D.C.’s Panda: Bradley Beal

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brad

Hey! I know tonight is a late post but I wanted to write, I was very excited about this post! This week I am highlighting the one and only Bradley Beal! from the Washington Wizards. (If you know me I am a die hard fan) 🙂

As many of you know, John Wall is out due to injury and Brad had to step up as leader and role model of the team. Not only has he dominated night in and night out during the month of February, he has put up some impressive MVP type numbers.

Night in and Night out, Brad has been averaging 30 points a game, almost 7 assists per night, and 5 rebounds a game. He has really showed up for his team and it has paid off.

Brad is known as the panda! He is tenacious, plays with his heart, but also has a softer side. He recently became a father over the summer to a beautiful son Bradley Beal II aka deuce with lovely girlfriend Kamiah Adams. Being able to see Brad as a dad is absolutely breath taking because now he has another reason, motivation to go hard every single night on the floor. One thing I love about him is that he gives his heart 1000% win or lose.

Although the Wizards are in the rebuilding phase yet again, the month of February gave a glimpse of hope for wiz fans around the league. Brad’s stellar performances this month have been off the charts and will definitely give some momentum closing out the season.

Keep it up Brad! Can’t wait to see how you follow up your dynamic February in March!!

Be sure to keep up with Brad on IG: @bradbeal3 or Twitter: @realdealbeal23

He is always positive and lots of fun and I just wanted to shine a quick light on him!

Short and sweet post tonight, as always I appreciate you guys for reading!

Feel to comment, offer suggestions feedback!

*Pics/Vids courtesy of google*

Topic Next Week: Zion Williamson……A Phenom?

Buzz City All-Star Recap

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all star 19

NBA All-Star 2019 Weekend is one big party! This year it was hosted in Charlotte, NC. The home of Golden State Warriors Guard Stephen Curry and his brother Portland Trailblazers guard Seth Curry. It was a family reunion for them. It was also numerous first time all-star as well such as Kemba Walker(first time as a starter), Karl Anthony Townes, De’angelo Russell to name a few.

The weekend is typically three days and has multiple events but the big events most fans watch include: The celebrity all- star game, the rising skills challenge on Friday night, All-Star Saturday night which includes: the taco bell skills change, 3 point contest (my favorite event), and the dunk contest. The weekend concludes with the All-Star Game Sunday night.

steph curry

Two of the biggest highlights for me during the weekend included the 3 point contest and the dunk contest.  The 3 point contest showcased one of my favorite players Steph Curry who drained 10 straight 3’s in the first round. Although he did it again in the 2nd round it wasn’t enough to beat Joe Harris who edged him out by two points. The cool part is that we know how great of a shooter Steph is, the awe-amazing part is that their are more shooters out there who got to showcase their talent, hard work, effortlessness, and most importantly how much fun it was. I was literally yelling at my TV. lol It was really was fun to watch. Attending an NBA All-Star weekend in person is definitely on my bucket list. 🙂

The next best highlight for me was when Hamidou Diallo literally dunked over Shaq. There was alot of doubt in the room when he was getting this dunk set up. Diallo executed and well the rest is history. He made the dunk contest exciting and brought the energy. I know he will return and have more creative dunks in his bag. Great Job Diallo!

dunk

This year, the NBA All-Star Game was a product of a NBA style Draft, where Lebron  and Giannis were both captains and were able to pick their teammates. Lebron’s team however had a few extra players than Giannis team. The game was still fun and both teams donated to their respective charities. A win in every way! Giving back is definitely a big highlight throughout the weekend. Putting a smile on a child’s face as well being out in the community giving up your time to help those in need. The game featured lots of dunks, including a bounce pass from Steph down the lane to Giannis whose head ended up above the rim for a spectacular finish! Team Giannis had a big 20 point lead throughout most of the game until, KD arrived and got hot scoring 31 points to help lead Team Lebron to victory #2 in this team style format.

Legends: Two of the NBA greatest players and future hall of famers Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks who has made 21 All-Star appearances in his career and another favorite player of mine Dwyane Wade who has made 13 all- star appearances. Dirk hasn’t officially announced his retirement from the game but has been leaning toward it, Dwyane however announced that this will be his final season and that he is at peace with where the game is going. They were honored with their own all-star uniform jersey’s by the commissioner who personally chose them to this year’s festivities and all of the players, teams represented. It was cool to watch but also bittersweet that two of the games best players are no longer going to be on the court. You have to cherish every moment you have while you still can! Cheers Dirk & Dwyane on phenomenal careers! You made your presence known and your legacy will live on!

legends

One final thought: Kevin Durant was voted NBA All-Star MVP for the second time in his career, he is an amazing player to watch plus when he is hot..he is hot!…Durant-All-Star

This weekend always goes by so fast, but it is thoroughly enjoyable, As the 2nd half of the season kicks off, the grind now kicks into high gear. This is the final 25-26 games for teams to make the final push to playoffs and for some legends before they say goodbye one last time.!

If you watched all star weekend what were some of your favorite moments?

As always I appreciate each and every one of you who has read my blog, commented, followed me. I am sorry I have been away for so long but I am back with brand new content! Meet me here next thursday as I shine a light on Bradley Beal and his new role now that John Wall is out with a injury.

*Pics/Videos courtesy of Google Images*

Don’t call it a comeback :)

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IT

Hey!!!…

It has been awhile…but the blog is coming back!….

All Star Weekend is this upcoming weekend, so I will be relaunching the blogs…:)

As always if you have any ideas, topics, anything you would like me to discuss let me know! 🙂

Talk soon-

Mariah

Been a minute….

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bball

Hey Guys!

It has been a while since I last posted but I wanted to write something short and sweet.

The NBA has been making some summer headlines with the Draft and off season moves.

The biggest thing I have seen is the contract extension amounts for players such as Steph Curry, James Harden, Otto Porter to name a few.

The amount of money is out of this world but they deserve it. I honestly love the off season, to watch summer league games and read about the business side of things.

Summer League showcases recent draft picks as well as players who are looking to stay in shape and improve on their craft.

The hype of the Lakers this season will be interesting to see as Lonzo Ball adjusts to the NBA and staying healthy.

I’m excited for the season to come, I would love to know you guys thoughts on summer league, off season trades, and the upcoming season….

How do you guys feel about everything?

Leave a comment below 🙂

Thanks so much for reading, As always if you have suggestions please feel free to tweet me @bballmypassion.

*Pics courtesy of Google Images*

Passion, Perseverance

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mj-23

Hey Guys!

So it’s been a minute since my last blog but I’m back!

I’ve been so busy with my new job that I sometimes I forget to blog but I will try to set aside a day a week to blog, so if you have topics you want me to write about sport related let me know 🙂

I was sitting in my kickoff 2017 meeting with my staff and co-workers and the person presenting gave us 3 P’s.

  • People
  • Passion, Perseverance
  • Product

The P that stuck out to me is the title of this blog, Passion and Perseverance which then made me think about athletes who had to overcome some sort of obstacle to get them where they want to go for their career.

I  began to think about Michael Jordan, who as we all know was cut from his high school team but ended up becoming one of the greatest basketball players to ever live. Then was Stephen Curry, who is a dominating scorer in the league right now and almost unable to guard. I think about how people criticized his size and weight and doubted him from the beginning of his career. Curry has now silenced his doubters by winning a championship and two MVP Awards one of which was a unanimous vote by the league which says ALOT.!

I was at work all day dealing with some clients who were ultimately testing my passion and love for people as well trying to steal the joy I had. After dealing with my 2pm appointment, I was ready to just give up and go home for the day. Something on the inside was like Mariah you got this just go take someone else. My manager comes and grabs me and I’m with someone else and that experience was good. Although I didn’t sell anything, at the end of the day I didn’t give up or throw in the towel.

I used Michael and Steph as my reminders in my head that they didn’t achieve the success that has come to them overnight, it took practice, repetition, faith, and just belief they can be the greatest players they can be. It also takes time to get where you need to be so today just was a test for me. I am sure I will have more tests along the way.

So I leave you all with this, whatever difficulty you may be facing day and day out, don’t forget the reason you started the career path you are on. Always remember the passion driving you and that obstacles may try to stop you but as long as you persevere, you will see success on the other side! 🙂

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and as always if you have comments/suggestions you can comment below or tweet me @bballmypassion.

*Pics/Vids Courtesy of Google*scurry-780x520

Assassin on a tear: Russell Westbrook

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NBA: Oklahoma City Thunder at Phoenix Suns

This season Russell Westbrook has caught many by storm but not surprise with his breakout triple double season. Russ has been an assassin on the court causing high praise and often times speechless moments in that you can only say so much about a phenomenal player.

I wanted to highlight Russell for his successful season because he really sparked my interest as to how he was able to accomplish such great achievement game in and game out. For instance, in a Thunder loss Russ would still post his nightly triple double. I was in awe at how he was able to do it like it was easy. At this point it has become very natural for him.

Russ reminds me so much of a young allen iverson in the way he attacks the basket and wills his way to score each and every time.A lot of teams have a hard time guarding him just because he is very fast and most often if not will get the foul call.

Russell is still on pace to have an amazing season and be the only guard other than Michael Jordan who had a triple double streak from March 25 to April 4 , 1986 & Oscar Robertson who held a active triple double streak during the entire 1961-62 NBA season.

He is such a fun player to watch and makes the game very entertaining in a way that keeps you watching the game start to finish just to see if he will reach the triple double plateau.

Continue to keep an eye on Russell and the Oklahoma City Thunder as they make a push for the playoffs as we are nearing the All-Star Break. 🙂

In regards to the All-Star break 2017, this year’s festivities will take place in New Orleans, LA and voting is now underway.

You can vote for your favorite players by tweeting, commenting on facebook with the player’s first and last name with #NBAVOTE; visiting NBA.com/VOTE until January 16,2017 11:59pm.- happy voting! 🙂

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this blog post and be on the lookout for my next post coming next week! It will be my 40th post and I will be announcing my All-Time top 10 players!-Be on the lookout for that!

If you have any suggestions on blog topics please feel free to comment below or tweet me @bballmypassion

*Pics/Videos courtesy of Google*

 

I love my team:)

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wizards

In my last post discussing my concern with the Wizards and their progress, I was wondering should I be concerned at all about the way in which their season was going.

They proved me wrong with winning 6 of their last 7 games with their only loss coming to the Pacers on December 19,2016.

Their record now is 13-15 after winning to the bulls and time and time again I see the strategies and advice that Coach Brooks playing out on the court in regards to using John’s speed as an advantage.

I also love the progress of the second unit which includes: Trey Burke who is getting his confidence and making better decisions while on the court, Jason Smith who from the perimeter is a very good shooter, Marcus Thornton who attacks the basket or makes a heads up play for himself.

The team as a whole is doing what they need to do night in and night out and finally seeing the success of their hard work. I am so proud of them and ready for the next game.

This post is short and sweet!

Thanks for reading and as always if you have any suggestions please tweet me @bballmypassion or comment below on this post- Mariah B.

*Pics/Videos courtesy of Google*

Washington Wizards: Should I be concerned? A fan perspective

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brad-and-johnwizards

For as long as I could remember, I have been a Wizards fan. I will go far back as the year 2001, the last season Michael Jordan played, I got to see him in person but he didn’t play. Fast forward to 2006 the Gilbert Arenas era and I experienced wins and playoff appearances and playoff losses. Then fast forward to 2008-2010 alot of mess and turmoil and changes. John Wall was drafted in 2010 on the tail end of the Arenas era and now the organization would build around their #1 draft pick. Now 6 years later, The Wizards have added key pieces such as Bradley Beal and Paul Pierce (who was only here a year or so) and others who have helped the Wizards succeed and see playoff success the last couple of years.

December 6, 2016 The Wizards now see themselves with a record of 7-13 after their loss to the Orlando Magic where John Wall scored a new career high of 52 points.  I began to look back and analyze the losses and tried to see where the Wizards have fallen short.

  1. Turnovers- in the losses the Wizards have suffered they have committed 20+ turnovers with their opponent scoring off those turnovers. Imagine if they would try to limit turnovers and play smart how good they would be and not to mention confidence.
  2. Defensive Stops- in times when the wizards loss close games, they would either have a small lead and not close out the game or on defense make a costly mistake costing them the game, and saying the same thing we messed up on defense and not executing once the stop is made.
  3. Confidence- Are the Wizards lacking confidence or am I reading too deep into this? The opportunity to win games come every night but I notice when the Wizards have a somewhat comfortable lead and the second unit comes in, they can’t build on that lead or shot don’t fall.
  4. Changes- I know the players on this team love what they do or they wouldn’t be in the position they are in to be successful. But then I think about this whenever Washington would go through a coaching change: Eddie Jordan, Flip Saunders, Randy Whitman, Scott Brooks the first season it would always take the entire team a few games to get adjusted and mesh. Maybe this is what is happening this season, Coach Brooks is the new coach, you have new players who are still getting adjusted to him and his system but at the end of the day this game is about trust, communication, confidence, and achieving the goal that is set in place win games, make the playoffs, win championship.

So I ask myself should I be concerned for my team in the long. The NBA season is a long grueling process and I know the Wizards will be successful and hopefully make the playoffs. It’s still to early to talk about the playoffs as the Wizards are currently 12th in the east. I love this team and I am rooting for their success but should I be concerned that the outcome of this season may not be what I want it to be? I will continue to cheer on my guys and push for their success but something has to give. The will to Win games and work hard has to be there. I can’t speak for the players but if that love isn’t there then concern starts to float in.

Washington plays Denver tomorrow night at home, I hope the lost to Orlando fuels some fire and motivates them to fight to the finish. It is a long season but it’s time for a Wizards win streak! 🙂

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy

As always if you have a suggestion for me please comment below or tweet me @bballmypassion

*Pics/Vids courtesy of Google*

My NBA Eastern Conference Preview

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With  the NBA Season just days from tipping off now, I wanted to give my preview on the eastern and western conference and my pick for who will be top team in each conference this season. Let’s get started with the east!

As you know each conference is represented by 15 teams.

  1. Boston Celtics
  2. Atlanta Hawks
  3. New York Knicks
  4. Toronto Raptors
  5. Miami Heat
  6. Milwaukee Bucks
  7. Charlotte Hornets
  8. Indiana Pacers
  9. Detroit Pistons
  10. Washington Wizards
  11. Chicago Bulls
  12. Orlando Magic
  13. Philadelphia 76ers
  14. Cleveland Cavaliers
  15. Brooklyn Nets

The 2016-2017 season will be one to watch just because of players who have left and relocated teams.

For example it will be interesting to see how Miami deals with the absence of Dwyane Wade now that he is in Chicago and trying to get Chris Bosh back in the lineup for Miami.

Trey Burke signed with the Washington Wizards and hopefully if everyone stays healthy they have a opportunity to do well. I have to continue to pull for them since they are my home team. (I live in VA :)) I’m glad to see Wall and Beal back on the floor, that back court is something dangerous when healthy and producing.

The rest of the teams stack up pretty well in the east with the exception of Toronto and Cleveland. Toronto has definitely solidified themselves as a powerhouse team with the dynamic duo of Kyle Lowry and Demar Derozan. They gave Cleveland a run for their money and will be one to watch this season. I’m excited to see how they are going to do.

Lastly, the defending champions Cleveland Cavaliers. It was a real surprise how their series against the Warriors played out but they were able to get it done and finally bring a championship back to Ohio. I was proud for my hometown city and for Lebron for keeping his word. I respect them as a team. The big three of Kyrie, Kevin Love, and Lebron will be able to score but I think for them this season it will be the consistency of the supporting cast around them (Thompson, JR Smith,Shumpert).

All in all, I think once again the top spot at the end of the season before the post season will be yet again Cleveland. The Eastern Conference is a good conference but still needs some strength and depth to beat Cleveland.

I would love to hear you guys feedback! Please feel free to comment below or tweet me your thoughts @bballmypassion :).

Next Post will be on the Western Conference

*Pics/Vids courtesy of Google*

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

NBA Hall of Fame 2016

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On Monday April 4, 2016 , the NBA announced its incoming hall of fame class for 2016.

The honorees will be Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Yao Ming. I feel like all three of these honorees should have been in the hall of fame before now but patience is key in some regard.

Basketball has always been the cornerstone for my life and I remember growing up watching Allen, Shaq, and Yao dominate the basketball court but also impact the world from their philanthropy and community service.

I am so proud of them for their accomplishments and although the only outside of this group has 4 championships, they all have left a little bit of themselves on the court even after retirement.

Allen Iverson for example changed the way you could express yourself. The way he showed up for games in baggy jeans, chains, jerseys took away from the business like image the NBA was trying to portray. Because of this, the NBA implemented a dress code. Allen also made the future players after him to mimic him and study how he ran the floor.

Shaq and Yao were big men and dominated the floor and changed the way players guarded them. During their prime they were unable to defend at times. I often found it interesting to just watch them play.

Congratulations Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, Yao Ming!! 🙂

What are some of your favorite moments from these players?

Share your thoughts on these honorees! Tweet me @bballmypassion or drop comments below.

*Pictures and Videos courtesy of Google Images*