I Don 39;t Need A Superhero I Have A Big Brother

[Brunilda Chestnut]

Ifyou're a parent, or an older brother or sister, you know this to be true. Think about how long your newborn child or sibling would have lasted if you left them alone. I was shocked when we had our first child - there was never a moment when we could leave him alone, except during sleep, and even then we were only a few feet away.

As we grow older, we think that we become more independent. We get married, have children of our own, buy our first house, and make significant life decisions. Sure, a 40-year married adult can feed and dress himself much better than a 4-month old infant, but I'm afraid that we don't fully accept our limitations.

Think about the benefits of controlling time. I could pause time in a moment of difficulty, thinking about my next word or decision before speaking or acting. Or, I could rewind time and right the wrongs of my own life, or stop crimes against humanity before they happen.

I don't know about you, but I would love to be in more than one place at a time. Imagine how productive I could be! I could write my next book while speaking at a conference while shopping for dinner.

I wish I could get people to do things my way. Right now, Philadelphia roads are riddled with potholes because of the winter storms. If I was all-powerful, the city government would be out there immediately until every hole was filled! Or maybe if I'm feeling an extra zeal for justice, I could combine my wisdom with power and solve world hunger while fighting political corruption.

I not only wish that I knew everything - I wish I could do anything. There would never be a physical task that I would be unable to accomplish. I could cook the best meal, repair any car, and paint the best art, all while doing it better than anyone else on the planet.

Sometimes I wish that God had given me every spiritual gift available. I could be the most creative writer, the most sophisticated thinker, the most efficient administrator, and the most gifted preacher - all at the same time!

So what's the point? This Article is a bit nonsensical, because you already know that you can't control the weather, pause time, or solve any dilemma that pops up. But let me ask you to be honest for a moment - if I were to poll the people you live with, would they tell me that you live like you're a superhero?

What happens when someone violates your schedule? Do you act as if know everything, stepping in to comment when someone makes a verbal mistake? Are you a controlling person? And are you, at times, arrogant enough to think that there is no one out there that can give you advice and counsel?

You see, when you admit your limits, you're a humble and restful person. You're humble enough to admit weakness, always open to learning. And you're restful, because you know that control is in the hands of God - and not yours.

Let me encourage you here - there's only one Superhero in the Bible. His name is Jesus Christ. Every other man and woman documented in Scripture was a failure. Rest and peace is found when you abandon control and admit your limits.

In time, I found other heroes as I grew up. My father was a big hero. A stocky, powerful ex-U.S. Marine, he worked in construction most of his life. I have seen few men as strong in my time. The day the neighborhood punks, Rex and Cole, who terrorized our neighborhood, made the mistake of beating on my brother and I would be one that I will always remember.

Children today are no different. They need role models. They need to have someone on their side who stands for good and fights evil at every turn. It helps them, as they often feel very small and powerless, to be big and strong, at least in their minds. Through play they can feel brave, fearless, in control of their world. Heroes help children believe in themselves and their ability to make a difference.

When they last met on April 10, the game took on the tenor of a playoff contest. Denver was hell-bent on acquiring the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, and Minnesota was desperate to not get pushed around like a little brother. In the end, the Nuggets won the battle 116-107 on the back of Nikola Jokic's 20th 40-plus-point game of his career.

"We know what to expect, they know what to expect," said Jamal Murray, who shrugged off questions about his left calf strain. "They play fast and hard, they're into you. And it's always a physical game when we play against them. It's basically just who can go out there and give better energy and make the least amount of mistakes.

"L.A. chose to double team Nikola the entirety of the series," said Malone. "Now this will be a different series. We'll see how they guard. If they want to put two on the ball, we'll continue to get wide-open looks. And I have all the confidence in the world our guys will step in and shoot it with confidence."

What you just heard was a collective sigh of exasperation from everyone in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, because they know that even on a totally random, average day, Nikola Jokic absolutely cooks the Timberwolves.

This season, Jokic is averaging 33.3 points per game in the four contests they've played against Minny. The only team he averaged more against was 33.5 per game in four vs. San Antonio (asserting dominance against young phenom Victor Wembanyama?).

Over the course of his career, Jokic has played more minutes against Minnesota than against any other team, which stands to reason he'd score a lot of points against them. The T-Wolves are, in fact, his second-highest point victim. Guess who's number 1? (I won't make you guess, it's San Antonio, again.)

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of this match-up, look no further than Jokic's rampant success when facing Rudy Gobert. I don't know what overall diplomatic relations are like between Serbia and France, but I know when Jokic lines up against Gobert, there is no negotiating. It's one-way traffic.

In the last four seasons, when Jokic plays a normal amount of minutes, he scores no less than 24 points against Gobert, including four 30-plus point games and two 40-plus point performances. Just using a raw average, Jokic ends up scoring 21 points per game along with 10 rebounds when facing the big Frenchman.

On the flip side, Gobert historically struggles against Jokic in the playoffs and especially when facing Jokic in the playoffs. During his time in Utah, it became common NBA lore that during the playoffs, teams would find a way to play Gobert off the floor. That's the primary reason those admittedly talented Jazz teams never amounted to much. It's also why most league experts were driven mad by Tim Connelly's decision to bring Gobert to Minnesota and link him with the Big KAT (Karl-Anthony Towns).

More specifically, Jokic will need to score at a high level in this series. How's that for a hot take? Despite the rockstar emergence of Michael Porter Jr. during round one against Los Angeles and the late-game heroics of Playoff Jamal, we need to see Jokic fight his natural urge to facilitate and assert his dominance.

That's the thing about Edwards, it's not so much the fact that he looks like a modern-day MJ or shoots with a Steph-like confidence or even that he plays defense in the vein of Tony Allen (albeit not in Timberland work boots), it's that he will do all of those things and tell you about it before, during, and after embarrassing you.

Last year, in his first-ever playoff series, Edwards averaged nearly 32 points per game against Denver, including two 30-plus point performances and one 41-point, 60.9 percent shooting masterclass (and one thrown chair, but we don't need to get into that).

Fast forward to Minnesota's first-round sweep of the Suns in this postseason, Edwards averaged 10 points per game in the fourth quarter alone. But Denver did a good job at limiting his clutch impact during their regular season matchups. In two of the four games, they held Edwards scoreless in the final frame.

"[He's a] hell of a player," said Malone. "He's going to make tough shots. He can get to the basket, he can finish, he gets to the foul line. And he knocks down that three-point shot with great accuracy. It's a hell of a challenge."

Malone believes switching up defensive looks and prioritizing getting back on defense will help to corral one of the NBA's wild mustangs. In transition, Edwards averages five points per game all by himself.

"We just have to make it tough for him," said Murray. "The biggest thing is to not give him anything easy. We know that great scorers are going to score. Every series, you see someone who can score. It's just like limiting the easy ones and making him have to work for it."

The Dark Knight is one of the most lauded superhero movies of all time, but Christopher Nolan needed a bit of a push to take it on - specifically because he didn't want to become the superhero movie guy.

His brother Jonathan Nolan, who's currently promoting his upcoming TV series Fallout, revealed as much during a recent podcast episode of Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard (as spotted by Variety). Jonathan Nolan co-wrote The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises with his brother, and called himself a "consultant" on Batman Begins.

"I worked on Batman Begins in this kind of slightly arm's length capacity, but it was the one comic book my brother had ever given me as a kid," Jonathan Nolan said on the podcast. "Batman Year One for our 14th birthday. And 10 years later, I was on the set, working with him. Like, that's nuts."

Jonathan Nolan went on to describe the working relationship he established with his brother at that time, where he was largely able to write their next movie while Christopher Nolan was directing their current one. Christopher Nolan went right into filming their next movie, 2006's The Prestige, right after Batman Begins.

"And I would be stuck alone with this thing on the Warner's lot," Jonathan Nolan said on the podcast. "And I felt like the ghost that haunted Warner Brothers... I'm trapped in this tiny office. It's just me and Batman, and he's crazy."

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