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: https://t.co/Xp2iEvJsEK
https://t.co/yCTniVLnjU
give.michaeljfox.org
Join me in supporting Parkinson’s research. You can help create a world without Parkinson’s. Donate to be part of a global community effort to make Parkinson’s a thing of the past.
🧵 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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Crazy game-winner from Jeff Van Gundy’s alma mater @NazBasketball
SOLOMON STUNS RIT 🤯 Solomon McFarlane steals the loose ball & hits a one-legged runner you have to see to win the game for @NazBasketball, 56-53 The Golden Flyers move to 3-0 on the season Early candidate for #d3hoops game winner of the year 👀
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Another small-college player (D2 UT-Tyler) in a prominent NBA front office job
The elevation of assistant GM Matt Riccardi to run basketball ops on interium basis with Michael Finley is no surprise. Riccardi is well-regarded by Patrick Dumont, who asked him to take a more public-facing role this season, due to Nico Harrison's shortcomings in that regard.
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When we pitched PIPELINE TO THE PROS, we told the publishers it belonged on bookshelves of cultured tastemakers like @Mweber2309, nestled between Pulitzer winners and classics like Joseph Campbell. They said “Sirs, please leave our office.” But look at us now. Look at us now.
@SheaSerrano I feel like there’s a Bob Ryan book out there I should own. Assuming you’ll say, “3 more each of mine” what’s your favorite book on hoops I should add?
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“If I need to tell you about Amherst and Williams, you’re not a true ball-knower.”
#SCTop10 ICYMI ... Ty Kazanowsky's "pick-two" appeared on @sportscenter Top Plays as Amherst edged Williams, 14-13, in the 139th playing of the Biggest Little Game in America!
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We’ve been sold this story that legal books help catch gambling schemes. But a) these are markets popularized by legal books and b) this shit is SO OBVIOUS. When are we getting a story about the big books catching a CLEVER effort to rig? Maybe then I’ll buy legal=safer.
According to the federal indictment: “With CLASE's knowledge and approval, Bettor-I, Bettor-2, and other Bettors used this information to place over a hundred fraudulent Pitch Speed and Ball/HBP straight bets and parlays on CLASE's pitches on the Betting Platforms.”
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Bill Walton would have been 73 today. Happy Birthday, big guy. In honor, I offer a list Walton sent me of his all-time favorite books: https://t.co/2mBVCXlszU
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1. Betting companies sending out mailers is bogus 2. How did they land on these four players? Look at Bulls legend Zach Collins!
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Dang, the shirts aren’t working!
Tonight is the 3rd time in 7 games to start the season that the LA Clippers have allowed 30+ points off of turnovers. The rest of the NBA has done it a combined 5 times.
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These Chicago restaurants are offering free or discounted meals during SNAP pause: https://t.co/yHibkNN9JI
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This is why Nico trading Luka was so infuriating. Your job as a GM is to acquire talent and then manage that talent. When you have a super-duperstar, you have to find a way to win with them. He just opted out bc it was challenging. Guess what they ain’t all Timmy and Steph.
The NBA is a people management business. I think we focus way too much on the talent in a vacuum. When elite talent + great personality/natural leadership hits, that’s one thing. But those are rare. Most of the time you’re figuring out how to make tough personalities meld
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Excited to check this out and learn more about one of the game’s mythical figures
It's publication day! Thank you everybody who supported me and took and interest in this project. It was a tremendous joy to work on. I interviewed over 250 people for this book and there are a lot of great stories in there. https://t.co/PzlHEm9LF3
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Watching this, I started thinking… 1. Real ball-knowers understand that front offices drive load management, not players 2. If you dropped the 90s Bulls into today, Jerry Krause would’ve had to sometimes tell MJ not to play 3. Imagine how much more MJ would’ve hated Krause
Michael Jordan shares his thoughts on load management on the second installment of MJ: Insights to Excellence. “I never wanted to miss a game because it was an opportunity to prove...the fans are there to watch me play."
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Look at the Balanced Bulls with seven (7) players having 12 or 13 points
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In 5 years, former Tufts guard Sonia Raman has gone from head coach at MIT to head coach of a WNBA team. Incredible! #d3hoops #whyd3
NY Liberty assistant Sonia Raman has agreed to a multiyear deal to become the new head coach of the Seattle Storm, sources tell ESPN. Raman makes WNBA history as the first person of Indian-origin to be head coach – after being the first Indian-American woman to be NBA assistant.
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Lots of talk (rightfully so) about OKC’s organizational super power being their ability to find guys in the draft. But that’s the part we can see. Maybe their superpower is player development. (Of course the answer is that it’s both…but their player dev is underrated)
Ajay Mitchell has 26 points for OKC, scored 16 vs HOU. Making professional plays. 2nd rnd pick in 2024, avg 6.5 points last season, played in 36 games due to injuries. Signed for just under $9 million TOTAL over next 3 seasons, next year non-guaranteed & then team option. OKC
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Boy oh boy is this shaping up to be “Adam Silver and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Season”
Reading through the Terry Rozier indictment — the inside-information-for-sports-betting one, not the illegal-Mafia-poker-games one, which is the one that doesn't explicitly name Chauncey Billups — and got wide-eyed at the section on Co-Conspirator No. 8: https://t.co/DF4Bf98Zhs
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The Hornets had such a cultural chokehold in the mid-90s. Two of the five Monstars in Space Jam were Hornets! 40% of alien skill-snatching focused on a slightly above average team! The power of the teal and purp.
There's a particular generation of man that sees this... and covets it. Still to this day. Despite not even being a Hornets fan. I am this man.
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FGAs in an NBA debut: Kareem: 27 Wilt: 27 🏀Edgecombe: 26 🏀 Elgin: 21 Magic: 21 Bron: 20 Big O: 20 AI: 19 MJ: 16 Bird: 12 Duncan: 9 Shaq: 8 Kobe: 1
This VJ Edgecombe performance is a pretty historic debut.
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