WCS 53: Austin Reaves, untouchable Laker

w/: Suing Exxon + Macklemore’s oopsie FU + GOP weed love

Basketball season is around the corner. I know this because NBA Media Day is on Tuesday. Actually Boston and Denver have had theirs, in anticipation of exhibition games in Dubai. The feeling of having just come out of The Finals somehow feels at one with anticipating 82 more games.

(More Sojourn basketball preview content will be jumping off down in the numbers)

Maybe forever the NFL will be America’s ruling sport. Pro hoops is simply our most interesting. From the intricate story lines that each team and player offer to the game’s friendly relationship with stat nerd fandom, the NBA is our stakes-driven jazz calisthenics and our national storytelling.

Anyway, over the weekend, this Kirk Goldsberry creation, which attempts to quantify player contribution to winning, got into my head.

So, Kareem is the most truly valuable? And exactly where is MJ? I watched a lot of Reggie Theus, mainly in Sacramento, and have some thoughts on his career. The question of whether wins purely reflect value had me chewing on Goldsberry’s work all week.

One name you won’t find among the dots above is Austin Reaves. (He’s played in only 207 games) Reaves has been my guy since he stood out in 2021 Lakers training camp, a relatively old rookie with next-to-no pedigree.

Hillbilly Kobe, out of Oklahoma.

In that October, my ideal scenario had Reaves just making that team. Maybe the kid could grow into a rotation player? That this undrafted free agent would start was amazing and, to my mind a reasonable place to end this dream. For Reaves to become part of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Big Three was unthinkable. Not credible.

Yet, that is what’s happening as the Lakers go into training camp: Anthony Davis, Lebron James, and…

Hillbilly Kobe.

What’s sus with this picture?

Even if Reaves were to take a big step in play next season, that would not be enough to make him a serious third offensive option. Dude needs to take a major leap. The career 12.7 per game scorer will need to average closer to 20, improve his defense, and continue making his teammates better.

I’d love to believe in the possibility of such a season-long performance. (Lebron might take more of a facilitator role, but probably not that much of one.)

The undeniable fact is that the Lakers organization values Reaves far above his market value. In part, the value’s in their player’s manageable contract and the aforementioned aptitude. But, also, Reaves is White. Much of the franchise’s fan base sees themselves in him. That’s invaluable, off the court.

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Back when the OJ trial was popping, culturally, incisive comedian Paul Mooney coined the phrase “a bad nigga year.” In 2024, the Black experience is too diverse to be summarized so easily.

Still, let’s find out…

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A week’s raw news is thickening. To get down to the 10 most arresting West Coast nuggets is a chore.

10 The Meaning of Macklemore, 2024

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The “Fuck America” crowd is a club that I used to belong to. Then 9.11 happened while I was living in Brooklyn and I let my membership expire. Dead neighbors will sure enough clarify one’s abstract politics.

Seattle’s “Thrift Shop” artist isn’t quite there with me, yet.

This spring, Macklemore—his career nearly reduced to a punchline—had an organic comeback on the strength of “Hinds Hall,” his zeitgeist rap in support of Palestinian freedom. At Saturday’s Seward Park Ampitheater “Palestine Will Live Forever Festival,” the local-boy-makes-good leveled up his social critique, telling his audience through a live mic: “Straight up, say it, I’m not gonna stop you… I’m not gonna stop you… yeah, fuck America.”

Seattle’s major sports teams quickly distanced themselves from the MC on account of what he said at this United Nations Relief and Words Agency benefit.
Billboard/ Stereogum