Passionate Greed (Nets 106 Bulls 89)

"I would play but I got way too much bread in my pockets bruh!"

Pope Paul VI gave it to boyz like this, “All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today.” The famous psychiatrist, Thomas Szasz, spit that fire when he said, “It is easier to do one’s duty to others than to one’s self. If you do your duty to others, you are considered reliable. If you do your duty to yourself, you are considered selfish.” The Cuban poet, Jose Marti, shut the building down with this joint, “A selfish man is a thief.”

I’ve been saying for the past month that Derrick Rose was selfish and is stealing money but boyz in Chi-town have continuously been defending this dun! The Bulls medical staff cleared him to play more than a month ago and he’s yet to TRY to put on a uniform! On Saturday the Brooklyn Nets blew the doors off of the Bulls 106-89 and the score was in no way indicative of the beat down that they actually took.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1^st! Joakim Noah was out there with a split in his foot and tried to go but was eventually sidelined after a quick 14 minutes. Now I hear some clown in a Derrick Rose jersey, sneakers and underwear screaming from the roof tops, “There’s a difference between a torn ACL and a split foot!” There sure is playboy and when you show me the dun with the torn ACL I’ll agree with you because Derrick Rose ain’t him.

He’s completely healthy according to not only the medical staff but by his own admission. He’s telling boyz that he’s just not mentally ready to play. You can’t even tell that to cats playing in the park without getting beat up bruh! Where you from and wheredeydodatat? Not to mention being a professional athlete that has already signed a $95 million contract with the Bulls for GUARANTEED MONEY! Don’t let me forget the $200 million joint that was signed last year with Adidas.

He was sitting on the bench last night looking stupid as his boyz were getting the brakes tore off of them. Why? Because he really wants to play but his brother is calling the shots! If we gone talk playboy then let’s talk. When your brother is your manager with no experience of managing anything prior to you becoming a professional athlete it only makes sense that you’ll get bad advice pimpin’! It's like when Master P tried to be a sports agent and got Ricky Williams to the worse contract known to man. Stay in your lane homie!

The problem is, his brother isn’t the superstar getting blasted because Derrick's name is the one on the marquee. See his brother is looking out for HIS income and not Derrick's career as a player and his reputation. Because on some real talk, Jordan would be playing! Kobe would be playing! LeBron would have no other choice but to be playing. King James would be getting crucified right now for pulling that foolishness.

How in the world do you think that it’s OK to get PAID to do a job and not do it ON ANY LEVEL? That’s like a cat telling his boss down at the car wash that he’s healthy enough to come back to work but he’s just not mentally prepared to work yet. Now who do you know that is mentally prepared to go to work bruh? Nobody wants to freaking go to work but we all have to. Not everybody has a $300 million option to sit on playa.

Didn't both Shaun Elliot and Alonzo Mourning have organ transplants and came back to play? Ole boy Jeff Green from the Boston Celtics had open heart surgery and came back faster than this dun! Now wouldn't organ transplants and open heart surgery be worse than an ACL? If we gone talk ACL Adrian Peterson came back to play FOOTBALL where boyz are TRYING to hit you and pealed off 2,000 yards in less than a year! So stop the madness playboy!

 Boyz would respect Derrick in the morning if he would have at least TRIED to come back and had a setback. Great players compete playboy, not make excuses. Great players lead bruh, not sit in the cut and let duns make decisions for them. Do you think that some cat would have been able to keep Jordan from playing? Do you think for one minute Bill Russell would have let his brother tell him that he needs to wait ‘til next year when his team was still playing in the PLAYOFFS and he’s healthy? Are you kidding me?

If he’s got $300 million in the bank the future is secure. He’s a basketball player and playing is what basketball players do. Don’t tell me that he’s worried about his future because his future is on lock. The only reason duns go the league early is to secure their future's. The only reason players don’t take chances is because they’re waiting for the huge payday. Once it comes in boyz are free to get it in. If it were a contract year he'd be out there diving for loose balls and dunking on everything moving. If I'm lyin' I'm dyin' bruh!

What’s happening with this cat is that the passionate greed of his brother has taken over and he’ll suffer as a result of it! Isn't his brother the same dun that was screaming about the Bulls not making moves at the trade deadline this past All-Star break? So if he’s so worried about the team winning why does he have his boy chillin’ when he could have been playing a month ago and he'd be ready to help them make a playoff run by now? It’s called selfishness. I’m preaching but y’all ain’t listening!

Don’t think for one minute that Joakim isn’t gonna blast this cat as soon as Kenny and Charles gives them the fishing pole. He went out there and gave everything he had on a bum foot and ole boy has been healthy for more than a month and he’s not fired up? Think again! Don’t forget last week he was "Chillaxin" in the luxury suite at the United Center while his team was playing. Stop me when I start lyin’!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
The quote under the caption isn't real.

The Ghetto Child's Anthem

"That's cool! Cuz I'm gonna be even better than before! Thanks!"

Elbert Hubbard, the writer and philosopher, once said, “A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.” Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Roman Stoic philosopher born in 4 BC, kept it real by saying, “It is a tough road that leads to the heights of greatness.” Dorothy Height, the civil rights activist, blew boyz away with this one, “Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.”

On Wednesday night the Chicago Bulls ended the second longest winning streak in the history of American pro sports by beating the Miami Heat 101-97.  The boyz from South Beach were going after their 28th straight win when the inevitable happened. They suddenly reminded us that they were human.

 George Washington in speaking to his troops during the Revolutionary War said, “We may have lost the battle but we won the war.” That’s what LeBron and the leadership on that team needs to be focusing on playboy. The streak was a good time but it wasn’t the goal because they don’t give out rings for breaking winning streaks.

It’s like hangin’ out with a fine woman that brings absolutely nothing to the table but her looks. She makes the ride look good when you pull up but you never had any real intentions of marrying her. It was good while it lasted but now you’re on to the business at hand and that’s getting a ring.

Give big props to the Chi for showing up and playing a great and physical ball game. They brought it to LeBron especially and rattled him with hard fouls that should have been called as flagrant but that’s the way the joint goes sometimes. You gotta play through the foolishness and control the controllable. They got killed on the glass (43-31) all night long and made ole dull Carlos Boozer look like a freaking Hall of Famer with 21 points and 17 rebounds! Yes, I said Carlos Boozer! The dun that wore shoe polish on his head during a game on national television last year? That dun!

Jimmy Butler played like an All-Star making big shot after big shot finishing with 17 points. Luol Deng jumped out of the ride with 28 and Nate the Great added 14 still strapped in the car seat. They played a complete game and always remember that it’s the freaking NBA playa. You gotta know that you’re capable of getting beat at any time. So to see the streak end wasn’t surprising but it sure was fun to watch.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! I’m watching all of these clowns today talking crazy about the Heat losing and not realizing what they’ve actually done. They’ve gotten better as a team bruh! In order to become great you’ve got to overcome obstacles and they’ve done just that along the way. Losing a game doesn’t change anything in the East playboy. If nothing else, it makes it that much more difficult for everybody else.

Any time a team can go on a darn near 2 month winning streak, erasing 7 double-digit deficits and coming from behind 11 times to win 27 straight games is not good for the rest of the league. It’s like a boy showing up to college, Corporate America or any job for that matter, coming from G.I. or any hood in America after surviving the war of the streets and the dysfunction of everyday life. You don’t want any part of him because he knows what’s on the other side and doesn’t want to go back.

There is a fire burning inside that makes him out work and out hustle everyone else that few people will ever understand. That’s the Heat right now homeboy. They understand what it takes to win and they also realize that the world doesn’t want them to. That’s the ghetto child’s anthem and it plays all day everyday. Don’t ever give a boy another reason to be even more successful than he already is. Trust me!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
 Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Hittin' a Lick

"That's on my momma! That's on everything I love homie!"

Vince Lombardi once said, “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” You know Babe Ruth was probably drunk at the time but he spit some fire when he said this, “The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” John Wooden shut the building down when he said, “The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”

The Miami Heat is definitely playing like a team where all attitudes have been left at the crib or at least checked at the door playboy. It’s all about winning and nothing else seems to matter. On Monday night they stretched their win streak to 23 games by winning a battle in Boston 105-103.

The Celtics' Jeff Green came into the joint shooting like a gangsta at a house party. This dun had like 26 points at the half and finished with a career high 43! He was unstoppable and I think that he had boyz shook early on because they weren’t expecting him to come out of the back room on ‘um like that. It was like a hood set up when a bad chick you barely know invites a boy over and her dude and his homie’s are hiding in the closet. As soon as the unsuspecting dun gets comfortable they jump out and rob him or worse. It’s called hittin’ a lick pimpin’ and that’s what Boston thought they had come up on because they thought Miami was just cool with just winning 22 in a row.

What they didn’t realize was that ole boy didn’t come through alone! As soon as he smelled trouble he gave the signal and his homie’s came through the door shooting from all angles. LeBron unloaded 37 points, picked off 7 rebounds and threw 12 dimes causing the room to fill up with smoke. Mario Chalmers let 21 go while D. Wade was a marksman with 16 and Bosh jumped out of the ride with 13 when they needed it most. Battier and Haslem didn't shoot much but kept the ski masks on as they knocked cats out for trying to run out of the back door when the joint got thick!

The Heat, who is one of the best teams in the league at fast break points, only managed 6 points in transition. However, the jaw breaker came on a monster yoke by LeBron on Jason Terry. Ole boy caught all 6’8” 260 lbs in mid-air and it looked he had gotten shot in the back the way he laid out in the floor!

LeBron picked up the taunting technical foul but that was cool because sometimes you gotta let a boy know that you’re in the building and that you’re leaving with his girl anyway! Even when his intent was to jack YOU for your new Jordan’s, jewelry and whip sittin’ on 24’s and shinin’!  

A real G never rides alone and that’s what ole girl didn’t realize when she invited LeBron over last night! It takes an entire team to win at the level that these cats are playing at right now. A superstar riding alone is mark but a stud ridin’ deep is a threat to the community of thugs looking for a come up. Mickey Mantle must have grown up in the hood because he was on point when he broke this down, “A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide.”

Boston put up a fight 'til the end but I just wanna hear from all of the duns that keep saying LeBron is afraid to take "The Last Shot!" All I know is that with 10.5 seconds left as he was walking out of the door after slaughtering boyz in the Garden he let one go to blow the joint up! Unless you ridin’ deep out here the Miami Heat ain’t playin’ and cheap come ups using old tactics won’t keep these boyz from winning another title! Stop me when I start lyin’ bruh!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves 
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Staples Center East

"Dawg, you playin' on that? Gotta set the example bruh!"

John D. Rockefeller spit this one on freestyle Friday, “Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.” John c. Maxwell the famous author, speaker and pastor said it this way, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” The abolitionist, Henry Ward Beecher, shut the building down with this one bruh, “Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.”

Boyz would have completely understood if the Black Mamba would have excused himself from play on Friday night in Indy seeing that he had a cantaloupe strapped to his ankle. The Lake Show came to Indianapolis complete with team, multiple broadcast squads for English and Spanish along with what looked like the entire freaking Staples Center bruh to beat the Pacers 99-93!

 Kobe rolled into Bankers Life Fieldhouse literally for shoot around. The average dun would have been chillin’ at the hotel for less than that but not Kobe Bryant. He talks the talk but on Friday night he walked the walk playboy! Nothing but mad love for this cat for being the ultimate team leader when boyz would have given him a pass, especially after looking at that ankle. It looked like Jack Spade’s big toe in I’m Gonna Get You Sucka.

Everyone was waiting to see what he was going to do because it made no sense to play on it but he had already put himself out there earlier in the season by telling Dwight that he has to learn how to play through injury. D’Antoni even said in the pre-game press conference that they would look at it with the medical staff and then KOBE would determine what HE was gonna do. Make no mistake about it pimpin', Kobe is driving the Bentley at all times! So you knew ole boy was going to play and start before they even released it to the media.

He knew that he couldn’t go but he was making a statement to his teammates and that’s called great leadership! He only played 12 minutes but that 12 minutes put fire into some average Joe’s for lack of a better word! Steve Blake and Antawn Jamison combined for 35 points off of the bench. Blake hit five 3-pointers finishing with 18 to put in the collection plate and Jamison threw in 17 while connecting on four 3’s. Metta World Peace bogarted boyz for 19 and picked off 7 rebounds. That was all Kobe Bryant setting the example, “If this cat can hobble into this joint we gotta step our game up playa.” 

"It's called sacrifice!"

Granted the Mamba was 0-4 and finished scoreless for only the 15^th time in his 17 year career but he was very instrumental in winning that game. He became the player coach on the sideline the rest of the night and boyz were feeling him. On some real talk, he really didn’t have to say a word. His actions for that quick 12 minutes was all the Lakers needed to go out and beat the Pacers that have the No. 2 defense and the fifth best home record in the league.

Well, it really wasn’t a home game for the Pacers. They just happened to play in Indy that’s all. That joint was Staples Center East! There were literally more Lakers fans in the joint than Pacers fans. The city of Indianapolis should be ashamed of itself bruh! I spoke on it yesterday in the joint entitled "United States?" Not only did the Lakers take over, they brought their own male and female groupies too.

 I’ve never seen so many dudes wearing one cat’s jersey in my life. Give the Black Mamba his props because he’s a beast but check yo self fool! I saw straight up gangstas falling apart because this dun looked there way and said what’s up! C’mon bruh! Really!! Then you gone run back out in the streets and try to be hard in two hours. Wheredeydodatat?

To play for the Lakers is like being in the Beatles in the 1960’s homeboy! It’s a traveling road show and for the life of me I can’t understand why Buster Brown won’t commit to playing in LA. It doesn’t get any better for a professional basketball player than the Lakers! That’s some real unadulterated, unmitigated talk for you playa.

Now can you finally understand why I call him Buster Brown? Who “thinks” about playing for the Lakers when you never have to play a road game and you’ve got groupies coming out of the walls to get at you more than on any other team in the league? SMH

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Roller Skates

"I bet that dun did it on purpose!"

Robert Anthony once said, “When you blame others, you give up your power to change.” The German philosopher, Freidrich Nietzsche, shut the building down with this one, “Undeserved praise causes more pangs of conscience later than undeserved blame, but probably only for this reason, that our power of judgment are more completely exposed by being over praised than by being unjustly underestimated.” Big Momma just walked in and said, “Stop blaming other folks and take it like a G when something bad happens.”

Kobe Bryant attempted a baseline jumper that would have forced overtime with 3.9 seconds remaining that didn’t fall in a close loss 96-92 to the Atlanta Hawks. Instead, he fell or came down on defender Dahntay Jones’ foot and severely twisted his ankle.  

In typical Kobe fashion he blamed Dahntay for the injury. After the game he said that the refs need to do a better job of protecting shooters from defenders who go underneath them while shooting.

This dun goes on to say, "As defensive players, you can contest shots, but you can't walk underneath players. That's dangerous for the shooter." Then he later tweeted, "#dangerousplay that should have been called. Period." Like ole boy wasn’t gonna see it or just let that ride.

So Dahntay being a real G came right back at him on Tweeter with, "Tape doesn't lie. Ankle was turned on the floor after the leg kick out that knocked him off balance. I would never try to hurt the man.” He later threw this joint out there too, "Leg kick that makes contact with a defensive player is an offense foul. Period. The nba changed that rule 2 yrs ago. Stop it!"

On some real talk, that whole back and forth on Tweeter was code! Kobe had already spoken to the media about it. So to throw it out on Tweeter with the "PERIOD." Was code for that dun did it on purpose and I'm calling him out. In essence, Kobe was being a Twitter gangster flying to Indiana for the Pacer game on Wednesday night. Dahntay's response was code for, "forget you Kobe" and that's the edited version!

If he was really that fired up about it, he would have pulled a Melo and waited on Dahntay at the bus instead of getting on Twitter. Stop me when I start lyin'!

What trips me out about the Black Mamba is that he thinks that he can say whatever he wants to a boy and it’s gonna be cool! Listen up playboy, everybody doesn’t play on your team and is afraid of getting traded because you’re the franchise. Big props to Dahntay for hittin’ him off for suggesting that he intentionally tried to hurt him. Whether it was a foul or not is irrelevant. My problem is that way ole boy tried to handle it on Twitter.  

This ain't Smush Parker playboy that's no longer in the league! He's gonna step to the wrong cat and they're gonna give him a Chris Childs two piece and a biscuit super sized to go.

It’s a game that has some contact and things happen sometimes bruh! Sure, Jalen Rose got him the same way back in the 2000 NBA Finals and later admitted that it was in fact intentional. On some real talk, there was a lot more at stake than a dull Wednesday night joint in Atlanta.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1^st! Kobe has always tried to be Jordan from the day he walked into the league. From the way he walks, chews gum, throws his fist in the air after big shots, to the way he does interviews. So why are we surprised that ole boy finds reasons to be mad at boyz to motivate himself? He’s already talking about revenge for next year because they don’t play them again until then. That’s cool but that’s the way the game is played pimpin’! Take it like a G and move on. 

I can hear all of the delusional Kobe fans calling me a hater right now. Don’t give this dun a pass for coming at ole boy sideways. Cats get hurt all of the time. It’s part of the game bruh! Rehab that joint and keep bangin’ to make the playoffs cuz you know Buster Brown can't handle the pressure of carrying the load.  Whining about it isn’t gonna change anything to get him on the floor any sooner.

All I know is that fans in Indy are fired up this morning because they’ve been stinging boyz for those Lakers tickets to see the Black Mamba and there’s a great possibility that he won’t even be in the building on Friday! See $899 for good seats is nothing in LA but in Indiana that’s a mortgage payment and groceries! For that type of bread Kobe better put on some roller skates, an air cast and play at least 3 quarters, throw down 4 monster dunks, sign autographs, have dinner with cats, exchange phone numbers, drive them to the crib, play a couple of rounds of spades and give boyz $4.35 in change back. Stop me when I start lyin’!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

The Mamba

"What? Y'all thought I lost it bruh?"

The motivational speaker and author Denis Waitley once said, “Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.” Amelia Earhart was feeling it when she said, “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.”  Big Momma just simply said, “Baby, it’s yo life, what you gone do with it?”

Well, the Black Mamba guaranteed boyz that the Lakers would make the playoffs even though they looked a hot mess a month ago. With a 99-98 win over the Hawks on Sunday they’re sitting at .500! For those that had problems in math and can’t understand what that is. They’ve got the same number of wins as losses bruh! In other words, if you stack bricks up in two piles they have to be the same height playboy. They’re 30-30 at this point and one game out of the 8th playoff spot in the West.

Kobe put these cats on his back and scored 11 or his 34 points in the fourth quarter and hit a layup to take the lead with 9 seconds left. However, the show stoppa came when ole boy drove past Josh Smith and threw down a one handed yoke like he was 25 instead of 34! The Mamba is in the building!

As much as I dislike this cat for being a snitch or like Big Momma used to say “being a mouth keeper”, that’s short for keeping other folks name in his mouth i.e. Shaq, I can’t hate on his game bruh! So since we’re only talking "game," Ima give him a pass today. Hey, don't look at me funny! If you were ridin' dirty and you saw that dun walking down the street. You wouldn't pull over and give him a ride either. That's real talk!

"I just had to attack," Bryant said. "I wanted to attack and just go right at them. Take the game to them. Be aggressive. Be physical. And it worked out."

Kobe’s aggression sparked his supporting cast to have solid performances too. Steve Nash put 15 in the kitty and threw in 10 dimes while Buster Brown came through with a measly 11 points. That's just enough to buy the chips and salsa but he did grab 15 boards so boyz will let him stay for the party... this time.

 I know y’all feeling me on that? Don’t you hate when you have a party when most REAL cats come through with a case of whatever duns are drinking and it never fails that some clown rings the doorbell and hands you some chips and walks in. That’s Dwight Howard bruh. I’m just sayin’!

Now let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! In order for the Lakers to make the playoffs they’ve got to win another 18 games. Normally the team in the 8th spot wins about 48 games. If they can get in they’ve got a legitimate shot at doing something in the first round against San Antonio. Why? Because Tony Parker will be sidelined with an ankle injury for at least a month. When he does come back he won’t be in any game shape for at least another month and he’s the engine that makes the Spurs run.

So at this point all the Lakers have to do is make the playoffs to make it a respectable season because they could literally get to the 2nd round in the West before the wheels come off of the joint! In the meantime and in between time it should be fun to watch Kobe put these boyz on his back and give Buster Brown the business for not taking the hunt seriously because you know that he won’t! He'll be the dun in the middle of the forest when the buffalo runs up with his bullets are still in his pockets! Stop me when I start lyin'!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Out-Of-Town Shooter

"Are you kidding me?"

Victor Sweet shut the building down in the movie Four Brothers when he said, “You don't pay a working girl for love. You pay her to leave. What do you pay out-of-town shooters to do? You pay them to get back out of town. That’s why I asked for out-of-town shooters. What’d I get? In-town shooters! Someone decided to hire in-town shooters. You know what else I get for my money? In-town police. In-town trouble. 

Well last night the Golden State Warriors  hired an out-of-town shooter named Steph Curry to come into Madison Square Garden and this dun kept his finger on the trigger scoring an NBA season high 54 points before taking an “L” 109-105 to the New York Knicks. This cat was 18 of 28 from the field, finishing just one 3-pointer shy of the NBA record dropping 11 out of 13 attempts homeboy! Talk about feeling it! 

Ole Steph was pulling up from Brooklyn on a couple of those joints bruh. He even threw one from the projects at Mary J's old crib out in Yonkers! This boy was on some old Jackson Five Dancing Machine type joints, “Automatic Systematic.” He played all 48 minutes and even managed to throw 7 dimes and pick up 6 rebounds in the process. 

"I felt good all night. Obviously played the whole game, so was just trying to keep my legs underneath me on the offensive end, and you know, just stick to the game on the defensive end," he said. "Once I started seeing that 3-ball go down in transition, all sorts of spots on the floor, I knew it was going to be a good night."

All he needed was his boy David Lee who was suspended for body rubbing and hand touching with ole goofy Roy Hibbert on Tuesday night against the Pacers. These duns in the NBA now days are bigger stronger and faster but don’t know how to get it in like they used to do back in the day. At a minimum 15 to 20 years years ago somebody would have been bleeding from getting cold cocked out there! I always say, “If you gone get in trouble get in trouble.” Don’t get suspended or arrested for looking like you did something. This cat is sitting out for fighting and he didn’t even fight. 

Believe me playboy, if you walked past the principal's office and I was sitting in it in elementary school. The other cat was in the nurses office with a cold pack on his eye, mouth or both! See at that point I was cool with them calling my folks because if I was gonna take an “L” at the crib. I took satisfaction in knowing that ole boy was already marked up and he had to take an "L" at the crib too. In other words, he got three whippings because the principal got his licks in too!  

So without David Lee, Steph’s 54 points still came up short. With 1:05 left the Knicks got the stop they needed to finally shut the faucet off on this cat. By then the crib was flooded and all the furniture was a wrap but they were able to save the valuables and important documents. Raymond Felton came up big with the block they needed to walk out of the joint with a win. 

"My main thing is to keep playing. Like I said, once a guy gets it going like that, there's nothing I can really do. I've still got to stay in my mindset, still play my game, and I was still able to come up with some big plays at the end," Felton said. "We all came up with some big plays to get that win."

Because Curry went HAM cats didn’t even see that Melo was ballin' too and put up 35 in a battle! It’s like Destiny’s Child at the Super Bowl especially, and well, for the last 17 years for that matter. With Beyoncé being is so fine, boyz just kept sleepin' on Kelly! They gotta be in separate rooms for you to appreciate how fine she is too. I can hear the real cats in the background saying it now, “I’ve been telling boyz that for years!” I can also hear Victor Sweet saying, “He actually showed up. And they say there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Evan, I said pistol! Uh no $#&%*!” 

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves 
Get @ me on Twitter:@jaygravesreport

"Dadgummit"

Sorry playboy, I'm in a zone and you gotta get worked too!"

The French clarinetist Paul J. Meyer once said, “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” Confucius hollered at the boyz and gave ‘em this, “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential…these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.  Aristotle told the cats at the car wash, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Because boyz have missed his rims the last two times through and he likes to floss.

Well the Miami Heat looks to be on that mission for excellence as they ran through the Oklahoma City Thunder like it was practice 110-100. The score was in no way indicative of the complete carjacking that they put on Kevin Durant and his boyz. LeBron dropped 39-12-7 and narrowly missed shooting at 60% to extend the streak of going for 30 or more points with deadly accurate shooting 7 straight games. Ole boy missed a 3 with just over a minute left when the shot clock was expiring with the Heat up by 10. So he had to settle for shooting at a mere 58%. In my Bobby Bowden voice, “Dadgummit!”

More importantly, the Heat put the Thunder and the rest of the NBA on notice bruh! We are the defending NBA champions and we're still the team to beat, if that’s even possible in a best of 7 series. The Heat are 6-0 against the Thunder in the last 6 meetings and LeBron has averaged 30.2 points, 8.2 dimes and 10.3 rebounds. Well, I guess all of the foolish MVP talk of Durant being in the hunt got on the plane with LeBron last night huh? Just pack that joint up now and send it to Miami and we’ll find something else to argue about after the All-Star break.  Like how many playoff games it’s gonna take for the Heat to win another title?

Will somebody please tell me why D. Wade always ends up on his back after he shoots? He must have an inner ear infection or Veritgo of something that’s only triggered by shooting the freaking ball.  I swear that dun drives me crazy lying flat of his back all night long! While Chris Bosh put a respectable 20 in the kitty Wade came through with only 13.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! For $17 million Wade’s got to bring at least 20 to the party every night and cut down on the smoke breaks homeboy. Trying to win a 2nd straight title ain’t no joke so all hands on deck including the snow angel himself, Dwayne Wade!

It should be fun to watch down the stretch because the rest of the East will be gunning for these boyz. However, if Miami continues to play at a high level they’ll have no problem repeating as NBA Champions because nobody has an answer for LeBron! His supporting case just have to show up and keep the water out of the boat and just allow him to steer! Just like boyz do in the hood when a dun's car stops in the middle of the street! His crew gets out and pushes and the cat behind the wheel just steers it all the way to the crib!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter:@jaygravesreport

Juicy

"In my Puffy voice, Take that! Take that!"

Plato once said, “For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.” Napoleon Hill broke it down like this, “If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self. The O.G. in the barber shop always said, “If you don’t believe in yourself nobody will and if you don't, these boyz will strip you naked out here.”

Well the Indiana Pacers are believing in self or believing in something playboy after completely mauling the Miami Heat for the second time this season 102-89. Cats thought that it was fluke when they won the first meeting by double figures 87-77 which held the Heat to a season low point total. In the Pacers Biggie voice, “If you don’t know now you know, know!”

The Pacers never trailed in this joint after the first quarter and completely went into car jackin' mode bruh! When the Heat pulled up in the Bugatti bumpin’ that Junior Mafia “Get Money” because LeBron was talkin’ about how cats don’t give him credit for taking less money to play in Miami. The Pacers put on the ski masks and decided to take whatever he and his boyz were traveling with. When they stopped at the light David West started bustin’ and unloaded 30 on them before they even realized what hit them.

Paul George hit 'em up on the passenger side with 15 and played both ends of the ride like an All-Star. Before you knew it they had the Heat stretched out in the middle of the street going through their pockets and taking off their jewelry. The only dun that put up a fight was LeBron letting off his usual 28 as he watched his boy D. Wade disappear once again for a smoke break in the bushes across the street. He's over there complaining to the refs instead of playing defense. I’m still trying to figure out how this dun got out of the ride before they got hit. He finally let off 17 but it wasn’t enough if he’s gonna keep ridin’ shotgun making the type of bread they're paying him.

 Even with the Heat pulling up with some shooters they seemed to never get off a shot. In my Victor Sweet voice from the movie Four Brothers, “I asked for out-of-town shooters. Why? So they can get out-of-town. What I get? In-town shooters! If I get in-town shooters, I get in-town police, if I get in-town police, I get in-town problems.”  Well they definitely had in-town problems last night pimpin'! The Pacers defense made ole Ray Allen look like an in-town shooter for real! He played 27 minutes and went 0-4 from the field. This dun must have just closed his eyes and started shooting in the air in all of the confusion. He hit the stop sign on the end of the block a couple of times but that was it.

"They already took my jewelry man!"

Shane Battier tried to get out and help with 11 points but David West pushed him around all night long playboy! It was ridiculous the way he was man handling this cat. Did I mention the fact that Chris Bosh never even tried to get out of the ride? He just started taking his jewelry off when they ran up. I even saw this clown write down his home address and tell a boy, “When you finish you can come down to my crib and clean that out too.”  He had 13 points and 2 rebounds! How in the world are you darn near 7 feet tall and come out of the joint with 2 rebounds? The freaking ball will hit you in the face coming off of the rim more than twice if you’re that tall bruh! The Pacers defense is a beast right now playa!

Before you knew it the Pacers had car jacked their 13th straight victim at the crib and put boyz on notice that they ain’t nothing to play with come playoff time. Talk about being efficient! The Pacers shot a season high 55.7% from the field in the process of leaving the Bugatti on blocks and gutting it before running the Heat out of town. The Eastern Conference just got real interesting son and the Pacers don't even have Danny Granger yet! The question is, when he comes back will he mess up the chemistry? So between now and then I can hear the Pacers bumpin' that Biggie, "I'm blowin' up like you thought I would, call the crib, same number, same hood, it's all good!"

It's still a long season and the playoffs are a completely different animal! So let's just wait and see who believes in "self" more in May and June!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Tom Foolery

"Tell ya boy Reggie to keep my name out of his mouth!"

The famous French writer of the 1600’s, Francois de la Rochefoucauld, once said, “The intellect is always fooled by the heart.” Big Momma said it this way, “Baby, your eyes are way bigger than your stomach.” The old Italians used to say, "If you gone talk the talk! You gotta walk the walk." The playas in the hood simply broke it down like this, “Don’t write checks your butt can’t cash pimpin’!”

Well, ole Reggie Evans learned the hard way on Wednesday night as LeBron James and the Miami Heat came through the Barclays Center and rocked the joint like Jay-Z beatin’ the brakes off of the Brooklyn Nets 105-85. The Heat have beaten these cats 3 times this year by a combined 63 points. What was so crazy was that Reggie Evans of the Nets was talkin’ trash to LeBron in the media before the game! “Who?” Some dun named Reggie from Pensacola. “Ruthy Mae’s baby boy?” I guess! “Oh that clears that up huh?” SMH

This clown told the Daily News that he wasn’t impressed with the Heat winning the NBA championship because it was a lockout season. We went on to say and I quote, "Our team is defending the Miami Heat. If our team has to defend one person, LeBron isn't going to score nothing. LeBron is no different from Joe Johnson or Andray Blatche. No different.”

So LeBron went out and hit ‘em up like Tupac for 24-9-7 as he’s gone 17-0 verses the Nets after starting his career 6-10 against them. He’s scored 20 points in the last 20 games against these clowns and you’ve got a scrub talking noise to the best player on the planet? Wheredeydodatat?

 It would be different if it were Kobe or Durant talking. At least you would say, “Well LeBron better bring his B+ game tonight!" But cats that can get down already know how hard it is to win a title and they already know that LeBron ain’t no joke! So that won’t EVER happen and Kobe’s got 5 rings! It's called RESPECT or around my way, "Game Recognizing Game!"

See ole Reg was sitting around with all of his homeboys that he’s currently sponsoring because he’s the only one that made it out. You know the drill. Now the whole crew is living better off of him in the Big Apple. You know these duns were sittin’ up smoking weed, playing video games and a boy just hollered out, “LeBron ain’t nothin’! You can take him son! (Boyz have picked up a little NY lingo now.) He a man just like you Reg!”, and there it was! He showed up, gased up and a boy threw a mic in his face and he drowned.

Let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! How do you talk crazy to a boy and not score a single point in the game you're hyped up about? How do you even fix your mouth to woof when you’re averaging 3.2 points per game, .5 assists, .09 blocks and .82 steals? Those ain’t even whole numbers playboy! It should be illegal to be in the stat column with fractions! I say David Stern should fine this dun for impersonating a professional basketball player.

To get .5 steals is like you stole the joint and then felt bad about it and gave it back. How do they even record .09 blocks playa? That’s like saying you thought about blocking it, then on the way up you changed your mind and just waived. How does this dun even get to travel with the team with .82 steals? It’s like you tried to steal the little old lady’s purse and she Rodney King’d you with her cane until the police showed up.

Let this be a lesson to all the cats that are simply lucky to be in the league! See everybody in the NBA can ball. The difference is that superstars like LeBron, Kobe and Durant can ball with somebody talkin’ trash and guarding them. See this Reggie character thought he was going down to the Rucker to play LaBrandon James that has a shoe deal with Zips instead of LeBron James, King James if ya nasty! LeBron may as well have pulled a fake rat out of his pocket because that dun disappeared at the tip! Now go head on with that Tom Foolery.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Running Scared

"Ima call my momma too cuz they keep messin' with me!"

Winston Churchill once said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” The British author J.K. Rowling chimed in with this, “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” Old man Mr. Willie that sat in the vacant lot always said, “If you keep letting these boys punk you every morning it’s gonna always be a long walk to school baby boy.”

At some point y’all are gonna listen to me bruh! I told you back before the season started that Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant could not play together. Kobe is like the old man that’s been working in the mill for 35 years and doesn’t care how abrasive he comes across because he’s about to retire. Dwight is as soft as drug store cotton candy mentally and he’s the cat that Mr. Willie watched get beat up every morning on the way to school because he wouldn’t stand up for himself.

On Wednesday before they took an “L” in Memphis 106-93 the Lakers held a team meeting to address any problems and to air out any differences. Both Steve Nash and Kobe spoke up. The Black Mamba went right at Buster Brown to ask him if he was bothered playing alongside of him according to the LA Times. In hood terms he essentially asked if he had a problem with him. Of course, ole Dwight was despondent and did not offer much of a reply according to a team source.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st!  Real cats can’t hang out with busters. It’s something about the way the cosmos is structured playa. They can’t occupy the same space and when they are forced into the same space there is an erosion of both elements. The real cat becomes so irritated by the buster that he can’t function naturally and the buster just gives up and falls apart.

Now let me use the term "REAL CAT" loosely when referring to Kobe Bryant because he's a mark too but just not on the court! Boyz forget all about how he violated the code when he threw Shaq under the bus when he initially got arrested in that whole sexual assault joint. It was like if they were playing hide and seek as kids and both Shaq and Kobe were hiding in the bushes but Kobe's feet were sticking out. They catch HIM and he jumps out of the bushes and says, "Come on man! They caught US!" Naw playa they caught YOU!

During the first half of the game Dwight complained about a shoulder injury and did not play in the second. This dun wasn’t anymore hurt during the game than he was before the joint started! His feelings were hurt more than anything because a real competitive dun stepped to him and took what was left of his manhood. Whenever you let a cat step to you and ask you if you’ve got a problem with him in front of boyz and you crawl into a shell like a turtle it’s a wrap. He may as well have taken off all of his jewelry and gave it to him.

Stop looking at sports as just being sports homeboy! On some real talk, its real life in those locker rooms with cats from REAL hoods, suburbs and rural areas. Let’s be honest, a typical NBA or NFL locker room is more than 65% made up of hood cats that all come together to play a game. Just because a boy is playing pro ball doesn’t mean that he left his natural instincts at the crib. I don’t care how much bread you put on top of a situation natural instincts that a cat came up with are always going to rise to the top at the end of the day.

There are affiliations and sets in every locker room! In the suburbs they call them cliques but however you decide to spell them they exist. So depending on what you have in there is what you’re going to get on the floor. The set that runs the locker room runs the team and that gives you the product on the floor. If boyz are naturally aggressive then you'll have an aggressive team. If you've got a bunch of passive busters then you'll have a soft team getting mugged every night by the more aggressive one.

The best predictor of future behavior is to look at past behavior. Didn’t Buster Brown quit on Orlando last year right before the playoffs to have a back surgery that really could have been done after the season? This dun didn’t even try to play and left his boyz hanging. Now Kobe is ridin’ him and he all of a sudden he has a shoulder injury that’s so bad that he can’t play in the second half. Now I realize that the joint has been giving him problems but while his feelings were hurt it was a perfect time to sit and pout. I’m just sayin’! What’s that Mr. Willie? “It’s gonna be a long walk to school baby boy!” You know I hear that Mr. Willie! Just make sure these boyz don't break in my ride while you still sittin' out here!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Street Clothes

"Not today playboy!"

Malcolm X once said, “There is nothing better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.” Ernest Hemingway just kept it real by saying, “Man is not made for defeat.”

However, in 2013 the Los Angels Lakers are! After literally playing with these boyz for 3 quarters the Miami Heat showed the crowd in LA why they were the defending NBA champions and put the Lakers to bed 99-90. LeBron put up what seems to be his usual production, 39-8-7 and ole slam ball playing Dwayne Wade took very few smoke breaks and threw in 27 points on his 31st birthday. He was probably using that smokeless cigarette on the bench so he wouldn’t have to run to parking lot as much last night.

On some real talk, the Lakers looked good until LeBron took off his house shoes and do rag and laced them up in the 4th quarter and let Kobe know that he was definitely the best player on the planet and more specifically in the Staples Center on Thursday night. James connected on a flurry of clutch shots and simply locked down on the Black Mamba to close out the joint.

Let it be known to all playas and playettes that King James is the best mo-joker on the planet. I read an article the other day where Kobe said that he’s never lost a game of one on one in his life! In my Ochocinco voice, “CHILD PLEASE!” Stop with that foolishness bruh! Everybody has played with studs that were older than they were growing up and even the best of the best get their butts handed to them from time to time. So if he’s claiming NEVER getting beat one on one well put Thursday night down playa and have LeBron sign his shoes and date them joints the "4th quarter on everything."

What’s up with Ray Allen bruh?  I mean he scored 7 of his 9 points in the final 5 minutes but for the most part he’s been dull!  He hasn’t been able to hit an elephant in the butt with a base fiddle lately. In Indiana last week he couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn as he went scoreless against the Pacers. The Heat only shot 15% from downtown last night in LA. That has to change between now and April to make a run in June. I’m just sayin’!

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! The Heat are still the team to beat but they’ve got to play with major intensity when it counts. Now obviously these boyz aren’t going to go all out every night because quite honestly there is no need to do that because the season is so long. But duns like D. Wade and the supporting cast better get their heads together in the process.

LeBron can’t afford to go into the playoffs having to put all these cats squarely on his back because boyz are coming in the East. New York isn’t playing and quietly the Pacers may put up a better fight than they did last year when they got pushed around and punk’d by ole street clothes wearing under the jogging suit Juwan Howard.

Remember when Juwan punk’d Lance Stevenson before a game in the playoffs for giving the choke signal from the bench. Now when a cat can change the momentum of a series from the bench eating popcorn with street shoes on with his uniform you know you’re ready to win a title. The question is, who’s gonna step up this year? We haven't even mentioned all of the talent coming out of the West! That's why the Heat is bumpin' that Biggie One More Chance on every flight, "First things first, I Poppa...."

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

"UNCLE"

"What else you want me to say bruh?"

Confucius says, “Old age, believe me, is a good and pleasant thing. It is true you are gently shouldered off the stage, but you are given such a comfortable front stall as spectator.” Mark Twain gave it to us like this, “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind it doesn’t matter.”

Finally ole Kobe Bryant is coming to his senses about the Lakers! After getting beat by the dull Philadelphia 76ers on New Years Day 103-99 the Black Mamba finally admitted what I’ve been telling delusional Laker fans since the summer! They’re old and can’t compete with these young boyz out here.

"'Cause we're old as s---," said the 34-year-old superstar when asked why a lack of energy has been a problem for his team all season. "What do you want? We just got to figure out how to play when we don't have that energy. We got to change things up a little bit defensively. We got to figure out what we want to do offensively, figure out what we want to do on nights when we don't have those legs or have that energy."

There is only one cat that remains undefeated in the world of sports bruh and that’s Father Time! The NBA is a young man’s game and don’t ever forget that. These duns play darn near every night and travel constantly. The older a cat gets the more problematic it becomes. Not only do they have to play 82 regular season games but in order to win a championship you’ve got to play two extra months of playoff basketball.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Why in the world would you ever think that this team would get through the West let alone beat whoever comes out of the East? The Lakers aren’t even the best team in the Staples Center, playboy! I’ve been saying it since the summer, Steve Nash is 147 years old and a liability on defense. Dwight Howard is as soft mentally as drugstore cotton candy and he can’t survive along side of Kobe because he’s too demanding.

As the season progresses, these young boyz are going to start taking more and more advantage of them because they’ll continue to run out of gas. After a while the Lakers will just empty their pockets without a fight when cats roll up on them. Boyz won’t even need a gun to rob these Joe’s. They’re about to start gettin’ DeBo’d all over the league.  Give me all of your money, jewels and sneakers bruh and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to re-up! Next time I want the Presidential Rolex, the new Jordan’s in the box and your newest whip along with your girl in the passenger seat.

If you don’t believe me listen to this cat bruh! "You just saw an old damn team. I don't know how else to put it to you. We're just slow. You saw a team over there that was just younger and just had fresher legs and just played with more energy, and we were just stuck in the mud. I think individually we all have to figure out how to get ourselves ready each and every game to have high level of energy. That's all that is." Does that sound like a guy that’s ready to keep fighting? Not at all! It sounds like he’s preparing the excuse to me homeboy.

Sure, they can make some trades for some young blood but the chemistry won't be there in time to save the season. I told you boyz over the summer that it was a wrap on the Lakers and now you're boy Kobe has just agreed with me. They've got no answer for OKC, the Clippers or Memphis and that's just the West bruh!

It’s about to be easy to run through the Lakers because the Black Mamba has admitted defeat and Father Time is their personal pilot now. They’ll give you everything they’ve got but he’s telling you that they don’t have anything left and he’s tired of wrestling with them to give him more! Anytime a boy gives it to you like that, he’s done playa! He may as well have said “UNCLE.” Kobe just left the front door open and put all of the valuables in a box in the living room. Just lock the door when you leave and don’t come upstairs and bother my family.

It's like the old cat at the club that finally realizes that he's the oldest dun in the joint. He used to walk over to a table full of broads and spit his best line without trippin'. Now that he realizes that they're laughing at him. He's gun shy! That's the Lakers right now bruh.

If you don’t believe me! Sit in the cut and watch it play out. I’d be surprised if the Lakers even make the playoffs this year and if they do, barely!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Punk'd

"I got whatever you bringin' homeboy!"

One thing is for certain and two fa sho; there is always a cat out there that is just as bad as you think that you are. If you keep on living and keep trying to punk folks you’ll run into him and he’ll give you the business. That’s why if you haven’t run into him yet, you need to slow your roll or get in shape because he’s comin’!

The New York Knicks ran into that dun on Friday night in a dark alley with no cell phone to call for help! The Chi-town Playas rolled into town and commenced to puttin’ that thang on them for the 2nd time this season beating them 110-106. Now the score was in no way indicative of the beat down the Bulls put on these boyz  to embarrass them in front of Big Momma and nem. Pookie and Ray Ray were running late so they only saw the 4th quarter.

You remember back in the day when a cat would keep talking noise on the walk home from school to the same dun because he knew he could handle him? Then one day ole boy just put his books down and charged him before he even realized it! By the time the dust settled the bully had been bullied!

 The Knicks have been out here punkin’ boyz all season long with Melo going to work every night.  After being up by 25 in the third the Bulls were all in the Knicks head before Melo & Co. lost all composer and resorted to gang bangin’! With 6:45 left in the 4th Melo drew his 2nd technical foul off of an intentional hard foul on Noah and was tossed. Then Tyson Chandler finally had enough of Joakim and tried to fight ole boy in the parking lot going after a rebound and y'all know Joakim wasn't having that so they both got ejected. You know he's the new Dennis Rodman out here because he’ll aggravate folks until they just explode. Pure genius!

You know that it’s on when a cat comes to your house and gets you kicked out of it. The Bulls are those dudes bruh! It doesn’t matter what your reputation is or how bad you think you are, Noah & the Chi-town Hustla's will rattle you and stay in a position to beat you every night.

In this case they punk’d the Knicks from the word go at the crib, took their sneakers and their girls and got on a flight!  They held the Knicks to a season low of 85 points and 32.1 percent shooting in an 8 point loss on Dec 8th in the Chi and then beat the doors off of them on Friday night in the Big Apple! Can you say UNCLE?

All I’ve got to say is, “If you gone be tough, be tough when tough guys roll down your block! Otherwise, you’ll get the reputation of being that dude that boyz can just punk with no consequences!"

Here's a piece of advice for the Knicks, "Come playoff time, put your big boy jerseys on or stay at the crib!" Because in my Puff Daddy voice, "It's real in the field!"

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

"The Smoke Breaker"

"C'mon bruh not again! Just let me get at that Black & Mild in my sock!"

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once said, “I think the NBA players have to be held accountable in a reasonable way, just like any other professionals.” Old man Mr. Willie at the convenience store on the block always said, “I’m not gonna pay you to stand around bruh. So if you want this money, you're gonna have to earn it.”

Dwayne Wade needed to work for Mr. Willie when he was coming up because he would have understood that concept very well. As the Miami Heat were in a battle last night with the red hot Golden State Warriors, who have now won 5 straight, D. Wade took that notorious smoke break again. The Heat was eventually stunned with .9 seconds left on a dull lay up by rookie Draymond Green to lose 97-95.

My problem isn’t with the loss because teams will lose ball games because it’s the NBA. You can’t win them all but you need to be competitive in all of them. D. Wade only put 14 points in the kitty again while Bosh gave up his normal 21 points and LeBron threw his normal 30 plus in with 31 points.

Wade is starting to be that cat that never has any money when the fella’s hook up to get it in and is always looking for somebody to sponsor him tonight. You know that dun bruh? The guy that shows up at the club and doesn’t say a word until you get to the door and then says, “Man can you pay for me to get in tonight? I'll get you back later.” Then when boyz start buying rounds he’s got the second round but hooks up with a chick in the corner when it’s his turn to buy. When you signal over to him to buy his round he signals back, I'm on something bruh hold up and never buys! Yeah, that guy!

I know y’all saw Wade disappear again last night when he got poked in the eye, got bumped and went down like he got shot in an alley. C’mon playa, you gotta have more in you than that! You grew up in the Chi so if nothing else you should to be able to play through some cat poking you in the eye or at least be able to walk off of the court to get treatment. This dun laid down like they needed to get the paramedics out there. Also, what’s with him always being on the floor? When ever he takes a shot he ends up on his back. He needs a helmet and shoulder pads on at this point.

In order for the Heat to make a run again this year D. Wade has got to step his game up and quit being soft on the floor and chill out on them Black & Mild’s in the parking lot during the game! How many smoke breaks did he take during the playoffs last season? He's starting to become as soft as drugstore cotton candy and that ain’t gonna fly this year because boyz are gunning for them in 2013! I'm just sayin'!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Kick Me Please!!

"Somebody help me please! I'm drowning out here bruh!"

People want to act like bullying just started a few years ago. Boyz have been bullying cats since the beginning of time bruh! You can go all the way back to David and Goliath in the bible. You even had boyz on the cartoons gettin' in like Bluto giving it to Popeye, Tom trying to abuse Jerry or Wile E. Coyote terrorizing the Road Runner! The only difference now is that kids are too soft to defend themselves because their parents have become soft too.

That's the Lakers right now bruh! They went up to Cleveland and let one of the revenge of the nerds, complete with a pocket protector, broken glasses and floods, beat them 100-94! You know its bad when you show up to play the Cavs and get beat by duns like C.J. Miles, Anderson Varejao and Alonzo Gee!

That’s like the kid that starts on one end of the hall and somebody puts the "Kick Me Please!" sign on his back. He's confused when the first dun squares off on  him but can't understand why everybody else is swinging a foot at him too as he walks by!

Instead of beating the brakes off of the first cat that kicked him he accepts that he's worth getting kicked. That’s the Lakers mind set at this point! They’re in the bathroom between classes getting jumped by some chicks and giving up their sneakers in the process.

I just want to know where all of the clowns are that were screaming NBA title back in August when they started putting this joke of a squad together. You got 137 year old Steve Nash that can’t play because he’s old and riddled with a leg injury. Then Pau has "sore knees" or just a bruised ego depending upon which direction the wind is blowing and you got Kobe that is ready to fight anybody right now. Did I forget Buster Brown? I didn’t but I’m tired of riding him so I’ll pass on Mr. Soft as Drugstore Cotton Candy today.

The Black Mamba put the team on his back by putting up 42 points last night. He scored16 in the fourth quarter, homeboy. He’s still a beast but when he goes off like that it never translates into wins! When Kobe scores 30 or more points they're 1-10! It’s like when you get into an argument about Jordan vs LeBron and the first thing Jordan fans bring up is the 63 MJ put up in the Garden in 1986! That’s the first thing they throw out there but they never remember that the Bulls lost that game. The 63 points was for nothing if he didn't win the game bruh! In my Sherm Edwards voice, "HELLO, YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!"

Kobe put up 42 last night but he only had 2 assists and 1 steal! The game before that against Utah he had 34 points and 3 assists! There are 4 other cats on the floor and in order to win you’ve got to get them involved regardless of what you think of their skill sets. You can’t win by scoring crazy points every night playa unless you're sharing the rock like my boy Lebron does! He'll go off for 45 but will have 15 dimes and 9 rebounds! So he actually hit you for 75 points bruh at the minimum! So which cat would you rather have on your team, the dun that scores 63 in a loss or a cat that accounted for 75 in a win? I'm just sayin'!

It wasn't until Jordan got with Phil that he learned that bruh! You've got to involve other guys in order to win. Kobe keeps putting boyz on his back but he keeps drowning. He keeps ending up at the bottom of the pool cursing with a bunch of guys on his back. So why is he drowning? Cuz Phil ain't there!!

Listen closely Laker fans! You aren’t even the best team in your building!! So stop trying to sell me the Lakers right now because it only makes it worse. You’re starting to become delusional people and that’s not good because they're always the duns that get into to fights in the parking lot at work because boyz ARE gonna ride you when you lose.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

New York State of Mind

"Ima give you some old school love youngster!"

Henry Ford once said, If everyone is moving together, then success takes care of itself.” Napoleon Hill broke it down like this, “It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.”  Pat Riley said it best with, “When a gifted team dedicates itself to unselfish trust and combines instinct with boldness and effort, its ready to climb.”

The New York Knicks exhibited all of those characteristics in a complete carjacking of the Miami Heat 112-92 on Thursday night in Miami. Fueled by an onslaught of 18 3 pointers there was nothing the Heat could do to stop it! The Knicks were a complete TEAM and moved the ball well all night long but simply exploded on those boyz in the second half.

I really believe that the Knicks are a better ball club without Melo and Amare’ both in the line up together because they are left with guys that understand that they are role players and are willing to play like it. Think back to the success of the Knicks in February when Linsanity was at its height. Melo wasn’t playing. It’s wasn’t until he got back into the line up that the team started to fall apart again because Melo is the ball stopper. He's been playing nice in the sand box so far but I want to see what he does in the playoffs. Then we'll really know what time it is.

So if boyz are doing a clinical study on the Knicks you gotta look at either playing Melo or Amare’ but not both at the same time. They are a much better team when one is sitting. Those duns can’t play together and win. They were a solid team Thursday night homeboy and if Knicks fans want to see that keep playing out they need to tie one of those Joe’s up and hide him out in a Brooklyn basement like Biggie was screaming in Hypnotize. Otherwise, you better hope one of them is hurt come playoff time because if they're both healthy the Knicks are in trouble.

Steve Novak put up 18, J.R. Smith and Tyson Chandler both threw 13 in the pot too. Nobody tripped on who was scoring and as a team they only had 7 turnovers all night! It was a complete team effort because there wasn't an ego on the floor. Keep Melo, Amare' or both tied up bruh!

Now let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! LeBron went to work last night with 31-10-9! You can’t ask for any more from him but his boy disappeared again! D. Wade ran out back for a smoke break just like he was doing in the playoffs last year and didn’t bother to come back. This time he took Bosh with him too. You can’t be the Big 3 when cats keep taking smoke breaks in big games. That's real talk!

Not only did LeBron put up crazy numbers he stayed afterwards and worked out saying, I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be better. It’s that simple. So I’m here, and I’m the last to leave.” That was code for, "You boyz better step ya game up bruh because I'm carrying you at this point." He NEEDS to take D. Wade’s cigarettes from him and kick him in his butt! If I hear another cat tell me that it’s Wade County we’re gonna fight in the middle of the street homeboy. It’s officially JAMES COUNTY, USA. D Wade just has permission to live there. Hey Knicks fans, you've a got real squad as long as the ego's are watching from the sideline.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
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