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: April 4th-April 10th

Photo: Masters.com

Hello friends…it’s Sunday. More importantly, Sunday at The Masters. One of sports most beautiful, peaceful events deserves prose just as alluring and tranquil. That’s where SSM comes into play.

Big Scottie Scheffler, got his green jacket
Beat the entire field, won the golfer’s bracket
The number one ranked player, lived up to his grade
Adding to his closet, and also got paid

Of course the other story, Eldrick “Tiger” Woods
Bringing all of us back to our nostalgic childhoods
Results weren’t exactly there, but he finished the race
It’s a special thing seeing that guy at that place

Onto other sports, baseball is back!
Summer just around the corner, lookin’ like a snack
Ready for some ballgames, hot dogs pretzels and beer
After an offseason and lockout, we’re glad baseball’s here

Nikola Jokic, big man can do it all
Shoot, rebound, and pass, he knows his basketball
Became the first to score 2k, and grab 1k rebounds
Also 500 assists, MVP all but crowned

Sunday State of Mind: March 28th-April 3rd

We’ve reached a pretty great part of the sports calendar. Top flight college basketball, NBA heating up, baseball right around the corner, and more. It’s all here in this week’s Sunday State of Mind.

Final Four weekend, blue blood city
Tar Heels made Duke’s weekend shitty
Kansas beat ‘Nova, the final game’s set
UNC and KU, lock in those bets

Let’s not forget the women, guess who’s back
South Carolina starting a trophy stack
Took out Louisville, then beat up UConn
Lady Gamecocks have been nothing but on

Can you feel it folks, baseball’s almost here
Hot dogs, popcorn, pretzels, beer
Warm weather’s coming, so grab your gloves
It’s baseball season and we’re in love

NBA regular season is winding down
Almost playoff time, handing out a new crown
Two big name teams are in serious trouble
Nets and Lakers down bad, need wins on the double

Sunday State of Mind: February 28th-March 6th

Photo: New Scientist

It’s Sunday, there were sports this week, and we’re in a certain State of Mind.

A special week in Indy, the NFL Combine
A chance for NFL prospects to jump, run, and shine
Some major workout numbers, athletic freaks galore
NFL coaches and GMs jaws dropping to the floor

Surprise news out of Dallas about one of their best
Amari Cooper likely gone, Cowboys fans must be stressed
The wideout’s too expensive for Jerry Jones’ liking
So now their number one receiver will be gone, sent hiking

Still in a holding pattern in the MLB
The lockout continues as both sides will not agree
On a new CBA, games continue to be lost
The longer this goes on, more baseball games get tossed

We talked last week about big scores in the NBA
Repeating this week, Jayson Tatum and LBJ
JT scored 54 tonight, Bron 56 on Saturday
Defenses sat on the sideline and watched the big dogs play

We’ve got our first few tickets punched in the NCAA
March Madness is so close, let’s get this underway
Murray State, Longwood, and Loyola Chicago
You know what that means; Sister Jean’s ready to roll!

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

Sunday State of Mind: February 14th-February 20th

With our Super Bowl hangovers cured, it’s time to move along in the sports calendar. This week’s SSM reviews the week that was in sports.

Baseball’s continued locked out, two sides can not agree
Between the player’s union and owners from the MLB
Spring Training scheduled for last week, of course that’s a no go
Hopefully resolve comes soon so we can see The Show

NBA All-Star Weekend, they always do it right
Skills, three point, and dunk contest happened Saturday night
Cavs, KAT, and Obi, winners respectively
Team LeBron beat Team Durant tonight on TNT

College basketball fight! But not between the players
Michigan’s Juwan Howard was the slap conveyor
Wisconsin winning big, but called a late timeout
Pissed off the Wolverines and lead to the postgame coach bout

What If NBA Trades Were Clothing Items? Untimed Down’s NBA Trade Deadline Special

Photo: NBA.com

Deadline Day in the NBA has come and gone. With it, countless useless names moving from city to city that will have little to no impact on anything.

BUT, there are a few moves every year that draw interest. For every Daniel Thies or George Hill there’s a Pau Gasol or Carmelo Anthony. This year was no different; the league was dressed head to toe with deadline deals.

Another trade deadline day for the league with the most fashion forward athletes did not disappoint. With that in mind, what would some of the trades we saw today be if they were clothing items?

Kings/Bucks/Clippers/Pistons: Donte DiVincenzo, Trey Lyles, Josh Jackson, Serge Ibaka, two second round picks, Rodney Hood, Semi Ojele, Marvin Bagley III:

Rainbow Toe Socks

Photo: The Socks Emporium

A lot going on for something that is essentially useless.

It doesn’t really matter which players are ending up where in this deal. Just an absolute assembly of disarray happening here for a considerable amount of impracticability.

Mavericks/Wizards: Kristaps Porzingas for Spencer Dinwiddie:

Propeller Hat

Photo: CGTrader

These have to be two of the funnest names to say in the NBA; and they were traded for each other.

Spencer Dinwiddie sounds like a cartoon protagonist from a 90’s Nickelodeon show. Kristaps Porzingas sounds like a sommelier who takes his job way too seriously.

Just fun all around.

Nets/76ers: James Harden for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first round picks

Fleece Sweatshirt

Photo: Russell Athletic

Look at those names above. The Nets gave up an aging forward who can’t stay in once place for too long and got a superstar point guard, a three point sniper, a top five rebounder, and reloaded on draft picks.

There’s nothing else to say here; the 76ers got fleeced.

One more year of Woj bombs and Shams slams at their peak deadline day performance. Now we have the buyout market, and a flurry of other big name moves that likely won’t change anything down the stretch either. This league!

Sunday State of Mind: December 6th-December 12th

Photo: SteemKR

We are in full blown holiday season, and the gift of sports keeps on giving. We recap the past seven days of presents in this week’s SSM.

NFL afternoon slate, full of overtime
Bucs and Bills, Niners and Bengals, teams all in their prime
San Francisco, Tampa Bay, both teams with the dubs
All four teams might make the playoffs, none of them are scrubs

Another great week in Jacksonville
For Urban Meyer, dude is not chill
He called his staff losers, things not going well
Looking to move to Florida? Urban may be ready to sell

Big COVID outbreak for the Chicago Bulls
Nine players in quarantine, protocol list is full
Hard to keep momentum going with a thing like this
Hopefully all get well soon or Bulls fans will be pissed

7 Uses for the Next Life of the “Staples Center” Sign

Photo: @LegionHoops on Twitter

A sad day for Lakers, Clippers, Sparks, and Kings fans.

On Monday, pictures surfaced of the famous red blocked “Staples Center” signage being removed from the arena in Los Angeles. The de-signing took place after it was announced the venue would undergo a name change to Crypto.com Arena, with an official name change marked for Christmas Day.

We’re talking Hollywood here, land of entertainment and retreads. So, there has to be some kind of creative venture for these now-homeless letters to stick around LA, right?

What kind of next life could be in store for our old friends S-T-A-P-L-E-S-C-E-N-T-E-R?

Escapees

Escape rooms have really come on in popularity in the past few years. If you’re looking to get into the industry, what better way to get some foot traffic through your doors than naming your business “Escapees,” all while flaunting the caveat that the letters came from Staples Center?

Etcetera

Can we be done with the phrase “Thrift Shop?” For what is indeed a great business, it sounds so degrading. Donators always have more in their closets than they need…some would go as far as to call unmentioned, extra items “Etcetera,” correct? What if those looking for some cheap second hand clothes walked into “Etcetera,” the hottest new co-op downtown?

Pacesetters

Lot of runners out there. Those psychopaths who knock out marathons like it’s their jobs. Doesn’t “Pacesetters” sound like a bar that these physically-gifted freaks could gather and talk about shin splints, nipple chafing, and whatever else happens when you run for extended periods of time?

Caprese

Upscale salad bar, enough said.

Actress

I’m no big time Hollywood agent, but I do know that our entertainers in the TV and movie industries do these things calls “head shots.” If I’m an aspiring actress trying to stand out from the crowd at an audition, I’m buying the Staples Center sign, posing right in front of “Actress,” and watch the bank account overflow.

Teen Crap

Zodiac rings, BTS posters, Tik Tok ideas. Everything you need for your favorite youth all in one place. Come on in to “Teen Crap” and let your favorite 13-19 year old max out your credit card on totally worthwhile stuff!

Relapse

This absolutely sounds like an insensitive name to call a bar in LA. We wouldn’t make that joke though, totally tasteless.

Los Angeles, there you go. Your homework is done for you, you’re welcome. It’s up to you now to make sure the letters of “Staples Center” do not fade into memory as a worthless and out of date member of society…kind of like the actual store Staples.

Sunday State of Mind: November 29th-December 5th

Photo: Wallup

Why isn’t the weekend five days, and the work week two days? Who knows, but we know this week’s SSM is now live.

Conference championship weekend in college football
Some teams show up, and others just fall
Utah, Bama, and Michigan were among the winners
The amount of football left keeps getting thinner and thinner

Our long national nightmare has ended, my friends
The Detroit Lions losing streak ends
A squeak out win over Minnesota
The Lions have now met their season win quota

Minshew mania, back and better than ever
Taking over Philly, Gardner’s new endeavor
A good start for him, but maybe hedge your bets
His first start and win was against the Jets

We’ve got a lockout in the MLB
Owners and players could not agree
On a new CBA, no baseball for now
Between the two sides, who will kowtow?

Best game of the season, in our opinion
OKC versus Memphis, and the Grizz went in
A record setting blowout, 73 point win
When you watch that game tape, where to even begin?