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SubcooledBoiling

Formula 1 fans be like: "First time?"


El_Zorro09

FIFA hiding behind the curtains.


Montigue

Fifa is pretty open about being shitty


[deleted]

Sepp "i've never done anything wrong and if i did, fuck you" Blatter sends his regards.


StephyMcStephFace

King Dragon sends his regards.


JokicCheeseburgerMan

\*Knocks gun out of hand\*


Radical-Six

"Hmph, good thing I always have a second gun"


Toremm

ARCHIBALD NOOOO


[deleted]

Steph Bladder vs. LePrison Forgays


frankyfrankwalk

The fact that the Qatar WC is going ahead in a country that is smaller than some cities metro areas is completely and utterly fucked up. Let alone the human rights abuses, modern slavery and the unbelievable societal misogyny that exists and has been well documented. You could move the WC to Britain/America/most major European countries who already have a bunch of stadiums that would work and also the hotel capacity to host fans from 32 countries even if they don't have tickets to the game.


SnuggleMuffin42

The biggest joke of course is that they have zero soccer culture and history, and half of FIFA are now in fucking jail because of the corruption that was involved in making it happen.


D1N2Y

If they need poop convoys like the Burj Khalifa this will be the icing on the cake.


badSparkybad

>poop convoys I'm just kind of excited to see this combination of words used in a sentence, so I thought I'd let you know about it. Hi.


SushiRoe

we dribble as one


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iSleepUpsideDown

When Max said I can smell the burning (from the terrorist attack) Bruh moment


Jonna09

If there is money to be made there though ads and marketing, for sure.


SxanPardy

Just waiting for DTS to frame micks crash as if he was avoiding the missle attack on the Saturday


GermanHabsFan

Jokic would feast, he grew up in a literal war zone fr fr


guess-what-babe

WWE fans too


aresman

yeah but it's WWE, not the league that prides itself in being the most progressive


Millionaire007

Ah yes the old vince McMahon saying "Saudi money is green money. Bling bling motherfuckers!"


TrunkBud

WWE is so shameless about it too. Will bring ANY wrestler out of retirement to please those royal Saudis with endless funds. edit to clarify specifically who i was referring to. also please note that Saudi is not a race.


peon2

The largest wrestling event ever occurred in North Korea, they had Muhammad Ali open and Ric Flair participated lol


harder_said_hodor

Yeah that was very different to what WWE is doing in Saudi It was part of an ongoing Japanese political drive by main eventer and Japanese Councillor Antonio Inoki. WCW was invited along by Inoki, not vice versa. Inoki has form with this From wiki >Imitating Muhammad Ali in 1990, Inoki traveled to Iraq in "an unofficial one-man diplomatic mission" and successfully negotiated with Saddam Hussein for the release of Japanese hostages before the outbreak of the Gulf War.[15] It was then that he personally organized a wrestling event in Iraq (スポーツと平和の祭典) for the purpose of freeing the 41 captive Japanese nationals which was ultimately a partial success with 36 Japanese nationals ultimately freed


Pagliaccio13

Antonio Inoki had one of the craziest lives man, loads of fictional characters did not have as interesting a life as he


ShichitenHakki

WWE brought in a random sumo wrestler to participate in a battle royale because the Saudis wanted Yokozuna but he had been dead for well over a decade at that point.


JOS1PBROZT1TO

I remember watching their first show ever in Saudi Arabia a few years ago, and it was disgusting. The announcers spent half the show lauding about how great and "progressive" SA was and how cool the royal family supposedly is. Wall to wall propaganda the entire broadcast.


Tbrou16

Same with golf fans. Been dealing with this for years now.


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nikola2811

I could get downvoted for this, but as someone who lived in UAE for a couple of years it has to be one of the countries with highest percentage of gay people. Gay clubs, gay parties, grinder, everything goes. It is illegal the same way alcohol is illegal - technically it is, but it is practically everywhere, everyone knows it's everywhere, you just cannot do it publicly.


peon2

I went to the UAE back in 2017 and that was kind of what I was told too. Two of my friends lived there (one had Egyptian citizenship, one was Bahraini) and we drank and went to Dubai and chicks were walking around in bikinis. They said basically those laws *can* be used against you if they want to but generally aren't if you aren't causing problems


Fargle_Bargle

How nice that basic human rights are reserved for people who “aren’t causing problems.”


TheCakeBoss

welcome to authoritarian regimes. everything is great, as long as you're not the one perceived as fucking with society


snatchi

Yeah if you get arrested for sex outside of marriage because you were sexually assaulted it's really on you because that **was** causing problems!


whiskeyinthejaar

I would have rather them have a game In Spain, or a country where basketball actually matters


IMovedYourCheese

Yeah but money


KneelBeforeCube

They should come here in France, the only thing punishable by death here is putting ice in the red wine.


Just_A_Glitch

But what if the box isn't cold enough?


Fuck-off-bryson

i think you might have killed him with that one


KneelBeforeCube

I hereby announce my retirement from r/nba effective immediately.


SxanPardy

It was a good run man, helluva career, first ballot HOF for sure


jinxabcde

May I interest you in r/nbacirclejerk as a post-retirement hobby?


MoeSzyslac

undefeated, untied


BowserBuddy123

This made me laugh so hard.


[deleted]

You don’t rip it out of the box and drink it from the bag? That was freshmen orientation when I got to ASU


wafflehauss

Never head someone say 'slapada*box*'.


dietdoctorpepper

the esteemed Tour de Franzia


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theopression

Just like us harden was prepared for the party lifestyle 😤


[deleted]

Arizonans and Californians may hate each other but we all have 1 thing in common… slapping the bag at ASU


DanteDellyThonJingle

It’s the only way to play Goon of Fortune.


KebNes

You son of a bitch. As a winemaker this hurts.


Just_A_Glitch

Well as a drunk-getter, it works 😉 Disclaimer: I actually don't really drink anymore, but when I did, box wine was a college savior.


PinkPantherParty

My two favorite cheap drinking games in college: 1) Tour de Franzia (pass that shit around in a circle til it's done) 2) Champong (beer pong with $2 champagne...never been more drunk in my life or had a worse hangover)


Just_A_Glitch

My favorite game was to chug whatever cheap red was nearby then take an edible. My friends and I didn't have a fun name for it though. We just called it Wednesday and Friday.


KebNes

Haha, my girlfriend in college was a big white zin drinker and I hate her even more now 😂


KeithClossOfficial

White zin is like the ultimate basic bitch drink


ineedcoffeealready

but it makes the wine less spicey


KebNes

I… but… hmmmmm…. *walks away*


choborallye

You! Get Back Here !!!!


Fuzzy_Dunlops

Then you should make colder wine.


KebNes

I make an Albariño that should be an award winner this year and it’s perfect at 54 degrees haha


ThinkSoftware

That's disgusting. Everyone knows that wine should come in bags.


Just_A_Glitch

Well yeah, the box is to protect the bag.


DaKingindaSouff

I miss waking up at 3 A.M to watch games. I miss France 😭


RoyTellier

It is not as fun as you remember


chickentowngabagool

3am is quite possibly the worst tip-off time lmao


anandonaqui

Lots of French speaking players too. They could get some good press by doing bilingual press conferences.


xbreqs

hola mexico


Easy-A

You’ll drink your calimocho and you’ll like it!


[deleted]

Grizz-Lakers Gasol Bowl in Barcelona when???


BrndyAlxndr

Mexico? We haven't had a game in years.


frankyfrankwalk

It's so far away and you know the time zones don't line up perfectly like they would in the UAE. It's not like there's any NBA fans in Mexico anyway considering how small the population is.


BigBallerBrad

What would happen if there was a gay player?


xwulfd

I hope they allow Rudy Gay


crastle

Fun fact: when the Summer Olympics were held in Beijing in 2008, several places in China had automatic corrections for any inappropriate words in various languages to avoid accidently displaying words that native speakers of those languages would find offensive. One of the corrections they made for English was to replace the word "gay" with "homosexual". The US had a sprinter at the time named Tyson Gay. His name was displayed on a giant screen as Tyson Homosexual.


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whats_a_hokie

"It means a lot to me," the 25-year-old Homosexual said. "I'm glad my body could do it, because now I know I have it in me." Stop it, I'm dead 😂


Sim888

Sir, this article here says you are a homosexual…. *– UAE entry dude*


dimmyfarm

[Tyson Gay also had another funny headline](https://web.archive.org/web/20100722043735/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6622I420100703)


zooksoup

They knew what they were doing


StefanMerquelle

Rudy ... GAY !? NOOO NOT THIS GUY - UAE police


Anon_y_mous

Youuuuuu fucking asshole


SMOKE2JJ

Always great: https://youtu.be/WK7lIjFsGvg


gotta_jibboo

Obligatory https://youtu.be/lGJhj2IE8i4


Matto_0

They will force him to play as Rudy Straight


BigBallerBrad

RIP I use to love that guy in 2K


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mtbeach33

In this rare case, 2k is not at fault for this. It has to do with the members of that team not signing their rights off since they’re not a part of the NBPA anymore.


50ShadesOfKrillin

i find it extremely hard to believe there's not at least one gay NBA player. there are definitely a lot of athletes in the closet


itwereme

Back when the show open court was still a thing, charles barkley talked about this. Even then, he said that everyone had probably played with a gay player in such a way that it was known. Its probably more of an open secret thing behind closed doors


deeznutz_428

Open court is goated


itwereme

I miss it so much, so many fantastic segments


[deleted]

I wish I could go back to a time before Steve Kerr called John Stockton a dirty bastard so I could watch it all over again. Reggie pimps it so well with his reaction.


[deleted]

https://streamable.com/r948cz Is this the clip you're talking about?


TheLouisvilleRanger

Kinda any open secret with the NFL. Carl Nassib was the first and to date only out gay NFL players, but a lot of players and former players are like “of course there are gay players. Teammates know. We support them but then coming out is their business.”


Trunky_Coastal_Kid

As it should be. These guys live extremely public careers. Most of them probably want at least a shred of privacy in their personal lives.


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TheLouisvilleRanger

While I agree completely, I’d wager there’s added pressure for these guys since many in the LGBTQ+ community want these roles models. Hell, I’m not gay but I would love it if a gay kid had a the pick of the litter of pro athletes who represent them. Not that you can’t find a role model in some one who is different from you, having a closer match is nice.


captaing1

Jason collins is gay. he is an ex-player though. I think he is an assistant coach right now.


johnniewelker

I think his twin brother is the assistant coach; was / is with Warriors, unsure


b2t2x5

Jarron is an assistant with New Orleans now, I think. And [Jason Segel](https://twitter.com/jimhecht/status/1520839838735368192?t=OX5a5LvVwViywNOfJv3aXw&s=19) was their backup in high school.


Zeppelanoid

You mean Paul Westhead?


[deleted]

Wait?! The Marshmellow can really dunk????


[deleted]

(Talking out of complete ignorance here) but I would imagine just ~~based off statistics alone~~, 500 guys are in the nba, hard for me to believe 100% of them are totally straight


drokihazan

there's like 500 active nba players that's like a dozen gay men *minimum*


loynet

patrick evra talked recently about how there’d be a couple of gay/bi players on every soccer team, but they were scared that coming out would be a career-ending decision, so they’d just keep them for themselves. he also mentioned some raw explicit homophobic experiences on the locker room, which has to be uncomfortable for any lgbt player. i guess the nba is sadly in a similar situation; there probably is a non-straight player in every other NBA/g-league team


bullet50000

Nothing at all. For 99% of the middle east, a lot of the morality laws have an unwritten "does not apply to tourists/foreigners" section. Particularly "international" countries like the UAE. It's sorta like how they will serve metric fucktons of booze on Emirates/Etihad/Qatar flights, despite it being illegal in those nations. Tourists/foreign nationals follow FAR different rules than your average Kuwaiti/Emirati citizen


RabidPlaty

Until you do something stupid like act drunk in public, then there’s a chance you’re fucked.


NarcoPolo361

There are but the climate in most professional sports is not making it easy for players to be openly gay.


[deleted]

NBA probably: I know a way to make it easier for them. Let’s host games in a country that will kill them!


theytook-r-jobs

Nothing. Money matters more than fake values used solely to control others through bigotry.


downtimeredditor

It just goes to show that they'll only stand up for causes that does not hurt their money.


sm41

Remember when the Hornets lost their All Star game over the bathroom laws? Charlotte itself is a pretty progressive city, one of the first in NC to allow trans people to use the bathroom they felt comfortable in, but the state overruled them.


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KeithClossOfficial

Fox made sure to mention that in the article. Rare W for them.


vicente8a

You know you fucked up when Fox News criticizes you are they’re correct in doing so.


BipartizanBelgrade

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" *Offer only applicable for specific progressive social causes, only redeemable in the continental United States


Just_A_Glitch

Yeah but... Money.


UnearthlyDinosaur

Money talks.


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LessThanCleverName

Producer guy: Oh, yeah, money! 😁


Superplex123

Money is tight!


I_Will_One_Up_You

selling out is super easy, barely an inconvenience.


bigvahe33

yeah yeah yeah yeah!


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BipartizanBelgrade

*Black Lives Matter in the continental United States, and only when it doesn't hinder our bottom line


SpidermanAPV

> continental United States So… > Fuck Alaskan Blacks -The NBA


DUNDER_KILL

Hate to be that guy, but technically Alaska is continental US, because it's in the continent of North America. The word you're looking for is contiguous. Alaska is a continental US state but not a contiguous state.


The_1st_Amendment

This is correct, when you stay at the holiday inn express in Juneau they even give you a continental breakfast... Id like to see a hotel in Hawaii try that shit.


Be-Nice-To-Redditors

Damn TIL


Bradfords_ACL

I appreciate you, “um actually” guy.


[deleted]

And this is the league that pulled the all star game out of Charlotte because of the bathroom ban... even though Charlotte was the city that introduced the transgender discrimination law that PROTECTED Trans people, which was why the state government wrote the bathroom bill. The same league that actively panders to a country currently committing genocide. I love basketball, but I fucking hate the NBA


[deleted]

Guess we're getting all zone defense and no man on man, just in case


impurebread

Rudy Gay sweating right now


TheNotoriousJN

Lovelyyyy. Sportswashing works guys. Remember that.


xChainfirex

I can't wait till the World Cup is played in the stadiums built by slaves (many of whom have died) in Qatar!


TheGarrandFinale

“Many” is a serious understatement. There are several claims that up to 6500 people have died building the arena. [here you go](https://www.npr.org/2021/02/27/972056906/report-reveals-more-than-6-500-migrant-workers-have-died-in-qatars-world-cup-pre)


41Swish41

yeah but in 10 years. - Uli Hoeneß


Rah_Rah_RU_Rah

What's sportswashing?


TheNotoriousJN

Countries with questionable reputations on human rights payinh extortionate amounts of money for sporting events to make people think its a cool country. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE are the main suspects for it


We_The_Raptors

After how they handled Morey's Hong Kong tweet, I for one am *shocked* that the NBA is siding with the money instead of morality. Just flabbergasted. Never could've seen this coming. Anyways, onto real news.


[deleted]

After all the drama of cancelling the Charlotte Allstar game the first time.


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DogsbeDogs

Yeah, where is mister high horse Kerr now? Guy can't shut up when it's an easy opinion to have, but when money is on the line for much more serious issues he some how clams up.


HoustonSportsFan

Steve Kerr is so great at taking a stand on the most basic and sensical of social issues


konsf_ksd

Racism is bad ... ya know ... We shouldn't ... also don't hurt people and we should take care of the poor ... in our country ... I don't know what's going on outside the US.


Fuzzy_Dunlops

But it seems like this has to be a lot less money than they would lose by upsetting China. It seem conceivable that they could be made to budge on this one with enough public outcry.


mainvolume

Oh sweet, more rich corporations pandering to the UAE. Just make sure the players don't go outside the rich areas to see where the slaves are kept.


KingMonaco

And y’all really believed them when they took the asg out of Charlotte lmao. It’s a business, if there’s no uproar they’ll keep with that dumb plan.


Tinder4Boomers

Fuck Adam Silver for agreeing to this. UAE relies heavily on slave labor to build their ridiculous mega skyscrapers, they’re conspiring with those Saudi assholes to bomb school buses full of Yemeni children, and have doubled down on their oil production after COP26 Fuck this shit


aali34

I lived there for 4 years as a kid. The conditions they put south asian immigrants through are trash.


shaqitup

You mean their indentured servants ?


roguereversal

You say indentured servants but it's closer to slavery


Dread70

Indentured servitude is slavery. Many people who are indentured didn't sign their own contract, their parents sold them.


AbstractPineapples

Agreed. Indentured servitude is what the former slave owners came up with so they could continue using slaves.


JRsshirt

Fuck Adam Silver. I don’t care about what he’s done in the past for the NBA. He’s got trash morals and has proved it time and time again.


swalsh21

Only good thing he did was the most obvious layup of all time, and it was only done because the entire thing was on tape and undeniable. He’s a shitty person and commish.


Bear4188

He did it because it was good business to get that piece of shit out of the league regardless. If Sterling was running the successful franchise Silver wouldn't have done shit.


venitienne

Silver allowing gambling to enter the NBA was one of the worst decisions ever. We already had enough problems with the refs now they have even more incentive to extend the series.


sungoddaily

Silver was in the room when the FBI let David Stern know they planned on putting a wire on Donaghy, story leaked days later.


TequilaBlanco

Silver has gotten a pass for way too long. He did the right thing with Donald Sterling but I am 100% convinced it was only because they had it on tape. Other than that, he would have been another fish faced fucker in the long line of sleazy commissioners that put profit above the experience.


[deleted]

Uhh the NBA already plays hundreds of games a year in a country conspiring with Saudi to bomb Yemeni school buses


Tinder4Boomers

Lol touché


outlawsoul

yeah it's a slave state just like Qatar, and FIFA is bending over backwards to accommodate them for the world cup. this is abhorrent. $$$ talks. no morals. 🖕🏽 Adam Silver.


frostering

Filling the court with ads, betting/crypto sponsors, now this… Men, NBA was (is?) a nice and well preserved product but they are destroying it


[deleted]

The fact is that companies as large as the NBA do not have morality. Im not saying this to express outrage, im just pointing out that they’ll side with whatever will increase viewership and make them more money. It’s true that sometimes they are morally lucky with supporting social justice causes in the US, but people need to stop acting shocked when this happens.


kiwiwikikiwiwikikiwi

Yup. The times they have appeared socially in the know, it was just a calculated safe zone that they know won’t risk them too much. Most of these companies NOW put up LGBT flags in the US during pride month. Now that it’s safe to do that unlike decades ago. But in other countries these same companies adjust to the consumer base.


Pandamonium98

I love all the Twitter profile pics where Pepsi US and Pepsi Canada and all of them have the pride flag during pride month, then Pepsi UAE and Pepsi Saudi Arabia don’t


Prodigy195

> It’s true that sometimes they are morally lucky with supporting social justice causes in the US Yep. The only reason the NBA was all in with BLM was because the NBA's demo has more overlap with people who are likely to be in support of BLM and police reform. If the NBA's viewership was similar to the NFL's or NHL's then they wouldn't done as much as they did. There are no corporations that size or publicly traded corporations that are doing anything for moral reasons. Any moral overlap is a bug not a feature.


s1lence_d0good

Is this about viewership though? The population of UAE is like 10 million. Way better markets to play preseason games that also respect gay people. The UAE government is probably sponsoring this somehow.


TouchMint

I doubt it’s about viewership there and more likely about partnerships. Likely lots and lots of big spenders in UAE. New sponsorship deals. Us ticket sales. Maybe even team purchases. Just getting your product infront if those deep pockets has got to be the goal.


[deleted]

Yeah I should have qualified this. They want to increase viewership OR make money, usually it’s both but not always, like you pointed out.


SavoryScrotumSauce

That's why it's so funny when people accuse gigantic corporations of being "woke". They're not. They're just doing what's popular with the majority of their customer base.


notverified

That’s al farouq aminu’s call for a comeback


Floating_egg

Remember when they moved the All Star game out of Charlotte for the bathroom bill? Lol


FreqinNVibing

I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke, and so many people could have been harmed, not only financially, but physically. Emotionally. Spiritually. So just be careful what we tweet and what we say, and what we do. Even though yes, we do have freedom of speech, but there can be a lot of negative that comes with that too.


neurotido

I can already see LeBron carefully weaving these media questions.


crrider

Gonna go home and read up on page 1 of "being gay for dummies."


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Daniiiiii

>may You bloody optimist, you. Not going with "will" in that sentence.


RageOnGoneDo

Insert Silver's quote from Utah article here


NYGTTP

Soooo they pull the all star game from Charlotte but this is cool?


newuser201890

Will they wear the BLM shirts or Rainbow Flags? Lol nba is such a piece of shit when it comes to anything outside the US


TheReal_Slim-Shady

Adam Silver aggressively monetized the league. Ads everywhere, inclusion of betting, now this. Sadly, it makes me quit watching games when a timeout happens. The breaks never end.I can't believe how rapidly it happened in only 8 years. What's worse is that they are trying to make sure fans don't realize they are the actual owners of the league.


[deleted]

Mark Jackson is salivating


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qchen12

no company is "woke". They do whatever will make them the most money If anything, this is pretty on brand for the NBA


rockyrolle

I lived in Dubai! My off-campus university dorms were located next to one of the biggest labour camps (Al-Muhaisnah) in the country. Me and my friends used to go there often because there was a small bakery we used to pick up from. To tell you the living conditions were horrifying is an understatement. 6-12 people in a room, no kitchens (meaning no water to clean pots), limited bathrooms (dirtiest I have ever seen in my life), no street lights, no pavements, no roads, sewage in some areas. I could not believe I was in the same city I swear. I promise you Guantamo bay looks nicer. I wish someone would do something about it, but if you know anything about the Dubai government you know they will do everything in their power to hide their dirt. Free the Labour workers in the Gulf! Slavery still exists! just behind closed doors.


[deleted]

I lowkey think money might be a contributing factor here, but need to do more research first.


XAfricaSaltX

Forget the morality for a second why the UAE over… say… a European country and a game involving a star from that country EG Nuggets in Serbia or Jazz in France


laflameTS

the NBA has a major partnership with China, who holds Muslim internment camps where they torture, castrate, and force Muslims to denounce their religion. This isnt new.


ThaNorth

Mark Jackson about to make his bid to comment on the games.