Ray Caldwell retweeted
As great as the gym was yesterday, seeing my mom 25+ years sober and thriving stands out the most. My mom was in the deepest depths of addiction as I was growing up. After years of very hard moments, I gave up hope in her during my early 20’s - but she never gave up on herself. I’ve learned so much from that. For anybody battling addiction, my mom is living proof that it can be overcome - one day at a time.
LOVE YOU MOMS‼️
Gather dribble my a**!
Yes…..athletes and resources are better but miss me with my greats not killing in this era with pre-school sh*t like this being allowed.
Every biddy ball game this weekend has 5 year olds doing this crap
Ray Caldwell retweeted
I know we in our 20s baby but I’m still gone cut this Lenny Williams on when you in my car. That’s just what it is.
If I had an elite Son w/pro potential, I am sending Him to Hurley, Sampson or Izzo.
An old school a**hole who will teach my kid to play w/out kissing his a**, but preparing Him to play w/pros.
Ray Caldwell retweeted
"If the vets get worked on after practices by the team’s physiotherapy team, so will Dybantsa. If Davis ... arrives ... 45 minutes early to activate his body ... Dybantsa will be there at 8 a.m., too.
“His mom & dad raised him in a way that he respects authority"
The Wizards have been an irrelevant NBA franchise for most of the last 50 years. They are betting that AJ Dybantsa, the first pick in this year’s draft, will change that. On the rookie’s path and the challenges that await, free to read, in @TheAthletic:
nytimes.com/athletic/7649979…
Ray Caldwell retweeted
AJ Dybantsa was in sixth grade when he brought home a C minus.
His father called his travel team coach and told him the boy was not to play in the next game.
Then he drove him six hours to the game anyway.
Here is the whole thing.
They went from Brockton, Massachusetts to Philadelphia. AJ got dressed. He warmed up with everybody else.
Just before the tip, the coach told him he was not playing.
He sat there the entire game. Then he got back in the car and cried for six hours.
Here is what his father says about it.
"He realized then that I wasn't messing around, and he has been on the honor roll ever since."
Now here is who his father is.
His name is Anicet Dybantsa. Everybody calls him Ace. He was born in Brazzaville, in the Republic of the Congo, one of eleven children.
At 13 his family sent him to France to live with an older brother, because the schools were better.
In his early twenties he came to Boston to learn English.
He put himself through community college working as a janitor and cooking at McDonald's. He was a soccer goalkeeper good enough to get a scholarship at Massasoit Community College in Brockton and make All New England.
Then he became a campus police officer at Boston University and he did that for 19 years.
And here is the part nobody tweets.
He turned down police jobs in the city that paid better pensions. He took the campus job and kept it, because Boston University lets the children of employees go there for free.
He chose his kids' tuition over his own retirement.
AJ's mother is Chelsea. She was raised by her grandmother in Hanover, Jamaica, and she came to Boston at 13 too. She got a social work degree and she runs a department for a physician organization now.
Here is what she says about how they did it.
"It's not about being strict. It's about discipline."
And this, about her grandmother.
"My grandmother taught me that's the one thing no one can take away from you."
She was talking about school.
Here is Ace again.
"I'm his dad, not his friend. Let's make that clear."
And this, which he actually said to his son.
"AJ, there's only 450 players in the league. You have zero chance."
He also put cameras in the kitchen to find out whether AJ was really doing his morning push ups. He was not.
"I just wanted to know if you were going to lie to me."
Later Ace quit his job and moved across the country to live with AJ at his prep school.
Here is what AJ said about that on draft night.
"He quit his job just to retire and move in with me at Utah Prep so I'd be safe."
AJ is 19. He played one season at BYU and averaged 25.5 points. The Washington Wizards took him first.
He is three preseason games into a career that has not actually started yet.
But a sixth grader once cried for six hours in his father's car over a report card.
Ray Caldwell retweeted
What I tell kids/parents at every youth camp I am asked to speak at:
"Get an honest evaluation from someone who won't benefit if you make it and won't be hurt if you don't."
My tweet yesterday about Rob Dillingham has over 400,000 views. Hundreds of comments. And a phone full of messages from people around the NBA.
My article sparked conversations I never expected, with everyone from parents of NBA players and grassroots scouts to NBA executives, scouts and player development coaches reaching out.
I wanted to share their perspectives on what possibly went wrong.
Free article 🔽🔽
open.substack.com/pub/nbabig…
Ray Caldwell retweeted
RIP the redshirt. Can't believe these clowns took it away. Too few developers, they didn't care. Duke F Sebastian Wilkins:
"Wilkins credits much of that growth to the lessons learned during his redshirt season."
Ray Caldwell retweeted
Santa Clara aka Green Room U
Fit over name wins again!
Also, shout out Podz' pops 😂 #IYKYK
Just in: Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski has agreed to a five-year, $110 million fully guaranteed rookie-scale contract extension, agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball tells ESPN. The deal includes a mutual option in the fifth year (2031-32) and a trade kicker.
Ray Caldwell retweeted
I can understand the tribalism of a gang member fighting to protect his section.
But watching grown Men act a fool over a GAME they have no vested interest in is amusing.
These billionaire sports owners wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire.
What am I missing?
Grew up in an environment where gang bangers lived and died for a section where their parents RENTED.
Being a grown Man and a pro sports fanatic is similar, but worse.
Letting a bunch of rich athletes get you emotionally unhinged over a game is bewildering to me.
I have two son-in-laws. One is a multiple year all-star in the NBA, the other has made a pro bowl & an all-NFL team.
To me, they are just terrific Men, Husbands/Fathers.
I find it weird that grown Men are infatuated by the sports performance of a team or another grown Man.
Ray Caldwell retweeted
We live in a strange time where millions of people actively seek to be victims. If you tell them they're not, they get very angry.
Ray Caldwell retweeted
Looks like Operation #LA28 is underway.
A similar thing happened before #LA84.
Sweeping arrests, warrant pick-ups and uptick in law enforcement presence.
Will it result in real change or just for the perception of "safety" for visitors?
LAPD and federal agencies executed a major sweep on Skid Row, arresting 23 suspects and identifying 28 in a crackdown on gang-run drug networks operating out of homeless tents. foxla.com/news/skid-row-drug…























