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Pablo Torre Finds Out: We followed the money, from Venmo to IG, and found ex-Bulls guard Antonio Blakeney making it rain with a betting influencer — while trying to get back in the NBA. "Nixon didn't also have an Instagram account where he was like, 'Ayye, look at what my boys got from Watergate!'"
Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont might or might not appreciate being compared to Nixon, but clearly Dumont and his Las Vegas Sands Corporation played a pivotal role in thawing relations between the NBA and China. Dumont was in Macao, China, early Friday morning Central time to help announce a multi-year collaboration to bring NBA China Games to Macao starting in 2025.
The pair partnered up with non-profit Adopt-A-Role Model, the Macon Housing Authority and small business Anderson's Diner. A $5,000 donation from Nixon enabled the organizations to feed every senior citizen in Bird City one meal a day for five days.
“I am not concerned at this time,” Silver said during his annual state-of-the-league address prior to Game 1 of the NBA Finals. “Of course, we’re not immune from global politics. It’s something that we’re paying a lot of attention to. I look, though, to sports — and this is something Yao and I have discussed — where we can use basketball maybe in the way pingpong was used in the days of Richard Nixon. There could be something called ‘basketball diplomacy.’”
Rivers said he's spoken to Griffin, adding, "He feels awful. We've all done some dumb things in our lives. You got to forgive people. We built Richard Nixon a library."
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Beasley's talent rarely gives people pause about the three-year, $18 million contract that he agreed to sign with Phoenix. It is whether he has the character, maturity and consistent drive to reach his potential as the 2008 draft's No. 2 pick. "Phoenix got a steal," said Nixon, 56, a former two-time All-Star guard who played for the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers. "Trust me. If the Suns are rebuilding, here's a guy who can play 10 years and be one of the best players in the league. I don't give that compliment out easily."
Nixon became involved last year at the request of Minnesota General Manager David Kahn and Beasley's agent, Jeff Schwartz, who both saw the impact Nixon had as Jalen Rose's mentor in Indiana. "The smarter guys become off the floor, the better players they become," Nixon said. "Michael is a great kid. A lot of the problems he had were because of who was surrounding him. Sometimes, you have to eliminate those distractions. "Once you get a tag, it's hard to shake. Once you see his work ethic and see him off the court, you'll be pleasantly surprised."
Kahn was assistant general manager at Indiana when Nixon was the agent for then-Pacers guard Jalen Rose. Kahn saw the impact Nixon had on Rose's development, and there was hope Nixon could have the same success with Beasley. The plan appears to have taken on a whole new dimension. "Michael is like my son now, like one of my kids," said Nixon, who starred for the Los Angeles Lakers with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during the Lakers' glory days in the early 1980s. "We have that kind of a relationship. If things happen, he knows he can call me."
Nixon’s influence can be seen in Beasley’s slimmer and more flexible body. Nixon’s wife is Debbie Allen, the actress, director and famed choreographer who owns an L.A. dance studio and Nixon and Beasley spent time there this summer applying the stretching elements of dance to Beasley’s body. Included one day was a lesson from a prima ballerina with the Bolshoi. “When you start teaching guys and make them understand better about their bodies, they become better pros,” Nixon said.
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“You have seen Michael’s talent, I don’t think there’s a question about the talent,” Nixon said. “What most people don’t realize is he’s 22. He’s just a kid. When young guys come into the league at 18, 19, they’re more comfortable having people around them. I think as you mature and get older, you need to peel some of that entourage off. He’s getting to the stage now where he’s getting to be a leader on this team.
He was Phil Jackson to the end, whimsically alluding in Dallas to Richard Nixon's "You won't have Nixon to kick around" speech … to Wednesday's acknowledgment of the distance between him and Lakers owners Jerry and Jim Buss, if not with his significant other, Jeanie Buss. "I haven't spoken to Jimmy Buss this year," Jackson said. "Jerry, I see occasionally and we confer. "Mitch [Kupchak] and I … have a good relationship. Those are people in that [basketball] department that I have a relationship with. "But as far as management, if you want to call it that, there's really not a relationship with that aspect of it. So when I leave here, I don't anticipate they'll call me up and ask my advice."
On his last day as coach, Stern fined him $35,000 for discussing a technical aspect of how the Mavericks defended Pau Gasol. Jackson contended that the Mavs lifted their legs and used their knees to jostle Gasol out of position. This wasn’t an attack, but an observation. This is Stern’s way to scare the rest of the coaches to fall into line, to sell the public on the commissioner’s illusions of what ought to be in the NBA – not what it is. On his way out the league on Sunday, Jackson would say that it felt like he had “been chased down a freeway by them. As Richard Nixon said, ‘You won’t have this guy to kick around anymore.’ ”
