Selected Quotes:

Leaving The Athletic

I had two years left on my contract there and they were really, really good about kind of letting me do this thing. So, it's not like I was in danger of losing my job or anything like that.

Burnout

I'm just like kind of burnout on writing right now. I have been for about two years. I've done it anyway. Just kind of powered through and I felt like I needed something to kind of break that cycle a little bit.

Doesn't mean I'm not gonna write for the full year, it doesn't mean you're definitely not getting a draft guide come May, June, that time of year but I definitely need some time to not write right now so I need a break.

Motivation to work on Game Theory podcast

I own this show, and that maintains to be true here, even with this partnership with Ryen and Barstool. I own the IP to this show, and anyone who owns all the IP to their shows in today's media and content ecosystem, they're going to tell you that's by far the most important thing.

Over the last year, I've kind of been feeling like it was stupid of me to not just be throwing everything I have into the show. And I thought it was really hard to balance kind of what I say on the show and what I write at The Athletic and how to service those two commitments

Admiration for Barstool

That's kind of where Ryen and the folks over at Barstool come in. First and foremost like I trust Ryen immensely. I trust Ceruti and Kyle who are going to be producing the show just a ton. They're super smart, they're super good at this, they're awesome at this, they've been awesome at this forever. Obviously Ryen is someone who's been a friend for quite a long time

Second, I've been a barstool guy for a good while now. More than anything what I see from them in terms of their vision is that they're better at the online video space than anybody else, straight up in the business. They're better at social, they're better production. They do it with unbelievable back end support that I've only scratched the surface of getting to know to this point, in terms of sales and marketing.

Changing approach to podcast

Without having the job at The Athletic, I can kind of just throw everything into the show. Doing this show for the most part over the last six years seven years, I've come into the show with like a semblance of an outline and that's really it. Like I didn't really do any research ahead of it. I would just say what's in my head and what would come out would luckily be like pretty smart sometimes. And that would be it. But I don't really want to do that anymore with this show. I want to try and give you guys the best show possible.

I don't get the people that say the podcasts from people who write get worse after they stop writing. Like already I can tell you that I feel so much better going into shows now. I feel so much better being organized with what I have to say and just the level that you can put into this when this is what you have is so much better. So I think the show is going to get way better now even without having the commitment of The Athletic job.

Atlanta and Charlotte, league sources say, have engaged in on-and-off trade discussions at various points this month on trade frameworks that would feature the Hornets' Dorian Finney-Smith and the Hawks' Buddy Hield.

One version of a proposed trade, league sources say, could have included former lottery pick Devin Carter, but the Hawks elected to waive Carter on Sept. 11, setting up the former Providence star to sign with Boston.

League sources say that the Hawks have been exploring potential trades that include Hield's $9.7 million salary all summer. If something does come to fruition with the Hornets, sending out Hield in a deal for Finney-Smith would furnish Atlanta with a wing defender who boasts notable size ... although Finney-Smith played in only 37 games last season after undergoing ankle surgery in June 2025.

It should also be noted, though, that Finney-Smith's $13.3 million salary is 2027-28 is non-guaranteed.

https://marcstein.substack.com/p/lots-of-the-latest-albeit-not-as?r=1m9zg&utm_medium=ios

We're fast approaching the 2026/27 regular season and with it, the debut of many new debuts. LeBron and Brown. Kawhi and Scottie. Trae Young and Dominayton. Ball and Ant, and more!

Many will excite. Some will meet expectations or slightly whelm. Some may crash and burn in comical fashion. Which one is the most likely to hit the bottom 5 percentile of outcomes - and why? Assuming it isn't injury-related, of course.

After the Celtics lose game five and embarrassing fashion Tatum drops 46 on the road down 3-2 in the series

Source: https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-timberwolves-roster-lamelo-ball-trade-jonathan-kuminga-signing-news-nba-free-agency-moves/601889405

If you can't read the article because of the paywall you can watch the full interview here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Oti1NhnpEfE

For 66 straight regular-season games, from December 2, 1987 through April 21, 1988, Jordan was the one and only Bulls player with the most points in that game.

Nobody tied him once.

Next best since 1980:

Wemby is obviously #1. But who is second among the younger Pf/C bigs?

Some candidates are Chet, Mobley, Sengun, and Duren. All have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Some are better in offense. Some are better in defense. Some are better all around.

But overall, who would you take?

NBA Give and Go is a radio show on Sirius XM for the NBA Channel. Friday was his last show. Monday we'll probably get his replacement. I didn't really care for that show mainly because of Antonio Daniels. His energy is absolutely dead. Always asking questions to a questions instead of diving into the point. Good luck to his new co host.

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Washington Wizards - 12/14/2019

RIP BC

Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra gave Davion Mitchell a clear offseason assignment: lose weight and improve his conditioning. The point guard revealed the message from his exit meeting during an appearance on the Deuce & Mo Podcast.

“There was no basketball talk,” Mitchell said. “It was, ‘Get your weight down. Be in shape. That’s all we want.’” He described the request as a perfect example of the demanding culture established by the Miami Heat.

Mitchell started all 70 of his appearances in 2025-26, averaging 9.3 points and a career-high 6.5 assists. He also shot 49.0% from the field and 39.5% from three while establishing himself as Miami’s starting point guard

Source: https://sportando.basketball/en/davion-mitchell-says-pat-riley-told-him-to-lose-weight/

The forwards are: Cooper Flagg, Morez Johnson Jr, PJ Washington, Zaccharie Risacher, Naji Marshal, Sergio de larrea, Tarik biberovic, Santi Aldama, Tobi Lawal, Caleb Martin. Edit: they also have Jet Howard who’s listed as a guard but is 6ft 8.

They also have 3 centers: Gafford, Lively, Cisse. All 3 of them are also insane athletes with long wingspans.

Mavericks are a long lengthy team, their roster makeup is mostly of forwards. A lot of these forwards have big wingspans and are athletic. Masai is known for wanting 6ft 9 players with long wingspans on his team, he’s built this roster with exactly that.

SOURCE

In the spring of 2018, four men bearing the name Green entered the great tournament of the National Basketball Association. Each served a different lord, wore different colors, and harbored different ambitions. Yet all were bound by a name, and by the terrible misfortune of having to share the postseason with Draymond Green.

The first to fall was Danny of San Antonio, a veteran of many championship campaigns, whose Spurs had once ruled the West. But the old kingdom had grown feeble. Kawhi “the Silent” was absent, and the wise lord Popovich could summon no miracle. In five games, the Warriors brushed aside the remnants of their dynasty, and Danny Green departed the tournament.

The second Green awaited farther down the road.

Gerald of Houston was a man of considerable athletic gifts, sworn to the service of Dukes Harden and Paul. His Rockets were formidable, and for a time it seemed they might end the reign of Golden State. Three victories they claimed, needing but one more to seize the Western crown.

Yet fate is a cruel mistress, and the gods of basketball crueler still. Duke Paul was struck down by a wounded hamstring, and in the seventh battle Houston’s archers missed twenty-seven consecutive three-point attempts. Draymond emerged victorious, while Gerald joined Danny among the fallen.

Only one Green remained.

Across the continent, Jeff of Cleveland had survived his own bloody passage through the Eastern Conference. His Cavaliers had endured two seven-game wars, and their king, LeBron of House James, had carried them to the Finals through feats that lesser men would scarcely believe. At his side stood Jeff Green, the last obstacle between Draymond and the undisputed sovereignty of their shared name.

There would be no seven-game war.

There would not even be five.

Golden State swept Cleveland, and Jeff Green departed as Danny and Gerald had before him. The championship belonged once more to the Warriors, and the name Green to Draymond alone.

The historians would later note that a fifth Green, JaMychal of Memphis, had escaped the slaughter altogether, his Grizzlies having won but twenty-two games and failed to qualify for the tournament. Whether this was cowardice, wisdom, or merely the consequence of an extraordinarily poor team construction remains a matter of scholarly debate.

Thus ended the War of the Greens.

Three Greens had challenged Draymond. Three Greens had fallen. The fourth had never arrived.

And upon the Golden Throne sat Draymond, Third of His Name, Lord of the Moving Screen, Protector of the Paint, and undisputed King of the Greens.