On Wednesday morning, bright and early, Mavericks guard JJ Barea was asked what I feel is the dumbass question of the month. On ESPN's First Take, host Jay Crawford asked him who he would rather play in the next round of the playoffs, between the Grizzlies and the Thunder. Now usually when an athlete is asked this question, you get something like "it really doesn't matter...as long as we take care of our business....as long as we play the way we know how to play...we'll be fine no matter who we play." You know, typical athlete cliches.But Barea shocked the world when he actually told Crawford that he'd like to play the Memphis Grizzlies and avoid the OKC Thunder. It was kind of cool that Barea actually answered the question at all, but I still think the question is beyond dumb.
It's like no sh!t, Jay Crawford. Thank you for that insightful question. We got to peek inside the soul of JJ Barea, and we're all surely better off now.
Of course JJ Barea is going to want to play the crappier team of the two choices you gave him. What a dumb question to ask. You should have also asked him who he wants to face in the NBA Finals from the East, the Heat or the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sure, the Cavs aren't even in the playoffs, but fire away Jay Crawford.
And now, Crawford's dumb question has resulted in stupid headlines. Sportswriters everywhere are now calling what Barea said about wanting to play Memphis a "slip". I don't get what he said exactly, that he wasn't supposed to say. Was it supposed to be a secret that Barea wanted to play the Grizzlies? Is that something that an athlete shouldn't be saying? Help me out here. Or actually don't. Because we're moving on.
The Apology: I don't know if any of y'all heard but JJ Barea had another news making thing happen to him. He got sucker-elbowed by Andrew Bynum a couple of days ago. First, there was the actual event of the cheap shot being administered. Then, a couple days later, Andrew Bynum "apologized" for the hit on Barea. Then, yesterday, actually accepted the "apology" (!) from Bynum. Whew, I'm sure glad he accepted the apology. I couldn't take one more sleepless night, folks.
Here is what Barea said about the voicemail apology he received from Bynum: "It's good that he apologized," Barea said. "He's a great guy I think. Great player. He's a pro. He didn't want to hurt me. I think he just got frustrated at the moment. ... He just wasn't thinking and he took it out on me."
Call me crazy, but you don't usually give someone a forearm shiver while their in mid-air unless you either a) want to hurt them, or you b) want to hurt them. But he can believe what he wants to, I suppose.
On a semi-unrelated note, I think JJ Barea is damn annoying, and if I were playing against him in a pickup game, I would try to "Ron Artest" his ass at least a couple of times. He plays basketball like the dude at the local YMCA that takes the pickup game you're playing in wayyyy too seriously. He's that guy.
On a semi-unrelated note, I think JJ Barea is damn annoying, and if I were playing against him in a pickup game, I would try to "Ron Artest" his ass at least a couple of times. He plays basketball like the dude at the local YMCA that takes the pickup game you're playing in wayyyy too seriously. He's that guy.
And on a different semi-unrelated note, JJ Barea is dating this chick. And she won the Miss Universe crown in 2006. So put that in your pipe and smoke it. Blows your mind, huh?
