Doing Some LeBron Math

Photo: CNN

If you don’t have the internet, you may not have heard that LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time NBA scoring record last night.

An incredible feat of both talent and longevity, Kareem was attendance in the third quarter when LeBron heroically rose above Kenrich Williams and hit a jump shot that put him over the previous record of 38,387 career points.

That’s a lot of points. We wanted to put in perspective what kind of numbers we’re talking about here:

  • Incredibly, after all these points, he’s only won one season scoring title. That’s the same number of times he returned to Cleveland to bring the Cavs a championship.
  • LeBron’s played for three different franchises, the Cavs, Heat, and Lakers. If you divide his total career points (38,390) and divide it by the number of teams he’s played for, you get 12,796…or the same number of teammates LeBron has traded away in his career.
  • LBJ has deservedly made the All-Star game 19 out of his 20 NBA seasons; that’s an astonishing 95% mark…that matches the same percentage of all of us that laughed at the “Maybe It’s Me” tweet he sent last week when the Lakers didn’t go out and grab Kyrie Irving.
  • The King has won four NBA championships in his incredible career. If you multiply his career points by the amount of championships won, you get 153,560…or the same amount of rings he promised to bring to Miami during that introduction party he had with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

This is obviously a huge accomplishment for LeBron, who has done plenty of dumb stuff to make fun of him about as well as great things to be admired. Times like these where career achievements are met are just the perfect vehicle to make fun of him for it all.

Sunday State of Mind: October 31st-November 6th

Photo: Wallpaper Access

We had the last sports equinox of the year this week. That and more in our latest SSM.

World Series is over, new kings have been crowned
Astros win another one, and are parade bound
No trash can drama this time, at least no rumors yet
If you were to wager though, might not be a bad bet

Some major programs going down in college football
Alabama lost again, Tennessee also did fall
Clemson also lost to an unranked Notre Dame
This part of the football season never comes up lame

We got vintage Tom Brady against the LA Rams
Still trying to beat the notion that the Bucs are shams
Come back win, fourth quarter drive, TB played the right cards
Also became the first QB with 100k yards

Other end of the spectrum, one guy just getting started
Justin Fields running the ball at a level uncharted
Broke the rushing record for a QB in a game
One hundred seventy-eight yards, left the field aflame

The biggest story of the week, what else can we say
The Nets made the right move by keeping Kyrie at bay
Terrible post, terrible week, he doesn’t seem to care
The constant act this guy gives us is starting to wear

Steve Nash’s Cover Letter

Photo: Fadeaway World

The news that was seemingly coming for weeks became real on Tuesday. As many expected, and some wanted, Steve Nash was “relieved of his duties” as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.

The Nash/KD/Kyrie/Harden/Simmons experiment is officially a failure. In the rare time the Nets were at full strength during this weird expedition, there were flashes. But injuries, egos, and whatever the hell Kyrie does on a day to day basis was just too much, and Nash paid the price.

Because we like Steve Nash here at UDS, we partnered with the fine folks at Resume Genius to build a cover letter for Coach Nash to use while he looks for his next landing spot:

Best of luck, Steve. We look forward to what’s next. Whatever that is, there is 0% chance it’ll be worse than Brooklyn.

Sunday State of Mind: August 8th-August 14th

The weekend and summer are winding down…take a breath and enjoy this week’s SSM.

Fernando Tatis Jr., will he ever play again
Almost back from injury, coming out of the den
PEDs and injuries, all self inflicted
Eighty game suspension, the shortstop’s been evicted

NFL preseason’s here, football is so back
America’s favorite sport, just as good as a snack
Always a welcome sight to see the helmets and the pads
Sundays are now booked, watching all the lads

It’s getting really ugly with the Brooklyn Nets
Acquiring KD and Kyrie, maybe some regrets
KD’s getting antsy, wants changes at the top
Something has to change, or this will never stop

Kyrie Irving’s Wallet Takes a $50,000 Shot

Photo: @Basketball_SK on Twitter

Kyrie Irving had an absolute day on Sunday.

In Game 1 of the Brooklyn Nets’ first round playoff series against the Boston Celtics, Irving brought it all, on court and off. For the uninitiated, there’s a bit of history between Irving and his former team. It all came to a head Sunday when Celtics fans went at Irving and he responded. On the court, he played 42 minutes and scored 39 points (all while fasting for Ramadan, mind you).

Off the court may have been a more impressive showing of not giving a shit; cursing out Celtics fans, making cry baby faces, and letting numerous freedom rockets fly in their faces, as seen above.

Unfortunately, because we can’t have any fun, Kyrie got a $50k fine for giving the fans exactly what they wanted.

In the long run, this won’t hurt a guy who’s made a shade under $160M in his career. In the short term, Kyrie may have to scale back on the budget a bit. Which got us thinking, what will one of the smoothest guards in the NBA have to hold off on now that he’s $50k lighter in the bank account?

I think we can assume things are going to be OK financially for everyone’s favorite weirdo. That sage budget’s taking a real hit though.

Sunday State of Mind: February 21st-February 27th

We’re in a thinner time in the sports schedule then we’d all like, but that won’t stop us from enjoying what we can and waxing poetic in this week’s Sunday State of Mind.

Bad faith negotiations in the MLB
The lockout continues, something you hate to see
The owners and the players are way too far apart
More and more looking like Opening Day late start

Moving to basketball, James Harden holy shit
First two games in Philly, seems like a real nice fit
Double double Friday, triple dub today
Joel Embiid’s new teammate certainly came to play

Some major scoring weekends in the association
Ja, Bam, Joel, Kyrie, numbers full of inflation
46, 36, 37, 38 are point totals we saw
Offensive performances leaving fans in awe

Georgetown Hoyas basketball, program’s a dumpster fire
For head coach Patrick Ewing this was a job that he desired
Eighteen straight losses, haven’t won since 2021
Two more games for the Hoyas and the season’s finally done

Nick Wright Just Dropped a Kyrie Irving Bomb

The Brooklyn Nets have a tentative reservation with the Larry O’Brien Trophy scheduled for next June. They are the odds on favorite to win the NBA championship at most reputable sports books, and have the best Big 3 in basketball.

With more time to gel, an already well-connected Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving are likely to run through the Eastern Conference next season, barring injury or jackass-ery.

So, for some reason, Nick Wright woke up this morning and chose violence:


What?

This could very well be a (smart) leak by Kyrie and his team, who have yet to get an extension signed with Brooklyn. He’s currently en route to becoming a free agent at the end of next season. At this point, it seems like things are trending towards The Nets and Kyrie sitting down and getting a deal done. This may just be the first round of unofficial contract negotiations: “If you don’t sign me, other teams want me, or I’ll just retire.” Heady play.

Or, if this is actually legit, and Nick Wright and his gang of sources nailed this scoop, would Brooklyn call Kyrie’s bluff? Hopefully not, because it’s truly a joy to watch Kyrie and his style of play. Only time will tell.

Sunday State of Mind: March 1st-March 7th

NBA All-Star Sunday is our focus this week. We recap an enjoyable Sunday night, event by event, in this week’s SSM.

The premiere event in our basketball binge
Was the Taco Bell sponsored Skills Challenge
A long shot winner, Domantas Sabonis
Dribbling, passing, shooting, guy could not miss

Next event up, the three point contest
From behind the arc, let’s see who’s best
Trey’s were falling, it was a tree point flurry
An obvious winner here, the man, Steph Curry

The dunk contest was the halftime show
We had Obi Toppin and two names you won’t know
It was Anfernee Simons of Blazers fame
Who won the contest, and cemented his name

Now the main event, Team Lebron vs. KD
Alley oops, no defense, and plenty of three’s
A glorified scrimmage, but it’s always fun
170-150 was the score, Team Lebron won

Another ASG in the books, a way different look
Great job by the NBA, and all who partook
A normal All-Star weekend next year, fingers crossed
Without events like this, sports fans would be lost