Warriors' Latest Title a Pesky Distraction From Who They Should Play on Christmas
By Kyle Koster
The last time First Things First was on the air, they enjoyed the greatest gift in all of sports-television programming: the ability to react to a championship won the night before. That was on Friday, some three days ago by my math. This morning, the content wheel spins forward at a breakneck pace and Kevin Wildes simply would not let himself be crushed by it. He came to the table with his homework done and a willingness to talk about anything that could be leveraged into filling time between commercial break. His deeply researched and apparently strongly held beliefs about what the NBA should do with Christmas Day matchups over six months from now proved that there really is no rest of the weary and the media as a whole barely lets a title breath before looking far off into the distance for the next big — or in this case — minor thing.
Warriors most interesting Christmas Day opponents, according to @kevinwildes:
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) June 20, 2022
1. Brooklyn
2. Lakers
3. Bucks
4. Celtics
5. Grizzlies
"MEM-GSW is a nice game but it's a strong no. The NBA's going up against the 3 NFL games. They have to put their best foot forward." pic.twitter.com/8ccNofL4S7
Anytime someone says "Twitter is not real life" within the first 10 seconds of their spiel it's a tip-off to listen closely because the ride is going to go some places. But Wildes was able to land the plane because he did the thing that can make a creator special, which is to take something completely irrelevant and treat it with extreme seriousness. A classic bit to draw upon on the first real day of NBA offseason programming for FTF.
As for Wildes' points, they seem cogent and backed by some data. And it sparked some genuine interest from Chris Broussard.
"We have better games than Golden State-Memphis. Let's build the next 2 superstars. Ja Morant vs. Anthony Edwards. Edwards is becoming a legit superstar on & off the court. MEM has to show me they're on GSW's level before we have them play on Christmas Day." — @Chris_Broussard pic.twitter.com/XxPGqrVWGp
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) June 20, 2022
As this was all going on, the thing I kept thinking about was someone at their home somehow getting mad about this. Because we know that such a person exists. Someone so aggrieved by the inclusion or omission of a team that they let it ruin their Corn Flakes.
On one hand, yes, I'm laughing a bit about the premise of this topic. On the other, it's illustrative of just how much spaghetti the sports-takers have to flung at the wall. Every day brings more hours to fill and the lack of actual games going on in the NBA and NFL ushers in new challenges. Our talking heads rise at 4 or 5 in the morning to weigh in on how confident the Miami Dolphins should be in Tua Tagovailoa and if Ja Morant "has it."
We'd be lost without them.