Five NBA Things I may or may not have Liked: Panda-monium

Red Panda returns, bad challenges, Rolling Thunder, Sixers and Nurse, and down a sheriff

The NBA season is inching close to the three-week mark, and while we’re still in small sample size territory, the standings are starting to take shape. These are the five NBA things that I may or may not have liked from the past week or so.

Red Panda Returns

The NBA League Pass community yearns for two things: great basketball on a random Tuesday night and elite halftime entertainment. While you never know if a game will be entertaining, you know what you’re getting with most halftime acts. There’s the gymnast dude with the chihuahua, I just saw some British lady shoot arrows with her feet, and then, there is Red Panda.

Red Panda is an institution, as far as someone who unicycles eight feet in the air while lofting bowls from their feet to their head can be, and she has been delighting NBA fans for as long as I can remember. Her first NBA performance was on Thanksgiving of 1993. Somehow, it was the Clippers who gave her her big break when an act canceled on them. After that, it was full pedal ahead for Red Panda, aka Rong Niu. For over 30 years, she has been the definitive halftime NBA act, and it has led to a pretty sizeable cult following. Unfortunately, riding an eight-foot unicycle has one major downside– gravity. Over the summer, Red Panda suffered a fall and fractured her left wrist.

Initially, there was concern that this was the end of Red Panda, but never fear, she is back and better than ever. After a four-month absence, she returned to enchant the fans of the United Center in Chicago. Considering the Bulls were down to the Sixers 75-56 at halftime and stormed back to win 113-111, they might consider getting Red Panda on retainer. The NBA is better with Red Panda, and they ought to do something to celebrate her more formally. In the meantime, she’ll be wheeling around the hardwood, catching bowls from head to feet.

Needless Star Player Personal Foul Challenges

Challenge theory is not complicated. You get one challenge per game, which you can use again if your first challenge is successful, and an unsuccessful challenge results in a lost timeout. Simply, you should only use your challenge in one of two situations. The first is whether the leverage of overturning a call is so valuable that it doesn’t matter if you’re right or wrong. An easy example would be a shooting foul at the end of a close game. The other scenario is if the call was so clearly wrong that you’re 100% certain it will be overturned.

What Doc Rivers did on Tuesday was neither. With approximately 3:32 left in the third quarter, Giannis Antetokounmpo was called for an offensive foul. Turnovers are bad, but it was only Giannis’ third foul in a game with 15 minutes of action left. However, the sticking point is that the score was 91-72 in favor of the Raptors. This was a challenge with virtually no leverage, and as the replay will show, no chance of being overturned.

So, why did Doc Rivers challenge it? My guess is he wanted his star player to know he didn’t like the call either. Look, I get it. Stars expect slightly better treatment than the rest of us, but the Bucks, if they were going to win that game, were going to either need that challenge or timeout later. Instead, Rivers lit both on fire like the Joker and a pile of money. Keeping your stars happy is important, but so is using your challenges appropriately.

Rolling Thunder

The Thunder just lost their first game of the season, but that shouldn’t detract from the start they’ve gotten off to. They’re 8-1 with a net rating of +11.3 and own the league’s best defense. Four of their victories have been by more than 15 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing at an MVP-level again, Jalen Williams has yet to play, and Alex Caruso and Chet Holmgren have missed four games. They’re the defending champs, beating the brakes off of teams with one hand tied behind their back, and no one cares. I’ve heard more talk about the Utah Jazz.

The Thunder look poised to run it back, something that hasn’t happened in seven seasons, and there has been virtually no chatter about it. And I don’t want to hear that everyone knows they’re amazing. Every other defending champ was glazed incessantly the following season. The Thunder look poised to establish the first dynasty of the apron era, and no one seems to care. Well, guess what? I care. Dynasties are how we talk about NBA history, and I don’t want to miss this, and neither should you.

Are the Sixers More Than Fun? // You Can Kill the Man, But Not the Idea

Your daily double. The Sixers are so much fun. Tyrese Maxey is leading the league in points per game at 33.5. VJ Edgecombe has banished Cooper Flagg to the media nether realm. The Sixers are playing fast, fearless, and most of all, well. Even Joel Embiid looks like he might round into shape. The net result is the league’s third most efficient offense, and a defense begging for Embiid to be somewhat healthy. Heck, Paul George hasn’t even played yet. I’m all in on the Sixers being one of the stories of the season, but…

Yo, what the fuck is Nick Nurse doing? I get that Embiid can only play so many minutes, that Paul George has yet to return, and Jared McCain is still dealing with niggles, but you cannot run Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe into the ground like this. Right now, Maxey and Edgecombe are leading the league in minutes per game at 41.3 and 38.6, and Kelly Oubre is fourth at 37.4. I know Tom Thibodeau is out of the league, but clearly, his spirit is still going strong. The Sixers have been too much fun to watch peter out because Nurse decided to burn the candle at both ends. Hopefully, when they get a bit healthier, he’ll start managing Maxey’s minutes more appropriately. If not, they’d better keep winning, because the fans will full-on revolt if he keeps this up on a .500 team.

Unforgiven

Walker Kessler’s nickname “the sheriff” is one of the great NBA nicknames. That’s partially because NBA nicknames absolutely suck now, but calling a shot-blocking center named Walker, “the sheriff,” just makes all the sense in the world. Unfortunately, the sheriff had to hand in his badge. Per reports, Kessler will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair his left shoulder labrum. This stinks the most for Kessler. He was balling out to start the season and will now have to traverse restricted free agency coming off a significant injury. For the Jazz, it all but nukes their surprisingly solid start. Most fanbases wouldn’t be excited about a 3-5 start, but the combination of Kessler, Lauri Markkanen, and Keyonte George made it feel like this could be a team that pushes beyond the dregs of the league. To be frank, regardless of this injury, I think the Jazz were destined to sink to the bottom of the standings. They have a -3.9 net rating that sinks to -7.4 if you remove their opening night drubbing of the sleepwalking Clippers. The Jazz are headed in the right direction, but with Kessler now done for the season, they’re probably in store for another bottom-five record.

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