People LOVE Power Rankings in sports. It’s pretty stupid. So, of course, I have MY Stupid Power Rankings. I take 10 things from the NBA and WNBA (or not) in the past week and rank them accordingly. You don’t like them? Make your own rankings!
Last week of May. NBA playoffs are heating up and WNBA season is getting hotter. Let’s check this week’s happenings!
(PHOTO CREDIT: Sam Navarro/USA Today.)
1) Bucks Take Care Of Biz
The last two years have been a massive disappointment for Milwaukee. Last year’s was even worse because they didn’t even make it to the conference finals after the Miami Heat upset them. This offseason, they were able to re-sign Giannis Antetokounmpo and acquire Jrue Holiday. No contract distractions. And they were under the radar a bit because Philadelphia and Brooklyn were taking all the headlines in the East.
The first step towards their revenge tour was taking care of the Heat. After a hotly contested first game, the Bucks ran over the Heat and swept them in swift fashion. They now await the winner of the Nets/Celtics winner as Giannis and the Bucks try to undo the last two seasons and try to grab the brass ring.
DUNK BY @BRITTNEYGRINER πͺβΌπ€#CountIt pic.twitter.com/FWo9lX9Pyx
β WNBA (@WNBA) May 30, 2021
2) Brittney Jams It In
It’s not often this happens in the WNBA but Brittney Griner was able to jam in her 13th career WNBA regular season dunk. In the 25-year history of the WNBA, we’ve only seen 23 dunks (and that includes dunks in the all-star games). And Brittney has 15 of them.
Ja Morant went 360 on this SLAM π€ pic.twitter.com/k0cl7546CN
β NBA TV (@NBATV) May 30, 2021
3) Ja Morant Goes For a Spin
It’s a playoff game. And it’s okay to show off at the playoffs. Put on a show, Ja.
(PHOTO CREDIT: WNBA.)
4) Courtney Williams’ Three Gives Dream 4 in a Row
The Dream started out 0-2. And then they rang off four straight wins, including Courtney Williams sinking this go-ahead three in overtime. Williams also scored 31 points in that game. What a week they’re having.
Marina Mabrey and Skylar Diggins-Smith got into it a little bit late in the Mercury/Wings game. #WNBA pic.twitter.com/ri0y9eTxAi
β π₯π²π-π₯π²π π€πΎβπΎ (@TheNoLookPass) May 30, 2021
5) Marina and Skylar Get Into It
I love this intensity late in the game between Marina Mabrey and Skylar Diggins-Smith. And the video I put up got tons of views. This isn’t really anything more than a heated moment between the two but the more attention the WNBA gets, the better.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Dale Zanine/USA Today.)
6) No More Winless Teams in the WNBA
The Sparks beat the Sky to get their first win. Then on Sunday, the Lynx scored an upset over the Connecticut Sun. These two teams are too talented to stay winless for long. Let’s have a more competitive league, ladies.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Mark J. Terrill/AP.)
7) Injuries Have Dictated Lakers/Suns Series
While it’s exciting that the Lakers and Suns are tied at two apiece, it sucks that Chris Paul got hurt early in Game 1. It definitely made it more difficult for the Suns to get through the games. And now, Anthony Davis hurt his groin and we don’t know his status for Game 5.
It’s a very pivotal game and the Lakers may not have their full squad. That sucks.
Baffled Filipino dad wondering why he can’t win a game of mahjong against his titos and titas. pic.twitter.com/Gy73ZjMdx6
β π₯π²π-π₯π²π π€πΎβπΎ (@TheNoLookPass) May 25, 2021
8) Heat Extinguished
Very disappointing after their Finals run last season. Their team was not readily available all the time due to the pandemic and injuries. Like I said before, if you can put an asterisk on a season, this might be it.
Yes. Everyone played under the pandemic but I feel the Heat were more of the affected teams this season.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images.)
9) Naomi Osaka Leaves French Open Due to Mental Health
This is so messed up.
Naomi Osaka has been open about her mental health for a long time. She mentioned that she was skipping postgame conferences a few days before the event because people asking questions put a lot of doubts in her brain. She also said that it just doesn’t seem right asking questions to someone who had just lost. I remember mentioning this long ago after Cam Newton lost the Super Bowl.
After the French Open kept fining her and threatened to expel her from the tournament, Osaka called their bluff and withdrew from the tournament. I’ll admit that while reporters have a job to do, postgame conferences are probably not way to go if you want to get straight answers from the athletes. They can barely cool off before they face the media to answer questions about why they lost.
This might set something in motion. But for now, it sucks that we don’t get to see Osaka play tennis in an important grand slam because the tourney organizers are insensitive to her wishes.
Russell Westbrook appeared to have popcorn poured on his head by a fan on his way to the locker room with an apparent injury.
The fan was ejected from the game. pic.twitter.com/WgtvKMFYHH
β SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 27, 2021
10) Fans Suck
So is it okay to spill popcorn at someone unprovoked? Is it okay to spit at somebody even though they didn’t do anything to you? Throw a water bottle at someone you don’t know?
If you answered yes to ANY of these, you’re an awful person. Professional athletes are humans, too. You don’t get to treat them like they’re dirt.
Be better, guys.
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.
R.I.P. Nala.