Monday update

The NBA regular season is over, so we’re going to lead off with a bunch of basketball.

The Memphis Grizzlies are light-years away from this year’s NBA playoffs, which means they’ll have entries in the 2024 draft lottery. It’ll be on May 12 in Chicago. Let’s have a look at Tankathon and see what it tells us.

• At 27-55, Memphis finished the regular season with the 7th-worst record in the NBA
• Memphis will have a 31.9% chance of moving up to pick in the top 4 of the 2024 draft
• There’s a 7.5% chance the lottery will land the Grizzlies the number-one pick
• Tankathon’s lottery simulator, run 10 times, has the following outcomes for Memphis: 7th, 7th, 8th, 7th, 1st, 8th, 7th, 8th, 8th, 7th

How the draft lottery works, in detail, by the NBA

Tonight is the WNBA Draft, to be televised on ESPN at 6:30 Central. It’s a foregone conclusion that Caitlin Clark will be claimed with the 1-pick by the Indiana Fever. The more interesting question, though, is where does LSU center Angel Reese go? Some analysts believe she falls short of being a complete player; however, she’s got marketability for days. In a league like the WNBA, that’s worth a lot. CBS Sports’ mock draft has Reese going 7th to the Chicago Sky.

Back to the men for a minute: Boban Marjanovic of the Houston Rockets, you da real MVP. Houston was on the road at the L.A. Clippers, and Marjanovic had just missed his first of 2 free throws.

There was a promotion stating that if a Clips opponent missed 2 free throws in a row, all fans in attendance got free chicken.

Marjanovic, knowing this, intentionally missed the second free throw. Yay for chicken.

Today is National That Sucks Day. I recommend wearing Tennessee Vols attire to celebrate.

Porter-Leath’s Rajun Cajun Crawfish Fest is Sunday on Riverside Drive. Buckets of Cajun cooked crawfish for sale and food trucks for those not into crawfish. Live music by FreeWorld and Dikki Du and the Zydeco Krewe. Crawfish races. Bobbing for live crawfish. This is one of the few Downtown festivals left that does not charge a cover, and one of the best events on the spring calendar.

I don’t have Bardog’s complete special list today, but I know guava cheesecake is on there. That should be good. In other Bardog news, Joe is returning to manage Tuesday and Wednesday days.

Today is the first day of the Trumpster’s hush money criminal trial, with jury selection underway. Trump has to defend himself against 34 counts of falsifying business records.

The Cossitt Library will host a Literacy in Motion: Ballet program for children 3-6 Wednesday evening. Only a couple of spots remain.

From MSN: 29 famous streets around the world, and their fascinating stories

Pickleball courts will open at Sunset Canopy in Tom Lee Park this week. There will be free open play 8 AM-8 PM Thursdays-Sundays. You can borrow a paddle and ball or bring your own.

Speaking of Tom Lee Park, Ben & Jerry’s will hand out free ice cream cones there tomorrow, Tuesday, April 16, from noon to 8 PM. Standing in line multiple times is allowed, even when you already have a cone in your hand.

I’m staying out of the Union Mission tonight. It’s a beautiful day and I don’t want to have to head back there by 2 PM which is the cutoff to get in free. I haven’t done a night outside in nearly a month. I need one every now and then to maintain my sanity. The predicted low tonight is only 65 and I have plenty of snacks in my backpack. I’ll be fine. My only regret is that I didn’t swap out my jeans for a pair of shorts from the Mission’s clothes closet before I left.

Back tomorrow with more news.