"Ghetto Instincts"

"Crowell used all the right instincts on the field but off the field he failed!"

Growing up in the hood can be both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that if you can survive there you can survive anywhere in the world. There are certain survival instincts that are developed over a period of time that makes it easy to function in the world. The curse is that the things that seem normal ain't always normal to the rest of the world! What's acceptable in the hood is typically against the law outside of it. I was a grown man before I realized that hearing gun shots all night wasn't normal and that it wasn't just white noise. It wasn't until I was a college graduate and had moved to Smyrna, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, for my first job that I realized that all people didn't shoot guns at midnight on New Years!

Unfortunately, the University of Georgia's starting running back Isaiah Crowell has had a difficult time understanding what instincts should be transferred to the outside world and those that shouldn't. Early Friday morning he was arrested and charged with a felony count of possessing a weapon in a school zone, a felony count of altered identification mark and misdemeanor count of possession/carrying a concealed weapon. He was arrested around 2:20 a.m. ET after being stopped at a vehicle checkpoint near the Georgia campus and booked at 3:37 a.m. There was also a strong smell of marijuana in the vehicle as well but none was found. Not only was he arrested but Coach Mark Richt has kicked him off of the team!

Let me break it down for you in standard hood vernacular bruh! He and some of his boyz were coming from the club bumpin' that Tupac "Me against the World" smokin' weed when they realized that they were driving into a police checkpoint. They couldn't U-turn because it was too late. So they finished all of the weed and figured that they were good because the po po's can't arrest you for smelling like weed. Therefore, they had no problem with the police searching the ride because all of the weed had been inhaled. However, Crowell forgot about the burner under the driver's seat. 

See in the ghetto it's completely normal to have one under the seat because that's the way everybody rides. Since he was a little boy he's seen uncles, older brothers and maybe even his ole man carrying guns. It's normal bruh when you're from that environment. Unfortunately, in the real world you have to have that joint registered bruh. You can't just ride around with a 9mm with the serial numbers scratched off because that's against the law bruh! I know it's normal in the hood because registers guns but you ain't in the ghetto anymore. 

It is instinctive to protect yourself in the hood. When kids are 6 years old walking to the park they're carrying  either a bat or a stick for protection. Unfortunately, it is what it is! It's a learned behavior bruh! This isn't the suburbs where you never have to develop that instinct. 

However, now that you're a big time college football player the "I have to carry a gun to protect myself because Ima get them before they get me" instinct isn't needed anymore! As a matter of fact, it was only needed in the ghetto as you got older if you were into some "gang bang/drug selling or always got your mouth open" type activities. If you weren't involved in any of the above behaviors you never needed to develop that instinct to carry in the first place because boyz weren't checkin' for you like that. I'm not telling you what I heard. I'm telling you what I know because I grew up in gang infested Gary, In. and I've never touched a gun in my life. 

Crowell forgot that he was the No. 1 running back in the country and the No. 4 prospect overall by ESPN Recruiting in 2011. He forgot that he led the Georgia Bulldogs in rushing in just his freshman year with 850 yards on 185 carries with five touchdowns. He forgot that he was the MAN in Athens and that he wasn't in the hood anymore. Folks down there were kissing his butt and would do anything for him.  However, because he couldn't control his instincts he's sitting in jail and is kicked off of the team right now. 

Some instincts are critical to survival out here and they can only be developed in the ghetto. Like always being able to keep your head on a swivel while you're out and about. Because there's always somebody looking for a sucker that's not paying attention. When you see a cat looking suspicious on the street make sure that he sees you looking at him because now he's not coming your way. Why, because he knows that he can't sneak up you now. Keep your doors locked at all times because criminals are always looking for the path of least resistance. On campus never sit your book bag down etc. Instincts like that are needed not the "I have to carry a gun" joint. That joint get's you popped all of the time bruh!

Another curse of the ghetto is that when you're the man growing up you tend to get a pass on everything. Why, because all of your friends and family are waiting for you to get paid so that you can take care of them. Nobody ever tapped this kid up and told him what was at stake at UGA. This was an opportunity to play on the big stage and in two more years he'd be a millionaire. Nobody held him accountable for his actions up until he showed up at Georgia and by then it was too late. You can't change a cat once he's been ruined by all of the folks sitting around waiting on him to get paid. 

That's why parents, family members and friends around these young studs have to be willing to jam a boy up when he gets out of line when he's still coming up. Coach Mark Richt had had enough when he finally dismissed him from the team on Friday. He's been in the coaches doghouse since he's arrived on campus more than a year ago. 

Sometimes you can take a cat out of the ghetto but you can't take the ghetto out of the cat. Now let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! There is some ghetto in all of us that grew up there. That's why we have the drive to succeed so bad because it's carried by the flavor we picked up in the hood. You can see it in our manorisms everyday. That's why  people can't keep us from winning because they become intimidated by our confidence. Our thought process is, if we made it out of the hood we can make it anywhere and it comes across every time we walk into a room and open our mouths. These are the instincts that make those of us that grew up in that world so great. Not the "I have to carry a gun" joint!

I just hope that this young cat can get his instincts in order to use the talent that God has blessed him with. He has to first deal with the two felonies that he just picked up. I'm sad that he just couldn't get it together though. Unfortunately, some duns have no intentions of leaving the ghetto and are recklessly pursuing a BS in Hoodology, a Masters in Ghettoism and a PhD in Thugatology. 

Holla At Ya Boy
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this Hot Joint!

"The World of What Is"

"Naw bruh, I wasn't going back to anybody's school! I gotta get paid for this!"

Some people live in the world of what should be but I live in the world of what is. In the world that I live in it costs money to live and there are no guarantees in life. You can be the man today and nobody knows your name tomorrow. You could sell a million records today, do a video butt naked and have all of the women screaming your name one minute and be cracked out the next. Ask D'Angelo if I'm lying bruh. You could be the potential #1 NBA draft pick one year, sit on the toilet too long and not even get invited to the draft the next.

If you don't believe that ask Jared Sullinger or more importantly ask his ole man! He'll be easy to find these days because he's the cat standing on the porch like Fred Flintstone banging on the door to get in. Ole man Sullinger advised his son to stay in school for an additional year to improve his game and as a result he actually lost money. Instead of being drafted with the #1 pick he didn't go until the 21st pick which cost the kid several million in guaranteed money. Anthony Davis was drafted #1 and will make about 4.2 million per year vs the 21st pick that will make about 1.1 million per year according to HoopsHype.com and their "2012 NBA Draft Salaries Update".

Like I always say, "You've got to strike while the iron is hot bruh!" You're not the freaking GM of the team, you're the player. That means that you've got to be thinking like a player trying to get paid. You're not supposed to be thinking about the best interest of the team that will potentially draft you. What do you care if you're ready for the NBA or not. Your only concern should be whether they are ready to pay you or not. If they are then you have to leave school. If they aren't then you stay in school. It's just that simple bruh! Stop over thinking this thing. You can improve your game on the job if need be, if not you got paid. That's why it's called on the job training! That just doesn't apply to the everyday working class world!

There have been a lot of cats that weren't ready for the league that have been drafted and some made it while others didn't pan out. Just because they weren't ready doesn't mean that the teams that drafted them could get a refund. That bread is guaranteed! If it doesn't work out go back to school with that money you just made and invest it with a reputable company. Don't give it to Lil' Man Man and nem from around the way to invest in the car wash/record company/barbershop like some of these cats do and you'll be fine.

The draft can be like being in the club on a Friday night and seeing the baddest thing walking on two legs. You pull out your spear because you go into full attack/hunt mode for the rest of the night. You've got to meet her cuz the fella's aren't going to believe how bad she really is if you have to describe her on Saturday. So you've got to have proof that she really was that bad. You finally get the nerve up to holler at her and eventually start dating her. However, two months in you figure out why she was at the club alone on that infamous Friday night. She's crazy and unpredictable! She might just flip out on you at any moment. Clearly not what you thought she was bruh! However, you can't get your time back because it's spent. That's the NBA son! Once they pay you they can't get that bread back.

So let this be a lesson to all of those parents that are screaming  that my baby NEEDS to stay in school to get better or to get his degree etc. If your baby is a remarkable athlete that as been told by every NBA scout with eyes that he's going to be a lottery pick if he comes out of school now. You better show up on campus and help pack his clothes for him. If they tell him that he's not going to be a lottery pick but has the potential to be one in a year then make sure he's going to class. Also give him that D'Angelo "Brown Sugar" joint to bump everyday while going to the gym as a reminder! Why, because we live in the world of what is bruh!  

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport  

"Magic Tricks"

This doesn't look like it's a free education to me bruh!"

Yesterday I went off in the crazy Hot Joint entitled "FOUR What?" about how we're on the verge of ruining college football from the fans perspective. By using the bowls as the national semifinals you'll put a strain on the fans by asking them to travel during the holiday season two weeks in a row. Not to mention turning the title game into the "Super Bowl" where only Corporate executives can afford to go to entertain clients etc. Let's pump the brakes for a minute! What about the student-athlete bruh?

Everybody is excited about the possibility of the four team playoff and what that would mean to the sport in terms of revenue. Believe me player, it's going to generate some ridiculous bread. Can you imagine what the major networks are going to be willing to pay to get that game or games? They've already announced that the city that comes in with the highest bid will get the title game but guess how much the guys playing in the game are going to get? A big fat goose egg! A bag full of give aways and a "that a boy!"

This game will essentially be the Super Bowl a month earlier with all of the window dressings and the guy playing in the game can get kicked off of the team for taking a $100 handshake. Think of all of the cats that are making money off of this; the networks, the cities(restaurants & hotels etc.) hosting either the semifinal or the title game, retail(jerseys & merchandise) and the universities.

Let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Don't give me the spill that the players get a free education bruh! That's the smoke and mirrors answer that doesn't fly. I grew up in the hood and I can see past that game. It's like doing a magic trick and telling me to pay attention to your right hand so that you can rob me with your left. The free education that your talking about ain't free. Those kids have to put in hard work everyday and still be productive enough to get that scholarship renewed every year.

 The freaking class that the kid is in is an absorbed cost to the university anyway! That class is going to take place whether there are 100 people in it or 101! The books are loaned to the player for the semester and have to be turned in afterwards. They aren't giving them anything. So don't try to tell me that he got a free education because it didn't cost the school a dime to throw the freaking kid into the class in the first place. Even if the kid graduates that degree will never make him the bread that he made the university in one year not to mention all FOUR years.

Let's look at all of bread the school will have made off of these guys by the time they leave in 3 or 4 years. The millions every week in ticket sales just for the regulars season games. The merchandising profits as well as the parking lot revenue and concessions, TV rights, video game licensing and merchandising just for starters.  We haven't even began to factor in the Final Four scenerio and all of that bread that has to be sliced up and served.

In my Mr Rogers voice putting my sneakers on voice, "Come on with me!" Let's look at how the semifinal during the bowl season will negatively impact the players. In the past when the kids made it to a bowl game it was a week long event for the team. The host city rolls out the red carpet for the guys and they enjoy themselves for an entire week. For example, if a team makes it to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans they'll show up a week before the game and check into a fancy hotel in the French Quarter. They would practice in the mornings and kick it the rest of the day. They'll have all kinds of activities planned for them to do etc.

Now that they potentially have another game to play the following week it's going to be business as usual. They'll probably show up the afternoon before the game and bail right after it's over. Everybody gets to enjoy the bowl but the players and everybody's getting paid but the players! If they're going to be called student-athletes then treat them as such. If this is professional sports then pay them because kids ARE going to take the money being handed out behind the dorm! Why, because they're the same kids that have been watching both hands while you're doing magic tricks bruh! They ain't stupid!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

"FOUR What?"

"Starting in 2014 we'll have  4 teams playing for all of the marbles!"

Big Momma would always say, "Some folks ain't satisfied with nothing!"  Eddie Murphy once said, "Give brother a rope he wanna be a cowboy."  My favorite is , "You can't have your cake and eat it too." Well, you can but it'll give you the runs if you're not careful. All we ever wanted to see in college football was #1 play #2 and up until 1998 we didn’t have that luxury. Remember just the year before in 1997 when #1 Nebraska played in the Orange Bowl and a #2 Michigan played in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day?

 They both won their respective games and they were both named National Champions? Then we spent the next year arguing about who was better. That happened so many times before we got the BCS that I care not to remember. All we ever wanted to see was #1 play #2. Then we finally got what we were asking for and that still didn't satisfy folks. Now we've got a College Football Final Four and  that still won't be enough for most folks, homeboy.

I've always said that the top 4 teams should play it off  anyway because the problem was always with #3. However, I'm not in favor of them using two of the existing BCS Bowls as a national semifinal. Here's why, the bowl games are held during the Holiday season and fans typically use them as the family vacation etc. If you play the game as a national semifinal then you're asking those same fans to travel the following week to another city to do the same thing all over again. Your average fan doesn't have the bread to do all of that bruh. By structuring the National Title game in this manor you've just turned it into the Super Bowl because you've made it an all CORPORATE event. The title game will go to the city that makes the highest  bid so now it becomes the "Corporate Takeover" and tickets would cost $5,000 or $6,000 and guess who will no longer be at the game? The REAL college football fan! Be careful what you ask FOUR bruh.

In order to keep the game of college football available to the real fans. I 've always proposed starting the season a week earlier and then make it mandatory that every conference play a title game the last weekend of November. Right now not every conference plays one and that isn’t fair to those that do. Once the dust settles, then on the first weekend of December there should be a Final Four and not during the bowl season!

 Have #1 play #4 and #2 play #3. The higher ranked teams would play at the crib. The two winners would then play for all of the marbles in January in the BCS Title Game! The argument has always between #2 and #3 anyway. Then everybody else would play in the bowls as normal. I don't want to hear about #5 being left out because they're too far down the turn pike to be relevant, anyway. We don't need some committee determining who plays either because bribes come in to play with that bruh. Just leave it the way it is. You know these rich boosters will do anything to get into the Ship and that means getting to the 14-20 cats picking and choosing. So who's to say that it's a legit champion anyway! That doesn't make it better because we got FOUR teams. That's REAL talk bruh!

Also just stop it with the silly argument that you have to win your conference to play for the national title because what about those playing in the SEC? Their 3rd or 4th best team is better than the Big East or ACC champ! Last year the SEC had 3 out of the top 5 teams in the country for most of the year with Arkansas rolling. Well, Bobby Patrino just blew that up didn't he? Let's keep it real or alway the way 100, whichever comes 1st!  Alabama and LSU were clearly the two best teams in the country. Either one of them would 've won the other conferences easily. Remember my class "Sports 101" when I taught you to take your heart out of it? Those that didn't want to see a rematch of LSU/Bama were simply thinking with their hearts.

I keep hearing folks say, "Take the bowls away and have a straight up playoff like they do in D-2 or D-3." Bruh, you can't touch the bowls because there's too much bread on the table that boyz aren't giving up. That's like asking the Mob to give up Vegas! Don't think for one minute that they did either. Secondly, it would be unfair to the other 107 schools in the FBS because there are only about 13 schools or so that have the players consistently enough to complete for a national title. I’ll name them: USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Ohio St, Michigan, Alabama, Florida, LSU, Georgia, Florida St, Miami and Notre Dame etc.

 If you try to eliminate the bowls what do you tell the other schools? It was nice doing business with you and I'll holla. See schools like Purdue, Miss St., Arizona  etc. will never play for a national title because they can't recruit the players those schools previously mentioned can recruit. If there isn’t a bowl for the Purdue's of the world to play in after they’ve won 6 to 8 games in a good year what are those kids even playing for and what do those coaches use as a recruiting tool? Sure, every 30 years or so they’ll get a player that everyone slept on like Drew Brees or Bob Grease and win the Big Ten Championship but they won’t ever play for a national title. So schools like that will never vote to take bread out of their pockets. In my Puffy voice, "It's all about the Benjimans! What?"

So by taking the bowl games away we would cheat college football of the pageantry that is college football. It’s a playoff starting week one anyway. I still hear you saying that those bowls are meaningless. We’ll… not to the kid playing at Missouri, Ole Miss or Western Michigan. The bowl game IS their National Championship not to mention the guaranteed revenue that the schools receive as a result of playing in those bowls. That bread is guaranteed just for showing up. If you’re fortunate enough to get to a BCS bowl it’s a $17 million payday whether you’re playing in the title game or not. The mid level bowls like the Chick-Fil-A, Cotton and Outback pay $3 million each. The Sun Bowl which Purdue has participated in previous years pays out $1.9 million. Even if you play in a bottom tier bowl like the Emerald it’s worth $850,000 to your school. Boyz ain't walking away from that type of scratch bruh.

So if you were the presidents of Fresno State and Wyoming would you have voted for a playoff or accepted the invite to the 2009 New Mexico Bowl which paid them $750,000 each just for showing up? See the greatness of college football is the pageantry and the excitement of the regular season and the culmination of events with the bowls. If I’m an LSU fan I’m not only concerned with the Tigers, I’m concerned with all the chess pieces moving around them. Now really… would you want to take all of that away just to have seen LSU and Alabama anyway? Remember what I said about that cake earlier! You know boyz aren't gonna be satisfied with 4! Soon it's gonna be 8 then 16 teams then the joint's going to go up in flames. Be careful what you ask FOUR bruh cuz it just might give you the runs!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter:@jaygravesreport

"The Legal Shake Down"

"Student-Athletes are gettin' pimped & nobody seems to care!"

In the world of inter-collegiate athletics the stakes couldn’t be any higher, literally. Major colleges and universities are making money like professional sports franchises. In March of 2007, Sports Illustrated did a cover story entitled, “The Program, Big Wins, Big Money, Big Spirit”. It examined how big schools like Ohio State, which happened to be on the cover of that issue, and several other big time institutions are making in excess of $100 million per year, primarily with their football and basketball programs. There are a few exceptions to that rule like the Universities of Tennessee and Connecticut because of their  successful women’s basketball programs. Not only are they generating revenue through ticket sales. They are selling ancillary products in the on-campus bookstore's as well, like jerseys and T-shirts.

Now the NCAA says that it’s legal to sell them because the student-athlete’s name isn’t on the back of it. So their defense is that they aren’t selling the kids likeness. I wonder how many #2 jerseys were sold in Ohio before Terrell Pryor showed up in Columbus or for that matter how many Jared Sullinger #0 jerseys are walking around as we speak? Now my problem  isn't with schools making money it's with how they're distributing it.

I just believe that the students-athletes that play revenue producing sports should see some of  that bread in the form of a monthly stipend of let’s say $300 to $400 or more. If you're on the track,volleyball, softball, soccer, lacrosse teams etc. you don't qualify because you aren't contributing to the bottom line. Those sports are literally costing the school money because nobody goes to those games. Keep in mind that they still have to travel all over the country for games, those coaches still have to recruit and the athletes still need training facilities etc. for be competitive. Now oobviously there are some unique programs out there like I mentioned earlier but for the most part the football & basketball programs are supporting all of those other sports completely.

 I also believe that a percentage of all jersey sales should go directly to the student-athlete when he or she either graduates or leaves school early for any reason. Lets keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Some student-athletes have no intention of graduating from college when they enroll. A prime example would be players like Kentucky's Anthony Davis who will be the NBA's 1st pick on Thursday night. He was only in school because the NBA told him that he had to show up for a year. The Wildcats made a fortune in jersey sales because of him. not to mention all of that TV and NCAA Tournament bread they're still counting.  It's not fair to the kid or his family even if he is about to be a millionaire in two days.

Think about Jared Sullinger who's draft status has fallen as I explained in the Hot Joint "Red Flagged" because of a bulging disc in his back. He should have come out last year like I've always said but  he stayed a year too long. By staying he allowed Ohio State to make another years worth of revenue off of his jersey sales not to mention the continued booster support because they were winning.  They made more money and he lost money. Who does that? Sure, he'll get drafted but he's going to probably go in the 2nd round for peanuts relative to what he could have gotten had he come out last year.  Also think about the  kids that were standout players that have graduated and were never drafted but their jersey's were sold for four years. Don't even get me started on the video games that depict the players likeness that they don't get a dime in royalties for. EA Sports is killin' 'em!!!

I can hear some clown in the background now, “They’re on scholarship are you kidding me? It’s a free education!” Well is it? Sounds more like a job to me bruh. The other students don’t have to manage the load of going to class and practice. Most importantly, the student-athlete is making the university rich. It isn't the students tuition that builds all of the fine structures on campus. It's money generated from the athletic departments that allows the schools to flourish. Tuition simply pays the bills. When was the last time 100,000 people paid $78 per ticket and $20 to park to see a kid take a Chemistry test bruh? Have you ever seen the schools Rhodes Scholar's button down and pocket protector sold in the bookstore?

Let’s look at what a full athletic scholarship really is. It pays for tuition, books, room and board. Sounds like enough, right? Wrong. What happens when the student-athlete needs clothes because he's gained 30 lbs from being on training table and in the weight program.  Who's going to buy him a pair of shoes, toiletries or something as simple as a pizza on a Saturday or Sunday evening when the cafeteria is closed. The average student can go get a work study job etc. Ball players can’t because it’s an NCAA violation for him or her(UT or UConn women's hoops) to work during the school year. Even if they could work, when would they find the time? I can hear you saying, “that’s when they should call their parents”. Well, not everyone has that luxury bruh. Everybody didn't grow up with parents that can reach into their pockets and send money. Big Momma is barely making it with the other 4 kids left at the crib.

 Many times the parents think that the university is taking good care of their child. After all, the coaches did tell them that they would look after their baby boy or girl during the recruitment process didn't they? I realize that the coaches do as much as they can for these kids but their hands are tied to some degree by the NCAA. So now what?

Well, that’s when the “hundred dollar hand shake” comes into play. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the term it’s when a big time booster or alumni of the university shakes a players hand after the game and the kid walks away with a folded bill or bills. Now I’m not saying that by paying the athlete we will stop the illegal exchange of money all together. However, I do believe that we would see a decline in kids getting involved with agents or shady boosters because very few of these kids are looking to get suspended from the team or forfeit games as a result of it. They have simply gone into survival mode and many of them feel like they are being taken advantage of. So I'm cool with the kid getting money if everybody else is too!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

"Champions Place"

"The Miami Heat won the title but have you found that special place in life yet?"

With the NBA season just wrapping up and the Miami Heat hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy I thought that it would be a great time talk about what winning it all really means. So many people get excited about the possibility of their team winning a championship that they never stop to think about what it means to be a champion in their own life. Fans put in a lot of time hoping for a title but the only problem is they aren’t on the team. Very few people take the lessons that sports teach us and relate them to their own lives.

Winning is something that everyone can do on a daily basis whether you're playing sports or not. The goal should be for us all to get to Champions Place and hoist the trophy!

Championships are not won on game day! Your level of success is contingent upon your commitment to it. In other words, how bad do you want it and what are you willing to do to get it. I constantly hear people talking about being great! The problem is, so few ever understand what that takes. There is only so much room at the top. Therefore, if you're going to hold a position in that zip code, someone either has to move out or be thrown out.

The word of God says, "A man reaps what he sows" Galatians 6:7. You're only going to get out of it what you put in it! How can a man withdraw what he has not put in? Life can only be as good as the effort by which you live it. Therefore, stop looking for someone else to give you permission to be great!

It's not some place that others can just open the door and let you in. You have to earn the right to be there by your determination and will to succeed. Everybody has a dream but not everyone is willing to wake up and pursue it.

Only the great ones understand that it's the little things that breathe life into winning titles in life. Waking up early to put in work when everyone else is asleep. Being on time when it's fashionable to be late. Having integrity which is simply doing the right thing when no one else is looking! Understanding that sacrifice is necessary in order to sharpen your skills.

Champions push past the point where most people tend to give up. It's a place where only the most diligent can finally rest and the most talented can only dream of being. Talent doesn't get you into this place it only allows you to imagine what it would be like to be there. It’s only one-third of the combination that unlocks the doors to greatness.

Skill can be the most deceitful gift that a person can possess because it tells you that you've got everything that it takes to win. It lies and tells you that all you've got to do is show up. Unfortunately, so many people miss out on the opportunity to be great because of their lack of effort.

The elite few that can unlock the combination will become Champions! Bo Schembechler always said, “Those that stay will become Champions!” Vince Lombardi expressed it this way, “We will relentlessly pursue perfection. However, it’s impossible to be perfect but in the process we will find excellence!” Aristotle said it better than any of them when he recited, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit.”

So as we continue to watch our favorite teams this year. Pay close attention to what it takes for them to be great! Follow the story lines of the best teams and be curious to know what they’ve done to separate themselves from the rest of the pack and incorporate those things into your own life. Sports is entertainment but most importantly it should be a motivator for us to get to Champions Place in our own lives!

 Congratulations to LeBron James and the Miami Heat on being a great example of perseverance. I hope that the fans at the parade today stop and think about what it would take to win in their own lives and then pursue it. Like my wife always says, "Those people are already rich and doing what they've always wanted to do. I can't spend too much time on them cuz I gotta get mine too!"

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
　

"The Power of the O.G."

"I coulda backed these boyz off of LeBron but I didn't want to!"

Growing up in the hood was a great experience because more than anything you learned at an early age how to treat people. You couldn't mistreat folks in any way and think that you were going to get away with it. Most of the time you couldn't even talk crazy to some one's younger brother or sister without some older brother, cousin or uncle catching you at the monkey bars later the same day to check you or to give you that life altering beat down. As you got older it worked the same way in the street as the O.G.'s began to pass the torch in the hood to the 1st Lieutenant's that were next in line to run the streets. Whether they were ready for the title or not it was the O.G. that gave them the nod. Once the nod was given the respect was given! 

Well...it works the same way in the world of sports. Let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Michael Jordan is the G.O.A.T. or the O.G. in hood terms. Mike has had the power to back boyz off of LeBron for two years but in classic Jordan form he never said a word. The very player that LeBron is constantly compared to has never once said, "Listen people, LeBron is a great young player. He's accomplished things in his career like win 3 MVP's, go to Finals and compete for titles that I was never able to do at that age. Sure, he has a long way to go but he's probably one of the greatest players that we've ever seen or will ever see. So I think ya'll need to pull a Gin & Juice and back up off of him and sit yo cup down. That's my guy!" If Jordan had just done that people would have chilled on all of the hate because the G.O.A.T. had spoken. The O.G. had given the nod. He had given his approval! 

That would have given all of the haters that have been saying that he's not a great player because he doesn't have 6 rings like Jordan at the very least some perspective. MJ knows that there was a time in his career when he didn't have any rings either and was constantly compared to Magic & Bird's success. So to sit in the cut and let this kid get blasted every day of his life for the past two years was selfish on Jordan's part, in my opinion. Especially when he knew that he had the power to stop it. 

However, he's the same guy that I've been saying for years was a jerk and a selfish individual that cares about nothing but Michael Jordan. I've written Hot Joints on the subject. The first entitled "I've Got No Respect For Jordan" and the second entitled "No Respect For Jordan Part II" explaining to folks how Jordan has never used his power of influence to do anything but further HIS career and sell HIS shoes. If you don't believe me check out his"Hall of Fame Speech". This guy is the biggest jerk in sports. My man Dieon Sanders said in his now famous Hall of Fame speech, "If your dream isn't bigger than you then there's something wrong with your dream!"

Mike had the power to give LeBron room to develop not only as a player but as person just by giving him the nod. But Jordan wants to be the G.O.A..T. forever like he doesn't understand that records are meant to be broken and that the game has to evolve and that evolution is built off of the past. At some point some kid is going to be better than he was whether it's LeBron or some cat in 3rd grade putting in work now.  He is now the history of the game and players like Durant, Rose, Westbrook and LeBron are it's future.  

The legends of the game are typically the caretakers of it. They always protect the new breed of players or chastise them for the mistakes that they've made along the way. You always heard Bill Russell giving Shaq praise for the way he played the game. Magic is always giving love to players around the league even when he isn't on ESPN. Barkley will give players their props and back you off of a guy in a minute like an O.G. is supposed to but not Jordan though! 

He has all of the of the power and never uses it. It doesn't matter what Russell, Barkley, Magic or Pippen says. If Jordan doesn't speak it doesn't exist because he's the G.O.A.T., the O.G.! Last year when Scottie made the comment that he thought LeBron was better than Jordan. There was some credence to what he said. In the sense of LeBron being better at a younger age compared to Jordan at the same age. It's the same argument that I keep making about LeBron at 26 or 27 and Jordan at that same age!  But if Jordan would have said, "He's on his way at age 26 and looking back at my career at 26, I think he is." Whether he really believed it or not would have been the uncle coming to the monkey bars to protect the development of a young cat on the come up and telling boyz to back up!

Magic did the same thing back in February when Kobe surpassed Shaq on the All-Time scoring list to become 5th. Magic went on to say that Kobe was the greatest Laker of all-time and in my Ochocinco voice I said, "Child Please!" Magic was just being Magic and being humble! But I give him props for saying it because he knows that he's a legend and by saying it doesn't take anything away from HIS legend. Mike would never do such a thing because he's a straight up buster as a person but he's still the G.O.A.T. Until the O.G. gives the Nod the hood will never respect you! 

The fact that Mike is the O.G. it's his duty to protect the young guys coming up after him. When he sees them being mistreated he's got to say that he doesn't agree with it. Along those same lines he's got to check the players when they step out of line because he's the G.O.A.T. and the caretaker of the game! There's no getting around it bruh! Sports and the streets operate by the same set of rules whether you believe it or not!

Holla At Ya Boy! 
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

LeBron's Letter to Dan Gilbert

"Hey Dan & the Cleveland faithful we talkin' bout ya'll bruh!"

Dear Ole Dan,

It's been a while bruh! I would ask how you and your family are doing but I really don't care. I would ask how the team was doing but since I'm not there I already know how they're doing. They suck like they always will especially without the "King." It is what it is. I didn't write this joint to be nice or to bury the hatchet or anything like that. You pulled a sucker move on me when I decided to take my talents to South Beach by writing a letter to all of the Cleveland fans.

 Oh you don't remember that joint? Well I do because I've kept it in my pocket for two years bruh! I'll spit my favorite part of the letter back at you real quick. You said and I quote, "I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE" .  Now you can pop the link if you wanna read the whole joint again to refresh your memory bruh. You still got a TV at ya crib right? I gotta ask because I know you losing money cuz I ain't there no more! So... I know you saw me and the fella's win the NBA Championship on Thursday in Miami and let me tell you bruh, I got it in at the Fountainebleau on South Beach! I wish you coulda been there but it was for winners only and  plus the women that were there only like tall guys with championship rings and you bring neither to the table bruh!

The sole purpose of this letter is to throw the championship in your face and to step on your hope of ever thinking you can take advantage of me again.  Your team still sucks and will always suck because you're a terrible owner and boyz don't want to come play for you. Don't think for one minute that my man Kyrie Irving "UncleDrew" will stay in Cleveland any longer than the 3 year deal that he initially signed. That boy is still living out of a suitcase because he's not trying to get comfortable in that dump of an organization you're running.  Also,what was that stunt you pulled at the draft lottery by getting him to show up dressed like you and you're nerdy son? Ya'll had on clip on bow ties bruh! Go talk to my guy Jay Graves and he'll show you how to tie one but you still can't pull it off. You gotta have some flavor to rock that joint and bruh you ain't got it.

The only reason I stayed in Cleveland as long as I did was because I was from the area! But you took that for granted. You fired Mike Brown right after the season and let GM Danny Ferry quit just two weeks later. You didn't get me any help! You call signing an over the hill Shaq and Antoine Jamison help bruh! Really?

I was already pissed off about how Cleveland had used me when I was in high school by moving all of my games to the local colleges and doubling the ticket prices. Not to mention putting my games on ESPN and nobody shared a dime of that bread with me. I became Mr. Basketball of Ohio 3 years straight. Then was drafted to the worst team in the NBA at 18 years old and put the hopes of an entire city on my shoulders. I didn’t fold under pressure though. I just went out and under promised and over delivered like a seasoned veteran.

In my Puffy voice, "Take that, Take that!"

I became the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2003-04. In every season that I played for you I became an All-NBA performer and was selected to the All-Star team. In 2007 I took your rudy poot franchise from being the league door mat within 5 years to the Conference Finals for the 1^st time since 1992 and then to the NBA Finals for the 1^st time in franchise history bruh. Then I went out and won a Bronze Medal in 2004 and went back in 2008 and won the Gold reppin' Cleveland the whole time.

Oh yeah, did you completely forget about the $150 million annually that I literally chauffeured into the local economy. Not to mention that I literally increased the value of your franchise from $250 million to $400 million in 7 years. Let’s face it, ya'll took advantage of me my entire life. How many folks attempted to save me from a broken home before I became a phenom. All you and the Cleveland faithful ever did was climb on my back and parade me around the country and act like you were the superstars. Cleveland fans thought they were called “scrimps” before the "King" showed up and took them to dinner.

I put Cleveland on the map bruh and ya'll had the nerve to trip when I decided that winning was more important than continuing to be taken advantage of. You wanted me to keep making you and that wack city more bread? Naw bruh,  it's about what I wanna do and what's right for my family. I got two shorties and bout to get married this summer bruh! So I've got everything I need right here in South Beach cuz they treat me right down here. #TeamHeat let's ride!  Oh and by the way, I'll send you a Fat Head of my Ring this fall!

The guy you called a deserter,
The One & Only "King James"

P.S. Make sure you spell it right. That's all caps "KING"

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Idea Inspired by my boy Ant Law

American Arrogance!

"These hats & shirts say  NBA Champions not WORLD CHAMPS bruh!"

On Thursday night the Miami Heat won the NBA Championship by pretty much destroying the Oklahoma City Thunder in 5 Games. They all but spotted OKC a game then swept them. When the team stood on the podium after the game they were rocking their NBA Champion hats and T-shirts. So it's clear that they've just won the NBA Championship, right? However, within minutes of these cats winning the title and wearing NBA Champions gear every radio and TV outlet I turned on was referring to them as the "World Champions." Really? They didn't just play Spain or Germany bruh. They played OKC! This wasn't world playoff it was the NBA Playoffs bruh!

 Let's examine this whole league championship thing. For year's I've often wondered why our professional sports teams are referred to as "World Champions" once they win league championship. The NFL as well as MLB all do it and it drives me crazy. Why?

I think that it's par for the course for Americans to be arrogant and this is just another reason why people from other countries have such  distaste for us. How can you call yourself a "World Champion" when you didn't compete on a world stage? The Heat aren't the world champions! They play basketball all over the world and they didn't play anybody but teams in the NBA. The same goes for Major League Baseball. How can we call it the "World Series" when the only teams that are playing are from America?

The only true "World Champions" are the guys that participate in the World Cup in soccer or the tennis players, golfers and those competing in track and field. The entire world is involved in those tournaments. So whoever wins is the true "World Champion".

Now that Miami has won the NBA title everybody will be introducing them as the "World Champions" and no one is going to blink. The organization will have "World Champion" engraved on the ring and everybody will be cool with it. However, if you pay close attention every official hat and T-shirt from the NBA says NBA Champions!  So it isn't the NBA league office that is promoting "World Champions" it's the arrogant organizations & those folks that want to make it look bigger because it's America. Have you ever been to LA and seen the banners hanging from the rafters? They all say "World Champions." It's a complete joke bruh! If the NBA calls the winner the NBA Champion then it should be called that! The crazy thing about it is that nobody blinks when people say it. Why, because Americans are arrogant!

Sometimes we need to check ourselves and our attitudes about who and what we are. Sure, we have some of the best athletes in the world. However, that doesn't mean that we've got the best TEAMS in the world. In my opinion, if they want to be called World Champions then compete on a world stage and win that title. Send the NBA Champion to the Olympics every 4 years and if they win the joint then every 4 years you'll have a World Champion!

 I can remember back in 2004 when the U.S. Olympic basketball team, which was comprised of NBA players, had to settle for a bronze medal. We probably had the best set of athletes in the tournament but we didn't have the best TEAM. So to say that we've got the best athletes and therefore we should call our league champions "World Champions" is arrogant. Now do I believe that the Heat would beat any team in the world that would show up? Sure, but they didn't play them so you just can't own the World Championship if you didn't complete on a world stage. 

If there were a world tournament played every year for all of the baseball, basketball and football league champions that would be great but they don't. It's cool that the Heat are the NBA Champs bruh but we don't need to call them World Champions just to make it look bigger and better because it's America. So slow ya roll and be satisfied with calling it what it is, NBA Champions!!!

 Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jayygravesreport

Officially "KING JAMES"

"We finally meet and it was worth the wait!"

Well... I wonder where good ole Dan Gilbert is this morning? Player Hater number 1, leader of the "All Haters Movement" that started with the infamous tweet after "The Decision" that read, "I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE" . Ya'll know I don't forget anything bruh! Pop the link to read the whole letter. Once Gilbert wrote that joint all of the cowards across the country felt like it was OK to pile on LeBron James for actually being smart enough at 25 to see that he couldn't win in Cleveland. So this morning all of those clowns including those in the media are on Pedialyte trying to avoid dehydration. Because only a child would lash out at a player for not wanting to waste his career in a dump of an organization like the Cavaliers. If you weren't from northern Ohio why would you even care?

All of the emergency rooms are packed with haters that are complaining of diarrhea, vomiting and the shakes because LeBron James, I'm sorry, "KING JAMES" and the Miami Heat have won the NBA Championship despite their best efforts to distraction him. The Heat routed OKC 121-106  in Game 5 where the final score was not indicative of how bad they put that thang on them. The Heat called the dogs off well before that joint was over and cats like Juwan Howard even got in the box score for more than marking up the floor with his street shoes.

LeBron capped off this unbelievable playoff run by not only winning his first NBA title but he was named the Finals MVP as well. This cat wasn't leaving any room for error or criticism this year because he was bursting boyz heads from the word go. He averaged 30 points and 10 rebounds throughout the playoffs and averaged 28.6 points and 10 rebounds in the Finals. Who does that? For ya'll that's checkin' Jordan never did that! LeBron was also one of only 5 players in NBA history to register a triple double(26points, 11 rebounds & 13 dimes) in a title clinching game. Guess what? Jordan ain't one of them because I know ya'll checkin'! Magic did it twice in '82 & '85, Larry Bird '86, James Worthy '88, Tim Duncan '03 and now LeBron! Sorry all of you Jordan fans that can't get off of his jock long enough to give props where props are due.

It's OK to love Jordan but you're watching the next greatest player now. LeBron IS Jordan before he became the Legend of Jordan but he's much better at this point in their careers! Before MJ started winning championships they were saying the same thing about him. He's good but he can't win the big one etc. He was constantly being compared to Magic and Bird  at the time. That's why, for all of you young bloods, when you see the highlights of him winning his first title he's on the floor hugging and kissing the trophy crying like a baby because it had eluded him for so long. Not to mention the criticism he endured in the process but nothing like what LeBron has gone through but he wasn't crying. My man took it like a G last night!! All smiles bruh!

"Afterset at my crib dawg!"

I wrote the hottest joint ever written earlier this week entitled "Bamboozled" where I broke down how LeBron is ahead of the curve compared to Jordan in greatness because he's accomplished more by 27 than Jordan did by 27. Clowns look at the facts and still keep arguing. They're like the girlfriend that sees her boyfriend kicking it with his other chick but acts like she didn't see it. He comes back smelling like perfume and has hickies all over his neck but she insists that they aren't there. Everyone around her is telling her that he's cheating but she fights them all until she has no friends left. Yep, good luck with that bruh!

You've heard the old saying, "Give people their flowers while they're alive!" Give this kid his props and let him play his career out before you tell him what he's not going to be. None of us are prophets and can say whether he's going to be better than Jordan when he's done. But if you're honest with yourself and can take the haters lotion off or let go of Jordan's jock for a minute. You would see that at 27 years old he is a much better player than Jordan was at 27! Now for those of you that didn't see Jordan at 27 put your hand down. Highlights don't count bruh!

So long live the KING and all of his loyal haters. I wish them well and I hope they recover from this illness called "LeBroninucliosis!" It's a rare virus that attacks those that hate on LeBron James and it lies dormant within the central nervous system. You can have it for years without having symptoms but once LeBron wins a championship it destroys the stomach. That's why the ER is loaded this morning with cats that have the scarlet "LH" or "JJH" on their foreheads. It stands for LeBron Hater or Jordan Jock Holder. Either way these people have to be quarantined until they admit that they were wrong for hating on LeBron or for not giving him his props. They have to go through a twelve step program of recovery before they are released. Now they never get rid of the disease but they can live with it just like drug addicts or alcoholics. It'll always come back however, if you start hating again.That's Real Talk bruh!!!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

"Attack Mode"

"I gotta get my mind right for these Nachos & Gatorade tonight bruh!"

Well, Secret Service has escorted the Fat Lady to her hotel room after a wild night of drinking on South Beach. She's had several false alarms during this post season but everyone believes that she will give an outstanding performance tonight as the Miami Heat should close out the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Her dress has been dry cleaned, her special made reinforced 6 inch stiletto's have been shipped in for the occasion and the stage has been prepared to hold her. Now that she's relaxed she'll have a light breakfast and have only warm tea to sooth her voice.

No team has ever come back from being down 3-1 in the NBA Finals. It would be a tragedy for the Heat to blow this golden opportunity to close these boyz out at home. They can't afford to go back to OKC at all. If that happens it's a completely new series. So boyz will be wining and dining the Fat Lady all day today to make sure she is ready to sing like Aretha in church tonight. She really needs to sound like Mariah, Whitney and Christina all wrapped in one down the stretch!

All role players have to be on deck for this one. No extended smoke breaks for cats and that includes D Wade. Because ya'll know this Dun has had a tendency of taking off in the first half and shooting dice in the parking lot with some gangsta's from the Pork & Beans Projects. None of that tonight because you're standing here looking at the promise land. Don't blow it and have to wander in the desert any longer. Guys like Battier and James Jones have to be the snipers that they're capable of being. Mike Miller is going to have to drop at least two or three solid joints in the collection plate even from his walker and Chalmers has to be the "Mr Clutch" that he has tattooed on his arm. Nothing major, he just needs to drop a cool 10 points in the pot with 10 dimes to go along with it. He can handle that. LeBron will be LeBron!

Most importantly, Juwan Howard can't change his routine at all. He's got to keep his street clothes on under his warm up, lace his ole school Stacey Adams Knobs up extremely tight to the point that his ankles are turning red and he must keep finding the camera on all timeouts. He has to keep drinking all of the Gatorade on the bench to the point where LeBron is cramping down the stretch because of it. He also needs to order Nachos in the second and third quarters as usual. As long as nothing changes the Heat will be fine.

"All night bruh! All night!"

Keep attacking the rack on the offensive end of the floor. There is no reason why LeBron shouldn't get to the free throw line at least 25 times tonight. The Thunder have absolutely no answer for this guy when he's in attack mode. It's just that simple. If they can do that the Fat Lady will have folks on their feet like Lady GaGa. If they don't they're in trouble bruh.

Will somebody please tell me why James Harden has been roller skating on South Beach during the games? This cat has completely checked out on these boyz. I'm not sure if the beard is imploding on him or what but he's not even in the arena. The Young Bloods looked like they were ready to win a title going into the Finals but youth has finally caught up with them. There is a reason why no team that young has ever won a title. It's called maturity and experience bruh! You don't get it until you've gone through something. Maybe next year they'll be ready to compete for a title but right now they're just trying to keep the water out of the boat.

The ship is going down and the band is playing. Some cats are testing furniture to make floating devices while others have jumped into the already full life boats. James Harden has just laid down in bed and has decided to go down with the ship. He's not even trying to save his own playoff life! It's a shame because he was so dependable up to this point but you never find out who a person really is until they've been challenged. Hopefully all of these clowns can stop trying to compare Durant to LeBron. They aren't even in the same neighborhood bruh! If you can't see that you should start watching Lacrosse or Cricket or something because you'll never get the game of basketball.

The phrase for the day for Miami Heat fans should be "Attack the Rack" and boyz will have a new theme song by midnight! They'll be bumpin' that DJ Khaled "All I Do Is Win" all summer long! I can hear that joint now, "All I do is win, win, win no matter what, Got money on mind, I can never get enough and every time I step into the building everybody hands go up!" Game 5 tonight 9pm eastern AKA "The Close Out!"

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Bamboozled

"Hoodwinked! Lebron is much better than Jordan was at the same age!"

When Michael Jordan won six NBA Championships he messed it up for everybody going forward. Now clowns believe that in order to be great you've got to win championships because Mike was the G.O.A.T.. So now that has become the standard for greatness like Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson., Pete Maravich, George Gervin, Dominique Wilkens, John Stockton and Elgin Baylor weren't great players. But if you want to use that ridiculous argument that you must have a ring in order to be great we'll use it today.

The GOAT won six championships during his illustrious career but he didn't win his first title until he was 28 years old. Well, when the Miami Heat close out the "Young Bloods" from OKC this week LeBron James will just be 27! So using your dumb argument LeBron would be better than Jordan at this age because Jordan didn't even sniff the Finals for the first time until he was 28. LeBron's been there 3 times and have been the league MVP 3 times as well at only 27 years old. All Jordan had at the same age was a shoe deal bruh. What are we talking about? Really?

It blows me away that these young cats that never even saw Jordan play want to use his 6 titles as the litmus test for greatness. You have to be at least 38 years old to form a legitimate opinion of the comparison of Jordan vs LeBron because you didn't see Jordan before he started winning titles. Jordan came into the league in 1984 when the now 38 year old's were 10. So if you were a VERY basketball astute 10 year old you can half way form an opinion of the early career of Jordan. Anybody younger than that is going off of highlights bruh! I was 17 when he came into the league so I saw him develop as a player.

The highlights always look better than the actual game because they only show best plays. They don't show the Jordan that couldn't shoot nor go to his left when he came out of North Carolina. They don't show the Jordan that was getting his head busted against Zeke and the Pistons to the point where he player hated Isaiah from being on the Dream Team years later. Not to mention when he was getting tossed around by Larry Bird's Celtics in '85-'86 in the Eastern Conference. His Bulls were getting bounced in the 1st round of the playoffs til '88. LeBron took the worst team in the league to the Finals within 5 years. Naw bruh, they only show him winning titles so you've been Bamboozled.

 It's like a kid who's father dies when he's only 7. The only opinion that he has of him when he's all grown up are what people have told him over the years about his dad. Everybody mentions how great of a family man he was and  that he served in the church etc. However, nobody told the kid that his ole man was chasing women, selling weed and carjacking boyz before he got saved. So if you weren't there to see Jordan come up. Please shut up and stay out of grown folks conversations!

LeBron is the same Jordan that was trying to win a title from '81 to '91(3 yrs in college & 7 yrs in the NBA) LeBron would have just did it all in the league in one less year and at 27 years old so he's a much better player. Jordan never played all five positions nor defended all five on the opposite end, play 45 minutes a night and average 30 & 13 in the Finals. Why, because he wasn't even in the Finals at 27 and when he did get there he still never did it. He has a more complete game at the same age and when he wins his 1st title the bar will be raised.

Now I hear some clown in the background saying, "Well it only took Jordan 7 years to win a title and it's taken LeBron 9." Listen up genius! LeBron didn't go to college because he didn't have to. Jordan spent 3 years on campus because he needed to bruh. Keep in mind that he was the 3rd option (James Worthy 1st and Sam Perkins 2nd) on the team his freshman year at UNC when they won the national title. Remember, Mike was the same guy that got cut from his high school team. LeBron was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at the same age with the caption that read "The Chosen One." I'm just sayin'!

Don't watch highlights and try to argue the greatness of Jordan vs LeBron at the same age. I wrote an extremely hot joint last year entitled "LeBron is Better Than Jordan(at 26)" and everybody 37 and younger had a fit because they didn't legitimately see the 26 year old Jordan play. Let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st. When you were watching sports at 6, 7,8 years old you didn't know what you were watching nor could you form an opinion of who was doing what. Stop it! Just Stop it!  You've been watching highlights and you think that he walked in and was the greatest player to ever live out the gate and he wasn't. He had to develop over a period of time.

That's what LeBron is doing right before our eyes but because we live in a microwave society we want him to be as great as Jordan was at the end of his career right now. It just doesn't work that way. The great Vince Lombardi once said, "The only place Success comes before Work is in the dictionary!" Stop expecting LeBron at 27 to be better than Jordan at 33 or 34. We didn't compare Jordan to Bill Russell that had won 11 titles when Jordan had none did we? No, we allowed Jordan to develop as a player and finish his career before we made those comparisons because you can't compare career to career until they're both over.

In 20 years when some young cats are sitting around watching highlights of LeBron they aren't going to show him losing championships bruh! All they're going to show are the ones where he's busting boyz heads in the process of winning championships just like they do for Jordan. They never show the Pistons putting that thang on Jordan's Bulls. They only show him winning. That's why they call them highlights bruh!

The Fat lady has just landed in South Beach and was spotted at the Clevelander floating in the pool bumpin' that "Imaginary Player" by Jay-Z getting her mind right to blow on Thursday. All the haters will be streaking naked on the beach out of frustration because LeBron has won a championship and the world has no further use for them.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

"Red Flagged"

"What you talkin' bout Willis?"

Right before the NCAA Tournament started I wrote a crazy hot joint entitled "Class? What Class?" that explained why I wouldn't encourage Kentucky's Anthony Davis to go to class if he were my son! I gave specific instructions that he should take classes the first semester pass/fail and to enroll but not to even waste his time going to class during the second semester! Why? Because he would be the first pick in the draft in June! Everybody went nuts when I said out loud that I wouldn't encourage my child to go to school because his career was in basketball and school wouldn't prepare him for that! Former NBA player and Kentucky Wildcat Rex Chapman said to me via Twitter, "What kind of father are you to tell your kid not to go to school!"

Well, I'm the smart kind bruh! Last year Ohio State big man Jared Sullinger had the same opportunity to leave school early to enter the NBA because he was the nation's best player in the college game. However, through the encouragement of his dad he remained in school an additional year. Everybody praised the kid for not leaving school early and continuing to be a student. I was the only one saying publicly that it made absolutely no sense to stay because he can't get any better than the first pick in the draft! He's a basketball player and that's what he should be doing! This argument only applies to about 4 or 5 people in the world every year bruh.

Well geniuses! On Monday Jared Sullinger was red flagged by NBA doctors after undergoing a series of medical tests at the NBA draft combine a week ago. Before the draft there is a workout, if you will, where the league has all of it's potential draft picks workout and they put the microscope on them from a skills standpoint and they also do an extensive health screening. If something is wrong they'll find it because these teams are about to invest MILLIONS of dollars into these players. 

A number of NBA team doctors have reviewed the information from the NBA and have told their front office staff that Sullinger's back issues could shorten his NBA career and some have advised their teams not to draft him in the first round according to the Associated Press. Now who's the terrible dad now bruh?

If he'd come out when he was the man sitting on top of the mountain last year without documented injuries he would have been the number 1 pick in the draft and would have signed a 3 year $10 million deal that was guaranteed!!! Sure, he still may get drafted in the 2nd round but those salaries aren't guaranteed and he won't even stiff the bread that he could have gotten last year! A 2nd round pick could get as little as $442,114 which is peanuts relative to what the 1st pick gets. Not to mention the endorsements that are soon to follow because of the 1st pick status! Now his ole man is making excuses for giving his son TERRIBLE advice and I'm looking like the father of the year for saying what made sense in the first place. 

"He had a bulging area that was due to his hamstring and quads being so tight," Satch Sullinger, Jared's dad, told ESPN.com senior college basketball writer Andy Katz in a phone call Monday afternoon. "It pulled on his hip flexor and he's been taking care of it to loosen it. You can call it a red flag if you want. But it's tight hamstring and tight quads. He's been to doctors, he's doing yoga and deep tissue massage. The flexibility is helping take the pressure off the area. We've got nothing to hide. At this stage it's all about what they can't do. Jared is a skilled player. A two-time All-American. He can play."

Yada yada ya bruh! It doesn't matter what you think you didn't go to medical school nor do you work for the NBA! They are protecting themselves from another Greg Oden and just giving a boy more than $30 million dollars to go to the training room for the last 5 years in Portland. This is a business not a charity and they are only willing to invest in a player in the first round that they believe will be able to play long term. 

Sure, there are draft busts all of the time but they wouldn't have spent money on those players had they known that they weren't going to turn out. When a team doctor says, "Hey bruh, you can do what you want with your money but I wouldn't spend mine that way!" The teams typically listen to them because they are the experts. 

You have to as a player "Strike when the iron is hot!" There was no other player alive last year that was hotter than Jared Sullinger and there were no signs of back problems. He did what the world thought was the right thing to do and now all of the guarantees that I've talked about aren't on the table that he's sitting at! 

Like I always say, college is not for everybody! If you possess a special talent that only 4 or 5 people in the world have at 18 years old take advantage of it. College is for the kid that graduates from high school that doesn't possess a special skill that will allow him or her the opportunity to otherwise make millions of dollars with it. It's also for those that NEED a degree to pursue a career in a particular field but everybody doesn't NEED to go to college. Some people are phenoms and can make a living off of their talent at a young age. Examples would be,  the very few "one and done athletes" alive or people like Venus and Serena, Beyonce', Michael "freaking" Jackson, Chris Brown, Justin Beiber etc. 

What if those parents would have told them to stay in school and pursue their careers later? What if the singers would have suffered from strep throat and it ruined their voices before signing the $20 million endorsement or Live Nation deal?  What if Venus & Serena would have fallen off of their bikes and broke their arms and couldn't play before they signed the $80 million Nike deal? They'd be sitting around kicking themselves like Sullinger's ole man is now. I bet Oden's folks are glad that they told him to leave school when he did only two months before he had knee surgery and a month after he signed a guaranteed $10 million deal with Portland. 

You asked what kind of dad am I Rex? I'm the dad that gives my kid real world advice bruh! Not some cat that blurts out something as stupid as telling a phenom to stay in school when he's got a $10 million present sitting on the table with his name on it. You can go to school in the off-season if the degree is really that important to you bruh! However, there isn't a degree in the world that pays $10 million! Good luck with that!

Holla At Ya Boy! 

Jay Graves 

Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport  

Information from the Associated Press was used in this article. 

"REAL TALK"

"The formula for beating the Thunder is going to the rack!"

What's real talk is that the Heat should be up 3-0 at this point. They've been in complete control of the Thunder for the 3rd straight game. Game 1: OKC made a late flurry come back from being down 13 points to win that joint. Game 2: OKC was down 17 points but the Heat was able to hold them off. Game 3: In Miami the Heat outlasted another late game flurry by the Thunder to win 91-85! Yep, I'd say that they should be up 3-0 with the eyes I'm using! That's REAL TALK!

I guess all of the hatin' that LeBron James has been getting is starting to rub him the wrong way. He's been averaging 30 points and 13 rebounds throughout the playoffs and he doesn't look like he's slowing down! During Game 3 he put up 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Using hood accounting that's 30 points bruh! See you always round up when it benefits the house. This cat is on fire and the sad part about it is that OKC doesn't have a human being that can stop him when he's going to the rack. That's REAL TALK!

Kevin Durant is a beast no doubt about it. He's bringing his lunch pail to work every night and I respect this boys game to the tenth power. He put up 25 points and grabbed 6 rebounds all while having to sit down the stretch with foul trouble. He picked up his fourth foul late in the 3rd quarter while the Thunder looked to be in control. That's the second straight night Durant has been in foul trouble. Why, because LeBron is attacking the basket and he's like all young multi-millionaire cats in the presence of beautiful women! He just can't help himself bruh! HE'S GONNA COMMIT THE FOUL! That's REAL TALK!

The key to Miami beating these cats is to attack the basket every rip down the floor and let Battier, Jones and Miller shoot the 3 ball only. Everybody should be in attack mode. They have no answer for it. Later for all of those jumpers like I told my guy in the hot joint "Letter to LeBron." Go to the rack every chance you get and this series is a wrap because they'll give up the bucket, foul you or both, either way, it's points. We saw that as clear as a bell on Sunday. Once Durant gets into foul trouble it's over because Westbrook can't win the joint alone. He seems to get rattled and starts wasting possessions by dribbling too much and putting up bad shots. Harden and the rest of the squad feed off of Durant not Westbrook. That's REAL TALK!

The best way to keep Durant from beating you is to keep him on the bench! If he's in foul trouble he can't shoot from the sideline bruh! Keep going at him and make him commit the foul. It's like beating Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. If they're drinking water on the sideline because the defense is on the field they can't throw touchdowns. That's the formula all day long! That's REAL TALK!

D. Wade finally took his smoke break early on and finished his game of craps with the boyz from Liberty City before the game because he came out firing on all cylinders. Before the night was over he had 25 points and 7 rebounds. However, down the stretch he was like Buster Brown turning the ball over. This cat was responsible for 5 of the 9 Heat turnovers late in the game. I don't know what's up with this Dun but he's not looking like the 2006 Finals MVP and that he's championship proven, I'll tell you that bruh! He's not looking like it's Wade County like cats keep trying to tell me about. Every game out it's looking more like James County, USA! That's REAL TALK!


Let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! The Miami Heat will go only as far as LeBron James will take them. I know boyz want to hold on to the Dwayne Wade legend of him having a ring and it's his team but he won that title because of Shaq! That's REAL TALK bruh! The fact that Shaq was on the floor getting double teamed gave him the room to show out. It was Shaq not D Wade that made that title happen. Don't get it twisted. Just like if they win it this year it will be because LeBron put these boyz on his back and carried them. That's REAL TALK!

By the way,why was Juwan Howard eating nachos on the bench bruh? They had to stop play 3 or 4 times to clean up the crumbs. Have you ever wondered how this guy seems to get into every camera shot on timeouts? He's like the cat waving in the background when the news crew is reporting a murder in the hood. He's that guy that everybody looks for on the news after the shooting down the street because they already know he's gonna find the camera. They say, "Dang, there goes Juwan again! Boy, this dude here!" He's like the Joe that jumps on the hood of your car at the stop light with a squeeze bottle full of green water trying to clean your windows for a quarter. You know he's gonna jump out but it still catches you off guard every time he does it. You can't get rid of the guy! That's REAL TALK!

Now the series has turned on it's ear at this point because the Heat still have two more games at the crib. Going in I said that they needed to win one game in OKC and at least two games at home to have a shot at winning it all. However, they would have to win Game 6 in OKC if that happens. However, they can't afford to play a Game 7 on the road in that environment. It's like playing in a college arena. So in my opinion, they really need to figure out a way to close these boyz out in Miami and win the next two. IF LeBron James can consistently go to the rack. The Heat will win the title! IF he doesn't attack the rack, he'll go out like a sucker! That's REAL TALK!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport