Why the second last day of the NBA season was so dramatic

WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?

NBA fans, take a breath – the craziest second last day of the regular season has passed.

With a few exceptions most NBA teams are doing two things – getting ready for the playoffs (which begin on April 13), or getting ready for next season, shutting down star players to avoid injury.

For some reason though, the collective NBA world absolutely lost it on Wednesday – here’s why.

Two legends bow out in style

Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki both played their final home games on Wednesday.

Both one club players, Wade and Nowitzki brought the Heat and the Mavericks their first ever championships on their way to becoming NBA legends.

Wade will go down as one of the games most visceral and exciting superstars, winning a championship in 2006 with Shaquille O’Neal before winning two more in 2012 and 2013 when LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined the Heat.

Nowitzki, a Mavericks and NBA icon, arguably changed the game forever.

The German big will go down as the best European player in NBA history, as well as one of the first big men to truly space the floor as an elite shooter with size.

Both were given touching tributes, with the likes of Barack Obama filming tribute videos for Wade and several NBA legends, including Larry Bird, showed up in Dallas for Dirk.

Fittingly, the two rivals each scored 30 points in the final games in front of their home fans, a 122-99 win over Philadelphia for Wade and a 120-109 win over Phoenix for Nowitzki.

Bizarre new chapter in Lakers soap opera

LA Lakers legend Magic Johnson has been working as the president of the team since 2017, with mixed results.

After a tumultuous 2018-19 campaign culminated in the Lakers yet again missing the playoffs despite the off-season signing of LeBron James, Johnson decided enough was enough.

In an impromptu press conference, Johnson announced:

• that he was quitting as team president

• that he hadn’t told team owner Jeanie Buss of his decision (!!!)

• that he couldn’t have gone through with quitting as president “face to face” with Buss

• that he had “more fun” as an ambassador of the Lakers, as opposed to being president

• the despite rumours indicating he was set to fire coach Luke Walton, he simply “couldn’t do it”

There is a lot to unpack here – many more details are sure to follow in the coming days.

For now, this much is clear – Magic Johnson had no interest in his job. So he left.

The problem is that the Lakers have been in shambles for years. Finding someone to steer this ship is becoming increasingly difficult.

Cult hero breaks Michael Jordan record

Jamal Crawford isn’t a household name, but hardcore NBA fans love him.

He’s kind of a throwback to an era of NBA purity, boasting a streetball-inspired game, the ability to score at will and the kind of veteran savvy that allows you to stay in the league at 39 years old.

Crawford, an NBA journeyman who has won the Sixth Man of the Year award three times, has been playing for the lowly Phoenix Suns this season.

It’s been a season to forget (again) for the Suns, but with the rest of the NBA seemingly losing their minds, Crawford decided to get in on the action.

The veteran scorer dropped an insane 51 points on just 30 shots against the Mavericks, surpassing a record set by His Airness, Michael Jordan.

Crawford is now the oldest man in the NBA to have scored 50 points in a game, breaking Jordan’s record, which he set as a 38-year-old in 2001 for the Washington Wizards.

The Suns guard is also the first player in league history to drop 50 points for four separate teams.

Davis takes another potshot at the Pelicans

The doomed relationship between Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans continues to get uglier and uglier.

Davis, who was widely linked to a trade to the Lakers which ultimately fell through, wore a shirt reading ‘that’s all folks’ to his team’s final game of the season.

Meanwhile, upon hearing of Magic Johnson abruptly ending his tenure as Lakers president, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry decided the time was right to fire a few shots of his own.

Speaking about Davis post-game, Gentry made it clear that while he had no problem with Davis on a personal level, he was unhappy with how the situation played out.

“I think he’s a great kid,” Gentry said. “I think he’s a very good kid. I think he’s a solid guy … I think he got some bad advice, if you want me to tell the truth.

“I’ll leave it at that,” Gentry added. “But there’s nothing wrong with AD. He’s a solid guy with good character. That’s the way I feel.”