Basketball

• The Disparity in treatment for Male and Female athletes of the NCAA

  Mar 29, 2021 Andrew Williams 0 Comments

     The beginning of March Madness brought us cheers for the bit of normalcy we yearned for a year ago. We set aside our afternoons (or mornings here on the West coast)  to watch our favorite collegiate teams prepare for a battle unlike the ones before, their own personal bubble. NCAA fans men and women alike were eager to see the games played out under those circumstances. Especially since when the NBA bubble was taking place players and pundits alike compared it to a collegiate or AAU type setting we knew this going to big for these athletes ( well if you are the right gender).  

          As we all know female and male rights have never been equal, not even in sports today, in the year of 2021. As of just last week the NCAA was called out for the lack of amenities in the women's workout room versus the men's workout room. The first person to call them out on the issue was Stanford sports performance coach Ali Kershner posted two photos one of  how the men's workout room looks with all different types of equipment  and benches in contrast to the women's workout room with only a set of free weights and a few yoga mats. A few hours after Ali posted her post, NCAA vice president of women's basketball Lynn Holzman, to paraphrase, stated that some amenities teams usually have access to aren´t available due to the  limited space of being in a controlled environment. As well as stating that the original plan was to expand the workout area once additional space was available later in the tournament. After Lynn Holzman made that statement, Sedona Prince of the Oregon Ducks contradicted that there is limited space and posted a video showing all the extra space that they had to add more equipment. She also added a statement saying, ¨If you´re not upset by this problem, then you´re part of it.¨ After the photos from Ali were posted and the video from Sedona was uploaded, multiple NBA and WNBA players tweeted and shared on other social media platforms addressing the problem including A´ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, CJ MCollum, Steph Curry and others. After the NCAA was exposed for the disparities in men and women amenities in the workout rooms, others posted and retweeted about the food options. Sedona also posted the men´s food options having excellent food  while the women had lower than subpar lunch food. Also photos and videos were shared of the difference in their swag bags. As well as the covid tests, women are getting lower quality tests rather than the men.  After all this many people took it as the NCAA being disrespectful and disgraceful.  People were furious, and everyone that was angry with the problem was reposting the different photos and videos on every platform they can. Following all the criticism NCAA officials apologize. Lynn Holzman promised to have improvements and she stated that the issue hit a nerve with her, since she was a former college basketball player. The NCAA has since  put in better equipment in the weight room for the women. Sedona posted another video showing all of the new amenities that has been added. Though the NCAA added  more amenities, this is just a small part of the problem that we have with women's sports in general. For example the number of Division 1 women's teams only compete in 64 tournaments versus the men´s that compete in 68. That is just one of many examples of the inequalities within women's sports. South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley said in a statement that ¨Women's basketball is a popular sport whose stock and presence continues to rise on a global level. It is time for the NCAA leadership to reevaluate the value they place on women.¨  Which is completely correct. Some may use the argument that Men's Basketball generates more revenue than Women's basketball programs, but if this argument was to be true why are lower level cinderella teams also being privy to the bountiful buffet and fully equipped weight room but women's programs like a South Carolina should. So this reasoning clearly does not hold water. Simply put we need to make a change with the inequalities that these women and women in general are facing and like Sedona said if you're not upset by this problem, then you're part of it.

   

   

   

  

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• Is Ball in the Pelicans Future Plans

  Mar 15, 2021 Andrew Williams 0 Comments

       Since Lonzo Ball has come into the league as the number two draft pick back in 2017, it has been a difficult journey for him. Although he constantly had critics saying something about him not being as good as his dad, Lavar Ball, put him out to be, that did not knock him out of his game if anything he took the criticism as motivation to get better. He got in the weight room and bulked up which made him more of an asset on defense.

          On July 6, 2019 he got traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the New Orleans Pelicans, it was a rough start for him. He was not providing what the people wanted and the team needed from him. Though Ball was providing 7 apg , and a pedestrian 11.8 ppg. the offense looked stagnant. Maybe it was due to Zion not being healthy or Zo and BI not being comfortable in the new offense, either way the Pelicans were not happy.  The Pelicans wanted to trade him along with a couple of his other veteran teammates so the rookies can get more playing time, pretty much a rebuild type situation.  Lonzo must have taken that as an insult and completely started taking over. Game after game he was leading his team to wins, and having his career high for 3-pointers which is seven! His points per game has jumped up 3 points and his free throw percentage has gone from 56% to a  professional looking 76.7%. I know a lot of Zion fans will attribute this to Zion’s return and they will not be completely incorrect. Zion’s dominance since his return to floor has allowed Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball to spread the floor and take over. Brandon Ingram is playing the best basketball of his career and Ball has been taking over when Zion is being doubled teamed. Ever since he has been taking over games leading defensively and just looking like the all around point guard  the Pelicans want and need.

         Lonzo Ball had changed to being the main subject in talks of trades with the Pelicans to those talks being ¨fizzled down¨. That does not mean he is for sure staying on the New Orleans Pelicans, the deadline is March 25, there is a chance another team will want to put together a great offer sheet. Only time will tell what will happen next. Either way Lonzo Ball has always proven that he can get better through all the hate and criticism he constantly endure.

  

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• We Never Picked Utah.

  Mar 15, 2021 Andrew Williams 0 Comments

   

  As we approach  this year’s All Star Weekend which for a season that’s been like no other  ( shortened season, March All Star, etc.) I am comforted with a glimpse of normalcy. A peek into a different era of basketball, a glimmer of basketball nostalgia if you will. I am not speaking of the game nor the way the teams were divided but one single comment made by LeBron James during his All Star team selection show on TNT. 

   

  LeBron James and Kevin Durant were the leading vote getters for the All Star Game so naturally they would be the captains for this new pick up game pick your team scenario.  LeBron had first pick and as expected stars were taken off the board with haste by the two All Star captains. As the final picks came around a noticeable oddity had taken place. The final picks were both from currently the hottest team in the league, the Utah Jazz 27-9 (Rudy Golbert and Donovan Mitchell). When Charles Barkley  pressed LeBron on why after stating they needed size chose Domantas Sabonis from the Pacers and left Golbert as the last player on the board, LeBron responded with "You guys gotta understand, just like in video games growing up, we never played with Utah. Even as great as Karl Malone and John Stockton was, we would never pick those guys in video games. Never." This was the statement that made me think, is this true? Have I ( a self proclaimed basketball purest) fall victim to team and location bias as so many others of my generation or was LeBron the one off. I had to explore this further. 

   I reached out to some friends of mine whom I have shared many video game and backyard experiences and we were all dumbfounded. Not once have we picked the Utah Jazz. We knew that John Stockton , Karl Malone and Jeff Hornacek were more worthy an opponent for a Michael Jordan lead Chicago Bulls team than let’s say my New York Knicks at the time, but we still did not choose them.  I even recall a moment when my adolescent self was faced with a challenging decision of selecting a team during a tournament of “Bulls vs Blazers “ and was ready to end all friendships when I was stuck with the Jazz.  We would select the Bulls on NBA Jams knowing the programmers slighted their talents before we selected the Jazz.  But why though? 

   

     After asking around the consensus was that they never related to us.  Growing up a New Yorker during that time the Knicks embodied the blue collar work ethic of the city. Showtime Lakers was a nightly two hour infomercial of how great it was to be in LA. The Bulls were the epitome of team greatness. Those traits resonated with the NBA fans of the inner city. These were the traits we found in our parents , our leaders and someday grow to see in ourselves.  Utah Jazz was a great team but safe. John Stockton and Karl Malone made the pick and roll an art form. There was no flash just an efficient basketball play we use to this day.  Jeff Hornacek and Bryon Russell were both lock down defenders who both have slowed down ( I use the term loosely) Michael Jordan in a playoff game, but we just never saw them as the team that represented us. As one long time friend put it the Jazz were the Celtics of the west. 

   

    Maybe I needed LeBron to make that statement and force me to confront this hidden bias towards the Jazz. Though it may be too late for LeBron to go back and select the best player remaining on the board, it’s not too late to change the narrative. The fact remains Rudy Golbert and Donovan Mitchell were selected to the All Star game just like Stockton and Malone and as quiet as it may be kept has the best record in the league.  Maybe we need to start picking them, first.

   

   

  

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• MoJo Global Arts Signs Creative Partnership with Basketball Icon Pee Wee Kirkland

  Feb 26, 2021 CWN Publisher 0 Comments

  Magic Johnson said "Pee Wee Kirkland is to streetball what Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan is to the NBA."

   LOS ANGELES, CA, February 24, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Arts and entertainment company MoJo Global Arts, Beverly Hills, CA has entered into an agreement with Kirkland Holding Company to work with basketball icon Pee Wee Kirkland across international brands, creative projects, business and social impact programs. The agreement, developed by Mojo Executive Crystal Roney, covers international brand management and development of multimedia products.
  
  Pee Wee Kirkland is an international brand influencer and public speaker who turned his challenging life experiences growing up in Harlem, NYC, into positive community development programs. Pee Wee is known in Urban folklore as a "Legend in Two Games"; a legend on the basketball courts and a legend in the streets. Noting his accomplishment as one of the best basketball players of all time as well as being a former drug kingpin – who ran the largest operation in Harlem for decades. Kirkland - who invented the crossover - the first basketball player to perform a 360-degree turnaround jump shot and the spin move to the basket; has also done a 180 in life. Now, an in-demand speaker worldwide, he has received awards and recognition from the United States and the State of New York Senate. Awards include, Congressional Certificate of Merit from The United States House of Representatives, "The Dream of King Award" in Honor of Dr. Martin King, Jr., and "Change Maker Award" from King of Kings Foundation, Inc. Kirkland is credited as being one of the Top 10 HBCU Basketball Players of All Time as well as the Top 5 Streetball Players of all Time. He is also being honored by the American Basketball Hall Of Fame as the Greatest Point Guard Ever for the 2021 induction class.
  
  Kirkland has stayed in the forefront of fans' minds as indicated by his many mentions by musicians such as: Jimmy Peters and the Ring Dance, Ja Rule, Clipse, LL Cool J, Pusha T, ASAP Rocky and others. He has been the subject of numerous documentaries and has worked as technical consultant for major feature films including "Above The Rim'' starring Tupac; Uncle Drew - Kyrie Irving. His photo proudly hangs on the wall of Pop's Barber Shop in the Marvel Series, "Luke Cage."
  
  Magic Johnson said "Pee Wee Kirkland is to streetball what Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan is to the NBA." Mojo Global Arts Co-Founder and award winning filmmaker and Harlem native, Jordan Walker-Pearlman recalls "Pee Wee Kirkland was talked about with the same awe as Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Malcolm X. In speaking with him I admire how he was able to go from revered, to written off, and to revered again keeping his head, growing his faith, and maintaining the culture and self-respect of Harlem, and putting his talents to greater good."
  
  Mojo Executive, Crystal Roney says "We are excited about working with Mr. Kirkland. This has been a few years in development. Mr. Kirkland is known for his forward thinking strategies which helped to propel him to the top of whatever he puts his mind to. He represents Black, Urban and Street culture at its highest level. This creative partnership converges media, technology and culture to create innovative advanced sports and entertainment products."
  
  The creative partnership will include a range of new media products using AR/VR and other advanced media technologies creating video games, documentaries, tv series, books in multiple languages and a new e-sports league.
  
  ABOUT MOJO GLOBAL ARTS
  
  MoJo Global Arts, co-founded by Producer Morris Ruskin, Movie-Maker Jordan Walker-Pearlman and Executive Producer Joseph Mellicker, is a new Global Arts and Entertainment company fusing the talents, resources, projects, and combined sixty four years film experience of prolific producer Morris Ruskin and award-winning filmmaker Jordan Walker-Pearlman. The production division has over fifty projects in development, including film, television, documentaries and foreign language productions. MoJo also has a management division that represents writers, directors, actors, production companies and brands from all over the world with Alex Flores running a division that has a focus on Latinx talent and Latin American companies. The management division works hand-in-hand with MoJo's global advertising and branded entertainment divisions with an extra emphasis on companies owned by women of color.
  
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• BallCourt - The Lakers headed to the White House | Return of Sonics to the League | NCAA Bubble

  Jan 22, 2021 CWN Publisher 0 Comments

   

  There is a longstanding tradition with sports teams that win a championship taking a trip to the White House for a visit with the President of the United States. But since Donald Trump took office no NBA team has chosen to make that trip.
  
  The Los Angeles Lakers are looking forward to reconvening a post-championship tradition of visiting the White House at some point during the 2020-21 season after President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office as the 46th President of the United States, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
  
  Waiting to see if Biden’s schedule will be freed up for the lone occasion the Lakers travel to take on the Washington Wizards, and gathering information on what the White House COVID-19 protocols will look like are all determining factors, sources said.

   This week on BallCourt - The World of Basketball, Coach Drew digs into the hot topic - The Lakers plan to go to the White House - After Trump Leaves.  Additional topics include:

      ◦    Possible return  of our Sonics to the league
      ◦     Clippers Paul George and Morris in favor of NBA shutdown amid turmoil at the Capitol.
      ◦     Beijing Duck’s Jeremy Lin to sign with Warriors' G League team in latest NBA comeback attempt, per report
      ◦    NCAA TOURNAMENT bubble set for Indiana
  
   A word from our Coach.The best person for the job. 

  To Listen to the full podcast, click on the image at the top.
  
  Stay active,  Stay Healthy , Stay Safe

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