My fantasy’s bitter end

AD, Kawhi, SGA, and the fraternal fight for a payday

BY TRAVIS MORAN

Back in October, I asked David Thorpe to review my league’s fantasy draft. After he’d analyzed the Hustle’s draft (my team), then everyone else’s, I asked him to assess one team in particular: Triangle, managed by my brother. 

Triangle had drafted Anthony Davis in the first round and followed with Kawhi Leonard. Davis is in fantasy what he is in real life: a titan of production. When he plays, he’s arguably the most complete weapon in fantasy basketball. Kawhi lives on a mountain; when opponents scale it, he breaks out crazy Pai Mei shit, seemingly at will. 

Thorpe wondered what everybody wondered: How many games were they going to play? Excluding the entire 2021-2022 season he lost to an ACL injury, Kawhi had averaged 57 appearances a year as a Clipper. Prior to this season, AD had averaged just 49 games a year as a Laker. 

Here was my brother’s immediate response: