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Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors becomes a free agent at the end of the season. Zhong Zhi/Getty Images Photo Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images
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Daily Dose: 10/17/17

The NBA is back, kiddos

Clinton Yates @clintonyates
Topics:
All Day Kevin Durant Daily Dose Colin Kaepernick

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    2:30 PMToday’s another television day, but a special one. The NBA returns Tuesday night, so Around The Horn should be a fun one today. Tune in at 5 p.m. on ESPN if you want to see me break out my fall wardrobe.

    Hip-hop is vital lifeblood in America. Today, its creation and existence are being celebrated at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and if you want to follow that, make sure to hit up the hashtag #hiphophistory. But for as much as it might be the driving force in my life, what it has created has certainly taken away from other things. In the pop culture sphere, from a musical standpoint, the evolution of the rap game basically put rhythm and blues music under. Not just because of popularity. Because of the music itself.

    Colin Kaepernick just might have himself a case. Why? Because the president of the United States of America loves to tweet. It sounds complicated, but in short, because of the collective bargaining agreement, Kap’s lawyers could argue that because Trump has such an influence over the league, he deserves damages. This is fascinating because if it does end up that he wins money for not being signed, it’ll be because the very guy who thinks he should have gotten “fired” (FIRED!) did a little too much.

    By all accounts, this should be Kevin Durant’s year. He’s the NBA Finals MVP. He’s an NBA champion. It’s his second year with his new squad. Of course, if you looked at his new sneakers, you’d think he still had something to prove, but for the most part, he’s just the man. Whether or not he’s the best player in the NBA at this point is almost immaterial. The other thing he’s expanding is his empire. While we think of LeBron James as the business mogul, KD has things he likes off the court too. Here’s a great, long read about it.

    Cooler heads have prevailed regarding the national anthem. At NCAA Division III Albright College, three players were dismissed from the football team for kneeling during the national anthem. To be clear, it technically happened because there was some sort of agreement between the captain’s council not to do this and they violated it. But it’s also an example of people at small schools taking themselves WAAY too seriously in general. Those three players have now been invited back to the squad.

    Free Food

    Coffee Break: Speaking of the NBA, the athletes deal with a lot of nonsense. Because everyone thinks they can play basketball, dudes in the association get challenged more than others. Sure enough, some YouTuber thought going one-on-one against the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown was a good idea. He was very wrong.

    Snack Time: Some of you might not know this, but Lil Jon isn’t all about just getting crunk for no reason. He’s recently started a primary school in Ghana, which seems like a fulfilling effort.

    Dessert: If you’re really into Mac computers, get this candle. Also, it got an update recently too.

    Clinton Yates is a tastemaker at Andscape. He likes rap, rock, reggae, R&B and remixes β€” in that order.