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Traina Thoughts: It's the 1-Year Anniversary of One Of the Wildest Plays in NBA History and Greatest Memes of All Time
1. May 31, 2018, Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Warriors and Cavaliers tied at 107 with 4.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Cleveland's George Hill misses a free throw. J.R. Smith grabs the rebound a few feet from the basket AND THEN RUNS THE WRONG WAY. LeBron James tries to plead with J.R. that he needs to shoot, but it's too late and the world is given one of the best sports memes in sports memes history.
Here is the full play in all its glory.
One year ago tomorrow. Never forget. Never. Forget. pic.twitter.com/1upkK30ntE
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) May 31, 2019
After that, Golden State swept Cleveland in four games to win the NBA title.
2. The newest SI Media Podcast dropped today and it features an interview with Washington Post sports media reporter Ben Strauss. Topics that I covered with Ben include the sale of Sports Illustrated, the weird way ESPN and Stephen A. Smith handled Baxter Holmes's feature story on Magic Johnson, and the increasing presence of Stephen A. Smith everywhere. We also touched on the bizarre stance that ESPN keeps taking about "covering politics."
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play.
3. Jimmy Kimmel was back with another edition of NBA "Mean Tweets" on Thursday night.
4. With Toronto being a market that does not rate with Nielsen, the NBA Finals ratings for Game 1 took a big hit when compared to the last several years.
The sky is not falling for the NBA. Without Toronto numbers, ABC drew 10.1 overnight rating for Warriors-Raptors Game 1. Yes, -18% from Warriors-Cavs 2018 and lowest Game 1 since Lakers-Magic 2009. But 10.1 is still WAY above 8.0 for Spurs-Cavs 2007 or even Heat-Mavs 2006 (9.3)
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) May 31, 2019
5. Ric Flair cut a wild promo on Shawn Michaels today and it seems to be a legit shoot.
6. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: I plan on seeing Rocketman at some point this weekend. I'm hoping the Elton John biopic covers his legendary Grammy's duet with Eminem on Stan.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on iTunes, Spotify or Google Play. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.
IN CLOSING: How on Earth does the Spelling Bee not move its event so it doesn't go head-to-head with the NBA Finals?
Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.