+1

Dan Snider. Although that might be unintentional.

“Larry’s not white. Larry’s clear.”

You know what’s sad? I agree with almost all of what you said, regarding how black people and other minorities have been treated in this country and others. There is systematic racism in this country, a system that has existed for centuries in our nation’s history and continues to impact the lives of minorities,…

Changing the literal definitions of words is not ok. I get your point, bickering the exact defintion of a word is often pedantic. There is a problem, however, when one tries to change the definition of a word to further their agenda.

But that’s not the definition of racism. You can argue that racism is a mindset or collection of prejudiced beliefs. But the literal definition of racism is a bias (in favor or against) towards a group of people based purely on that group’s race. There’s nothing about power inbalance there.

That’s not what racism is. Systematic racism is a power dynamic. Racism itself is judging others based on their race, or, rather, the belief that race is the determinant factor in the various qualities of a human being. I probably agree with you on most matters, but don’t change the definition of racism.

See, that’s my thing, I got no problem with Westbrook as the MVP. He’s having a once in a lifetime statistical season, and is dragging a crappy team to the 6 seed. And if someone wants to say Leonard or James are the MVP because of all the different things they do for their teams that doesn’t show up on the stat…

I agree about Westbrook, but take a look at that Houston roster. Take Harden out and you have a lineup of Beverley, Gordon, Ariza, Ryan Anderson, and Capela. How many games is that team actually winning? I would consider 30-52 a success with that. Granted, without Westbrook, the Thunder might win 25.

And the round number bias comes into play when people act like Westbrook is playing way above Harden’s level. Harden, in those three very specific categories, is trailing Westbrook in two of them. But his statistical achievements, in those three categories, are amazing as well, albeit behind Westbrook in two. My issue…

That’s exactly my point. I already agreed with you to begin with. You tried to teach me a concept I already knew.

The bias is that when we see 10 rebounds a game, we think that it’s disproportionately better than 9. It’s obviously better, but we see that extra rebound (or whatever stat it is) as being much more valuable to get to the ten. I understand the concept. I never suggested that 9 rebounds is more valuable than 10. I’m…

A good (and important!) stat. But does that mean Westbrook is more valuable? I’m genuinely asking.

Honestly, I say “might” because they have so many wins now, how much could one player really be doing. But look at the Rockets’ roster. Their second highest player in PER is Clint Capela. Like, that Rockets roster is REALLY weak. Going into the season, I would have taken Steven Adams over any of the players on either…

You’re probably right, but my point was, I never considered the Wizards to be one of those just purely pathetic franchises. Like, they definitely weren’t good, but I never pitied their fans like I would those of other teams I talked about. But, when you haven’t won a division since the Carter Administration.... yeah,…

Those critics are right, we are biased towards round numbers. And you’re right, because Westbrook’s numbers are insane even if you remove those biases somehow. But Harden’s 29-8-11 is almost equally as impressive, with a higher shooting percentage. The thing I hate about this MVP discussion is that it feels like in…

You added those “probably”s really liberally there at first. I really like Leonard, and I don’t have any problem with someone suggesting he’s the MVP. But the Thunder DEFINITELY don’t make the playoffs without Westbrook. And the Rockets DEFINITELY don’t contend for the Western Conference Finals without Harden (and,…

I’m deluded enough that I actually forgot all about how awful Hank is in Montreal, and focused entirely on the fact that the Rangers are 27-11-2 on the road this year. I actually said to myself “Thank God we’re the lower seed! That’s more games on the road!”

Well, the Wizards haven’t won a division since 1979 (the Caps didn’t win one until 1989), which just seems unbelievable. Like think of how many sad sack franchises there are in any sport (Browns, Sac Kings, Coyotes, Padres, I could go on and on with more examples in each sport), and any of those teams have won a…

As a Rangers fan, I will strangely not be complaining.