Coronavirus Has Hit Sports

There’s so many things to think about coronavirus. But the fact that it has finally hit mainstream international sports means that it won’t be going away. Initially one of the reactions was to play without fans in the sports arenas. But then athletes are now getting infected. Initially, just footballers (unsurprisingly) in Italy got infected. But today, it has finally hit NBA basketball right into the core, with a player infected, soon after making not so smart jokes (in retrospect) about the virus. Expect economies to crash.

Anyways, here’s a map showing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. What’s interesting is the fact that despite the ease of international travel, the spread of the virus is not fully homogenous. Countries other than China with the highest number of infections (in descending order) are Italy, Iran, and South Korea. What fascinates me is: why? Only South Korea is truly next door. Does it have something to do with the climate? Genetic predisposition? To me the international public health control measures feel late (it’s always a balance); if it’s as easily infectious as it seems to be, I expected much more countries to have been affected already. And Malaysia, with its stream of mainland Chinese tourists, is lucky to not have as many cases. And no deaths. Let’s not jinx this.

What’s also (darkly) humorous is the fact that the Diamond Princess cruise ship is considered as a “country”.

The NBA Playoffs Have Begun!

And boy have we been fed with sensational drama. Last second shots, last second breakdowns, underdogs biting and not just barking; so far in the first two rounds we have ‘em. I ain’t gonna post anything about my team H-town, as they’ve been disappointing so far going against the Warriors.

NBA's "Me Too Moment"?

One of the themes of the recently ended NBA season was multiple stars opening up about their mental health issues. But some are more influenced by the people around than others (just a part of human nature).

““The NBA gave me my depression,” Robinson told Bleacher Report in a wide-ranging interview. “I’ve never been a depressed person in my life.”

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Robinson cited conflicts with coaches Tom Thibodeau and Larry Brown as being particularly burdensome. He told Bleacher Report that while with the New York Knicks, Brown called him “the little s—-“ every day. After Robinson went to Brown’s office in tears and asked him to stop, Brown again called him the name in front of the team and told his teammates that he had cried.

Brown told Bleacher Report that he didn’t have any recollection of what Robinson had recounted.

”I don’t know what I called him, to be honest with you,” Brown said. “If I did that, shame on me. I would feel terrible about that. That’s not who I am, but I don’t want to dispute Nate.””

Shame on you, Larry. I wonder if some of the Pistons players who were NBA Champions with him received such treatment as well. Sheed is probably one who'd actually perform better with such vitriol thrown at him.

George Karl on the other hand is someone who decided to expose his own rotten flesh (relatively older news): 

““My feelings for George Karl is that he is the person he is. He’s showing everybody who he is, the person I dealt with for six-and-a-half years in Denver,” Martin said on ESPN’s The Jump. “I saw it firsthand every day — him coming in the locker room and not speaking to people, him talking down to other people, him treating people in the organization like crap. I saw it year in and year out. Now the whole world is going to see it.”

Appearing on ESPN’s Mike & Mike on Thursday, the longtime NBA coach was asked whether he was surprised by the backlash to the book.

”There’s no question,” he said. “Surprised? Yeah, I guess there’s no question we all want to be liked a little bit. The backlash was interesting. A couple of things I learned from. I think the big thing is a couple of things. I probably should’ve studied — I didn’t know — I probably should’ve studied what I was writing a little more than I did.””

What a dumbass.

Addendum: The ultimate burn on Larry Brown from Jalen Rose: