Five things: Devin Booker, Eric Bledsoe, the Reds, NIL and ESPN controversy
Five things of interest, if only to me, for a Tuesday:
1. Devin Booker goes for an NBA title ring
The NBA Finals begin Tuesday night, as does Devin Booker’s opportunity to join a coveted club that includes just a few Kentucky basketball members.
Since 2008-09, just four ex-Wildcats have been a part of NBA championship teams. The four: Josh Harrellson on the 2012-13 Miami Heat; Jodie Meeks on the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors; Anthony Davis and Rajon Rondo on the 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers.
Harrellson played just six games for the Heat. Meeks played just eight games for the Raptors. Rondo played 48 games and Davis 62 last season for the Lakers, who won the title at the NBA’s bubble in Orlando.
Meanwhile, Booker played 67 of the 72 regular-season games for the Phoenix Suns, who play the Milwaukee Bucks for the title, starting Tuesday at 9 p.m. on ABC. Booker didn’t just play, of course. He is a star. Booker averaged 25.6 points per game during the regular campaign and is averaging 27 points per game in the playoffs.
The former Cat (2014-15) scored 40 points as the Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers in the opening game of the Western Conference finals. After that, he scored 20, 15, 25, 31 and 22 points as the Suns knocked off the Clippers 4-2 to earn a berth against the Bucks.
In his six seasons with the Suns, Booker has averaged 13.8, 22.1, 24.9, 26.6, 26.6 and 25.6 points per game.
Here’s the schedule for the NBA Finals:
- Game 1: Tue, July 6 - 9 p.m. at Phoenix
- Game 2: Thu, July 8 - 9 p.m. at Phoenix
- Game 3: Sun, July 11 - 8 p.m. at Milwaukee
- Game 4: Wed, July 14 - 9 p.m. at Milwaukee
- Game 5: Sat., July 17 - 9 p.m. at Phoenix
- Game 6: Tue., July 20 - 9 p.m. at Milwaukee
- Game 7: Thu, July 22 - 9 p.m. at Phoenix
[US men seeking fourth consecutive Olympic basketball gold]
2. That Eric Bledsoe-Jrue Holiday trade
Back in November, the Bucks traded former Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe to the New Orleans Pelicans in a four-team deal in which Milwaukee received Jrue Holiday from New Orleans.
Holiday, a 31-year-old guard out of UCLA, has turned out to be an important piece for the Eastern Conference champs. The 6-foot-3 Holiday has averaged 17.6 points per game in the playoffs.
Without injured star Giannis Antetokounmpo, Holiday scored 25 points in the Bucks’ 123-112 win over visiting Atlanta in Game 6. Holiday then scored 27 points on Saturday night as Milwaukee closed out the series with a 118-107 win in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, Bledsoe averaged 12.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists for New Orleans, who missed the playoffs after going 31-41.
3. ESPN’s Rachel Nichols/Maria Taylor controversy
With ABC/ESPN preparing to telecast the finals, the New York Times broke the story of upheaval at ESPN over an in-house video involving Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor.
Nichols was reportedly caught on tape alleging that Taylor was picked over Nichols to serve as host of the 2020 finals coverage because ESPN was “feeling pressure” on diversity.
“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball,” Nichols said on a secretly recorded tape in July 2020. “If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity — which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it — like, go for it. Just find it somewhere else. You are not going to find it from me or taking my thing away.”
Nichols, who is white, said she tried to apologize to Taylor, who is Black. “Maria has chosen not to respond to those offers, which is completely fair and a decision I respect,” Nichols told the Times.
Nichols apologized publicly on Monday during a segment on “The Jump,” the NBA discussion show she hosts on ESPN.
4. Cincinnati Reds on a roll
The weather is hot. So are the Cincinnati Reds. Their 6-2 win at the Kansas City Royals on Monday night was the Reds’ fifth straight victory. David Bell’s club is now 44-40 and in second place in the National League Central. Cincinnati sits six games behind first place Milwaukee.
What has changed? Even with Lucas Sims and Tejay Antone on the injured list, the Reds’ bullpen has pitched much better of late. The pen was a big key in Cincinnati’s weekend sweep of the Chicago Cubs. The Reds won the three games by scores of 2-1, 3-2 and 3-2.
Monday night, Ryan Hendrix, Josh Osich and Sean Doolittle combined for three innings of two-hit, shutout baseball. Since June 25, the Reds’ pen has allowed four earned runs in 34 innings for an ERA of 1.06.
5. Could college athletes get $25,000 for interviews?
This from Andrew Brandt’s “Sunday Seven” newsletter this week, in which the former Green Bay Packers executive and current Villanova law professor examined NIL:
“What we are already seeing about NIL … It is happening. When the bell went off at midnight on July 1, there were a myriad of deals in place for college athletes around the country. Companies like Opendorse, providing players one-touch, frictionless social media branding opportunities, estimates it activated over 1,000 deals just on July 1. Two twin women’s basketball players from Fresno State, Haley and Hanna Cavinder, scored deals with Boost Mobile and Six Star Pro Nutrition. Miami quarterback D’Eriq King inked a deal with College Hunks Hauling Junk. Two Nebraska basketball players started a podcast. There are Cameos galore. I heard that a major college football program’s flagship radio station will pick five players for weekly radio station appearances throughout the season and pay each of them $25,000. And that was just on Day One. Welcome to the wild wild West of NIL.”
This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 8:10 AM.
