BOX OUTS WITH BIG HUGS
The prescription of father and son basketball has a long tradition in the NBA, going back to the egoless, unorthodox, underhand free throw king, Hall of Famer, 12 time all star Rick Barry and his offspring Brent Barry, the first white guy to win the NBA dunk contest. We recently got to see a proud father and undersized son on the same bench in the finals, as Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson celebrated and shared a championship with his MVP son Jalen Brunson, and I feel you have to acknowledge the Golden State Warriors' "Splash Brothers" both being spawned from NBA greats; hell, Dell even threw in a second NBA son just for fun. But the epitome of this dynamic came to fruition in 2024 when Lebron James' son, Bronny, suited up for the very same team while Lebron was still one of the league's most influential players. Now, a myriad of variables have to be taken into account for this seemingly impossible scenario to take place, such as a young dad, a talented son, some dynamite genetics and perhaps just a dash of nepotism. But the fact that we all get to witness the greatness of this amazing feat should be acknowledged and celebrated to some extent, especially on this auspicious day.
My father is not a professional athlete but he loves sports. He loves healthy living, hard work and the Boston Celtics. He loves his wife, Toyota trucks, the southwest and his two basketball playing sons. Those sons never had a chance at the NBA but he didn't care. He loved teaching the fundamentals of boxing out, how to hold your follow through and to always use the backboard in the paint. We had less than a three point line size dirt patch with a sturdy hoop silhouetted against an old juniper tree on a half acre of land near the town of Cerrillos two and half miles down a country road where you passed a thousand cactus and three working ranches. We learned the love of the game from endless summer hours of lonely basketball when it was just the three of us gathering dust from the knees down as scrawny sons shuffled new sneakers to stay in front of an old man playing with the passion only a father can. Playing until a Spalding leather orange sunset settled in the west behind smooth sandstone hills where the scattered petrified wood lived for a thousand years and will live for a thousand more, smiling at the sight of sweat stained brothers arguing over ambiguous out of bounds lines before the last call to dinner by their patient matriarch mother.
Now those boys are fathers themselves. Passing on the lessons for life their father taught to the next generation in this wheel of time where lots of things matter but few more than the loving attention of a proud papa. So if you are lucky enough to have a dad in your life or if you are one yourself, cherish that title and give them a hug or a call, share a memory, and say "I love you." Because as a proud papa too, I assure you, there is no greater gift than this.
Weekly Recap:
What a treat to get a double OT thriller between Prime Time and Blakes Lottabuckets to kick off this week's game slate! 45 minutes of back and forth game play, this contest felt like an Amazon truck trying to deliver a Lotta combo to a vegan on lent. Eli Dawson kept the burgers flippin with 26 pts, 7 rebs, 2 dimes, 2 thefts and a swat, while Jeremy Romero was dialed in from deep on the register, gathering 23 pts and 7 rips. For Amazon Prime Ruben Salas went all Black Friday with 20 pts and 12 rebs as Kareem Masibuwa delivered a double double with 12 pts, 11 rebs and a filthy, high flying dunk; but Prime ran out of time as they dropped the heartbreaker 69-71 to the fast food bucket getters.
A Mob of just five took on a stacked Zia Elite squad in game two behind red hot mob boss, EJ Lucero and his 20 ball. Dustin Beylou was a steal away from the rare quadruple cinco with a line of 6 pts, 6 rebs, 5 dimes, and 4 thefts to anchor the Mob defense and spur the offense for the Ellsworth bros as Drew went for 21 and Ben "Yours Truly" ruled the paint with 28 and 18. For Elite, Gio Nuñez was on fire early and ended with 16 pts, 4 rebs and 2 assists, while his old man, Oscar Nuñez netted 11 pts in the loss but getting to see a father/son duo compete on the floor at the same time is always a win. Mob 81, Zia Elite 57.
Medium Kings were reduced to Medium Peasants after their shockingly low scoring output of 31 points on 20% field goal shooting. Degenerates doubled that output on just under 35% field goal shooting as this contest took on the theme of who is the least inept of the kingdom. For the lack of generators "Semi-Super" Mario Archuleta led the ineptitude with 26 pts and 13 rebs. As for the mid level peasants, only Dedrick "The Popper" Johnson managed to scratch together a measly double double with 12 pts and 13 rebs with some gritty inside work as the team put up a staggering low .087% from deep on 2-23 shooting. Good defense or just poor shot making, either way this yawn fest put the night to sleep perfectly.
In a stark contrast to Tuesday's finale we got the number one scoring team in the league, and fathers day favorites Dad Bods blowing up the box score once again with 123 points as they out shot and out-shined Zia Elite's 95 notches this night. All five suited Bods hit at least a 20 piece with Jassen Lopez stuffing the stat sheet as he amassed 33 pts, 7 rebs, 10 dimes, 2 thefts and 3 swats with zero TO's. Nate Naranjo was a ball of efficiency with 28 pts, 13 rebs, 7 dimes and 3 thefts, while Jerek Duda had a 20 pt, 7 board, 7 dime outing. As a team, the flabby ones dished out 35 assists! For the Zia toppers, young Santi Bencomo was all four directions of sacred harmonious meaning as he seared the stat sheet with 15 pts, 4 rebs and 10 dimes, while proud papa, Oscar Nuñez honored the sun God with 28 pts and young Gio Nuñez and Chava Chacon got their 16's in during this two way offensive master class.
ALEX (All League EXcellence) Gutierrez dropped 40 and 16 boards for IPS as the abbreviators made light work of Goon Squad to take a 93-76 dub in the 7 o'clock run. Dylan Rich was cashing in with 24 pts and 15 rebs and Greg Trujillo was TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) personified with 9 dimes to go with a 20 ball. On the other side Izaya Valencia was doing his best truffle shuffle with 37 pts and 4 assists while Jaylen Lovato went treasure hunting for 19 pts.
To wrap our slate we got the two top teams in a rematch from week one as 505 Unit again established themselves as the team to beat with a commanding 88-73 win over Santa Fe Style. Lukas Turner was a digit away from dialing in a double double with 32 pts and 9 boards as Angel Parra did manage his with 16 pts and 13 rips off the glass like stoners on the Plaza. Juan Ortiz had the operator headset and was shooting from sunset range as he drained five cheddar balls for 19 pts. Missing some crucial backcourt ingredients Style relied on a sopapilla diet of size with Oliver Fell (32 pts, 6 rebs) and Chano Herrera (20 pts, 10 rebs) getting most the touches but couldn't muster enough sage and turquoise to entice a win on this night.
Respect the game, Santa Fe Swish
