The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

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The Girls Who Code club met together in Sierra Hall, on Friday, Sept. 15, in Northridge, Calif. Club members played around with a program to create a virtual game.
The CSUN club that’s encouraging women in STEM
Miya Hantman, Reporter • September 18, 2023

CSUN’s Girls Who Code club is just one of many across many campuses and countries, including 110 in...

Students form a crowd for DJ Mal-Ski on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023 in Northridge, Calif.
Matador Nights carnival makes a splash at the USU
Ryan Romero, Sports Editor • September 21, 2023

The University Student Union hosted “Matador Nights” on Sept. 8 from 7 p.m. to midnight. The...

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock by FiledIMAGE.
Women’s Soccer has Closed the Competitive Gap
Luis Silva, Reporter • September 19, 2023

There is no longer a significant competitive gap in the sport of women’s soccer. There is a brighter...

The line for concert merchandise on the second night of The Eras Tour in Paradise, Nev., on Saturday, March 25, 2023.
My experience at The Eras Tour
Miley Alfaro, Sports Reporter • September 18, 2023

It’s been a long time coming. I began watching The Eras Tour, Taylor Swift’s ongoing concert trek,...

Within the Oaxacan town of Asuncion Nochixtlan, we find my mother’s birthplace, Buena Vista. Photo taken July 29, 2023.
I Love Being Mexican
September 12, 2023
A student holds up a sign during a rally outside of the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach, Calif., on Sept. 12, 2023.
CSU board approves tuition increase amid protests
Trisha Anas, Editor in Chief • September 15, 2023

The California State Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a 6% tuition increase for the next five...

group of mena and women touching hands
Miracles In Action Restores Patients’ Lives and Actualizes their Potential

BFF’s: Basketball Friends Forever

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The Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan, left, and Blake Griffin meet with the Sacramento Kings’ Darren Collison following the Clippers’ 116-105 win on Wednesday, March 18, 2015, at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, Calif. (Jose Luis Villegas/Sacramento Bee/TNS)

The NBA has entered an era where “Big Three’s” and “Dream Teams” are king and that makes some purists sick to their stomachs; however, players have autonomy over the NBA landscape like never before.

NBA players relationships nowadays embody the old elementary school adage known as the “buddy system.” It’s cliche but there is strength in numbers and the culmination of super teams in this era of basketball didn’t start in the NBA.

Amateur Athletic Union, (AAU) started a trend of grouping the best players in the country together on traveling teams and playing against the best of the best.

A lot of these players are looked at as glorified superstars and have been recruited to play in some cases since the fourth or fifth grade, a la LeBron James Jr., the son of NBA superstar LeBron James.

This mindset of playing with elite players for years even if you end up going elsewhere means a lot when you get to the NBA. During free agency plenty of players hang out with one another and are great friends.

All you have to do is look at social media or go to the hottest night clubs and you’ll see sworn rivals from other teams during the season yucking it up and having a great time.

So when the infamous free agency feeding frenzy began and played out like an episode of your favorite daytime soap opera and or spanish novela between the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks and all-star center Deandre Jordan, the sudden change of heart by Jordan wasn’t surprising at all. It’s par for the course to be honest.

The NBA used to be about crushing your rivals, not joining up with them to create a monopoly. Michael Jordan, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Larry Bird are some of the greatest to ever play basketball on any level and all have said on the record they would’ve never played on the same NBA team to win a title.

That generation had the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair mentality in regards to being the best. Flair said, “To be the man, you got to beat the man.”

Luckily, this power struggle between the owners and players has created a skism in the NBA that has made it’s players more autonomous than ever.

James has forced the hand of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert by handing out a $110 million contract to power forward Kevin Love, a $40 million contract to guard Iman Shumpert.

This new age of players being the de facto general managers is not going anywhere and best believe that birds of a feather flock together.

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