Ben Kaplan
@bkaplan4
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Author of Pipeline to the Pros: How D3, Small-College Nobodies Rose to Rule the NBA (4/16/24)
Chicago
Joined October 2010
If you've enjoyed this thread and feel inspired to spread some kindness, my dad would've pointed you to charities working to cure the illnesses that touched his favorite families:.
🧵 With the news that TNT might lose the NBA, it’s time to share the story about Ernie Johnson and the @NBAonTNT halftime show he made for my Bar Mitzvah. It began w my dad and ended w me being called a drug addict & ballhog (fair, tbh) in front of family & friends . (1/X)
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RT @FFTMAG: Former @CalvinKnights and @d3hoops First-Team All American Jordan Brink will be coaching the Knicks in summer league. He coache….
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Love to see a “grinder” type head coach (especially a first-timer) hire a former player as top assistant.
Dallas Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley is finalizing a deal to become the top assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets under David Adelman, Andy Miller of Klutch Sports tells ESPN. Dudley has been on Mavs' staff since 2021 after a 14-year NBA career.
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In addition to repping Turner, agent Austin Brown has negotiated big deals for Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jaren Jackson Jr. The former @DePauwAthletics bball player is one of the former D3 hoopers we interviewed and featured in PIPELINE TO THE PROS. A true NBA power player.
Give Austin Brown, Turner's agent, a ton of credit for creating this type of value in one of the most scarce free agent environments. The only team with cap space to sign Turner outright was Brooklyn. Turner lands a monster contract and Milwaukee gets an All-Defensive center to.
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Bulls officially in the “cha cha slide” phase of their rebuild
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If you pay $5k for a burger that costs $18, that’s a bad deal. Even if ends up being the best burger you’ve ever had…still a bad deal.
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Norm was close friends w Don Nelson after meeting him in a summer pickup game as a teen. He befriended Jerry Colangelo (who eventually got Norm into the NBA) bc he and Jerry’s wife had been in a Christian youth group together. He was also randomly neighbors w John McLendon. Wild!.
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One of the highlights of working on PIPELINE TO THE PROS was my 3 hr interview w Mavs founder Norm Sonju. In the book’s 3rd chapter, we share his remarkable journey from small college player to businessman to NBA GM to Mavs co-founder.
Nice draft afternoon surprise text from longtime Mavs GM and co-founder Norm Sonju. Here is Mark Aguirre and Sonju’s son David in the Adirondacks a few days after Dallas chose Aguirre No. 1 overall in 1981. In about 3 hours Cooper Flagg will join Aguirre in Mavs history.
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Crazy to think that 25 yrs ago the man who would become one of the best NBA execs EVER was playing ball for a small college with no home gym. Want to learn more about how someone like Sam Presti rose to rule the NBA? Check out our book, PIPELINE TO THE PROS (link below)
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RT @DannyParkins: Maybe the coolest anecdote about Sam Presti we found while researching Pipeline to the Pros….
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Spurs had a lot of success with a former D3 player (Budenholzer) as lead assistant. Looking to run it back with Sweeney, who played at St Thomas.
Been reporting all month that San Antonio was after Mavericks lead assistant coach Sean Sweeney and now ESPN reports that the Spurs have a deal to hire Sweeney as associate head coach to Mitch Johnson. Memphis and Cleveland also remain in pursuit of Mavs assistant Jared Dudley.
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RT @YaronWeitzman: I don't know what the answer is—and I know this stuff gets very complicated—but I do think some sort of calendar change….
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A major trade happening on the day of GAME 7 OF THE F’N NBA FINALS would be yet another step in reinforcing that the actual basketball is secondary to the transaction gossip that fuels the content machine.
A Kevin Durant deal is very close. Phoenix continues to work with multiple teams to get the deal they want and I expect it will happen today or tomorrow.
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RT @DannyParkins: Sam Presti built the Oklahoma City Thunder. He's the best executive in the NBA and arguably sports. And he's famously pri….
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NBA history lesson for the AM.
The Lakers are the NBA’s premiere org. It’s no surprise they sold for $10B. But when the franchise moved to LA in 1960, they were barely fighting off bankruptcy. Let me tell you about Lou Mohs, and why he is one of the most under appreciated leaders in NBA history 🧵
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If you want to learn more about Mohs, and other GMs/coaches who emerged from unlikely backgrounds to eventually shape the NBA (including Sam Presti) check out our book. On sale at Amazon!. Latest review called it “a roadmap to working in pro bball.”.
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Mohs was by no means perfect, and the Lakers wouldn’t be where they are today without the players - especially Baylor and West. But he deserves to be remembered, especially on a day like today.
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