1. Raptors guard Fred VanVleet knows the fine is coming, but he doesn’t care. So we need to thank him for throwing caution to the wind and giving us a memorable postgame press conference Wednesday after Toronto lost to the Clippers, 108–100.
VanVleet was hit for a technical foul by referee Ben Taylor during the game, and the Clippers had 31 free throw attempts to just 14 for the Raptors, so VanVleet wanted to talk about it. And, boy, did he.
I don’t want to characterize VanVleet’s critique of NBA officials as a “rant,” because he was very calm and measured. But he didn’t hold back, either, especially when it came to the salty language.
I don’t want to give you every line because I want you to enjoy it in full, but I’ll give you my three favorite lines.
3. “Ben Taylor was f---ing terrible tonight.”
2. “On most nights, ya know, out of the three [refs], there are one or two who just f--- the game up.”
1.“Most of the refs are trying hard. I like a lot of the refs. They’re pretty fair. They communicate well. And then you got the other ones who just wanna be dicks.”
Some people will call out VanVleet for using bad words (OH MY GOODNESS, THINK OF THE CHILDREN!), but this is where athletes can’t win. Sports fans want athletes to be honest and not robotic, but then when they are real, they face blowback.
Refs across the board in sports are not held accountable and get away with being terrible on a daily basis, so it’s good to see them get called out for a change.
The bottom line for me is that sports are entertainment, and VanVleet’s press conference was extremely entertaining, so props to him.
Plus, as a great man once said, sometimes you just have to “let the expletives fly.”
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2. This week's SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast dropped Thursday morning, and it's an all–‘Traina Thoughts’ edition with our weekly contributor, Sal Licata, from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York.
On this episode, we discuss the rumors that have started already about Tom Brady returning to the NFL and argue about whether Brady would actually unretire for a second time and come back to play. We also talk about the backlash that was heaped upon Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim after the duo dismissed hockey talk on an episode of First Take, Ja Morant going on Instagram Live with a gun while at a strip club and the Chris Rock Netflix special.
Sal also pulls back the curtain and gives the inside scoop on going viral recently for a clip of him losing it on a caller who blamed Sal for the Mets’ losing the NL East last year to the Braves.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
3. We still don't know all the facts about the allegations made against Michael Irvin, who was pulled off the air by the NFL Network and ESPN during Super Bowl week after a women described misconduct. Irvin has filed a $100 million defamation case and gave a press conference Wednesday.
Since details are still limited, I can't really offer my opinion on this yet, but I will say that this is one of the weirdest stories I've seen in a long time.
4. I'm not saying every line here by Draymond Green landed, but I give him credit for the unique way he responded to criticism from the Thunder’s Dillon Brooks. Green went through all of Brooks’s sentences and fired back after each one.
5. Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey has thoughts on Aaron Rodgers.
6. Yes, the Lamar Jackson situation has definitely flown under the radar. Haven't heard a word about it all week.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: CNBC reported Wednesday that the WWE is looking to get into the legalized gambling game. Yes, that is a real sentence.
Imagine making a wager on a WWE match and then this happens.
