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Daryl Morey recently sat inside Philadelphia Theatre Company’s rehearsal space and openly laughed. Even though he had seen the material being presented numerous times during the last decade-plus. He was watching the musical Small Ball, a passion project the 76ers’ president of basketball operations has helped shepherd through a lengthy development process. Now, he is commissioning and co-producing a full production at PTC, anchored by a cast and creative team with Broadway and off-Broadway credits alongside standouts from Philly’s theater scene. The show begins performances at Suzanne Roberts Theatre on Friday, before a June 11 opening night. “It’s pretty magical,” Morey told The Inquirer on Saturday morning, before heading to the Sixers’ practice facility for draft and free-agency meetings. “I was just lucky that my first time — and, really, only time — [doing this], we hit on a draft pick. … I laugh off my [behind] every time I come. “The cast, when I came once, was like, ‘I can’t believe you’re the one laughing. You’ve seen it the most.’”
Former New York Knick Iman Shumpert says he wanted to throw his team’s minute restriction plans for him out the window during Steph Curry’s 2013 Broadway Show at Madison Square Garden (54 points). (via All The Smoke): Shumpert: “Hey New York, my bad if I was a part of that. I could have ran up to Raymond like, ‘Hey, G! You’re guarding whoever the f*** else! I’m now guarding Steph 94 feet.’ But I had just got back from injury, so they was like, ‘Shump, you over gassing yourself. He gonna do you.’ That’s how they was saying it, ‘You on a minute restriction, he’s gonna do you. Let Raymond [Felton] handle this.'” Matt Barnes: “I’m willing to re-blow this wheel to shut this MFer up!”
The Golden State Warriors announced Friday that multiple team facilities across the Bay Area will serve as polling and ballot drop-off sites for the Nov. 3 general election. According to the team, the Oakland facility on Broadway and the Santa Cruz Warriors' arena will serve as both polling sites and ballot drop-off locations on Nov. 3, while the outdoor district surrounding Chase Center in San Francisco will serve as a ballot drop-off location from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3.
It was a scorching hot Thursday afternoon on Broadway in New York City back in September 1995, just three months after the Houston Rockets bested the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. The teams’ two superstars, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal, were sitting atop a dais at a makeshift stage for a press conference at the partially-constructed All-Star Cafe. In two days' time, the two 7-footers were set to pull off what Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson could not. They were going to be the leading men in a pay-per-view blockbuster extravaganza featuring multiple NBA stars playing each other in games of one-on-one.
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The musical, called “Small Ball,” which is now bound for rehearsals and a six-week run in Houston, bridges two of Morey’s great loves: basketball and Broadway. Known for his savvy, analytics-laced way of leading the Rockets, Morey — former high school trombonist, current theater obsessive — has relished the chance to sneak behind the curtain. “Someday,” Morey said, “I want to live in New York and just go to shows.” For now, he will settle for moonlighting as a producer. “Daryl has as much of a passion for musicals as anybody I’ve ever met,” said Mickle Maher, a Chicago-based playwright who wrote the book and lyrics for “Small Ball,” which is set to start in April at the Catastrophic Theater.
What happens when you take one of the most successful athletes of all time and combine it with one of the hottest musicals to ever hit Broadway? "LeBron: The Musical," that's what. The video, which took the title song from "Hamilton: The Musical" and catered the lyrics to describe LeBron James' storied career, went viral this week and caught the attention of James himself. "It's great," James said Wednesday of the four-minute ode produced by Dose, an online media company. "It's unbelievable, actually."
Garfinkel, who was referred to as “Garf” by friends, relished kibitzing about coaching and all things round ball with a bravado born a block off of Broadway. He often held court with noted raconteurs like Hubie Brown and Rick Pitino past 4 a.m. at the Carnegie Deli, a short walk from his midtown apartment on West 55th St. He shuffled his way in and out of high school games with an ambling gait. Friends remembered a shtick that only Garfinkel, bespectacled with thick-frame glasses, could employ as he introduced clinicians at a no-frills camp that focused on defense and fundamentals. It came to be known for a format that matched stationmasters and top prospects.
"When I was at the league, we commonly referred to an NBA court as an 'NBA team stage' (because) they resemble a Broadway stage in material and size," said Tom O'Grady, a native Chicagoan and founder and chief creative officer at Gameplan Creative. He formerly served as the NBA's first creative director. Court design has become an art form, with teams pushing the boundaries further each year. We asked O'Grady, an expert on the topic, about the state of that art and where it's headed. How much does court design matter? In baseball, besides how the grounds crew cuts the grass pattern — all baseball diamonds are pretty much the same. In the NFL, end-zone art is one of the few areas a team can brand its identity. The NHL? Center ice. In the MLS? FIFA says 'no' to any pitch art. But in the NBA the chance to extend a team's brand underfoot is pretty wide open — which is pretty cool when executed properly.
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For the modest, soft-spoken Lin, it is surely a healthier environment. As much as he enjoyed his turn on the Broadway stage, Lin is not naturally inclined to seek the spotlight. He turned away countless interview requests and endorsement offers last season, and he recently acknowledged that he “went into a shell” during the height of his fame. “I think the beautiful thing about this opportunity is there’s less of a spotlight,” Lin said. “There’s room to grow, room to improve, growing pains, things like that — the stuff that has to happen with each player. I’ve only started 30-something games in three years in my whole career. There’s a lot of sophomores out there with more experience than me. I’m going to have to go through a lot to get better.”
The hoops-themed Broadway bio “Magic/Bird” doesn’t technically foul out, but it’s not exactly a winner either. Ironically, Eric Simonson’s by-the-numbers and stiffly acted account of the on- and off-court relationship of National Basketball Association superstars Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird makes both great athletes look smaller than life. The show, produced in league with the NBA, is bookended by scenes of Johnson’s stunning 1991 HIV diagnosis. But the focus is the duo’s famous 1980s rivalry. With Bird playing forward for the Boston Celtics and Johnson positioned at point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, they battled for three championships and rescued the sinking NBA.
Many of the Indiana Pacers traveling party, including most of the coaching staff, took in the bright lights of Broadway on Tuesday night in New York. They attended "Magic/Bird," a play about Magic Johnson and Larry Bird's fierce rivalry during their playing careers. "I loved it. I thought it was great," coach Frank Vogel said. "I loved how they portrayed Larry because I know him the best of anybody in the show. But the whole story, the racial issues they were involved with in the '80s(, was great)."
Then disaster struck. He was on Broadway, a couple of blocks away from the Rose Garden, when a 2003 Toyota in front of him moved into the left lane. It was like the lane had opened and he had a clear path to the hoop. So he drove. But the driver of the Toyota changed his mind. He wanted back in the right lane, and veered in without signaling. The cars collided, with Aldridge's Ferrari ending up beached on the curb, interlocked with the Toyota. "I thought why? Why now?" Aldridge said. It was 5:15. Aldridge usually likes to report to the locker room by 5:30. The game was at 7.
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