As a longtime Dallas Mavericks fan, I despised and resented the San Antonio Spurs for many years. The Mavs often served as the Spurs’ punching bags during San Antonio’s impressive run of five NBA championships from 1999 – 2014.
My hate began to dissipate as Kawhi Leonard developed into a star player in South Texas. After all, who can root against a guy who gives 100% on both ends of the court, has been rocking cornrows since forever and still pushes a 1997 Chevy Tahoe around town? Not me.
So I was glad to see Leonard finally make his season debut after missing the Spurs’ first 27 games with a thigh injury. Win or lose, I hoped to see Leonard shine in his return, and he did not disappoint. The All-Star forward racked up 13 points, six rebounds, one assist, one steal and a block in just 16 minutes of action (He was placed on a precautionary minutes restriction).
Leonard’s mid-range jumper was in midseason form. He showed an ability to drive to the bucket and made a few scrappy, hustle plays that have endeared him to Spurs fans over the years.
The icing, though, was the fact that the 8-20 Mavericks somehow found a way to knock off the 19-9 Spurs. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?
The return of the cornrow king should make fans in Houston nervous. The 21-4 Rockets currently have the best record in the NBA and are widely considered the new belles of the bandwagon ball. With a healthy Leonard, expect the Spurs to fight hard to retain its title as the best team in Texas.
Remember, the Spurs knocked the Rockets out of the playoffs last season. Even with Chris Paul coming into form in Houston, I think the Rockets will be hard-pressed to take Leonard and Gregg Popovich down in a seven game series.
Is Porter Jr. really done for the season?
One word stood out to me when the Mizzou basketball program announced that Michael Porter Jr. would be undergo back surgery for herniated discs.
“The procedure… has a projected recovery time of three-four months and will likely cause him to miss the remainder of the season.”
The word “likely” raised my Spidey-senses of optimism. Nearly every major news outlet reported as if he was definitively done for the season and the university did nothing to refute that idea. However, Porter posted a now-deleted Instagram post that gave some Tigers fans hope that the nation’s top freshman could potentially return before the season’s end.
“Just letting y’all know whoever said it was gonna take 3-4 months to recover lied [sic],” the post read.
Now, fans have even more hope after nationally-renowned orthopedic surgeon Rick Lehman conducted separate interviews with Frank Cusumano (590 AM) and the Columbia Missourian that suggested Porter Jr. could return to the court within the next month.
“Most single-level decompression (back surgeries) take six to eight weeks to recover,” Lehman told The Missourian. “The thought that he’d miss the whole season — in my opinion — is probably not realistic.
“My belief is that he’ll be back six to eight weeks from the time of surgery pretty comfortably,” he added.
Of course, any talk of Porter’s return is pure speculation at this point. As a likely top-five pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, it’s doubtful that Porter would return if there’s any chance that he’s not 100% and unlikely to re-aggravate his back.
If he is medically cleared, it would make sense to see him return. Missing an entire season certainly doesn’t help a player’s draft stock. A successful return and late-season run could be the difference between being taken with the first overall selection and the fifth.
Historically speaking, Mizzou doesn’t have the best luck with these things. Still, there’s nothing wrong with crossing our fingers and hoping things are different this time.
Where’s Rigo?
Hardcore fight fans were excited at the announcement of the fight between Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux. The bout matched up two of the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters and was featured on ESPN, instead of dipping into our pockets for another expensive pay-per-view.
Rigondeaux entered the fight with several disadvantages. The 37-year-old Cuban native is significantly older than his 29-year-old opponent, moved up two weight classes for the fight and has been fairly inactive for the past few years.
In the ring, his hands have been inactive for most of his career. Still, his defensive-oriented style has made the previously undefeated Rigondeaux a tough nut to crack.
No mas.
In the first ever professional fight between two two-time Olympic gold medalists, Rigondeaux looked like he didn’t belong in the same ring with Lomachenko.
After six rounds of action, Lomachenko landed 55 of 339 punches compared to just 15 of 178 by Rigondeaux. Though I don’t have an official count, I’m certain that Rigondeaux landed more clinches than punches over those six rounds. Though he didn’t seem to be taking excessive damage, Rigondeaux quit on his stool after the sixth round, citing an injured hand.
Many have suggested that ‘Rigo’ quit because he knew he was outclassed. An X-Ray of his injured hand revealed a bruise, but no broken bones.
To quote another famous Rico, “Boxers fight with bruised hands every day, B!”
Hopefully Rigondeaux got his $400K purse paid in full. He’ll have a tough time getting another headlining fight after his subpar performance.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk
