Walter looss JR | Sports Illustrated
It's hard to believe but it was just over 4 years ago that LeBron James announced he was taking his talents to South Beach to play with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Jerseys were burned, a letter was written, and Heat fans rejoiced at the idea of wearing their all white outfits to something other than a Pitbull concert or a family photoshoot on the beach. At the time, nobody could have imagined that LeBron would ever return to play for his "hometown" team but here we are today. While King James was able to win back-to-back titles in Miami, including four straight trips to the NBA Finals, losing to the Spurs this year showed that it's hard to win a title when the third man of a "Big 3" spends as much time resting on the bench as he does on the court.
Whether you care about the NBA or not, there's no denying that James returning to Cleveland is a fascinating story. As Kentucky fans, we can only wonder what this day would be like had Cleveland waited to hire its next head coach. At one point Coach Cal had an $80 million contract on the table to essentially take over basketball operations for the Cavaliers and, as much as we would like to think Cal is never leaving, we would all be worried out of our minds right now if that offer still stood. It's crazy to think how much hinged on the Twins' decision to return for their Sophomore season at UK. Anyways, here's to LeBron and Cleveland, good luck bringing a title to what has somehow become one of the most interesting sports cities in the United States. And especially good luck to David Blatt, who will hopefully become a mix of Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, and Red Aeurbach so that we never have to hear any rumors about Cal leaving to be with his buddy LeBron.
Now on to some news and views...
Liggins shines, Jorts gets some bad news
Today featured both good and bad news when it comes to the futures of two players who were key to Kentucky's 2011 Final Four run. As reported several days ago, there is a lot speculation as to whether Josh Harrellson will be staying in the Motor City after he sent out a cryptic tweet implying that it's time for him to move on. On Big Blue Insider this morning, which was being hosted by Dan Rieffer Madness, Jorts came on the air to let the BBN know that, while he hasn't been officially waived,
new Pistons general manager Jeff Bower told his agent it may be time to look for another team. On top of that, Josh said that he still has to recover from a bulging disc in his back for another 3 to 4 weeks, meaning he won't get to participate in this year's NBA Summer League.
While the news surrounding Jorts isn't what we had hoped, DeAndre Liggins finished his first Summer League run with a 20 point, 7 assist game against the Orlando Magic. While playing for the Pistons' Summer League team, Liggins managed to average
10.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in five appearances. DeAndre will now fly out to west where he'll play for the Clippers in the Las Vegas Summer League. As of right now, Liggins is still unsigned for the upcoming NBA season.
Damien Harris and C.J. Conrad seem to be getting along just fine
[caption id="attachment_161363" align="alignnone" width="585"]
@cjconrad1[/caption]
Nike's "The Opening 2014" just came to a close, an event in which 162 of the top high school football prospects in the country come together and participate in linemen, 7-on-7 and SPARQ testing competitions. The 162 prospects included UK Tight-End commit CJ Conrad and target Damien Harris. While at the event, CJ and Damien posed for the picture above. Let's all cross our fingers, enjoy the picture, and just ignore that Harris took a similar pic with Ohio State commit Justin Hilliard.
Pat Forde thinks UK fans can be "the best and worst in the country"
No, hell hasn't frozen over. Adam Himmelsbach of the Courier-Journal recently sat down and talked to Pat Forde about a multitude of things, one of which being Pat's view of Kentucky fans. Of course the compliment had to be accompanied by an insult, but it's more than we thought we would ever hear from Forde. To see his full quote about UK fans, click
here. If you want to read the entire piece by Himmelsbach, you can click
here.
John Short threw out the first pitch at tonight's Lexington Legends game
Everyone's favorite Kroger bagger and KSR caller was honored tonight before the Lexington Legends game with the opportunity to throw out the first pitch. Instead of throwing out a regular baseball, John threw out a "beep baseball", a ball which lets out a loud beep allowing for blind or partially blind individuals to enjoy the sport of baseball. Check out the full story, which includes a video of John's throw, by clicking
here.
Joel Embiid took a shot at Coach Cal's recruiting
https://twitter.com/JoelEmbiid/status/487663585405845505
They finished 2nd just like Kansas did in 2012.
The basketball team did Hot Yoga today
The other day we found out about Karl Towns' strange workout in which
he pushes his GMC Envoy up and down his street. Today, Devin Booker Instagram'd the above picture of him and other teammates participating in a Hot Yoga session. I assume the team did considerably better than when Perrin took Matt a couple years back.
50 Days Away...
Finally, here's a reminder that we're now 50 days (49 if you're reading this on Saturday) away from the start of the 2014/2015 football season.
@DeanBowlingKSR
Walter looss JR | Sports Illustrated
It's hard to believe but it was just over 4 years ago that LeBron James announced he was taking his talents to South Beach to play with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Jerseys were burned, a letter was written, and Heat fans rejoiced at the idea of wearing their all white outfits to something other than a Pitbull concert or a family photoshoot on the beach. At the time, nobody could have imagined that LeBron would ever return to play for his "hometown" team but here we are today. While King James was able to win back-to-back titles in Miami, including four straight trips to the NBA Finals, losing to the Spurs this year showed that it's hard to win a title when the third man of a "Big 3" spends as much time resting on the bench as he does on the court.
Whether you care about the NBA or not, there's no denying that James returning to Cleveland is a fascinating story. As Kentucky fans, we can only wonder what this day would be like had Cleveland waited to hire its next head coach. At one point Coach Cal had an $80 million contract on the table to essentially take over basketball operations for the Cavaliers and, as much as we would like to think Cal is never leaving, we would all be worried out of our minds right now if that offer still stood. It's crazy to think how much hinged on the Twins' decision to return for their Sophomore season at UK. Anyways, here's to LeBron and Cleveland, good luck bringing a title to what has somehow become one of the most interesting sports cities in the United States. And especially good luck to David Blatt, who will hopefully become a mix of Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, and Red Aeurbach so that we never have to hear any rumors about Cal leaving to be with his buddy LeBron.
Now on to some news and views...
Liggins shines, Jorts gets some bad news
Today featured both good and bad news when it comes to the futures of two players who were key to Kentucky's 2011 Final Four run. As reported several days ago, there is a lot speculation as to whether Josh Harrellson will be staying in the Motor City after he sent out a cryptic tweet implying that it's time for him to move on. On Big Blue Insider this morning, which was being hosted by Dan Rieffer Madness, Jorts came on the air to let the BBN know that, while he hasn't been officially waived, new Pistons general manager Jeff Bower told his agent it may be time to look for another team. On top of that, Josh said that he still has to recover from a bulging disc in his back for another 3 to 4 weeks, meaning he won't get to participate in this year's NBA Summer League.
While the news surrounding Jorts isn't what we had hoped, DeAndre Liggins finished his first Summer League run with a 20 point, 7 assist game against the Orlando Magic. While playing for the Pistons' Summer League team, Liggins managed to average 10.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in five appearances. DeAndre will now fly out to west where he'll play for the Clippers in the Las Vegas Summer League. As of right now, Liggins is still unsigned for the upcoming NBA season.
Damien Harris and C.J. Conrad seem to be getting along just fine
[caption id="attachment_161363" align="alignnone" width="585"]
Everyone's favorite Kroger bagger and KSR caller was honored tonight before the Lexington Legends game with the opportunity to throw out the first pitch. Instead of throwing out a regular baseball, John threw out a "beep baseball", a ball which lets out a loud beep allowing for blind or partially blind individuals to enjoy the sport of baseball. Check out the full story, which includes a video of John's throw, by clicking here.
Joel Embiid took a shot at Coach Cal's recruiting
https://twitter.com/JoelEmbiid/status/487663585405845505
They finished 2nd just like Kansas did in 2012.
The basketball team did Hot Yoga today
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