Sports Staturday - February 22, 2025
Welcome to Sports Staturday. A little morning blend of stats and takes from the past week in sports. Grab a coffee. Relax a little bit longer in bed. Whatever you want to do. Let's flow through some stats.
This is Sports Staturday.
We're in that awkward stage of the sports calendar after the Super Bowl and right before March Madness. Kind of like being pre-pubescent in middle-school. Our childhood comfort is over and we're in the purgatory of frustration where we don't really know what to do or who we even are. But the best pleasures are just around the corner. March Madness. But first, this is the time the NBA gets to take the stage and have it's turn.
So let's hit it NBA. The stage is yours. What you got?
USA / Canada NHL Four Nations Championship hit 4.4 million viewers
Bruce Bennett. Getty Images.In the NBA's defense, they just barely outperformed this with 4.7 million viewers of the NBA on TNT pre-eulogy, eulogy. But I guess when you add all the games that made up the NHL midseason festivities, that probably sways the NHL's favor. Looks like Finland/Sweden drew 1.3 million, and USA/Finland drew 1.5. The finale was the most watched non-finals NHL event since 2019 (Winter Classic). Just an immense success.
And everyone could see exactly why. The players gave a fuck. Complete opposite of the NBA. It was like we all found the portal to escape the upside down from the darkness the NBA sucked us into to watch a sporting event the way it was meant to be played. The NBA All-Star Game saw ratings decline again and it appears the NHL has now stolen the All Star Game from them right after the NFL stole Christmas.
But hey. It's just an exhibition game anyway. Let's give the NBA a chance start showing up now that the break is over, players are rested, and it's time to make a push for the Playoffs.
Not good. But at least the medical staff caught this early. Had this led to a pulmonary embolism that could have been career threating if not worse. Wembanyama was turning right into the star everyone pegged him as on both sides of the ball and with the Spurs going all-in to acquire De'Aaron Fox, Spurs fans had to be that much more pumped to watch this team blossom.
All we can do is hope this is as the team doctor's described - "an isolated incident". But if not, Victor Wembanyama might be just what I figured all along. Another exciting and talented big man that can move but never stay healthy. I certainly never thought deep vein thrombosis was a possible spot on the big man injury bingo card, but like many ailments, taller people are more prone to it.
Hopefully, I'm wrong. Hopefully Wembanya can sustain a long career. I just don't see it happening. Sooner or later, the curse of being one of the tallest people on the planet will catch up. Always does. Take it from these tallest NBA players who played more than just center (missing KAT for some reason - should be on there):
OK let's lighten things up a bit on the NBA. One of my favorite teams to watch this year is the Knicks. These guys play the game the right way. They play defense. They take a charge. And my man Josh Hart out there crashing the boards.
Josh Hart has more rebounds than Victor Wembanyama through the NBA All-Star Break
Here are your top-25 rebounders in the NBA this season. You have the total rebounds listed on the right of each bar and the player's height just left of that in the white boxes. FYI Yves Missi is 6'11. Not sure why his didn't generate. But the point is Josh Hart is hanging out in the league of giants that dominate rebound numbers. Now it definitely helps he works more than an Amazon distribution employee to pump up those raw numbers, but I love how this dude plays the game. The Knicks in general are a just a fun team to watch because they play the game the right way. Play every game like it's your last and plan your family vacation for Round 2 of the playoffs.
Meanwhile…
The Lakers are 1-2 so far with Luka Doncic (win vs the Jazz) and 1-0 when he doesn't play
Adam Pantozzi. Getty Images.I know it has only been a few games coming back from injury, but my goodness. Luka Doncic is comically out of shape. He's the guy that shows up at Sunday morning rec ball on campus with the expressed written purpose of sweating out Cuervo shots from 2am. It's a damn shame Anthony Davis got injured because the talk of the town would definitely be everyone wondering who won trade now if he kept playing like he did in his .5 franchise games as a Maverick. He will definitely improve as we near the playoffs, but I think it's more than fair to question how much. Maybe Nico knew a thing or two after all.
Let's stick in LA.
LeBron James is 1-29 in game-tying or lead taking shots with 5 seconds or less to go when down 0-3 points since joining the Lakers
The Lakers dropped the first game after the All-Star break to the lowly Charlotte Hornets at home. And yeah - it doesn't look great for LeBron's field goal percentage when his team needs him the most. But in a rare act of LeBron James defending, his career final moment clutch shooting isn't nearly as bad as this stat makes it appear.
Let's look at his entire career and compare it to everyone else since 2002 with at least 25 game on the line shots:
Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwayne Wade sitting down at the very bottom are proving the old saying true. Never trust a man with two first names. That's not great news for a guy named LeBron James. 19.4% isn't as bas as it seems though when compared to the rest of the class. Many times you heave unrealistic last second shots in desperation, which explains the overall paltry figures.
With that said, shout out Joe Johnson. I mean, Trae Young too. But who knew Joe was such a last-second sharp shooter? That would never be the case if he was Joe John.
That's all for this week. Now get out there and do something with your day. Made some regrettable decisions last night? Pick up a ball and head to the rec. Sweat it out and get yourself in shape.
Talking to you, Luka.