With a stroke of a pen, the eastern conference playoff picture will change. New York Mayor Eric Adams lifted the COVID-19 private-sector vaccine mandate on Thursday, just a week after he said he wasn’t concerned about one man rather than nine million.  

Adams probably made his friends with the Yankees, Mets and Nets happy.  Politico pointed out that Mets owner Steve Cohen donated $1.5 million to a PAC supporting the mayor’s campaign last summer, while his team didn’t meet the 85% threshold of vaccinated players for relaxed protocols this upcoming MLB season.   Brooklyn also paid lobbyist Corey Johnson to persuade important figures at city hall on the matter.

Well, when there’s a will by the wealthy to throw money at a problem you can be sure someone somewhere will swallow their morals.

Concerning the NBA, positioning in the standings may not matter to the Brooklyn Nets.  They currently sit at eighth in the east and could make a cameo in the play-in tournament as they are three games out of sixth place.  If they survive the play-in, which would likely be the case, Brooklyn will see one of the two top-seeded groups, which could be any four between Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Boston in round one.  Fingers crossed for a Philadelphia and Brooklyn matchup so James Harden’s former teammates can show the Beard what he’s missing.

The legislation passed significantly helps the Nets by allowing Irving to play in home games. So far into the season, Brooklyn is three games below .500 at home (16-19), but has six more wins than losses on the road (22-16).  Of the seven teams with better records away than at home, only three are likely playoff teams: the Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers.

When evaluating the potential postseason landscape, it’s difficult to identify a more potent offensive duo than Kevin Durant and Irving.  Both of these juggernauts may occasionally become enamored with iso ball, but when they are moving the rock to exploit mismatches and are finding the man with space, Brooklyn could be as formidable an opponent as there is in the postseason.  

One of Brooklyn’s biggest concerns are its frontcourt’s defensive limitations.  With the exception of Simmons when he’s healthy, Brooklyn doesn’t have a versatile disruptor that can switch and cause havoc when rotating assignments between quicker guards or stronger forwards and big men.

Andre Drummond is still a fierce rebounder, but he struggles to stay in front of his man or to close out quick enough on opposing cuts.  Lamarcus Aldridge at 36 years old is not as laterally quick as he used to be and guarding was never his forte, although he was adequate.  And Blake Griffin at this stage in his career can get hunted down by an opponent forcing a switch, but he has solid instincts defending in transition. Evident by his 25 charges taken, which are tied for first with Miami’s Kyle Lowry.

As my colleague Ethan Skolnick has discussed on Five On The Floor, Drummond, Aldridge and Griffin were once franchise players that usually were not relied upon to be the glue guys that dive for loose balls, take charges, or crash the offensive glass.  That’s what their role is now and it takes a colossal amount of sacrifice for a former All-star to get comfortable exclusively performing a job that isn’t as glorious as dropping buckets en route to a W.  

The Nets inexplicably are optimistic that Ben Simmons will play, but he shouldn’t touch the court if his back has not completely recovered from his herniated disk.  If by some miracle Simmons does manage to suit up, the results may not be the desired outcome.  It’s complicated to incorporate a key player into a lineup past training camp, but in this case, there are nine games left for Broolyn.  He may not have enough time to learn Durant and Irving’s on-court tendencies and develop some chemistry with them.

But even without Simmons, now that Irving is getting his full-time gig back, the Nets become a larger headache for everyone in the east.  Brooklyn may be undermanned, but they still have enough ballers to win a round or two.  Durant and Irving have limitless range and can get to any spot because of their tight handles and elusive movements.  The last five times they’ve played together, Irving has averaged 38 and Durant 26 points per game.

An advantage that Brooklyn will have over every team is that Irving has fresh legs because he’s  only participated in 20 of Brooklyn’s 73 games played. An 82 game season is a marathon and players eventually hit a slump because of fatigue.  Irving probably will not have one.  He’s had extensive rest and he is so lethal that an opponent can study all of his tricks in the film room and it probably still won’t be enough to help stay in front of him.

Regardless of Irving’s position on the vaccine, I’m glad he’s back on the court as a full-time player.  At least for me, the east playoffs would not have been as exciting without one of the game’s greater players today.

Knickstape is dead. Everyday it gets clearer, what New York did last year was an outlier in their machine of everlasting mediocrity. As always, there’s not that many fingers to blame, but this time, the head coach is responsible for most of the friction.

For all of the Knicks personnel, it’s a good thing the All-Star break rolled around because now all the important figures can take this time to recalibrate and possibly look in the mirror.  Tensions must be high.  The last 11 days before their early spring break featured three losses after being up at least 20 points.  

The first meltdown came after New York had a 21-point advantage on Feb. 5 at Crypto.com Arena.  A week later in Portland, the Knicks took a loss, getting blitzed in the last 17 minutes of the game, dropping their 23-point lead in a 56-24 scoring run.  Then on Wednesday, the Knicks started their vacation early, giving up a difference of 28 points to the Nets in a defeat. 

That’s some coaching.  Judging by the body language of some of the players, it wouldn’t be a surprise if their instructor’s style and schemes were falling on deaf ears.  

By the looks of it, Thibs is not an easy dude to be around.  For those that haven’t seen him on the sidelines, whenever you inflict pain on your eyes catching Knicks ball, look for the guy pacing back and forth in front of the New York bench trying to break the record for most profanity spewed in 48 minutes.  It usually comes after a defensive breakdown or what Thibs perceives as a missed call by the refs. 

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Maybe the angry drill sergeant approach works when a club is winning at a high volume (other reasons for success should still be identified with this approach), but it sure doesn’t for this Knicks team.  Some could say it was successful for Thibs in his first season with the group (2021), but I would point back to that being a deviation from the norm in part because of how the roster is assembled.  

Thibodeau’s approach to coaching often involves yelling at his players in front of a packed house or demonstrably showing his displeasure by flailing his arms.  For example, late in the loss to the Nets on Wednesday, the Knicks left Seth Curry unattended in the right corner and failed to close out on his shot that converted in front of the Knicks bench.  Thibs could be seen waving his arms and verbally lashing out, close enough for his troops to hear as Curry slowly retreated.

Getting yelled at is verbally abusive and humiliating.  Thibs’ methods of verbal feedback are antiquated and likely a reason the Knicks look no different than what they did before they hired him.

Aside from being a grouch, ten years gone and still Thibs hasn’t learned from mistakes he made what seems like a lifetime ago.  It’ll be a decade this April since Derrick Rose blew out his knee in a game that was decided.  Then, when the current Knickerbockers (Thibs, Rose) repped the Bulls, Chicago was up 12 with 1:24 left in the game.  

If I’m not mistaken, in 2012, Rose didn’t play in 17 of the last 25 regular season games because he was nursing a groin injury. The last few nights the windy city assassin suited up for before missing almost a month, he was averaging 38 minutes.  

When Rose came back, it was for a game against the Knicks at MSG.  Thibs wasted no time scrapping a minutes restriction and played his reigning MVP just shy of 39 minutes in a one-point loss.

Twenty days later, in Game 1 of round 1 of Philadelphia-Chicago, Rose tore his ACL.  I’m not pretending to be a physician, or intending to say that heavy minutes caused the injury.  But I will say, it’s Thibs’ fault it happened.   Keeping a pivotal player on the floor during garbage time is sinful.  Rose paid the price for his coach and never got to where his career should have taken him.  

Then on Feb. 8, history repeated itself under Thibs’ watch in Denver.  With less than a minute to go in a match the Knicks had no chance of winning, RJ Barrett hurt his ankle stepping on Davon Reed’s foot.  Barrett limped off the court and missed the next four games.  He’s expected to be back after the week-long All-Star break, but his injury is another strike on Thibs’ rap sheet.

Life in the NBA comes at you fast.  Awards like coach of the year don’t guarantee job security.  The only thing that does temporarily is a consistent winning record.  So far, past the midway point of his second season in New York, Thibs’ record sits at 67-69.  Unless he wants to end up in the graveyard of the 12 other instructors the Knicks have had since canning Jeff Van Gundy, his outfit will at least have to make the play-in tournament.

A few licks were hit on the Portland Trail Blazers in just six days.  The aftermath resulted in Tchaikovsky’s Chanson Triste echoing in the background of the wasteland Rip City created.  Portland’s latest maneuvers indicate that a rebuild of the roster is in effect.  Regrettably for them, management’s incompetence has royally screwed the team and fanbase.

Portland is fooling themselves if they think these transactions were a success.  The only positive is that it creates $50.5 million in cap space for Free Agency 2022, although they’ll have eight players on the books.  Even with all that spending money, it doesn’t mean anything if they can’t convince a difference maker to sign on.  Which could lead to a mammoth dilemma going forward.

What if Lillard asks out?  He’ll turn 32 on July 15, and I don’t believe he has the slightest inclination to start from scratch while he is still an elite player.  It could cost him individual recognition if the team performs poorly.  Voters are usually less willing to choose someone at the bottom of the conference to participate in the All-Star game or for a nod on the three All-NBA teams.  But most importantly, if Lillard sticks around, the hairs on his head might turn gray before he plays in another meaningful ball game in April-June.

Since #0 entered the NBA in 2012, he has been a role model and one the league’s best players. In his 10 years balling, he has ascended to the pantheon of great Trail Blazers with a spot next to Bill Walton and Clyde Drexler as the organization’s finest. And as recently as October, Lillard was voted into the NBA’s list of top 75 players ever.  

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Almost three years ago, Lillard said he’d rather keep trying in Portland and come up short than go somewhere for the opportunity.  It was bold and a reflection of Lillard’s character.  But sometimes people get to a point where they’ve had enough.  Those taken for granted, like Lillard, will not be denounced by my words when they have held up their part of the deal.  

It’s been widely reported that Lillard was unhappy with his team’s direction since before he participated in the Olympic games.  I would imagine he feels worse today because the execs handling the roster have fallen asleep at their desks.

I’m not a betting man, but if I were to indulge, I’d put my money on Lillard finishing his career in another uniform.  Perhaps he starts to worry about how his legacy stacks up in comparison to  his peers. Or maybe, he leaves because it’s not fun anymore.

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The Lakers keep getting kicked while they are down from members of their past outfit.  James Worthy always keeps it real on the halftime broadcast, but now Magic Johnson, another Lakers legend emerged from the shadows with condemnation for the underachieving group.  He said the owner deserved better. 

It’s some impeccable timing.  Jeanie Buss deserved better than what Johnson gave her while serving as president of the Lakers from 2017-2019.  His behavior was a stark contrast to his TV persona of all smiles and giggles.  Behind the scenes, as ESPN’s Baxter Holmes reported, he was a bully who didn’t have the stones to tell his boss that his welcome was worn out, even after he rambled on to a dazed and confused press corps about their “amazing relationship.”

At building a team, Johnson was no good either.  When LeBron James arrived and made the Lakers relevant again, he incomprehensibly decided to construct a team around his star player that didn’t maximize his abilities.  Johnson said scrap the shooting, let’s put playmakers around the man who reluctantly finds someone he trusts with the ball.  

Then Pelinka was left as his successor.  He’s most responsible for the state the Fakeshow finds itself in.  Each year under his control the identity of the team has changed.  Heading into 2019/2020, LA loaded up with defensive role players plus the addition of Anthony Davis from New Orleans.  AD and Rich Paul held NOLA hostage and ultimately got their way, while the Pelicans, to this day, are fumbling with what’s left of that exchange. 

That Lakers team won it all.  Next, in their 71-day offseason, Pelinka altered the group’s core by letting go of the unit’s defensive role players for an offensive identity.  

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This past summer, Pelinka reached for the stars.  It cost the Lakers much of what was left of their championship DNA, trading for Russell Westbrook, who’s fit with James and co. has been suboptimal to this point. 

In the interest of transparency, I was one of those people who thought the Lakers were back in business after their swap but have recently sold as much stock on LA as possible.  Davis’ eventual return cannot save this team because he’s not an effective perimeter player.  The Lakers have spacing issues already in his absence and they even resorted to running James at center to help stretch the floor.  It was a gimmick that only worked on the bottom tier teams. 

Spacing is far from the team’s only issue.  Westbrook’s decision making as lead guard incessantly digs the Lakers in a hole they can’t climb out of.  Over LA’s last six games, #0 has made his last 25/87 attempts (28%) from the field. 

 In the loss on Jan. 12 at Sacramento, the Lakers went on a 10-4 run in the last five minutes to cut the deficit to four.  Then Westbrook came waltzing upcourt, readjusted on the left wing and hoisted a triple from 25 feet out that bricked.  On the next possession the Kings splashed their own 3-pointer, burying the Lakers, now done seven with less than a minute to go. 

A few nights later at Denver, the Lakers couldn’t hang with the Nuggets and all they had to show for themselves was a loss by 37 points and bowed heads.  It was their poorest showing of the season, less than a month after the group’s second worst defeat– an L at home to San Antonio by 28 points on Dec. 23.

On Monday, the Lakers delivered on James’ promise of improvement, holding the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz, a group 13 games above a .500 record, below 100 points.  The Stifle Tower made 6/8 shots in the restricted area and the Jazz converted 16/21 attempts total in that zone.  Utah’s undoing this night was their fiending for long range bombs.  Triples were 55% of their attempts, while they barely made over ¼ of their rounds fired from deep. 

 On Wednesday at home against the Indiana Pacers, Rick Carlisle’s group hammered away at LA’s interior.  Domantas Sabonis kept catching help when assaulting the interior on a mismatch and finding the open man– ending up with a triple-double, making 75% of his field goals.  Late in the game, Vogel benched Westbrook.  Russ kept slicing his way into the paint but falling short all but once in his 11 tries.  

Someone’s going to have to pay.  Unfairly, it might just be Vogel who gets the axe.  Reports from The Athletic said he was “coaching for his job” after the Denver smackdown.  This tells this mad observer that Pelinka is a man with close to zero basketball character.  How convenient for the man who builds the team for the coaching staff to use, to not have any heat on them from ownership, to my knowledge, for his performance improving the roster.

Vogel is not a perfect coach, but he does have a ring, won only 15 months ago.  If he is let go, good luck to Pelinka finding someone that’s going to trust him.  Championship coaches don’t grow on trees.