All-Star Weekend was one for the books. They changed the format for the all star game and although when I first read it I thought, “man what is Adam Silver (the commissioner of the NBA) thinking?”, but to be honest, it was one of the best all star games of all time. What I loved the most about the all star game is that although it was very competitive between the best players in the world, the league decided to honor Kobe and Gigi by having Team LeBron wear number 2 for Gigi and Team Giannis wear number 24 for Kobe. Also, they had Common perform a little tribute for Kobe, and it was spectacular. Adam Silver, along with the rest of the Board, changed the name of the award the MVP of the all star game receives, from the NBA All-Star MVP Award to the NBA All-Star game Kobe Bryant Award, and that was a beautiful gesture from the NBA to the Bryant family. Kawhi Leonard is the first to win the first Kobe Bryant Award Adam Silver announced that the money made from the auctioning of the game worn jerseys will be donated to the Mamba on Three Fund and the Mamba Camp; Mambacita Sports Foundation.

The rest of All Star Weekend was very good, as we had two Heat players win an event (Derrick Jones Jr. came out on top in the Dunk Contest and Bam Adebayo in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge.) Duncan Robinson was eliminated in the first round of the three point contest, and although it would have been spectacular to have 3 Heat players win all of the events on Saturday, I understand because it was his first time and he may have been nervous being on a big stage like that.

There was some controversy regarding the dunk contest, as people believed Aaron Gordon should have gotten a perfect score for his final dunk, which was him jumping over Tacko Fall, a 7’6″ center for the Boston Celtics and the tallest person in the NBA right now. People also argued that Derrick Jones Jr. did not have as much variety in his dunks, as the majority of his dunks were east bays (between the legs) and just changed some of them by adding passes off of the backboard, jumping over his teammate Bam Adebayo, and also doing a windmill from one step in the free throw line. I actually cannot believe people genuinely think Aaron Gordon should have won. This is preposterous. I don’t think people comprehend the fact that Derrick Jones Jr. is a lefty, therefore automatically giving him an upper hand. People think he won because Dwayne Wade was one of the judges and thought there was a bias since he would have voted more leniently for the Heat player since Wade is a Miami Heat legend.

Well although these events were very cool, the USA vs World game was the first all star weekend event, which occurred on Friday night. Absolute units like Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and Sviatolslav Mykhailiuk when head-to-head, and the USA team ended up winning 151-131. Miles Bridges (a fellow lefty) ended up winning the MVP award for his incredible performance, getting 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk dropped a cool 5 points, with a thunderous put-back dunk, R.J. Barrett led all scorers with 27 points, and the #1 pick Zion Williamson got himself 14 points, while shooting 63% from the field, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. This game full of incredible young studs is to prove that leftys are the future of the NBA, and watch. I say in about 5-7 years, Zion will be in the G.O.A.T conversation. Mark my words.

Well this is all for you leftys, I will catch you next time. Dale yo.

Zion Williamson’s NBA debut on January 22, 2020 was a wake up call to everyone that lefties are the superior breed. Think about it. In his first 2 preseason games, he shot at a very high 71.4% and all of his shots were from the paint and the mid-range. But on his first nba game two days ago, he shot 72.7%, keeping his efficient shooting at a consistent rate, and he shot 100% from the three point line (4/4). In his only year at Duke, he shot 33.8% from the three point line, and was said that he is not a consistent shooter, as well as the fact that he just relies on his enormous frame to get to the basket. Since he is 6’6” 285 pounds, yes it is relatively true that his size makes it easy for him to score in the paint compared to other NBA players (he is also the third heaviest player in the NBA), but he proved to everyone in the league that when they see him open at the three point line they need to step up. He just came back from a gruesome knee injury which took him months to recover from. The New Orleans Pelicans even had to teach him how to walk and run again. Preposterous. Not only is the fact that he can score from pretty much anywhere on the floor kind of scary, but also about 2 weeks before his return from his knee injury and NBA debut, he gained 8 pounds of pure muscle in a week. Although this is ironic because it is said that he needs to start cutting since he is theoretically too heavy to be a lethal threat in the league, he is slowly proving them wrong. If Zion was a right handed person, he would need to lose weight and would be nowhere near as talented and essential to the Pelicans compared to how he is now, a lefty. Thank god he is left handed. 

But this is not the only time that left handed superstars have shown flashes of greatness on the hardwood. People like Manu Ginobili (who has 4 championships), Derek Fisher (who has 5 championships and played with a top three NBA player of all time Kobe Bryant), and Bill Russell (who has 11 championships and arguably the most decorated NBA player of all time) have shown how beautiful the game of basketball is, especially when you shoot the ball with your left hand.

Zion Williamson is the perfect example of how lefty are a different breed and nobody wants to see us succeed. When Zion Williamson was playing Duke’s rival, the North Carolina Tar Heels, Zion performed a hesitation move at the top of the key and the outer side of his shoe blew out, which resulted in him being subbed out for the rest of the game with a knew injury, leading him being out for a couple of weeks. Nike’s stock price dropped a whopping $1.1 Billion right after this incident occurred. This is what Nike deserved for plotting on the downfall of Zion Williamson. After Zion got injured, Cam Reddish and his fellow teammate R.J. Barrett (lefty) were left to carry the load. If this would have happened to a right handed basketball in their last year at college, their draft stock would have dropped drastically, therefore losing their chances at being the first pick in the draft, let alone a lottery pick. But since he was a lefty, he ended up being the number one pick in the 2019 nba draft. R.J. Barrett ended up being the third pick in the draft right behind Ja Morant, and it was a spectacular moment for us lefties and after what Nike did to Zion, he deserved it. In Zion’s first four preseason games, he averaged 23.2 points per game while shooting a very high percentage, but he missed the summer league finale due to his injury, and the New Orleans Pelicans lost to the Milwaukee Bucks. Zion has been out since October 21 and is reported to come back in about 2 months, meaning he should be back by January 2020 the latest. I’m looking forward to his return very much so, and can’t wait to see him compete for that Rookie Of The Year award. I’ll keep you lefties posted. Tootles.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

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The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

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• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
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You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

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