nba

• Over 1/3rd of NBA referees are in COVID Health and Safety Protocols

  Dec 30, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  

   

  Given the recent rise in COVID cases with the surge of the omicron variant, it may not surprise many to see that sports leagues, among other organizations, have also been struggling to adjust. However, while most people focus on the players themselves, some may not think to consider another part of professional games: the referees.

  As the omicron variant rips through NBA players and coaches in particular, it has reached a season-high among game officials: according to sources, 36% of the league's referees are reportedly in COVID-19 protocols. With 25 of the league's 70 active referees currently in quarantine, the league has been promoting G League referees to fill out the nightly roster of games. There have even been rare instances lately when only two referees -- instead of the standard three -- were available for games, with the NBA having to continued working to limit those occasions, sources said. The G League, in the meantime, has paused the season until Wednesday to allow for players and referees to be available to the NBA.

  Source: More than one-third of NBA referees are in COVID-19 protocols, sources say (link)

   

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• "Kyrie Irving" Protest at Barclays Center

  Oct 25, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  Source: Protest for Kyrie Irving turns ugly as supporters storm Nets' Barclays Center entrance on over vaccine mandate (link)

   

  The Irving situation with the Nets may not be at the forefront of the news like it used to, but it is still brewing considerably.

  Kyrie Irving has not yet played for the Brooklyn Nets this season because of a vaccine mandate in New York City that prevents unvaccinated players from participating in home games in New York. Irving technically could have played in Brooklyn's first two games of the season, but the Nets chose not to play Irving at all rather than allow him to participate only in road games. On Sunday, though, the Nets returned home to Brooklyn to play their first home game of the season, and that has led to significant protesting outside of their home arena, the Barclays Center. 

  A number of protesters against the vaccine mandate gathered at the arena in downtown Brooklyn on Sunday. They chanted "let Kyrie play" while holding up signs that read "Stand with Kyrie" ahead of Brooklyn's Sunday matinee matchup with the Charlotte Hornets. 

  Things started to escalate briefly, but security personnel eventually got the protests under control and resumed allowing fans with tickets to enter the building. However, at tip off, there were still a number of empty seats due in part to delays caused by the protest.

  There has been no indication yet that New York City plans to lift its mandate, which was in a way the cause of this scenario. Irving has not suggested that he is planning to get the vaccine, nor have the Nets backed off their decision not to play Irving until he can participate in all of their games, not just the ones on the road. Until one of those things changes, Irving will remain out of Brooklyn's lineup. 

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• Unvaccinated NBA Players Won't Get Paid for Missed Games

  Sep 29, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  Source: Unvaccinated players who miss games won't get paid, NBA says (link)

  For months, NBA stars and executives have pushed for every player to get vaccinated. Though 90% of the league is vaccinated, according to a CNN source, there are still a few  notable holdouts, such as Kyrie Irving and Andrew Wiggins -- and it could cost them.

  Today, Mike Bass, the NBA's executive president of communications, announced that unvaccinated NBA players who do not comply with local vaccination mandates will not be paid for the games they miss. The rule mainly affects unvaccinated players on the Brooklyn Nets and the Golden State Warriors, as both New York and San Francisco require players to be vaccinated, barring any religious exemptions. (Last week, the New York Knicks announced the team was fully vaccinated.) If players remain unvaccinated, they cannot compete in home games, and today's announcement confirms that missing play will also mean less money.

  The cities' vaccination policies do not apply to players from visiting teams who compete at their arenas. However, though the same requirements are not mandatory for all of the league's players, those who remain unvaccinated -- regardless of team -- are all under stricter health and safety protocols. On Tuesday, the NBA announced that unvaccinated players will undergo daily Covid-19 testing prior to entering a team facility, participating in team-organized activities, or interacting with other players and Tier 1 Personnel, meaning coaches, referees and anyone working within 15 feet of players on a regular basis. Outside the team environment, unvaccinated players will be required to stay inside their homes during home games or at the team hotel when on the road, only being allowed to leave for essential activities.

  Vaccinated players, meanwhile, will still do weekly Covid-19 testing.

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• As validation, holding me to a standard.

  Sep 15, 2021 Andrew Williams 1 Comments

    As I watched with great pride one of my favorite college player Chris  Webber be enshrined in the Dr. James Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, I begin to relive the journey in my mind. 

   Watching Webber ‘s speech took me back to the infamous timeout and made me think wow. What an amazing story of redemption and triumph.  Allow me to take you on an amazing journey of  wins, losses , redemption and the reinvention of an icon all from the eyes of a fan.    I am that fan. 

    Let me set the scene it’s 1993 and the National championship stage has been set. The beloved North Carolina Tar Heels were set to take on the villainous Fab 5 from the University of Michigan featuring the likes of Jalen Rose , Jimmy King, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and of course our protagonist Chris Webber. Let’s fast forward to the closing seconds of that game North Carolina’s Pat Sullivan was on the free throw line shooting  1 and 1.  Sullivan  an 80% free throw shooter for the season approached the line for his first free throws of the night. North Carolina who was up by one had a chance to seal it with both shots. Sullivan made the first basket putting the Heels up by one.  Sullivan missed the next shot and that is where history  began. With nineteen seconds on the clock our hero Chris Webber grabbed a huge defensive rebound, after the referee missed an apparent travel call  Webber made his way down court.  Now what happened next either solidified your opinions of  Michigan’s Fab 5 or changed your opinion of Chris Webber.  Webber dribbled into the corner near his bench and called timeout ( some say it was advised from the bench others say it was Chris’s doing) . Either way it seemed the mystique of the country’s best power forward was fading. The issue was Michigan no longer had any timeouts to call resulting in a technical foul giving North Carolina two free throws and the ball effectively sealing the fate of Michigan Wolverines losing 77-71. Now despite Webber’s amazing performance dropping 23 points and 11 rebounds ( no doubt the best player on the floor) that game went down in infamy as another Fab 5 tragedy.  Unfortunately the tragedy was just starting.

   

   Watching the coverage of Webber as he entered the tunnel after that game with his head held down fighting back the emotions of another finals loss, you had an eerie feeling that the worst was yet to come.  Though he was drafted high by Golden State and not to mention other Fab 5 players moved on to the NBA, 9 years after that infamous game we as Fab 5 fans were delivered another blow regarding that team.  One evening watching the 11pm EST. Sports Center in 2002 I heard that Chris Webber was indicted on five charges, including obstruction of justice and lying to a federal grand jury, for having misrepresented his relationship with Martin. Each charge was punishable by five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. As a fan of Chris Webber and the team that spoke to my youth I was crushed.  This led to a ten year disassociation with Michigan and Chris Webber. Once the details were some what released ,Webber made his statement ,the wins were vacated and the banners were dropped I wondered what did he do wrong? Michigan made millions of dollars on the name of the Fab 5.  Nike made millions off the things I and other fans wore to support that team. I felt like they too were the meager, the down trodden, the oppressed and that’s the reason they spoke to me. As I grew older and the years passed I watched Webber grow from an All- Star power forward to an All- Star broadcaster this made me further believe as he reinvented himself what he did ( as far as any money accepted from Martin) was not wrong. 

   

      Now in present day 2021 almost 30 years from the infamous timeout game redemption has been bestowed upon Chris Webber.  Eight years after Michigan’s disassociation was over NCAA has now changed the rule that possibly would have avoided any further involvement from Ed Martin after Highschool for Webber and many others who shared a similar scenario.  Here’s my take if the NCAA had allowed athletes to make money on NIL during that time with Fab 5 memorabilia being such a hot ticket I am sure they could have capitalized enough to live an above average life. So you can’t look at the situation as Webber disgraced an institution as much as he was a victim of an institution that was capitalizing off of his NIL.  

   

   So we look at the events from this week and celebrate the miraculous climb back to the top. As I watch Webber completes his enshrinement speech thanking his parents for instilling perseverance in him and his teacher seeing that elite greatness in him. Webber had grown far pass the brash outspoken teen we saw at Michigan. He is now an accountable, intriguing, dynamic broadcaster who can now add Hall of Famer to that resume. Maybe this was his validation, maybe this is the Chris Webber standard.

  

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• ESPN Removes Rachel Nichols from Coverage and Ends Her Show

  Aug 26, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  Source: ESPN takes Rachel Nichols off NBA coverage and cancels her show (link)

   

  Just days after Max Kellerman moved on from "First Take", another dramatic change in ESPN television has developed, and for a wholly different reason.

  ESPN is now pulling reporter Rachel Nichols from its NBA coverage and canceling her show "The Jump," the network confirmed Wednesday. The decision follows backlash over leaked comments she made about her former colleague Maria Taylor, which notably caused controversy a couple of months ago.

  "We mutually agreed that this approach regarding our NBA coverage was best for all concerned. Rachel is an excellent reporter, host and journalist, and we thank her for her many contributions to our NBA content," said David Roberts, ESPN's senior vice president of production.

  In July, The New York Times first reported on the leaked audio. Nichols, who is White, said Taylor was only chosen to be the sideline reporter for last year's NBA Finals because she is Black. "If you need to give her more things to do because you're feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity - which, by the way, I myself know personally - like, go for it, just find it somewhere else," she said in the recording. Several days later, ESPN ended up benching Nichols from reporting on the sidelines of this year's NBA championship series. But she continued to cover the series on "The Jump" and later reported on this year's summer league tournament. Rachel later apologized for the comments on her show.

  Last month, Taylor also parted ways with the network after both sides failed to agree on a contract extension.

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