Rumors

“You all have had quite a cozy relationship with the [Chinese Communist Party],” Blackburn said, pressing Koeing on whether the NBA cut a deal or conceded on the free speech front to shore up their financial interests in China. “Senator, I can certainly confirm that one of the NBA’s most important values is freedom of speech,” Koeing said. “In fact, the example you cited before of Daryl Morey, he was not disciplined or censored in any way in light of the comments that he made .” As for the hearing itself, not much ground was covered, and most of the senators on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation committee — including Sens. John Fetterman (D., Pa), Andy Kim (D., N.J.) and Lisa Blount Rochester (D., Del.) — were no-shows. A handful of senators used their time to pontificate about the Trump administration’s plans to defund PBS and NPR.

inquirer.com

Authorities in Indiana have arrested a man on a felony stalking charge after he allegedly sent harassing messages to basketball star Caitlin Clark, then traveled to Indianapolis in an attempt to see her, according to prosecutors.

NPR

NAACP Image Award winner and filmmaker Ava DuVernay was ecstatic to catch two assists in the form of financial investments from NBA guards Chris Paul and Malcolm Brogdon to help fund her new independent film, Origin. Origin is based on the award-winning 2020 nonfiction book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson. According to a review on NPR, “Wilkerson’s central thesis is that caste, while a global occurrence, achieves its most violent manifestation in the treatment of American Blacks, set at the lowest level in society through historical and contemporary oppression, marginalization and violence — all legally maintained through systems of law and order.” Wilkerson explores caste systems in history in India, Nazi Germany and the U.S.

Andscape

Asked to describe his ideal optimization of a media talent, Williams said, “this,” referring to Beverley’s podcast and the more relaxed nature of podcasts in general. Williams similarly hosted his own interview podcast for NPR, but there hasn’t been a new episode since last December. “What’s the new age Ernie Johnson?” Williams asked. “Business oriented, but can kick it with anybody,” noting he wants to build enterprise with active athletes and “the people who can tell the story from the inside out, as opposed to the outside in.” “How you create an environment in which everybody…can just be themselves authentically and not feel like you have to give a take on something,” Williams continued. “Not everything requires some kind of polarizing point of view.”

Awful Announcing

Thousands of cryptocurrency investors recently raised more than $40 million and nearly — but ultimately fell short of — purchasing a copy of the U.S. Constitution. Now, a separate group of crypto fans is building momentum with another acquisition target: An NBA franchise. In both cases, the crypto enthusiasts organized under what's known as a decentralized autonomous organization, or a DAO, which is an online group with a collective bank account and a mission statement.

NPR

Calling itself Krause House DAO, a reference to the late Chicago Bulls general manager, Jerry Krause, the group of some 2,000 members raised the equivalent of $4 million U.S. in the cryptocurrency Ethereum in six days. The crowdfunding, in the form of an NFT sale, ended Thursday morning.

NPR

Second, convincing the NBA to be open to a collectively-controlled crypto investment might not be the easiest sales pitch. Organizers of Krause House DAO are asking the public to please refrain from laughing. "We understand the reader's first instinct may be to scoff at this and say owners will never let this happen," reads the group's so-called "flightpaper," a nod to the more traditional white paper research report.

NPR

NPR announced a new podcast with sports analyst and former NBA player Jay Williams on sports, entertainment and culture, and teased another new podcast that will be announced next Wednesday.

Digiday

Ari Shapiro: Let's talk about the younger players who you're most excited about. Who are you really psyched to see stepping into the spotlight right now? Chris Bosh: Man, I love the job that Devin Booker's doing, Donovan Mitchell. You know, I think Ja Morant, when they were in before they got eliminated - I mean, they're always knocking at the door competing, especially with Donovan Mitchell. They're - the Jazz team being in the No. 1 seed, being a strong home team and a top five team in both offense and defense. And, you know, let me see. Am I missing anybody? Oh, yeah, of course - Luka Doncic.

NPR

Ari Shapiro: Can you tell us about a parallel moment you might remember when you were coming up through the ranks and started to eclipse the players you had looked up to? Like, does it feel strange to beat your heroes? Chris Bosh: No, it doesn't feel strange. It feels - it's gratifying (laughter). Ari Shapiro: Yeah. Chris Bosh: It's gratifying. I mean, it's hard. My instance was with Kevin Garnett. He was one of my favorite players growing up, poster on my wall. But he was a very, very competitive guy. And it was confrontational - not in a bad way. But just - I knew that I was going to have to bring my best every single time. And it just becomes difficult because, you know, your rival, that person that you emulated, is great at what they do. And, you know, there's years and years and years of aspiring to get there. And when I say aspiring, I mean losing, you know, because...

NPR

In interviews today, Jared Kushner, a White House senior adviser and the president's son-in-law, discounted the player strikes. "Look, I think that the NBA players are very fortunate that they have the financial position where they're able to take a night off from work without having to have the consequences to themselves financially," White House senior adviser Jared Kushner told CNBC. "So they have that luxury, which is great."

NPR

Smith: In the piece, titled "Why I Went To Auschwitz," Ray Allen writes about the overwhelming feelings he had as he stood in front of what he called the horror of the history. Ray Allen: (Reading) We walked through the barracks and gas chambers. And what I remember most is what I heard - nothing. I've never experienced silence like that.

NPR

Smith: And what made you want to visit Auschwitz specifically? Ray Allen: There's so many different stories that have come out of the Holocaust, so many different movies that I've watched that really show the human condition, people's will to survive. And, you know, I always ask myself, if I was in those situations, what would I do? Would I be brave? It's easy for me to say I'm brave now, you know. I'm tall. I'm, you know, strong. I've played in the NBA for many years. You know, I come from a good family. You know, it's easy to talk about being brave Now in the position I'm in, but would I be brave if I was under those circumstances where, you know, I had to fight for my survival, having not eaten in days, weeks or months? Like, how tough would I have been then? How strong would I have been?

NPR

Gurol says his students got the idea of a flat planet from basketball star Kyrie Irving, who said as much on a podcast. "And immediately I start to panic. How have I failed these kids so badly they think the Earth is flat just because a basketball player says it?" He says he tried reasoning with the students and showed them a video. Nothing worked. "They think that I'm part of this larger conspiracy of being a round-Earther. That's definitely hard for me because it feels like science isn't real to them."

NPR