I was surprised to see the Lakers still got to play on national TV without LeBron doing his LeBronny things (checking his hairline, traveling, flopping, the usual). In the NFL, if a team like the Patriots doesn’t have a player like Tom Brady (remember, my football knowledge is at least a decade out of date, that guy’s probably retired by now), they get to go back to the early slot on Sunday and some other good team gets to take their place. It’s called “flexing” and it’s a great way to make sure that casual viewers don’t have to watch Kentavious Caldwell-Pope be the leading scorer for the Lakers while only making 6 shots.
God damn it.
Realistically, flexing isn’t an option for the NBA, especially with the later national game because there’s only a few west coast teams to choose from. Which means that we are subjected to games like this where one superstar is groin-injured, another superstar statpads his way to another meaningless triple-double, and the final superstar fouls himself out of the game in the first minute. You guys like Terrance Ferguson? Because that’s who you’re gonna get, and you’re gonna like it.