Ignore Daryl Morey's tired NBA bubble title propaganda
"Had the Rockets won the title, I absolutely would have celebrated it as legitimate, knowing the immense effort and resilience required," Morey said in a retrospective by The Athletic. "Yet, everyone I speak to around the league privately agrees that it doesn't truly hold up as a genuine championship."
Those, ladies and gentlemen, are the words of a man still struggling with the reality that the Houston Rockets did not, in fact, win the title that year, which happened to be his last as the team's GM after losing to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in five games. Nor did Morey win a title in the 12 years prior to the pandemic. Or in the last five years since he joined the Philadelphia 76ers.
If I didn't know any better, I'd think Daryl Morey was salty.
You've no doubt heard these type of "Mickey Mouse title" swipes before, usually in a way to discredit what the Los Angeles Lakers accomplished that year. However, those swipes typically come from the social media handle of a LeBron James hater, or the mouth of a talking head trying to win a debate on TV. I can't recall anyone close to the NBA ever claiming the 2020 title was illegitimate, let alone someone who was in the bubble. Most people who were there agree on how mentally challenging the isolation was.
Ease of the situation aside, every team was competing under the same circumstances. They all had to same opportunity to win the so-called not genuine title, yet it was the Lakers who persevered.
That's why we should all just ignore Morey, who admitted how much he would have celebrated had his team come out on top. There was absolutely no reason to say "the champion will forever be marked by an asterisk" or volunteer what other people think unless he was trying to unsubtly let us know what he thinks. Like most people who had a rooting interest in the bubble, he only feels that way because his team didn't win.
Jonathan Kuminga remains in limbo
Jonathan Kuminga's ongoing contract negotiations with the Golden State Warriors may have some real consequences soon. The forward is reportedly not expected to play for the Democratic Republic of Congo in the upcoming Afrobasket tournament as a result of the stalemate in his restricted free agency.
Here's Bryan Kalbrosky with more on that:
According to Marc Stein, due to these stalls, Kuminga is "not expected" to play for his national team due the upcoming FIBA AfroBasket tournament in Angola.
Kuminga was featured on the preliminary roster to represent the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was expected to play with other pros including Emmanuel Mudiay and Oscar Tshiebwe. His brother, Joel Ntambwe, was also on the preliminary roster.
Kuminga played for the Democratic Republic of Congo at the African World Cup Qualifier in 2023.
This is something very important to him, as he explained in 2022...
This whole situation has to be incredibly frustrating for Kuminga.
Shootaround
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He's giving man's best friend in a genuine way and I want to root for him. The problem is that the man who is his best friend, Sir C.C., gives me the creeps. Take a look: I think we can all agree that Moondog should be the only mascot for the Cavaliers and he shouldn't have to share his duties with this knockoff version of Woody from Toy Story, right? If the team were to have two mascots, though, Whammer (the polar bear who wore wraparound sunglasses) would be a better option. 13. Milwaukee Bucks NAME: Bango the Buck (1977) Bango the Buck was NBA Mascot of the Year in 2010. Named after what what announcer Eddie Doucette would say whenever a player would hit a 3-pointer, Bango has gone through many different looks over the years. He's the right level of adorable: If you were to bring a stuffed animal version of him home, he would not look out of place. But he could also intimidate the other team, too. He isn't the most exciting offering from the league, but he plays his role well. More: Look at the Bucks mascot react to DeAndre Jordan's vicious dunk 14. Memphis Grizzlies NAME: Grizz (1995) Grizz was NBA Mascot of the Year in 2011. We've reached the portion of the rankings where the mascot is just the name of the team, which is inoffensive but lacks a burst of creativity that really makes it sing. Here is a very hairy grizzly bear who represents the Grizzlies in a totally fine way. It seems he is known for climbing ladders and slamming other mascot-related things through tables as he has done it multiple times. More: Grizzlies mascot took off clothes and danced to Ginuwine's 'Pony' 15. Atlanta Hawks NAME: Harry the Hawk (1986) Harry the Hawk was NBA Mascot of the Year in 2023. We have written some outrageously strange headlines about this mascot over the years, ranging from getting catfished on Tinder to parodying an OnlyFans video. He joins Benny the Bull and Bango the Buck as some of the oldest mascots in the league. I find that Harry is slightly terrifying, but maybe that's what you're looking for from a mascot. I don't know about you, Harry. There's nothing wrong with you, and you're pretty good at your job, but there's something that makes me a bit suspicious of you. More: Atlanta Hawks mascot's in-game balancing stunt goes terribly wrong 16. Minnesota Timberwolves NAME: Crunch the Wolf (2003) Crunch the Wolf was NBA Mascot of the Year in 2012. There isn't a whole lot to say about the Timberwolves mascot except that the most exciting moment in his recent history involved an inflatable version of him rather than his actual performance. That's probably for the best though considering he previously made headlines for accidentally injuring the father of one of their former star players. His official biography says that his favorite food is bacon-wrapped bacon, which is very 2011 "Epic Meal Time" of him. More: You didn't know you needed this video of the Minnesota Timberwolves mascots dancing to Total Eclipse of the Heart 17. Phoenix Suns NAME: "Go" The Suns Gorilla (1980) The Suns Gorilla made the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2005 and was NBA Mascot of the Year in 2024. Perhaps my most controversial opinion on this list: The Suns Gorilla is not exactly my cup of tea. I do, however, love his origin story. Read this unbelievable yet somehow true background (via "For the record, this mischievous mascot was born quite by accident. A messenger for Eastern Onion, a singing telegram service, came to the Coliseum during a home game dressed as a gorilla. As he left, Coliseum security suggested he do a few dances underneath the basket during a timeout and the fans loved it. So did the messenger, who kept coming to games until he was officially invited to be part of the team." That kind of rocks and is way more fun than the reported sunflower costume the team apparently considered. 18. Indiana Pacers NAME: Boomer The Pacers Panther (1990) Boomer made the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2019. If you asked most fans "What kind of animal is the Pacers mascot?" they would probably struggle to find an answer. But here is the problem: If you showed them a picture of the guy, I'm willing to bet that most would still likely not get that this dude was a panther. I just told you that he was a panther and by the end of this sentence you're probably going to forget again. I much preferred Bowser, who was their funny little gray dog that was a part of the franchise from 2002 until 2010. Much like Bill Bradley or Calvin Murphy, I'm not entirely sure how he made his Hall of Fame. More: The Pacers mascot went on a trampoline and lost his (mascot) head 19. Sacramento Kings NAME: Slamson the Lion a.k.a. Felinus Entertanus Maximus (1997) According to his official bio, "he was acquired" by scouts "while taking a cat-nap under a tree" so I hope he was OK with that. I think that a lion is a more appropriate mascot for the Kings than actual royalty because human mascots make me very uncomfortable. A few years ago, Slamson recently led a cultish ritual involving four other NBA mascots (Benny, The Coyote, Franklin, and Blaze) and two non-NBA mascots (including Sacramento's G League mascot Dunkson) to light the beam. It was bizarre and awesome. He gained some points for not welcoming the gimmicky "Roy Al" mascot last season. More: The Kings turned the beam ceremony into a religious experience with a strange mascot ritual 20. Detroit Pistons NAME: Hooper a.k.a. Mighty Mighty Hooper (1996) I almost kind of like that Hooper is supposedly a horse but also somehow looks absolutely nothing like a horse and instead some mythical blue and red creature. Hooper is mostly known for getting beat up by NBA players, including (not shockingly) Robin Lopez. Hooper is a major improvement over the 1990s mascot Sir Slam-A-Lot, but overall, he is quite forgettable. More: NBA players keep beating up the Detroit Pistons mascot 21. Philadelphia 76ers NAME: Franklin the Dog (2015) Something about a blue anthropomorphic dog standing upright does not sit right with me and it feels oddly disturbing. Despite how fun it was for him to trade trick shots with Luka Dončić, I'm sorry to say that I'm out on Franklin the Dog. He is clearly the worst mascot in the otherwise top-tier mascot city of Philadelphia. This is my formal pitch for the 76ers to bring back the far weirder creature named Big Shot (who represented from 1982 until 1996) or Hoops, who looked like he belonged on Sesame Street. More: 76ers snap 7-game losing streak thanks to elite defense from Philly's mascot (seriously) 22. Portland Trail Blazers NAME: Blaze the Trail Cat (2002) and Douglas Fur (2023) I have no problem with Blaze The Trail Cat except for the fact that he is fairly forgettable. In fact, the Trail Blazers probably recognized that because a couple years ago, they decided to add a new mascot into the rotation. Douglas Fur, pictured above handing out with comedian Ian Karmel, is far from forgettable. I'd say that this guy solved one problem but created a new one. Douglas, who is named after the Douglas Fir tree popular to the Pacific Northwest, is weird. But that's part of the city's identity, right? He knows his lane role: Keep Portland Weird. 23. Los Angeles Clippers NAME: Chuck the Condor (2016) Chuck the Condor was NBA Mascot of the Year in 2022. To his credit, some people probably love Chuck the Condor. Sadly for him in these rankings, however, I'm not one of those people. As we once wrote at For The Win several years ago, Chuck is a "disgrace". Remember that time Chuck greeted everyone he met at his first game with a free pair of Chuck Taylor shoes? It was all downhill from there. The good news, however, is Steve Ballmer did not let Ye (formerly Kanye West) design the mascot, which is a concept that was actually briefly considered. More: Steve Ballmer dunks, Clippers debut strange-looking condor mascot on same night 24. Brooklyn Nets* NAME: N/A As the singer Kenny Rogers once wrote: You've got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. The Nets got rid of the BrooklyKnight (who For The Win once described as an "unequivocal disaster") as well as New Jersey's Duncan the Dragon, Super Dunk, and Sly the Silver Fox. Now, they have no mascot whatsoever. Pictured above is their old mascot, Sly. 25. Golden State Warriors* NAME: N/A Golden State had some unfortunate luck with mascots, retiring Berserker in 1997 and the unfortunately-timed Thunder (when it became the name of a rival NBA team) in 2007. Above, you can watch a weird video that the team released explaining what happened to its former mascot. More: Damian Lillard told a great story about seeing the Warriors' old mascot when he was a little kid 26. Los Angeles Lakers* NAME: N/A There is some dignity and class to the Lakers never even attempting to have a mascot. It is worse than having a bad one! Instead, let's take a moment to remember that time in 2013 when a fan dressed up as a bear and pretended to be a mascot at Dodger Stadium. Maybe under new ownership, the Lakers can find this guy and get him full-time employment. 27. New York Knicks* NAME: N/A Like the Lakers, the Knicks have never embarrassed themselves with a mascot that aged poorly or humiliated the franchise. Instead, they have celebrities like Spike Lee who take care of the duties that would otherwise usually get assigned to a mascot. By the way, it is worth noting that New York's G League team has a mascot (a dog who is named Hudson Knickerbocker) and might deserve a call-up to the NBA squad. 28. Boston Celtics NAME: Lucky a.k.a. Lucky the Leprechaun (2003) I'm sorry but your mascot should not look like he plays backup point guard in the G League and decided to do some last-minute Halloween costume shopping. The original logo is classic but the human is just not cutting it. 29. Dallas Mavericks NAME: Champ (2002) and Mavs Man (2000) I like Champ, although the Mavericks can't seem to decide whether or not he has white hair or green hair. As much as I like that horse, though, I don't like MavsMan. You're scaring the kids, Mavs Man, and I don't think you should exist. 30. New Orleans Pelicans NAME: Pierre T. Pelican (2013) and King Cake Baby (2014) Even though I usually don't like birds, Pierre is fine, although a bit underwhelming. Here is what we wrote about him in 2014: "It's not awful, but it has no edge. His eyes don't drill holes into your very essence. The beak is friendly, not demonic. There's no real material for the Photoshop artists of Twitter to work with. You can't superimpose this Pierre's face onto horror-movie monsters and give it nearly the same gravitas as the original." I spoke too soon about the scaring the kids, though. The other New Orleans mascot, King Cake Baby, is so much scarier than the rest of the mascots in the league combined. Whatever this is feels illegal and I don't like it one bit. The league has no place for this monstrosity. More: The Pelicans' creepy King Cake Baby mascot was roasted with all of your 'Mean Tweets'
