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🏀 The Future is in Their Hands

🏀 The Future is in Their Hands

December 21, 2022

Happy Humpday BTP family! We had ourselves a wild morning in the MLB after the Giants had postponed Carlos Correa's signing just a week after announcing it. Nearly an hour later, Correa leaves the Giants before signing the contract and signs with the New York Mets for 12 years, $315M! Between the false Aaron Judge rumors and now this, SF Giants fans had one wild offseason. In the NBA, the Wizards finally ended their 10-game losing streak last night with a win over the Suns after they announced a brand new owner. On a similar note, the Bulls ended a 4-game losing streak last night as well. However is it time for the Bulls to blow it up before it's too late? We break it all down in today's rendition of Beyond The Press!

Have a great day!

OWNER CHANGE

Everything you Need to Know About the Suns' New Owner

For an NBA-record four billion dollars, Billionaire brothers Mat and Justin Ishbia have agreed in principle to buy the Phoenix Suns. Unlike some of the recent new NBA owners like Steve Ballmer and Joe Tsai, Mat Ishbia is a little less well-known in the public domain but has quite the story.

Before buying the Suns, Ishbia's biggest claim to fame was being one of Michigan State’s most generous donors. Ishbia grew up in Michigan, attended MSU, and even walked onto the basketball team, giving him a deep connection to the school. Over his four-year career, he only logged around 40 minutes of game time but went to three consecutive Final Fours and won a National Championship under legendary coach Tom Izzo.

After graduating from MSU, he joined his father’s company “United Wholesale Mortgage” and helped grow the business from 12 to 7,200 employees. Ishiba helped take their company public in 2021 in a $16B SPAC deal, and between him and his brother, they own 93% of the company. Mat Ishiba has a net worth of around $5.1 billion and at 42 years old, will be the youngest principal owner in the league.

Due to his line of work, it’s no surprise that Ishbia has had some beef with his main competitor, Rocket Mortgage’s owner, and subsequently, the Cleveland Cavaliers owner, Dan Gilbert. The two are such rivals that they’ve been suspected of trying to one-up each other with their generous donations to Michigan State, which also counts Gilbert as an alumnus. Time will tell if this feud spills over into any trade talks between the two organizations, but either way, this is tremendous news for Phoenix Suns fans and the NBA at large.

TOUGH DECISIONS

What is Going on in Chicago?

Things in Chicago are spiraling out of control. The Bulls are 12-18 and in 11th place in the East, which is about right considering they’re ranked 20th in offensive rating and 17th in defensive rating. But somehow, that’s not even their biggest problem. Reports have been flying lately about internal turmoil on the team, including a recent locker room dust-up specifically aimed at star Zach LaVine.

Tensions reached a boiling point the other night during and after the 150-126 Minnesota Timberwolves blowout. Reportedly, things got so heated during a halftime meeting between the players that the coaches had to intervene and attempt to diffuse the situation. The outrage seemed to be heavily directed at LaVine, who signed a $215M, 5-year extension this offseason but is averaging his fewest points per game since he first arrived in Chicago in 2016.

Not only are his teammates seemingly pissed at him, but he and the organization are reportedly not seeing eye to eye either. While Chicago wasn’t expected to be the one seed this year, this was not the plan either, and people around the league have begun to earmark Chicago as a potential rebuilding team. If the LaVine situation worsens, teams will be interested, especially the Lakers.

ADVICE TO A YOUNG STAR

Kevin Durant Gives Emoni Bates a Pep-Talk

After another sensational individual performance leading the Nets to a comeback victory over the Detroit Pistons, KD had a visitor waiting to say hi — Emoni Bates. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving embraced Bates, posed for a photo, and gave the young man some much-needed words of encouragement.

Bates has had a difficult road since gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated and winning the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year in 2020. His freshman season at Memphis was a bit injury-plagued, but he still failed to meet his lofty standards and averaged only 9.7 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 38.6% from the field. A change of scenery was in order, so Bates transferred to Eastern Michigan and had his season derailed yet again, only this time, it was because he was arrested after a gun was found in his vehicle. After accepting a plea deal and being reinstated, Bates is having a much better sophomore campaign and even dropped 30 points in his debut.

Durant loves to ball more than anything, and he’s always keeping track of the next generation of hoopers, especially guys like Bates, whose body and game so closely mirror his own. Afterward, KD told Yahoo Sports that he “[likes] that [Bates is] going the total opposite route in life” and that “you gotta go through some s*** in this life to truly understand where you are.” Durant also said that Bates is “a little more grounded” and added, “it’s good to see him balling out right now.”

THE RUMOR MILL

NBA Trade Rumors: Knicks Contacted Raptors About OG Anunoby Before Winning Streak

Should the Suns Pull the Trigger on These Three Players?

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

December 21, 1891: The 1st game of basketball is played based on rules created by James Naismith, played by 18 students in Springfield, Massachusetts