Terrence Edwards

Get prepared. Study enough to be dangerous. Walk into any room or interview ready. Discipline. Curiosity. Work ethic. Communication. The ability to defend your ideas. These are skills you must develop and knowledge you must acquire.

Gabby Williams took over that game. She’s a cold baller! Good win by the V’s #WNBAFinals #WNBA

If you’re Sam Presti, general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder, you have to consider trading/moving Jalen Williams to another team as soon as he’s healthy and ready to return. He’s constantly hurt and keeps suffering serious, season ending injuries. They’re paying him $239 million over the next five years $41 million this year alone. #jalenwilliams #OKCThunder #Injury

Most people in the world think alike, often following patterns based on what they see/hear around them. But a few break those patterns and see things through a different lens. There’s the 1%, and then there’s the 99%. Who’s really getting it wrong? Most of the 99% go to their 9 to 5 jobs and complain about the 1% and what they’re not doing right. Meanwhile, the 1% are on a beach, having the time of their lives after creating the jobs that allow people (99%) to feed their families. So once again, who’s really getting it wrong, and who’s getting it right?

I lived in California for 10 years, then made one small adjustment to move and split my time between Vegas and Dallas part time. And two MAJOR things happened for the better. A lot can change in 24 months. When you change your surroundings, you encounter different people, different ways of thinking, and different perspectives. Why remain complacent when you can just adjust something. I highly recommend a change of scenery to anyone considering it. There’s always life on the other side of fear. Don’t ask what if, just do it!

How you treat people who don’t share your views is a true reflection of your character. Getting upset when someone disagrees with you, even when they make valid points • is like crying as a kid because you didn’t get the toy you wanted. You revert to that inner child because things didn’t go your way and someone is challenging your logic and thought process. There are roughly 349 million people in the U.S. and about 8 billion around the world. Imagine if everyone thought exactly the same. New ideas wouldn’t create new inventions. Different thoughts challenge you. They’re suppose to make you say to self “I didn’t see it that way. You might have a point, let me do more research for myself. Maybe I’m missing something.” Different thoughts: help us create, invent, and develop new ideas.

I think the Phoenix @Suns should trade Devin Booker @DevinBook and I could see it happening within the next 2–3 years. His massive contract has officially limited the Suns flexibility and their options to add the pieces needed to improve the roster. If Phoenix can find the right deal, moving Booker and his salary for 2–4 quality players and additional assets could give the Suns more depth, balance, and a better chance of advancing beyond the first round. The team that they have now, won’t be enough to compete with the best.

Humans are interesting. Consider Lindsay Clancy and Luigi Mangione. When people relate to someone’s circumstances or sympathize with their reasoning, they can become biased and defend that person until the very end, even if that person was wrong. Someone out there will ignore what happened and simply say, “So what?” #LindsayClancy I respect the juror who reportedly held firm and essentially said, “No, she’s guilty. She admitted to killing her children. Regardless of her mental health, that fact cannot be ignored.” Meanwhile, the other jurors appeared to view the case through a lens of compassion and deep empathy. They believed Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis and that her mental illness affected her responsibility for what happened. Without the claim of postpartum psychosis, would the public’s response have been different? Would more people have demanded that she be sent to prison? I also wonder whether gender influenced some of the sympathy surrounding the case. A new father cannot experience the hormonal changes associated with childbirth, but he can develop: Paternal postpartum depression or anxiety Mania or a psychotic episode triggered by extreme stress and sleep deprivation Symptoms related to bipolar disorder or another underlying condition Some of these conditions may require medication. I do think that if the husband had been the one on trial with similar evidence, many people would have said he was guilty, and the jury probably would have found him guilty. Let’s put a spin on it. #LuigiMangione We saw a similar dynamic with Luigi Mangione. Many Americans are frustrated with major corporations and the healthcare system. Because of that frustration, some people understood or sympathized with what they believed motivated him. Many of those people probably did not support the killing itself, yet some still said, “Free Luigi,” or argued that he acted for a greater cause. My point is that people interpret events through different lenses. The information you receive and the way it is presented can shape your biases and influence which side you choose. People will always debate and feel strongly about controversial issues. Those who agree with you may embrace you, while those who challenge your position or examine it from another angle may treat you like an enemy. Some people will nearly come to blows over differences in perception, outlook, and opinion. Humans are interesting. Terrence Edwards

A chill Sunday in Portland, Oregon. You can’t go wrong with a camera to capture your surroundings, a creative notebook, a great book, and some matcha.

Church message today Gratitude for what you have matters. A lot of people are always asking for more, constantly reaching out with their hands open. But when you really look around, you already have more than enough and things that you need. How much is enough for the things that you need, not the things that you want.

My Final Take on the New York Knicks This Season I woke up to 31 messages, 1,800 comments on social media, and 8 missed face time calls. Final Take In today's game, you can be a bad team and somehow still win an NBA Championship. That's a major alarm for the sport of basketball. Apparently, you don't need a true 1A superstar anymore, and you can still win a title. I'm confident the Spurs will be back in the NBA Finals within the next five years. However, I don't believe Knicks fans can say the same. Jalen Brunson, New York's new favorite guy or, as I would call him, New York's glorified bench player. His numbers have been largely inflated over the last four seasons as a Knick. Why? Well, when you're the only guy on your team and a bad team at that. A team where everyone else is a scrub, somebody has to score. In Dallas, Brunson didn't start majority of the games. He was a bench player, averaging fewer than 12 points per game across his four seasons there. He's no Jordan, Curry, Kobe, LeBron, Kawhi, Giannis, or Shaq. (all 1A guys and massive superstars) He's Jalen Brunson, a man of very few words. When you ask him in interviews how his team manages to win, he often shrugs his shoulders, stares back in confusion, and says, "I can't tell you," or "I don't know." He's often just as surprised as the opposing team. However, he does know how to push off with his off-hand to create space for a shot, something that is clearly an offensive foul but somehow never gets called. He also knows how to get to the free throw line by lobbying the refs for calls every two minutes. A significant portion of his points comes from free throws. Shai is widely known on social media as the free throw merchant and flopper of the NBA. Brunson isn't quite at that level, but he's comfortably in second place. Even though they lost, I still believe the Spurs were the better team. The Spurs were winning roughly 72% of this series. They simply made too many mistakes and repeatedly gave the Knicks opportunities to capitalize in the final mins. Think about Wembanyama's late pass to Stephon Castle in Game 2. Spurs win if that doesn't happen. Think about blowing a 30 point lead in Game 4. Spurs win, if they could hold on to it. Think about Game 5, where the Spurs controlled the game for most of the night, only to collapse in the final four minutes. Those self-inflicted mistakes happened throughout the entire series. In my view, the Spurs beat themselves and handed this championship to the Knicks. The Spurs dominated the first quarter of nearly every game and played lockdown defense that often left the Knicks looking rattled, confused, and out of answers. Many people say I don't like New York, the place where I was born and raised. I love New York, especially the borough of Manhattan. This is not about the city of New York. It's this Knick team and players that I can't get behind. OG, the Knicks best player, certainly deserves some credit. He did his thing. Even though he fouled De'Aaron Fox in Game 4 with 13 seconds remaining and then did an obvious travel violation in Game 5 when he picked up the basketball, touched it with both hands, and continued dribbling before finishing the layup. Of course, it wasn't called. There's Josh Hart, whose overly aggressive style gets disguised as "playing with heart," when in reality he's often a hack. Then, when the refs finally call something on him, he acts completely shocked and dumbfounded. Mikal Bridges is a constant hot and cold shooter, disappearing for stretches and then suddenly making a surprise bucket. He's often a cold shooter. Karl-Anthony Towns makes questionable plays, commits unnecessary fouls, and struggles with consistency. The KAT we saw in Games 1 and 2 of the Finals is the version Knicks fans want all the time. The KAT we saw in Games 3, 4, and 5 is the real KAT. And then there's the Knicks bench. Who are those guys? The Eastern Conference had a few obstacles this year. Hopefully, it comes back stronger and real contenders can keep the Knicks where they belong out of the Finals. I look forward to Tyrese Haliburton returning healthy after his injury to Indiana, the Boston Celtics getting healthy again, Jayson Tatum making a full recovery, and the Detroit Pistons continuing the momentum they built this season by dominating in the east. If a team is going to win a championship in the future, then for the love of the game, let it actually be a good to great team raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy. The more we allow basic to bad teams to win championships, the more watered down the honor and accomplishment of holding that trophy becomes. Terrence T. Edwards TerrenceEdwardsInMedia@gmail.com

Game 4 between the Spurs and Knicks was rigged. I feel it in my soul. There’s just no way a team is coming back on the number 2 seed in the west like that. #NBAFinals

The Spurs thought the game was over. It’s hard to watch the better team (Spurs) go up by 30 and then hand the game away to these bums (Knicks). The Spurs are just giving their championship trophy to the Knicks by making countless mistakes. Insane to watch.

The Knicks got lucky in Games 1 and 2. Through the first quarter of all three games, the Spurs have dominated them. We had the lead until the final two minutes of the fourth quarter in every game. Brunson is too small. He shot 19-for-56 in Games 1 and 2. Josh Hart is a disaster. He looks surprised every time he scores. KAT wants to be a Kardashian. Nobody even knows Mikal Bridges. The only good player on the Knicks is OG Anunoby. I expect the Spurs to even the series in the next game. Then it’ll be 0-0, and the real series begins. Spurs in 6 or 7

A little history for you guys The 2006 NBA Finals Miami Heat down 0-2 to the Dallas Mavericks. Result: Heat won 4 straight and became champions. The 2016 NBA Finals Cleveland Cavaliers down 0-2 to the Golden State Warriors. Result: Cavaliers won the championship. They were also down 3-1 in that series. The 2021 NBA Finals Milwaukee Bucks down 0-2 to the Phoenix Suns. Result: Bucks won 4 straight and became champions.

I still have the Spurs winning the NBA Finals. Here’s why: The Spurs are the better team. Right now, they’re beating themselves and playing down to the Knicks talent level. The Knicks aren’t doing anything special. They’re sloppy, inconsistent, they’re not a polished team and they make a lot of mistakes. In both games, the Spurs dominated the opening quarter, built control of the game, and then just relaxed because they don’t look at the Knicks as a threat. Can’t do that! Still have to pile it on them. Knicks are up 2-0! I get it! But how about this. In 2006, a team went down 0-2 and came back to win the series/championship 4-2. In 2021, the Suns went up 2-0 in the Finals, and then Giannis and the Bucks won 4 straight wins to take the championship. Spurs in 6 or 7. But the Spurs will win the Championship.