Dame or Steph? — 35K LeBron — Sheed in ATL

Friday, Feb 19th, 2021

  The Opening Tip

  • LeBron reached the ultra rare 35,000-point club last night.
  • We hope you didn’t listen to our last piece of betting advice. 
  • That time Rasheed Wallace played a single game for the Hawks.

This weekend's best matchups

1. A closer look at the Steph Curry vs. Damian Lillard debate

Last night on the Bill Simmons Podcast, the podcast’s namesake and Yahoo’s Chris Haynes renewed a semi-intriguing debate: Who’s better, Damian Lillard or Steph Curry?

On the court, while Lillard is a great player bound for the Hall of Fame, there isn’t much of a debate. Curry is a three-time champ, a two-time MVP and the greatest shooter ever. This year, he’s taking on opposing defenses (and teammate Kelly Oubre) and averaging 30 PPG on nearly 50-40-90 shooting splits. He revolutionized the game, with players like Lillard following in his pioneering of the outside game.

The off the court/non-basketball comparison is more interesting. Here are a few categories we came up with.

Relationship to Oakland:

  • Lillard is from Oakland. 
  • Curry played so well in Oakland that he gentrified the Warriors and helped move them away from Oakland and its adoring fanbase. 

Hobbies: 

Shot celebrations:

  • Lillard mean mugs.
  • Curry voluntarily does the shimmy thing. Like, he chooses to do that.
Commercials: 
  • Lillard can make a Hulu commercial cool
  • Curry partook in the least funny commercial going. 

Signature moment:

  • Lillard has hit two series-winning buzzer-beaters, including the one against OKC, where he waved the Thunder goodbye after sticking a contested 38-footer in Paul George’s face.
  • Curry hit a similarly-long game-winner against OKC, which was admittedly cool, but in the regular season.

Shoe line: 

  • Curry signed with Under Armour, which has uncool written into its patent.
  • Lillard at least signed with adidas, though his line is … eh.

In conclusion, there isn’t much of a debate. Curry is the better basketball player. Lillard is the cool friend from home that wins over your college friends in five seconds. 

[LISTEN: BS Podcast: Dame vs. Curry]

2. Daily GIF: LeBron reaches the 35,000-point club

LeBron reached 35,000 career points last night on the free-throw make above.

To put that number in perspective, it’s double or nearly double the total points scored by Hall of Famers like Isiah Thomas (18,822), Scottie Pippen (18,940), Magic Johnson (17,707), Steve Nash (17,387) and Kevin McHale (17,335).

LeBron’s now one of three members in the ultra exclusive club: 

  1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 38,387
  2. Karl Malone, 36,928
  3. LeBron, 35,017
There are 12 MVPs, 10 titles (sorry, Karl) and 50 All-Star appearances between those three. LeBron is 36 and still averaging an effortless 25.9 PPG. It seems like a matter of time before he reaches the No. 1 spot.

3. Trivia time

The entire 1999-00 Trail Blazers starting five averaged double-digits in points. How many of them can you name?

Hint: Ball don’t lie. Russian. Mighty Mouse.

4. 🎲 Grip vs. the house: We sincerely hope you ignored our last guarantee

Our last piece of betting advice was so comically wrong it should come with a refund. (This whole thing’s free, so it won’t.)

It ran in our Feb. 10 newsletter under the headline, “The Bucks are about to win (and cover) a bunch of games.”

And it even started with a humble brag about how right we were:
 

We don’t take many victory laps around here, because we’re often quite wrong about things, but here’s what we wrote about the Bucks on Jan. 29: “The Bucks have a net rating of plus-nine, best in the league, which would lead you to believe their slightly underwhelming 11-6 record will soon look closer to what it’s been over the last few years.” … They’ve since rattled off wins in their last five by margins of 28, 20, 18, 25 and 13.

Here’s every result from Milwaukee since: 

  • L: Suns 125, Bucks 124
  • L: Jazz 129, Bucks 114
  • L: Thunder 114, Bucks 109
  • L: Raptors 124, Bucks 113
  • L: Raptors 110, Bucks 96

You can’t make that kind of betting ineptitude up.

Nevertheless, we persist. You’re only as wrong as your next wager.

What we’re saying/our one guarantee*: The Jazz has covered a remarkable 17 of its last 18 games. It’s time to zag and take the Clippers (+3.5) against Utah tonight. (Kawhi Leonard is questionable, which means the line will be volatile until his game status is announced.)

Our record in previous guarantees: 1-2

Let’s get that .333 up to .500.

*You know the disclaimer by now.

5. 02/19/2004: The Rasheed Wallace era ends in Atlanta

On this day 17 years ago, the Atlanta Hawks traded Rasheed Wallace to the Pistons, ending one of the best one-game footnotes in NBA history.

The no-background: Wallace had finally pissed enough people in the Trail Blazers’ organization off, so they hastily traded him to Atlanta for Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Theo Ratliff. Atlanta, wanting not much to do with him, immediately began looking for a trade partner. In the meantime, though, Sheed was healthy and down to play, so he suited up for one single game as a Hawk, throwing up this statline: 

  • 42 minutes, 20 points, 8-of-24 shooting, 1-of-6 from deep, five blocks, three turnovers in a six-point loss. 

The next day (this day 17 years ago), the Hawks saw enough and traded Sheed to Detroit for a first-rounder that eventually became Josh Smith. The Pistons went on to win the title that season, in-large part because of Sheed, and went on to make another Finals in 2005.

All these years later, a Wallace on the Hawks jersey remains a white whale of sports memorabilia. We managed to find this (probably fake) one on a (probably a scam) website.

6.  Quick hits

  • Shaq didn’t know Pascal and Siakam are the same person on Inside the NBA last night. 
  • Richard Jefferson to Gilbert Arenas on Arenas’ Hall of Fame chances: "I’m not saying you don’t have a chance, I’m just saying that you’re never ever getting into the Hall of Fame."
  • Check out these cool alternate NBA logos drawn up by a Twitter artist. 
  • “The Heat really chose Sheen and Sid over James Harden”
  • Here’s Fred VanVleet crossing up Giannis in last night’s game.
  • Kevin Durant’s reaction to a James Harden 3 last night is a future meme. 

7.  Off the press

  • Masochism and magical thinking: Knicks twitter in this maybe kinda respectable season [Sports Illustrated]
  • James Harden is making the Nets’ superteam experiment work [The Ringer]

Trivia answers: Scottie Pippen, Steve Smith, Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire, Arvydas Sabonis. 


That's the buzzer.
Thanks for reading the 257th edition of The Grip.

Copyright © 2021 The Grip, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
The Grip
630 Ninth Ave
Suite 1411
The Mecca, NY 10036

Add us to your address book


update your preferences | unsubscribe from this list

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp

Older messages

Bucks settle in — Curry’s run — Mavs-national anthem

Saturday, February 13, 2021

Tuesday, Feb 10th, 2021 The Opening Tip Steph Curry is on one of the best runs of his career. Dallas stopped playing the national anthem and it took 13 games for anyone to notice. Kemba Walker's

HBD, Bill Russell — Melo’s heat check — Scouting legend passes away

Saturday, February 13, 2021

Friday, Feb 12th, 2021 The Opening Tip It's Bill Russell's 87th birthday today. Carmelo was a vintage red last night. The basketball world lost a unique New Yorker earlier this week. 1. An

Weekend watches — LeBron vs. All-Star Game — Dudley vs. PG

Friday, February 5, 2021

Friday, Feb 5th, 2021 The Opening Tip The best games on TV this weekend LeBron isn't too hyped about the All-Star Game Jared Dudley called out Paul George in his new “book," which is really

20-point scorers — Booker’s game-winner — Stephen A. anniversary

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Tuesday, Feb 2nd, 2021 The Opening Tip Devin Booker hit a 3-pointer to beat the Mavs last night. Remembering a great moment in NBA media history. We're back with another betting guarantee.

Weekend watches — OKC ATS — Kawhi’s tweets

Friday, January 29, 2021

Friday, Jan 29th, 2021 The Opening Tip The best of this weekend's matchups Derrick Jones Jr. is on a new team doing old tricks The Thunder are the Most Dignified Team in Basketball A brief

You Might Also Like

Special Edition: Spring has sprung

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Optimism, renewed ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

This is what it sounds like when Dubs cry

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Back to reality for Draymond Green and the Warriors. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Play Ball ⚾️

Thursday, March 28, 2024

MLB Opening Day is Here. Sweet 16 Previews. Draymond Ejected. Audi Crooks Underdog & More... ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Kick-Flip & A Betting Reckoning

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

NFL Changes Kickoff Format. The Sports Betting Reckoning, Lakers Rally From 19 Down & More... ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Everything You Need to Know About the Premier League Title Race

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

OK, not everything. But I looked at every game Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal still have to play — and then I ranked them all, in order of difficulty: City's non-penalty xG differential at

Get ready to learn Jontay Porter, buddy

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Like clockwork, a betting scandal hits the NBA. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

How Sweet It Is

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

More Caitlin Clark History. A Ridiculous NBA Rally. Sho & Tell. NFL's Hip-Drop Ban & More... ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Sweet 16: The Revenge Tour?

Monday, March 25, 2024

Purdue, Duke & More on Madness Revenge Runs. Women's Sweet 16, USMNT's CNL Dub & More... ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Why Is European Soccer Still So, Uh, I Don't Know, Dumb?

Friday, March 22, 2024

A couple weeks ago, I moderated a panel at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference with the following people: -Sarah Rudd, co-founder of src | ftbl, former head of analytics at Arsenal -Ian Graham,

The Day 1 Hero of March Madness

Friday, March 22, 2024

14-Seed Oakland Upsets 3-Seed Kentucky in Historic Day 1 of March Madness Opening Weekend... ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌