Let’s start today’s newsletter by celebrating some champions! UConn may have cut down the nets on Monday but three Enjoyers got an even bigger prize… winning our bracket challenge.

Huge shout-out to 🥇Rory Murphy,🥈Stephen Miller, and🥉Josh Anderson for your excellent ball knowledge. We salute you.

Today’s Lineup

Full-Court Coverage

• Doc Rivers was catching a ton of flack when it was announced that Patrick Beverley would be starting in last night’s crucial game vs the Celtics. But the veteran coach’s move ended up being a stroke of genius. Pat Bev led the Bucks in scoring and was a key reason why Boston scored just 91 on under 40% shooting. Unfortunately, Milwaukee’s great win was overshadowed by a potentially serious calf injury for Giannis. Prayers up for the Greek Freak, who’s expected to get an MRI shortly. 🙏

• Welcome to the 50-club Anthony Edwards! Ant-Man dropped a career-high 51 on the Wizards in a 130-121 Timberwolves W. And it couldn’t have happened in more poetic fashion

• Make it back-to-back 40-pieces for Jalen Brunson, who dropped an efficient 45 and 8 to carry the Knicks over the Bulls He became just the 2nd player this season to record at least ten games with 40+. If only he and the other guy were teammates…

• ‘The rim gotta be up there somewhere” - Joel Embiid. The Sixers star big was in reigning MVP form during Philly’s 18-point dub against the Pistons, dropping 37, 11, and 8. But the real story was this insane circus shot. Somebody get a physics professor in here to explain how that happened.

• Don’t be fooled by the 105-92 final score, ‘cause Clippers-Suns was one of the most comprehensive blowouts of the year. Seriously, this game started on an insane 35-4 run for LA, led by a resurgent Russell Westbrook with 16-15-15. Of course he’d get his first triple-double of the season on the 7th anniversary of this iconic shot.

• SGA is taking tough buckets to a whole new level. In his first game back from injury, the MVP candidate came through with 40 points and proved he could get open in a phone booth by burying this ridiculous look to put a feisty Kings squad away.

• Draymond Green might just have been the secret third splash bro the whole time. The former DPOY was practically automatic from distance in the Warrior’s critical win over the Lakers, combing with Steph and Klay to bury 16 of their 23 attempts. Certified sniper 🎯

• The Heat aren’t quite ready to settle for the play-in just yet. With only 4 games separating the 2nd and 8th seeds out East, the Heat picked up a huge 2OT win over the Hawks behind 33 from Tyler Herro and 28-8-9 from Jimmy Buckets.

• Another day, another reminder that Wemby is an alien from a faraway star system sent to Earth specifically to embarrass us at the game of basketball. The French phenom hit the nastiest move you’ll ever see from a seven-footer as the Spurs cruised to a comfortable 102-87 win over the Grizzlies. 👽

College Corner

What's one more natty to the pile? UConn made it 16 titles between their men's and women's teams since 2000, as they downed Purdue to become the first team in nearly 20 years to go back-to-back. 🥇🥇

Simply put, Operation 'Stop Everyone Not Named Zach Edey' was a massive success. The Boilermaker’s superstar big man may have dropped 37, but his teammates could only muster 23 against the suffocating Huskies’ defense.

And on the other end? Another certified Dan Hurley masterclass. Only five more months till we can see this playbook in action again…

Hall of Fame Highlights

Last Saturday, the Hall of Fame announced the members of the class of 2024, and what better way to celebrate some of their legendary careers than by reminiscing on a few iconic moments?

Vince Carter: Do we really have to pick just one? V.C. has a serious argument as the greatest leaper the game has ever seen, and has the resume to prove it. But, with all due respect to his mind-blowing performance at the 2000 dunk contest, there’s really only one correct answer here. Carter jumping straight over all 7-foot-2 of Frédéric Weis is the greatest in-game dunk of all-time, and his greatest moment ever, full-stop.

Chauncey Billups: A cold-blooded killer in the clutch, let’s just say Chauncey Billups was nicknamed ‘Mr. Big Shot for a reason. So it’s sort of ironic that the best shot of his career came in a loss. Billups halfcourt heave to send game five of the Eastern Semis to OT is one of the classic highlights of the Mid-2000s, even if the Pistons wound up losing the game. In the end, fate had Chauncey back, as Detroit would later win that series, and the championship, over the Shaq - Kobe Lakers.

Michael Cooper: The underrated piece of the puzzle that made the showtime Lakers click, Michael Cooper was the ultimate ‘ahead of his time’ player. A jumbo guard with a sweet shot and even sweeter clamps, Coop is the only player ever to win DPOY coming off the bench. But, it was his red-hot shooting in the 1987 finals that most will remember him for, when he set records (at the time) for three points in a Finals series (14) and a game (6).

A quick shout-out to these three as well as the rest of the 2024 class, including the late Walter Davis, Jerry West (for the third time), and Minnesota Lynx legend Seimone Augustus. Thank you all for a lifetime of incredible hoops. 💙🏀

Three in the Key

Signing Off

Thanks for reading y’all! A reminder for today, don’t dwell on the past too much. It can be easy to get caught up thinking about all the things you’ve done wrong, but the only way to truly move ahead is to live in the present and do things right. You got this. 💪

Talk soon,

-Spencer Poole