This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Charles Curtis.
I was all set to rank the four possible NBA Finals matchups that we could get, when it hit me.
Sure, I could just trot out a version of my list of best possible Finals that I wrote earlier and argue that Chapter 13 of the Boston Celtics vs. the Los Angeles Lakers would be epic as heck. LeBron, trying to win another ring after a tumultuous regular season followed by an unreal trade deadline and then quite a run out of the play-in. And the Celtics, trying to win what they couldn’t last year with superstar Jayson Tatum leading the way.
Except I can’t stop thinking about Nikola Jokic.
My pal Mike Sykes said it perfectly last week: Jokic is the best basketball player in the world and it’s time we accept that. And after what we saw MVP Joel Embiid do in the last round of the postseason, the pendulum has swung the other way with everyone thinking, “Uh, maybe Jokic should have won it again.”
I want to see Jokic crowned. For too long, we’ve disrespected his game, even while being in awe of his ridiculous passes, his amazing shooting and his ability to hit from the midrange with defenders all over him like he was the muscly guy at your local YMCA.
So, let’s see him take the crown away from King James. Let’s see all the doubters — myself included, at some points, I’ll admit it — get vanquished as Jokic and Co. beat the Lakers and then beat either the Celtics or Miami Heat to win a ring.
Quick Hits: NBA LOTTERY DAY IS HERE! … What’s with the side-eye, Aaron Judge? … and more.
— HAPPY NBA LOTTERY DAY! Here are the five most fun lottery teams for Victor Wembanyama to land on, along with the odds for each team, and who’s repping each of the lottery teams on the podium.
— Aaron Judge denied anything was amiss about him glancing at the Yankees’ dugout before a home run.
— Umpire Angel Hernandez hasn’t worked in a while. Why? We found an answer.