This Magic Moment
At some point in his life, Earvin Johnson Jr. became Magic Johnson. I was a kid when Magic played in his prime, and his nick matched what he brought on the court. There’s an undeniable moment when you realize you’re watching something special, something new, something that doesn’t make sense.
I remember watching Steph Curry first igniting fire in a playoff series against the LA Clippers before the Golden State Warriors became the Steph Curry Golden State Warriors of legend. My mind struggled to comprehend what I was witnessing.
Whether it was Michael Jordan always (seemingly anyway) bringing the Chicago Bulls to a win, no matter how far they were down through the first 36 minutes, or Kobe Bryant doing Kobe things with the Los Angeles Lakers. Or the pure forceful dominance of Shaquille O’Neal, another series-defining game-winner from Robert Horry, etc. Similarly, the standout power and skill of LeBron James, whom I saw in an exhibition game at UCLA when he was a high schooler, made it immediately evident that we were looking at something entirely new. The Steve Nash Phoenix Suns and the waves of offense that would overwhelm teams, and so on…
That takes us to Victor Wembanyama against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. Playoff magic at its best. I said, “No, no, no,” on that pull-up three, thinking it was a bad shot that would end the Spurs’ fight, but he sank it confidently as Curry did previously from almost the same exact spot.
Wembanyama is a magical player. They’re few and far between. That was one of the most thrilling, hard-fought playoff games I’ve seen, and I’ve been watching a long, long time now.
I’m excited for what’s ahead. The NBA needs that kind of magic every generation, and it was on full display in an instant classic.
I had fun putting this together at Bleacher Report: Predicting the 10 Biggest NBA Contracts to Be Handed Out This Offseason. Normally, I attack each topic separately, but here it’s lumped together with veteran and Rookie-Scale extensions, new contracts, etc.
Historically, I’ve found my contract predictions to be too conservative. I’ve tried to offset that by going with larger deals I’ve had in the past. I always think teams will course correct, but they continue to exceed what I think the market should be. I don’t mind that, as I work to support many agent friends trying to get the most from their players. Of course, that can’t influence my predictions. I try to use precedence as my guide, so I’m going slightly more inflated than I would have done in the past. Still, it may not be enough!
Off topic, but obviously super important to me: my youngest daughter released a new single. Give it a listen (or 1,000 listens), like, share, subscribe, support young artists!!!!