If you were an astronomy-obsessed adolescent like I once was, you probably know that today’s Word of the Day – “planet” – means “wanderer” in Greek. To the ancients, stars were fixed points of light in the night time sky, while those lights that moved around over time were something else. In pre-Copernican days there was no notion of a “solar system,” but the difference between “fixed” and “wandering” was readily apparent to anyone with a keen eye and enough of a scientific bent to take note and remember from night to night.
The other reason I choose to take note of this particular Word of the Day is the sample sentence that comes with it in Merriam-Webster’s daily email:
“Dell is the father of Steph Curry, and Steph (in case you’ve been living on another planet) plays for the Golden State Warriors, the team that Drake’s beloved Raptors have to beat if they’re going to bring an NBA Championship home.”
— Charlotte Wilder, Yahoo! Sports, 31 May 2019
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Now I wouldn’t know Drake if he walked up to me on the street and poked me in the eye. But I do know my Curries – Seth as well as Steph – and I even saw their dad Dell play in person once when he was in college back in the day. My how time flies. But as it turns out, “Drake’s beloved Raptors” ended up as first-time NBA champions this year. And just in case Yahoo! Sports doesn’t reach your planet, I’m here to tell you that Raptors’ star – and Finals MVP – Kawhi Leonard will not be returning to We The North next season. Instead, he’ll join Paul George in moving to the Clippers, thus potentially giving the Lakers a run for their money in SoCal basketball supremacy – or at least making a big splash in NBA marketing pizzaz.
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As for Steph, still the best shooter on this planet, he’s biding his time up in NorCal, waiting for Klay Thompson’s surgically repaired ACL to heal. With Kevin Durant and his bum Achilles moving East to play for the Nets, and Boogie Cousins (quadriceps now 100%, if not his attitude) leaving the Warriors to join LeBron and Anthony Davis cross-town with the re-vamped Lakers, next season could definitely get interesting out West. All these wandering NBA stars: You need a notebook and a keen eye just to keep track.
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<Sorry LeBron… a planet’s size matters!>