TJ Warren, the sixth year of NBA career belonging to Pacers from this season, showed the best performance in “Bubble”.
The Seventh Sixers game, which will be the first game to resume the season, was focused on the Sixers Ben Simmons and Joel Embied.In the Pacers, it was Victor Oladipo who managed to get into the starting team after overcoming poor conditions, but the game began. Seen TJ Warren got all the attention.
Even after scoring 19 goals on the team record in the first quarter, the momentum didn’t stop and he kept shooting in interesting ways. As a result, 20 out of 29 field goals including 9 out of 12 three-point shots were successful (success rate 69%). He scored 53 career-high points, leading the team to 127-121.
In a post-match interview, Warren said, “I tried my best at the shoot and tried to pull offense, thanks to the teammates who found me and gave me a pass, and everyone did what they had to do. “I looked back on Career Night conservatively.
Oradipo returned, but Domantas Savonis and Malcolm Brogdon missed. Warren’s big explosion was a nice surprise, as Pacers was never praised when the season resumed. “I did my best in a situation where there was neither Doma nor Malcolm. Anyway, I tried to be aggressive and tried to be the best TJ,” he said.
“Career High feels good. I haven’t been able to play for a while and I haven’t had a main force, but I was able to win the first match in a good way. I want to maintain this momentum and continue to play stable as a team.”
Pacers, 5th in the East Conference, has the opportunity to move up to the top 4 or top 3. Being in the top four increases the chances of exceeding the first round of the playoffs, which is a great success for the team. Warren can’t expect more than 50 points in every match, but the victory definitely gives the team momentum. If Warren pulls the offense until Sabonis returns and Oladipo raises his condition, the Pacers may be “bad”.
NBA was reopened in the form of a centralized event in the “Bubble” isolated area within Disney World. The theme is how to avoid the spread of the new coronavirus, but another big theme is “Black Lives Matter,” which is how to advance eradication of racism and realization of social justice. The characters “Black Lives Matter” are drawn on the court, and the uniforms of the players are printed with messages of social justice and charity instead of their names.
Bax’s Yannis Adetokunbo chose “EQUALITY”, Pelicans’ Zion Williamson’s “PEACE”, Celtics Marcus Smart’s “FREEDOM”, and so on. You can still choose your own name as before, but some players are dissatisfied with the message that they have to choose from the 29 prepared by the NBA and the athletes’ association.
Eliminating racial discrimination is also about realizing a world in which diversity is acknowledged and any thought is respected. That’s why some players aren’t convinced by the rules they have to choose from among the principle assertions made by the league and the league.
Jimmy Butler of Heat is one of them. He said, “I like and respect every message the league has chosen,” but said, “I want to select a blank space.”
The request wasn’t acknowledged, but before the Heat vs. Nuggets game on the day, he put on a court, wearing a uniform that didn’t include his name or message. Just before the tip off, the referee noticed this and instructed him to change into a uniform with a name. Butler obediently said, but at a post-match interview he shared his views.
“I respect every message the league picks, but I feel I shouldn’t put it in. I don’t want to even put in the name, because I’ll show someone. If not, then it’s no different than people of other races. Everyone has the same rights, regardless of who they are. My message is that.”
Butler must have known that wearing uniforms without a message or name is not allowed. Still, at the noticeable tip-off, he showed it, and at the request of the referee he changed into a uniform with a name. This is, as he says, respecting the NBA’s choices, but that he has a message to convey.
Butler recounts his past experience of racism in a shopping mall when he was a boy who became a famous basketball player. When he went shopping, he heard a little child say, “Hey, that’s the black dad used to say!” when he passed by a passing parent and child. He said he was shocked by the reality of a small child innocently making racist remarks.
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Before and after the decision to restart the NBA, there was an opinion that playing a basketball game would draw people’s attention away from the issue of racism. On the other hand, there was an opinion that the message could be conveyed only because the NBA held the match. Butler practices the latter powerfully.