**NOTE: The news clips and articles listed don't necessarily reflect the views or beliefs of the Cleveland Cavaliers or their Basketball Operations staff, partners, or sponsors.**
Kevin Stefanski: 'My big note to our players is that I got their back'
Author: STAFF
Publication: ClevelandBrowns.com
On how he is feeling since he has ties to Minnesota and his relationship with Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff and their collaboration on social justice issues:
"First, I will start with we are in Week 7 of our offseason program so the players to their credit and to the coaches to their credit, we are working. All the while, like the rest of the word, we have been spending a lot of time talking about social justice. Certainly, my big message to our guys has been to get in the arena. We are all about action. I think we have some amazing people, both on the team and in this building, that have really provided some great resources to our players so they can become part of the action. You mentioned J.B., and we want to be a strong part of this community. We want to be a strong part of positive change, and I realize that from my platform that I have here, I am able to affect change. Something that (former NFL WR) Anquan Boldin said in a meeting a couple of days ago that we were in, 'Attach your name.' That is something that I take seriously. While I am attaching my name and I am leading a football team, I want these guys to know the impact that they can have. Some of the things that I have read or I have watched, some of the messages out there have been so enlightening – whether it is (Dolphins Head Coach) Brian Flores, (former NFL LB) Emmanuel Acho, (Colts Head Coach) Frank Reich, (49ers DB) Richard Sherman, (ESPN NBA analyst) Jalen Rose, (Warriors Head Coach) Steve Kerr or the (Patriots DBs Devin and Jason) McCourty twins – just different ways people have expressed this message, I think has been incredible and the dialogue is great. Now J.B., our team and our players, we are going to work towards some action items to make sure that we leave a positive impact out of all of this."
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Mo Williams is headed to Alabama State at a pivotal moment for HBCUs
Author: Seth Davis
Publication: theathletic.com
When Mo Williams was playing for the Milwaukee Bucks during his third season in the NBA, he and a few teammates used to eat at a favorite downtown restaurant after games. Williams liked the upscale atmosphere and the food, and he especially liked that the restaurant was minority-owned. He became friendly with the owner, Trevor Trimble, and his son, J.P. Tokoto, a promising young basketball player. When J.P. started to rise on the grassroots circuit, Trimble invited Williams to help coach the team. “That’s when I got the bug,” he says. “I decided this is what I want to do.”
Williams spent 13 years in the NBA, played in an All-Star game, earned $67 million in salary and won a championship in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. But he never got over the bug. He formed his own grassroots program called RM5 and start a basketball academy, which allowed him to work with future pros such as Emmanuel Mudiay, P.J. Washington, Terrance Ferguson and Malik Newman. While Williams’ NBA teammates spent their offseasons working out and partying in Las Vegas, Los Angeles or the Bahamas, he was teaching fundamentals to high school kids and traveling the country to tournaments. “I can’t remember the last time I took a summer vacation,” he says. “I saw what kind of an impact I had on those kids. It was an amazing feeling.”
Now Williams, 37, is going back to the state of Alabama, where he excelled as a point guard for the Crimson Tide from 2001 to ’03. Only this time, the destination isn’t Tuscaloosa but Montgomery, where Williams will be the new coach at Alabama State, an HBCU that plays in the SWAC. The resources and facilities are a far cry from those in the SEC, not to mention the NBA, and ASU’s basketball team is facing a one-year postseason ban because of a low score on the NCAA’s four-year Academic Progress Rate. It is the second time in seven years the program has received a postseason ban because of a low APR score.
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6 of the NBA's Most Surprising Playoff Stars of the Past Decade
Author: Dan Favale
Publication: Bleacher Report
Not all NBA playoff heroes wear capes.
OK, technically, none of them do. But most of the postseason's biggest difference-makers are predictable names: entrenched superstars or obvious breakout candidates. Their standout performances are a given, if not something close to it.
Every once in a while, though, a more random player takes on the hero's role. It doesn't always last for the duration of the playoffs, but this unexpected savior delivers at least one or two monumental efforts that shape an entire series or postseason run.
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