Most change is inconsequential. And to put that into perspective for you, the mere change of waking up at 8:30a vs 8:00a could throw your whole day off. However in the grand scheme of things you still did everything you were supposed to do that day, it was just rushed by 30 minutes.
You still went to work. And at the end of the day, the coffee cup was still half full on the side of your makeshift work station, and you still cleared your email inbox. The same could be said for effect that bigger change agents like a death in the family or contracting a major illness has on your everyday life.
After the initial earthquake things return to normal, until they don’t.
Every decade or so, there is a shift. A transition that is so major it impacts the everyday life of such a significant amount of people that a new normal is the only way to push forward.
And of all things, it’s the NBA replacing Spalding brand balls with Wilson brand balls that took me down this deep rabbit hole of thinking.
A Return to It’s Roots: Wilson vs Spalding
Now, it’s honestly not that big of a change, the NBA is just going back to its roots after 37 years of Spalding. Wilson first to manufactured the official NBA ball in 1946. Wilson basketballs will return to the league for its 75th anniversary season in 2021-22. Nevertheless, Spalding is the only ball that I know to be a part of the NBA personally (double points for you if the “Spalding/Prom Date” line from Love and Basketball is running through your mind) it makes me wonder about the concept of shifting as a whole.
There will be a shift in jobs after that loss of business in visibility, people who will ultimately be let go, and changes that players will get to make to this new version of basketball; a version that only my kids will know as normal or original. It is trippy to think about to say the least. Wilson will also be supplying game balls to the NBA, the G League, the WNBA, and Basketball Africa League.
Media
Producer, basketball player on hiatus, business man, and walking marketing case study, Lebron James, hosted a virtual graduation ceremony entitled “Graduate Together” for all those who missed out on their walk across the stage. Click the link to see a commencement speech from Obama, performance by Alicia Keys, and a host of other actors and musicians celebrating the graduating class of 2020.
Music
Nelly vs Luda, who did you have? Let me tell you, I definitely did not have Luda and the more I thought about it, the more I was ashamed of why.
It was Nelly’s star power.
Who else do you know could have a whole generation of kids walking around with a clean bandage on their face…for no reason…at all? Ex-blackly.
Strategy aside, Nelly did numbers. He had hits! “Ride with Me”, cross over features like “Girlfriend” with N’Sync…DILEMMA! And even as late as 2016 his 2002 song “Hot in Herre” was featured on a lime-a-rita commercial.
Even now I feel like I am screaming excuses into an abyss of splash waterfalls, because Luda did the damn thing. Not only did he have an impeccable wifi connection, but he also had solid intros and history to tell behind his tracks.
Luda’s shift into acting and more specifically The Fast and The Furious franchise could have contributed to me counting him out as well, as musicians start to focus on acting their music career becomes secondary. Instead the focus shifts to their current act and the success that brings because that is what is in your face.
Luda also gave a few snippets of new music he has coming out. The Silence of The Lambs song featuring Wayne with Timbaland handling production is going to be a problem if he drops this Fall.
Something To Think About: What’s in a leader?
Another interesting conversation that was brought up within the side commentary of this Verzuz. Murphy Lee. Nelly’s star power being the catalyst that propelled him at the front man of the St. Lunatics, and more aggressively star power in general being what makes a great front man with or without the more superior rapping ability in the crew. For example:
G-Unit had 50, but Lloyd Banks was the better rapper. Nelly brought up the St. Lunatics, but Murphy Lee was held to a high regard lyrically, and even the Diplomats who were all known for their own thing could hold Cam as their de-facto leader but I think a couple of the Birdgang members were spittin’ spittin’.
Sidebar: Someone should suggest to these artists that this is not a concert nor is it the club. They should turn up towards the end of the hour and not pregame. If done right, a good Verzuz could act as the artist’s self-produced-E! True Hollywood Story or Unsung doc (depending).
Mental
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. And this is NOT a subject that I specialize on so I just wanted to give out a couple of quick resources that I’ve compiled. If you need it, use it. If not, pass it on to someone who does.
Screenings: Not everything is depression. Contrary to popular belief you can just be sad. You can just be nervous. You can just be anxious. You do not have to be clinically diagnosed with a disease to feel and be validated in feeling human emotions. Click the link here to answer a few questions to help figure out what you are feeling.
Go here for a few tools that you can work with at home to work through your feelings.
TV
If you aren’t watching “The Last Dance” then you can skip this.
Michael Jordan has always had two personas. One crafted for the public and one protected from the public. “The Last Dance” doc is probably the first time a lot of us have seen the two collide. I do not know if we would have been able to make sense of either had the doc came out at any other time.
Without the distractions of the basketball season and other players in the limelight we’ve been able to give this great our complete attention as he dissected his life for us with the precision of a surgeon. Through cigar smoke, animated laughter, and a flurry of teary eyes I pray that I am this passionate about something one day. I pray that I can suffer for something like this one day because through MJ’s story I did not see a hint of regret. I saw a dangerous type of love in a form that is probably the purest I’ve ever been blessed to witness. (Which is saying something because it is not love between two humans.)
Offhand Opinion: Steve Kerr is a lowkey legend, and now I hope ya’ll can see why. I’ve also taken this opportunity to re-examine KD’s relationship and interactions with Kerr. KD is a very good player, but I’ve realized that KD (like most of us in that age group) thinks he knows everything and because he does not get the acknowledgement he feels he deserves, it hinders him and causes him to block a lot out. Steve Kerr won championships as a player, went on to be an analyst, and now in another act in his professional life is a championship winning coach. I wish Kevin could have been more open to receiving him.
Oh, and a reoccurring feeling that I’ve been having is AND I QUOTE Scottie Pippen is THAT NIGGA. UNQUOTE. (More on that next week maybe!)
Politics
I’m not going too much into detail here, but I did want to say that ya’ll president is about two week’s away from ingesting Clorox pills and I’m not, not here for it. (Ya get it!)
Trump has been taking the unapproved hydroxychloroquine drug used to treat Malaria ever since his driver tested positive for COVID-19 and I am just tired. Nancy Pelosi has her thoughts on the matter, and outside of outright calling him a fat ass I think she has covered everything that any other politically correct citizen would say.
In Biden News
LaTosha Brown, Tiffany D. Cross, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Alicia Garza, Sunny Hostin, Angela Rye, and Amanda Seales all got together on a piece in The Washington Post to tell Biden that his VP better be female and she better be black. The written piece was accompanied by a video as well.
They also requested a black woman Supreme Court Justice and a comprehensive black agenda.
Personally, I am definitely smoking whatever this pipe dream is laced with, but I do know that it is just that. A pipe dream. The United States was/is not ready for a white woman as president, so I know that a black woman as VP is even further down on that list of things deemed possible.
I would accept a white woman VP for a black woman as the Secretary of State which is just as important and will help to ease our foreign relations. I also know that there is more than one way to skin a cat and the optics of a black number two is just that…optics.
The comprehensive black agenda is a nonnegotiable though…get Symone Sanders on the phone!
I’m Out.
Make sure ya’ll come play Song Association with us This Thursday at 8pm on IG Live @longformlive. Click the image above for the Vol. 3 playlist we culminated last week. It has all of the songs that everyone guessed correctly.
Tell a friend.