Los Angeles Clippers guard Jawun Evans. Photo Credit: NBA.com

Los Angeles Clippers guard Jawun Evans chatted with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson about Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Isaiah Thomas. Press Play Below To Listen.

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Jawun Evans  put on a show in Los Angeles Friday night. Evans poured in 22 points, dished out eight assists and hauled in four rebounds in 42 minutes of preseason action against Staples Center co-tenant Los Angeles Lakers.

A second round pick in this year’s draft, Evans played an air tight all around game. He shot 8/17 from the field and only missed three free throws and added two steals.

While he’ll back up newly minted Clippers point guard Patrick Beverley, Evans is not someone you should sleep on. In his freshman year at Oklahoma State he averaged a shade under 13 points and 5 assists.  He set an Oklahoma State record as a freshman when he notched 42 points against the school’s rival, University of Oklahoma.

Cleveland Cavaliers’ Isaiah Thomas and LeBron James. Photo Credit: Cavaliers Nation

Listed at 6’0 but realistically about 5’11, Evans has got something to prove. A second rounder? 5’11? Hmm…sounds familiar.

At 5’9, Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Isaiah Thomas defied odds as a member of the Boston Celtics last season. He led the team to the NBA Playoffs and playing inspired basketball after the death of his sister.

Juwan Evans sees the similarities in their game. “Yeah because I can score in different ways,” Jawun Evans told me on Scoop B Radio.

“But also get my teammates involved. And I just make my teammates better so I can do a little bit of both so yeah I can see the comparison.”

A first-team all-conference and a third-team All-American by Sporting News magazine as a sophomore at Oklahoma State, Evans like Thomas says he is doubted for an obvious reason. “I  would have to say my size,” he said.

“I say that, because I’m a little bit shorter than everybody. But I can do the same things that everybody else can do like rebound and score the ball.”

After all, Evans did average 4.4 rebounds in his freshman season at Oklahoma State.

‘The Logo’ Jerry West getting some advice in to #Clippers‘ rookie Jawun Evans pic.twitter.com/pI5sYctv4f

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) October 11, 2017

Evans saw an upward spike in his minutes in all four of his preseason games. If he continues to play well in Doc Rivers’ system, he’ll be rewarded. Friday’s preseason game against was a dress rehearsal. Both teams will open up their season playing each other on Thursday at Staples Center.

Suggested Articles:

The Next Big Showcase’s Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan Making Dreams Reality in NYC & NJ

Scoop B Radio: Turner Sports’ Steve Smith Talks Career & More

The post Clippers’ Jawun Evans On Parallels To Cavs’ Isaiah Thomas: “I can see the comparison” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Sonny Vaccaro and LeBron James. Photo Credit: New York Post

Sneaker industry executive Sonny Vaccaro Discussed Lenny Cooke & LeBron James’ 2001 ABCD Camp Matchup with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio Press Play Below To Listen!

Over the last twenty years, AAU basketball has become just as important as the organized game itself. Sneaker companies, coaches and recruiters all get a glimpse into the future of the game.

One of the most elite programs to step foot in was the now-defunct ABCD camp.

From 1994-2006 ABCD Camp was THE show at Teaneck, New Jersey’s Fairleigh Dickinson College. You name ‘em they played in it: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Rashard Lewis, Kenyon Martin, Kevin Garnett, Sebastian Telfair, Charlie Villanueva.

That picture floating around with a younger Kevin Love and an even younger Isaiah Thomas, now team Cleveland Cavaliers teammates; yup, it happened at ABCD Camp.

Sonny Vaccaro, a former sneaker executive with all three of the major sneaker brands: Nike, Adidas was the braintrust behind that camp.

Vaccaro most notably got Michael Jordan to sign with Nike and signed Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant to Adidas deals. Vaccaro also challenged the NBA’s one-and-done rule by advising Brandon Jennings to play overseas in Italy for a year before declaring for the NBA Draft.

Vaccaro historically signed LeBron James to a $90 million deal with Nike before even playing his first NBA game.

Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary’s LeBron James heads up the court Thursday, March 13, 2003, against Tallmadge during a state high school regional tournament game in Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/J.D. Pooley)

Speaking of James, the world became familiar of him at Vaccaro’s ABCD Camp in 2001. LeBron wasn’t even the headliner; it was Lenny Cooke, a Brooklyn native by way of Northern Valley High School in Old Tappan, New Jersey.” I think that Jay Z might have been in attendance,” Sonny Vaccaro told me on Scoop B Radio.

“What you had was a mystical appearance of this kid from Ohio who had not yet broken into the national scene. The only camp LeBron had gone to was ABCD camp and Lenny was the reigning number one high school player in America and sort of magnified himself by being this very mysterious kid also.”

Cooke averaged 25 points, hauled in 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocks per game in his junior year at Northern Valley High School with high school scouts ranking him ahead of retired NBA forward Amar’e Stoudemire, James and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Carmelo Anthony.

In the closing seconds of the game, Cooke’s team had the lead and possession of the basketball. James stole the ball from Cooke, scored on a fast break and won the game. That play introduced the world to the Akron, Ohio baller who was later featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the cover titled, ‘The Chosen One.’  “The funny this about it is that it wasn’t like Lenny did bad,” said Sonny Vaccaro. “But LeBron just won the game.”

James would enter the NBA Draft in 2003 and win three NBA championships.

While speaking at Philadelphia’s Mount Olivet Tabernacle Baptist Church with Rev. Andre L. Price last year, Cooke says that not showing up for team workouts hindered his draft stock. “My kids like LeBron James now,” said Cooke.

“He’s earned everything he’s gotten and taken advantage of every opportunity he’s been given. How can I be mad at him? He built his brand the right way!”“That game didn’t single-handedly mean anything other than it was played in New York at a summertime camp and a lot of people saw it,” said Vaccaro.

Added Vaccaro:

“Lenny was over-confident and had the New York bravado and LeBron was LeBron and he probably didn’t care who he was playing against other than the name and that sort of carried over into his life. LeBron has taken everything that has come his way since that night and today and hopefully for a lot more of playing basketball. LeBron took everything more serious than Lenny Cooke and I think if you play the game, it didn’t begin that night but what it did was dramatize the reign of LeBron and the eventual downfall of Lenny Cooke.”

Lenny Cooke and Carmelo Anthony battling for a rebound at Sonny Vaccaro’s ABCD basketball camp in Teaneck, New Jersey. Phto Credit: New York Daily News

Cooke would declare for the 2002 NBA Draft and went undrafted. An NBA career would never materialize and he’d later play in the Rucker Park league, NBDL and USBL. He’d also play overseas in China and the Philippines.

Cooke has recently found his niche: coaching. Cooke coaches high school basketball in Atlantic City, New Jersey and travels across the country mentoring kids and speaking on panels at swanky locations like Microsoft.

Cooke recently weighed in on the NBA’s one and done rule stating that a player must be 19 years old or one year removed from their high school’s graduating class.

“I mean I disagree a little bit,” Cooke told me on Scoop B Radio.

“If you’re just going for one year, it ain’t really benefitting you. You’re still a child. I mean, at the end of the day, one year’s not going to [do anything]. If you get hurt, then you’re done.”

A subject of a 93-minute documentary, called “Lenny Cooke,” the film documents his high school career. The film was directed by brothers Josh and Bennie Safdie and executive produced by New York Knicks forward, Joakim Noah. “It is easy to tell stories about your success,” Joakim Noah told me.

“But extremely courageous to do the same with your failures,”

Suggested Articles:

The Next Big Showcase’s Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan Making Dreams Reality in NYC & NJ

Scoop B Radio: Turner Sports’ Steve Smith Talks Career & More

The post Sonny Vaccaro On LeBron James & Lenny Cooke At ABCD Camp: “It wasn’t like Lenny did bad, but LeBron just won the game” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

NBA 2K 18 has amened cover of game with Kyrie Irving now donning a Boston Celtics uniform. Photo Credit: 2K Sports

So the Cleveland Cavaliers struck a deal with the Boston Celtics that shipped Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first round pick and and the Miami Heat’s 2020 second-round pick.

RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson joined ESPN’s Ben Troupe and B.J. Bennett “3 and Out” to break down the trade.

While that was great in the NBA world, there was one significant problem: NBA 2K18 had been promoting Kyrie Irving as the game’s cover athlete and he was donning Cavs garb.

The trade made official last night AND Irving’s new 2K18 cover got a facelift too!

Looks like 2k18’s cover problem wasn’t a problem ? pic.twitter.com/mDSALJ8jSn

— Kofeem Abdul-Jabbar (@KofieYeboah) August 31, 2017

For years, folks talked about a ‘Madden curse.’ Now it seems that a NBA 2K curse is ‘a thing’ for cover athletes too!

Why, you ask? It all started in NBA 2K14 when Irving’s former teammate LeBron James leaves the Miami Heat to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014. The following year Kevin Durant graces NBA 2K15 and goes to the Golden State Warriors in 2016. Paul George lands on NBA 2K17’s cover and heads over to the Oklahoma City Thunder this summer. And then enter Irving gracing NBA 2K18!

Suggested Articles:

The Next Big Showcase’s Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan Making Dreams Reality in NYC & NJ

Scoop B Radio: Turner Sports’ Steve Smith Talks Career & More

The post Scoop B: Post Isaiah Thomas Trade, NBA 2K18 Switches Kyrie Irving’s Uniform From Cavaliers to Celtics appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson discussing pop culture, sports and entertainment at New York’s Power 105.1 FM. Photo Credit: The Scoop B Brand

Kyrie Irving requested a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers in July. As a result, the Cavs struck on a deal with the Boston Celtics that shipped Irving to the Celtics in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first round pick.

I checked in with Ben Troupe and B.J. Bennett of ESPNCoastal’s “3 and Out” out in Brunswick, Georgia and broke down the trade.

NBA All Star point guard Kyrie Irving and sports and entertainment journalist Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. Photo Credit: The Scoop B Brand

While on the show I informed the crew that while many are discussing a potential LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers exit, to greener pastures in Los Angeles with Lonzo Ball, Brook Lopez and Magic Johnson; don’t sleep on the possibility of a LeBron return to south Florida with the Miami Heat.

Suggested Articles:

The Next Big Showcase’s Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan Making Dreams Reality in NYC & NJ

Scoop B Radio: Turner Sports’ Steve Smith Talks Career & More

The post Scoop B: Cavaliers, Celtics, Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas On ESPN Coastal’s “3 and Out” With Ben Troupe & B.J. Bennett appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Basketball Hall of Famer and TNT’s Charles Barkley chats with RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio Overtime. Photo Credit: Angie Vasquez / Scoop Vision Media

Over the last week, we’ve seen two instances where journalists, TV watchers, radio listeners and folks who read articles can get a quote from a notable figure and misinterpret it. For print and multimedia journalists: we get the spicy headlines, report what we saw and go about our day. But in cases where you’ve got unorthodox figures who are either very direct, don’t care or you have to know them to love them, what you see on tv cannot be easily translated to print.

The first instance came this past Friday when New York Knicks team president, Phil Jackson suggested that Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks might be better off going their separate ways. 

The Knicks did finish their season with a 31-51 record. New York has endured their fourth straight season out of the playoffs.

“We have not been able to win with him on the court at this time and I think the direction with our team is that he is a player that would be better off somewhere else and using his talent somewhere he can win or chase that championship,” Jackson said Friday.

New Yorkers, Knicks fans and NBA fanatics were ticked! 

Honestly, reading the quote vs. seeing Jackson on television discussing Anthony seemed entirely different. It was reminiscent of the perception that viewers had in watching vs. listening to the 1960 Presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

Radio listeners thought Nixon won the debate. Television watchers thought Kennedy won the debate! Seeing and hearing are truly interesting things!

Back in basketball land, Jackson recently inked a two-year extension with the New York Knicks to remain their team President. Anthony, 32, has one year left on his current deal, with his no-trade clause still in effect. Many believe Anthony will wave his no-trade clause with top teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat and the Portland Trail Blazers as likely suitors for the small forward’s services.

Tuesday night on TNT’s Inside The NBA, Barkley replied to the criticism, stating:  

“I want to address something that really bothered me,” Barkley said. “I heard that all these nitwits, fools, idiots were complaining what I was saying about Isaiah Thomas the other night making me uncomfortable. Number one, I don’t care what y’all think. I don’t care what your mom and daddy think either, just for the record. But to insinuate what I was trying to — what I was saying, I’m uncomfortable talking about his pain and then going to basketball. For all you nitwits, scumbags, idiots, punks, to try to make that a story because y’all don’t have ratings and use my name to draw ratings, don’t do that. You don’t have any talent, it’s the simple fact, you don’t have any talent. Let me be me.

“I’ve talked to Isaiah. He didn’t take any offense to that. What I was talking about, I wish him and his family nothing but the best. For you punks to try to make a big deal out of it, it just pisses me off.”

Charles Barkley, just like Phil Jackson, speaks his mind in a candor that is more suitable for a family cookout. You know that one uncle who says whatever he wants to say however he wants to say it, whenever he wants to say it? We all have those in our family. Barkley reminds me a lot of my grandmother; she’s kind, loving, opinionated and some would say that she doesn’t give a damn and she’ll tell you why. Barkley is the same way.

“It took me a while to realize that I couldn’t make everybody happy,” Barkley told me in a recent interview on Scoop B Radio. “I think I was 24 or 25 when I took over the Sixers team and I wanted everybody to like me and then I realized: ‘I can’t make everybody happy.’ No matter what you say, you can’t make everybody happy. I feel an obligation to try and be honest. That was difficult for me in the beginning.”

Hear Charles Barkley & Scoop B Break Down Music and More On Episode # 25 of Scoop B Radio

Barkley meant no mal-intent, but if you have a question; darnit, he has an answer. If he’s wrong, he surely corrects himself. I was reminded of that, in a recent interview with Sir Charles on Scoop B Radio Overtime, where he, just like many Americans, amitted that he was wrong in assuming that Hillary Rodham Clinton would win the 2016 Presidential Election.

Appearing on Scoop B Radio Overtime, Barkley broke it down.

“We were dead wrong, said Barkley on Scoop B Radio Overtime. “You know what? I look at it like this: we didn’t win, it was difficult I was probably in a funk for a week, but you know what? I’m gonna try to do everything in my power to support the President because he’s the President of The United States.”

Charles Barkley Talks Trump, NBA TV Theme Songs and Michael Jordan On Scoop B Radio Overtime 

“I mean we got to get behind him, he’s done some things already that I don’t like, I’m against the Muslim ban, I’m against the immigration deportation, he’s got to stop trying to paint everybody with a broad brush. I mean It’s just wrong, most of these Muslim people here are amazing, hard-working people same thing with these illegal immigrants, they’re here, they’re hard working people. I think most people don’t want gangsters here, people don’t want terrorists here we all understand that, but people have to be able to be treated with respect and dignity.”

The cast of TNT’s Inside The NBA live in our living rooms.

They’re like family. Families have disagreements, families shoot straight from the hip and family apologies when they’re wrong. Phil Jackson has been wrong on a number of fronts throughout the season. Jackson is seemingly out of touch with today’s NBA in calling the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and his friends a ‘posse.’ and as an employer he’s publicly bashed his employee, Carmelo Anthony.

Jackson hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing. But Barkley has!

Where do we go from here?

Suggested Articles:

The post Scoop B: Charles Barkley Doesn’t Communicate Wrong, We’re Just Sensitive As Hell appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.