Tag: Politics

Former first-round pick Royce White running for Congress

Another name has jumped into the ring in an attempt to oust incumbent Rep. Ilhan Omar. Royce White, a former Gophers basketball player and current MMA athlete, launched his bid for a U.S. Congress seat Tuesday. Source: CBS Minnesota @ CBS Minnesota …

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“I’m a fifth-generation Minnesotan, and a product of the Twin Cities. But, first and foremost, I’m an American,” White says in a video he posted to Twitter Tuesday morning. “I’m running for Congress because our leaders have sold us out.” White goes on in the video to call Omar a “globalist,” and a “puppet for the establishment.” The video also includes swipes at “Big Pharma, Big Tech and the corporate elites.” -via CBS Minnesota / February 22, 2022

Former Jazz majority owners, the Miller …

Former Jazz majority owners, the Miller family, and the Jazz organization undertook a $125 million renovation of Vivint Smart Home Arena in the summer of 2017 to improve the fan experience, and with All-Star Weekend in mind. “Our estimation is probably between $45-50 million in impact,” Former Utah governor Gary Herbert said. “The economic benefit and what it will ripple through the economy is significant.”

Enes Kanter Freedom says he was threatened with an NBA ban

Amid COVID and the social-justice protests of 2020, the league had encouraged self-expression, and NBA players had written various messages on their shoes in Sharpie: black lives matter, say their names, wash your hands. Kanter, who spoke at a Black …

Amid COVID and the social-justice protests of 2020, the league had encouraged self-expression, and NBA players had written various messages on their shoes in Sharpie: black lives matter, say their names, wash your hands. Kanter, who spoke at a Black Lives Matter rally in Boston, was thrilled with the players’ new social awareness. But now two officials were pleading with him to change his shoes. Kanter was preparing for his U.S. citizenship test, and he reminded them of his First Amendment rights. “I don’t care if I’m fined,” he said. “Not fined,” one of them said. “Banned.” Kanter refused. “Go tell your boss I’m not taking my shoes off.” Their boss was the NBA’s commissioner, Adam Silver.

Source: George Packer @ The Atlantic

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Adam Spolane @AdamSpolane
By waiving Enes Freedom the Rockets have an open roster spot to convert one of their 2-way guys, which is what they did with Garrison Mathews, who was signed to a 4-year deal in December – 5:25 PM
Jonathan Feigen @Jonathan_Feigen
Rockets as expected houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-n… waive center Enes Freedom. (Deleted a tweet that included his previous last name.) – 5:04 PM
Adam Wexler @AdamJWexler
#Rockets announce that they have waived Enes Freedom. – 5:02 PM
Cayleigh Griffin @cayleighgriffin
The Rockets announced that they have waived Enes Freedom. – 5:00 PM
Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Now that the Boston-Houston trade is complete, the Rockets have waived Enes Freedom. – 5:00 PM
Marc Stein @TheSteinLine
The Rockets say they have waived Enes Freedom. – 5:00 PM
Alykhan Bijani @Rockets_Insider
The #Rockets have waived center Enes Freedom. – 5:00 PM
Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Stephen Silas said from the Houston side of the trade with Boston that they are waiting on “clerical stuff” to clear before the trade is finalized. Dennis Schroder and Bruno Fernando have reported to the Rockets.
Enes Freedom will be waived without having to report to Houston. – 1:41 PM

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A senior official with the National Basketball Players Association, Kanter’s own union, kept calling and asking him not to wear anti-China shoes. “I talked about Turkey 10 years, not one phone call,” Kanter told me. “I talked about China one day, I’m getting phone calls every hour.” He told the union rep not to call again. When Kanter reached Adam Silver, they spoke for half an hour. Silver told him that he was free to say whatever he wanted with his shoes; nonetheless, at the end of the conversation, according to Kanter, Silver remarked, “Everyone knows it’s business.” Kanter took this to mean: You’re free to talk about China, but you, your team, and the NBA might face consequences. -via The Atlantic / February 16, 2022
Friends around the league advised him to enjoy the season because it was going to be his last. Freedom claims that he hasn’t been shunned by teammates, that he gets quiet support. Once, he told me, as he was getting ready to shoot a free throw, a Lakers player murmured: “Listen, man, what you’re doing is so brave, keep speaking up—but I can’t talk about it. These teams got us.” -via The Atlantic / February 16, 2022
But some players asked him to unfollow them on social media, and not one has spoken out on his behalf. “Maybe they don’t know enough about it,” he told me. “But I feel like the fear of losing money, the fear of losing business, the fear of losing endorsement deals …” He didn’t complete the obvious thought. “And also, sometimes they do not care enough about what’s going on outside America.” -via The Atlantic / February 16, 2022

Enes Kanter Freedom says he was threatened with an NBA ban

Amid COVID and the social-justice protests of 2020, the league had encouraged self-expression, and NBA players had written various messages on their shoes in Sharpie: black lives matter, say their names, wash your hands. Kanter, who spoke at a Black Lives Matter rally in Boston, was thrilled with the players’ new social awareness. But now two officials were pleading with him to change his shoes. Kanter was preparing for his U.S. citizenship test, and he reminded them of his First Amendment rights. “I don’t care if I’m fined,” he said. “Not fined,” one of them said. “Banned.” Kanter refused. “Go tell your boss I’m not taking my shoes off.” Their boss was the NBA’s commissioner, Adam Silver.

Donovan Mitchell: Utah not the most receptive about social justice talk

His mother, Nicole, is a longtime educator in the New York area. Education is rooted in his genes. But he said his voice on such matters isn’t always welcomed by many in Utah. “It hasn’t been the most receptive. I won’t lie and say it has,” Mitchell …

His mother, Nicole, is a longtime educator in the New York area. Education is rooted in his genes. But he said his voice on such matters isn’t always welcomed by many in Utah. “It hasn’t been the most receptive. I won’t lie and say it has,” Mitchell told Yahoo Sports. “But that’s what I meant when I said, like, I’m not going to stop. I think for me, part of creating change is having uncomfortable conversations and being uncomfortable. What you choose to do with the information is up to you. I’m going to continue to speak and give knowledge.

Source: Chris Haynes @ Yahoo! Sports

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Donovan Mitchell @spidadmitchell
Something About The Name Jesus 🙏🏾🗣💯 – 11:45 AM
Chris Haynes @ChrisBHaynes
Story: Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell to @YahooSports on if he’s happy, how social commentary is received in Utah, importance of competing for chips, and being in modern-day Kobe-Shaq predicament with Rudy Gobert: “I wish. Because they got three rings.” sports.yahoo.com/posted-up-dono… – 11:23 AM
Chris Haynes @ChrisBHaynes
Jazz star Donovan Mitchell says it’s time to set record straight in hour-long sitdown on Posted Up w/ C. Haynes Pod. TOPICS: Relationship with Rudy & franchise, local reaction to his social commentary, future plans & more.
🎧: https://t.co/2vKFWtksyP
🎥: https://t.co/WVNuUkoKHH pic.twitter.com/cdxkk5Rb5v – 11:07 AM

Ryan Miller @millerjryan
Donovan Mitchell’s prep game appearance reveals his fun 8th-grade shoe connection ksl.com/article/503487… – 1:57 AM
Ben Anderson @BensHoops
Donovan Mitchell said the first NBA player he ever met was former Knick Eddie Curry.
Mitchell notoriously has huge feet, and growing up, he’d get Curry’s shoes through a Knicks equipment guy. – 12:23 AM
Tony Jones @Tjonesonthenba
Donovan Mitchell leaves with 30 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds – 11:18 PM
Tony Jones @Tjonesonthenba
Donovan Mitchell had 15 and 7 assists and 4 rebounds in the first half….was impactful in almost every facet – 10:15 PM
Andy Larsen @andyblarsen
Jazz up 78-53 on the Rockets at the half. 160 ORtg for Utah, which… will do.
I guess a Donovan Mitchell triple double watch: 15/4r/7a. But it’ll be hard for him to get all of those rebounds with the garbage time.
Rotation was interesting. Is Dok or Whiteside backup C? – 10:12 PM
David Locke @DLocke09
Live edition of LOCKED ON JAZZ starts in just one minute
Watch and join the robust chat –
youtube.com/channel/UCQxdU…
* Jazz defense show new element
* Rotation without Joe
* Donovan Mitchell defense
* Justin Zanik speaks
* The untalked about story of the trade deadline – 10:21 AM
Donovan Mitchell @spidadmitchell
Best one I’ve seen easily!!! – 8:24 PM
Donovan Mitchell @spidadmitchell
Damn coin base got me 😂😂😂 – 7:05 PM
Donovan Mitchell @spidadmitchell
JT out here hoopin and Deuce couldn’t give a damn 😂😂😂 locked in to the video game 😂😂😂 @Jayson Tatum – 4:07 PM
Donovan Mitchell @spidadmitchell
LEGO SPIDA🕷
The power of play is so important when it comes to inspiring the next generation. I’m excited to unveil this
life-sized replica made from 18,325 @LEGO_Group bricks featuring my @adidas Basketball #DONISSUE3 LEGO
shoe. How will you play?#adidasxLEGO pic.twitter.com/j1bLkh5Lg3 – 7:36 PM

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Members of the Black community in Utah are grateful for Mitchell keeping the pressure on the public to embrace dialogue. “To have someone that has a platform like that, it allows them to reach the masses even further, to reach the everyday person,” said Meligha Garfield, director of the Black Cultural Center at the University of Utah. “That’s why I praise. Use your platform, brother.” In that sense, he’s not alone. “It’s always been important to me,” Conley told The Athletic. “Not only as an African-American, a father and a husband, but as a role model. Because of the platform that I have, I try to set a good example, for Black, White, any race. And I want to bring to light to educate certain people on certain situations. Because a lot of things that go wrong in this world, there’s a lot of ignorance behind it. People don’t know, so they just react. I’ve always been a proponent on speaking my truth. I want to educate as much as I can, and open some eyes in the process.” -via The Athletic / December 2, 2021

Since the 46-year-old Rodriguez’s …

Since the 46-year-old Rodriguez’s playing days ended in 2016, he has focused heavily on investing, including being part of a $1.5 billion deal last year to buy the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves. Rodriguez also owns numerous office, retail and residential properties, and stakes in dozens of businesses, including online groceries, private plane sharing, a beer brand, and gym and yoga chains.