Short takes

The NBA and Memphis Grizzles are investigating a situation that came to light early Sunday morning where the star basketball player was featured in an Instagram live video recklessly waving around a firearm in the passenger seat of a car. The likely suspension will be Morant’s second incident with a gun.

Two short months ago, Morant was suspended without pay for eight games following an IG live video at a Denver nightclub where the superstar was openly waving a firearm. Police declined to charge the player but the NBA stepped in and suspended him for conduct detrimental to the league. Analysts suggest that Adam Silver (commissioner of the NBA) went lenient on the point guard the first time around following a one on one personal meeting with the player but will likely have a different attitude this time.

The expectation, if the video is found to be un-edited and the gun is found to be real, is that Morant will be suspended for twenty games or more. Only time will tell if the superstar can regain control of his NBA career.

Off to Vegas -

The next team to leave their home for Las Vegas is the Oakland A’s. The baseball team has called Oakland home for the past fifty years; however, this is about to change.

The Major League Baseball team recently agreed to a location along the strip that will house a 30,000 seat stadium estimated to be worth $1,500,000,000.

The move was highly expected after the Las Vegas Raiders made the move away from Oakland following the 2019 NFL season. The Oakland Athletics rank last in attendance amongst all thirty Major League Baseball teams. Their win-loss record of 9-33 (worst in baseball) does not help, but it is widely believed that moving the team to an area that, for years pleaded for major league sports teams, will improve their fanbase.

The A’s are the latest team to relocate to Las Vegas. The Raiders moved to Vegas in 2019; the National Hockey League added a team specifically for Vegas in 2017; the NBA has had internal discussions about adding a team of their own to the city, and Formula 1 added a racetrack that will race through the streets of Sin City this November for the first time.

A timetable for completion of the stadium has yet to be announced, however it appears the days of Oakland residents being able to go to the ballpark are numbered.

Eastern/Western Conference Finals Set -

The Boston Celtics knocked off the Philadelphia 76ers in dominating fashion to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. Jayson Tatum put the team on his shoulders and carried them with 51 points in game seven.

With the Celtics moving on the race for the NBA title has come down to four teams: the Celtics, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, and Denver Nuggets. All four teams have superstars that can lead their respective team to a championship. Tatum going head to head with the two-way superstar Jimmy Butler will make for an exciting series. The Celtics will play the Miami Heat for the opportunity to represent the east in the finals. The Heat are a very solid team. They knocked off the Knicks and more impressively the Bucks to get to the conference finals. The two teams split the games played against each other this season meaning the table has been set for an amazing tough match-up.

On the other side of the country two teams with entirely different paths to the Western Conference Finals will square off. The Denver Nuggets have been dominant all season. They finished with the best record thanks in large part to Nikola Jokic. The superstar center nearly averaged a triple double during the regular season and was always an offensive wrecking ball in the paint. He will square off against the new NBA all-time scoring leader LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have had an interesting season. The team completely overhauled the roster at the trade deadline giving new life to the disgruntled squad. They did nothing but improve ever since, and now the two teams will face off to see who will represent the west.