Officially official: The NBA is back baby!

Damn Zion looks great! I think im wet now.....

Big things in store �� pic.twitter.com/xlWclVjG4w

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 2, 2020

You've seen the picture by now. It's easy to tell that Zion Williamson worked to stay in shape during quarantine.

Now he's ready to get back on the floor with his teammates in Orlando. https://t.co/Eo4AbvfpiQ

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) July 2, 2020

Where is the dufus that was calling Zion fat at now? Was it Perkins? Stephen A Smith?

Oh yeah I found it. It was Frye. Never forget! Frye look like a fool now.

Everyone’s talking about it. I wanna know y’all a opinion on this. Is it’s a bad angle or is he getting bigger? (yes he does have a little grease spot lol) pic.twitter.com/uIk9VkUGtG

— Channing Frye (@channingfrye) November 16, 2019

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Where is the dufus that was calling Zion fat at now? Was it Perkins? Stephen A Smith?

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It was about 80% of the NBA commentariat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Oh yeah I found it. It was Frye. Never forget! Frye look like a fool now.

Everyone’s talking about it. I wanna know y’all a opinion on this. Is it’s a bad angle or is he getting bigger? (yes he does have a little grease spot lol) pic.twitter.com/uIk9VkUGtG

— Channing Frye (@channingfrye) November 16, 2019

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Expose all the non believers lol

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Apparently Gentry says he can't really imagine players across the league bearing heavy minutes during the 8 game restart, given how long they've been off and stuff.

Makes some sense, of course, it's hard to just jump immediately into 35 minutes a game, but I am not looking forward to Zion going back to 2.5 minute stints where he doesn't even touch the ball :hihi:

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So, that confrims Pre-season Gentry in the house.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

JR Smith has signed his deal with the Lakers, source said.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2020

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Just sneak in them covid escorts with a bottle of henny. Take the whole team out in a week.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

So, that confrims Pre-season Gentry in the house.

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I meaaaan, he didn't technically say that! Maybe he's planning to take everyone by surprise by attacking their dodgy short-minute rotations with a proper first-team assault.

Maybe that's wishful thinking.

But we'll see.

So, if Homefield doesn't matter... These 8 games are basically pre-season games for the top seeds.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

So, if Homefield doesn't matter... These 8 games are basically pre-season games for the top seeds.

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Yeah, although theoretically getting the top seed still gives you the weakest opponent in the first round (that's not actually how reality works out, 8th seed isn't always the weakest, but you know what I mean), so it's still worth going for at least on paper. Who knows if anyone will actually bother though.

I guess you could write this up as being in our favour. We wouldn't have homecourt in any series anyway, so it really just robs an advantage from the opponent.

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Originally Posted by BIG_CITY_BOI

Expose all the non believers lol

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Never forget

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oADotDl3jF0

Never forget

https://nypost.com/2020/01/23/mark-j...-in-nba-debut/

Just worth reminding people (in the slim chance that any of you may have forgotten) how good Zion was before things got shut down.

Highest at-rim frequency in recorded NBA history.
Longest streak of 20pt games by a rookie in a decade.
62.4% TS

36.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists per 100.

Just crazy stuff

Edit: Also, this is not intended to be an insult to anybody, but I just thought this stat was mindblowing:

Lonzo Ball has played in 155 games, over the span of 3 years. He has made a total of 90 free throws, out of 186 attempts (48.4% career FT shooter).
Zion Williamson has played in 19 games, over the span of about 7 weeks. He has made a total of 98 free throws, out of 152 attempts (64.5% FT shooter)

It's crazy to me that Zion has made 8 more free throws in 136 fewer games.

Also, if you look up players who have averaged at least 36.6 points per 100 across an entire season, you get a list of pretty much exclusively hall of famers, or players who will be hall of famers.

Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Giannis Antetokoumnpo, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, just to run through some of the more obvious names. The only guy on there who isn't a definite hall of fame guy, if I remember rightly, is Amar'e, who did it once.

Look out! Darius is back!

Miller on staying in New Orleans during quarantine to help his chances of potentially playing this season #WontBowDown pic.twitter.com/vNvz99pBtA

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 3, 2020

Redick says he has lost over 10 pounds during quarantine. He said it was intentional as he wanted to get back to his weight while at Duke.

— Daniel Sallerson (@dsallerson) July 3, 2020

JJ Redick says “we are going down to Orlando with the intention of making the playoffs.”

— Daniel Sallerson (@dsallerson) July 3, 2020

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Just worth reminding people (in the slim chance that any of you may have forgotten) how good Zion was before things got shut down.

Highest at-rim frequency in recorded NBA history.
Longest streak of 20pt games by a rookie in a decade.
62.4% TS

36.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists per 100.

Just crazy stuff

Edit: Also, this is not intended to be an insult to anybody, but I just thought this stat was mindblowing:

Lonzo Ball has played in 155 games, over the span of 3 years. He has made a total of 90 free throws, out of 186 attempts (48.4% career FT shooter).
Zion Williamson has played in 19 games, over the span of about 7 weeks. He has made a total of 98 free throws, out of 152 attempts (64.5% FT shooter)

It's crazy to me that Zion has made 8 more free throws in 136 fewer games.

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But those Lonzo 3 Pt numbers to end the season.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Look out! Darius is back!

Miller on staying in New Orleans during quarantine to help his chances of potentially playing this season #WontBowDown pic.twitter.com/vNvz99pBtA

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 3, 2020

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Is it weird that I hope Miller can bench Moore or atleast steal atleast half his minutes....

Was Moore even playing to end the season?

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Originally Posted by Taker597

But those Lonzo 3 Pt numbers to end the season.

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Like I said, not an insult to anybody. Lonzo obviously made improvements as a shooter this year; hell, he even improved a bit as a FT shooter. This year's 54% was a career high for him

Just thought it was a wild stat

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Is it weird that I hope Miller can bench Moore or atleast steal atleast half his minutes....

Was Moore even playing to end the season?

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Moore played in every one of our final 15 games and was averaging 14 minutes a night in that time.

Miller may not even be ready to play in Orlando: he was saying that due to lockdown, he still hasn't played 3 on 3 or 5 on 5 at all, so they don't know when he'll be cleared for active play.

I feel so bad seeing all these guys losing all this weight and I’ve just been sitting here snacking lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Like I said, not an insult to anybody. Lonzo obviously made improvements as a shooter this year; hell, he even improved a bit as a FT shooter. This year's 54% was a career high for him

Just thought it was a wild stat

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His career FT stats kind of are toast with those 96 missed fts. He would need to hit 314 consecutive FT just get into the 80s. Even if he decides to shoot 90% for the foreseeable future. He only be 70% at 314 FTM at 90% efficient.


When I think 96 missed FT... That's chump change... if you can get to the line. Lonzo will get better with experience, but he'll never be a player than can draw Superstar PG fouls.

Other stats that do not matter but which I found amusing when looking at our team so far this year:

If you look at our team, who gets to the line most and how many minutes they've played, you find this.

1) Brandon Ingram. 330 FTAs in 1919 minutes: good for one FT per 5.8 minutes.
2) Jaxson Hayes. 173 FTAs in 951 minutes: 1 FT per 5.5 minutes.
3) Jrue Holiday. 170 FTAs in 1922 minutes. 1 FT per 11.3 minutes
4) JJ Redick. 163 FTAs in 1425 minutes. 1 FT per 8.7 minutes (90.2% leads the team in FT%)
5) Zion Williamson. 152 FTAs in 565 minutes. 1 FT per 3.7 minutes, by far the highest frequency on the team.
6) Josh Hart. 91 in 1563: 1 FT per 17.1 minutes.
7) Lonzo Ball. 67 in 1817: 1 FT per 27.1 minutes.

You'll note that if you look up Free Throw Rate, that won't match these numbers: that's because Free Throw Rate isn't a per minute stat, but instead a per FGA stat. If you go by FTr, the top 5 guys look like this:

1) Jaxson Hayes: .736
2) Zion Williamson: .521
3) Jahlil Okafor: .402
4) Brandon Ingram: .328
5) JJ Redick: .292
...
10) Jrue Holiday: .181 (we know he never gets calls)
...
13) Lonzo Ball: .107 (we know he never gets to the line)

Top names in different stats per 100 possessions:

1) Points per 100: Zion (36.6), Ingram (32.7), Redick (27.1)
2) Rebounds per 100: Favors (18.9), Okafor (13.0), Hart (10.9)
3) Assists per 100: Lonzo (10.0), Jrue (9.1), NAW (6.8)
4) Steals per 100: Jrue (2.2), Lonzo (2.0), Hart (1.7)
5) Blocks per 100: Jaxson (2.6), Okafor (1.9), Favors (1.6)

Top Names in Different Other Stats (minimum 500 minutes played):

1) True Shooting: Jaxson (67.5%), Redick (63.9%), Zion (62.4%)
2) BPM 2.0: Zion and Ingram tied at +2.4, then Jrue +2.3

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taker597

His career FT stats kind of are toast with those 96 missed fts. He would need to hit 314 consecutive FT just get into the 80s. Even if he decides to shoot 90% for the foreseeable future. He only be 70% at 314 FTM at 90% efficient.


When I think 96 missed FT... That's chump change... if you can get to the line. Lonzo will get better with experience, but he'll never be a player than can draw Superstar PG fouls.

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He's still afraid of contact, and he still shoots badly when he gets to the line. He doesn't need to be James Harden, but it would be nice if he drove more. We saw it this season: his best games came after Christmas, and it happened to coincide with him playing more aggressively and more than doubling his driving frequency. Lonzo's best skill on offense is still his passing, and it's hard to leverage passing in the half-court if you refuse to drive because you're scared of being met at the rim.

Hopefully that improvement that we saw as the year went on will continue and, going forward, we can see a little more of the decisive halfcourt Lonzo. It's been rare so far in his career, but always nice when he shows up.

Victor Oladipo has opted to sit out the NBA restart:

In his first 2 seasons with IND, he joined Reggie Miller, Jermaine O'Neal and Paul George as the only players in Pacers history to make consecutive NBA All-Star teams

In his final outing this year, he scored 27 pts in 28 mins pic.twitter.com/TVjolXAudb

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 3, 2020

Oladipo is sitting our

New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach Jeff Bzdelik, 67, won’t be joining the team in Orlando, his agent Warren LeGarie tells ESPN. The organization is supportive of the decision.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2020

Jeff Bzdelik will not be making the trip to Orlando.

I hate when people pronounced it New Or-Leens.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

I hate when people pronounced it New Or-Leens.

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I sometimes still catch myself pronouncing it Orléans, as if it were still French.

The Zion Bane memes crack me up.

I hope Lonzo was working on his free throws. The thing I love about our guys is despite their faults, they are hungry as hell to get better. I have a feeling that the vets will suffer more from this lockdown than our younguns.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

I hope Lonzo was working on his free throws. The thing I love about our guys is despite their faults, they are hungry as hell to get better. I have a feeling that the vets will suffer more from this lockdown than our younguns.

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So, sincere question -- Do you think that Lonzo hasnt worked much on his free throws throughout his life? Like, significantly less than most guards and that is why his percentage is low?

Because I would bet he practices more per year than almost anyone. When I would cover the Pels, Austin Rivers practiced them more than anyone on the team. Didnt matter. And he probably practices even more and the percentage still continues to go down

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

So, sincere question -- Do you think that Lonzo hasnt worked much on his free throws throughout his life? Like, significantly less than most guards and that is why his percentage is low?

Because I would bet he practices more per year than almost anyone. When I would cover the Pels, Austin Rivers practiced them more than anyone on the team. Didnt matter. And he probably practices even more and the percentage still continues to go down

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It's all mental. Having consistent form also helps. The fact that Lonzo has changed his significantly could indicate that it will be on the incline.

Don't care enough to know if Rivers has/had changed his. It still looks awkward.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

So, sincere question -- Do you think that Lonzo hasnt worked much on his free throws throughout his life? Like, significantly less than most guards and that is why his percentage is low?

Because I would bet he practices more per year than almost anyone. When I would cover the Pels, Austin Rivers practiced them more than anyone on the team. Didnt matter. And he probably practices even more and the percentage still continues to go down

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And I would be makes a much better percentage alone in the gym than he does when they count.

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

And I would be makes a much better percentage alone in the gym than he does when they count.

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I would be shocked if any NBA player shot less than about 75% when they're alone in a gym.

Just like how every NBA player shoots 90% at the rim when they're alone in a gym, and 60% from 3.

I think because we compare players to each other, sometimes it's easy to forget how good even the worst NBA players are. Like, we make fun of Lonzo for refusing to drive and giving up on defense this year and shooting FTs like garbage, but he'd wash all of us in a game without breaking a sweat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I would be shocked if any NBA player shot less than about 75% when they're alone in a gym.

Just like how every NBA player shoots 90% at the rim when they're alone in a gym, and 60% from 3.

I think because we compare players to each other, sometimes it's easy to forget how good even the worst NBA players are. Like, we make fun of Lonzo for refusing to drive and giving up on defense this year and shooting FTs like garbage, but he'd wash all of us in a game without breaking a sweat.

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Yeah, I would watch Austin for an hour straight and he would shoot 85-90% most days.

Personally, I am an excellent FT shooter and to me it is all routine. I need a routine that I do every time and then I need to clear my head and just let muscle memory take over. If I think or I dont do my routine, I miss at a high rate, regardless of the form of my actual shot

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

So, sincere question -- Do you think that Lonzo hasnt worked much on his free throws throughout his life? Like, significantly less than most guards and that is why his percentage is low?

Because I would bet he practices more per year than almost anyone. When I would cover the Pels, Austin Rivers practiced them more than anyone on the team. Didnt matter. And he probably practices even more and the percentage still continues to go down

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It’s more me hoping his percentage improves. Wasn’t meant to be taken literally as I’m sure he is practicing them.

Physiological changes occur in your body in relation to stress/anxiety/cortisol levels. Intriguingly, this emotion manifests itself with the most diversity from individual to individual when compared to other emotions. Some people carry their stress in the head with migraine headaches, others their jaws, some their shoulders and neck, could be chest, stomach, the extremities. There tends to always be some muscles tensing up somewhere.

A lot of what I do is studying client's physiological responses to emotions and using changes in behavior routines, muscles movements, posture, etc to help control emotions through neurotransmitter releases.

Free throws are absolutely all routine and muscle movement. Different players will have different muscles respond to different emotions. I carry my stress in my shoulders and neck. Stress will absolutely change my FT form. To someone that carries stress in their jaws or head, not as much. Some people can work their entire lives and never fully get rid of their responses to stress. They can only reduce it. But it's also so hard to simulate that stress when practicing in a gym......so they can practice all day/every day on their own but when the stress kicks in it feels like they're using someone else's arms.

Interesting stuff.

Can’t wait!

.@DmillerKY back in the lab �� pic.twitter.com/XREyCiPW36

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 3, 2020

Quote:

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Physiological changes occur in your body in relation to stress/anxiety/cortisol levels. Intriguingly, this emotion manifests itself with the most diversity from individual to individual when compared to other emotions. Some people carry their stress in the head with migraine headaches, others their jaws, some their shoulders and neck, could be chest, stomach, the extremities. There tends to always be some muscles tensing up somewhere.

A lot of what I do is studying client's physiological responses to emotions and using changes in behavior routines, muscles movements, posture, etc to help control emotions through neurotransmitter releases.

Free throws are absolutely all routine and muscle movement. Different players will have different muscles respond to different emotions. I carry my stress in my shoulders and neck. Stress will absolutely change my FT form. To someone that carries stress in their jaws or head, not as much. Some people can work their entire lives and never fully get rid of their responses to stress. They can only reduce it. But it's also so hard to simulate that stress when practicing in a gym......so they can practice all day/every day on their own but when the stress kicks in it feels like they're using someone else's arms.

Interesting stuff.

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I wonder if the team (or if any team, I guess) has invested in a sports psychologist to work with the guys? I don't consider myself at all qualified to say if those guys are legitimate operators by and large, or if there's a ton of quackery going around (or potentially both, with some legitimate operators + a bunch of nuts), but there are a number of athletes and competitors in other fields who have sworn by them, so even if it's only a placebo effect it could potentially be worth it.

The one who comes to mind immediately is (and yes, I know snooker is not basketball :hihi:) Ronnie O'Sullivan, who was a snooker player famed in the 2000s for being exceptionally talented but also a bit of a headcase whose performance was subject to huge swings in quality depending on his mental state at the time. He famously started seeing a sports psychologist in 2011 and has been much more stable and consistent since despite starting to enter his 40s, the period of a snooker players' career where most guys start falling off the cliff.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

Yeah, I would watch Austin for an hour straight and he would shoot 85-90% most days.

Personally, I am an excellent FT shooter and to me it is all routine. I need a routine that I do every time and then I need to clear my head and just let muscle memory take over. If I think or I dont do my routine, I miss at a high rate, regardless of the form of my actual shot

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You saying this has me doing flashbacks to Jeff Hornaceck, Reggie Miller, and Jason Kidd. Those guys had some funky rituals, but those rituals got the job done.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

Yeah, I would watch Austin for an hour straight and he would shoot 85-90% most days.

Personally, I am an excellent FT shooter and to me it is all routine. I need a routine that I do every time and then I need to clear my head and just let muscle memory take over. If I think or I dont do my routine, I miss at a high rate, regardless of the form of my actual shot

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I think not enough attention is applied to the mechanics of the release. You can get everything else in your routine correct but if you let that ball slip at the exact moment of release it's over. Or release too early or too late. Or the ball leans one way or the other. The release mechanics are key IMO

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

I hate when people pronounced it New Or-Leens.

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Don't we pronounce it Or-leens Parish? Just sayin'....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Can’t wait!

.@DmillerKY back in the lab �� pic.twitter.com/XREyCiPW36

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 3, 2020

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Is Miller ready to participate in late July or is he still in recovery?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NOEngineer

Don't we pronounce it Or-leens Parish? Just sayin'....

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Yes, but you seem to be implying that pronunciations in New Orleans make even a small hint of sense

Today is Zion Williamson's 20th birthday.

Zion was averaging 23.6 points on 59% shooting this season prior to the stoppage of play.

The only other rookie to ever average 20 PPG on 55% shooting is Shaquille O’Neal in 1992-93 season. pic.twitter.com/C1dV1QrCej

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 6, 2020

BI on going to the bubble: "I didn't look at it like I had a choice, I just want to play basketball"

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) July 6, 2020

Brandon Ingram says his blood clot scare in his past combined w/ the explosion of coronavirus cases in Orlando isn't making him hesitate at all about playing. Feels that particular medical issue is thing of the past & will no longer be a concern provided he trains correctly, etc.

— Oleh Kosel (@OlehKosel) July 6, 2020