1. ESPN’s NBA studio show has finally given us a moment reminiscent of the outstanding stuff we normally see on TNT’s Inside the NBA.
On Wednesday’s NBA Countdown, Stephen A. Smith went full Stephen A. Smith when his cohost, Jalen Rose, made a shocking confession.
Rose admitted to being the lone person who gave the Nets’ Kyrie Irving a vote for the All-NBA third team.
Now, Rose should get props for coming clean and giving us an excellent television moment. Having said that, he deserved all the heat he got from Smith.
Irving played in just 29 games this season. When you play in 29 out of 82 games, it doesn’t matter what your stats are; you can’t win any awards. Yet Rose gave All-NBA third team honors to Irving, and his logic didn’t make much sense.
Rose apologized for his actions, but that didn’t stop Stephen A. from going off.
“I want you to explain,” ranted Smith, “what in God’s name made you think at any point that Kyrie Irving, who played 29 games this year, missed 53 games, how in God’s name is he third-team All NBA on any day, any hour, any minute of this season? HOW?!?!”
Rose tried to lay out his reasoning, but it didn’t make any sense.
“In my mind this was a unique season,” said Rose. “Based on this unique season when Kyrie Irving decided to play for whatever reason, he was as dominant as any player in the league and he was one of the top 15 performers when he was in uniform.”
Smith wasn’t having it, though, saying, “You’re not getting away with this.”
After explaining that Rose had been critical of Irving throughout the season, Smith said, “Then behind our backs, like a thief in the night, you slid in this vote for HIM! FOR HIM! He don’t even get to be All-NBA G League. You got to be crazy!”
Rose finally threw in the towel and responded, “That’s fair. I own it.”
There are two lessons to take away from this segment. One, all awards in all sports are silly and useless. Two, colleagues calling each other out always makes for enjoyable television.
2. A brand-new SI Media Podcast dropped this morning, and it features an interview with the new lead voice for Major League Baseball on Fox, Joe Davis.
The 34-year-old broadcaster talks about replacing Joe Buck, taking over for Vin Scully on Dodgers games, whether he wants the job as Fox's No. 2 NFL play-by-play caller, navigating the business at such a young age, his versatility and much more. The interview finishes with a conversation about Davis's love of grilling.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
3. Let's break down the most important aspects of Jaylen Brown's memorable dunk against the Heat on Wednesday night.
Jaylen Brown's dunk: A
Celtics’ bench reaction: A+
Pat Riley and Alonzo Mourning's reaction: A++
4. This is a must-watch compilation of TNT promos that have aired during NBA games over the past 25 years. Just a phenomenal trip down memory lane thanks to this very creative YouTuber.
5. I've never seen a catcher throw a ball this far into the outfield before when trying to throw a base stealer out at second base.
6. Oh, great! Another sports streaming service. Now the NFL will reportedly charge you $5 a month to watch local games on only your phone or tablet.
