Just weeks away from tipoff, it isn't just fans who are ecstatic about the return of NBA action; league personnel, Hall of Famers, and current players are all anticipating the rebooted season, according to veteran NBA photographer, Andrew D. Bernstein.
"I'm itching to get back to work," he told Cheddar on Monday. "I haven't taken a picture since March 11th."
In partnership with the Los Angeles Times, Bernstein, a photographer covering the NBA for nearly 40 years, plans to document the return of the season amid the coronavirus pandemic with a spinoff of the Legends of Sport podcast titled, Legends of Sport: Restarting the Clock.
"It'll be a great kind of melding of today and yesterday," Bernstein noted. "We're going to have a mix of participants: coaches, NBA types, legends talking about their memories from years past."
With the coronavirus being the focal point of the return to gameplay, Bernstein is also tasked with detailing the reactions to sweeping calls for change as the NBA greenlights current players to make social justice statements.
"It's a huge story and it's vital that we cover that and the fact that the NBA provides this tremendous platform for players," he said.
As the league plans its return amid the surging number of coronavirus cases in Florida, Bernstein said his only major concern is actually making it to the "Bubble" in Orlando, the nickname for the resorts and Disney facilities that house players and staff and will host the actual games.
"The safety of the players and the participants, all of us staff, is of the utmost importance to the NBA, so I have complete and total trust in that," the photographer stated. "My biggest worry, quite honestly, is just getting there. Going on a commercial flight, which I haven't done since the pandemic started."
The component derived from cannabis plants offers an effective alternative for pain relief without causing a "high," said former New York Jets player Marvin Washington, who urges the NFL to change its policy on the substance. "If we don't get our hands around this opioid addiction, we are going to lose a generation."
For the first time since 1980, Iranian women this week were allowed to watch their national team take on Spain at the World Cup. For Iran, soccer is "the one secular institution that really unites the country," says Jeffrey Marcus, publisher of World Cup newsletter "The Banter."
The 28-year-old pitcher for the LA Dodgers pitches something else in the off-season: stocks. As a licensed stockbroker, Stripling invests in FANG shares and dabbles in some commodities, he tells Cheddar.
Paul Boyer, a.k.a. sOAZ, the former starting top laner for Team FNATIC, was sidelined with a hand injury during the Spring Split season of the esport League of Legends. But now he's back in action and ready for the Summer Split.
IBM and Fox Sports have teamed up to bring fans an easy way to create their own highlight reels, drawing footage from archives and current matches. "It is a huge opportunity to tap into that fan passion," says Robert Schwartz, Global Leader of Strategy and Design at IBM iX, the company's digital ad agency.
The athletic brand has signed deals with projected number one overall pick in the NBA, Deandre Ayton, and has integrated music and fashion into its marketing. Former ESPN host Bram Weinstein says that could give Puma an edge over competitors.
Video games and esports, which are front and center at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this week, have caught the attention of the entrepreneur and CEO of VaynerMedia. "I have been lurking in the grass, as they say," he told Cheddar's Jon Steinberg.
Canada was one of the only developed countries in the world that did not have a premier league for soccer. Until now. The Canada Premier League will kick off its inaugural season next year in the hopes of creating a soccer revolution ahead of the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted in the country, says CPL commissioner David Clanachan.
Any professional athlete faces pressure to win, but the stakes are higher at the World Cup, where soccer players carry the added burden of an entire nation's expectations. To rise to the occasion, athletes "have to have a shared vision and a greater purpose," says Jon Gordon, the author of 'The Power of Positive and Leadership.'
Most World Cup fans may have their money on the usual contenders: Brazil, France, and Germany. But there are a few teams and players that have the potential to upend the game and surpass expectations, says Jeffrey Marcus, publisher of The Banter.
