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Kyrie Irving is one of the most electrifying bucket-getters in the NBA, thanks not only to his scoring arsenal but also to his masterful handles. But according to Tracy McGrady, Jamaal Tinsley was on another level when it comes to handling the ball, even though he admits Irving is still a must-watch. "Man, I don't think nobody had better handles than Jamaal Tinsley, even Kyrie," McGrady said on The Young Man & the Three podcast. "I think Jamaal Tinsley's handles were probably the best I've seen. That's an argument, though. He was nice with that thing on a string."
Irving responded to T-Mac on a live stream, and while he took no issue with McGrady's opinion, he also gave his own take on what sets him apart from Tinsley: "When I see an OG like T-Mac come out and say, 'I don't think anyone had better handles than Jamaal Tinsley, even Kyrie,' it doesn't bother me because I'm a mix of all the great players that came before me. ... I wouldn't be who I am without watching the guys that came before me. I just took it to a whole different place. "When it comes to every portion of my game, I feel like I try my best to pay homage to all the great ones that came before me. So when he's talking like this, I know he's talking about one of the guys that he's seen that has better handles, but I just don't think he has the same movement. Jamaal Tinsley was not moving like me. I don't think anybody moves like me. I think we have similarities, others have similarities, and they've advanced different things."
Was there ever a 'welcome to the NBA' moment or that you realized that the league was completely different than Europe? Goran Dragic: Yes. I remember… I think it was Jamaal Tinsley. I was a rookie and maybe the third or fourth game of the season. I didn’t play much at first. Coach put me in the last three, four minutes of the game and I was guarding him. And he put the ball between my legs and he caught the ball on the other side and lay it up. And then I said, okay. You know what, I got embarrassed. The next possession I did exactly the same thing to him. So I was like, you know what, this is going to be fun. But I do have to be more engaged in this. That was kind of a welcome moment for me.
Victor Wembanyama took questions at the podium sitting in front of a San Antonio Spurs banner and was told about the statistical feat he had just pulled off Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers Wembanyama joined Jamaal Tinsley (2001) as the only NBA rookies to have a 5x5 game -- posting at least 5 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks in a game -- and also became just the second player to have 5 blocks and 5 steals in consecutive games, joining Michael Jordan. Wembanyama paused to consider Jordan's feat and then asked, "I wonder if he did it in wins."
Some players have their own ways of doing certain things, either on the court or off the court, and throughout NBA history, we had a fair share of bizarre and funny stories surrounding various players. One of those recent stories was about former NBA point guard Jamaal Tinsley, who accumulated around $250,000 in fines from the Indiana Pacers because he didn't want to shower after practices and games.
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Tinsley was a great and reliable point guard who showed up every time for the Pacers, but he developed a problem with the organization, specifically Reggie Miller. The Pacers legend forced the Pacers to change their rule of conduct after he noticed Tinsley never took showers with the team, and it didn't matter if it was the games or the practices. They decided to penalize Tinsley every time he didn't shower, and apparently, he didn't budge at all, according to Sundov in his interview with Podcast Inkubator. "Tinsley wouldn't shower after practices or games. We easily enter or exit the shower, and he would be dressed already exiting the locker room. Once, twice, three times... And Reggie Miller says to the team manager: 'Bring the team rule book, we have to add one change that every player must shower after every training session, especially after every game, otherwise he will be punished.' The first fine was $500, and it would be doubled every other time he didn't take a shower."
Tinsley said that he preferred taking showers at his house rather than showering with the team. Apparently, he didn't want to get naked with the rest of his teammates and was extremely shy, which is understandable if that was the actual case. However, there was a way to handle that better internally, and Sundov said he and the rest of the teammates counted the number of fines, and Tinsley accumulated around $250,000 in fines throughout the entire season.
A Pacers team that was expected to contend for the Eastern Conference title was without all of its best players, from Ron Artest to Jermaine O’Neal to Stephen Jackson. They had been suspended. Veteran Reggie Miller was out with a broken hand, but he offered to play. Carlisle would not let him. Scot Pollard and Jamaal Tinsley both suited up for the game, but because of injury they were out. While postponing a game this season is common, the idea of postponing an NBA game because a team had only six available players was as much of an unknown then as was COVID-19.
Check out more info via Champions Basketball League: New York fan favorites are at the center of Champions Basketball New York team. The Gotham Ballers front office includes Walt Frazier, NBA Champion and Hall of Famer, is the New York team’s summer league President, NBA great and former New York Knicks/ Baltimore Bullets star Earl Monroe as General Manager, and leading the team as Coach is former New York Knicks player and Syracuse University standout, John Wallace. The Gotham Ballers player roster includes: Al Harrington, Kenyon Martin, Shawn Marion, Eddy Curry, Kareem Rush, Tyshawn Taylor, Jamaal Tinsley, Terrence Williams, Josh Childress, Daniel Gibson and Renaldo Balkman.
Jamaal Tinsley: Somebody is trying to out workout you today. Somebody is coming for you spot. Are you going to let that happen? pic.twitter.com/ppAQbIykLU
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DeMarre Carroll: Where my old Vet. these days @Jamaal Tinsley .... He taught me a lot about this league!!! #TeamCarroll #GrindDaily #Blessed
Darren Wolfson: #Twolves made a doing diligence exploratory call on FA Jamaal Tinsley. Never made a 10-day offer. Committed to Lorenzo Brown on Saturday.
Tinsley, 36, registered 1.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game over eight showings for the Utah Jazz last season, his third straight with the organization. Now a free-agent, Tinsley told Eurobasket he's looking to cross the pond to continue his career overseas. "I got a lot of juice left in me and my age isn't a concern because of the level I compete at when I'm on the court, but I'm done with the NBA for now," said Tinsley. "I workout twice a day, maintain a healthy diet, and I weigh 190 pounds. I'm ready to go."
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