The Opening Tip

• The NBA’s comeback plan will be approved tomorrow
• Stephen Jackson's intelligence and empathy has been on full display
• Hall of Famer Wes Unseld died yesterday
• DeMarcus Cousins recently exposed the Kings' play-by-play announcer
• The All-Chicago team

1. The Lead: The NBA will return with a 22-team format

1. Let’s fucking go! 
2. The absolute latest the season could go is Oct. 12, which is the date an NBA Finals Game 7 would happen, which means the NBA has made the decision to go up against football’s monster TV ratings and potentially baseball’s playoffs. Plus, this means the 2020-21 season will start really, really late. (The 2019-20 season started on Oct. 22.)
3. The 22 teams will consist of 13 Western Conference teams (the top-eight plus New Orleans, Portland, Phoenix, Sacramento and San Antonio) and nine Eastern Conference teams (the top-eight plus Washington). 
4. Before the postseason starts, all 22 teams will play eight more regular season games. If, after eight games, the ninth seed in either conference is within four games of the eighth seed, there will be a play-in tournament between those two teams for the rights to lose to the Bucks or Lakers. 
5. Also from Woj: “The expectation is that the NBA draft and the opening of free agency would follow in sequential order in October, sources said.”

2. Stephen Jackson is a remarkable human

Stephen Jackson with George Floyd's daughter

More on Floyd, while speaking to a crowd in Minneapolis on May 29:
 

On the idea of justice:
 

[READ: Stephen Jackson makes it his mission to humanize his friend | Stephen Jackson pledges to support George Floyd's daughter: 'I'm gonna walk her down the aisle']

- SE

3. Wes Unseld: 1946-2020

Amid all the unrest, Wes Sissel Unseld, the great Baltimore and Washington Bullet, passed away yesterday at the age of 74.

He came into the league in 1968, and, by the end of his first year, had won a Rookie of the Year award as well as an MVP award.

He joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only other player to win the league’s highest award as a rookie, but his game more-so mirrored that of fellow ‘60s giant Bill Russell. He didn’t score so much (10.8 career PPG) and wasn’t too tall (6-foot-7), but rebounded like a madman (14 career RPG) and passed beautifully (3.9 career APG).

He was known most for his arcing outlets, flicked from his wrist like a 70-foot afterthought.

After years of anchoring dominant regular season teams that never quite finished the job, he won a title with the 44-win 1978 Bullets, taking home Finals MVP. He’s one of 16 players ever with an MVP, a title and a Finals MVP.

He was born and raised in Louisville, and went to the University of Louisville. He is the second-best athlete the town ever produced, behind Muhammed Ali. The Clays and Unselds apparently knew each other. From the way outside looking in, I always thought that Wes had a little Ali in him, both in his stoic look and the dignified way in which he carried himself.

There is no question that he is the greatest Baltimore/Washington/Bullet/Wizard ever, and he will always be the name associated with the only memorable era in that franchise’s history.

[READ: Wes Unseld was a giant by any measure]

- SE

4. The All-Chicago team

Chicagoans Mark Aguirre and Isiah Thomas

1. Point guard

• Isiah Thomas: Hall of Famer; 12-time All-Star; two-time champ; one-time Finals MVP; leader of iconic “Bad Boys” team.  

Honorable mention: Maurice Cheeks; Derrick Rose; Tim Hardaway; Doc Rivers.

2. Shooting guard

• Dwyane Wade: Future Hall of Famer; 13-time All-Star; three-time champ; one-time Finals MVP; orchestrated Miami’s “Big Three.” 

3. Small forward

• Mark Aguirre: Three-time All-Star; 20 career PPG; 18,458 points; two-time champ with “Bad Boy” Pistons.

Honorable mention: Cazzie Russell; Kendall Gill; Tony Allen; Michael Finley.

4. Power forward

• Terry Cummings: Two-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year; 19,460 points; played for eight 50-plus win teams.

Honorable mention: Antoine Walker.

5. Center

• Anthony Davis: Future Hall of Famer; seven-time All-Star; 24 career PPG; only 27 years old. 

Honorable mention: Juwan Howard.

5. How DeMarcus Cousins goaded his old team’s play-by-play announcer into losing his job

Grant Napear, the now-former Kings’ play-by-play announcer who trashed DeMarcus Cousins on his way out the door in 2017, resigned yesterday from his job after being suspended by the organization a day earlier. Here’s how that all happened, in three parts.

Part one: 

• On Sunday, Cousins tweeted: “@GrantNapearshow what’s your take on BLM?” 
• A few hours later, Napear, who appears to be disliked my many former players, responded by tweeting, “Hey!!!! How are you? Thought you forgot about me.  Haven't heard from you in years. ALL LIVES MATTER...EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!”
• His tweet blew up; everyone yelled at him; he spent the next day trying to defend his ALL LIVES MATTER take, instead of simply comprehending that BLM is not the implication that white lives don’t matter, but that black lives haven’t mattered enough to America for 400 years. 

Part two: 

• On Monday, he was suspended by the Kings for his tweet. 

Part three:

• On Tuesday, the team announced he had “resigned,” or in non-corporate terms, had been given an ultimatum -- resign or be fired. 

Napear, who had held his play-by-play job with the Kings since 1988, tweeted that he wasn’t “as educated on BLM as I thought I was." He had spent the last 32 years in a predominantly black league, so it isn’t like he didn’t have enough time.

6.  Off the Press

• Op-Ed: David Fizdale: A voice for the voiceless [The Undefeated]
• Op-Ed: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Don’t understand the protests? What you’re seeing is people pushed to the edge [The Los Angeles Times]
• Knicks owner James Dolan reaches new low by refusing to speak out on George Floyd [USA Today]