Out-Of-Town Shooter

"Are you kidding me?"

Victor Sweet shut the building down in the movie Four Brothers when he said, “You don't pay a working girl for love. You pay her to leave. What do you pay out-of-town shooters to do? You pay them to get back out of town. That’s why I asked for out-of-town shooters. What’d I get? In-town shooters! Someone decided to hire in-town shooters. You know what else I get for my money? In-town police. In-town trouble. 

Well last night the Golden State Warriors  hired an out-of-town shooter named Steph Curry to come into Madison Square Garden and this dun kept his finger on the trigger scoring an NBA season high 54 points before taking an “L” 109-105 to the New York Knicks. This cat was 18 of 28 from the field, finishing just one 3-pointer shy of the NBA record dropping 11 out of 13 attempts homeboy! Talk about feeling it! 

Ole Steph was pulling up from Brooklyn on a couple of those joints bruh. He even threw one from the projects at Mary J's old crib out in Yonkers! This boy was on some old Jackson Five Dancing Machine type joints, “Automatic Systematic.” He played all 48 minutes and even managed to throw 7 dimes and pick up 6 rebounds in the process. 

"I felt good all night. Obviously played the whole game, so was just trying to keep my legs underneath me on the offensive end, and you know, just stick to the game on the defensive end," he said. "Once I started seeing that 3-ball go down in transition, all sorts of spots on the floor, I knew it was going to be a good night."

All he needed was his boy David Lee who was suspended for body rubbing and hand touching with ole goofy Roy Hibbert on Tuesday night against the Pacers. These duns in the NBA now days are bigger stronger and faster but don’t know how to get it in like they used to do back in the day. At a minimum 15 to 20 years years ago somebody would have been bleeding from getting cold cocked out there! I always say, “If you gone get in trouble get in trouble.” Don’t get suspended or arrested for looking like you did something. This cat is sitting out for fighting and he didn’t even fight. 

Believe me playboy, if you walked past the principal's office and I was sitting in it in elementary school. The other cat was in the nurses office with a cold pack on his eye, mouth or both! See at that point I was cool with them calling my folks because if I was gonna take an “L” at the crib. I took satisfaction in knowing that ole boy was already marked up and he had to take an "L" at the crib too. In other words, he got three whippings because the principal got his licks in too!  

So without David Lee, Steph’s 54 points still came up short. With 1:05 left the Knicks got the stop they needed to finally shut the faucet off on this cat. By then the crib was flooded and all the furniture was a wrap but they were able to save the valuables and important documents. Raymond Felton came up big with the block they needed to walk out of the joint with a win. 

"My main thing is to keep playing. Like I said, once a guy gets it going like that, there's nothing I can really do. I've still got to stay in my mindset, still play my game, and I was still able to come up with some big plays at the end," Felton said. "We all came up with some big plays to get that win."

Because Curry went HAM cats didn’t even see that Melo was ballin' too and put up 35 in a battle! It’s like Destiny’s Child at the Super Bowl especially, and well, for the last 17 years for that matter. With Beyoncé being is so fine, boyz just kept sleepin' on Kelly! They gotta be in separate rooms for you to appreciate how fine she is too. I can hear the real cats in the background saying it now, “I’ve been telling boyz that for years!” I can also hear Victor Sweet saying, “He actually showed up. And they say there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Evan, I said pistol! Uh no $#&%*!” 

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

No Lie

"Give me that homeboy!"

The old English divine Frederick William Robertson once said, “There are three things in the world that deserve no mercy, hypocrisy, fraud, and tyranny.” The French-Swiss film director Jean-Luc Godard broke it down like this, “Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world.” The old “has beens” sitting up in the balcony at the hood high school games said it best, “I don’t care what you say. That boy ain’t ready."

Once again the No.1 team in the country goes down and this time it was the Indiana Hoosiers getting carjacked by the Minnesota Golden Gophers 77-73 on Tuesday night. This was the seventh time that the AP No. 1 team has gone down which has made for an exciting college basketball season because nobody is safe out here in these streets.

Like I’ve been saying since hearing all of the pre-season hype, “Cody Zeller is extremely athletic but he ain’t NBA superstar good. As a matter of fact, he ain't even Player of the Year college basketball good!” In big games this dun keeps disappearing. On some real talk, the Minnesota game wasn’t even a big game bruh and he comes out of the joint with only 9 points, 4 turnovers and 7 freaking rebounds and he’s 7 feet tall! Who does that? Stop trying to tell me that this cat is the real deal when a 19-9 team that’s 7-8 in the Big Ten can completely shut him down.

He completely disappeared against Butler and Georgetown earlier in the season too. What’s he gonna do in the NBA bruh besides get his lunch taken every night? If he can’t dominate in this weak college game today at 7 feet tall he’s gonna get destroyed at the next level.

Don’t get it twisted, he’ll probably be the first cat off of the board in the NBA draft this summer because he’s so athletic and 7 feet tall but boyz will soon find out that he’s Tyler Hansbrough all over again. When the Pacers picked him in the 2008 draft with their 1st round pick at No. 13 I said that it was a complete waste of good bread even back then.

He came out of North Carolina as a 3 time All-American and was the Player of the Year. He’s been coming off of the bench ever since. One thing about it, he gives you 100 % effort every time he’s on the floor. He gives you everything that he has but he just doesn’t have much to give. Ole boy is as stiff as a board and always looks like he’s got a back brace on but he was the same way in college. Boyz just acted like they couldn't see it because he was tossing less talented cats around.

A first round pick shouldn’t be still coming off of the bench 5 years later bruh. Well, look into my crystal ball playboy, that’s Cody Zeller 5 years from now. I you could give Cody, Tyler's work ethic and heart he'd be a beast or give Tyler, Cody's athletic ability he be an perennial All-Star but this ain't transformers! Either way you slice it you'll get one complete basketball player out of the two. That's real talk.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! The most talented players now days are playing 1 year in college and bouncing because the rule dictates that they have to. Any time you’ve got cats on the roster for 3 or 4 years they aren’t NBA superstars. So if this dun can’t dominate the game against this level of competition he’s in for a rude awakening in the NBA just like ole Tyler was.

Now I know that the IU and Pacers faithful will be all over me for this one but I call it like I see it homie. Indiana’s my Alma Mater but my eyes belong to me and I'm like George Washington "I can not tell a lie." If there were more cats to choose from in this year’s draft, his stock would be dropping like a Queen Latifah in “Set It Off.” So as I pull off bumpin' that Drake "No Lie" I need you to stop me when I start lyin’!

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

The Jackpot

"This is some BS homie! I should be starting!"

We constantly hear coaches telling players that in order to be great you've got to put in the work. The legendary Packers head coach Vince Lombardi once said, "The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." It's highly motivating to hear those types of quotes because we all need that extra push sometimes. Let's be honest, who doesn't dream of being successful at what they do? The unfortunate thing about life is that you've got to be born with certain skill sets in order to fulfill those dreams, especially if you're an athlete.

I know that every kid that plays sports wants to become a professional athlete. Any time you talk to a group of young people and you ask them what they want to be when they grow up they say, "I want to play in the NFL or the NBA" 90% of the time. However, those dreams don't always come true. Why, because there's only so many positions available. So only the very best in the world at those positions will be allowed to play. Therefore, if your kid hasn't won the genetic lottery of skills, size and speed they won't make it to the pros or even to the major college level as well.

Last summer LSU offered eight grader, Dylan Moses, a scholarship to play football for the Tigers in 2017. The 6'1" 210 lbs linebacker showed up at their camp last summer and ran a 4.46 forty yard dash, had a 34 inch vertical and a 9 foot broad jump. Now the defending national champions, The Alabama Crimson Tide, has just thrown an offer on the table too. Now granted they're just words because you can't legitimately offer a kid until after his junior season.

However, this cat posted a 4.46 at 6'1" 210 lbs playing linebacker in the eight grade! It's called hitting the genetic lottery and it is what it is. I don't care how much some other kid works out and puts in two or three a days they won't be able to do what Dylan can do. You can't teach a person how to be tall or fast or how to be smooth as silk. Those are genetic markers that either you get or you don't.

Do you really think that Anthony Davis learned how to be 6'10" after only being 6'3" and playing guard when he was in 9th grade bruh? Do you think Shaq willed his way to being 7'1" and smooth? Do you think Dieon Sanders and Bo Jackson figured out some secret formula on how to become professional football and baseball players at the same time? Sure, all of these guys put in mad work in order to get better. However, they had a certain amount of genetic gifts to start with. Of course, Jordan got cut from his high school team but he already had the genetic markers to be great. It took him to be cut from the team to tap into what was already there.

That's why I trip when I see the way over the top dad at the little league field trying to re-live his childhood through his kid by forcing him to play sports. I'm always blown away by the delusional glasses that some of these parents are wearing because with the naked eye it's clear that their kid can't play but they act like they can't see it. The kid is terrible or is as short as Tattoo but dad is trying to make him become a great basketball player.

Dylan Moses, 8th grade bruh!

I laugh when I see a kid that's 5'9", weighs 290 lbs and runs a 5.4 forty and dad won't give up the dream of him playing major college football. Dude, they've yet to invent a position in the game of football that your kid can play bruh! He's too short to play offensive or defensive line and too heavy and slow to play a skilled position. Go find something else for him to do or just let him play for the love of the game and be cool with him playing high school ball. He ain't gonna play so stop making a fool out of him and yourself. He doesn't have the genetics.

Here's an early indication as to whether your kid has the markers or not. If you nor you wife were any good at playing anything or none of your siblings or your wife's siblings were good. Then there's a great possibility that your kid won't possess the skills either. Athletic skill sets just don't randomly show up playboy.

Kids like Dylan are the type of cat that eventually gets drafted and becomes a young rich athlete. If he continues to develop, is humble enough to keep learning, goes to class and stays out of trouble. He'll be a millionaire in 7 years. It is what it is. Stop trying to make your kid the next LeBron. If he's got the genetics he'll become the next LeBron if not he won't. You don't have to spend all of your freaking money traveling to AAU tournaments or putting him on travel teams for him to get a scholarship. If he can play somebody else will pay for him to travel. Trust me! Don't let these cats talk you into going broke because your kid will miss out because everybody else's folks are spending a fortune on it. If he's got the genes he's getting on the bus.

I know plenty of cats that grew up in the hood that didn't pay a dime to travel or go to camps because they had the right genetics. Do you think LeBron's momma paid for him to go to St. Vincent St. Mary? Not a chance homeboy, she barely kept clothes on his back let alone paid for him to go to private school.

So all I'm saying is that you've got to be born with something in order to get something out of it. If your kid doesn't have the skill set to play sports stop forcing a square peg into a round hole. He was definitely born with other skills and gifts that he has to tap into. Not every kid is supposed to be a great athlete. That's why there are thousands of professions to choose from bruh! Find the one that fits his genetic markers and stop embarrassing your kid by forcing him to do something that he obviously can't do. It's no fun sitting on the bench bruh but somebody's gotta do it!

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

Roll Out

"How much time do I have left bruh?"

Sandra Bullock once said, “I’m a true believer in Karma. You get what you give, whether it’s bad or good.” Angie Stone broke it down like this, “I would never disrespect any man, woman, chick or child out there. We’re all the same. What goes around comes around, and karma kicks us all in the butt in the end of the day.” Mr. Lucky the shoe shine man said it this way, “When you come at boyz sideways out here you're just setting yourself up for some foolishness.”

The Miami Heat survived a second half comeback by the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-105. They blew a 22 point lead with 5:06 remaining when the Cavs rallied to an 8 point deficit. Ole D. Wade the smoke break king looks to have given up smoking and is ballin’ the entire games here lately. He scored 11 or his 24 points in the final 5 minutes to keep the water out of the boat to secure the Heat win.

As I’m sitting in the cut watching this joint unfold I’m saying to myself, “Boy I would love to see Kyrie Irving “Uncle Drew” take his talents to South Beach too after his rookie contract expires. Boyz keep talking foolish about LeBron going back to Cleveland but it would make way more sense for Uncle Drew to come his way.

Don't hate playa, the Lakers have been doing it for years and are still doing it. It just didn't work this time with Nash and Howard because they've got the wrong dun coaching the team. Boyz forget or just don't know that Kareem or at the time Lew Alcindor won a title in '71 with Oscar Robertson in Milwaukee and four years later went to LA! Why? Cuz it's LA and he could win more out there. This ain't brand new bruh!

It’s only right that boyz would stick it to ole dull Dan Gilbert again. The only players that he should get for the rest of his freaking life are cats that nobody wants. You would be a fool to sign with Cleveland voluntarily the way he handled the LeBron situation. It doesn’t matter whether you like him or not his contract was up. An owner has to understand that he’s got a business to run and that he’ll need to be able to recruit future free agents to play for him and acting a fool killed his chances of landing or keeping another superstar.

How in the world are you going to convince a cat to come to play for you when you went HAM on the best player in the league for leaving AFTER his contract had expired! It’s one of the worst ran organizations in the league with an owner that doesn’t have a clue on how to treat his players.

"Get up out of there young boy!"

By the time Kyrie’s contract expires in 2014 the Heat would probably have won 3 straight NBA titles or at the very least 2. So why would LeBron leave after living in the penthouse to go back to the projects to live with a broad that's already burned all of his gear and keyed up his ride. When ole boy could just roll on down to Miami and win right away? By then D. Wade will be really slowing down and it would be a perfect fit. I’m just sayin’!

Let’s say that Uncle Drew decides not to go to Miami. He’d be a fool to stay in Cleveland, however. So anybody thinking that this young boy is gonna stay, needs to put the pipe down and back away slowly.

Like I keep telling you, LeBron stayed up there for 7 years because he was the hometown hero from Akron and it was cool to play in front of the home crowd. Then he grew up and got a good smell of the coffee and he figured out that it was mud he was drinking.

Kyrie’s not from Cleveland or the state for that matter, so this cat is living out of a suit case just counting the days before he can roll out like Ludacris. NOTE TO DAN GILBERT: "If Kyrie doesn't sign an extension this summer. Trade him next year mid season because he's gonna bounce playboy! We've seen this movie before."

Sure, he'll be a restricted agent but that only means that the Cavs have a chance to match the offer. He doesn't have to take it. You can't do anymore with $100 million than you can with $85 million. Besides, Pepsi will make up the difference with ole Uncle Drew. Why stay in Cleveland to keep losing bruh?

Later for spending your entire career with an organization that can't put you in a position to win titles like Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone etc. have done. LeBron's move changed the game bruh! Uncle Drew would be crazy to waste away in Cleveland after seeing that.

If Jim Brown and LeBron wouldn’t stick around that joint why do you think Uncle Drew would? You can't win in Cleveland bruh I don’t care what sport you play.  Karma is a bad boy Dan Gilbert and there’s no way of getting away from it playa.

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

Clinical Studies

"Do your homework playboy and stop just repeating foolishness!"

During my extensive career in the pharmaceutical industry, I've read countless medical journals and hundreds of clinical studies. What I learned early on was to never read the conclusion or results section before reading the study protocol, participants and analysis sections. The conclusion doesn't tell the complete story. It only tells the what and never explains the why! Results can be deceiving if you don't know how they actually came up with them.

Well, it's the same way when looking at sports especially when we're talking about Kobe vs. Lebron or Jordan vs. LeBron in terms of titles. The first thing people pull out are the results section of the clinical. Kobe's got 5 rings, Jordan's got 6 rings and LeBron has 1. By throwing those numbers out we're simply looking at the results of the study and not the entire process by which the study was performed.

Let's keep it real or all the way 100, which ever comes first! For the sake of this argument let’s compare Kobe vs. LeBron. LeBron was drafted #1 overall and Kobe was drafted 13th overall. That's significant because that tells us that LeBron was drafted by the worst team in the league whereas Kobe wasn't. Also the fact that LeBron played seven years for an organization that pretty much left him on an island without any help. Kobe on the other hand, was drafted by the 2nd best franchise in NBA history, the Los Angeles Lakers, that have won 16 titles overall. The best being the Boston Celtics that have won a league high 17 titles. Keep in mind that those two franchises have won more than 50% of all of the titles in the history of the league.

Surely, you couldn't have expected LeBron to show up in Cleveland and win a title when they've never had a history of winning. It's literally the worst franchise in the league. We'll until Jordan took over the Bobcats but that's another talk show. However, he did take the worst team in the league to the finals within 4 years. Kobe on the other hand was blessed to have had the opportunity to play for the best coach to ever walk the sideline in the history of the NBA and he played with Shaq while in his prime that's probably the best center to ever play the game. Therefore, giving him the opportunity to win his first 3 titles. Ya'll do realize that Kobe wasn't the first option while Shaq was with the Lakers, right?

Sure, he won two more titles with Phil, I might add, only after they all but stole Pal Gasol from Memphis to help them get back on top. Can you remember Kobe begging to be traded the year after Shaq left when they were terrible? Did you ever hear LeBron crying to be traded while he was in lowly Cleveland? Naw, he just went to work and played his heart out. So when you open up the clinical data bruh, Kobe has been put in a much better situation to win titles than LeBron has up to this point.

The only real opportunity that LeBron has had in his career to win a championship was his first year in Miami and they made it to the finals and the very next year he and his teammates won the joint. Do you really think Kobe or Mike would have won multiple titles playing without a superstar and without Phil? Ya'll do know that Phil was the only one that could have coached and coddled Mike, right?

Nobody has ever won a title playing alone playboy. Open up the data if you think I'm lyin'; Kareem had The Big O in Milwaukee before going to LA and later played with Magic and Worthy, Jordan had Pippen and Rodman, Bird had McHale and Parrish, Duncan had David Robinson, Shaq had Kobe or vice versa, D Wade had Shaq, KG had Paul Pierce and Ray Allen and so on and so forth!

So it's completely unfair to just look at the rings and draw conclusions that the guy isn't great or better because he hasn't won as many titles yet. Like I keep telling all of these cats with 3rd grade comprehension skills, Jordan didn't win a title until he was 28! LeBron is just now 28 and look at what he's been able to accomplish!

So when folks throw out titles it only tells me that they skipped all of the clinical data and just read the conclusion or results section. If championships are the standard then why do boyz keep talking about Jordan and not Bill Russell that has 11 on them joints? How in the world do you just disregard the O.G. and fall to Mike if championships is all that counts?

How do you not talk about the other 7 duns as well that have more titles than Jordan if we're using titles as the standard? Gotta talk about John Havlicek 8, Sam Jones 10, Tom "Satch" Sanders 8, Robert Horry 7, James Loscutoff 7, Frank Ramsey 7 before we even get to Jordan's neighborhood pimpin'! Then you got Kareem, Bob Cousy and Pippen living next door with 6 too!

So you mean to tell me that EVERY one of these duns are better than Larry Bird because he's only got 3? Tim Duncan has 4, Wilt Chamberlain only has 2, Oscar Robertson and the NBA Logo himself Jerry West only have 1? So the championship argument completely goes out of the window bruh! When you don't go to class it's easy to run with foolish information that some clown that was half paying attention sitting in the back of the room gave you!

So you're telling me that Elgin Baylor, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Walt Bellamy, Charles Barkley, Pete Maravich, Reggie Miller, Bob Lanier, George Gervin, Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson weren't great players because they didn't win a title? Are you kidding me?

Stop reading the cliff notes and look at the circumstances by which these duns have been able to win or not. I'm not taking anything away from either Jordan or Kobe but they played for better coaches and organizations than LeBron or any of these other cats had the opportunity to play for. Let's sit back and watch his career as he continues to develop as a player and leader now that he's in a better situation.

Now after you've read the complete set of data and all you can still say is the only thing that counts is championships but you aren't talking about Bill then you're riding the short bus on the west side of Chicago with a Jump Man 23 warm up, some Jordan's and an extremely tight pair of Haynes underwear on watching Space Jam. I can't help you bruh.

Let me give it to you where you can really smell it homie. Kobe was born into a wealthy suburban family with two parents playing for the Lakers. His dad (Phil) was like the Steve Jobs of his industry. So he was supposed to win out the gate!

Whereas, LeBron was raised in the middle of the ghetto in the projects (worse team in the league) with no parents playing for Cleveland. He just recently got adopted by a wealthy family on Star Island and has just now been given the opportunity to shine. UNLIKE in real life, in the NBA you CAN NOT win without parents (good coaching), strong siblings (another superstar) and a strong organization around you! Stop me when I start lyin'!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay GravesGe @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Check TheJayGravesReport in Hilarious Youtube clips! Holla At Ya Boy!
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Reckless

"I'm outta control bruh!"

Mark Twain once said, “Laws control the lesser man…Right conduct controls the greater one. Buddha broke it down like this, “To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind.” Pookie and Ray Ray nem just kept it real by saying, “If you wanna survive out here playa you better stay in yo lane, cuz boyz will come after you for that foolishness.”

I've sat in the cut for past week before addressing this whole Lil Wayne Miami Heat/Chris Bosh rant from All-Star weekend. Weezy F. went off about the NBA banning him from all events for essentially being reckless. Not only did he act a fool last year during a playoff game in OKC after a kid asked him for a simple autograph and was ejected, he’s had other altercations at Miami Heat games.

Pretty much this dun is upset that Heat players don’t acknowledge him sitting court side and his feelings are hurt because cats like Jay-Z and Drake get tall respect from boyz. So during NBA weekend he not only disses the Heat but tells the crowd that he had sex with Chris Bosh’s wife and then goes on to say that he’s the new Pac.

Now let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! He was definitely accurate in saying that he was the new Pac because this dun is completely out of control. Back in the summer of ’96 I was in the music business and we received the new Tupac single “Hit ‘Em Up” before it was released to radio.

After listening to that joint and hearing him say that he had sex with Biggie’s wife and going on to attack other cats like Mob Deep etc. All the fellas around the table didn’t blink before saying, “He’ll be dead in 6 months!” It took less than 2! Why, because ole boy was completely out of control and no longer cared about what we simply call consequences.

Where I’m from they call that being reckless or suicidal homeboy. He didn’t die because of those comments specifically; he died because he no longer cared about what he was doing. He was essentially driving 100 mph with no brakes, blind folded, talking on his cell with his hands tied behind his back and drunk out of his mind. He was bound to hit something!

See Pac wasn't a gangsta but he got involved with some gangsta business and some gangstas dealt with him. Wayne is that dude right now and when you’re young and famous you can’t see it just like Pac couldn’t see it at 25. However, boyz around him like Baby and Slim that are much older need to be pulling his coat tail to slow down.

You can’t act a fool with boyz out here and expect that everything is gonna be cool even if you apologize. See the players aren't his problem homeboy! It's all the people affiliated with them and that includes all of their boyz and the fans too. Think about how the whole East Coast/West Coast beef popped off cuz two duns were at odds and a whole lot of cats ended up dead as a result of it!  It’s a strange dynamic but it’s real. Some duns have nothing else better to do than to rep Miami and you just dissed everything they love!

That's real talk and it may not make sense to boyz on the outside looking in but when you diss somebody you diss everything they represent and everybody ridin' with 'em!  Going to jail for some cats is better than being on the streets.  So to be reckless is to be dangerous and even Buddha knew that more than 2,000 years ago pimpin'!

I just hope that Weezy can slow down before he steps to the wrong cat like Pac did in Vegas that night and put in motion a chain of events that he can’t stop. Just because you’re famous doesn’t give you permission to put on the clown shoes and come at boyz side ways because the street rules of retaliation still apply.

Wayne’s got too much talent whether you like his flow or not to throw it all away on some foolishness. So I hope he figures it out before it's too late. But like Jay-Z said in the blazin' hot joint, Lost One, “Fame is the worse drug known to man!” and some cats just can’t handle it.

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

Spoiled Rotten

"Dude, I won 5 championships because I'm good! That settles it!"

The famous director Frank Miller once said, “Mighty cultures never – are almost never conquered. They crumble from within. And frankly, I think that a lot of Americans are acting like spoiled brats because everything isn’t working out perfectly every time.” The German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht blew boyz mind when he said, “The finest plans have always been spoiled by the littleness of them that should carry them out. Even emperors can’t do it all by themselves.”

I wrote a Hot Joint last year entitled "The Firm" where I explained to boyz that players don’t win championships organizations do. What’s so crazy is that some players think that they actually are the sole reason why they’ve won championships not understanding that they’ve been spoiled by the moves that the franchise made on their behalf like Jordan and Kobe. If you think I'm crazy just listen to Mike's Hall of Fame speech!

Both of these duns really believe that they would have been as successful as they were without the organization and the head coach that they were blessed to play for. It’s easy to understand why because both Mike and Kobe are the same dude emotionally.

See boyz forget or just don’t know that Mike had two coaches with the Bulls before Phil showed up to save his career and Kobe had five other than the Zen Master. Mike was first coached by Kevin Loughery and then Doug Collins. Kobe had Del Harris, Bill Bertka, Kurt Rambis before Phil took his talents to Hollywood. Then when Phil left after the ’04 season Rudy Tomjanovich and Frank Hamblin took over with no success and Phil came back midway through the ’05 season. Neither were able to win titles without him. I’m just sayin’.

Phil was the X-factor because he understood how to manage ego’s and get the best out of his players.  Now on some real talk, Phil never won without them either. So they all needed each other.

However, neither Mike nor Kobe is humble enough to say it. Why? Because they both are selfish cats.  In hood terms, you wouldn’t want either one of those duns in the car with you if you were ridin’ dirty and got pulled over because they both would tell the police that it all belongs to you without even blinking. Stop me when I start lyin’! That personality has done them well on the floor but it makes for a delusional cat in real life and 99% of fans can’t separate the two.

Let me put this on your head playboy. Fan is short for fanatic and most cats that sit up and argue sports know absolutely nothing about what they’re talking about. They're completely going off of how they feel instead of looking at the facts. They do research on every subject but sports, politics, religion and women. These are the very four things that men most lose their minds over.

So why don’t they do their research on them before they mess with them? Because by being ignorant about them they can always use that as an excuse for making a fool of themselves over them. I’m talking but you just ain’t listening!

"Yeah bruh, "I" won these 6!"

For boyz to watch Kobe over the last two seasons without Phil’s tutelage and not see that he’s falling apart emotionally because there’s no one there to keep him focused on what HE can control is crazy to me. One of the most important things to understand about people is that in order to share the same space with them you have to meet them where they are.

You can’t force people to be who YOU want them to be. When you try to do that it kills the chemistry between individuals, teams and relationships and none of them can survive without it. Kobe is still performing at a high level but because of his foolish insults to boyz around him the team isn’t. Sure, the system around him doesn't work and that's Jim Buss' fault but Kobe is killing team chemistry calling boyz out in the media etc.

Phil was the X-factor, don’t ever get that twisted. Kobe will never have the T.E.A.M. “Together Everybody Achieves More” success that he had with Phil because he’s the only cat that can temper his emotions just like he did with Jordan. Don’t forget that MJ was fighting cats at practice and losing before Phil taught him how to carry boyz on his back. Do you really think that Kobe would have 5 or Jordan 6 if they didn't have Phil and were playing in Denver or Utah respectively? Would Bill Russell have 11 if he were playing in Milwaukee instead of Boston with ole Red Auerbach coaching him? No way! No more than LeBron would have 1 playing in Miami as opposed to playing in Cleveland! It makes a huge difference for who and where you were blessed to play.

And for the cat that peeps this joint out and the first thing he says after reading it is, "That dun is a hater!" You're the delusional fan I keep talking about! Learn how to become an objective observer of sports and you'll keep from flippin' out every time boyz say something about your team or favorite player. When really they're just puttin' something on your head to think about before you run out in the street and make a fool of yourself! Stop me when I start lyin' bruh!

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

The Man!

Victor Oladipo is the Player of the Year bruh not Cody Zeller!

Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Zig Ziglar was right on point when he said, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing-that’s why we recommend it daily.”  The ancient Japanese poet, Basho, shut the building down with, “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.”

Well it definitely looks like the Indiana Hoosiers are seeking what the boyz that came before them sought. Championships! Finally my alma mater, “Our Indiana,” is rolling again! They’re ranked #1 in the country and relevant in the college basketball world. The Hoosiers showed up in East Lansing on Tuesday night and knocked off the #4 Spartans at the crib 72-68 for the first time since 1991 bruh!

They’ve lost 17 straight on the road to these duns. Now it’s a new day and the Hoosiers are finally relevant again going into the NCAA Tournament. I know boyz are constantly talking about the greatness of Cody Zeller and his athleticism as a big man etc. I keep hearing  about him being the best player in the country and winning all of the national awards when it’s all said and done.

However, in order to be the best player in the country you gotta at least be the best player on your team playboy. Victor Oladipo is running circles around Cody Zeller at this point! It ain’t even close!!! This kid is the best player in college basketball bar none!  Without Oladipo the Hoosiers would be a middle of the road Big Ten team at best. Don't get it twisted, Indiana's got out of town shooters but Oladipo is the glue on offensive and his defensive prowess makes the engine run! That ain’t hate that’s real talk!  When they need big plays it’s the shooting guard that comes up big not Cody Zeller. Sure, they both put up 19 points against Michigan State but the 5 steals by Vic was huge in a road game like this. When are these folks, especially in the state of Indiana, gonna give Vic his props. Zeller’s good but he ain’t the man!

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Zeller is a very athletic big man with unbelievable skills but in my opinion isn't the go to man when it counts. In big games such as the Georgetown and Butler joints there was an Amber alert out on him. How do you call him a player of the year candidate when you have 4 touches in a big game when boyz need you? I’m just sayin’! Don’t give me they didn’t give him the rock because he’s 7 feet tall bruh! Every time the ball comes off of the rim he’s got first dibs on it! Offensive rebounds alone will put the ball in his hands 10-12 times. That’s a give me because he's a 7 footer!

 So from this day forth and forever more don’t talk to me about Cody Zeller unless you’re telling me that he’s Victor Oladipo’s running mate or something like that. Vic is the leader on that team and the Hoosiers will go as far as HE will take them. In the last 2 minutes of the ball game Oladipo did what a Player of the Year is supposed to do. Take Over of the joint!

I’m just happy that I can finally show up to the sports bar on opening day of March Madness rockin’ my Hoosiers sweat shirt. Y’all know for years the boyz from B-Town weren’t even in the tournament and cats with no history at all were showing up talking trash and all Hoosier fans could go was watch, eat and be quiet!

When I was on the yard in the late ‘80’s ole dull Bobby Knight was at the helm as much as I couldn't stand him but he had them clicking on all cylinders and at least we could talk trash with the recent  ’87 title still fresh on boyz mind. I couldn't stand him because we got no show time run and gun like Georgetown or UNLV at the time and if a boy even dunked he got pulled and cursed out. There was no entertainment factor at all. It was like watching the movie Hoosiers but we didn't take very many "L's." So boyz put up with ole Bobby but I was happy when he finally got fired I won't lie!

I lived right across the street from Assembly Hall while I was in school and never once went to a game. I refused to watch 1930's basketball in the 1980's even if it was working! That's real talk! I wanted to see boyz runnin', gunnin' and dunkin' and Bobby wasn't selling that! Mike Davis was in waaaay over his head after being thrown into the fire after they fired Knight just a few weeks before the season began in '01.

The good ole boys down in southern Indiana just didn't want Kelvin Sampson so an intern just happened to find excessive text messages. Text messages bruh? The intern knows the NCAA rules well enough to find something on their own? The same excessive text messages that every coach in America makes? Those messages? Then an anonymous donor comes up with a half a million dollars to help pay out of his contract. I'm just glad Tom Crean is playing basketball that's finally fun to watch in Bloomington!

It hasn’t made an ounce of sense that we've had 5 national championship banners hanging in Assembly Hall and couldn't even get into the freaking tournament. With the exception of the 2002 Final Four and National title game appearance against Maryland. Tournament appearances have been scarce and when we would make the joint we’d get bounced before boyz had even filled out their brackets good but not this year playa! I’ll be in the joint looking like Santa Claus I’ll have on so much red and white. Oh excuse me, “Crimson and Cream!” Go Hoosiers!

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

Crab

"I'm not feelin' this young boy gettin' all of this shine bruh!"

Billy Graham once said, “I don’t need a successor, only willing hands to accept the torch for a new generation.” The Latin American writer Jose Marti broke it down like this, “He who could have been a torch and stoops to being a pair of jaws is a deserter.” The old timers in the barber shop just put it on the table like this, “Whenever a boy does everything in his power to destroy the ambitions of those among them who wish to improve themselves they’re called crabs.” Thus, the crabs in a bucket concept!

Since nobody has the guts to say it, I will! Michael Jordan is a straight up crab bruh!  How is it that the G.O.A.T. refuses to ever encourage the next Michael Jordan? When the new generation comes along it’s the old cats that teach the young boyz the game. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking sports, entertainment, the corporate world or the streets. When there’s a young boy that is showing promise the O.G.’s automatically feel obligated to take them to school!

Guys like Julius Erving and the Big O gave Mike the game when he was coming up. They stood on the side lines and in the stands and said nothing but positive things about this new young stud. When Shaq was young in the game all you heard were guys like Kareem, Wilt and Bill Russell giving him praise for the way he played the game. Magic and Barkley give all of these young up and coming superstars their props constantly. Everybody’s passing the torch except Mike.

LeBron is by far the greatest basketball player we’ve seen since Jordan. Sure, Kobe is close but LeBron has a gift that we’ve never seen before and all Jordan can find to do is tear this kid down? “I’ll take Kobe over LeBron. I see flaws in his game! When he goes left he’s gonna shoot and when he goes right, he’s going to the bucket.” Why does the greatest player known to man keep chipping away at this cat?  Why not sit down with the young boy and teach him the secrets of the game that made you great like the old schools players did for you instead of hatin' on him?

Why? I’ll tell you why! This dun was the greatest competitor we’ve seen in our lifetime. His career is over but he can’t turn off that switch. His resume is complete! You can’t add or subtract anything to or from it and as long as LeBron continues to develop he’ll get closer to being as good as or even better than MJ.  

He won’t embrace him because internally he’s competing with him. I know boyz are saying, “You sound like a fool for even saying that!” Do I? Then why hasn't this cat shown the next promising stud any love? It's like Sidney Poitier dissing Denzel! It's like Richard Pryor not accepting Eddie Murphy or Eddie telling boyz that Chris Rock has flaws in his act. It's like Johnny Carson saying David Letterman isn't good or Oprah not encouraging Ellen. Would Tony Dungy refuse to sit down with a young Mike Tomlin? That's like John Wooden never saying anything positive about Bobby Knight or Mike Kryzewski and then all of them never encouraging Brad Stevens. Stop me when I start lyin' bruh! 

 Let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Why is a 50 year old legend talking about making a comeback? A cat that smokes cigars daily at that! Why, because he wants to steal LeBron’s shine because it’s driving him nuts not to be the center of attention in the basketball world. He's in the game now but he's not having the same success as an owner. It's killing him bruh and the only thing he can find to do is to put down the greatest player currently in the game and boyz act like they can't see it. 

Sure he’s selling sneakers but the duns that are wearing his shoes have never even seen him play. My boy told me that his 5 year old daughter begged for a pair of Jordan’s and some gear for months. When she finally got them she asked, “What is the #23 on there for?” He's just a brand to these young cats now, no different than Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren Polo was when I was a kid bruh.

Mike wants to continue to be relevant to the game of basketball and in his head he’s not completely standing alone if LeBron is getting all the attention now. In order for that to make sense to you, you gotta understand just how competitive Mike is. As crazy as that sounds it's the truth because we're not dealing with a normal cat here. We're dealing with a highly competitive and selfish dude. I'm not a psychologist but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Why else would the greatest player ever refuse to sit down with his successor if he wasn’t jealous of what the kid could become? Stop me when I start lyin’! LeBron is just playing the game that Jordan laid out in front of him but he can’t get any love from him. He refuses to even sit down with the boy.  Why is that bruh?

That’s called a hater and a crab where I’m from playboy and it doesn't matter what your name is. This isn't unchartered territory for Mike! Why do you think Zeke was left off of the Dream Team? Cause he wasn't good enough or did MJ playa hate him right off of the list?

If a cat were acting the same way Mike is acting toward another boy in the streets. You wouldn’t hesitate to call it what it is but since it’s the G.O.A.T everybody acts like they can’t see it.  All hood instincts go out of the window when we’re talking about Mike huh? Not for me playa because wrong is wrong and if you can't see that, then there's something wrong with you.  

I call it like I see it and he isn’t comfortable with all of the attention that this young boy is getting so all of the negative comments and the comeback talk is designed to steal that young boy’s shine! I hope he comes back and gets dog walked and dunked on by this young boy, all 6'8" 260 lbs. of him!

He needs to be taught again that he's human and that Father Time is still undefeated regardless of what boyz are in his ear telling him! He acted like he didn't know that when he put on a Wizards uniform at 38 and embarrassed himself. Don't act like you didn't see that dun go up for a dunk and the engine pooped out on him. Am I hatin’ on Jordan? Not at all! I’m just sayin' what folks are afraid to say. See I'm from the G (Gary, In.) and around my way cats just keep it REAL!   

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

Dimes

"I help boyz score and I get what I want too!"

The Dalai Lama once said, “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.” The famous sales guru, Zig Ziglar, spit that fire when he said, “If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”

Chris Paul won the All-Star MVP award by on Sunday night by helping boyz get what they wanted, buckets. CP3 finished with 20 points and 15 dimes to lead the West over the East 143-138. He understands that his job is to help his teammates accomplish their goals. So he was more than happy to oblige because Durant picked up 30 and his Clippers teammate Blake Griffin put 19 into the kitty.

Being a point guard in an All-Star game is like a ghetto thief rolling through the suburbs for the first time discovering that nobody locks their doors, nobody has an alarm and most importantly, nobody owns a Pit Bull. You can completely have your way.

“You just want to play fast. I like to throw the lob. I like to see guys hit 3’s, “Paul said. “When we’re out on the court with all that firepower, why wouldn’t you want to make passes? You’ve got KD filling one of the lanes, you’ve got Blake, Kobe on the wing. There’s nothing like it.”

Now let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! These games are worthless to watch until the last 7 minutes only if boyz have kept it close. Fortunately, it was close in the 4th quarter on Sunday night and boyz started playing defense down the stretch. Ole Kobe was hyped and going all out on LeBron blocking two of his shots and talking a $100 worth of noise in the process. Like he completely forgot ole boy gave it to him when it counted a few weeks ago. It was still great to see the passion was there even though the joint didn't count. It had just as much point as the Bobcats trying to win some more games this season.

What I couldn’t understand was why was Buster Brown playing in the All-Star Game and he’s been battling a shoulder injury? If Dwight’s been hurt then it would have only made sense to use the All-Star break to re-charge the batteries and get healthy. So what’s really going on playa?

Your team sucks right now primarily because you’re not giving 100% every night and, well, Jim Buss is an idiot but that's another story. Your boy Kobe is frustrated with you and you wanna play in a game that means absolutely nothing? How dull is that bruh? Was I the only person that noticed that or what? Mitch, trade that dun before he destroys your team this summer.

Now that the All-Star break is over let’s get back down to business. Coming down the stretch it’s Miami, New York, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. San Antonio’s got the best record in the league at 42-12 but they’ll run out of gas in the Western Conference Finals again. That's even if they've got enough gas to make it that far. So I’m not looking for them to make a serious run. Like I keep saying, New York can’t win with both Melo and Amare’ on the floor at the same time in the playoffs because there aren’t enough balls to go around.

I can hear some clown screaming, “You forgot about the Clippers and the Pacers.” In my Big Momma voice, “Shut up and get out of grown folk conversation!” Notice that she leaves the "S's" off to let you know "she ain't playin'!" Neither of those teams are championship ready. They’re good but not ready. So go sit down somewhere. Where was I? Oh yeah, so again we’re left with Miami and OKC! We'll get the same result as last year because OKC is the same team they were last year. The Beard was hiding in the toilet the entire series so not having him doesn't change anything.

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

Lame Dunk

Terrence Ross finally gets a dunk off to win this lame joint! 

The term Slam Dunk was coined by famed Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn. Prior to that it was known as the dunk shot. From 1967 to 1976 it was banned from use by the NCAA because of the dominance of the big homie Lew Alcindor later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. You would think that NBA banned that joint last night as we watched probably the worse Slam Dunk Contest in history. I thought the joints the past two years were terrible but that joint was ridiculous bruh!

Just the thought of the Slam Dunk Contest used to excite boyz around the world. It was nothing for the best dunkers in the league to step up and compete. Remember how Jordan, Dominique and Clyde would have you standing up on the couch going crazy?

Remember when 5’7” Spud Webb rocked the house and people talked about it for the rest of the year? Vince Carter hung on the rim and boyz went nuts! There are countless players and dunks that come to mind that have made this event so special. It was THE event that made All-Star Saturday night worth watching or going to. On some real talk, it WAS All-Star Weekend bruh!

Now we've been reduced to watching the Riverside Recreational Youth Camp Dunk-A-Thon! It was like they just pulled some cats off of the streets in the 3rd Ward or went up in the Galleria and asked who wanted to get in the dunk contest. When duns were out there running up and down the court trying to just get off a dunk it went from bad to worse pimpin’! I couldn't figure out if cats were running suicides or trying to dunk? It was so bad I'm not gonna even mention these dudes names!

Straight up bruh, the NBA owes me money for even watching that joint. I’m just glad that I didn’t get on a flight and spend some real bread to go to Houston because I would've been like ole boy Mayhem from the Allstate commercial and tore that joint up for that.  I got a call from Sprite late last night saying that they're going to give me a lifetime supply for my troubles. I told them while you're at it throw in All-Star Game tickets for life and we've got a deal. They wrestled with me on that for a while but we finally got the deal done in the wee hours of the morning.

I sound like my pops when I say this but these young boys are made of something different. Nobody wants to compete these days on GP. It’s strictly about the money! How can you be the best dunkers on the planet and not be in the dunk contest? Why wasn't Blake Griffin and LeBron not the only two duns in the contest? Straight up!

 It was nothing for cats back in the day to win that joint and start preparing for the following year’s contest. You were the king until somebody knocked you off bruh! Yeah, I know ole boy Jeremy Evans won it last year but it was wack too. So I'm at least going back to Blake because he can legitimately dunk. Even though jumping over the Kia was wack because he jumped over the hood instead of the top of it.

You remember how boyz used to race down the street in the hood and Mrs. Johnson’s car was the finish line? “Hold up, let me take my socks off because I’m faster with them joints off.”  You didn’t stop racing until you got beat. Now boyz won’t even get in the race!

How crazy would it have sounded for Jordan to be in his prime and not be in the Slam Dunk Contest? The NBA should be ashamed of itself for that. I say if none of the marquee dunkers aren't gonna to be in it, then don't have it!

Find something else to do like teach these clowns how to dress! From D. Wade to CP3 to Russell Westbrook to LeBron and beyond! These cats should be beaten up for puttin' on the gear they’re rockin’ in the NBA bruh!  Now I’m all over Jordan for being a jerk and being selfish etc but nobody wore a suit better than MJ playa!

Boyz back in the day from the 1970’s with Walt Frazier to the ‘80’s and ‘90’s with Air Jordan got it in! They looked like superstars coming into the building or jumping out of the ride. Now these young cats look like the revenge of the nerds and now every kid in America looks like it too! My son says it’s called being different. I told him that if boyz wore that mess to school in my day they wouldn’t make it home in it!

On some real talk, you couldn't get a woman with that goofy stuff these cats are wearing now. So the real question is, what's up with today's women? Well, I guess nothing because as long as boyz money is still long and green they'll still look just as good! Stop me when I start lyin’!


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

"Real Talk" LeBron vs MJ

This didn't happen until '91 and Jordan was 28 years old bruh!

John F. Kennedy once said, “The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.” My boy Winston Churchill broke it down like this, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” Benjamin Franklin said it best with, “Half a truth is often a great lie.”

ESPN claims to be the World Wide Leader in Sports and they have a sprawling campus located in Bristol, Connecticut. They employ thousands of folks that are so-called experts in the field of sports. They’ve got enough researchers on staff to figure out anything you want to know but yet they won’t stop perpetuating this foolish argument of LeBron vs. Jordan by hiding the facts! In fact, they pour gasoline on the joint because your average fan will believe anything they tell them because they're merely students.

There is a difference between a student and a scholar bruh! A student absorbs information given to him and simply repeats it! A scholar absorbs that same information and then tests the validity of it! In other words, don't just run with some information because some dun on ESPN said it! Look it up bruh!

First of all, let me say this, Jordan is the G.O.A.T! Nobody has a complete resume that is better! However, in order to compare LeBron vs. Jordan it would be unfair to compare a finished resume to an ongoing one. Therefore, in order to look at these two duns you have to compare them at the same age and move forward as LeBron gets older. That's REAL talk!

My argument has been for the past two years is that LeBron is a far better basketball player than Jordan was at the same age. At 27 years old last year LeBron ran circles around a 27 year old Jordan! Look at the resumes for both players at 27! That means for the duns that can’t understand logic, anything on Jordan’s resume that happened in 1991 or after hasn’t happened yet because LeBron hasn’t had an opportunity to live it out.

So the 6 titles that boyz are quick to throw on the table don’t exist yet pimpin'! I’m not even including the dominance that LeBron is on this year at 28 because the season is still ongoing! So for the sake of argument let’s look at what both cats have accomplished up to age 27.

By that age MJ had 1 MVP, 1 All-Star MVP, 1 Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, 4 Scoring titles, 2 Steals titles, 1 Olympic Gold Medal and a College Player of the Year award.  LeBron, on the other hand, had an NBA Title,  3 Finals appearances, 3 MVP’s , 2 All-Star MVP’s, Rookie of the Year, 1 Scoring title, 2 Olympic Gold Medals, USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, 2 National High School Player of the Year, 2 USA Mr. Basketball, 3 Ohio Mr. Basketball awards.

Now all I hear from cats in Jordan sneakers and Jump Man 23 goggles is that LeBron’s been in the league longer so he’s got 3 more years of stats! That further proves my point in saying that at a younger age LeBron was better than Jordan because Mike had to go to college! You don’t get credit for having to go to college bruh because Father Time didn't give Jordan 3 extra years to play because he started 3 years later! When Father Time calls it's a wrap regardless of when you came into the league. That's REAL talk!

 If he were better than LeBron coming out of high school he would have gone straight to the NBA too. Don’t give me the whole “Boyz weren’t coming out of high school back then” argument because they were. In 1962 Reggie Harding was drafted by Detroit but league rules said he had to wait a year so in 1963 he was drafted again by the Pistons. Then in ’74 Moses Malone came out followed by Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby in ‘75.

 Jordan didn’t come right out because just two years before he was cut from his high school team bruh! At the same age LeBron was on the cover of Sports Illustrated labeled as the Chosen One! I’m not hating on MJ, I’m just trying to tell you boyz that he wasn’t always the legend that the highlights and ESPN keep telling you that he was. You've been bamboozled and that's just REAL talk!

As a matter of fact, he was the 3rd option on the North Carolina National title team at 18 and never got back to a Final Four the next two years because James Worthy and Sam Perkins were no longer there. LeBron, on the other hand, was the Rookie of the Year in the NBA at the same age and took some bums to the Finals by age 22! Oh yeah homeboy, that's REAL talk!

If you aren’t at least 39 years old you didn’t see Jordan before he started winning championships! He came out of college in 1984! So even if you were 10 at the time you’d have to be a very astute 10 year old with a very high basketball I.Q. to understand what Jordan was doing other than scoring! All I hear from young cats 36 or younger is, "What about the 63 MJ put up in the Garden in '85?" because they were only looking at who had the most points in a game because they were kids on big wheels half watching the game. They fell to realize that he lost that freaking game and he was gunning!

You can’t make a legitimate case for Jordan in this argument because you didn’t start paying attention to him until he started winning championships! All you've seen is highlights for 20 years and you think you saw what you really didn't. That's REAL talk!

So why is it that I can break this joint down and ESPN refuses to? Because they want to continue to perpetuate this foolishness! They’ll be the first to throw the 6 titles on the table knowing that it’s an unfair assessment of the facts because MJ didn’t sniff a Finals until he was 28!

Let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Mike is out here at 50 years old lyin' to boyz too! He made the comment that he'll take Kobe over LeBron because 5 is better than 1. Knowing full well at the same age he had zero rings because he didn't get his first until the season was over when he was 28! Now why would a 50 year legend even answer a clown question like that? Because it's classic Jordan that wants to be the G.O.A.T. forever. He refuses to encourage this young boy because he's threatened by what he may soon become. All of the other legends embrace him but Jordan won't! Why? Because he's selfish! That's REAL talk.

Kobe only had 3 by that same time and he wasn't even the 1st option because Shaq was and he also had Phil! LeBron is just now playing Jordan's '91 season! Stop letting these cats lie to you and twist the truth with this foolishness! Give that man his props for being a beast and better than both at 28!

Now if  at 28, LeBron wins again this year you can add ANOTHER title, an MVP and a Finals MVP to his resume while you’ll just add 1 title TOTAL and 1 Finals MVP to Jordan’s. I haven’t even mentioned the fact that LeBron can play and guard all 5 positions! He’s 6’8” 260 lbs which is 2 " taller and 50 lbs bigger than Jordan and has a 42 inch vertical! It ain’t even close homeboy because barring injury he still has at least 7 years in him and several empty trophy cases to fill of individual and team awards.

So let me ask you again, who’s better at 28?  Jordan is still the G.O.A.T. but don’t seal the case because the name on top will eventually have to be changed. That's on some REAL talk and you can stop me when I start lyin’ bruh!

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

"Dadgummit"

Sorry playboy, I'm in a zone and you gotta get worked too!"

The French clarinetist Paul J. Meyer once said, “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” Confucius hollered at the boyz and gave ‘em this, “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential…these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.  Aristotle told the cats at the car wash, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Because boyz have missed his rims the last two times through and he likes to floss.

Well the Miami Heat looks to be on that mission for excellence as they ran through the Oklahoma City Thunder like it was practice 110-100. The score was in no way indicative of the complete carjacking that they put on Kevin Durant and his boyz. LeBron dropped 39-12-7 and narrowly missed shooting at 60% to extend the streak of going for 30 or more points with deadly accurate shooting 7 straight games. Ole boy missed a 3 with just over a minute left when the shot clock was expiring with the Heat up by 10. So he had to settle for shooting at a mere 58%. In my Bobby Bowden voice, “Dadgummit!”

More importantly, the Heat put the Thunder and the rest of the NBA on notice bruh! We are the defending NBA champions and we're still the team to beat, if that’s even possible in a best of 7 series. The Heat are 6-0 against the Thunder in the last 6 meetings and LeBron has averaged 30.2 points, 8.2 dimes and 10.3 rebounds. Well, I guess all of the foolish MVP talk of Durant being in the hunt got on the plane with LeBron last night huh? Just pack that joint up now and send it to Miami and we’ll find something else to argue about after the All-Star break.  Like how many playoff games it’s gonna take for the Heat to win another title?

Will somebody please tell me why D. Wade always ends up on his back after he shoots? He must have an inner ear infection or Veritgo of something that’s only triggered by shooting the freaking ball.  I swear that dun drives me crazy lying flat of his back all night long! While Chris Bosh put a respectable 20 in the kitty Wade came through with only 13.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! For $17 million Wade’s got to bring at least 20 to the party every night and cut down on the smoke breaks homeboy. Trying to win a 2nd straight title ain’t no joke so all hands on deck including the snow angel himself, Dwayne Wade!

It should be fun to watch down the stretch because the rest of the East will be gunning for these boyz. However, if Miami continues to play at a high level they’ll have no problem repeating as NBA Champions because nobody has an answer for LeBron! His supporting case just have to show up and keep the water out of the boat and just allow him to steer! Just like boyz do in the hood when a dun's car stops in the middle of the street! His crew gets out and pushes and the cat behind the wheel just steers it all the way to the crib!

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

Spittin' Knowledge

"I'll be back, when I get back playa!"

Firearms expert Jeff Cooper once said, “A smart man only believes half of what he hears, a wise man knows which half.” The famous actor, Alan Alda, gave it to us like this, “Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is always better to be wise than to be smart.” Albert Einstein shut the barber shop down with this, “It’s not that I’m smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

Derrick Rose is proving to be one of the smartest yet wisest pro athletes I’ve seen in a while bruh! He’s doing everything possible to get back on the floor after tearing his ACL last year during the first game of the playoffs against the 76er’s.  However, this dun isn’t crazy and isn’t going to let boyz rush him back. On Wednesday night he let cats know again that there is a chance that he could sit out the entire season.

“I really don’t know,” he said. “I’m feeling good, but like I said, if it’s where it’s taking me a long time and I’m still feeling right, I don’t mind missing this year.” That’s called wisdom beyond his years.

He’s been working his butt off to get back but he’s being smart about it. I saw him last week when the Bulls came in to play the Pacers during shoot around and he looked good but only D. Rose knows how D. Rose is supposed to look and feel playboy!

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! If he rushes back because the fans, Adidas or even the Bulls want to see him on the floor and re-injures that knee, he ultimately loses. Sure he’s got $300 million in guaranteed contracts in the bank but he’s a basketball player and that’s what’s important here.

The bread’s already accounted for. He signed a 5 year extension worth $95 million guaranteed with the Bulls in December of 2011 and then in February of 2012 he signed a $200 million joint with Adidas. So he’s not looking for money he’s looking to become an even greater basketball player and he can’t get there rushing back because duns want to see him play today.

I keep hearing boyz using Adrian Peterson (A.D which stands for “All Day”) as the litmus test for torn ACL recovery and I laugh because he’s a freak of nature bruh. What he was able to do very few human beings are capable of doing. I’ve followed his career since high school and didn’t miss an Oklahoma home game while he was in college! When I say freak bruh, I mean Whodini, “Freaks Come Out At Night” freak!  Unbelievable specimen that’s in a category all by himself!

So take your time young brother and continue to be wise about your career and health! These dull fans, Adidas and the Bulls will be just fine without you until next year. On some real talk, Adidas was pure genius on “The Return” campaign this year! It kept boyz on the edge of their seats in anticipation of his return and the Adidas brand right in their faces! As long as they’re selling shoes and recouping that $200 million their cool!

Now the Bulls on the other hand probably want him to take his time too because they're on the hook for $95 million. So that’s why Paxson and his boyz in the front office are hoping that he really takes his time getting back.

D. Rose must have been sitting in the barber shop when ole Albert Einstein was spittin’ that knowledge to boyz on that faithful morning because I swear I've heard him say, “It’s not that I’m smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

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

Rock Box

"Yeah, I know! These duns are out of control!"

The 20th President of the United States, James Garfield, once said, “The possession of great powers no doubt carries with it contempt for mere external show.” The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes gave it to us like this, “I put for the general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death.” Big Momma just said, “Some folks just can’t handle being that powerful!”

I wrote a Blazin’ Hot Joint back in October entitled "Foolish Pride" that has become one of the All-Time most viewed joints on the blog! I merely explained to all of the Alabama fans that they needed to just enjoy their recent success and stop talking crazy to the rest of the college football world because it only lasts for a little while before the wheels come off! There have been several college football dynasty's before this one and there will be more but they don't last forever playboy!

It wasn’t a hater move it was just some real talk! A hater would print those kids names knowing that Big Monma is already heart broken! I didn't because I've got more sense than that.

Nick Saban and his staff can’t keep an eye on 100 plus 18-22 year old kids any more than any other coach in America. On every campus in the country that has a football team they think that they run the yard whether they are winning or losing playboy! They fall off in the party and just take over the joint. They bum rush the Greeks steppin' around the floor, they'll holla at ya girl if she's lookin' or not and there goes the party! TURNED OUT! Trust me, I've been in the middle of enough of those joints in my day!

Now combine that with winning 3 out of the last 4 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, playing in the SEC, in the south where football is a religion and tell me that you weren’t waiting for some dun to lose his mind and pull a Maurice Clarett or Charles Thompson? Can you imagine the high these cats are walking around with? We've seen this happen with Colorado '91, OU '88, just recently at Ohio State and Florida! It was bound to happen and none of them were even close to doing what Bama's doing right now! Why? Because like Big Momma said, "Some folks just can't handle being that POWERFUL!"

On Tuesday the University of Alabama suspended 4 players for charges of second degree robbery and credit card fraud! One dun was arrested twice in two days for also carrying a gun without a license. It’s not Bama’s fault bruh! It’s happens but don’t think for one minute that this is the first incident that’s come across Saban’s desk since he’s been rolling in Tuscaloosa.

Naw bruh, things happen all of the time but it never makes the news. The only difference between this joint and others is that these clowns got too cocky and sloppy. They started beating duns up in the dorms and robbing Joe's using their credit cards and the police couldn’t just turn their cheeks to boyz carrying guns and knocking students out. They were literally beating the brakes off of students on campus! One kid suffered a concussion! They're were straight thuggin' bruh! Do I condone this behavior? Not at all, but it isn't surprising because you've got idiots on every team in America!

Now it’s a safety issue! So they had to slow these boyz down at this point. Not everybody on the team comes from a home where values and integrity are taught. Some cats are straight out of the streets and sports become no different than the streets. The same power that the hustla gets back at the crib the athlete gets on campus. They get the money, women, power and respect from the duns that want to be them when they show up to the party or to class. Put that type of power in the wrong hands and this is what you get.

Unfortunately for Alabama, now that these cats have been suspended they run the risk of somebody putting on the instrumental because one of these duns is about to start rapping. The first cat that feels like the school railroaded him is gonna tell it all. And when I say all, I MEAN ALL!

He’s gonna be like the cats on First 48 that show up tough as nails and by the time the detective pulls his seat over next to him, holds his hand and says, “We’ll get through this together.” He’ll be singing like Luther or Frank Ocean up in that piece or rappin’ like Run DMC on that first album “Rock Box!” I can hear that joint now, “It’s like that and that’s the way it is!” Boyz gotta be real careful on how they handle this situation because all it takes is a cat to be pissed off at the program and it’s a wrap.

Alabama could have done everything right but you cannot control the actions of more than 100 18-22 year old kids! Boyz are eating for free, getting tattoos too, gettin' discounts at the mall, 100 handshakes, you name it. You can’t stop it bruh and that’s on losing teams. Remember, these cats have won the last 3 out of 4! So when this cat steps up to the mic, tell him to record a radio version too because it's gonna get ugly!

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

LeBron

He's just 28 years old playa! 

What else do you want me to say bruh? Another record at only 28 years old and he's not even in his prime yet! Six straight games with 30 points or more shooting at 60% or more! There's nothing else that I can tell you at this point! Well, one other interesting stat given by Brian Windhorst of ESPN Tuesday on the Collin Cowherd Show. As of last Friday, since 2003 the year LeBron came into the league, he's scored 95 more points than Kobe on 500 fewer shots!

I'm telling you that by the time his career is over he will be the best player we've ever seen! Stop taking this dun granted! You'll be able to tell your grandkids that you saw the 2 best players to ever play the game, LeBron James and Michael Jordan in that order playboy! I'm my Huggy Low Down voice, "Waaait for it!" He's just gettin' started!

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

Cupcakes

"Yeah I know I was wrong but I'm bitter bruh!"

The Polish author writing in England, Joseph Conrad, once said, “They talk of a man betraying his country, his friends, his sweetheart. There must be a moral bond first. All a man can betray is his conscience.” Also the Polish-born American author Isaac Bashevis Singer broke it down like this, “When you betray somebody else, you also betray yourself.” The old sistas in the church kept it real by saying, “Baby, sometimes you gotta leave well enough alone!”

On Sunday the New York Times did a profile on ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Williams. During the interview ole boy threw his 2002-03 Chicago Bulls teammates under the bus by saying that cats were smoking weed before ball games and that they were on the bench high.

Let’s for the sake of argument say that they were. That was 10 plus years ago and what was he going to accomplish by telling the media that they were at this point? Now I don’t condone boyz getting high but to each his own. Sounds like a hater move to me bruh! This cat threw his career in the toilet by violating the terms of his contract by riding a motorcycle, crashing the joint and destroying his leg. Don’t let your anger for your mistakes attack other cats. Now boyz like the Knicks' Tyson Chandler have to answer clown questions because Williams was being a hater!

“Nah, I don’t know why he would say something like that,” Chandler said during the 14th annual Knicks Bowl at Chelsea Piers as part of the team's effort to raise money for the Garden of Dreams Foundation.

“I think that’s ridiculous that he would come out and say something like that. I don’t remember that, to be honest with you. And, it's just unfortunate that he would make that kind of statement about our team.”

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! I always thought that it was weak that Jayson Williams changed his name to “Jay” when he started the analyst gig with ESPN in the first place. Yeah, I know that the other Jayson Williams was going through the legal issues for shooting and killing the limo driver at his crib.

However, like the cats in the barber shop in Coming to America would say, “His momma call him Jayson Ima call him Jayson!” How do you let a boy talk you out of your OWN name bruh? His momma named him Jayson but Disney, the duns that own ESPN, told that that wasn't his name anymore! In other words, Tinkerbell told him that he wasn't welcomed if his name was Jayson.

The crazy thing is, he was a stud coming out of Duke so his name would have been able to survive any confusion because the other clown was about to get locked up and become irrelevant anyway. Now he's walking around being some other cat and Big Momma still doesn't know that that's her grandson on TV.

Now that he's the only Jayson out here, why not use your real name? It's not like he's an actor, singer, rapper or something and boyz need to make up names to appeal to the masses. Like Jermaine Dupri for example. His name is Jermaine Dupri Mauldin but he uses his middle name because it sounds cool! Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta goes by Lady GaGa because it sounds better on stage. This dun is a freaking analyst for crying out loud! His name could be Myron Johnson and it wouldn't matter as long as he knew what he was talking about. 

When he did that I always thought that he was suspect. So it doesn’t surprise me that he’d pull a stunt on the Bulls 10 years later. It’s like a cat telling the principal that all of the other kids broke into the fridge in the cafeteria and ate all of the cupcakes only because he didn’t get one.  

If Williams had been able to play out his career in the NBA we never would have known about the Bulls smoking weed 10 years ago. Stop me when I start lyin’!

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

The G Code

"Momma I don't know why he keeps messin' with me?"

The famous rapper Mos Def once said, “I’m not shy about heated debate or passionate discourse, but when people get crazy or rude, that’s a buzz kill. There’s got to be a better code of conduct, some basic etiquette.” The famous TV producer Dick Wolf broke it down like this, “I was raised not to be rude, but I also try to get the best work out of people.” Big Momma just kept it simple by saying, “Baby you gotta treat folks the way you wanna be treated.”

Well ole Kobe Bryant could learn a thing or two about how to handle people from all three of them. Y’all already know how I feel about the Black Mamba and if you didn’t let me say it again! He’s a straight up "Mark" because he violated the G Code years ago when he put Shaq on blast! Boyz wanna give him a pass because he’s won 5 NBA titles but he never would have won them without Phil’s ability to manage egos.

The Zen Master, as he’s been called, had the uncanny ability to keep major egos in check in order to avoid teams from imploding whether he was in Chicago or LA. Folks quickly forget that Mike was a fool too before Phil calmed him down. Remember, Jordan was constantly fighting with teammates literally and being thrown out of practice before Phil showed up on the west side of the Chi because he wanted more from his teammates but MJ didn’t know how to handle people.

Think about it playa, Phil kept Mike, Scottie and Rodman from killing each other. Especially Mike and Dennis because Rodman was a train wreck all of the time and he was able to keep that joint on the tracks without boyz all in the media talking crazy and throwing hands in the locker room.

Now that Phil isn’t in LA, Kobe is turning into Jordan pre 1989, the dun with great talent that couldn't win because he was a fool. On Thursday before they played the Celtics Kobe throws Buster Brown Dwight Howard completely under the bus by saying, “We don’t have time for Dwight’s shoulder to heal…We need some urgency.” Now did he say anything that wasn’t true? Not at all! However, you can’t say it publicly pimpin' because it ruins team chemistry! Then a couple days later he’s trying to act like boyz in the media are overreacting.

See if Dwight was a real G he would have body slammed Kobe already and then ole boy would know how to handle him. See a real cat isn’t gonna be toyed with regardless of how many rings the other guy has. I bet Kobe wouldn’t have called out duns like Charles Barkley, Kenyon Martin or my homeboy Glenn Robinson because he would have been playing with a swollen head and through one eye. Let him try that foolishness with Joakim Noah! That’s real talk!!

Let me give it to you where you can feel me playboy! If a dun pulls up in the ghetto pushin' a Phantom and gets out talking crazy to boyz because he's got more bread than anybody in the zip code. Will he get a pass because he's rich? Not at all! He'll get tore out of the frame and get his pockets emptied! So why do you think Kobe can talk crazy to a another grown man just because he's got 5 rings?

Kobe knows that he can talk crazy in the media about Buster Brown because he’s as soft as drug store cotton candy bruh! He obviously doesn't live by the G code which is, "I DEMAND respect because I don't hesitate to give it!" If I don't get it, in my Ray Gibson voice, "It's gone be some consequences and repercussions!"

Every time they stick a mic in his face he starts whining. “Well, they don’t know how much pain I’m in. He’s not a doctor. I’m gonna just leave it alone.”

Any time you’re a grown man and your old man has to come to your defense that’s a problem playboy! His dad told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that he was disappointed in the way Kobe came at his son and that D’Antoni didn’t do anything to stop or curtail it.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! If a cat steals your sneakers out of your locker at school and you gotta go get your dad to get ‘em back for you it’s a wrap for you bruh! You may as well put the "Kick Me Please" sign on your back. At some point you have to stand up for yourself and this dun is like a marsh mellow in that locker room and the biggest buster of them all, Kobe Bryant, is walking all over him.

Don’t try to act like you don’t remember when Kobe got caught up on the sexual assault charge and the night he was arrested he violated the G Code by throwing Shaq under the bus and ole boy wasn’t even in the state.

Now I don’t condone cats cheating on their wives but I was taught as a toddler by my own mother that nobody likes a tattletale! As we got older the slogan became, “Keep my name outcha mouth homie!” In the new millennium it has become, “Snitches gets stitches!”  Once a boy shows you who they really are you can’t mess with him regardless of how many rings he’s got. That's why Shaq left him alone years ago! A mark is a mark is a mark! Do you really think Kobe would have won 5 rings without Phil playing in Denver? I'm just sayin'!

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