Every Thursday, I'll be taking you through the big story heading into the weekend. Or maybe the weirdest story? Or maybe just something that makes me laugh and I think will make you laugh too. Essentially, if you're subscribed to The Bounce and reading every day, we're going to have the same fun here as we do in that space.
On top of that, I've culled the weekend schedule for you to know what to pay attention to. Weird bad streaks against teams? Beefs you need to track? Just fun games with matchups you might not have known were happening? We've got that for you. On top of that, we'll have a good old-fashioned Throwback Thursday to hit you with that feel-good nostalgia.
Let's have fun by starting with the revenge stories unfolding this season.
Jayson Tatum didn't play poorly against the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night. He had 32 points on 10 of 20 from the field, 5 of 10 from deep, and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line. Sure, you'd like more than four rebounds and two assists. Maybe the four turnovers are a little high. But Tatum had a good scoring output in a game that pretty much went down to the wire before the Warriors took down the Celtics 118-112 in Boston. Going into the nationally televised contest, the conversation surrounding this game wasn't about the 6-1 Warriors testing their early season success against the 7-1 defending champion Celtics. That would be a fun storyline, but that wasn't the narrative.
This game was about Tatum going up against Steve Kerr, his Olympic coach during the Paris Games back in July and August. During the summer, Kerr caught a lot of internet heat and sparked a lot of chatter about the lack of playing time Tatum received. Tatum was coming off his third straight All-NBA First Team selection and the first championship of his career. And yet, he couldn't find time on the court. I don't mean he played just 30 of the 40-minute international games. Tatum was held out of multiple games, including the medal-round close call against Serbia that put Team USA into the gold medal game. He also only played 11 minutes against France to help secure the gold. Tatum has commented on it ad nauseam since his Olympic experience, and some people wonder if he'll want to play again in 2028.
Fans, pundits and probably even some members of the Celtics organization had to believe going into the game against Kerr and the Warriors that Tatum was going for his sweet revenge. Drop 50 points on the Dubs. Get the win at home. Maybe even blow out the Warriors as the Celtics are more than capable of doing to good teams. He'd have more opportunities with Jaylen Brown (hip) and Kristaps Porziņģis (foot) missing the game. It seemed like the perfect storm for buckets. He'd get asked about it after the game, say whatever he wants to say, and then move on with the Celtics' title defense for the rest of the season. Or maybe quickly revisit it when the Celtics head to San Francisco. Is it petty? Yes, a little. But the league thrives off petty. Professional sports thrive off petty. Heck, even reality TV was built on petty!
That's not what we got. We got a good game out of him, a dud by the rest of his teammates on offense (except for Neemias Queta), and the Celtics holding the loss. After the game, Tatum was asked about people who wanted him to be more aggressive and treat this game like a "revenge game." Tatum's response was disappointing, at least to me.
"People want me to be loud. People want me to be mean. One thing about Jayson, I'm always going to do what the f -- I want to do. And approach things how I want to approach them."
"That is a lucid, intelligent, well thought-out objection. Overruled!"
I can recognize the approach as mature. Although, when someone is speaking out against criticism and refers to themselves in the third person, I tend to think they're cooked in the argument. Unless that person is Rickey Henderson, who should never stop speaking in the third person. I get that Tatum wanted to take a more measured approach, but you're down two starters and going against the coach many felt embarrassed you in a summer that was supposed to be all celebration after your first title. Go light that man's team up!
Tatum, fairly or unfairly, seems to get hit with the criticism that he's a boring superstar. His celebration on the court when they won the title sounded horribly rehearsed and forced. His part in the Netflix docuseries "Starting 5" really wasn't compelling. He catches a lot of criticism for the way he plays, settling for a lot of hopeful highlight jumpers that emulate his idol, Kobe Bryant. His response to all of that could just be to look at his ring and say he's out to get more banners put up in his arena. This is where I would implore Tatum and other stars around the NBA to embrace revenge games.
It's a long season. It's a season length where we've seen the greatest of the greats make up slights and force false narratives to give themselves extra juice on any given night. Like Michael Jordan completely making up a story about Washington Bullets rookie LaBradford Smith just to motivate him the next time out. While players are coached by PR staffs to not say anything that rocks the boat, that doesn't mean players can't make it obvious on the court and then deny they had that extra motivation of pettiness. As I was thinking about writing a revenge game section for this article (before the Warriors-Celtics game), I started trying to go through the big revenge possibilities around the league. I even asked some friends if they could name bigger revenge game possibilities than Tatum versus Kerr.
It was a resounding "meh" for a response. They thought Tatum v. Kerr was the biggest revenge game going right now. I threw out some possibilities:
All of them were shot down. It was all about Tatum against Kerr, maybe because of recency bias. Wednesday night, Ja Morant was kind enough to tell us he doesn't like the Los Angeles Lakers and wanted to send a message in their 131-114 win over them. Why? Morant said they eliminated him from the playoffs (2023), and last season when he was in street clothes, the Lakers beat up on the Grizzlies and laughed about it in front of him. That's exactly what we need!
You ultimately can't fault Tatum for approaching that game against the Warriors as just another game. But that's mostly if they end up winning the game. They didn't. I think it's fair to ask him when the Celtics head to San Francisco to play the Warriors on Jan. 20 to make it a point to seek revenge. Give us the show we're hoping to get and make it obvious it's about revenge. Even if you deny it after the game.
Do you plan out your weekend around your sports-viewing schedule? You're not alone. Are you the type to want to look like a sports savant by going to your local sports bar, suggesting a game to put on and then reveling in the praise from fellow patrons you'll get for knowing what to watch? You're home. Are you the type to just fly by the seat of your pants and wing it last minute when you remember games are on? Bookmark this and refer to it later! These are the best games to pay attention to this weekend.
And yes, Sunday is loaded with great matchups, so get that dual-screen action going with Red Zone and the NBA.
(All times Eastern)
Minnesota Timberwolves at Chicago Bulls, 8 p.m. on NBA TV: There really isn't much to choose from on Thursday night's slate, but the Bulls have been super competitive to begin this season. The Wolves can't afford to drop games like this, even early in the season, to keep pace in the Wild West. There's always a chance of a Zach LaVine revenge game, too.
Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m. on League Pass: The Warriors have a chance to ruin Cleveland's perfect start to the season, and the Cavs have a chance to make another statement in convincing everybody they're serious title contenders. There is a ton of firepower between the two backcourts, and Draymond Green gets to try to rattle Evan Mobley.
Milwaukee Bucks at New York Knicks, 7:30 p.m. on League Pass: The Bucks can't be bad forever, right? Especially if Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard continue to play well? Eventually this has to lead to victories? Or will the Knicks trounce that terrible Bucks defense and start putting some heat under Doc Rivers' seat?
Phoenix Suns at Dallas Mavericks, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN: Devin Booker. Luka Dončić. We know how much the Suns and the Mavs do not like each other, stemming back to the 2022 NBA Playoffs. We already had the Suns get a little revenge earlier this season with a win at home. Now they go into Dallas for some Friday fireworks.
Houston Rockets at OKC Thunder, 8 p.m. on League Pass: The Thunder just got their first loss, and the Rockets are very dangerous. This is a pretty fun matchup for many reasons, including that these are two of the deepest teams in the league. We've seen Alperen Şengün bully slender big men like Chet Holmgren. We've seen the Thunder go full boa constrictor to clamp down on defense. This could be an old-school defensive throwdown.
Philadelphia 76ers at Los Angeles Lakers, 10 p.m. on ESPN: Paul George is back in Los Angeles, and even though he didn't play for the Lakers, he does love playing in LA. We're not sure if Anthony Davis will be around, and we know Joel Embiid won't play. Time to see if LeBron James against George holds some of the old juice from the Heat-Pacers days.
Brooklyn Nets at Cleveland Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m. on NBA TV: This should be a fun game because Cleveland is good and Brooklyn has been very competitive early on. However, this is only truly interesting if Cleveland is still undefeated. It's also a pretty weak slate for Saturday night.
Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks, 3:30 p.m. on League Pass: A healthy Bucks team wants to prove it's capable of beating the champion Celtics. Boston handled Milwaukee in the second half of their first meeting this season.
New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers, 5 p.m. on League Pass: The Knicks obliterated the Pacers in their first meeting this season. Indiana will still take the playoff wins over this regular-season matchup, but both teams could be competing for home-court advantage in the first-round.
Miami Heat at Minnesota Timberwolves, 7 p.m. on League Pass: This doesn't have the same intrigue as when it was Karl-Anthony Towns against Jimmy Butler. However, the Heat are pretty good, the Wolves can be really good, and Butler back in Minneapolis always brings a fun crowd reaction. We know he loves to troll too.
Golden State Warriors at OKC Thunder, 7 p.m. on League Pass: With the way the Warriors started out, and obviously the Thunder have been tremendous, this could be a fun preview of a playoff series in a few months. These are also two brilliant defensive teams, so I wouldn't expect a ton of points.
Dallas Mavericks at Denver Nuggets, 8 p.m. on League Pass: We love when Dončić and Nikola Jokić square off against each other! And they love facing each other. Plus, this is a potential playoff matchup.
Sacramento Kings at Phoenix Suns, 8 p.m. on League Pass: The Suns are super compelling, and the Kings are a very dangerous team. I think most people would take the Suns' Big Three because of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, but the Kings' Big Three with DeMar DeRozan, De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis is nothing to thumb your nose at. Do people still thumb their noses?
Many of my fellow children of the 1980s were introduced to the reality of the HIV and AIDS epidemic on this date 33 years ago. Today was the day, back in 1991, that Magic Johnson announced to the world he was retiring from the game of basketball after testing positive for HIV. While adults were well aware of HIV and AIDS, I'm not sure how much of that permeated into the rest of society until one of the most beloved athletes of all time was suddenly HIV positive. Back in 1991, this was a sure death sentence for anybody receiving this diagnosis.
We all had an idea that the 32-year old Magic Johnson was nearing the end of his prime, having just been slowed down by Scottie Pippen tremendously in the NBA Finals loss to the Chicago Bulls. By the way, slowed down for Magic meant averaging 18.6 points, 12.4 assists, and 8.0 rebounds on 43.1 percent from the field in the five-game series. That's how great Magic was.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series last month, and we saw Magic, a part-owner, celebrating the title run. Seeing him, I did have that random reminder of all those years just waiting for the bad news. To think he's still with us 33 years after this moment still doesn't make sense to my older millennial brain, but it's a welcomed miracle. Johnson, with his immense wealth, was able to afford the best treatment and health care imaginable. Among many organizations and donors, Magic was able to help research turn this into something far more manageable today than a death sentence.
On a much smaller scale, this wasn't even us saying goodbye to Magic as a basketball player. He played on Team USA in the 1992 Olympics, and he had a brief comeback with the Lakers at the end of the 1995-96 season. He played 32 games (and four playoff games), averaging 14.6 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds as a point-forward. Magic has been one of the greatest figures, personalities and players in professional sports history. Over the last 33 years, he's been even more of an icon and inspiration than his playing days.