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Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread

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Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#1 » by Stone » Sun Oct 3, 2021 5:08 pm

Right now the hot topic "de jour" is Ben Simmons and what the outcome might be.

Other than that, lets hope for a healthy and competitive season for the NBA
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#2 » by ecuhus1981 » Mon Oct 4, 2021 8:01 am

Yes, I'm hoping for better health to all 30 teams.

Now that Wiggins has gotten the vaccine, I think we will hear even more about Kyrie until he does the same. I get the privacy perspective; unfortunately, the privilege of his profession has a price, and that is sometimes a lack of control over personal information when it has team and organizational consequences.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#3 » by gigantes » Tue Oct 5, 2021 9:09 am

NBA layperson here with hopefully some dumbass takes: :)

- GSW: I can't stand Draymond's braying arse, but I'm hugely respectful of Curry, Kerr & the Thompson Twin, and would be pretty thrilled if they managed to knock off one of the LA teams, push-push, shove-shove.

- PHI: I grew up there, and don't need to be 100,000 miles of that place (Apollo orbit?) to feel the hate raining down from FlyerTown. So I'm sorta ongoing, rubbernecking-fascinated by the extreme awkwardness of the Simmons situation. Morey, you're either a genius or ****

- MIN: Love to KAT & his family for the godamn horrible ordeal they had to go through the past two years. Also, love to our boy D-Lo, who I'm still a touch bitter about having to exchange for Kyrie (yeah, yeah).

- MIL: I'm glad you finally got your chip, Giannis, but as much as I <3 you as a person, you're a reckless a-hole on the court. One that puts other players' careers in jeopardy. So the hail with you, and may your team go down in flames. |[

- LAL: If LeBron manages to win another chip, I think he's probably my indisputable GOAT, nuzzling right past Jordan and Wilt. Because I'm not sure there's ever been a man who elevated his teammates to his magical degree, and was also such a magical player on the court / field. People love to bring up the finals his teams lost while completely missing the point that ballin' is a team-game, and that more than one of LeBron's finals teams had little business appearing on that stage. Even just that aspect, I'm not sure another player in any sport has ever equaled.

- PHX, DAL: Really curious to see how far they'll go this season. Also seems like there's a chance DAL melts down and Luka demands a trade before season end. Maybe it would be for the best...? But you never know, because Kidd has a way of way of turning situations upside down (for good or for...), and surely they can get more (much more?) out out of Porgy & Bess?
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#4 » by MrDollarBills » Tue Oct 5, 2021 1:10 pm

Read on Twitter


I'm glad that the NBA is getting rid of this crap. If anything, it should be an offensive foul called on the shooter who initiates contact like that.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#5 » by MrDollarBills » Thu Oct 7, 2021 3:07 pm

This is Nets related since multiple former Nets were just arrested by the FBI this morning:

Read on Twitter


Read on Twitter


Fraud at the federal level carries a max of five years for each count if i'm not mistaken.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#6 » by Prokorov » Thu Oct 7, 2021 5:26 pm

MrDollarBills wrote:This is Nets related since multiple former Nets were just arrested by the FBI this morning:

Read on Twitter


Read on Twitter


Fraud at the federal level carries a max of five years for each count if i'm not mistaken.


interested to hear more details. "4 million" sounds like alot but in NBA terms thats like pocket change. how far does 4 million go in medical benefits fraud if like a massage probably cost the nba 25k a pop or something,

is it overusing health benefits or like, using health savings to buy a new jet?
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#7 » by MrDollarBills » Thu Oct 7, 2021 5:38 pm

Prokorov wrote:
MrDollarBills wrote:This is Nets related since multiple former Nets were just arrested by the FBI this morning:

Read on Twitter


Read on Twitter


Fraud at the federal level carries a max of five years for each count if i'm not mistaken.


interested to hear more details. "4 million" sounds like alot but in NBA terms thats like pocket change. how far does 4 million go in medical benefits fraud if like a massage probably cost the nba 25k a pop or something,

is it overusing health benefits or like, using health savings to buy a new jet?


They were submitting fake reimbursement claims for medical and dental services that were never actually rendered.

The ringleader of it was of course, our former first round lottery bust Terrence Williams:

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/nba-veterans-arrested-in-alleged-health-insurance-fraud-scheme-sources/3311071/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_wnbc_twt_shr

The 18 former players named in the indictment include alleged scheme ringleader Terrence Williams, selected 11th overall in the 2009 NBA draft by the then-New Jersey Nets, six-time NBA All-Defensive Team member Tony Allen, former Lakers Guard Shannon Brown and Ronald Glen Davis, who played for the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Clippers over the course of his career.

Allen's wife, Desiree Allen, is the only woman charged in the indictment.

Those indicted face charges of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud as well as aggravated identity theft. By late morning, 16 of them were in custody after arrests in a dozen locations nationwide. The FBI said "this remains an ongoing investigation," though it was not clear if more arrests were expected.

According to the grand jury indictment, the defendants allegedly engaged in a widespread scheme from at least 2017 up to around 2020 to defraud the NBA Players' Health and Welfare Benefit Plan by submitting fake reimbursement claims for medical and dental services that were never actually rendered.

In some cases, the players who submitted the alleged false claims weren't even in the United States at the times they allegedly received the treatments. They allegedly filed fake invoices saying they had to pay for the phantom procedures out of pocket.

Those allegedly fraudulent claims totaled about $3.9 million, from which the defendants got about $2.5 million in fraudulent proceeds, the indictment alleges.

Williams allegedly orchestrated the years-long scheme and recruited other NBA health plan participants to assist by offering them fake invoices to support their claims. He allegedly received at least $230,000 in kickback payments from 10 other players in return for providing the alleged false documentation.

The 34-year-old Williams also allegedly helped three co-defendants -- Davis, Charles Watson Jr. and Antoine Wright -- obtain fake letters of medical necessity to justify some of the services on which the false invoices were based.

Williams also allegedly impersonated an individual who processed plan claims at one point in furtherance of his alleged scheme.

Among the false reimbursement claims described in the indictment is a $19,000 claim that Williams filed for chiropractic services he allegedly never had and for which he received $7,672.55 in reimbursement. Williams also allegedly obtained a template for a fake invoice designed to appear as if it had been issued by the office.

Fake chiropractic treatment invoices were allegedly also created for Davis, Watson Jr. and Wright and emailed to Williams. The template had the date, invoice number, services and a charge of $15,000 filled in but left the "bill to" box, where the name of the patient would ordinarily be found, blank, according to the indictment.

Williams is accused of emailing those fake invoices to the other defendants named in the indictment. He and defendant Alan Anderson, who briefly played for the Nets from 2013 to 2015, allegedly helped get fake letters of medical necessity for Davis, Watson Jr. and Wright in furtherance of the fraud scheme as well.

According to the court documents, several of the fake invoices and medical necessity forms stood out because, “they are not on letterhead, they contain unusual formatting, they have grammatical errors” and were sent on the same dates from different offices.

In another example, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss told a news conference, defendant Gregory Smith submitted paperwork for a root canal in Beverly Hills, when he was in fact playing basketball in Taiwan at that time. Others submitted false root canal paperwork as well, she added.

Some of the players were told to repay the money they received from the NBA’s health plan once it was determined that the claims were false. Some did, while others didn’t, according to court documents.

Also named in the indictment: Brooklyn-born Sebastian Telfair, who played for a half-dozen NBA teams including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Clippers, Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves and Darius Miles, drafted third overall by the Clippers in the 2000 NBA draft and a first-team NBA All-Rookie player.

Prosecutors are seeking "any and all property, real or personal, that constitutes or is derived, directly or indirectly" from the alleged fraud in restitution. If any of that property can't be acquired for whatever reason, the U.S. government says it will seek forfeiture of any other property of the defendants up to the same value.



I'm not surprised that T-Will was dumb enough to try and pull off this scam. He's going to do some serious jail time over this.

But all of these guys are idiots. How on earth did they think that they would get away with it???
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#8 » by Stone » Thu Oct 7, 2021 8:47 pm

This is a bad day for the NBA. The last thing we need is another scandal. These days with almost every kid with a cellphone you can bet this will be a topic at many dinner tables tonight.


This kind of reminds me of the Super Storm Sandy scams that people were pulling. They told FEMA it was primary residence but it was a second home and they were not eligible for any insurance money.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#9 » by MrDollarBills » Thu Oct 7, 2021 11:32 pm

Stone wrote:This is a bad day for the NBA. The last thing we need is another scandal. These days with almost every kid with a cellphone you can bet this will be a topic at many dinner tables tonight.


This kind of reminds me of the Super Storm Sandy scams that people were pulling. They told FEMA it was primary residence but it was a second home and they were not eligible for any insurance money.


My sister texted me about this today, and she doesn't pay attention to basketball at all these days ever since Kobe retired since he was her face player. She basically said what is wrong with these guys, if they're not being loud and dumb (talking about Wiggins, Beal, Kyrie), they're getting caught for fraud.

It's not a good look because a few guys do some dumb sh*t, it reflects poorly on everyone else. Which isn't fair.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#10 » by gigantes » Fri Oct 8, 2021 4:13 am

MrDollarBills wrote:I'm not surprised that T-Will was dumb enough to try and pull off this scam. He's going to do some serious jail time over this.

I'm looking at his post-NBA career and it's downright puzzling.

An endless switching of teams, and then at only 28yo, his career is over. Pretty strange for a lottery pick with a strong college career and "freakish athleticism" (Rick Pitino). No major injuries listed, either.

His last stop is kinda surreal, too:
On October 6, 2015, Williams signed with the upcoming AmeriLeague to play on the following season. However, the league folded after it was discovered the founder was a con artist.

I guess the obvious theory is that he kept having behind the scenes incidents until his reputation was tanked. What a sad waste.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#11 » by MrDollarBills » Fri Oct 8, 2021 12:21 pm

gigantes wrote:
MrDollarBills wrote:I'm not surprised that T-Will was dumb enough to try and pull off this scam. He's going to do some serious jail time over this.

I'm looking at his post-NBA career and it's downright puzzling.

An endless switching of teams, and then at only 28yo, his career is over. Pretty strange for a lottery pick with a strong college career and "freakish athleticism" (Rick Pitino). No major injuries listed, either.

His last stop is kinda surreal, too:
On October 6, 2015, Williams signed with the upcoming AmeriLeague to play on the following season. However, the league folded after it was discovered the founder was a con artist.

I guess the obvious theory is that he kept having behind the scenes incidents until his reputation was tanked. What a sad waste.



T-Will was regarded as a headcase during his time here, so it was no shock that he got bounced around once the league gave up on him.

None of this is surprising. Some of the names that got in bed with him to commit fraud are, but him? Not surprising. He's an idiot.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#12 » by Prokorov » Fri Oct 8, 2021 1:31 pm

MrDollarBills wrote:
gigantes wrote:
MrDollarBills wrote:I'm not surprised that T-Will was dumb enough to try and pull off this scam. He's going to do some serious jail time over this.

I'm looking at his post-NBA career and it's downright puzzling.

An endless switching of teams, and then at only 28yo, his career is over. Pretty strange for a lottery pick with a strong college career and "freakish athleticism" (Rick Pitino). No major injuries listed, either.

His last stop is kinda surreal, too:
On October 6, 2015, Williams signed with the upcoming AmeriLeague to play on the following season. However, the league folded after it was discovered the founder was a con artist.

I guess the obvious theory is that he kept having behind the scenes incidents until his reputation was tanked. What a sad waste.



T-Will was regarded as a headcase during his time here, so it was no shock that he got bounced around once the league gave up on him.

None of this is surprising. Some of the names that got in bed with him to commit fraud are, but him? Not surprising. He's an idiot.


bwe dont know these guys. we dont know their situations off the court. who is in huge debt, who is an addict. it doesnt take much for people in those 2 situaitons to turn to this kind of thing
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#13 » by MrDollarBills » Fri Oct 8, 2021 2:09 pm

Read on Twitter


Yo T-Will is a piece of sh*t :lol: :crazy:
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#14 » by gigantes » Sat Oct 9, 2021 12:50 am

Man, Ben Simmons seems like such a self-righteous twat, but Daryl Morey concurrently sounds like he's running some real delusions in his own head.

I guess the biggest factor here is that Simmons owes four more years on his contract, suggesting that Morey probably feels like he has a luxury of time to wait for the perfect deal. Whole situation's weird as hell, though. Like, not even Unibrow or PG went scorched earth so early in their contracts.

That also sort of circles back to the "Kyrie" situation. Like, despite everyone saying the right thing upfront, what's the actual damage being done in cases like this? How much is the player's (and team's) rep being whittled away, how understanding / annoyed are his teammates really, and what is the real damage to the team's title hopes?

The difference is, I'm thinking-- the Sixers need Simmon's talent (or some value back) way more than the Nets need Kyrie's.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#15 » by Prokorov » Sat Oct 9, 2021 2:05 am

gigantes wrote:Man, Ben Simmons seems like such a self-righteous twat, but Daryl Morey concurrently sounds like he's running some real delusions in his own head.

I guess the biggest factor here is that Simmons owes four more years on his contract, suggesting that Morey probably feels like he has a luxury of time to wait for the perfect deal. Whole situation's weird as hell, though. Like, not even Unibrow or PG went scorched earth so early in their contracts.

That also sort of circles back to the "Kyrie" situation. Like, despite everyone saying the right thing upfront, what's the actual damage being done in cases like this? How much is the player's (and team's) rep being whittled away, how understanding / annoyed are his teammates really, and what is the real damage to the team's title hopes?

The difference is, I'm thinking-- the Sixers need Simmon's talent (or some value back) way more than the Nets need Kyrie's.


no, the difference is there is an enormous rift between simmons, his teammates, and the organization that is so bad and toxic that it is repairable. and with kyrie, his team and teammates support him fully.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#16 » by gigantes » Sat Oct 9, 2021 2:20 am

Prokorov wrote:no, the difference is there is an enormous rift between simmons, his teammates, and the organization that is so bad and toxic that it is repairable. and with kyrie, his team and teammates support him fully.

That would be a pretty ginormous set of assumptions there, but why don't you break it all down for us, Proky?
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#17 » by MrDollarBills » Sat Oct 9, 2021 11:51 am

There is legit bad blood between Simmons and the Sixers.

With the Nets and Kyrie, you can't rule out guys being disappointed that Kyrie isn't there, but I doubt things have gotten to anywhere near as toxic as what's happening in Philly. Simmons cleared out his house yesterday :lol:

The hope is, now that Kyrie can practice, guys can talk to him more and maybe convince him to change his stance.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#18 » by Prokorov » Sat Oct 9, 2021 6:25 pm

Jaylen Brown from the Celtics has COVID and its rumored he is also unvaccinated. when asked if he is vaccinated, he said "i think its a personal choice for each person if they want to [get the shot] or not" and left it at that.

Getting popcorn ready reading the celtics board when they destroyed Kyrie the last month for the same thing.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#19 » by MrDollarBills » Sat Oct 9, 2021 9:25 pm

Prokorov wrote:Jaylen Brown from the Celtics has COVID and its rumored he is also unvaccinated. when asked if he is vaccinated, he said "i think its a personal choice for each person if they want to [get the shot] or not" and left it at that.

Getting popcorn ready reading the celtics board when they destroyed Kyrie the last month for the same thing.


Anyone who gives that answer to a simple yes or no answer is definitely unvaccinated.

I'll preface this by saying I hope Jaylen will be alright. It's not a laughing matter. However, Boston fans will be hypocrites if they trash Kyrie for being unvaccinated while one of their main guys is and just caught Covid, which puts other players and staff members at risk.

This is the one thing I'm nervous about with Irving, God forbid he gets sick, number 1, and number 2, and infects one of our guys via breakthrough and they end up missing time.

Anyway off to the Boston board. This is rich.
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Re: Around the NBA: 2021-22 Season Thread 

Post#20 » by GTR11 » Sun Oct 10, 2021 12:50 am

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?s=20

You know what's crazy about it, we drafted better than nix in 20. You can make case Mitch and Quickly outplayed their lottery picks. Only reason Quickly not getting burn is, that will show how incompetent they are.

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