Make It Make Sense
I’m no fan of the Boston Celtics, but I’ve been saying the same thing for years. Jaylen Brown is better than Jayson Tatum.
Now, before Boston fans lose their minds, this isn’t a Brown vs. Tatum article. Tatum is a great player, and they’re obviously better together. I just always connected more with Brown’s game. He defended, he played both ends of the floor, he didn’t seem to care who got the credit, and when it was time to win, he just played basketball.
But I get why Tatum became the face of the franchise. He’s smooth, he’s marketable, he looks like what the league wants its stars to look like.
Then Brown wins Finals MVP, Tatum gets hurt this season, and Brown averages a career-high 28.7 points, reminding everybody he’s one of the best two-way players in basketball.
So naturally…
We’re talking about Stephen A. Smith.
Stephen A. isn’t just a sports analyst. He’s the guy you call when it’s time to put a player on trial. One back-and-forth with Brown, and somehow the conversation isn’t about basketball anymore.
Ray Donovan.
Remember when people questioned why he was missing the NBA Summer League to take graduate classes at Berkeley? That never really felt like a distraction to him. He was lecturing at MIT while everybody else was arguing about sneakers. When he signed the richest contract in NBA history, everybody else saw $304 million. Brown wanted to talk about bringing “Black Wall Street to Boston.”
He’s always been this guy. Thoughtful, intelligent, outspoken. It just landed differently this time.
I can’t wait until JD5 is throwing bombs to Brandon Aiyuk.
Before all the experts on this situation come after me, Aiyuk hasn’t handled everything perfectly. The contract negotiations turned into daily content. Every Instagram post became breaking news. Every team suddenly had a trade package.
But somewhere along the way, it felt like the conversation stopped being about football. Aiyuk wanted to stay in San Francisco. The 49ers wanted to keep Aiyuk. Then he got paid. Then he got hurt.
He tears his ACL and MCL. Then the Commanders start getting mentioned. He says he’d love to play with Jayden Daniels someday because they’re close friends. Next thing you know, every headline is about whether San Francisco should dump him before he ever catches another pass.
By Tuesday, half the internet was running the 49ers front office.
Now he’s trying to work his way back, and somehow the loudest conversations aren’t about whether he can still play. They’re about whether he’s become a distraction, whether they should move on, and whether he’s worth the headache.
Funny how fast that part disappears.
Then my mind went back home. Have you ever heard of the Curse of Les Boulez?
If you’re from Washington and grew up following the Bullets, you’ve probably heard the story. Les Boulez was the last owner of the original Bullets before selling the team to Abe Pollin in 1964. Somewhere along the way, fans started joking that he put a curse on the franchise. No matter who they drafted, no matter who they hired, no matter how much hope showed up every October, somehow it always ended the same way.
I kept telling myself before the draft, “The Wizards are gonna mess this up.” I wanted Darryn Peterson. We ended up with AJ Dybantsa.
Now, AJ has the potential to be a great player. He was everywhere. Podcasts. TV hits. Draft specials. Every interview sounded polished. Every answer sounded ready. Meanwhile, every clip I saw of DP had a basketball in his hands.
By draft night, it felt like I’d heard AJ speak a hundred times. I still wasn’t sure I’d heard DP say anything at all.
I’ve watched DC do this for years. We decide who somebody is awfully early around here. RG3 felt like the future, but the conversation moved faster than the knee did. Sometimes it felt like we talked about John Wall more than we watched him.
I couldn’t help noticing one story was everywhere. The other one was still being written. The basketball part almost felt late.
Anyway…
I don’t know if it’s the expanded field or what, but this has been one of the most entertaining World Cups I can remember. Cape Verde is in the knockout stage. DR Congo is still alive. Canada has looked better than I expected. Meanwhile, countries everybody assumed would cruise are already headed home or barely survived.
That’s why they play the games. Every four years, we convince ourselves we know exactly what’s about to happen. Then somebody ranked 60 spots lower reminds us that’s why they actually play the games.
I’m still picking France. I’m still nervous about Team USA. And Lionel Messi, being 39 years old and somehow still showing up in these conversations, is just ridiculous.
Here we are.
Another sports article from a guy who keeps telling people he doesn’t even like sports. I don’t even think this is really about that. Sports is just one of the few places you can actually see it happening in real time. The cameras are always on. Everything is immediate. Sometimes you can see the moment they realize what the room expects from them.
I don’t remember when I first noticed it. I just know once I did, I started seeing it everywhere. You can almost watch it happen. Somebody says something a little uncomfortable once… then never says it again. I’ve always found myself rooting for the people who decide they’d rather lose the room than lose themselves.
Whether they’re right or wrong almost doesn’t seem to matter. I just know respect has always mattered more than approval. And sometimes telling the truth just costs you access.
