Cade Cunningham's Return Should TERRIFY The NBA

Cade Cunningham made a surprising early return from a collapsed lung, playing 26 minutes with 13 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds. Despite his efforts, he will fall one game short of the 65-game minimum for NBA awards eligibility. Cunningham acknowledged the rule's intent to keep superstars playing for fans but expressed frustration over his personal situation, having put in significant work for award consideration.

Cade played 26 minutes in the blowout win. Finished with 13 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds. Six for 11 from the field. It was his 38th double double this season. All five Piston starters played less than 30 minutes in in the game as Detroit built a 26-point lead after just three quarters. Still did not let Yiannis play with his brother. Pistons also had Isaiah Stewart back in action for the first time since March 13th. Detroit improved to 4- one in their last five games and got their 58th win of the season. So unfortunately, even if Kay plays the last two games of the season, he would still fall one short of the 65game minimum. Tragic. Hate to see it. Uh but Kay can still apply for an extraordinary circumstances challenge similar to Luca.

Allen Iverson criticized modern load management, contrasting it with his era where players played through injuries. Gilbert Arenas argues that load management is a strategic evolution by team owners to extend star players' careers, citing examples like Stephen Curry and James Harden playing effectively at older ages. This approach prioritizes long-term value and sustained fan engagement over short-term availability.

Allan Iverson has been a big critic of load management. A Hall of Famer took aim at the trend yet again recently when he posted the following to his Instagram. He said, "This all hit different for me. low management. They took me to hell for allegedly not practicing. Now they're crying about the players not playing games. I play with every injury you could think of to the point they had to hide my jersey to keep me from playing. True story. Now we talking about the game. Not practice. Not practice. We talking about the game. Don't cry now. What the baby's going to do." ... Now those guys are smarter than the guys before because now you're I got to hide the jersey from you. That's what we're going to do now. So Allan Iverson, the Cobes, all those guys, we lost their careers because of injuries, right? So now if you look at today's game, you have Curry playing at 37. That's true. You have James Harden, look what they're doing at this age while everybody else body was falling apart, right? Done at 35. [ __ ] before us, done at 33, they was out of their primes, right? So now these guys, how Allan Iverson looked at 27 28, they're looking like that at 37 now. So it's like, yeah, we're going to take 10 games off and we're going to make sure you're not playing banged up so we can extend your career so I can have you longer.

The panel heavily critiques Bleacher Report's list of top 15 pure scorers, particularly its methodology which 'dinged' players for high free throw attempt rates. They argue that true pure scoring is about the ability to create one's own shot from any spot on the floor (three-pointers, mid-range, post-ups, drives) and adapt when defenses cut off options, rather than just statistical efficiency. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant are cited as the top three archetypal pure scorers.

So Steph Curry took the top spot on the list followed by Katie as a human being because we got to hear how they ranked it. No, it don't matter. I know it don't matter, but we still got to see the formula of it. So it was a three tier criteria to formulate the list. Uh count uh points per 75 possessions with a minimum of 10,000 minutes played. Relative true shooting percentage uh the players true shooting percentage minus the league average at the time and free throw attempt rate which they ranked lowest to highest. So they dinged you if you took a lot of free throws. They dinged you in terms of if you're being a pure scorer. So James, this is some kid [ __ ] I was wondering why James our name went on here. So I'm going to say so you're a pure scorer mo if if you are a if you are an assassin at scoring that ball, you're getting fouled. Yes, for sure. Right. Um, that's a kid that did this. No, the Okay, so this is the problem with this list is, no offense, all these guys up here, obviously they put the ball in the basket. Feels like some recency. No, when we're talking about pure scoring from scores, right? People who score. It's it's the ability to create your own shot, the ability to get to wherever space you are, right? It's the craftsmanship of putting the ball in the basket.

The head-to-head matchup between Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama shows Jokic's dominance (37 PPG, 11 RPG, 9 APG, 5-2 record) against the younger Wembanyama (26 PPG, 15 RPG, 4 APG, 4 BPG). The panel agrees it's not yet a true rivalry due to Jokic's experience and Wembanyama's early career stage, but potential playoff matchups could elevate it. Wembanyama's impressive stats in year three against an MVP are noted as a sign of future dominance.

Do you consider Jokic versus Wimby to be a rivalry yet or do they need to see each other in the playoffs first? I think they need to see each other in the playoffs first. I don't think this a rivalry yet. I mean, he's up 5'2. Um he's averaging almost 40 against him. Um, you know, and this they only it's only been seven games, so you know, we're going to need to have 15 or 20 more games to really see those stats for real. But right now, it's not even it's just, you know, he just it's a baby. It's a baby to him right now. So, ain't no rivalry.

Breaking news revealed Joel Embiid was diagnosed with appendicitis and would undergo surgery. This injury, with a typical recovery of 1-3 weeks, could significantly impact the 76ers' playoff run, especially given their tight Eastern Conference standing. The discussion highlights the fragility of player health and its immediate consequences for team success.

So, we got some breaking news that we need to get to. Uh, right now coming out of the Sixers camp, uh, Joel Embiid, diagnosed with an appendicitis, will undergo surgery this afternoon in Houston. What? Appendicitis. Appendix. I think he has to get his appendix removed. Is that from the oblique thing? He was he was feeling some illness, discomfort this morning. They want him to get evaluated. So, uh, Sixers have three games left. Obviously, tightly contested Eastern Conference playoff race. Currently in the eighth spot. They have three games remaining. Houston, I think Pacers and Bucks. Not sure how long he'll miss. For context, and this is obviously not not apples to apples, but OJ Anobi had an emergency appendecttomy back on April 12, 2019, right before the playoffs started. His original timetable was might return after the first round. He ended up missing the entirety of the Raptors 2019 title run.