So much of American history is just impulsive and extremely stupid elites, who don't believe in consequences because they have never personally experienced them, doing highly consequential stuff because they're bored or believe it might make them richer. I guess a lot of our culture, too.

We are the world's bad guys. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/we-are-the...

At Y! Sports: Wrote a little about the reporting on Michael Porter Jr.'s trade market, the teams that might be interested, why teams *should* be interested, and the question the Nets have to ask themselves over the next few weeks: yhoo.it/4soqTyS

At Y! Sports: Wrote a little about the reporting on Michael Porter Jr.'s trade market, the teams that might be interested, why teams *should* be interested, and the question the Nets have to ask themselves over the next few weeks: yhoo.it/4soqTyS

Largest deficit faced before scoring a point this season... 1. Utah @ NYK, 12/5 - *Trailed 23-0 2. Utah @ DEN, 12/22 - Trailed 19-0 3. Utah @ LAC, 1/1 - Trailed 16-0 * Record for the 30 seasons of play-by-play data. That's one of the craziest notes I've ever seen.

"In 2026, I look forward to seeing what the league's overreaction to its overreaction is." A pretty fine point to put on how wildly the pendulum seems to swing once something becomes a trending topic. www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Why it's the Rube Goldberg machine of pain my dear boy! www.welcometohellworld.com/they-will-ne...

A masterful closing gambit by both teams

The balls to call that pass there, and the balls to make it.

Maybe the left tackle was also like, "No way we're going for it here"

@pftompkins.bsky.social I just wanted to say thank you for "groundbeefing," "beefing new ground," "we're going to take a quick beef," etc. I laughed out loud every time, and the clear joy you and Scott felt at finding it and playing around with it was truly delightful.

"Here's hoping all the days ahead won't be as bitter as the ones behind you Be an optimist instead Somehow happiness will find you Forget what happened yesterday I know that better things are on their way" open.spotify.com/track/28irL2...

Me waiting for my DoorDash order

Going to say this before I get more then a couple of drinks in: it remains incredible to me that anyone gives a shit about me doing any of this, and is willing to keep hanging around and supporting it. I hope to keep rewarding that. Take care, everyone.

🆕 BIG NUMBER: 4 🤕😬 @tomhaberstroh.bsky.social and I dig into Nikola Jokić's knee injury — the uncharted waters the Nuggets are now in, what it means for the MVP and playoff races, and much more! ✳️: tinyurl.com/59z53vje 🍎: tinyurl.com/48zemtxb 📺: youtu.be/7bFGEsEyi-M

OK: year-end Stuff I'm Proud Of. Well, I kept the job. Decent start! I published ~215 things + 250,000 words in 2025, and I don't think I cheated the reader in the effort I put into them. Pretty good. I had a lot of fun making THE BIG NUMBER with Tom, Emme, Sara, Ryan, et al.

🆕 BIG NUMBER: 4 🤕😬 @tomhaberstroh.bsky.social and I dig into Nikola Jokić's knee injury — the uncharted waters the Nuggets are now in, what it means for the MVP and playoff races, and much more! ✳️: tinyurl.com/59z53vje 🍎: tinyurl.com/48zemtxb 📺: youtu.be/7bFGEsEyi-M

This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)

The Knicks are one game ahead of last season (22-9 vs. 21-10) through 31 games. But that's with a new coach/new scheme, multiple rotation pieces missing time, starters (minus Brunson) playing fewer minutes, young guys getting opportunity, more experimenting, etc. So far, so good.

I don't dispute that, but here is my thing: I am lucky enough to make a decent living, and I don't get to go to theaters often. I am even kind of OK with getting ripped off a bit for an experience that's special! I like that it's special! But, like ... make it special! Hire people! Staff the place!

At a movie theater where there are no ticket takers so you have to scan a QR code to print the tickets you had to buy in advance before going to concessions where you grab your own candy before waiting to pay the one person staffing the stand, all under the aegis of efficiency, which we all love

"He walked with his head down, a hunch in his shoulders, as if only burrowing through this world on his inexplicable way from one strange dimension to the next." Pretty cool that Michael Chabon explained how I move when I am depressed better than I have ever been able to!

the post-Jordan Chicago Bulls

At Y! Sports: Some quick thoughts on Rockets-Lakers, a game that laid bare the difference between kinda-sorta looking like a contender and actually playing like one: yhoo.it/3LiA03y

Jamal Murray is 9-for-18 from 3. Audacious!

Rudy, I can appreciate the desire to do something cool after you get the offensive rebound. But isn't the coolest thing you could do, like, passing it to a teammate who is better at doing things?

Ant is so goddamn cold, man

We don’t hear much about the West Pole, where Cowboy Santa lives. Probably because of all the people he’s shot

At Y! Sports: Some quick thoughts on Rockets-Lakers, a game that laid bare the difference between kinda-sorta looking like a contender and actually playing like one: yhoo.it/3LiA03y

17 offensive rebounds for Houston — an obscene 55.6% offensive rebounding rate, per Cleaning the Glass — and 24 second-chance points. The Rockets do this to everybody, but the defensive rebounding just wasn't even close to good enough for the Lakers.

Players and teams can, and do, surprise us all the time ... but this one feels like it could've been simmed off the spreadsheet. Everything the Rockets do well + everything the Lakers don't = a blowout.

This Lakers lineup — Ayton, Vanderbilt, LaRavia, Smart, Luka — had played 10 possessions together all season heading into tonight: cleaningtheglass.com/stats/team/1... JJ really searching for a group that can string together some stops.

The Rockets are rebounding 45.5% of their misses, and scoring about 1.4 points per putback, so things aren't going AWESOME for the Laker defense right now

Rockets are the NBA's sixth-best team at winning the nightly possession battle, per @jadubin5.bsky.social's tracking at Last Night in Basketball: www.lastnightinbasketball.com/possession-b... 2 more offensive rebounds, 3 fewer turnovers, 6 more FGA in the first quarter than the Lakers. It adds up!

So far, the matchup between the NBA's No. 3 offense and No. 25 defense is playing out about how you'd think. Houston getting great looks and/or second chances on pretty much every trip.

I predict that if the Lakers turn the ball over on 50 percent of their possessions the rest of this game, they will not win it #analysis

With Luka and Austin Reaves starting against Houston tonight, LeBron will move back off the ball more often again. He's done that more this season than ever ... and pretty effectively! From my Five Most Interesting Players of NBA Christmas column: yhoo.it/48QO8tW

It'll come in a losing effort for a short-handed Mavs team that lost Anthony Davis early, but: 27-6-5 on 13-for-21 shooting for Cooper Flagg, who continues to show that he's the absolute goods. From my Five Most Interesting Players of NBA Christmas column: yhoo.it/48QO8tW

PJ Carlesimo, since time immemorial bringing a real "Tom Waits gargling coffin nails" audio vibe to the broadcast

with the loss, the Thunder fall to a pitiful and disgusting 26-5

19 and 7 while guarding SGA for Steph Castle, who just continues to look like a friggin' star. From today's Five Most Interesting Players of NBA Christmas column: yhoo.it/48QO8tW

In non-NBA news: Jeff Lemire's MOON KNIGHT is trippy as hell and very cool

It's basic analysis, I know, but I think San Antonio's positional size defensively is a big part of what gives OKC so much trouble. The playmaking windows are smaller and not open as long, and even if you beat them at first, they can just apparate back into the play to get right.

Hard to call any game where you blew a 17-point 4Q lead "encouraging," but the Cavs continue to look more like themselves of late than they had the first month and a half. Some stuff to build on.

Tyler Kolek barely played 300 total minutes as a rookie. Now a regular part of the closing unit. He deserves so much credit for all the work he's put into his game, and Mike Brown deserves credit for giving him the runway to earn these opportunities.

You could power a space shuttle with Jordan Clarkson's confidence

Really is remarkable how much better the Cavs offense looks when Garland looks like himself. Night and day.

Mo Diawara post up masterclass, a Christmas miracle

Heard nephew talking about "adjusting the grindsetting" and got worried he'd become a shitty business influencer. What a relief to learn he was just reading the instructions for a new coffee maker.