I last spoke with Christian Crosby in late April.
During our conversation, the eminently likable host and entrepreneur talked me through his life and career first as a Sixers fan, and then as a trusted member of the team’s game presentation staff. We also talked about the bizarre and surreal nature of the Covid-19 pandemic and national quarantine we’d found ourselves in.
Read the full piece here.
On Friday, the NBA Player’s Association approved the 22-team format proposed by the league and approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, and many other reporters. The plan, of course, is convoluted to a degree that is indicative of the unprecedented circumstances the league finds itself dealing with amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For one, the plan is designed to have the 22 invited teams play in eight regular season games — a number that is far from random, as it will enable each of its regional markets to secure the financial benefits of airing 70+ NBA games. The plan also includes a first-ever play-in tournament between the 8-seed and 9-seed in each conference, should they be within 4 games of one another at season’s end.
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For five weeks, ESPN, director Jason Hehir, and Michael Jordan held the nation’s collective attention as they unveiled The Last Dance, the ten-part docuseries on the Jordan-era Bulls. It was illuminating, nostalgic, dense... hero worship. The docuseries has been accused more than once during and after its release of having a somewhat unreliable narrator.
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Last week, The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Sam Amick reported that the NBA was in serious talks with Disney about Walt Disney World Resort, which is now seen as the most likely destination to become the league’s return-to-play site at some point this summer. The proposal, it seems, would slate NBA players and team personnel to arrive in Orlando at some point in mid June, with an eye toward a return to competition sometime in mid July. Of course, great lengths will have to be taken to ensure that the players, coaches, staff and media are tested and protected as the league grapples with a new normal in an effort to bring a conclusion to the season that was suspended on March 12 due to COVID-19.
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The Sixers, like everyone else, have been mandated to effectively shelter in place — stay home, stay safe, stay clean — while the American public does its best to flatten the curve for the spread of COVID-19. Just like us, many Sixers have taken to different social media outlets to combat the lethargy, while they wait on word from the NBA as to whether or not the 2019-20 season will resume.
Read the full piece here.