The Kyrie Irving Booster Shot…

I’m so curious to see/know/understand how Kyrie Irving will impact the Nets.

What does it all mean for Brooklyn’s D?

What does it all mean for Brooklyn?

Will his vaccination status (a choice he freely made!) become an obnoxious distraction? Not being vaccinated is the new kneeling. If the entire team is comfortable with his vaccination status then he has zero obligations to take a “shot” for the team.

While the science is sound as a pound this whole pandemic we’ve over sold the “benefits” of militant social solidarity. This ain’t high school, yo: a trail means you’re just following in somebody else’s footsteps. Yes some people won’t follow the pandemic rules; nobody promised us a fair life. His vaccination status is his issue not mine; I ain’t taking that on.

Why didn’t Kyrie Irving play earlier in the season? Even part-time? That seems silly now.

How long will it take for him to ramp up into game shape?

And with his return and the Chicago Bulls heating up how does this impact the East?! (Here’s my honest truth: I have zero respect for the Bucks. The coach is lousy and frowzy; I wouldn’t trust him in a pie eating content.)

After all the hype and all the talk; I had to see it to believe it but is real. Kyrie Irving really has returned to the NBA.

(Canada and Toronto are taking stupid pills so he will not be playing here. Raptors illogically cannot host fans (again!); starting January 15 Canada will prohibit any athletes who are unvaccinated from entering. Sigh. What’s the data and specific metrics that prompted that decision?)

Here’s his first bucket…welcome back!

Kyrie Irving’s Final Stats from His First Game This Season…Nets defeated the Pacers 129 to 121. A win is good.

So many questions but I guess for now I can go zen and just enjoy the moment. #BallorFall

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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.

#CouchWorthy: Basketball County: In The Water

Man Friday, May 15 is a busy night for streaming TV.

Crave is airing Ready or Not really wanted to see that movie back in the cinema (Samara Weaving is coming along she was darkly funny in Mayhem), Netflix has Magic for Humans: Season 3 (my phone is off the hook all weekend…show is so good!) and Showtime has Basketball County: In The Water at 9pm. (Technically for us in Canada that’s also Crave.)

Showtime has quietly built up a fantastic NBA doc-corner lotta docs All The Smoke podcast: good stuff.

You can tell they hired somebody a few years ago and this go-getter is just cranking out the goodness.

This is a Prince George’s County documentary and that hood’s NBA contributions: Kevin Durant, Victor Oladipo, Michael Beasley, Quinn Cook etc.

(I dig Durant’s media offerings…he’s been decent so far. Q Ball is on Netflix if you haven’t seen that. Media wise Durant has been better than LeBron. LeBron is remaking House Party, Space Jam 2 think it’s all been shot…Shut Up and Dribble was another doc he made last year. I’ve said this repeatedly he’s trying to tie himself into the culture and say: “look guys I’m cool!” LeBron’s the new Jerry Krause via The Last Dance. “Sit down LeBron…stop dancing.”)

Anyways here’s the trailer for Basketball County: In The Water (9pm on Showtime):

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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.

#CouchWorthy: Basketball County: In The Water

Sammy Younan

Girth Radio Presents…

Man Friday, May 15 is a busy night for streaming TV.

Crave is airing Ready or Not really wanted to see that movie back in the cinema (Samara Weaving is coming along she was darkly funny in Mayhem), Netflix has Magic for Humans: Season 3 (my phone is off the hook all weekend…show is so good!) and Showtime has Basketball County: In The Water at 9pm. (Technically for us in Canada that’s also Crave.)

Showtime has quietly built up a fantastic NBA doc-corner lotta docs All The Smoke podcast: good stuff.

You can tell they hired somebody a few years ago and this go-getter is just cranking out the goodness.

This is a Prince George’s County documentary and that hood’s NBA contributions: Kevin Durant, Victor Oladipo, Michael Beasley, Quinn Cook etc.

(I dig Durant’s media offerings…he’s been decent so far. Q Ball is on Netflix if you haven’t seen that. Media wise Durant has been better than LeBron. LeBron is remaking House Party, Space Jam 2 think it’s all been shot…Shut Up and Dribble was another doc he made last year. I’ve said this repeatedly he’s trying to tie himself into the culture and say: “look guys I’m cool!” LeBron’s the new Jerry Krause via The Last Dance. “Sit down LeBron…stop dancing.”)

Anyways here’s the trailer for Basketball County: In The Water:

Sammy Baltic Web

Sammy Younan @ W • T • F

119 | Marcus Thompson (Kevin Durant’s Relentless Pursuit)

My Summer Lair Chapter #119: Who Is Kevin Durant?

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That question is partly answered by Marcus Thompson’s latest bio: KD: Kevin Durant’s Relentless Pursuit to Be the Greatest.

As for Marcus Thompson he’s a lead columnist at The Athletic, covering the Golden State Warriors, San Francisco 49ers and Giants, and the Oakland Raiders and A’s. KD is his second Warriors bio Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry came out in 2017.

As for KD well that’s complicated isn’t it? That’s why I said “partly answered.” Marcus’s KD bio opens with a nimble comparison between KD and Tupac Shakur: the intelligence, the volatility…the sensitivity… and of course the contradictions.

Kevin Durant’s contradictions not only hint at a complex personality he represents our age. We’ll howl at the demise of political rhetoric on Facebook but praise Facebook’s ability to connect us with friends and family. We’re constantly surrounded by contradictions without any clear way to properly resolve them so often we choose to tolerate them.

Like when KD left the Thunder to sign with the Warriors. Anger and frustration sure yet it once again confirms a simple truth. Nobody is simple; the complexity of their personality renders facile narratives impotent. If somebody doesn’t make sense it’s your narrative that’s wrong; you issued the wrong verdict. (We’ve seen this all the time with Kanye West. He’s fine and doing incredible work…you hot take is just lukewarm at best.)

And so here we are with the Toronto Raptors for the first time in the NBA Finals. Marcus and I are talking not about basketball per say but the culture that permeates the NBA. That’s the magic of KD and how he is so different from other NBA players…one thing leads to another.

Marcus Thompson II @ WT F

Host Sammy Younan

Recorded: Friday May 31, 2019 at 6:30pm

Stress free pop culture tastefully harvested for your divine delight. Once a week a carefully curated edition of My Pal Sammy goes directly to your inbox. Sign up for my newsletter because the F in FOMO doesn’t stand for Fun.

No Permission Slip

“We never just thought we were supposed to wait our turn,” Kevin Durant said. “We always wanted to go and take everything.”

These are Kevin Durant quotes from 2012. They didn’t win that year but the philosophy is sound.

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