The Reasons That We're Here
“Eventually the dying man takes his final breath
But first checks his news feed to see what he's 'bout to miss
And it occurs to him a little late in the game
We leave as clueless as we came
For the rented heavens to the shadows in the cave
We'll all be wrong someday”
Father John Misty - Ballad Of The Dying Man
Nothing.
That’s what I ended up feeling last night after Kemba Walker’s tribute video. I cleaned up the tears after that excellent tribute video and felt absolutely nothing. What helped in that numbness were the warts that the young Hornets showed during their three-game winning streak ended up being the things that had them undone on a national stage.
The turnovers came in bunches until Boston called off the dogs in the 4th quarter (Hornets finished the game with 20 of them) . To make matters worse Terry Rozier, looking to justify his contract and dog out Kemba Walker, forced his game to the detriment of everyone else. Devonte’ Graham got his first taste of being the primary guy on the scouting report and rookie PJ Washington’s shot wasn’t falling.
Truly a nightmare scenario for a young team who got their first real taste of the NBA spotlight on TNT. That is, if you (mistakenly) thought that this team was competing for the playoffs.
That said, the other way to look at Thursday night would be this: Boston showed you exactly why the Hornets were right to move on from Kemba this summer. In the anger from how sloppy Hornets free agency was as a whole, Kemba leaving was a factory reset that needed to happen.
Chaining Kemba to the franchise for another 5 years would’ve been just as unfair to him as it was to the kids asked to be his sidekicks in another foolhardy playoff run. I feel confident that Devonte Graham doesn’t develop under that foolhardy ‘playoffs or bust’ edict, guys like Miles Bridges are even more lost and kids like Cody Martin (and to a lesser extent, Malik Monk) aren’t allowed to play through their mistakes.
Thursday night was an exorcism of sorts, and probably for the best long term for all involved. Now it’s on to Saturday against the Pelicans.
Other notes
I know this is cop behavior, but it is WAY TOO SOON to be booing Terry Rozier AT HOME. He bet on himself and got paid average point guard money. Leave the kid alone.
So yeah, some of what Andrea Walker here just indicates how sloppy and messy the divorce between Kemba and the Hornets was. At the end of the day, you just hope that like Andrea Walker, there’s a reconciliation between the two parties.
Song of The Day
There are going to be people who judge me for learning about this song from “This is Us” (judge away). But still, it’s one of the better songs I’ve come across in the last few years and it perfectly describes the Kemba breakup.
As always, feel free to share, subscribe and spread the gospel. I’ll see you guys on Monday with the weekly preview.