Most of these so-called experts don‘t know Hubie Brown is.
We have deteriorated from real basketball wisdom to hot takes.
Alex Caruso says it has become “cool to not watch basketball,” arguing that highlight culture and viral storylines are overshadowing the actual game
Caruso believes basketball coverage has shifted away from breaking down great plays and showing fans the best moments from games toward chasing whatever generates the most clicks and attention. He says he misses the old SportsCenter format, where viewers could catch several minutes of highlights from different games before the Top 10 plays. Caruso argues that the focus on entertainment, clip farming and eye grabbing storylines is drawing attention away from the quality of basketball itself.
Damon Wayans says that even at 65 years old, if Keenen tells him to get him a soda, he's going to go get it, because in their family, it’s all about an unspoken code of respect, seniority, and brotherly hierarchy.
“Yeah, but like even now, this is how my family is. Like, I'm 65 years old and Keenen goes, "Go get me a soda," and I got to go get it.”
“If Marlon walks in a room, and you know, if I walk in a room and there's no seats, Marlon gets up. Sean and Keenen will sit, and Marlon will get up and say, "You sit here." And my son will have to do the same thing.”
“That's why I love the fact that they have children. Because I go to my theater sometimes and little Damon's there and Mikey's there, and as soon as I walk in the room, the youngest one gets up and lets me sit down without question, and I love that.”
“It's just how we do with each other. It's just a quiet code. Some things you don't have to teach, it's just what you see.”
Ray Caldwell retweeted
This makes me so proud. Basketball will come and go but making sure my players have a sense of purpose brings me joy. Congrats Lady Canes Alum Marshae Slack on graduating from Basic Training in the Army. Only the beginning keep making us proud!!!!
Ray Caldwell retweeted
My guy Drazen Petovic heres to you @padroncigars
Ray Caldwell retweeted
Can someone explain if every coach expects their player to go hard every practice and every game and they're doing it 365 days a year, do you need to be the bionic man to survive without injury?
Ray Caldwell retweeted
I tell my dad this all the time. His first date with my mom was at Arby’s in the mid 80s, and somehow he got a second date and eventually a wife and family.
That would never happen in today’s dating culture.
Ray Caldwell retweeted
If basketball teams are burned out by the time league play begins in January, they need to only look into the mirror for players playing nonstop since September.
Getting the opportunity to shoot 24 times in his first NBA game, 5x’s more than his all-start teammate, speaks to his immense confidence.
Bright future
Ray Caldwell retweeted
As great as the gym was yesterday, seeing my mom 25+ years sober and thriving stands out the most. My mom was in the deepest depths of addiction as I was growing up. After years of very hard moments, I gave up hope in her during my early 20’s - but she never gave up on herself. I’ve learned so much from that. For anybody battling addiction, my mom is living proof that it can be overcome - one day at a time.
LOVE YOU MOMS‼️
Gather dribble my a**!
Yes…..athletes and resources are better but miss me with my greats not killing in this era with pre-school sh*t like this being allowed.
Every biddy ball game this weekend has 5 year olds doing this crap
Ray Caldwell retweeted
I know we in our 20s baby but I’m still gone cut this Lenny Williams on when you in my car. That’s just what it is.
If I had an elite Son w/pro potential, I am sending Him to Hurley, Sampson or Izzo.
An old school a**hole who will teach my kid to play w/out kissing his a**, but preparing Him to play w/pros.
Ray Caldwell retweeted
"If the vets get worked on after practices by the team’s physiotherapy team, so will Dybantsa. If Davis ... arrives ... 45 minutes early to activate his body ... Dybantsa will be there at 8 a.m., too.
“His mom & dad raised him in a way that he respects authority"
The Wizards have been an irrelevant NBA franchise for most of the last 50 years. They are betting that AJ Dybantsa, the first pick in this year’s draft, will change that. On the rookie’s path and the challenges that await, free to read, in @TheAthletic:
nytimes.com/athletic/7649979…
Ray Caldwell retweeted
AJ Dybantsa was in sixth grade when he brought home a C minus.
His father called his travel team coach and told him the boy was not to play in the next game.
Then he drove him six hours to the game anyway.
Here is the whole thing.
They went from Brockton, Massachusetts to Philadelphia. AJ got dressed. He warmed up with everybody else.
Just before the tip, the coach told him he was not playing.
He sat there the entire game. Then he got back in the car and cried for six hours.
Here is what his father says about it.
"He realized then that I wasn't messing around, and he has been on the honor roll ever since."
Now here is who his father is.
His name is Anicet Dybantsa. Everybody calls him Ace. He was born in Brazzaville, in the Republic of the Congo, one of eleven children.
At 13 his family sent him to France to live with an older brother, because the schools were better.
In his early twenties he came to Boston to learn English.
He put himself through community college working as a janitor and cooking at McDonald's. He was a soccer goalkeeper good enough to get a scholarship at Massasoit Community College in Brockton and make All New England.
Then he became a campus police officer at Boston University and he did that for 19 years.
And here is the part nobody tweets.
He turned down police jobs in the city that paid better pensions. He took the campus job and kept it, because Boston University lets the children of employees go there for free.
He chose his kids' tuition over his own retirement.
AJ's mother is Chelsea. She was raised by her grandmother in Hanover, Jamaica, and she came to Boston at 13 too. She got a social work degree and she runs a department for a physician organization now.
Here is what she says about how they did it.
"It's not about being strict. It's about discipline."
And this, about her grandmother.
"My grandmother taught me that's the one thing no one can take away from you."
She was talking about school.
Here is Ace again.
"I'm his dad, not his friend. Let's make that clear."
And this, which he actually said to his son.
"AJ, there's only 450 players in the league. You have zero chance."
He also put cameras in the kitchen to find out whether AJ was really doing his morning push ups. He was not.
"I just wanted to know if you were going to lie to me."
Later Ace quit his job and moved across the country to live with AJ at his prep school.
Here is what AJ said about that on draft night.
"He quit his job just to retire and move in with me at Utah Prep so I'd be safe."
AJ is 19. He played one season at BYU and averaged 25.5 points. The Washington Wizards took him first.
He is three preseason games into a career that has not actually started yet.
But a sixth grader once cried for six hours in his father's car over a report card.
Ray Caldwell retweeted
What I tell kids/parents at every youth camp I am asked to speak at:
"Get an honest evaluation from someone who won't benefit if you make it and won't be hurt if you don't."
My tweet yesterday about Rob Dillingham has over 400,000 views. Hundreds of comments. And a phone full of messages from people around the NBA.
My article sparked conversations I never expected, with everyone from parents of NBA players and grassroots scouts to NBA executives, scouts and player development coaches reaching out.
I wanted to share their perspectives on what possibly went wrong.
Free article 🔽🔽
open.substack.com/pub/nbabig…
Ray Caldwell retweeted
RIP the redshirt. Can't believe these clowns took it away. Too few developers, they didn't care. Duke F Sebastian Wilkins:
"Wilkins credits much of that growth to the lessons learned during his redshirt season."

























