OKC had 10 blocked shots on the day against Melbourne United and saw a glimpse of what this team can do if they apply themselves on the defensive end on a consistent basis. Josh Huestis only played 10 minutes against Melbourne and made the best of his moment on the defensive end. Josh had 4 blocks and had two blocks that saved the game as Melbourne United tried to score being down by one point. Josh Huestis deserves a spot on the Thunder roster and has been able to make his presence known on both ends of the floor. The growth that Josh has shown overall shouldn’t be overlooked and his teammates Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, and Steven Adams feel the same way.

Melbourne United came into the game with a lot of confidence and Casper Ware Jr. definitely wanted to prove he belongs with the big names. Casper finished with 20 points for Melbourne United and was the main reason that the Aussies were even in the game. Melbourne came in and gave the Thunder a scare and didn’t back down at all as both teams shot 34% from the field. The Thunder needed this game to get ready for the season because it showed that they can take care of the defensive end when they need a stop. Melbourne United hung in there and took some of the Thunders best shots and kept coming back. Josh Boone looked really well and made a huge impact in the paint as well adding 15 points and 9 rebounds. Every year the Thunder play teams overseas and get tested and it continued today in OKC.

The Thunder will be in Denver on Tuesday playing the Nuggets as they will be tested again on the road.

 

Photo Credit: NBA Australia

Oct 9, 2017 No Comments
Recap: OKC Thunder Victorious Over Pelicans In Westbrook’s Season Debut (102-91)

Recap: OKC Thunder Victorious Over Pelicans In Westbrook’s Season Debut (102-91)

Featured

by | Oct 7, 2017 | Featured, NBA

Everyone has been wondering when the league MVP would make his 2017-2018 NBA debut to play with his new teammates. Well, the wait was over as Russell Westbrook was finally active and able to play with his new teammates Carmelo Anthony and Paul George. The anticipation of Russell Westbrook dribbling down the field and having Melo & PG-13 finally was in front of the New Orleans Pelicans. Billy Donovan stated that Westbrook would play in the 1st quarter only and he stayed true to his word. Russell Westbrook only played 10 minutes on the night but ended his night with 9 points, 4 assists, and 1 rebound. Westbrook was able to get Melo and PG involved in the offense and help space the court out on the offensive end. The Thunder looked really good defensively against the Pelicans with the lineup of Westbrook, George, Anthony, Roberson, and Adams. We were able to see a glimpse of how the starting five will look and we will continue to see that as the preseason moves forward now.

The Thunder were depending on Paul George and Carmelo Anthony after the 1st quarter. Paul George has shown that he can be an explosive player and an efficient player as well. George finished the game with 25 points and shot 50% from the field on the evening. George was able to show his full offensive display tonight from drives, fadeaway jumpers, and getting his teammates involved. Carmelo was able to play freely without the ball and pick his shots wisely because the weight isn’t all on his shoulders anymore. The OKC Big 3 finished with 43 points and were able to show that they can play together and that they can make each other better in this small size sample that we saw tonight.

The Pelicans were able to hang in the game because of their dynamic duo of Cousins and Davis both combined for 27 points on the night. The Pelicans can be a scary team with the addition of Rondo because he’s pass first and wants to get the best out of everyone on the team. The Pelicans had no answer for PG and Melo in the game and it was clear that OKC was multiple steps ahead of them as a talented team. If the Pelicans can gain some more experience with each other they could make noise in the western conference this season. The Pelicans have some young pieces like Perry Jones III, Ian Clark, and Cliff Alexander that looked really good for them. If this team can build chemistry and get on the same page this could be a sleeper team in the postseason.

Tonight Terrance Ferguson showed some good signs of explosiveness tonight as he added 9 points off the bench. That backup point guard situation is definitely something to watch Semaj was playing very aggressive and he was running the second unit the way Donovan like to see it. The backup point guard is up in the air but we should have a lot more light on the second unit in about a week in a half.

The Thunder will play Melbourne United on Sunday afternoon. We will get to see more minutes with Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony on the court together.

 

 

 

Photo Credit for Featured Image: Sue Ogrocki, AP

Oct 7, 2017 No Comments