Great Clips of the Week: Remembering UVU coach 'Mad Dog' Madsen's dancing career

DANCING IN THE STREET — The NBA playoffs started this weekend.

And while the Utah Jazz fell into an 0-1 hole with Sunday's loss in its postseason opener at Houston, it wasn't all bad for locals in the NBA playoffs.

For example, Weber State standout Damian Lillard dropped 30 points in the Blazers' 104-99 win over the Thunder, BYU grad Danny Ainge happily watched as the Celtics downed the Pacers 84-74, and former Jazzman Jonas Jerebko helped the Warriors to a 121-104 win over the Clippers in their own playoff opener Saturday.

Even Utah Valley added a playoff contender Sunday when it announced new head coach Mark Madsen. Sure, the two-time NBA champ got some help from two teammates named Shaq and Kobe during his Lakers career. But still, he's got rings.

On that note, let's take a look at some of our favorite moments from the postseason — starting way, way, way back when Madsen helped the Lakers to a third-straight title and warmed up the crowd at their championship parade celebration.

Madsen wants to dance with somebody 🕺

Madsen's career started as well as he could have ever hoped.

Drafted in the first round of the 2000 draft out of Stanford, Madsen joined a dominant Los Angeles team that won two titles in his first three seasons in the league.

And while his numbers from those two title runs rarely blew anyone away, he earned the respect and admiration of one important figure back then: Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, who effusively praised his teammate's hustle, work ethic and genuine attitude.

The rest of the team thought the same. Just watch them hang on every word as he pumps up the crowd — in English and Spanish — after the Lakers' title in 2001.

Madsen served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Malaga, Spain and — for those who don't understand the blessed tongue, he guaranteed the Lakers would win another championship just one year later in a dialect referred to as "Castellano" by Latin American Spanish speakers.

And the crowd ate it up.

So how did "Mad Dog" follow up the act after the Lakers won another championship, their third in a row, a year later?

By promising "Quatro" and showing off his dance moves straight out of the Walnut Creek Second Ward.

You can't do that, but .... 📲

Plenty people were talking about the Brooklyn Nets’ 111-102 upset of the Philadelphia 76ers in their playoff opener for basketball reasons.

But one of the main talking points came from the bench when Sixers post Amir Johnson was caught reading text messages while sitting with Philly star Joel Embiid.

Johnson was inactive for the game, but Embiid was not. And while we don’t know the content of what was on the phone, the iPhone clearly shows the familiar white-and-blue insignia typical of text messages.

The NBA took notice, too, fining Johnson for violation of league protocol.

After the game, Embiid told reporters that Johnson had a valid reason for taking his phone to the bench and checking for texts; his daughter was "extremely sick," and he was looking for an update.

"I just looked down because he said his daughter was extremely sick and he was checking on her," Embiid said.

For his part, Johnson also accepted responsibility for breaking the rules, saying in a statement, "I take full responsibility and will accept the consequences of my actions. I also apologize to my teammates, the 76ers organization and the fans for the distraction this has caused."

Game 2 tips Monday at 6 p.m. MT.

There's no swearing in women's soccer 🤬

If you missed it in all the playoff celebrations, or in Real Salt Lake's 2-1 win over Orlando City that snapped a four-game losing skid perhaps, this weekend was also opening weekend in the National Women's Soccer League.

And while the Utah Royals sat idle with a bye while the rest of the team played, Portland and Washington each earned victories while Chicago, Seattle, Houston and North Carolina split the points in their respective openers.

And Orlando goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris was none too pleased with her team's 2-0 loss to the Portland Thorns, either.

Utah opens the season Saturday against the Washington Spirit. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium and will be broadcast on KMYU and KSL.com.

Related topics