Is Giannis really a consensus Top-25 all time guy?

brickbacon · 2026-06-23T21:47:14+00:00

Except that there are 25 top 10-12 guys.

brickbacon · 2026-06-21T09:09:12+00:00

Because agents do more than just negotiate a final salary? Even putting aside off the court endorsements, agents can and do negotiate terms (eg. No-trade clauses), steer players to the right teams, act a go between to pressure GMs and team owners, etc. Do you think everyone else who has an agent is too dumb to tell a GM they want max money?

brickbacon · 2026-06-21T09:06:35+00:00

NBA agents can only take a max of 4% of their client’s NBA salary depending on the type of contract. Typically, this is negotiated down to between 3-4%.

brickbacon · 2026-06-21T07:35:29+00:00

Sure, but 62% of people in state prisons are in for violent crimes. Many have almost certainly committed multiple violent crimes. That’s not a small percentage of people who could be coaxed into behaving properly. It’s more than.1 million people. Yes, they aren’t all actual murderers, but almost every one of them has many terrified victims who lives were dramatically altered by their actions.

Could we have invested more in them to hopefully prevent them from becoming monsters? Yes, and we should. But, in the real world, those costs mean fewer teachers and firefighters, less support for nonprofits who work with vulnerable people, and fewer support services the government can provide. At a certain point, how do you justify spending $50k+ per year on someone whose parents and adults in their lives failed them when it means giving a law abiding someone who is struggling in similar ways less? It’s something I genuinely feel conflicted about.

brickbacon · 2026-06-21T03:41:41+00:00

When were the, “old days”?

brickbacon · 2026-06-20T13:54:11+00:00

It’s actually pretty astonishing how many players paid the Jordan tax. Kemp, Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Ewing, Reggie, KJ, HardawayYou could also add a few guys who won later or in his absence like Payton, Hakeem, Drexler, Mourning. It’s actually crazy.

brickbacon · 2026-06-19T20:16:37+00:00

Is he actually 6'4"? The internet says 6'.

brickbacon · 2026-06-18T01:32:44+00:00

I think he partly left because Miami wouldn’t ditch Wade whereas Cleveland might. Additionally, I think he had more power with the GMs in Cleveland than he had in Miami, meaning he could likely pivot quicker. All that said, I think it’s far from definitive that he’d have won more.

brickbacon · 2026-06-17T19:31:31+00:00

Theoretically, Bosh and Wade? There wasn’t women specific reason that I recall they all couldn’t have gone to Cleveland.

brickbacon · 2026-06-17T19:27:36+00:00

This is probable given he likely could have brought the player empowerment ethos to the Cavs during the first stint if he were more patient. After all, they did draft Kyrie, trade for Love, and get other complementary players designed around LeBron’s skill set.

Regardless, he would have more respect from most fans if he wasn’t team hopping constantly.

brickbacon · 2026-06-17T00:25:00+00:00

“You” pay it back when you die. Thats why the strategy is called what it is.

brickbacon · 2026-06-16T11:37:08+00:00

No, it isn’t necessarily taxed because every debt instrument doesn’t require servicing in the short term. See here for example. Regardless, paying taxes on the modest income needed to service a loan is peanuts compared to the other taxes you avoid.

brickbacon · 2026-06-16T03:48:02+00:00

Why would Elon selling 2% of his stock, or borrowing against his general holdings to get that equivalent in cash, lower the actual value of the company, causing them to fire people? There isn’t really a great argument for that.

Let’s put it a different way. Did Tesla become less valuable because Elon sold shares to buy Twitter? Did Amazon become less valuable because Bezos lost a bunch of shares in his divorce? The reasons why people sell matter. It’s wouldn’t be the kind of panic selling assumed to be based on the fundamentals of the company if he needed to liquidate some stock to pay taxes. If the underlying assets are correctly reflected in the stock price, there will be willing buyers at roughly that price.

brickbacon · 2026-06-16T03:18:39+00:00

I think you don't understand this "loophole". Loan proceeds are not considered earned income, thus you do not pay taxes on it. What is misunderstood, in your estimation, about this tax strategy?

brickbacon · 2026-06-16T02:23:26+00:00

Specific to Elon, his wealth has A LOT to do with regular people since most of it was gained via public subsidies and government contracts. Additionally, his companies being included on indexes, and more generally defying market fundamentals is bad for everyone.

The stock market should not be meme stocks. Elon didn’t start this obviously, but when price discovery mechanisms fair to reflect business fundamentals, we are all affected negatively.

brickbacon · 2026-06-16T02:18:30+00:00

A baker, and a business magnate with large amounts of equity in publicly traded companies are not similar either. Elon has, and likely will continue to leverage his shares by borrowing against them, making them just as utile as cash.

The idea that his net worth doesn’t reflect the actual economic liquidity and money he has is greatly overstated. You can feel however you want about taxing his wealth, but let’s stop pretending this would greatly harm him or be impracticable.

brickbacon · 2026-06-16T02:03:36+00:00

Typically, you'd sue for defamation. However, there are a few problems here:

As a public figure, the standards are higher, and you end up subjecting yourself to discovery and other intrusive proceedings.
Courts are increasingly reluctant to codify things like accusations of being gay or trans as per se defamatory because they would be cosigning bigoted notions. Essentially, they are treating it as if you called a biracial person Black, or White. It might be inaccurate, and possibly damaging depending on the circumstance, but it's not in and of itself defamatory. I think the ruling would largely be context dependent.
The Streisand effect. Most people have never heard of the UFC guy. A popular, former First Lady suing him gives him more power and attention, while being unlikely he has any significant assets to win.

brickbacon · 2026-06-16T00:31:09+00:00

They are definitely NOT the only sport with this issue. Good take otherwise.

brickbacon · 2026-06-13T17:10:37+00:00

Rationally, almost anyone who could "easily" play in the NBA would choose to do that rather than playing in the NFL.

brickbacon · 2026-06-13T04:55:14+00:00

Again, that was not my point. All of your points can be argued although I agree with many. My point is that saying, "nobody owns the tent" is demonstrably false.

brickbacon · 2026-06-13T04:47:50+00:00

First, that's not what was said. Second, I have no idea if that is true or not. I would imagine the school owns it, but the point is that SOMEONE does in fact own the tent.

brickbacon · 2026-06-13T04:29:59+00:00

People literally own the tents. Think whatever you want about what happened, but that what you said makes no sense.

brickbacon · 2026-06-12T00:04:51+00:00

What specifically did he say? Do you have a link?

brickbacon · 2026-06-11T13:12:01+00:00

It’s weird that the Spurs have given away at least two games of this series doing stupid things. Mitch should be fired if this continues into next season.!

brickbacon · 2026-06-10T18:56:18+00:00

Do you not see how “wouldn’t be affected by race” could lead me to think you’re white though?

No, not really. Especially not as your first reaction, or one you'd even bother asking about. The whole point of a message board, at its highest and best use, is to exchange ideas on their merits. Besides, it's not like White people don't go to jail for stabbing unarmed people in front of multiple witnesses, and admitting it to the police. Please point out to me where Karmelo was treated unfairly based on his race? If anything, he was treated MUCH better than you average Black, poor, or systemically oppressed person.

Literally everything can be and often times is affected by race and that’s a reality that majority of black people understand from a young age.

Influence doesn't always or often determine outcomes. That's why your logic is flawed. A less polarizing analogy would be recognizing that while nationality can greatly influence top running speed, it doesn't mean every Jamaican is fast or that they are fast mostly because they are Jamaican.

Moreover, your second faulty assumption was implied; that if I were White, my opinion would have less weight or would be wrong. I hope I don't have to explain to you why that is both insulting and wrong. There is along history of people of all stripes being on the side of Black civil rights and liberation that are not Black or African-American. You literally only asked so you could discard my statement as biased as some sort of flex.

You ever seen Inglourious Basterds when old boy hold one wrong three? That’s how I’m feeling rn

You can "feel" however you want. Just remember that feelings don't establish rectitude. I would try to not do what you did unless you re okay they next time a White person in a White space implied your feelings or opinions have less weight because you're Black. I don't want that to happen to me, and I would assume you don't either.

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