Austin Kent

So, long story short, I guess this is a belated sorry to Gilbert Arenas.

And his ghostwriter.

And the NBA.

And the readers I forced into wading through 500 words of fluff before reaching anything resembling a point.

It wasn't ALL wrong though.

🔗: sports.ws/thegp/gilber...

a pixelated image of a man with the words we have to go back on the bottom ALT: a pixelated image of a man with the words we have to go back on the bottom

Let me trade click farm hot takes and dopamine-peaking rage bait for the mid-aughts blogosphere: a wonderfully verbose place where you could be a journalist, homer or asshole (if you wanted to) but would at least have to do it in the form of a 1,000-word mini essay.

No one reads or writes like this anymore -- except ‪@kdonhoops.com‬, who nailed the Hunter S. Thompson-meets-Blog Boy craft at a level none of us ever could -- but I miss it.

I miss blog rolls.

I miss the way a Deadspin, Ball Don't Lie or True Hoop referral link hit in the morning.

The painfully long-winded story (I was 22!) is cynical and incoherent...

... but a glimpse into a simpler time when we stood at the edge of the abyss unaware of the world of always-on social media, narcissism and 24/7 personal branding we were about to fall into.

In 2009, I wrote a mostly bad and largely unfair feature about how Gilbert Arenas' once wildly popular blog coincided with the demise of his career.

It incensed his ghostwriter. I got an earful.

Some bangers though.

/🧵

I recognize that photo shoot! This has been my Slack avatar for almost 10 years lol

Inside Out 2 and Moana 2 felt like watered down versions of the first ones, I'll give you that.

Frozen II was legit though. Great music and it just felt like it aged up with the kids that loved the first one, layering in a welcome touch of bad ass. It gets more run than the first in our house.

Payton trying to take him out with that last-second trip always gets me.

a basketball player with the number 45 on his shirt ALT: a basketball player with the number 45 on his shirt

The Jason Williams elbow pass turns 25 years old today.

Thinking of all of us who found the inspiration to get yelled at by our own high school coaches in the days and weeks that followed.

NBA stat leaders showing Nikola Jokic's place in the Top 5 of PPG, RPG, APG, SPG and 3P%

A 285-pound center is averaging a 30-point triple-double.

He's...
3️⃣rd in PPG
3️⃣rd in RPG
2️⃣nd in APG
4️⃣th in SPG
3️⃣rd in 3P%

We're all pretty numb to stat inflation in the NBA but this is creeping toward Shohei Ohtani levels of absurd.

Wild reference to read in a random Canadian news story about an eagle setting up shop in a Newfoundland national park.

plz forward all letters to my NBA Dunk Street address

we used to be a proper country

At the very least, in-house promotional spots.

I'm /pretty sure/ I ripped this from a 1987 playoff game.

I should dig up more of these.

birthday cookie game on point

Pretty sure this is either a fake movie that exists only as a reference in another movie or money laundering.

protect this weirdo

Dyson Daniels' defense is the non-Pistons storyline I'm most obsessed with through the first month of the season and watching Cade Cunningham try to bring the ball up against him was a mesmerizing horror movie.

No better social commentary than this from Joel Embiid -- days into his actual playing career -- on election night 2016

AJ Green missed a layup against the Pistons last night, bringing an end to the 11-game streak in which he shot 27-52 from beyond the arc... and 0-0 from two.

how does it know my streetball name?

Okay, for real this time.

Just reactivated the the fantasy basketball dynasty league I've commished for 17 years.

Here was my championship squad during the very first season back in 2007-08.

Dying at Chris Paul STILL PLAYING BASKETBALL.

NBA Twitter slowly reconvening on Bluesky to make peace and transfer to the afterlife.

You had me at Bluesky: The Retirement Community for Geriatric Millennials from #NBATwitter.