The NBA litness test: David Fizdale's firing is tearing apart the NBA
Welcome back to the NBA litness test, in which we parse over the social media happenings around the world’s greatest professional sports league (don’t @ me) and determine, what is, and what isn’t lit.
David Fizdale’s firing rocks the NBA
The Memphis Grizzlies’ decision to fire second-year coach David Fizdale after a 7-12 start sent shockwaves throughout NBA Twitter.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who worked with Fizdale in Miami, and Vince Carter, who was on Fizdale’s Memphis squad, immediately took to Twitter once the news broke.
I need some answers. Feels like my man was a fall guy
— LeBron James (@KingJames) November 27, 2017
I need answers!!! WTF https://t.co/z39oNRQok0
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) November 27, 2017
Wow smh♂️ just wow!!!
— Vince Carter (@mrvincecarter15) November 27, 2017
Later in the day, Stephen Jackson used the opportunity to take an Instagram shot at Memphis forward Chandler Parsons and his $94 million contract.
A post shared by Stephen Jackson (@_stak5_) on Nov 27, 2017 at 4:03pm PST
Parsons fired back in the comments, writing “NBA is a brotherhood. Stop hatin,” to which Jackson responded with the ultimate burn, “u [sic] not my brother,” before wishing him good health.
A post shared by Stephen Jackson (@_stak5_) on Nov 27, 2017 at 6:03pm PST
Litness test: Oh, it’s definitely lit. But, as we’re all searching for some definitive answers, it’s going to take some time to see just how lit it is. Keep your eyes on Marc Gasol’s social media platforms.
Jordan Bell reminds the Bulls what they’re missing
Jordan Bell is just a rookie, but his troll game is that of a seasoned vet.
The Golden State Warriors rookie made his first-career start against the Chicago Bulls, who traded him on draft night for $3.5 million, and he made sure to remind them of what they’re missing out on.
Jordan Bell w/ the cash considerations gesture during intros pic.twitter.com/Ajm9SC4ZKp
— AP (@Ananth_Pandian) November 25, 2017
It started with the money gesture during introductions and continued following some signature slams.
This is what happens when you trade @1JordanBell on draft night. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/cAkVQij8Wx
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) November 25, 2017
Jordan Bell makes a money gesture and says 3.5 after the and 1!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/PMQ5MljiLx
— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD2_) November 25, 2017
Yeah, he’s yelling “3.5” in reference to the amount of money the Warriors sent to Chicago for him.
Jordan Bell on the money celebration: "I wanted to see how cash consideration was playing over there"
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 25, 2017
Litness level: It is indeed lit, but haven’t Bulls’ fans suffered enough this year?
Giannis Antetokounmpo curses out an assistant coach
Who knew Giannis had this in him? Late in Saturday night’s disappointing loss to the Utah Jazz, the Greek Freak let his emotions show after a frustrating series of events. During the timeout called by Jason Kidd, things got heated between Antetokounmpo and assistant coach Sean Sweeney.
In the above video, Antetokounmpo appears to tell Sweeney: “I’ll [expletive] you up,” multiple times, which is quite a change from when we first met him as a precocious young teen discovering the magic of a smoothie.
Litness test: It appears as if we’ll have to wait a bit to witness the true birth of Darth Giannis, as this incident seems to be nothing more than a heat-of-the-moment outburst.
“Me and Sweeney we’re OK, that’s what we do — we fight, we argue, but at the end of the day, we both want to win,” Antetokounmpo told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I don’t think there’s anybody from this team who wants to win more than Sweeney and me and [Kidd], of course.”
Thus, it is NOT lit.
Joel Embiid ethers Jalen Rose
Do. Not. Come. For. Joel. Embiid.
Jalen Rose learned the lesson the hard way this past week. After torching the Lakers, Embiid joked that his conditioning level was at 69 percent.
The next day, Rose took some time on his “Jalen and Jacoby” show to call Embiid’s gesture “disrespectful.”
Later that week, Embiid used his appearance on SportsCenter to drop the hammer on Rose.
If you’ll recall, in January 2006, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the second-most in NBA history, on the Toronto Raptors while being largely guarded by Rose.
Litness level: My god. Why’d you have to do him like that?! This breaks the scale.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook get at it
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook spent the entire week leading up to Wednesday’s Warriors – Oklahoma City Thunder matchup, Durant’s second trip to Oklahoma since he left for the Bay Area, trying to convince us it was “just another game.”
Yeah, OK. Suuuuuuuuuuure.
All of that went out the window when the ball was tipped. Westbrook went straight for the heart, dropping 34 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and four steals in the Thunder’s 108-91 win.
Tensions finally boiled over in the third quarter, when the former teammates went forehead to forehead.
KD & Westbrook forehead to forehead pic.twitter.com/ORdC5CAfpY
— Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) November 23, 2017
Yeah this totally seems like just another game.
Litness level: You and I and everyone with a pulse knows that it is extremely lit and there is an enormous amount of bad blood between the ex-teammates, but they both doubled-down on their denials. Come on! You’re not fooling anyone! Just give into the beef already.
Honorable mentions
Dwyane Wade for trying to turn back the clock
LeBron & D-Wade must have thought this was the Heat days pic.twitter.com/T75zeVtfmw
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 28, 2017
Yikes.
Gabrielle Union for roasting her man
Friendly reminder that @DwyaneWade is 107 years young #GeritolGent https://t.co/6o2QPvfR7y
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) November 28, 2017
Gregg Popovich for continuing to be Gregg Popovich
#Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich told the ref to kiss his a$$ before getting ejected
(via @clippittv) pic.twitter.com/pwWOLJisPr
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) November 28, 2017
LeBron James for his love of wine
A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on Nov 26, 2017 at 9:14am PST
Steve Kerr for his excellent running gag of bringing out toys to play with while waiting for reporters to tweet out the latest lineup update.
Steve Kerr's prop today: a SLINKY (btw Omri Casspi will start) pic.twitter.com/w0ZhEdXRrZ
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 19, 2017
We’ve seen a slinky, a Rubik’s cube and a yo-yo.
Enes Kanter for continuing to do the absolute most
Enes Kanter, who sat with back spasms, took this loss hard: "If you’re looking for who to blame, you guys can blame me. Because I was just here like a little baby trying to get my back right. So it’s tough to see my teammates battling in a war, and I’m just here like a crybaby."
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) November 25, 2017
Robin Lopez for having the strongest hashtag game in the league
A post shared by Robin Lopez (@gustogummi88) on Nov 22, 2017 at 4:48pm PST
Jordan Clarkson for maybe, possibly, shading Blake Griffin …?
Jordan Clarkson is a savage #PettyWarz @World_Wide_Wob pic.twitter.com/CzhQfF8SKD
— 0x NBA All Star (@Carnage45) November 26, 2017
Team account tweets of the week
The league is on the phone and said we’ll “more than likely win” social account of the year. They said they just need a picture of our social team. We can’t decide if they’re asking for too much…♂️
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 25, 2017
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) November 23, 2017
No, guys…
The red is on the *LEFT* side of the pinwheel. https://t.co/mZC836kwph
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) November 22, 2017
It’s @Dame_Lillard range, @espn. pic.twitter.com/IBKJFwlJ8i
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) November 24, 2017
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 420 degrees
2. Combine eggs, pumpkin puree, sweetened condensed milk, and all spice and mix until combined
3. Pour filling into pie crust
4. Bake at 420 for 15 mins. Reduce heat to 350 bake for 35 mins or until filling is set pic.twitter.com/jg9R4kWsOe— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) November 23, 2017
Score after 3: pic.twitter.com/hGLBiERGYF
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) November 26, 2017