Kareem was a long time ago. Very few of today’s fans saw him play for the Bucks or resent his departure to L.A.

Unless they meet in the Finals, which I don’t think they ever have, the Bucks and Lakers only play each other twice a year, because they are in different conferences. It’s really not much of a rivalry. Of course, a lot of fans across the country hate the Lakers just because of their history of success — but a lot of other fans follow them for the same reason.

I don’t see any reason why you can’t be a fan of both teams.

Of course companies that sell vaccines monitor anti-vaxers. And of course their public relations and lobbying arms attempt to counter anti-vax arguments.

While it’s quite possible that such companies sometimes disregard genuine concerns as well as false ones, I don’t find anything implausible about this report. This is business as usual.

Is it alarming that businesses monitor bad publicity and try to counter it? I only find it alarming when they spread their own disinformation, as the tobacco and oil companies have done for decades.

But I don’t consider vaccines a genuine threat, so I have a hard time getting alarmed about Moderna’s attempts to counter anti-vaxers. In fact, for the most part I support such efforts. And I don’t see anything in the article about Moderna spreading its own disinformation.

Yes.

The Richard Lester movies are remarkably true to the book. I love them both.

Alexandre Dumas was well aware of his heroes’ flaws, just as Ian Fleming was well aware of James Bond’s flaws, or Sergio Leone was well aware of The Man with No Name’s flaws. The swashbuckling genre generated by The Three Musketeers was often far less cynical than the original. Lester restored the hilarious cynicism of the original book.

D’Artagnan has several love affairs and tricks Milady into sleeping with him while she thinks she’s sleeping with her lover – and despite the fact that Constance is supposed to be his girl. Richelieu is actually much smarter than the King and has France’s welfare in mind. Ultimately, D’Artagnan ends up working for Richelieu and becomes good friends with Rochefort, who appeared to be the big baddie at the beginning of the tale.

It’s all a big game, life is cheap, and what redeems our “heroes” is that they are brave, daring, clever, and just plain awesome and the people they kill are either non-entities or truly villainous – even more villainous than our heroes.

Murray played much, much better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. Many people attributed that to the fact that he was coming back from a major injury and a year off to rehab. But it’s also possible that he just got hot at the right time.

Well, I’m a lawyer, so that’s just the way I write.

It’s because I used proper grammar and complete sentences, I suppose. You aren’t the only person to comment on it. It’s a pity that such writing now makes readers suspicious.

Basketball Reference has a Simple Rating System based on point differential and strength of schedule, not wins and losses. In the East, the biggest discrepancies are the Atlanta Hawks (ranked 9th according to wins and losses but 5th according to SRS), and the Miami Heat (ranked 5th according to wins and losses but 9th according to SRS).

In the West, the biggest discrepancies are the Golden State Warriors (ranked 10th according to wins and losses but 5th according to SRS) and the Dallas Mavericks (ranked 5th according to wins and losses but 10th according to SRS). SRS is usually considered more accurate by bettors, so perhaps the Hawks and Warriors are better than they appear and the Heat and Mavs are worse than they appear.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA\_2024.html

There are still some novelizations, as you can see in the article below, but they were much more popular before it was so easy to watch movies at home.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novelization

This Wikipedia article might help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djokovic–Nadal_rivalry

Or this list of stats might help: https://www.ultimatetennisstatistics.com/goatList

The biggest problem for Nadal is that he lacks Djokovic’s longevity. When they were both healthy, it was very even, with Nadal leading on clay, Djokovic leading on hard courts, and no clear winner on grass. It’s perhaps the greatest rivalry in tennis history.

Chet Holmgren (+6.3) is the best rookie I can remember in ages. And he’s still only 21. And OKC also has Isaiah Joe (+1.2) and Jalen Williams (+1). Plus SGA (+7.6) just missed the cut.

And OKC has stockpiled a huge hoard of draft picks. They literally don’t have enough roster spots for all those picks even if they had just started a rebuild – but right now they are already a playoff team on the rise. What are they going to do with all those picks?

Orlando’s Goga Bitadze was not on my radar despite four full seasons in the NBA, but at age 24 he seems to have made a leap and demands attention. Apparently he’s been filling in for an injured Wendell Carter, Jr., and the Magic haven’t missed a beat. TIL.

Continuity!

Rookie of the Year winners sometimes don’t turn out as expected. Ben Simmons in 2017-18, Malcolm Brogdon in 2016-17, Michael Carter-Williams in 2013-14, Tyreke Evans in 2009-10, Emeka Okafor in 2004-05, and Mike Miller in 2000-01 were all RotY winners, but didn’t live up to the hype.

Simiiliarly, number one draft picks sometimes don’t turn out as expected. Markelle Fultz in 2017, Ben Simmons in 2016, Anthony Bennett in 2013, and Kwame Brown in 2001 were all number one draft picks who, again, didn’t live up to the hype.

Ursula Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea.

Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

William Goldman’s The Princess Bride.

T.H. White’s The Once and Future King.

J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.

According to the oddsmakers, yes, the Celtics are favored. But it’s not by an overwhelming amount. They are only slightly favored over the Bucks and Nuggets.

https://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/odds/futures/

No. It’s not just about Lonzo and Vuc. The most disappointing part of the team is the failure of their draft picks. The front office overpaid for Vuc and drafted badly every year. This is not just bad luck but bad management.

It’s pretty well known. BNW, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 are often cited as the three best classic dystopian novels. 1984 is the most well known of the three, perhaps because it was a not-so-subtle critique of Stalinism, and therefore originally had the most connection to then-current events. However, for that same reason it now seems the most dated, since Stalinism has been thoroughly discredited even in Russia.

Box Plus-Minus:

1.Nikola Jokić • DEN 15.2

2.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander • OKC 10.3

…

17.Chet Holmgren • OKC 5.2

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2024_leaders.html

This comes up more when ranking all time NBA greats — could he do it back when the game was more physical and soft players got trounced? People even ask this about LeBron James, but more often they ask it about Steph Curry.

The Heat are favored by a mere 1.5 points in Chicago.

Alex Caruso (toe) is listed as probable, which is good news. Dalen Terry (knee) is listed as doubtful.

Tyler Herro (grade 2 ankle sprain) is out for the Heat. R.J. Hampton (knee) is also out.

As we all know, the Heat just blew a 21 point lead against the Bulls on Saturday, so they shouldn’t take the Bulls for granted. Both of these teams are struggling on offense but are stronger on defense, with the Heat ranked slightly ahead of the Bulls at both ends of the floor.

But despite the Heat being 8-5 and the Bulls being 5-9, statistically the teams aren’t very far apart. The Bulls’ record is more representative of their team stats than the Heat’s record – in other words, the Heat have been a little lucky so far. At the moment, both are playing like below-average teams, and not even mid-level teams.

The Heat rank 20th in schedule-adjusted offensive rating, 8th in adjusted defensive rating, and 22nd in pace of play. The Bulls rank 25th in schedule-adjusted offensive rating, 13th in adjusted defensive rating, and 29th in pace of play.

https://dunksandthrees.com

So expect a slow paced, relatively low-scoring game. It’s probably going to be ugly, but keeping it ugly is likely the Bulls’ best chance to win.

That said, if the Bulls win it wouldn’t change my opinion about their disappointing start. The Heat just aren’t as good as their win-loss record suggests.