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The Chicago Cubs are not a good baseball team. They are going to finish in the bottom half of the National League and make this year all about developing for the future. That means that they will put a high value on players in their Minor League pipeline.

One of those players is Pete Crow-Armstrong. He was acquired in the trade that sent Javier Baez to the New York Mets in 2021. Even if he becomes a halfway decent player in MLB, that will forever be looked at as a great trade for the Cubs.

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The Chicago Blackhawks had a tough year. There was a lot to deal with but this dreadful season is finally to an end. They began their last week of the year, however, with a big win over the Philadelphia Flyers. It was a 3-1 score over the team that they defeated in the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.

The Blackhawks were led in this one by Jonathan Toews. He had the primary assist on Erik Gustafsson’s third of the season which put them up 1-0. He then scored his 12th of the season later in the period which gave Chicago a 2-0 lead.

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JAYLEN BROWN SPLIT a pair of Dallas Mavericks defenders at the top of the key, took one more dribble, two full-speed steps after the gather and was ready for takeoff from just outside the restricted area.

It was late in the second quarter inside Boston’s TD Garden, and the paint had just turned into Brown’s private green runway. The Celtics’ star swingman, though, had company in front of the rim.

Maxi Kleber, the Mavs’ 6-foot-10 defensive-minded center/power forward who rose to challenge the 6-foot-6 Brown, was willing to risk winding up on the wrong end of a viral poster dunk by one of the league’s most explosive leapers.

Did he ever.

Brown detonated on Kleber with a vicious tomahawk to thrill a Sunday afternoon national TV audience and sellout crowd, including legend Kevin Garnett, who slapped fives with Brown from his baseline seat to celebrate the moment.

Seconds later, the Celtics’ official account tweeted, “OH MY GOODNESS JAYLEN BROWN” with a video of the play that has garnered more than two million views. The NBA’s Twitter account, with its nearly 37 million followers, posted clips of replays from three different angles. It wasn’t long before Brown and Kleber, a relatively anonymous player, were trending — in large part due to a flood of tweets mocking Kleber’s epically failed contest.

Social feeds that night certainly weren’t filled with commentary about Kleber’s contributions to the Mavs’ comeback win: 13 rebounds and three blocks off the bench.

Kleber has been in this precarious position before. The last time he caught the attention of casual fans, it was in Dallas’ 2021 playoff opener, when Kleber unsuccessfully attempted to stop LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard from finishing on a fast break.

Leonard flexed after throwing down a ferocious dunk. Kleber landed on his backside.

Leonard and teammates Paul George and Marcus Morris Sr. punctuated the play by glaring and shouting in Kleber’s direction, an image immortalized on social media. (It even showed up months later in the groundbreaking of the new Clippers arena site — on the back of the hoodie Leonard wore to the event.)

By the way, the Mavericks won that game, too.

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Such is life as an NBA rim protector in the social media age. That, however, won’t stop Kleber and some of the premier paint defenders from meeting the league’s best dunkers in mid-air. Especially in the 2022 NBA playoffs, when the high stakes for the Mavericks and others far outweigh any flak received from the harsh spotlight of social media.

“You know every once in a while it will happen, but you can’t stop playing your game just because something goes viral,” said Kleber, who rarely logs on to his social media accounts during the season. “Whenever there’s a highlight, people get tagged, there will be comments and this and that.

“But this internet world is not the real world.”

RUDY GOBERT’S STATURE and status, among other factors, make his failed dunk contests especially appealing fodder for social media content.

The Utah Jazz center is a 7-foot-1, 258-pound mountain who has earned three Defensive Player of the Year trophies. He’s established himself as a historically elite rim protector, so it’s understandable that a foe dunking on Gobert tends to go viral in a way his defensive dominance often does not.

“I used to get pissed off,” Gobert said. “Now, I kind of embrace it, you know what I mean? I know that I can do 10 good things and it’s not going to be showcased, and the one mistake that I make is.

“Sometimes it’s just like, ‘Oh, there you go. They’re going to celebrate this one for sure. It’s been two months since I’ve been dunked on, but they’re definitely going to celebrate this one.’ I just laugh about it, and I laugh when I see how they celebrate it.

There’s a narrative. As soon as I get dunked on or crossed over, it’s like there’s a national celebration. It’s an honor.”

An example of the highlight culture that has frustrated Gobert occurred on Feb. 12, 2020. The conversation that night focused on one play: Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo muscling Gobert on a drive and finishing with a powerful two-handed dunk over him.

Gobert’s dominant performance the rest of the game — 16 points, 20 rebounds, two blocks, plus-25 in a convincing Utah win — hardly merited a mention.

“That dunk was blowing up,” Adebayo said with a shrug, “but we lost.” Adebayo, who finished fourth in this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award right behind Gobert, can relate. Adebayo just happens — to borrow and paraphrase an old Russell Westbrook quote — to be blessed with the ability not to give a darn.

“You have a lot of dudes who are freak athletes. Why would you not think somebody is going to get dunked on?” Adebayo said. “It’s a mentality that I have. I respect dudes who try to go block everything.

“We’re responsible for a lot of things on that court, and protecting the rim is one of them. Yeah, you might have got dunked on, but it’s still two points at the end of the day. It’s not like it was a 10-point play. Now, it’s going to be history because of the way social media works.”

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Gobert has expressed concerns about how large social media accounts amplifying his mistakes can shape perception of his game. He actively posts on Twitter and Instagram but has worked to prevent social media from affecting his psyche: He doesn’t check social media reaction in the locker room immediately after games and no longer taps the like button on posts that criticize him.

“I used to always say I used that as motivation, and it’s true, but you also give people the energy that you should maybe give somewhere else or give to yourself,” Gobert said. “The most important thing for myself and the other players is that you don’t get discouraged or fazed by what happens on social media.”

However, that’s not the most aggravating aspect of social media for a lot of big men caught on the wrong end of a highlight. It’s the flood of fan comments in their mentions.

“We bust our ass every day in these gyms,” Adebayo said, “and you’ve got some dude on Twitter saying this and that about your game. Yeah, we take offense to that.

“I don’t look at it because I know what it can do to some people’s mentals. I’m strong-minded, but you see something crazy on Twitter and it’s just highly disrespectful, and as a man, you’re bound to respond.”

MILES BRIDGES WAS the lone defender on a 2-on-1 fast break. It was overtime on Oct. 25 against the visiting Celtics, who were up by three points before Jayson Tatum threw his eighth and final assist of the night.

Add another clip to Brown’s highlight reel.

Brown beat Bridges off the floor, launching and punching the ball through the hoop with one hand for the dagger in Boston’s second win of the season.

After the game, Bridges saw social media questioning why he went up with Brown. He explained that split-second decision.

There are certainly occasions when players make so-called business decisions, opting not to try to contest a dunk attempt to avoid any potential embarrassment. There are situations when those decisions are considered appropriate, such as when a defender would be too late to have any realistic hope of preventing a dunk, or if a contest would likely risk injuring the offensive player.

But it’s a practice that is generally frowned upon by the NBA’s premier rim protectors. “I’m not in that business,” Adebayo said.

Bridges, who possesses touch-the-top-of-the-backboard level hops, has been on the other side plenty of times. The most memorable moment probably came at the expense of Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela in April 2021.

After catching the ball on the left wing, Bridges beat his man off the dribble to the middle of the floor before taking off from the dotted line. As Bridges launched, Capela leaped, too, with his arms extended straight up. But Capela was too late and too low, as Bridges cocked back the ball and almost ripped off the rim with his right hand.

“Yeah, I got caught,” Capela said. “He jumped, and I never thought he would dunk it, because he jumped from far. And then, boof.

“When he made it, I heard this noise. Then I realized, ‘Oh, s—.’ I knew after the game it would be all over the place.”

The dunk was so emphatic that the official NBA account tweeted the video of it twice that day. On Instagram, Bridges posted a picture of the moment just before the dunk that generated more than 173,000 likes.

The potential dunk of the year gave the Hornets a five-point lead with 3:47 remaining. Easily, and seemingly immediately, forgotten? Capela had 20 points and 15 rebounds, keying a late comeback without injured star guard Trae Young. The victory had major playoff-seeding implications weeks before the Hawks’ embarked on their magical run to the Eastern Conference finals.

“Well, that’s part of the business, I guess,” said Capela, who received constant notifications of the dunk every time he checked his phone. “I hope the NBA is going to make more money off of it. I’m sure they made a lot of fans off of that one.

“That’s what I signed up for.”

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The first round of the playoffs is barely a week old and has already packed in plenty of intrigue. The Boston Celtics became the first team to advance to the second round when they completed a sweep of the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.

If the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks win Game 5 against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, they will punch their ticket for a second-round meeting with the Celtics.

Elsewhere in the East, MVP candidate Joel Embiid battled through a thumb injury but couldn’t lead the Philadelphia 76ers past the short-handed Toronto Raptors on Monday night. The series heads back to Toronto on Thursday, where the Raptors will try to send the series to a Game 7.

Embiid’s former teammate, Jimmy Butler, and the Miami Heat have a chance to close out the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night and set up a potential second-round series with Philadelphia.

The Western Conference series are quite a bit closer, as the No. 1 Phoenix Suns head back home for Tuesday’s Game 5 tied with the New Orleans Pelicans at 2-2. Most Improved Player Ja Morant and the No. 2 Memphis Grizzlies head home for Tuesday’s Game 5 tied up at two games apiece with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The No. 3 Golden State Warriors, meanwhile, will look to send the Denver Nuggets home Wednesday after nearly pulling off a sweep Sunday.

Are Stephen Curry and the Warriors back? Are the Celtics the favorites in the East? Have injuries dashed the chances of a Suns-Bucks Finals rematch? Our insiders break down the biggest questions from the first round.

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1. Fact or fiction? The Warriors are the title contenders we thought they were in the fall.

Kevin Pelton: Fact. I’m curious to see how Golden State’s small lineups will hold up defensively against teams with more effective perimeter shot creators than the limited Denver Nuggets, but the Warriors have played at a high level whenever Curry and Draymond Green have both been on the court. They are right now at the most important time of the season.

Jamal Collier: Fact. Curry is back. Green looks like the best defender in the league. They’ve got a new death lineup. And their path to the conference finals will put them up against a young team getting to the second round for the first time. Golden State looks like it’s putting it all together at the right time.

Tim MacMahon: Fact, as long as Curry and Green stay healthy. That didn’t happen very often during the regular season, but Golden State outscored opponents by 14.8 points per 100 possessions with Curry and Green on the court together. That ranked second in net rating among duos who played at least 750 minutes, behind only Curry and his baby Splash Brother, Jordan Poole. Curry and Green together in these playoffs so far? A cool plus-29.3 net rating.

Andrew Lopez: Fact. It helps that Curry might be the best sixth man in the history of the league, but the Warriors just needed to get healthy at the right time. Curry looks like Curry. Klay Thompson looks like Klay Thompson. Green is doing Green things. Oh, and Poole is averaging 24.3 points a game.

Israel Gutierrez: Fact, although, probably a bit different than the way we thought they were in the fall. Back then, the idea was Andrew Wiggins would play a huge role, Thompson wouldn’t have to be his old self and James Wiseman would eventually provide some much needed rim protection and easy buckets inside. Now, it’s Poole’s offense that figures to be more crucial than almost anything Wiggins provides, Thompson might very well need to have some classic Thompson games and the 5-spot is going to be ol’ reliable, Green. But this recipe still has championship flavor.

2. Fact or fiction? The Celtics are the favorites to win the East

Gutierrez: Fact, especially now that Robert Williams III can give the Celtics spot minutes at the very least. It’s not just the defense they’ve played since January, it’s the comfort level with which Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown find their shots, while working within an offense to do so. The confidence Tatum is playing with — and you can assume it’ll only grow after dominating Kevin Durant for a series — appears to be at the greatest level of his career. It will be interesting to see just how much Giannis Antetokounmpo can affect that confidence in a second-round matchup.

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Pelton: Fact. The path that looked so difficult for Boston entering the postseason hasn’t materialized. After surviving a Game 1 scare, the Celtics have a comfortable advantage over the Nets. And while the Bucks have still dominated the Bulls since Khris Middleton‘s injury, his absence would loom much larger against Boston. Additionally, Williams’ return means he should work off any rust before that series starts.

MacMahon: Fact. Others in the East didn’t want any part of the Nets in the first round and took action — or inaction — in the regular season’s final week to avoid them. The Celtics seized the second seed and certainly don’t regret it now. Boston has the NBA’s best defense and a pair of two-way go-to guys, Tatum and Brown, who have proven playoff chops.

Lopez: Fiction. The defending champions are still around, so Milwaukee still has the claim to being the favorite out East. But no one has been as impressive in the first round as the Celtics have been. They are proving they have the NBA’s top defense this season.

Collier: Fiction. I’ll admit to being a Celtics skeptic up until the very moment this first-round series began, but watching the way they have defended Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving has me convinced. The Bucks, however, look the part as defending champs, and I’d still lean on them as a slight favorite, assuming they can get Middleton back on the court early in the next round. We’re in for some 86-82 final scores in that series, aren’t we?

James Harden (left), Joel Embiid (center) and Tyrese Maxey (right) head back to Toronto on Thursday after failing to close out Monday’s Game 5. Matt Slocum/AP Photo

3. Fact or fiction? The 76ers have the best big three in the playoffs

MacMahon: Fiction. Give me Golden State’s trio of Curry, Green and pick between Poole and Thompson. Or Milwaukee’s big three, if and when Middleton comes back from his knee injury. Embiid is a dominant force and deserving MVP candidate, but his thumb injury is concerning. James Harden is no longer an All-NBA player, and he didn’t have the most impressive playoff track record even when he was.

Lopez: Fiction. The Warriors are still in the playoffs and whether you want to put Poole or Green as the third man, Curry and Thompson still lead the best big three in the playoffs. Philadelphia might not even have the best big three in the East: Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and a healthy Middleton could have that crown.

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Pelton: Fiction. Perhaps that’s true so far in this series, but the Sixers will face teams better equipped to defend their perimeter players than the short-handed Raptors as early as the second round against the Miami Heat. It’s worth noting Philadelphia might look better if we talk top-four players, and Tobias Harris continues to fill his role on this version of the Sixers as he has so far in the playoffs at both ends.

Gutierrez: Fiction. And that’s not even because of Embiid’s finger. It’s because Harden has effectively been a role-playing point guard. Tyrese Maxey is perfect as a third wheel, but when you’re relying on his scoring too much, it’s not the right formula. Golden State has a better trio. So does Phoenix, should Devin Booker get healthy.

Collier: Fiction, as I’m curious to see what happens when a team tries to force Harden to do more scoring. Until then, I’ll ride with the Warriors (any combo of Curry, Thompson, Green or Poole) and a fully healthy Bucks big three. Maxey definitely puts Philly in the discussion, though.

4. Fact or fiction? Injuries will prevent the Bucks and Suns from playing in a Finals rematch

Pelton: More fact than fiction. I would’ve picked Milwaukee and Phoenix before the playoffs, and that has changed in the wake of injuries to Booker and Middleton. That said, it’s at least as much a product of other teams (Boston and Golden State) getting healthy as it is those teams’ own issues. I would favor the full-strength Celtics over the full-strength Bucks.

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Collier: Fiction. I hope Booker and Middleton will both return at some point in the playoffs, but the reason I don’t think we’re headed for a Finals rematch has more to do with how good the other teams in the conference are, especially Golden State and Boston.

MacMahon: Fiction. I’m trying to be an optimist here. My hope is that Booker and Middleton are back for at least most of the conference semifinals. If that’s the case, I’d argue we can’t blame their injuries if their teams get eliminated. I did pick a Suns-Bucks rematch with Phoenix winning the Finals. I’ve backed off that primarily because Boston looks so strong.

Lopez: Fiction. If the Suns can get by the Pelicans, Booker should be back for a conference semifinals series to help Phoenix’s efforts after that. But New Orleans won’t go away without a fight. If Milwaukee can pick up one more win against Chicago, it also could get Middleton back in the conference semifinals. The road to a Finals rematch certainly got tougher for both teams, but a path still remains.

Gutierrez: Fact. Against a Celtics defense in the next round (probably), the Bucks are going to need as much shooting and playmaking as possible, and missing Middleton would hurt. And with Booker’s hamstring injury, there’s always a chance it could recur, should he even return. It just doesn’t appear in the cards, which makes sense given how much basketball these two teams have played the past two seasons.

5. Fact or fiction? The Heat are getting slept on

Gutierrez: Fiction. There’s enough to be concerned about Miami, most notably late-game offense. And the Heat, too, have some guys playing with fire. Kyle Lowry is experiencing his own hamstring issue, Bam Adebayo is playing with a bothersome quadriceps muscle, and we’ve seen Butler miss games because of ankle injuries this season. The defense this team is playing is certainly championship level, though.

Pelton: Fact, but that’s a good thing. It’s the first round of the playoffs, and there are eight series going on. The reason we talk about top seeds is because they appear to be in danger of an upset. Miami isn’t.

Collier: Fact. I’ve gone back and forth with how optimistic I am on the Heat all year, and Lowry’s hamstring gives me some caution as to whether this team can remain healthy for a long playoff run, but it’s hard not to like the way Miami has locked down Trae Young defensively. Butler has found his touch offensively, and I could see Miami making a run that validates its achievements in the bubble. Plus, Butler going back to Philly for a playoff series is going to be fun.

Lopez: Fact. Miami came out of the fight for the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference standings on top. Butler is playing his best basketball of the season and is arguably the MVP of the playoffs so far. Butler is averaging over 30 points a game in the playoffs, and the Heat don’t have anyone else over 14 points a game, but that hasn’t been necessary because of the balance their roster provides.

MacMahon: Fact. It seems like the only time we’ve talked a lot about the Heat is when Butler and coach Erik Spoelstra did their Royal Rumble impersonation on the bench. Miami is a No. 1 seed that made a recent Finals run and added a pair of champions (Lowry and P.J. Tucker) to the mix since then. Ask Young if the Heat look like a legitimate contender.

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After inking Marcus Stroman to a three-year contract before the lockout, the Chicago Cubs were counting on the 30-year-old to play at a high level. He looked the part in his team debut against the Milwaukee Brewers, tossing 5.0 innings, yielding just two hits and one earned run while striking out three batters.

However, his last two starts have left a lot to be desired. Stroman lasted just 4.0 innings in Colorado, allowing five earned runs on six hits, including four extra-base hits. Against the Rays five days later, he left with one out in the fifth inning after allowing seven earned runs on eight hits.

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Who needs 3s when you can score a 4.0? In the fall of 2021, 16-year NBA veteran JR Smith enrolled at North Carolina A&T State University and joined the golf team as a walk-on. Now, in his second semester at the HBCU, the two-time NBA champion is already earning accolades in the classroom.

On Monday, the 36-year-old — who was originally slated to play basketball at North Carolina before jumping from St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, New Jersey, to the NBA draft in 2004 — was named the Aggies’ Academic Athlete of the Year.

The news comes a week after apparel brand Lululemon signed Smith to be its golf ambassador through a name, image and likeness deal. The athlete known to hoops fans as “JR Swish” is the first male golfer to sign a brand ambassador deal with Lululemon.

In January, Smith signed with Excel Sports Management for NIL representation. At the time, Smith’s agent, Lance Young, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that there was high interest from golf apparel and equipment manufacturers in sponsoring the enormously popular (6.2 million followers on Instagram alone) college athlete.

Smith first revealed that he was excelling in the classroom at the end of the fall semester. On Dec. 14, Smith took to social media to share he had achieved his goal of earning a 4.0 grade-point average.

In a video posted the same day, Smith was clearly emotional. “I can’t even describe the feeling,” he said. “A lot of hard work went into that s—.”

Smith — who won titles with LeBron James in 2016 as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers and in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers — credited a conversation with Basketball Hall of Famer Ray Allen as the catalyst for his decision to petition the NCAA to be eligible to play.

Somewhere out there, Jesus Shuttlesworth is beaming.

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