I have a request for the Brooklyn Nets.

Please don't get better at defense anytime soon.

No team has more star power at the top of the Marquis than the Nets, usually having three stars.

The magnitude of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

We guarantee at least the trip to the MBA Finals.

But the Nets of one of the worst defensive teams in history, making every team they play look like they've got Durant Harden and nervous.

Here's why.

I don't want him to play defense because this team is so much fun.

Durant and Irving or two of the most fun players to watch ever hard wasn't that much fun in Houston, But now that he's more of a playmaker, he's more entertaining.

It's his hardened got to town.

It's pretty much a guarantee.

One team or another will score 120 points.

There are lots of close games.

It's great theater.

But the biggest reason is great theater star players Facing adversity is something we love about sports.

That Miami Big Three was more interesting than the Curry Durant warriors, mostly because we saw the heat struggle to figure it out.

They took early losses.

And who those were crowd pleasers.

Anything could happen when the Nets play.

They could beat the Bucks and Clippers or lose to the Wizards of Pistons until they start to guard.

That'll be the case, so please don't start.

At least not yet.

So the Dallas Mavericks chose not to play the anthem before any of their dozen or so home games this season.

And nobody noticed or cared until the Internet did.

At which point N B.

A commissioner Adam Silver, had to come out and say, Actually, we must play the anthem before every single n b a game by rule toe, which lots of people asked, Why are we playing the anthem at games at all?

Which I get because this kind of policy can feel like forced patriotism, It can feel like creeping militarization.

And, yeah, it's not like you hear the Star Spangled Banner when you watch an episode of one division.

But I'm just here to admit to you that I actually enjoy the anthem at games.

I enjoyed Marvin Gaye at the 83 All Star Game.

I enjoyed Jon Batiste interpretation that opened the MBA bubble.

But mostly I enjoy this bigger idea that sports is this uniquely civic form of entertainment.

Ah, form that is absolutely flawed, but one that can also bring us together to think, to think about how the freedom to peacefully and personally protest racism inequality is kind of the entire point of the song itself.

That's what all the land of the free stuff actually means.

You just have to listen like a family on a fixed budget.

Adding a luxury yacht.

The MBA and It's Players Association have decided to bet on themselves in order to provide the decadent midseason treat that such an embraced part of MBA tradition on its surface, All Star Night appears to be one of the most obvious of money grabs during televised sports is collective tightrope walk to keep promises toe one of its rights holders, TNT, the MBA and It's Players Association have agreed to a March 7th game in Atlanta, home to Turner and it's broadcast crew.

The players will be flown in and out on private planes while significantly condensing the usual time spent at All Star weekend and remaining in a bubble like environment.

And while LeBron James has been among those vocalizing their displeasure.

There is another perfectly reasonable side to this.

The union has voiced by Chris Paul is making decisions with the quote, full body of players in mind.

And even if you believe that it's a bunch of non all stars voting to put the All Stars at risk for everyone else's financial benefit, the MBA is still doing its best to protect players players who often traveled during this break.

Anyway, it's basically no different than when every NBA team is currently trying to do in the regular season.

In fact, it's probably safer if you argue it's unnecessary.

So is everything else we're doing here.

There are so many ways to contemplate Super Bowl 55 Tom Brady's win for the Ages and aged about this.

The day before the game, the great Charles Woodson was selected for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, which means he's been retired for five years.

Woodson had a long and glorious career in the NFL, including this, and he'll be in trying in the hall this summer, at which time Tom Brady will be in training camp Brady and Woodson College teammates born just 10 months apart.

In my book, there's only 1 40 something who compares to Brady.

George Foreman.

Big George was nearly 46 when he reclaimed the heavyweight championship a mere 20 years nearly to the day after losing it to Mohammed Ali, wearing, incidentally, the same trunks in both fights.

The difference is that George spent 10 of those 20 years in retirement, while Tom just keeps punching every year, relentlessly haunting his opponents, defying the aging process, compelling us to create new modes of appreciation for his excellence.

We all laughed about the possibility of Brady playing until he was 47.

Now that goal seems not only attainable but, frankly, unambitious.

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