Land Of The Snakes

    For this post, I wanted to discuss a group of content creators I used to watch before they sold out and ruined friendships for business purposes. The youtube group is known as 2hype. The current members consist of Jesser (Jesse), Jiedel (James), LSK (Kris), ZachTTG (Zach), CashNasty (Cash), and Moochie (Mitchell). Now the reason I stopped watching this group was when they kicked out fellow creator Mopi (Tyler). Tyler had been with 2hype since the creation of the group and had been a lifetime friend of Jesse’s. 

    

    While Tyler didn’t post as much and didn’t have as great a following, he was usually the comedic presence in 2hype videos, commonly making hilarious mistakes and being the target of many friendly insults. Sadly last year Tyler was dealing with a drug addiction and later stated that no one in 2hype except for Mitchell and Cash cared for his well-being. During the height of this 2hype sold out to the group 100 Thieves and in a surprise move, Tyler didn’t join them. Then on a post of 2hype’s celebrating an award, he tweeted “Lhype”, basically stating that he was leaving the group. This seemingly came out of nowhere and many fans were confused about what was happening internally in 2hype. 

    After numerous exposure tweets and videos from Tyler and past members who were kicked out before the group officially formed, it became clear that 2hype had sold out and were no longer a group of friends having fun on youtube. Tyler made an exposure video explaining how no one except for Cash and Mitchell tried to help him with his drug addiction, Members would refuse or dislike being in Tylers videos but always needed Tyler for their videos, and that they had kicked out people before the group formed so they didn’t have to share as much equity in the group. He also disliked the treatment of his lifelong friend Mitchell, who actually joined 2hype later on but received a very small percent equity in the company since other members didn’t want to give up their percentages.

    While there has been debate on both sides, it has become obvious to me and past fans that 2hype chose money over friendship. Since Tyler’s departure and the exposure videos, 2hype is unable to reach a million views unless they have a feature with another creator or famous figure. Again Tyler was the main comedic relief so now their comedy appears very forced or honestly isn’t funny. Cash and Mitchell are still very genuine but Jesse, James, Kris, and Zach appear to be money-hungry YouTubers, mainly focused on paying off their cars and mansions/houses. Sadly Tyler hasn’t had much success on his own but he continues to persevere and conquer his marijuana addiction.

Kyrie Irving: The Most Confusing Player In The NBA

    Now, this post may be slightly biased as I despise Kyrie Irving. He has always been an interesting player in the NBA and in the media. Recently his big news story circles around him deciding not to get the vaccine and the Nets deciding that he will not play until he does. While this may seem normal, he threw the press a curveball when stated in an interview that he is not anti-vaccine. This just infuriated me and many others since once again Kyrie was focused on basketball politics instead of the games. For this blog, I want to analyze his past choices and try to figure out why this great basketball player has had so many issues.

Now early in his career, he expressed his dislike of the media and the spotlight. He even tried to prove how ridiculous the news was by claiming he was a flat earther. Not surprisingly the media went crazy with this statement and to this day people are unsure of his stance. He calmed down with his media antics when Lebron returned to Cleveland. Kyrie was a huge supporting player in Cleveland's chase for a ring, hitting the game-winning three in a game 7 against the 73-9 Warriors team. This was his first and only championship for the Cavaliers. He was expected to be a franchise player but after losing to the Warriors super team in the next finals, he made a huge statement that is the main reason myself and many other NBA fans dislike him. Kyrie claimed that he could be the best player on a championship team and that he didn’t want to be the second option to Lebron. This was his informal way of asking for a trade and this is when his career spiraled out of control.

    Now I would respect his decision if he went on to win a championship for another team but at the end of the day, he proved himself to be a huge hypocrite. So after he made this statement he was traded to the Boston Celtics. While he was the best player on the team and led them to the playoffs, he never won a championship and would eventually leave after two years, even though he promised Boston fans he’d resign. Now I would also respect him signing with another team where he could be the best player but instead he made one of the most hypocritical moves in NBA history. After stating that he could be the best player on a championship team, he and Kevin Durant decided to sign with the Brooklyn Nets. Kevin Durant is currently a top 10 player of all time and was on the Warriors team that beat Kyrie for the championship in 2017. After claiming that he could be the best player on a championship team, Kyrie basically teamed with another Lebron on a better team. Funny thing is, he still hasn’t won another ring without Lebron. So looking back he made a selfish decision and when he couldn’t fulfill his own expectations, he tried to win an easy ring with a stacked team but couldn’t even do that.

Now in his third season, he just downright refuses to play. While the NBA doesn’t have a vaccine mandate, cities mainly decide if their teams need a vaccine to play and unfortunately for Kyrie, New York is very strict on their Covid policies. He still refused to get the vaccine so the Nets decided that he cannot play until he gets one or maybe if New York lifted their mandate. Now people were outraged at this decision and many thought he was an anti-vaxer like shooting guard Bradley Beal. When Kyrie was interviewed by the press he dropped a bombshell stating he didn’t support either side of the debate. He claimed that he just made the decision that felt right for him. Again Kyrie completely shocked the media and I still don’t understand his decision. If I could bet, I'd bet money that he did this to avoid injury and that he will return in the playoffs to try and get a free ring. I honestly think he doesn’t care for the sport of basketball and sees it as a tedious job.

Honestly, I could never predict what's going on in the crazy mind of Kyrie Irving but I will likely continue to dislike his decisions. I have a huge love for basketball and at this time it seems Kyrie doesn’t care for the sport at all. In the past, he’s been very hypocritical and has deliberately tried to throw off the press due to his dislike of them. Kyrie, if you're making over $30 million a year in the greatest basketball league in the world, the media is gonna bother you. At this point, I honestly hope he never picks up a basketball again since he wants to make the sport political when it’s supposed to be entertainment for millions of NBA fans.

Number 2 In The East?!

    I cannot believe that after years of watching terrible Chicago basketball, the Bulls are now one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Looking back on my expectations the Bulls have far exceeded them and I am fully confident that the Bulls are title contenders. The Lakers are a train wreck holding a record of 9-9 and the Nets are without one of their best stars in Kyrie Irving. These were the favorites going into the season and while these teams are struggling, Zach Lavine and Demar Derozan are averaging over 25 points per game, leading the Bulls to a 12-6 record. Looking back on my expectations I want to analyze the Bulls signings this offseason and our rookie's involvement.

    First off I have to tip my cap to the Bulls General Manager, Marc Eversley. He came in and made some big moves but boy have they paid off. I was ecstatic when we signed Demar Derozan but many fans felt the Bulls had paid too much for the aging veteran. DeRozan has adapted quickly to the new environment and fits perfectly in Billy Donovan's offense. He is now the leading scorer for the Bulls and at this time he is in high consideration for the MVP award. I was also happy with the Bull's signing of Lonzo Ball. While I was expecting his main attribution to be playmaking, he has actually become a great 3 and D player. Lonzo is averaging about 2 steals per game and has a higher three-point percentage than Steph Curry. Also, Alex Caruso has been a very impactful player for the bulls, covering for an injured Coby White, bringing a great defensive presence and playmaking ability.

Now sadly while the Bulls are playing at a great level, our rookies have not been heavily involved. Marko Simonivic has only played in one game even though the Bulls heavily hyped him up while he played overseas and our starting center Nikola Vucevic is currently injured. One rookie that has seen some playing time is Ayo Dosunmu. He has actually been a solid backup but overall I don’t see him developing into a star player. Likely he will be a career role player like Shaun Livingston or Kirk Hinrich. One young player I hoped would develop this year was Patrick Williams. Sadly he suffered torn ligaments in his wrist and will miss a huge portion of the season. This will likely stunt his development, but in all honesty, in the few games he played this season he did not look promising. He seemed afraid to shoot the ball and on the defensive side, he was very lacking in interior defense, rebounding, and help defense. I would scream at the TV many times as he let an offensive player cut the basket and put in an easy layup. Overall the Bull's younger players are obviously not a focal point for the team which in reality means the Bulls are pushing for a Championship this season instead of focusing on the future.

    

    The Bulls are looking very promising so far and I am glad that they are pushing for a championship instead of giving rookies starting opportunities. Zach Lavine finally has some weight lifted off his shoulders and the offseason signings have fit tremendously in Billy Donovan's revitalized offense. Demar DeRozan immediately became an MVP candidate and players like Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso have become elite role players for the Bulls. Overall I am very pleased with the team's success so far and the near future looks very promising. Also, I am slightly nervous since I made a bet that if the Bulls won a championship I’d get a Bulls tattoo and surprisingly, that has become a great possibility.