Hornets

In the latest installment of his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes the two-way brilliance of Shawn Kemp.

Blazing the Trail: Shawn Kemp, the aerial artist

Sometimes it seems like the media are playing the jealous ex-girlfriend because they can no longer get the attention from the players, so they just start saying crazy, wild stuff.
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Baron Davis told me this while discussing the state of too many members of the current media.
Personal attacks have become commonplace. Now a part of everyday "journalism," there are desperate attempts to elicit a response from an athlete by continuously making them the focal point of their commentary, reporting, articles and hot takes.
Very few exemplify this more than FOX Sports 1 television personality Skip Bayless.&nbsp;
Throughout the course of LeBron James&rsquo; career &mdash; appearing to be oddly obsessed with him &mdash; Skip has unleashed countless attacks. In fact, he has made an entire career off of LeBron criticism. It&rsquo;s been Skip's shtick for over a decade, and he has been well compensated for it in past by ESPN and, now, FOX.
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But what&rsquo;s more impressive is that &mdash; throughout the countless onslaught of daily venom thrown in his direction by Skip &mdash; LeBron has never once responded to him, never lashed out or attempted to defend his honor or name. After over a decade of desperate, failed pleas for attention from someone, one would think that, eventually, the person would move on.
Not Skip, though, who appears to have a Steve Urkel-level of resiliency, as he refuses to give up his quest for acknowledgment. So now, in an even more feeble and self-disgracing attempt, he has turned to LeBron&rsquo;s teenage son, Bronny James.
Monday night, Bronny went viral for an amazing play that elicited praise from all corners of the sports world.
In a game against the U18 French Select Team, Bronny dribbled the length of the floor, completed an impressive in-and-out with his left hand on the left side of the floor and attacked the basket. He took the ball through contact and dunked it with his right hand, bringing the entire crowd to its feet, which drew praise from every corner of social media.
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However, never missing an opportunity to criticize any and everything LeBron, Skip took this opportunity to focus his attention on Bronny for not using his left hand to dunk instead of using his right hand.&nbsp;
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Hey, Bronny ... impressive. But your dad would've dunked it left-handed. You sure got away with it, though.
&mdash; Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSkipBayless/status/1559343694058102785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The NBA and basketball world swiftly blasted Skip for going after LeBron&rsquo;s son:
<ul>
<li>Kendrick Perkins</li>
</ul>
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Somebody go make you smell their cologne! You can&rsquo;t be playing with people children. Real Talk! <a href="https://t.co/zKX8qzuhI4">https://t.co/zKX8qzuhI4</a>
&mdash; Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/KendrickPerkins/status/1559361025064960001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Jared Sullinger</li>
</ul>
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Now you Attacking kids. You are truly corny. <a href="https://t.co/GfqAgqVyv3">https://t.co/GfqAgqVyv3</a>
&mdash; Jared Sullinger Sr. (@Jared_Sully0) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jared_Sully0/status/1559349521297055747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Lou Williams&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
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Kids a hard red line. <a href="https://t.co/QCq0AkdOg6">https://t.co/QCq0AkdOg6</a>
&mdash; Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamLou23/status/1559352686973255682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
Twitter wasn't enough for Jalen Rose, who went on TV to deliver a strong message to Skip.
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Let&rsquo;s cover HS athletes responsibly especially if you played JV as a Junior averaging 1.4ppg. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WaterPistolPeteJr?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WaterPistolPeteJr</a> <a href="https://t.co/DfcOMALCly">pic.twitter.com/DfcOMALCly</a>
&mdash; Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) <a href="https://twitter.com/JalenRose/status/1559930655714189320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
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On the following Tuesday morning, Skip <a href="https://awfulannouncing.com/fox/skip-bayless-reaction-lebron-bronny-james.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had his rebuttal on "Undisputed.</a>" He was confused as to why there was so much backlash to his tweet.
&ldquo;It shocked me last night when my tweet exploded,&rdquo; Bayless said. &ldquo;Because I wasn&rsquo;t criticizing Bronny, I was merely commenting on a young man who is going to be a focal point for this show and everybody else from this point forward.&rdquo;
In reality, this is quite disingenuous. Skip knows exactly what he is doing.
He throws out the bait, which comes in the form of a LeBron-related criticism to cause some type of a stir and places Skip at the center of the topic, and then, makes that the focal point of "Undisputed" in an attempt to drive ratings. Again, this has been his shtick for many years, and has proven to be quite beneficial for him. Just look at his salary. &nbsp;
Skip Bayless is paid an absurd amount of money to do what he does. It&rsquo;s not just that he has a weird infatuation with LeBron, or that Lebron simply lives rent-free in his mind. But he is also being compensated what equates to a professional athlete&rsquo;s salary to do exactly what he is doing. In March 2021, Skip signed a $32 million deal over four years to stay with FOX, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjxlcuMjc75AhVsM1kFHR6EB84QFnoECCcQAQ&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.in%2Fsports%2Fnews%2Ffox-sports-reportedly-gave-skip-bayless-a-32-million-contract-to-keep-him-from-going-back-to-espn%2Farticleshow%2F81340406.cms&amp;usg=AOvVaw3PYnAtRIgcMBS2HaWmZ1Kp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to reports</a>. So yes, Skip has built an entire career off of criticizing athletes &mdash; LeBron in particular.
He claims to be completely unaware of how he is viewed, and has proclaimed that he doesn&rsquo;t see himself as one of the main contrarians of the sports world.
&ldquo;I have often been called a contrarian,&rdquo; Bayless <a href="https://awfulannouncing.com/podcasts/skip-bayless-despises-contrarian.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said on the June 2 episode</a> of The Skip Bayless Show. &ldquo;And I deeply despise the term 'contrarian.' To me, a contrarian is someone who delights in taking the opposite view of a popular belief or conventional thinking, just because that person enjoys attracting attention to himself, or herself. Yet that person, that contrarian, often doesn&rsquo;t often truly believe what he or she is saying. So to me, a contrarian goes against the grain just to go against the grain.&rdquo;
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Skip, let&rsquo;s be honest &mdash; that is exactly who you are.
You have made a career of contrarian commentary mostly directed at LeBron James, but you are not the real villain in this. The real villains are the organizations who pay you a king's ransom to do what you do.
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Etan Thomas shares his opinion on why Skip Bayless' decision to go after LeBron James' son reeks of desperation.

Desperate criticism of Bronny James shows exactly who Skip Bayless is

DAYTON, Aug. 2, 2022 - Blue Collar U&rsquo;s TBT debut came to a screeching halt with a semi-final loss to Team 23 last summer. This year, the University of Buffalo alumni squad left no doubt as to who TBT&rsquo;s best team was.
Nick Perkins led the way with 19 points, and five players reached double figures for Blue Collar U, which never trailed en route to an 89-67 victory over Americana for Autism in TBT's 2022 $1 million, winner-take-all TBT championship game. Blue Collar U received the $1 million prize via Zelle during the team's postgame celebration.
C.J. Massinburg scored 18 points, Wes Clark added 17 and Lamonte Bearden had 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting for the victors, who captured their first TBT title. Blake Hamilton had 11 points, eight rebounds and a game-high five steals.
&ldquo;[Winning TBT] means everything,&rdquo; said Massinburg, who was named the tournament&rsquo;s MVP. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why we play. It&rsquo;s one thing to play with a team of talented guys that somebody just put together. We can hold each other accountable, and that gave us the competitive edge.&rdquo;
Clark, who was named to the All-Tournament Team and has never lost in nine TBT games, scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half.
&ldquo;These guys give me so much confidence&hellip;and make me feel above the world,&rdquo; said Clark. &ldquo;The compliments are more to [my teammates].&rdquo;
Montell McRae, who made the final dunk in the Elam Ending to capture the title for Blue Collar U, received a $10,000 bonus for making the championship-winning shot in a pair of Pumas.
The core of Blue Collar U won three Mid-American Conference titles in four years, and the team grew close to the city of Buffalo, which continues to heal from this spring&rsquo;s fatal supermarket shooting. Of the 13 players on the roster, 10 of them have one of the victims&rsquo; names on the back of their jersey, while the remaining three say &ldquo;Buffalo Strong.&rdquo;
The city of Buffalo rallied around Blue Collar U as TBT continued this summer, and watch parties were commonplace in western New York on Tuesday night.
&ldquo;This means everything for Buffalo,&rdquo; said Massinburg. &ldquo;I know that we&rsquo;ve got a lot of support. A lot of fans were watching. Our phones are going crazy right now. The city was behind us.&rdquo;
Tuesday's championship game capped TBT's ninth year. TBT&rsquo;s attendance for this year's event grew 60% over its previous record (set in 2021), and ticket revenue is up 30% from its previous record as well (also 2021). Nine games from four different locations in 2022 cracked TBT&rsquo;s top 15 all-time game attendance list, including games in Wichita, Dayton, Charleston (WV), and Albuquerque.
Blue Collar U improves to 10-1 all-time in two TBT summers and cleaned up this summer&rsquo;s awards as well. Massinburg (15.2 ppg) took home the MVP award. Clark and Perkins join Massinburg on the All-Tournament team. Guards Scoochie Smith (Red Scare) and Chris Warren (Florida TNT) round out the All-Tournament squad.&nbsp;
Blue Collar U becomes the fourth straight alumni team to win the TBT title, joining Carmen&rsquo;s Crew (The Ohio State University, 2019), the Golden Eagles (Marquette University, 2020) and Boeheim&rsquo;s Army (Syracuse University, 2021). College alumni teams have won five of the nine TBT titles. Overseas Elite leads TBT with four titles (2015-2018).
Blue Collar coach Adam Bauman took home the Coach of the Year award, while Americana for Autism&rsquo;s Griffin Taylor was named the GM of the Year.

It was an 89-67 victory for Blue Collar U over Americana for Autism in TBT's 2022 $1 million, winner-take-all TBT championship game.

Buffalo's Blue Collar U wins The Basketball Tournament's $1 Million prize

Etan Thomas has a direct message for Ben Simmons, who hopefully will have an opportunity to shut up his critics.

An open letter to Ben Simmons from Etan Thomas

On July 4, 2021, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/04/sports/basketball/espn-rachel-nichols-maria-taylor.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published a story</a> detailing the fallout of a leaked Rachel Nichols&rsquo; video, wherein the host of ESPN&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Jump&rdquo; questioned the merit of her colleague, Maria Taylor.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity &ndash; which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it &ndash; like, go for it. Just find it somewhere else,&rdquo; Nichols said while unknowingly being recorded.
Since the release of the article, ESPN has been hard at work trying to extinguish the fire sparked by Nichols&rsquo; comments.&nbsp;
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Rachel Nichols began today's episode of The Jump with this apology to Maria Taylor and others at ESPN <a href="https://t.co/9cXsDmMMhZ">https://t.co/9cXsDmMMhZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/yQj5j8akMw">pic.twitter.com/yQj5j8akMw</a>
&mdash; Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) <a href="https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1412145201888497664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Still, flames sit at every corner of this story. They range from small to large, and they highlight the injustices at ESPN. The New York Times forced ESPN&rsquo;s hand, so now the company is trying to put out this fire as quickly as possible before it reaches the deep pit of grease at the story&rsquo;s core: ESPN&rsquo;s insidious environment of racism and sexism.&nbsp;
Some of these flames include the direct fallout from the tape &mdash; like criticism over the repercussions former ESPN video producer Kayla Johnson faced for sharing the audio with Taylor &mdash; to larger structural grievances with how the media conglomerate uses women.&nbsp; &nbsp; Despite Nichols igniting the match, many have pointed out that she&rsquo;s been burned by ESPN, too. They point to the toxic culture at ESPN, and how animosity between women is fostered at a company that so rarely makes room for more than one.&nbsp;
When women are relegated to hosting and sideline reporting, there are limited opportunities to truly flourish. And when success can no longer be had as a collective and only in spite of one another, toxicity and animosity are cultivated.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s particularly unfortunate that two women in the industry are pitted against each other,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said when asked about the situation.&nbsp;
A toxic environment is still not an excuse for the racist dismissal of Taylor, especially from someone with the history and experience of Nichols.&nbsp;
Nichols is a seasoned journalist of over 26 years, having worked for The Washington Post, CNN, Turner Sports and ESPN covering both basketball and football. Throughout her career, Nichols has stood out by carving her space in media as a much-needed female voice that challenges the misogynistic culture in sports &mdash; from <a href="https://youtu.be/RhM66jfE-WE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confronting NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell</a> following the Ray Rice scandal to <a href="https://youtu.be/67HVtWgDE10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">questioning the redemption narrative surrounding Derrick Rose</a>&rsquo;s 50-point game two years after a civil trial for rape allegations. (Editor&rsquo;s Note: A federal jury ultimately <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/19/derrick-rose-rape-trial-verdict-consent-nba-jury-photos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cleared Rose of all counts</a>.)
Nichols recognizes the value her identity adds to her coverage, giving her a unique perspective in a male-dominated industry. And yet, she somehow fails to recognize Taylor&rsquo;s value in a moment of national racial strife.
Many people have also been harping on Nichols' claim that it was in her contract to host NBA Countdown during the 2020 NBA Finals... But that is entirely beside the point.&nbsp;
For starters, ESPN asked Nichols if she wished to switch to sideline duties &mdash; a request she was allowed to decline. And the controversy is not about a contract dispute. It is not even about whether Nichols felt she deserved the job more than Taylor. It is about her comment at that moment. Had she only made reference to the contents of her contract, there would be no story and no backlash.
There&rsquo;s also the invasion-of-privacy issue that, rightfully, is being discussed as well. Since the recording was captured on Nichols&rsquo; laptop through software she uses to record &ldquo;The Jump,&rdquo; this is another small fire for ESPN to investigate. However, again, this is not at all what the public outcry is about.&nbsp;
While these issues may individually hold merit, they do not serve as a defense, and they have been used to detract from the core issue at hand: Rachel Nichols&rsquo; racist comment.&nbsp;
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At the core, this is a story about a powerful White woman weaponizing her Whiteness to dismiss and demean a Black colleague to another White person who&rsquo;s in a position of power.&nbsp;
The backlash and outcry are so loud because this is a story that Black people are all too familiar with. Nichols&rsquo; comment had no basis in reality, but deep roots in history. It suggests that Black people do not belong, and any advancement is the result of external assistance.&nbsp;
A handout.
Claiming that Taylor was given this opportunity instead of earning it completely dismisses her unique voice and perspective. Nichols&rsquo; compliments of Taylor&rsquo;s skill and talent evaporate the very second Nichols questions Taylor&rsquo;s merit. Her success is no longer credited to her hard work, but to the color of her skin.
The stereotype that Black people get by on handouts is a tale as old as time. This ranges from overt racist sentiments like Ronald Reagan&rsquo;s &ldquo;welfare queen&rdquo; trope to more subtle microaggressions in corporate settings.&nbsp;
Dismissing the accomplishments of Black people is a core tenant of White supremacy. Implicit bias transmitted through microaggressions is the exact strain of White supremacy that Black people fear in their workplaces. It&rsquo;s a pervasive form of racism that is felt immensely, but near impossible to call out.&nbsp;
You feel it through glances and through inner circles you can&rsquo;t penetrate, cementing the belief that you don&rsquo;t belong. You feel it when you look around and rarely see faces that look like yours. You&rsquo;re forced to exist in a space that&rsquo;s unwelcoming to you, wondering whether others question your worthiness.
It&rsquo;s a culture of exclusion, which Nichols is acutely aware of.
&ldquo;Those same people &mdash; who are, like, generally White, conservative, male Trump voters &mdash; is part of the reason I&rsquo;ve had a hard time at ESPN,&rdquo; Nichols said on the same recording.
The leaked audio of two White people dismissing a Black woman&rsquo;s credibility confirmed people&rsquo;s suspicions to be true: that these conversations do happen behind closed doors. It&rsquo;s why so many were hurt and offended.
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<section><a title="@mariataylortoks" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mariataylortoks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@mariataylortoks</a>
Hey Black Women ✊🏾🙋🏾&zwj;♀️👋🏾 <a title="blacklivesmatter" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/blacklivesmatter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">##blacklivesmatter</a> <a title="fyp" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">##FYP</a>
<a title="♬ original sound - Maria Taylor" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6863473633193380614" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ original sound - Maria Taylor</a></section>
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It&rsquo;s important to note that Nichols said this to Adam Mendelsohn, an advisor to LeBron James and NBA agent Rich Paul (who founded Klutch Sports Group and represents many stars). These are the inner circles that outsiders feel they cannot penetrate. Questioning Taylor&rsquo;s credibility leaves her on the outside with Mendelsohn and all of his notable clients.&nbsp;
What&rsquo;s even more troubling is that Mendelsohn felt safe saying he was &ldquo;exhausted&rdquo; by &nbsp;#MeToo and the Black Lives Matter movement &mdash; sentiments he would likely never share with Black journalists (or his Black clients). This furthers distrust because it illustrates how issues that should be treated as universal are discussed differently by White colleagues depending on the setting. There&rsquo;s the public response and then there&rsquo;s the behind-closed-doors response.
Once we understand what the core issue is, we can examine why Nichols&rsquo; apology fell short.&nbsp;
Her apology addresses a workplace issue at a colleague-to-colleague level rather than a racial issue. Instead of a White woman apologizing to a Black woman for racially insensitive comments, Rachel deflects, explaining that she does not want to be the story.&nbsp;
She did not have to be.
Nichols could have used her learning experience to highlight the pervasiveness of implicit bias and the importance of language.&nbsp;
In quick monologues, Nichols so often educates her audience on a prominent storyline &mdash; from <a href="https://youtu.be/JinS7woEgnA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg</a> to the <a href="https://youtu.be/YEBN9Oo_b1I" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protests across the United States</a> in the wake of George Floyd&rsquo;s murder.&nbsp;
She is a leader in using her show to highlight the importance of difficult conversations in sports, and why the coverage around basketball cannot solely be about the Xs and Os.
Yet, in a prime opportunity to use her show as she and ESPN often do so well, both failed.&nbsp;
Instead of apologizing for her actions and explaining that she (more than anyone) understands that utilizing diverse identities isn&rsquo;t about meeting quotas, but rather about enriching coverage, Nichols apologized for the way Taylor was made to feel.&nbsp;
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To accompany Nichols' apology, Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson, two Black men, were asked to speak &mdash; despite having nothing to do with the matter.&nbsp;
Perkins spoke to knowing Nichols&rsquo; heart and shared his wonderful experience working alongside her. Jefferson, meanwhile, spoke to his 20-year relationship with Nichols and made mention of difficult conversations being had behind the scenes &mdash; while also adding that Nichols was not excused and that he and Perkins weren&rsquo;t either.&nbsp;
Bringing in these two former NBA champions to discuss race added nothing of value to Nichols&rsquo; apology, and only exposed yet another issue of diversity at the company. Why were two privileged Black men brought in to discuss racism between an established White woman and a younger Black woman? Also, why were these two Black men put in this position and used as pawns? The fact that, after 24 hours, this was the best ESPN could do is baffling.&nbsp;
They haphazardly attempted to douse the flames once and for all, but like water on a grease fire, the blaze was not subdued. Instead, burning oil splattered far and wide, reaching <a href="https://youtu.be/9WVDnygemDg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter Spaces</a>. The next day, ESPN removed Nichols from its 2021 NBA Finals coverage, with Malika Andrews handling the sideline-reporting duties in her place. Apparently, ESPN&rsquo;s power structure only doles out punishments for racist comments once they are made public.
For now, ESPN&lsquo;s solution will be to cover the fires with a cloak &mdash; a temporary answer to a grand problem. The structural damage, however, will remain until it works to rebuild its infrastructure from the ground up. &nbsp;

Imman Adan reacts to Rachel Nichols' comments toward Maria Taylor and the manner in which ESPN fumbled the fallout.

Rachel Nichols-Maria Taylor incident exposes ESPN’s racism, sexism

In this series, Matt Babcock shares his experience growing up around the Milwaukee Bucks organization since his dad, Dave Babcock, has been an executive with the team for 23 years. He also provides an inside look at the rise and fall of the Bucks during the late 1990s and early 2000s. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/breakingnews/growing-up-a-buck-millewahque-milwaukee-bucks-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">For Part 1, click here</a>. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/growing-up-a-buck-george-karl-arrives-in-milwaukee" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> For Part 2, click here</a>.
The 1998-99 NBA trade deadline was approaching, and the Milwaukee Bucks were in playoff contention after not having secured a playoff bid since 1991. At the time, the Bucks were built around two young, blossoming stars: 23-year-old Ray Allen and 26-year-old Glenn Robinson. However, the team&rsquo;s front-office brass questioned if the supporting cast was enough to elevate their team to being championship-worthy.
Subsequently, Bucks general manager Bob Weinhauer made two bold moves prior to that year&rsquo;s trade deadline. The first move: a three-way trade where the Bucks exchanged oft-injured point guard Terrell Brandon for Sam Cassell, the charismatic lead guard from the New Jersey Nets. The second move had Milwaukee trading power forward Tyrone Hill to the Philadelphia 76ers for a young developing forward, Tim Thomas, and veteran big man, Scott Williams -- two transactions that ultimately proved to be extremely fruitful for the Bucks.
With their core unit set, the Bucks went on to finish that lockout-shortened season with a record of 28-22, giving them the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference. After nearly a decade, the Bucks were headed back to the playoffs. In the first round, they faced a team that tied for the best record in the East, the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers were loaded with talent and experience, a tall task for a developing Milwaukee team, to say the least.
Due to my dad&rsquo;s position within the Bucks&rsquo; front office, I was given countless opportunities to be with and around that Bucks team during the late 1990s. I felt like I was part of that team, and one way or another, I was going to be in that arena for Game 1. I had traveled with the team earlier in the season, but I didn&rsquo;t go on the team plane for that trip. Don&rsquo;t feel too bad for me though... I was fortunate enough to be invited to fly with Senator Herb Kohl, the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks at the time, on his private jet.
Before I knew it, my dad and I were pulling into a private hangar and boarding Senator Kohl&rsquo;s jet. Onboard that flight was my dad, Larry Harris (who worked with my dad in the front office), Senator Kohl and myself. There I was, a freshman in high school, sitting with a US Senator and NBA team owner on his private jet, heading to my first-ever playoff game.
After a quick flight, we landed in Indy, and awaiting us was a car to take us to the arena. I learned quickly that the playoffs were completely different than the regular season. I vividly remember walking into the old Market Square Arena that night. I felt like my heart was going to pump out of my chest. Everyone from arena security to players to fans all had an extra pep in their step. Energy and excitement filled the arena. The intensity of the atmosphere was unlike anything I had ever experienced, and this was before the game even began. It was unforgettable!
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Once in the arena, I beelined to the court to find Coby Karl (the son of George Karl, Milwaukee's head coach at the time) so we could do our normal routine of shooting around with the players and hanging around the court before the formal warm-ups began. I remember being in awe watching some of the Pacers&rsquo; players.
To be able to see Chris Mullin do a shooting workout up-close was special. He is probably the most detail-oriented shooter I have ever seen. He would warm up doing a spot-shooting routine, where he would have five spots around the perimeter, which is typical. However, he would have to make a certain amount of shots in a row to move to the next spot and would not count the shot as a &ldquo;make&rdquo; if the ball even grazed the rim. That specific Chris Mullin workout has always stuck with me. That was one of my early lessons that elite shooters take a scientific approach to shooting and make a conscious effort to master their craft &mdash; going through the motions or just &ldquo;getting shots up&rdquo; is not enough to be elite.
The game was set to begin, but Coby and I didn&rsquo;t have assigned seats, so we sat on the court next to the Bucks' bench, as we usually did for away games. Aside from seeing Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls team the year before, I had never been impressed by a team quite as much as I was by that Pacers team.
First of all, their head coach was my childhood hero, the legendary former player, Larry Bird, who had been the recipient of the NBA Coach of the Year award the previous season in '98. His top assistant coach was Rick Carlisle, who had been Larry&rsquo;s teammate when they both played for the Boston Celtics in the mid-1980s. It had been said that Carlisle was the actual technical mastermind behind that Pacers team, and that Larry&rsquo;s role as head coach was somewhat as a figurehead. Regardless of their coaching structure having been set up as a hierarchy or not, whatever they did, it worked. Carlisle went on to be one of the top head coaches in the industry. He has been a head coach for nearly 20 years now, and is back with Indiana for his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/indiana-pacers-hire-rick-carlisle-as-next-head-coach" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second stint as the team's head coach</a>.
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That Pacers roster had so much depth, and it was filled with many accomplished veteran players. Their lead guard was Mark Jackson. He ran the show and controlled the tempo. He was a modest 6-foot-1 with a stocky build, and not very quick or athletic, but he was a magician with his playmaking. He was incredibly creative with his passing, and had an uncanny ability to see the floor to find shooters on the perimeter or big men around the basket &mdash; he had &ldquo;eyes in the back of his head.&rdquo;
In the middle, they had the &ldquo;Dunking Dutchman,&rdquo; Rik Smits, a huge, 7-foot-4, skilled center who could really score. Alongside Smits were two &ldquo;blue-collar&rdquo; big men who split playing time: Dale Davis and Antonio Davis. It was during an era of basketball when the common theme was &ldquo;no layups.&rdquo; The Davis duo, no relation, was the epitome of power forwards during that time as they were &ldquo;bruisers.&rdquo; Both of them were extremely physical and tough and they did all of the &ldquo;dirty work&rdquo; (perhaps somewhat of a lost art, in my opinion).
On the wing, the Pacers started Mullin, an aging star. He was not quite the player he had been when he was a perennial All-Star earlier in his career, but the guy just knew how to play. And although he wasn&rsquo;t moving all that well anymore, he could still shoot the lights out.
That Pacers team was so good that they had an emerging star, Jalen Rose, coming off the bench. Jalen&rsquo;s role was to come into the game and aggressively look to score. He had the full green light and would score in bunches. He was a 1-on-1 nightmare for whoever had to match up against him. A 6-foot-8 lefty, he had handles like a point guard, a sweet mid-range game, was extremely crafty and had an overall knack to score the ball.
The Indiana bench also consisted of shooting big man Sam &ldquo;Big Smooth&rdquo; Perkins, the defensively-versatile forward Derrick McKey and speedy scoring point guard Travis Best. (Ironically, I ended up coaching Travis Best years later in Italy when I was a young assistant coach for the team Virtus Bologna, and Travis was finishing up his playing career.)
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As if that Pacers roster wasn&rsquo;t enough to keep any opposing coach up late at night, those were just the complementary players to their main weapon: Reggie Miller.
Quite possibly the cockiest player the NBA has ever seen, Miller developed a reputation for being the ultimate villain when playing on the road. I remember watching him during pregame warmups wearing a Superman T-shirt. We&rsquo;ve all seen the highlights of the show he put on at the Madison Square Garden in 1995, where he hit all of those threes at the end of the game to come from behind and beat the New York Knicks &mdash; doing so as he relentlessly trash-talked Spike Lee, who had been sitting courtside. Miller even wrapped his hands around his neck to give Spike &ldquo;the choke sign.&rdquo; Reggie fed off negativity. He talked trash constantly. He was arrogant and abrasive. The more hostile the environment, the more he turned up his play. Heckling from fans only added fuel to the fire. I joined a large contingent of non-Pacers fans throughout the NBA that despised him. But now, after all of these years, I have to admit: Reggie Miller was incredible.
At 6-foot-7, a thin physical build, and an extremely unorthodox shooting release, Miller is arguably the best shooter of all-time. Of course, we have Steph Curry now and Ray Allen before him, but Reggie is the one that set the stage for them, in my opinion.
While I was a player in high school, I was fortunate enough to be able to have some of the Bucks coaches work with me on my game. I remember in one instance, Terry Stotts (an assistant for Milwaukee at the time) put me through a shooting workout, and I suppose that I impressed him with my shooting ability. I remember Coach Stotts telling me, &ldquo;Okay, you&rsquo;ve proven that you are a high-level shooter, but now we need to make sure you are able to get your shot off.&rdquo; The lesson he was trying to teach me is exactly where Reggie thrived. The NBA has had many capable shooters that could make open shots at a high percentage, but there has not been anyone that could shoot at an elite level while also being able to create an open shot for himself without the ball quite like Reggie.
During Game 1 of the playoffs versus the Bucks, I was able to watch Miller operate while sitting only&nbsp; steps away. I watched his method closely.
As Jackson would initiate the offense off the dribble, Reggie would take his defender deep into the paint -- under or around the basket -- and he would initiate contact with his defenders, many times by grabbing their jersey. He would take a couple of moments to set up his defender; then, at the right moment, he would take off, a lot of times beginning with a shove to his defender&rsquo;s chest. He would sprint toward one of the hammering screens that were to be set by Smits or one of the Davis&rsquo;; if the screener&rsquo;s defender didn&rsquo;t show, Reggie would turn the corner off those screens like a runner in baseball rounding third base going to home plate. Jackson would deliver a pass right into Miller&rsquo;s numbers as he would do a quick one-two step into his jump shot -- a high release and a high-arcing trajectory. When Miller would release a deep three, the Pacers' arena would have sound effects of a bomb being dropped while the ball was in the air, and when the ball would go through the net, it would have the sound of an explosion. The images and sounds of Reggie Miller coming off screens to bury deep threes are tattooed in my head to this day.
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Unfortunately, those sights and sounds were seen and heard routinely in that series, as the Pacers would go on to sweep the Bucks. Although the outcome was not what we had hoped for, it was nonetheless a great introduction to playoff basketball for me. The emotions I experienced during that playoff series were intoxicating. I was completely hooked and I wanted more.&nbsp;
Well, I got it.
The following season, 1999-00, the Bucks would go on to finish No. 5 in the Eastern Conference. They faced the Pacers, again. An improved Bucks team forced a deciding Game 5 versus the Pacers in an exciting and competitive series. I was there for the action, of course. Unfortunately, Miller and his Pacers were still too much for the Bucks. After defeating Milwaukee that year, the Pacers went on to the NBA Finals to face Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers. They came up just short of an NBA title, as the Lakers defeated them in six games.
As for the Bucks, in retrospect, the two consecutive years of being defeated by the Pacers in the playoffs were just what they needed to prepare for what was to come&hellip;
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/growing-up-a-buck-the-2001-playoff-run" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read Part 4 of this series: "Growing Up a Buck: The 2001 Playoff Run." </a>
Also, check out Matt Babcock and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com's latest 2021 NBA Mock Draft</a>.

Matt Babcock provides an inside look at the rise and fall of the Milwaukee Bucks during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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