ESPN First Take Today 12/29/16 Full Show - George Karl, Ronda Rousey, Carmelo Anthony And NFL?
Good morning. Lets basketball.
JAMELOT IS DEAD: Ramona Shelburne with the essential tick-tock of the breakup of Phil Jackson and Jeanie Buss. The best revelation is that the NBA forced the couples to sign documents surrounding conflicts of interest, and one of the provisions was that they had to notify the league and other owners if they decided to marry. Adam Silver just wants to make sure he gets that invite!
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JIMMY BUTLER BUZZER-BEATER GAME WINNER THE CROWD GOES WILD!
WELP: Carmelo Anthony earns an ejection for striking Thabo Sefolosha in the face. Hawks win in OT.
HA! The Raptors, down by 10 in the waning seconds in Oakland, tried to score some garbage-time buckets. Kevin Durant decided that wasnt going to happen.
[ARCHED EYEBROW]: Paul George alleges a league conspiracy to withhold free throws from the Pacers.
SCORES GALORE ...
Pacers 105, Wizards 111Hornets 120, Magic 101Knicks 98, Hawks 102 (OT)Bucks 119, Pistons 94Nets 99, Bulls 101Clippers 98, Pelicans 102Wolves 103, Nuggets 105Kings 89, Blazers 102Raptors 111, Warriors 121Suns 98, Spurs 119
GOTTA DIG A little deeper: george karl is now granting publicity interviews, and umprompted by David Marchese at New York Mag, Karl blamed the Blazers woes on Damian Lillards increasing fame. (Lillard has never played for Karl.) Dames agent and Blazers coach Terry Stotts essentially told Karl to STFU, which is the right response here. In other news, Karl says the NBA should connect players with financial advisors who can guarantee theyll never lose any money. Because those exist.
ORGANIC BEEF: In other Blazers news, heres a deep dive on the burgeoning beef between DeMarcus Cousins and Meyers Leonard. Portland has some weird beefs, man.
KUDOS: DeMar DeRozan is now the Raptors all-time leading scorer.
HMM: Donatas Motiejunas auditioned for the Lakers.
TWIN-ON-TWIN DUNK VIOLENCE!
CHANGES: Is Danilo Gallinari becoming a true power forward?
UH: NC State freshman Dennis Smith is a vicious dunker. Vicious.
SNEAKY ALL-STAR BALLOT TWEET!
NEXT UP: Your TNT doubleheader starts with Celtics-Cavaliers at 8 p.m. ET and ... well, you can turn off the TV after that. No one needs to see Mavericks-Lakers (10:30). Thunder-Grizz is the head-to-head League Pass competition for Cs-Cavs.
AND FINALLY: The sweetest fast break that totally didnt count.
Be excellent to each other.
Source: http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2016/12/29/14111796/george-karl-blazers-damian-lillard-hate-gmib
