Thursday odds and ends: Cuban, Shaw and the Knicks

The mouth that roared, Mark Cuban
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning Stiffs. Hope everyone is well right now. Got a couple articles that came out today that I will provide hyperlink's to, and I'll give my (brief) commentary below them.

Here we go:

Mark Cuban goes 'Full Mark Cuban', talks about Sterling, his own prejudices - Matt Bonesteel, Washington Post
Look, I understand what Cuban is trying to say. He says we all have prejudices and we shouldn't be in the business of legislating thoughts. There's an argument to be made. Cuban rather clumsily makes a fairly bad comparison between a hood wearing African American and a tattooed white guy. You can see what he is saying, he just didn't execute his thoughts in the best manner.

I have always said that, if you hate me, I don't want you to be silent. I can't change your mind about me if you you dislike me silently. In that manner I tend to agree with Cuban. Yet, there is real-life consequences for damaging hate-speech. You CAN legislate hate speech and a history of unsavory/racist behavior when it damages your company (sponsors) and your relationship with your "product" (players). In that way the NBA is acting very much correctly. Maybe Cuban is too far wedded to the slippery slope argument to differentiate the two?

Jackson prefers Brian Shaw over Derek Fisher: Source - Marc Berman, New York Post
As long as there is a media in New York, we will just have to keep putting up with articles such as the one above until the Knicks hire their coach. Listen, I have no idea what is happening on this front ... but I'm inclined to believe this is a bunch of "throw it against a wall and see if it sticks" stuff that NY media is ever so famous for. Phil Jackson and Brian Shaw have long history together, and this is undeniable. I'm inclined to believe that Shaw is going nowhere, and until we start hearing substantial news ... this is all just noise.

Have a great day everyone!

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