Uhhh so is the Laker's season over?

You can lose by 40 or have your franchise player pull his hamstring, but watching both in one night will really sour your mood after the kids are asleep. Lucky for me, I didn’t watch the Laker game last night. I woke up to news about Luka heading for an MRI on his hammy. And since I’m an emotional cat, I’m happy to be an alarmist. It’s injury season in the NBA. Particularly non-contact soft tissue. Need I remind you of last season’s playoffs when Dame, Tatum and Haliburton all blew Achilles. I would love, love, love to be wrong. But superstars are now well past six months of consecutive basketball and gearing up for another two more. It’s a little sketchy out there. I’m hopin Luka needs two weeks off, everyone stays clean through the Finals, and we forget I ever typed these words.

Konnor Griffin - welcome to the Big Show. Welcome to your first Hard In The Paint my man. If you haven’t heard the name before, don’t sweat it. Griffin was the ninth overall pick in the 2024 draft and debuted in the minors in 2025. He’s been a top prospect for about the same time you’ve been familiar with Fernando Mendoza.

Griffin heads to Pittsburgh and will become their starting shortstop for the next decade. He’s the best prospect since Mike Trout. Should I have led with that? Disqualifying Shohei, Griffin is generating more buzz as a 19yr old than any prospect of the last 15 years. Why? He’s jacked. He’s good at baseball, but this story gets good because the young man is walking granite. Andrew Huberman is asking for his stack on a peer to peer level. Very cool. And he plays shortstop! Wow. Griffin is the type of guy that his girlfriend’s dad introduce as “future son-in law” to the rest of the foursome at the alumni scramble. Don’t even have to be engaged! Don’t golf? No problem! That’s Griffin.

Being jacked is an accolade unto itself, but Griffin can also really swing it. I squint and see Mookie Betts. That’s a compliment. Griffin’s able to move with the dexterity of a much smaller, nimble, elite multi-sport athletic savant, but he can do it in a 6’4’’ frame at 220lbs. Scary stuff.

And how will the Pirates fair with both Paul Skenes and Konnor? Who knows, I’ve seen Shohei and Mike Trout spend six years on the same team. How’d that go for the Halos? While Skenes seems to have rebuffed any extension talks with Pittsburgh, Griffin and the Pirates are in active negotiations that could lock up their shortstop for at least 8 years. Early career extensions are all the rage in baseball, and there seems to be no moment too soon for a prospect to sign. Griffin, however, has such immense talent, and the Pirates are such a pitiful organization, that perhaps the two aren’t the best fit to get a deal done. His money though. Not mine.

We can unpack the game theory of free agency, fully guaranteed millions, and attaching yourself to Pittsburgh’s owner for another day. Today, the big guy should focus on his first base knock. Taking the field. Being present. All things most of us should take a minute to do after work on a spring Friday.