Liberal Arts Blog — The NBA playoffs 2023 — Bucks vs Heat, Lakers vs Grizzlies
Liberal Arts Blog — Saturday is Sports, Dance, Fitness, and All Things Physical Day
Today’s Topic: The NBA playoffs 2023 — Bucks vs Heat, Lakers vs Grizzlies
Coming into the postseason, the Milwaukee Bucks “clinched the best record for the third time in five seasons” led by one of the greatest players in NBA history: Giannis Antetokounmpo. Part One of today’s post, tells the story of Giannis and the video that went viral after his team lost to the Miami Heat in the first round. Part Two tells the story of the Miami Heat — particularly of Jimmy Butler and Sam Adebayo — and explains the meaning of a “triple double.” Part Three is an account of the Western Conference upset of the Memphis Timberwolves (seeded 2nd) by the LA Lakers (seeded 7th). It was partly a duel between a tall old guy (LeBron) and a shorter new guy (Ja). Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE, TOP SEEDED BUCKS LOSE TO BOTTOM SEEDED HEAT — THE LIFE STORY OF GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO AND THE VIDEO THAT WENT VIRAL — and what, by the way, is the meaning of failure?
1. The star of the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo (above), got injured and was unable to play a full game one or at all in games 2 and 3. Who is this guy?
2. Giannis was born in Athens to immigrants from Nigeria who did not have work permits so they had their son hawk “watches, handbags, and sunglasses on the streets.”
3. Then he came to America and became “one of the most decorated players in NBA history.” For example, winning the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in both 2019 and 2020. Only two other players in NBA history had won this award twice before age 26: Kareem Abdul Jabar and LeBron James. And by the way in 2020 he also won the “NBA Defensive Player of the Year,” which, well, made him only the third player in history to win both awards — up there with Michael Jordan (1988) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1994).
NB: After the 2023 playoff defeat, Giannis was asked if the season was a failure. His response: “It’s not failure. It’s steps to success. There’s always steps to it… Michael Jordan played 15 years. Won six championships. The other nine years was a failure?” The video went viral. Don’t miss first two links below. But, just for the record, in Game 5 of the play offs Giannis missed a career-high 13 free-throw attempts, the most misses by any player in a playoff game since 2015. Despite leading 102–86 heading into the fourth quarter, the Bucks crumbled under pressure, shooting just 5-of-25 from the floor in the final quarter and overtime.” The final score: 128 to 126 in overtime.
Kerr applauds Giannis’ perspective on tough ‘failure’ question
https://www.wsj.com/articles/giannis-antetokounmpo-failure-speech-bucks-nba-a37beed1
Giannis Antetokounmpo — Wikipedia
Ranking the Biggest Disappointments of the 2023 NBA Playoffs So Far
THE MIAMI HEAT — JIM BUTLER (22) AND BAM ADEBAYO (13) — plus what is a triple double?
1. “In Game 4 of the Heat’s first round playoff series against Milwaukee, Butler scored a career-high 56 points, including a franchise-record 22 points in the first quarter, in a 119–114 win. His 56 points also set a Heat franchise record for the most points scored in a playoff game, surpassing LeBron James’ previous record of 49.”
2. “In Game 5 of the series against the Bucks, Butler recorded 42 points in a 128–126 overtime win, leading the Heat to the second round of the playoffs. He also became the first player in Heat history to put up back-to-back 40-point playoff games and also put up his eighth 40-point playoff game as a member of the Heat, surpassing Dwyane Wade’s previous Heat franchise record of seven 40-point playoff games.”
3. In Game 5, Bam Debayo scored a “20–10–10 triple double for the night.” So what is a triple double?
NB: “A triple double in basketball is a statistic that occurs when a player reaches double digits in three of five categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. It is a rare and impressive feat, and only a select few players in the history of the sport have achieved it.” The ultra rare 20–20–20 triple double was achieved only twice in history — by Wilt Chamberlin in 1968 and Russell Westbrook in 2019.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Butler
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bam_Adebayo
THE LA LAKERS DEFEAT THE MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 4 to 2 — the James/Morant duel
1. The Grizzlies entered the post season with a 51–31 record and were seeded second.
The Lakers came in with a 43–39 record and were seeded seventh.
2. In the final game, the Lakers crushed the Grizzlies 125 to 85.
3. The 40-point blowout marked the largest series-clinching victory by a LeBron James team in his career.”
NB: The series leaders in points per game (PPG), rebounds per game (RPG), and assists per game (APG), and rebounds per game were: Ja Morant of the Grizzlies with 24.6, 6.8, and 7.0 and LeBron James with 22.2, 11.2, 5.2. LeBron is 6 ft 9 inches, 38 years old. Morant is 6ft 2 inches, 23 years old. Post Script: If you are new to basketball: the Lakers are tied with the Boston Celtics as the winningest team in NBA history with 17 championships. The Grizzlies have never won a championship but have had 13 playoff appearances. The Grizzlies started out in Vancouver, Canada in 1995 and moved to Memphis in 2001.
https://www.nba.com/playoffs/2023/west-first-round-2
Los Angeles Lakers — Wikipedia
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
For the last four years of posts organized by theme:
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned this week related to sports, dance, fitness. Or the coolest thing you learned about Sports, Dance, of Fitness in your life — whether on the field, on the dance floor or in the gym, whether from a coach, a parent, a friend, or just your own experimentation.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day. Or even change their life. It’s perhaps a chance to put into words something you have never articulated before. And to cement in your own memory something cool you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart.
