Welcome back to “I’m Curious!”

We are still thawing out of what seemed like permafrost after snow blanketed the DC area weeks ago. It has put a limit on how much I can do beyond work, especially on sports.

With soccer still off, there’s not much of that in this newsletter.

There isn’t really anything about the Super Bowl in here either but I was definitely a big fan of Bad Bunny’s performance.

So this week, we’re talking about some other interesting stuff I’ve seen. There’s basketball, Buddhist monks, and the spiciest meal I’ve ever had.

Table of Contents

• The Most Curious Thing This Week: The NBA's Last Chance Saloon

• My Reporting: Buddhist Monks Walk for Peace

• Other Sports Takes and Things of Note: Olympians Speak Out

• Something Good I Ate: Extremely Spicy Tofu

But first, before we jump in, here’s Peach!

The Most Curious Thing This Week

It’s the NBA G League: basketball’s Last Chance Saloon!

For years, the term I’ve heard used to describe play in the NBA G League is “hungry.” The NBA’s development league, the closest equivalent it has to a minor-league level, is full of players who are hungry.

There are 31 teams, one tied to each NBA team and one unaffiliated. From top to bottom, rosters feature a mix of recent college grads who fell just short of a steady NBA roster spot, marginal “two-way” players who shuttle between the G League and the parent NBA club, and grizzled veterans looking for a path back into the league.

As an added layer complicating things, outside of three officially designated Two-Way Players, most other players are still officially free agents.

So you may be playing, for example, for the affiliate of the Washington Wizards. But if another team sees you and wants to sign you to their NBA team, they can do so, as long as you’re not already designated as a Two-Way Player.

As I saw on Friday morning, it leads to some hungry play. In Southeast DC, the Capital City Go-Go (the Wizards’ G-League affiliate) hosted an 11 am tip-off against the South Bay Lakers, who, as you might guess, are the G-League affiliate of the Los Angeles Lakers.

On Education Day, in front of a screaming crowd of over 1,000 school kids, the Go-Go pulled off a narrow 115-114 win over the Lakers that came down to a late review of an out of bounds call. 

This game in particular featured several players who had either just played in the NBA or were about to get the call.

The story that jumped out most to me was of Go-Go center Skal Labissière.

It has been a long road for the 6’10” former number one high school basketball recruit. He was born and grew up in Haiti. He has shared the story of being on the island during the devastating 2010 earthquake, when his house collapsed. He, his mother and his brother spent three hours trapped in the wreckage.

In 2016, Labissière wrote for The Players Tribune: “My legs were folded under me so awkwardly that after a while, I couldn’t feel them. They were going numb, going dead. As the hours went by, I went from screaming, to praying, to silently thinking, I’m going to die.” 

His father found them. His family survived, but young Skal couldn’t walk for two weeks, and spent several more weeks recovering until he could walk without a limp.

In the months that followed, his family got him to the United States, and he went to high school in Memphis, becoming the number one high school prospect in America in the class of 2015, according to the 247 Sports recruiting rankings.

He split time between the lineup and the bench for Kentucky, struggling at times, and fell on draft night to 28^th overall, near the end of the first round.

Labissière played two decent years for the Sacramento Kings before his playing time faded in the 2018-19 season and the Kings traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers. He earned some minutes as a player off the bench in Portland, but a knee injury in late 2019 sidelined him, and after being traded to the Atlanta Hawks in February 2020 and immediately cut loose, the NBA door shut.

During and out of the peak pandemic era, Labissière bounced around just underneath the NBA surface for five years. He went from Westchester County, NY; to San Juan, Puerto Rico; to playing for San Antonio in the Las Vegas Summer League; to Mexico City; to Stockton, California; to southeast Washington, DC.

He got a very brief shot with the Kings again in 2025, playing six minutes or less in a total of four games. 

Then, on January 27^th , the Wizards saw enough out of Labissière with their G League squad to sign him to a 10-day NBA contract. With 5:42 to go in the third quarter of the Wizards’ game that night against the Blazers, Labissière checked in to make his Wizards debut. He ended the night scoreless.

But that weekend, the Wizards needed minutes from a big man and Labissière got another chance. In 27 minutes against the team he debuted with, the Kings, he scored 13 points, making 6 of 8 shot attempts and adding 7 rebounds.

On Friday, back in the G League, Labissière didn’t miss a beat, leading all players with 34 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists while nailing 6 of 7 3-point attempts.

(Considering the kids went wild with joy when the arena played Skrilla’s “Doot Doot (6 7)” and all did the “6-7” hand gesture in unison, I’m sure they would be happy to see that last stat.) 

After Friday’s game back in the G League, Labissière talked with a handful of reporters about his NBA return. 

“That was my first double-digit points in a game in like, what, six years, I think? Being on an NBA floor playing real minutes, at one point, during the game, I almost got emotional, you know what I mean? Like wow, it’s been a long journey. But, you know, God’s been so good to me. So I’m super thankful. And even today, any time I get to play basketball, whether it’s up or down, I’m super thankful,” Labissière said.

With my question, I asked about the journey and gave him space to reflect on the journey back to being back above the surface, playing in the NBA and shining in the G-League.

“It’s been a lot. Like, a lot of things that people don’t know about, haven’t seen, like not just on the court but off the court,” Labissière said.

“I remember my fourth year, when I was, actually, it was the fourth year of my rookie deal, and I was playing for that next deal and I got hurt. I had like, a two-year span, I think it was, of like, trying to get healthy, and finally felt like myself in 2022.”

Labissière felt that having that injury, at the time that it happened, near the end of his rookie contract, makes it even more extraordinary that he worked his way back. 

“Even being here today is a miracle in itself. Like me, still holding on and playing basketball and still pushing for, you know, what I believe is a big part of my calling and my purpose.”

Within a few days of Friday’s game, at least three other players from the two teams got called up. Labissière’s Go-Go teammate Keshon Gilbert earned his first-ever in-season NBA contract the day after the game and made his NBA debut that day, with 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks. Not bad for a guy listed at 6’4”!

As for the Lakers, the whole team just kinda cracked me up.

For one thing, the tops of their uniforms resembled their prestigious parent club, with the iconic purple “Lakers” lettering on a bright yellow jersey. But the bottom included a massive sponsorship tacked on for Korean frozen food brand Bibigo.

And just like the classic Lakers of old, this squad was led by a star scoring guard named Kobe. Last name starts with a B. Can you guess who it is? 

That’s right! Kobe Bufkin! 

Instead of being led by the Lakers’ late great number 8 Kobe Bryant, the South Bay Lakers relied on an outpouring of scoring from the Kobe who wears number 6, a former first-round pick out of the University of Michigan.

Bufkin was cut loose by the Atlanta Hawks after two seasons and had been playing with the South Bay Lakers in an effort to get back into the NBA. 

It all kinda felt like I was watching a version of the Lakers off the discount rack. The South Bay Lakers. The big Bibigo ad right underneath the team’s jersey numbers. Not Kobe Bryant but Kobe Bufkin.

But discount these guys at your own risk.

Bufkin was a scoring machine for the G League Lakers, averaging 26.7 points per game in 21 games with the team this season.

After scoring a whopping 41 points in the first game of the back-to-back in DC on Wednesday night, Bufkin had 20 at halftime on Friday, but the Go-Go kept him to just 9 points in the second half, as strong defense keyed Capital City’s slim win.

By the start of the week, Bufkin was one of a pair of G League Lakers on the floor in DC Friday to have been called up to the parent club, along with his teammate Chris Mañon. The parent Lakers are currently firmly in playoff contention but are shorthanded without stars LeBron James and Luka Doncic, meaning Bufkin was pressed into service Tuesday night as a starter.

And over the weekend, the Lakers realized that they had a talent worth keeping, inking Bufkin to a two-year deal through the 2026-27 season.

Bufkin’s deal will net him $3.3 million, even as he plays at the NBA’s league minimum. Some of these players may have made millions if they played in the past, or gone well into six figures if they are designated as a Two-Way Player. But for most players, the league salary is $40,500 for the five-month season.

Bufkin had been a Two-Way Player but Keshon Gilbert, who the Wizards signed to a ten-day contract, was not, meaning that, by earning a bit over $73,000 on his ten-day deal, Gilbert is nearly tripling his salary this season. The same is true for Labissière, who is now more than a half-decade removed from the multi-million-dollar salaries of his rookie contract. 

The stakes weren’t lost on Go-Go head coach Cody Toppert, who also talked with reporters after Friday’s game. Having a larger-than-usual crowd, he noted, added a bit of energy that players often can’t draw on at other games, where crowds can be as small as about 100 people.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that have played high-major, big-time college basketball, so they’re used to playing in front of 18,000 fans,” Toppert said.

“And now what you’re telling them is, you know, you’re living in the margins, you’re in the G League, you’re trying to claw for everything you’ve got, it’s like the Hunger Games, right? And I’ve seen guys go from the outhouse to the penthouse. From $50,000 to $50,000,000. And it’s hard at times to bring that energy when there’s not a lot of fans out there. That is a true self-motivating situation.”

Toppert also shared that it meant a lot to see Labissière get his moment back at the highest level.

“He’s about as high-character a human as you can find. He’s elevated the entire Monumental organization with his presence,” Toppert said.

“I just love watching him play basketball.”

My Reporting

MS NOW

It didn’t end up making it into Monday’s show, but I briefly went out into the field, all of two blocks from my house, to cover the passage of the 2,300-mile long Walk for Peace through my neighborhood in Arlington, VA. 

Nineteen monks from the Dhammacetiya monastery in Fort Worth, TX, have walked for over 100 days, single-file en route to Washington, DC. Their goal is to promote peace and nonviolence on their journey and advocate for Vesak, the holiday commemorating the birth of the Buddha, to be made into a U.S. federal holiday.

It has been a journey of extreme peril. One monk, Bhante Dam Phommasan, had his leg amputated after being hit by a car in an accident in November. He then reunited with the group as they walked into Washington, DC on Tuesday.

The monks have had to stop for extreme weather, including cold, snow and ice.

Their dog, Aloka, a former stray from India who repeatedly rejoined monks on a pilgrimage there despite being hit by a car, has traveled with them throughout. After a leg injury in South Carolina in January and a surgery, Aloka has primarily traveled by car but stayed with the monks.

Thousands have lined the way on their daily walks, with major attention following them as they trekked through the Carolinas and across Virginia.

Along Washington Boulevard in Arlington, with the end in sight, the monks diligently progressed, surrounded by a convoy of police to keep them safe. One officer even wore a flower on his lapel, as flowers have rich symbolism in the Buddhist tradition and the exchange of flowers is a routine part of the monks’ long journey.

At about 4:30 on Monday afternoon, the monks passed single file, just a few feet from me. The group’s leader, the Venerable Bhikkhu Paññakāra, spoke softly, repeating a message for onlookers close enough to hear: “Happy Peace Walk. Happy Peace Walk.” The group walked quietly, solemnly, as they maintain their largely silent walking meditation, every step an advance along their road of inner peace.

Peace walks have occurred for thousands of years as a tradition among Buddhist monks, but it also has occurred notably in Cambodia since 1992, as monks have led an annual peace walk across the country that began in Cambodia’s democratization after both the genocidal Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot and the ensuing decade-plus war between Cambodia and Vietnam.

In this particular moment in the United States, thousands upon thousands of people have been inspired by the monks of the Dhammacetiya and their Walk for Peace. Posts from groups representing the monks have spread far and wide across social media and there are Facebook groups full of people sharing how the monks have inspired them to work toward peace or even adopt aspects of Buddhist faith into their own lives.

After seeing the monks, the posts and comments I saw made me realize how meaningful they have been. I saw posts from people saying they traveled from places like Buffalo, or Ohio, or Wisconsin to see the monks in or near DC. In The Guardian on Tuesday, writer Mallory McDuff reflected on seeing the monks in North Carolina in a piece with the headline: “I drove hours to see the monks walking for peace. Five minutes with them was the gift of a lifetime.”

I did not get to interview anybody but was struck by the extent of unity. People from all walks of life took time from their day to see them. Where I stood, on the edge of a crosswalk leading to a Post Office, several workers from the nearby Sweetgreen stepped out, green aprons and all, to stand roadside and watch the monks put one foot in front of the other. A dog barked in response to the loud sirens, perhaps frustrated that he could not meet Aloka.

But in a time where protests can be loud and emphatic or be brutally crushed by secret police, this walk pressed forward, quietly and peacefully, and has touched so many people.

Other Sports Takes and Things of Note

Don’t “Shut Up and Dribble”: I have been encouraged to see Olympians competing under the U.S. flag acknowledge that it’s not the easiest thing in the world these days to represent the red, white and blue, and that it is a complicated time to be an American.

Olympians have spoken out, primarily when asked about the situations unfolding. Freestyle skier Hunter Hess, an Oregon native, acknowledged he had “mixed emotions” about representing the U.S.

“It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think,” Hess said in an interview posted by Portland-area NBC affiliate KGW. “It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren’t. I think for me, it’s more I’m representing my, like, friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S. I just think, if it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag, doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”

Several Republican politicians and right-wing media figures absolutely imploded, feeling that Hess’s comments about representing his values and other Americans who represented the U.S. before him merited kicking Hess out of the Olympic games.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) threatened that anyone who, in his words, does not feel it is an “honor” to represent the country “should be stripped of their USA Olympic uniform.”

Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly posted on X that “Hess should be stripped of his ability to rep the USA & sent home.”

President Donald Trump posted to his personal social media website Truth Social that Hess was “a real loser” and that it was “very hard to root for someone like this.”

Amber Glenn, a figure skater competing for the U.S. in the women’s team and singles competitions, came out as pansexual and a member of the LGBTQ+ community in 2019. Last week, ahead of the games, she answered a question in a press conference about being LGBTQ+ in the U.S. in a time when President Trump and Republicans in many states have enacted laws restricting their rights.

“It’s been a hard time for the community overall in this administration. It isn’t the first time that we’ve had to come together as a community and try and fight for our human rights,” Glenn said. “And now, especially, it’s not just affecting the queer community, but many other communities. I think that we are able to support each other in a way that we didn’t have to before, and because of that, it’s made us a lot stronger.”

“I know that a lot of people say, ‘You’re just an athlete, like, stick to your job, shut up about politics,’ but politics affect us all. It is not something that I will just be quiet about because it is something that affects us in our everyday lives.”

By the weekend, Glenn had to post a follow-up to Instagram, posting a story with a lengthy note that she would “be limiting [her] time on social media for [her] own wellbeing for now” because of “a scary amount of hate / threats for simply using my voice WHEN ASKED about how I feel.”

Megyn Kelly, delightful as always, called her a “turncoat to root against.”

Glenn won gold on Sunday, finishing third in the women’s free skate portion of the team competition but still contributing 8 points toward the U.S. winning with 69 points, just one point ahead of silver-medalists Japan.

USA Today reported Sunday, after Glenn won, that what she called “outlandish backlash” won’t stop her from speaking out.

“I'm not online right now because of it, but I'm gonna keep speaking my truth,” Glenn said. “I'm gonna keep representing what I believe in and what I think all Americans believe in, which is freedom and being able to love and do what you want. So, I just I hope we can keep going forward and be positive."

“Freedom and being able to love and do what you want.”

What kind of awful, America-hating person would root against someone representing that?

Something Good I Ate

We’re going deep into the archives here, back to 2018, not long after I moved back to DC.

When I worked at ABC, a coworker tipped me off to a Chinese restaurant in the far northeastern reaches of DC called Panda Gourmet.

It is attached to an extremely run-down Days Inn hotel, and yet, inside is a perfectly normal Chinese restaurant, with one exception: this is Sichuan Chinese food, so many items are extremely spicy.

I went here for the first time on my own and ordered two things: the Chengdu cold noodles, topped with sesame seeds and a pasty sauce of peanuts, soy sauce and chili oil, and the mapo tofu, a dish with tofu, small chunks of meat and tons of chilis and Sichuan peppercorns, in a spicy, bright-red sauce.

We talked in the last newsletter about the mala numbing sensation food like this can create. I’m used to it now but back then I was thoroughly overwhelmed by the spice and had far too much of it for my own good.

But it was delicious.

I was one of a couple of folks in the restaurant, so my waiter, an older Chinese man, kept circling back to fill up my water. By about the fifth or sixth refill, he asked if I was doing ok. I had tears coming out of my eyes, tears and snot coming out of just about every opening it could on my face. But I cracked a smile and told him, “I’m fine, thank you! Just keep filling up my water as you see it, but this is very good!”

If a dish can make you cry and convulse and send smoke billowing out of your ears but still have you begging for more, I think that’s a pretty good sign.

Just a note: Any work here or opinions I express are solely mine, and do not reflect the views of my employer, my coworkers, or anybody else affiliated with me. The newsletter is not monetized in any way and everything in here is written and reported with my own resources on my own time outside of my working hours unless specifically noted otherwise. “I’m Curious” is just for me, the author, and for you, the reader. Thank you for reading. I’m glad you’re here.