Our writers give their verdicts on the new season, which tips off Tuesday night. Can New York or Oklahoma City thwart a Boston repeat? And will Bronny James make it to the show?
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When Arizona Sundogs rookie Joey Sides walked into the Wichita Thunder minor league hockey arena in 2009, he smelled manure. It was little wonder: the venue doubled as a home for the local rodeo. But that was nothing compared to the stands, which seemed to go almost straight up. Behind the bench, fans could practically reach out and grab players’ jerseys – they were that close. You could hear everything the wild crowd of about 10,000 said. “It felt like mayhem in there,” Sides says. The rabble threw beer at players and were dragged out of the stadium by security. “I could hear one of the fans yelling at my buddy on the ice, saying, ‘Hey, Jonesy! Mix in a salad, you fat fuck!’ as he chucked a beer at him. It was insane.”
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Hubie Brown was the only coach I truly never got along with. Sure, throughout my career, other coaches and I had our spats. That’s normal. Professionals butt heads sometimes. But Hubie and I never got on the same page. I tried, but he was disrespectful to players and to me, especially. He talked to us like children. I remember reading something about him saying he was naïve at his past stop as the coach in Atlanta (from 1976–81). Prior to that, he was with the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA (as an assistant) and the Kentucky Colonels in the ABA (where he’d won a championship). His team had been full of drug users, and he just hadn’t known what to look for. Now, as he came to New York, he was set to exert control.
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In the popular NBC comedy The Office, actor and musician Creed Bratton plays paper company employee Creed Bratton, a mysterious older man who’s lived many lives, has secret identities, and grows mung beans in his desk drawer. But as they say art imitates life and the real-life Creed Bratton indeed has seen a great many things in the world over his 80-year lifespan.
But for Bratton, whose latest album Tao Pop is out Friday (September 27), his creative journey started as a kid with brass instruments. First it was the French horn, then the tuba, and then the trumpet, which was his first love. He was first chair in high school, excelling in the blind auditions and beating out upperclassmen in the process. But it was on a summer visit to see his grandparents as a teenager when he discovered country and western music. At 13, Bratton got himself a Silvertone guitar and he was hooked for life.
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Born in Lubbock, Texas, on April 11, 1955, Michael Ray Richardson grew up to be a star college basketball player at the University of Montana. From there, drafted by the New York Knicks’ Willis Reed in 1978 with the 4th overall pick, Richardson, known by many as “Sugar,” became a four-time NBA All-Star and one of the first players to lead the league in both steals and assists in a single season. Indeed, before Magic Johnson, Richardson was one of the first big point guards in the NBA.
Later in his life, he became a star in Europe, dominating Italian leagues and ushering in the era known as “Sugarmania.” But it was in between those times when things went south for the stalwart player. Famously, Richardson became the first player ever banned for life by the NBA and then-commissioner David Stern. But he is also the first player ever to be reinstated after such a punishment. For years, Richardson jeopardized his career due to a severe drug addiction. And all of that can be read in his new memoir, BANNED, which is out November 26.
Here below, check out an excerpt from that book.
When Paul Mokeski traveled to China several years ago to teach a month-long basketball clinic, he says he couldn’t help but feel like Godzilla. For the 7ft former NBA center, who played 12 years in the league, many of them on a Milwaukee Bucks team that battled Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, it was a familiar feeling. People would come out of stores and point as if they were seeing a giant from a storybook. “That’s all part of the gig when you’re as tall as I am,” says Mokeski.
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On August 20, wife and husband duo KEXP DJ Eva Walker and local journalist Jake Uitti released their new book, The Sound of Seattle. Published by Sasquatch Books it dives into the city’s music history from Bing Crosby to Ayron Jones (with grunge, rap, and jazz mixed in between), and includes decade-specific essays with local luminaries, from Nancy Wilson to Sir Mix-a-Lot. Below, Sir Mix-a-Lot talks about living in the city in the 1990s as the music landscape was exploding.
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In the Pacific Northwest, there’s a culture of vibrant creativity. Hopeful artists flock to cities like Seattle and Portland, congregating in ramshackle apartment buildings or old houses, splitting the rent, trading shifts in coffee houses, pubs, or restaurants, and, in their off hours, spending time manufacturing their dreams.
Poets, sculptors, musicians, novelists, painters—they make homes in the region and cultivate their creativity. The Helena, Montana-born Colin Meloy is one of those industrious people. The frontman for the folk-rock band The Decemberists moved to Portland, Oregon, more than two decades ago and took up residence in a warehouse with friends. And from those beginnings, so much of his life today has been built. That includes his band’s newest album, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, which dropped on June 14.
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One of the most wonderful things about being a musician is that it’s a lifelong journey. There is no endpoint or destination when learning an instrument. As writer James P. Carse says, some ambitions we encounter are “finite games,” and some are “infinite games.” The former includes sports or solitaire, while the latter comprises art and music.
Yet even decades of pursuing music can include significant ups and downs—challenges that can be difficult or dissuasive. Thank goodness others can help us through these pitfalls. These accomplished performers share insights about what it means to follow their love of music. From rock and roll frontwomen to Grammy-nominated artists to songwriters to the stars, these are the musicians putting time and effort into achieving their sonic dreams. Find out what they have to say about starting out and beyond.
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Think of the quintessential Seattle band and you might, understandably, reach for the grunge icon of your choice, but from Hendrix to Heart, the city is steeped in guitar playing history.
Now KEXP DJ and frontwoman of the Black Tones, Eva Walker, alongside her music journalist husband, Jake Uitti, have penned a love letter to the music history of the Seattle-area, The Sound of Seattle.
From Thunderpussy to Ayron Jones, Kurt Cobain to Ben Gibbard and The Sonics to Sleater-Kinney, the book, which is out on August 20, chronicles some 80 years of songs and innovations in the Emerald City.
Included are also a number of interviews with Seattle luminaries, from Jack Endino to Sir Mix a Lot, alongside a healthy chunk of guitarist talent.
Below the authors have shared an excerpt from one of the city’s most iconic players – and a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer – Nancy Wilson, of Heart.
For the guitarist who co-wrote songs like Barracuda and Magic Man, her hometown of Seattle – and its place as one of rock ’n’ roll’s foundational cities – is reflected in another bastion of music, the UK...
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Carly Pearce always knew she’d be here. The CMA-, ACM-, CMT-, and Grammy Award-winning artist was sure of it—as a kid, then as a teenager, and even when things weren’t going so well as a young adult. She knew she would be a country music star, and that truth has continued to be her driving force—through heartbreak, divorce, unglamorous working conditions, and all of life’s other ups and downs.
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Jimmer Fredette was a comet in college. He won the National Player of the Year in 2011 and was the leading scorer in the NCAA as a senior for BYU. He wowed in the NCAA tournament, often taking on opponents one-on-five, and drew comparisons to Stephen Curry for his sharp shooting.
But Fredette’s pro career didn’t pan out as he, and his many fans, hoped. Instead of becoming a multi-time NBA All-Star like Curry, he struggled to find his footing after being drafted 10th overall in 2011, playing for Sacramento for two-and-a-half seasons and then bouncing around the league before playing in Greece and China. But the 35-year-old has found a new calling as the face of USA’s men’s 3x3 basketball team. He will make his Olympic debut when the Americans begin their campaign against Germany on Tuesday.
We caught up with Fredette to talk all things 3x3, and his hopes as a first-time Olympian.
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For almost the entire history of basketball, the No 1 thing that would help a person succeed was height. From Wilt Chamberlain to Shaquille O’Neal, the taller a player, the better. While size still matters, thanks to the talent of the 6ft 2in guard Stephen Curry, shooting is prized as much as any other attribute. The four-time NBA champion and two-time MVP is bringing his shooting ability to the Olympics.
Ever since Curry became a sensation thanks to his three-point marksmanship – he is the NBA’s all-time leader in three-pointers and attempts and a career 42.6% from beyond the arc despite myriad difficult shots – kids from New York City to Oakland have been taking their basketballs away from the rim and out behind the three-point line to shoot like Steph. But is it possible for anyone to emulate? If you ask Basketball Hall of Famer and former WNBA Coach of the Year Michael Cooper there are ways to try.
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For the past 40-plus years, the Downey, California-born “Weird Al” Yankovic has been bringing laughter to music listeners through his signature parody songs and polka medleys. From Michael Jackson riffs like “Eat It” and “Fat” to Madonna parodies such as “Like a Surgeon,” and the famous Coolio parody, “Amish Paradise,” “Weird Al” knows how to strike a nerve and perk an ear. In so doing, he’s earned a handful of Grammy Awards and sold more than 12 million albums.
Today (July 19), Yankovic has released his latest musical number, “Polkamania!,” a medley of the biggest pop songs of the 2020s, including “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, “Hello” by Adele, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift, “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo, and “Bad Guy” from Billie Eilish, among others. We caught up with the songwriter and performer to ask him about his longevity, sounds of the decades, his approach to making music, and what he loves about humor, itself.
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When playing for Team USA in the Olympics, it can feel like a no-win situation for a professional basketball player. Though it was invented by Canadian James Naismith, the sport has become the quintessential American global game. The United States men’s team has won the dominant share of gold medals in the competition, taking home the top prize 16 times, silver once in 1972 and bronze twice in 1988 and 2004. But ever since America brought the pros in to play in 1992, beginning with star-studded Dream Team, it has been more pressurized. If Team USA wins, it’s expected. If they lose, it’s a failure. That is the same for the women’s side, too, though they’ve been even more dominant than the men through the decades.
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