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What Had Happened Was

What Had Happened Was: 6/27/16

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    BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge 2016
    NBA All Stars Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks speak on the court at halftime between the United States team and World team during the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge 2016 at Air Canada Centre on February 12, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
    By Rhiannon Walker Ryan Cortes

    GAME. BLOUSES.

    For the last week, NBA free agent Kevin Durant has been lounging out in New York. He’s gotten dinner with New York Knick Carmelo Anthony, shown up at the Nike store in Midtown and even caught a basketball tournament in Inwood, according to the New York Post. One thing he hasn’t done — at least not yet — is schedule a formal visit with the New York Knicks.

    Instead, Durant and his team have scheduled meetings with six other squads ahead of July 1, when free agency officially begins. The lucky six? The Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers. Sorry, Knicks fans.

    This promises to be the most frenzied free-agent push since LeBron James changed the paradigm of the league when he went from Cleveland to South Beach, Miami, in 2010. ESPN’s Marc Stein reported that both the Warriors and Spurs will send a plane full of influential figures — guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for Golden State, forward Tim Duncan and coach Greg Popovich for San Antonio — to try and pry Durant from a Thunder roster that could now be even better without recently traded forward Serge Ibaka.

    The Warriors, Spurs and Thunder won’t be the only ones flashing the goods, trying to impress Durant. Not by a long shot.

    BLESSINGS!

    SOCIAL STATUS

    Over the weekend, Abigail Fisher and her lawyers lost their case in the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the legality of affirmative action. Fisher, who applied to the University of Texas at Austin and was rejected, alleged that she didn’t receive admittance because of affirmative action. Long story short, only 47 people got into UT with worse credentials than her and only five of them were people of color … so the math doesn’t add up.

    But out of this ruling, Black Twitter went to work on her after the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action, birthing the hashtag #BeckyWithTheBadGrades:

    https://twitter.com/steenfox/status/746039628709257218

    FOR THE CULTURE

    Did y’all see singer Usher’s jacket at the BET Awards? Oh, well let us show it to you in all its glory.

    Immediately after actor/activist Jesse Williams’ acceptance speech for BET’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, singer Justin Timberlake tweeted that he was inspired … and it didn’t go over well.

    A picture of LeBron James from 2003 surfaced of him taking a photo of Stone Cold Steve Austin on a flip phone. Talk about a flashback.

    People are trying to make the LeBron crying meme a thing, and simply don’t realize they can’t make fetch happen.

    New York Mets pitcher Jeurys Familia was asked about his favorite bachata tracks, and he offered up a few nuggets.

    TOP THREE TWEETS

    Every morning we’ll hit you here with the best of what we saw on social media the previous night. Why? Why not?

    1. BOOTYLICIOUS

    2. LET US PRAY

    3. *THINKING EMOJI*

    https://twitter.com/bbycalmdown/status/746248486786523136

    #ICYMI

    Our brother Brando Simeo Starkey wrote a column arguing that we should stop pushing black athletes to use their platform just because they have a platform:

    We have black folk outside of sports with the intellectual aptitude and the rhetorical panache to deliver the public commentary necessary to promote racial progress. If their platform needs to be bigger, then we must enlarge it to empower them to do this necessary work. Granted, athletes are ready-made spokespeople — millions follow them on social media — and their every comment can dominate headlines as reporters shove microphones in their faces. Yet, if we push athletes to speak because they possess the largest platform, we make proximity to a television camera a virtue while reducing capability for smart commentary to a mere afterthought. That’s like choosing a chef not on skill, but on who’s closest to the kitchen.

    PICTURE PERFECT

    Rhiannon Walker is an associate editor at The Undefeated. She is a drinker of Sassy Cow Creamery chocolate milk, an owner of an extensive Disney VHS collection, and she might have a heart attack if Frank Ocean doesn't drop his second album.

    Ryan Cortes is a staff writer for The Undefeated. Lemon pepper his wings.

    This Story Tagged: Kevin Durant What Had Happened Was BET Awards