Good day everyone and welcome to The Question Is Moot: Seattle Sonics Preview Edition, with our guest, the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Rev. Jackson was kind enough to sit down with me this week and give his thoughts on the upcoming season.
Steve: Thanks for joining us Reverend Jackson, it's a pleasure to get your input on the upcoming season. Let's begin by talking about Kevin Durant, one of two new Sonics this year and one of the most exciting players in college basketball history. Do you think Durant will win the Rookie of the Year Award?
JJ: The question is moot. I will win the Rookie of the Year Award. Given how tired Middle America is of the same old fresh faced rookies coming in every year and capturing our hearts, I think it's time for America to choose experience. Experience that only an old hand like myself can provide. From the lowlands of the flatlands of the heartlands to the atria and ventricles of our inner cities, nobody takes it to the hoop like I do.
Steve: Yes you do Reverend, yes you do. Durant is the most highly touted rookie in some time...well since last year I guess...so what do you think about the dawn of a new era for Sonics basketball?
JJ: The question is moot, Scott ... In many ways -
Steve: Uh, that's Steve, Reverend. Scott is a different site author. People sometimes get us mixed-
JJ: The statement is moot. Kevin Durant is a trailblazer...
Steve: Uh, actually Greg Oden is a Trail Blazer. Durant is a Sonic, remember? He got drafted second, not first?
JJ: He may not have been the first man to have his name called, but he'll always be first in our memories. Just like Rosa Parks. In many ways, history is marked before and after Rosa Parks. She sat down so that the rest of us might stand up, and the walls of segregation came down!
Steve: Right. Yeah, Rosa Parks was and is an inspiration to all of us...but we were talking about Kevin Durant. We'll come back to the civil rights legacy in, uh, a minute. But like Rosa Parks and Dr. King, if Durant works hard, theoretically the sky is the limit for what he could achieve, right?
JJ: The question is moot. Both tears and sweat are salty and wet; but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy, but sweat will get you change!
Steve: I see. Moving on, let's talk about the style of play for the upcoming season. Do you think the emphasis will remain on being an uptempo team on offense, or do you see the team moving towards more of a possession game?
JJ: The question is moot. Deliberation and debate is the way you stir the soul of our democracy ... it's...it's...what was the question again?
Steve: It's OK. Let's talk about new Sonics head coach PJ Carlisimo. How well do you think this new coach, who is almost 60 years old, will be able to relate and effectively coach one of the youngest rosters in the NBA?
JJ: The question is moot. You know how the young people are today, Stuart, with their e-Pods and imails and the rap music and wearing their hats sideways and their pants baggy. It's like they're all wanting to be rap stars with the floppity-flippity and the boppity-bippity....(gets up and begins doing the stir the pot dance)
Steve: Uh ....did you just say floppity-flippity and boppity-bippity? Isn't that supposed to be the kind of weird gibberish Bill Cosby would say while he made funny faces into the camera? You forgot the part about your wife Camille.
JJ: So I did. But I can't be bogged down in details right now Shaun.
Steve: Steve.
JJ: Steve.
Steve: Right.
JJ: Thanks Frank. As I was saying, I cast my bread onto the waters long, long ago. Now it's time for you and the rest of the Sonic fans out there to return it to me. Preferably toasted and buttered on both sides.
Steve: We'll get right on that. So back to the young roster thing, what are your expectations for Jeff Green and Kevin Durant this year?
JJ: The question is moot. Today's basketball players have a choice. They can put dope in their veins, or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it, and believe it ... they can achieve it. They need to know that it's not their aptitude, but their attitude that will determine their altitude!
Steve: Damn yo, that's deep.
JJ: Thank you Bryce.
Steve: Ahem. Of course no season preview would be complete without a brief discussion of the impending arena situation. What do you think about the team possibly moving to Oklahoma City? Is it possible for an NBA franchise to succeed and thrive in such a small market?
JJ: The question is moot. Great things can happen in small places you know. After all, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesse Jackson was born in Greenville. Luke Ridnour was born in .... in .... a hospital. Never let them see you sweat!
Steve: I won't. (Pause) By the way, that's an Old Spice commercial, Reverend Jackson.
JJ: (sniffing armpits) Yup-yup.
Steve: Well, thanks for your time, I've got to run. Any last words for Sonics fans this year?
JJ: The question is moot.
Steve: Okay, but is there anything else-
JJ: I just have one thing to say Tom, and then I'll get off the floor. At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope, and not backwards by fear and division. Whether that division is the former Pacific Division of our forefathers, or the new Northwest Division, filled with the misfit teams that didn't really belong with California but weren't far enough East to fit in the Midwest or far enough South to be part of Texas. Fans need to hold their heads high, stick their chests out. Because you can make it. Sometimes it's dark, but you know what happens when it's dark?
Steve: What's that?
JJ: Morning comes!
Steve: So it does.
JJ: Did I mention I'm a big fan of Wally Szczerbiak?
Steve: The question is moot.