this isn’t even racial undertones this is just racism in broad daylight, NOTHING about Lamelo Ball himself has changed, he acts the same way and plays the same way
The Cavs suck, I'll give you that. But this game is rigged. Charlotte is on a six-game losing streak and missing Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Schröder and Grant Williams, and somehow they're up 20 in the third on a healthy Cavs team. Something isn't right. I'm not lying.
Xavier describes how impactful LaMelo has been for the Timberwolves:
“For years LaMelo was criticized as a player whose style couldn’t contribute to winning. Now he’s taking over the most important possessions of close games…”
(via @HotHandTheory / @xavierjdesigns)
Fans are mad because you were some bench pieces and a center away from a real playoff run with assets at your disposal and threw it away.
The org sold people on a “step back” season and now Jeff Peterson is saying wait 3-5 years 😭
🎙️ @ZachLowe_NBA on the Hornets: "This is when you, as an ownership group and a front office, need to just eat some shit and show some fortitude, because this is a worst-case scenario for how your post-LaMelo season could have gone."
"All the scrutiny is going to be placed on you now. Was this trade a mistake? Did you underrate LaMelo as a player? Did you worry too much about his durability and his contract, and about how the LaMelo Ball + Brandon Miller + Kon Knueppel triple-max potential structure was going to work? Did you undersell the importance of last season and how it felt for the fans in Charlotte who have been longing for something like that? Did you, I don't want to say wrong the fans, but sort of misunderstand why they felt so much joy?"
"This is when you just have to eat it and don't panic. Stay true to what you believed in, which is, we don't believe he's gonna be worth the contract we're gonna have to sign him to in a couple years. We'll get a lottery pick this year if we don't make the playoffs, and the new rules may benefit us enormously. We have the Mavs pick, top-two protected. We have the Heat pick, lottery-protected. Just stay the course and weather the noise, because the more they struggle and the more Minnesota wins, the noise is gonna get really, really loud. And I don't think it's undeserved, because LaMelo's good and he's playing well in Minnesota... but it's a long season."
Full segment on the Zach Lowe Show w/ @kirkgoldsberry: https://t.co/DPvDbV1PN8
Flashback to Nick Wright’s initial thoughts on the Hornets trading LaMelo Ball:
“I love this move, for the Hornets…I thought we all agreed this guy was an unserious player. You know who also agreed with it? The team that knew him best”
Wolves: *number 1 defense and best net rating in the NBA all with Ant missing 2/3 of their games
NBA Analyst: “I’m still not sold on them because I need to commit microaggressions against LaMelo Ball”