NBA Week In Review: McCollum goes missing, Russell goes wild and more
Welcome back to the Week in Review! Our two-week holiday vacation/Making A Murderer binge-watch is finally over. We're coming back strong this week with clerical errors, Russell Westbrook and Kanye West on LeBron.
Game of the Week
So I still can’t really get over what happened in the Blazers vs. Clippers game on Wednesday night. C.J. McCollum, who has been Portland’s second-best player all season, missed the game because he was accidentally listed as inactive. He legitimately missed the game because of a clerical error. How is this possible? Are the forms for listing players active/inactive different depending on the arena? How would you not notice if the form looked different? Did someone fill out the form incorrectly and then ask Terry Stotts to sign it? Is that person a saboteur? I’ve honestly never heard of this happening before. There has to be something slightly more to this story, right? Alas, the Clippers ended up dominating the Blazers. And I thought SI missed a big chance to have Lee Jenkins write a story in which he follows a player who was accidentally listed as inactive.
• 2015 IN REVIEW: Best stories | Top moments | Craziest events | Sneakers
The All-NBA Live Team
The All-Star game is rapidly approaching, so it’s as good a time as any for an All-something team. Here’s my All-Time-NBA-Live-Random-Players-Who-I-Could-Low-Key-Dominate-With starting five:
PG Bobby Jackson, Kings
SG Cuttino Mobley, Rockets
SF Peja Stojakovic, Kings
PF Austin Croshere, Pacers
C Raef Lafrentz, Mavericks
Tweet(s) of the Week
I want to live in a world where a) Kanye West calls me fam and b) receiving a “billi not to run away” could be considered a downplay.
Vine(s) of the Week
Dirk Nowitzki, looking old:
#https://vine.co/v/ihaD33Oqtlp
Dwyane Wade, looking like the old Dwyane Wade:
Russell.
Completely unrelated to basketball and more than a week old, but this is hysterical:
Roundup
Kawhi Leonard is out of this world ... How the Toronto Raptors will try to replace DeMarre Carroll ... Kemba Walker transformed his jump shot, kickstarting the Hornets’ offense ... Tamir Rice’s mom said it’s “quite sad” LeBron James has not spoken out about her son ... Why the Lakers need to cater to their youngsters ... Bob Ryan went all the way in on Mark Jackson ... This is a bad Denver Nuggets hat.
The Ben Golliver YouTube Corner
I’m not sure if my man Ben even uses YouTube anymore, but it’s too late in the game for a name change. Anyway, here are some highlights from a 1993 celebrity dunk contest featuring Ken Griffey Jr., Deion Sanders, Mike Conley Sr. and more.
The Fashion Outlet
This is your reminder that Russell Westbrook is, in fact, more woke than all of us, and his outfits are dope. First of all, that’s a sick hat. Secondly, if you and I could throw up triple doubles with ease and generally destroy the NBA, then you and I would also have the confidence to wear a cowboy-style poncho before said destruction. Russell Westbrook is incredible and should never change, unless he’s about to throw on another great outfit.
The One-Question Interview
Off the court only. Rarely just one question. This week, Warriors forward Harrison Barnes.
Rohan Nadkarni:Whether is was your birthday or Christmas or whatever, what was your favorite gift you received as a child?
Harrison Barnes: My favorite gift growing up was a pair of basketball shoes. You know, at the time we didn’t have a lot of money, so you got one pair of shoes to last you the whole year. And I remember on Christmas day opening up these brand new pair of kicks. Can’t say the name because I’m sponsored by a different company but, looking at these brand new kicks, I just had the biggest smile on my face because I was just so happy. Not only am I on the basketball team now and I can play, I’m going to look fresh on the court, I got these dope kicks. That was probably my favorite gift.
Rohan Nadkarni:Do you remember how old you were when you got the shoes?
Harrison Barnes: Yeah, I was going into sixth grade, because that was the first time I played AAU basketball.
