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A lot of the Lakers luck has nothing to do with league tampering and everything to do with the fact that players' licensing income does not count against the salary cap. Do you think a guy would rather make $1,000 shooting an ad for Big Bill's Discount BBQ or get $5,000 to make an appearance on opening night in Dr. Dre's new club? Do you think a player prefers to spend his day off shoveling snow from his driveway or go swimming on Venice Beach in the morning and then film a fight scene in the next Fast and Furious? Do you think his wife would rather shop at the mall or Rodeo Drive?

The Lakers don't get players gifted to them, they sign big name free agents at a discount and trade for expiring contracts knowing that the player will take an extension. They get traded so many players because they are on every players' preferred list of destinations because every agent makes sure it is there because the agent wants a cut of any Hollywood cameos and rap album features their player gets.

The Pau Gasol trade is a perfect example of this. He did not get traded for nothing. He got traded for his brother, Marc. Pau wanted to get out of Memphis, so the teams made a deal with him: if he could nag his baby brother into moving from the Euroleague to the NBA, Pau would get to win a ring with Kobe.

I like the idea of allowing more teams to be draft eligible, since it gives hope to teams stuck in purgatory, not good enough to seriously contend for a title but too good to draft guaranteed talent in the draft.

I don't like the idea of limiting the lottery eligibility of a team that finishes at the bottom for consecutive seasons (if they are not already ineligible for getting a high pick). It seems like unnecessary cruelty for a team to finish in the basement (because their best players all got old or left in free agency or something), then they lose the lottery despite good odds, and get told that next year they won't get a good pick either. At that point, the team would have to spend 2 years with a roster of bench warmers.

Hopefully, if there are more strict anti-tank rules, they can get rid of the rules against resting star players. The restrictions are arbitrary and enforcement is random and unpredictable.

It is rated as water resistant, capable of withstanding a jet of water.

Repairability depends on what breaks. If water getting into the phone fries the CPU, it does not seem fixable. Glancing at the site, I could not find a part on sale, probably because the cost of a replacement part would cost almost as much as replacing the phone.

In the US, libel requires you to prove that the writer knew that what they were writing is not true and that they did it to hurt you. Doing lazy research and trusting an AI is not going to meet that standard.

I would hope, but I would want to check reviews to be sure.

I have, but decided against it. I am clumsy and my hands are big enough to barely use my phone one handed (but not hold it securely when I do).

I will have to consider Fairphone when I am looking for my next phone. Looking at their site, my only hesitation is about water resistance. I understand that repairability comes at the cost of making everything glued and sealed shut, but I drop my phone in water once every couple of years. If that risks killing it, it is not going to be a phone that will last long in my hands.

The issue with that phone (and seemingly everything coming from HMD) is that it only gets 2 major OS upgrades. Also, it launches a major version behind, so it is actually only a single upgrade.

I am quite upset about it. I had a Nokia 6 (made by HMD) and loved the well made, durable hardware and very clean no-bloat software. I have been saddened to see that while most phone brands have been extending their OS support window, HMD has been shortening it.

Yes, actually. Michael Phelps (American swimmer) was rumored to smoke weed so he could get the munchies and consume more food, giving him extra calories to burn training.

It could also be that they were using marijuana as an illicit pain reliever.

I don't understand the Warriors trading for Porzingis. Curry and Draymond (and Butler) are on the wrong side of 35, so their time in the league is coming to an end and injuries are going to keep increasing in frequency. A sensible move would be to build a consistent core that can go on win streaks when the veterans are able to suit up and keep the ship afloat when they cannot. Porzingis is a very gifted and skilled player, but the only thing consistent about him is his ability to find his way onto the injury report.

If the Celtics decide to go all in on winning a banner or two and then blowing it up, Giannis for Tatum could work, salary wise. The Celtics don't have to wait for Tatum to fully recover and avoid the risk of Tatum losing a step due to the injury. Beyond that, Giannis has always been better than Tatum. The big downside is that Giannis is a few years older and has played a lot more professional games.

It is easy for me to answer, my mom is old. My wife can probably tread water while I get my mom to shore.

I told my wife this and she replied that she is a strong, independent woman who can swim perfectly well on her own. The right answer is that I should grab my mom and start bringing her towards the shore while my wife swims ahead and helps me pull her in once we get to shallower water.